What would Two Extra Hours in a Day mean to me?

Being a doctor in the Armed Forces for just about a year now, I have travelled much more than I have for the most of my life. Before this, I always wondered how the continuous movement of soldiers in those shaggy-looking vehicles across the rugged terrain feel like. Well, now I know it. My day begins with a gruff voice over the radio set calling “Quebec 10 calling Quebec 9, Report over”. The rising sun across the beautiful landscape only does enough to awaken my senses, while the simmering waters of the lowly river flowing by raises a chilly breeze across the valley. The grandiose and serene natural environment sinks deep into my lonely being as I begin to amble up to the unit hospital, which is about a quarter of a mile away.

My Day Begins

My office is spick and span and I am pretty sure the housefly would shy away from such cleanliness. My hospital staff wait in a beeline to make my presence felt within the ward, while an assistant clears a handful of scribbled notes left the previous day.  As a young, energetic and sincere officer, I like my table clean every morning. Besides being a doctor, my role in the battalion is one of a stern administrator. A compassionate doctor and a stern administrator are two roles that antagonize each other to oblivion.

The Day’s Humdrum

My day runs by with cartloads of files and some weary patients trying to find their way through a corridor of uniformed men waiting for their chance to crash into my office. The day seems short, and I rush back to my room to cosy myself in bed and trying ardently to say “Good Night” to my wife and son, while the auto-responder over the mobile goes “The number you are trying to call is switched off, The number you are trying to call is not reachable or worse still, The number you are trying to call does not exist”. Thus, my day is done.

Another Day

I wake up the next morn only to begin another journey through a path, which hardly qualifies for a road. I am off to another place for a free medical camp for the villagers. And by evening, I am back to the cosy bed, which I alone nest. My family only yearns for me nearby but we are separated by miles and miles of rugged mountains. Simple joys of life, such as having some family time with loved ones, walking one’s kid to school, taking my wife out to dinner, or even going to a sister’s wedding is hard to come by. This, my friends, is the daily humdrum in the life of a doctor serving in the armed forces.

[box type=”note”]So, what would I do, “If I had two extra hours in a day?”

1. I would save them in a safe place, so that I can use them with my wife and son on vacation.
2. I would take extra pains for my patients at least during those two extra hours.
3. I would spend the two extra hours in the cosiness of my bed, which would be easy.
4. I would spend one hour for service and one hour over the phone with my family and friends.
5. I would write for more contests like these and win as many prizes as I could.

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