If you dropped by my clinic yesterday you would have seen a young doctor in a sober black shirt sporting a stethoscope, bustling about from dressing to debridement in gloved hands with about half a dozen multicolored bands around his right wrist. The story behind my Technicolor accessories being that just as I entered the hospital yesterday, I was accosted by a couple of my staff who proceeded to tie colorful bands with “best friends”, “friendship day” and “F.r.i.e.n.d.s” written on them.
Later in the day I was surprised to see that Dundappa, an illiterate octogenarian who visits us once in a while to get de-wormed, was toting quiet a few of these colorful bands on his wrist. Turns out that his grand kids had tied him these, he told us through a once-toothy grin that these were “frunsip buns”
After the OPD I went to the nearby teashop, and was jolted out of my reverie of reading Shashi Tharoor over strong sweet tea by three young strangers who walked up to me with cheerful greetings of “happy friendship day Doctor”. I don’t recall ever having spoken to them before. Ever.
Isn’t it amazing how all these “days” get so fast incorporated into our culture? My village town has a severe deficit of essential drugs for Tb and diarrhea, but not for valentine day cards and friendship bands.
I wonder if this festive inclusiveness is a result of our heritage of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, a sign of blind west-aping or just marketing induced hype?
AnandP
