BEHIND THE CURTAIN 7

 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