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The funny thing about doctors
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Disease and discomfort took backseat as doctors revealed that even their serious profession had its hilarious moments
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HUMOUR IN UNIFORM Dr S. Natarajan and Dr R. Balasubramaniam Photo S. Siva Saravanan
A sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach usually precedes a meeting with the doctor.
It is akin to awaiting examination results, opening telephone bills and attending parent-teachers' meeting.
The flip side
Pain, discomfort, anxiety — yes. But humour? Not really. Have you ever met a funny doctor? No?
Well, had you been at the recent meeting of the Humour Society of Coimbatore, you would have seen an entirely new side to the men in white who, one thought, really took themselves a bit too seriously.
All the speakers were from the medical profession, barring one, who represented the patient-fraternity. Quite fittingly GKD auditorium at the GKNM hospital was the venue.
One was mildly surprised to see that the doctors in mufti looked pretty much like anyone else.
May be it was because for a change we were not on the other side of the table from them or supine in a fever of anxiety as they poked and prodded us.
The medicine man
After exactly half a minute's funeral silence (in memory of all those patients who had passed on), the fun began.
Dr G. Lakshmipathi (professor of internal medicine), clad in his white doctor's coat kicked off the evening's proceedings with a string of reminiscences starting from his student days. Smiles turned to grins that turned to chuckles and giggles and full throated laughter as he regaled the gathering with some incredibly funny stories of misdiagnoses, mid-night dalliances with young nurses, confrontations with head matrons and idiosyncrasies of heads of departments.
The rest of the speakers — cardiologist Dr S. Natarajan, nephrologist R. Balasubramaniam and gastroenterologist Dr V.G. Mohan Prasad followed in the same vein.
What's up doc?
The laughs kept coming with jokes, and anecdotes, some of them quite risqué.
The obligatory cracks and puns on various parts of the anatomy evoked some hearty laughs while doctors in the audience had to grin and bear the good natured ribbing their colleagues on stage put them through.
They were asked why it was that their handwriting in prescriptions were so illegible while their bills were always crystal clear.
Dr Mohan Prasad (he is resigned to being referred to as the `gas doctor') said he believed firmly in the adage, "To eat is human, to digest, divine" and in the same breath also asked the audience if they knew what the word `stressed' spelt backwards read? "Desserts"!
Patient hearing
Then it was the turn of the patient-rep. A long suffering Nihalchand had his pound of flesh as he spoke of the long list of surgeries, treatments, medicines and palliative he and the rest of his family had taken over the years to quell various aches, pains and discomforts. While the doctors described some peculiar patients they had encountered, Nihalchand more than made up with his stories of strange doctors he had met.
The evening began with a cup of tea and concluded with dinner. And there was a bellyful of laughs in between.
PANKAJA SRINIVASAN
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