In this narrative, Dr. Shaurya Taran, recounts the time he did an observership in northern India where he was born. The Kullu Valley, as he says, is a place where mysticism runs as deep as the tree’s roots and where the sacred deodars were protectors of the people.Dr. Taran is a third-year internal medicine resident at the University of Toronto. His Humanities Encounters article is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. It is called "Between a hermitage and a hospital."To read the article: www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.180552-----------------------------------For more stories like this one, get your copy of CMAJ’s Encounters Book. This anthology of prose and poetry of some 100 Canadian authors including Drs. David Goldbloom, Shane Neilson, Allan Peterkin and Monica Kidd, has been specially curated and includes a study guide. https://shop.cma.ca/products/encounters-----------------------------------To request a transcript of this podcast, contact cmajgroup@cmaj.caSubscribe to CMAJ Podcasts on Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast app. You can also follow us directly on our SoundCloud page or you can visit www.cmaj.ca/page/multimedia/podcasts.