Doctor, you too?

This year it didn't snow at all in Karlsruhe. The winter didn't seem like it in South Germany this year. The temperatures were pleasant, and it was 20 degrees last Sunday! It's not that I am complaining! I am happy when it's not very cold, but the rate at which the climate is changing everywhere in the world is quite alarming. It creates an imbalance in nature, in people's health too! And this is often the season where most of the people fall sick. T was no exception as well. His friend had come for a stayover, on the weekend and he had a cold. Before that friend left and we knew it, T had it too!

Initially, I thought it is just a common cold and that T will be alright in 3 days. I gave him the usual cough syrup and the nasal drops and some warm water to sip on. He was ok during the day, but at night, he had great problems to sleep. His nose got blocked, and then he had to breathe through the mouth. He was often uncomfortable, and he couldn't sleep properly. After waiting for 3 days, I decided to take him to the doctors. After shifting to a new area, outside Karlsruhe, I had to search for a new child specialist in the area. I called at least 3 doctors in the vicinity, and to my great amusement, they all refused to take new patients and asked me to take the sick child to the old child specialist who was about 45 minutes away by public transport. I pleaded with them, I requested them. But no, they didn't budge. They had a lot of patients already, it seems, and they couldn't take any more.

I couldn't accept and digest the fact that in a developed nation like Germany, these things could happen. What could be the reasons? Fewer doctors in the areas? The influx of people? Shortage of staff to manage? For common cold and cough, I could still take T to the doctor as it was not very serious. My friend dropped me to the clinic, and then after finishing the appointment, we took the tram, went to buy medicines, and then took another tram to get back home. 2 hours were easily spent on this when an appointment at a nearby doctor would have got over in a maximum of half an hour.

Another incident which happened on the same lines was with my dentist's. I had an appointment at 12:15 on Monday, and after finishing the English class, I rushed to the clinic. It was raining heavily, the trams were running late. And after reaching there, I was told that the doctor won't see me as I am late and that I have to come again on some other day for the appointment. I was in pain for a few days, and I thought I would be relieved that day after the doctor examined me. But I was wrong. I couldn't reach the doctor that day. As I was late, the next appointment would have arrived soon, and then the doctor would have gone into a stress mode, I think, handling patients back to back! With a heavy heart, I went home in pain. I had no other option.

I couldn't stop comparing Germany and India for these two incidents that happened to me. I would have never gone back from the dentist's without seeing the doctor, and the child specialist in the vicinity would have taken my appointment even if I was the last patient for the day, and he was already getting late to go home. I miss that flexibility here. I miss the human factor in almost all service sectors. It is actually a great paradox here, I think. The life of each individual is valued here a lot, but there is nothing done to go out of the way and make the other person comfortable here. Everyone runs here on strict time schedules, and no one wants to really do any extra bit for others.

Nothing is perfect. No country and its systems are ideal. Only after staying in that country for a longer time, we realize what is missing at the grass-root level, and an unconscious comparison often takes place with the home country. I got my tooth checked and treated by the dentist on another day, and I am better now!