Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I became a physician because what makes me happy and satisfied is helping others. My longstanding dream and something that would make me feel I did not waste my life would be the opportunity to tell my children that their dad was part of something big, something that positively impacted the lives of lot of people.

I’ve worked very hard for a long time, trying to bring to life my strong belief that CKD screening with point of care devices, combined with digital health tools can be a game changer for hundreds of millions of people across the world.

And here I am. Day I will never forget. Yesterday I realized that my dream is coming true. Completely surreal experience.

Here I am travelling to a country I’ve never been to. India. Boarding a tiny propeller engine plane on the airline I never heard of, Indigo (low cost Indian airline – my experience was incredibly positive!). I take a seat and nirvana inducing song, I’ve never heard before, from a singer I’ve never heard about, starts. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo?ole (thank you Shazam). It felt completely surreal – crystal clear sound (usually airplane announcements are in the form of crackling irritating sounds), angel voice, beautiful lyrics… To this moment I am still not sure if it was real, or my mind is playing up…

I land in a city I’ve never heard about in my life. Vijayawada. Driver I’ve never met before takes me to another city I’ve never heard about, Guntur – through the colorful and bustling roads of Andhra Pradesh region.

There I meet my pen pal collaborator Dr Chinta Rama Krishna, whom I never met in person before. Chinta for friends. Chinta runs HelloKidney.ai digital health company and created a platform that looks exactly as it looked in my mind all these years. He connected his platform to Nova Biomedical point of care device, #NovaMaxPro which assesses kidney function in 30 seconds.

I am greeted as a king, introduced to his partners, friends, family… There is no use writing about it. It would not do justice. It was the king’s reception – hospitality and friendliness I’ve never experienced before. He then takes me to primary healthcare clinic at Guntur outskirts, driving through backroads – experience on its own. That’s the clinic where his platform and Nova Biomedical POC devices have been used for the first time in a structured way to show usefulness of this breakthrough combo.

So… I get there, walk into the clinic and it hits me like a hammer. Completely surreal. Things go through my head with a light speed. Here I am, greeted with king’s reception, with ego boosting title of senior executive of an American company, with shoes too shiny and suit too expensive, standing in front of Anusha, young doctor running the clinic. Yes she runs a clinic serving 23000 people. On her own. She has a dream of becoming dermatologist. While working on that, she treats diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, heart disease, arthritis, headaches, broken arms, she gives vaccines, deliver babies… yes all of that. And much more. And she is the only doctor in the clinic. Runing a show on her own. And in spare time, she was a key part of making my dream come through.

She looks at me like I am someone important and I am there with my mind in a complete mess, trying to show them that I am no one, that I look at them in awe and that I am grateful for what they are doing beyond what words can express.

In that moment Israel Kamakawiwo?ole starts singing in my head.

“Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

And the dreams that you dreamed of

Once in a lullaby

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow

Bluebirds fly

And the dreams that you dreamed of

Dreams really do come true ooh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh”

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Thank you Chinta, thank you Anusha, thank you all the good people I met. My dream is coming true.

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