Compensation

The victim, Prashant S. Dhananka, 39,confined to the wheelchair due to negligence by a doctor at NIMS, Hyderabad got compensated for a lifetime on wheelchair.And guess what ,after 19 years !

Since India is touted and sold as 'medical tourism' spot, this case and registered cases of negligence by doctors if given enough limelight can hopefully bring about a change in attitude of doctors in India.
Sure, I completely understand that doctors in India want to recover their medical tuition fees, build a clinic- a superspecislity one in urban hotspot, send their children to US to study and all other dreams that middle class in India only dream about !
However, at the end of the day, their job is not similar to an software engineer.They are dealing with human lives !
Now , most doctors care least for human lives and same goes for hospitals . Remember we are a billion plus !
So. let's stop treating and respecting doctors as gods and quickly bring them under strict laws where if they neglect to do their duty in face of money or simply don't care enough they can be punished, sued and made to pay for their negligence in a year or two and not 19 years !
People who have gone under the knife or has seen a relative or friend getting operated very well know that hospitals and doctors explain the risk factors in 3-5 page document in which its clearly said that if anything happens to the patient on operation table its NOT their responsibility. And one HAS to sign this consent form BEFORE the operation.
In such a scenario, Indian public ,especially the uneducated ones have nowhere to turn in case of negligence by the surgeon. God knows, there must be zillions of cases languishing ,given up hope of any kind of redressal.

In US/Europe, medical fraternity is shit scared of being sued...when are our doctors going to be scared by laws and by awareness that their reputation could be ruined by being negligent. My personal opinion is, Indian doctors are overworked....they perform too many operations on monthly basis especially the really good ones. And in India- a clear 50% of the doctors have become doctors attracted by money,intelligence and because they scored 97-100% in PCB or cleared a bloody entrance exam with flying colours.
I think that's the reason young doctors especially the savvier ones protested so much when they were asked to dedicate a year of their life to rural and backward India - no money there but lots of mosquitoes !
Many more people need to become doctors because they really want to become one.
If they want to earn money, they could become software engineers !!

Life lesson

Yesterday being a Sunday, i was doing timepass in my building lobby/entrance/whatever with children and teenagers who stay in my building. Out of the blue, a 10th standard teenager confided how confused she was and had no idea what to do for her career .Now, I was really scared ! I was fervently hoping that she wouldn't ask for any career advice. From last 5 years , i'm hopelessly clueless about careers.Personally, i am a career vagrant- I have managed to earn a living however have no career path whatsoever and i'm still clueless about what i really want to do or be.Since thinking about my lack of career and ambitions gives me headaches, i do whatever i get to do.
Hope against hope, she asked me :"Didi, should i do science? Then go for engineering /medicine... i can always change after 12th na, if i don't get a good score ?
If this question was asked to me 6-7 years, I would have promptly given her a short lecture on 'if you do this, than these are the options....blah,blah and blah'.Nowadays, teenagers are much sauve,smarter and aware about what options they have. They are very clear about values which will help them decide careers.It is science/engnrr/MBA/CA = potentially higher paying professional degrees. Everything else becomes an option, if you don't succeed in above mentioned choices.So, when this kid asked me for 'advice' , I gauged she was really looking for affirmation.

Instead of directly answering her question/completely evading her question I decided to tell her about a person's career path- someone I knew personally and have highest regard for.
I told her about X...who was very hardworking and extremely dedicated toward his studies. Maybe didn't score high enough to enter M.B.B.S in 12th however completed B.Pharm as topper in his college, i think. He worked hard at his job as an executive in pharma co. and with sheer determination,smart work and by knowing how to manage his superiors and bosses he scaled promotions. X also went on to work in clinical research and soon gave his CAT.[ I personally think, returning to books after working professionally full time for 3-4 years requires immense aptitude and motivation] . He cleared CAT while working fulltime and staying alone in a city away from his parents and immediate family.
Not only that, he took up an Executive MBA program for 2 years from IIM-K, [i think distance learning] and completed it successfully while working fulltime.
The last i heard from him he was a Project Manager- clinical research [inspite, of placements in management] - most importantly doing something he liked.
He spent his energy,time, and of course money for himself and the great thing is -he has something to show for them.
Kudos to Mr X !
I have repeated this achievement to many people around my age who are frustrated by lack of options, their jobs or general rut of life but this is the first time i told a 15 year old. I hope she doesn't snort and bicker because i didn't tell her what she really wanted to hear and actually remember this example.

Hmm....

There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher.
- Victor Hugo