Episode 16

Last week was a short week due to the mad holiday they call Holi. We then spent the remainder of the week at Venu Eye Institute, a part charity- part private eye hospital in South Delhi. Venu is another one of those innovative organizations that has used creative ways to fund its philanthropic endeavors. The center is one of the best in India and due to its prestige, brings in many private paying clients and then uses the profits from the private clinic to fund the charity clinic. 70% of Venu’s patients can be funded by this private clinic, and the patients are able to obtain top of the line care at a price that even the poorest can afford.

This was a really fun week for me considering my interest and past experience with ophthalmology. We spent the first day in OPD in the Optometry department, and as much as I love ophthalmology, I definitely DO NOT like optometry. I found that out very quickly, much quicker than the duration of our stay in the optometry department…. However, we also got to see some of Venu’s other services, including their school for the blind, eye bank, and my personal favorite- the operating theatre. Our day in the operating theatre reminded me how much I love eye-surgery. As talk of cataract-removal techniques and retinal diseases brought me such excitement, I could hardly wait to get in the OR. I don’t know if ophthalmology will be the kind of medicine I go into, but it was really nice to wonder about my future and explore my fascination with the human eye.

After our week in Venu, Natalie, Alex, and I met up with one of the other interns and his friend to celebrate Natalie’s last night in India. We all went to a lovely Italian dinner in one of the big western malls in Delhi. I have never appreciated a glass of cheap red wine so much… We then wandered over to a Hard Rock Café to check out some American rock band that had somehow found its way to New Delhi. Although I had never heard of the band, Natalie spoke quite highly of “Saving Abel”, so we decided to give it a try. And what a night it turned out to be… We of course came straight from the hospital, and looked ridiculous in our collared shirts and khaki pants amongst the head-banging, rock-loving Indian crowd. Despite feeling completely out of place, we had a great time listening to good music and enjoying the company of our new friends. After the concert, one of the photographers asked us to come backstage to the VIP area where we spent the rest of the night sipping whiskey and sharing stories of India with the band. We couldn’t understand why on earth they wanted us to come hang out, but it was really nice to talk to other Americans about being foreigners in India. They even opened the Hard Rock store so that we could pick out t-shirts, what a wild end to a fun night.

We then said our goodbyes to Natalie, and Alex and I said goodbye to Delhi. Month one was officially over….