I consider myself as fortunate for I get to see children in their
growing phase of life. This early phase is unique for it is full of
innocence, inquisitiveness, love and spontaneity that rubs on you.
The story begins with the entry of the child into
your clinic room. The anxious kids announce their arrival with a loud
and shrill cry. The hesitant ones enter with baby steps, one at a time,
being prodded by their parents, their shoes squeaking and looking at you
with suspicion. The confident ones push the door, extend their hand in
front, seek your permission ‘may I come in?’ and enter with full
confidence. They are so eager to get in, that they peep into the room
from time to time and seem impatient to sit and wait their turn. The
child clearly loves being the center of attraction.
I always make it a point to call each child by name.
One bright kid said he was impressed by my memory and asked me how I
could remember all the kids name correctly. He wanted to know the secret
so that he could use the same strategy to remember his class work well.
Little did he know that I quickly glanced at the name on the file before
calling them by name. Once in a while when the file is missing, I
directly ask the child his or her name. One child asked me why I keep on
asking the name again and again even after so many visits, and
innocently said that I should not be so forgetful and try to remember
the name correctly.
The children’s attire is eye-catching. Their clothes,
caps, socks, shorts, frocks and scarves reflect a riot of colors. Many
children carry their favorite toy with them, which usually has a name.
They insist on examining the toy as well. Children’s haircuts are eye
catching. To me a haircut implies getting ones hair cut to the shortest
possible length. Boys flaunt a variety of styles: crew cut, under cut,
half cut, messi cut, dabbang cut, dhoni cut, mika cut, pony tail,
ghazini cut etc. Girls are equally stylish and they appraise me
of their bob cut, layers, waves, parting, cotton candy cut, boy cut,
pixie cut etc. These hair styles change with changing seasons.
The kids take great pride in their appearance and love it when you pay
them compliments.
The temperament of each child gradually emerges when
you talk with them. The anxious ones don’t communicate at all. The
hesitant ones are quiet, look down or at their parents, and take their
own sweet time to answer. The confident ones loudly announce their name,
with the spelling, "A-A-S-T-H-A", (so that I write it correctly); others
inform their complete name including the father’s name and surname and
few in one breath finish their full name, class, school and complete
home address. At times the children state their names as "Virat", "Singham",
or "Shahrukh" that makes one realize how much they are influenced by
celebrities.
To make them at ease, I usually ask the child about
what they do in school. The answers invariably are eat, play and study
(in that order). On further enquiry on what they wish to become on
growing up, the usual answers are doctor, police, scientist, collector,
teacher; but one also comes across kids who desire to be a Bodyguard,
Hero, CID or Superman. One kid stated that he wanted to become a doctor
because they have big cars, which they change frequently (obviously he
was very fond of cars!). Parents take pride in informing you about their
wards ‘academic achievements’. Many parents love to make their child
recite a poem or a story to you. The hesitant ones sing as if there is a
catch in the music player, the confident ones perform with actions,
gestures and dramatic sounds, while the over-enthusiastic one start
reciting a medley of poems and need to be stopped when it seems their
stock is never-ending.
The parents are eager to give you their version of
their child’s illness. Some of these problems or terms are usually not
found in standard textbooks—cough, cold or fever since birth, serious
‘inspection’ (means infection), critical problem of not passing stools
for months, or passing stools every alternate minute, urine attracting
ants when passed on floor, excessive rubbing of ears or private parts.
Some insist on expert opinion for a patch on skin that miraculously
disappears when the child is unclothed.
Examination of a child can be funny. When you ask
them to open their mouths, many children refuse. This provokes the
parents to open their own mouth and ask the child to imitate them. Some
children continue to keep their mouth open even after examination is
over and you need to tell them it is okay to close their mouths now. As
you auscultate, parents ask the child to breathe in and out and many
start hyperventilating to provoke the child into imitating them. Once
after auscultating different sites, a child quietly asked me whether I
had found what I was searching for.
Some unusual references to therapies that I have come
across in practice include the following; electrical therapy (Electral
ORS) for diarrhea, national dosing (for deworming), nasal drops
instilled in ear to relieve ear congestion, and antibiotic powder given
with water by spoon (instead of preparing the solution in the bottle as
per instructions). Some parents make you undergo a rapid-fire question
round referring to a checklist, only to return to the cabin with few
more questions that they had forgotten to ask.
All these encounters brings cheer to one’s life, a
smile on one’s face, and makes you see the world through a child’s eye
thus awakening the child within yourself.
