Day 8: NIMS, Balaji Temple, and Speaking Hindi with Raju

August 9, 2014

Today started with an authentic Indian breakfast at the hotel, a group meeting to collect our findings from yesterday, and a discussion about focus areas for our next meetings. The hospital we visited today was Nizam’s Institute of Medical Science (NIMS). We waited in the NIMS Cardiology Outpatient Center before meeting Dr Sai Satish, a highly recognised EP and Senior Cardiologist who performs the whole range of available cardiac device implantations.

Maddie, Shruthi, and Erin on the way to the hospital

In the waiting room, Shruthi had the opportunity to chat to some of the nearby patients about their experiences surrounding their health care. We gained some important insights through their eyes, and were very excited to begin piecing together parts of our puzzle. Dr Satish continued in providing us with valuable information about the diagnosis, referral and treatment pathway for patients with AV block, sinus node dysfunction and other cardiac conditions, plus the reimbursement options available to different populations. Today’s conversation raised a few common points that had been mentioned in previous meetings, which helped in starting to substantiate our hypotheses. His key messages involved the state-wide Aarogyasri health care reimbursement program for below-poverty-line (BPL) families in Andhra Pradesh and 5 other states, and the nation-wide Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) Scheme for below-poverty-line (BPL) families across India. There was also discussion about the existence of other state-government subsidies plus corporate reimbursement programs for middle-income families. However, each program has its limitations in terms of reach, awareness and availability.

After thanking Dr Satish for so much of his valuable time and gathering our thoughts, we broke for the evening to go on a great drive through High-Tech City. The most incredible part of this drive was where we ended up for dinner. After walking around the grounds of Apollo Hospital, we crossed the road to take photos of a beautiful temple we saw through the trees.

Our group outside of the temple

Balaji temple

It turns out we had made it in time to participate in the prayer ceremony for the famous god Balaji. Here we were given bindhis to wear, blessed with Holy water and generously given three tasters of food – Chundal, Puliyogare and Kesari – delicious! We were so grateful to be welcomed here, and found it very calming and humbling to be a part of.

Maddie with the food they gave us taking part in the ceremony

Maddie and Erin with their Bindhi's in the temple

On the way home Maddie had a conversation with Raju using the words Shruthi and Anant had taught her today. It went something like this…

M: “Aap kiase ho, Raju?” … How are you, Raju?

R: “Accha!” … Good!

M: “Dhanyavad!” …Thank you!

Obviously, a little laughter ensued.