the View from Apollo

--Hospital, that is. The hospital is six floors tall. Other commentators have noted the sprawling nature of New Delhi’s architecture, with few skyscrapers. I realize that I have never seen a birds’ eye view of the city. From this fifth-floor vantage point, the dust and noise and poverty are invisible. North of the hospital, in the view from Barb’s room, is a large tree-filled lot. Some office and apartment buildings are visible in the near distance, as is the top of the lotus flower building that is the Baha’i Temple. The only other religious building visible is the small Hindu shrine on the hospital grounds. However, the smoggy haze obscures any view beyond a mile or so. To the south, the view is more generically metropolitan, with the hospital’s small garden, then a construction site and elevated highway visible along with generic apartment buildings.

This evening Barb was discharged. The last 24 hours we had been well-cared-for: both the doctor-on-call and two customer service reps came by repeatedly to make sure everything was all right. Was this typical? or simply because we're foreigners (and paying cash)? or because Barb had a bit of a meltdown yesterday morning while I was out walking around, after she was poked and prodded several times by unclear nurses who seemed unconcerned about pain and unable to explain what they were doing? In any case, the service rep from the hospital's Platinum Lounge -- where the medical tourists are serviced -- came up to help with the checkout, bypassing the queues. The Platinum Lounge is like an large upscale doctor's office. They even treated us to a free ride home, to our guest house.... a very welcome and happy event. Though the car was strangely an old beat-up Suzuki Esteem with no A/C, it was more comfortable than most taxis, and the ride was smooooth. Happy to be back and resting. We all feel better now.