Report of 18 April 2024

 Good morning - 

My father passed away on 5 April 2024 after a bout of pneumonia.  He celebrated his birthday on 4 April, though he felt unwell then.  

My father was a plastic surgeon of considerable heft.  My mother taught physiology, putting her own dreams of OB/GYN aside; my father could then focus on his career while my mother taught and raised us and sewed.  They were a nice couple.  After I started working at the Banyan and on one of my trips home to Madurai, I said to them as I sat across from them at the dining table, "I've seen people whose families don't take care of them.  Thank you for taking excellent care of us."  My father turned to my mother and said, "Kettiya (Heard that), Saroj?  I hear we took good care of them," and both of them smiled.  It is a nice memory.  

While we brace for our parents' passing, chronologically, it is still a change, isn't it.  I cannot process much medically and cooking is iffy.  No wonder people take time off and friends/neighbors send food to bereaved homes.  

I hope you enjoy your own family.

Unw -

R

Report of 15 Mar 2024

 Good morning from a sunny and bright apartment!

A husband is asleep, I am getting some quiet time in.  I love this time of day.  I get up early for a workout just to do it in peace and quiet, and go to an uncrowded gym after a pleasant walk outside.  Then I come up, shower and eat, and get to work.  This work from home concept is nice.  We have many things to thank the pandemic for, though many would not think that.  

We are well.  I am battling a virus, which appears to happen often.  I was at the Banyan on Tuesday, for the first extended visit since Nat's wedding, and was masked, but intermittently.  When we had clinic days at Kovalam, my surgeon father would urge me to wear a mask - well before pandemic; I used to think "Mask, really?"  And then not remember, and battle a virus the next day.  Then, my colleagues and I started to mask up, and stayed healthy the next day. Yes, mask, really.  Surgeons do contribute - lol.

The B was nice.  I spoke to a former colleague outside for a bit, and then went in.  I had breakfast at our dining hall.  I love the fact that we can afford to feed the patients and staff, and the food is hot and tasty.  At one time, a CEO wanted to stop the free food for staff; he was from overseas, and did not quite comprehend that our staff were often as poor as our patients were and the food was a necessity.  But he caught on quickly, and the free food was not stopped.  Hooray.  There is also something quite unifying about sitting and eating together.  Chat about the day, plans for next, kids, work, fun, etc.  

We were in Madurai last week.  Had not been for a bit, so we went.  My father and his new hearing aid appear to be having adjustment issues, so hearing aid folks were summoned again and they adjusted things.  Scott is a huge fan of genealogy, and recorded family info, which my Dad was happy to provide.  My Dad's memory tends to wane at times, and such chats help.  

My colleague who had the bypass surgery is recovering well.  He wants to visit us at home, likely bearing a gift that is unnecessary.  I have tried to dissuade him, to no avail.  If any of you has suggestions, I would welcome them.

I stopped at several places on the way home after the Banyan.  Sugarcane juice - which is helping me battle the virus.  The vendor puts in some pieces of lime and a piece of ginger when crushing the canes, and the flavor is nice.  Excessively sweet, and so not something I drink every day, but hopefully, a good source of income for the man.  His assistant tends to speak to me in English and it's cute.  There is a makeshift tent next to the sugarcane juice stall - which is also a makeshift tent - and a family sells vegetables there.  The young lady is beautiful and feisty and fun.  She was breastfeeding as I walked in, and I wanted some brinjals (eggplant) on the other side of her; she moved, I requested that she not, and she moved anyway.  Baby was chubby and cute.  I finished my purchase, paid and left.  As I sat in the car and phoned Scott to come down to help carry the marketing, the veg vendor walked towards the car.  I got out and she handed me a slice of watermelon - green and white and juicy red.  She declined payment.  I was overwhelmed with her spirit and the gesture and all of it.  It is many of those who have very little that tend to give freely.  

It is a good life.  Back in the homeland, speaking the language, taking care of people with the best of American education.  

I hope your life is good, too.

Unw -

R

Report of 1 Mar 2024

 Good afternoon!

The Bay of Bengal is unfailingly a pretty sight.  Another building was to come up in front of the one housing our apartment.  Thankfully, that plan has been vetoed for now, otherwise our view would have been blocked.    

We are well.  I quite like my telemedicine practice.  It leaves me time to do my workout in the mornings, get some continuing medical education in, and handle issues for the few patients that I have.  

We went to Mysore about 2 weeks ago; I wanted to see my aunt who is getting more forgetful.  She has word-finding difficulty, but does remember other things.  I showed her pictures of Nat's wedding, she identified some people, remarked on others and we spent a pleasant couple of hours.  She used to live in Canada and is very widely-travelled.  So that makes for nice conversation, too.  

On our return from Mysore, we stopped in Bangalore for a day.  We saw my sister-in-law, Susan, and nieces and nephew.  We had a fun lunch at a very popular restaurant, and were requested to leave after we finished eating as there was a wait for the table.  It was a nice time, and I feel privileged to be able to see family.  

My colleague had bypass surgery a little over 2 months ago and we talked on the phone last week.  He is recovering well, and must control his diabetes better.  He is a good person, has educated his children and his daughter is studying nutrition; I've requested that she weigh in on his diet. 

Chennai had a spectacular flower show and Scott and I saw it twice.  The 2nd time was the penultimate day and the poor flowers were not thriving in Chennai heat.  

We went to Siem Reap, Cambodia, earlier this week and saw Angkor Wat.  Close friends had recommended a tuk tuk driver and we used his services.  He was fabulous - softspoken and helpful.  Angkor Wat was underwhelming, but its maintenance, cleanliness and the gentle nature of the Cambodian people made the visit memorable.  

Unw -

R 

Report of 11 Feb 2024

 Well, I was in a bad mood earlier, but it's resolving.  

A friend of a friend is interested in donating to the B.  That sort of news puts me in a good mood.  Farshid, a soul mate and dear friend from childhood, whom I'd spoken of last blog, had spoken of the B to a friend of his and the friend wants to help.  Yay!  One of the main purposes of having Nat's wedding at the B - in addition to the patients' participation - was to showcase the B (and its power to transform lives) to the world.  That is indeed happening - hooray!

We are well.  Scott attended training sessions that his partners gave at a corporate location.  I gave a talk on healthy weight and fitness, also supported by a corporate partner, and enjoyed it immensely.  In addition to solving medical mysteries and taking care of patients - especially to watch them get better - I love giving talks.  It's nice to give accurate, well-researched info (all credit to the American College of Physicians for their material) and answer questions, hopefully shatter misconceptions.  

I have a telemedicine practice and have a patient who is balking at taking meds for blood pressure.  I told her of an inmpoverished patient I once had who could afford her diabetes meds for 5 days of the month; this lady came to me with high blood pressure and I told her the benefits of walking 30 minutes a day and watching the salt in her diet.  I suggested that she adopt these 2 measures and we would reassess a few weeks later.  The lady came back to me a few weeks later and voila! - her BP was 20 points lower.  It was fabulous.  My joy showed through and both she and I were very happy - she to avoid paying for medications, and I to see that simple interventions were yielding powerful results.  

When I am in a foul mood, I think of Nat and James touching my Dad's feet so correctly and my Dad feeling valued and included in the wedding ceremony, and all is better.  

I don't watch movies these days.  At one time, I used to watch 3 in 1 day.  We get "Friends" here and I often watch a little 22-minute snippet - sans commercials - and feel lighter.  

We hope you have many good and light days.

Until next week -

R

Report of 8 Feb 2024

Good morning!

Time flies, eh?  Here we are in the 2nd month of the year, already.

We were in Pune last week.  We went primarily because we have some friends there and I have never seen the place.  Actually, these are friends of my parents, who - by virtue of family, their kids, etc. - became our friends.  Their son, Farshid, had pretty much saved my sanity during the wedding.  

Pune is pretty and the weather is lovely; food was tasty.  I had a great time.  We celebrated the birthday of the father of the family while we were there.  It was a nice time, harking back to when we lived on the same street.  

We saw some nice sights in Pune - a war memorial, a hill station nearby with caves dating back to 160 BC - and those were memorable.  The hotel had a breakfast buffet - a criterion for me when selecting hotels - and I ate a lot.  

I was in Madurai before I went to Pune, as I had to see my own father before seeing someone else's in the new year.  My father's hearing aid was not working and I sat bellowing, which was exhausting.  So I asked the hearing aid people to come, they did, hearing aid was changed.  This is an expensive entity, but it's pricier not to have it as cognition wanes when hearing does.  On the next phone conversation, my Dad could hear and that was good.  The father in Pune, too, now wears hearing aids; I had pushed for that when I saw them in Australia last year.  The value of hearing in cognition is considerable.  

My telemedicine practice continues, slowly.  It allows me time to keep up with continuing medical education and that is nice.  

We are otherwise well and hope the same with all of you.  Wedding pics of Nat and James arrived, and the magnificence of the Banyan and all its efforts show through nicely.  I am always struck by the color in Indian photos - vivid and happy.  

We hope you are happy and have vivid moments, too.

Unw -

R 

Report of 21 Jan 2024

 Good evening!

This is how married couples stay different and still together, eh.  Scott is sitting under a full-blowing ceiling fan and I am sitting with no fan and bedspread on around my shoulders as I am cold.  Scott loves winters in the homeland - he is currently in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, and the balcony doors plus back doors are open to allow a breeze.  

We are okay.  I am sick of being sick.  This virus left and apparently is back.  Our Tylenol (paracetamol) bottle has done overtime, such a wonder drug.  I have also drunk coconut water and all of it has helped.  This week, my workout called me in the mornings; last week, it did not.  

Early this week, we attended a dance performance by a Singapore-based dance troupe and it was good.  We left before it ended as we live well outside the city and driving at night is neither person's forte.  It was lovely to get some culture in, though.  

Vaishnavi, 1 of the 2 founders of the Banyan, is helping a disabled friend's apartment security man get the care he needs.  He fell off his motorcycle and broke his shoulder.  Care at our Government hospitals is free; it is easier if the patient knows someone there.  My parents worked in the Government system and all our care was there - go, escorted by my Dad or someone else, get quick care and leave.  Not a luxury open to all, as the system is overloaded.  Thankfully, a plastic surgeon friend is helping to get this patient treated.  The patient appears to be a very good guy, from far-off Nepal, and getting the disabled couple assistance whenever needed, including during floods.  It's a shame we use the plural for that last word.  Chennai routinely floods during rains.  

We visited a couple of friends yesterday and attended an art exhibition organised in memory of our friend, John.  John died a year ago.  His wife (tough to say "widow"), Karin, came from Germany as they usually did in December, and organised this show.  It was therapeutic to grieve together and to see magnificent art contributed by John's friends and himself.  There was also a video show playing; it was surreal to see John on it.  

Our kids are busy and that is a great problem/situation to have, as we say in our house.  

Unw -

R

Report of 14 Jan 2024

 Good morning and happy Pongal!

Pongal is the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu, called by various names nationwide.  Very important for all, especially farmers.  We celebrate by doing a puja (worship) to the Gods, make rice sweetened with jaggery and eat sugarcane.  We have bought the sugarcane and the flowers, and esposo is sound asleep, so we will do the puja when he awakens.  

I am in a perennial bad mood these days.  There are things about the wedding that could have been better.  Scott states everyone remembers it as a happy time, so that's what counts.  It was all new territory for me, I guess, and I was learning as I went.  The important thing is that my Dad came a great distance - he does not normally leave the house - and did not fall ill.  He also said he enjoyed himself immensely and was happy to have been invited.  We have a video of Nat and James touching his feet and seeking blessings, and that is priceless.  

We are also glad James's parents came.  They learnt new things and were immensely helpful at Christmas.  We had to drop various people off at bus stations and such on Christmas night, and returned to find food put away and dishes cleaned.  That was a relief.  

We were at a non-profit called Wild Ideas about 10 days ago and spent 2 days there.  It was good to work with the rural women.  They are economically better, appear to be happy at this endeavor and listened quite intently to my advice.  We had to cut our trip short as our guest room was needed for the next guest.  We left, visited the Ramana Maharishi ashram and the Tiruvannamalai temple.  On the way back, we saw Ginjee (Senjee) fort and it called us to climb it.  So off we went.  Thankfully, my workout shoes were in my bag, so I changed into those and we climbed the 400 steps up the hill.  Senjee is called the "Troy of the East," and it was truly awe-inspiring to see rich history in our own land.  

It is now back to work with telemedicine and giving talks.  It helps me to write.  The bad mood is dissipating.  

I talked to my Dad yesterday - our usual Sunday talk - and that was nice.  I told him of our week.  

We visited Vaishnavi's mother yesterday.  V is one of the 2 founders of the Banyan, and now does yeoman service in the arena of disability rights.  It truly is an arena: she files Public Interest Litigations, and the Government contests.  She does not give up and has been an inspiration to all of us.  Anything our state has achieved in the disability rights arena is largely thanks to Vaish.  She is also a fan of Nat and was at her wedding, which we are grateful for.  Vaish's Mom is articulate, erudite and jolly good fun.  We had a fabulous visit, though we reached a bit late thanks to some confusion with Google maps.  

We also went to the Chennai book fair and that was lovely.  So many people interested in printed matter.  We bought a few books and enjoyed our time there.  

Unw -

R