Jab We Met

It was the end of last year that I had received a phone call. I was asked if it was fine by me to take things to the next level. That do I want to formalize my 6 year old romance? Do I? Did I really want to take that giant leap? Back then, I wasn't sure. I don't know why, but it seemed to be a big deal for me. And good for me, I did!

The day was Jan 28, 2010. And what a day it had been. The fact that I was getting engaged had finally sunk in a day before we were to leave for Kunkuri. Relatives had started to come. Packing was at it's peak. And then finally, we left.

We were received, welcomed and fed and fed and then fed some more. And then it was time. It was one of those rare times when you try to balance apprehension and excitement. Soon I got on the stage, and from the other end, came the most beautiful thing. She looked stunning clad in a gorgeous sari. She was took busy making sure she could walk in that thing, but she did evey now and then look up and smiled at me. I can still remember that smile. It was the most amazing smile I had seen.

Soon we were asked to do a series of things that made no sense whatsoever. And then finally, the rings. She stood there, all smiles, and we exchanged rings! What a feeling! Hundreds of people witnessing this great moment of our relationship!

After that, everything felt so perfect. We had people wish us all through the evening. We stood there beside each other. Sneeking a moment or two, having one of the greatest times of our lives!

Finally, we were engaged. One thing I regret is, in the process I lost my sweet girlfriend!

Jab We Met

Internship for Dummies

To become a doctor, you spend four and a half years of your tiny life in the medical school. When you start, you have that spark, the will to excel, you (and your parents) are on cloud 9. I have seen a junior ask a senior, with all the seriousness on his face, “Sir, Top karne ke liye kitna padhna padta hai?”

And then the dream shatters. You have incoming missiles by the name of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology. And as you succeed to dodge one lot, an even deadlier one is headed your way.

And when you somehow manage to survive this brutal massacre, you enter into this new world where you are no longer supposed to remember complex names but learn the process to make the patient healthy. And this is different from anything that you have done before or seen people doing. It’s called the internship.

It starts from something as simple as drawing blood! (Actually, that’s most of what you do). The first time that I was asked to draw blood, I had only seen it being done a couple of times. I was explained the procedure… just push the needle into the vein and draw. Simple! Well, it is. But the thrill you get when your needle punctures the vein and dark red blood gushes into the syringe is immense.

As time goes by, you start doing things that are way cooler than sucking blood out of every vein you can see. Pushing a needle up patient’s spine and collecting the CSF… How cool is that? With a little practice these are fairly easy procedures. But the sense of accomplishment is what makes everything else worthwhile.

This is just the start. As you go to the surgical side, the journey becomes more thrilling. Not able to find the vein and your patient needs fluids? No problem! Let’s cut it open and put a catheter right in the vein. Excising cysts, suturing wounds, draining abscesses, they all are much more interesting when done than read.

What you also end up doing for most of your surgical posting is dressing wounds. And not just clean healing wounds… there are ulcers that have been rotting since months waiting for you to dress them. Then there are wounds with maggots crawling out of them. Wounds with muscles and tendons exposed and pus draining. And you are supposed to clean it all up and try to make it healthy!

Then there are the surgeries. The first time you hold the knife and incise the skin, it’s a really scary moment. What if I cut too much?, you think. And then you see your senior butcher his way in. It’s all so exciting to see blood on your gloves, even if all that you have done is no more than retracting the skin! And then there is your first surgery as first surgeon! Of course it’s going to be just a hydrocele surgery, but the excitement of cutting things open is great!

And then there is the part where you deliver babies. Really scary… you start to try to remember all the various ways the baby has to bend his way out, something that had twisted your brain in the final year and would definitely put the best yoga gurus to shame! And then all of a sudden, the head pops out… after a few chants of laga laga the shoulder, the hand, trunk and finally the legs are out! And then you start to think… what did you really do? Why in the name of god did you learn all those relations of the fetal head with the maternal pelvis, when all you had to do is some fielding practice!

And how can we forget the OPD. You sit there seeing patients after patients, referring most of them to the specialists. And every now and then, prescribing them… that’s right, prescribing them drugs! This is such a wonderful feeling of… grandeur!

All this sprinkled with a bucket load of clerical jobs is internship in a nutshell. Yes, it gets monotonous at times. Your PGs would make you go through all sorts of crap. At times you would be stuck in the wards for days, cut off from the outside world. But what this does is makes you feel like a part of the system. You can now associate yourself with the medical profession. Internship as a whole is many small experiences put together. Each one special, each one different, each one thrilling. And when seen together, it’s one heck of an adventure!

Internship for Dummies

Salt and Pepper

Its been more than 5 years. I had proposed that we be more than just friends and she accepted. What that naïve proposal started back then, is now growing into, what people call, an engagement. By the end of this month, I will be formally engaged to the girl I have been in love with for quite some time.

I really excited and at the same time quite palpably apprehensive. But I know I will sail through. And it is going to be quite a journey!

Salt and Pepper

Bollywood istyle!

Since the time that I started understanding movies, I must say, and you must agree, that Bollywood has come a long way. I mean, look at all the crap that it puked on us in the '90s. It used the same old script, that got altered by the scriptwriter. And I am sure, somewhere in the confines of Bollywood, there still is that old, original script, that everyone seems to have copied.

Not that they all were bad, we did see an odd movie that was... different, fresh, new. The likes of Dil Se.., Sarfarosh and a few more did save the day for the '90s. But these oddballs were limited.

Come 2000 and a new face of Indian cinema was revealed. It started with Lagaan in 2001. The masterpiece from Aamir Khan took the hearts of millions of Indians (who by-the-way love both movies and cricket!) Aamir hit the bulls eye again with Dil Chahta Hai. This story of friendship and love gave the youth of India something that they could relate to.

King Khan sang the tune of patriotism with Swades and more recently, Chak De India!. Hrithik wasn't far behind with Lakshya. Nana chipped in with Ab Tak Chhappan. Dil Dosti Etc again got the youth all pumped up again. Aamir came back with Rang De Basanti!

More recently, Dostana, New York, Wake Up Sid, Rock On!!, Delhi-6 all rocked the cinema houses! They all were so unique and perfectly made. They all left us thinking. You could see that very unique expression on the viewers face after he is seen the movie. They motivated us and entertained us even more.

And what's stolen my heart today is the latest by Aamir, 3 Idiots. It has been more than a week that I saw this movie, and I still can't get it out of my head. I still can't help but laugh at the crazy moments from the movie. It was a beautifully written script, even better executed by the master himself, Aamir.

What this new Bollywood has brought for us is variety, quality and a story that we can relate to. The old folks have gotten better at their game. The new ones are simply outstanding. I wait for a Ranbir Kapoor movie as much as I would for a Aamir Khan. As the acting is getting as good as it gets, the attention to detail and the cinematography is simply superb! The songs aren't just a string of rhyming words, they have meaning and they alone can make you skip a heart beat.

Today, I can proudly say that I love Hindi cinema. I no longer wait for a Hollywood flick to be entertained!

Bollywood istyle!

Got Published!!

Accuracy and Reliability of Pallor for Detecting Anaemia: A Hospital-Based Diagnostic Accuracy Study

In the summer of 2007, I had spent a lot of my time peeping into the patients eyes, looking at their tongues, gazing at their palms and inspecting their nails! 400 of them! Back then, it was just a summer project for the ICMR. All that I did was fantically collect as much data as I could as fast as possible. Later we put together a project report for the ICMR.

And then, 2 years later... Voilá!! I got a paper out of it! About 6 months ago we started working on this report. Trying to sculpt it into a paper. We shortened the 30 page report into a less then half, reanalyzed the data, made a few tables and graphs and then finally it was ready for submission. After about a month of submission, I get an email from the editor... "I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLoS ONE."

And day one of this year, its published! I am really excited to have my first article published in PLoS ONE!! This is huge for me! Great start to this great year!

Link

Got Published!!

What lies ahead

2009 will be history in a few hours. A lot has happened in this year. And I expect a lot the next. I am really excited about this new year. When I see through the doors, I see so much in store for me.

As I get ready to dive in to this amazing time in my life, you guys have a great new year!! Live your dreams, and then dream some more!

What lies ahead

Jack vs Auro - Part II

Just got back from the theater, and I must admit that I jumped to a conclusion too fast. The much hyped movie staring the Big-B as a 13 year old boy, deserves the hype!

Both Jack and Auro have a congenital genetic condition which accelerated their physical growth many fold. And thats where the similarity ends. The angry young man, once again shows off his class. It is acting at its best. The story was captivating and the comedy - world class! I laughed my head off, all through the movie!

Google se bachke kaha jaaoge?

Jack vs Auro - Part II

Is it inappropriate to use an iPhone now?

A handy flow chart that would help all us geeks to know when NOT to use our iPhone! I wish there was an app for that.

click on the image to enlarge.

See Also: Technology and She

Source: Gizmodo

Is it inappropriate to use an iPhone now?

Jack vs Auro

Just saw another amazing movie from Robin Williams. Jack. Its a story of a boy who has a genetic disorder that makes him age faster then normal. Sounds familiar? Why shouldn't it? The Bachchans have, yet again, failed to come up with a decent script for their next movie. What do they do? Steal it!

The much hyped movie, where the junior Bachchan plays Big-B's father, Paa, seems to have the same story line as the decade old Jack. Ripping hollywood movies is no news in Indian cinema. But when the likes of Big-B resort to it, its a slap on the face.

And as far as I can see, Jack kicks Auro's ass any day!

Jack vs Auro

Technology and She

Most of us boys are obsessed by the technology that surrounds us. Be it your cell phone, a car, computer, even something as stupid as a pen drive. We need to have it all. Its a fetish we just can't give up. Whenever you see that new Alienware computer with the i7 processors or the iPhone 3GS with 32 gigs of memory or even a Segway, you know that your hormone levels are deranged. You get that feeling of rush. A craving to touch it. A craving to push a button and see things jump to life!

But the ladies just don't get it. For them it is just a box used to get your work done. How can you work on a computer of hours at a stretch, even when at the end you have done nothing? Why are you using your phone even when you are not texting or calling anyone? Whats in those stupid blogs that you keep reading? There is so much that they just don't get. The closest they get to technology is maybe making a call from their pretty little cell phone. And no, your compact is not a gadget. They would go whining that, my boyfriend is in love with his iPhone, what should I do?

Their feeling of insecurity is natural. They know they just cant compete with these new hot gadgets that keep getting hotter by the year. You can dump one for a new one whenever you want. They would let you do whatever you want. You are always in control. And if you ever get bored, you can just switch it off!

And then you say that your boyfriend is in love with his iPhone? Well, guess what? I am, and there is nothing that you can do about it.

P.S. This may be my last post. Its been nice pouring my head out here. I am so dead after my girlfriend reads this. ;)

Technology and She