When My Dad was Young

The story I relate here is true and from my father’s childhood. He is, as of this writing, a man in his 60s who continues to live and work in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as do I. I shall now turn the microphone over to him.

I spent my formative years in India and did not come to Canada until I was in my early 20s;1963-4.

This story happened around 1951; I may be slightly off on the date but it was definitely post-1947, the year India gained independence from Britain.

The world was a very different place back then. I had, at that time, never seen a TV, let alone the internet.

Even telephones were not commonplace, at least in India.

At that time, I was 9 or 10 years old and had little formal schooling. Still, education was very important in my family and my grandfather had taught me to read and write. I would read for hours on end in his library. He had many books on medicine, particularly ayurvedic medicine, and wild animals. Ayurvedic was/is traditional Indian medical knowledge pertaining to common illnesses and natural treatments. A modern equivalent would be naturopathic medicine. Antibiotics were limited to sulfur drugs and penicillin was still a few years off. We were aware of the importance of hygiene and cleanliness to health and wound care and the vitalness of sterilization.

One morning the maid who worked for our household – oh, yes we had servants – came in badly bitten by a monkey. My mother gave her some money to go to the hospital, but that was far away and I convinced her that I could treat her. So, I immediately dissolved some iodine crystals – which were readily available – in lukewarm water and cleaned her wound. I now needed some sulfur, which we did not have at home. I bought about 6oz from a nearrby general store, for which I paid about 5cents Cdn. I returned home and made a sort of paste with some vaseline(available at home). I then applied this paste to her wound, with some gauze on top and a bandage to keep it in place. The vaseline acted to prevent the gauze from sticking to her wound. She was happy with that and it brought her some confidence in me.

She got better in less than a week, and had minimal scarring. My fame spread quickly and others were soon coming to me for advice and treatment. Unfortunately, I had to refer most to professionals as, being so young, I could only competently treat a few.

I pursued my interest in medicine and continue to work in a neurology clinic in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.


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