Reflections during Covid-19 lockdown: A poetry diary
Professor Rajan Madhok was born in Delhi, India, in 1954. He moved to the UK to complete his medical training and become a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow), though intending to return to India after qualifying. However, he discovered his passion for the NHS and stayed in the UK working first as an orthopaedic surgeon and later switching into public health. His role saw him working across the UK – starting his training first in Shetland – partly because he didn’t know where it was! Over the years, he has held increasingly senior leadership positions in the NHS and when he retired he was Medical Director of NHS Manchester.
Rajan joined the NHS at 70 project as a volunteer interviewer, bringing his expertise and knowledge to recording oral histories of public health professionals across the UK. In April 2020, Rajan had planned a trip to the Shetland Isles, which would have seen him return to his first port of call when working in the UK, to record stories for our archive of NHS history. The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily halted this!
For Rajan and his fellow writing group, poetry has been a way to document, navigate and make sense of their experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are delighted to share here Reflections during COVID 19 lockdown: A poetry diary by Rajan Madhok and friends.
Not everything is cancelled
The sun is not cancelled
indeed it is shining brightly
Reading is not cancelled
indeed more enjoyable
Smiling is not cancelled
indeed even if you tried
as one reads the poems
sent by fellow poetry lovers
full of fun, life, celebration
during our virtual session
each sitting in own garden
savouring poems, weather, friendship
Hope is definitely not cancelled
made of sterner stuff
we will overcome this too
and soon....
Rajan, pictured in the hills walking the dog during lockdown, 2020.
Listen to Rajan introduce the Covid-19 anthology and read a selection of his poetry here.
Discover the complete poetry collection here: https://www.nhs70.org.uk/documents/706
Share
