Comments on: A heart-warming story for our times

By: usha

usha — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:52:52 +0000

Truly heart warming.

By: lekhni

lekhni — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:06:11 +0000

Shefaly: Okay, you mean the “doctor talking to social worker” aspect. I was thinking on the general aspect of two men meeting at a temple and helping a 3rd person.

Will a doctor talk to a social worker? Yes, and no. Yes, we desis tend to be very class-conscious. So my take is that the doctor will talk to a social worker if (i) said social worker is a celebrity-turned social worker (or social worker-turned-celebrity).
(ii) said social worker is a professional-turned-social worker. You know, people who make their money in Wall Street or software or wherever and then start non-profits.

It’s unfortunate, but the career social worker does not carry that much weight as the above two categories. Of course, I am guilty of generalizing, stereotyping and all that.

By: Shefaly

Shefaly — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:47:57 +0000

Lekhni: Your story mentions a doctor and a social worker. Would this exchange transpire between two desis with those professions, but praying next to each other in a temple? I have my doubts. Most desis I know fraternise with their own kind - professionally, socio-economically, even regionally… Most shun people who are “different” or whose lives move on a different trajectory. Hence my curiosity.

By: lekhni

lekhni — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:09:21 +0000

Kima: That’s true, Readers’ Digest has a lot of these, right? It’s funny, I used to read Readers Digest a lot as a kid, now I hardly do, even though it’s prominently visible in the grocery checkout line..

km: Yup, it certainly made my day!

Shefaly: It’s possible. The situation that I can imagine even more easily is two Indian doctors discussing their patients at the temple and finding some issue that the other can treat. I notice that desi doctors in every city have their own group of doctor friends, and I am sure they also talk shop whenever they meet.

Nightwatchmen: True, Bollywood just imitates real life. When it is not imitating Hollywood, that is

By: Nightwatchmen

Nightwatchmen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:29:31 +0000

Aah and here we were thinking that Ajay and Sallu miya meeting in a church in HDDCS seemed contrived

Fact really is stranger than fiction huh……

By: Shefaly

Shefaly — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:30:01 +0000

Just wondering if this would have transpired if the setting was a temple and these were two Hindus praying (let’s forget for the moment, all the chaos and noise that pervades temples)…

By: km

km — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:17:21 +0000

That story is indeed amazing.

By: Kima

Kima — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:58:20 +0000

I read something like this almost every month on Reader’s Digest. And it never fails to move me everytime…