A Modicum of Hope!!

The people of independent India, for the first time in its 67-year-old history, have voted a person, rather than a party, into power.  And riding the Modi wave, what a resounding victory his party, the BJP, managed to accomplish!  The huge mandate given by the people of India was as much a vote for change as it was one of hope.  The Indian electorate bought into Modi’s development agenda and the dreams he sold like a hungry child would dig into a chocolate bar.  Like it or not, he will be India’s Prime Minister for the next five years at least.  What does that mean to India and to the man himself, Narendra Damodardas Modi?

It is entirely up to Modi to choose how he wants history to remember him and how, and with what emotion, years down the line, we, the citizens of this great nation, will look back at and remember the date, 26th of May, 2014, the day on which he was sworn in as India’s 15th Prime Minister.  It marked the fruition of an immensely successful and staggeringly expensive campaign, a campaign wherein he managed to change the game completely and turn the Indian general elections of 2014 on its head and turn it into something similar to the US presidential elections.  Although in no small measure aided by a largely quiescent, shamelessly corrupt and flagrantly inept UPA government that was groping in the dark in terms of governance and leadership, Mr Modi’s success story so far has more to do with clever marketing and image projection.  The mere fact that Modi managed to rise above his own party (a party founded, led and run by religious demagogues) and project his own image and the agenda of good governance, leadership and development and, in the process, push the party’s main project of hindutva to the back burner is no mean achievement.  The challenges before Mr Modi are manifold and how he manages to grapple with them would decide what we, the people of India, have in store over the ensuing five years.  He has managed to rise above the party and make people vote for him across the nation.  Now his future would depend on how he manages to change the party and its agenda to be in sync with that of his own.

What turn India’s fate would take will depend on how he manages the RSS’ influence in policy matters and how he reins in the fringe elements like the Bajrang Dal, Sri Ram Sene or the Hindu Rashtra Sena, all of whom would be  expecting to have a field day under a favourable regime.  The BJP as a party has been in no way different from its main rival, the Indian National Congress in terms of corruption or policy making or governance.  In fact, from the time of its inception in 1980, the party and its policies have managed to pull the country back by a few decades at least and make it a fertile breeding ground for religious hatred, intolerance and superstitious nonsense.  In spite of all that and in spite of the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat pogrom, the Indian electorate giving them such an emphatic victory shows the impact Modi has had within the party and his campaign on the electorate.  Modi’s campaign was largely based on half truths, rank falsehoods, hyperbole, and clever planning and marketing.  Like a seasoned artist, he painted a virtual image using bright and vibrant colours of development and good governance on the foreground, managing to push the darker shades of communal hatred and the blood on his hands to the background.  With deft strokes, he managed to create a chimaera of sorts of a developed Gujarat that is nothing short of a bed of roses, and seduce the Indian electorate into voting for an unreal idea.  But now the race is over and he has left the rest of the field far behind, gasping for breath, bewildered and confused, and looking for scapegoats and excuses.  He has managed a victory that the BJP, or even he himself, would not have expected even in their wildest dreams.  Now that he has emerged all powerful not just in the parliament but within his own party, he will have to walk the talk.  And if one is to go by what has been on show for the first three weeks that he has been in office, things do portend well for the nation's and Modi’s future.

Narendra Modi is a fiercely ambitious person.  From a position wherein the NDA’s election debacle in the 2004 Indian general elections was blamed squarely on his inability to contain the Gujarat riots by none other than AB Vajpayee himself, he was elected twice as chief minister to the Gujarat assembly.  The Modi juggernaut did not stop there.  His vision and ambition have enabled him to rise above his own party and what we have witnessed is the BJP toeing the Modi line rather than the other way around.  The mere fact that a lower caste Hindu, born into a poor family, has, against mountainous odds, managed to dominate a party that has been founded and led all along by upper caste Hindus, and make the party change its main focus from bigotry to good governance can in no way be termed a mean achievement.  The fact that he has reached the highest office in the country should be inspirational not just to members of the BJP, but to those in other parties as well.  The brightest thing about this elections could be the outright mandate Modi managed to achieve for the BJP, as this would mean that he cannot back off on the promises he has made.  And, as I mentioned, what we have seen from him so far has been impressive.   From the invitation to the SAARC leaders for the swearing in ceremony, to toning down of the pugilistic rhetoric that he had employed during his election campaign and sounding more inclusive and accommodative (befitting the chair he has occupied) and being open to suggestions, or to choosing a smaller sized cabinet - the smallest in 16 years -  and showing an attitude of being proactive, thus far he has conducted the new NDA government like a well-rehearsed and honed orchestra, with very little in the way of jarring notes.

Modi’s ascension to power could indeed be a blessing in disguise for India.  The fact that he won the elections in such a big way has given him the power, the magic wand, to change his own party and if he manages that, others will be forced to change and rise above the mire of petty vote bank politics.   If he manages to deliver on at least a quarter of the promises he has made, it could change the country for the better and Modi will remain the Prime Minister of this country for a long time to come.  And if he sticks to his promises and does not forget the fate of the Rajiv Gandhi-led Indian National Congress government in the 1989 general elections (they came into power in 1984 with an even greater majority than what the Modi-led BJP has achieved in this election), Narendra Modi’s ambitions will be realised and so will be the hopes of the Indian electorate.

Ranjini Haridas and the Mallu Male

Most malayali men find the idea of a smart and successful woman (especially if she speaks English) pretty hard to gulp down. They are brought up (by their own parents) in an environment steeped in sexism and misogyny, and most of them grow up to be male chauvinists who think with their penises instead of their brains and who have little respect for women. That explains the derogatory misogystic comments that have been floating around on the social media ever since this alleged episode of Renjini Haridas jumping the queue at Cochin Airport took place. It only goes to show how culturally degraded, and deplorably so, a large section of the Malayali male community is (and their parents are). And the funniest and saddest part is that they genuinely seem to like that status and seem proud to announce to the world that they are such depraved voyeuristic souls and lead such wonderful dissipated lives! 

I am no terrible fan of Renjini’s or of the show she hosts, but the fact remains that her show has been a very successful one and that she has been hosting it for more than eight years now, and that’s no mean achievement.

If you take the recent incident of her allegedly jumping the queue at the Cochin airport, there is a complaint registered with the police and both the parties involved have made allegations against each other and given contradictory statements. And, of course, as far as I know, the police is looking into the matter and it’s being investigated.

What clearly shows the attitude I mentioned earlier is the enormous number of posts that were floating around (and still do) on the social media hurling the choicest abuses at Renjini and replete with lewd, salacious remarks and comments through which some depraved voyeuristic souls vented their frustration. No one, other than the the parties involved in the incident and those who were in close proximity to them on that day, and of course the police, would or could have been in a position to know what exactly happened there and who’s telling the truth and who’s lying. But every discussion on the social media based itself on the default reasoning that Renjini (being bold, smart and outspoken and successful – read “ahankaari” in Malayalam) created the fracas and poor boy, Binoy (who saved mallu manhood the embarrassment of a collective erectile dysfunction), could only have been the victim and never the aggressor. The verdict was out as soon as the matter reached the social media…and who’s bothered to find out what actually transpired there and who was actually at fault… well that’s for the police and the authorities to find out, and who’s bothered anyway!

The land of the "offended"!!!

It is disturbing and extremely annoying to watch yet another drama of hurt-religious-sentiments unfold before you, this time in connection with the release of Kamal Hassan's movie, Viswaroopam.  And it is no surprise that the state, as always, has preferred to be an apathetic audience to the ugly spectacle of its citizens' fundamental rights being trampled upon by some religious fanatics.  They call them fringe organisations, but, I guess, far from being marginal, the influence of such extremism is more deep rooted in every religion (Remember the way M.F. Hussain, arguably one of the greatest painters India has ever seen, was hounded out of the country by rabid Hindu "fringe" groups).  It is indeed a shame that governments do not protect the fundamental rights of their citizens, and instead end up buckling meekly and letting such mongrels have their way, whereas what they really should be doing is treating such movements with the ridicule and contempt they deserve and crushing them if they resort to any sort of violence. But then for that you need leaders with integrity, courage and vision, and sadly, like they say, they don't make them like that anymore!!

We have some archaic draconian laws (like the ones on sedition and blasphemy, AFSPA, etc.) which are used by governments to silence the sane and rational voices that are raised against oppression and injustice and those who stand up for the vulnerable and the poor.  And if you want to unleash hatred and violence and commit atrocities in the name of (any) religion and (any) god, India is simply THE right place to be, however small a group you are; and if you're lucky enough, you might even end up getting some state sponsorship.  With the way our governments make a mockery of democracy and justice, things, sadly, have a reached a point where calling India a free democracy would be tantamount to sarcasm.

(Ir) Rational Musings!!!

A few days ago, I watched the documentary, Enemies of Reason, written and presented by Richard Dawkins. Of course I found it very informative, perfectly lucid and intelligent (as Dawkins' writing and talks always are), but found one very witty statement he made in it very interesting, and I posted it as my facebook status update; it read "We constantly create false positives; we touch wood for luck, see faces in toasted cheese, and fortunes in tea leaves. These provide a comforting illusion of meaning. This is the human condition. We desperately want to feel there is an organising force at work in our bewilderingly complex world. And in the irrational mindset, if you believe in the mystical pattern you have imposed on reality...you call yourself spiritual!!!" I did get some interesting responses, mostly trivial remarks, but one in particular (from one of my closest mates) that somehow, I felt, echoed the thoughts of most people around us on anything connected even remotely with religion, god, or "spirituality"...thoughts like it is an area of ambiguity that is best left as is because it is (somehow) beyond the realms of rational thinking, and again the allusion to an idea that I have always found quite strange, to the point of being absurd, that rational thinking makes our lives dull and boring and could potentially lead us to anarchy. It evoked am almost immediate response from me. I found our discussion fairly interesting and felt that it deserved a more serious platform than a comments box in Facebook. My friend's comment on Dawkins' quote was, "Think of a world which thought and reacted only logically! As rationals are relative, it could be anarchy. Then, you wouldn't have the cushion to sit on and philosophize. I respect your observations. At the same time I admire all these different schools of thoughts and beliefs, in it's diversity keep our world going, relatively peacefully. I salute the worlds big heart to take in the likes of you and me, along with our views!" And my response, "What you have said, I feel, is fundamentally flawed. To understand that all you need is to take a look at the world we are living in at the moment. I don't see the "relative peace" that you've mentioned. Instead, what I see is what you have mentioned in the beginning, our heading to anarchy. This whole thought of moving to anarchy and a guiding/organising force that pulls us back from that is propagated and instilled in our minds by the religions that we have been brought up in. What we sadly fail to see (or are taught to ignore) is that we live in the 21st century, a time when science has eradicated many diseases, created manned space stations and understood the universe better, and has made such awe-inspiring advancements in almost all fields, so much so that it is on the threshold of creating life in the lab and even conquering death. These stupendous achievements that have made our lives simpler and better have only been achieved through rational thinking (I hope you would not disagree that scientific knowledge is based on evidence and not on superstition). Religion on the other hand pulls us back from reason. And, by the way, if you consider it just a little, you will understand that the very thought that rationalism/reason is against creativity, philosophy, imagination, et al, has been instilled in us by the very religions whose slaves we have been from the time we were born. Religion, to quote Dawkins, "ceaselessly attempts to fill gaps in human understanding with fabricated meaning!" Without doctrines that are glorified as true (without even a shred of evidence) and without using peoples' ignorance and fear to make them believe, religion cannot exist or for that matter survive; in other words, religions across the board thrive only on dogma and superstition. Why do you have to think that what we understand or have understood about the world makes it dull, or that rationality makes you have a dim outlook. No scientist would dare say that. On the contrary, science shows us how wonderful the world is, and it is sheer foolishness to think that irrationality in anyway nurtures the intellect. And again, it would only take a look around us to understand the damage it causes. Think of it, think of one religion that is tolerant or understanding as it claims to be. Guess this quote from Carl Sagan would sum it up; "In some respects, science has far surpassed religion in delivering awe. How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded," "This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed"? Instead they say, "No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way!"

India would have been a better place without Sathya Sai Baba

When Sathya Sai Baba died this morning (24 April 2011) at the age of 85 years, he proved once again that miracles and predictions fail. He had predicted at a public gathering at his head quarters in Puttaparthy, in 2000, and repeatedly many times, that he would die at the age of 96 only. And till the last moment, many of his devotees clung to his word and waited for a miracle. May it be an eye opener for the millions of gullible people whom he misguided and deluded.

De mortuis nihil nisi bene, they say, say nothing but good of the dead. But I think Sathya Sai Baba’s case qualifies for an exception. Too great is the damage that he did to India. His devastating influence on reason and scientific temper caused huge setback to the country. At a time, when scientific progress led to great social and economic leaps and scientific awakening started spreading all over India, Sathya Sai Baba launched a “counter revolution” of superstition, supported by irresponsible politicians and other public figures who should have known better. In my judgment, this is his greatest crime. I have succeeded again and again to expose him publicly as a fraud, so did some other rationalists. But due to his political protectors he was never held responsible for his crimes against public reason. Nor was he ever booked for any other crime he was accused of. Numerous cases of alleged sexual abuse and murder are yet to be investigated, not to mention the financial secrets of his empire.

Sathya Sai Baba insisted in all seriousness that he was god, the creator of the universe, and “proved” his divinity with a couple of small “miracles”. As son of a village tantric he was familiar with the hand sleights and tricks of the trade. However, he did not only fascinate poor and uneducated villagers with his fraudulent performances. Over the years, he managed to attract a galaxy of India’s rich and powerful, among them ministers, prime ministers, presidents, chief justices, top industrialists and superstars.

Sathya Sai Baba had a special modus operandi that was the key for his astonishing success and the root of his enormous clout. Many of his high society devotees came to serve their own vested interests. Some came to rub shoulders with the prominent. Many joined the club because it was working as a powerful syndicate spreading its tentacles all over the political system. It was a way to the top jobs and a way to get things done. Others were seeking financial support or wanted to get rid of ill-gotten black money: The empire, it is alleged, was based on money laundering, using foreign devotees and branches. In fact, the huge foreign donations to Sai Baba stood in contrast to the comparatively modest number of active foreign devotees and the sometimes quite weak foreign branches, some of them residing in private homes. That is no great surprise, when one considers that Sai Baba did not speak any other language than Telugu and traveled only once in his whole life abroad – to visit his friend Idi Amin in Uganda.

On his 80th birthday, Sai Baba’s supporters announced that he would turn from a miracle man to a philanthropist. That was, after I had demonstrated his miracles so often in TV shows that many kids in the streets could imitate them. That he since spent a part of the great fortunes, swindled out of the gullible, for social development around his ancestral village, is highlighted now to present him as a saint. But as useful and welcome hospitals, schools and drinking water projects for the poor always may be: this kind of alibi-philanthropy is well known even from mafia-bosses. It cannot be weighed against his crimes and the damage he has done to the Indian society.

In December 2005, I wrote a letter to then President Dr. Abdul Kalam, one of Sai Baba’s ardent supporters, which was never answered. I demanded criminal investigations against Sai Baba. If his social development projects are meant to be indulgence to nullify his crimes, this procedure is unprecedented and unacceptable, I wrote. It is a shame for India that well-founded accusations and numerous reputed witnesses against Sai Baba are ignored without any investigation. Do saffron clothes make an offender untouchable for the law? Do we have to tolerate that political protectionism raises its head so boldly, mocking India's democracy?

Sathya Sai Baba caused great damage to India. His irresponsible political patrons corrupted the political culture of India. Encouraged by the clout of Sathya sai Baba, a new clan of miracle mongers imitated him. India would have been a better place without Sathya Sai Baba.

Sanal Edamaruku
President
Indian Rationalist Association & Rationalist International

(This or other articles from the Rationalist International Bulletin may be reproduced by journals, blogs or web sites without change or alteration in its content, and with due acknowledgment.)

Understanding Shah Rukh Khan's Dirty Game

A few days ago, I came across an article on the issue surrounding Hindi actor Shah Rukh Khan's comments against the non-selection of Pakistani cricketers in the mini-auction held in February of this year. This was written by Mr. Tanvir Jafri, and was titled "Hindu Fundamentalists in India at Muslim Bashing again." I should say the article was very well-written, but I genuinely felt that there was a vast disconnect between what Mr. Jafri perceived had happened (and wanted his readers to know) and what actually happened.

I have always felt only pity towards those who fight in the name of religion and god. Almost all "secular" religious leaders claim that the true object of every religion is to bring people together, but sadly history has a very different story to tell, and so does our present. The great actor Kamal Hassan had once said in an interview, "I am an atheist, but I wouldn't destroy a temple or a church or a mosque; only believers would do that."

What happened in this case was a pretty nasty ploy by Mr. Khan for the promotion of his soon-to-be-released movie. Whilst he gained considerably from creating such a controversy and by sowing seeds of hatred in the minds of two already confused communities, the losers in this game, as always, turned out to be the common man; the ones who made him superstar. Somehow, I felt it was ethically imperative that I write a comment on Mr. Jafri's article (which he was very kind to post on his blog) and help the readers see through, what I can only call, Shah Rukh Khan's dirty designs. My comment on Mr. Jafri's article is posted below:

Shah Rukh is as much to blame for this nonsense as Bal Thackeray. What Mr. Khan did was a pretty mean and nasty thing to say the least, to create a controversy and throw a bait at an idiot like Mr. Thackeray who was sure to bite it. All he wanted was (NOT showing his genuine concern at any Pakistani player being not hired by any team in the mini-auction) ONLY the promotion of his movie, My Name Is Khan, which was to be released pretty soon.

In fact, his hypocrisy is only too evident from the fact that he too owns an IPL team, which did not hire any Pakistani player either. That (non-inclusion of Pakistani players) was an absolute no-issue because it was actually a mini-auction to fill in a few specific slots in the teams and it, at that point, made sense to each franchise not to hire Pakistani players because of the uncertainty regarding their visa restrictions for touring India post 26/11.

What should have ended there was blown up into a full-fledged controversy by Shah Rukh and he alone can be blamed for that. Bal Thackeray and other Hindu fundamentalist leaders like him in India are seen as jokers by most Indians (read Hindus if you prefer). It does not take rocket science to figure out that a moron like him would absolutely relish such an opportunity thrown at him, and would immediately press into action his motley crew of goons and unleash them on the common man. What Shah Rukh Khan did was most certainly tantamount to a shameless betrayal of his own country and its people; the country he was born in and the people who made him superstar.

This does not mean that I am writing in support of Mr. Thackeray, but only that it was a dirty game played by Mr. Khan for the promotion of his movie, and it did work too. He was able to generate considerable interest towards the movie overseas. In fact MNIK was a bigger hit overseas than in India. It was a controversy created by Mr. Khan (with or without Mr. Thackeray's knowledge - you'll never know, that could be a distinct possibility too when you analyze the situation rationally) and he is as much to blame as any other conspirator who betrays his/her honor by betraying his/her own country.

The ultimate losers in games like these are people like you and me, the folks nicknamed "Aam Aadmi," the only people who lose money, property, and their peaceful state of existence. The likes of Mr. Khan and Mr. Thackeray might have had secret behind-the-scenes deals worked out and we blindly let ourselves be willingly cheated and used as mere pawns in their dirty games... when will we ever learn?

Medical Transcription as a career option

I have seen and read quite a few articles that have come up in various newspapers on Medical Transcription. An interesting factor I was able to notice from all those write-ups is that most of the authors have not actually had firsthand experience in the transcription industry. As a person who has been associated with this industry in India since its inception, I felt it is high time someone from the industry itself shed some light on its various aspects.

For beginners, medical transcription is a slightly complex process that requires a combination of common sense, an aptitude and a willingness to learn new things and being open to suggestions, and also requires a fair bit of education and training. A medical transcriptionist or medical language specialist is required to convert dictations made by medical professionals into formatted electronic patient records. Medical transcription has, over the years, evolved into a medical language specialty. Physicians increasingly rely on the reasoning ability and judgment of experienced medical transcriptionists to safeguard the accuracy and integrity of their dictations. Medical transcription today is among the most sophisticated of the allied health professions that create a vital partnership between healthcare providers and those who document patient care. The primary requirement for this job is a thorough knowledge of the English language, and excellent listening skills. America can be rightly referred to as a nation of Immigrants, with its huge immigrant workforce and the fact that most American families have foreign origins. So it will not be the archetypal 'Yankee' accent alone that a transcriptionist would be needed to tackle. Dictators can come from all nationalities, and that means that for you to decipher what some of them are saying, your listening skills and language should be exceptionally good. Many dictators are not particular about grammar, but the transcriptionist should be good enough to make corrections where necessary and make the report grammatically correct. It is imperative that you develop your medical understanding to become a professional medical transcriptionist. The complex terminology used in medicine is very different from the language used in any other profession. Medical transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language, anatomy, physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, and the internal organization of medical reports. A medical transcriptionist must be aware of the requirements and standards that apply to health records, and also the legal significance and importance of medical transcripts. The medical reports can be any of the following, patient history and physical examinations, progress reports, consultations, discharge summaries, clinic notes, emergency room reports, operative reports, radiology reports, referral letters, pathology reports, etc. It can be any of the above or any other documentation connected with any of the more than 60 medical specialties and subspecialties. I think that should give you a fair idea on why the medical transcriptionist truly needs to be a medical language specialist, he should be thorough with the language of medicine.

In India, medical transcription training has over the years evolved as a business in itself. 2001 and 2002 were the worst years for the Indian medical transcription industry. Transcription companies and training centres mushroomed all over the place. Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Coimbatore had a host of companies that promised small-time business aspirants work in return for an upfront payment of a few lakhs. A few others started giving 'consultancy' in return for a few more lakhs. Many of them did not even have the basic reference material or infrastructure. Many people tried to make a fast buck by charging fantastic amounts as fees for training programmes and consultancy, which would, to the horror of those who enrolled for it, later prove to be reprehensibly unprofessional. Even in a small city like Trivandrum, there were nearly 15 or so companies claiming to be doing medical transcription. It took a while for people to understand the fraud involved in such shoddy business practices. The industry went through a very bad phase with many such small timers creating a bad name for transcription from India. But thankfully, the last three years have seen a revival of the Indian medical transcription industry, with most of the small timers who indulged in fraudulent business practices being forced to close shop. A good medical transcription training programme will include:

Medical language, including Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

Biological science, including anatomy and physiology of all body
systems and various disease processes.

Medical and surgical procedures, involving thousands of instruments,
supplies, appliances, and prosthetic devices.

Pharmacology.

Laboratory values, correlating laboratory test results with a
patient's diagnosis and treatment.

Use of medical reference materials and research techniques.

English punctuation and grammar.

Auditory skill development, helping the transcriptionist to try and
interpret sounds along with keyboarding.

Editing and proofreading skill development to ensure accuracy of his
transcription

Use of transcription equipment and computers.

Analytical skill development that will help the transcriptionist to
employ deductive reasoning to convert sounds into meaningful form

With only less than 10% of the available work in the United States being outsourced to other countries, this industry holds a massive potential for employment in the future. India, with its huge English-speaking educated manpower and a time difference of roughly 12 hours with most US cities, is poised to be the greatest beneficiary. Like in other fields of BPO, most of the major players in the Indian MT industry operate from the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamilnadu. An interesting statistic is that a huge percentage of staff working in large medical transcription companies across the country comprises Keralites. Unlike in the field of Call Centres, where Kerala is not considered by the larger companies as a major positive destination (mainly because they claim accent neutralization training is most difficult with candidates from Kerala as it is more difficult for the native Keralite to overcome his mother-tongue influence), medical transcription does not require spoken English language skills at all. So, it is definitely an irony that the Kerala does not have many major players working from there. For this only the state's peculiarly abject political situation where political protests of all kinds take precedent over anything else can be put to blame. In an industry that seeks to function 24 x 7, where one day can make you lose a contract, and where quality is of utmost importance, bandhs and the kind of uncouth forms of protests that can be seen in that state almost daily are a strict no-no. One understands that the Kerala Government is engaged in a major image-building exercise to attract more investment in the IT and ITES sector, and maybe in the future we might see some major players operating from that state too.

Medical transcription provides infinite intellectual challenge and a chance to make your own unique contribution in providing quality healthcare and service. Healthcare is among the fastest growing industries in the world, and the demand for quality documentation will only keep increasing. For the good transcriptionist, this profession provides a high level of job security, and with the advent of broadband and Internet connectivity becoming affordably accessible, he will see newer and newer avenues open before him. Medical transcription has truly become a portable skill that allows for professional and geographic mobility. Another great thing about this field is that age restrictions are almost never found. There has always been and there will always be great value placed on the experience and knowledge of a seasoned transcriptionist. It is a wonderful career option that can be lifelong and greatly satisfying to anyone who is prepared to face the constant challenges offered by an expanding and advancing technology. So if you are confident and believe that you have qualities mentioned above, it is definitely the right time to take the plunge, but make sure that you are not taken for a ride by a fraudulent training centre. Enquire about the authenticity of the course offered. If the course is affiliated to or directly connected with reputed hospitals or successfully running medical transcription companies, it adds more credibility. Most training centres charge between Rs. 10,000 and 20,000 for a course that can last anywhere between 4 and 6 months. Make sure that you enquire about the credentials of the people involved. If the training is given by a company that claims to be doing live transcription work, ask your friends and acquaintances and make a thorough enquiry about how the company has been functioning, whether they have been regular in paying their staff, and whether they have a history of fraud. Please understand that once you identify a good training centre and get trained properly, it is most definitely worth every penny you spend as training fees. NASSCOM projects the Healthcare Business Process Outsourcing industry in India to be worth $4.2 billion by 2008, offering employment to nearly 200,000 people. So, clearly medical transcription is here to stay, and it is up to you to decide whether to be a part of this industry with infinite potential and possibilities.