Sulakshana Clinic

Down on Sagaon Manpada Road in Dombivali East, you’ll find Sulakshana Clinic. It’s right in the middle of a very busy part of Manpada. The road outside is always packed with rickshaws and people heading to the station. I usually get here before the heat really kicks in. The clinic has a small reception area where the fan wobbles a bit if you turn it up to the fourth setting. We’ve got some wooden benches for people to sit on while they wait for their turn. It’s a bit cramped when more than three people show up at once. The walls are a pale blue, and I put up a calendar last year that I forgot to change for a few months. Most of the people who come in live in the nearby apartment buildings. We know a lot of them by name because they’ve been coming here for years. The back room where we see patients is small but kept as clean as possible. There’s a heavy smell of medicine and sometimes the scent of street food from the vendor who sits just outside the entrance. It’s a loud area, especially during the festival seasons, but we just keep the windows closed. I spend most of my day sitting at the small wooden desk checking the register. It’s a plain, honest place to work, and we don’t have any fancy decorations or soft music playing in the background.