Breaking the silence

June to September is a long time to remain silent.
But then I was in no mood both physical and mental. Mental because of the social, economical and political atmosphere in my country which was so depressing. Our PM on whom the likes of me had so much hope when he assumed power 8 years ago, has proved such a disaster what ever angle you look at him. We have erudite spokespersons of ruling party who speak rubbish and gibberish in impeccable public school English. They irritate me no end.

In my own professional life I see gradual and inexorable taking over of medical care at all levels by private players and venture funds leaving the lower middle class and the poor high and dry at the mercy of the poorly managed and funded public health service. Even here the care[private] is not always ethically correct but is often dictated by profit motive as illustrated by a real life incident I came to know of recently[see below].

Money meant for public works goes waste and often into the pockets of beurocrats and politicians. Example is the road in front of my home. It is pot holed and has not been tarred since ten years. Repeated pleas have fallen on deaf years and written appeals have found their way to the waste paper baskets. May be the next step would be to hold a hunger strike in front of the local MLA

Physically, I had a worrying time after undergoing surgery and fighting a wound infection which took time to clear.

I am now in the U.S, and each time I come here the contrast becomes much more glaring,  especially the civic amenities.

An Ophthalmologist sought a job in one of the well known corporate hospital in west Bangalore. He was received well and looking at his impeccable qualifications and experience, he was offered a post. He did not take it. Reason: he was told at least a third of his patients need to be admitted!

This is an example of corporate medicine where money rules ethics.