Suddenly every Tom, Dick and Harry has become the doctor; including yours truly. In a family where the father, mother, wife, brother, sister, MIL, FIL, SIL are all medical doctors, I'm almost the loudest doctor at home. From telling what my dad has to do, to tell what my aunt's friends have to do, the fake doctor in me had been quite vocal.
It is so easy to speak out loud if you don't know anything about the virus you see. But then you have to read more to talk loud. At least louder than your coterie of docs to be heard and taken seriously. That makes it mandatory to read more than them. So I was reading and listening to Dr JP Mulliel, widely regarded as India's leading epidemiologist and Christian Medical College's former head of community medicine. He said something which came out of the blue and I want to discuss them here
He said, "Treat the Corona patients with compassion, there is a good chance that you might be one too"; This hit me hard!
Yesterday a friend pinged me on how her society in Kolkata refused her entry after she had come home from Mumbai to work from home; There was another friend who had come back from Paris and was refused entry though he promised quarantine. There were reports of doctors not let into the flats fearing transmission; This, after we supposedly clapped our hands to appreciate them the day before! Do you remember the news of the suffering the Air India crew had to go through to enter their own homes? And the usual hatred against the North East brethren, Coz they look like the Chinese?
It is tough to be ostracised from your own society. Mentally disturbing to be sent off by your own people. Where will they go, if not to their own houses? The mental trauma of it all is real.
Dear India, Of course, the virus spreads. Truly we have to be careful about our proximity to our neighbours. But social distancing never meant social ostracising. Everyone in the country has to live; and can surely live at a safe distance from each other.
Empathise with the patient! For you might be the next. Empathise with your neighbour for you are human.
It is so easy to speak out loud if you don't know anything about the virus you see. But then you have to read more to talk loud. At least louder than your coterie of docs to be heard and taken seriously. That makes it mandatory to read more than them. So I was reading and listening to Dr JP Mulliel, widely regarded as India's leading epidemiologist and Christian Medical College's former head of community medicine. He said something which came out of the blue and I want to discuss them here
He said, "Treat the Corona patients with compassion, there is a good chance that you might be one too"; This hit me hard!
Yesterday a friend pinged me on how her society in Kolkata refused her entry after she had come home from Mumbai to work from home; There was another friend who had come back from Paris and was refused entry though he promised quarantine. There were reports of doctors not let into the flats fearing transmission; This, after we supposedly clapped our hands to appreciate them the day before! Do you remember the news of the suffering the Air India crew had to go through to enter their own homes? And the usual hatred against the North East brethren, Coz they look like the Chinese?
It is tough to be ostracised from your own society. Mentally disturbing to be sent off by your own people. Where will they go, if not to their own houses? The mental trauma of it all is real.
Dear India, Of course, the virus spreads. Truly we have to be careful about our proximity to our neighbours. But social distancing never meant social ostracising. Everyone in the country has to live; and can surely live at a safe distance from each other.
Empathise with the patient! For you might be the next. Empathise with your neighbour for you are human.
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