This book entitled, “A Yak in the Fridge” was great fun (and nostalgic) for me to read because, when I was an intern in Shanta Bhawan, Dr. John Dickinson so strongly communicated his abiding interest in high altitude medicine and the treatment of typhoid fever that it left an indelible mark in me. In fact years later when I returned to Nepal from North America and wanted to do some useful and interesting research, studying these two diseases (altitude illness and typhoid fever, poles apart though they may be) came naturally to me.
For me the attractive title of the book conjured up images of yaks roaming around at high altitude in the cold Himalayas until I stopped to think, what exactly was the yak doing in the fridge? This intriguing question actually inspired me to read the book as soon as I got a hold of it. The answer, when I found out, was just as fascinating as the question.
The book is filled with hilarious stories where his close-knit family members (his wife Angela, daughter Mary and son Jamie) heartily join in writing chapters to give us an entertaining and often insightful perspective of Nepal especially from the late 1970s and eighties which for me made riveting reading. Indeed the contributions from them add very strongly to the appeal of this book.
I too have many fond memories in the outpatient clinic of friendly banter between John insisting on speaking in Nepali with his Nepali patient and the patient unfazed, trying out his English on John. It was wildly entertaining for this lowly intern as it broke up the seriousness of learning from the Guru of high altitude medicine.
Dr Buddha Basnyat
For me the attractive title of the book conjured up images of yaks roaming around at high altitude in the cold Himalayas until I stopped to think, what exactly was the yak doing in the fridge? This intriguing question actually inspired me to read the book as soon as I got a hold of it. The answer, when I found out, was just as fascinating as the question.
The book is filled with hilarious stories where his close-knit family members (his wife Angela, daughter Mary and son Jamie) heartily join in writing chapters to give us an entertaining and often insightful perspective of Nepal especially from the late 1970s and eighties which for me made riveting reading. Indeed the contributions from them add very strongly to the appeal of this book.
I too have many fond memories in the outpatient clinic of friendly banter between John insisting on speaking in Nepali with his Nepali patient and the patient unfazed, trying out his English on John. It was wildly entertaining for this lowly intern as it broke up the seriousness of learning from the Guru of high altitude medicine.
Dr Buddha Basnyat
