The Predicament

I was not well this week and came across this predicament I am sure you might have encountered every time someone recommends a doctor: “Oh! (The long pulled vowel) He’s the best’; ‘This guy’s the best’.

Now, they can’t all be the best, and there can’t be these many bests. There is someone graduating at the bottom of these MBBS classes (no offense to a few of my friends who I learned while completing their studies used to get A.T.K.Ts to my horror). Where are these doctors? There has to be somewhere, someone saying to his friend ‘you should see my doctor, he’s the worst’, ‘Oh yeah he’s the worst, he’s the absolute worst there is. Whatever you’ve got it’ll be worse after you see him.

And add to it there’s always that ‘Make sure that you tell him; you know (slight gesture of hand and a typical raised but frowned chin depicting what is in his mind: "nah its not a big deal for me to know a doctor that good, but you can have him"), that you know me..."

Why? What’s the difference? He’s a doctor, what is he going to do – "Oh! So you know Mr. Patel…Oooh Kay, I’ll give you the real medicine, everybody else I’m giving leftovers of Cadbury-Gems from my son’s box that his mother bought him the last time..."