On the plane back home

This is it. I’ve been here for 3 months and my program has come to an end. I haven’t written too many blogs recently because it hasn’t seemed like a lot of exciting events have occurred lately. I thought, that’s funny, has India suddenly stopped being as crazy as it was in the beginning of my program? The answer is definitely NO. After spending some time thinking of all that’s happened in the past few weeks, I can certainly say there is no lack of ridiculous stories occurring each and everyday. I guess it’s just that I’ve gotten so used to things here. What we call “chaos” back home is an everyday routine here. So here you are, my final weeks of my Indian adventure, one last compilation of American insanity and Indian real life.

I’ll start with my time in the clinic. The last five weeks have all been observing OBGYN and pediatrics. Basically, we show up at a new clinic each week and watch some OBGYN surgery, witness a birth or two, and occasionally sit in on the doctor’s outpatient visits. Each place was quite unique which allowed me to see a wide variety of medical care. I witnessed procedures all the way from the most up to date technology in robotic surgery to one doctor manually removing the placenta after birth, using no oxygen, no anesthesia, nothing but his hand, and 30 years of experience in hospitals that lack such vital supplies, to save this mother’s life. So many times I stood there with my mouth hanging wide open hidden behind my mask, watching some of the most incredible and horrifying stuff one could imagine. There are two types of hospitals here, private and government. Essentially, you get what can you pay for, and here you are born into a system that predetermines what you will be able to afford based on your class, or should I say caste. So those that can afford, go to private hospitals, while those that were not as fortunate in where they arrived on the social totem pole go to Government hospitals. It’s at these government run institutions that I saw medicine in a whole new light. Here, endless amounts of patients come in hope there will be enough doctors and medical supplies that day to make them better. Surgeries are as sterile as the funding allows them to be. Maybe it’s that they only get one sterile gown for the day, no matter the number of surgeries, maybe they have to wash and reuse their gloves. Half of medicine depends on supplies, and for this, millions of people here rely on the government to provide this for them. The other half of medicine lies in the hands of doctors and trained medical professionals. You need both parts to heal an injury, cure a disease, change someone’s life, or save it. Medicine here is not always pretty. In one hospital we visited, the only doctor there was faced with delivering six babies in one day on two labor beds. And when I say labor beds, I mean two metal tables three feet apart in a room the size of a small bedroom. These government patients don’t get the luxury of someone holding their hand while they get care, telling them what to expect, explaining to them their “options“. No, this is medicine limited in both people and supplies. And because of this, I was able to meet and shadow some truly astounding doctors. It takes a seriously strong and committed person to do what these doctors do, in a place where there is never enough to go around.

On a less serious note, there is my personal life. I basically go through each day waiting for something ridiculous to happen and low and behold, I am never disappointed. I don’t think I can possibly connect these outrageous stories in any kind of clever, witty way, so here they are, in blunt chronological order, the same way I lived them. I’ll begin back with my Thanksgiving. I went out to dinner with the three other girls in the program. I made one short-lived, yet diligent effort to explain what a turkey was and see if they had any. No luck there. So I ordered ONE whole chicken instead. There was a brief spout of confused ordering and some strange looks given on their part, but that seemed totally normal after being here for a couple months. Next thing I know, I’m given FOUR whole chickens! Happy …chicken day I guess. I’ve had many more interesting outings, most of which end in me saying “oh India“, in some kind of feeble attempt to make sense of the situation. I went to my first hard rock café in Pune. I watched an crazy old man do magic tricks in a park and somehow left my hand smelling like jasmine without ever touching me. I was slapped by a rickshaw driver after yelling at each other in our own languages for ten minutes. I ate lunch with a professional cricket player. And the craziest thing yet, I actually got behind the wheel and drove in the madness they called traffic. So while these are just the highlights of some of my days, let me remind that through all of this, people are still constantly yelling at us to buy their stuff, beggar women and children poke and grab at us all day, I am now crossing roads that are 7 lanes wide (not that people understand what the word lane refers to), so basically hundreds of rickshaws, motorbikes, buses and cars are pummeling toward you like a herd of wild animals. Another very exciting few days occurred while attending, our crazy driver, Dada’s wedding. We drove 6 hours with our directors, the Dabaks, to a rural town where Dada lived. Now the Dabaks are a whole story in themselves, from the highest caste, well educated, and genetically more capable ( as stated in their words) than the people of the rural villages, which are of the lowest castes. Just a little intro for what’s to come. While there, we stayed in a….better than average hotel as we were told. The first night I decided to stop drinking liquids so that I wouldn’t have to go into the bathroom, the bed sheets had large eerie stains, which I told myself to dismiss until I saw the box of condoms in the garbage can…vanilla flavor. Before bed, I attempted to stop a leak in the room by grabbing a bucket from the horrifying bathroom. Just then a huge cockroach came scurrying at my feet from under the bucket. The next day was the wedding though, and it was truly magnificent. There were so many traditions in the rural setting that most people never get a chance to see. We watched the bride and groom bathe each other first (with their clothes on of course), then the whole village and all people that came to watch followed the groom on horseback and danced down a long road to a temple where the horse bowed and blessings were given. Then there was the ceremony, where we were honored as special guests and given coconuts and flowers, which are traditional gifts in many of the villages I had visited. On our way home Mr. Dabak swerved off the road slightly to avoid hitting a car, but while doing so lightly struck a little girl walking home from school. In a natural response, he began ranting about how uneducated and stupid these rural people are. Just another day in the caste system.

My program ended in Pune and so I set off to Southern India with my mom. We went a lot of places and everyday was something extraordinary. Starting in Kochi, we drank special tea J and watched fishermen catch fresh seafood all day out of an impressive array of giant nets that hung in the bay. I got my first massage, which I guess was a little different than what they do in the US. I was spread out, bum naked on a metal table and got a serious rub down everywhere from head to toe. No further details necessary. We then went to Thekedy, home of the tiger reserve and spice capital of India. We rode an elephant on the first day, then went out at 5am the next day on a jeep safari, in search of wild tigers and elephants. Next stop was Allepey. Here we spent a day cruising Kerala’s most beautiful backwaters in a house boat made of wicker and bamboo, then lounged by a pool made to look like you’re swimming in the lake that surrounds the hotel. While taking our final ride in a rickshaw, the driver was going a little faster than the little vehicle could handle and the engine caught fire. So many good times on the auto rickshaws. Our last stop was Goa, the most stunning and popular getaway in all of India. Here I swam in the Indian Ocean and enjoyed my last day on a secluded tropical beach in India’s paradise.