CHAPTER 12

Summary

• The chapter begins in the year 1933, in Madras, where Digby has just moved to start a new job at Longmere Hospital. He is greeted by a man named Muthusamy, who is going to be Digby’s cook and housekeeper.
• Digby has trouble adapting to the local food due to the level of spicy ingredients and orders his cook to reduce the same in his meals. He also finds the heat unbearable and ends up sleeping for eleven straight hours.
• The next morning, Assistant Civil Surgeon Digby Kilgour reports to Civil Surgeon Claude Arnold at Longmere Hospital.
• After waiting for Arnold and meeting some of the local staff, who offer him a cup of sweet and delicious 'degree coffee,' Arnold finally arrives and sizes up his new subordinate, Digby.
• Arnold tells Digby that he will be responsible for two surgical wards, both for natives, while Arnold himself will run the Anglo-Indian and British wards.
• Arnold shows Digby around the hospital, where he observes patients with various illnesses and conditions. The hospital also has two operating theaters, where Digby will be expected to perform surgeries without prior experience.
• By the end of the chapter, Digby is left alone to operate on a patient with an unusually large hydrocele, a condition that causes a fluid-filled enlargement of the sack around the testicle. He finds the task challenging due to his lack of experience and familiarity with the condition.