Report of 18 Nov '07
Hello from Chennai –
It is dark and the rains may yet come. A couple of days ago, the humidity was refreshingly and surprisingly low, and the day was gorgeous. Otherwise, Chennai is intensely humid and seems much hotter than it actually is.
Colleen and Mark Taber donated her old lap-top to me and I am loving it. Our old lap-top’s keys stick, which makes any work a challenge, and I like equipment that does what it’s supposed to. Same with people.
Scott is well, and returns to work tomorrow. As do I. In this intense concentration to get him well again, I was surprised to find that I had not given much thought to the Banyan. The 5 weeks away from there were probably a disruption to them, too, but kind souls that they are, they coped. Scott’s workplace was a bit different – I assume the frequent emails manifest concern somewhere, but it was also concern for the workload, I think. During residency training, it was unobtrusively and unspokenly made clear to us that should we take time off, someone else was going to bear our workload. Thusly, time off during months that we took care of the wards or ICU was strictly scheduled and adhered to, and I appreciated not having to cover for someone else unnecessarily.
I’ve had 1 or 2 patients here – our cook and maid, few others. The cook was reeling from backache; she works at 3 houses to make money and is on her feet for 5 hours at a stretch daily. She is also a tad overweight. I felt the incessant standing caused the pain and said so. On my first day of work in the cafeteria at the University of Dayton, I went to my dorm room after my 3-hour shift of washing dishes and fell straight asleep – it was that exhausting to stand the entire time and work. So I told our cook this, and she stated yesterday that on her 2 days off last week for Diwali, she did not have any pain at all. It’s pretty nice when one’s diagnosis is founded. The poor lady’s husband is apparently looking elsewhere for intimacy and she stated to me that this was fine with her, as she did not love him anyway and did not want to be bothered with the issue. Pragmatism rules, I imagine; easy for us to say “Dump the louse” but he is her husband and father of her children, and she has more than just her pride to think about at this time.
Tutoring is back! Our impoverished kids showed up, all having moved to the next grade, and because we requested the apartment Security to let them in. We did math and English, and then Scott taught the kids chess. They have taken to it easily, and Scott is always mighty thrilled that chess tournaments feature on the sports page here. The children are overcoming staggering odds to stay in school and spend the 1 hour with us happily. We gave them bubble solutions that Andrea brought, and jelly beans that Olivia sent, and all were happy – most especially us, because it is nice to give an unexpected treat to a child who is used to very, very little.
We spent the day at an event organized by Global Adjustments, a hugely successful firm which helps expats get used to Indian life. Scott and I have wanted to start a business to help prepare Indian professionals and others who go to the U.S. (you know, “Use deodorant, don’t cut in line, be on time” kind of advising), and asked the CEO (who is Indian) for ideas. Visiting Americans helped her set up the business 12 years ago, and have helped her tremendously, and I thought – in the true spirit of the American heart - that she would be happy to pass on the favor. Such an optimist. She stated that she would encourage a partnership, not anything else. I tell you, I’ve hung out in the NGO (non-Government organization, non-profit) world for too long, and this was an eye-opener: many people out in the world are usually in life for themselves, regardless of how successful and wealthy they are. I was rocked to my core, but good that I learnt this lesson at the start of our business planning. Scott states that this conversation did not surprise him at all, proving who is the bigger realist among the 2 of us.
All entrepreneurs out there, please do email us your life’s lessons well-learned.
“Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.” – Gore Vidal
Unw –
R
It is dark and the rains may yet come. A couple of days ago, the humidity was refreshingly and surprisingly low, and the day was gorgeous. Otherwise, Chennai is intensely humid and seems much hotter than it actually is.
Colleen and Mark Taber donated her old lap-top to me and I am loving it. Our old lap-top’s keys stick, which makes any work a challenge, and I like equipment that does what it’s supposed to. Same with people.
Scott is well, and returns to work tomorrow. As do I. In this intense concentration to get him well again, I was surprised to find that I had not given much thought to the Banyan. The 5 weeks away from there were probably a disruption to them, too, but kind souls that they are, they coped. Scott’s workplace was a bit different – I assume the frequent emails manifest concern somewhere, but it was also concern for the workload, I think. During residency training, it was unobtrusively and unspokenly made clear to us that should we take time off, someone else was going to bear our workload. Thusly, time off during months that we took care of the wards or ICU was strictly scheduled and adhered to, and I appreciated not having to cover for someone else unnecessarily.
I’ve had 1 or 2 patients here – our cook and maid, few others. The cook was reeling from backache; she works at 3 houses to make money and is on her feet for 5 hours at a stretch daily. She is also a tad overweight. I felt the incessant standing caused the pain and said so. On my first day of work in the cafeteria at the University of Dayton, I went to my dorm room after my 3-hour shift of washing dishes and fell straight asleep – it was that exhausting to stand the entire time and work. So I told our cook this, and she stated yesterday that on her 2 days off last week for Diwali, she did not have any pain at all. It’s pretty nice when one’s diagnosis is founded. The poor lady’s husband is apparently looking elsewhere for intimacy and she stated to me that this was fine with her, as she did not love him anyway and did not want to be bothered with the issue. Pragmatism rules, I imagine; easy for us to say “Dump the louse” but he is her husband and father of her children, and she has more than just her pride to think about at this time.
Tutoring is back! Our impoverished kids showed up, all having moved to the next grade, and because we requested the apartment Security to let them in. We did math and English, and then Scott taught the kids chess. They have taken to it easily, and Scott is always mighty thrilled that chess tournaments feature on the sports page here. The children are overcoming staggering odds to stay in school and spend the 1 hour with us happily. We gave them bubble solutions that Andrea brought, and jelly beans that Olivia sent, and all were happy – most especially us, because it is nice to give an unexpected treat to a child who is used to very, very little.
We spent the day at an event organized by Global Adjustments, a hugely successful firm which helps expats get used to Indian life. Scott and I have wanted to start a business to help prepare Indian professionals and others who go to the U.S. (you know, “Use deodorant, don’t cut in line, be on time” kind of advising), and asked the CEO (who is Indian) for ideas. Visiting Americans helped her set up the business 12 years ago, and have helped her tremendously, and I thought – in the true spirit of the American heart - that she would be happy to pass on the favor. Such an optimist. She stated that she would encourage a partnership, not anything else. I tell you, I’ve hung out in the NGO (non-Government organization, non-profit) world for too long, and this was an eye-opener: many people out in the world are usually in life for themselves, regardless of how successful and wealthy they are. I was rocked to my core, but good that I learnt this lesson at the start of our business planning. Scott states that this conversation did not surprise him at all, proving who is the bigger realist among the 2 of us.
All entrepreneurs out there, please do email us your life’s lessons well-learned.
“Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.” – Gore Vidal
Unw –
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
5:54 AM
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