Waiting for Doctor Gladys

Scoop of the century! The mysterious identity of Doctor Gladys finally revealed. Our correspondent Rathish Balakrishnan reports.

Doctor Gladys is from clownland and speaks in a strong cockney accent. She looks just like all of us, if you can ignore the obvious huge red cherry stuck on her nose. “Everyone from clownland has one just like this”, she confides. She has a bag of tricks and rivals the medics with injections of her own. I cannot do magic, she tells the kids. But she can make them smile. And that’s just what kids in the pediatric ward want.

Like Lois Lane in Superman, I have been after Doctor Gladys for quite sometime. And finally, I get something close to a lead in Nazu Tonse (Spoiler hint – think Clark Kent), a distant cousin of Doctor Gladys. People tell me that she has a striking resemblance to Doctor Gladys; Except for the cherry nose that is.

It’s immediately clear that Nazu shares her distant cousin’s passion for clowning. “The basic objective is to bring joy in the lives of the children. All they do the whole day in the hospital is to obey orders and do what is told. The clown is the only person that they can say a no to. And the clowns do their bit to distract the kids from the daily monotony and make them smile”. So, does her cousin have a fixed act that she performs everywhere? “No. It’s a lot of improvisation based on the age of the kids, their condition and the props that we find around. We often use music and story telling to get their attention. The idea is to make every kid feel special.”

I notice the subtle shift from ‘she’ to ‘we’ but let it pass. I ask her if what she does is just like the circus clowns. “There are some basic differences. We use clowning as a way of taking care. Our jokes are not slapstick and we don’t hurt anyone. Not even the fellow clowns.” Clowning is also serious business, she tells me. Hygiene is of highest importance. The entire paraphernalia – from the shoes to the gloves – are washed after every visit and are not worn outside the hospital floor. If any kid touches one of the toys, it is made sure that the other kids do not use it. And if any of the clowns are unwell, they do not visit the hospital to make sure the infection doesn’t spread to the kids.

Having trapped her in a cul de sac, I finally confront her with her true identity. And this time, she has no choice but to admit.

As the time wheel spins backwards, she tells me how Severine Blanchet, a member of Docteur Clown in Lyons France, came down to India. Nazu met Severine in a workshop that was held last year and was trained to become a clown. “The actual workshop is divided into 10 two hour sessions, with three sessions every week. The main focus is on finding and developing one’s clown character, from the name to costume to personality. The participants are also introduced juggling, acting and hospital procedures.”

Docteur Clown India, an offshoot of Docteur Clown, was started as a cultural activity of the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. Right now there are four clowns, two each from India and France. They spend around two hours in a week with children in various mainstream hospitals. And what does it take to become a docteur clown? “It helps if you are in touch with your inner child, understand the importance of emotional health and are compassionate about others and yourself.”

The music heightens as she continues, “We all seem to be caught up in getting things right. It’s like life is one big race. Being a clown teaches you how you can fail sometimes and how it doesn’t really matter”, and vanishes into thin air.

It’s not just the children who need this lesson. Even adults need one of her laughter injections. The world needs more smiles. More clowns.

And more superheroes. Well, that’s another story.

Contact details
Nazu - 98800 70079 / Severine - 99800 94001
Email - selfpropelled at rocketmail dot com / sblanchet at yahoo dot com
Website - http://doctorgladys.blogspot.com