Report of 28 Oct '07
Hello from rainy Chennai -
The monsoon (Northeast) is here, it has rained all day, Naren's school is closed tomorrow, and we haven't heard yet from Navin's, which has exams. Exams are kind of almighty and not easily postponed.
Our patient, Scott, is healing. It has been a challenge for me to not contaminate the wound when I am dressing it, as I am not a surgeon. The first day I was terrified of the procedure, but have since managed. The body is rather marvellous in that it will heal in spite of me. We have buffed up Scott's nutrition, too; he grew up not eating salad and fruit, and it has had to be forcibly introduced to his diet after marriage and now that he is not single in Bangalore any more. (For an all-day engineering certification exam once in his single days, his sustenance was 3 bags of chocolate.)
The Banyan is well. The new facility we have for the protected community ("PC" for short - those ladies who have no family to return to, or whose families have denied them) is by the seashore in Kovalam. We got an sms from Vaishnavi this morning that the cottages have massively leaked and the ladies are being evacuated, likely to the facility that I work at - Adaikalam. I am glad we have this option: there is nothing like dryness inside, esp for our destitute clientele, when all is wet outside. I have taken a month's leave to care for Scott, but am kept abreast of developments on the phone and can also call in medical management accordingly.
Tutoring is back! We tutored a young woman whose mother is a maid. The former is doing B.Sc. Maths in a local college and cannot comprehend her English lessons, so we went at it; she had an exam the next day. I am impressed at the tenacity of women who will educate their young, and at the perseverance of the young who want to be educated. At the end of the session, Ms. E melted our hearts - "I thought this would be so difficult, but it seems easy now." I shook her hand to wish her luck and she seemed taken aback: untouchability is alive and unwell in India.
Scott and I have had plenty of time to read (a recent jewel being Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things") and for philosophical discussions, esp on principles and such this week after another treat that I was promised went away. A professor at my med school suggested I suck up to wealthy donors and folks with resources, and I stated that there is a niche for those of us who will neither suck up nor grovel; granted it is taking care of the destitute, unlicensed and in a third world country, but Scott feels that I am happier with myself for not having compromised my principles and either sucking up or bribing someone. The licence would be nice, though; it's been 4 years since I applied for it, and not bribing someone means I have to sit in this limbo state. The money? - cherie, what can I say, my riches are at the dining table eating murukkus and arguing against an impending haircut. No TV, just plenty of reading and gabbing.
"Television: A medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well done." - Ernie Kovacs
Unw -
R
The monsoon (Northeast) is here, it has rained all day, Naren's school is closed tomorrow, and we haven't heard yet from Navin's, which has exams. Exams are kind of almighty and not easily postponed.
Our patient, Scott, is healing. It has been a challenge for me to not contaminate the wound when I am dressing it, as I am not a surgeon. The first day I was terrified of the procedure, but have since managed. The body is rather marvellous in that it will heal in spite of me. We have buffed up Scott's nutrition, too; he grew up not eating salad and fruit, and it has had to be forcibly introduced to his diet after marriage and now that he is not single in Bangalore any more. (For an all-day engineering certification exam once in his single days, his sustenance was 3 bags of chocolate.)
The Banyan is well. The new facility we have for the protected community ("PC" for short - those ladies who have no family to return to, or whose families have denied them) is by the seashore in Kovalam. We got an sms from Vaishnavi this morning that the cottages have massively leaked and the ladies are being evacuated, likely to the facility that I work at - Adaikalam. I am glad we have this option: there is nothing like dryness inside, esp for our destitute clientele, when all is wet outside. I have taken a month's leave to care for Scott, but am kept abreast of developments on the phone and can also call in medical management accordingly.
Tutoring is back! We tutored a young woman whose mother is a maid. The former is doing B.Sc. Maths in a local college and cannot comprehend her English lessons, so we went at it; she had an exam the next day. I am impressed at the tenacity of women who will educate their young, and at the perseverance of the young who want to be educated. At the end of the session, Ms. E melted our hearts - "I thought this would be so difficult, but it seems easy now." I shook her hand to wish her luck and she seemed taken aback: untouchability is alive and unwell in India.
Scott and I have had plenty of time to read (a recent jewel being Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things") and for philosophical discussions, esp on principles and such this week after another treat that I was promised went away. A professor at my med school suggested I suck up to wealthy donors and folks with resources, and I stated that there is a niche for those of us who will neither suck up nor grovel; granted it is taking care of the destitute, unlicensed and in a third world country, but Scott feels that I am happier with myself for not having compromised my principles and either sucking up or bribing someone. The licence would be nice, though; it's been 4 years since I applied for it, and not bribing someone means I have to sit in this limbo state. The money? - cherie, what can I say, my riches are at the dining table eating murukkus and arguing against an impending haircut. No TV, just plenty of reading and gabbing.
"Television: A medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well done." - Ernie Kovacs
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
3:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home