It is the sensation of something happening to you which has never ever occurred before.This was one of the rare occasions in my life, when I made a complete fool of myself.
As medical students in a public hospital, we come across many poor, unfortunate and illiterate patients, and their relatives. It is very common, in fact, it is the code of honour for many residents to pull their hair and get frustrated when patients are unable to follow simple instructions. In my pediatrics posting, I encountered mothers who could not recount important symptoms of lethargy, seizures or decreased feeding; but could narrate the entire process of how, when and in what manner her child defecates. And even describe the shit. With unwanted similes and metaphors.
It never occurred to me how it feels to be on the other side of the fence. It has now occurred. When my computer crashed noiselessly on one fine morning, I called up a technician from a nearby store to format it. Apparently like a bad patient I had neglected the disease far too long. Then he came and started asking these impossible questions, like how many GB you have, what is the Ram of your PC, what is the speed of your net etc. I blinked back in answer every time. I had never had the need to acknowledge the basic profile of my PC. His facial expression was loudly announcing, that I was the biggest moron he had ever encountered in his life. Which I probably was.
He then muted his computer lingo and stuck to easy English vocabulary that I could follow. Eventually he gave up, formatted the PC noiselessly, and left. I'd better go and check the history of my PC now, before I am labelled a "moron-bai" by the next computer-tech.
A behenji by any other name would have seemed equally gavaar.
