“Five Minutes Only”
Wow, led practice sure was a challenge today after two days off…And I must admit it was really hard to focus today – not b/c of any camera – luckily they did end up shooting the second series group again, which definitely made me happy – but I have to say the class today seemed larger than any before!! There was literally NO room between your mat and the ones on either side of you. No worries- but it does make it a little difficult when to my right was a woman who is like 6′2 and couldn’t help but flail her extremities at me in every posture; and on my left side sat the sweatiest man I have ever seen, smelt, or practiced next to! So that should give you a little idea as to my total ability to focus this morning. I felt like I was being battered from all directions, and to top it off I was getting drenched by the sweat of another human being – gross….Oh well….What are you gonna do?
So after that enjoyable practice I went home feeling very tired and quite hungry but I couldn’t eat anything b/c I had to be at the hospital at 9am and was told not to eat “in case” they decided to run tests on me today. OK – that just blew…Went home, made some hot tea and read for a little over an hour. Then I got Kwang back up (he had fallen asleep once we returned from practice), we both showered, and then headed back over to Apollo Hospital. When we got there I had to register at the front desk (and although it is uber cheap here in India, I found it kinda odd that they charge a registration fee at the hospital -It was only 30 rupees for crying out loud, but still it is a little odd). So I registered and waited for about two hours to see this specialist. When he finally got back from his rounds he called me and Kwang into his office. Ok, I must say I really practiced the art of patience today b/c this man, doctor – he knew I was the patient but he refused to speak to me or ask me questions – I was getting really fed up…He directed all his comments and questions to Kwang b/c he was the man and I am some low life female!!! OH I cant’ tell you how fumed I felt inside but I kept my cool – it really isnt’ that bad most places here anymore, even though it is somewhat expected b/c this is the way society is here in India. But times they are a changing you know and my god I was the one who needed to be seen today – the one with the problem, for cryin out loud I am the one who can answer the questions he posed to Kwang (well actually Kwang was able to answer all the questions the doctor had b/c he has known me very, very well for five years and he’s living with me here in India – but regardless!!). Anyway, enough of that – but for real – if you know me at all than you know I am a little too independent for my own good sometimes, so this really threw me off my rocker – but I must admit I think I did really well and kept my cool – I just thought some not so happy thoughts about this doctor for acting as though I were as good as the cushion he was sitting on.
Ok, enough venting – so – he did a VERY brief check of my tummy and asked me via Kwang a few questions about my bowels, my diet, etc. etc. etc. He came to the conclusion that I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome): “geeze geeze geeze” I thought to myself as those words were uttered from his mouth – “I knew this three years ago” – but there is quite a bit more than my ‘normal IBS’ going on here since I’ve been in India. He seemed quite full of himself, but then again if I dealt with people all day long that had gastrointestional problems, I might be full of something myself. Boy I am a little bitter arent’ I? Anyway, as he commented that I definitely had IBS I thought- “man I sure am glad this consultation is only costing me 100 rupees” – and then he persisted to repeat some questions Kwang had already answered for me = like, so you have been taking fiber and flax seed for a long period of time now and it still isn’t helping you???? Yes, we both answered in unision – I’ve been taking this stuff for well over a year now – everyday..But he was satisfied until Kwang repeated what I just told him. Then he concluded that I should get some further testing just to be on the safe side – “well holy Shiva, now we are getting somewhere.” So he set up an appt. for Thursday morning at 10am to come back to the hospital to run some more tests. I’ll spare the details of these tests here!
So finally we left the hospital around 11:30am and I was so far past the point of starving I almost didn’t want to eat. Ever felt that way before? We headed over to the Metropole for lunch only to find out that they didn’t serve lunch for another 45minutes. Kwang insisted that we wait, and it really didn’t matter anyway b/c no places served lunch till 12:30pm. But boy oh boy I was like a little space cadet sitting there waiting to eat. Kwang read the paper and I was reading my new book (another I TOTALLY suggest everyone read Bill Bryson’s “In a Sunburned Country” – he is a travel writer who writes about his experiences in Australia – and he is such a good writer and so darn funny he makes you want to roll on the floor sometimes) just withering away with each passing second. So 12:30pm rolls around and wouldn’t you believe that the buffet still wasn’t ready – “5 minutes only,” said the attendant nearby – this is a common trend here in India – both the use of the phrase “only” and nothing occuring when it is supposed to. Ok, ok, ok, I have only been up since four am and not had a morsel of food in my belly – I sure can hold out another five minutes……That turned into 15! Nonetheless we finally were able to eat. Trouble was that after eating just a little bit of food I felt totally stuffed (but I think that had a lot to do with the cup of coffee, liter of water, and diet pepsi I drank just waiting to get to eat).
Please don’t think I’m complaining about this day – everything seemed to go wrong in a way, but it really has grown on me – the way things work here in India – so I wasn’t at all upset or angry or anything – actually I was totally calm and straightup amused at the way things run here. When we left the buffet we grabed a rickshaw and showed him the address to Ventronics (a computer store nearby gokulam that I wanted to drop into and see about purchasing an inexpensive laptop -seeing as how there was just no way I was gonna get any help from Dell while I am here in India). So the driver said he knew exactly where it was and said “25 rupees” – I didn’t argue with him about using the meter b/c frankly I didn’t give a damn at that moment – and boy oh boy how things work in your favor sometimes – b/c this guy had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE THIS PLACE WAS. He drove around forever and stopped at least a dozen times to ask other Indians where this place was. After about twenty minutes of this he stoped and asked us to call the place for directions. we just told him we would get out there b/c Kwang and I were both fed up with him and the fact that he couldn’t get us there (it’s one thing if you dont know where a place is- which I must say is sad when you are a taxi driver of sorts in the city – but it was really annoying that he told us he did know where it was and he really didn’t). But when we were about to get out and I asked if he had change for 50 rupees bill he told me it was gonna be 30 rupees b/c of the extra travel – oh my goodness I got fumed beyond all belief b/c 1) he was letting us off on a street nowhere near the store we requested to go to, still didn’t know where it was so that meant we were gonna have to get another rickshaw to actually take up there, 2) he wasted our time, and 3) the extra driving was b/c of his stupidity! So I told him, in a not so happy tone, that I would not pay him extra I would pay 25 rupees. he tried to argue with me for a minute and when I gave him an evil look and an angry tone he let it be….Kwang sat silent the entire time – he does that really well sometimes – but I later found out that he thought it was just too amusing the driver thought he would intimidate me, but instead got caught by surprise at my extreme feistiness.
From there we walked a bit to another rickshaw and made sure he knew where this place was before we hoped into his little auto. He did indeed know where it was, which was such a pleasant relief (you really learn to appreciate so many little things here in India – you just have no idea)…When we entered the store we were happily greeted by an intelligent, and very professional man. Wow – too much for me after the last few hours I’ve been through. At first he did direct all comments and questions to Kwang (even though I was the one that instigated conversation with the gentleman and asked him a few questions). I just let it slide – but after about 10 minutes of talking about new computers and I asked him if he could possibly fix computers – he looked at me (I couldn’t believe it – really), and he said that they did repair computers. I also asked if he could recover data, and yes, he looked at me and said yes. That put a huge smile on my face, and I explained my perdicament to him in some detail. He said that he should be able to help me regardless of if my system was launched here or not – and he even went as far as to call some contact he had at dell. After about ten minutes on the phone with them he came back and said he should be able to help me. I am still not getting my hopes up uber high as that has happened one too many times only for them to be tramped, stomped, crushed, and chewed up…But, it did bring a ray of hope to this now hopeless situation regarding my computer. We explained that my computer is currently in Bangalore and that we are going there tomorrow to pick it up from Steller Information systems. We agreed to bring it to him on Wednesday morning between 9:30-10:00am so he can have a look at it and see if he can help me. Wow, if he can really fix my computer I will just have to kiss this man. You just don’t know what it felt like to even think that he may be able to help - and you don’t know what I wanted to do to DELL at that moment for wasting SOOOOOO much of my time on the phone, money with phone calls and trip to Bangalore, time without a computer – its already been twenty days, and to top it if – pure frustration to boot! Oh well…..Such is life and if this works I will simply forget it all and mark it down as an experience, a lesson learned, a maybe one day I’ll even look back and laugh at it all – maybe!
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It’s been a long and productive day to say the least, and it sure was nice to spend it all with Kwang. We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow – but I am definitely looking forward to it…Hope to have a good practice, well grab a yummy breakfast at Shakti, I’ll get my acupuncture at 10:30am with Andrea, and then well head to Bangalore on the Bus. That too will be good b/c I am really looking forward to getting my computer back, especially after todays events. And, we are gonna hunt down a good book store in the city and pick up a couple more good books, and If I’m lucky, a travel magazine or two (but I already know that will be next to impossible).
I wish you all a beautiful day!!!
Om Shanti,
Krista
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