BEHIND THE CURTAIN 7
DR SATEESH R. GUPTE
When music is played in the theatre, we take care to see
that it is soft and of devotional or classical variety, especially when the
operation is under regional anaesthesia and patients are wide awake. One day,
one of our boys played a tape that said: itana to karna swami jaba praana tanse
nikale! The patient nervously looked at me and I asked that the music be
stopped. One day, I was starting anaesthesia for a very senior retired army
officer. As usual I started an intravenous drip on him and was all set to put
him to sleep. Suddenly the saline bottle fell on the floor and broke with a
loud bang. The plastic cage which holds the bottle had suddenly given way. The
old man said to me: "That doesn't seem a good omen!” I replied saying,
"Sir, how can you be so superstitious! I regard it as equivalent to the
breaking of a coconut before embarking on a project like launching a new
ship!”.
Unfortunately, three days after the operation he got a
massive pulmonary embolus and died suddenly. No amount of resuscitation could
save him.
Talk of superstition!
Compilation of professional reminiscences of specialists - edited by M.V.Kamath and Dr.Rekha Karmarkar