Doctor's den: Some intimate stories

'Doctor's den' is a collection of short stories that revolve around lives and loves of doctors, and the call of the profession, and vividly describe social and emotional situations. The work has potential to transport you to the inner world of doctors. It lets you experience their joys and sorrows, their strengths and shortcomings, their goals and aspirations, in short, their things. Each story is a different tale and encompasses altogether a different world. You read a story, finish it but the experience lingers. You still want to know what is happening in these people's lives later.

In 'To doctor with love', a young woman is portrayed who is afraid of marrying a doctor, as she has seen closely her parents' life, yet she discovers love and marries a doctor. 'It's about life, honey' is a hilarious comedy albeit describes the loneliness of a doctor's wife. In the lead story, 'Doctor's den' the narrator Padma and her husband discover through the suspense but are saddened in the end. In 'Critical affairs' you come face to face with a sentimental and caring doctor. The author's best in the collection and close to heart, 'The enigma called life' may seem an inspiring tale, and the characters, Suhit and Nidhi, may stay for long in your memory. The stories 'The enigma called life' and 'A long autumn' are seriously intimate, and akin to Shakespearean tragedies. In 'Encounter of a fourth kind' Neelima finds it embarrassing when her friends call her husband a home-boy, but she soon discovers the better side of it.

'Seventh sense' tells you in short what a woman wants, whereas 'Decent proposal' depicts the stressful life of a busy proposal' depicts the stressful life of a busy doctor's wife. In 'The placebo effect' a meeting of CDWC, City Doctors' Wives' Club, is portrayed which appears to be a social event intended to allow the women to commiserate about and compare their lives. Ms. Dhwani expresses her concerns about her marriage but is suddenly reassured by a simple phone call from her husband. 'Matters of heart' relates to the working of another organization, the Secret Service in Self Interest or SSS. The narrator, Gori, is informed by the SSS of her husband's extra-marital affair, and she turns to her trusted friend, Nita, first for confirmation and advice. The other two stories '93, Banjara Hills' and 'Point Two Crossing' attempt to teach various lessons of life.

The collection aims to entertain all through, unfolding the intimate details from the lives of persons no different from your own caring physicians, something in the stories may touch heart yet underlines the futility of life and leaves you sad in the end. Perhaps it has been designed on purpose, for a grief is more powerful affectation than joy, a sad face and a tearful eye stay for longer than a smiling face in your eye stay for longer than a smiling face in your memory cells. In short, 'Doctor's den' is designed to offer lightly satirical commentary on the social mores that might be associated with upper class families, and the author's attention to character details and motivation further enhance the appeal for his work.

All through our life, it is for perfection we try. The struggle may benefit us materially, but we lose on many grounds. The personal and family life suffers. The daily struggle, long working hours, caring for those who are critically ill, and the very nature of the job blunts the feelings and finer emotions. A doctor's life is a gross imbalance in operation. Dealing with ill patients puts a great strain reflected in various personal relations with the wife and loved ones. The latter may complain or suffer or may not complain and suffer. The stories in the book depict these situations, and the underlying idea behind the work is what a storyteller wants entertaining the readers. Further, the stories are a work of fiction and any kind of resemblance with the real-life situations and persons may