India, March 10 -- "Even Mr Modi leaves his phone outside," admonished the elderly doctor as I froze in the process of lying down for my echocardiography. This was my very first interaction with him and his rudeness was a shock.

My phone had rung a couple of times since I entered the room; both times I had almost instantaneously silenced it. Which is why the first few words the doctor spoke to me had shocked me. Recovering my composure, I told him that while I had silenced the device, he did owe me minimum as a patient and his tone was unacceptable. Far from placating him, it further aggravated his irritation and he insisted that given the gravity of the first crime (the phone ringing twice) I would now need to leave the phone outside. ...