Tim and Pumeet

                                                                 Tim and Pumeet

On one side of a busy city street stood Tim and Pumeet. Traffic hauled up and down the infinitely long four lane road, as they quaintly waited for the signal to turn red and the traffic to stop. But traffic never stops in India. People who valued time more than their lives crossed the road anyway, while the more intelligent and 'time-rich' ones used the footbridge above. Five minutes had the two wasted arguing how Tim had realised beforehand that visiting the government hospital was a bad idea. The mere density of people inside was enough to scare them away; let alone the eerie vibes and the pungent smell of expired medicine.

The world moved in a rush, but Tim and Pumeet stood still, starting at it. An element from the hoi polloi, a thin old man crashed into Pumeet's shoulder and dropped his bag. Pumeet groaned softly jerking away the pain while Tim helped the poor soul collect the trinkets that fell off his beige bag. Pumeet turned around expecting the man to tap his shoulder and apologize for his mistake. The old man got up and walked away without even looking at his victim. Pumeet took some time to let that sink in and realised he was in an alien land. A lands where people lived in large buildings and small hearts.

"We don't have all day to let you daydream before a hospital", Tim claimed as he pointed at the green signal. I was waiting for you to walk first, you skeleton!"

They crossed the road and turned right at the third alley branching from the footpath. 'Dr. A.K.Sen, M.B.B.S, M.D.' read the old tainted board whose wood bordered sides were inflated partially as water constantly dripped over it. There were three people waiting inside in queue. An old lady, and her older friend talking about how the doctor had cured her arthritis with minimum medication. The third was also a middle aged man sitting quietly with his eyes closed. There were no more seats, so the two stood outside landscaping the buildings. The woman and her child who had occupied Dr. Sen left smiling and the other two women entered his chambers, then the man, and then them.

The two sat on two worn out chairs as the ill-dressed bearded old man flipped pages of a medical encyclopaedia. Pumeet went ahead to break the silence "My name is Pumeet and I am underweight."

"Hmm", he wrote his name down on the prescription and also asked for his age. After taking a quick glance, he asked him to get up on the weighing machine. The pointer read 110. Dr. Sen murmured some digits and said that being a man of this age and size, he was underweight by about nine kilos. He also asked Pumeet to change his dietary habits and concentrate on eating more proteins and carbs. He wrote down some medicines and just as he was to explain his patient, a shrill cry burst out from the room next to the chamber "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THIS STUPID SINK?” The old man got up at once and replied "I'll be there in a minute."

The dilapidated chair gave out a creaking sound as the old fat man thumped down on it. "Yes, what about you?" he looked at Tim.

He took a deep breath and replied, "My name is Tim and I am overweight". The doctor asked him to get up on the same scale, which read 160 this time.

"You're 72. It's not obese, but not healthy either" he went on further suggesting him to intake more fruits and booked vegetables and cut down on oil and carbs.

'Wouldn't he have decreased his own weight if he followed his advice' Pumeet started at his cushioned belly and chuckled.

"GET IN HERE!", the voice was more grotesque this time. "I'm coming", he replied and quickly competed his prescription. He rushed in and tried to calm down the shrew, but judging from the successive shouts, he was unsuccessful. He peeped out from the other room and asked the two gently to keep his fees at the table and leave. Then he looked outside and shut the doors as the two left.

The medicine shop was crowded, but not as the hospital. They were asked their prescriptions and a young lad was ordered to find the prescribed. "Who is Tim? “He enquired. "I am!" Pumeet replied. "Shut up Pumeet, it's no time for a joke. I'm Tim". "No, I'm Tim". "Shut up!"

"Hey!” their attender interrupted them “This is a busy place, and we have no time for your jokes". "Sorry" they both replied in unison. "You take one table spoon of this powder with milk after dinner, and ones of these tablets before breakfast. And you take two table spoons of this syrup before every meal. Visit the doctor after a month. And that will be six hundred twenty eight rupees". The contents were packaged and taken away silently.

A month later they visited Dr. Sen and he asked them about their progress. None of them seemed satisfied. Tim had gained two kilos while Pumeet had lost one. The doctor seemed surprised. "Did you take the medicine regularly?" he enquired. "Of course” replied Tim "I took the powder every night and he took the syrup before every meal". The doctor, perplexed, looked down at the prescription, looked back up and said “You fools! The powder was meant for him, and the syrup for you!"