....M-ad-renaline...

Hello!

2008-09-17T13:04:00.003-04:00

Hello!! After the involuntary long pause, I am so glad to be back. I was missing this outlet to all things creative and otherwise.... I hope everyone had a great few months in the meantime!:)

A quick update.... I finished up most of my licensing exams and moved to US. And since I am applying for residency programs this year, I am currently on the interview trail.... So I am currently in Chicago, staying with a gracious couple and done with the first real interview of my life! And tomorrow I am flying off to Indianapolis...

I am looking forward to this city-hopping for the next 2 months and plan to post/upload snaps as I go..... I just want to say... It's great to be back!

Pangea Day..

2008-05-11T03:29:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the 10th of May was celebrated worldwide as the Pangea Day. The word Pangea is symbolically used to depict a dream of the world with borders, differences and conflicts. It is a very strong way of looking beyond minor superficial dissimilarities between us at so many things all of us have in common.

The event was broadcasted live across the world. The event showcased several short but powerful films which focused on finding unity in our diversity amongst other things. I liked almost all of them, particularly J'Attendrai Le Suivant (I'll Wait for the Next One), Elevator Music, Walleyball and Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars. More films can be seen here. The films are short, fun and very thought-provoking and definitely a delightful respite from the run-of-the-mill movies seen these days.

More importantly they spread a deeper message; that we decide whom do we address as 'them' and whom as 'us'....

My last swaps (atleast for some time)....

2008-04-30T09:03:00.001-04:00

The last two swaps I did were super fun... I swapped with Liz, who lived in Thailand at the time of the swap. She sent me some lovely, colorful stuff from Thailand.... origami paper, little pouch, a butterfly pin, chopsticks, diary and a gorgeous bead necklace. Also included were Thai curry packets (which unfortunately had shrimp paste :( so I couldnt have them) and some dried Bananas which taste kind of like figs.... Thanks a lot, Liz!!

Here's some of the stuff I sent her... little Indian goodies!

Plus, me and Dana, the lovely lady from Canada, decided to go for another swap. So when I went to US I carried with me stuff that I could send to her, hoping that the postage would be cheaper from there. It was not that good an idea though, as the postage turned out to be the same as from here and plus I had no spare time at hand to walk to the post-office, which resulted in me sending her the swap-stuff at the very end of my 2-month stay!

Well, anyways.... the best part was the swap itself, which had some uber-cool stuff inside this vintage tin. Gorgeous herbal teas and hand-made soaps and a lovely Lavender roll-on, all thoughfully put together by Dana... Thanks a lot, girl!! I dont have a snap of the stuff I sent to Dana though, although I can tell you it had a mix of stuff from India and NorthCarolina. I sure hope she liked it:)

A cool video I stumbled onto....

2008-04-28T14:29:00.001-04:00

Movies and such...

2008-04-28T13:20:00.003-04:00

I totally realise I shouldnt make promises when I cant keep em.... as in this instance, I am gng to post twice a week. Ha! Maybe I should laugh at my own naivette, but whatever. So.... it isnt like I dont have any thoughts on what to write.... I am quite 'firmly' opinionated on so many things, that I always have something runnning at the back of my mind, but I never get around to actually writing it down. So bear with me :)

Anyway, so I saw some very interesting movies in the last month. I am not a big movie fan as such and I would have to have heard some real good things about it, before I go and see one but Juno was a definite catch. Not that I condone teenage pregnancy or anything, but I looooved Ellen Page's acting. And Bleeker is supercute too. If anyone, she should have gotten the Oscar.... So watch the movie, if you have already, take it with a pinch of salt and you are going to love it! Even Noreen (my 62-year old housemate in US) loved it. But she's super that way.... I ll have to write a separate post on her sometime....

Moving on, the next one on my list is Once. Glen Hansard is such natural (he used to be a Busker after all) and the movie is so genuinely guy-next-door kind of relatable to. Although It is confusing at times, what with the strong Irish/Czech accents of the leads... sometimes un understandable. But worth watching once....

Another movie on my honor-roll, is my Hindi favorite of the season Taare Zameen Par which also has some great songs. It is such an awesome movie, it's a total must-watch for anyone. Also, It a BIG tear-jerker, so be warned!

And last but defnitely the best one of the lot, is my favorite movie in recent times; An Inconvenient truth. It is a movie that changed my life! The movie and (in so many ways) Noreen tipped over the edge to become a full-blown beginner-environmentalist. So much so that I watched the movie, walked over to Dhwanil and told him, 'I now know what I want to do with my life'. Thank you Mr.Gore!! So please watch the movie and it will make me and Alefiyah (my fellow cause-woman) very very happy!

And just for the heck of it, a great song from Juno... Enjoy!

Doing our bit...

2008-04-01T02:12:00.004-04:00

On March 29th, Millions of people across the globe switched off their lights at 8 pm for 1 hour to participate in what is known as 'Earth Hour'. Taking cue from Sydney, which organised the first Earth Hour last year, hundreds of cities and many more individuals joined in to cut down our CO2 emmissions, which reduced by 10% during those 60 minutes.

Embarrassingly, I hadnt heard of the Earth Hour until about 7 pm that very day. I spent the next hour trying to call up or message as many people as I can. I asked them if they could atleast do either of the 2 things; switch off your lights and (a) have a candle-light dinner in the house or (b) go out and meet up with other people and try to raise awareness. Everybody I talked to enthusiastically agreed to join in and do our bit for the environment. Even my parents agreed to take a walk during that time to switch off lights...

I for one, went out with an eclectic bunch of people (Vipulbhai, Viral, Shruti, Katrina and Riddhi) and had a good time...
Also, this summer I am going to try and;
.... not use the air-conditioning in my room, instead try to get used to the heat.
.... not take plastic bags from grocery stores, instead bring the purchase cart near my motorbike and put stuff directly in the storage space or use a cloth bag which I carry around.
.... make sure none of the taps in my house are leaking or need repair.

I believe its high time we stop cribbing and start doing.

Taare Zameen Par...

2008-03-31T15:20:00.007-04:00

"Be the change you want to see in the world" - M. K. Gandhi

On 27th March, We (Shruti, Alefiyah and me) had planned to go to a Street-kids education project run by Anjali Desai, who is an Indian American, an ex-Indicorps fellow and a friend of Shruti's. She has been living in Ahmedabad since the past 5 years working with women in Kutch and later in Manav sadhna. She also has played a big role in making Seva Cafe, a reality.

Unfortunately, Shruti had an unexpected last-minute work and could not come. Plus, Anjali informed me that since their street-kids'-school had been asked to move from where they had been teaching previously, they were trying to make their new makeshift place habitable. So no teaching was going to happen anyway so I asked Alefiyah, who has exams in the near future, to come along at a later date.

Sooo... Armed with just myself, I went on to meet Anjali. This is where I found them...
Street children in India live on the streets, work alongside their parents or live independently and get none or barely any education at all. They struggle for survival and vie for things which we take for granted.

It turned out to be the most humbling experience of my life. Moving sand, sifting through the rubble to useful tiles to lay flat on the ground, making a makeshift stairway, clearing away piles of modern human waste, working alongside the street-kids to help them and to learn from them, doing work that I could get done by someone else for a meagre pay. I worked in the sun, covered with dirt and bruised by the throny brambles. But I felt as if there was no better place I could be at that time...

It was so rewarding to see these kids trying to help build their own school, trying hard to have a future. When later Anjali asked each of them what they had prayed to God for during an earlier prayer, many kids wanted money, some of them asking for as little as Rs.50 (around 1 USD). I could not help get teary when a few of them said that they had asked for 'bhanvanu (education)', one of them wanting to become a doctor! I pray to God that these kids get a better life and better education, so they can indeed become whatever they want...

Later, as I showered the dirt off me, I couldnt help but think;

If only a few hours of working in such dirt and under such harsh heat could exhaust, think about Anjali, who does this every single day helping these kids, expecting nothing in return...

..... And most of all, think about the kids who live like this all of their lives and still maintaining a huge smile on all of their faces;
.....and we, with all our luxuries, think our lives are hard.

For Namesake...

2008-03-28T11:56:00.003-04:00

The Scarlett Keeling murder case has forced into focus the ever-delaying, ever-so-corrupt name-sake Indian Judicial system. The case reminds me of The Accused, although justice like that can hardly be anticipated here.
Scarlett's mother Fiona, who has been fighting relentlessly for justice, has been labelled everything from a derelict to a drug-peddler and an irresponsible mom, by many local and British newspapers alike. The Daily Mail here stops just short of accusing her of her daughter's death. Frankly, I am quite surprised that the woman hasnt given up.
My take on it is..... So what if she was a 15 year-old living alone in Goa, so what if her mother is a globe-trotting hippie who was once jailed for attacking a molester.... It definitely is a punishable offense for a sexually-frustrated man to rape and murder her. Provocation (if at all) is no excuse for rape.

I am not validating not taking precautions wherever you go or abandoning your child in an alien environment. Especially in the Indian subcontinent where most women dont feel safe in their own neighbourhoods, where staring at women is a 'just passtime' and where people are more afraid of calling the police than anyone else. Here court cases normally stretch for 20 years and even highly publicised ones like this can take a decade to reach a verdict, fair or otherwise.

But things go wrong even with precautions and crimes occur even in good neighbourhood. And women suffer just because some people cannot keep their emotions and desires in check.

I wonder when did this happen?

When did a nation of values and respect and a multitude of 'Atithi Devo Bhava'-citing people become a place where incidents of molestation, especially of foreign women is commonplace?

When did we become a country where a common man would think a million times before knocking on the doors of the court for justice?

When did we give up our trust in all-things-government and turned submissive to whatever is happening around us?

When did we enter this state of subtle anarchy?

ONCE: Falling Slowly

2008-03-18T01:55:00.001-04:00

My new favorite....

2008-03-17T13:26:00.002-04:00

This song is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard! 'Falling Slowly' from the movie 'Once', performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won the Best Original Score award at the Oscars. I heard about this movie from one of my favorite attendings at UNC (Dr.Noone) and I read about it more.... it's definitely 'the little movie that could'. Please read about it more here.

Carolina on my mind....

2008-03-16T02:01:00.012-04:00

I hadnt planned to disappear from the blogging scene for so long but unfortunately that is what happened. There are so many issues I want to write about that are running in my head, but I never get around to writing them down.... I wish I had those dictaphones that the residents use in the hospitals:) So, I am going to turn a new leaf and start out by writing 2 posts/week.

Moving ahead.... Before it gets blurry, I wanted to put downmy last few weeks in Chapel Hill. So, one weekend I got into this experimenting-with-my-cooking-skill mode and churned out 2 apple pies. Took me a while to get done but Noreen's recipe was so nice we cdnt get our hands off them. SO between us we finished up one apple pie and I took the other to the clinic.

(The second pie, prebaking photo. I tried to put a leaf decoration on it)

The other weekend, we went to this touristy village nearby, Fearrington Village, to have brunch and look at the cows! Hee... as if I dont have enough cows to look at on Ahmedabad roads:) But it was fun!!

(At Fearrington village)

I spent the last weekend basically scurrying around to get things done, packing up ever expanding baggage, eating out of my favorite places, taking long walks in the woods and saying goodbyes to the lovely people I met and befriended both in the hospital and around Noreen's house.

(The first signs of spring emerging just about the time I was to leave)

And before I knew, it was time to leave. And with everyone's wishes, 2 anti-motion-sickness pills and the sea-sickness-wrist band, I am proud to announce that I did not throw up on my way back to India. Hurrah!

I had a great time in North Carolina. The Chapel Hill/Carrboro area is a warm, friendly, environment-loving, culturally-amalgamated place. I would go back there in a heartbeat!

(The title is a famous song by James Taylor)..

The weekend before last...

2008-02-21T21:15:00.003-05:00

The weekend before last, me and Noreen went down to the Duke Gardens, over at Duke University in Durham. It was so windy that day, I was scared one of those trees were going to fall and I would be off to my heavenly abode. But to everybody's dissapointment (...ahem..), it wasnt meant to be and we came home and watched a basketball game!:)

But not before I managed to take some photographs to my satisfaction.

(The Duke Chapel)

(Inside the Duke Garden lounge area)

(A part of the gardens)

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy....

2008-02-07T19:51:00.000-05:00

A weekend in history....

Lat weekend was gorgeous. It all started friday evening.... The temperature was just about right, I had gotten off work early so I called up Noreen and asked her if she wanted to go for a bike ride. And Boy! Not having rode a bike in 8 years does decondition you.... So picture this; Noreen (62 years old) merrily riding ahead of me with a speed that made me swear and wish (for a health like hers when I get that old) at the same time.... and me huffing and puffing 50 feet behind her cursing my i-ll-eat-whatever-i-can-ness.

In the end though, I did finish the 5-mile lap... So I was very proud of myself. Thank you very much!

(Me showing off in front of the OldWell, which is the symbol of UNC and is smack in the middle of the campus)

And that was the end of it... The next day i took advantage of the brilliantly sunny warm day to take some snaps of around the campus, which has a distinct NewEngland influence on it. I am sure it looks much prettier in spring, though!

(The main hospital building)

(The main street a.k.a. Franklin Street, the tower is of the University Methodist Church)

So on Saturday morning, I slept in, had a huge brunch, watched a UNC basketball game with Noreen shouting and screaming the background and basically just hung out with Noreen who is renovating the back of her house. I also tried my hand at getting over my un-closeness with pets. I am not exactly a pet-lover or a pet-hater, I just grew up in the city with no pets around me, so I am kinda uncomfortable around them.

(So here I am petting and trying to quasi-hug Leslie, who is Noreen's son's dog)

Later, I walked around the neighbourhood and took some snaps... Its so pretty out here! I have uploaded the rest on flickr, so I dont force-feed you guys on the sight of my amateur photography.

(The neighbourhood)

And on Sunday, I did my favorite activity (Shopped!) and went to a recital called the Carolina Wind Quintet (which featured five accomplished musicians and five students playing tunes by Carl Nielsen, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Charles Gounod on flute, clarinet,oboe, bassoon and horn) at the UNC Department of Music.

(Me eating a Frozen Yogurt Banana split on Sunday afternoon, having happily forgotten the previous day's biking disaster!)

Looking forward to this weekend.........

A little bit of everything....

2008-01-23T20:09:00.000-05:00

I feel so guilty for not posting for such a long time, but my hectic schedule (often 14 hours a day) makes me so tired that I dont want to do anything else but eat and go to bed when I come home at night..... My first elective ends on in 2 days.... So I finally get a full weekend off!

So until I get around and write something.....I am going to put up a few snaps.

One evening, waiting for Noreen (my housemate) to come and pick me up at a local Bear Rock Cafe.

Chapel Hill's first snow of the season and this is the view from the front porch..

What's better than going out and having an icecream sitting by the fire-place while its snowing outside?.... Having an fresh-made icecream out in the country!

And finally... I had one weekend when I wasnt doing laundry, ironing or making food.... So Noreen and I drove down to Raleigh and went to see the Musem of History. This is us outside the North Carolina State Capitol building.

Catch up with you soon:)

Winter blues...

2008-01-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

I couldnt have more wrong when I thought I would get more spare time after I finished my USMLE exam. With just 20 days to go before I leave for US.. I had so much to do, not the least time-consuming of which was shopping for formal clothes.

So, right now I am sitting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA gearing up for starting my Medicine elective at the University Hospital tomorrow!

The flight here was eventful (as usual, I dare say!) and I had a good time chatting with an Indian student who was going for further studies to Florida... but fate as it is, I kept on throwing up on the 14 hr flight from Dubai to NewYork.

But once I came down to Chapel Hill.. I have had better experiences from the beginning. Everyone is really helpful. The lady at whose house I ll be staying for 2 months, Noreen, who is a nurse at the hospital, is really nice too and has been showing me around the area. The only ugly part is the cold; although it isnt that bad, but since I am not used to it I made some elementary mistakes like going out without a cold today... the result of which was that I was holed up at a grocery store until Noreen had to come to pick me up.

Lets see how it goes tomorrow!:)

Finally free....

2007-12-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I just gave my 8-hour long USMLE Step-1 exam today!! (and I thought the whole affair was never going to get over!)

But overall... It has been a great experience. The exam taught me a lot... both the tedious prep and the actual exam. I have learned more in the last 6 months than I have in my entire 5 yrs of medschool education... But I am done and ready to move on! Yay!

Phew.... It is such a relief to be free! I cant believe I have nothing to study for ... Umm.... around 10 days! Haha.... I start studying for my Medicine elective after that..

So thats another good news! I am doing a visiting elective at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill School of Medicine in Jan and Feb... which means I am flying off to US in 20 days!:)

But more than anything thanks to you guys! Thanks for the wonderful wishes.... it gave me a lot of comfort! :)

A quick one...

2007-10-29T11:52:00.000-04:00

Enjoying an evening with a cup of lovely Tulsi+Sage+Green Tea, one of my favorite fruits Sitaphal and my books.... ha!
Thanks to Steph for sending me the above mentioned Sage (from her garden) and some lovely goodies (gorgeous earrings and neckwears and what have you...)... over and above our regular swap!
... More on that plus loads of other things as soon as I am done with my exam!

Stayin Alive...

2007-10-18T11:41:00.001-04:00

Hi to anyone who still visits my blog!

I havent posted in a really long time now... And I apologize to those of you whose messages I havent replied. I am awefully sorry for that... But as I had mentioned earlier, I have this huge exam coming up... HUGE! The USMLE Step 1 exam... for applying for a residency in US. It is this 8-hr long exam, with loads of people getting really competitive scores... Plus I can give it only once in my life (well, once in 7 years actually... if I am ever patient enough to wait for 7 years to give it again:))

So, unfortunately my posts/replies are going be scant, although I ll be trying my best not be super-late! Wish me luck!!:)

Check this out...

2007-09-16T12:09:00.000-04:00

Saw this on Michelle Au's blog... It is so funny!

Time after time...

2007-09-15T07:39:00.000-04:00

I turned 23 on 13th of this month! On the eve of my birthday, Dhwanil and Nikunj dropped by at midnight and surprised me:) They brought some lovely (and my favorite) Mocha CheeseCake, which is an absolute gastronomic pleasure! Dhwanil (and my to-be-in-laws) bought me some lovely silk churidar-kurta from FabIndia, which cost a bomb... and which I promptly wore the same day.

Also, today I received this lovely package from Dana, Canada. It took 3.5 months for the package to get here... the longest it has ever taken (courtesy of the Canadian and Indian Post)!!! After hounding our respective post-offices we had accepted that the package was either lost/stolen in the mail and that I was not going to receive it; which led to Dana getting ready to send me another package of goodies. Thank God it arrived today atleast saving her the trouble..

It contains some of the most lovely craft stuff I've seen, and I definitely couldnt have done a better job of picking out the stuff myself. Some lovely craft papers, a photo album, a journal and some henna tattoos along with....

.... some cool stickers, celtic stencils, paper clips, scrap papers and some great candy from her region (British Columbia, Canada) formed the package. Thanks to Dana!!

Here's what I had sent her and judging from her post, I think she liked it! Nothing better than a satisfied swapper!:)

Medical Maladies Vol.1

2007-09-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

Think of this scenario...

.... A screaming 5 year-old kid, an incompetant Anaesthetiology resident, an inconsiderate Anaesthesiologist, a smirking nurse and a shocked medical student (me)...

Now put them all together....

The 5 year-old kid had to undergo a foreign body removal from the ear (essentially pieces of chalk that she had put in there).The ward-boys wheel in the kid awake and wide-eyedly staring at everything, into the cramped operation theatre, which scares the hell of most normal adults any day.
What follows next is mainly a full-on battle between the thrashing, screamy and teary-eyed kid and the Anaesthesiologist, the nurse and the ward boy... all of whom are trying to pin him down. Throughout this ordeal, the incompetant cocky Anaesthesiology resident is in his third attempt to put an IV cannula into the kid's hand to start the anaesthesia. I have no idea why the resident thought the kid would lie still enough at any point of time so that he could get the cannula..... it is not scientifically possible.

After 3 unsuccessful attempts (blaming it on the kid's tiny veins) he passes it to the Anaesthesiology professor, who tries to put it in unsuccessfully and inspite of this pushes in around 5 ml (!!!!!) of saline in before realising that the cannula wasnt in. (She keeps ignoring a growing swelling about 3x3 cm size on the kids hand because of the fluid that was pushed in the tissues)

Finally everybody chips in for a team effort and smothers the kid down with the inhaled anesthestic agent mask. After a minute or two of thrashing about, the kid quitens down and foreign body removal begins.

..... And it takes about 10 minutes to get done with it.....

..... Time to bring the kid out of Anesthesia!... They remove the mask, manage an ill-performed suction of the mouth to remove saliva and wheel him outside the OT. Now the fun time for the residents begins.....

ANESTHESIOLOGY (A) RESIDENT (to kid)

Hey you... wake up!! WAKE UP!!!

(Squeezing and pinching the kid's ear viciously)

WAKE UP!!!!

THE KID

Mmmm... aaaaa....mmmm.....

ENT RESIDENT #1

(Laughing) Woo the kid's really hard to wake up...

(A) RESIDENT (to kid)

(Slapping the kid)... WAKE UP,YOU!!!!

ENT RESIDENT #2

(Laughing) The kid's going to slap you when he wakes up...

(Takes the kid's limp hand and jokingly tries to remove the (A) resident's hand away)

(A) RESIDENT (to me, who's cringing at the sight of all this)

YOU!! You are feeling for this kid....arent you? HA! You are very sympathetic na?? You ll have to do this someday... Whether you take Anaesthiology or Pediatrics.... You ll have to do all this!!!

I was SHOCKED beyond words at this whole scene!!
... And from the behaviour of the resident doctors, all this was'nt new to them at all!

This is the state of the medical practice in India, atleast in the Government-run hospitals where we undergo training; the patients being too poor to protest anything....
... It is so commonplace that no one was even batting an eyelid except us (medical students).

There are so many other incidents that happen.... equally shocking yet equally ignored... that I urge everyone not to take their relatives to government hospitals in India... EVER!

Paper and all it is worth....

2007-08-10T23:44:00.000-04:00

Here are some cards I made a few weeks ago... I havent painted in a while and it took me some time to get into the groove, but it sure was a lot of fun!! I ll have to admit that I started out with making the card in the bottom left corner, which is an impersonation of a card by OrangeTreeProject. And then became creative enough to make the rest of them..
The bottom-right card was for Nikunj, on his birthday and I dare say he liked it!
I have specific friends in mind as to whom I want to give the cards to. Hope they like them!:)

If you love stationary and cards and notebooks and such as much as I do, check this PrintAndPattern-Flickr-site.... I am in LOVE with Paperchase products!

(You know what the downside of making cards is? You never get to keep them!)

Swap # 3

2007-08-10T09:12:00.000-04:00

I finished my swap with Margarida who lives in Portugal... Her parcel was as nice and thoughtful as she is! She sent me some lovely jewellery (hand-made by her), some postcards of the surrounding area, a hand-painted tile, some great stuff made with cork (a hat, a purse, a trunk and 2 spoons.. you cant see them in the photo though!), a spread with portugal written on it(although yu can only read ortuga, thanks to my lovely editing dexterity), some craft paper (which i used right away) and some yummy cakes!! She also sent me a Doctor-Doll (4th from left in the first snap); it even has a stethoscope around it and she made it for me!! Thanks a lot, Margarida!! We still chat often:)

Here's what I sent;

Ready-to-eat Indian chicken curry, a packet of Chikki (not in the snap), some Mukhwas (mmm.. I love it, hope she did too:)), a pocket notebook (I managed to sew in that shell-thingy on it by hand.. with som resulting wrist pain.. haha:)), a traditional Gujarati wall-hanging, some beads, a pair of earrings, some trim, a writband, a little box and some candles!

Sham Poo...

2007-08-05T12:52:00.000-04:00

Ha finally back to blogging!:)
Not that I am uber busy or anything... but i have an intrinsically lazy nature:) If given a choice b/w posting something that's already in my head and sleeping, I d most likely pick the latter!
Although b/w that and reading Michelle Au's blog, I d usually go for Dr.Au!

So..... About the False Crap (a.k.a. shampoo)... I LOVE it!
And you know what I love even more? Getting my hair shampooed in a salon!
Ah, the luxury of just laying there enjoying the warm wet water, the smell of the lovely Loreal Professional shampoo (I love its smell, more than any other brand), the hair massage, the hair drying and finally, the feel of the hair! AH, I am a crazy hair lady!!!:)

I got it washed yesterday and it felt sooooo good!:) I cant afford it frequently {alas...:(..} but I cant afford a spa either everytime I am stressed out, so it wins hands down!
(Maybe this is not something to write about.... but I LOVE it... I guess you got the point:))

So go and get it when you are stressed! I am sure you ll love it!
(Except offcourse the stylist is reaally messy/inept or the shampoo gets into your ears or you are sitting in an awkward position....then you wont like it)

P.S... My occiput (a.k.a. the small of the head) hurts from sitting in a wierd position coz I was too shy to shift.. gah!

Dear Blogger...

2007-07-13T13:52:00.000-04:00

This post was supposed to go here, because I wrote and published it TODAY! Not on June 27th!
Thanks for the help,
Anuja.

(I am this close to writing R.I.P here).

Don't speak...

2007-06-27T10:57:00.000-04:00

I am on my Pediatric rotation right now... and It has been quite a learning experience I'd say!

I'll start with the R4(the 4th-year resident);... the reason why he is in 4th year in a 3-year residency system is because he flunked his residency exams in the first place. So let me just say that he did not know how to perform an abdominal examination (the horse-shoe-dullness for all you medicos out there)!!! Period.

The R3; I thought he was all intelligent and stuff until.. well.. he did a case-presentation. I was hoping for something more than a mumbled, incoherent recital.

The R2s; They are pretty nice actually, I could actually send patients to them without half hoping they would return half-dead or something.

And the stars.... the R1s; they totally steal the show! From writing incomplete prescriptions to taking like 20 pricks to get the IntraVenous Catheter into the vein; from randomly writing the patient's age to not knowing what to give to a patient with diarrhea (which is like the most common pediatric complaint ever)!! They would do everything you DO NOT want a pediatric resident to do!

And all the while I am thinking....
There are so many people I know who would love to be in their place (because Pediatrics is one of the top residency choices here)....
I am especially thinking of a friend 'S'. She definitely has her heart set for this field.... She is an absolute natural at it!.... but she knows she may have to settle for something else (I will kill you if you do, S, though!) because of the lame corruption and cheating that occurs even in the national level exams here. I even hate to think about it.

My question is.... How do such people (the various Rs) get to such an envious place?
I mean seriously... Why take up a field you dont want/ will not work hard for?
... And if you do take it, Wont you want to prove your calibre to everyone and make the best out of the opportunity?

Can't fight the ...ahemm... shopaholism!

2007-06-27T10:32:00.000-04:00

I am sure most people who know me know that I am an absolute shopping-freak!!

........And I don't even earn anything (baring my measly stipend of umm well... Rs 3613/month to be precise... which is less than the amount I spend at Michaels the last time I went to the US. Not meaning to be pretentious or anything, it just not enough for poor budding doctors like us even to meet our lifestyle expenses.... Considering that we are just a step above the peons on the hospital heirarchy ladder and the amount of scutwork we need to do on atleast the major terms apart from the regular studying, I think we deserve more!........ Do I hear crowd support?)

Ah well... So few days ago Dhwanil was at FabIndia (and in case I havent expressed my love for that place enough, it's FABULOUS) and he called me up for a little tête - à - tête and I ended up asking him to buy me some stuff! And the ever-benevolent person that he is, he obliged. So here's what I got;

(That snap is supposed to go here, but Blogger being Blogger, it somehow doesnt let me put the picture where my cursor is but rather the picture is put right up at the top of the page, by default! Damn you, blogger! And since my blog-skin isnt working (notice?) I am thinking of moving over to wordpress... lets see!)

It is too late to realize this, but I have Nearly Compulsive Shopping Addiction. (I just made that up, whatever.)
But I love shopping especially for things I cannot find near where I live. Like picking up this tea and noodles during stopovers at the lovely Taiwan Airport or this tea and lovely dolls and other goodies from Japan. (I am HUGE tea fan!)

I can reminisce so many incidents; Like this one time I reached the Changi Airport at 7.45 pm for an 8.15 flight back home and rushed to buy a lovely pair of shoes from here that had caught my eye:), almost missing the flight! Or when I travelled all the way from Changi to Raffles Place (in the middle of Singapore) to get a few chopsticks from Daiso; Or how I keep on surfing the net looking at dresses like this one which I know I am not going to buy for atleast an year from now; Or checking out lovely ceramics like here;

Ah well... the saga continues! So you see, I have plans for the money we (me and Dhwanil offcourse.. heh) are going to earn... umm.... 10 years from now!

Swap # 2

2007-06-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

Here's the swap I did with Margy, from Belgium. She sent me a great set of handmade stuff (a hardbound journal with a beautiful paisley fabric, a planner with this lovely clothes-hung-to-dry theme and a felt pouch), some pretty and quirky jewellery and offcourse some Cote d 'Or chocolates (..hmm, I love chocolates with Almonds). Although the poor things didnt take well to the blistering Ahmedabad heat and melted on their way here... but they are yummy nevertheless! Thanks Margy!

Here's some stuff I sent her; Some fabrics (one with 'khadi'), Pillowcases from the ever eternal, FabIndia, a hardbound hand-made paper journal, a few trims, a wall hanging and a quilling Rose card! I hope she like it!:)

If you could read my mind....

2007-06-02T12:58:00.000-04:00

I was watching 'You've got mail' (again!) the other day... I do like the movie, on most part because of its lovely Voice Overs!:) Here's an excerpt from the movie;

JOE (Tom Hanks)(V.O.)
Do you ever feel you become the worst version of yourself? That a Pandora's Box of all the secret hateful parts -- your arrogance, your spite, your condescension -- has sprung open. Someone provokes you, and instead of just smiling and moving on, you zing them. Hello, it's Mr. Nasty. I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about.

KATHLEEN (Meg Ryan)(V.O.)
I know what you mean and I'm completely jealous. What happens to me when I'm provoked is that I get tongue-tied. My mind goes blank. Then I spend all night tossing and turning trying to think of what I should have said.

JOE (V.O.)
Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could pass all my zingers to you and then I would never behave badly and you could behave badly all the time and we'd both be happy? On the other hand, I must warn you that when you finally have the pleasure of saying the thing you mean to say at the moment you mean to say it, remorse inevitably follows.

I dont know if anybody else can, but I can totally relate with what Kathleen is saying. It is precisely what I go through everytime someone makes a snide remark at me. My mind goes blank on how to frame an 'appropriate' reply and I end up saying nothing. Then a few minutes later, I have a dozen different things I 'should' have said, but that doesnot matter anymore.

Do you learn what to say with increasing age and experience?...
Or it just that some kind of people, never do?...

It is like a see-saw;
You can retort back and zing right on the spot....
or you can say nothing, keep it to yourself and keep musing on it later....

..... Either way you are always going to hit the ground and regret not taking the other option!

What a wonderful world.....

2007-05-28T12:30:00.000-04:00

I was lying in my bed yesterday (courtesy; my nasty bad back), watching the movie '13 going on 30' on TV. I am not a fan of Jennifer Garner and although I admit I have a soft corner for Mark Ruffalo (the only one who beats him with the guy-next-door looks but sheer charisma is John Corbett!)... but still its not that good a movie.

There's one thing I love about the movie though; it leaves behind a lingering sense of nostalgia. Time and again, I have always felt that my school days were much more enjoyable than my college days. I absolutely love my college friends, but the friendships that I forged during my school outlast time... I have few girl-friends from school who are my best of friends and whenever we meet it lights up my days to come!

The innocence, the care-free laughter, the genuine concern and the child-like pulling each other's legs.
Be it celebrating one of the friends with a surprise party (a week after the birthday:)!!)...
Or staying up till 5 in the morning talking gibberish...
Having bike races in the middle of nowhere...
Bunking classes just for the heck of it...
Guffawing so loudly that the maitre'd would actually have to come to quieten us down:)

So, as one my friends remarked in my engagement party, "I can't believe one of us is actually getting engaged"!

Yay for great friends!!

I ll just sit back and hum along Louis Armstrong, 'What a wonderful world...'

Sand in my shoes...

2007-05-25T13:54:00.000-04:00

I finally got hold of the snaps of the Rangoli , which is essentially an art-form involving fine coloured sand, that I made in the college competitions of previous few years;

(1) I did this in 2006. It is entitled 'Eternity', about 2-by-3 feet in size..

(2) This is the one I did this year. 'The Taj Mahal'; It was simply mammoth to complete it in 2.5 hours; It is about 3-by-3 feet in size..

The 3 of us (Me, Dhwanil and Simit) went around finding the right snap, making the colours my mixing and grinding the base colours together and then finally being able to pull it off that day.. I do wish it was better, though;)

I dont have a snap of the one I did in 2005, which was my favorite!

Thanks to all the people who encourage, cheer and help me out on the day and otherwise!:)

My first swap...

2007-05-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

I organised my first swap with Lynne who lives in Australia. It was a pleasure swapping with her... But more than that it was a pleasure communicating with her. We talked about all sorts of things, from what we do to the ever-increasing diversity around us... I am so thankful for the invention of internet, across-the-globe exchanges would never have been possible!

Getting to the point, She sent me some lovely Aussie Tim-Tams and other lovely chocolates! There were some Aussie souvenir stuff like magnets and stickers.. I had requested her to send me some local Australian aboriginal music (esp. the Didgeridoo) and did she oblige! I love the CDs, Lynne!! She also sent me a lovely aboriginal scarf (the spread in the snap). But what I loved the most was the craft stuff she sent! All sorts of things... craft punches, stencils, paper, envelopes, etc... Its absolutely lovely! And given my penchant for collecting craft stuff from all over the world, I was delighted! Thanks Lynne!

Here's what I sent her; A CD of meditational music, Some danglers which I adored, A bead wrist-band I found it in one of the craft exhibitions held here, A traditional Gujarati wall-hanging, A patchworked hand-bag I found at FabIndia (Gotta go back there sometime soon:)), Some Mehndi stickers.
I really hope she liked the stuff.. I had a great time putting it together...!

Boy, Is swapping addicting! I am looking forward to another one, soon!:)

The wind beneath my wings...

2007-05-17T06:16:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday (the 13th of May) was a HUGE day in my life... I got engaged to my best friend, boyfriend, batchmate and fellow doctor, Dhwanil! We had a simple ceremony in the presence of close family and friends and thats it.... we are good to go!:)

He's such a great influence in my life... He has such a rare mix of intelligence, kindness and honesty, he's my absolute hero!! He can make me smile on my worst days motivate me when I am down and most importantly, be patient with me...well... almost all the time!

I was so happy on the day, I cdnt stop brimming ear to ear!:)

Thanks to all the friends and family who made it such a joyous occasion!!

Yuppie...!!

(Here are a few lines from the Bette Midler song, aptly titled 'The Wind Beneath my Wings' dedicated to Dhwanil...

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,

and everything I would like to be?

I can fly higher than an eagle,

for you are the wind beneath my wings.)

The computer and the hernia factory...

2007-05-06T13:14:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading the above book by Dr. Atul Gawande, an American surgeon of Indian origin and leading expert in removal of cancerous endocrine glands (That is definitely some speciality)...
There is something mystical and awe-inspiring about a guy who graduated from Stanford, has a degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford, attended (and currently teaches) in Harvard Medical School and is a Rhodes Scholar!
AND he just forty-something and married, with kids; which goes to say that he is not dysfuntional or a misfit in the society.

I mean seriously it was like he had made up his mind to attend all the best institutions in the world.. He is such a prodigy!

I absolutely loved the book and it's a must-read... although it has much more relevance as a medico. The best thing about him is that he accepts his own fallibility and that of the medical system and he is definitely unafraid to write unabashedly about the intrinsic uncertainties that belie the medicinal facade.

There is a chapter in the book entitled 'The Computer and the Hernia Factory'.... It mainly elaborates on different studies which reason that computers and algorithms are better at taking decisions and making fewer mistakes than even an experienced doctor.

The example he cites is that of Shouldice Hospital in Canada where each doctor performs around 600-800 hernia surgeries each year (more than what generak surgeons do in a lifetime), the surgery takes only about 30-45 mins (compared to an average of 90 mins), cost about half of the normal cost of $4000 and have an average recurrence rate of only 1% (c.f. 10-15% anywhere else)....
.... So what is the secret of this success? It is because the surgeons there perform nothing other than hernia surgeries day in and day out and followed the protocol. So repetition was what made each surgery near-perfect.

In medicine, where right from day it has been nearly promulgated that mistakes are unacceptable and often scoffed at, mechanised medicine is what is replacing the traditional uphold-the-doctor's-decision medicine.

In short, doctors are turning into machines (as Dr. Gawande puts it) or automatons (as my learned appearing-for-GRE friends would put it).

So Is it better for the patient if the doctor sticks to his standard set of rules and does not think outside the book (or a computer for that matter)?
... Or would you prefer a doctor who takes risk and outlines plans catering to the individual patient and is most often (but not always) correct?

At the end, though, computer need not replace compassion and can work alongside.
As.... though they can treat, but it is the doctor who heals!

I cannot wait to lay my hands on Dr. Gawande's new book Better, which is out this summer.

Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive...

2007-04-15T03:12:00.000-04:00

I read 'The Kite Runner' a few months back. My brother having heard about it, bought it when he was here and I, already being on a lookout of some book to read on my oncoming vacation, lurched it from him.

Needless to say, I finished more than half of the book even before I began my vacation.

Khaled Hosseini, a practising doctor in California, has achieved with his debut novel what even experienced writers find difficult to.

It is a story of 2 young boys, Amir (the protagonist, a well-to-do Pashtun boy and the narrator of the story) and Hassan( the son of his father's Hazara servant) , growing up in Afghanistan; friends, or so they would like to believe, for each came from a different echelon of the society.
The description of life in olden-days-Kabul, the preparation for the kite-flying competition, the insecurity of Amir regarding his father's love for him and the unflinching loyalty of Hassan; all etch vivid images in your mind.
The latter half of the book deals with Amir's remorse regarding a horrifying act that only he could have helped, his escape to the United States during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and his return to Afghanistan for save Sohrab, Hassan's son and ultimately his own redemption.

The book is so emotional,
.....it changes something inside you.
I could almost feel the pain Sohrab felt.

I felt sorry for Hassan and Sohrab, because they went through things they hardly deserved.

No child in the world should ever be made to go through all that.

A few weeks after reading this book, I noticed a few boys around 13/14 years old waiting tables in my college canteen. Such a thing is so common-place in India, I think few people, if at all, hardly noticed.
I felt I must complain to somebody, but then again;
....the powers-that-be might just take some bribe and let off the involved person
....they might just show false age-proofs in order to make it sound legal
....or (as my boyfriend pointed out and thats quite practical) the poor boys might just lose whatever they are earning to make their ends meet.

Is this just my way of shirking my duty as an educated human?
Is this vicious cycle of child labour, perpetuated by poverty, going to persist in the face of modern India?

( India already has the highest number of children uder the age of 15 in work in the world... some estimate the figure to be arouund a 100 million!)

Warli is the word...

2007-03-27T12:57:00.000-04:00

Here's a snap of an artwork I made a while ago, but never got around to putting it up here.

I made this out of sheer necessity. What happened was, that the bunch of people who came to put up the airconditioner did a very shabby job... which resulted in the cement patches being exposed in quite a few areas around it.
And ugly as it looked, it was unbearable for me to have something in my room looking like that. So I decided to do a cover-up for the periphery and ended up drawing the whole thing on a sunday evening.

Each segment is supposed to represent the vibrant essence of life; The top... the welcoming a newborn into the family; The bottom... a wedding dance; The right; work during day (here: grazing the cattle) and The left; a festival celebration at night.

It is a tribal art called Warli Art and as seen in one of my first few posts, it can look quite stunning. The inspiration for this one came from the wedding invitation card of my dear friend Shruti, who also intoduced me to this lovely artform.

Hope you like this one!:)

I look up to the heavens....

2007-03-25T11:27:00.000-04:00

...But the night has clouded over,

No spark of constellation,

No Vela, No Orion;

...Been feeling so foggy since a few days,

Its as if I have lost direction...

The path is right, or so I ve been told,

But it doesnt lead anywhere...

My mind is filled with so many questions,

Questions for which I cant seem to find answers;

Why do we do things that we do?

Why do we say stuff we dont mean?

Why dont we think about whether or not we might hurt someone before uttering the words?

Or maybe we do and still say them....

We still leave heavy words hanging in the air, waiting for someone else to lighten it up....

Why can we not trust people easily, when as kids we would have thought nothing of putting our limb or life in the hands of friends we would have just met?

Why do we always have to worry about things happening in our lives, ventures we are going to make and become nearly oblivious to the world around us?

It feels a conundrum of sorts....

A Burden of thought.

(The title is from one of favorite singer Enya's song 'Anywhere is'... a few more of the lines to follow..

To leave the thread of all time

And let it make a dark line

In hopes That I can Still Find

The way back to the moment

I took the turn and turned to

Begin a new beginning

Still looking for the answer

I cannot find the finish

It's either this or that way

It's one way or the other

It should be one direction

It could be on reflection

The turn I have just taken

The turn that I was making

I might be just beginning

I might be near the end)

For the other half of the sky....

2007-03-16T11:06:00.000-04:00

It has been a really long time since I blogged something. I came back from US and joined my internship the very next day.... So I have been driving a lot (as much as 50 kms at times) and trying to read for my boards (with not much dedication as you would expect)!

A few days back we had the National Polio Immunization Program which is a nation-wide campaign to eradicate Poliomyelitis from India. On the first day, booths are set up and oral vaccines are given to kids and on the days which follow, house-to-house visits are carried out to vaccinate possibly left out kids.

Now, all my friends had been asked to be present since morning and supervise the activities of the workers in various places. Much to my chagrin, the Medical officer of the clinic where I have been posted, asked me not to come! At all!
"Being a female, you would'nt feel comfortable", he explained.. with a smirk on his face.

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out whether I should take it as a sign of concern or a hint at sexism.

And the rest of the week trying to think of subtle mannerisms I come across day in and day out which may reflect sexism...

I have grown up in India and the one thing I've known... Most (though not all) men here are sexists.
Chauvinism often being developmentally integrated.

It is not always in this hardcore i-am-so-domestically-violent way, but in a rather obscure way;

.... like a random remark, "He so walks like a girl..."
.......... or "Dont cry like a female"... (although most women I know show great resilience, much more than I've ever known)
................. or "All girls gossip"... (not all but dont many guys do too?)

... like the way people would tell you why you should take up medical science and not engineering just because you are a female.

... like the way this one guy started snickering when I mentioned a female friend taking up surgery.

... like how female students are expected to wear salwar-kameez in practical exams... and how I would be eyed at, being the only one not abiding by this.

... like how while simply walking down the road, you may be subjected to rude comments or eve-teasing by men.

The list is endless. The incidents unlimited...

My opinion being;

Women can do everything men can, though I know of few men who can bear menstruation/child-birth.

And please do not pass generalized remarks about women. Each woman is an individual and different from the other in more ways than less, so common traits are hardly seen.

When you make a statement about females, you are talking about half of the population.....

....The other half of the sky.

(The title is from John Lennon's song 'Woman')

It's not easy to be me... (or you...)

2007-03-03T01:47:00.000-05:00

I recently recieved my final year results and as I mentioned earlier, I scored 69%. Barring the first year (wherein I scored 75%), since past 3 years I have been consistent at around 70% marks. I am not among the rankers but among the good ones, I dare say. But what I sat thinking was.... Could I have scored more? Rather, should I have scored more?

I donot doubt myself. I know that I can get good marks IF I work hard.... I had bagged a gold medal in my 2nd year in the university, of which I am very proud. I love to study.. But there is a part of me (a large part of me) that says that It is more important to study, work hard AND enjoy life. I cannot sit for days together and do nothing but study.

Even when I have exams around the corner, I may make a card, cook up something, chat with friends or watch my favorite show for a while. And then, if I end up not scoring that great... I am okay! The college years of my life are not coming back, and I would love to live through them!

Regarding intelligence, I come across two schools of thought;

One; (in which my mother falls) says that everyone has nearly equal intelligence. It is just how much effort you put in that matters. The one who works harder, fares well.

Second; (of which I am partially supportive) believes that everyone has a different calibre. You are just born with it, you just have an aptitude for it.

If you have a friend/kid who doesnt get great grades, would you just accept that he/she is not good or .......push/coax him to work harder?

It is like learning to play a musical instrument; either you are good at it or not!
But can you practice hard and be as good at it?

(The title is from the song 'Superman' by Five for Fighting)

My baby!!!!!

2007-02-28T22:57:00.000-05:00

I was waiting for this for such a long time now!! My new laptop!!! It is soo cool... It is Dell Latitude D620. And it's so cute:) It has a great configuration and is so light weight... at 4.4 lbs compared to my old laptop which weighs 7.9 lbs, it feels great:)

Thanks Vipulbhai and Nishant for helping me buy the right one! I am so glad my parents bought me this one!

PS... I got my results of my final year exams. And I passed with 69%!! It was so tough.. I should have worked harder, but whatever! I am officially a Doctor now! Yay!

PS. II.. I want to write so much more, but I havent been keeping well past few days.. So maybe I ll start writing again when I reach India..

Under the California sun!

2007-02-15T16:32:00.001-05:00

So.. My exams ended, the vacation I've been dreaming of since 3.5 years started and I jumped on the next flight to LA...

I had quite an uneventful flight, if you dont include the fact that I was throwing upevery 15 minutes or so, inspite of not eating/drinking anything for the entire 24 hours duration of the flight. I am a bad case of motion sickness and although I make this trans-pacific flight every year, it doesnt improve much. My tummy still hurts from all the retching, but I am much better. I just wish the world was even smaller, haha:)

It is very beautiful out here and inspite of the slightly cold weather, it is very sunny as opposed to the harsh and stormy conditions in many other parts of USA. Here's the view out of my front porch..
And being the foodie that I am, I love it around here because you get so much of fresh stuff!!! I love cooking and I definitely have a blast, making up all sorts of stuff with ingredients like these:) So, for all my food-loving friends back home.... here's the feast for your eyes!
(Images taken in a local Trader Joe's... love the blueberry muffins!:))

Bagged a beauty!!:)

2007-02-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

It's an adorable example of inter-country love....

Drop-dead gorgeous and a hand-crafted beauty..

and It's my new bag!!!

I saw it, fell for it and immediately bought it!:)

It has been made my the beautiful crafty lady Alvina a.k.a "The Craft Princess" who makes charming stitched stuff!!

Thanks a lot Alvina! Love it!!:)

Just in case there's just one left...

2007-02-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

As a young kid, I had once seen an interesting short story based on a young girl, about 12 years old. Living in a small hovel at the end of the town, she and her widowed mother would work hard all day long, to make ends meet. She had hardly any worldly possessions to call her own and toys were a luxury she could hardly afford;

But she was happy! She felt lucky enough to be able to attend a small nearby school inspite of her poverty. She felt lucky to have few friends with whom she could play and share a part of her time with.

One day, while walking by the side of the road she saved a young girl, about her own age, from being hit by a speeding truck. The relieved mother of the rescued child, took her to their home and gifted her a beautiful dress and offered to pay her tuition as a token of gratitude.
The girl returned home and from then on started sporting an air of smugness about her. She began ignoring her long-time friends and arrogance found a way inside her sinless heart. She thought of herself as being superior to others. In the end, she realized her folly only when she had lost her loyal friends to her haughtiness.

A few days ago, when I remembered this story, I mused;

Arent we all like that girl, in some way?

We love to be better than others; we love to prove ourselves better than others..
We love to laugh at the ignorance of others, when deep in our heart we know we are no better..

I may have thought some time, "How can he not know the meaning of *some medical word*?"
I may have scorned at somebody for not knowing how to use a laptop..
I may have jeered at a friend for not knowing who Carly Fiorina/ Hassan Nasrallah is..

I only ask for redemption!

I have realized that nobody is Perfect..
.. that nobody should be..
.. that there is always something new to learn, no matter how much you know..
.. that ignorance is the very basis for seeking knowledge..
.. that the vine of learning entwines and grows around the shaft of oblivion..

I get humbled by the lives of great men/women, whom I meet during my life or about whom I read..
I get humbled by the beauty of nature and of the works of man alike..
I get humbled by experiences, each one touches me in some way and teaches me something..

So, each day I try to wake up, ready to seek each chance for emancipation that comes my way, just in case there's just one left...
Ready to get humbled..
Ready to set myself free..

For crying out loud..

2007-02-02T07:58:00.000-05:00

Remember I had my theory exams a while back?? (It really does seem like a WHILE back, when I was trying to study like my life depended on it.... and I was only trying:)).

So the thing is, that everyday when I reached the exam hall and had a seat, I would look around trying to do anything but study till the last minute. And then one day I noticed the strangest thing...... All the guys in my row sitting ahead of me, used to be dressed in the same outfits, everyday... EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

I mean, all of them would be wearing the same shirts (I didnt get a look at their pants, Hello....) for each of the 7 exams. Please dont mind my using the Caps-lock so many times, but I was like Woah.... WOAH!!!
It was like being stuck in a remake of our dear old 'Back to the Future' aptly named 'Back to the Past' and it would start playing each time I entered the examination hall.
It was like deja-vu each day...

I know it should be none of business and I am not going to judge people based on their appearances; but for crying out loud, Why would someone do that? Why??

I discussed it with my best friend (who coincidentally was in the same hall) and we concluded that its most likely a reflection of some superstition that whatever attire got them greatly through the first exam, would help them score similarly through the rest.

I am so flabbergasted because I am firmly opinionated that superstitions of any kind should not be fostered, least of all by educated people. As budding doctors, we are always told that we play an important part in deseeding the superstitions and social taboos related to issues ranging from breast-feeding and food habits to infectious diseases and HIV, out of our patients' minds.

So how does one justify beliefs that are not even remotely logical?
Its not a sin, but isnt it a bit dangerous, especially if you are in a postition of influence?

PS.. Just wanted to mention the stench, coming from the unwashed shirt of the guy sitting right in front of me... So you know the reason for my full blown rant!!:)

Swap time...

2007-02-02T07:08:00.000-05:00

(Update 07/05/07: Due to an overwhelming response to the swap quest, I dont think I should take in any further swap requests until I get done with the ones I have already accepted...
But by all means, write to me if you are interested and we can keep it for sometime later!:) Apologies and Regards, Anuja:))

I ran into this cool site, Gimme your stuff. Its a great idea!! Thought I would give it a try!!:) I absolutely love to shop so this might as well be another excuse for that!:)

So If you think you can swap with me, here's what I would love to receive;

# Stuff related to paper crafts - Craft punches, lovely craft paper, stick-ons, stencils, etc...

# Candies (Chocolates, Confectionary, etc) and sweets (Baklava and similar sweets that can withstand international travel:))

# Indigenous/cultural goodies - earrings, necklaces, fabric, things that reflect your culture, etc..

# Music CDs from your country (I love Zainal Abidin and I dont understand a word of Malay, so you get the point:))

# Stationary (Cute hardbound diaries)

# Anything that is cute or has polka/paisley print on it!!

Here's what I could send to you;

# Indian, especially Gujarati, fabric/ stoles/ blouses with bandhani, blockprint and such prints, embroidery, etc..

# Local crafts - handcrafted purses, baskets, candle-holders, etc..

# Indian sweets and desserts..

# Classical music CDs for yoga and meditation and Hindi movie songs-CDs..

# Hand-dyed paper and paper crafts...

# Jewellery (Beads, Earrings, Anklets, Neckbands...)

Thats about all I can remember right now... So if you are interested in swapping with me, message me and we ll work something out:)

The grass is no more greener on the other side....

2007-01-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

The 2007 World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland kicked off with the powers that be taking notice of the long-neglected problem of Global Climate Change. With leaders like Angela Merkel and George Bush finally awakening to the long-risen head of the global warming monster, I felt obliged to write about an issue that is so close to my heart.

'With great power comes great responsiblity' Remember this Superman tag-line? It holds so true in this case. We have made an exponential progress when it comes to economic and technological matters but we did'nt worry about its implications on our surroundings.

I love nature, I truly do. I am not very outdoorsy but I love being surrounded by the astounding beauty that nature offers us.
I love driving through a lush-green terrain (I vividly remember Kerala..),
I love breathing in the fresh morning air (although I am not much of an early-riser),
I love watching rolling green hills against an azure backdrop of the sky,
I love rainclouds gathering in the sky and the lovely aroma of the moist soil after the first rains....
Everything that each one of us loves! All this is the reason why I love my yearly visits to California, so that I can marvel at the mountains which I can see straight out of my uncle's house's frontyard..

But come to think of it, all this might not be there for the generations to come, just because we couldnt do a better job of curbing our needs and cleaning up our remains.

I saw this CNN special report about an year back, which showed a glimpse of the effect of the rising levels of the greenhouse gases on various parts of our planet. From the receding coastlines in islands of Samoa to the shrinking glaciers in Antarctica, from environmental imbalance to deranged ecosystems; it encompassed everything. The thing that hit straight home with me was... We have left our marks everywhere.

Earlier, I used to think that there's percious little that I can do. But I am trying in my own way to help. Here's what;

1. Do not litter. It only pollutes your surroundings and clogs the ecological drain.
2. Reuse paper. Dont throw the sheets away without making a good use of them.
3. Save energy. 40% of your electricity bill comes from appliances which have been turned off, but are still receiving power through the cord. So unplug them or turn off the main switch.
4. Avoid buying aerosols (sprays,etc) which have CFC, if any are still available.
5. Safely dispose of you rechargeable batteries, to prevent contamination of the environment.
6. Leave your computers on the Sleep Mode when not in use.

Not much,eh? Here's more you can do about it.

Let us leave this world a better place, than what it was when we were born into it:)

Pride or Prejudice....

2007-01-19T11:23:00.000-05:00

I've been watching this interesting programme on TV, 'Sync or swim' which features ex-MTV VJ Jamie Aditya Graham; he has to take up a musical task like singing, dancing or learning a musical instrument of different countries in 7 days and stage a performance. I have seen a few episodes, namely, the one in which he travels to Mongolia to learn Khoomie/throat singing and another one in which he goes to Japan to learn the Shamisen.

The one which influenced me the most was when he journeys to New Zealand to learn the Haka. This traditional Maori war-dance is as much a symbol of New Zealand today as the Silver Fern. It has also been adopted by the NewZealand army and quite famously by its Rugby team, the AllBlacks. It is also taught in many NewZealand schools these days, in an attempt to help the revival of this ancient Polynesian culture. The Hongi (the traditional Maori greeting) is another well-known aspect of the Maori traditions...

For someone like me, who wanted to become an Anthropologist at some point of her life, who learnt Bharatnatyam (an Indian dance-form) for 7 years beginning from the age of 5 ....... Cultures and traditions have always been fascinating...

and Travel means a chance to learn more about the indigenious traditions, food and art...

All this also made me question...

Does growing up in a society steeped in culture give you a sense of pride for your own AND make you more appreciative of other cultures, instilling a deeper understanding for them;

Or does it render you obtuse and too blunt to absorb any of it;

Or further still, does it lead you to be proud of your own and dismissive of others?

PS... If you have a little time, please check out the links and listen to the 'Song in prise of the Altai' and watch the video of the Haka 'Kapa O Pango':)

Or this one, I swear it made my spine tingle!

The All and Sundry list of excuses.....

2007-01-17T02:15:00.000-05:00

Excuse # 347

Since the past 15 days, I was freaking my head off, trying to study for the annual exams of my final year.... Which were, in case I didnt mention, very tiring!!!! I am not your averagely bookish medstudent... so I dont exactly tend to finish my syllabus on time.... but that's fine with me:)

Well, I had to write 7 answer papers, of 2-3 hours duration each, and amounting to roughly 60 pages each. So I would return home each day, with a bad back, limp hands and a sore head:) !! No wonder I ll be having callosities on my hands soon!!!:)))

But the silver lining is.....that I will never have to write such answers .... ever... again!!!!!!
EVER AGAIN!!! Yay..... for the new-found freedom!!:))

..... I still have practicals to finish. But whatever:)))).....

Moving on....

************************************************************************************

On 14th and 15th was the festival of Uttarayan, the kiteflying festival, celebrated with a gusto across Gujarat here. For 2 whole days, everyone gets up on the roof to fly kites from dawn to night. Its quite a spectacle!! People play loud music from their roof-tops and well, have yummy Gujarati food on the terrace. And being the foodie that I am, I LOVE the Undhiyu, most of all....

Honestly, I love the festival but I am not that big a fan. Reasons being...

1. The manja (the thread for flying the kites), is coated with miniscule glass shreds to make it stronger, to battle with the other kites. And during Uttarayan, the stray manja, floating across the terrain can be pretty deadly, for birds and humans alike. Frankly... it scares the hell out of me!!!
2. I dont like squinting up against the sun to be able to keep track of my kite.
3. I hate the loud music, the cacophony...
4. Kite-flying is an art, an art I am not quite well-versed with .... So even when my brother was around here (which was when I would actually go on the roof), I would pretty much sit on the terrace and hold the 'firki' (the spindle shaped thing on which the manja is wound).... I am a lazy bum!

But, the part I love is at night, when people fly the 'Tukkals'. These are lovely paper-lanterns with candles inside them strung along the kite-thread and flown into the dark sky. It looks so beautiful. I have seen upto 35 on one kite!!!!! Its a skillful job, with the wind and the burgeoning weight of the kite rooting against you.

I managed to get a shot of one such Tukkal-laden kite, with my camcorder:) (Something went wrong with blogger and it wont let me paste the snap here...!)

It's so pretty, isnt it??:)

Re-solutions...

2006-12-26T12:06:00.001-05:00

I think New Year Resolutions, are made to solve a problem or bring about an improvement and we end up not following them and thus making them over and over again.. and hence the name 're-solutions'..... haha:)

Here are a few I ve made....

1. Patience..
I HAVE been trying to be more patient these past few months. I just want to intensify my efforts. I want to apologise to all those people who have borne the brunt of my impatience and especially to THE one person, who has been at the receiving end most of the times. Thanks for being with me:)

2. Walk...
I want to get my lazy self up every morning at go for a walk. Those of you who havent tried it, please do... Morning walks feel sooo good:) I have such a good time with Alefiyah... We talk, giggle, discuss and basically have a good time:) But then we have exams and we just be lazy most of the times:))

3. Study...
Something I really like, but hate to do it when the exams are near. Dont know why, but that's that. I ll be giving 2 very important exams in 2007 (my boards), and I am scared hell of them!! I hope I ll do good:)

4. Volunteer...
I definitely want to volunteer some day... If not this year, then maybe the next. Keeping my fingers crossed!:)

I guess these are enough for now....
Let me stick to these first..

Btw, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year:)

Hope you spend great time with family and friends!:)

Did I mention I have my annual exams from 2nd Jan?? Geeesh!!!

GoodNight!!:)

One way or the other....

2006-12-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

I watched this episode of Grey's Anatomy yesterday and it set me thinking.....

It's about the couple who gets involved in the train crash. Strangers who had just met when this happened.... And now they are stuck together, barely an inch away from each other, with a pole through their bodies.
And as fate would have it, it IS the pole which is keeping them alive... preventing the damaged arteries from leaking blood.

And they cannot operate without removing one person from the pole, the person who will be moved being less likely to survive.

The question which loomed was, "How do you choose?".....

Offcourse, we have medical methods of analysing that.
Put two and two together and we figure...
" The person who is in the worse clinical state, the one with more severe injuries, worse reflexes, worse motor movements, worse cardiovascular stability..... is the one to be removed."

But really.... How DO you make the decision?

Is it always this straightforward?
Are the principles of triage always the right ones to follow?

How do you decide who gets to live and who is left to die?

I can almost hear Meredith screaming, "We CANT just abandon her!"

How you get to make a decision about a human life?
How do WE get to play God?

My pastimes....

2006-12-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

So my annual exams are up from 2nd Jan...... and this is what I've been doing these days... I thought lemme get a tattoo for Christmas...... And I got 2 of them!!!!:)))

I made them myself:)

PS.... Not to get my parents worried.... I just did them with my Sharpie... I overlapped that with Henna, so still have fading orange color marks on my hand...hehe:)))

Oh, and btw.... the bottom 'tattoo' is my zodiac sign 'Virgo'... This is one tattoo I actually hope to get done someday..:)

Will the sun ever shine in the blind man's eyes.....

2006-12-18T05:07:00.000-05:00

Stories buried and untold....
Someone is hiding the truth....
Facts withheld.....

Tired...
Suffering for no fault of mine....

Wary...
.... still feel betrayed
Do you need to....
... Pull someone down just to push urself up?
Do you need to....
... erase someone's line just so that ur own appears lengthened?

I am a sinner, I am (not) a saint...

2006-12-14T08:26:00.000-05:00

I wonder...
..... Is there a defined line between right and wrong?
Is everything, sans doubt, black or white?
I think.....
......There's almost always a gray area between these...

I have a set of principles which I try to follow. I may not be successful all the time in fulfilling them, but I try.....
One of them being..... 'Do not cheat'.

A few weeks ago, We had our preliminary exams....
And whenever I would reach the examination hall, it seemed like everyone there was reading a select-few questions....
It was very uncanny, but those WERE the questions which would be asked.
...........Later I came to know that everyone did get the questions before hand and so baring a handful of us, everyone knew what was going to be asked.
...........I saw no sense in complaining to someone because It IS the higher authorities who leak the papers so its virtually a dead-end.

Ever since the incident I've been thinking....
....I could have known the questions too if I had wanted to...
....It would have been beneficial (read : profitable) for me as these scores do get counted in finals?....

But, It is against my beliefs...
.... My beliefs, which make up my very being....
But more than anything...
....It hurts my conscience and I feel guilty.
....I see no point in giving a test, after knowing the questions.
.... I dont want scores I dont deserve.

But maybe for someone else...
...It is OK?
...Its not necessary to staunchly follow what is conventionally right?
...Its more important to see this from a practical aspect rather than a moral one?

I wonder what other opinions are?...

(The title is a Meredith Brooks song - Bitch)

My Christmas Prayer....

2006-12-11T10:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some snaps of the cards I made recently for my cousins. I have yet to post them and well, my cousins havent seen them!:) But, I cdnt wait to put them up.....So here they are:) I sure as hell hope my cousins dont read my blog anytime soon:)!!!

PS .... I quilled them. They are supposed to be loosely based on the theme "Things which represent Christmas".....

This one is a 'Snowflake'..... One of the few things which is almost always used as a motif for Christmas..

And whats Christmas without 'Presents'... not that it is ALL about presents, but still:)

And finally, the 'Christmas tree'.... I am glad it atleast looks like one:)

The snaps arent that good, coz I took them with my videocam and not aligned either, coz I was in a hurry! Just another excuse for not being a good photographer:)))

The title's a song by Bebe Winans.... My Prayer being "hope these cards dont get lost in the mail... like last time!:))"

Life's like an hourglass glued to the table...

2006-12-08T09:17:00.000-05:00

Have there ever been times when I have wanted to relive/change some parts of my life?
The answer would most definitely be....
Yes!

Much as I try.... everytime I am down, I start pulling out my 'what-ifs?'
What if.... I had more exposure as a teenager to activities my teenage cousin gets to do? Activities like volunteering for walks or stuff high school seniors like those in The Scholar get to do...
What if.... I had taken admission into NID? Wd I have been able to make designing a profession? Had my life been any different?
What if.... In my last viva, I had actually thought over the question rather than just let it pass, in hopes of just getting done with the whole thing and go home?

But I have realised one thing....

That the experiences you have (whether good or bad),
the people that you meet (whether you like them or not),
the bouquets and the brickbats.....
mark the journey that is LIFE....
They MAKE the person you are....
They MOULD your present self...

And It's my present life that I love so much, not the life that I d be living, had those 'what-ifs' come true.....

It wdnt have been 'Anuja', wd it?

(The title is a line from one of my favorite songs..... Breathe by Anna Nalick.)

Who wants to be a celebrity?

2006-12-06T14:55:00.000-05:00

Not me...!!

As much as people say that everyone loves to be famous and nobody can resist the temptation of being on the covers.... I dont. I just dont want to be famous!
Not that I dont like knowing new people and making new friends.... I just cant bear to see myself on the cover of some newspaper/magazine. I love my privacy too much to like that.

I am very happy with what I am now... I want to improve, definitely. I want to try and smoothen as many of my flaws as i can, But I love myself and I dont want to be any different.

My heart aches when I hear people saying, "I wanna be like Brad Pitt/Bill Gates". Its great to draw inspiration from somebody (I try to do that all the time), but please dont be LIKE anybody.

You should definitely do what you are best at...... Being yourself:)!!

I pity the lives of the rich and famous bcoz.....
.... I d hate being swarmed by paparazzis
.... I d hate going to cocktail parties and pretend to be what I am not
.... I d hate to have faux friends around me
.... I d hate to have so money that it would keep me from sleeping at night out of worry
.... I d hate to have tiny little details of my life splattered everywhere

I d love to...
.... be able to enjoy a cup of coffee with friends and talk about something intelligent (not just clothes and hair)
.... be able to go for a lazy walk at night with someone i love
.... be able to cook my meals listening to my favorite tunes
.... be able to hold someones's hand and dance my heart out
.... be able to spend lazy afternoons making cards and painting
.... be able to LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF MY LIFE

My idea of my life:))

2006-12-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

Here's a snap of a Rangoli, Me and my mom made this Diwali:) Never got around to put it up, thus this delay...

(The person with the flute is supposed to be Lord Krishna, the Hindu deity... He was said to have a bluish-black complexion, hence the skin color. The lady to his right, is Radha, his consort and eternal companion)

Long time no see...

2006-12-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

Its been a really long time since I posted something...

I had my preliminary exams which included like 7 theory papers and 4 practical exams (examining patients and answering questions about them)...
That was one harrowing set of 3 weeks and well..... I am having my finals in less than a month so It ll all be repeated again...

I recently watched 'The Devil wears Prada'.... I loved Meryl Streep and how she pulls off the character of Miranda Priestly, that stern unflinching look and that low, whispering but menacing voice...
I really like Anne Hathaway, she is so pretty and cute... one of the prettiest people I ve ever seen.
So well, all in all, a nice movie:))

Today is my last day of lazying around (or so I hope:)).... I really HAVE to get studying from tomorrow!

I am making few cards for my cousins' birthdays... so well i gotta get started with that...

Good night:))

2006-10-05T02:56:00.000-04:00

Daniel Powter - Bad Day

A great song for a bad day!!

The Sleeping Beauty...

2006-09-11T12:56:00.000-04:00

I wish i was The Sleeping Beauty!!!! No really, i am not interested in the Prince Charming....... I wish i cd get to sleep like that forever... he he:))

Not that.. I think in my class/even college i d be the top-scorer when it comes to 'the no. of hours slept'!!!

My schedule...
On any average day.... 8 hrs
On days on which i dont have to go to clinics in them morning.... 9 hrs
Sundays.... 10 hrs
And on some odd days (which arent that rare)..... as much as 12 hrs

For a medstudent who sd put as much time in studying as possible i know its not good... But, somehow my sleep gets the better of me.
I wish i had more time to do stuff i like (make cards, make paintings/clay figurines, dance, sing,do quilling or simply watch TV) But bcoz i sleep so much i barely get time for them...

I am so madly envious of people who have insomnia... lets say mild insomnia... People who can get away with sleeping less (and it wont affect their work performance) or those who need only 6 hrs of sleep a day!!!

I understand everybody has different sleep requirements.... I just wish mine was less.

Yawn;)))
Goodnight!.....

O Holy Night.......

2006-09-10T06:35:00.000-04:00

(Pic Courtesy : Amit Kulkarni)

A few days back, was the Ganesh Puja festival. Its a Hindu festival in which people bring idols of Lord Ganesh in their homes/housing societies (some as much as 40 feet high!!) and worship them for 10 days straight. The last day of this festival is marked by the ritual of carrying the idols to the river/sea/lake and submerging them.... the procedure called 'Visarjan'.

My home, being road-facing and all.. is pretty near to one such 'Pandal '(a tent like area where a Ganesh idol is kept, decorated and worshipped). So i have to bear the brunt of the loud music meted out of the loudspeakers on these Pandals, day AND night.

During the day.. they are all good-boy types and play 'Bhajans' (religious songs) ... But come night and the same loudspeakers start blaring out, Film Songs!!!! Okay, i accept that we are a wee bit deprived of any sources of entertainment, but movie and pop songs in the name of God?? Its as if the youngsters were just waiting to grab an opportunity to play the 'latest' music!!( A clarification..... I am twenty-something, so not that OLD to say... "Today's generation is soo..blah bla blah")

Move over to this.. On the night of the Visarjan, I saw 2 trucks going slowly on the road. I was inside studying.. so what brought me to my balcony was an extremely loud "DISCO" music. The first truck was carrying a 10 feet high Ganesh idol and since it was raining, it was pretty much getting wet. The second truck was carrying the loudspeakers!! And lo behold, it was fully equipped with DISCO LIGHTS!!!! And there were people dancing to the latest tunes of the item songs (Plz dont ask me which, i barely know any..) And quite predictably it was covered with tarp!!!!!!!

Another clarification... I am NOT religious. But i am not atheist either. I just believe that God is a power beyond idol/human worship (my views precisely...) But my heart aches at the sight of such senseless commercialism.

Festivals are a way of reaffirming your faith in God, not showing off your mega-watt bass or disco lights!!!

Why cant we celebrate festival in the spirit they are meant to exude?

Eh?.....

Breathe....

2006-08-29T13:57:00.001-04:00

It started out as a wonderful day:))!! I got up at 7 and went for a walk with one of my great pals, Alefiyah.. We were pretty enthusiastic, coz we hadnt been on a walk for quite a while, so we walked like 3 kms!! Hurrayyy!:)

Then back home I got ready for college, coz i had a test (marking the end of my 15-day term in Pediatrics) in the afternoon at 2.30.. I was pretty hopeful, coz i had prepared for it.. Now i am not saying that I am very intelligent, but hey, i tried and prepared watever i cd from the point of view of a practical exam!! I have so much pending theoretical work, that at this point of time i am much less worried about the practical aspects...!!

Lemme tell u how this exam is like... There was to be a Table Viva (which includes questions about various instruments, drugs and X-rays in Pediatrics.... Its not supposed to be that tough:)).. And a Case-presentation (U r given any 'x' cot, asked to take a detailed history of the illness, the presenting complaints and a complete general and specific examination depending upon the case... all in sometimes less than 5 mins!)

I was trying to be very positive about the whole thing...

Now... Most of us got to the ward at around 1.30, to give ourselves a lead time to have a look around and try to get the cases as early as possible...
And then what followed was............

We were around 42 students... all of whose cases AND table were to be taken in the next 3 hrs.. giving each one just about 4 mins for the table and about 5 mins for the case!!! The situation was never meant to be like this… Our batch (16 students of these) had our exam on Saturday but it got postponed… to be taken ALONG WITH OTHERS.. wowiiee!

Next we were asked to sit in a room, then stand in the ward and then again go back… basically kicked around the place… This went on for about 1 hr..

The residents (the postgraduate students) were least interested in taking our test.. so even at 2.30, the table, which sd have been set up, was practically non-exixtent!!! No professors in sight either….

Finally some of us were asked to sit in a small room (just about 5 by 10 feet in size!).. Imagine having around 15 ppl in a room of this size. The bright side was that atleast there was a fan:)

Fiiinally, the Table Viva started…(taken by the residents instead of the professors) With me off course being one of the last ones in the queque… So I waited till 3.30 for my turn… Ok.. Fine with me… as long as I atleast get a CHANCE to give a test:)

And after getting chucked off from the table in under 4 mins, I wait for 30 more mins before the resident, takes me to the CASE… It’s a little 7 yr-old girl having meningitis (inflammation of the coverings of the brain) so was already irritable! The girl’s mother had already been prodded for history and the girl examined, by atleast 1 student before me. So I was barely able to get up some history from her before the professor came by… She ends up asking me precisely 5 questions and gives me a blank, staring/troubled look after each answer, though I am sure I wasn’t way off the mark!! This whole presentation takes less than 5 mins..

So, the summary of the story… I spent only under 9 mins, actually answering the questions and about 126 mins just waiting….!!

I was so dejected at the end of this ordeal… I cd barely tell my friends how my exam went.. And I end up thinking… 'I cd have done better than this, cd’nt I?'

On a parting note… Few lines from a song by Anna Nalick “Breathe” (from where I got the title:))

“There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
If you only try turning around.”

2006-08-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

when you say nothing at all- Ronan Keating

One of my most favorite videos of all time:))!

Clueless!!

2006-08-12T13:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I sd have gotten over this a long time ago.. But no!!! Its not that easy (well...I think its not, so its not!)
Hmmm... The matter is that i had a Medicine lecture today. Not that it was my first lecture in the year or something, but since we havent had many lectures in this as well as the previous year, i just havent got used to the fact that as soon as someone announces a lecture, i have to attend it!!!

I know, u r thinking "this girl seems horribly lazy". But here's something from the recent past.....imagine having to get up at 7 am on a Sunday morning to attend a lecture on IV tubing and artery forceps. To my shock, nearly half the class was there (the lectures arent compulsory, so its even more shocking!) and the room was nearly suffocating with everybody pushing for the best seat! Well, so as u can imagine, i attended only 2 lectures of all in that series :)) (Thats my sheepish grin, although i doubt u ll be able to make out the difference b/w this and the other forthecoming grins.. he he:)))

Now,if u r wondering, why the hell do u have to make such a big deal about a lecture which is optional, lemme just say, i was a straight-As student in school and a teacher's pet to boon.. So i entered medschool with hopes of working the same magic... But i guess i forgot to bring the magic slippers to this land of Oz! So well, It IS important to me to attend as many lectures as i can, although these attempts are at a painfully low level this yr!:)

Oh... yeah.. Scooting back to Today's lect. The start of the class was pretty uneventful... Now let me mention that this physician has read a lot of medicine and won a lot of medals and to add it, is VERY eloquent. So I, being myself, was trying to take down/ listen as much as i can............... And then the war began. The sir began asking questions and answers began shooting out from all the corners of the hall; Answers (like signs/syndromes) whose names i have never heard before!!! I was trying to comprehend what was happening while attempting to keep my gaping mouth and my blank look as under control as possible.

Eventually, at the end of the class, I was terribly low on self-confidence. Predictably this happens after almost every class this year.. Now, i dont study that less ( okii.. probably not that much either!!) But somehow i never seem to overtake the other students in terms on completing the syllabus..

(Yawn) .....Alright...Thats all the ramble u ll have to bear for now... Me sleepy!
Goodnight!!!

Rakshabandhan

2006-08-09T05:48:00.000-04:00

(image courtesy: rakhi-greetings.com)

Rakshabandan/ Rakhi Purnima/ Rakhi Poonam is a Hindu festival that is widely celebrated across India, irrespective of caste, creed or social class. It falls on the the Full Moon Day in the Hindu month of Shravan, usually falling in August.
This year it is on August 9, i.e. Today!!

The word 'Raksha' means 'to protect' and 'Bandhan' means 'a bond'... so Rakshabandhan literally means 'the bond of protection'. It is a simple band/thread which a sister ties to her brother praying to God for his health and safety. The ceremony is begun with the sister applying a 'Tilak' or a sacred red mark on the forehead of the brother and putting some 'Chokha' or rice grains on it. This is considered auspicious.. Then she wd tie the 'Rakhi' around the wrist of the brother, usually the right one, following which she wd put a piece of sweet in his mouth..
Then in the end comes the best part (he he..kidding).. the brother wd give a small sum of money or a gift to the sister as a token of his love. The gifts dont have to be elaborate, and depend upon the age of the brother and whether he is earning or not:)

All this culminates in a lovely feast with the whole family eating together. Considering the fact that most of the people fast on this day (it being a Purnima and an important one at that), the lunch feast has lots of lovely sweets, 'farsan' (fried, sweet-salty delicacies) and loads of other goodies.

Well, this year my brother cdnt make it to our home from Bangalore where he is, so i mailed him the Rakhi there (yup, you can do that:)). I pray to God he gets whatever he wants and wish him lots of happiness and prosperity. And that he doesnt forget my gift when he comes here the next time:)))) (no... he is not exempted!!)

Gotta get going..!!:) Ciao..

PS. More information on Rakhi can be found here!!

Sickness gibberish!!

2006-08-05T10:21:00.000-04:00

Well well..
My exams ended on Monday and i was down with fever ever since. The fever wd be like intermittent (there, not-there). And along with it was pharyngitis (sore-throat, my all-time fav), cough(bad, productive), cold (as u wd expect!!), myalgia (bodyache), chills (no rigor, thank god!!) and to top it all, breathlessness.. Well, for the first 2 days, i decided to play the hero and did nothing about it.. My mom kept saying, i just needed some rest!!! By the time it was the 3rd day, i was done with it. I went to my family physician, and well it dint do me any good. I knew it was mostly viral fever, but i was hoping it wd be something else, something more treatable!! So i went to a better doctor (lets just say someone who takes more fees) , and he was like its just 'viral fever'. Now i have severe objections to it... first, it being a viral infection, doesnt make it less severe in terms of duration; second, its much less treatable than the bacterial ones!!!! So he just asked me to 'rest'! But i guess, only seeing the doctor helps, so i was up and about on the next day (i.e. today:)) End of story.... Dinnertime:)))!!!

Warli Art

2006-08-05T07:28:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite pieces of art... It is a style of art called the "Warli Art". It is practiced in parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra, India. The paintings are often done by hand and most of the times by women on the walls of their houses.

The peculiarity of this style is that all the figures are in some kind of motion, indulging in some activity.. depicting the energy of life. The central theme is often a festival or a wedding, in which life is in its most vibrant form!

(image courtesy: vladstudio.com)

The name...

2006-08-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

Adrenaline. This was the first word that came into my mind when i was thinking about a name for this blog.. As a medical student, it is an important hormone, a drug that can be life-saving.. And as a twenty-something, a rush of adrenaline, is the phrase i commonly use to descibe my passions as. Fun and bursting with energy..