Settling Down

Today would be Halloween in America. I spent the day looking at females getting pap smears and physical checkups. Not that I wouldn't love to dress up in an outrageous costume and pig out on cholesterol-laden food, but I thought getting doctor contacts for going to Bhopal hospitals and reading up on cervical cancer was a better use of my time. Maybe that's just me.

I'm finally settling in and feeling like I have a system set up. A disciplined lifestyle, if you will, something I thought my body wasn't capable of after high school. I wake up at seven (ish), take a "refreshing" shower with ice cold water, only to find Altaf waiting for me outside the ladies' bathroom. He then proceeds to follow me around as far he can, and then I have to go to the gynocologist, Dr. Kaur's, office. The women that come in might do so if they are pregnant, have a runny nose, a back ache, rough soles under their feet, burning eyes, it's not always a gyn-related. This is because one of the doctors is sick and Dr. Kaur gets his patients as well. I record their complaints/reason for coming and their blood pressure/pulse, and ask Dr. Kaur questions about what she's doing/writing/diagnosing. Lunch is at noon sharp. Lack of punctuality might lead to another fifteen minute wait for food as the two cooks have to prepare more food if they run short. In the afternoon, I look through pages and pages of doctor-scrawled pap smear and vaginal test results. Deciphering the code that is messy handwriting is the hard part, the data entry into the database is easy. The clinic closes at two, but the day is far from over. I'm often online, researching my queries of the day, learning more about cervical cancer, buying fruits or milk from the nearby Berasia Road. Yesterday we bought a train ticket to Bombay for a protest against Dow at an Expo in Goregaon. I've never been to the City of Bollywood before, I figured this is as good a time as ever. After the protest, we're taking a train to Jalgaon, spending a day at the Ajanta Caves, then heading back to Bhopal.

The kids in the basti recognize me now - when I was going to the store to get milk, I was greeted by a loud "Pragya! Pragya! Hi! Pragyaaaaa!" I figured this is what famous people must feel like, except they also fall prey to blinding lights and looking impeccable wherever they go. I can get away with my two-day old white salwar bordered with dust that's not so white anymore. Sorry Ma. Don't worry, I still wash my clothes (every once in a while). Back to the point, I wouldn't want to be famous, privacy is too valuable to me. Not that you care.

In a nutshell, life is good. Tomorrow I complete one week at Sambhavna. Who knows what the next week has in store for me...