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...

Never Again

Oft I would cry in the silence
in tried and pensive mood
Oft I would run away into the darkness
as fast as i ever could

Oft I would gaze into the candle light
and feel the glowing warmth
Oft I would look into your shinin eyes,wonderin what you want

Oft I would play in the meadows til the end of day
Oft I would taste the dewdrops when under the leaves i lay

Oft I would sit in the garden,listening to the birds twitter
Oft I would lay under the beautiful night sky,just look at the stars glitter!

Oft I would love to return,but its so far away
Such are the pleasures of childhood,which I'll enjoy never again.

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..

Through the looking glass

As i gaze through the looking glass, i cant help but ponder,

all these years of mine to waste,wish i had a few years longer.

My smooth visage , now beset with wrinkles...

My tired eyes,ave lost their twinkle..

A tall man was I, 6 feet in all

Now I barely walk,lest I fall

A bird in the sky once I could view,

But all I can see now is a yard or two..

The sound of the raindrops I heard once clear,

Now even my dear once's voice I strain to 'ear

Strong as a lion I once used to be,

but all I am now, is a withered old tree.

As I gaze through the looking glass it makes me despair

If only I had a few more years...

The mind - A personal insight (Mind vs.Body)

The human mind is a channel through which things-to-be are coming into the realm of things-that-are.

HENRY FORD, Theosophist Magazine, Feb. 1930

It is the mind that maketh good or ill,That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor.

EDMUND SPENSER, The Faerie Queene

Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That's why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs.

ECKHART TOLLE, The Power of Now

I am the human mind...the most sophisticated fraction in the human being;my permanent residence is within the millions of sulci and gyri of the grey matter (the brain)...Though my presence has been known of since time immemorial,little is known of me....I still lie enshrouded in a veil of mystery....Many have tried to decipher me but have failed....For i am as volatile as ether,mouldable like clay and as unstable as an atom...

The advancing years change the way I look,the way I think and the way I act...

The various instances in life are classified by me according to their importance...I am the seat of emotion and intelligence...It is I that controls my servant...you....the body.

I have an influence on the way you think,feel and act...I also play a role in the way you look at things....

From the bright colours that attracted you as a child to the curves and contour of a beautiful woman...It is I that makes ur heart miss a beat....

And were I to go away,I wud render you useless,lifeless and without purpose..a single grain of sand in the infinite expanse of the desert....

The Hippo'critic' Oath

I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.

To consider dear to me, as my parents, him (or her,equality for all) who taught me this art; to live in common with him(or her again) and, if necessary, to share my goods with him(now how are we supposed to do that in this time of economic downturn?); To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.

I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.(well..since the university i study in has cut down my course by half a year, i don't know how this can be made possible...Forgive me, dear patients)

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.(Cause' i don't know of any medicament that i could prescribe to you...Referrals will be made at an nominal charge of 50 bucks)

But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.

I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.(yup....this I can do)

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.(or pro's....and i will always enter any house with a vial of Alexander Flemings elixir,and a pack of rubbers,if my will fails me)

All that may come to my knowledge(rather, lack of) in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.(heaven forbid if my missus finds out!)

If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times;(and buy that Rolls Royce i saw last week) but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.(But i Hope money solves my problems)

PEACE

Endless Story

It has always been my fondest dream..that i'd just pick up a pen and write a story as endless as the sea and as intense as the sun's rays...The context and story have to be well concocted for this purpose..a subtle theme,a few strong characters interacting betwixt the swarm of many loosely created ones...looking to fulfil some purpose or the other in their lives,which until now...has been just "live to eat, or eat to live"....The purpose of these characters been defined...now lets go to the story...or more aptly,the plot...


The plot should be subtle,stimulating interest amongst readers of wide age groups,young and old and kindle the spirit of adventure,thoughts and imaginations which until now,were dormant and hidden in coccoon...It should be vivid so as to create in the minds of the readers a colourful painting or to be more descriptive,a 3 dimensional view of the scenario unfolding as he unfurls page after page...


The style of writing - Not to forget should be brief,crisp and with a pinch of this and touch of that....in fact it should be almost like a recipe...for there are a few words which give eyes to the readers...eyes to see what each character sees through his own...preferably the protagonist..
For a story to be endless,it should always be within a shroud of mystery...mystery as to what may happen next...the looseness of the other characters should enable the twists and turns that make the saga versatile...


Loopholes are a must in such a venture so as to stimulate reason and to help multiple paths unfurl from the original classic...in other words...a BABEL where each action influences the other's life and epitomises the word "karma"

New year...

"Happy new year!"
Let auld acquaintance be forgot....