Storytellers

It was 24 th   December 2022, the second graduation day of our institution, happening almost after 4 years. Three batches of MBBS students who passed from our college, the 2014-15, 2015-16 and the 2016-17 batches, received their degrees on this day. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic the ceremony had been postponed several times for two of the batches and finally it was the day of celebration and wonderful memory-making for all of them.   When such wonderful events happen in our lives, we just go through the present moment along with every other co-actor in the event. We do not realize the magnitude of emotions that they will evoke at a distant future. As I was participating and playing my small role in the graduation ceremony that happened on 24 th , two things were happening, I was making fresh and amazing memories, even as I was reliving the memories of my own graduation day 21 years go.    Graduation day is a very important ceremony in the life of a medical graduate. I...

My experience of attending an interview for a job in an esteemed institution gave me fodder for deep reflection. I will provide some background before I go deep into the topic. I am a mid-career professional working as a teacher in a medical college. Despite long years of post-qualification experience, I am in a relatively lower rung in my career ladder due to logistic reasons. This prestigious institution would offer me the much-needed career thrust into a higher position. Therefore, I applied for this post.   “Good morning Dr. Gopichandran, you already have a good job in a nice government medical college in the center of a metropolitan city. How would you justify applying for this job?” one of the interviewers asked. I tried to understand why he asked this question. He probably wanted to assess my seriousness and whether I would take up the job if he selected me. He probably wanted to assess whether my reasons for applying were strong enough for me to leave the comforts of urban ...

She was a thin built woman of 27 with a shy smile on her face. Clad in a black kurta with a white dupatta, she looked like a young college girl. Saraswathi (name changed) had come to our clinic with complaints of something protruding just below the skin over the scar of her family planning surgery done 3 years ago. She had noticed it even at that time, but it did not trouble her much then. But now even when there is a strong gush of air on that spot, or when her clothes gently rubbed over the area, it led to severe pain. She sat by my colleague who was seeing her and said, “Doctor, the pain is too much. Can you please do something about it…”    My colleague took her to the examination couch, made her lie down, and examined the scar. She found a small bit of suture material used to close the inner layer of the abdomen wall, protruding sharply just below the skin. This was the reason for her discomfort. She called me to the examination room, and I confirmed that there was some s...