Counting Down to 90 - Week 1578

The column explained.

Third Thing, Fourth Thing, Two and Three Degrees of Separation and Privilege

Earlier this morning, I went for a 6K beach run from Fort Aguada to Candolim and back, running bare feet on the hard wet sand at the edge of the water, trying to dodge the high tide waves that were doing their best to submerge my feet and stop me in my tracks. Sometimes, with an unexpected large wave, the water succeeded and I had to stop and walk, but the rest of the times, I was able to run along the edge of the wavefront. 

Running on the beach…the wind in your face, the clear skies, the clean air, the sound of the ocean and the pitter patter of my bare feet…it is one of those pleasures of traveling to a beach town that I try not to miss.

Running and strength training are my 4th thing, writing being my 3rd, (family and work being the first two), but I refuse to run races or overdo the whole process because there is nothing left to prove and you don’t really need to participate in races to enjoy running. 

It is always good to have a 3rd thing going…it often helps keep the 1st and 2nd sane. It could be anything…reading, singing, dancing, writing, cars, bikes, travel…it doesn’t matter. And sometimes these can translate into another career.

We were in Goa to visit the Museum of Goa, where a couple of my daughter’s art creations were being exhibited as part of a joint Indo-Dutch curation. The Museum was started by Subodh Kerkar, a prominent Goan and Indian artist who continues to create art, while his daughter runs the Museum.

Subodh worked as a physician for 7 years before he found his true calling in art and gave up the practice of medicine completely to focus on converting his skills as a painter into becoming an artist. Sudhir Patwardhan, one of India’s foremost artists, was a practicing radiologist for a long time. Hemant Morparia, a leading cartoonist, is still a practicing radiologist. Another radiologist colleague in Vizag is a leading national veena player and so on. They all have successfully converted a third thing into a second career.

Once I found that Subodh had studied medicine, I asked to meet him. It turns out he is from the 1977 GMC (Goa Medical College) batch and we found common friends and colleagues, two of whom had become radiologists and who I knew personally.

I was able to connect with Subodh meaningfully within a few minutes by virtue of being a doctor meeting another doctor, even though he is no longer practicing…it was just two degrees of separation. Think about it! There are not more than 9 lakh (0.9 million) doctors in India, perhaps 14 lakhs if you include traditional medicine doctors and foreign medical graduates. That comes to 1.4 million. In a population of 1.4 billion, 1.4 million is just 0.1% of the population and the number of doctors may actually be much less. 

When doctors from India within an age range of 10-20 years meet anywhere, it’s just two or three degrees of separation before they find someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows them. In a huge country like ours, that is social capital and privilege that carry with them many advantages for the doctor and those around them.

Despite all the rubbish that goes on in our country with the education and practice of medicine, a modern medicine Indian doctor automatically becomes part of a privileged class and starts building social capital, often generational...the degree to which this happens within that 0.1% sliver or even within the 1-2% of the rest of the comparable professions (lawyers, accountants, MBAs) will vary, but when compared to the rest of the 99.9% non-doctors and perhaps 98-99% of other privileged classes…where is the comparison!

Unfortunately, many doctors then succumb to hubris and the God-complex, believing themselves to be “entitled”…but these are topics for another day!