THE VAIDYA

The Vaidya, Kollam

HOMEWORK

I don’t remember getting any homework when I was a student at school. A geography teacher once gave us some work to do at home but he did not refer to it as homework. He said it was an assignment. The only other ‘homework’ I did was for Technical Drawing. It was actually class work but since the drawings took a lot of time to complete we could not finish it in class and had to continue with it at home. After returning home from school I would usually have some snacks and then I would be watching Television. Weekends were spent playing games. I studied at home only a few days before an examination.
Later on, when I spent many years in the teaching profession I never gave any homework to the students. I felt that all students do not have the same interests. I preferred that students spent more time on subjects that interests them instead of forcing them to spend time on subjects that do not interest them.
I have seen other teachers give homework to students. For young children homework usually becomes extra work for parents who end up helping their children. I think homework should not be allowed for children below ten years of age. I have seen some older students who do not do their own homework. Such students usually copy the homework done by other students.

HOTEL SHAH INTERNATIONAL

Hotel Shah International, Kollam

DOCTOR IS NOT AVAILABLE

Many years ago, I was working in a town near the east coast in India. One day I fell sick and wanted to see a doctor. My friends suggested that I go to a nearby hospital and they accompanied me. When we reached the hospital I looked at the list of doctors displayed near the reception. I wanted to see someone in General Medicine. I noticed that there were three doctors under General Medicine. One was a senior doctor with an MD and the other two were junior doctors with MBBS. I told the nurses at the reception that I wanted to see the senior doctor. They told me that he was not available. I asked them when he will be available. They said he would be back after about one hour. I said I will wait for him. I noticed that they were disturbed and looked at each other. Then they said that he was available and that I could go in and see him. I saw the doctor. He examined me, made a diagnosis and wrote a prescription. Before leaving I told him what happened at the reception. He seemed surprised but did not say anything.

Later on, when I thought about it, I realized that the nurses at the reception may have been trying to help the junior doctors. Most patients would prefer to see the senior doctor who was also more qualified and the junior doctors may have been getting very few patients.

PULIMOOTTIL SILKS

Pulimoottil Silks, Kollam

SELFIE

I have taken selfies before the word ‘selfie’ came into existence. Long ago I used to travel a lot. When I saw buildings or places that I liked, I took photos. Sometimes I held the camera in front of me when I took the photos, maybe to prove that I was there. When I got the film developed and photos printed, I noticed that my face occupied a large part of the photo, since the camera was closer to me. I soon realised that the building or place would look better without my face in there.

Today many people take selfies. Even Prime Ministers and Presidents do it. Cell phones are specially designed to take selfies and accessories like selfie sticks are widely used. It seems like people are self obsessed. India has the largest number of selfie deaths in the world. Young people take selfies in dangerous places and get killed. Sometimes they stand on a railway track in front of an approaching train to take a selfie and before they know it the train runs over them. Some stand at the edge of a cliff to take a selfie and fall off. There are others who take selfies near wild animals. It seems the number of ‘Likes’ they get when they post it on social media motivates them to take dangerous selfies.

Then there are people who take selfies at the site of an accident or terrorist attack. Some of them even smile while doing so. I hope the selfie is just a passing fad.

PWD REST HOUSE

PWD Rest House, Kollam