Striking the right chord

Its way into its 10th day and i must say its very steadily treading its way..For those who are little off track from the news channels and papers i am referring to the resident doctors strike for a hike in their measly stipend,the security issues and living conditions...After all MunnaBhai and Circuit have just given a fairy tale version of the lives we live...!!!!
Being a resident doctor myself i feel its justified,but sadly enough we havent been able to stir the entire gujarat's laymen to support us..not that we are all alone..people from different sectors have promised and showed us their support but they are by and large they are people related to the medical services...what we still lack is a full blown support from the people using our services..for them we are still sinners who are nothing but money mongers being quite selfish enough as to overlook the needy and lament upon our own problems;when we should be actually serving them day and night selflessly...
What they don't understand is that we too are human beings..we are just a robot from God to save lives scientifically but robots with a heart,mind and soul..and most of all a functioning body which needs to thrive well to serve better..With the meagre amount of money we get for our sevices is that justified?? I mean isn't it a disgrace to our services?our efficiency??
I just hope people reading this shall understand the right meaning of our strike and not consider it as mere publicity gimmick or way to shun our duties or gold digging idea....
After all a strike does have to "strike it"...right mate??or may i put it in this way...apun logo ke saath justice hona mangta hai mamu...

The Awakening

The emptiness i feel within can't just be explained...
Well not sounding too depressed but sometimes i do feel i am incomplete..not exactly just in the sense of a life partner to share all moments of my life but i feel that i have much to achieve and i haven'teven started yet.like u want to scale the Everest and u still haven't bought a ticket to Nepal..!!!
Honestly speaking, i wonder whether everyone feels this at some point of their life.i guess they do..I feel a little hesitant to actually dream about my ambitions..feeling whether i shall really be able to achieve them or will the emptiness remain..??Off late that hesitation too has started to wear off..and a big share of the credit goes to my teacher..his vitality and energy and the "go for it" attitude is really infectious..You can't help but get motivated,inspired..He always keep saying you should make the right decision and once u have made it give your tooth and nail for it..no looking back..everyday i wake up and i promise myself to do something meaningful...Apart from trying to save lives, i intend to do much more...Like write,dance,sing, help someone,make someone feel special,spread a smile to a stranger,not hurt myself,feel strong,catch up with friends,paint,play badminton....At the end of the day before finally closing my eyes i do ask myself how much have i achieved??Most of the times the answer is depressing..But i close my eyes with the same firm belief that tomorrow will always be more beautiful,more meaningful...I guess my teacher will be atleast happy that i got started with his advice...
I think the emptiness is always useful..atleast you can keep on filling your life with new things...New dreams, new hopes,new ambitions,new smiles.....

10 commandments

Not repeating biblic words...These are some of the things i learnt during the first ten months of my residency..And the process is still on...
1)Be practical,sincere and a little bit selfish in your work. when u are working 24*7 saving lives there will be times when things go out of your hand..but that doesnt make u any lesser in your abilities...
2)Keep professional and personal relations different and choose them carefully
People take you wrongly if you chat a little more that just a "refer"
3)Learn from every incident good or bad.
If u get a firing coz you havent done something properly,that should stimulate you not to repeat the same mistake twice.
4)Follow the rules in the book,but act like what the situation demands..
some diseases just dont cure by the book,they need more tact than just knowledge..and to hide these tacts from your seniors you need more skill..
5)Come what may,stay united with your colleagues.
Not all fingers are alike but still they look good when they stay together.And even if you have differences never let them be known to others..(except best friends)
6)Learn to share your feelings with yourself alone..
Though this is one lesson i regret very much;since i am one chatterbox; but trying my best to work on it...
7)Learn to help whenever required expecting nothing in return..


3 missing out of ten..but i am sure might be able to fill in the coming years..
As much as i miss my UG days with my friends,i love the experience of being more responsible and more adult like...I just wish my UG days linger on with me wherever i go...

LIFE TOPPLED...........

There was more anxiety than ever...My first day at the hospital as a resident,was killing me..And then it ended sweet..My seniors and teachers turned out to be the best i could have asked for..Though havent got a proper room..but then thats how things will be...
anyway will be shifting tomorrow with my bag..to the ward...
But this time it won't be just patients...bubbly kids are always a pleasant sight..

A "NEWBORN"

Whoopie...am finally going to join something i had been aspiring since the time i entered my second year of MBBS...!!! PEDIATRICS!!!!
What a day it was..To begin with i wasn't feeling that well(which is usual to an axious soul like me)..Again at the temple the cocunut that was first used as an offerend turned out to be "stale"..And i am a bit superstitious..Then we reached the venue "before" time but i forgot certain documents...I mean I can't imagine myself doing such a silly thing,inspite of checking and rechecking things umpteen number of times..And poor Dad had to go all the way 15 kilometres to get that back..Hope i don't make such a mistake while diagnosis!!!
Anyway to top it all i was on borderline for the hospital of my choice.But as friend's dad said "all's well that ends well"..
Finally after thanking all my stars and GODS i felt happy that the second coconut was one of the sweetest i had tasted in ages..

THE D DAY..........

Its finally arrived..The day when we are supposed to choose our professional courses..As much as i am excited about getting into pediatrics i am really anxious as to under whom shall i be taking the training...
Dont know how frequently i might be able to blog after this but for sure,this one's gonna be probably my last blog for quite some time...:)
So here's hoping that i get into the unit i prefer...

CONVOCATION

Anyone reading this is going to hit me hard...Procrastinating a post for 1 month, can be heights of laziness..but this time there was a technical error..didn't have the pics to upload;still don't, but i thought of nevertheless writing it down,since its about time for our counselling..
5 and half years..it seems like just yesterday..For that one moment when we were declared as "graduates" or should i say "doctors",moments passed by,through my mind, like the PowerPoint presentation..(Felt like aamir khan in DCH.)
Though we didn't have our degree officially,posing with certificate lookalikes felt equally proud!!Even the traditional "topi uchhalna" felt so good...
But with it, came a sense of responsibility;the godly job of taking care of human lives..For which i guess we all were and shall be ever prepared..:)
Thats my batch..We shared our first clinical experiences together...
TOP...Ashish,Saumya,Valay,Arpit,Mayur (L to R)
Shachee,Me,Amrita (L to R)
Munjal(sitting)

बुरा ना मानो होली है

Probably my last holi with my college friends...Needless to say had a ball...Actually i am at loss of words to describe the day but then who needs words when u have memories engraved onto your hippocampus..!!!(the part of brain regulating memories)
Completely merging with the colours,were the emotions,little moments...Some of them which i want to treasure;and many which i want to forget but its difficult..
Friends, i am gonna miss you so much;as much as i shall miss getting drenched in the colourful water...

Thats a glimpse of the enormous "masti" we had..
left to right...aashay,sneha,dhaval
standing near the car..me
minesh next to me
and background ma...hiral

MY WEEKEND "JAMMIN.."

No i am not taking my guitar lessons...Just a trip to JAMNAGAR...a city in saurashtra part of GUJARAT..
My friend invited me over for the weekend..its not a very big city..actually just a transition from rural to urbanhood... but then being "natural" has its own advantages..waking upto the sweet sound of birds felt more like heaven..The whole serenity of the place in the evening made me yearning for some more days;so that i could stay back..But as they say excess of everything is too bad..I started missing the hustle buslte of ahmedabad in just 2 days..!!!
Coming to think of it,one person just calms all the commotion churning inside me..EINSTEIN..and his theory of relativity..and how??Actually..When my cousins came to my place from MUMBAI they had the same feeling that i experienced;trying to figure out how things work in a smaller city than urs..Back then i kept moaning about the city i live in..
Today after my childhood and teen,i'm quite happy and proud that i'm destined to be here in Ahmedabad(touchwood)..its not as big as the metros but it isnt anymore the "kheda gaon" my cousins teased me with..(whatever that means)..All above the rest its where i've learnt to live life...They are right"size does matter"..metros teach you how to earn money and cities like mine,let u spend and enjoy it to your heart's content..
Although i do plan to spend some professional years in mumbai,when it comes to "spend" the rest of my life..there's no place on earth like "maru amdavad"..
Not sure when i shall seriously take up guitar lessons(which i intend to after my post graduation),but this weekend stroke the right chord...
AMDAVAD MA TO BAPU,24 KALAK LEHER CHHE
NARMADA NAHI TO(SHU THAYU)SABARMATI NI MEHER CHHE...

PIC(K)NIC OF THE DAY

Well finally it was goodbye to books and work;atleast for this month..Nothing better than a cool day out closer to the nature...So 12 of us decided to explore the fun and frolic...
We went one day trip to KABIRWAD and KEVADIA COLONY...
Started out early at 5.45 am...
I think that pic says enough...the beginning was beautiful and serene...
Went to kabirwad which is basically a huge banyan tree spread into GOD knows how many kilometres..Besides we were more happy with the 2 cricket matches and a ferry ride to and fro...

I however got the privelege to ride on the horseback,coz i was humbled down by 2 consecutive asthmatic acute attacks...Well thats me...i guess i love thrill too much...
Then of course we went to KEVADIA COLONY,which is a place where the the greatest dam of asia is under construction...The SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT ON NARMADA RIVER....
If that wasnt enough to know its importance,the mechanism was just awesome..To think of Brain Drain i guess its right...I would just sum it up as an excellent example of engineering skill and intellect...



Finally to end the day we had a memorable moment captured onto the manmade device called "camera"...(thank God its digital,for it to be instant!!!)

khushal ,mayur on top row...
dipak,chintan,arpit,dhaval and kartik middle row...
krupa,hetal,janki,hiral and me(orange)...

SATURDAY MAYHEM

I have no idea as to how i should describe the day!!!The word most apt would be---
hectic.
To begin with i woke up late but still managed to be decently late..(i mean 10 minutes is no crime)And i happen to know that a road traffic accident case has to be operated upon..A girl in her early twenties with a cute 3 year old daughter battling for her life..The whole day was spent in managing her..2 professors,3 residents,2 interns(including me),half a dozen anaesthesiologists,and nurses/servants whom i didnt have a count on;all trying their best to put back life into the girl..I dont remember what time i ate coz it was almost closing time at the mess(we took turns to eat)And to top it I still cant imagine we gave 17 pints of blood to that patient..!!(each pint has 300 ml)still not matching with her blood loss which was almost 8 litres..In the end however, i do not know how the patient is doing..since her relatives took her to another hospital...
Such incidents arent new to the hospital staff but for us interns it was touching!!The number of relatives looking at me with hopeful eyes everytime i was running around to get blood pints sanctioned from the blood bank;was making me feel all the more helpless..Yup helpless we all were,for we tried our best that we could to help keeping the patient stable;but sad to say that the patient's vitals were totally fluctuating..
One good thing i noticed was that all her relatives were constantly asking her not to lose faith in the ALMIGHTY..Atleast i am contended that they had trusted us that we had done our best...While i post this,one prayer goes for her on my behalf...After all, we can just hope for the best...

CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Not the movie!!!Just an evening with my friends at "chocolate room"..a new outlet...
It had been a long time since we all had shared some light moments together...
And what a time it was.. a truely "sweet" affair...i really had a great time digging my teeth into some fabulous chocolate delicacies..and can't wait to get there again to try out what's left today(given the fact that we tried only half a dozen of them)
Honestly speaking what i enjoyed more is the presence of laughter,the stupid jokes,the endless discussions,the arguments on treatment plans..the filmy and non filmy gossip...seriously i am going to miss all these things...
But then down the memory lane these moments will give me one more reason to smile....

WHAT "LIES" WITHIN

Not that i am a very saintly human being but i do stick to honesty most of the times unless of course "lying" can change things drastically;for the good...
I've always wondered whether to tell the truth in certain situations is apt or not..What pro's and cons do you need to balance at that moment?For instance you have hurt a friend and u know its completely your mistake but you lie to him/her fearing that the truth might hurt him..!! But what if the friend is not that foolish to overlook your fault..in that circumstance won't the "lie" hurt him/her more?
It happened to me yesterday so i just wanted to know people's opinion on it..
WHAT MAKES US LIE???
The fear that you might get caught or the fear that someone might get hurt or both?or something else.. I am sure every lie we said had a different motive at that time but the basics get narrowed down to the above two questions...
By the way i was on the reciever end of the "lie" this time...

MY FIRST LAPROTOMY........

A young male,26 years,fainted,with a history of abdominal pain since 3 days...
The diagnosis,most probably peptic perforation(in laymen terms..stomach's losened up itself)..
An intern more than excited to get scrubbed...That's me...So thankful that i stayed thru the noon for the emergency duty..The whole one and half hour that i and my two seniors performed the surgery,actually i just assisted,it was a wonderful experience...My senior performed the surgery with such great precision and nevertheless i was elated to see something i had just visualised in my surgical text books...
Wishing i get more such chances to get scrubbed...And next time i do take a stitch or two...

THE FINAL VERDICT...

Haaaaaaaaaa...that's a sigh of relief that i gave on 30th..my exams are finally over and the best part..result is out..
i've secured good marks enough to be among the first 30 in the merit list atleast..!!!
All the hard work has finally paid off well..
just hoping i dont have to compromise on pediatrics!!!!

WISH ON A SHOOTING STAR (FOR ME)

That's exactly the thought that ran through my mind..First of all today was the D day..My All India Entrance Exam for Post Gradutation...the paper was difficult so cant really express on how the paper turned out for me..still i guess i am more happy that one big tension is over...The next one is due on 30th jan..so its just a 1 day break for me...
Also as part of today's chilling out went out with friends to see "Tare Zameen Par"
Needless to put an amazing movie into the bracket of adjectives..its more essentially a feeling beyond imagination...
Though i feel good for the kiddo in the movie to get a fairy godfather in terms of his art teacher,it left me thinking as to what about those who aren't so fortunate enough to let their talent get showcased... it gets hidden forever into the oblivion and the children get tagged as "retarded"...
Well atleast meteors exist!!!!!:))))

(B)ALLOTING LEADERSHIP........

I knew i wouldnt be able to resist myself from the world of blog..
Yesterday it was phase 2 of elections here in gujarat..and besides it was the first time for me..since the last time the elections were held; i hadnt got my card!!!!
anyway i am not writing down my experience of how i felt while i pressed the button on the machine,but something that really touched me...one sentence..
After voting when we were coming out to the parking lot i overheard a kiddo asking his dad the importance of this stuff..his dad smilingly replied "ki beta aap ko takleef hoti hai to aap apne teacher se madad mangte ho na;to hamari madad karne Wala bhi to ek teacher chahiye na.??"
Nothing better could have made the child contempt about his curiousity.

BACK TO BASICS!!!!

hiiii folks...again a long break from the blogging area...and its just going to get longer...
Right now down to serious studies with less than a month left for my entrance exams..(13th and 30th jan)..And so its juggling with 19 subjects that i do daily..
just praying God gives me the strength to work hard and of course the good heatlth to go with it...
Oh by the way these are some of my books!!!

"KIRAN" KHO GAYI???

35 years of selfless service and what an indominitable spirit it was!!!!I mean not all can dare to book a parking fine against the prime minister's car!!!
Talking abt kiran bedi...India's first woman IPS...I always had read admiration for this lady...to beat it out in a MAN's wrold as they say it takes courage...And yesterday when she took voluntary retirement; i felt sad...Sad that it was finally the system she was fighting against..as it happens in all storeis..and plus 2 preciuos years premature termination means india could lose out on many improvisations...
But then as they say,quality matters not quantity...So compared to 2 years her immense reform works matter...
So Long live Kiran Bedi...!!!
Aur aap ke liye yeh chhota sa nagma...

"Raah dikhane wale to kai mile hame is zindagi mein,
sahi aur galat ka faisla kuch ne samjhaya..,
Suraj ne to roshni di har raat ke tamas mein ,
uski "kiran" ke saye ne hosla sikhaya..."


Dont know how well that was but less than i could offer to such a great lady...

WHERE'S THE PARTY TONIGHT

Haaa...I think these days i got to know the importance of how college can get boring without friends..At the start of it MBBS felt like a mountain..5 and half years!!!! and to think of it now there's only 4 months left!!! time flies indeed...
So since the last two months i've been hanging out with friends a lot...inviting them to my place or going with them..last month with friends who made the beginning the most memorable and fun filled and today, friends who taught me to smile each moment....
Sad that i dont have a digicam so cant upload the pics but then there always my linguistic skills to keep the moment alive...
I wonder when and who next will pay the bill to a beautiful evening and sumptuous meal...!!!ummmm