School was closing for the summer break;
the kids headed for the burger joint to celebrate!
The mid term exams were over at long last;
the boys scurried into the hookah parlour!
It was evening - she had to rush home to cook;
she decided to have chaat at the street corner!
It was dusk; he had had a long tiring meeting;
with his colleagues, he entered a bar for a drink!
Little did they all know that someone out there
was rubbing his hands, chuckling to himself.
This someone was a certain Mr. Reaction -
the not so instant payback for today's actions!
Mr. Reaction held in his palms their future:
lifestyle linked chronic diseases or conditions,
gastrointestinal flareups and acute diseases,
substance dependencies, and hospitalisation.
Wealth and health are both vital for a good life
and taking them lightly is needless risk taking.
Just like money - here today, gone tomorrow -
good health can easily slip out of our fingers.
We do not realise the true value of good health
until, alas, we find ourselves on the sick-bed.
Then, a trifle late in the day, realization dawns
that health paradise lost cannot be regained!
© Dr. Aparna Bagwe
Sun. 7-4-2024
