FC 187 on family doctor evoked a good response. Many of my readers recounted their recollections and experiences with family doctors of their time. Sharing all those mirthful and nostalgic comments may rob me of the space I have for FC 188, but then they are worth sharing as they make fascinating reading. So, here are those comments, albeit slightly abridged:
Soumya Shivaraj recounts: “The topic made me recollect a childhood memory. It is about a compounder, who was our neighbour, who later took the position of a family doctor to many. The interesting fact is that he made us choose the symptom from a variety of symptoms written in a book, which was kept on his table. He took up the job not for any monetary benefit, but to help the people of his village. I am happy to have known such a kind soul. Thank you again for the interesting content. You are the best!!!”
Shailaja Prasad says: “Good one! Not only has the family doctor disappeared, but the suit has replaced the stethoscope. The patient is a file number. Blood reports and CT scans have replaced all four senses, palpation, and auscultation along with some common sense. Hope the family doctor makes a comeback!”
KBR Murthy says: “Well you took me back to my childhood days! We were in a place called Arni, near Chennai. We had a doctor named Dr Dharmarajan. He used to charge Rs 2 and his touch would send the sickness away. The compounder would mix coloured liquid, just as you describe. You have reminded me of those days.”
Shahji Jacob says: “Dr.Balakrishnan was the family doctor at Thiruvananthapuram in the 60s. He always wore a coat—a brown one I remember. His compounder gave all those bitter-tasting but tasteful-looking colour liquids as medicines. He had his consulting room on the Statue Road leading to the General Hospital on the right side of the road. However, I do not remember him coming home, but I do remember visiting him. Thank you, Pras, for re-kindling the memories of those good old days when doctors and compounders were all that was needed.”
Tarun Kunzru says : “Loved it Pras. So much interesting detail, you truly vividly brought alive the good old family doctor experience. It's the time for apple now!”
Lakshmi Raman says: “Your episode of FC on family doctors took me back to the 1970s when I lived in Chennai in Thousand Lights, a working-class neighbourhood. Dr. Kamalakannan, our family doctor, had a small clinic and charged just Rs.2 per consultation. From the poor, he did not take even this amount and gave tonics and pills free to them. Doctors like him had a healing touch, and just having them feel your pulse was halfway to getting well. 'Don't come next time with the same complaint' he used to say with dry humour.”
Jayachandran says: “Yes, I too remember with admiration, respect and awe, our family doctor in Azhikode, Kannur, Kerala. He would come every time we called, wearing a suit and a hunter's hat carrying his medicines and an injection kit. I remember hiding under the cot thinking he would poke me with the needle. He would drink buttermilk and my aunt would slip Rs 2 into his pocket. Those were the times!”
Tapas Bhattasaly says: “It was a nostalgic read. It took me down memory lane. My grandfather who was a military doctor and served in World War II settled down as a ‘private practitioner’ in the princely state of Coochbehar which also happens to be our maternal grandfather’s home. He practised till the age of 85. Patients from Assam, Bihar and Northeast used to come to him. He was an amazing doctor with deep knowledge and his diagnosis was impeccable.”
Lynn Weiss provides a perspective from the USA: “I still remember the doctor coming to the house when I had a fever, but those days are long gone! They now rely on blood tests and technology for treatment, and I’m not even sure they use a stethoscope! It is difficult to find an internist in the US without subscribing to a concierge practice. Most practices are closed and do not take on new patients. To make it more difficult, if one is admitted to the hospital, your primary doctor does not come to treat you but rather you are under the treatment of a hospital doctor. Are we getting better care than we did with the doctor who came to the house? Perhaps not, but at least the doctor knew us and formed a relationship to add comfort and caring.”
🐴 Trojan Horse
Tros was the name of the king of Phrygia who is believed to be the founder of Troy, a city named after him. Phrygia is the Greek name of an ancient state in modern Turkey and Troy was also the city that was founded in present-day Turkey. Trojan, like Indian, is the name given to Troians or the residents of Troy. Perhaps the j in Trojan is meant to be pronounced as ia.
There are no historical accounts of the Trojan War. The story appears to have originated in the epic poem Iliad which recounts the conflict between the city of Troy and the Greek army. The poem attributes the animosity as having arisen from the kidnapping of Helen, the queen of Sparta, by Paris, a Trojan prince who brought Helen to Troy. This led to a long-drawn war between the Greeks and the Trojans. As a peace offering, the Greeks built the Trojan Horse, a giant wooden horse, and left it outside the gates of the impregnable Troy. The Trojans, unaware that inside the horse were many armed Greek soldiers, brought the horse into Troy. At night the Greek soldiers snuck out and opened the gates of Troy to let the Greek army in to overpower the Trojans. Paris was killed in action and Helen was reunited with Menelaus her husband.
Readers may recall that there was a movie ‘Helen of Troy’. It is on YouTube. The tale is mythical and there is no evidence of it being a historical event. But the story gained such credibility as to induce the artist Jacques Louis David to do a painting “The Love of Helen & Paris” in 1788, which is on display in the Louvre, in Paris.
Talking of painting and artists, I urge you to read (if you haven’t) 🔗https://mrprasanna.substack.com/p/filter-coffee-063. It’s about Frida Kahlo, the renowned Mexican artist.
Enough of the history of the myth of the Trojan Horse. As most readers are aware, Trojan Horse is also the name given to a virus that downloads onto a computer disguised as a legitimate program.
I am no techie to talk more about the virus but the stealth with which it embeds itself prompts me to humanize the concept of the Trojan Horse and talk about how humans render themselves vulnerable to deceit and deception. If a person is by nature unsuspecting or vulnerable, they are bound to be taken advantage of by another person who is like a wolf in sheep’s skin. Imposters make deceitful pretences. They are like the Trojan horse. They gain your confidence and lull you into believing that they are trustworthy gain access to your domain and wreak havoc.
As did the Trojans with the Greek gift of a horse, some of us too unsuspectingly let others in our lives or worse still invite trouble by engaging with them. We have come across many instances of people befriending someone online and finding themselves getting entrapped. These are instances of ‘Aa bail mujhe maar’ a Hindi idiom meaning ‘Come bull, hit me’.
People are waiting to take advantage of you by posing to be well-meaning. These are con men, who get under your skin like a Trojan Horse and wreak havoc from within. The con men have a remarkable gift of persuasion. Victor Lustig, a Czech con man sold the Eiffel Tower as scrap, not once but twice.
Imposters are the kind who make deceitful pretences. An imposter pretends to be someone else, trying to convince you that they are what they claim to be, and extracts from you something of value, including money. A guy pretending to be a long-lost cousin, policeman, or tax official may tell you a very convincing story and persuade you to yield to his entreaties or demands, as the case may be. Phishing is common and once you engage with an imposter, you will realise that the Trojan Horse has trotted in only after the deceit is monetized leaving you cursing your fate. Why curse fate when indiscretion is at the heart of the tragedy?
We unsuspectingly enter into transactions with people whose sole and ulterior objective will be to defraud you. They make themselves amiable, and they disarm with their charm and also flattery. We don’t ask questions and do basic due diligence for fear of making the ‘nice’ man feel affronted. The problem lies in the blind belief that nothing will go wrong and there’s no need to engage in hard negotiation before inking a deal. It serves well to remember what John F Kennedy said:
“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”
It augurs well to negotiate frankly and openly. This rule applies to situations where you need to investigate.
Dear readers, there are Trojan Horses all around us waiting to be let in. It is our responsibility to ensure that they don’t gain entry into our domain there are no hidden agendas. With the ever-increasing influence of AI, the horse has gained new dimensions and gallops ahead of you. The onus is on each of us to question at each step and not be swayed by a Trojan's glib and oily tongue.
There’s a saying “Shut the stable door after the horse has bolted”. It may well be apt to change that to “Shut the door to keep the Trojan horse out” and keep at bay those who infiltrate into your life under a friendly guise and leave you shell-shocked with their Machiavellian schemes.
A mirthful statement: The horse kicked him when he entered the stable. His condition is now stable.
Dear readers, a Trojan horse is a virus or a man of con and deceit who can get into your life as a virus. Keep that virus at bay. If you have seen or encountered a Trojan Horse in your life, please share your experience, if you can.
Great topic Prasanna! Trojan horses come into our daily lives in many avatars. They could even be routines that seem a good social practice to gain acceptance / popularity but eat away at fairness and honesty to leave an insidious appetite for gossip and intolerance.
Truly so Prasanna. Good morning!
At times we ourselves are a Trojan to ourselves. Meaning, need to deep dive internally to understand more about ourselves and become strong, before we are capable enough to first understand and then confront the Trojans.
Having said this, I remember a very interesting saying …. If we keep our main doors open without any protection,then the karma of a thief will induce him to steal, but the dharma of residents is to stay alert….
So it’s paramount to awaken our inner subconscious, and try to remain in a state of conscious.