India: sights, sounds, and smells
BMJ 2002; 325 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0211423 (Published 01 November 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:0211423
- Amlan Basu, medical preregistration house officer1
- 1Hemel Hempstead General Hospital
It would be a waste of time and energy to go to a hospital in India with any expectations or preconceived ideas. Is that too bold an opening statement? Then let me qualify it, if only to appease the anti-sensationalists. Preconceptions would be a waste of time and energy if your medical knowledge was confined to the developed Western world, as mine was.
Sensory and emotional bombardment
To anticipate the experience that India offers is a mistake because, even within the hospital setting, India is an unpredictable bombardment of the senses.
Sights
Many of us remember our lives as a series of snapshots that never fade: the silent tears of a mother who has just lost her child; a waiting area in a clinic so full of people--I still cannot say if the area actually had any seats; stairs lined with patients on both sides; mothers breast feeding their children; others eating lunch off banana leaves; nurses with brilliant white saris draped over dark …
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