Darwin

Darwin is an experience that will stay with me for long. Had no clue as to what I am going to find when I accepted the job here. But adventure loving that I am, just set off to the place, and here I am for 3 months now. It’s the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia. A small place for a capital, but then NT is a very sparsely populated place. Darwin has been destroyed by cyclones quite frequently and rebuilt about 5 times so far – the last time in 70s I think.



There is a huge number of aboriginal population here. In fact NT has the highest aboriginal population in Australia. In the hospital itself, about 50 to 60 percent of patients are aboriginal. Most of them speak in their local languages and have very basic conversational English. There are so many diverse tribes among them with varied cultural practices. I have particularly found their paintings very beautiful. Most of the themes of these paintings are animals and nature or the story of their ancestors and creation. I would have loved to buy a few of the paintings but they are quite expensive.
So is their music instrument – the Didgeridoo -Its made of wood – from a particular tree, and used to produce crude but entertaining music.

The job itself is interesting, with lots of tropical and infectious diseases seen. Good addition to my resume.
Haven't visited a lot in NT yet, but hopefully, will see a few places before I finish this job and leave Australia.

Bagot

Ming, one of our Paediatric residents in Darwin asked me and Roy, another Indian doctor to attend the church with him on a Sunday. So we went along with him to the Bagot Victory Church. Bagot is one of the first aboriginal communities in Darwin and all its population is indigenous. The church is not anything like a typical traditional one. It’s very basic -a shed in a open space. We were the first people to go there. Then Ming got into his routine of going from home to home reminding people about the service and asking if anybody needed lift. Given the level of alcohol and other problems among aboriginals, attenting the church is not exactly the top priority for even those who believe in Christianity. Slowly people – mostly middle aged ladies started coming one by one. People were interested to see new comers and we were asked to get to the stage and introduce ourselves. Aboriginals have their native beliefs & religions mostly revolving around nature, animals and spirits and Christian churches are trying hard to gain inroads into them. After the necessary corum was gained, the service began. There was lots of singing by the ladies and then prayers. Very frequently prayers were centered around how the Lord should forgive those who have not yet converted and release them from their ‘ bondage’ soon by showing them the ‘true path’. After that we all had a light lunch of dry bread and coloured water.Good experience. Took a few snaps but lost them somehow.

Melbourne

Had to go to Melbourne for the USMLE exam. Luckily Sukanth was still there for one more week – looks like we meet up every where across the globe now. Asked Narendra to join us from Brisbane.

Spent the first day by myself as Sukanth was working and Narendra’s flight was due only in the evening. So walked about the central city. In the evening all of us went for a quick trip around few suburbs. One of the places reminded me of London- with all the Indian restaurants and Punjabi shops. Had dinner in a nice Indian restaurant.

Next day we rented a car and left for Mount Buller, a mountain about 250 miles from Melbourne. The journey was stunning with lush green landscapes. Think Australia and most of us think sunshine and beaches. So surprised to see green mountains and snow – looking almost like the Scottish countryside.

It was snowing at the mountain and we had to rent some protective clothing. So many guys skiing there – looked like a fun game but did not try as did not want to end up with a broken leg, especially as I do not have a medical insurance here. Went up in a ropeway car. It was freezing cold and visibility was only few metres. Played with snow until we got tired. Especially was fun to roll around the slope in snow. After that had a hot coffee before getting back to Melboune.

Sydney

Been to Sydney the last weekend. Sukanth came from Melbourne to give me company. We went around the city and saw most of the famous landmarks.

The weather was excellent and it was a bright day thank god we could get all the beautiful photos on our camera especially the ones on the seaside with the sky and sea as background. Sydney is a nice place, quite cosmopolitan, with lots of places to hangout.

My favorite was the Darling Harbour. Nice walk with all the restaurants. Just sitting there on the evening and having my favorite coffee was fun.

The main tourist attractions are all in one place and the public transport is quite reasonable. Went to the Opera house both during the day and night and took photos until we got bored.

There’s so much of Indian population in Sydney. Would like to come back and work for a few months in this place. Spent an evening in Bondi Beach. Nice to see somany surfers trying to ride along the wave. If only I knew how to swim!!!!

Hello

Hi everybody. This is an attempt from me to update everyone about things happening with me. Lazy that I am, expect this to be slow and crude.