India

Ever Get the Feeling You’ve Been Ripped Off?

I must say there is one upside to being sick in India: the drugs (and the doctor visits) are very cheap. Not sure if I mentioned before, but I had the best dental cleaning ever while here and it cost about $25. That’s not a co-pay amount. That’s the full fee.

At any rate, I’m on all these drugs for the jaundice now. Some have worked, some haven’t. But at least I haven’t spent a ton of money to find out. So far, I’ve spent Rs. 583.75 on seven different kinds of drugs. I think that’s about $12, but you can check for sure on oanda.com.

I did a quick search on the net to see what the going rate was for three of the drugs that I’m taking now: Liv.52 DS (an herbal drug to replenish the liver), Becosules capsules (for B vitamin complex), and Allegra (to stop the itching that comes with the late stages of jaundice). The prices I have paid don’t even begin to compare with what I would pay in the States, or even if I slipped over into Canada.

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Joys of Jaundice

Fellow misplaced expat Karilyn hit the nail on the head with her recent comment. Indeed, I have come down with jaundice and I’m finally somewhat well enough to sit up straight and write about it.

Basically, I have succumbed to the second – yes, second – outbreak of jaundice in Bombay over the past three months. Hurrah! I can count myself among many of Bombay’s movers and shakers who also have the disease! My doctor believes it probably came from drinking ice. Apparently, none of the poorer people, or “servants,” as she called them, have contracted the disease – only the people who are able to go to nice clubs and let their guards down when ordering gin and tonics. Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be ordering any of those again soon.

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On Republic Day, A Sad State of Affairs

Today’s a day off from work, so I can’t complain. Nevertheless, I thought I’d “celebrate” Republic Day by following up on the BMC demolition drive. It seems that the BMC wants to delist slumdwellers from the voter rolls because, in essence, once their homes are destroyed they no longer have addresses. And, without an address, you can’t vote. Sounds pretty democratic to me…

BMC wants evicted slumdwellers delisted
[from Times of India on 1/21/05…full text follows in case link ceases to work]

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