Kiddies!

I'm not very good with kids. Sometimes I don't like them much either. But these two munchkins are too adorable for words!! In addition, we get along surprisingly well... :)

Culture shock of sorts...

Okie... me I'm a simple girl. Mildly goday if you like (though not in the league of the estimable DDA.) For the last few years my time was spent mostly ambling around the National Hospital, the rest of the time in bed saying "amme, how my feet are aching!"

Ok, there were good times too. I had a great gang of girlfriends to gossip, go shopping and do the "girl-stuff" with. My boyfriend turned up regularly to sweeten my life with cream buns and by taking me "out". We'd go check out the clubbing scene occasionally - even though the last time we did that we ended up in a brothel. (Long story). Money was always in short supply - text books, equipment and stationary are quite pricy, shoes get worn out fast, clothes get gunk on them and need replacement and there were unforseen expenses like having to replace the earpieces on the stethoscope because a kid in the ward had eaten them.

So my point is, whenever there was a wedding or a party or a big do, I'd just wash my hair, slap on a bit of powder, drape a saree around myself and rush off. Getting dressed and primped and all pweety at a saloon was an alien experience until my wedding day. And it was a wonderful experience... I had so many people fussing over me and even my fingers were made-up!

So the season has dawned again, and there's a big family wedding next week. Having splurged on a fancy saree and a stylish jacket, me wanted to go the whole nine yards, so called a nearby saloon (a moderately famous one) for an appointment - hair, saree and makeup.

"That will be Rs. 2500/-, Madam" twitters the young lady, as if it were pocket change. I try very hard to swallow and inquire in a nonchalant manner "how much for a hairstyle ony?" "Rs. 850/-, Madam."

Holy macaroni.

How much does a Doctor charge for a consultation? A consultant? Rs. 350/-? Rs. 450/-? This is with 6 hellish and un-fun years as an undergrad, gruelling training in the wards for PG, exams and more exams arguably described as the hardest in the world. Painstaking setting up of a practice and essentially working 2 jobs.

Damn, I'm in the wrong profession! In a 15 minute appointment, with absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for my client's life and well being, with no exhaustive thought process or analysis of symptoms, with merely an aesthetic appraisal of the shape of the face, type of hair etc., I could have earned double the money doctors 15 frikkin' years senior to me are earning.

I'd have time to take care of myself, get regular pedicures and possibly have a more fun and interesting life. I'd be around carefree people instead of stressed co-house officers and patients. I'd not get calls in the middle of the night that so-and-so was seriously ill, or requests to go see someone's, someone's, someone in hospital. I'd have time for my loved ones... and for myself

Anyway... I thanked the saloon lady politely and put down the receiver. I think I'll just wash my hair, slap on a bit of powder, drape a saree around myself and rush off.

:)

Tag time, again!

Tagged again, this time by Chaarmax, Pink Mist, Samanalee and Charmed... feeling a deep and comforting sense of belonging in blogosphere (mad grin!). Will not be posting any rules or tagging at the end, because everyone else I know seems to be tagged already!

Okie, here they are.

1. Needles terrify me. Whether I'm on the giving end or the recieving end. Not good, when it comes to my line of work.

2. I love kiddie parties. The stuffed eggs and cheese bouchees, the rainbow sandwiches, baby cutlets and homemade birthday cake. Ok, ok, I just like the food, the kiddies are optional.

3. I used to (and still can) bite my toenails too! And so can my best friend. What is this, a national past time?

4. I'm mostly deaf in my right ear. This makes conversations difficult when the other person is to my right. It also provides an interesting answer when senior doctors bellow "are you deaf???"

5. The first day of my honeymoon was spent shopping... Odel, Romafour, Wildflower etc.

6. I won't say I'm an animal lover but I can't stand to see animals die. This includes fishing ants out of teacups, blowing at mosquitoes (and stopping others from slapping them) and rescuing spiders from the toilet.

7. I read books that I love over and over again, the Anne series, Bridget Jones, books by Terry Prattchet and James Herriot, Pride and Predjudice and Pollyanna. I can quote entire paragraphs at a stretch.

Well... that's it. Not terribly interesting, but hey, it's me!

Monthus Horribillius...

...or is it mensus horribillius? Pardon my Latin.

Anyway, that's what the coming month is promising to be. Hot on the heels of the car crash, my poor father falls ill and needs to be hospitalised. Severe respiratory infection with a suspicion of low cortisol response. Icy cold peripheries, dehydration, fever at 104F and low BP. Dispropotionately low pulse (low 60's). All this had Mums and I scratching our heads and trotting back and forth between the ward and the lab. Happily, the drugs worked and he's back at home and on the mend. Phew!

Yesterday was another scare as around 7.15 am Brother's girlfriend calls to say there's been a bomb in the train she was travelling in! She was thankfully unhurt but quite naturally shocked... and was now walking along Galle road, avoiding crowds and she felt jumpy whenever there were more than a few people around her. A few hours after dropping her home, I read Dinidu's post on the subject... and got to thinking of how many people were nervous about loved ones... real panic beats on the edge of your mind while another part of you keeps chanting "okay, it's going to be okay..." over and over again like same manthra.

And now, the Ministry of Health announces that Internship will be starting on the 1st of July. Now, this means we get an overlap and save 3 1/2 months of waiting but aaaaarrrrgh! I've gotten used to this cushy lifestyle and I don't wanna go! Clinical oriented though I am, the thought of doing casualties, clinics, ward rounds and on calls bloody sux! :(

I need comfort food.