Carol’s India Blog

I have to eat my words! I visited the eye hospital and I was  yet again surprised by an institution. As we drove onto the waste ground at the back of the building, the rubbish, dilapidated old bus and magey dogs lazing in the sunshine gave the impression that it was derelict building – but no – this was the eye hospital. Inside there was an out patients treatment room,  an operating theatre and  2 wards with beds so tightly packed together there was no space between them, each occupied by a patient awaiting surgery. The toilets (about which I have an obsession) were abysmal. I am sure Lewis has seen worse places, and at least the patients here are not dying. The doctor was cheery and positive. He spoke good English and, told me there are 2 doctors carrying out around 20 operations a week plus clinics, although how they keep the operating theatre sterile beats me. I felt sad when I left, bacause everything here seems such an uphill struggle. I have come to realised there is a kind of endearing naivety about Indians, and the simplest thing is pointed out to me with such pride, as if they feel blessed for having anything at all. The accountant was working on his accounts when we arrived. He was entering figures in a large ledger that would not have been out of place in the office of Uriah Heep – and yet India as a nation supposedly has so much expertise in the ICT field, and where are the emerging middle classes we read about cos I am not aware of having met any out here in Orissa, maybe they all live in Delhi. My boss is probably the nearest thing, as they have a TV and a dining table. She tells me her husband (sir asI call him) is an optician and trained for 3 months to get his qualification – I think it maybe not quite the same as ours!

How many people does it take to post a letter Digapahandi to the UK? Answer – 9

2 to work the computer, 1 to weigh the letter, 2 to organise the exchange of cash, 1 to issue the stamps and 2 to give advise- plus me, the customer. And the destinations of my letters were read out to the entire post office amid approving nods and mutterings as if ‘Milngavie’ or the ‘Museums Association’ actually meant something to any of them.

I have always thought my house here was very bare, and now I know why – they just don’t ‘do’ furniture.  Squatting or sitting cross legged on the floor is the norm, indeed there is no word for table or chair in Oriya, and comfort as we know it does not exist out here in the sticks. Oh - how I long to lounge on a sofa!  The office is much the same. We sit on the floor at meetings, there’s no coffee and scones a la NLC, and you are lucky you get offered a drink of water or a cup of chai. I never leave home without my own water supply – I have become obsessed with that too and see amoebic cysts and protozoans everywhere!

My boss has decided she wants me to teach her the British way of doing things. This worries me because I get the impression her idea of the ‘British way of doing things’ went out with the Raj. She would not take kindly to the staff calling her by her first name or having opinions of their own. They work every day of the week, but (she says) they have plenty of time to return to their villages and help with the work (farming, etc)  Oh well that’s ok then – the concept of leisure time has not reached here either. My constant ‘nipping her heid’ seems to be paying off though ,as today a group of staff appeared and we had an introductory meeting. They all stood up and introduced themselves and told me what they did, and I told them why I was there. Credit where its due, she took my suggestion on board and that impressed me. Just need to stop her sending the staff to follow me when I go out and all will be fine!

A post script to the motor bike incident – I thought I had seen it all when I saw 3 adults and 2 children on a motor bike but today I saw 2 men and 3 goats on a motor bike – one of the men was driving and none of them were wearing helmets!