the good doctor

Underneath, like a dark river, the noble quotation which Balthazar had taken as a text and which he read in a voice that trembled partly with emotion and partly with the fatigue of so much abstract thought: 'The day of the corpura is the night for the spiritus. When the bodies cease their labour the spirits in man begin their work. The waking of the body is the sleep of the spirit and the spirit's sleep a waking for the body.' And later, like a thunderclap: 'Evil is good perverted.'
Lawrence Durrell, Justine

You will find this story repeated, in its various forms, from one Mahri cabin to the other, the story of migration, of nomadism, of the wells that meant settling down, and the latest stage that is unfurling now: moving from wood cabins to concrete walls. One of the best people to ask for an overview, though, isn’t from the tribe itself, but an outsider. Dr Mansoor Ahmed Piracha is what is officially known as a primary healthcare physician, manning the clinic that is part of the wali’s complex, along with a school and other government services. Mansoor has been a spectator to life in Mitan for the past 14 years: he has delivered babies and seen them grow up, inspected kitchens, called for emergency airlifts and tended the sick.

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