His heart in her hands...

Eerie it was, to see them huddled together around the table, shadows cast around, thanks to the tube lights above. A silence filled the room, broken only by the hum of the exhaust and punctuated sniffs. They shivered as the wind swept through; it was the beginning of winter 2005. Eyes welled up with tears (formalin can do that to you when the fumes are too intense and there’s always its taste; burning, at the back of your throat) they looked at each other; wondering who would start.

Finally, the girl at the head of the table donned her gloves and uncovered the body; one final time, as they’ve done many a times… the room erupted to the sound of chatter, as discussions started on the course of nerves and arteries and insertions of muscles.

It’s the end of the basic medical sciences and they were there to probe one last time before exams… the girl at the head of the table held his heart in her hands. It is hard to believe that it is the same heart that must have skipped a beat at the sight of a loved one, the same heart which had kept the blood pumping through his body, nourishing him, giving him life.

She silently said a thank you and a prayer for the man she and her friends had learned so much from. They had exposed his body layer by layer; the skin, fats and muscles and the viscera beneath. He’d been their silent companion who had taught them all the secrets the human body contained. Now it was time to say their final good byes, for it was time for him to go to his final resting place. May god have mercy on his soul...