Back to work after a three day hiatus, thanks to the festivals of Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi. Enjoyed the long break from work, with family and friends. The weather in Mumbai was beautiful, raining a bit once in a while. Festivities were in the air, though marred a wee bit by a last minute terror scare. Had a good time eating (home cooked food, all my favourite dishes) and shopping (discounts and bargains).

As usual, however, there were quite a few sidelights –

a) Landed in Mumbai and boarded the airline bus to the arrival terminal. Just as we were reaching the terminal, the bus took a turn to drive parallel to a plane taxiing in. The bus slowed down waiting for the plane to come to a stop. The plane kept on inching forward, literally. It was difficult to tell whether it is trying to move or trying to stop. The bus driver seemed uncertain about whether to wait or to move on. Finally, as a few vehicles coming from the other side decided to take the plunge and move on, the matter was decided for our bus driver too. He too drove on and took a left turn, now running parallel to the turning plane. As he turned we were right in front of the plane and I noticed that the plane had stopped quite some distance away from the yellow marker on the parking bay. As the memory of another recent incident was still afresh, I looked around for the airline traffic assistant, but there was none around. Surprise!

The plane had reached the designated bay, before any airline employee could

Just then I saw a man with yellow ‘table tennis’ like bats running to reach the plane. Ah! The traffic assistant. It was obvious that the plane had reached the designated bay, before any airline employee could.

Any guesses for the name of the airline?

b) Before proceeding to Mumbai I had taken an appointment with a Doctor at a reputed hospital in Navi Mumbai. In fact I wanted a second opinion from another specialist doctor as my current doctor was suggesting a surgical intervention.

I had never been to this hospital before and in fact found out about it by searching over the net. Since it was part of a reputed chain of hospitals, I immediately called up and fixed an appointment with the doctor suggested by the lady who took my call. On checking up the profile of the doctor on the hospital website, I was satisfied as he appeared to be fairly experienced in this line of specialisation.

The appointment was fixed for 11 am but on the morning of the appointed day I received a SMS confirming my appointment at 11:15 am, with the doctor identified earlier. No sweat, suited me fine, as my car was late in arriving anyway.

I reached the hospital on time, registered myself after paying the registration charges and consultation fee. I was directed to the doctor’s cabin on the same floor. However, on checking the cabin, I found it to be empty. On enquiry I was told that the doctor was on his way and should arrive any minute now and was asked to wait outside his OPD room.

The doctor was enquiring about the number of patients present

After waiting for a while I asked my wife, who was accompanying me, to enquire again as to what was taking the doctor so long. The lady in-charge at the registration counter phoned up the doctor. From one part of the conversation between the two, that my wife could hear, she could surmise that the doctor was enquiring about the number of patients present/waiting. The lady told him that only a single patient was waiting for him. After a few seconds of nodding and ‘Yes Sir!’ etc. The lady put the phone down. Now she went on to explain to my wife that in fact the concerned doctor had come earlier and left a short while ago and hence was not a position to come back. She suggested that she will arrange for another doctor. My wife came back and told me about what has transpired and I felt extremely unhappy.

I then approached the lady on the counter myself and she advised me that she has spoken to another doctor and that he should be at the hospital in another 10 minutes or so to attend to me. On listening to her explanation as to why the doctor with whom I had an appointment could not come to the hospital, I gave the lady a piece of my mind and told her that I don’t buy her cock and bull story. I told her that I had come from thousands of kilometres away after taking a prior appointment and that the whole affair reeked of total unprofessional behaviour. More so coming from a hospital of repute.

I felt like leaving the hospital right away but since the matter of a second opinion was critical for me, chose to wait for the other doctor to arrive.

The doctors were private practitioners called in whenever needed by the hospital

Finally, while leaving the hospital after having consulted the other doctor, more than an hour after the appointed time, I thought it proper to check with the lady at the counter whether the doctors were on the employment of the hospital or were free-lancers. My doubt was right! She told me that the doctors were private practitioners on the panel of the hospital. They were called in whenever needed by the hospital. I felt much worse now, having come to know that I paid a handsome amount of consultation fee at the hospital to a doctor who would have probably charged me a third of the fees, had I consulted him at his road-side clinic.

These are the ways of reputed hospitals in Mumbai.

c) Festival time in Mumbai, and elsewhere too, is a fantastic time to look for discounts and ‘Sale’ on all kind of goodies. It’s one of the best times to do shopping. As always, I was waiting for this opportunity for purchases kept on hold. On the way to a few malls that I decided to visit, after having closely scanned through the day’s advertisements laden newspapers, I stopped over at an ATM to withdraw some cash.

And his prompt response was – ‘Aur Kidhar Khayega?’

It was late afternoon and as I was withdrawing my money, my attention was drawn to a back-room behind the ATM, the door to which was half ajar. I peeped inside, out of curiosity. Lo and behold! There was the ATM guard inside the back-room, having his lunch. I couldn’t avoid asking him as to why he was having his lunch there? And his prompt response was – ‘Aur Kidhar Khayega?’ (Where else would I eat?). I further asked if the Bank officials knew about it and his equally prompt response was a big yes.

Lucky chap! Gets to eat in Air-conditioned comfort. Gives me the shivers though – someone hiding behind the ATM.

Now! Am I asking for a guard to guard a guard?