Surprise!!
I came home last Thursday. I hadn't told anyone that I was coming on Thursday, except Papa coz he had to sort out the visa.
I was so excited, I started packing on the Monday before. There wasn't even that much to pack, just clothes and a few books.
More than coming home, I think, it was the idea of the journey to Dubai and the thoughts of the looks on my folks' faces when they saw me that excited me. It worked out well because Papa kept the secret well. He came to see me at the airport and then I went home with my bags.
When I entered the house, Ammi was sat in the kitchen and Sarah was upstairs. When Ammi saw me, she howled (not in pain, I hope!) and hooted lol. Sarah came downstairs and gave me a big hug.
When my aunty from across the road saw me, she was sort of speechless for a minute and then said, "I'll kill you!"
Abeer was asleep even though she was meant to be at work. I went to lie down beside her and she pushed me away thinking it was Mariam. Then she realized it WASN'T Mariam, so she opened her eyes and gasped.
Mariam herself squealed when she saw me, much like Sarah.
Insia's reaction was so blasé, she was just like, "Hi Danu bhai!" and then went back to watching the telly - as if I hadn't been away at all.
My brother came home from work in the evening and he was moderately surprised to see me.
Arjun walked in when I was talking to my mum about something, heard my voice and said, "Dan boy, I knew it was you!!"
I couldn't surprise Abhishek or Tasneem in person.. had to do it over the phone :( Never mind.
Haven't been doing much since then. Attempted to play squash on Friday.. pulled a muscle! Currently in the process of ringing up hospital administrators and emotionally blackmailing them or spamming them with copies of my résumé so they'll let me shadow a few doctors at their respective hospital for the two months that I'm here. It's been massively unsuccessful til now because either they're out of office or haven't heard of e-mail technology (or both).
Compare that to the three hours I spent in the autopsy theater in Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary last Wednesday, a few hours before flying to Dubai. I simply e-mailed one of the pathologists Dr C, asking if I could observe the post-mortem exams he does on Wednesday mornings. Yeah sure, he said, and gave me the directions to the autopsy theater. So I went.
Saw a man who had died of lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus). His lungs were hard with pneumonia and pus oozed out when Dr C pressed them. The tumor itself was incredibly hard. Even though we knew what he had, Dr C had to go through all the organs to check for pathology there. I felt a real brain!
Also saw a middle-aged woman who had died of a heart attack (= myocardial infarction or MI). Apparently she had had a silent MI a few years ago - I didn't even know MIs could be silent!
Lastly, saw a little seven-year-old boy who had been hit by a car. He had fractured his skull on the left, just behind the ear and the fracture had spread to the base of the skull. There was a second fracture in the front; the meninges had torn through this one and the brain was showing, covered in blood. He also had a massive bleed in his abdomen (which could've been what killed him) and a bleed on his left hip. But what I remember most vividly from looking at him and holding his emptied skull up for Dr C to examine are his teal blue eyes, half shut; his mouth slightly open, showing his milk teeth; and his hair, still gelled up in spikes. I felt his parents' pain for a fleeting moment. I mentally reprimanded myself for making judgments about his social class without even knowing so much as his name.
It was eye-opening, watching these people get examined from the inside. What struck me was that the people working in the autopsy theater just went about their lives around all the dead people, as if nothing was wrong. To me, an outsider, it seemed weird, even surreal but for them I reckon it must be a weekly/daily routine.
I was so excited, I started packing on the Monday before. There wasn't even that much to pack, just clothes and a few books.
More than coming home, I think, it was the idea of the journey to Dubai and the thoughts of the looks on my folks' faces when they saw me that excited me. It worked out well because Papa kept the secret well. He came to see me at the airport and then I went home with my bags.
When I entered the house, Ammi was sat in the kitchen and Sarah was upstairs. When Ammi saw me, she howled (not in pain, I hope!) and hooted lol. Sarah came downstairs and gave me a big hug.
When my aunty from across the road saw me, she was sort of speechless for a minute and then said, "I'll kill you!"
Abeer was asleep even though she was meant to be at work. I went to lie down beside her and she pushed me away thinking it was Mariam. Then she realized it WASN'T Mariam, so she opened her eyes and gasped.
Mariam herself squealed when she saw me, much like Sarah.
Insia's reaction was so blasé, she was just like, "Hi Danu bhai!" and then went back to watching the telly - as if I hadn't been away at all.
My brother came home from work in the evening and he was moderately surprised to see me.
Arjun walked in when I was talking to my mum about something, heard my voice and said, "Dan boy, I knew it was you!!"
I couldn't surprise Abhishek or Tasneem in person.. had to do it over the phone :( Never mind.
Haven't been doing much since then. Attempted to play squash on Friday.. pulled a muscle! Currently in the process of ringing up hospital administrators and emotionally blackmailing them or spamming them with copies of my résumé so they'll let me shadow a few doctors at their respective hospital for the two months that I'm here. It's been massively unsuccessful til now because either they're out of office or haven't heard of e-mail technology (or both).
Compare that to the three hours I spent in the autopsy theater in Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary last Wednesday, a few hours before flying to Dubai. I simply e-mailed one of the pathologists Dr C, asking if I could observe the post-mortem exams he does on Wednesday mornings. Yeah sure, he said, and gave me the directions to the autopsy theater. So I went.
Saw a man who had died of lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus). His lungs were hard with pneumonia and pus oozed out when Dr C pressed them. The tumor itself was incredibly hard. Even though we knew what he had, Dr C had to go through all the organs to check for pathology there. I felt a real brain!
Also saw a middle-aged woman who had died of a heart attack (= myocardial infarction or MI). Apparently she had had a silent MI a few years ago - I didn't even know MIs could be silent!
Lastly, saw a little seven-year-old boy who had been hit by a car. He had fractured his skull on the left, just behind the ear and the fracture had spread to the base of the skull. There was a second fracture in the front; the meninges had torn through this one and the brain was showing, covered in blood. He also had a massive bleed in his abdomen (which could've been what killed him) and a bleed on his left hip. But what I remember most vividly from looking at him and holding his emptied skull up for Dr C to examine are his teal blue eyes, half shut; his mouth slightly open, showing his milk teeth; and his hair, still gelled up in spikes. I felt his parents' pain for a fleeting moment. I mentally reprimanded myself for making judgments about his social class without even knowing so much as his name.
It was eye-opening, watching these people get examined from the inside. What struck me was that the people working in the autopsy theater just went about their lives around all the dead people, as if nothing was wrong. To me, an outsider, it seemed weird, even surreal but for them I reckon it must be a weekly/daily routine.