<p>There were once a group of fishermen who found themselves in the eye of the storm. The waves rose as if to touch the elusive thunder and lightning. Water began to intrude into the boat from both the sea and the sky. The hapless fishermen looked at each other in dismay when one of them picked up a discarded pail and started throwing the water back into the sea.</p>.<p>“How is this going to help, can't you see we need a divine intervention?” said one of them in abject misery. But the fisherman with the pail went about his business like he hadn’t heard the comment. “I’ll do my bit” is all he said. The other fishermen followed suit and they collectively kept the boat afloat till the end of the storm.</p>.<p>With Covid storming around us, a lot of us have been hoping for divine intervention. Well, not the Desi Physician Moms (DPM) of the US and Canada. The women of the DPM foundation not only raised more than $300,000 in less than two weeks but also ensured a direct MD-MD chain for vital medical equipment to be transported to India, avoiding both the black market and the red-tape obstacles. Oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, Bipap machines, PPE and other supplies came directly to the physicians in India who were desperately in need of them. The impact of this action is yet to be ascertained, but as always small deeds done are much more potent than great deeds planned.</p>.<p>This is not a spur-of-the-moment action despite the speed with which it was orchestrated. The DPM foundation carefully looked into details like the voltage requirements and the International banking laws to ensure that the resources were fully utilised and went into the right hands.</p>.<p>It is heartening to read and hear such stories when we are literally pelted with the stories of corruption, dehumanisation and loss. This is not to make light of the grim situations that all of us have faced and are still facing, but to look a little beyond them, to do a little more than we can. The dance between darkness and light will remain a part of our lives, and yet the stars and the moon always find a way to appear in the night sky.</p>.<p>When our hearts are moved to empathy, to action, darkness evaporates and the singing birds come from nowhere. It is noteworthy how in these volatile stormy times, people in general, and physicians in particular, have picked up that pail to throw the water back into the sea. The DPM is just a case in point.</p>
<p>There were once a group of fishermen who found themselves in the eye of the storm. The waves rose as if to touch the elusive thunder and lightning. Water began to intrude into the boat from both the sea and the sky. The hapless fishermen looked at each other in dismay when one of them picked up a discarded pail and started throwing the water back into the sea.</p>.<p>“How is this going to help, can't you see we need a divine intervention?” said one of them in abject misery. But the fisherman with the pail went about his business like he hadn’t heard the comment. “I’ll do my bit” is all he said. The other fishermen followed suit and they collectively kept the boat afloat till the end of the storm.</p>.<p>With Covid storming around us, a lot of us have been hoping for divine intervention. Well, not the Desi Physician Moms (DPM) of the US and Canada. The women of the DPM foundation not only raised more than $300,000 in less than two weeks but also ensured a direct MD-MD chain for vital medical equipment to be transported to India, avoiding both the black market and the red-tape obstacles. Oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, Bipap machines, PPE and other supplies came directly to the physicians in India who were desperately in need of them. The impact of this action is yet to be ascertained, but as always small deeds done are much more potent than great deeds planned.</p>.<p>This is not a spur-of-the-moment action despite the speed with which it was orchestrated. The DPM foundation carefully looked into details like the voltage requirements and the International banking laws to ensure that the resources were fully utilised and went into the right hands.</p>.<p>It is heartening to read and hear such stories when we are literally pelted with the stories of corruption, dehumanisation and loss. This is not to make light of the grim situations that all of us have faced and are still facing, but to look a little beyond them, to do a little more than we can. The dance between darkness and light will remain a part of our lives, and yet the stars and the moon always find a way to appear in the night sky.</p>.<p>When our hearts are moved to empathy, to action, darkness evaporates and the singing birds come from nowhere. It is noteworthy how in these volatile stormy times, people in general, and physicians in particular, have picked up that pail to throw the water back into the sea. The DPM is just a case in point.</p>