While there are many people in dire need of advice, most doctors refrain from helping them free of cost. But reporters tend to somehow strike a rapport that results in their getting free consultation.  While hospitals are teeming with patients, everyday, waiting for their turn to meet the doctor and explain their problem in the hope of getting relief, when a reporter walks in to meet the doctor for a story, she is given tips on how to improve her health, which may not have even been a cause for worry until then. 

From suggestions such as a mere change in food timings, to serious prescriptions like undergoing endoscopy, the doctors express their concern. During a recent visit to a Government Hospital, post discussions on a number of topics, a senior doctor sat this reporter down to discuss meal timings, the kinds of proteins that she includes in her food and whether she is getting sufficient exercise or not. Even though it should not be a surprise to hear doctors advising people, the fact that they do ever so freely to scribes never fails to come as a surprise.