All of us are very particular that the clothes we wear and the linen we use for our bath and bed are crisp and clean. To ensure this, most of us go to great lengths to see that we have our own set of sheets and towels at home.

When we pay for a good room at a hotel or a resort, we naturally expect it to have a good laundry service that ensures safety of our health. That is why we feel so good when everything there feels, looks and smells clean and good.

The broad paper ribbon across the toilet seat and the tiny labels at the corner of every towel which announce that everything has been sanitised just for us seem very reassuring. But do we pause to wonder whether what looks so spick and span is really so?

Why I am asking this question is because if you drive along the steep uphill road that takes you from the Bamboo Bazaar under - bridge to the Akashvani Circle, as I often do, you too will see what I have been seeing for many years now. Since there is a dhobi ghat in the deep valley alongside the road, all through the year you will find clothes drying not only on makeshift clotheslines that have been set up for the purpose but also on the fence of the two parks that flank the road, which is fine.

But the sickening part is that all along the road you will always see freshly laundered sheets and bath towels spread out on the footpath for drying. Footpaths by themselves are not the cleanest of places to dry our clothes. But this area particularly is the favourite haunt of rampaging pigs in addition to the ubiquitous street dogs and I need not tell you the consequences of this activity. What is very disturbing is that it is not just citizens who have unwisely entrusted their laundry to people who are doing a bad job of it. If you look a little closely at the towels and sheets, you will see the logos of some of the best hotels, hospitals and fitness centres of the city. Now, you can imagine how safe you are in a set up where you pay through your nose for you bed and breakfast or to take care of your health. I wonder why no one has done something to put an end to this obnoxious and very dangerous practice which has been going on unquestioned for years now. At least now our City Corporation should step in and ensure that it is stopped and also make alternate arrangements for it by setting up adequate clotheslines in the ample space that is available there.

A Green Company:
The visits of medical representatives to a doctor’s clinic are nothing unusual. But last week I was pleasantly surprised when two smartly turned out youngsters walked into my consulting room holding a potted plant instead of the usual brochures that they bring to promote their products. The rep Ashish Kumar and his area manager Nagesh informed me that to celebrate World Environment Day their company Shreya Life Sciences Ltd. had decided to gift a sapling to doctors with a request that they plant it in their gardens. My plant was a Mysore Mallige creeper full of buds all ready to bloom and spread its rich fragrance. I was overjoyed at their thoughtful gesture and could not have asked for a better gift. They also put up a poster outside my clinic telling my patients how they could save energy and contribute to a greener environment with simple life style changes.

While we all blame industrialization for ruining the environment, it is indeed heartening that someone in the industrial sector has realised how important it is to turn the clock back a little and make the world a little greener like how it was not very long ago. I hope more pharma companies follow suit and encourage more doctors to plant and nurture their green gifts in their gardens.

Readers’ Digest once carried a quote that "You must never put your health in the hands of doctor whose houseplants have wilted". I think it is very rightly said, since a doctor who is not much bothered about the wellbeing of his plants may not be very good at ensuring yours. Incidentally, in case you are looking for a good doctor to take care of your health, do step into my garden and take a look at the health of my plants!

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD
e-mail: kjnmysore@gmail.com
Courtesy: star of mysore