MARD Strike

MARD is the resident doctors' association. It functions in many ways, including striking work. They called for a 24-hour strike today. When I arrived for work, almost all of them were away. Unfortunately the person who is making a documentary on our hospital was scheduled to shoot some footage today, and I was the person she wanted to show working in our renovated wards. The team found me signing muster, and said they would follow me in the wards, with their audio and video equipment. As I entered the first ward, I found one Registrar and one Houseman still working on indoor papers. "You have not proceeded on strike?" I asked conversationally. I have seen so many such strikes and their uniformly dismal outcomes, that I have lost all emotions on this topic. "..." they smiled apologetically. "The television crew is here" I informed them. "They want to show the proceedings of the strike on television." They thought I was pulling their legs, which I sometimes do. "You don't believe me?" I said. "Look, here they are." So they turned towards the door and found the fellow with a huge video camera slung over his shoulder and the anchor alongside of him. "Now you will be on television live, and all people will know you have been working despite the MARD calling for a strike." That got them worried. The Registrar disappeared in the background somewhere. The Houseofficer started walking away, but unfortunately in the same direction as I and the team were going. So he turned his head away from them to hide his face and kept walking. We kept pace. When he realized that he was still on camera, he made his pace into a semi-trot and disappeared. They were not shooting him, but I did not tell him that. If the MARD people wanted to strike work and trouble poor patients, they deserved a little mental agony, I thought.