1.30 AM in the thick of night. As I am a light sleeper, was struggling to keep the mind quiet to get into slumber. And the mobile rang. Blurted out ringtone assigned for hospitals. Admission! Got out of the bed sleepily, rode the car, by the time I reached the hospital I was fully awake. Middle-aged female in around late 30s to early 40s had come with fever of 102 *F, not really warranting to get admitted at that unearthly hours. But darkness is such an entity that many get anxious and run to the hospitals even for the minor ailments. So that was understandable. After carefully examining her, got to know that it was a short febrile illness of only 6 to 8 hrs and so, maybe, did not have any definite clinical signs to clinch the diagnosis. As a normal routine, I asked for certain investigations, of course, to be done in the morning, to rule out frequent Mumbai maladies like Malaria, Dengue, Typhoid etc, prescribed her only antipyretics as it should be and left for home at around 2.30 AM.
Next day while making the rounds, asked the sister/ nurse assisting, for the investigations, only the urgent ones like Malaria and Dengue, so as to chart out the further course of action, but to my surprise, they were not ready. The reason being, the patient refused to get them done. I, most of the time lose my cool in such situations but here, was successful in keeping calm. Simply asked the sister to send her home against medical advice.
When a patient is admitted under a doctor to get treated he/she must have implicit faith in him/her, it's a mutual bond, a service contract. Breach in such a contract is simply not done. I had to give her piece of my mind, so very calmly I said to her,
" You might not be a school graduate even, but by refusing to go by my orders you are insulting me, a double post graduate in Medicine, who has put more than 45 years in the field to master the craft, toiled extremely hard to get through toughest exams, and have been practising for more than 35 years as a consultant relentlessly, with the head always held high because I refused to go along with the current. I have worked as a professor of Medicine in a prestigious institute and so I don't want patients who are going to doubt the very fundamentals. You, you all, dole out whatever money a TV mechanic asks you for, though he is a 12th pass who has done some certificate course and has learnt on your TV. I too have to listen to my car mechanic who in the normal course of action does not have any official training in Automobile engineering but has learned the tricks of the trade by doing apprenticeship under a senior, similarly self-taught personnel! You better go home, before it becomes ugly.'
This incidence is the tip of the iceberg. My profession is dealing with such and more awkward situations day in and day out. My question is "Who is going to put sense in their heads and when ?"
And this is not restricted to my field alone. On roads, in public offices, in banks, in schools, even on airports what we Indians lack singularly, is civic sense. Our roads are littered beyond endurable limits, our public transport is simply abused beyond tolerance. Banks and government offices are overcrowded, clients just flocking around every table without any discipline whatsoever, so the officers are just, either plain lazy or simply incompetent but... but do not forget their arrogance. Roads are blocked with errant drivers zigzagging as if it is Formula 1 tract, Traffic courtesy, allowing the one to go first who is on the right side of the rules, is simply unheard of. Traffic signals are only for decoration and mental satisfaction, to override them is heroism perfected to the last 'T'.
Right from day to day life to politics to education to transport We Indians are in such a hurry to break the rules that I don't understand why make them in the first place.
I feel like coining a slogan for morcha, ' Down with Civic sense! We don't have it, we don't require it !'
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