Government maternity hospital

Though there were immediate obvious surface differences in first encountering the entrance to the free hospital, and even though it had a decidedly frayed and humble avenue of approach I noticed immediately the atmosphere of heightened social awareness and concern that is always present at the perimeter of a hospital. As we became part of the flow entering the approach to the hospital we joined and encountered families and individuals who had either just been treated or were hoping to soon so be. More than a few were in obvious discomfort and pain, but all exhibited a stoicism that I've found in my experience to be uncommon in American hospital settings where I've observed a tendency for patients and family members to indulge in loudly announced petty complaints, pronounced indifference to their own role in their health issues(eating junk food and drinking sugary sodas whilst bemoaning the symptoms of their diabetes)and often droning on with all manner of self pity over their illnesses reflecting an attitude almost as if their ailments were a reason for celebration or pride, what I call the my ailments are worse than yours syndrome. In stark contrast the patrons at the free clinic all seemed very thankful for the help they were being offered and extremely patient in their wait to be treated, even when for some it was clear they were in great pain, or so exhausted that they could not even sit up. I observed that nearly all the patients had family members with them who hovered close and exuded the very embodiment of familial concern and wish to comfort. Strangely this human affect and energy seemed to permeate the whole of the hospital, that is apart from the police presence which seemed to a person to be cool, if not indifferent, to the suffering around them, generally perfunctory and officiant in their bearing, however, it is no doubt that this tone is essential in maintaining the constant flow of human traffic in an efficient manner. I imagine as well, that despite my positive sense of the relatively calm atmosphere, that the need for their presence and authoritarian comportment has been put to the test with the periodic challenges of

chaos and perhaps even violence, that also occur in American hospitals. The other primary observation of the patients and family members in the clinic was their palpable sense of grace and appreciation for what was being given to them free of charge. I saw no display of the sense of entitlement to services and sometimes surly treatment of hospital staff that I have observed as a patient myself in the public health clinics of Austin, Texas. In observing the clinic staff, I was deeply touched by their calm, focused and gentle state of energy. They all seemed a little tired, and no doubt were way overworked, but the most predominate sense of them I had was their clearly apparent pragmatic determination to deliver the best possible service and health care they could given their available means. This seemed especially so in the maternity ward, where give the infantile death rate of the poorest women in India, the challenges the care staff face are perhaps the most pressing with the greatest possible repercussions for the general health of the nation. There is probably a certain degree of ambiguity in the feelings of some citizens(and certainly so amongst many of the disinterested and callous first world proponents of zero growth population policies) that with the live arrival of yet another Indian mouth to feed, that there was no real reason to celebrate. But quite the contrary, the maternity ward of all the places we saw, was nearly radioactive with the kind of natural joy centering around the birth of a child. It was for me a most profound experience, the sight of all these brand new pink little babies just now having entered the vortex of life in the land which is arguably one of, if not the Great Mother of Western culture and civilization. It brought full circle for me a sense of one of the great mysteries, that even in the depths of poverty and deprivation, at every moment the promise of the future is being born before our very eyes. Such a meditation should daily be never far from our hearts and minds. As cliche as it might sound, I feel it is true that only in developing the will to become actively aware of the challenges of our present situation will we be able to be prepared take the necessary actions to preserve our world for future generations.