dr bhaga manga, ms and dr mhera mohan, frcs

with bamboo baskets on head
and hoes in hand,
dr bhaga manga, ms
and dr mhera mohan, frcs
lifted open the lid of an overflowing man-hole
and slipped into the nether-land.

without any gloves or gumboots,
apron or oxygen- cylinder,
first-aid-box or thirst-aid-box,
scalpel or stethoscope.
they prove more brilliant and competent
than the B J Medico boys.

expert in art
and skilled in science
the real Schweitzerian tribe -
acting upon the every letter of Hippocrates.

very simple docs indeed!
municipality supplies
a pair of blue shorts of khaddar
and a half-sleeve, ash-coloured tennis-shirt.
just like the Harijan-volunteers of yesteryears.

hogs graze upon the earth
or lick the excreta
and dr bhaga manga
and dr mhera mohan
deep down the earth mud-ball playfully !

this ahmedabad city
is a case of multiple malaise,
drinks daily dose of dialysis
thanks dr bhaga manga and dr mhera mohan -
they clear the cotton-wools
forgetfully flung by meritorious medicos
and the honourable citizens.

but the day is different today.
doctors diagnose a tumour :
a dead bud
of innocent love-making.
may be a nuisance to the virgin belly
or weightier than the world!

doctors decided for autopsy :
the rotten bundle issued forth
noxious gases in guffaws.
like miners
suffocating doctors sought for the SOS string.
but dr mana mehtar, ABZ in sanitation
the head of the dept of hygiene
dozzed under lattha influence
with the aristocratic air of dr vani or dr dani.

chain-smoker dr bhaga manga had wished to light a telephone bidi
as soon as he comes out.
but dr mhera mohan was a little romantic by instinct.
he had promised lakhdi to take her to a fillum :
jai bhathiji maharaj !

they did not obstruct
the system of the city -
smoothly floated out of drains
into the sewage farm of Sarkhej.
one frog-yellow,
one milk-white.
all cleansed and washed off !

hundreds and thousands of their children
clear and move about
the blind bowels of the gluttonous city.
they live and die,
die and live happily.