From the Himalayas to the Sierra Madres: Weddings In the Streets

It’s been another great week in Dehradun. I’ve learned a lot about Obstetrics, especially about the stats in India, which are a bit daunting (i.e. their Infant Mortality Rate is 20/100, or 1/50 and those are the registered deliveries that occur in hospitals. A great portion of the population, mostly the uneducated, delivers its babies at home. The IMR is much higher in these cases, but are unregistered.) Also, much of the population (again mostly the uneducated) does not care for contraception, but aren’t afraid to abort their babies. This was shocking to me, probably because I’ve grown up around Catholics, who don’t compromise on either of these issues. The OB/GYN, Dr. Nisha Guera, is a wonderful doctor who practiced in Iran for 11 years then moved back to India with her husband (who is an anesthesiologist) and has been practicing in her own clinic for 19 years. I asked her about Iran and she told me that the Iranian people never restricted her practice and were actually very welcoming and encouraging of her practice. We hear a lot of things from the media, and while we should keep up with what is going on in the world, it’s good to try to understand both sides of the story. I’m not saying I’m an Iran fanatic now at all, but I think we only hear the very negative things that support the case our country supports. I was shocked to hear that the Iran government would support the successful practice of a woman, but I guess I’ve never been told this story in the papers. She has taught me a lot about the Indian mindset when it comes to pregnancies. Most people in the cities do not want more than 2 children, for financial reasons in the majority of cases. It is illegal in India to disclose the sex of a child before birth, this is because males in the past, and still now, are favored over females. Males stay with their families their whole lives (in the past and still in some cases now mostly in the rural areas) and have traditionally been held responsible to take care of their elderly parents. Dr. Guera said this mindset is changing and most parents are happy to have females (even if it is their second female child) because the culture is definitely changing and there is a much stronger egalitarian mentality nowadays. It was good to hear that, but a bit difficult to swallow when hearing that some parents are upset when they have their child. It’s at these times I have to remind myself that I have grown up in a culture very different from this one, and that I have to be open-minded and try to understand. I can imagine if I had two females, knowing that they would move out of the house by the time they were 20 years old to their husbands’ families locations, I would not necessarily be as ecstatic if I knew my children would be around the rest of my life. I’m happy to hear that this is uncommon to find unhappy parents during their child’s birth now.

I’ve been with the ophthalmologist Dr. Ramola in the morning this week. I’ve spent 6 hours in the OR this week and have seen 14 cataracts surgeries. Yes, 14 in 6 hours. They churn out the patients here, with no time between cases. There are usually 3 patients in the OR at a time: 1 being operated on, and 2 laying there waiting for their local anesthesia to kick in and for their turn to come. Dr. Ramola works at the government hospital, and will have up to 25 surgeries a day. He performs at expert pace with a flawless hand. He does these surgeries all the time and everything goes very fast. He restores the vision of thousands of people each year, what an incredibly rewarding job! I feel like I get more excited every minute I spend in the operating room. Can I just skip medical school and residency? I am so excited for my career. After many hours of shadowing doctors and businessmen, I feel so comfortable and excited with my career decision. I also feel very lucky to be in this position because I know this is not extremely common among students my age.

I’ve found that the best parts of living in India have come in two forms: first, in random lessons and tidbits from my host mom and doctors I’ve shadowed; and second, in forms I couldn’t have ever predicted for myself before coming here. For example, I had never learned how head gestures work here. When someone moves his or her head from side to side in America, it usually signifies mediocrity or slight disapproval, not being fully content. I had assumed it meant the same thing here. People do it all the time here, so I had started to conclude that people don’t necessarily vocalize their disapproval, but simply signify it with this head nod. I also have realized that people don’t vocalize their gratitude as much as we do in America (I feel like people are always saying “thank you” in America, that’s not how it is here). Whenever I would tip a driver or give money to a shop owner to buy something, they would respond with this head nod. It made me uncomfortable and made me think people weren’t the most grateful here. I then was told that this means thank you… I started laughing at thought of all the times people were saying thank you, and not presenting an aura of displeasure or ingratitude. This was just one example of how you can never judge or assume something about a person when you don’t know them fully.

On my way to the internet café today, there was a wedding procession/parade going on in the street. Everyone was dancing and singing. But as soon as the tall white guy (me) showed up filming and taking pictures of the scene with his fancy iPhone, everyone turned to look. I started laughing because even during a huge wedding parade through the city, everyone in what was supposed to be the destination of all glances turned to and pointed at me. I walked away laughing and smiling, thinking about the irony of the whole situation.

Zack, Callie, and I have become very close, so it will be sad to see them leave in about a week. I can’t believe 3 weeks have gone by this fast. I’ve become very comfortable and “at home” here. I always get excited when I think about the rest of my trip because I know only incredible things are to come.

Apna khayal rakhna

Clayton