Aravind Kick Off

Today, December 31st, was our first full-day in Madurai.  The morning began with an amazing breakfast provided by the restaurant in our hotel consisting of spongy rice cakes, lentil pancakes, Sindhi Pawan (a flat wheat unleavend bread fried and served with a yellow squash sauce), a variety of chutneys, hard boiled eggs, cereal, toast, and a handful of dishes I have yet to learn the name of. When I entered the hotel restaurant as it opened the gentleman working was watching the Indian home shopping network but changed the channel to the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers basketball game.

Our class waiting for orientation.

After breakfast we traveled to Aravind Eye Hospital for our orientation and tour.  We were greeted warmly and with a great deal of openness regarding Aravind's operations.  

Our tour took us through the free clinic and the paying clinic.  Aravind's mission is to eliminate unnecessary blindness. They give their patients the choice to pay or to receive free services.  The care they get is reported to be the same whether they pay or not.

We were told of a young politician years ago that was visiting the area when he began having eye issues.  He was directed to Aravind's eye clinic as they are known for providing a high quality of care. He arrived at the clinic but had not money on his person so was directed to the free clinic where he received quick excellent care for free. That young politician is currently the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, and continues to speak highly of Aravind.

It was a slow day for Aravind but they had already seen over a thousand patients by the start of our tour at 11 AM.  The group was impressed by the volume of patients Aravind is able to see and the efficiency with which they saw them.  Patients were escorted from checkin to whichever area of the hospital they are to go by the young women that work at Aravind. 

Actually, a majority of Aravind's workforce seems to be young women.  Aravind trains 500 young women each year to work at one of their hospitals or clinics.  They wear a sari that corresponds with their role within the hospital.  They perform a number of functions from checking in patients, to record keeping, to assisting in surgeries, to diagnosing and treating patients. We saw a great deal on our tour and will see more as our tour continues next week.   

After our tour we ventured into the city for shopping near the temples.  The haggling experience is as advertised.  Personally, I don't have much of a taste for it.  I prefer the established price model that I'm used to, but some of my classmates engaged in serious negotiations with local merchants.  Our group attracted a bit of attentions from some of the street vendors that guilted some classmates into purchasing items. We experienced a variety of negotiating styles but I believe the group was satisfied with the goods we took away.  Our drivers/guides were quite helpful in escorting us from shop to shop safely.  Many of the group bought traditional Indian clothing to wear to the New Years Eve celebration that night.

The hotel provided us a space on the rooftop to celebrate the New Year. Many of the students wore traditional Indian dress.  A majority of the woman wore a rainbow of saris.  Some of the staff members were kind enough to help the ladies dress in their saris. The celebration was enthusiastic yet muted.  By governmental decree the party was to stop at 10 PM and there were to be no fireworks. This was to show respect to those that died or lost their homes in the massive flooding in the region at the beginning of the month. 

We complied with the law but many did gather in hotel common rooms to welcome the new year at midnight.  However, it seems most of us are still not used to the time change and found it a struggle to stay up until midnight.

Happy New Year!