Report of 16 Feb 2011
Hello from Chennai!
Exams are on us. Navin started practical exams this week, and then theory will go on until 22 March. He will be one of the first to finish; those who have taken arts go on until the 31st. The school will then host a farewell, where the kids speak about their experiences. It's very cool to hear all the kids, and just as in Naren's class, there are several in Navin's class (which is universally considered a weird class) I really like.
My cousin, Dhanu, phoned last week. He has a coffee estate in Coorg, like other Coorgi cousins, and must be doc/vet/counsellor/taskmaster. He narrated the symptoms of one of his workers, and asked if it could be amoebiasis, which Dhanu himself has had. I said it could be, and affirmed the medicine, which was the same one Dhanu had taken; yesterday's text on my cell phone said the labourer was better thanks to me. I told Dhanu he had diagnosed and prescribed the med, and I had little to do.
My father used to come with us to Coorg on summer vacations, and drop us there and return after 2 days' stay. In that time, he and my Uncle (then the owner of the estate and now his son, Dhanu, is) would sit on the verandah, and all the laborers would line up and narrate their symptoms. My father would prescribe the meds, and then label his stash of samples and hand it over to my Uncle, who was very sharp. It was a memorable time, and quite often, the laborers would wait for the non-Coorgi doctor (my father is from Tamil Nadu) as they thought he had kai raasi - a lucky hand, i.e., curative powers.
The Banyan has been well and I get calls regularly about blood tests and such. The health care workers (hcw's - impoverished young women from villages around who come to work for us) are getting very savvy about treating the patients, and I am extremely pleased. At one point, a horde of nursing students had visited, and one of them asked me why I worked at the B; in addition to the obvious, taking care of the destitute and feeling singled out for this blessing, I said I loved watching the hcw's blossom with medical knowledge. It is a treat watching them figure out symptoms, illnesses and treatments for themselves when I teach them, and their list of causes of abdominal pain (or "differential diagnosis" in medical parlance) was impressive.
My sister, Anu, and her family were here on Sunday for a quick breakfast with us and that was grand fun. Our dining table is quite small, but all 8 of us squeezed around it and ate junk - chocolate and pastries - along with some healthy stuff. There was plenty of laughter and that sustained me for the rest of the day. We saw the play "Dirty Dancing" (based on the movie) and enjoyed it, but for the very risque dancing that the prude in me did not want young Indians doing. :)
The anniversary of my mother's passing is 22 Feb, and I miss her. I look at my sons talking and sharing with me, and Scott's unparalleled sense of humor causing all of us to laugh, and think of how much my mother loved all of us - especially Scott, whom she veritably adored.
Unw -
R
Exams are on us. Navin started practical exams this week, and then theory will go on until 22 March. He will be one of the first to finish; those who have taken arts go on until the 31st. The school will then host a farewell, where the kids speak about their experiences. It's very cool to hear all the kids, and just as in Naren's class, there are several in Navin's class (which is universally considered a weird class) I really like.
My cousin, Dhanu, phoned last week. He has a coffee estate in Coorg, like other Coorgi cousins, and must be doc/vet/counsellor/taskmaster. He narrated the symptoms of one of his workers, and asked if it could be amoebiasis, which Dhanu himself has had. I said it could be, and affirmed the medicine, which was the same one Dhanu had taken; yesterday's text on my cell phone said the labourer was better thanks to me. I told Dhanu he had diagnosed and prescribed the med, and I had little to do.
My father used to come with us to Coorg on summer vacations, and drop us there and return after 2 days' stay. In that time, he and my Uncle (then the owner of the estate and now his son, Dhanu, is) would sit on the verandah, and all the laborers would line up and narrate their symptoms. My father would prescribe the meds, and then label his stash of samples and hand it over to my Uncle, who was very sharp. It was a memorable time, and quite often, the laborers would wait for the non-Coorgi doctor (my father is from Tamil Nadu) as they thought he had kai raasi - a lucky hand, i.e., curative powers.
The Banyan has been well and I get calls regularly about blood tests and such. The health care workers (hcw's - impoverished young women from villages around who come to work for us) are getting very savvy about treating the patients, and I am extremely pleased. At one point, a horde of nursing students had visited, and one of them asked me why I worked at the B; in addition to the obvious, taking care of the destitute and feeling singled out for this blessing, I said I loved watching the hcw's blossom with medical knowledge. It is a treat watching them figure out symptoms, illnesses and treatments for themselves when I teach them, and their list of causes of abdominal pain (or "differential diagnosis" in medical parlance) was impressive.
My sister, Anu, and her family were here on Sunday for a quick breakfast with us and that was grand fun. Our dining table is quite small, but all 8 of us squeezed around it and ate junk - chocolate and pastries - along with some healthy stuff. There was plenty of laughter and that sustained me for the rest of the day. We saw the play "Dirty Dancing" (based on the movie) and enjoyed it, but for the very risque dancing that the prude in me did not want young Indians doing. :)
The anniversary of my mother's passing is 22 Feb, and I miss her. I look at my sons talking and sharing with me, and Scott's unparalleled sense of humor causing all of us to laugh, and think of how much my mother loved all of us - especially Scott, whom she veritably adored.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
5:49 AM
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