Report of 19 Jan '13
Good afternoon from Chennai!
Sun shining, clothes drying - you know the drill.
This week was full of holidays for Pongal, our harvest festival. This festival is often a bigger deal than Diwali, the festival of lights. Folks buy new clothes, and celebrate by cooking and eating a dish called pongal - with rice and butter and brown sugar, raisins and cashews. We do not usually make it in our house and sometimes get an offering from neighbors.
This was my week to work from home, as several patients would not have come to Kovalam, and several Adaikalam health care workers (hcw's) - whom I teach - would have gone home for the holiday. It was quite refreshing to work from here, read medical literature, answer queries, grope for funds - standard fare. In between, I fielded calls from work, many from Kovalam. One of the patients there ostensibly perenially complains that there is something wrong with her; one day, it was to say she had fever, and her temperature was checked and found normal. She took Tylenol/Paracetamol, and the young nurse called in a bit of a fit - that the temp was normal and the patient was self-medicating. I told her to let the patient take a Tylenol or 2 (relatively harmless, provided there were no liver issues and I knew of none in this patient) and I would deal with this issue when I got to work next. This patient has elected to stay at the Banyan as she does not like the person her offspring has married - or some such thing - and trying to accommodate her desires (as with everyone's) involves some give-and-take.
Due to several factors such as other meetings and holidays, the health care workers and I have not had classes together for a couple of weeks. The Texans taught a class and it was excellent. I like it when visitors teach; the hcw's soak it up, full of the enthusiasm and zeal that poverty has not squelched, and benefit (thus, so do our patients). I think next week we'll talk about intimacy issues; the days of no premarital sex are likely gone. They probably never existed in toto, anyway.
Rapes are being reported regularly now, and it is distressing. I rather like the notion of teaching young men not to rape, and hope the Banyan or other NGO will step into this effort.
Naren was home quite a bit, and had managed to procure several Oscar-nominated movies from friends. So, we watched a bunch and that was fun. The whole magnum opus issue with the awards - "Les Miserables," "Lincoln" getting nominated - did not quite jell with me, and I must say I quite enjoyed "Argo" (seen previously) and "Django unchained" and "Silver linings playbook." Jennifer Lawrence has consistently impressed me, from "Winter's Bone." I simply could not get into yet another Sally Field, or Anne Hathaway - impressive though they were, especially the latter - as I was in the mood for some flash and dash, and not bedsores with lengthy movies. Also, folks bursting into song are available aplenty in Indian flicks. Why Mr. Hardy was not nominated for "Lawless" is a tad incomprehensible; perhaps the movie was ill-timed, or too violent.
Yesterday, a very elegant new hotel here invited some corporate leaders for a meal. My friend Pushkala and her husband had been invited, but he did not want to go. She clarified with the hosts, and then invited me along. The meal was spectacular and the evening nice. I was actually in the mood to schmooze and met some fun people.
Scott is in the U.S. and Navin is busy this weekend with his fraternity, thus we have not Skyped. Naren is busy with music lessons. I got to talk to my Dad and that was fun; he is travelling to inaugurate some Plastic Surgery thing or the other, and staying busy - which is good.
Unw -
R
Sun shining, clothes drying - you know the drill.
This week was full of holidays for Pongal, our harvest festival. This festival is often a bigger deal than Diwali, the festival of lights. Folks buy new clothes, and celebrate by cooking and eating a dish called pongal - with rice and butter and brown sugar, raisins and cashews. We do not usually make it in our house and sometimes get an offering from neighbors.
This was my week to work from home, as several patients would not have come to Kovalam, and several Adaikalam health care workers (hcw's) - whom I teach - would have gone home for the holiday. It was quite refreshing to work from here, read medical literature, answer queries, grope for funds - standard fare. In between, I fielded calls from work, many from Kovalam. One of the patients there ostensibly perenially complains that there is something wrong with her; one day, it was to say she had fever, and her temperature was checked and found normal. She took Tylenol/Paracetamol, and the young nurse called in a bit of a fit - that the temp was normal and the patient was self-medicating. I told her to let the patient take a Tylenol or 2 (relatively harmless, provided there were no liver issues and I knew of none in this patient) and I would deal with this issue when I got to work next. This patient has elected to stay at the Banyan as she does not like the person her offspring has married - or some such thing - and trying to accommodate her desires (as with everyone's) involves some give-and-take.
Due to several factors such as other meetings and holidays, the health care workers and I have not had classes together for a couple of weeks. The Texans taught a class and it was excellent. I like it when visitors teach; the hcw's soak it up, full of the enthusiasm and zeal that poverty has not squelched, and benefit (thus, so do our patients). I think next week we'll talk about intimacy issues; the days of no premarital sex are likely gone. They probably never existed in toto, anyway.
Rapes are being reported regularly now, and it is distressing. I rather like the notion of teaching young men not to rape, and hope the Banyan or other NGO will step into this effort.
Naren was home quite a bit, and had managed to procure several Oscar-nominated movies from friends. So, we watched a bunch and that was fun. The whole magnum opus issue with the awards - "Les Miserables," "Lincoln" getting nominated - did not quite jell with me, and I must say I quite enjoyed "Argo" (seen previously) and "Django unchained" and "Silver linings playbook." Jennifer Lawrence has consistently impressed me, from "Winter's Bone." I simply could not get into yet another Sally Field, or Anne Hathaway - impressive though they were, especially the latter - as I was in the mood for some flash and dash, and not bedsores with lengthy movies. Also, folks bursting into song are available aplenty in Indian flicks. Why Mr. Hardy was not nominated for "Lawless" is a tad incomprehensible; perhaps the movie was ill-timed, or too violent.
Yesterday, a very elegant new hotel here invited some corporate leaders for a meal. My friend Pushkala and her husband had been invited, but he did not want to go. She clarified with the hosts, and then invited me along. The meal was spectacular and the evening nice. I was actually in the mood to schmooze and met some fun people.
Scott is in the U.S. and Navin is busy this weekend with his fraternity, thus we have not Skyped. Naren is busy with music lessons. I got to talk to my Dad and that was fun; he is travelling to inaugurate some Plastic Surgery thing or the other, and staying busy - which is good.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
2:25 AM
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