Breathe!

For a few months in mid-1986, I might have come across to people as one of those young men who was nothing but a loser who was wasting his time and his parents' money.

I did not care about what others thought.

Those were the precious months when I was rapidly zooming into what I wanted to study in graduate school, and the universities that might offer such programs. 

It was a different time then--the prehistoric days before the internet.  I had to do things the old-fashioned way: I logged hours at the library in the US consulate, looking through university catalogs, and reading American newspapers and magazines.

But, good-hearted relatives worried about me.  One of them suggested that I apply for an opening at the company where he worked--Indian Oxygen, Limited (IOL.)

I told him that I had a game plan, which was to start applying to universities in the US, and that by April 1987 I would have a clear idea of where I would be going.

He perhaps worried that mine was one of those youthful and wishful-thinking dreams.  I am sure that my parents had also conveyed to him their worries, even though they never shared anything with me.

This uncle wouldn't give up.  He said it would be no problem even if I quite a few months after joining the company.  And he arranged for an interview too.

I interviewed.  They offered me the job. I accepted it.  All thanks to Uncle L.

IOL had a reason for hiring engineering grads like me--the company was moving into medical electronic equipment, like neonatal incubators and ventilators.  Yes, ventilators that are in the news now, though the current models are infinitely more advanced than the ones from 35 years ago.

In my training period, along with my supervisor, I visited with anesthesiologists and surgeons.  My supervisor (Parthasarathy?) explained to them why the IOL product (I recall they were actually British manufacture) was good and--even more important--the service dependability.

A few months later, it came down to choosing between the University of Iowa and the University of Southern California.  Iowa offered more money for me to study in a low-cost location, and USC's offer was lower along with a much higher cost of living in Los Angeles.

I opted for Los Angeles.  I quit my job.

I never saw a ventilator again, until a few years ago.

I hope that I will not have to use a ventilator because of COVID-19.

And I hope there are enough ventilators for all those who will need them.