Things I Never Observed About My Neighbourhood


(Picture: The swollen ring finger that taught me to respect and appreciate ordinary things in life)

I had a little issue with my right ring finger 2 days ago. Some strange looking insect bit me at my mom's place and left an ugly sting. I had to remove it with a pin, which on hindsight, was probably not the greatest thing to do in the situation. Everything seemed fine, until the next morning. I woke up to find the finger swollen and painful. I ignored it for 2 days and today, I am wriggling in pain and my right hand is practically useless. I also have a feeling that I will have fever tonight. Time to visit a doctor (I hate doctor visits from the bottom of my heart). Instead of running to a corporate hospital like I usually do, I decided to check out some small clinic around my place. I live in a typical middle class suburb (a considerable chunk of population in the locality belongs to the lower middle class) so I was curious to see the quality of medical facilities and here is what I found out.

It takes about 3 mins to walk from one end of my lane to the other. I live on the other end so I walked towards the main road hoping to find some clinic on the way. I found that there were 3 clinics (2 physicians cum surgeons and 1 Homeopathy doctor) , 1 diagnostic center and 2 pharmacies, all in my lane!! I have been living in this area for over 15 years and never ever noticed them. I randomly chose a clinic and found the doctor to be an extremely friendly yet professional lady. There was a personal touch that is rare to find in the well known doctors in the big hospitals. I took the prescription of antibiotics and pain killers and walked back home with a completely different perspective about small clinics in ordinary localities.

Forgot to mention the consultation fee: 25 rupees (approximately 60 cents)!! I am impressed!