punctuality; a rare virtue

What is with us indians and time?  Really , is being on time considered to be an ego buster, will your importance grow with every minute you delay for an appointment. I especially find this phenomena with Doctors. Unless there is a long queue in front of the clinic its fruitless for the doctor to arrive in his office. I sometimes get scared when there are only 1-2 patients waiting. I half expect the doctor to call and ask us to go home. Forget an apology for being late or even a half hearted attempt at some lame excuse, the natural pysche of a patient is that he forgets all the anger and frustration and instead feels he is in company of a greater being. Bow thee !!

I analysed this trend a few years ago when i was expecting. I used to be the only single women in the waiting room as i would go straight after work. If you have ever seen a waiting room of a Gynaecologist you would understand where I am coming from. I mean all , and I mean ALL women were accompanied by either their mum-in-law/ mom/husband/sister/ aunt/ niece . Or in some cases the whole jing bang. And when I used to enter, eyes usually followed me and saw behind me; they expected someone to follow, some escort. And then they looked at me again with questioning eyes in the beginning , then understanding eyes and then eyes which said “I am sorry for you, you single/divorced pregnant woman”

But I was neither and yes it was strange for me initially, I wouldn’t look at anybody else, I would carry a book and immerse myself in it till my name was called out and pretend to talk on the phone on my way out. As my pregnancy was complicated I had to make several rounds of the clinic. So over a period of time everyone, right from the ward boy to the nurses to the receptionist and the Doc’s secretary, all knew me by name. I didn’t know whether to be proud or feel sorry for myself. But this familiarity helped me in a way, as other patients thought I must be the hospital owner’s or the doctor’s relative to be known by everybody around. It definitely eased off some of the awkwardness and I felt much more comfortable going for my appointments. 

But i still had to wait.

I guess it comes with the package of a good doctor. The better the doctor, the more you wait. Only then do you feel you have earned the right to meet him. Is it?

I wish a certain degree of professionalism also got induced in this aspect of medicine. I would be the first to applaud !!