I have a tremor in my hands,” Meenaben Shah explained as she stretched out both her arms in front of me to show her fingers, which were rhythmically twitching away as if she were playing a piano badly. She was a middle-aged Jain homemaker in her late 50s. “When I have a cup of tea, my hands shake; when I’m stitching, I have a problem,” she continued in Gujarati. “When I’m cooking and cleaning, it’s alright,” she added, “but when my husband gives me stress, it increases,” she said looking at him with a hint of a smile. 

I examined the tone in her limbs to ensure it wasn’t rigid. Her hands were supple. There was no arthritis. Her grip was strong. She had impeccable sensations. “This is called an essential tremor,” I explained, “and it’s not Parkinson’s, which is what most people fear when they start shaking a little. Often times, it’s seen in the family, but this is nothing to worry about,” I comforted her.