PLAYING FAIRY GODMOTHER

“Emily! I need your assistance with something!” Shikha called out as she beckoned me to the PT side of the gym. I have come accustom to hearing this over the past few days, not because I am all that helpful, but because my novel perspective on things is often valued here. My fellow therapists want to know how (fill in the blank with any given therapy strategy) is done in the US, and I am there to oblige. I obediently followed Shikha to her patient’s side expecting to collaborate with her on his therapy. He was lying in supine gazing at the ceiling with a small smirk on his face. He knew what Shikha was up to.

"This man will not do anything for me, but for you he will do anything!” she said with partial exasperation but mostly jovial banter. “Just stand there and he will do his exercises!” I stood there and patted his shoulder, gently prodding him to make a move. With his small smirk turning into a wide, contagious grin he swung his arms across his body to roll into prone to begin his push-ups. “See? He will do it for you!!” Shikha said as she walked away, throwing her hands in the air.

The therapist at Chandigarh Spinal Rehab are a phenomenal, educated, motivated, and passionate group of people who I highly admire. Their tenacity, grit, and ingenuity leave me wishing I was more like them. They are also full of teasing and tricks. If I am not being teased about getting patients to do anything I ask, then the patients are being teased about doing anything I ask of them. I’m not sure why it is that way, but there seems to be some truth rooted in their playful taunting. I have found myself thinking that if my patients back home were as eager to do whatever I ask, then my outcomes may look a little different.

I wish I could attribute my effect on the patients here to some element of wisdom or resourcefulness, but I think it is simply because I am new and from the western world that my orders are followed so eagerly and with such respect. Be that as it may, it is nice to pretend, even for a moment, I am a fairy godmother whose magic wand is in full working order and can make anyone do as she wishes!

These photos have little to do with the post, other than they are scenes from around Chandigarh Spinal Rehab. This is looking into the mobility garden adjacent to the therapy gym. 

Again, the mobility garden. The therapy gym on in the ground level of the building to the left. 

This is a view of a typical bed; one of six in the general ward. The bottom of this bed slides out and unfolds to become the bed of each patients attendant. 

A view of the general ward room. 

This is the canteen where the 1030 breakfast break is spent. Gobi paratha and masala tea is the menu. 

The patio where I take lunch. Small, secluded, and peaceful. 

Therapy gym; OT side is in forefront and to left. 

Therapy gym: PT side.

Moto: the property dog. No one can tell me who he belongs to or what his name actually is, but they will tell me he bites and is dangerous. I was skeptical at first because he seemed so calm and gentle, and would immediately close his eyes in blissful rapture when I scratched his head... then he tried to bite me multiple times for stopping his midday massage.