Nourishment

It was 12:15pm, the end of a long morning that started early (presenting Grand Rounds) and was concluding with a two-hour tutor prep meeting before our last PBL case next week.  It was hot and ceiling fans were making a whirring sound above my head.  The noise from the fans was competing with the gurgling sounds my stomach was making in anticipation of lunch.  Just about that point, Mili (CV Block Director at PAHS), told us that we (the faculty) were requested to attend a meeting in the PAHS classroom.    I put aside my thoughts of duita roti ani tarkari (my usual lunch) and joined the faculty as they filed into the classroom.  A set of chairs were arranged at the front of the crowded classroom and we were invited to sit down facing the 58 students.  It was explained to us  by one student that it was Guru Purnima, the full moon day, and they were there to give us (their teachers) a special honour by applying abir (red powder) as a tikka to our foreheads.   Thoughts of food instantly vanished and were replaced by the kind of nourishment that comes from an exchange of the heart.