A Doctor's Heart Sutra

Living among them, working in the heart of the north where people struggled to heal and hoped to survive – This is my story. “If you can’t speak Tamil , then you’d better pack your bags and leave!” the Consultant said in a blunt tone to the doctors who were newly-posted there. A few years ago, the sound of guns, bombs and aircraft filled the atmosphere of the North. Everything ended for good in May 2009, and now they are in the process of regaining their normal lives, even though most of it had been destroyed beyond repair by the brutal war. Yes, I wanted to serve in the North and it was the time that our country needed our help by whatever means possible. Despite the objections of my family, relatives and friends, I started my journey to the hospital at the other end of the country. Traveling to an area in the aftermath of a brutal war was not easy when there were, road blocks, checkpoints and warning tapes on either side of the roads where demining took place. Roads were all wrecked...

M y chest throbbed with immense pain while watching the movie” Ira handa yata,” Under the sun and moon. This movie reflected the 30 years of war that ruined the lives of millions in this country, and I felt it deeply as I was a victim of it since I was born and until I finished my medical degree. The tears of the living dead and the cries of the innocent had been reflected sharply throughout the film as I witnessed most of it myself during the time I served in an immediate post war area. The theme it carried not only bears a clear history of the war but also the humanity and its relativity towards the nation. It takes a lot of courage and kindness to look at one another with love and compassion even when one has lost almost everything he owned. “It’s so good that it all ended doctor” every single person I met, told me, that their lives are so much better, the children are safe and they’ve returned “home”. It was not all sunny and bright! Every day I come across hundre...

My stethoscope fell on the floor and broke into 2 pieces ! I still remember the day that I bought it like it was yesterday. I was using a cheap steth during the whole 3rd year, it was heavy, out of style, rubber one which was not the kind to be used by girls of my age. We were one of those middle class families with 3 kids and my parents were already fighting hard to earn enough for our educational needs so I never wanted a fancy expensive one. At the end of that year, my father asked if i wanted a good one. Finally I went to a pharmacy near town hall and got a grey littman ! which was with me for the past 7 years. It got me through many clincal attachments , exams and even finals. It was around my neck through the whole internship and post internship. One busy day I dropped it on the tile floor of our scanning room , while trying to find room to write the scan reports of a patient. the rim and the diaphragm came out which was the main part of the steth. I was pos...