The Doctor who made me realize that I must live for a purpose in life

Sairam friends,

Lets start with a Flash Back:

It was 2012 January when my parents was in my Sister’s home in U.S taking care of their grand daughter. They enjoyed the stay though it was winter and had a great time with Katya.  My sister took my parents to a get together in friends place on the day of Pongal. They had came back home during late night and my parents were too tired. So they had a sound sleep. My Father woke up late night to go to restroom. He got giddiness and fell down in the bath tub itself.

My Mom and Sister immediately ran to help him and by Sai grace he came back to consciousness. With in the next 10 days, they came back to India as per plan.

Ever since my Father came back to India, We were asking him to come to Doctor for a checkup and he never bothered it. My Father hates hospital so much for a very strange reason – He don’t like waiting. He doesn’t understand we must have patience if we want to get treated.

Today:

Its September 11th 2014.  My Father has such dizzy feeling once in a while in the evenings. He was worried about it and manages by Sai grace. He will very rarely tell me and my Mom about his health issue. Only when his sisters call from U.S and U.K, he will tell them “Enaku thala suthudhu..I am getting dizzy…this that etc”

And they might think we are not taking care of my Father.

So we kept arguing him to come with us to Doctor or else never create this scene to his sisters over phone..he he…

When my Ma asked him yesterday, he has said “I am already too old and what ever days I have is like bonus by Gods grace. So why should I go to Doctor”.

I felt very painful to hear this. My Mom requested him to just come for checkup so that we will at least know if he can get cured someway.

So today, I took off from work, did Sai pooja and started to the Clinic.( Am not naming anyone as I respect their privacy)

It was a ENT Clinic and myself and my parents reached there by 11 A.M. My Father noticed the crowd and sat. Myself and my Ma were standing in the stair case as she can’t sit in chair for long. We were speaking about few things. Then we went inside and sat near Father. It was close to 12.30.

My Father already got irritated and said ” I don’t like this procedure. They ask us to come at 10 but even now the chief Doctor has not come and we are waiting like this”.

There was a Assistant to the Doctor whom we can meet to take tests etc and wait until the chief doctor arrives. My Father said ‘If you both have not come with me, I would have gone back home as it seems Doctor will come only at 1.30″

My Mom immediately got irritated and I had to cool her. I told my Pa “Think about India’s Population. We have very few Doctors per 1000 Individual. Hence its crowded in clinics/hospitals and  we have to wait to see the Physician.

Fortunately, we were told that the Assistant Doctor will be doing initial screening. We went inside and there was this girl who asked my Father to sit.

She asked him what’s happening and myself and my Ma had say clearly about his problem.

The Chief Doctor is a well experienced ENT Specialist but the Doctor I mention in this article is a girl who was assisting him – She seems to have completed her Medical studies and getting trained from him. In IT, we call freshers as trainee right? So how do they call in Medical field? I think there’s some term which am not getting this moment.

I watched as the girl examined my Father’s ears. I like the way she had to hit something on her elbow which resonates and and one has to say how long they hear the resonating sound?

More than 5 times, She took the metal (Don’t know whats it) , folded her hand, hit it on her elbow to create sound and pressed it in my Father’s ear/head and asked him to say when he stopped hearing the sound.

I felt “Won’t this girl get little pain if she is going to do this test to all the patients?”

May be she won’t but I respect the way she sincerely hit the metal with her elbow to create a sound.

It made me and my Mom have a human connection with the lady who aspires be an ENT specialist in the coming years.

She was a Malayali girl and tried her best to communicate with us in Tamil.

She said two tests has to be done.

One has to be done in the Lab outside and after the report has come, we are supposed to meet her for the second test. I can’t stop myself from telling her a “Thank You” and the way she reacted to it was exceptional. As if she is really pleased someone thanks her for what she dreams to do for her lifetime.

As we paid for the tests and walked out to go for taking the test, we saw the chief Doctor has arrived.

In the place where we did the first test, I saw this girl who did her job well. I did

We walked to have lunch when I saw an old women taking alms and I gave her 10 Rs. I usually shout at my parents if we eat in Hotels…… Don’t eat this. Do eat that kind of orders as they are used to home food.

We walked back to the clinic. Ma and Myself went to take the report.  ( Later, I was curious to know who does these kind of test and searched online. They are Audiologists and there’s a course exclusively for this Career. I plan to make a site where people can learn about different Technology/Career stream etc and planning to interview few professionals. Let’s see when Sai helps me do this work)

Anyway, We went to meet the Chief Doctor and once again had to wait. A little boy was crying. It seems the Doctor has advised to do a surgery in his ear which would cost a lot. He was innocently asking the staff there to show Chota Bheem. They only had another Tamil Cartoon channel. My Father and myself saw the cartoon and laughed.

We went in to meet the Chief Doctor now. The lady who was his assistant was attending us while the chief Doctor was speaking to a patient. That man seems to have ate some Non – Veg food – A big Fish and from then on his throat was hurting. I was imagining that I am going to tell this to all my friends who eats Fish and tease them that someday, I will see them in such clinic, blinking what to do. The Doctor very kindly made him fearless by saying it was just an infection and not caused due to the fish and gave some medicines.

While this was happening, The assistant Doctor was treating my Father for the second test.

The test has to do with forcefully pushing the patient from sitting position to sleeping position holding their face and testing if it causes giddiness.

I noticed clearly, the lady doctor, took her fingers near above her chest as if she’s praying. We do this right? Like a gesture of prayer before we do something important.

She asked my Father to lay down, held his head and forcefully lifted him up to the sitting position. I was scared by this test a bit and realized why she actually prayed before starting to do this.

May be because my Father was too old

or

May be she’s trying to do such diagnosis on her own for the first time.

or

May be only I assumed that she prayed before doing this test.

My Father said, he does not feel Dizzy at all.

By this time, the Chief Doctor, asked her “Is he not feeling giddiness at all”. She said “No”

He taught her saying “You are doing it slowly. It has to be done with more force. Only then we can find”.

My Father got up and sat infront of the chief Doctor. He was very kind and had a good sense of humor. He clearly got all the information and said “His ears are fine and the problem must be something else and asked us to do another test later.”

He also gave us guidance to meet some other specialist in another Hospital and said my Father’s dizzy feeling is not connected to any issues in ears.

He was talking few minutes with us. We were telling him about my Sister and her research in U.S related to Alzheimer. He asked me if Phd’s in U.S take long time to land up in the right career as one of his relative was a Phd in Physics but since he lost job, he’s now doing his MBA in Texas University.

I said, “My Sister too had to face issues in her career but she’s managing”.

Then, he himself did the same test for my Father. He taught the Lady Doctor how to forcefully do the test. He asked me to keep my hand with elbow folded near my Father’s knee so that he won’t fall down and did the same test. My Mom and I was scared a lot. The girl was watching how she’s supposed to do the test.

Then he asked her to have lunch with a gesture. I must say it was already 3.45 and only at this time, the Assistant Doctor who was getting trained is actually going for lunch.

I honestly wanted to wish this girl a very good career ahead or should I say a good practice ahead but she already went to have her lunch.

What I learnt from this girl whom we can call as Trainee Lady Doctor as I don’t know her name.

1.  She was sincere and dedicated to her work

2. She treated us kindly. She had a way of her own to connect with us irrespective of the language barrier.

3. She was simple. This is most important lesson.

So many parents call their daughter as “Simple”. Excuse me. What do you mean by Simplicity?  I see Popular chain of beauty salon in in my city every 2 to 3 kms . OK. You like to look Good. Appreciate it but life has more than Looks.

This girl was wearing a Chudi in which the cloth was damaged a bit and she was not minding it or probably her life is so hectic to notice these little things.

I felt painful as I noticed it but it also made me have immense respect on her because all these days,  I thought that I am the only human being on Earth who don’t mind wearing a faded dress to office. he he….

All of us in our team once bought a shirt for 200 Rs and when ever anyone wears it to work, someone says “You are wearing this today” As if we are not supposed to wear a Shirt which costs less.

I tell them “Its very normal to me because to me, its also a Shirt”.

4. She was really eager to learn.

5. I will ever be thankful for her for she hit her elbow few times to do the test for my Father.

Its after all a little thing but we must appreciate Doctors and all the other Medical fraternity for their service to Humanity.

As we started to go for shopping for Navratri, I kept thinking that I also must do something in my life which really serves humanity in someway. I was thinking about a concept and imagining how to implement it.

Anyway, Its 1.40 at night.

I get mails from girls saying ‘I was in love with this guy. Now he broke up with me. I am praying baba for him to come back to me.” etc..etc..

Please. I am bored of such mails. I know it pains. No one can face pains in relationship the way I had but is that why we are born? To sit and cry for someone and wasting our time and energy?

I get angry on anyone who are coming to me with this problem. I am angry on you because I care for you. Can you please get out of all this and realize you have a purpose in life?

Every one can find out what’s going to make their life meaningful.

Make that one taught your goal, dream and ambition. Work hard for it and be sincere, honest and dedicated in the work you do.

I usually call myself as a lazy guy as I have lots of plans and even start to work on it but eventually I will give up and sit idle. This Lady Doctor was not like me. She was really solving someone’s problem. She was truly dedicated to what she did and I felt good that millions of Medical Students and Doctors around the globe share this goal – “To Save Life”.

Every career, business and good work we do must be meaningful. Thus, our life will have a purpose.

Though Saibaba has inspired me in various ways, This girl truly made me feel that she is living for a purpose in her life.

In doing so, she became

“The Doctor who made me realize that I must live for a purpose in life”

I dedicate this article for Medical students, Doctors and all the Medical Fraternity.

Sai Blessings

Venkat

Little Servant of Shirdi Sai Baba