New Year’s at Kolhapur.

(1 Jan ’12)

            For the first time in the fourteen years that I’ve written this column, I have my byline in print on New Year’s Day.

            I’ve been in Kolhapur for the last week. I believe that Rs 200 or less is all it takes (the Kadamba bus fare from Goa to here) to see the most beautiful slice of our planet: the Amboli and Amba ghats through the lush forests of the konkan hills. The road is mostly good. Then one enters the chaos called Kolhapur. Rickshaws, Audis, bullock-carts, Mercedes, Tata Venturas, cyclists, all share equal space on roads (beg your pardon, mere paths of sharp stones and uneven, irregular pits interspersed with mounds of mud). This is democracy at its best, equal rights for all on the road.

            If you think Goa’s traffic is bad, do visit Kolhapur, it’ll do wonders to your morale.

            In a world overwhelmed by X’mas madness, Kolhapur is (possibly like most small Indian towns) quite oblivious to ‘angrez’ celebrations, and New Year’s, too. The hotel staff tells me private parties happen, but more often than not they’re ‘business’ affairs, seldom family ones. Staff takes mass chutti at Ganapati and Diwali, not at this time of the year.

            One can see through showrooms the changes that have happened. The furniture available is like that in Delhi or Mumbai, possibly at the same cost, for Kolhapur is the home of very rich sugar-barons and industrialists. Sigh, politicians, too. There is a rash of small specialty hospitals that are replacing the staid ‘nursing homes’. This is an indicator of wealth. In India, people don’t spend on health as a priority. So when a town displays signs in every other lane advertising Spine Clinics, Knee and Hip Replacement Centres, Eye Hospitals, and Laboratory and Radiology ‘shops’ in every lane, one can safely assume that those who live here have gone way beyond food, clothing and shelter. The horrid roads lead to fairly good 2 to 3-star hotels. The 5-star culture has yet to arrive. Tourists are mainly those with religious intentions. Hikers visit neighbouring Panhala for a spot of rock-climbing.

            Goa doesn’t have anything like the Aadhar hospital here. We have our Vrindavan, Manipal, Vintage, Apollo and Wockhardt, but they aren’t as big nor well organized as this one. The consultants are mainly ‘full-timers’. The equipment is new, 

What’s interesting is that this little town is coming up with a modern, 250-bed hospital. It’s called Aadhar Hospital. Goa, with its much acclaimed doctor-patient ratio, doesn’t yet have a private hospital of this size. What is noticeable is the transparency that it has introduced. Tariffs, charges, all money-related facts are printed, displayed and circulated freely. Kolhapur, not unlike Goa, flexes political muscle when bills have to be paid. Free treatment is expected when the patient comes through a politician. This is slowly changing.

How much it will change and whether that change is permanent, time will tell. Anna Hazare’s movement hasn’t touched healthcare. One of the reasons is that the doctors themselves have taken so many favours from The Establishment or taken the moneyed route to their degrees, that they aren’t in a position to make an honest living. To be fair to the profession, a large number of doctors save lives without a thought for fees or fame. Their number is large, but they still aren’t the majority.

By the time I reach Goa, the balloons, the music, cake, wine and festivity will be in full swing. Tourists, visitors, family, neighbours, employees, everybody will be in holiday mode only. No way anyone will really wish to work.

This is the time of the year when I think of the bitter winters of the north, of the icy heights where each breath creates tiny, fatal particles of ice. Of the men in uniform because of whom I can live and move, think and write in freedom: our soldiers. This is the time of the year when I wonder when, as a country, we will honour not film stars and cricket players but our teachers, our nurses and those who make our lives comfortable. This is the time of the year when I wish we would invest in our health rather than yet another dress or outing to a restaurant. This is the time of the year when I wish our news headlines would display heroes, not politicians.

I believe my wishes will someday come true. Until then, happy and healthy New Year, everybody.

Amen.