Community health, What’s that?
It was around three p.m. I was perched on the bench, waiting for the train to arrive. After half a day’s worth work, I had rushed to the ‘Katpadi’ railway station. To my relief, the train was to arrive late. It was Saturday, and I was headed to Bangalore, a good four hours away from […]
The ends of a spectrum
I am in the infancy of my career in public health. I am yet to finish my post graduate studies in Christian medical college, Vellore in the Community health department. My current work carries me frequently to rural and sometimes to the tribal pockets of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The experiences so […]
Cheers to health!
A midst the cacophony of about thirty odd children, the fights for pencils, crayons and erasers, we stood there all smiles, in the Balwadi (a day-care center of sorts for children under five years of age). It was world health day, two days ago. We had organized a drawing competition for children aged 5-15 years […]
So Long, Farewell!
Three of our senior staff retired in the past two years, during the short time I have been in the Community health department at CMC. An Obstetrician, a community health worker and a staff nurse. I have some observations from these events. First, a retirement party means, almost always a long term association; in a […]
Pension Pangas!
Scene: Busy clinic hours in a medium sized hospital that caters to the rural and semi-urban areas in and around Vellore. An old lady in her late sixties sat across me; she has diabetes and had come one week late for her refill of medicines. She also had symptoms of severe gastritis (‘gas’ in simpler […]
Many homes: Many lives!
It was rural and semi-urban Tamil Nadu, and thankfully the roads were excellent. I rode along for miles, amidst wind and rain; singing to myself. There was no traffic, no smog. It was green for as far as my eyes could see, on either side of the well tarred roads. The clouds hovering over the […]
Didhiti. A Sanskrit word for being deeply inspired
Young minds need inspirations. Young minds need the courage to dream. And as a young budding doctor, 5 years ago, I found both at a place called Sargur in H.D. Kote taluk in Karnataka. A remote place, you may not have heard about. Swami Vivekananda youth movement was started by a bunch of doctors from […]