A LUXURY CALLED HEALTH A DOCTOR'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE ART THE SCIENCE AND THE TRICKERY OF MEDICINE

<p>Description</p><p>The miracles and tragedies of life the compassion and cruelties of humanity</p><p>are nowhere more visible than in the field of medicine. It is these that Kavery</p><p>Nambisan-doctor and writer of immense sensitivity-explores in this memoir</p><p>drawing upon her work as a surgeon over four decades in rural and small-town India.</p><p>Through her patients' stories she depicts the highs and lows of medical practice:</p><p>Sudha in Mokama Bihar left immobilized waist-down after being set on fire by her</p><p>in-laws but determined to walk; construction workers in Lonavala Maharashtra</p><p>who preferred the quick-fix of the 'drip' so that they wouldn't miss their daily wage;</p><p>four-year-old Pavana in the Anamallais mauled by a leopard who had to be driven</p><p>over 40 kilometres of gutted roads to the nearest hospital. And in contrast the friend</p><p>of a Tamil Nadu chief minister who could summon a doctor repeatedly at will to</p><p>attend to her stubbed toe. Settled in Kodagu Karnataka after years of practice in</p><p>hospitals Kavery now works as a GP and she writes about treating snake bites skin</p><p>diseases tuberculosis epileptic seizures and lately Covid-19; even as she helps some</p><p>of her patients hide their meagre savings from alcoholic husbands.</p><p>Throughout Kavery also examines the evolution of medical practice and the state</p><p>of India's public health; and weaves in episodes from her personal life: learning from</p><p>heroes and rogues coming into her own as a surgeon and nursing her husband the</p><p>poet Vijay Nambisan who was claimed by cancer.</p><p>Engaging incisive and deeply felt A Luxury Called Health shows as few books have</p><p>ever done 'the sincerity and the deception the valour and the cowardice beneath the</p><p>white coat'.</p><p> </p>