Where's my treat?

Yesterday was the long awaited press conference. I was prepared, having memorized the notes which I first made in English, then translated into Hindi. They were then re-translated by my Hindi teacher and finally edited by medical students. I had the press release I made earlier and one translated into Hindi by Suprabha and another opthalmologist. And it was every bit as extravagant as all these preparations indicated. The clinic was full of reporters, full of cameras. Fortunately they just let me give my Hindi speech (and then give it again for a video interview). They also asked questions like: is health care here the same standard as at home? Do you think it is good for Indian doctors to go to the West to work? Do you want to come back to India to work?

The most bizarre moments were when a reporter tried to write a script for me to say, including saying that I have seen a movie (which I have not, in fact seen) and that my trip was inspired by Mother Teresa. I said I have not seen that and actually, though Mother Teresa is inspirational, she is not why I came. He looked at me and said "just lie". I said "no". Then Dr. Dubey changed the subject. Also when I was answering another question I got distracted by a lizard crawling up the wall. I have never seen a lizard here before.

We then had to enact a sequence of me helping patients move around and watching Gauravbhai examine them. I shuffled a poor old man needlessly around the rooms of the clinic, put eyedrops in both his eyes, and watched while Guarav shone a light into his eyes for what felt like 20 minutes. Poor man.

After all of this, I went to watch surgeries at a hospital. I had had no lunch, was full of nervous energy, had developed an eye twitch and by halfway through watching an open lymphectomy (the first of 5 scheduled surgery watchings) decided that I actually needed to leave. now. So I called Suprabha and said this and she sent Gauravbhai to pick me up. The two of them have saved me these past days.

I don't quite know what it is, but I find these press interviews really overwhelming. Maybe it's because I'm trying to speak/understand a language I don't know, without really knowing what's expected of me, while wanting to use this as an opportunity to thank Dr. Dubey who has done so much for me and fulfill all expectations that I be a media star. This is stressful.

I also felt a bit like a trained puppy: when the camera went on I was supposed to perform. This feeling was heightened by the fact that when I arrived home I called the medical students and said "Hi, can you come take me for a walk?" They did, which was very very nice of them.
That night I went to a dinner at the house of the gynecologist who let me watch surgeries in her hospital. It was really nice, but also very social.

This morning I went to a business school to have a discussion with the students. Neither they nor I was entirely sure what the purpose of the visit was, but for the first time ever I was able to stand up and just start talking, without following my script and be articulate. We then actually managed to have a discussion which was really fun.

This moment of confidence shattered when I got in the car and heard that I had to prepare to be interviewed live on National T.V. that afternoon. Apparantly the articles in the paper today were deemed interesting and happy news. I almost had a nervous breakdown but, thanks to the intervention of Suprabha and Gaurav, managed to eat lunch and hold myself together.

The interview was alright, though they didnt' exactly tell me when it started, nor what to expect. I even fielded a question about how I feel about Mother Teresa with a reasonable measure of articulateness. I was reprimanded for not speaking in Hindi, for which I felt really bad. But no matter because another video news team was waiting in the clinic to interview me in Hindi. (we paused in between these two interviews to visit a religious place and meet some religions women and eat some potato cakes. This visit seems rather blurry to me right now). The second interview went well, and the first was not as bad as I expected, as I found when I sprinted out of the car and into Suprabha's mother's apartment to catch the second half. I looked a bit deer in the headlights but not too bad.

I am now off to get into a sari to go to the wedding celebration happening downstairs. Things are a bit blurry but at the moment I am happy with my experiences. Sorry if this is incomprehensible, I typed it really fast : )