Dr S.S. Sethi of Delhi had few questions. I said I wanted a rhinoplasty, asked whether hecould alter my nose, make it as sharp as that of the man in the photograph I'd taken alongto show him. "No problem," said the good doctor, "ho jaayega." Whatwould it cost me? "Rs 16,000," he replied. Rs 5,000 before, the rest on the dayof the operation. Would it be painful, I asked. "Na…aah," he said. Would itbe a long surgery? "About an hour," he assured me. The surgery took all ofthree-and-a-half hours. The anaesthetist goofed. The consequence: I cam to during thesurgery, fought the nurses, cutting myself on the head and leg in the process. It ispainful. Post-surgery you have to breathe through the mouth because your nose is raw andbound, your face is swollen and your throat's dry. The hospital (three rooms on his firstfloor go by that name) is dirty.
I'm discharged two days later. Three weeks later doctor opens my bandages, pull out thestitches he'd promised me were soluble. I'm in shock. The nose revealed to me is crooked,tilting to the right. My nostrils are upturned tunnel openings. "it's the swellingthat is making it appear crooked," he assures me, "and the nostrils arefine."
Three weeks later, the swelling subsides but my nose is as crooked as ever. I threatento sue and demand another operation. "Sure," he says, "but you'll have topay again." As I rage at him, he offers to operate again but not before he's extortedanother Rs 4,000. I suffer the same pain. The nose I get at the end of it is still atrifle crooked and definitely bumpy. For the next eight months I continue to pull thestitches he said were soluble out of my nose. I need more surgery to get it fixed. Arethere any ethics, financial norms in this business? It's taken me months to get used thiscrooked nose. I plan to go in for further corrective surgery. This time to a good doctorinstead of a butcher.
