State of wonder

 I am currently reading this book by Ann Patchett. A really intriguing book about the life of doctors, medical researchers and drama and politics around them.

Marina - Marina Singh is half Indian - I am proud already - about a fictitious character just because she has a father who is some part of India which is thousands of miles away from me.

 Anyways Marina a researcher, and is shocked to find that her colleague and friend Anders has died in far away Brazil two weeks ago. Or may be earlier.  The news came via a postal letter - in this day and age of internet.  And there are not any details about how and why he died. Just the news of and that he was buried there to avoid the complications involved in bringing the body to US.  

Unfortunately Marina must be the person to inform Ander's wife. Karen is in shock - and she is incredulous too. If her husband is dead , where is the body? What does tell their three children? 

To help Karen find out the details of his death and to confirm that Anders has really died, Marina takes up the journey to Amazon basin. Reluctantly. Very very reluctantly. Like Anders, she is not suited for this forest life. 

As the first step of preparation, she must take anti-malaria tablets - Lariam. With Lariam, she is taken back to her childhood journeys to India. And the preparation for the journey. She would have terrible nightmares where she is lost in a crowd of Indians and is separated from her father. Every night this dream would recur and  terrify her.

So Lariam it was, which troubled her all those years and caused her to lose her sleepless, scary nights.

And now thirty years later, she has to take these tablets again and face those night mares.