New Year Resolutions -The two months
round up.
Ever since the resolution I took on new year’s eve- you know
the one where I ranted about my irritation at the continuous jibes and snubs
being directed at me every time there was a new piece of news about the obscene
amount of money being offered to kids barely out of teens as IIT/IIM placement salaries
– I have been religiously following my new year resolution to make more money. Unfortunately
not being gifted with enough talent to get into a premium institute and get
campus placed for an obscene amount- I have been reduced to doing what I know-
trying to make more money from my original profession- the only one I am
qualified in- by being more sincere at work and working 24/7. The one thing the wise heads say about a
medical practice is if you sit there they will come which means that all-time availability
is what builds a practice. But all time availability, the dedication required
for it, has an unfortunate side –effect- it reduces your free time and personal
time to almost nil.
For the last two
months I have reduced my personal engagements to nil. I have given up all my hobbies-
including my photo walk trips which I religiously went on every month for so
many years. I have not been to a mall or a theater or watched a single movie
for the past two months- movies in theatre I mean- not streamed over my tablet.
I have avoided scrupulously any form of entertainment or hobbies or personal
time at all. I have even skipped a couple of close friend’s weddings not
wishing to take the time off from my clinic on the off chance that some patient
or the other would choose just that day to visit and not finding me there would
go off to some other doctor or worse spoil my name by complaining to everyone that
“this doctor is never in his clinic it’s a waste of time to go to him” even if I
wasn’t there the only time he came- but that’s how people generally, talk don’t
they?.
I have also started going on Sunday morning rounds, sacrificing
my regular Sunday sleep-ins, which I last used to do when I was just a kid
starting out in the profession. The result
of all this dedication is just beginning to show- my practice is up and more
patients are showing up daily. Most of them are new patients and referrals through
word of mouth recommendations- siblings and cousins and friends of old and
satisfied patients. Besides as this is the wedding season I am getting a lot of
walk in brides “my marriage is fixed for this month end is there anything you
can do for me within that time frame” kind of patients who don’t mind getting a
temporary procedure and paying a premium for it- after all it just has to last
till the honeymoon trip, right? And the brides sisters, cousin sisters and in
one case the bride’s mother too have turned up after seeing what I did to the
bride asking “can you do me too like you did my daughter?” Of course madam, he
who pays the piper calls the tune and I am at your disposal to make you look more
beautiful than your daughter on the day of her wedding, but what happens later
on is between you two.
So all in all, it’s been a productive two months and I have been
making some money – not obscene big money like those IIT fellows but ok’ish
money for a doctor. I can almost buy now a new car or a new mobile phone- both
of which cost about the same amount nowadays. But on the flip side, all that continuous
work (and pressure and stress) means I have totally lost it when it comes to my
own well being. I have put on weight – maybe 5 kilos around my belly- my pants
are all so tight they look like skintight jeans and every time I stretch I fear
my shirt buttons will pop off and leave me exposed. I have a constant throbbing
in the back of my head which I know is a sign of hypertension (high blood
pressure) but am afraid to check my own blood pressure for fear of confirming
it and having to start taking lifelong medicines for it. My head aches fiercely
every single day when I wake up in the morning due to lack of sleep and the
fact that I now have Sunday consultations means I miss my Sunday sleep marathon
which in turn means that I can’t make up for the lost sleep over the weekend.
I fear that I am hurtling straight towards a heart attack and
an early death but that’s the price one has to pay for success in society
right? But in spite of all this you know what hurts the most? The fact that the
other day I caught myself boasting to someone on the internet that my
appointment dairy was full till the end of the month. That hurt most. I remember
laughing and mocking my friends and colleagues whenever they boasted of the
same and to make the same assertion now- it means that the Borg have now taken
me in and I am part of the Borg Collective now (a star trek reference for those
who are not fans). Which means that the system has taken me in and turned me
into robo-doc. I am no more a human being with hobbies and interests and hopes
and laughter. I am a now a thorough professional who is dedicated to work. I have
finally grown up and become a responsible adult. Society wins and individualism
loses. I held out as long as I could but I am now with you all. Are you satisfied
at beating me?
No comments:
Post a Comment