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Doctors~Reel,real and everything in between

2017-04-02T13:23:00.000+05:30

*This piece was written for the 2017 edition of Dhanvantari~the annual magazine of AFMC,Pune.So if you possess a copy and would prefer reading it there,you know what to do.Everyone else,read on*

The red bulb is on.The hero and a bunch of relatives are pacing back and forth in the corridor,worry writ large on their faces.

Next you know,the camera zooms into the Operation Theatre,you see masked men and women in green and an ECG which dramatically turns into a straight line with multiple beeps.The people in green exchange glances,a shake of the head and a cloth comes up on the face of the deceased.

The doctor steps out.The relatives look at him half-expectantly,half I say coz lightning and thunder at the exact moment the deceased breathed his last have already prepared them for the worst.

Not to forget,the framed picture that fell off the wall before the accident happened last night.

Now insert any of the following dialogues and you’d have your typical masala Bollywood sequence.

“Bacche ko toh humne bacha liya par maa…”

“Maine injection de diya hai. Inko subah tak hosh aa jayega.”

“Inko dawa ki nahi,dua ki zaroorat hai.”

“Inka bahut khoon bah chuka hai. Phoren operation karna padega.”

“Mubarak ho. Aap baap banney wale hain”(LOL.Not this one.This was awkward)

“Iski halat bahut nazuk hai. Abhi kuch kehna mushkil hai.”

“ Ab sab kuch uparwale ke haath main hai.”

“Inko khoon ki sakht zaroorat hai.”

Vintage Bollywood stuff.Right?

As a 90’s kid growing up in small-town India,my impression of a typical doctor was pretty much what Bollywood had fed me.And I always went to doctors half-expecting such dialogues.

My earliest memory of a real life doctor goes back to my family physician.A portly,stout man with a Hitler-esque moustache possessing a green Bajaj scooter which required a tilt for a few seconds before every kick and in case that failed,a push from the kids around.

My first interaction with him was vaccination back in the 90’s when injections still looked like board pins and bawling kids could be pacified by a single biscuit.I remember howling as if I had been injected on behalf of the entire city.And no,I wasn’t pacified even with the whole biscuit packet,much to the dismay of the dispensary nurse.I hated him.

Since my father worked for a Rural development NGO,I frequently accompanied him for village visits.I don’t have any Doctor memories from those days coz a Doctor in rural areas back then was like a penguin in the Sahara.Absurd.That’s what it was.PHC’s existed but Doctors visited it once a month.And I dare say,the situation is still the same in most rural areas.

But my village had one.Everyone called him ‘Daaktar’(cliched,i know) and a large aluminium box with a bright red Plus sign was his only accompaniment.

Lessons learnt from vaccination not lost on me,I’d watch from a distance with starry eyes as he’d open his Pandora’s Box and set up a clinic right under a tree.

From injections that looked like torture weapons and pills that could have given ‘Cadbury Gems’ a run for it’s money to a rag-tag stethoscope and the IV hung from a tree,it all seemed magical back then.Someday,maybe.I thought.

On one such village visit,I suffered from a bout of chicken pox and was exposed to a world of medicine unknown to me.My Grandfather,a traditional healer,decided ‘Mata’ had decided to visit us and my parents’ protests notwithstanding,I got my first experience of ‘jhaad-phoonk’. So every evening,my room would be filled with pungent smoke from some forest weed followed by brushing of the body using a broom made of shrubs.And I actually ended up enjoying those sessions as I got him to brush me in every body part I found itchy.

When I was cured 10 days later,I was taken to the village pond,turmeric applied all over my body and post a pooja to ward off ‘Mata’,the virtues of ‘Jhaad-phoonk’ were extolled to me even as I exchanged glances with my Father.Not convinced of the approach,he had secretly put me on meds procured from one of his city visits and but for the two of us,nobody knew.The follow-up was darn nice too.Coconut water baths for 10 days followed by the choicest of delicacies.I wasn’t complaining.Nor was I going to believe in such methods in future.

My next memorable doctor encounter happened in middle school when I broke my clavicle trying to emulate Shoaib Akhtar.I remember running in full steam,extending my arm to release the ball followed by a crackling sound and pitch darkness.I was in such pain I could see evolution happen right in front of my eyes.I was rushed to the nearest hospital and I vividly remember the Doctor on duty playing Solitaire on his PC even as he guessed how the injury might have happened.

I liked how nonchalantly he ordered the nurse to tie a ‘figure of 8’ while still playing solitaire.

Damn!That was cool.And I wanted to be like him.

And as incredible as it may seem for my wiry frame,my next real brush with doctors came a good 8 years later when I was admitted to CH(SC),Pune during my fourth term at AFMC.

But much had transpired in those intervening years.

I finished school,gave up cricket altogether(lest the clavicle fracture recurred),made it to AFMC and watched movies which were to shape my impression of Doctors in the years to come.

My interaction with the AMC limited to the Army Doctor who invigilated during the AFMC entrance,I didn’t know much of the military or medicine.But that initial interaction had been impressive.I remember sitting in a classroom full of anxious AFMC aspirants when he had walked in and all I could see was the uniform,at least till he decided to speak.He spoke well and put us all at ease with a joke.And suddenly,I wanted to be like him too.

‘Prahaar’ was the one movie I remember seeing a military doctor.

In one scene, Nana Patekar asks young recruits,as the training i/c,if they’ve got any problems.And frustrated at the strenuous schedule,one recruit falls for the bait and claims leg pain.

He’s taken to the Academy Doctor who asks him to undress and lie down on the examination couch.A proctoscope and a few screams later,the scene fast forwards to next day when the recruits are visibly more tired,yet when Nana Patekar asks if anybody had problems,they reply in a resounding ‘No’.

I had my doubts if military medicine really worked like that.And I wondered if the Doctor I met in the exam hall was like that too.

Entry into AFMC made me meet quite a few people whom I still look upto as Doctors,teachers as well as human beings.

One such lady very popular with students for her teaching and nature alike was Col M.

A famous incident relates to Col M shedding tears with a med cadet during Term viva when he cried saying he missed his mom on being asked why he couldn’t answer much.He passed and plenty of us learnt a lesson in empathy,him included.We never gave her another chance to give us grace marks.Many called her ‘Fairy Godmother’.I couldn’t agree more.

Another famous teacher I remember from my college days was Col. R,famous for starting his lectures with Question-Answer sessions starting from the last bench.Fail to answer a Question and you could get anything between “six months” to a “I never forgive,I never forget”.

Never before had there been a mad rush amongst batchmates to come to class early and grab a seat but come his lecture and the tables were turned.As lazy as we were,we preferred coming to class early than going through our books.

And those lectures are still a stuff of legend.Crisp 30 min lectures minus powerpoint interspersed with fascinating personal anecdotes and great oratory.His lectures were a lesson in preparation and delivery.No one slept,nobody’s attention wavered and I dare say it was as much because of the teaching as because of his strict persona.Plenty to learn from him,suddenly,I wanted to teach too.

But being a medical student encapsulated other challenges.For instance,overcoming one’s fear of blood.My first brush with blood resulted in syncope in the blood bank and I remember being embarrassed every time someone reminded me that.With time & maturity,I’ve come to see it as a human frailty which needs to be accepted.I got over that sometime during my internship and find it funny in hindsight.

I witnessed life from the other side when I was admitted to CH(SC) as a patient in 4th term and I was every bit as pesky a patient as the ones I was to see in future.Judgemental of the nurse when she poked me with needles and intracaths, grudging the fact that my investigation reports were taking so long, lamenting that doctors didn’t have a definitive diagnosis even after 10 days or just patient-cranky,I was playing the textbook ‘patience demanding patient’ to perfection.Over a month in hospital,I came out of hospital cured and chastened and I never wanted to be a patient again.

All this while,my constant accompaniment was Bollywood and I couldn’t help draw comparisons.

The Bollywood doctor could’ve been an intense,no nonsense doctor like Amitabh Bacchan in ‘Anand’ yet struggling to come to terms with his friend’s illness or he could’ve been a funny,zany man used for comic relief or at times even a Villain like Dr. Dang in ‘Karma’,the Dr. prefix there being a misnomer.

Quizzing in Pune introduced me to some really must see Doctor movies like ‘Ek Doctor ki Maut’.If one wishes to understand why brilliant doctors migrate to greener pastures, this is the film that one needs to watch.The bureaucracy taking down a young Doctor with a potential cure for a disease and him not even getting credit makes for an eye-opener of a film.

In light of the recent attacks on Doctors and the insensitive treatment meted out to them the judiciary,administration and even the Govt ,that sounds too familiar for comfort.Doesn't it??

‘Dr. Kotnis ki amar kahani’ was another movie I stumbled onto while answering Quiz questions at the Boat Club Quiz Club,Pune.

A heady concoction of professional commitment,interspersed with nationalist fervour,the movie remains a shining example of how a Doctor should execute his job.Ideal yes,practical maybe not so much.

One of the quizzes introduced me to M*A*S*H,the escapades of a medical team during the Korean War,making it a fascinating watch and one of the most famous medical films ever.

‘Doctor at Sea’ happened sometime soon and I never knew it would someday become an oft repeated term during my ship tenure,literally and figuratively.

Still 'she-sick'

‘Young Doctors in love’,a spoof poking fun on all those doctor-filled soap operas,remains the funniest Doctor movie I’ve seen till date. Our very own ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ happened too.I was thrilled and amazed only to know later it was a desi take on ‘Patch Adams’.

Becoming a Military Doctor was to further bring about a sea change in the way I saw Doctors.

I still remember my first Commanding Officer telling us on the last day of our internship “There are two types of Doctors.The ‘facilitators’ and the ‘enforcers’.Both are as effective in the long run and it’s upto you how you’d like to become.The first category requires empathy,the second one not so much.If you were to take my word,become a mixture of the two,ideally with more of the former.Also because the fauj has enough enforcers and it could do with a few facilitators.”

His words didn’t make much sense to me back then but two years on board a ship and his words ring true now,almost prophetic.It’s empathy that sets apart a Doctor from others in a fighting unit and it’s a lesson I’m not forgetting for life.

Also,Bollywood,for all it’s cliches doesn’t work in real life as I discovered to my angst a couple of years back.Deciding to engage in small talk with a Grandma from Haryana outside the Labour room waiting her daughter-in-law’s delivery I decided to go vintage Bollywood and said :-

“Mubarak ho. Ghar mein naya mehmaan aaney wala hai”.

Her expression bordering on disgust she shouted at her Son “ Re Mahender. Tanne kitni baar bola Bahu pet se hai. Ghar pe doston ko aur mehmano ko naa laya kar. Ab delivery bhi mehman se karayega ke??”

The son was caught unawares as was I and even as we shared sweets post the delivery I let out a chuckle as he told me about his mother’s amnesia.I find it hilarious in hindsight but back then it was anything but funny.

A few decades on,Bollywood’s portrayal of Doctors still remains the same and I’ve started

preferring Hollywood.

I don’t behave like the Doctor in Prahaar,I prefer Col M’s method more.I don’t carry Doctor cases with Emergency written in bright red even though I do play Solitaire on my PC once in a while on duty.I’ve started playing cricket again,even though I’ve quit bowling altogether.Invigilating at the AFMC entrance exam remains an unfulfilled dream,courtesy it’s abolishment and I want to teach like Col. R someday.

And I’ve become a Doctor.A sum total of the books I’ve read,the patients I’ve seen,the teachers I’ve been taught by,the movies I’ve watched and the quizzes I’ve attended.And yes,I’d like to believe I’m a ‘facilitator’ and a proud one at that.

Being Thankful

2016-05-11T00:15:00.003+05:30

Even as I gasped and struggled in the waters,memories of me asking

mother as to why someone who didn't know swimming would go near a

water body flashed through my mind.My tone had been condescending and

dismissive of their ‘foolishness’.Mom of course was more worldly wise

and besides explaining that thing called ‘fate’ she cautioned me

against speaking ill of the dead.

I sat mum for three hours straight even as my friends played the

cricket match we had set out to.I had been rescued by a classmate and

how I felt for the rest of the day cannot be put in words.That

evening,even as my mom said a small prayer choking with tears and

hugged me,remorse and thankfulness weren't mere adjectives anymore.I

had felt death up close and personal.

One night,11 years later,I was driving all agog with excitement that

being my first time on a highway.

Surrounded by fumes from trucks and the dust floating around,I decided

to get the visor of my helmet down.It was all smooth till the traffic

remained sluggish.An open road ensured higher speeds and cruising at

speeds well above 60 kmph,I was dazzled by the glare of the headlights

from a row of trucks coming from the opposite direction.A high beam

from an incoming vehicle reflected by the glass of the visor was

something I hadn’t experienced before and I was blinded for a good

five seconds. Even as I applied the brakes instinctively,I could hear

my pillion ask if

everything was fine,blissfully unaware of what had happened.As I

started the bike again and the

headlight flashed ahead,I stared at a huge mound of freshly excavated

soil.Another 10 secs at the same speed and we could've been

history.Shaken,I covered the rest of the journey with my visor up and

the speed below 40.

God obviously wanted to hammer a few lessons into me it seems coz

something similar transpired a month back.

Travelling on a chopper with a VVIP,I was all snug and comfy catching

up on lost sleep when I first smelt smoke.I looked around.Nobody else

seemed to have smelt it and they were all napping.

“You’re travelling with someone so important.Everything must’ve been

cross-checked at least thrice.Stop being silly.” I was trying to

convince myself back to sleep when the helicopter made a strange

growling sound and sparks flew from the left part of the roof.By then

others had also noticed it coz the smoke had grown too strong to

ignore.Miles away from land,surrounded by water all around,I feared

the inevitable.I remembered my parents and siblings and said a small

prayer for them lest that be my last prayer ever.A few anxious moments

later,the crew announced we were going back to base.

I survived the ordeal and that incident made me recollect the previous

two incidents where perhaps God was sending me a sign which I just

couldn’t catch.

When faced with imminent death all I could wish for was the happiness

of my parents and siblings.Perhaps a sign that family comes

first.Always.

Being a little thankful for what we’ve been blessed with is something

we often miss out on.While asking for more is fine,remembering to be

grateful for what’s already ours is perhaps more

important.

As Lemony Snicket puts it beautifully “It is a miracle if you have

true friends,and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat,and it

is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever

you like to do and the holiday season-like all the other seasons-is a

good time not only to tell stories of miracles,but to think of the

miracles in your own life,and be grateful for them.”

I seem to have encountered quite a few miracles in my life and I’m

thankful..immensely thankful.

True...Ain't it?

The house that Grandpa built

2015-12-18T02:25:00.000+05:30

I don't exactly remember my first brush with 'the house'.All I remember is that I was really 'small' back then.Yes 'small' is the word,not young coz I remember fitting on to the petrol tank of my father's evergreen bike without obstructing his view those days.

However,in no particular order,what I do remember is : numerous sightings of white as father pointed it out to me as we rode past Tamar with unerring regularity every few months,how it seemed enormous like an apparition when I was young to just about accommodating everyone during marriages which served as get-togethers for our extended family, getting down from the State bus on evenings with the courtyard visible from a good half kilometre and Grandpa looking expectantly straining his glasses and me running into the courtyard with shrieks of delight.Childhood indeed was awesome.

'Radha Govind Bhavan' in all it's glory

My first brush with the house came on a rainy evening when I was all of 10.We were returning from Grandma’s place,a village which was a 5 km hike from the highway,adjacent to which the house was located.We usually covered that distance using a bicycle which Grandpa kept in the house exactly for that purpose.Waiting for a bus to Ranchi standing next to the highway,we had been caught in an unseasonal deluge.

Despite both my parents being from Ranchi,I was born and brought up in Jamshedpur as my parents worked there.With almost everyone in my extended family living in Ranchi or places nearby,I ended up visiting Ranchi at least twice a year,courtesy,Summer and Winter vacations.
Some 60 kms from Ranchi on the 120 km stretch between the two cities lies Tamar.A tribal stronghold,it’s a nondescript place more famous for it’s Naxals and Elephant raids than the truckloads of tomatoes and wheat it produces.My introduction to Tamar was obviously that house.

I remember being rushed to a dhaba nearby.While grandpa had some tea,I remember settling down with some knick-knacks and the newspaper.I finished my snacks,Grandpa his tea.We even took turns reading the newspaper but the rains didn't relent.Sensing my boredom,he started asking me about school and studies.Now which self-respecting 10 year old would like to talk about studies during a vacation??..So,I cleverly diverted our conversation towards the house.And Grandpa willingly obliged.It was a prized possession of his,the eponymous ‘Radha Govind Bhavan’.

When the rains stopped,he took me to the house,plucked a few guavas for me and showed me the huge Sandalwood tree in the courtyard.He liked to pamper us when happy.A practising advocate in the Ranchi high court for over 35 years,Radha Govind Babu,as he was popularly known,was a different person with kids,quite unlike his serious demeanour at other times.He even bought me a comic book before we boarded the bus.Something I had said or asked must’ve made him really happy.Was it the house??..I’d like to believe so.

The next visit was with mom.The scorching June sun at it’s peak,we had stopped for a breather before proceeding to Grandma’s place.From nowhere,a few glasses of delicious Orange squash appeared along with fresh water from the well.And so did a pedal Rickshaw with a driver.Apparently,our tenants were really nice people.

However,it wasn’t until May 99 that the house endeared itself to me.

Imagine a sprawling house with 15 odd rooms,add a huge courtyard with trees on the periphery and a variety of plants inside,a well with sweet,cold water regardless of the time of the year and throw in long lost cousins who met each other only during occasions like this one.We were at the marriage of my youngest aunt.It’s location right next to the highway added to it’s accessibility enabling guests from both Jamshedpur and Ranchi making it to the place with ease besides our village folk.There it was,our very own version of Sainik Farms.

Needless to say,we had a blast.Having finished with my exams,we reached a week before the marriage and left a week after.Those two weeks were special indeed.Too young to be entrusted with responsibilities,all I did all day was have fun.

From cricket in the courtyard which saw the ball enter the cook’s enclosure more than once to bathing by the well,hand pump or the river as per my whims,it entailed all.
I learnt to change into dry clothes still wearing a partially wet towel while buses and trucks stopped and accelerated and people stared from a distance.It’s quite an art,trust me.

I learnt there was music in the screech and honk of buses,in the splash when buckets hit the water in a well,in the humming sounds highways make when a truck accelerates kilometres away and in the swaying of guava trees.Not to mention,when a ripe guava hits the ground with a thud on a windy night when you're just about to sleep on the rooftop.

I learnt food tastes best when cooked on one of those huge chulhas which spring up at wedding venues fuelled by firewood from the forests.

And in a game trying to identify buses from a distance,I realised trucks,buses and most four wheelers resembled human faces.Some looked regal,some plain bored.There were a few angry ones and the pretty ones also seemed like the haughty ones.And once in a while I discovered real worldly wisdom on the bumpers of trucks while the world looked elsewhere.

Chota Nagpuri music,even though with laugh inducing lyrics,had foot-tapping beats and everytime
I heard beats wafting in the air from a distance,I felt happy that I could connect.Happy coz maybe it gave me a sense of belonging.

Trekkers,Matadors and Pedal Rickshaws which would seem like vehicles from an alternate world to most city kids plied with gay abandon there.A trekker with a capacity of fifteen would often carry thirty people at a time.Some on the rooftops,some hanging precariously for dear life.And if that wasn’t all,a goat or a few hens would almost always be there somewhere below the seats.

Going back home always felt like a time warp.Time always flew past when I was in Pune,Kochi and then Mumbai.Back home in Jamshedpur,it almost seemed like another era.No traffic snarls,plenty of open spaces,and time seemed to crawl past,almost to the point of boredom.But it was also incredibly soothing.Almost as if someone had poured cold water on parched skin.

Tamar and ‘Radha Govind Bhavan’ seemed to slow down the pace still further.

You’d wake up either by the rooster's call or by the furious honk of the seven am bus from Ranchi urging the last of it’s few regular passengers to hurry up.There’d be scores of kids in blue shorts and white shirts waiting for one of the local buses to ferry them to government school a good 15 kms away.While you chewed on a twig of Sal or Karanja,the silence would be shattered once in a while by a tired baarat returning from a marriage,speakers blaring from truck tops,either urging a dame to come to a dam instead of going to school OR a recently 18 turned guy urging his folks to get him married to the girl of his choice

As far as I can remember,I’ve had this intense desire to see the world.Cities big,small,near,far,they all fit the bill as long as they seem new to me.Ever since I left home for college,one thought that often criss-crossed my mind was what if I ended up liking some place more than what I had back home??And as content my parents were with my progress,I could feel similar vibes emanating from them,even if they never put it into words.What if their son never returned??

Amidst all this I grew up,changed schools,switched from city to city and on busy afternoons when my heart ached for the unknown,I longed to be back.Not necessarily back home,but to the surroundings,to the overwhelming familiarity and it was then that I knew I’d always remain a ‘small town boy’.A cliched term I know,but cliches they say are cliches for a reason.They are true.

Grandpa passed away in 2003.The sandalwood tree was burgled in a daring midnight robbery a few years later.My place as the kid of the family has been taken away by younger cousins since.The house has seen another three marriages since and I could enjoy none of them.In 200,I was down with a broken collar bone plus final exams.2004 was again about exams so much to my anguish I went in the evening and returned the next morning.2013 was about a lack of intent from both sides so I stayed away.The only solace was that each of those marriages saw the house back to it’s state of impeccable white.

Meanwhile I itched to get back for an occasion where I had time in hand and my loved ones around me.A week before,a week after.I itched to relive all those experiences.I itched to relive my childhood on the other side of 25.

My elder sister got married last month.And I was there much as i would've liked myself to.I did the running around.I sat with father and did the planning.I shopped for the wedding after debating over mom why a particular saree would look better than another one and I made my sister wear the saree I bought.I bought the gifts and distributed the cards,connecting with people who’d been out of sight and hence out of mind.

The house all decked up,much like the bride

And I loved taking my cousins for a bath to the well,getting them comics from Mumbai for them to bide their time.I enjoyed bursting crackers at night before going to sleep,stealing a quick getaway to the nearby dhaba for some hot ‘Aloo chops’,lending a patient ear to their ramblings,involving them in certain work to make them feel at home and passing tips on plucking guavas without damaging them.Times had changed and I had grown up from the pampered to the pamperer.I had built my memories long ago,it was high time I passed them over.

The Jharkhand Government has been widening the NH 33 over the last few years and our worst fears came true a few months back when we received a letter which said that a part of the house would have to give way for the highway.The courtyard would remain as would Radha Govind babu’s name.As for the memories,only time would tell.

P.s.-The land on which it was built was bought by my great Grandfather who was the local MLA and the house was named after my grandpa as a gift to him.I learnt this 25 days back.The title of this post still remains the same,just that the Grandpas have changed.

Tales from internship

2014-03-29T19:18:00.000+05:30

**This piece was written for the 2014 edition of DHANVANTARI,the annual magazine of AFMC,Pune....

So,in case you'd prefer to read it there,please logout and go needle the Xinarians,(ie,the X2 batch of AFMC) for a copy**

---------------x--------------------x-------------------x---------------------x----------------

Walking down the road to the Masjid gate,I was beaming and so were my parents..and why not??..Our batch had just had its POP and like scores of proud parents, my parents were happy too..and what better feeling as a son to see your parents smile knowing that you are the reason.

I was escorting them to the Masjid gate where their vehicle was parked.

Engaged in happy banter, I hadn’t seen it coming.

“Jai Hind Saab”. A middle-aged sepoy had struck his DMS boot on the ground and let out a salute coupled with a smile.

My parents had an expression of surprise and to be honest, I remember turning around to see if there was an Officer behind me.

While my parents smiled, it took me a moment to realise, it was for me.

“Jai Hind…Jai Hind” I recovered in time and replied back.

The sepoy crossed us and the whole family shared a laugh..One of the kind where words aren’t exchanged , yet everybody knows why…

The first salute I received marked my initiation into the forces and the transformation from a cadet to an officer had started..

Passing out…err…graduating (Yes people,we graduate from college..we pass out of the Parade Ground ..and maybe at pubs,bars and hostel parties) from AFMC is indeed different in the sense that you are expected to be as much of an Officer as a Doctor..And this reality was to dawn on me multiple times in the months to come..

The initial days,though exhausting,were exciting…

New place,new people and a new culture..So much came with the Uniform..Not to forget expectations..

My internship started with Obs/Gynae , a subject I liked only because of the superlative teachers back in college..Bookish knowledge , though important, isn’t everything and I was to realise this soon.

My first day in the Gynae Ward was rather dramatic..The nursing staff seemed almost oblivious to my presence..Well,they had work to do..My HOD had asked me to roam around the ward and familiarise myself to the sights,sounds and yes smells of the ward...

“Saar”…a lady in a white sari with blue borders smiled and pointed at something..She was the ward Sahayika,I learnt later.

She was pointing at a IV line which had stopped for some reason..She obviously wanted me to correct it..For her,neither did it matter nor was she aware of the fact that I was an intern,fresh out of college with zero practical experience…What mattered was the uniform and the fact that I was donning it..

I remember fiddling nervously with the IV set while my HOD watched from a distance, amused..And as if by a divine intervention, the IV somehow started trickling down..

Practical life indeed,was different..

The fact that everybody around me,right from the Medical assistants and the Nursing officers to even the ward Sahayikas,was more experienced was very humbling..Perhaps,a lesson lurked there somewhere.

That was proof of what our teachers told us back in college...

One can and one must learn from anybody and everybody..

While a senior taught me how to start an IV line, the first delivery I conducted was under a Nursing officer’s watchful eyes..From giving injections and writing prescriptions to learning to talk to patients, there was much to be learnt..Not to forget, receiving salutes,passing PT’s and commanding parades...

A month into my internship,I was in the OT,and having just cleaned the patient’s skin with an alcohol based antiseptic,the anaesthetist suddenly asked “**ice,water,vapour**..how does alcohol act??”

My eyes glittered and I blurted out the various ways in which I had seen alcohol act in the 4.5 years spent in college..No,I didn't do so,just thought of it…My actual answer was based on whatever Physiology I remembered from the first year of MBBS

I later realised I had bungled up when everybody burst out laughing…No doubt it was an open-ended Question and he should have been specific but there was a lesson here too..

More attentiveness was warranted.

And trust me,the Eureka moments are many…The first successful IV,the first conducted delivery,first suturing,first Caesarean,first USG,first hydrocoele,the first life saved… the list is endless…Everything new that’s done successfully is a source of pure,unadulterated joy..

If internship is all about learning new things then trust me, regardless of posting, all of us get a chance to pursue things which we might have deemed impossible at once..From swimming to being a platoon commander at a parade, internship at a Fauji hospital entails all..

So many of our clientele require someone who can just listen to their problems..Medicines can be dispensed by anybody but lending a patient ear with medicines..I’d prefer that anyday…I’ve definitely turned more patient, if nothing else..

And listening is not all..You shall be speaking too...Taking lectures, presenting cases at clinical meetings, hosting a few maybe…

Much remains to be learnt and whatever’s been learnt remains to be polished and tested..

However,the best point in my internship came a few months ago when we had assembled to bid farewell to our Commanding Officer..

We had been uncouth, college students when we had first joined hospital..To his credit, he had managed to change us through words and occasional strictness, maybe a punishment or two and we ourselves could feel the change..And of course, he led by example..

So, it really felt awesome when he mentioned our names in his farewell speech…What greater validation could an intern perhaps need??...

Before I end, a word for my lovely juniors…

Whether or not you join the services, internship is a new phase in your life meant to be enjoyed and cherished...

Have fun and as a senior from college once said tongue firmly-in-cheek,after meeting us,ie, his interns,“No matter which ship you join as a medical officer,Internship will remain your favourite ship”

Pictory..

2014-02-04T18:40:00.002+05:30

"I've been told my interns are very talented" boss said with a broad smile.
I knew he wanted something out of us..
We had been summoned to our Commanding Officer's Cabin..

"Sir,you've been utterly misguided" I screamed out..Well,just thought of doing so..

He went on to tell us how a certain Organisation comprising of the better halves of the 'Men of valour who guard our seas' was organizing an event where we had to represent our Hospital teaming up with a few others.

We were pushed into it and we accepted it hoping it would be a play/drama coz neither of us can dance for our lives..Not that we had much of a choice,anyway...

Surpise,surprise..It turned out to be a Group dance and I finally got on stage for dancing for the 1st time after class 3...Days of rehearsals ensured we had plenty of fun and of course,made some new friends...

However,the silver lining in this assumed cloud came in the form of another oppurtunity...The same event had another competition where any one of a married couple had to repropose to his/her spouse in a min...

An idea I floated caught the Junta's fancy and I had the chance to write and direct for the first time ever...Just a one min thing,but the joy of seeing my creation being enacted on stage was thrilling...And guess what??...I managed to get our hospital dermatologist do it for his wife..

Here's what I wrote

The Plot

Dialoguebaazi

Different ending??...Well,the lady who proof read this certainly felt so

P.S.-Wondering what the results were??....Well,we didn't win...but maybe I did..Afterall,I saw my creation enacted on stage..

Growing up

2013-12-15T16:46:00.001+05:30

‘Bishop’s Lodge aa gaya madam’ the conductor bared out his lungs and the bus screeched to a halt.

A tall lady in a blue cotton saree stepped out.She turned around,adjusted her hair,her saree and then spread her arms to collect her munchkin as the conductor handed him over .

Goodbyes ensued and the over-enthusiastic kid even blew kisses to the whole bus sending scores of passengers into peals of laughter, bringing an embarrassed smile to his momma’s face.

Young Aalekh had a spring in his step.
Winter vacations usually had this effect on him. No school,the winter chill,the sunshine and a chance to fly kites all day long..Who wouldn’t be excited.
And to top it all he had the chance to do all this at his Grandfather’s place.

He ran into the street even as the lady struggled with the lugguage. Ten metres or so and he stopped.
That was the longest he had ever gone without momma.
He waited.Mom caught up and he walked alongside like a perfectly obedient kid.

The first establishment on the street was a bottle-green wooden shack which stood out because of two distinct memories.The shack had always served as an indication that he was entering the correct street and secondly because of a peculiar smell that always originated from it,one which his mom and his maasis hated and asked him to stay away from.

The walk to their destination was hardly half a km but the number of people who knew her mom or vice versa took Aalekh by surprise.
Some greeted her by her first name,some focussed their attention on him and ‘googly-wooglied’ his cheeks with exclamations like “Arrey!kitna bada ho gaya” and still some others were greeted by his mother.

The first house on the bend was done in biscuit brown,a house he very well recognised and why not…It housed Munmun,the young gal he was teased about by his younger Mamu the last time he had been there for a Christmas party.
“But I only danced with her” he remembered mumbling amidst laughter all around.

How he had secretly wished for Munmun to step out.

Next up was a house which had ducks,hens and what not.
He,but of course,loved them to the extent that he had once been caught by his irate mom playfully strangling the throat of a hen.Poor thing,she had come ridiculously close to becoming dinner for two.

The smell of Christmas cupcakes wafting in the air told him it was Kerketta Aunty’s Bakery next.He loved that part of the street the most.Ambling across,he pestered his mom to buy him one only to be promised with one later in the evening.

Next up was Boney’s house.
He had giggled when he had heard his name first,for the only Boney he knew till then was Boney Kapoor.
Boney usually scared the daylights out of him as he did to many other strangers who came around his house.
He was the most ferocious bulldog Little Aalekh had seen.

The big gate of his Grandfather’s house in sight,he ran to reach there but couldn’t open the latch which was too high for him.
But to his shrieks of delight,someone lifted him and he was able to open it finally.
It was Chote Mamu,his favourite person there.Afterall,he was the only one who took him for joyrides on his Bicycle and got him comics and all other magazines he loved to read.

Soon,Grandpa would return,as would Bade Mamu and his two maasis from college and they would all be having a ball of a time.He imagined all this and more as he entered rows of perfectly cut decorative plants adorning the sidewalks,all bearing testimony to his Grandpa’s gardening interests.

“Bishop’s Lodge…Bishops’s Lodge” the bus stopped and a guy stepped out.No lady alongside,no goodbyes,no flying kisses.

The Bottle-green shack was still there.The peculiar smell was one of beef,as he had discovered later when he had first tasted it during College,much to his Mother’s disgust.He never mentioned it to her again.

He had kept track of Munmun through Facebook and he knew she had left for foreign shores to pursue Arts.And she had a steady boyfriend.Nevertheless,a smile ensued.

The ducks paddled away as if in recognition of their tormentor.

The cupcakes smelt familiar but his lack of interest in them made him feel guilty.He had all the money to buy himself dozens of those but none could match that one cupcake he used to win himself after repeated rounds of pestering.

And nobody who passed by,recognised him.

Well,but for Boney.A pale shadow of his former self,he found him as much a stranger as he did years ago.

His Grandpa having passed away long ago,the plants on the sidewalk lay unattended.
As he unlocked the latch on the main gate,his phone rang.
It was momma.
“Beta!!You still sure you want to do this??” her tone had a hint of concern.
“Yes mom!!..I will have to do this” a firm reply later,he walked into his Grandpa’s house as the Lawyer moderating the division of his Grandpa’s assets amongst his two Mamus.

How Aalekh wished he had never grown up.

A letter to your next love

2013-09-22T13:19:00.002+05:30

To put it bluntly,I'm not a man of letters..I'm not even a man of words but I do like to put down what I feel on paper..

You have something now that was once my most treasured possession,or so I thought.

A bad day,the worst boss and all those hidden fears counted for nothing at the end of the day, just because I knew that even if all was lost,I would still have had her by my side..

You aren’t her first,perhaps I wasn’t either.

I'm still coming to terms with the fact that there was someone before me who was to her what I believed I was...Someone to whom she might have whispered the 'sweet nothings' she whispered to me...Someone whose healing touch she would have believed in when she was down...Someone who'd have been the first to pop up in her mind in times of Joy...

MALE EGO...I tell you.

I admit,my mind had wandered more than once,loosening its grip on my heart and allowing it to hope I would be her last. I am not naïve, but with enough love,even the most deeply wounded hearts start to believe they can fly again.She gave me all that love,and even more. And for quite some time, I didn't just fly,I soared...like never before..

I am not yet over her though. In a way,I never will be.
I will wonder if she wears those geeky glasses, and when she takes them off, if the sight of her eyes makes you melt as they did to me...
I'll wonder if she wears that nose ring once in a while just to irritate you..

I'll wonder if she still prefers sharing her ice cream coz she cannot finish one all by herself..

I'll wonder if you save your conversations with her as well and read them when the chips are down...
I'll wonder if you call her the most beautiful woman on earth as well,and I will cringe in the possibility that you do...MALE EGO...Remember??

You would perhaps go to any extent for her,and will be fiercely possessive,perhaps as possessive as me...

But the good part is...She’ll love that possessiveness,every second of it..Just don't overdo it..

I have one piece of advice for you though.Never take her drive away from her.It is her fuel, it is the one thing that gives her the belief of invincibility.
Believe in her drive,believe in her invincibility..She'll fall,she'll doubt herself but with you by her side,she'll rise up stronger than before..
Don’t take it away from her..
If she loves you enough it will break her,if she doesn’t,it will make her bitter.

Her past notwithstanding,she’ll be jealous of yours, and yes,she will be unreasonable at times.Be patient with her at times like these coz to deserve her at her best,you need to bear with her at her worst...

The rewards??...Many..trust me....

She'll bare her heart in front of you..Her deepest fears and her most intimate secrets will be yours...She'll reward you with her trust...What greater validation would a male perhaps need??

If she can just put his head on your shoulder and cry her heart out,rest assured you are the most trusted man in her life..

and yes...She'll love you..

When she'll hold your hand while crossing a busy street,she'll make you feel the way you made your Dad feel when you held his hand while crossing roads as a kid...

If she cries in front of you,let her...coz you are her man,the one she can rely upon...

And when you are down,she'll encircle you in those lovely,petite arms of hers which will be the panacea to all your troubles

Love her — it’s the most rewarding experience you will have in your life..

I know you don’t need me to tell you all this.
What I will tell you, though,is that you’ve got the most precious thing on earth,one that'll be a source of unlimited joy,now and forever.

Don’t lose it,

don’t waste it,

and

don’t squander it on petty issues.

Let her take you to a world only she has access to,the world she's kept aside for her soulmate..

Love her,and let her love you,and I assure you,you will never be the same again.

She actually was beautiful as well..yeah!!..like the ones in the magazines

Trains,Facebook etc

2013-09-09T10:17:00.000+05:30

Old readers of this blog would perhaps remember that the first post on this blog had exactly the same name..

Sometime in May 2013,my blog turned 3..Even though I do not scribble that often nowadays,reading what I have written over the years is as good as sitting in a time machine and going back in time...

Feels good to reminiscence over the good,the bad and the juvenile..*Ugly I won't say because my narcissistic self loves almost everything of whatever I've ever written*

The story you'll read subsequently is a big time modification on what initially went up on the blog in 2010,the intention being a selection hope for a story-writing contest...

I took down the initial post in accordance with the competition rules and now that my story didn't make the cut,it goes up on the blog.

Ah...and this is the customary anniversary post as well,even though it was written sometime in August 2012

**I'll keep coming back to you scribbling**

Trains,Facebook etc

The message read “Hey there, Lady Dexter!!...Would love to meet you one last time before I graduate & leave the city…let me know when you get time”…Having read & re-read it at least 10 times, weighing all the different ways she could have construed it,I finally pressed the ‘send’ button..

It felt awkward sending that message,considering the fact that we hadn’t had a conversation since ‘our Birthdays’, which incidentally fall on consecutive days…

With only 2 weeks to go for my commissioning,I was desperate to have a final brush with everything memorable that Pune had offered me during the previous 4 & a half years..So farewell plays had been written & enacted,farewell Quizzes had been hosted,passing Final MBBS had been celebrated with a fervour hitherto unseen & handwritten-heartfelt notes had been stacked neatly in my drawer(to be given to friends who would have left around the same time)…But the feeling that something was amiss was a little too obvious…Just that I couldn’t pinpoint what…Hoping that ‘it’ would surface sometime soon if I gave it a break,I tried to shift my focus to other things…Uniforms,clearances,tickets-there lay so much abegging my attention..

----------->>----->>-----

It was on one such trip to the Lohegaon Air Base,to order my uniform,that I ran into Vishesh…

A senior from Medical school & now an Air Force doctor,he was someone I knew pretty well,having worked on the college Magazine together…The senior-Junior gap notwithstanding,we treated each other as friends & we decided to meet up once I had collected my uniform.

Gossiping over a round of drinks,Vishesh had a naughty smile on his face as he reminded me how we had first met..

I was a fresher back then..Standing in a row of crew-cut cadets,I had drawn attention by my audacious declaration that there wasn’t one beautiful girl in our batch,notwithstanding the fact that it had been just a week since the session began..We had been asked to describe ‘certain facets’ of the beauties of our batch by a bunch of seniors…Having never engaged in dirty talk before,I had reckoned that was the easy way out…

I was being heckled by a group of rowdy seniors for my ‘audacity’ when Vishesh had intervened & taken me aside…He seemed amused too… “Going by the outright dismissal of your female batchmates,you either seem to be a female heart-throb or a philosopher…Which one are you??” he asked,the sarcasm palpable .. “neither sir” I said,visibly dismayed… “Your face tells me you aren’t a former…& even though you do not talk like one of the latter variety,I’d love to know what you’d consider beautiful ”he seemed friendly & that was a big reassurance…

“sir!!..A beautiful face might often define attraction but for many,it might not necessarily be the only factor at play...someone whose talk cannot exude the same charm as her face would perhaps fizzle out as soon as she walked into your heart…the ability to have meaningful conversation with a person whose thoughts one can connect with is perhaps more important than opting for someone just with a lovely face..for a thinking male,the most attractive thing in a lady is perhaps confidence” I rattled out something almost like one of the ‘investment-is-subject-to-market-risks-kindly-read-carefully-before-investing’ ads on TV.

“Guys!!we have the first philosopher of the fresher batch-a thinking male” he shouted out with slow claps & a sarcastic chuckle, sending scores of seniors into peals of Laughter…

“Boy!!Considering the way you talk & the way you think,you’d perhaps have met your girl if she makes you feel like scribbling,into diaries,behind notebooks…a poem…or maybe a story or two” he had spoken just as the literary secretary of the college could have spoken…

“Sir!!..but I’ve already met someone like this-my English teacher” my writing experience limited to the compositions & letters written in school,I let out a wisecrack in my mind & smiled to myself…The suggestion had seemed funny back then…

We had just finished reminiscing through the whole story when he drew out an invitation card from his desk… He had finally found his soulmate,she taught in an International School… “It was all magical,the way we met & the way your ideal girl description fit her persona step by step…My girl,your criteria…& now its become mine as well” we had laughed away…

“Hey..that reminds me,found somebody who could make you feel like writing??”

The conversation set me thinking….Had I ever met someone who had made me want to scribble??... Was it the ‘it’ I seemed to be missing out on??...

Maybe not…Maybe yes!!...Maybe it was time to narrate a story!!

14^th December 2009

Aboard the Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Express,I was on my way back home after a term well spent in medical school..Aided by easier subjects & a lesser workload,I had finally managed to strike a fine balance between studies & extra-curriculars...& having done decently at both ,the happiness was palpable…Sitting amidst a group of 5 others,I had been jabbering away to glory..

The first glance had been incidental..Having somehow managed to drop my phone from the top berth,I had ventured off to the adjoining segment looking for the SIM,the memory card & the battery which had all been sent astray..There she was,sitting with a couple of male friends & from what I saw she seemed to be equally talkative..Of course,I couldn’t stare any longer than the casual glance,lest she’d notice...My phone finally assembled into one unit,I climbed back to my berth,the occasional glance thrown in every now & then…

Taller than the average Indian girl,she looked heavenly in a white salwar with a light pink dupatta…A radiant face & a pair of glasses thrown in for the geeko effect,she looked too good for me…Not to mention her tresses,trimmed till the shoulder & a perfect set of pearly white teeth,which added to her charm.…Every look seemed to be revealing something new…

A fashionably huge handbag,which could perhaps have doubled up as a suitcase in times of need,partially hid a novel whose title I couldn’t gauge from there…

‘Well dressed with a keen sense for accessories & fashion!!’…Looking for reasons as to why such a stunner would talk to me was perhaps like looking for a camel in Antarctica…And to rub insult to injury,she already had two guys for company,who both looked pretty rough to me…Convinced that I didn’t stand a chance,I decided having a nap was the best option..

As time was to tell,things were to change drastically…

In hindsight,the way it all started, it appeared almost Bollywoodish…Well,how else would you explain 3 of my friends getting down at DURG,her ruffian friends getting down at RAIPUR,the last friend of mine left aboard going to sleep & me deciding to watch a movie on my laptop…and and…the laptop having no charge with the only free plug-in being bang opposite to where she was seated..

Picture this…A winter afternoon…Two strangers sitting opposite each other on a train that moves in spurts & jerks,surrounded by people all engrossed amongst themselves…Ideal surroundings for things to blossom??...I certainly didn’t think so…I was rather overwhelmed just to be seated opposite the beauty…I plugged in my earphones again & began watching a recording of the ‘Freshers Show’ we had done last year…Her gaze fixed out of the window,I managed to steal glances at her quite often & all my inspectory findings from the top berth were confirmed…

But a conversation still seemed a long shot..She seemed almost oblivious to my presence…

However,a certain ‘toing’ sound was to catch everyone’s attention soon…that irritating sound was my message tone… Most people around me looked startled initially only to break out into smiles later…She had noticed it too…*imaginary fist pump*… never had I loved VODAFONE more…I was still checking out my Inbox when my phone ‘toing’ed again & this time she couldn’t suppress that irresistible smile…Boy!!was I happy…

The Classic kept in front of her was very enticing,to say the least…I did consider it as an ice-breaker,doing it the old-fashioned way, but attempting it when I myself hadn’t even heard of the title would perhaps have been foolhardy...

It was time for a heavenly intervention & it came soon…

She guided me out of my misery by initiating the conversation herself…

“Are you from AFMC?” she finally asked. She seemed to have noticed the college logo on my sweatshirt, which finally seemed to be of some use..

Having stolen innumerable glances at her earlier I wasn’t one to miss out on this golden opportunity.I looked straight into her eyes;I had every reason to do so, since she was the one who had initiated the conversation.

Still marvelling at the wonder in front of me I was woken up from my awestruck pose by the same voice, this time accompanied by a smile “Excuse me!...You are an AFMCite…right??”

I realized,I had been staring at her.Sheepishly,I nodded in agreement.She knew one of my seniors at college,having studied at the same school as him.That kickstarted our conversation.

I was more than happy,for finally I was talking to her…And thankfully,there was more to her than just a pretty face…She made for intelligent & engaging conversation…

And my excitement showed…my funny bone took over & we shared quite a few laughs..At one point,I seriously wondered if I was that funny coz the guy beside her was very carefully dissecting me with his stares & occasional coughs…Perhaps he couldn’t tolerate the fact that the girl sitting mum right next to him for the past 2 hours could talk & giggle like long-lost friends with a guy she had met only half an hour back…HAHAHA…men will be men…

Her revelation that she was a Research Scientist shocked me for her looks and her profession were as different as chalk and cheese.

“You Doctors don’t have much scope for research. Do you?” she asked.

“I’ll be taking up a research project next term.” I replied,even without thinking..

“If you need my help, come over to my institute.Our professors would be more than willing to help”

“Now, is that a hint she dropped?”..“Should I ask for her number?” Countless questions crowded my mind, all answered by a single line “Don’t ruin your college’s image by acting foolish”.

“Okay, I won’t” I promised myself and the chitchat continued till it was time for her to go…

BILASPUR seemed to have arrived rather quickly even though the train was a full hour late…Starting from Research projects & Medical exam vivas to the novel she was carrying,the conversation seemed to have a bit of everything…Fuelled by IRCTC dip tea,we both seemed to enjoy each other’s company,so much so that I had the bright idea of asking her name only when she mentioned that she’d be getting down at Bilaspur…Having shared an awkward look,we had both burst out laughing...

“Nice meeting you.” She said and after a handshake,she moved towards the door pushing her trolley bag.

Another dilemma seemed to cloud me then-How far should I push the ‘chivalrous armyman’ I was supposed to be??...Paying for a teacup was okay but the idea of facing her Dad if I helped her down with her lugguage seemed to squeeze the daylights out of me…Perhaps,it would’ve been as uncomfortable for the girl..Come on!!now which girl introduces a guy she’s just met on train to her Dad??…So,I came up with a diplomatic solution..I simply asked her “need help?”..But of course,she responded the way any upright,modern woman would have…

Now that she was leaving,I almost felt numbed by the feeling…There was so much I wanted to say,but the time available seemed agonisingly less…

Just as the train screeched to a halt,something inside me burst out and I shouted “Hey! How do I get in touch if I need help???”

“Take my number.”she shouted back.That statement almost bombed my ears and I again went numb,this time due to joy.

Some commotion brought me back to life.I saw a stream of passengers between her and me,all ready with bag and baggage.She was looking at me,waiting for a reply.Coolies had started entering and people started jostling for space.Still,she held firm.She needed an answer.By now people had started giving us angry stares.

Feeling uncomfortable I shouted“You on Facebook??”

“Yup“she replied.

“Ok,I’ll send you a friend request on Facebook”.

If I was right,she had disbelief written all over her face.Nevertheless,she alighted and I kept staring at the door.By the time I realized my folly,it was a bit too late.Hoping to redeem myself, I ran out of the door only to see her leaving with her father.

And I went silent…I had a sad look on my face almost bordering on repent…

“The story doesn’t end there..Does it??...you still wait eagerly for your train journeys back home,your facebook friendship has spread into real life & you probably even dragged your lazy bones to do a research project” Vishesh had burst out laughing… “that’s how the story ended …didn’t it??”

“How did you know??”… “been there,done that boy,but the real question is,has she ever made you feel like you’d want to write for her,weave stories with her in the lead role??”

My expressions changed & I had burst out laughing…. “Oh boy!!Can’t believe you fell for it”..

“If I didn’t weave a story right now,then what do you think I just did??..I had let out a loud chuckle…”the end you thought of,happens in movies,books but seldom in life,you are lucky it happened in yours” his astonishment seemed to grow with those rather serious words of mine…

“Come on man!!I was serious when I asked you that Question..you had been fooling me all the time??”astonished,he refused to believe I had been bluffing for the past 10 mins..

----->>>----->>----->>----

And even though I didn’t acknowledge it,his belief was true…Yes,the story didn’t end there…

I still wait for my train journeys back home…Pleasures of a chance meeting not lost on me,someday,I hope to run into you at one of the ice-cream parlours or momo joints we frequented,or perhaps brush against you in the city bus or maybe round the corner as I’m walking down the road…Or simpler still,on a train back home-where it all started…

The train exists,as does my facebook account and so does the girl..

Love or no love…lady,if you ever read this I’d like you to know that you’ve made me put pen to paper…I have scribbled behind notebooks,a para here,a para there…diaries..blogs …I’ve rediscovered my love for writing… & It all started with you…

Ah!!...that reminds me,I need to meet her before I leave…

My phone just ‘toing’ed..

‘ Sunday at Dorabjee’s’ she just replied back *return of the imaginary fist pump*

Still wondering whether I actually wrote something??...Yes,I did..the piece that you just read…I secretly hope it claims a place on the walls of some hi-tech Research Lab someday…

P.S.-

Of cons & cadets...

2013-03-17T15:38:00.001+05:30

**This piece was written for DHANVANTARI-2013,the annual magazine of AFMC,Pune** so if any of you would prefer to read it there,please logout & wait for your copy....

A warm April evening in 2009,the faccha batch had finally had finally been given its copies of DHANVANTARI..Eagerly sifting through the magazine,a story named

‘Spit & Polish’ written by Surgeon Capt (mrs.) Sheila Samanta Mathai,R Batch caught my eye…

As I progressed through the story,an initial expression of shock slowly gave way to a smile and as the truth dawned on me,I ran over to Byom’s room..I had to tell him what had happened...Afterall,he had been my partner in crime…

Byom’s reaction wasn’t much different to mine..A shocked expression & the choicest of swear words later,we had laughed off the matter…

The above story was still revolving in my mind when the Boy spoke,yet again in chaste English “Its okay if you don’t believe me,most people don’t.”…

It was Sept,2012 & we had just stepped out of KARACHI SWEET MART ,Fatimanagar,our ice-cream cones still unwrapped,when we had been approached by him..

A dark complexioned thin lad not more than 9-10 years,he wore clothes which seemed tattered yet

clean..Sheets of stickers in his hands revealing his intentions,we decided to oblige him...

At Rs 10 a sheet,they seemed like a bargain...

Having handed him Rs 20 after having bought a Shinchan & a Smiley strip each,we had just turned around when the boy asked politely “Excuse me sirs..Time permitting,can I talk to you for a minute?”…

The request was unusual but what surprised us more was his English,which was as good as any we had heard..

“Sir..I have a request” he had asked with a glint,maybe a glimmer of hope in his eye..

“You see sir..I live in the Hadapsar slums nearby..My father’s an alcoholic & mother works as a domestic help to make ends meet”

As Byom exchanged skeptical glances with me,I decided it was time to interrupt with a “So what??”…This wasn’t the first time we had been approached by English-speaking strangers,so being curt wasn’t that bad an option maybe..

He looked pained by that reaction of ours but anyway,he continued.“I study in a school during daytime & sell stickers at night to help her out”..We were melting,but still wary of his intentions,we decided to remain unsympathetic..

He went on “You see sir,I’ve been saving for an English dictionary since the past two months but I’m falling short of 250 Rupees”

Byom gave me one of those ‘I-knew-this-was-coming’ nudges…

All those lessons about being a good Samaritan came flooding to my mind as did the incident which happened when we were facchas trotting down MG ROAD in blacks & whites..

The request indeed was unusual..I had been duped in the past by English-speaking impostors in the garb of lost wallets to sick children but never had I been asked for money to buy a book…

“How come you speak such English when you can’t even afford food??”I asked,wanting to be doubly sure…

“You see sir,my tuition teacher pays my school fees”pat came the reply..

Still unsure,I exchanged glances with Byom who made it pretty clear he didn’t believe him…

“What if I get you a dictionary tomorrow from my hostel??”

“Pragati Express sir…Heard of it??”

“yes..Pune-Mumbai…Right??”

“Right sir!!..I’m leaving Pune forever for a boarding school by the Deccan Express tomorrow morning..My tuition teacher has got me admitted into a good school in Thane..I might never meet you again”…

He said in a deep & sad voice…& silence prevailed for a few seconds..

I was caught between the proverbial ‘devil & the deep blue sea’…On one hand there was the risk of squandering my parents’ hard earned money for the umpteenth time & on the other was the chance to help someone in genuine need…

I stood transfixed,still wondering what to do when the boy’s voice shook me out of my misery “Its okay if you don’t believe me,most people don’t.”..Holding his bag of stickers,he started to leave..

It was then that I shouted out almost as a reflex “Come with me,I’ll get you a dictionary”..Byom had an almost puzzled look on his face & he kept mumbling something under his breath,just that I couldn’t make out what…

Despite such an unusual request,the situation seemed distantly familiar…

The glint in his eyes was back & as we walked down to KROME MALL I finally deciphered what Byom had been muttering & it was DEJA VU…

Whiling away our time at MG Road as facchas on a Sunday sometime in 2008,we were getting our shoes polished & the Boot-polish guy,a boy in his early teens,seemed to be taking longer than usual… “Don’t mind saab..You see,my Polish-box is broken,even my brushes are quite old but don’t you worry,your shoes will shine like mirrors”…To say that his box was in tatters was an understatement & his brushes had fewer bristles than a toothbrush…

“Why don’t you get yourself a new box??”I asked

“How will I feed myself then sir??..you aren’t the first person who’s asked me this Question nor would you be the last but I’m yet to find a person who could back his sympathy with some help”…

His words were stinging & two young egos were hurt...Byom had flashed out a 100 Rupee note as did I…In a flash, he took them & disappeared after having hailed us as Kings, Emperors & what not…

Pleased that finally we had done something great, we would have basked in the warm afterglow of that act forever, had it not been for ‘Spit & Polish’…

Yes, we had been conned & conned comprehensively at that…The old Pune legend of a con who appeared with broken shoe-boxes & brushes & used saliva to polish shoes had been relived 29 years later…

So, that’s it with the story I guess…

Still wondering, what happened to the sticker boy & his Dictionary claims??...Well, having finally understood what Byom was hinting at(he didn’t want us to be conned again),I refused in the garb of getting back to hostel before 9:00 pm after walking half the distance with the boy…He accepted our refusal with a weak smile & simply walked away with a ‘Thank You sir’ adding to our guilt..

We both walked away in silence & never spoke of him again…Perhaps,we felt guilty for turning down someone genuine…

If any of you manage to spot the dictionary guy in Pune,do let us know…that would relieve us of our guilt..

& yes,beware of the legendary Shoe-polish Con of Pune

ANAND and me....

2012-07-21T21:50:00.003+05:30

As I pen these lines,my facebook & twitter timelines are flooded with updates about how ‘The Dark Knight rises’ has finally given a fitting finale to the World’s most loved superhero…

However,for someone who’s waited so eagerly for the final movie in Nolan’s Batman trilogy,my mind’s been strangely pre-occupied..

At 10 in the morning,surfing through news to bide my time through attendance,the headline of Rajesh khanna’s demise had little effect on me..I had never been a Rajesh Khanna fan,my tryst with his movies restricted to some of his lesser known movies & only a few of his classics..

In hindsight,I’d say my sensibilities at that age just weren’t good enough to appreciate ‘Classic Bollywood’…

How could I??...My parents were still in college when ‘KAKA’ was at the height of his unparalleled career…Having witnessed the hysteria & frenzy he generated in those days,(something which led to the epithet ‘superstar’ being coined & used first time for a Bollywood star)they have the right to count themselves as his fans,not someone like me who was born decades after…

To quote an article from Open magazine

“You know Rajesh Khanna, don’t you? If you are a young man or woman reading this, you may have heard of him as Akshay Kumar’s father-in-law or Dimple Kapadia’s husband or Amitabh Bachchan’s one-time co-star. At a pinch, you might also be somewhat familiar with his work: such classics as Anand, Aradhana, Amar Prem, Aavishkar and Bawarchi, which play on TV now and then. But to know and understand what and who Rajesh Khanna is and was, ask your mother. Chances are, she may have harboured a secret (maybe even an open and zealous) crush on Rajesh Khanna in her youth. My mother did. In truth, it was an entire female generation’s adulation of this actor that was at the centre of the Rajesh Khanna phenomenon.”

The above lines described my situation ‘almost’ perfectly…Almost because even though I didn’t hear of him in relation to his daughters/son-in-law/wife as suggested above,my idea of what KAKA was remained confined to the classics mentioned above,which didn’t appeal to the senses of a pre-teen back then...

Where’s the actor-fan connection then,you might be curious to know??

Talking of connections,we’d very well talk about another one::the trio of Kishore Kumar-RD Burman & Rajesh saab….Best of friends,this legendary trio has perhaps given us the most memorable songs of those Golden years,all hummable still…Add the lyrics of Anand Bakshi Saab to the equation & what we get is a mix of hauntingly soulful melodies…

My memories stretch back to the mid 90’s growing up in small town India when KAKA was well past his heydays…

Unlike most others of that era who’d have memories of watching Khanna saab croon ‘mere sapno ki rani’ in packed theatres in that opening sequence from Aradhana(1969),my first brush with his his golden run came in the form of his Songs,mostly audios,& a few of his classics,each of which gave me memories that have been overflowing since the sad news of his demise ….

The mid-90’s it was & Doordarshan was still the favoured channel at home despite my desperate pleas to get a cable connection or ‘dish’ as it was called in our parts back then…Dad felt it would hamper my studies so we stuck to DD…

It showed movies only on weekends,FRIDAYS@9:30 pm,SATURDAYS@10:30 pm & SUNDAYS@4:00 pm…I remember a 8 year old me spending a week in anticipation of the movies next week only to doze off around 8 on Fridays & Saturdays,so much of my movie watching experience was limited to Sunday evenings…

painting courtesy~KUNAL GUPTA sketches@Facebook

It was on one such evening that I had watched ANAND(1970) & disliked it…

The reason??...Many,back then…

For one,I kept waiting for a heroine to enter but no real heroine turned up..

Or perhaps,complicated terms like ‘lymphosarcoma of the intestine’ had me confused..

And the biggest reason,I had questioned myself “How could the Hero die in the end??”

At the tender age of 8,cinema for me constituted a good-looking damsel,a hero who could woo her charismatically through that whole song-dance routine,a villain(ideally PREM CHOPRA) & of course an Happy ending…ANAND gave me none of those…I didn’t even bother to find out who the guy playing Anand was..the sole actor I could recognise in ANAND was Amitabh Bachhan,not surprising,considering the fact that AB’s movies were shown much more frequently on DD than Khanna Saab’s…My views were to change,as time would tell..

Around the same time,I had passed class 3 & had now shifted to the senior section at School…Besides the place & teachers,much else changed…Parents felt I was now big enough to travel back home by ‘mini-bus’,something which I was to do for the next 8 years to come…The handful of buses that plied on my route back home were to bring me my next brush with Kaka’s Golden era…

The driver used to have a cassette player colloquialy called ‘box’ in front of him with a handful of cassettes, in a small cabinet overhead..Travel was frequent & cassettes were limited...Result:->In a few weeks,I could croon every single song that was played in any of those buses…

I remember fumbling with “maine dekha,tune dekha…maine dekha..tune dekha,isne dekha,usne dekha..sabne dekha”.. (Mumtaaz dancing & singing)

(Enter rajeshji)-“kya dekha??..kya dekha” ,a superhit song from Dushman…I remember the exultant cry I had let out when I finally mastered it…Quite a tongue-twister for an 8 year old,I’d say J

The same route saw me master ‘yeh jo mohabbat hai’ &’chup gaye saare nazare hoye kya baat ho gayi’ just to name a few… Antakshari sessions would see me reproduce many of those often…The lyrics,the beats,the voice(mostly Kishoreda),I had loved almost everything about the songs…But strangely enough,I had never bothered to find about the movie,the actors or the Singers…

Probable reasons:->Wiki didn’t exist back then & internet was still a big,big luxury & dare I discuss songs with DAD(the mere prospect used to squeeze the daylights out of me)OR maybe,I was content with the Eargasms those songs gave me…

In hindsight I’d say,probably it was the last reason..

As someone who flew kites & gazed at skies all day long,the mere mention of the movie title with the word Patang was a source of such unadulterated joy that when I finally stayed awake on a Friday to watch ‘KATI PATANG’ I had felt let down~the movie had nothing to do with kites,the kind I like to flew…." Patang jaisi toh koi cheez hi nahin hai ismein,phir naam Kati Patang kyun??” I remember reasoning with papa the next morning…Of course,he understood I was too naïve to appreciate what the movie title really conveyed even though I could reproduce its songs verbatim..Ironic!!..Huh??

Sometime soon,I was to watch ‘Haathi mere Saathi’ and it was to restore my faith in humanity…Like many other children,I had loved the movie…Which child wouldn’t like befriending an elephant who could help you ‘le chal khatara kheech ke’….the song was to stay on my lips for days to come…

Not much later,I watched ANAND again…It was a Total Solar Eclipse that day & DD had screened a movie at the last moment…Anand it was & I again couldn’t make much out of the movie except that the songs seemed hummable this time round & I walked away from the TV when ANAND died in that final scene…IN MY WORLD,HEROes DIDN’T DIE

More was to come soon…

Lazing on a cot in the courtyard at my Grandpa’s place with cousins & uncles post a heavy Dinner one night of my Summer vacations,I was asked not to doze off as DD was screening ‘Bawarchi’ & the family planned to watch the Classic together…

I remember waking up in the dark & clambering out of the mosquito-net discovering there was no one around me…I was afraid…The fear changed to anger when I discovered that leaving me there,everyone else was busy watching the movie…I went in & gave everyone a earful…

An 8 year old’s anger…Mind you!!...

There I was thinking of myself as the ‘ANGRY YOUNG MAN’ & all that avatar of mine could do was give my ‘maasis’ & ‘mama’s a hearty laugh…Late I was but I joined them just in time to watch Kaka charm members of a warring family one-by-one & fell asleep again only to wake up in the last scene & wonder how the movie ended so soon,again giving family a reason to laugh…

Again however,I couldn’t fathom why he left the family he had finally brought together in the end…a bitter-sweet ending,I had felt…

I was a little more grown up now…probably 12 or 13…

Rangoli??...rings a bell??...every SUNDAY morning at 7:15,we saw Hema Malini host the evergreen countdown show on DD…

courtesy~Vivek Razdan's blog

It was there that I first saw Rajesh Khanna charm a demure Sharmila tagore in that immortal train-jeep sequence…Loved the location,the lyrics & Kaka’s theatrics in the song but the song also did something else…

It introduced me to sharmila Tagore,my favourite actress of the yesteryears,as she stole coy glances at the charming superstar…& just the way KAKA had sung his way into millions of hearts across India,I felt she had walked into mine…pre-pubertal love!!…hehehe…

I remember looking around for a parallel train track and road post that song…Imagine my joy when I finally discovered a 500 metre stretch on NH-33 on my way to Ranchi with papa...Excited,I remember asking papa when the train passed on those tracks…Perhaps I expected to see a Sharmila pretending to read Alistair Maclean while stealing shy glances at ~~kaka~~ me…I felt like a hero… I was in Love J

Unfortunately,my dreams of wooing my lady on train from a jeep were washed away when I was told that the track wasn’t functional anymore….HEARTBREAK….what else??

However,KAKA’s songs were to offer me other options soon....

Soon I saw the song "hum dono do premi"

from the movie AJNABEE(1974) and I decided I was running away with a girl sometime soon on an open roof train,singing all along

'Bheegi-bheegi raaton mein’-a more sensuous number from the same movie made me reconsider my decision of running away from home…Why run away when you could romance your girl right there on the rooftop in the rains??…..

Teenage Love & Silly me…HAHAHAHA

My tryst with the evergreen ‘AMAR PREM’ came much later,I was in class 10^th then & preparing for my boards...Late nights weren’t a problem anymore…I remember coming back from my study & watching the movie start while I ate Dinner…Half an hour into the movie,I decided I was done studying for the day & that night was dedicated to that immortal saga of unspoken love~Love I could appreciate then…The movie tugged at my heartstrings & the classic ‘Chingaari koi Bhadke’ made me fall in love with those lyrics,besides Sharmila Tagore that is…

Watching her just gaze at the Bengali Bhadralok in that blue saree while he crooned away still seems magical…I was smitten…

'that' moment from 'chingaari koi bhadke'

Maybe just because I’m a fan but IMHO,never ever has an actress looked so beautiful in a saree…

A classic scene in the song comes before the lines ‘maana toofan ke aage,nahin chalta Zor kisi ka’ when the boat sways and Tagore sways along as if she’d fall & Khanna saab pulls her back…For me,that was the most beautiful part of a haunting song…

Was I gradually begin to like the hero I hadn’t bothered to enquire about just because I could identify Amitabh Bacchan in ANAND??...I didn’t know…

I’m 22 now….

Switching over channels all flashing news of his demise,I saw ANAND walking down JUHU beach with a bunch of balloons in his hands & singing ‘Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haye’…I could feel my hair stand on end…

Flipping more channels,I could see almost every song that I had grown up humming but never bothering to find out more about belonged to KAKA..From the tongue-twisting ‘Maine dekha-tune dekha’ to the song of lament ‘yeh jo mohabbat hai’,they were all there…As was ‘mere sapnon ki rani’ & the sensous ‘bheegi-bheegi raaaton mein’,the former IMHO being the most iconic introduction scene ever in Bollywood….

Finally,the pieces were coming together…I had perhaps been a fan all along…His demise just made me realise it & his songs have been on an endless loop ever since…

I was saddened…Yes,I’m a young man born in the late 80’s Mr. reporter & I'm mourning KAKA…I do not need to know about his daughter,wife or son-in-law to know about him…His songs have made me think,made me smile,made me draw plans to romance lovely ladies & even saddened me at times… Is that not reason enough to consider myself a fan??...

In case you were still wondering about the actor-fan connect mentioned in the beginning,you’d probably have your answer by now…

Something rather filmy transpired a day later,ie,yesterday,which was the final reason which made me finally take up this piece

Surgery clinics at Command Hospital(pune)àI was at the Malignant Diseases Treatment Centre(MDTC) at 11 in the morning yesterday as I was to present a case…My patient,a rather pleasant & educated lady from Nagpur,had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer...Filling her personal details,I asked “Aunty..aap kya kaam karti hain??”…

A LIC agent she was & as I bent my head to scribble into my notebook I heard her quip with a chuckle “yahan aane ke pahle main apna bhi insurance karwa ke aayi hoon…kisko pata tha doosron ka insurance karte karte” and she broke down sobbing heavily…A few sympathetic words & a warm hand holding gesture later,she regained her usual self…I proceeded to finish taking other details over the next hour …

Was it just a coincidence that I had interacted with someone who was in a similar situation as ANAND??...I had to find out

When I went back to my room,I dugout ANAND from the Hindi movies folder on my laptop….The movie seemed so different from the ANAND I had watched as a child & disliked...I sat spellbound through those 2 hours 2 mins of ANAND,marvelling at each line which seemed boring back then,understanding songs which meant nothing much back then & I appreciating the ‘celebrate life’ maxim the movie conveys despite so much pathos…

Meeting that patient earlier in the day seemed just like a heavenly intervention to make me appreciate one of the finest works in Bollywood...

Yes,I have finally grown-up enough to appreciate a work like ANAND~a movie which would be remembered as KAKA’s swansong,his best movie ever…So many lines from his movies have been doing the rounds since yesterday,none more than the ones from ANAND…

I’m grown-up enough to understand ‘lymphosarcoma of the intestine’ & its implications on the psyche of the sufferer…As if a coincidence,godwilling,I’ll be a doctor in 6 months time....

My patient earlier in the day had wept despite her best attempts to remain cheerful…Despite being in a curable stage,it was so difficult for her to remain cheerful…Imagining the psyche of a person who’s been told he’s got 6 months more to live is difficult even for those in the medical profession….

Kudos to kaka for taking on that role & enacting it in a way fit to be treasured & passed on to posterity….

I’ve grown up enough to feel the emotion conveyed in that immortal last line

“आनंद मरा नहीं , आनंद मरा नहीं करते " a line which kinda reaffirms my childhood belief that HEROES never die…

His deaths in Aradhana,Anand,Safar & Andaz have led many to describe him as the person who made even death look endearing…He probably did

BUT

Shouldn't we concentrate on his ‘celebrate life’ maxim

coz

“जब तक जिंदा हूँ मरा नहीं,जब मर गया तो साला मैं ही नहीं ”-Anand(1970)

Courtesy~satish acharya's page

Rest in peace ‘Superstar’

Of mornings goneby...

2012-05-20T16:41:00.002+05:30

I'm back home & blogging seems to be a natural recourse from boredom & an utter lack of things to do....not the only reasons though...I need peace & calm,which expressing myself in writing provides me in good measure..
Sometime in April,2012 this blog turned two...In case you are wondering how it feels,it feels as good as seeing a sapling you planted all grown up while you were away...dumb comparison,I know...but it kinda suits the occasion no??...
The last post on this blog was a confused,mushy piece way back in August,2011...Long time...ain't it??..
No matter how hard I tried to finish the posts lying in the drafts folder,things just didn't work out...
Just one of those things about scribbling-If the flow ain't smooth,then probably you are trying too hard...
So I let it be,incomplete posts piling up the drafts folder...
Thanks to the people who visited the blog even during this rather uncharacteristic absence...Here's hoping I can make for this absence soon...

I haven't felt too good about myself lately...However,the immediate trigger for this post weren't any of those feelings but something as simple as a sunrise witnessed after a pre-exam night out...

Read on...
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It was 4:00 a.m. on the clock...the late sleepers had slept,the early risers would have risen in an hour...I was awake,as I had been the whole night..
"last exam,just one more & then the train back home",I made a mental note...three consecutive night-outs had left me mentally & physically drained (& that showed in my answer-sheets I guess...messed up every single paper)...
More than the sleep,it was the fatigue that had begun to show...Having walked into the balcony for some fresh air,I was pleasantly surprised by the cool breeze that lashed against my sleepy face...Add to it,a koel's rhythmic 'kuhu-kuhu' & the red hues of the rising sun in the sky all combined and I had a feeling which had been long forgotten..
Yes,something as simple as the sunrise which had turned into a lost pleasure in life...I don't remember the last time I witnessed a sunrise or felt the early morning chill...surprising no??
Probably just side-effects of the 'late to bed & late to rise' way of life...
Nevertheless,those 15 odd minutes stuck and brought reminiscences back of some other dawns etched as strongly in memory...mornings that have goneby in the course of growing up to never be back again..
This post shall deal with some of those..In fact,you might just have read the first..

Memories of a 5 year-old me waking up on my bed early morning after having dozed off almost anywhere in the house would surely rank amongst the earliest of such memories...remember questioning dad every single time as to how that happened & him exchanging mysterious smiles with mom in return...seemed MAGIK back then..
Ah!!...childhood mysteries...

It wasn't always the innocence which made mornings memorable...At times,the persuasive self of a 7 year old had proved equally adept...
Dad often recalls with a laugh how often I accompanied him as part of Baarat's only to doze off even before reaching the bride's house...& I remember them too...waking up in the wee hours of morning at an unknown place,having pestered everyone around me the previous night,sleeping alone mostly..everyone else was interested in viewing the marriage proceedings,you see...

Add to it,the journey back on a village terrain lit up by the early morning sun plus the early morning chill & all you get is an indelible memory..the sun,the breeze,the chill~all were the same then except for the feeling,one of belonging...all part & parcel of growing up in the east I'd say..

Growing up in erstwhile Bihar & later Jharkhand,I'd often argue with mom as to why I had to take early morning baths in November,that too on account of a festival we didn't even celebrate...Chatth,falling 6 days after Diwali,is the biggest festival you'd encounter in this part of the country...of course,there's no escaping the local fervour,no matter where you stay in the country...so,I made those bare-footed trips to the puja ghats with all and sundry,just to be a spectator...And in hindsight,I'm glad I did..
Now that my last journey to the puja ghats was almost 10 years ago,I miss them...those mornings shall never come again I know..

"beta!!..garmi bahut hai aur cooler aane mein abhi bhi ek-do din lagenge..aaj ke liye aapka bistar upar lagwa doon?"
The rooftop he meant...I had just found myself a room in Kota...**1st brush with freedom**
"theek hai uncleji magar cooler dila dena jitni jaldi ho sakey" I said,trying hard not to make it obvious that I'd actually have preferred the rooftop..
Lying under the star-lit,night sky I had felt different...My first train journey ever in my 18 years of existence had brought me there & I was to live alone,all on my own for the 1st time ever..
excitement/freedom or a mixture of the two??-I still don't know...
Tired after a long journey,I had slept all snug and comfy only to wake up early...the morning sky was clear without a hint of the sapping Rajasthan sun...A mild breeze and the longest stretch of the open,blue sky I've ever seen were motivation enough to make me leave my bed & stroll around on the roof..
There were others like me,lying around...6 in total,to be precise..
Watched birds fly by in exotic formations without the slightest inkling that it was to become a hobby in the days to come...the Bharatpur bird sanctuary wasn't far,I was told...Oh!!migratory birds...but wasn't I one too??
Could see hordes of girls walk down the street on their way to classes...
The Coaching institutes had been prudent enough to segregate the girls & guys into morning & evening batches respectively..
I looked around to see one of the guys who had just woken up rubbing his eyes vigorously...disbelief at the sheer multitude of gals or just the after-effects of a long night's sleep,I didn't know...Nevertheless,wry smiles were exchanged along with intros...Who better than gals to bring about GUY-BONDING...
The morning packed in much more...Dad left for home 2 hours later after warning me repeatedly against homesickness...To the contrary,I had difficulty suppressing a strange kind of pure,unadulterated joy...I had wings,that too without consuming that 'worse-than-cough-syrup' Redbull ...hehehe....freedom does that to you,I guess...another unforgettable morning

Mornings changed forever once I entered college...or so I felt till one day into our 6th term we decided to bunk the two 'token' afternoon classes & make an escape from monotony...
Off we were to Ratnagiri...a hilarious turn of events saw us land at Divyegarh beach in a direction exactly opposite to where we intended being..Not that we regretted it...
Having reached the beach late in the evening,we were initially skeptical as to where we were headed to.. you don't go to a beach at 10 p.m.. or do you??...

Pitch darkness coupled with the raging sound that only the ocean can make and things actually looked scary initially......Nevertheless,at times,company is all you need & we were 18 of us...
The beach,expectedly,was empty...
Nothing but two distant lighthouses at either end of the beach visible only as a distant flicker,I often had to question others if they could see more to reassure myself...
However,the beach came into its own in the moon-lit night soon after..
Drinks kept a few busy,some had a football while some others went to arrange food to the nearest village ...I preferred taking a walk down the beach...*& what an experience it was*

I've long had a weakness for water-bodies & sitting long-hours beside a lake or the sea shore is one activity I'd love to dabble in someday...However,some events earlier in life have ensured that I started fearing them as well...

A sumptuous Maharashtrian Dhaba dinner & a camp-fire fuelled birthday celebration later,we had enough time to kill before dawn...Some preferred to lie down on the beach,the cool breeze & the silence which no longer seemed eerie proving too good to resist...I preferred another long walk & this time I had company...drunk friends can be fun talking to,you know...far from civilisation,the night had turned memorable,it was the best I had felt in a long,long time...

Waves washing our feet,distant trees swaying in the light breeze & just the moonlight & the flicker of the lighthouses for company it was all an other worldly feeling...an occasional hark of a bird overhead & some thoughtful conversation was just the icing on the cake...

The moonlight began dimming by 3:00 a.m.(not that we had any idea of time) & that short duration when the sun wasn't out & the moon had just gone was kinda amazing...Needless to say,none of us had ever observed such a thing,that too in such heavenly surroundings...as we simply gazed into the horizon,all silence,even as some others snored away to glory,we knew we had just witnessed something special~a special morning...

could it get any better??...As time would tell,yes,it could...

Just two months later,I was to find myself on a window-side seat in a state bus from Chennai to Puducherry at 5 in the morning...

That morning has stood out as one of my best travel memories...& why not??...Travel along the east coast for not 1 or 2 but a full 5 hours with each of the constituents of 'my ideal morning' present~the breeze,the morning chill & the lovely early morning rising sun with the sea on either side...Ah!!I loved it..

'filter kaapi(coffee),elaichi biscuits & the early morning east coast~bliss'-->read my facebook status that day....

How I wish some morning betters it soon!!...Amen to that

Clicked on another memorable morning at Puri beach,Orissa

Q and A...

2011-08-17T22:52:00.007+05:30

He seemed troubled...
Having ordered his favourite drink,I finally asked "something wrong??"
no reply...
I was with an old friend...having shared the good,bad and the ugly of life through school,we are the types people term 'chuddy-buddies'

With him finally making the move to pune...I finally had a schoolmate in my adopted city...
A smile played on my lips as I remembered the pledge we had taken on the last day of school "till spouses and careers do us part"...
#the irony had made me smile....
Our busy schedules not permitting an earlier meeting,it was a relief when we both finally found time for a meeting one friday evening...

However,his rather strange mood was threatening to ruin the whole evening...

I knew I had to ask him...doing it the right way seemed the immediate challenge...
the drinks arrived and I knew that was the moment...

"whats troubling you??"...no reply still
"come on...you can tell me"...

"why do some women have to behave the way they do??"...
I wasn't prepared for that question...
Anyways,my relative inexperience would have rendered me useless...so I preferred being silent and knowing him,I waited for him to speak again...
#the last I heard of him he was seeing a schoolmate who was pursuing law in the same city...

"why is that you are tantalized bit by bit every time,hints thrown at you in hordes even though you are unwilling to pick them and then,in that one moment when you let your guard down,in that one moment of child-like vulnerability...your dreams are crushed with an iron hand??...got answers boy??"I was puzzled and shocked at the same time...he wasn't making sense...
"care to elaborate??"....that was the best I could think of...

He went on for the next 15 min or so and by the time he stopped I was already having a sense of deja vu...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#Apparently,after years of patience,he finally had mustered the courage to talk to the girl he had secretly liked all these years....his patience had been rewarded and the girl had reacted back favourably...
A demand of an elaboration on the word 'favourably' was met with surprise initially and then he continued...
He would never have expressed his feelings for her had it not been for one serendipitous meeting at a mall one weekend...And even though he wanted to ask for her number,his usual shy self had prevented him from doing so...She probably gauged his feelings and gave him her number on the pretext of catching up again....
Was it a signal??...he couldn't fathom...

He decided to take it as it came instead of rushing into things...**at least being a friend was better than being a nobody**...or so he thought..
An accepted facebook friend request and a couple of very formal online chats later....the confusion still persisted...
However,all that was to change soon....
Him being a passionate theatre artist in his free time,he was very often seen on stage in some play or the other...Time and again,the idea of inviting her to one of his shows crossed his mind but his same old hesitatant self stopped him from doing so....

A sms one Friday evening was the harbinger of things to come...
It was the girl expressing displeasure at being kept in the dark about what she felt was a 'special ability' of his...
The feeling the message evoked in him was warm...she had complained in a manner which had given him a sense of belonging...was it a sign??...he still wasn't sure..
He immediately sent her a pass for his next play...
One meeting led to another....#just to add,my friend isn't boring...he's just shy
She seemed to enjoy his company...as did he....
With conversations ranging from topics as diverse as school-time crushes to their respective career paths and the amount of time they had started spending together,it was but inevitable that someday there would be a discussion on their romantic interests....

And it happened....and he stopped there...refusing to go ahead with the story...

I knew I had to guess the rest...which was actually easy...
Isnt it??....Probably you'd have guessed it by now...
The girl's behaviour had changed dramatically the moment he confessed his feelings for her...which actually came as a shocker to him..
Even though it was so unlike him,he had felt bitter...
He needed answers....and he ended up questioning the girl over what she meant everytime she cribbed about not having a boyfriend,about all the sweet nothings which gave him a feeling of gentle surrender,about all the nicknames she had given him,all the firsts she said she could have shared with no one else....If those weren't hints then what were they??
Her expressions had changed from amazement to bewilderment and her answer bordered on disgust ..she had obviously been misunderstood and that reflected in her answer...

No blaming the girl,no blaming the boy...I was lost...
My friend expected a few words from me...good,bad or ugly,he'd have lapped them all...But I somehow preferred a stoic silence...#An old habit I picked from a teacher of mine...not reacting when you are most expected to...It shocks some,amazes some,some even end up cursing me but for me its utility has never been lost....
Not that I had much of an option...Having known both of them since school,I was pretty sure none of them was in the wrong....

The fact that I didn't react the way he expected me to had irked him....he went into a monologue...he kept on speaking for about 10 mins revealing layers of whatever he had shared with her...#the booze and the emotions combined were beginning to show up....
Another drink and the monologue later,he stopped....all silence...
"does love even exist??"....he suddenly sprang back to life and threw that question at me...just when I thought he was done for the night...
Not surprisingly,I didnt have an answer....I had been clueless about much of what he had asked me that evening....
The question had been asked.....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After having gazed at each other expressionless for quite sometime,I decided we needed a mood-lifter...
Not much later,we were walking down MG Road to a famous kulfi shop....Kulfi had been one of his favourites in school...

The shop was still some 50 metres away when we noticed a middle-aged couple coming out of the shop with their cup of kulfi...the cup in his hands,the man occasionally slipped in a spoon or two of kulfi into the lady's mouth as well... #while PDA usually is a strict no-no with me,this sight somehow didn't make me uncomfortable...courtesy,what was to follow next...

Feeding her the dessert,a small piece stuck beside her lips...The woman didn't notice it,the man did,as did we...the next moment,the man gave a sneaking glance all around and scooped out that piece from her face into his mouth...the woman seemed embarrassed and gave him the usual 'arrey-log kya sochenge??-kya-aap-bhi-bacchon-ki-tarah??' ...of course,all that was in good humor and she had enjoyed it as much as the man....
An instant smile played on our lips which changed into a full-scale laugh once we crossed them...we finally had a mood-lifter and that too,before the kulfi...

we grabbed our kulfis and were straddling down the road still smiling when he said "dude!!...I've had my answer"...I just smiled...his questions had been answered....as were some of mine...

Love existed...and has lived happily,ever after :-)
#On a sidenote....Couldn't help wondering why most doctors and lawyers end up marrying one of their kind??
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

return to innocence...

2011-07-22T23:34:00.006+05:30

A long hiatus it has been....part lazy,part busy,part distressed…its all been happening in the previous month or so…what you are about to read was started a month ago during vacations and lying unfinished ever since…so what made me finally take it up??..Time??..nah!!..I’ve always had enough time to scribble...Just that I needed to write this time to get some peace,a feeling which nothing but writing gives me…

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _

Mood-thoughtful/confused….okkay!!..I’ll go with ‘confused’

Whats on??-6 monthly 15 day vacations….

With AFMC choosing to close for vacations when every other university/college has exams,there isn’t much scope of hanging out with like-minded people of a similar age-group,leave alone buddies from school ..sigh!!

Add the unbearable heat to the equation and you have an almost impossible situation...

This usually happens to me during vacations….I run out of ideas as to how to spend time…the customary visits to relatives usually finishes in a week or so and then I’m clueless…and I dare say,maybe it’s the same with most kilroys..

So it wasn’t much of a surprise when my cousin,a year senior to me at medical SCHOOL(yes,all puns intended),called me up and asked me to join him on a whirlwind tour to our kith and kin…we do it almost everytime our holidays coincide…. After all,who’d want to miss out on a chance to relive those sweet-nothings from childhood,mere mentions of which makes life seem bearable again …

Plans were swiftly put to action and we met at our grandpa’s place in Ranchi…

#a word about Ranchi- the place has been special…every visit revokes memories of vacations which were virtual family get-togethers…from rides on pedal rickshaws(there aren’t any in JAMSHEDPUR)which I enjoyed on mom’s lap to the Christian way of life(Ranchi has one of the largest Christian populations in the country),its given me memories which have lasted…..from the numerous churches to my mom’s college,I visited them all as a child,again,something new for me….not to mention the once legendary softys at FIRAYALAL and KAVERI and the capital’s streetfood near Pustak Path..
even though the people who pampered me to those have moved on in life(my ‘maasis’ are long married and I am now a doting ‘bhaiyya’ to their Dimpy’s and Monty’s….##another reason why this city has endeared itself to me)I love going there again…and again…..and again..

THE BRAT PACK

A quick visit to all relatives would take three days …or so we thought…until we ran into our 7 year old twin cousins ..

So,after having overcome threats of Anshan(#the anna hazare effect)from them by leaving late in the night(bhaiyya must not go tonight,they had threatened,only to fall asleep at 10) and being made to hog like never before(why do all mummies/maasis think they can turn you into Hercules just in one meal???)….we had set out for GRANDMA’s village the next morning…

NH 33::Travelling in a packed MESO bus(#in local parlance,these are govt buses sized somewhere b/w a 407 and a coach bus running over short distances,say 60-70 kms)on a bright sunny morning wasn’t exactly how I would have pictured a day in my vacation…but the thrill of meeting ‘the grand old lady’ again dwarfed all such feelings....

Even though it was hot and stuffy inside,the scenery outside more than made for it …the recent rains had been indication enough and sowing had begun in fields…and someone in the bus put on a late 90’s song on his mobile “ankhiyaan milaun kabhi ankhiyaan churaun kya tune kiya jadoo…kabhi ghabraun kabhi gale lag jaun,mera khud pe nahin kaabu…bina payal ke hi baje ghungroo”….
RAJA was the movie and I got it in a flash…I could picture Madhuri dancing atop a car and Sanjay Kapoor(yes,I remember him as well...lol) staring part in admiration,part shell-shocked…A smile ensued and it was nostalgia again…

dunno about you all but I grew up on a lavish dosage of hindi music from the late 90’s…FLOYD and Clapton happened much later.…needless to say,I enjoyed it and the many others that followed till the guy left at his stop…

Our village being a good 7 kms hike on foot from where the bus dropped us,we stocked ourselves with cold-drinks and water bottles…capped,knap-sacked and bottled plus a camera to click at just about anything and everything,off we were….. with no transport available for a major part of the journey,we hurried coz the heat was getting stronger….

Enter the terrain…

Both our trips being long ago,neither of the two was confident of the track.Besides,this was the first time we were unaccompanied by someone with knowledge of the terrain.
Add to that,our knowledge of the local lingo,rather,the utter lack of it and things could have gone horribly wrong if we were to lose track...

However,big bro was confident about a transformer,a primary school and a pond coming somewhere on the way…the rest we’d decipher,he felt...

The way to my village is what one would describe as a traveller’s paradise….2 villages passed,a river crossed,not without some splashes though and countless fields,from rice to brightly coloured crops which I couldn’t identify….it is a visual delight,to say the least..

The first village wasn’t far from the highway…a road running through it,electricity facilitating bollywood numbers from the 90’s blaring through aluminium speakers,the horn of the trucks passing slowly fading away…add to it the mobiles…flashy sets and almost everyone seemd to have one…we exchanged wry smiles as a guy on a bicycle passed by,music blaring from his mobile…

The Village crossed,we passed a long stretch of muddy fields to reach our first landmark,the transformer…The second village had begun and we often received curious looks by women,children and groups of young men playing cards…An angry shout by an old man smoking beedi shocked me initially only to later realise that it was for his pair of oxen who were straying into a field..however,that proved a timely reminder of the fact that it was a maoist-infested area and we decided to be more cautious then onwards….not much later,we were to come across a writing on the wall proclaiming ‘jo bho vote dene jayega usey kaat ke 2 foot ka bana diya jayega’…

Shocking though it was,we knew it had little to do with us…the pond and the primary school suddenly seemed to appear much sooner....hehehe
out of the village,the river was some 300 metres away… After reaching the river and having splashed around,we had a quick dip in whatever was left of the river which became such a ravaging beast during the rains…

Not far from where we were was a radio being played by a young lad,a towel on his head saving him from the heat while his goats grazed away to glory…another of his mates was bringing his buffaloes for a bath..Innocence..!!

Checking for the time on my mobile,I noticed weak signal strength…and surprisingly,I heaved a sigh of relief…Finally,some time away from the 'clutches of technology'

Granny was waiting for us,as was delicious home-bred chicken cooked in her inimitable style…

Curious about the title ??
Its a tribute to an ENIGMA song by the same name...so very soothing...highly recommended

Going back to where you belong is such a humbling experience…always

yeah!such pictures do exist beyond social science textbooks...

For people who ply their trade in big cities where a ‘man-eat-man’ world exists,
people who lead lives which doesn’t give them time to sit back and relax,
people who are addicted to technology,
people who’ve only books to fall back to picture a village by a river,
people who just can’t take the jealousy that exists in every sphere of life….
a day at an INDIAN Village is the perfect panacea..

While listening to VIVIDH BHARATI on radio,the sole thought I got was when did I listen to radio last??....I had no clue..

While splashing around in the river,I couldn’t remember when the last bath that I had enjoyed…mind you,the sole reason I end up taking early morning baths is to keep the kumbhakaran in me awake during morning classes :P

While I dreaded early morning PT’s back in college,a walk to a stream by a mountain which flowed on the other side of the village seemed such a pleasure…

An outward show which seems to exist almost everywhere was untraceable in those parts…

Road to el dorado??...nah!!..just a hillock by a stream..

Next morning,when it was time to leave,we were handed over a bag of home-made delicacies sufficient for an entire army…
can’t blame the old lady though…She loves us like anything…
And if we thought,that was it,we were mistaken for granny handed us 1000 rupee notes with a simple instruction “beta!!...pasand ki mithai kha lena”…to say that we were overwhelmed would be an understatement…
And here I have a confession to make-when younger,I touched her feet simply because she showered me with those insanely huge amounts of cash,the instruction then being “beta!!...mela ghoom lena”….well,growing up has tightened those screws and now,respect and love comes from within….a feeling very few people manage to evoke….

RETURN TO INNOCENCE??....what else if not this??

HAIL DIVINE MOTHER!!

The return trip next morning was rounded-off by a trip to the famed DEWRI TEMPLE,which is stuff of legend in these parts and for me,it’s the ultimate fall-back option in times of distress…
a must visit if you ever come to this part of the country…

P.S.-on a PSM village visit some two months back,I was amazed to know that some of my batchmates had never been to a village...well,I've just one thing to tell you mates....you've been missing out on an experience fit to be treasured and passed on to posterity..these are the things that distinguish just another vacation from a truly great one......

is it love??....

2011-06-10T17:44:00.001+05:30

First things first....I'm not a big fan of KOFEE with KARAN.....frankly speaking,I found CHAI with CHARAN(a spoof with CYRUS SAHUKAR doing the funny job) much more watchable....
However,this episode of KwK caught my attention out of the blue....

Exams were on....with a practical exam to give the next day,I was all set for a night-out...
12:30 a.m....I was sleepy,yet itching for a break and somewhere I heard a girlish giggle on someone's speakers...sounded familiar...and lo!!...it was PIGGY CHOPS...
well!!!..I could harp for ages as to why I find her so irresistible...but I'll stop with a small 'beauty+witty' tag....and of course,the fact that she reminds me of something....yeah!!...something,something....

well!!..now the relevant part...if ever you end up having a girl in your life and you are confused about the exact status of your relationship....<'just-good-friends' type or you really have something working between the two of you.....or god forbid,you are on the way to becoming a 'rakhi brother'>...have a look at this video.....never seen such sizzling chemistry except when a couple is in love .....

this episode gave me a genuine laugh....and well!!..made me feel good...muah!!

so much chemistry....so much blushing......so much fun....

If you ever end up sharing such chemistry with a person of the opposite sex,you gotta believe you are in love.....at least I would

P.S.-When it comes, will it come without warning
         Just as I'm picking my nose?
        Will it knock on my door in the morning,
        Or tread in the bus on my toes?
        Will it come like a change in the weather?
        Will its greeting be courteous or rough?
        Will it alter my life altogether?
        O tell me the truth about love.

-WH Auden

:/

2011-06-07T12:29:00.000+05:30

There was a time when I thought I couldn't possibly be any happier....But then you left.

flights of fantasy..

2011-05-24T19:34:00.000+05:30

one of the cheekiest dialouges from a 2010 movie was from the movie UDAAN "main beta hoon,koi________ nahin"..
After much thought,I filled in the blank as 'koi naajayaz aulaad nahin'...I was at the Pune edition of THE LANDMARK QUIZ-2011..

Much to my amusement and anguish alike,the answer turned out to be 'fixed deposit'.
Cheeky it was,but the movie was much more than what this scene depicts of it..A superb storyline coupled with some brilliant performances made it one of the finest movies of the year.
These are things u'd get to know only after having watched the movie...However,I had been waiting eagerly for UDAAN to release ever since I first read of it in the papers(an unspoken rule about TV viewing in hostel=only sports..hence,not on tv)...

The primary reason,of course,was that the movie was almost entirely shot in my home city...the UN GLOBAL COMPACT CITY/THE STEEL CITY/CITY OF THE TATAS-TATANAGAR/JAMSHEDPUR...
(the author attributes his habit of dropping clues to the latent quizzing genes present in him which at times manifest in an active form as a quizzer and at times as a Quizmaster)..
the thrill of seeing my hometown on screen was something huge and I ended up dragging almost all my friends
along,and as time would tell,something for which I was thanked later...

The second reason,which came as a surprise(and a pleasant one at that)had my alma mater,AFMC,in the thick of things....
My cousin,my senior at college,called me to his room one day and asked me "Satyanshu Sir yaad hain??",the excitement in his voice palapable..
Puzzled,I replied in the negative...
Refusing to let my cold reply dampen his enthusiasm,he continued "arrey!!Satyanshu da!!..RAMKRISHNA MISSION VIDYAPEETH mein mere senior they..AFMC passout,P-2 batch"...
And thereby I fathomed why I didn't know him...He had passed MBBS the year I had joined...
Having explained that bit to him,I asked him what was so special about him...
And as it turned out,the reason was indeed special..
SATYANSHU SINGH was his name..ever since his initial days in AFMC,he had a flair for writing and a 'never seen before love for films'..that was how his friends,batchmates,seniors,juniors described him...I never saw him but heard from people that he had paid out(for those of us unwilling to join the services,paying out is an option at Rs 15 lakhs)..and had decided to give film-making a try...

Some thought it was absurd,some thought it was foolhardy,I thought it was courageous..simply because,I couldn't imagine myself doing the same at the end of MBBS...
I mean,you need to have a fair bit of courage to step into the big,bad world of Bollywood when u've got no filmy connections whatsoever,more so when you are stepping into the wilderness from a field with an assured future(for beginners,the Armed Forces pays its doctors quite well)...

Sir followed his heart,believed his instincts and took the plunge..
But what's his relevance here??...u might ask..
okkay,if you've watched UDAAN you'd certainly have loved those poems that Rohan,the protaganist recites in the film....
It was Satyanshu sir who wrote those poems...and from what I'm told,he wrote them during his days in college...
For more of his writings,some honest film reviews and some lovely cinematic write-ups you can visit his blog at www.cinemaisforever.blogspot.com

The purpose of mentioning his story??
It's worth a mention simply bcoz the story's one of courage...
of courage that remained unperturbed even in the face of criticism,
of courage that inspires,
of courage that leads by example..

Following one's heart is right more often than not....HATS OFF TO U SIR!!..for being an inspiration to many in ways known and unknown...

P.s.-my favourite scene from the movie is a 14 second wordless sequence with the protagonist's step-brother trying to keep pace with him on his way to school coz he's afraid of walking alone....so much conveyed without a word!!.....just one among many soul-stirring sequences throughout the movie....
If you still haven't watched it,go watch it today.....now

the nonsense post....

2011-05-14T17:24:00.001+05:30

pre-post::this is a conversation that took place over a year ago..when a bunch of 'would-be-docs',(disillusioned at being reminded time and again that they were and still are the 'cream of the nation' even when they believed the cream(read,gals)had been delivered elsewhere),had gathered over a round of some malt based drinks and 'triple-filtered-clear fluid from Russia' ;)

the author vividly remembers his friends shooting one gem after the other and breaking into peals of laughter which could have sent a chill down the spine of the coldest of vampires....
(the author stumbled upon it while trying to clear his inbox of some old time clutter)
with exams on and no time to actually post something substantial,hope this one provides u with some 'cheap humour'(all puns intended).....

caution:-this post isn't supposed to make sense....so if you are of the rational,thinking variety....try something else on the blog....and if it does make sense to you....comments,likes,shares would be appreciated :D

without much ado.....BAKWAAS SHURU...the worst answers to I love you:------

1)mazaakiya pyaar
boy: "I Love U" Means Kya Hota Hai?
Girl: Mai Tumse Pyar Karti Hun
boy: Le ek Question Kya Pucha...tu toh mujhse pyar kar baithi 'Pagli'

2)business minded love
Boy: I love you
Girl: Tum darzi(tailor) ho?
Boy: Nahin ...
Girl: Tum nayee (barber) ho?
Boy: Nahin ...
Girl: Tum chamaar(janitor) ho?
Boy: Nahin....
Girl: Tum kasai (butcher) ho?
Boy: Nahin....
Girl: Toh chal nikal yahan sey..Bachpan se hi mujhe shauk tha ki meri shaadi kisi darzi, nayee, chamaar ya kasai se ho.You are disqualified.

3)pagla kahin ka
Girl: I Love You
Boy: yeeeeeee! Didi mujhse naraz nahi hai. Didi mujhse naraz nahi hai...Ye.. ye.. ye

4)love that was bereft of hearing
Boy: I love you...
Girl: Hey mr, execuse me....Badtameez, kya karta hai. Jab dekho line marta hai. Koyi kaam nahin hai.
Boy: !!!! tumhein kaisay pata chala main hunter hoon aur lion marta hoon???....

(I know its getting really weird...but believe me,its nothing but some malt-based drinks doing the talking....real fun begins soon)

5)the houdini act
BOY :- I Love You.
GIRL :- Arey! woh dekho!
BOY :- Hain!! Kahan? Kya? Kya?
[Boy turns to see in the meantime Girl satak leti hai!!!]

6)Rambhakts fall in love
Boy to Girl :- I luv you.
Girl to Boy :- I kush you.
Girl's Father to Boy :- I push you

7)love v/s tikiya
Girl : I love you
Sunny : Magar aap toh hamesha woh mehengi waali tikiya...
Girl : Leti thi!!!
Sunny : Hawww...

8)love that'll render u speechless
boy: I luv you
Girl......... kuch nahi bolti..........
bechari goongi aur behri hai...

9)UKG-LKG love
Girl: I Love U.
Boy: I love all alphabets A to Z.

10)??
Boy : I love U
gal : ok thank u..

11)pheww!!that was quick
boy - i lov u
girl - i m pregnant....

12)teri maa ki...
Girl: I love you.
Boy: Mujhe meri mummy bula rahi hai...

13)Boy - I Love You.
Girl - Par Tum To Sardaar Ho!
Boy - I Know...Just Joking Yaar!
Girl - Hihihihihi!

funny thing-the guy who cracked this one is a surd himself

14)saas,bahu aur saazish
boy - i love u
girl-oh main jati hu....balika vadhu shuru ho gya hoga..

15)adaayein
Boy : I Love u
Girl(dupatte ko daaton se chabaake) : Dhatt, pagle

16)love gone wrong
boy -- aati kya khandala ??
[girl pulling and dragging boy]
girl -- chal..chal .........tu kya khandala leke jayega mujhe........main khud khandala main rehti hu

17)one tear-jerker of a love story
boy: I love you
Girl : starts crying...

18)haww :o
boy : I love you...
girl : papa se milke mera haath maangne kab aaoge ??

19)har dil jo pyar karega...woh gaana gayega
Boy - I love You.
Girl (Starts Singing) - Iss baat ko agar tum...zara aur saja ke kehte
zara ghooma phira ke kehte...toh achcha hota!

20)love...ittefaq se
girl-I love u
boy-wat a coincidence !..even i love myself !

21)rang de basanti
girl: I love u
boy: i'm sorry,meri dulhan aazadi hai....

22)saala....baniya
Girl:I love u
Boy:But mujhe sirf paise se pyaar hai....

p.s.-any doubts whatsoever??...I guess another look at the title will resolve each one of them :D

serendipity...how it all began..

2011-04-17T16:00:00.006+05:30

'Serendipity'-I remember it as a definition I learnt in 11th,viz,'a good discovery made by chance'...
a movie by the same name made me realize even love could have a touch of serendipity....and of course,the wiki definition....
Having lost count of the number of times serendipity has rubbed him the right way,the author's decided to dedicate this post to this very phenomenon which touches each of our lives but still goes unnoticed rarely getting its due,ie,an acknowledgement....
But for serendipity,this blog,which incidentally has been one of the best things to have happened to me ever,would never have existed....
So,on the first anniversary (I'm late by a good 10 days,sigh)of THE BLOG OF (SM)ALL THINGS,sit back and enjoy(hopefully)the story of its creation(if you can call it one)...
Caution-it ain't no Zuckerburg-facebook story if you are expecting one....:D
After that rather lame attempt at humour,here we go......

April,2010 had been a month of traumatic firsts for me....had my first experience of life as a patient(read it here)...didn't know how to react coz believe it or not I had never ever been hospitalised before...(I know it seems incredible for my wiry frame,but thats the way it is)...

Bouts of fever spread across a month and generalised weakness(a checkup in hospital revealed I had lost over 10 kgs of weight) turned out to be much more serious than I thought and I got hospitalised that very day when we were supposed to leave for Manipal...heartbreak it was...missing out on an oppurtunity to represent college is always disappointing...

Contrary to what I believed,life in hospital turned out to be hectic....tests,tests and more tests...it was getting on my nerves...and to top it off,doctors seemed clueless about my condition...symptomatic medication wasn't of much help either...my fellow patients were curious as to how I could fall ill being a doctor myself??(for god's sake,I'm only a medical student,I'd tell them..with little effect although)

HEY WAIT....wasn't it supposed to be the story behind this blog??
yes,yes!!..thats what it is....just some background-building(the author's got a penchant for terms that he creates and uses himself ..)

Lying in hospital without an idea of what struck you is bad...more so,when your friends are going for some outstation masti and the doctor seems as clueless as you...

"सर!!इसकी complaints तो बड़ी अजीब सी हैं....except for the fever part,nothing else is consistent"..the Major treating me seemed perplexed...I had been taken to the HOD of the DEPT. of MEDICINE...the man gave out a sly chuckle and gave me a good stare...

"binge drinking??"...

"no sir!!...no drinking at all" I shook my head...

"सच बोल दे"...he urged.....

and my head movements increased in vigour...

both laughed in unison and the HOD mumbled some terms incomprehensible to my neonatal medico mind...

(Later I was to know that it effectively meant a month's stay in hospital)

With some test reports to come after a good two weeks,I was subjected to what seemed a never-ending wait...

With plenty of time to kill,I was surfing the internet,going through the BCQC blog...finding no new quizzing news,I was about to logout when serendipity..strike#1...I noticed a link at the top of the page saying 'next blog'... clicked on it out of sheer curiosity and landed at (now defunct)The unified blog of everything...that was my first foray into a general blog...and I loved it...some rip-roaring reads were followed by some real good laughs and I was no longer the gloomy person I was sometime ago...

but still,starting a blog of my own seemed quite some distance away...

However God certainly had other plans...

My daily diary,which lay unattended at my hostel room,was delivered to me by a friend,mistaking it for a notebook...serendipity...strike#2...

Itching to update my diary I had been wondering...what to write??

Memories came to my rescue this time...not much time having passed since that serendipitous train meeting(read it here),I couldn't help recollecting those memories and with a swift dash of fiction,knit them into a story....since the meeting itself was Serendipity at its best..it had to be serendipity..strike#3.....
It later made its way to DHANVANTARI-the AFMC magazine and the walls of some faraway hostel room(wink wink)....both very treasured achievements(??)....however,the story's rough draft still remains etched in my personal diary in its original,unedited form...never failing to bring a smile to my face even now :)

Around the same time I came across this garrulous,old man occupying the bed next to me...a retired sailor,he was ~~a son of a~~....err...the dad of an army captain.....suffering from deep venous,ulcers on both his legs,he had been advised minimal movement which meant I was the sole person he could talk to...over the next few days,he drove me nuts with his long-drawn conversations which had only one speaker,he himself...more on him(read it here)...frustrated and irritated but still not able to express my displeasure,I decided to write something on him and present it to him the day I left hospital....serendipity..strike#4
My hospital stay extending well beyond 45 days,it stirred me to write some more pieces,viz,thumbnails-a collection of almost everything that transpired in those 2 months...and the turnaround-my first tryst with human behaviour that made it to my diary....

'Trains,facebook etc' and 'The Hijacker' (the post on Uncle),if u might have noticed,were one of the first posts on this blog....
As different as chalk and cheese in the underlying emotions but still so much contributory towards the inception of this blog...desirous of sharing these stories with more people I stumbled on to a blogger account...and the rest,as they say...~~no its not history~~...its THE BLOG OF (SM)ALL THINGS :)

Attempts at lame humour apart,recently the blog turned one...8th april,to be precise...
(DRUMROLL....APPLAUSE...)
some fireworks...the author would have arranged for real ones if not for some hefty fines imposed in college which have left him broke :'(

thanks to you,the readers,who've encouraged me to write more..through comments,through visits and at times by not visiting at all...
recently the visitor count crossed 2500... at last count it stood at 2670....
thanks to the inspirations behind this blog....I reckon they'll know when they read this...
THANK YOU READERS....the ones I know as well as the anonymous ones....your comments are valued ...

P.S.-someone once asked me...why 'The blog of (sm)all things'??...
"go,read the sub-title"....that was my answer...

hypocrisy...

2011-04-12T21:50:00.003+05:30

Picture this:-small town India,a respectable family with good values and the hero of our story,a guy who's a 'good boy',or better put,a boy who's been conditioned to become good,someone who's socially accepted and respected as a 'decent' guy.....
Now,you might ask for an elaboration on the word 'decent'....
To put it bluntly,most of us use it to describe a guy in relation to his behaviour with the fairer sex..

So,our hero,the 'decent' guy is quintessentially someone who'd not ogle at girls,rarely engage in cheap talk about girls or more aptly,rarely engage in talks to girls altogether,try not to watch certain tv channels at home and of course(it's the clincher),marry the girl his parents choose for him....(at least thats how its done in the so called small-towns)

In this post,the author would like to concentrate on the first and the last attributes mentioned above....

Zoom into 2011,our hero has reached marriageable age and is taken to meet the family of the girl mommy and daddy dearest have chosen for him...
mind you,the 'decent' guy has never ogled at girls(however hot they might have been),talked rarely to girls even in the company of family,leave alone talking to them solo...
Zeroing in onto the current scene,here it is...a frame straight out of bollywood movie/saas-bahu serial(take your pick :D )
Our 'hero' is sitting between his parents,who are a proud set,the pride of their son's achievements very much evident on their faces...
"he doesn't even touch alcohol" the father beams with pride while saying this,notwithstanding the fact that he himself drinks like a fish...
the mother goes on to add"IIT mein toh first attempt mein hi select ho gaya tha hamara manu" again notwithstanding the fact that 'manu' hates being called by his pet name in public,not to mention the discomfort he feels when his mom waxes eloquent on his son's achievements in front of others...
Nevertheless,he dismisses all of those with an uneasy smile....

Enter the girl.....supposed to be someone who's sauve and sophisticated(she works for a MNC) but also supposedly in tune with her Indian values,she walks into the room in a saree,visibly uncomfortable...

The girl's nervous,the tray she's carrying only adding to her discomfort....she looks downwards,mom's instructions clearly ringing in her ears" लज्जा स्त्री का आभूषण होता है "

All eyes on her,she is seemingly at her graceful best...
The boy's parents look at her,exchange glances with approving smiles while the girl's parent's try to gauge
their reaction with nervous anticipation...
now the gaze moves to the boy...'the decent guy'....
Now comes the moment....THE MOMENT OF HYPOCRISY....
the guy's parent's hope to read their son's face...they surely seem to believe that their son would by now have had a gud look at the girl's ~~assets~~..err..her facets...(oops!!...the author certainly doesn't seem decent..wink-wink)
Spare a thought for the poor guy....having been taught throughout life not to stare or look oddly at gals,he's now being asked to do exactly the same thing,by none other than his parents...that too with a dozen curious eyes staring at him in return.....what a pardox??
Spare a thought for the girl...being paraded like a showpiece in a museum with a very fair chance of being rejected...(the rejection has every chance of resulting from the whims and fancies of the guy's parents rather than the girl really being at fault)

The ways of the Indian society pinches me on occasions and tickles me almost everytime....hypocrisy is part and parcel of this set-up and people would rather keep mum and follow the beaten path than stand up and voice their opinion....Come-on guys!!...we deserve better....
Leave ' the decent guy 'aside...that may actually be too extreme an example...perhaps something which is more valid for small-town India...but still valid in the context of the country as a whole for accept it or not,small town India makes India what it is.....

I recognise the fact that it might not be possible for a majority of the people in our age group to voice their concerns when it concerns someone else in their families,for the simple reason that their opinions are simply not asked for....okkay!!...agreed...keep mum then if you want to....but a day will come when your parents would start looking for someone to partner you for the rest of your life(that is,only if you haven't found someone for yourself :D :D) ..You can certainly speak then...after all,its your life.

Move over this 'meeting-a-girl-rejecting her-moving over to the next' phenomenon...getting snubbed isn't that good a feeling after-all...and parents please....spare your children the horror..
Don't get me wrong,I'm no social activist...nor some gyaan-guru...I'm just another boy who refuses to be dragged into the tamasha that marriages have off-late turned into...

P.S-just to clear the air,I'm not getting married..in fact,I'm not even of a marriageable age...
but when I do,it's got to be an arranged one...yeah!!...I"ll arrange it myself ;)

redemption...

2011-04-01T01:57:00.008+05:30

For those of u who know me,you'd know I'm a passionate quizzer....and for those of you who don't ,well!now you do....;)
Enjoyed quizzing only as a hobby back in school ...did win those really huge prizes in the school circuit once or twice but more or less,it was the joy of quizzing which made me stick to it.....that quizzing can be rewarding struck me only after I came to Pune...well,prizes ranging from anywhere between 10k to 25k can certainly turn on a few tubelights(and I certainly am one)....

Jokes apart,as a medical student who quizzes,it's easy to push it to the backburner if u've really been digging into your textbooks....but me being the quintessential 'come-what-may-i'll-study-only-b4-an-exam' guy...lack of time was never a problem...but the transition from school to college level quizzing is easier said than done.....the first year saw TEAM STETHOSCOPES(weird??....we got it after a law school student suggested it to us in jest) attending many quizzes,qualifying for none....2nd year was marginally better,our team made it to a few finals but could win none..courtesy,a majority of pune quizzzes being 'open' quizzes(no limit on age,occupation whatsoever) and some amazing quizzing by the BCQC members...

hosted a few quizzes during SILHOUETTES,AFMC's annual INTER-COLLEGE FEST....and enjoyed myself a lot...learnt the finer nuances of hosting a quiz,preparing for one and the art of deriving maximum gains from it as a quizzer...

but why am I blabbering away to glory on QUIZZING all of a sudden??
well,thats coz TEAM STETHOSCOPES has had an awesome year to begin with.....besides a few wins in the local circuit,we ended up landing a biggie today....THE TATA CRUCIBLE campus QUIZ came to PUNE on the 31st....at a BUSINESS quiz,few would have given a team of 3rd year medical students a chance....

but ahoy!!...fate had other plans...even we were surprised(I was almost shocked)when we made it to the finals beating over 200 teams in the prelims....and eliminating some of our bitter rivals on and off field in the process...
we had a shot at the 1,10,000 prize....missed out on it but still had goodies worth 10000 each after finishing 4th....not bad for a MEDICAL TEAM at a business quiz...what say??
(urs truly in pic...with the arrow threatening to go through nd through :D)
watch us on television in the TATA CRUCIBLE CAMPUS QUIZ episode to be aired on CNBC TV 18 on the 4th-5th june :)

P.S.-this certainly wouldn't be possible without the other half of TEAM STETHOSCOPES....Finehas Pinto,the cool headed but shy MALLU....you rock mate....
here's hoping this victory is just one of many more to come...cheers

and U call us 'childish' ??

2011-03-19T20:35:00.001+05:30

When was the last time you saw such a notice in a college??.....
can't recall??....
okkay....I'll make it easier 4 u..
When was the last time you saw students riding bicycles in a college??...and just to be a little precise....read 'students' as 'undergraduate medical students'.....
.
.
.
.
give up...its the toughest exercise u can give to ur grey cells.....

just another conversation??

2011-02-27T01:05:00.010+05:30

It was one in the morning when his phone beeped...it was a message... Back after a long day at college,he had been to bed early,only to be disturbed at that odd hour....

The name onscreen evoked mixed reactions...It was 'her'....
Surprised at the timing of the message and happy at the prospect of finally being remembered,he pressed the 'read' button...

It had been almost a year since they first met...at a college fest....
Some hard-fought Debates had seen him take everything on offer..including her heart,or so he felt...the lady finishing second best everytime...

"you come to every event and win everything " her tone hinted at complaint,her flirty smile suggesting otherwise..
"what to do??..its a habit with me..I WAS BORN TO WIN " his answer had an air of nonchalance...and why not??...he had the results to back that...
Cheeky and witty,that answer had led to loud cheering from his friends and an appreciative smile from the ladies...
Mutual admiration had grown steadily through the 7 day fest,courteous smiles giving way to friendly jibes such as the one above....

the last day of the fest had been tumultuous for him.
Never one to have struggled for words,be it on stage or off it,he had felt lost...probably its her,his friends told him but he refused to buy that theory....
A few pegs later,he had gone and poured out his heart to her..
"I hate drunkards...thought you were different...thanxx for making me realise my folly "she had been ruthless in her dismissal...

FOR PROBABLY THE 1ST TIME IN HIS LIFE,HE HAD STRRUGLED FOR WORDS...he had kept mum,just gazing with disbelief at her fading silhouette....

the next day,she left for pune...he was back to mumbai....

time seemed to have had a mellowing effect on the girl...and although they were back on talking terms a few months later,it had been more out of courtesy,the 'wishing on occasions' kinda relationship...
And even though a casual chitchat had never happened since then he remained convinced that she had been the love of his life....HIS FIRST LOVE...

the messege read "hi!how've u been doing??"
although dead sleepy,the sheer thrill of talking to her again got him texting,and texting fast....
"I'm doin fine...how abt u girl??...and how come dis sudden rememberance??"his reply had been brief and curt...
"just like that!!...since u didn't bother to msg or call....so I did....I did the right thing...didn't I??"
every last bit of anger and misgiving was washed away by those words....he felt overjoyed and a smile played on his lips...
"Khud ke liye koi ladki dhoondhi(found yourself a girl)??"...the talk had veered into debatable territory now..
"bollywood style mein bole toh tere jaisi koi mili hi nahi....tu hi dhoond de na koi,apne jaisi(speaking in bollywood style,i never found another one like you...why don't u find sm1 for me,sm1 like you)"...he gave a naughty reply.....
"hahaha...Main toh mili thi....pakad leta mujhe(you had found me..why did u let me go)"she had laughed it off..

innocent words they were...but their impact was huge...

even though she was quick to realise her blunder and a quick sorry ensued,HE WAS LOST FOR WORDS YET AGAIN....for only the 2nd time in his life..

P.S-watching people fall in love is probably as good a feeling as falling in love yourself....
watching them fall out of love??....well,its better left unsaid :(

the apparition…..

2011-02-07T22:57:00.004+05:30

the crimson red silhouette of a setting sun…
the shimmering of sunrays on a lake …
trees swaying in gentle breeze …
a path through the wild grass….
not many souls in sight….
and a mountain in the background…rising like an apparition…..

NATURE AT ITS VERY BEST……

PLACE-PAWNA LAKE…..60 KM from PUNE…….RATING-9/10

P.S.-there’s something mystical about water-bodies in the lap of nature….THEY BRING OUT THE PHILOSOPHER IN ME….

draamebaaz….

2011-01-26T01:38:00.003+05:30

A sneak peek at something ‘clueless’ has some clue about…….

JAN 2010-A STREET PLAY..

JAN 2011-A MIME

from a ‘dark-skinned groom whose bride refuses to marry him’ to a rapist….
from a temple pillar to a river……
from a murderer to the bearer of the Indian flag….
from a statue to a goat….
been there,done that…..

LIFE’S A STAGE….WE LIVE IT,WE LOVE IT….

THE RESULT???

CHAMPIONS FOR 2 YEARS RUNNING NOW…..CHEERS U-2

P.S.-its easy to be graceful when you win…grace in defeat is what separates the true champions from the rest….

angels...

2011-01-09T01:49:00.000+05:30

we all have someone in our lives who can elicit that elusive smile which seems gone forever in times of despair...
There aren't many in mine but the ones present are absolute sweethearts,of that I'm assured...
the above pic has two proofs....my 7 year old twin cousins-Dimpy and Monty....

my fb status update dated 5th jan,2010-'Damn u discovery..damn u animal planet...courtesy u two,my 7 yr old niece thinks i'm a 'crocodile' jst bcoz I laze around in the sun...nd the naughty girl that she is,she's christened me 'croco bhaiyya'..nd guess wat??..I'm lovin every bit f it ;)....
I needn't tell you who the naughty girl was...do I??
thats not all-she's also taught me the importance of colors and has given me a chance to understand human psychology better through this....an absolute angel

for Monty,I'm his best bro just bcoz I brought him some PC games....the peck on the cheek was the first I've had in a long,long time...(now come on!!don't get ideas)....how innocent!!

In the pic,they are ready for their first day to school....monty's sulking and dimpy's as effervescent as ever....
LOVE U BOTH & GOD BLESS....

P.S-there's something intriguing about twins...so different yet so alike