I
was riding high on the first day of my carrier as a doctor. I wore a serene
lemon yellow chudidaar and a pressed white overall exuding the charisma of the
sun god. A chick-lit raspberry colored bling stethoscope made sure all the eyes
in the ward are pinned on me. I walked confidently past the rows of beds, my
feet hardly touching the floor. to say I'm happy would be quit an
understatement.
I
confidently picked up the case sheet of Apparao, a patient recovering from hepatic encephalopathy due to cirrhosis of
liver and poured over the details.
"sister
sister. mee tho koncham personal ga matladaccha?" I heard Apparao's son
address me. Sister. May I talk to you in
private?
The
shimmering halo around my head popped inaudibly as if someone poked it with a
pin. Damn these illiterates. They consider every female of the hospital
fraternity to be a nurse and every male, a doctor. How I wish I could educate
them! I thundered at him "kallu kanipinchadam leda babu? coat vesukunnanu.
steth vesukunnanu. doctor ki sister ki teda teliyadam leda?" Can't You see man? I wore a white coat. I
wore a steth. Don’t you know the difference between a doctor and a nurse?
He
looked as if he swallowed a googly but recovered within no time and replied
"Nenu doctor-sister lo sister analedu sister. Brother-sister lo sister
annanu sister" he let out his parrot words. I did
not mean the sister of the doctor-sister. I meant the sister of the
brother-sister. Nevertheless I choose to believe him and his intentions cos
it fed my ego. I inquired why he requested a private conversation with me once
we were sure that the coast is clear of eavesdroppers. "sister! maa nanna
ni taagudu maana mani meere warning ivvali sister" he implored. Please warn my father to quit alcoholism.
Feeling
important, I took to the task of counselling this alcoholic and convincing him
for de-addiction therapy. "chudandi Apparao garu. meeru arogyam ga vundali
ante meeru mandhu maaneyali" I doled out on a one ponit agenda. Look Mr.Apparao. if you want to lead a
healthy life u have to quit drinking.
A
surprised Apparao look at me in the eye and inquired "adenti doctoramma?
mandulu vesukuntene kada jabbu taggedi? arogyam ga vundedi?" what doctor? How can I be healthy if I stop
drinking medicines? I noticed that
he held a cup of oral glycerol mixed with fruit juice close to his lips as I
delivered my ultra short spiel on alcholosim.
"Nenu
mandula shop lo mandu manamanadam ledu. kallu dukanam lo mandu
manamantunnanu" I replied stoically. I
didn’t ask you to quit drinking from a medical shop. I asked you to quit
drinking from a wine shop.
Pcch!
I was the only one in the whole of the medicine ward shooting blazing looks. Everyone
else is in stitches and rolling on their beds laughing out loud.
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