Friday, December 10, 2010

The Mental Journey 3

The way the history and the patient are looked upon can change the entire course of therapy and the thereby, the life of the patient.

History = Clinical diagnosis

In some instances I did feel that that there were heavy lapses in the research areas and a great lot is yet to be unveiled. What I despised the most while attending the Psychiatry clinics was that, most of the final diagnoses were based on the history and the doctor’s interpretation as specific clinical investigations do not yet, exist; making it biased.
For once, give it a thought. If you happen to impress a Psychiatrist well enough, whatever you see could be termed as visual hallucinations and whatever you hear are auditory hallucinations! Even a child not wanting to go to school and play is pre-morbidity! Gross and eventful!
But there are doctors efficient enough to see those thin lines and brainy enough to analyze the understanding of those firing neurons. Still, I await that day when I shall be relieved of the slightest doubt that a person can never be wrongly placed in a mental asylum. After all, everything is a mind’s perspective. Even happiness fits perfectly to be called a mental ailment!

BRACED-UP!

She sat a step diagonally higher to me munching away the 20mg Diclofenac tablet, occasionally tossing it between her teeth, probably convincing those agelessly old archeological tools that the pain will soon be gone. Now, she held that half dispersed pill between her teeth and broke it into a perfect two. I couldn’t help noticing it. I am guessing that the taste would be something like the color of the tablet itself.
I still remember that day when I had the ceremony to undertake the vow to sparkle each time I smile, sporting those stainless steel hangings in the oral cavity to manipulate stuff- yet another molded medical invention!
Staring at the giant picture overhanging the wall in front of me, I sat in the hyper- specialized chair, which is everything for the dental clinic and the dentist himself, whatever it is, just say it- out patient Rx, operation theatre, anything and everything.
The picture was of a beautiful village woman carrying a pot of water, teeth, milk (jus’ guessed it) carved out of a really big tooth. ‘Soo huge!’ that it must be a property of a really big carnivorous non-human, I thought.
Like an ant sting, the sharp needle with a sharper hole pierced through my hard red jelly and blew out my cheeks like I was with my mouth-FULL. Then, to my surprise, he struck tongs into my mouth and with all his visible strength pulled out a huge milky bar out which looked very similar to the one in the picture. It’s like the iceberg concept thing, I wondered, with the entire blood brimming.
He pulled out the 4 pre-molars to finally defy the very nature’s human dental principles.
A lotta things in life change after this. You get a new brush with a mid-partitioned bristle-less wave, a new tooth paste with a worse color (placebo effect, maybe) but you teeth still stink, anyway, so I suggest you better mix both the pastes. It takes much longer to brush and makes one more efficient to piss off other neighboring brushers and the ones waiting in line for the washbasin.
Then what? Years pass in waiting, you grow half in size outta starvation and after check up after check up, you are promoted to a temporary wire brace which now makes it harder to even talk and then you lose it all one day only to worry about getting it all back again, very possible with the shorter Australian wire technique and a lil’ more safer with the longer American technique!

p.s. One hell of an experience!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

HappYness


Happiness is jus’ a relative understandin’ of the lil’ things in our lives.
It’s a perspective. Sometimes, overrated and sometimes underrated. Remember, what we said in the beginning- ‘RELATIVE’.
However a situation may seem to be and however bad it may look in a particular circumstance, at that very moment somethin’ may happen or appear to happen and the way you look at it can change so drastically enough that the smile reappears on those sensitive lips and a whistle takes over those musings. I’m sure it happened to all of us one time or the other, only if we had given a chance for it to happen.
I always tried to understand the most common of things by relating them to the most common of things to suit their nature- the BASIC.
Often, friends complain to each other about the other possibly good friend who remembers them only in times of need. Okay, let’s talk about that for a while.
Do you think of the bathroom, all day? I sound really funny. Don’t I? I know. It’s obvious too that we think of it only when we need to take a piss. But what if the bathroom feels about you the way you thought of your other friend. It may sound indifferent, but it’s not. Jus’ try to reason it with me. You remember it when you need it and go for it. The only reason I see the bathroom to feel disappointed is when you go to your neighbor’s bathroom for the piss. I hope you are getting the drift.
There is this awesome example I came across in a TED talk on a context of choice and happiness. There are many circumstances when we feel something does really make us happy but in fact, it does not. Here’s one such situation.
A group of 40 Harvard students were sent around to click pictures of their campus, these were to be the ones they can hold close to the heart years later to relish college memories. Two pictures were to be selected from each of these individual collections. Now, the group was divided in to two. The first group was asked to choose the best picture of the two and asked to go home with it with no choice. However, the second group got 1 picture alone though they could come back 3 days from that day and switch it with the other if they feel they are not satisfied with the one they had.
Guess, what happened! More than half of group 2 exchanged their pictures on the 3rd day as expected. When stats were taken a few months from then to see how many were happy with the decision made; surprisingly, the most of the members of group 1 said- ‘ well, this is the one’ while most of the group 2 said-‘hmmm. . .I ‘m not really sure you know, I still love the other picture more.’
I don’t know to call it compromise or whatever but it does seem that takin’ away decision did make them happy, at least here!
As days pass by and time flies; each day when you lay in bed at the end of the day, though these seem so obvious, and you don’t have anyone to talk to about these and so does many of those times, you feel, like me, wondering, what is the missin’ link!?


Friday, September 3, 2010

Illuminati '10


4:45 pm, 29th August,  AFMC, Pune:

It was a cloudy day. As I entered the stage of the 1500 capacity Dhanvantari auditorium at AFMC, Pune, the water began to hit from all the sides. The silence was broken.
The podium almost hid me leaving my eyes and forehead, making me aware of my height. I began to speak. Not before I even completed my first sentence, I paused. I went blank.  At each passing second, my heart pumped harder and my head pulsated along, making me feel so heavy that I almost sank to the ground.
The crowd, now, began to whisper and I looked around. My teammates, anxious and shocked waited patiently behind the curtains for an answer. I just wanted to run behind to them and cry but that would not have made any point. All those sleep deprived nights, a thousand kilometer travel for a day, all that effort and thinking would at once scoop to just a ‘nothing’.
I looked into the center of the auditorium and made a brief laugh staring into its blankness and went on to do what was undone and ran back as soon as my part was done. I was sure of being referred to as ‘that crazy short guy’.
I was ‘red hot’. My mind was bombarded by a million thoughts, all interrogatives. My team asked me to stay cool and get ready for my final part of the symposium. I tried to breathe, slowly but consciously. I went out of the auditorium through the back door. It was pouring now. I noticed that my lost umbrella was ‘getting wet’ lying in the veranda, which I must have forgotten during lunch, and wondered if I should walk till there and get it back. I started to walk, before I made the decision and decided to bring it, anyway. It didn’t matter anymore, for that matter, nothing mattered, anymore. ‘Hasn’t all that could be screwed up has already been done?’ I asked myself. I paced up and down. I was called once again. This time, I knew I had no choice but to live every word that I would utter and stand for what I had come to stand for.
After the speech, there was a brief pause, the same heavy silence, which had passed when I paused just a few moments ago, but this time, the crowd burst into applause.
I wondered if I could catch any glimpse of ‘weeping microbiologists’, if any, in some corner of the hall, to talk about it after I come back home. I gave up and left the podium, a little happy but still disappointed.

p.s. I should speak more often.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Medical mumble jumble. . .

The Endocrinology class went 'blank'.

"That's why I always said, we shouldn't be having Stethoscope as our symbol; rather a Ryle's tube would suit better."

The class still; blank.

- Dr. Murlidhar Verma; on spoon feeding college education.

p.s.  Ryle's tube (rylz) n. a thin flexible tube of rubber or plastic, which is inserted into the stomach through the mouth or nose of a patient and is used for withdrawing fluid from the stomach or for giving a test meal. [ J. A. Ryle (1889–1950), British physician]

Door creaks to open into the dark room.

Dr. Krishna Rao: Soo, why are you late by 22 minutes. What's your excuse?
No response.
Dr. KR: At least tell me the last night's foot ball match's score!
...[No response. Out of coverage area.]
P S: Chile!
KR: Chh. . .i. . .leee??
R T: No, BraziL!
K R: Br. . a. . .zilll??? Why are you even here!

 

Okay, I repeat. What's your take on the 'paper thin' walls in the Ophthalmology dept.? ;p

 

 

Never did the World 'blur' more than it did today.

All courtesy to the Tropicamide at the Ophthal OPD which got my eyes wiiide open. . .!

 

An 'Ayoo' in the Ophthal Septic OT. . .

We enter into the 'SEPTIC' Theatre terribly awaiting renovation, obviously! It looks like a kitchen filled Operation theatre stuff; damn it!


Patient undergoing {multiple Chalazion incision and curettage}; moaning, groaning, with clenched fists!

Dr. Lavanya Rao: You have to wait. If you don't cooperate, I can't finish and you'll have to come again and again.

Patient: (Howls and kicks in the air) Ha ha ha! That's true but (shouts in pain again) shhh. . . .ah ahhh, it's terrible madam, unbearable! Ayooo! Why don't you give an injection or something[ raising his hand to his eye and gesturing a poke in poke out.]

Dr. L R: I already gave two.

Patient: [Again, in his normal tone] Ooh! You already removed the big one!

Technician[ to students]- It's over. Change your scrubs. You can't go back to the OT directly from the Septic theater.


p.s.-"Septic" OT; so much for the name!

 

". . . . . .is the percentage.
It is not my figure. It is Davidson's.
. . . . . .is the approximate number.
It is not my figure. It is Davidson's."

...

-An extract from today's Medicine class on Headache!


"The most important thing about Skin is that it is very important."
-The introductory class on Skin appendages.

 

"God, somehow, is an arranged person. . . ."

"DON'T bundle anybody up, IMMOBILIZE!"

- Dr. Arjun Chacko @ the Saturday Neuro- Surgery Class!

p.s Sagnik Surya said; one of the best neuro-surgery classes eva ....." durin bath ...the last amt of water in a bucket which ppl cant leave behind..." haha..damn...

 

 

‎"Statistics are like Bikinis; they never reveal the most important things!"


-Dr. Varma on the deceivable nature of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio. . .

p.s. On public demand! Well, you were expecting it, weren't you! ;)

 

A minute of Dr. K P Sir's ENT class!

Note:
'[x]'- indicate the gaps and pure spaces between spoken words.

. . .[2sec] Cystic fibrosis. [8sec later]. .can be allergy also.[10sec]. .some of them can be Auto-immune conditions.[8sec]. .can be associated with other syndromes. . .blah. . .blah[]. . .blah. [ 13 sec later]. . .I aleady mentioned about Cystic Fibrosis! [10 sec]. . . . . . .

p.s. Well, you can see the stats yourself ;p

 

"Sure. This is the last slide.
I'm jus' going in the reverse order."

- Dr. Sudhir Nayak@ Fungal infections class.

 

"I want to 'hear' him 'think'."

-Dr. Suresh Pillai; as Varun Gynaeshwar was shakin' to make them. . . ;p

 

"It's got Menthol. It goes to places you have never known to exist. It doesn't open up your nose. You just feel it does."

-Dr. Suresh Pillai on Vicks inhaler.

 

'When you are deprived of your normal supply of microbes, the immune systems get a poor education.'

 

 "There are 3 kinds of lies-

Lies,

Damned lies and 

Statistics

-Dr. Asha Kamath @ intro Bio Statistics class

p.s- from the back benches; " Head lice, body lice. . ."


"Doctors, learn to err on the safer side. Anything you do not know, blame it on the genes."

-Akaash vaani; the voice from the skies ;p

 

The reality of life-

"Diseases do not read text books. Only we do."

"Thumba heat aagida body alli"; the patient will say.  The side effect of drug combination.

-Dr. Mularidhar Verma


"What makes me more wise than that guy begging on the street? Is it me knowing, that an Amoeba exists!!

-Raviteja. :)


 

 

 

Monday, July 26, 2010

The 'mental' journey [contd.]


Q. Define Bizarre.
Ans. I see a man standing on the moon and peeing on the Earth.


I looked around. Faces struck in windows, mouths wide open and eager hands stretched out, with periodic pronation and supination waiting to grab you in the very first catch. This was the impression the Bolly/ Tolly- woods and friends who already happened to visit the Psychiatric wards (especially the ones who got slapped while taking a patient’s history) left on me. I didn’t find any of them though it was easier to recognize the wards, as it was the only one with the entrance closed and a guard attending it, at all times.
I ran across the hall with ‘symmetrically’ parallel beds occupied by ‘unsymmetrical’ minds as they moved their eyeballs from one corner to the other, from where laughter arose, which seemed more intelligent and sane over the others that filled the hall, which is perhaps, the venue for my class. I was alone, but not scared.  I opened the door slowly, just to make enough space for one single eye of a suspicious peeping Tom. The room was fully packed and not surprisingly, everybody was already examining this innocent eye through the narrow hole. Now, knowing that I am late, scared, I said nothing. The bespectacled, rough bearded man, the only one not in an apron other than the patient, who seemed to be the oldest and the wisest of all brought his double chin to his chest at once and again. The classic non-verbal! As I entered, he looked towards a serious young doctor who continued . . .
“ Mr. Balasubramaniam, aged 32 years, who hails from the Shimoga district of Karnataka presents to Kasturba Hospital on 16/07/09 with the chief complaints of . . .[which generally is the starting point of unbelievable non-existent, non- English, this time struck me like a thunderbolt!]
I see God (full stop) My heart (hyphen) his gateway.”
My jaw fell to the ground. He continued-
“ History of presenting illness-
 I feel all energetic and believe in the capability of achieving anything I want . . .
The people of this country need a great leader and I am ready to give it to them . .
After my BSc Chemistry, I felt closer to him [G O D] . . .”
Past history-
h/o thorn prick. Didn’t feel like going to school.

I was tempted enough to grab a copy of the patient’s history. The duration of the conversation with the patient was recorded as an unbelievable whole 2 and half hours!  Further, in the report-
Content: {All the dominant preoccupations of the subject including ideas of reference, persecution, grandeur, worthlessness, hopelessness, guilt, sin, nihilism, negation, love, control, infidelity, etcetera}

“ I feel the power of ten [10] people within me.”
Insight: {Awareness, attribution and acceptance of intervention}
“ I have no problem. Ask God, if you want.”
As I flipped through the pages, a lot of thoughts were randomly being fired in my mind. For once, I, funnily, thought-


Well, here is an ideal Indian and where should he be?
Y-e-a-h! The Psychiatry ward.

The Professor closed his eyes half way through the presentation, life less till the moment, suddenly erupted from his old wooden chair and exploded.
“ You! The young man in the blue, yes, blue checks”, he said. “ Is Malaria curable?”
My class mate took the chance and ran down the entire list,” Chloroquine, Quinine, Atovaquone, Proguanil . . .”
“ Oh? That’s impressive. So what are these drugs for? Against whom are your murderous intentions?”
The room giggled in union.
“I mean the cause of your Malaria, young man. The cause!”
“The protozoan parasite. The species of Plasmodium. “
“Exactly.”
“Let me ask you one more question, give me a cure for a mental disorder. Okay. I’ll be lenient this time. Any mental disorder. Any!
Silence.
“ What happened?” He laughed violently. “I wont blame you. Humans haven’t found the antidote for emotion yet. Emotions have no reason.
To find a cure, you need the cause. When your target is lame, bizarre, retrospective, where is the word ‘cure’. There is no mental illness with a cure”, he declared. “ So is Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, other chronic diseases, and psychiatric disorders, controllable, BUT are not curable.”
Suddenly, the nurse in the milk white uniform entered and spoke in a hurry.
“Doctor, doctor! The patient in bed no.32 is trying to kill herself again!”
“Aah! That old woman! Not again!” he said, flung the door wide-open and stormed out.





Monday, June 14, 2010

Roma

You've Never Lived Until You've Loved in Rome!

Three coins in the fountain,
Through the ripples how they shine,
Just one wish will be granted,
One heart will wear a valentine.

Which one will the fountain bless?
Which one will the fountain bless?
- From the movie “Three Coins In The Fountain” [1954]


In Rome, the past is the key to the present and the present to the past. Each stone has a history of ages and like all the historical monuments all over the world from the Ajanta & Ellora, The Pyramids of Egypt to the ruins of Rome, it’s always the story behind it. It’s always the story behind everything that’s more impressive than the deceptive appearances.
The Vatican was, of course, the holiest place in the trip. They got everything there, from ceilings painted by Michelangelo, extreme social respect, political power, influence of the Church, that richness and the Swiss security. What else needs to complete the list?!
To get to Pisa and Florence, we just had to travel too much to arrive at one foci of architectural beauty! Wonderful!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The miscounted days plus 1


Then, we drove to Swarovski, Wattens, Austria where the wonder- making Daniel Swarovski’s patented electric cutting machine had begun to change the beauty of crystal glass, itself! First, Chambers of wonder display followed by emptying of the dazzled disoriented visitors like all the other European industries.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night at Innsbruck, no song was unsung and no wine left untasted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entry into the land of Italy didn’t mesmerize me as I expected. Maybe, the last days or the much more fashionable display in the movies, I didn’t know. I jus’ missed something.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

All in all, as you stand at the Piazza San Marco aka Saint Mark's Square licking your Italian Gelato letting the salty breeze of the Adriatic Sea add flavor to those cold lips and still let you wondering about this floating city with its canals and bridges, those rotting colorful bricks, the richness and history, the Murano glass, the brides and the bells, the famous lover Casanova, the masks, the billion ‘Euro’ project to save this sinking islands and those Gondolas; you are standing on the most romantic place on this planet. That, you’ll know.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 10- Liechtenstein


Liechtenstein, with it’s capital Vaduz, the only alpine country to lie entirely within the Alps inhabited by approximately 35,000 freaking rich German speaking people. It’s one of few countries in the world that maintains no military and with more registered companies than citizens!
Not very surprisingly, they almost had the whole area shut down for a marathon where (many sobbing, all cute) children ran through the streets with their anxious mums running behind them.
Though it was mentioned in the itinerary, I couldn’t imagine we were just stopping for lunch, getting our passports stamped [optional for a few Euros], using the free toilets (a rare thing to cherish in Europe; generally a visit can cost you around 0.3-1.3 Euros equivalent to 20- 80 INR!) and continuing with our journey. Later, we were explained that there wasn’t much to see either. Very clever!
Vaduz Castle, home to the Prince of Liechtenstein stands majestic on the hill just above the stop, right below which was the museum. The prince woke up each morning, brushed his teeth and discarded the toothbrush, which flies right out of the window landing in the Royal gallery of the museum.  Take it easy. I just made that up!






Somewhere in the middle of Europe

No sooner the trip began, I lost the count of the days and nights. Then, one fine day after crossing five countries border to border, I pull out my hand from the warm pocket to count my fingers as I heard my neighbors on the bus discussing plans of return. I only thing that reminded me of the passing time was my faithful growing beard.


Each passing day got me more tired. Tired of giant price tags. Tired of meticulous marvels, surprises and cheap bargains with the blacks. Tired of low battery indicator beeping at the end of each tiring day and me running to fetch a travel adaptor only to lose more of the little permitted sleep. I blinked less too, I suppose, maybe I subconsciously couldn’t afford to miss any passing beauties. I never understood the reason we get tired after traveling for long hours though we do nothing. I wrote less and instead made many new friends.


So, at this saturation point, when the memory was low and surprises were not surprises anymore and your head is bursting with information like at the end of a 3-hour straight study session, I scribbled-

With so lil’ time in each place, you wish you didn’t know they existed rather than now knowing that you traveled a 5 thousand miles to miss something at some place you’ve been and probably will never be again!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Day 6- Chamonix, France & Switzerland

"Bon Voyage!"
- The Swiss officer at the border without checking our passports! ;)


















 

Chamonix, France is perhaps going to stay as my favorite place. A lovely place, hidden deep in a valley surrounded by the French Alps, secluded from the rest of the bustling world with its river L'Arve running in rivulets calmly, can steal any given heart. For the very first time I had a longing to return to a place so much, no sooner than we left. Love at first sight, indeed.





What a view! What a sight! Into the oblivion till the horizons meet! 'Mountain clad' snow, melting white stuff creating falling waters and those infinite shades of green. I could starve to stare at it forever & ever, all my life. The two way cog wheel train ride with a single intersection point can equally mesmerize, as we watch those stretches of steep mountain land change from green to tall dark green to barren brown to thick milky white. Heaven! Even the cable car ride is available, if you wish, all the way to Italy!

Just yesterday, we rolled our heads high at the foothills to trace the bright bulb glowing on the peak and wondered how anybody could get there. Today, under the good God's warm Sun, we stood and stared from a 4,810 m high. All these interventions and pioneering began in these strange small lands in the beginning of the 20th century itself and by the way, who own the planet's highest peaks?! Oh boy! I ain't saying anything. I just feel so poor and backward.


In all those seemingly ending but 'still- an- hour to reach' bus rides, which the Cox & Kings called leisure drives, there was always, Michelle, our tour operator to comfort everybody, saying,
"Like in life, rather than the destination; it's the journey we undertake that makes the difference" to which we couldn't help but agree except for the ripened arse. Also, the wonderful vent for expression- 'Ooh là là' was something everybody took to and chanted day in and out, helplessly.


Switzerland is one supremely talked about place for its Alps, film shooting, honeymoons, neutrality, richness, quality of life and everything. Sparing the sarcasm in those dialogues of Ranbir Kapoor in the movie 'Bachna Ae Haseeno', yes! There were the grass and the cows, let's add dark chocolate to the list and let's complete the statement with the word 'imported'!


"It's what you have seen on the post cards and wall posters or perhaps may have dreamed of, in the wildest of dreams. It's picture perfect."
- Michelle, as we touched the Swiss border on the 'false perfect' count of 10.

After the visit to the Mount Blanc, we didn't dare to miss out any optional tours. Next, Jungfraubahnen! To Jungfraujoch, Top of Europe, a UNESCO world heritage of the Swiss Alps via Lauterbrunnen and Kleine Scheidegg stations by the Cogwheel train again, was another such visit. Quoting, 'The high Alpine tour, a simple stroll, skiing in eternal snow, the breath taking views of France, Germany and Italy from the Sphinx' and including half naked men Sun bathing in freezing temperatures, sculptures in the Ice Palace, 'moving frozen' glaciers and the hot Indian lunch.
Art flourished, may be because their tummies were already well fed to think about 'after food' unlike in the developing world. Signboards flourished, with the names of UNO, ECE, ICC, ILO, ITC, UNHCHR, WHO, WMO, UNESCO et cetera et cetera.

 


At Trümmelbach Falls, more than the sight of the series of glacier- water falls; what's remarkable to understand and notice is that these tons of water penetrated through the mountain forming crevices and how man decided to dissect open this huge chunk of rock and made it accessible. A marvel created when nature's best gifts are coupled with man's best efforts.


P.s Mahatma Gandhi lives in many gardens all around the globe.



All in all, from the fantastic view from the hotel window to the night walk with Dr. Adilakshmi and Dr. Ramanuja, it was an amazing stay.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

DAy 3

Like all the other cities of Europe, Pari was different and stunning. Everybody knew it the moment they entered the trance. Each of these European cities apart from their lavish beauties and histories are known more importantly for how beautifully their history and culture is preserved. Though our India is good with the history part, not so good with the protecting part.

Parc Asterix was a great set up. It actually feels like you are in a different land.

Though we couldn’t get to interact much with the local environment, that day apart from “Hello sir! Do you speak English?” and running around for change for as much as 100Euros, I met a friendly group in the train to Paris. Also, took a stroll down the Paris lanes sipping cold drinks with a camera in one hand and an exotic dinner of crepes and pizza in broad evening light! I only wished if all this happened without the all panicky Sardars around! You know, the group changes everything; even pure crap can be fun! ;p

Even the junctions stretches to acres of land though the streets barely fit a bus and a car at once in a parallel row! Aah! What else! Perfumes! Fragrance! Fragonard.
Tour Montparnasse; the 59-floor skyscraper is one gothic black building above the rest of landscapes but offers some of the most spectacular views of the city of lights, love, romance, beauty, fashion & education (which we missed, of course, since it wasn’t getting darker any sooner).

‘View from the top is the most beautiful in Paris, since it is the only place from which one cannot see the tower.’
-Guy de Maupassant who loathed the Eiffel Tower and ate lunch there daily.

As we got down the bus to visit the Grand Louvre, this is what I could comprehend from what I heard from the tour manager.
“Welcome to one of the world’s largest museums. As you enter this most visited monument and continue to stare for a few minutes at each of these masterpieces it would take a minimum of your remaining lifetime. You have an hour and a five-minute buffer, please hurry up and if you miss the bus you know where to find us (which is generally followed by some unrealistic obsolete names of places and hotels; never mind). I then, ran through centuries of story telling art created by the greatest of artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da vinci; the Napoleon apartments to the Egyptian ruins. It was beyond anything. By the time I returned thinking to have missed my bus, panting and holding my crumpled map I saw most of them back enjoying their coffee. I wish they didn’t miss the Monalisa at least, not that it was as great as it was meant to be; at least you get to tell you saw it to folks back home ☺ I wish I bought the duplicate Monalisa for 3 euros as a souvenir! So many times it was stolen and so many great eyes it stole in return.


The other things that were more shocking were the free education policy, how incredible no. of museums are constructed for encouraging tolerance among the young, how the old were taken care off, why no one begs though some rare people choose to live like that and how blandly she showed one of the finest places in Paris around the Arc Of Triumph and why they considered it unfit for residence. In her words, “ For us, there is no quality of life if there is not enough silence, peace, freedom and enjoyment in living.” That struck me.



That day as I lay in bed with my eyes closed, all I could see were no dreams but the great rich London, the canals, tulips and lush green lands of Netherlands without a patch of bareness, the beautiful city of Brussels with all its palaces and streets warned for pickpockets and Paris with its great stretches of Rapeseed fields for bio diesel, old ancient architecture on the same stunning level as modern while the narrow streets being modified to suit the present day needs; so organized and well managed.
Napoleon’s loot was indeed a great one.
“Hail Napoleon!”

P.s Where are the electric wires?!

Monday, May 10, 2010

A dam in the river Amstel. Euro Trip- Day 2

The people of Amsterdam are relaxed. Easy going. Chilled. They are spiritually inclined and they smoke weed.

- Michelle, The tour manager.



The world's legal capital, popular sex capital stormed with sex shops, vodka palaces, sex and cannabis museums; Amsterdam apart from all the hoax is in fact a charming place to lay the eyes upon.

The voyage on the cruise ship from London to Netherlands was brilliant, especially the variety of seafood, just the variety. Not the taste. I hardly felt the cruise liner move the entire night. The rare times it shook, all I had to remember was to stay calm and remind myself that it was an acceleration or a turn and not, not an earthquake.
I could hardy catch any sleep. I could hardly eat what I imagined to be the most delicious food as I boarded the flight in India. Although it tasted different and sometimes convincingly yummy, it was raw and mostly sugarless. The fish scales and fins were conspicuous and the name plated had no use except to help with the name of the species it belongs to. I chewed, swallowed and closed my eyes to recollect the taste. Lame.

I was spell bound as we entered Netherlands. It was very different from London and I hardly could believe that people actually live in a place (I didn’t spot many, either) with such green grass, colorful flowers, quacking ducks and houses far apart adjacent to lovely lakes and canals.
Where is the noise? At least, don’t the boats have engines? Actually, they don’t. They are electric. Don’t the vehicles have horns? Well. They don’t use them, either. Where, where is the pollution? Yeah, as many as 465,000 bicycles exist and as many as 54,000 bicycles get stolen in a year. Think B!KE.
It’s unbelievable, I know.

It may be used, as a synonym for heaven except it’s hard to imagine what would happen to such a low- lying land if Global Warming took a toll.
The trip to Keukenhof Tulip Gardens was spectacular too. The same descriptions of flower apply to all of them or maybe better. It’s the result of the finest deal between every possible color shade on a painter’s palette and the most intriguing genetic principles known to man. Indigestible.
The ferry will take you across many narrow leaning wooden houses, houseboats decorated aesthetically and large adorned windows that welcome the warm sunlight is a thought beyond geographical choices.


P.s. Of course, we spotted the same windmills, both, old and new.

Great London. Euro Trip- Day 1.

“Poor people. Pooar people. What is this?! They rule half world and now, look, look; they pick up dog poop on roads, tap water drinking and coffee no milk, and, by the way, look! Soo old cars and they riding cycles! Waht is this!
- Somebody in the bus, after the stop at the gas station.


Patchy shades of green from the skies,
so is the land near by.
Small streets yet so smooth,
rich palaces and economical bikes.

The cars, very different.
Smart, black and sometimes color on sides.
The queen is old and their families, older.
The whole world’s looted treasures slammed into one small yet gigantic land.


As the bus passed by this highly populous metropolitan area, I couldn’t help noticing, how much people enjoyed having a smoke, strolling in those big parks, jogging and exercising, anywhere and everywhere. The blue sky had numerous dissipating white contrails. The stunning architectural beauty and how seemingly more beautiful they appear on the silver screen is something really annoying. Men here have very long working hours, visibly seen where all the sweat in the cold is going into.

“A great part of the world might have been exploited by the Great Britain, I agree.
But it wasn’t anything more than that of the people of Britain itself. “

-Mark, our London tour operator.

Then, all of a sudden you find yourself in a moment of madness when you are clicking the camera button not any less than a child enjoying the click, each time as the first time.

Each time you discover something, something different in color, tradition and culture and it strikes you with speechlessness and you wonder, is it even possible?

Very visibly, the people here pay great importance to mannerisms. Thank you, sorry, excuse me are chanted in and out. Nobody needs to tell another to stay in queues or let alone say anything for that matter. It just moves very smooth, a smoothness undisturbed by squeaking horns. Fines are heavy too but I guess, you wouldn’t want to litter a perfectly spick and span green garden not even with your dog’s poop. Or would you?

P.s. I am thirsty. I am starving. Man, they eat raw!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Thoughts for food!

The Indian pan chewers are confused modern wall artists.
They are not even sure whether to spit out or swallow what they have just eaten!

Coincidence is the closest word to 'no reason'.


People who coin bad and slang words are men, who employ, great imagination and creativity in the wrong place.


Why do none donate their swimming costumes for the flood relief, isn't it what the people there essentially need?! [issued in public interest]

Everything always existed, only made noticeable.

I can't eat too much cheese.

When the nose is blocked; life turns upside down, literally!


Parasitology- The study of the distance between the butt(buttocks) and mouth and how nature chose the long deviated mazes, giving purpose to countless organisms.


Self called tall men are intellectual dwarfs.



In the language of Medicine, the naked is no porn.


All great philosophers, including me, are the ones who are greatly troubled within themselves.
- Me

Not talking _ _ _ is talkin _ _ _; said Pandit shree shree shree. . .naah, nobody, I am jus' makin' that up! ;p

Are your dreams color or black&white?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Crush.

It was a noisy class of seventy-four, I remember. The Math teacher entered the class with her invisible dominant aura of strict unmeasured silence that could fathom the class, but not for more than a second or two. She carried the class six final examination papers. The noise rose. She pulled back her glasses, into her hair, and shouted: “Silence!”; and attached to it, one brief but long lasting look with her narrowed eyes.

She pulled out the first paper. “Prafulla!” she shouted. A lean figure rose from the corner of the class. He felt shy.
He could have made no mistake, everybody thought.
The teacher smiled, and there were whispers all around.
“99/100.” Everybody gasped.

To my right, sat the girl with her big brown eyes, which innocently showed every expression that ran through her mind. She leaned forward, took out her diary, carefully opened a page and started to draw lines with a short plastic foldable ruler. She made columns for each of the toppers in the class including a small one for her. I continued to stare in jealousy.

She shook, all of a sudden. The teacher had called out her name. With her, I shook.
“98/100.” She returned to her place, not so happy.
“Raviteja, 100/100!” I stood in shock.

To this, she pulled out her ruler again and drew a small line, making just enough space for another column. She wrote my name on the top of it. I was high. I had never had a column for myself and, now, a column in her diary was entirely for me! Ever since I experienced the high, I never left the column for someone else.




It’s funny how childhood crushes are; when you lay in bed, one day before Rakshabandhan, and wonder what would happen. She actually ties the band around your wrist the next day, and you still come home happy!

It’s funny how college crushes are. Much like an ICMR research proposal; it’s always better to put forth your proposal and give it a chance. It is easier to break-up than to wait till your girl has a break-up!

It’s more than funny that I’m speaking of crushes!


p.s.

Crush.
noun, A brief but intense infatuation for someone, esp. someone unattainable or inappropriate.

With this, I have a documented special column and more than a blog.
My thanks Sneha!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

For no reason. . .

“Mamma, how am I here?” The little girl asked, her eyes sparkling with innocence.
“Sweety,” said the mom, “when a man and a woman are very deep in love, a piece of the blue sky falls to the Earth and there you are!”

The most beautiful things in the world are for no reason, either because we failed to find a reason or perhaps there is no reason at all. Oh wait; or may be we don’t care enough to find one as it’s so beautiful the way it is, out of purity; unconditional- ‘no reason’!

Very often, it is said, learn from a kid. The way he shoots up his tiny lil’ hand in the class for anything and everything. The way he dusts off his shorts, each time he falls to get back on his toes in no time, running.

As an adult, even the wisest hesitate when asked. We dig into our failures deeper that we fail to realize that all that matters is to pull oneself together, again. On an average, 90% of thoughts that occur to us in a day are the same of yesterdays’. We live not, now and here. We search for a reason.

At variance, mankind would not have gotten this far with out great minds sacrifice in search of reasons. We prolonged life span, stretched dimensions of luxury but are we losing the happiness of our basic existence all along with reason coming? Was the early caveman a happier person?
I have no answer.


Only in the later years the lil’ girl found out the truth. There is neither a sky nor its shades of blue. Its just when a man and a woman have sex; as a result of a drunken evening, or a contraceptive failure and some fancy; she was born.
Tell me, which answer sounds beautiful; the much imagined blue skies or the reasoning contraception?