The day I quit Facebook

I quit Facebook.
I actually did.

The guy who was "always online" , always posting, commenting within 30 secs of a new post/status message,  last logged onto Facebook 26 days ago. It wasn't easy , but I did it.

You all might be having the same questions in your minds : " Why? " , "How?" "Are you freakin' mad? "

Well, it all started as a social experiment; I wanted to see the effects/benefits/cons of social networking on my life. And as the saying goes "You don't miss the water until it's gone" , I decided to take a break from Facebook (I'll just use "Fb" in my further references).

Photocredit : ecolumns.net

It's not like this was the first time I attempted to do this; my first attempt was an utter failure, I logged on within 45 minutes of de-activating my account. That was a few months ago.
This time , my resolve was stronger, I decided to make another attempt.

As I stared at the Blue/white screen displaying a questionnaire asking me to select "why I was leaving Facebook" and that "Person ABC and XYZ were going to miss my presence" , I wondered, would I be able to make it? Would I be able to stay away from the buzz and activity of the Social Network? How could I stay in touch with many of my friends living in far off places? Well, only one way to find out. I hit the button.

The first day off the grid was the hardest; I found myself spontaneously loading the website while I was on a voice chat with mom and dad, only to realize that I'd deactivated my account.And I was quite restless, all the time I was thinking," what is Mr.A upto today? ", "wonder if B.Inc has any special offers for Fb fans today",
"oh its Mrs.C's birthday!If only I could post a greeting on her wall!".

But I also realized that I was now getting a lot more time for myself; I could now take a 30 min power nap at noon post-lunch rather than a measly 15 mins. I also started to spend more time on informative websites , and I started reading as well! It'd been ages since I'd read a decent novel and now since I was free of the routine-disruptive Fb, I had all the time in the world to do so.

My Fb addiction had also made me a bit of an attention-seeker ;I'd post an image/photo/internet meme and wait for someone to "like" it, a behavior akin to a predator seeking its prey.Leaving Fb, put an end to those tendencies.

Another thought I had was, "Well, I've left Fb, surely my 500+ friends are gonna miss my presence." The stark reality is : they didn't (most of them anyway). I bet my dollar that a few of them still don't realize I'm no longer there on Fb. Its not that I'm some weirdo who lives in a the middle of nowhere in a trailer,with eccentric tendencies / strange fetishes.The fact is ,Fb is such a large collage of information / events , its easy to get lost in it.

Also, another thing I realized was that though I was no longer on Fb, I was able to get in touch with most of my friends through other media (Twitter, Email and the Mobile phone). Sure, I lacked the versatility of interacting with everyone on the same platform but hey, I was able to do it.
So, a little more than 3 weeks later, I'm still Fb free and I'm loving it.

Only regret : Why do all the companies require you to login with your Fb ID for those lucky giveaway draws ! :(

UPDATE : After 5 weeks of being Fb free, I finally decided to login and well, apart from a few catchy music videos and a wedding invite or two, there wasn't much happening that piqued my interest.Perhaps the only good thing I require Fb for is to promote my blog posts ! :P

Awake till daybreak

A preview of what was to come !

You must be wondering why I started my post with a photograph. Well, I'll tell you, but be patient folks !

In an earlier post, I'd talked about my insomnia and my desire to have a blissful sleep. For a while things were great after college... You could say I slept like a baby... ( I think this phrase isn't really apt for we all know how they just love to wake up and cry at just about the time we enter dreamland; but lets leave this for another storyline ,alright?) And then , it started to happen... It started innocuously with me watching those late night tv shows ;all the amazing stuff comes on tv after 11pm! (and no, not THOSE shows). It got so bad that I would actually be awake till 5am ...and then I realized I had to do something about it.

 I tried quite a few methods infact, home remedies like drinking warm milk, warm water etc before bed, listening to soothing instrumental music, reading . and none of them were really too effective; which was when I came across an article which said that the best way to normalize sleep would be to stay awake a whole 24 hours! Apparently, by doing this I'd reset my body clock so that I'd sleep right again. Well, what did I have to lose? 

The grand finale!

Since I'd been awake all night I decided to watch the sunrise...(It'd been ages since I'd seen one... there were times I'd wake up and the sun would be overhead!)

I fixed myself a nice hot cuppa and took my position in the balcony. 

The feeling was quite refreshing, I must say ; I watched as an eagle awoke and took flight, spreading its wings, and soaring into the distance. A group of mynahs chirping and a pair of hummingbirds completed the scene...The scent of freshly baked bread from the bakery below filled the air...and a cool, pleasant breeze blew across the area...

And then, the moment; that big bright golden orb appeared over the horizon,in all its glory, scattering its rays ; the sky was painted in a myriad of colors, an absolutely divine sight , the clouds added to the beauty of the scene. 

Well, that was it really... a sunrise worth waiting for. And I'm happy to say that my insomnia vanished that very day and I've been sleeping like a log ever since.

The Decision : A misadventure

LIFE IS A RACE IF U DON'T RUN FAST U WILL BE LIKE A BROKEN UNDA (hindi for egg)! - This statement was made by a certain professor Viru "Virus" Shahastrabuddhe in a Movie that many of us learned to love...

This statement isn't without its flaws though; for one,an egg, being an inanimate object, doesn't run; infact, running may be the exact force required to break this egg...now that would leave quite a mess wouldn't it?

Photocredit : selfempoweringtips.com

So let's leave the eggs in the tray and touch another topic - The Rat Race... What's this obsession with man to compare himself to animals if he considers himself to be far superior to them? But lets leave the criticism for another day, shall we?
Having finished med school, it was imperative to do one of the two options I had in front of me :

1.Get a job and join the mainstream.
2.Take a year off and prepare for what we call entrance examinations to do my masters(Where a large number of candidates compete for a miniscule number of available posts)

It is at this point when, walking along the beach at Panambur (scenic spot in Mangalore) trying to come to a decision, that I stumble on this bottle and you know the rest - this genie comes out and grants me 3 wishes. Straight out of the Arabian Nights ,you think? Well, it would be, but the ending was sort of different from this one...So if you haven't nodded off to dreamland yet, read on :

I decided that I'd use the help of my new found genie to help me make a choice...

Photocredit people.tribe.net

Scenario 1:
I'm a Resident at a hospital in the coastal state of Kerala, God's own country...Life's pretty neat, I've got my own room, and I have fish fried in coconut oil with rice, gravy and mango pickles almost daily, lots of beautiful nurses to flirt around with ; you know, the works. My tranquil routine is interspersed with people who decide to pay me a visit just because "the hospital was open and they thought they'd get their blood pressure checked", the guy who woke me up in the middle of the night for an emergency which turned out to be an itchy groin, the ladies who, leaving all the other residents with time on their hands decide that they should get into labor the day I'm on duty and the senior medicos who think I should show more "enthusiasm". Whaaaaat?!?! Scene 1 ...CUT!

Scenario 2:
After a whole year of cramming up every sentence of every major medical textbook in my head, I qualify for a position to pursue my masters in a relatively good hospital.I pace through the wards like the king of kings ,stethoscope dangling like the snake around Lord Shiva.
The patients,my loyal subjects, love and respect me.Some of them at times ,bring me offerings to receive my blessings while my royal council look on. My rule is constantly under threat and as such I have to constantly monitor my subjects; failure to do so earns the wrath of my superiors, who then make me undergo penance, a few hundred pages of reading would suffice.In the end it would all be for the best , people tell me....Fade to black...CUT!

Having lived both lives and having used two of my three wishes, the genie asked, "What's your final wish,Master?"
"I wish......Freedom!!!" ....Guess what happened next.....?

The genie disappeared!!!!!
Guess I should've been more specific!

The Reverse Midas touch : Bad luck charm

Photocredit collectingtokens.files.wordpress.com

Timo and misfortune were best friends...In fact, there was nothing that they would do without the other's company. They first met during elementary when Mrs.Hopkins asked them to draw a sunset...While everyone else got busy doing outlines of the mountains , birds or the big yellow sun at the top of the page, Timothy ran into a few technical difficulties; for one, his pencil tips seemed to break off for no apparent reason, and the sharpener holder he was using almost miraculously broke, scattering its contents ; the aftermath of this scene saw him and his benchmate Zach sneezing uncontrollably till the end of the class.It was the first time they'd ever met, but lady misfortune (rather little miss misfortune ) took an instant liking to Timo.
Remember the popular line "for your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends" from the children's classic "The More we get together" ? Well, apparently miss misfortune took this song to heart,for whoever was around Timo, got a present or two from her, whether it was a missing penny or a torn shoelace or a jammed trouser zip.And so it was , all throughout his school years;One Christmas, Santa's beard got eaten up by rats,Another time, the Sodium chloride in the chemistry lab suddenly transformed into sulfuric acid as if the molecules had a mind of their own and yet another instance where the video game console crashed inexplicably and recovered as soon as Timo left.

I first met Timo during my high school years,he had recently moved into my apartment complex.We had a nice chat when we got stuck in the elevator for a whole hour...The unsuspecting me soon became a good friend of Timo..The misfortunes kept coming, but I was of the belief that there was always an explanation for anything.. Like, my Nintendo gameboy was definitly well past its usability when it stopped working, I blamed Microsoft Windows when the blue screen of death kept showing up on my desktop computer, I blamed chinese manufacturers when my almost brand new treadmill's motor blew up...In fact, it took me quite a bit of time to join the dots...Most of these "mishaps" occurred when Timo was around.In being friends with Timo, I had also introduced my self to miss misfortune.

Fortunately for me, a year later , I had to move elsewhere for college ... Miss misfortune stayed behind...I think I can blame her for me losing Timo's contact number, and I didn't hear from him for years...That was until last week, when I had to go to my childhood place on a business trip.Apparently, he was now the CEO of a well known IT company!...Now that she'd grown up , Lady Misfortune had left to make a name for herself and a husband for life ...

Friends , Weight Loss and Photoshop

Photocredit : ligherleiter.blogspot.com

Photocredit : 70pounds.com

My friend Phil was obsessed with losing weight ; I'm sure many of us are but I can very much assure you that he was more obsessed with it than many of you folks...
Phil had this one aim in life , to look as slim and dashing as Brad Pitt or George Clooney in their heydays...

He devised many weight loss plans and at one stage even contemplated joining one of those "World Famous" programmes.
His first breakthrough came during college, where he suddenly and ecstatically screamed, "Whoopee!!! I'm 10 kilos lighter!". It was true, and I was happy for him; but had I known that this was the trigger for his obsession, I would have stopped him.
He then realised that his initial 10 kilo meltaway was due to a change in diet, which somehow led to him starving himself.
Phil had changed, his cheery deposition was replaced by a more unstable one, something like those radioactive isotopes... His next step involved gym workouts, which kind of worked for a while. But Phil wasn't one of those very patient blokes ,he wanted results , FAST and so, soon he was back to his starvation regimen.
One day it dawned on him to try out slimming pills...fortunately/unfortunately , he put those away quite quickly.. apparently his body thought the pills were a food source and rendered them useless.

I must add that Phil was a connoiseur for rich,tasty as well as continental food, so it wasn't unusual to see a few shawarmas or burgers make their way into his diet plan...He deserved to binge once in a while , he said.
So a few months passed and he was apparently surprised that he wasn't making progress.

But Phil wasn't the guy who would give up that easy ; he wanted to show the world that he was still the same ; slim and trim .. which led to photoshopped images on his profile pages...One of the best uses of the "skew" feature , I must admit.
It wasn't surprising that Phil never made it to our reunions, apparently he always had some appointment or the other which happened to crop up at exactly the same date and time.

I finally did manage to run into Phil though; a chance meeting at the railway station. The expression on his face was timeless "Don't recognise me, don't....don't...SHI....Hey! Wassap!"

To be fair, I must say Phil actually DID manage to lose a few pounds ; no longer did he have to visit the tailor for custom - fit clothes . But he still had a long way to go , to attain that perfect figure he always wanted... Until then, he said , photoshop is my savior !

Espresso and med school

Its 530 a.m and I am awakened by the call for prayer in the mosque and bhajans by M.S.Subbulaxmi playing in the adjacent temple...add to this,the barking of the stray dogs fighting over the leftover meal I threw out the window yesterday.
Conceding defeat,I change into my bathroom robe and head for a shower.Only cold water today...the monsoons have rendered our solar water heater useless...No sun,no hot water...I mutter a small prayer and turn on the tap (the prayer was in case I die of the cold)...The icy water was enough to alleviate any residual drowsiness that i had.I dried myself up and went to the kitchen to prepare tea and breakfast...I had only recently mastered the art of making omelettes and bulls-eyes...

'The next time I go home I ought to ask mom to teach me to prepare a few of the basic Indian dishes as well as a few of my personal fav's...' is what runs through my mind as I light up the stove and drop a couple of eggs into the pan.."PLOP!"..add to this a few slices of bread that I had just purchased from Nilgiri's supermarket and my breakfast is complete(with a cup of badam-kesar milk of course).
The time by now is around 730 which means I have to rush out of my house into the streets of mangalore to catch the local bus no.51 which plies to my college which has been conveniently placed in the middle of nowhere...

Away from all the comforts of life,and irritated with the constant cacophony made by those inconsiderate people called roommates had made my life in the hostel pretty miserable....which resulted in the inevitable; me shifting out of the hostel into a nice quaint apartment in the heart of the city...;a two bedroom palace on the topmost floor of the building from where I could see the entire cityscape and the sun rise amidst the early morning mist...

A pretty unpleasant surprise greeted me as I went downstairs to catch the bus...Due to maintenance repairs the road was blocked till God knows when!!which meant that i was going to be late for the first hour which commences at 8am...I take out my cellphone,the life saver of all college going students....now without one of these devices,how'd one know where class would be or if class would be there at all?And for those who like to play traunt,it really comes in handy to ensure that they get their attendance daily...just an sms would suffice.

Now it was my turn...all i had to do was ensure that someone call my attendance and I'd get in to clinics at 9am.An sms to A,B,C and I set off in the direction of the bus stand;Now I kind of like walking but not when I'm late...A rickshaw would have been an option,if they weren't so busy raising the fares whenever they read that fuel rates were up and amazingly,their rates do not go down once the prices subside...I wonder at the economical immunity they enjoy;thanks to their ever-vigilant union which is ever ready to strike and cause a public inconvenience...for eveyone knows an auto can go to places and fit in spaces which defy the laws of physics and dimensions.

It is now 8.20 am and I am now at the bus stop.Its only a bus stop by name;only the swift and agile can get into the buses as they speed by,for as we all know,time is money, you know!

The 25 minute route to my college is not the ideal one; the city I reside in is filled with smells which can really hone the olfactory system to perfection that your nose could actually compete with dogs in sophistication.But there is a small stretch of this route which i admire; the bridge over the Netravathi river.Its almost a kilometer long and lies parallel to a similar bridge for the train,and if you are lucky,you get to witness spectacular sceneries which may inspire many writers,poets and artists as well as photographers as well as people like me,who dedicate a whole paragraph to describe it...

I rush through the hospital gate and look at my watch...8.50 am..That means I have 10 minutes till clinics..they will probably be taking attendance now.Oh well,at least I will be early for clinics...

Clinics were the place where supposedly one was supposed to attain and hone one's skills at conversing and examining patients as well as taking shots at diagnosing them.....But in reality,the only people following this theory were Charan and Sara..They wud rush to clinics the moment our prof left the lecture hall, while we people stop by the canteen for a cuppa coffee or a light snack...arriving at clinics by 9.30..

Now for those interested on the types of people we come across , here's the list:
The "All iz well guy" - He may have a tumor the size of a grapefruit but he says nothing is wrong with him
The private investigator - This guy's main aim is to know all your personal details and if he digs deep enough your social security numbers.
Ivan the terrible - This guy wont let you within 10 feet of him,trying to scare you off with some barbaric behaviour.
Sleeping beauty - This guy is active all day until you are by his bedside when he suddenly slips into a deep slumber,from which try as hard as you want, you won't succeed in waking him up.
The sadistic b***h a.k.a the Drama guy a.k.a the tele addict- This guy once was a wannabe actor...will alter his symptoms so that you get thoroughly screwed by your prof,so that he can have some live entertainment.
The story teller - This guy will tell you everything that you want and dont wanna know..including how costly the price of gold has become..

Clinics - a place for couples to meet,for texting,for booking reservations to some movie or for bunking to see a movie!Or just chat with friends while the 'dedicated' students take the case history.

Come 12 pm and its time for the last hour...By this time most people would be half asleep or reading the latest novels courtesy "Readers delight" (No I'm not getting any commission for mentioning them)...With 4 years of experience, I have mastered the art of sleeping with my eyes open...with the occasional nod giving the prof my "very interested" look.

At last its over and we,the tired students make our way out of the lecture halls taking care not to use our cellphones to avoid detection by Mr.Nandan, the campus officer,whos powers of stealth and detection have earned him a niche with the bigwigs of the college administration...The coast clear, we exit the campus, the hostelites taking their bus to their jail...and I head for the city, another day in my college life over, and another year left to go...

Messenger of death?Or Angel of life?

I could have saved him....I knew I could....
The thought lingers in my mind as i walk down the stairs of the hospital out into the rain...The monsoons can be quite unpredictable in these parts,dry for 3 to 4 days and then,raining cats and dogs...
If only I hadn't trusted the machine...if only...But it was too late...He was gone,and there was nothing else to do but inform his companions regarding his demise...
The Intensive Care Unit was always going to be a challenge...Especially since it was my first time being posted as an intern there...I had already managed to charm the nurses with my mischievous smile and talkative nature...and the post graduates had taken a liking to me...perhaps it was because of my skill at handling situations or maybe it was for the ease with which they could dump the entire workload on my shoulders...which makes me something of a modern-day "Atlas" - the giant who once bore the entire heavens on his shoulder as a punishment meted out to him by the other gods.
Anyway,coming to the point...my routine involves an energy draining 12hr stay at the desk,filling up case summaries,examining and monitoring all those admitted in the ward...Yes,quite monotonous isnt it?But all that changed that fateful day when Mr.x was admitted following a heart attack...A frail creature,Mr.x fit the typical characteristics of an MI patient.(for those non-medical folks,MI stands for Myocardial infarction,a condition where inadequate oxygen reaches the heart muscle).So,as per the protocol,we hooked him to an oximeter,a device supposed to save patients' lives by monitoring his pulse,blood oxygen and blood pressure . So,this device had become an inseparable friend,who let us know if anything was wrong,except for that fateful day . Readings showed his pulse was a bit low,with normal blood pressure..nothing alarming about that...So we decided to give mr.x a drip and infusion of a few drugs along with oxygen.
I then continued my rounds,monitoring the rest of the patients...one,a delerious case with cerebral malaria,another a case of renal failure,another case of stroke...whew!time for a break!i went back to the station and started completing the monitor sheets of my patients...nw it was time 4 a routine assessment of Mr.x whose relatives,by this time were waiting to shift him to our main hospital branch where he would be given better care...I checked the monitors,the readings were fine,but wait!...there was no pulse!I tied a manual b.p recorder cuff...great!the monitors readings were wrong!he was in shock...I immediately called the rest of the team...by then he had no carotid pulse...'Adrenaline' came the call,and i injected the liquid...'atropine!' 'C.P.R'!...all to no avail...
We then decided to try our last effort...D.C shock...twice we tried but we realised that our efforts were in vain...his pupils were dilated...he was gone.....
It's really raining hard now and i rush to a nearby hotel for shelter and a cup of hot coffee...As i sip the steaming hot beverage i think again " I wish I could have saved him..".
We,the doctors,the messengers who stand at the gate between this world and the afterlife...It is all a part of fate really...some of them we bring back,the rest,we push them on...we are,after all,just mere servants of the grim reaper..