The KARD strike is now into the 8th day. I am actively covering the strike as part of the DailyRounds team and it brought back some memories for me. And I realized why a joint agitation like this is more that just about a stipend hike.

I was very actively involved in a similar strike 4 years back. It was in Chennai. I was a first year PG in General Medicine in Stanley Medical College. I joined the college – new city, new language and new colleagues and within a few months there were rumours that we were going into a strike. The main reason for the strike there too was centered on the stipend. We were paid a measly stipend of Rs.8000 at that time!

I was at home when the strike was announced. And when I was back the strike was full fledged and I felt bad for missing the first few days. From the third day onwards I was almost always at the MMC campus, where most of the agitations were happening. It took us millions of slogans, hours of marches, thousands of posters, hundreds of candles and 14 days to achieve our goal. But after 2 weeks of pain and struggle we achieved a lot more than a stipend raise.

The strike brought out the much needed unity amount among us.

We were just PGs in Medicine or PGs in Surgery or interns in OBG. But during the strike we all became Doctors. New friendships were born. Late night, we discussed about things other than patients, duties and OPDs. We shared common ambitions as well as concerns. It was fun. We bonded around the hunger strike stages and blood donation beds!

*Even though the new Surgery PG friends kept shunting surgical patients to Medicine. That’s something that will never change I guess ☺

We Doctors learned a lot about how the world works

Admit it. You don’t know how the world works. Most Doctor’s don’t! The strike opened our eyes to how the “real world works” and how to be practical.

We realized the power of media

Media has the incredible power to turn the public opinion for you or against you. It all depends on how well you tell your story and how personally you communicate with the journalists. In the initial days of the strike most of the media reported with a tone that went “Doctors are troubling patients”. But once we got a chance to talk to them about our problems and the reasons behind our strike, we were welcomed with open minds and ears. And it changed the way they wrote about us.

We learned the nuances of how politics work

For most part we choose to ignore politics and politicians for our own peril. During the strike we realized how important it is to have a good network and personal connections. I am sure many Doctors learned this lesson and started building personal relationships and connections.

We set the standards for further pay raise and appraisal all over the state

We had new leaders emerging.

We had some unexpected leaders emerging out of the strike. They were passionate and driven and ultimately ended up taking many more cases for us. Since they were “proven” leaders in this fight we had no issues following them later on.

We ultimately won!

And it was sweet!

Now our brothers and sisters of Karnataka are striking under the #KARD. I thought of sharing this as they are entering into the 9th day of the strike. By numbers Doctors are minority. Our votes don’t count. So the authorities will always choose to ignore you. But don’t lose your heart. The general public knows that you hold the key to their health. Sooner or later the authorities will realize the power you have. Until then, #staystrong.

Deepu Sebin

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