When i decided to write this post, i knew i wanted to write it to highlight one particular thing. However, just as soon as i began to write, i realised that apart from that one thing, there are other things that stand out as well! No wonder they say that you must pen down your thoughts to make them clear(er?).
Anyway... we have a didi who cleans our messy house for us (the girls room isn't messy, btw). A couple of days ago, while she was cleaning the stairs of the veranda , she slipped and fell. We were in our rooms and had no clue. Our landlord's daughter, who stays with her family, upstairs, came running and informed us that our maid had fallen down. We ran to her and while we were inquiring, i couldn't help but notice the fact that the landlady and the daughter were standing at a distance (the landlady is a Jain while didi is an outcast of sorts, an adivasi). At that time, i was too busy to think about it, but now i recollect it with a sense of disgust and irritation. I mean, i wouldn't have really been bothered it was a simple fall. Didi was in real pain as was evident from her tears.
We decided to take didi to the government hospital of the village, which is the only hospital of the village. The doctor, despite me hoping otherwise, stayed true to the stereotype that all government hospital doctors are a bunch of morons. He didn't even take a look at the injury and, while he was busy talking to someone on the phone (a big touch screen one), he wrote a prescription of some pain killers and an injection. It would have be pointless to have felt enraged and i knew it. I felt enraged, nevertheless. So, we decided that it would be better to take didi to a private hospital that was about 5 kms away from the village. Didi was uncomfortable and said that the tablets ought to make it better. While i wanted to still take her to the doc (have i told you, i am a real wuss when it comes to physical pain), my friends thought that it would be okay to wait for a day and see if the pain persists. I obliged.
The pain did persist, and i once again asked didi to come with me to the private hospital. She said that she had consulted another doctor (a quack, i am assuming) and that he had given her tablets worth 50 bucks. She kept emphasizing on the money that she had spent on the tablets like as if the amount that you spend is related to the guarantee of cure (in a way its like our belief that more the MP of a camera, better MUST be the pictures). I told her that i will come the next day and check. The next day, today, i went and turned out that 50 rupees did not heal the pain. So, this time i told her point blank that we will go to the doctor. While she seemed to be ready for a moment, she asked if we could go tomorrow. I said no, we were going right away. However, she had to take her husbands permission and he came to me. He spoke politely and i asked him if it would be okay for me to take her to the hospital.
He said that he, being her husband, would have taken her to the hospital had she told him that she had fallen. It has been two days and she hadn't told him. So, it was clearly her fault, he said. He said he would take her tomorrow.
It was her fault, he had said. I felt that i had touched the ever sensitive male ego and so i thought it would be best to let him be the alpha male and take care of her. So, i suggested that he could take her right away so as to not delay further. But he began to mumble something and finally said that there was someone in the neighborhood who had passed away and that didi would be needed. I began to have doubts about the ego being hurt. In a last ditch effort i asked him if he would take her tomorrow and i got my doubts cleared. He said that he will try and that if it was not possible, if he was busy, he would send someone to inform me to take her to the hospital.
The culture that we are all so proud of! Look at us! We don't have divorce rates half as high as the Americans do!
Anyway... we have a didi who cleans our messy house for us (the girls room isn't messy, btw). A couple of days ago, while she was cleaning the stairs of the veranda , she slipped and fell. We were in our rooms and had no clue. Our landlord's daughter, who stays with her family, upstairs, came running and informed us that our maid had fallen down. We ran to her and while we were inquiring, i couldn't help but notice the fact that the landlady and the daughter were standing at a distance (the landlady is a Jain while didi is an outcast of sorts, an adivasi). At that time, i was too busy to think about it, but now i recollect it with a sense of disgust and irritation. I mean, i wouldn't have really been bothered it was a simple fall. Didi was in real pain as was evident from her tears.
We decided to take didi to the government hospital of the village, which is the only hospital of the village. The doctor, despite me hoping otherwise, stayed true to the stereotype that all government hospital doctors are a bunch of morons. He didn't even take a look at the injury and, while he was busy talking to someone on the phone (a big touch screen one), he wrote a prescription of some pain killers and an injection. It would have be pointless to have felt enraged and i knew it. I felt enraged, nevertheless. So, we decided that it would be better to take didi to a private hospital that was about 5 kms away from the village. Didi was uncomfortable and said that the tablets ought to make it better. While i wanted to still take her to the doc (have i told you, i am a real wuss when it comes to physical pain), my friends thought that it would be okay to wait for a day and see if the pain persists. I obliged.
The pain did persist, and i once again asked didi to come with me to the private hospital. She said that she had consulted another doctor (a quack, i am assuming) and that he had given her tablets worth 50 bucks. She kept emphasizing on the money that she had spent on the tablets like as if the amount that you spend is related to the guarantee of cure (in a way its like our belief that more the MP of a camera, better MUST be the pictures). I told her that i will come the next day and check. The next day, today, i went and turned out that 50 rupees did not heal the pain. So, this time i told her point blank that we will go to the doctor. While she seemed to be ready for a moment, she asked if we could go tomorrow. I said no, we were going right away. However, she had to take her husbands permission and he came to me. He spoke politely and i asked him if it would be okay for me to take her to the hospital.
He said that he, being her husband, would have taken her to the hospital had she told him that she had fallen. It has been two days and she hadn't told him. So, it was clearly her fault, he said. He said he would take her tomorrow.
It was her fault, he had said. I felt that i had touched the ever sensitive male ego and so i thought it would be best to let him be the alpha male and take care of her. So, i suggested that he could take her right away so as to not delay further. But he began to mumble something and finally said that there was someone in the neighborhood who had passed away and that didi would be needed. I began to have doubts about the ego being hurt. In a last ditch effort i asked him if he would take her tomorrow and i got my doubts cleared. He said that he will try and that if it was not possible, if he was busy, he would send someone to inform me to take her to the hospital.
The culture that we are all so proud of! Look at us! We don't have divorce rates half as high as the Americans do!
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