The quest

Moving from room 3, to room 7, to a different building, to yet another building, to a counter, to the nurse, to the shot. Moving on to a new jab quest, at a different Indian city, at an unknown hospital with its own mysterious protocol. And the wheel of my weekly rabies shots spins on...
The wheel stops. I have to pretend not to be terrified of injections to give courage to the congregation of small children who share my destiny, and who are staring at me with a mixture of fascination and hope. I play the roll the best way I can. Take the shot and the lolly pop. Share a couple of 'it was not bad at all' smiles with the crowd and walk a few meters to agonise out of sight.
Another spin. I join a room full of patients surrounding the only doctor in town. He is sitting at a form-infested desk, preforming consultations in front of us all. Once he is done with a patient, he fishes for a new name in the sea of paper. Someone is called, a new patient materialises in front of the desk, and the doctor carries on with his job. I waited a long time to hear my name. I waited a long time for that shot.
The cycle continues at a town on strike. Businesses and shops are closed. The crowds are at home and with no pharmacy or heath centre open, the idea of my rabies taking control of me starts curling in my mind. I wander the empty streets looking for hope, and I find him. He was on the way to the temple, holding some flowers in his hands, when I approached. I am in luck. Listening to my call for help, he postpones his prayers and guides me through the ghostly streets. His presence opens the gates of what seems to be a closed hospital, and his handshake gets my prescription into the doctor's hand. The wheel spins again...
No matter where I was, no matter who administered the shot, my rabies shot quest was more than an adventure within my trip, it was a journey into the human soul; full of kindness and the will to help. An experience that awoke in me the most beautiful feeling: we are one.