Thoughts on Jaipur's Free Hospital (2)

7/27/2019 Thoughts on Jaipur's Free Hospital (2)

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Government maternity hospital

Though there were immediate obvious surface differences in first encountering the entrance to

the free

hospital, and even though it had a decidedly frayed and humble avenue of approach I noticed

immediately the atmosphere of heightened social awareness and concern that is always present

at the

perimeter of a hospital. As we became part of the flow entering the approach to the hospital we

joined

and encountered families and individuals who had either just been treated or were hoping to

soon so

be. More than a few were in obvious discomfort and pain, but all exhibited a stoicism that I've

found

in my experience to be uncommon in American hospital settings where I've observed a tendencyfor

patients and family members to indulge in loudly announced petty complaints, pronounced

indifference to their own role in their health issues(eating junk food and drinking sugary sodaswhilst

bemoaning the symptoms of their diabetes)and often droning on with all manner of self pity overtheir

illnesses reflecting an attitude almost as if their ailments were a reason for celebration or pride,what I

call the my ailments are worse than yours syndrome. In stark contrast the patrons at the free

clinic

all seemed very thankful for the help they were being offered and extremely patient in their wait

to be

treated, even when for some it was clear they were in great pain, or so exhausted that they could

not

even sit up. I observed that nearly all the patients had family members with them who hovered

close

and exuded the very embodiment of familial concern and wish to comfort. Strangely this human

affect

and energy seemed to permeate the whole of the hospital, that is apart from the police presence

which

seemed to a person to be cool, if not indifferent, to the suffering around them, generally


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perfunctory

and officiant in their bearing, however, it is no doubt that this tone is essential in maintaining the

constant flow of human traffic in an efficient manner. I imagine as well, that despite my positivesense

of the relatively calm atmosphere that the need for their presence and authoritarian comportment

has

been put to the test with the periodic challenges of chaos and perhaps even violence, that also

occur in

American hospitals. The other primary observation of the patients and family members in the

clinic

was their palpable sense of grace and appreciation for what was being given to them free of

charge.

I saw no display of the sense of entitlement to services and sometimes surly treatment of hospital

staff

that I have observed as a patient myself in the public health clinics of Austin, taxes. In observing

the

clinic staff, I was deeply touched by their calm, focused and gentle state of energy. They all

seemed a

little tired, and no doubt were way overworked, but the most predominate sense of them I had

was

their clearly apparent pragmatic determination to deliver the best possible service and health

care they

could given their available means. This seemed especially so in the maternity ward, where give

the

infantile death rate of the poorest women in India, the challenges the care staff face are perhaps

the

most pressing with the greatest possible repercussions for the general health of the nation. Thereis

probably a certain degree of ambiguity in the feelings of some citizens(and certainly so amongst

many of the disinterested and callous first world proponents of zero growth population policies)

that

with the live arrival of yet another Indian mouth to feed, that there was no real reason to

celebrate.


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But quite the contrary, the maternity ward of all the places we saw, was nearly radioactive with

the kind

of natural joy centering around the birth of a child. It was for me a most profound experience,

the sight

of all these brand new pink little babies just now having entered the vortex of life in the land

which is

arguably one of, if not the Great Mother of Western culture and civilization. It brought full

circle for

me a sense of one of the great mysteries, that even in the depths of poverty and deprivation, at

every

moment the promise of the future is being born before our very eyes. Such a meditation should

daily

be never far from our hearts and minds. As cliche as it might sound, I feel it is true that only in

developing the will to become actively aware of the challenges of our present situation will we

be

able to be prepared take the necessary actions to preserve our world for future generations.

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Thoughts on Jaipur's Free Hospital (2)