Stormy adolescence
“I am having severe neck pain doctor. I have taken all home remedies that were suggested to me. But it is not going away,” said a demure young woman. She was the 68 th patient of the day. The complicated and memorable patients always seem to come to the clinic towards the fag end. Is it a pattern? Or am I vividly remembering them because they came last? The brief interaction with her left a deep impact. I was thinking about her for a long-time last evening. Mrs. L must be all of 24-25 years of age. She must be about 5 ft 4 inches tall, thin built, pitch-black hair well oiled, parted in the middle and worn as a plait. She also had a bright kumkumam dot on her forehead, it was not the typical dark maroon color that most women in the area wear. It was a light red to orange colour dot, commonly worn by women belonging to the Irula tribal community. We have a practice of routinely collecting information about caste in our clinic case record...