Gaining wisdom through my wisdom teeth

I am 30 now, however all my wisdom teeth were up and functional (read vestigial, because that’s what they are) at the age of 26. And out of my personal experience, I can conveniently say that wisdom teeth have a mind of their own, they know when to be born and when to die and just as a part of the practice they began to decay and cause enormous pain. 

I have heard from different people that the pain caused by a decayed tooth is the second most difficult natural pain that humans can endure after the one caused because of labour. So, with such a severity I one day decided to go to a random dentist near the place that I live, to get some insight as to what I must do with my pain and the teeth. The doctor with very little probe decided to get my mouth open and start drilling into it suddenly putting me through to a feeling like an unexplored cave with tools that resembled a spanner, a screw-driver and a driller; after a while I could also hear crackling sounds from inside my mouth like that of stones being broken with a hammer, this was his attempt to extract my first wisdom tooth and at the end of this one and a half hour of ordeal I was left with a feeling of mental and physical trauma. I was wondering as to how will I get my remaining three teeth extracted if this is the pain and ridicule I have to bear with and then suddenly I remembered a long time dentist that I had been to as a child who repaired my broken tooth with gentleness once when I had met with an accident. I now decided to go to this dentist whose clinic is called Abhinav Dental Care. I discussed with them about my problem and they advised me to come on later date and that they would make the extractions as per my convenience and ability to cope-up with the first one! 

When I went for the first extraction the dentist began to speak with me about what I do and such stuff, moving further when he had to clog my oral space with some of his tools he knew to ask the right questions to keep me busy in my mind and yet not give verbal answers but where verbal nods were enough of a response. At the end of 30 minutes, he said "rinse your mouth", I asked him what for? (Because I didn’t feel the need to)…and he said, “you got to rinse your mouth after the extraction is over!” I was amazed at the scope that the same surgery that looked like a landslide and earthquake put together a month ago, now was more like cutting a cake! I was totally taken aback and my faith was restored!

Like most other professions, the medical fraternity also has professionals who are not in sync with their work and then there are the best of best ones on the same platform, but what makes these doctors different is the way they deal with lives and their capacity to see blood, filth created by accidents, gore and much more. At a time when everyone is panicked these are the guys that choose to stay calm and not show their fears on their faces. 

On one hand I feel extremely grateful of the fact that I have a few friends who are fine doctors as their profession needs them to be while reflecting their personal human ideologies and learning in making their work look more meaningful, but on the other hand I see doctors who are not well equipped either in knowledge, capacity or in their technical ability to deliver their profession well and it’s ironic that we can do very less about it. 

But there is a good news, all the doctors that are going to be made after today are in our control, it comprises of those who are still doing their matriculation, those who are in their 10+2 and it also includes all the young ones below that age group, all we have to do is to constantly help them understand the value of every human life in each action that we do, we got to help them trust, we got to tell them that money is not the key of all things, we got to help them realize that they are strong enough to take up a responsibility that deals with lives directly, we got to explain to them about self-respect at each step, while we teach them the finer details of the ‘dignity of labour’ and when we are successfully able to tell them all of these, we got to tell them each day that we love them for their presence in our lives! And this will ensure a great of deal of game-changing doctors!

May there be healing in every touch of the doctors!

May there be love and willingness to cure

Happy Doctors' Day!

My very own Goodwill Stores

Little did I know about the Goodwill Stores and the way it worked until a good friend told me that he picked up a TV and a couch from one such store on his short term visit to USA at a collective price of $11. It was surprising to me how social work could shape up in such a fine business model. It was heartening for me to see that, at a time when most of the world is busy trying to find ways out to make money, there's a concept that liberally disposes money to all the classes of people. Goodwill has ever since kept me thinking.

My father was a businessman and he had to make day-to-day dealings with various merchants like stationers, cloth sellers, food raw material suppliers and much more and since I was a very little girl that time, I would go to most of these vendors along with him as a part of my scooter rides. His dealings with all the merchants were ever so crisp and friendly and so well stuffed with honesty and humanity that it made him stand out as a customer. His goodwill was building without he knowing it much and then over the years, when his business grew his goodwill was reflective, as the transactions were made in large sums of money and large consignments of goods sheerly on trust and name basis.

The years went by...the goodwill multiplied, what stopped was his breath. This day eleven years ago, he moved on with his journey to another world and what he left for us more than memories was goodwill. His last journey was carried out in an army vehicle instead of an ambulance much out of goodwill for a civilian businessman. Whichever old places we go to or his old friends that we happen to meet never cease to rave about his genuinity; no money loans ever taken by him were pending (which could have made us suffer if not dealt well with). Even today when I go to some of those stores where I can get my school stationery supplies or to the cloth merchant, they behave more as my uncles than mere businessmen; I happen to receive goods from them on sixty percent or more discounted prices...simply because I am the daughter of Ramnath Shah. This way all the places where my father touched his soul, he created a much personalized goodwill store for us, his children!

With this, I would like to ask a simple question to all of you reading this note...what is it that you want to leave for this world, for your children, for those who cherished your existence?
I received Goodwill as inheritance from my father and I would like to create that for my generations to come and for everyone who thought my existence was worthwhile.

Think.Love.Live!
Nirupama