Well, I’m officially behaving like a real local now: I sought the services of an Indian physician and bought meds at an Indian pharmacy! And yes, I lived to tell it. I’ll even look better for the experience! 🙂
So the story goes… My friend (the ‘Retail Diva’) welcomed me along on a day of shopping and errands. It was a constant battle of her wanting me to have a great time vs. me wanting her to have a “normal” day and I’d say we both split the win about 50/50. On the ‘normal day’ side of things, she had an evening doctor’s appointment with her dermatologist that I tagged along for. Some of you may know that Bangalore is developing quite a reputation for its medical services – in fact, there’s even a marketing campaign here with the slogan “First-world Procedures; Third-world Prices.” So I tagged along to see her dermatologist and am now working toward stimulating Bangalore’s medical tourism economy! This dermatologist does all the “high-end” procedures from the States – at 10-15% of the cost. I’m lined up for my next visit to do some age-reversing treatments that I never would have considered back home. Those freckles and age spots – gone! Pores – minimized! A little sagging skin – tightened!
He even prescribed some local medicine to help clear up my skin. THAT was an experience! We left his office, walked across the street to what looked like a “shop” where one would buy food or handbags, paid a whopping Rs. 50 (about $1 US) and walked away with a small box of the pills. It’s amazing – the sleeping pills I use to knock me out on the international flights cost $70 for 10 pills… and I just bought a small prescription here for a dollar. What does that say about the inflation built into American pharmaceutical practices?
So – what an interesting and unexpected next step in my adoption of this ‘second home’ that India is becoming. All in all, just another step in my evolution toward Indian (dual) citizenship… 🙂