7/6/01

A couple of weeks back I received a email from some unknown people saying that they are three female medical students studing in U.K. and want to do their part training in Goa.

I agreed , and over a period af time and many email later, we became quite known to each other.They wene NINA , SUSIE and SVEETA They had just finished their exams, and were awaitng the results..Many emails were exchanged to give them enough information about Goa. However one day I recieived the following email from them:

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Dear Dr. Lawande,

How are you? Everyone here is fine and eagerly
awaiting the results! A family friend is travelling to India this week, we
have given her money to book the hostel for us and to enquire about the
train times. We were wondering if we need to be immunised for Jap B
Encephalitis and Rabies-is Goa an agricultural area?

Thanks

Nina

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Jap-B Encephalitis? Rabies?? Agricultural Goa??? What the hell they think?

I thought of giving them a piece of my mind,and the following mail was composed and sent:

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Hi
Best of luck for the results. BTW when are they expected?
You tell your friend to book the train at 5 AM to Goa which is very good. If you wish , I can do the booking for you.Let me know.

Do you have any relatives in Goa? Has any one of you ever travelled To India and Goa?
Goa used to be agricultural place some time back. Its no more that way.Now its infested with snakes and lions and elephants.
No, You don't need to get immunised against Jap B Encephalitis, and Rabies too as Goan dogs hate to bite foreigners, the only exception being our own dog TUFFY, who is anxiously awaiting to taste new blood. Our last German Guest, about whom I wrote to you ,tells me that she is still free from Rabies at the end of four years , inspite of being badly bitten twice by TUFFY.So RELAX.

But we cannot afford to keep Tuffy out of the house inspite of being Rabid, as he keeps the snakes out of the house when we are asleep.I am sure you will agree with me that its better to stay rabid and alive for a few months than die instantly of a snake bite.
We do stock most of the anti -snake venoms in the house, which gives us a peaceful sleep. But I am not sure whether it acts on foreigners too, but we will try.
To keep out the lions , we always tie a goat in front of the house, so we are not disturbed, Only we have to replace with a new goat everyday.
The elephants dont cause any problems as long as one keeps massaging them througout the night, for which the members of the house take turns throughout the night.And thats not a problem at all as in any case we cannot sleep at night due to mosquitoes, which cause falciparum malaria,which is endemic in Goa.
I am sure, by now you have some idea of immunisation schedule for Goa.

Please do not hesitate to write to me for further details.In fact I haven't told you the full story so that you should not get scared.Though it has always bothered me why our guests have never visited us again.

Dr. Lawande.

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A copy of this mail was sent to niece Ms. Shruti in Pune. This was her shocking reaction:

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Hi mama,
I'm still wondering whether you've really sent that reply to them or you're
just pulling my leg. In case you have then, I'm really sorry for the three
young ladies from Britain, who will be sincerely re-considering their visit to
India, especially to Goa.
Had I been in their place, I would have instantly changed my holiday plans,
and preferred to visit the Jurassic Park. Seems safer !!! :)
Bye
Shruti
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I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM THE U.K. PEOPLE TILL DATE.

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