Dear <<First Name>>,
Today's episode has a title that is borrowed from the tagline of today's book in discussion, Cuts and Bruises (Soul-stirring stories from surgery school) by Dr. Shivam Pandya. A collection of real-life incidents from the author's residency years, these are stories that are truly unforgettable and eye-opening.
A woman is ready to give every paisa she has to treat her daughter, even if it means selling all her jewels and properties. And the doctors take the effort to apply and get her a full waiver. A homeless man lands up in a hospital with no one to claim him and no money, and yet the doctors manage to tend to him using their own resources to keep him going. Doctors spend all their effort and beyond to save a boy his limb and life, only to find a couple of years later that he has lost his mind to drugs.
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"Surgeons are often called cold, insensitive people, who are full of arrogance. Very few people outside our field know that this arrogance, this insensitivity is nothing but a shield we put up to protect our minds from turning to jelly."
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A small misstep or a mistake could have unimaginable ripples. Here's an example from one of the stories: where a farmer who would take several months to walk again meant that his son had to drop out of school to work in the farm. Not only is it a cost of the patient's limb but also that of his son's future.
The doctors may treat a homeless, penniless man with no one to claim him, all through their efforts, and finally find that the man doesn't want to leave even after he is fully cured thanks to employer issues or debts, or any reason under the sun. Then comes a reporter slapping an argument, "everyone knows what happens in a government hospital, you are trying to throw the poor man out". At some level, it makes you aware that sometimes you have to take what people outside the industry talk about it with a pinch of salt.
As a law student, I can actually understand how a subject looks from within an industry as contrasted from outside. What is actually right may look wrong to someone who is not exactly familiar with how things work here, and what is genuinely wrong may be lauded as right instead.
And so on, Dr. Shivam Pandya takes us through eleven unimaginably miraculous stories of strength, kindness, and invaluable lessons, letting you take a tiny peek into the world of patients, their problems, and the difficulties government doctors face while treating a patient.
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Even the cover of this book has an interesting story behind it. It is the image of a banyan tree in the campus of Sir JJ Hospital, where most of the stories narrated by the Doctor has taken place.
"The tree and the idols of various Gods have seen countless patients, heard countless prayers, of both patients and doctors. It is He who heals, and doctors are merely the medium."
Some of the stories are truly so miraculous that your mind reserves a subconsciously reflexive prayer of gratitude for the kindness of Doctors, who go to the greatest lengths to try and give every case a happy ending.
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It is a quick read, under a hundred pages. The stories are moving, and before you even realize you are done with the book. Though it's a quick read, it is effective in evoking strange emotions in you. We can take this moment to whole-heartedly thank all the doctors, nurses, healthcare workers who have been endlessly attending to the COVID situation for more than a year now, over and above their regular cases. We pray for their safety and well-being, and are forever grateful to them. To the many patients they save, they are truly God. I am really glad that I read this book, and so would you when you read it.
What to look forward to? Let's lighten up the discussions with humour this Thursday talking about Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin by P. G. Wodehouse.
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As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts, experiences, perspectives, anecdotes, criticisms, and anything at all that you would regarding today's literary discussion or my piece on it!
If you think someone would be interested in subscribing, you can share them the subscription page: https://sandhyavaradh.mailchimpsites.com/
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