Years later i was a practising doctor though the lowest fish in the seniority scale . But i still remember the old man who tried to give me a few hundred rupees when his wife was discharged from the hospital . During a domestic tiff the wife had taken acid and luckily she survived . The old man was very happy and he being a farmer and not city bred wanted to show his joy by trying to give a few hundred rupees . It was not bribe . For no one stops on the way out and tries to give money . My role was simple i used to visit them and enquire on her health . No treatment from my side ..
Years have past and nowadays whether we acknowledge it or not the helping professions have felt the brunt of the soceital changes .. Of course the doctors and teachers of the new era are not the angels which the patients want ( angels never practised or taught btw in any era ) ... Both sides have their own version of whats wrong with the other side .. In medicine the dynamics are different but having many teacher friends its a sad fact that the excess business intrusion has made even teaching a challenging profession to work these days ..
But even in this chaos its nice to know that there are oasis where a few patients and students acknowledge their doctors /teachers respectively and "bribe " them with chocolates , flowers etc etc to express their joy . You have to be a doctor or a teacher to realise the joy it gives more than the salary one gets .
I have had the opportunity to practise in both these professions as well as in different regions in urban , suburban as well as some overseas stints . Of course partly it was in direct patient contact but also as a radiologist which though in ultrasonography gives you the "feel " of the patient to some extent . Considering me as a constant i could realise these finer things do depend also on the persobality of the doctor/teacher but these days more importantly on where you practise .. To take some random example however you are good in an urban set up in kerala with the " over :) know it all patient " you can never feel the comfort say practising in an interior area of tamil nadu or many parts of india . Even in kerala i found the northern states (except kannoor ) suburbs to be really nice for doctors ..
Of course i never got a red rose from a patient :) but i had my share of the best loving students and patients in both the professions .. To tell the truth i chose where i worked very wisely and stayed clear of " over knowledgeable " patients as well as students who thought money brought cure and knowledge . As long as money is the main focus of soceity both teachers and doctors would do well to choose where they work and in which settings .. Comments pls ....and share if u like
It is pretty rare achieving a 100% pass /class for any given Engineering subject, atleast to the best of my knowledge. Last semester one of my professors was fortunate enough to attain that. So one fine morning he stopped by and thanked all the students for their efforts as it was his first experience in many years of lecturing. I remember saying a loud “ Thank You for your effort Sir” and was hoping for the A- graders to respond further . I looked around and to my surprise, I found not even a single smiling face or atleast an expression of gratitude among my fellow colleagues, which was sad. So with nothing much happening in the classroom, he did his part and just left.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a while to realize, Unlike me most in the class are the ones who miss IIT’s by a small margin and almost all had the calliper to go about without the need of any lectures. So they don’t really give a damn about what the lecturer feels or what he has to say. But the whole scene left me with a sensation of guilt, as if we did not respond quite well.
Couple of the weeks later the same prof. Came by and I said Sir; “ I want you to understand that the only reason people like me were able to clear your paper at the first go was because you have sincerely done your part of the job by working out almost every possible problems which help us face the exam pretty well (PS in ME programs it’s not expect of any Prof’s to work out all examples in class). We appreciate your commitment and we are thankful for all your efforts.” The sense joy he had, almost instantaneous was something we could feel. We know when we have touched some ones heart. Don’t we?? Whether it is giving a red rose or a box of chocolates or by kind words, the whole point is that we must utilize every opportunity we get to acknowledge genuine efforts of others especially the ones public service. Random acts like these are the one which bring true joy.
well said santosh . Expressing ones thanks is a lost art . Most people at least in our state have a great difficulty in expressing their thanks . Its not very difficult but maybe it requires to reduce ones ego at least for a few minutes .. As both as a teacher and student and both dr and patient i make it a point to express my thanks and have been lucky enough to get thanks too not from all but at least a few .. Thanks for sharing ur experience .. Only a true vidyarthi can say thanks
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