The Doctor Who Disappointed The Village (Part II)

Now to the scene of action. It was, in fact, two villages in one panchayat—Katteri and Kuppam. There was a 12 ft. deep irrigation canal running between the two. The canal was coming from a river 10 km away. It was a village with a population of about 2000 with a high school and a police station manned by an ASI. There was a live stock dispensary manned by a live stock asst (called mattu doctor). Apart from these, there were no govt. Offices and there was not even a single government employee of officer rank from that village. The literacy rate was just 15%. Like all the villages in India, there were frequent power cuts and the day went on without power usually. The only vegetables available were brinjals and potatoes. Ghee was not available for sale and when Sarada visited me and criticized me for living without ghee, I started getting it from Pondicherry. First bus to come there from Pondy was at 9 am and it used to disgorge health dept. staff, teachers and random visitors. It used to proceed a little further and used to return at 10.30 am and that was the first trip to Pondy from there. The last Bus to Pondy was at 5.00 pm and after that we were cut off from the rest of the world till 9 am next day. If you had urgent business, why, all you had to do was walk 5 miles to Valudavur on the Villupuram—Pondy highway and catch a bus. The services on that route ran from 5 am to 10 pm (from Pondy) and from 6 am to 10 pm (from Villupuram). The only hope for a sick person after 5 pm was the PHC with no staff staying there as the quarters were dilapidated and were not fit for human occupation. The road from Pondy was not bad (for a rural road those days) considering the fact that there were knee deep pot holes only once every 100 yards and the buses were pretty old—thus giving an enjoyable ride giving the sensation that we were all being shaken like the dice are shaken before the throw. No TV, only radio and nobody living in the quarters. The agriculture mainly was Paddy, Sugarcane and Casuarina plantations (Eucalyptus was just catching up and Subabul not known.) The PHC was built on government land and hence at the southern end of the village, in fact in the village Smasanam (Grave yard) . It was the next to last campus and beyond that was the Livestock station (Veterinary hospital—but no Doctor there). All round were Sugarcane fields and Casuarina plantations. The two campuses were deserted after 5 pm and came back to life only at 9.10 am next day when staff arrive from various towns and Pondy. The chorus of foxes in the fields was the only sound after 10 pm as the village goes to bed by 9 pm. Listen to them-- HERE. (Picture and Sounds downloaded from the internet) I had resigned my post of senior house surgeoncy to take up this job and had no place to stay. So, I stayed in my friend Ranga’s room in JIPMER for a while- a week or so and moved to the Doctor’s quarters here. They were nearly decrepit, in need of repairs and I pestered the State PWD to carry them out and to repair the other quarters too. I was busy organizing work here, getting to know the ropes, the territory and the staff. I was visiting DMS office, PWD office and medical stores depot for drugs etc. In the night I was busy making Ranga read and help him with Pharmacology. In fact I was BUSY. Meanwhile, I was commuting between Pondy-JIPMER Hostels and Katterikuppam. The commute was also an adventure. The road from the bus stand to the PHC was a mud track and if it drizzled even a little bit, we had to perform feats of balance, just to stay vertical, while walking to the bus stand. We had 2 options— 1. walk with your shoes on and wash them at the “boring pump” in the bus stand but this comes with a need for great skill in balancing as the shoes are more likely to slide and slip. 2. Walk barefoot (for better grip on the ground) and carry your shoes in hand----wash your feet at the boring pump. The road was lined with coconut trees on either side and at a turn in the middle, there was a big mound inhabited by snakes. In fact a typical village of India in the 1970s with minimal facilities and a tough life. After getting the quarters repaired, I moved in. It was a 2BHK bungalow without attached baths. I insisted on repairs to staff quarters and they promised to get cracking “soon.” The jeep attached to the PHC was donated by UNICEF and was doing duty in DMS office. I quarreled, insisted, cajoled and got it back to the PHC with a driver. There was an unmarried nurse posted there, who came to live on campus. Her quarters were next to mine with a gap of about 10 ft. with the road to the garage intervening. There was a ward boy on night duty (permanently as his lungs were destroyed by TB and he could not perform any active duty in the daytime.) In the night the nurse and the ward boy slept in the hospital and I slept in the quarters alone to the accompaniment dogs barking and foxes screeching.