Report of 14 Jan 2018
Well, time flies, doesn't it.
I had blogged on New Year's Day, and before you know it, here we are 2 weeks later.
Happy Pongal! It is the harvest festival today, and we have eaten the customary sweet rice - with jaggery, raisins and cashews - and I have eaten at least 2 sticks of sugarcane. We hope farmers the world over have a bountiful harvest.
Naren left on 2 Jan, and Navin spent that week vegging and hanging with friends. My sister and her family came to town, we met them at a local restaurant. Then, Navin and I went to Mysore and Coorg. Coorg is a hill station, my mother was from there. There was speculation that the Coorgs were descended from Greeks (when Alexander the Great made it to India), and that has since been disproven, apparently. The Coorgis (or Kodavas) are a good-looking people. Coffee is grown in Coorg and a whole lot besides - rice, pepper, cardamom. Oranges and guavas grow wild. It is a pretty place. Navin and I visited relatives, he touched feet before leaving; he will start a new job soon and must take everyone's blessings. We spent the night in Mysore, first having dinner with my cousin Nandu and his family, including his son Ashwin, who has special needs. Ashwin is unfailingly happy to see my sons and we had a rollicking good time. We stayed with my aunt, Chitra, who made a phenomenal breakfast the next morning and took us out for lunch. Then Navin and I took a comfortable day train back to Chennai.
Work has been good. I had not been at Kovalam's Monday clinic for 3 weeks - from 18 Dec to 8 Jan - and had let all the patients know I would not be there on 25/12 and 1/1. Otherwise, I would have heard about it from them. No one is particularly bashful about berating the doctor here, and I like it. We saw hordes of patients, including one poor lady who's had a stroke and was accompanied by her 9 year old son. I asked why the son was out of school and both said it was because he had to accompany her to the doctor. The Nalam worker - a community/village worker, part of a program made possible by Grand Challenges, Canada - was contacted and we made arrangements for someone to check on the patient + accompany her to appointments so that the 9 year old did not have to be primary caregiver.
Private practice is also therapeutic. We had a fair number of patients last week, and a memorable one was a 16 year old who had attempted self-harm. On probing, it turns out that she and siblings are here working, her parents have died and her Grandmother back in the village raised this family. My heart was yanked out of my chest: when my sons were teenagers, their interests were appropriately video games and such, and here was a teenager, working to support herself and her family. I referred her to the Banyan and the case manager is following up. There is nothing like knowing there is a little support for the patient and family to feel a bit stronger.
Naren is well and has company. Scott and I returned to work 2 weeks ago. Family Day will soon be celebrated at the Banyan - with biryani and fruit and chocolate, and games and carnival rides for the children of the staff. It is nice to be at the providing end of this equation.
What have I accomplished in my time in the world - educated some women enough to be of nursing caliber, treated some patients, married a fun young man whom my family loves, bred 2 children who will hopefully never turn their backs on someone in need, and danced and written. It has been a good life.
Unw -
R
I had blogged on New Year's Day, and before you know it, here we are 2 weeks later.
Happy Pongal! It is the harvest festival today, and we have eaten the customary sweet rice - with jaggery, raisins and cashews - and I have eaten at least 2 sticks of sugarcane. We hope farmers the world over have a bountiful harvest.
Naren left on 2 Jan, and Navin spent that week vegging and hanging with friends. My sister and her family came to town, we met them at a local restaurant. Then, Navin and I went to Mysore and Coorg. Coorg is a hill station, my mother was from there. There was speculation that the Coorgs were descended from Greeks (when Alexander the Great made it to India), and that has since been disproven, apparently. The Coorgis (or Kodavas) are a good-looking people. Coffee is grown in Coorg and a whole lot besides - rice, pepper, cardamom. Oranges and guavas grow wild. It is a pretty place. Navin and I visited relatives, he touched feet before leaving; he will start a new job soon and must take everyone's blessings. We spent the night in Mysore, first having dinner with my cousin Nandu and his family, including his son Ashwin, who has special needs. Ashwin is unfailingly happy to see my sons and we had a rollicking good time. We stayed with my aunt, Chitra, who made a phenomenal breakfast the next morning and took us out for lunch. Then Navin and I took a comfortable day train back to Chennai.
Work has been good. I had not been at Kovalam's Monday clinic for 3 weeks - from 18 Dec to 8 Jan - and had let all the patients know I would not be there on 25/12 and 1/1. Otherwise, I would have heard about it from them. No one is particularly bashful about berating the doctor here, and I like it. We saw hordes of patients, including one poor lady who's had a stroke and was accompanied by her 9 year old son. I asked why the son was out of school and both said it was because he had to accompany her to the doctor. The Nalam worker - a community/village worker, part of a program made possible by Grand Challenges, Canada - was contacted and we made arrangements for someone to check on the patient + accompany her to appointments so that the 9 year old did not have to be primary caregiver.
Private practice is also therapeutic. We had a fair number of patients last week, and a memorable one was a 16 year old who had attempted self-harm. On probing, it turns out that she and siblings are here working, her parents have died and her Grandmother back in the village raised this family. My heart was yanked out of my chest: when my sons were teenagers, their interests were appropriately video games and such, and here was a teenager, working to support herself and her family. I referred her to the Banyan and the case manager is following up. There is nothing like knowing there is a little support for the patient and family to feel a bit stronger.
Naren is well and has company. Scott and I returned to work 2 weeks ago. Family Day will soon be celebrated at the Banyan - with biryani and fruit and chocolate, and games and carnival rides for the children of the staff. It is nice to be at the providing end of this equation.
What have I accomplished in my time in the world - educated some women enough to be of nursing caliber, treated some patients, married a fun young man whom my family loves, bred 2 children who will hopefully never turn their backs on someone in need, and danced and written. It has been a good life.
Unw -
R
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