Dear Dr. Pispati,

A little late though, my good wishes for the New Year 2010, and for the new decade that we are entering.

I had this letter in mind from the time I returned from New Zealand in early November 2009.

If there is any commendation that a patient can give to a doctor – especially to a senior Orthopaedic surgeon, then I would like to pass that on to you. It was on 2 Aug. 08, that you did my Knee Replacement surgery. Fourteen months after the surgery, in October 09 I went to New Zealand, and what I could accomplish was outright crazy and fantastic.

My fairly ambitious travel plan conceived in Mumbai based on a Google download was modified and finalised in Auckland sitting with my host – without touching my dream to see ALL OF New Zealand. In fact, he added Dunedin in South Island without which my trip would have remained incomplete. I can safely claim to have seen the whole of New Zealand using my new knee replacement - from the north end of North Island to the south end of South Island. I saw dolphins, penguins, seals, albatross, but missed whales because of stormy sea.

Of the 28 days I was in New Zealand, I only spent two days at the start and four days at the end in Auckland with my host’s family. I was on the move the rest of the days. Almost entire travel was by bus, except two long journeys done by flight to save time. Everywhere, I stayed at backpackers hostels except three places where I stayed with friends. Fortunately this was still start of the season so there was no need for advance reservation. Everywhere after getting down from the bus, I would walk in to the Information office marked ’i ‘, get the location of a backpackers’ home, and then walk down to my new ‘home’ ( a walk of 100 to 500m), dump my backpack and kitbag-on-wheels in the dormitory, and start exploring the place on my feet. Cooking every evening was self-cooking at back-packers’ kitchens (soup packets taken from here plus local stuff), and a lot of ready stuff taken from home.

Why do I tell all this to you? Because mobility was crucial in this adventure, and that’s where you played a major role. With buses and flights, I still walked a lot, and that was possible thanks to my new knee. I still remember how prior to surgery, a long debate ensued in your office before I finally decided to go for surgery. As you had predicted, the knee became normal. I walked long distances at times, with my backpack on, which never weighed less than 8-9 kg. I still remember my day exploring Bangkok on my outward journey as a transit passenger, being on my foot from 11 to 3 with my backpack weighing 10 kg. We went to see the penguins in Dunedin. I first climbed the top part of a hill, and then descended to the sea shore, when I could do the steep descent. Being on SOLID two feet was critical all the time everywhere, and I had them thanks to you.

I have brought back a bagful of wonderful memories, and stored quite some of these memories in photographs. I feel extremely happy to be sharing this New Zealand story of mine and the joy with you.

With warm regards, and good wishes
B. Karani.

- Mr. Karani (82 year old with Total Knee Replacement)