Report of 28 Aug 2005
Hello from Chennai -
I just finished some delicious vegetable biryani (pilaf) made by our cook and am awaiting the start of a women's meeting here at our complex. Figured I'd write to you all before then.
Thank you very much for the suggestions sent to deal w/ Naren's rebellion and his underprioritizing academic success. The recurring theme I read was, "Don't back off tho' this stage is tough." Naren's behavior has improved and I noticed him paying rapt attention to the speaker at their school's Independence Day celebs (she was very good) while the rest of his class socialised. It remains to be seen how his grades turn out. I have had long talks w/ Naren and emphasised that academic success is a must anywhere, along w/ being a nice person and getting along w/ others, that the child who was in the honor roll in all his classes in the U.S. really does not have substandard intellect. At least one great friend urged constant communication, and there's not a worry about that w/ Naren: he has told us confidences he has not told his friends yet. He sent us an email just before I left the U.S. telling us how happy he was that we were his parents and that he could talk to us about anything, that not a lot of his friends had that relationship w/ their parents.
The Banyan is great, as always. We have a patient, SV, who had been critically ill w/ multi-organ failure who came back to good health thanks to the docs at Sundaram Medical Foundation; this endeavor cost the Banyan 500,000 bucks. The nephrologist there, Dr. Suresh, trained in the U.S. and is a great favorite of mine. He treats our patients well and is very personable and diligent, and his wife is a lovely lady. We have socialised w/ them, too, and enjoyed it. Anyway, SV is now exhibiting behavioral tendencies like flinging her food across the room and sneaking bananas when she should not; Suresh and I decided the medical issues must be over if the psychiatric issues are flying to the fore. SV has a crush on one of our psychiatrists and I have told the nurse she must see him daily; nothing like a little boost in her spirits to take her mind off misbehaving. The nurse, Leela, enjoys SV's tantrums; I do not, I think because I know the effort it took to bring her back to health, all of which can be jeopardised by overdosing on salt or bananas.
The Banyan's fundraiser, the star glitterati event, was rained out. The sets have incurred massive damage and the event is postponed. Banyan folks are hoping insurance will reimburse for the damage, let's see. After our family's things were stolen in the move and the insurance company denied the claim though all procedures were followed, I have little faith in insurance companies; however, perhaps someone will come through for the Banyan.
Tutoring is fine. A core group comes regularly. This Friday was actually a holiday for many schools as it was Krishna's birthday, but these kids came to be tutored anyway instead of blowing the whole day off. I was humbled. We were short of tutors and I ended up tutoring; my student had to learn an English poem and we went over pronounciation which is a bit of a challenge as Tamil does not have the sounds "F," "Sh," and "Sw." It was fun anyway, and the kids got lollipops at the end courtesy the tellers at our bank in Indianapolis. The poverty of these kids is staggering, as is their desire to learn.
As I was sitting around feeling worthless, a friend's mother came to visit and chatted about her recent health issues; she is a great lady and a friend to all of us, which is a testimony to her goodness that she can get along w/ all ages. As it turns out, she has had a heart attack and no one told her. So I directed treatment. Another great friend of the fam, who is 89 and lives near us, had a touch of heart failure and I treated him along w/ his doctor; he is recovering nicely and this is a boost to my spirits more than any expressed gratitude. My patients at the vegetable market are also in good health and take very good care of me on my visits, even putting new employees in their place as they give me lip. This is a good place to be, and a fine profession to be in.
We read w/ interest that Pat Robertson, the evangelist, has recommended the assassination of Hugo Chavez. Ludicrous that a religious figure in the U.S. would actively advocate assassination.
"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." - Jonathan Swift
Until next week -
Renu
I just finished some delicious vegetable biryani (pilaf) made by our cook and am awaiting the start of a women's meeting here at our complex. Figured I'd write to you all before then.
Thank you very much for the suggestions sent to deal w/ Naren's rebellion and his underprioritizing academic success. The recurring theme I read was, "Don't back off tho' this stage is tough." Naren's behavior has improved and I noticed him paying rapt attention to the speaker at their school's Independence Day celebs (she was very good) while the rest of his class socialised. It remains to be seen how his grades turn out. I have had long talks w/ Naren and emphasised that academic success is a must anywhere, along w/ being a nice person and getting along w/ others, that the child who was in the honor roll in all his classes in the U.S. really does not have substandard intellect. At least one great friend urged constant communication, and there's not a worry about that w/ Naren: he has told us confidences he has not told his friends yet. He sent us an email just before I left the U.S. telling us how happy he was that we were his parents and that he could talk to us about anything, that not a lot of his friends had that relationship w/ their parents.
The Banyan is great, as always. We have a patient, SV, who had been critically ill w/ multi-organ failure who came back to good health thanks to the docs at Sundaram Medical Foundation; this endeavor cost the Banyan 500,000 bucks. The nephrologist there, Dr. Suresh, trained in the U.S. and is a great favorite of mine. He treats our patients well and is very personable and diligent, and his wife is a lovely lady. We have socialised w/ them, too, and enjoyed it. Anyway, SV is now exhibiting behavioral tendencies like flinging her food across the room and sneaking bananas when she should not; Suresh and I decided the medical issues must be over if the psychiatric issues are flying to the fore. SV has a crush on one of our psychiatrists and I have told the nurse she must see him daily; nothing like a little boost in her spirits to take her mind off misbehaving. The nurse, Leela, enjoys SV's tantrums; I do not, I think because I know the effort it took to bring her back to health, all of which can be jeopardised by overdosing on salt or bananas.
The Banyan's fundraiser, the star glitterati event, was rained out. The sets have incurred massive damage and the event is postponed. Banyan folks are hoping insurance will reimburse for the damage, let's see. After our family's things were stolen in the move and the insurance company denied the claim though all procedures were followed, I have little faith in insurance companies; however, perhaps someone will come through for the Banyan.
Tutoring is fine. A core group comes regularly. This Friday was actually a holiday for many schools as it was Krishna's birthday, but these kids came to be tutored anyway instead of blowing the whole day off. I was humbled. We were short of tutors and I ended up tutoring; my student had to learn an English poem and we went over pronounciation which is a bit of a challenge as Tamil does not have the sounds "F," "Sh," and "Sw." It was fun anyway, and the kids got lollipops at the end courtesy the tellers at our bank in Indianapolis. The poverty of these kids is staggering, as is their desire to learn.
As I was sitting around feeling worthless, a friend's mother came to visit and chatted about her recent health issues; she is a great lady and a friend to all of us, which is a testimony to her goodness that she can get along w/ all ages. As it turns out, she has had a heart attack and no one told her. So I directed treatment. Another great friend of the fam, who is 89 and lives near us, had a touch of heart failure and I treated him along w/ his doctor; he is recovering nicely and this is a boost to my spirits more than any expressed gratitude. My patients at the vegetable market are also in good health and take very good care of me on my visits, even putting new employees in their place as they give me lip. This is a good place to be, and a fine profession to be in.
We read w/ interest that Pat Robertson, the evangelist, has recommended the assassination of Hugo Chavez. Ludicrous that a religious figure in the U.S. would actively advocate assassination.
"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." - Jonathan Swift
Until next week -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
8:26 PM
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