RURAL ARE THE REAL

 LOVABLE   RURAL   FOLK

Dr. T. Rama Prasad

          Yes, Rural are the real.  Really lovable folk.  Candid sans pretensions.  Childlike directness with no great expectations.  Trusting and trustworthy as well.  No hypocrisy and non-suspecting .  Vulnerable for exploitation.  Gullible and plain.  Simple.  Simple attire, almost half naked, even some women ('topless').  They are still there, of older generation.  

          Being in a rural area for half-a-century,  I have been a witness to the changing scenario.  Of course, it is not the same as it was 50 years ago.  Evolution.  Socio-cultral evolution.  Many have migrated to towns and cities, leaving the healthy agricultural work in sunlight and the healthy natural food from their own farms.  Urban pollution coupled with bad lifestyle drives them to hospitals which are aplenty in towns.  Though 80 per cent of India's population lives in rural areas, 80 per cent of the doctors prefer to be in towns and cities.  Read about them in the 'Scribbling' titled 'Medicine in Rural India' on this blog.

         

Some of the rural patients pray for me;   some pray to me;  some attempt to touch my feet in reverence despite my thwarting the attempt.  Madness or reverence ?  Most of such patients have a refreshingly rural and innocent background.   They have blind faith in gods and doctors as well.

           After another decade or so, we may see no more of such good plain hearted rural folk,  and also the good old grandmothers of ‘topless’ (‘blouseless’)  era ! The women of that generation cover their upper bodies with a piece of a cloth only (end piece of saree) wrapped around without any underclothing like bra or blouse.  

          Today (February 10, 2018), one frail-looking grandmother in that 'topless' attire (see the attached photo) walked into my consultation chamber, accompanied by her grandson, but not needed to be assisted by him to walk in.  She fluently talked in the grand old style ... said she got the appointment with great difficulty (limited consultations today, as I had to spare some time to attend my granddaughter's 'food court bonanza' at her school).  At the end of the consultation, she wanted a 'cough syrup' (most of the 'cough syrups' are used unnecessarily and for psychological satisfaction,  and to the great delightfulness of drug industry !)..  I gave her a sample bottle of a cough syrup, free of cost, of course ... her face was lit up with happiness. Little pleasures ... little things matter in life ... read the 'Scribbling' titled 'Richness & Happiness' on this blog.  She narrated at length of her previous visits over decades and profusely thanked me for keeping her fit (in fact, it is her good old lifestyle and her constitution that kept her fit, not me !).  I asked her whether I may have a photo with her.  She was amused and laughed.  I called the receptionist to take a photo.  The lady of the old school put up a serious pose for the photo. Receptionist, Nandhini, asked her to smile ... in vain ... perhaps, the good old lady thought that one should not move or smile when the camera clicks (In our school days, photographers used to instruct us not to move or smile when they take group photos in the school with those bulky 'plate' cameras with a long exposure time !).  I shall give her a print out of the photo when she visits me again ... ironically, we both are of the same age group by the calendar, though seem not to be by the images !  Finally, the plain, simple, candid and 'topless' granny left my chamber.  After a while, she came back with money (hundred rupees notes) in her hand to put into my tiny 'Pay what you can' hundi.  I had to persuade her a lot not to give any consultation fee, saying that it's a great pleasure for me to treat her free of cost ... again there was a flash of a cheerful smile across her face.  This is the most pleasant reward we get in medical practice -- the smile of satisfaction.

In those good old days, some of the rural folk  used to give me a home-grown papaya or a water melon ...  or a little ‘colostrum milk’ (‘seempaalu’ in Tamil) in an old fashioned vessel for making ‘custard’.  One day, one such patient  came to my home and presented something in such a vessel.  Our servant maid took it inside and returned a while later shouting at her: “What did you bring?  Do you have any sense?”  The patient was taken aback by the confrontation, and mumbled: “During the last visit,  ‘doctor ayya’ said that ‘malam’ (stool /motion) was to be examined !”   Innocent they are !  Poor little souls ... exploited by some unscrupulous  elements in the society !

          The urban elite (many of them, but not all) seem to be more business-like and expect more than what could be done.  Hence, I kept a placard long ago at the entrance of my clinic with the inscription: "You are in THE  VILLAGE  CLINIC --- do not expect much."  This would have lessened the disappointment of those who came here with great expectations.  In my 'Pay what you can' CLINIC,  patients have the choice to pay whatever they can -- deposit into the tiny 'Hundi box' kept for that purpose.  It may be surprising to know that some of the rural poor choose to pay more than what the urban rich do. The educated urbanites (not all), in general, seem to be more frugal, and the innocent rural  more generous.  In fact, it is the lower income groups which contributed more to the sustenance of this clinic than the rich people.  Sometimes, at the end of a consultation, when I say "Don't pay anything, it is free," many of the poorer patients insist on depositing some amount into the Hundi,  while most of the wealthy patients 'deposit' a broad flashy smile of satisfaction and exit, but not before taking another chunk of my time narrating their connections with some big shots. To know more about this clinic, you may read the 'Scribbling' titled: 'Pay what you can' CLINIC , on this blog.

            Modernity brought in huge hypocrisy.  Modern man excels in pretention.  Pretention to a little extent is ok in the present world.  It is even necessary.  But, when it exceeds a limit it reveals  glaringly the designs of the urban literate -- seemingly clever and cunning.  On the other hand,  the words of the rural folk, the true rural folk, come from the bottom of their hearts -- candid and cordial.  No hypocrisy, no pretensions.  But, sometimes they are brutally rude brandishing 'aruval' (sickle), with justification,  though.  You may also read the 'Scribbling' subtitled 'Perundurai is the Rathinam' under the heading 'About me and my scribblings' on this blog wherein I mentioned about the goodness of people in the rural geographic zone where I have been living.

          While venality, ego and arrogance seem to be the hallmark of many of the urban elite (in general),  honesty, humility and humbleness are the reflections of the rural delight.  Loving rural folk,  lovable rural folk, lively rural folk  --  LONG  LIVE  RURAL INDIA !!!

                                                                                            --  T. Rama Prasad

  

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THIS  IS  AN  ABRIDGED  TEXT  OF  MY  'SCRIBBLING'.      FULL  TEXT  WOULD  BE  POSTED  LATER.     --  T. Rama Prasad