The Reception Hall (Short Story)

The Reception Hall (A tete-a-tete)

There I was in front of another patient in the reception room. I had to while away forty minutes waiting. This was before the Corona virus pandemic and so we could chitchat without the masks and all that hoopla. Of course, the privacy regulations of healthcare (HIPPA) were in force already.

“Hi, how are you? Are you too waiting for the physical therapy?”

“I am alright. My daughter is getting the therapy. Actually first I’ve to get spinal surgery done and then follow it up with post operative PT.”

“Your daughter, she must be young?”

“Yea, she is young but with modern computer screens, etc., they develop neck or shoulder pains quickly. And that’s why she is getting some massage and exercise.”

“You must be from here, I suppose. I mean locally from Fayetteville, this part of Finger Lakes.”

“I am and I am not. Originally I graduated from here, studied Environmental Science. Got a job and married and all that. Then got separated and now I am trying to connect with my daughter. I left my job here and went to Rochester to live with my parents.”

“You did. Why? What happened?”

“Well my parents both needed home care in their twilight years. First it was my father, he was in wheelchair and needed full time supervision. I did not want to put him in some old age nursing home and leave his fate to careless caregivers. So, I left my job and went to live with them in the Kodak city.”

“Was it difficult for you? Making the decision, the financial burden and daily work.”

“It was. But I had to do it. As parents they did everything for me while growing up. They did without expecting anything from us.”

“But, still you had to do the cooking, cleaning bed, and bath.”

“Yes, father was ok till the last one year or six months. Then he went downhill rapidly, with the loss of bodily functions and memory. I did not mind the work. But slowly I became more understanding. It can happen to anybody. He was a proud father, came up through bootstraps, and he provided us with everything.”

“And then you provided the same care to mother also?”

“Yes. They both were good friends and supported each other. After father’s passing, she barely lived couple of years. But I am fortunate to be with them during their last days.”

“Looks, now you’ve to pick up the pieces. What? How long it has been?”

“Now I will come back here and look for a job after almost six years. This is where I still have a few friends. And most of all I like the peaceful beautiful nature around.”

“Yea, I too am captivated by the clean lakes, the fall colors, and clean air. No complaints about the vibrant nature around. Your work is close to nature, I suppose.”

“We do environmental assessment, its impact by new developments, construction, and the safeguarding of fresh water lakes. We are trying to drastically reduce the use of salt in winter and its spillage into the streams and creeks around.”

“I see. So, I cannot blame the PWD if there is a bit of snow and roads less passable in winter. We just have to cope up with it with less salt. Just learn to drive cautiously, I suppose.”

We’re almost close to our conversation. His last words still ring in my mind and they’re etched forever in memory.

“My parents did the diapers, tolerating my cranky childhood tantrums, fed, and educated me up to college. At least I took care of them in their neediest moments. If I have to do it again, I’ll do it without the slightest twinge.”

So, here is an educated gentleman who put his life on hold to serve elderly parents. Maybe there were some assets involved or it could involve minor obligations for the son. But still in this age who would do it? I’ve seen some families shunting off their decrepit mother or father to the nearest nursing home shirking off familial responsibilities. It is happening now in the Indian subcontinent back home too. 

I think I understand these difficult issues by reading Ramayana (Sravana Kumar) or Panduranga’s life. How mistaken I was! They say every society will be judged finally by the care shown to children and elderly parents. No wonder – the Green Lakes, the intense azure blue skies, and the bountiful apple trees bear a testimony to my friend’s goodness and love towards his parents. As they say, some are always like want, want; and some others know nothing but giving. (To All the wonderful Fathers. Father's Day falls on the third Sunday in June here.) Copyright 2026 by the author

Boils, Carbuncles, and Furuncles - II

Boils, Carbuncles, and Furuncles (Contd.)

In the early stage, that is when the boil is small and slightly red we can try putting hot pack on the site. Some times the boil will become soft and slowly it will disappear within a day or two. Normally it is not advisable to do pin pricking at home because it can lead to serious infection. It may unnecessarily lead to complications. A number of home remedies can be applied with good results; they avoid direct puncturing of the boil. Here are several inexpensive tricks: 1. Mix freshly cooked white rice with a bit of castor oil and apply to the boil. Cover the paste (poultice) with a plant leaf and apply a tight (but not too tight) bandage to the site. Leave the bandage intact for ten or twelve hours. Hibiscus, castor tree, banana, Four O’clock, gongura – these leaves will work wonders. 2. Instead of rice one can also use a wheat flour paste. 3. Sandalwood paste, particularly freshly ground wet paste also is very effective for boils. It cools the skin (boil) locally and helps in healing fast. 

Traditional (herbal or Ayurvedic) healers use castor, mustard, or neem oil for topical applications. Such oils make the skin soft and prevent additional infections.I should mention here a few (celebrity) cases to highlight the severity of skin diseases. Many people particularly those with brown or dark skin develop pigment (dark) patches due to excessive exposure to sun. One should be careful with sun’s radiation. It can lead to skin cancer – it happened to Sri Ramana, President Jimmy Carter, and senator John McCain. Carl Marx suffered life long with skin problems, particularly boils. 

If a boil, blister, or skin wound happens on outer accessible regions of body, then it is easy to apply bandage or antibiotic ointment (Bacitracin, Boroline, Soframycin). However, some times boils can pop up at very inconvenient places (under arm, inner thighs, etc.) and they can create unbearable pain leading to severe impairment or restricted body movement. If they show up on face – they create embarrassing situations. Often this often happens with facial acne during adolescent growth stage with active hormones. 

Now, internally what to drink or eat? We should try to keep the body in a cool state, in its own natural equilibrium. That means taking good (freshly prepared) food, fresh fruits, juice, yogurt, and buttermilk. Periodically it is advisable to give the skin an oil massage. Often boils happen near the roots of hair; oily skin massage keeps the skin clean, soft, and it helps to retain natural moisture. Avoid as much as possible dry itchy skin situations – this happens in extreme dry hot climate or in cold indoors during winter. 

So, basically we have two or three methods of handling stubborn boils: 1. Take immediate action as soon as it appears. Apply hot pack and massage gently with one of the oils mentioned above. Usually the boil should start improving in appearance. That is, it becomes less red in color and feels a bit soft to the touch. Normally within a few days the skin should return to its normal feel and color. 2. In acute cases we have to resort to minor but very careful local surgery. At this stage one can consult a physician if one can avail easily (within the bounds of cost, accessibility, etc.). Thoroughly clean tools must be used to pin prick the boil. After gentle draining of blood and pus, we have to cover the wound with gauge and keep it dry. In the last stage one can use antibiotic ointment to help in the process of healing. Even a small drop of turmeric mixed mustard oil can seal and heal the broken boil. 3. Applying a poultice is an alternative method to deliberate surgical puncturing. Here we take a warm paste (freshly cooked white rice, wheat flour mixed with castor seed oil) and apply directly to the boil. The poultice is securely fastened to the site with clean leaf (betel leaf, hibiscus, castor seed, banana, etc.) and clean cloth. Usually just one application is enough. Or, one can remove the old bandage and apply a fresh paste after ten or twenty hours.    

According to the Indian Materia Medica  the following help in the management of boils (healing, pressing down, or cracking open): Fig fruit, (country) kanda (Elephant’s Foot Yam, Zamin Kanda/Suran), boiled rice, castor seed, moon plant, fenugreek, thorny amaranthus, onion, tamarind, cilantro (coriander), cumin, clay, gongura, dhaniya, tobacco, sour poyi (Basella alba), drumstick leaves, neem oil, garlic, custard apple, lime, alum, and turmeric. “A stitch in time saves nine” – that proverb holds lot of truth in skin care. Proper nutrition (fruits, buttermilk, vitamin supplements) and a little hygiene do wonders for the skin. Otherwise even a tiny boil can make life unbearable and miserable. This article is no substitute for a doctor’s visit. No AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools were used in writing this article. Copyright 2025 by the author 

Meditations on Life - IV

Meditations on Life - IV (Grace)

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” - Soren Kierkegaard

My high school days and the buffer one year course (pre-university) in the college were mostly smooth sailing and uneventful. I was too busy with the studies to be distracted by any extraneous disturbances like cricket or movies. Our loving father looked after all my health, fees, and textbooks; a handsome scholarship helped me through the entire higher education (graduate studies). When I shifted to the coastal city for my bachelor degree I ran into two serious health issues. We were in a hostel with other engineering, polytechnic, and trade (welding, etc.) students. For some reason, father wanted me to be utterly self-sufficient during the formative years. He had his reasons and I came to appreciate his wisdom much later. The hostel food was not great, but enough to keep the students slim, trim, alert, and hungry. I do not know what caused the disturbances in my health. Was it severe malnutrition or some serious deficiency of vitamin D? Within a few months into the first year, I developed serious skin rashes and it later morphed into a severe case of psoriasis. Then, I had no idea about the skin problem – obviously it is an erratic (excited) case of rapid top layer growth and subsequent shedding of scales (dead skin). Though my native place was only about seventy miles away, I could not take a break from my college studies and visit the family. There were the laboratory classes (practicals) and the mandatory NCC (National Cadet Corps) drills. Any interruption of group (science) classes would only create further problems. 

I still remember vividly all the troubles I went through with this physical scourge.  You name it - I did not leave any stone unturned for a suitable cure. I used to stand in the morning sun, soaking up all the rays into the oily melanin. Must have made umpteen trips to the local teaching hospital, to its dermatology department. Sometimes the house surgeon (Intern) prescribed zinc oxide cream and Avil (an antihistamine) tablets. My sister’s physician gave me shots of oil penicillin – it only led to a subcutaneous infection. The local Ayurvedic doctor suggested a blood purifier jam but I could not afford the cost (~Rs.10). Our roommate (commerce student) gave the reference of a Homeopathic doctor. I got the first one week’s dose of pills for free. Again he wanted only ten Rupees for the treatment. Immediately after swallowing a few doses, my skin started healing and the natural tone and glow returned. All the rashes disappeared miraculously. It was a great relief because I could go out without shame, embarrassment, and enjoy social company without timidity. The skin problems put enormous strain on the laundry chores. For additional sanitization I had to utilize hot water and bleach for the clothes washing. Back then there were no washing machines, no geysers, and as ordinary students we used to hand wash most of the time. Dry cleaning was not affordable and anyway it would not have made economic sense – that would be like dry cleaning a one-dollar silk tie now!

Since I could not come up with the finances (what? the measly $ 1.50 back then), I did not keep up with the Homeopathist’s follow up appointment. [To this day, I do not understand how Homeopathy works. This from a person who knows intimately the meaning of Avogadro’s number!] And sure enough, the rashes and all the associated pain returned with vengeance. Obviously it is a serious autoimmune disease and needs proper care, management, and cure. But nothing seemed to work and there was no elderly supervision. My sister tried to help but she was busy with her own family and two little children. Though I had a good grounding in bhakti (due to mother), without a guru I was unmoored, like a boat without rudder. I remember visiting the local temple several times praying silently – though coupled a bit with skepticism and rationality. Then suddenly one day another hostel mate made a suggestion: “Why don’t you come to our village this Sunday? Our Ayurvedic doctor dispenses free medicine to the first hundred-fifty patients.” Immediately I borrowed a bicycle and went to Sarpavaram in search of the doctor, my savior. When I went there, already there were about sixty people ahead of me. I was anxious, thinking about my chances. Finally the doctor asked only one question: “What is troubling you?” As he glanced at my face, neck, and hands, he understood the ailment. Quickly he made little packets with brown medicinal powder and handed me the doses for a ten-day course, instructing me thus: “Take it twice a day with warm (boiled) water.” That was all the diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Absolutely free medicine dispensation with no consultation fee. 

With spirits high I peddled swiftly to our hostel through the highway covered with tamarind and cashew trees. Now in a hostel that caters to seventy, eighty students and their two meals a day, who has the time for a glass of warm water for one individual? (Of course, it was different at the Institute. There, our kind mess server would bring to the room a glass of hot milk and toast for the sick inmates.) I had to beg the cook and boil a glass of water on the wooden stove – as a side periphery experiment. But I wanted to obey the doctor’s strict guidelines and follow them to the letter. And then the miracle did happen; within a week the psoriasis disappeared totally. There was no trace left on my body and it never relapsed. To this day my gratitude to my roommates, the village doctor (and even the kind Homeopath) knows no bounds. Whenever I look at abundant water in Varanasi, Godavari, or at the great Niagara Falls, whenever I imbibe the beauty of coastal Andhra with its bountiful crops and coconut plantations – often my mind wonders thus: “All this enormous wealthy nature, the crops, technological advances, and abundant water filled rivers – all this must be due to the goodness of many gentle people, it must be due to their generous sacrifices.”

In the second year (sophomore) in college, I again ran into another predicament; it too sapped my energies and joyful spirits. To this day I cannot determine the origin or the real cause. Was it just due to the high humidity or poorly ventilated hostel dorms? I developed a serious itch with rash, suddenly out of nowhere. Very rarely I used to see movies in theaters, at the most two or three in the entire year. But somebody gave it to me, the itch or the mite. Again lots of trips to the OPD and applying smelly (aromatic) lotions. Luckily my roommates were very understanding; nobody would trouble me, as I was very reserved and focused on my studies. I used to shudder the weekly NCC drills. The sailor white uniform only exasperated my delicate situation; every small skin imperfection was a big billboard advertising my rash or blister. The exposed bare lower legs and open arms during Navy exercises only accentuated my troubles. Certainly a resident physician at the college could have helped me, but there was no clinic. Out of nowhere suddenly the cure came to me when I went home on a long weekend. Before I could broach the subject with father, he noticed my disfigured hands. Within twenty-four hours, father approached an elderly gentleman with the issue. The gentleman (Mr. P. S.) had a Khadi store in the front and on the side he free lanced in herbal medicine. 

So, again the following morning I went to Jinnuru for my medicine, taking a leisurely ride along the canal road. I had go through the dense farms and coconut orchards to reach my benefactor’s (doctor’s) residence. He handed me a 4 oz. small bottle with cream-colored powder, with the instruction: “Apply the powder with castor oil and stand in sunlight. Entire body should be covered except eyes.” Thus I got relief from the pesty mite problem – thanks to a generous neighborhood doctor. Now I also fondly remember my father’s resourcefulness. Tyagaraja says in one of his compositions thus: “Rama, you are my great father. కన్న తల్లియు, ఘన తండ్రియు” Good affectionate fathers are rare, but there are such great fathers in this world. Again, in this instance also I received the medicine free of charge. There is much to learn in science, medicine, and life. Copyright 2021 by the author