MY MOST UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTER: REMEMBERING AVO By Savio Figueiredo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On the occasion of his birthday replying to the toast, he thanked his wife -- calling her a girl -- for her love and companionship. What is so special about that you will ask? Nothing except the fact that the speaker was celebrating his 80th birthday complimenting his wife for 54 long and fruitful years. And the speaker was Dr. Carlos Elvino de Sousa, my maternal grand father, my avozinho (Avo, for short) and my most unforgettable character. As a child, I spent a lot of my time at my grandfather's house either visiting my grandparents with my mother, which was a regular feature or staying over to play with my cousins who came over from Panjim during holidays. During those days he was a reverential figure. We wished him and got a kiss on the forehead and left him alone to practice his medicine. On special occasion, we got a roll "punch", wherein he would roll his fists one over the other and deliver a soft jab on our arm. Avo was a general practitioner par excellence. His knowledge of medicine, diagnostic power and ability to make his patients feel at ease are legendary. He had what is called in Konkani the 'hat gunn' -- meaning that just his touch was enough to cure. Or, the gift of healing. He was able to diagnose most illnesses by cursory examination of the pulse, tongue, eyes, finger nails and of course testing the patients mid-stream urine which they faithfully carried in a bottle. He treated hypochondriacs with an injection of sterile water and, like magic, their symptoms disappeared. No patient was taken directly into the consulting room. He or she had to sit out for a few minutes in the waiting room to catch his or her breath. On entering consulting room, a couple of minutes were spent making small talk about the family and the weather. Blood pressure was repeated two to three times with more small talk for anxious patients. Believe me or not, Avo could predict with 90% accuracy the sex of the baby by just looking at the mother's stomach. He even told that a family member she was pregnant before she herself came to know about it, by just looking at her as she was approaching him. Avo was a dedicated doctor who never refused a night call. He was available at all times and never sent a patient away. I would be at fault if I do not mention the love and dedication with which my grandmother treated Avo. When he was called away at night, she too would always remain awake till he returned to serve him with a coffee. She had one grudge against him though. He did not allow her to read French books when they first married as he considered them erotic literature. I got to know Avo better when he retired from active practice and I joined the Pharmacy College, I would the sit next to him and he would regale me with his exploits. Those knowing him personally remember the presence of a glass jar carrying human triplets preserved in formalin. He told me of how they were stillborn babies of a Hindu family. He wanted them, but they refused. However, when he told them he needed to study to prevent the same thing happening to them they reluctantly parted with them. He also had a pair of preserved Siamese twins, which however he had to hand over to the Portuguese authorities who sent them to University of Porto in Portugal. He also had a ten-metre long worm which he wound out a young boy's eye rolling it on a pencil. Much to my surprise and disbelief, this incident was corroborated by the patient himself now a senior citizen when he visited me in connection with Principal Edward Soares Memorial at my village of Aldona. He told me of how he saved a lady who developed tetanus -- something of a miracle those days. Those who know the characteristic of penicillin (the only antibiotic available then) would realise that it is immediately metabolised and passes into the urine. Avo took a risk and withdrew urine from this patient's bladder and re-injected it into her bloodstream -- a revolutionary procedure. Thus he got the desired result and the patient was saved. I could go on and on but cannot stop without recalling this simple incident which I personally was witness to. I had just started working in a pharmaceutical company and my boss told me about his wife was getting fever and back pain for quite some time. This was made worse by her doctor prescribing Streptomycin and she developed diarrhoea. On meeting Avo, I just mentioned this to him and he said it was a urinary tract infection and suggested testing her urine. Voila! A couple days later she was better after taking the correct treatment. Avo was born in 1901 the eldest son in a family of three brothers and two sisters. He married Ana Rita Cordeiro and they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1977. They had eight children -- four sons and four daughters, the eldest one being my mother. He obtained his degree in medicine from the Goa Medical College and served in the Legislative Council during Portuguese rule. Avo was treated with great respect as the head of the family, though I have never seen him imposing on anyone. My favourite memory of this respect pertains to what happened one day at lunch table. On taking his spoonful of rice, Avo complained that the rice was overdone. "One does not need to bite it," were his exact words. Immediately, the entire rice was withdrawn and everyone included me waited till a fresh lot was steamed and brought in. Then, only when he approved of it, were we able to eat. I wonder what my wife would do if I were to make a similar complaint? I eat regardless of the way rice gets served to me; so you can guess the answer. Avo was much respected in society too. Though he lived in a big house with three-to-four servants, he was not rich and money was hard to come by. This did not stop Avo from treating many of the village folks free of charge. They just had to mention some financial difficulty and treatment was gratis. Of course his name opened many doors. In Aldona and elsewhere, if I mentioned that I was Dotor Carlos's "natu", I was recognised and acknowledged. What made Avo unforgettable was, besides his fantastic knowledge and practice of medicine, he had a cheerful disposition and a very good sense of humour. I never heard him criticise anyone. He was an avid reader and strived to update his knowledge. He was able to bridge the gap of two generations and we could converse of issues of mutual interest, despite the difference in age. Avo moved on to the next life at the age of 85. I am lucky to reside in Avo's house today as the older folks in Aldona have a fond memory of his service and dedication and some this respect sometimes rubs off on to me. Staying here constantly reminds me of my debt to society and that the best path to happiness and contentment is through service. NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This article has been coming a long time now. The response I have received to my earlier two articles has encouraged me to finally publish it. For this I am grateful to Aldona-Net [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aldona-net] and to Cecil. ----------------------------------------------------------------- GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 8000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers write -- or share what they have written -- pro bono, and deserve hearing back from those who appreciate their work. 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