I WAS fourteen, and we were staying in a small house in Thrissur. The most fascinating aspect of my house was the adjoining half-acre property to which I had free access. Open a gate and I was there. It was allowed to run wild. In Kerala, that meant automatic transformation of the place into a […]
Category: Guts and Glory
The War starts- The first day of a Resident Surgeon.
THE JOURNEY through Palakkad is always scenic. The place had a hole in the wall of the Western Ghats. This mountain stretched between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, lush green, like a barricade between neighbourhoods festooned with moss. I was on the way to JIPMER: Jawahar Lal Nehru Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research. I […]
Study in Scarlet- The nosebleed.
THE LONGER stints in Medicine, Surgery and Gynaecology were followed by a series of short postings in various assorted departments. It was a whirlwind tour in bewilderment. I went to each department with sweaty palms. Acute attacks of panic marked the first day. Over a few days I learned enough to manage my duties with […]
The Important Thing-Intern in Surgery.
IT WAS internship. It was the same hospital. It seemed so familiar now, like a close relative. My first posting as a qualified doctor was in Medicine, with Dr. Baburaj. I have taken you there, in a brief encounter previously. I started learning about responsibility. It was not always great fun. My next posting was […]
The Difficult Part- Beginning the Medical Wards.
I DIDN’T like them much at all. The wards, I mean. I had liked school. I was in a government run one in Thrissur. Rows and rows of tightly packed wooden benches, were packed like match boxes. Each was taut with a row of sweaty grimy boys jostling with one another for writing space. Classes […]