*** This post is slightly old. Should have been posted a few months back. But still - here goes ***
The evolutionary theory has an important aspect missing from it - "survival of the well-connected". In a system where your connections can get you something as trivial as a private darshan at some famous temple to something as important as a job, I just learnt the hard way that connections are required to survive.
The evolutionary theory has an important aspect missing from it - "survival of the well-connected". In a system where your connections can get you something as trivial as a private darshan at some famous temple to something as important as a job, I just learnt the hard way that connections are required to survive.
A recent medical emergency where we had to rush my father to
the hospital as a result of acute drug (medicinal) reaction taught me vital
lessons in life. I might want to take the word 'rush' out of the previous
statement for thanks to the botched up drainage system in Delhi, just 2.5 hours
of rain ensured that it took me the 2.5 hours to reach the hospital which is
hardly 6 kms from my place. Apparently 20 crores are spent each year on de-silting
the drains, really? So much for being the ‘well-connected’ Capital of our
Country!
When we reached the hospital, his vital parameters had gone
haywire - heart rate of 190, temperature hitting the 105 F mark and a choked
wind-pipe. The doctors in the emergency ward stabilized things a little and
then said - "You should have brought him here earlier. We have stabilized
things a little but he has to be taken to the ICU". And this was followed
by "Sorry, but we don't have beds available in the ICU". You don't
need a PhD in logical theory to realize that these two statements in succession
spell trouble. What followed was some frantic pleading and a series of phone
calls which led to nothing and we had to shift him to another hospital in a
private ambulance. The flooded streets ensured that it took another 1 hour to
reach the next hospital which was just 3 kms away. While twitterati and our
favorite Facebook was abuzz with status messages of pakodas, the romance of
rains and people wanting to swim in flooded Delhi roads, my family and perhaps
others like us, sitting in an Ambulance crawling at 10 kms/hour were facing
what was one of the most difficult and stressful time of our life. The second
hospital had the same story of “no beds in the ICU” until we made a few calls
and found some connections to the director. What this did was, it miraculously increased
the ICU size by a couple of feet and magically make a bed appear inside. I know
that hospitals are actually over-flowing but not everyone can easily stake
claim to the facilities that are available.
So what does it take to get your father a bed in the ICU?
His visiting card with the gold embossed Ashoka Chakra? Money? Calling up your
friend’s dad who heads a particular department at a prestigious hospital in
south Delhi? Or some connections to the founder of another hospital? Well
whatever it takes, you have to be a part of a well-connected network. All of us
have our network trees and it’s in times like these that we find out which of
the branches in our trees are sturdy and reliable and which ones are shaky. And
if you aren’t as well-connected and haven’t moved beyond the sapling stage, I
suggest you make sure that your tree grows fast enough.
Being well-connected was not the only lesson that I learnt.
What I also learnt was that renowned pathological labs and private hospitals
were exhibiting some sort of a negative attitude towards CGHS beneficiaries and
for a lot of them – it’s indeed ‘business of human lives’; unfortunately not in
the emphatic way. I need do some research from my own end before I can
deliberate more on that. However- I must put in a word of praise for the nurses
and attendants who do a fabulous job of taking care of patients. Some other
important reflections were – it’s during times like these that you find out who
are the people in your circle who are genuinely concerned about the well-being
of you and your family and the ones who should apply to NSD next year for a
degree in Theatrics.
Yesterday my father was making his post retirement career
plans, so I know he has recovered and is back to his daily routine. But what
about the less fortunate ones who are not as well connected? I am happy to see
my father feeling healthy but I can hear and visualize several others asking
the same question – “ek ICU bed milega please?” (Can we get a bed in the ICU?).
Well as they say, it’s the bitter sweet symphony of life and every now and then
you have to pull a few strings to set the music right.
