Month: September 2020

Medical practice today.

Today’s topic has been suggested by Padmini who apparently has been inspired by this image doing the rounds in social media.

I have little to add to what the good doctor has to say but, let me share a personal story that my readers have already read earlier here.

Let me share another story that I have never shared publicly before.

During surgery for a revision to one of my replaced hip joints I collapsed and had to be revived and looked after in an ICU for a few days post surgery. This was in one of Pune’s renown hospitals and I recovered quite satisfactorily. When the bill was presented before discharge however, I was shocked to see items that should not have been there at all. I refused to pay and when told that I would not be discharged if I did not, I volunteered to stay on there indefinitely. I informed my surgeon about this who too was appalled at this and had to intervene with the hospital’s management to get those items removed and a fresh bill prepared. In all fairness to the surgeon he did not let me down and for my next revision, he operated in another hospital where I received excellent care, and more importantly no attempts at ripping me off took place.

These two stories show both sides of the divide. The money making non caring side of one set of people involved in medicine and the the caring and ethical behaviour of another set of people in the same business.

Unfortunately, the non caring money making side of medical practice today seems to be more prevalent now than the latter.

Having said that however, I must admit that I am blessed in that I have excellent medical resources, two within my immediate family, one GP who is also a personal friend, an amazing Psychiatrist who too has now become a friend and the orthopaedic surgeon mentioned in both the stories to whom I free access whenever I need. Thanks to these wonderful people in my life, I have not been led up the garden path except for the two occasions mentioned above and now I am confident that with these resources batting for me, I will escape future rip offs.

Sadly, most of us do not have such resources and will face unprincipled behaviour from the practice and that is sad.

This is my take on this week’s Friday 8 On 1 blog post topic. The other seven bloggers who write on the same topic every Friday are Maria. Sanjana, Padmum,  Raju, Shackman , Srinivas and Conrad.  This week’s topic was suggested by Padmum. Please do go over to their respective blogs to see what they have to say on the topic. Thank you.

The School Bell.

I suppose that this should really be called a gong but, this is actually a bell similar to the one used in this post.

For the past thirty years, if I over sleep, at 5.00 am, I am woken up by this bell ringing ten times. I can’t think of even one day when it did not.

My home lies directly across from a boarding school. The school existed much before our neighbourhood was colonised and residential homes came along and has a tradition going back to more than five decades. When we first moved in, we could see the buildings and the play ground as there was no wall around it as it does now. As more buildings came up around the area, the school put up a wall and on my advice to prevent drug pushers selling drugs over the wall to students, raised further by corrugated sheets. This has prevented us seeing the children play there but, at least, we are sure that corrupting influences do not operate from our side of the wall.

The bell is rung to wake up the boarders but is rung even when the school is shut down for vacations. Many years ago, I had strolled across to the Principal to ask why the bell rang even during vacations and he said that though most of the students would have gone home for the vacations a few would remain whose parents were overseas or to attend extra classes to catch up with the curricula that they would have not been able to during the regular classes. Made sense to me.

Apparently, some neighbours complained about the bell in the mornings and even tried to get a legal stay order but on finding out that the practice has been going on for much longer than the complainants moving in into the locality, the matter was dropped as other residents in the area actually welcomed the bell as it helped them either wake up themselves or their school going children.

This morning when I heard it, I was reminded of how even during the current lockdown the watchman of the hostel meticulously rings the bell every morning at exactly 5.00 am. I am in awe that he never over sleeps!

This post will be incomplete without one of my favourite poems.

For Whom The Bell Tolls.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

~ John Donne.

Considering the background that I have given in this post, I would however alter the poem to fit the context.

For Whom The Bell Rings.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s awakening enhances me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell rings,
It rings for thee.

What’s The Fuss All About?

What the fuss was all about in my case was maintaining my long hair and beard  as,  my  regular  hair  cutting  saloon  was  closed  due  to  the  lockdown.   

The next big fuss was about getting assurance that I could visit the saloon and be safe now that, they had reopened.   So, I pestered my son and heir to go, inspect, ensure and report back about the hygiene at the salon and the precautions that they take to prevent spreading of the virus.

The next big fuss was to get ready mentally to take the risk despite the assurances received.  The discomfort of the long hair and beard finally persuaded me to take the leap of faith and go.

The next big fuss was all from the lads at the saloon.  They were delighted to see me after such a long time and ooed and  aaed about my hirsute splendour and tried to persuade me to shape both rather than revert to my earlier version of short crop for both.  Finally, with much reluctance, my choice prevailed and you can see the result below.

Lest my readers think that the fuss that I experienced was so great, here is what Stevie Wonder has to say about it.

If I’m caught at a dance party without my dancing shoes
And everybody dances on my bare feet
Shame on me
If I’m minding my business just doing the right thing
And you try to front me off in the street
Shame on you
If a family’s waiting for that special blessing to
Come their way
But they ain’t trying to get on their knees and pray
Shame on them
And if we live in a time where every nation’s fighting
Around the world
Yet we can’t all agree that peace is the way
Shame on us
Shame on me, shame on you, shame on them, shame on us
Shame on me, shame on you, shame on them, shame on us
So what the fuss
If I gotta get up early in the morning for a job
Interview
And I forget to set the stupid alarm
Shame on me
If my children are playing outside like little children do
And…

This is my take on this week’s Friday 8 On 1 blog post topic. The other seven bloggers who write on the same topic every Friday are Maria. Sanjana, Padmum,  Raju, Shackman , Srinivas and Conrad.  This week’s topic was suggested by Maria. Please do go over to their respective blogs to see what they have to say on the topic. Thank you.

Professionalism.

In my last post on Earworm, PR has left this comment. “Beautiful song…first time I’m hearing this…the next song on the list Yeh Moh moh ke dhaage is my favourite.” The following clip will show why that song is her favourite.

This post however, is not to popularise that song but to talk about a remarkable actress Bhumi Pednekar. She is the actress in the clip and played the role of an overweight wife in a remarkable family drama called Dum Laga ke Haisha.

I admire her acting ability and have not missed any of the movies in which she has acted. In Dum Laga Ke Haisha particularly, to play the part, she deliberately put on weight and then to become her normal svelte self, went on a diet and exercise regime to lose it. What professionalism!

The lyrics of the song in the background is a love song full of longing and love for the man. It loses its power in translation but, for those interested, the song translates into English as follows:

These strings of attachment,
have got entangled in your fingers
I seem to get no clue,
how to untie these knots..
Every cell in my body is a musical instrument,
that passes through the clouds..

You must be a little mad, to have chosen me..
how, how did you listen to everything that was unsaid?

You are day, I am night.
come let’s meet like they both meet in the evening..

This heart wasn’t so carefree earlier..
letters seem to have found
a new address..
this heart wasn’t so carefree earlier..

On the empty street, I walk with my eyes closed,
I’ll reach at least somewhere even if for no reason..

One Thing Leads To Another.

In Tamil, my mother tongue, “Chinna Veedu” literally means “small house” implying a mistress kept in a smaller house by a rich man whose bigger house was for his official wife and family. A movie was also made with the same title some years ago which was a bit hit in Tamil Nadu.

I was teasing a friend of mine about his current work style of working only four days a week due to the restrictions due to Covid by asking him if he had established a “Chinna Veedu”. After fielding that effectively, he told me of a story about a mutual friend that I had not known so far.

This mutual friend was a wealthy wholesaler in Mumbai with two children, one a son and the other, younger, a daughter. The son joined his father’s business after his college education and the daughter, after acquiring an MBA, started to work for a very big business man in Mumbai in his office in the Finance department.

As, it is normal in such families, the parents indulged her as it was only for a short while as she was expected to get married into another business family as is the custom in their community. When she was 24, the parents found a very nice match for her and got her married in a typically lavish Indian wedding ceremony.

Just after a few months, the daughter returned to her parent’s home complaining that her husband was impotent and that she wanted a divorce. Her parents, devastated confronted the groom’s family and the truth finally came out.

There was nothing wrong with the groom but, the daughter was in an affair with her boss who had asked her to get married to please the parents but to get a divorce after a while on the promise that he too would get a divorce from his current wife and marry her. The girl is 24 and the boss 50 years old.

Finally, all issues were sorted out and both parties went through the divorces and before they could get married however, our mutual friend had a massive heart attack and died just a few months ago at the age of 60.

I did not know about this story as I have been out of touch with most of my former business associates that I knew during my working days and this news and story came as a total surprise and shock to me as I knew the girl and her family rather well and had a very amicable relationship with them over many years.

What as story to start my Sunday off with! Have you come across anything like this in your circles?