Thursday, June 01, 2006

Disconnected hospitals must learn to use Kannada

There's a constant wail among Electronics/Electrical/Computer engineers that their work doesn't find application in their immediate surroundings. For example, they say, their software is for foreign companies which ply in "advanced markets".

Such claims are made only by fools, but that's not the topic of this blog. Let's talk about doctors and hospitals.

Do doctors have to search abroad for an "advanced market" in which their "advanced skills" can be sharpened/used? No sir, no madam! The advanced market for doctors is right here in Karnataka! The most important trait of this advanced market is that the patients speak Kannada and not goddamned english. Then why are all the admission forms in English? When they are also in Kannada, why is the Kannada part on the wrong side of the sheet? Why are all the signboards in English? Why is it a Labour Room and not "herige-mane" or "prasooti kONe"? Why does the receptionist who answers the phone talk English to begin with?

[I will come to the issue of Malayali nurses in a seperate blog. But I would be wrong in saying that they don't speak Kannada. The Malayali nurses are decent enough to learn Kannada in most hospitals.]

Hospital management in Karnataka must start from first principles: Use Kannada in Karnataka. It is very important for you and me to oppose the use of English in our hospitals. It is important for doctors to realize that there is no Englishman trying to pat their backs and throw a biscuit more into their mouth (any more) for their excellent display of English signboards all over the hospital. Service to patients includes speaking to them in Kannada to begin with.

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