Celebrating Navaratri, Medico Style: SHADE THE RUBY

Day 2: Maa Bramhacharini/Red

Written by Dr. Geeta Sundar

We, at Lexicon are celebrating this 2022 Navaratri with pomp, pageantry and prose. Join us as we wash your minds with the palettes of the Goddess as She adorns each of these colors, but in our very own background medical style.

Day 2 is for Maa Bramhacharini, who, according to Vedic texts, pursued sacred religious knowledge, and thus, this day is also dedicated to female students. The day is also represented by Red, which stands for strength, power and fierceness. For medicos, red can also represent many other things, as written beautifully by Dr. Geeta Sundar:

The red shade signifies a bright rising sun on the horizon, a vibrant glow basking in the early hours of the day and so similarly, enthralling us on the second day of Navratri is the Devi in all her vibrant, spirited and lively style.

Drop, drop, the blood flows, a rich crimson wash on the field,

Alive only because of that rich glowing fluid, as we bleed;

Made up of so many cells, we lose track of its importance,

Except when it’s Polycythemia or Anemia of relevance;

The bone marrow does its part, largely, without praise,

Often forgotten till its severe trauma on a defeated phase;

Cuts, bruises, petechiae, ecchymosis, everything demolished,

A stitch here, a suture there, vessels all gathered and fixed;

Unless it’s the coagulation disorder that invites unrest,

You better identify, manage, treat the complications nest;

Be it inflammation and its markers or flaming signs,

Crimson is a bearer of trouble, be it ooze or lines;

Hematemesis, Melena, Hematuria, take your pick,

Cancer might nuzzle around, hidden and sick;

A harbinger for trouble, it comes with its warning and times,

Best we approach early, screen and save those losing chimes;

Most remain squeamish even for a needle or draw,

What’s a few mLs, I ask, don’t clench and withdraw;

But the maroon liquid that sloshes the sleek glass, is accepted,

Good for arteries, lipids, however liver unworthy rendered;

A basis for transfusion and organ donation, sacred at the least,

Family ties, thicker than water, all words, but beat;

Foundation of all perinatal, baby, birth and love,

Red is our hue, just ask any surgeon donning her glove!

Images – Google images