You never quite know where life and your kids will take you. This time it’s the Northern most part of India to see our son Clint who is doing a two month medical school rotation (he will graduate from med school this May). He’s working in a small city hospital thats a five hour train ride north of New Dehli. It’s fascinating actually….he is about 100 kilometers south of Tibet and 200 kilometers east of Pakistan….not the safest part of the globe these days I guess. However he assures me the people are remarkably kind and gentle.
The small city is actually quite modern. Think about this as we ponder our slipping technological standing in the world……..he bought a cell phone which has cell reception everywhere (as he walks down dirt streets…yes dirt streets with cell reception) and can call us for $.03 ….yes thats 3 cents a minute. In addition, the hospital has wifi with a download rate of 200 kbs. Compare that to a cable download rate here in Lafayette, a Big Ten College town, of 10 kbs. Something is happening here that makes me a bit unsettled….how about you?
But it does allow me to be an Indian blogger while I’m there. I’ll get you some fascinating insights from India…I hope…. so stay tuned. Here’s our son Clint hanging out with some young Indian friends.
By the way….I’m getting feedback I’m confusing you with the family names and occupations. To help clear it up a bit….we have two son in laws named “Luke”…one in Florida and one in Indy. Both are in medicine as well as Clint here…..which I’m sorry can be confusing.
We are blessed to have a wonderful daughter in law who is with Clint…..she’s the one in the middle.
And of course there are other interesting friends that hang around the hospital as well. Think about it…..I could be sitting out along a dirt street…..surfing the web and posting here for you…. with download speeds 20 times faster than here in the US….all while watching the monkeys swing through the trees.
Now thats an interesting picture don’t you think?
Hey Dad:
Now that your plane tickets are purchased…
I can’t wait to see you during the first power outage, which occurs daily. The hospital does have a generator, but it is a bit disconcerting to be in the ICU or operating room when it goes dark. There’s an elaborate bell ringing system (as in rope tied to bell) to alert the generator crew to start the engine. The internet also goes down during these times. Admittedly the connection is 200 kilo-bites/sec, but this is at night when the hospital offices are closed and only westerners are lurking in the shadows with their laptops. Connection speeds can drop to 10 kbps too. Our Indianapolis connection speed is 550 kbps.
So, I did sugar coat things a bit in our attempt to lure you here. According to Hindu thought one must acquire a “both/and” mindset while here. Westerners are masters of the “either/or” of course. Either you’re rich or you’re poor, but not both. So, you might see a beggar pull out a cell phone on a dirt road AND you might have to stop for a cow (“holy” cow) AND…