One day, about 35 years ago, when I was exiting an elevator in a building in NJ, I was politely asked if I was Indian. My affirmative response led him to ask me – Are you also a software engineer?” I was thrilled not because I indeed am, but because I was excited to see India being associated with professions beyond that of snake charmers, elephant handlers, magicians, and yogis.

With time, India has evolved even more – every person, living in India, is a doctor. My latest experience reiterated the claim in a fable I heard as a youngster: a foreigner returning from India describes it as – every time is teatime, every place is a urinal, and every Indian is a doctor!

The last is true even today. Statistics show that despite being the most populous country in the world, India reported fewer deaths than the highly developed United States of America during the pandemic. Naysayers will do what they do best – point to other factors like underreporting, etc. But my recent bout of illness has confirmed that we, as a nation, comprise people who have medical knowledge as part of their DNA. What if everyone does not have a degree in medicine from a fancy college; that could be attributed to the inability of a developing nation to provide such an education to everyone.

My latest misadventure, my fourth Covid attack, coming on the heels of a bacterial infection, knocked me out of circulation. The outpouring of support and affection from family and friends, as only Indians can do, was amazing and life-affirming. Covid mandated no interaction with the world outside our home and when my work retracted all my deliverables, I slept as much as I wanted. I was surprised by the amount of sleep my body gobbled! But the biggest revelation was the wealth of medical advice in this country and the confidence of the people dispensing it. From my friend who declared that my doctor was not doing his job well because he refused to give me inhalable steroids to a colleague sending me Sitopaladi Churna to my cook insisting that I have ‘kadhaa’ – everyone offered medical advice. I received information on how to detox at home and on ayurvedic medicines that would boost my immunity; how putting hot oil on the soles of my feet would help me sleep better while rubbing organic castor oil around my neck could alleviate that pain in my throat. My morning drink now is not tea but rice water from boiling red rice! I am considering doing everything from hot yoga to gym to running to strength training.

The prodigious flow of medical advice among Indians bowls me over. Thanks to my experience with a litany of illnesses after my first Covid, I believe that I have amassed enough knowledge about medicine. But you will have to ask for it – I won’t give it without being asked. I know everyone is not as amiable in receiving advice as I am!