THE COMPOUNDER

 THE COMPOUNDER

The present generation of boys and girls may not at all be aware of the ‘position’ named ‘COMPOUNDER’. Kindly do not visualize someone standing close to the compound wall of a building to be named a compounder.

The person was an authority in his own right as he was believed to be the ‘alter ego’ of the physician known readily as ‘Doctor’.

A little more dilation of ‘compounder’ may help the new generation to perceive who a compounder was. Sadly, these days people understand ‘conductor’ better than ‘compounder’ though by immediate relevance the compounder is far more intimate /concerned of our wellness than any conductor per se.

Before the reader reaches ‘the break point’, let me explain the value of ‘Compounder’ –a functional species that has sunk to the state of ‘extinction’   from one of ‘distinction’.

 

Yes, every physician who had a dispensary [a hospital without bed for ‘in-house’ treatment], had a  person who could mix ingredients  as prescribed by the physician and instantly prepare a medicine mixture in either liquid form or powder form –a blend of a few tablets ground to a fine powder. All such mixing of specific medicines / tablets is named “compounding” and the person trained for the job is named ‘compounder’. Such compounders generally maintained good rapport with the clientele and at times,  the patients would confide more with the compounder than even with the physician. 

 Certainly it was no commentary about the physician in the sense the patient’s description of the physical condition of self would irritate the physician and win his/her ire. So, generally patients use terms of colloquial/ vernacular repertoire; being not technically /scientifically trained, the compounder readily recognized the situation that the patient was in and used to speak consoling terms as remedial opportunity and looked ‘accessible’ to the patient   in place of a more rigid Doctor who would not entertain vague suggestions. 

Thus, compounders were ‘Doctors-incarnate’ though they never made such claims.

Another co-incidence was many Compounders were adept in car driving and served the driver needs of the physician to reach places or patients as required.

Another observation about the then compounders is that most compounders were men and to my knowledge it [compounding] was a male bastion for no tangible reason.

Such compounded medicines were pocket-friendly costing no more than a rupee or two for any average indisposition. Tools and techniques of medical investigation were simple, quick to diagnose and reliable because mind was applied more than any machine and human judgment was less fallible as against inept interpretations common now. 

Compounders represent a breed that vanished into oblivion – at whose behest?