flying high

2022-01-09T05:33:00.000-08:00

Is there anything appropriate about Google allowing reviewers to post whatever they want according to their whims and fancies (especially about establishments and businesses that involve technical expertise)?

Is it only me who feels like that?

How can someone comment about the knowledge or skills of a doctor or appropriateness and quality of care offered by a health care facility? I strongly feel these are some things which only a peer of the same standing or knowledge or experience can review and judge.

Does Google even verify if the person has used the service to leave a review about the establishments?

If Google has really utopian or democratic thoughts, as is projected to the external world of their workplace atmosphere and policies, they should not allow any Tom, Dick and Harry to post whatever they want about any business establishment.

And the reviews should be structured only allowing to reflect on physical parameters like cleanliness, accessibility and physical facilities.

Posts with complaints like - the doctor didn’t smile at me, was in a hurry, takes more time for consulting others, charging lots of money, didn’t do the diagnosis or procedure correctly – are very subjective and frivolous.

How can someone pass a judgement on a doctor or a nurse who has spent a significant part of their life acquiring the skills, in a matter of 30 – 60 minutes they spend there. It is so unjust.

And what’s worse is one can just post bad things about any establishment, if only they have a Gmail ID. And the onus shifts to the establishment owner to refute and explain. I feel it is one kind of holding an establishment to a ransom at some level. 

So, there should be a mechanism for discussing any negative rating or review with the business establishment, before being posted on the public forum. 

And, more importantly, any business establishment owner should have the right to decide whether he wants to allow reviews of his/her establishment to be posted at all, at the time of signing on Google business. And if the option is already available should be made explicit at the time of signing on; and not be hidden under the ‘terms and conditions’ which are mostly in fineprint, confusing jargon and without a choice to refuse partially/opt out. One might hate to be reviewed and like to have no reviews at all (positive as well as negative).   

I don’t know whether the ‘omnipresent and all-knowing Alphabet’ will consider this.

But as all of us are customers for one thing or the other, we should think twice or thrice or as much as possible before posting a negative review on any business establishment. Your posts in haste or with a degree of incomplete truth or falsehood can ruin a business and the livelihoods associated with them. And more importantly, always think whether you are competent enough to post a negative review on the subject. And how you would feel if the same business establishment is provided an opportunity to respond and review about yourself (personality and behavior) among your peers at your workplace or among family members.

If at all those compulsive reviewers and local guides (I suppose these come with some kind of rewards from Google, because I see some people comment on everything under the sun in their locality and elsewhere too) cannot resist showing their frank, guiding and activist tendencies, they can try doing the same honest reviewing  of the Government establishments like the Municipalities, Police stations and  the Courts without inhibitions (by posting their original Aadhar numbers and mobile numbers). I am sure not even a miniscule of those reviewers would dare to do that. 

And funnily I think almost none would post a negative review if they had to pay a few rupees (say Rs.50/-) to Google to be able to do that; and even less, if Google had to pay the same amount to the Establishment, for allowing a negative review.  

Instead of posting negative reviews on public domains, avoid the establishments yourself and alert those in your contacts. Do not leave an indelible mark on an establishment just because you didn’t ‘feel’ something right about it at that ‘moment’ of time.  And if you really feel the establishment is posing a danger to the society, feel bold and free to appropriate executive arm of the Government to report it.

Lastly, for those who are dependent on the Google reviews as gospel truth, remember the limitations. Many of the positive reviews could be by the employees, friends and families and be induced by incentives like discount and cashbacks. Negative reviews can be biased, most of the times for not meeting the disproportionate and inappropriate expectations of the customers. More importantly, the lack of reviews could also mean nothing. The establishments could be doing a good work and catering to those yet to be engulfed by the temptations of the digital and social media world.  

Negative Google reviews seem to be the price we pay for letting Google to show the customers about our existence, location and routes.   

In gist, always think as much as possible before spreading negativity about a business, especially on the public domain where the terms between the customer and the business establishment are skewed disproportionately and unfairly in favor of the customer. And for those absolute believers of Google reviews, please stop considering them as gospel truth or the Bhagavad Gita!

Zodiac 97 boys - An extempore, unedited observations of a most cynical observer, 2 dozen years since the beginning!

2021-07-17T04:04:00.000-07:00

Zodiac 97 boys - An extempore, unedited observations of a most cynical observer, 2 dozen years since the beginning!

Ajay

A childish rotund guy who found his growth spurt after joining college and has turned out to be mature and Maddy-like guy now. And an incisive mind as always with severe right leaning

----

Arunkamal

Simply superb. Need I say anything more about the cool and composed guy?

---

CRK Balaji

Another cool and nice guy of the batch. It's easy to propose to someone in the college days, but to raise a beautiful family with the same person and still stay friends with her is very commendable

----

Deepak

Immensely talented guy of the batch and spiritually and philosophically a lot of notches higher than many of us

----

Dhanasekar

One who's not swayed by the city life and has gone back to serve his own people- Looks like nothing great, but not many people go back and serve their own people

----

Gopal

The most perseverant of the lot with a steely resolve. Chiselled his body and mind to achieve his ambitions. I suppose he achieved what he sought out for. It's a loss for all of his many girlfriends.

----

Pradeep

Immensely focussed and talented guy who I suppose has got what he wanted to make of his life

----

Vaiz

A really cool guy. Apparently introverted guy but with a really good sense of humour which was likely hidden only for his closest friends during college days

----

VijayAnand

I have never seen a guy who has always put on a happy and cheerful face, hiding his hardships, as he has always done.

-----

Through sheer hardwork and dedication , he has chosen the field he wanted to , so that he can give back to the society, what he got during his formative years at KMC. Cool guy without any unnecessary buzz surrounding him.

----

Undoubtedly the most humorous fellow of the batch. Soft spoken and non arrogant orthopaedic- an oxymoron.

----

Guna

Undoubtedly vying to be the comic of the batch now. Again it's great to live happily with someone you loved in college. And personally unforgettable for me , since without him I couldn't have got someone who could have tolerated me for more than 10 years!

---

Naveen

Most eloquent of the batch or should I say the college. And it requires quite a great number of good neurons to keep posting daily on everything under the sun. Always informative. And the best organizer without doubt.

----

Selva

Another one who has sculpted his career like how he wanted it. And one with a mature outlook on life.

Unforgettable about you:

Your Vijay fanboy moments( though you won't like it brought up)

Your crush on Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce

And the way we lost your bag on the suburban train!

---

Sivakumar

The most sincere and hardworking of the batch, na the college. You cannot get a better employee than him in the whole world.

Quirky bits:

Unpuctual Army Officer

One the most dramatic love stories of the batch. Sorry loverboys of the batch, your stories could be nothing compared to him.

---

Veeravenkatesh

He was the richest guy I knew in my acquaintance at college level. I have never ever seen him waste a rupee. Some might call it miserly. But I thought that's discipline.

Unforgettable moment.

We both or me alone could have landed in obituary column ( due to my faulty logic of riding pillion with him on a borrowed 2wheeler , thinking that one drives a car would know to ride a scooter. I learnt it to be false, the hard way in the 2nd year near Taylor's road signal)

----

Vivek

The editor who reads a lot. And one who writes a lot too. Has a balanced view of things now.

Unforgettable:

His letters to me and others too ( I guess) during the 1st year vacation! Do you still write letters Vivek?

_---++++++++(((----+---++---_

This is the order in which the names appear on my phone in the Zodiac boys whatsapp group. Will continue after sometime if possible

---

Chenduran

Armageddon and Ega theatre

Always thought of him as sleepy , but looks like he was dreaming about his life in the United States while being disinterested in the drudgery that MBBS curriculum turned out in the college

---

Smiling and amiable.

Looked like Kunal.

No wonder he was the heartthrob of the batch. And to get an Ortho seat in a govt college after spending a few years outside the country in another direction is no mean achievement at all.

---

Reddy

One of the most talkative guys. Was a good company during train travel. The guy was always confident, very hardworking, brainy and never shied away from things

---

Arun vijay

Nice soft spoken, ever smiling guy. Hard looks but very genial person. A Dwayne Johnson look alike with a little exaggeration.

---

Nagaraj

I guess he never did not know nothing about anything. Or did I only feel like that about him?!

----

Ajmal

His lungi and Tirunelveli accent. Never thought he would settle in the UK when I saw him in the hostel. That's always great to come from non metro places and dream and achieve them too.

---

Prashant

Another genial guy.

Shatrughan Sinha resembalace with a little exaggeration

----

Mahendran

Phenomenal. That's the mildest word for his achievements

To be a best selling author before 30

To run a successful coaching centre with him as the brand face and to mentor so many fellow doctors

And to dream only of SGE and establish the department at his native place ( only a handful achieve it)

Unforgettable:

His words - 'Manja maakkan"

His close love-hate relationship with SK

-----

Thangam

Nice guy, who came from an ordinary background like me and many others and one who had to shoulder the responsibilities of the family soon.

----

Gopinath

One guy who always tried to understand whatever he was reading during MBBS time. And that's stood him good stead now I think

Unforgettable

He's the one whose bullied me the most in the class and I hate bullying! It's a dangerous and mean thing

---

Ganesh

Was always a little apprehensive about him because of his unorthodoxy in very little interaction we had then. May be a lot of reading can make us think out of the box only.

----

Abdul

Gentle guy on a yamaha ( or a bullet), not sure. Surprised to find him metamorphose into an argumentative voice in the main group. I should thank him as I left the main group when one of their discussions turned very hot during the Covid beginning

----

Manivannan

True to his nickname Poppy. Remember his dragging tone and husky voice and his fondness for persons from Salem (am I imagining?)

----

Kapil

Not much of interaction with him. Gentle giant type guy. They must have found it tough to adjust to Tamilnadu in those pre- mobile era

----

Devesh

Energetic fellow. And another one who always wanted to understand whatever he read, however long it took. That has enabled him become a national teacher of his subject.

----

Gowtham

Nice fellow, whose dad was even better to talk too..

Ideal brother-in-law / co-brother material

One of the Woodies.

----

Gokul

The only Gen Med and Cardiologist trained and practising in India, from our batch. Maybe he achieved what he envisioned.

Athlete. kulfi. Nicknamed because he was the softest guy of the G batch.

----

Jonathan

His smile. Non confrontational. Still wondering about his bold decision to take a subject based on his decision to lead a cool and calm lifestyle without considering the monetary aspect at all. He could have chosen any of the clinical subjects I think.

---

Kathiravan

Supremely confident, based on the anectodes from his hostel mates. Unfortunately for him, he thought he could clear his MBBS exams with the same strategies used for 12th standard

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Murugesan

Sincere, hardworking. Cannot remember his meticulous and dedicated approach in the anatomy dissection hall. I am sure he as well as many others could have had a different trajectory, if the 1st year medical books were available in Tamil. They had a huge bridge to cross in the medical college from std 12. And they heve done it quite well.

What is he doing now and where is he placed? Never heard about him after college

-----

Rajan

One with the professorial looks from the 1st year. Not one to mince words. Slightly similar to me with strong likes and dislikes. And he has been a caring son too.

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Sreenath

Brilliant guy. Wondering how such a nice guy could only be the 2nd favourite son in this own family!

Settled in US appropriately for his knowledge and attitude. He couldn't have survived in the Indian medical setup I guess.

----

Mallikarjun

Another soft spoken PMPD guy. Beautiful calligraphic handwriting!!

----

Prabhakar

Introverted and soft spoken.

Finding peace without marital or filial trappings. It's for his closest friends to let him be or force him into the universal norms.

Unforgettable

Bought a guitar from him which was probably destined to doom. It just broke into pieces of old age without being strung much.

-----

Ramesh

Too little interaction with him. But for the first year, his life could have been different. Break in the first year in MBBS is cruel. I am sure I couldn't have taken it at all. All those guys had lots of guts to survive it .

---

Manoj chand dayan

He was the real dramatic guy. Used to travel in the train in the 1st year. Another victim of the 1st year break

---

Santa

Another know-it-all guy with extreme confidence owing to his cute dubbing Tamil-like- diction. Could move well with the Hindi guys as well as the localites.

----

Bully- like appearance but soft guy inside.

I still remember him sleeping heavily most of the time.

He was so close to Mahendran. I have seen Mahendran teasing and scolding him so many times (almost Goundamni- Senthil like) and wondered how he put up with it. But later I understood that it was due to such a close bond that they shared.

My funniest interaction with them was when both SK and Apple came to 'unofficially' see a prospective bride for him in JIPMER. Those 2-3 hours were real fun.

I will remember him for the way he invited me for his marriage. He told me that only if I attended his marriage would he find an alliance for me in the future.

Never did I think I would attend his funeral almost 6-7 months after attending his marriage.

Heard he went sleeping which I think was his favourite apart from cricket.

Really unlucky guy.

I hope I have not misses anyone else.

Thanks to anyone who has reached this point without just scrolling to see how long the rant is!

It was nice reminiscing about those 5 years which were enjoyable for each of us in our own ways

---++-----+------------------+------++--

Decdak docs

2012-07-06T04:30:00.001-07:00

This is not a comic story based on the medical doctors or the non medical doctorate buying loafers! It's about rather unacceptable practical among the medical colleagues. Though I was always aware of it, I didn't have a direct involvement with this , in view of my general practitioner experience of just two months in a nearby nursing home as a fresher following internship. The doctor for whom I worked was regarded as a rather very "Kai raasi" doctor in that locality, who saw nothing less than 100 cases (most of which were viral fevers). Symptomatic treatment with analgesics and antipyretics was the treatment recommended for minor viral illnesses and fevers as per my text book knowledge then. But the doctor to my surprise kept writing "Decdak" for every patient with fever. When I asked him the reason, he said that's the best way to suppress fever and that he has been using it for long without any problem( I am sure he didn't do a study to prove his premise). And he sure didn't keep track of how many times the patient came to him for fever or how many doses he had prescribed. For the uninitiated Decdak is a potent steroid that can suppress inflammation very effectively, no matter the whether the inflammatory response is for the good / bad of the body. Though the result was good, I am sure means wasn't correct and I found the reason behind his ' Kai raasi '. Then on I was almost sure the busy GPs with the magical touch were the one that didn't hesitate to touch the Decdak. This issue is quite prevalent in the medical practice here; however what bought the issue back to my mind (considering that I am a practising radiologist for the last 5 years) is due to a personal issue. My wife who is a recently passed out MBBS doctor started a GP clinic in our neighborhood. As with all other self reliant professions, she had to start her practice from scratch. Whatever few patients that came to our clinic were treated with the text book knowledge, which when put into practice didn't yield the ' magical effects or cure' of the long established 'kai raasi' doctors. That prompted the pharmacy doctor ( isn't it right considering the fact that they they are the first port of call for most patients and never refuse treatment to their patients who are also their customers) to come running to my wife with a bag full of advice about the power and usefulness of Decdak in treating fevers apart from other tricks of the trade. Naturally my wife came home fuming from both ears and cursing the pharmacist and the previous doctors in the neighborhood who had spoiled the fellow and a lot of the patients.This prompted me to share my similar experiences with the 'kai raasi' doctor who practices not far away from our clinic. We plan to educate the pharmacist as well as the patients who are used to the 'magic cures', over a period of time as well as hold on to them with ethical and evidence based practice, though we are not really sure whether we will be successful in achieving some transformation in their thoughts of attaining immediate relief.

Breast cancer

2012-07-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

Breast cancer - is it what they call the 'beauty and the beast'?!!

Senility doesn't touch private medical college professors!!

2011-11-27T01:39:00.000-08:00

Retirement age for doctors in state / central Govt. is 58 / 60 years.
Private medical colleges were allowed to employ doctors till 65 years.
Sometime back it was changed to 70 years( wonder whether senility / dementia don't touch them and also why the Govt. retires most of its employees at 58 years.
Pretty sure it will become employed till death soon
Worried if it will become employed even after death!!
Note: their employment basically is for their degree certificates and previous service which help (mis)managements to register their names as teachers and mint crores in capitation from the prospective buyers (sorry, students). The employment is definitely not for their knowledge or skills (am seeing living examples)!

Whereas the same teachers are relieved from the Govt service at 58 years and the Govt cries of insufficient faculty and fails to add more seats, thereby depriving deserving students who can’t afford a bomb for their post graduation.

And the retirees often quote their interest in teaching students as the reason for joining the private colleges after retirement. Sadly the same “interested” teachers won’t continue teaching in the Govt. hospitals or work in places where they are paid at par with the Govt. service!!

The MCI, Govts., private institutions and the greedy doctors connive and have created a situation where lots of hopeful students are being advised to “buy” a seat rather than waste their time in preparing for Government seats.

Ten years down the line I will lose the pride of mentioning that I am a doctor, similar to the state, a lot of advocates are in today!!

A 'model' job advert

2011-03-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

The following mail I received regarding job offers, cheered my mood for a while ( not with the prospects, but the ad per se!)

Dear Candidate,

PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE

We are a Placement Agency working all over India based at SURAT.

One of our clients is a hospital, situated in Raj. Dt. Bhilwara Which is a S.D.M. Head quater and 100 K.M. away from Udaipur & 50 K.M. from Shri Nathdwara. Hospital is runnig from last 8 Yrs. with good O.P.D & I.P.D. and all types of facilities.

They have a well equiped mordern operation theater and running 60 Bads. They are plannig to expantion upto 100 Bads with some more speciality.
So They require following specialist Doctors and other staff:

â€¢ Gynae ;-
Labor Room Proceduers 500/- and Delivery 1000/- Per Case
Salary - Open

â€¢ Eye Surgeon
Exp. 0 to 3 yrs.
Qualification M.S. Diploma or equivalent in Ophtho Surgery
Salary - Open

ââ€¢ Radiographer for Digital X-Ray 1
Exp. 0 to 3 yrs.

â€¢ Accomodation Facilities will be provided by the Hospital at Free of Cost

Candidates willing to relocate Rajasthan should only apply.

If your current profile is matching the above profile please mail us your cv in reply to this mail and mention your current salary.

As this is a mass mailing system,kindly ignore this mail if you are not interested.

Would anyone have the guts to join the place after reading the ad

It's a very tough job, considering the fact that one has to ' relocate Rajasthan'

crore seats

2011-03-03T23:47:00.000-08:00

I have been wondering for a long time, about people doling out obscene money to buy the radio diagnosis and orthopedic seats in the private medical colleges. What has been more bewildering is the fact that quite a few of tem do not have a hospital or the choice of inheriting their parent’s practice. Are they doing it without realizing the fact that the radiology business does not provide a good return on investment as they would like? I think not. I don’t think it’s possible for people who have earned that much money, to just throw it away without thinking.

What I presume is that, a few of them join courses with the same attitude, people have towards material things. What comes to my mind immediately are the cars (especially with the ever mushrooming new posh show rooms of the luxury cars). Say for example, a guy with a crore or money for buying a new car would most probably buy a luxury car from the Bavarian land rather than cheaper Indian/ Japanese / Korean ones. I think some of them apply the same logic to the academics- have it, flaunt it. I don’t think the same people would pay that money to take radiology, once it loses its glamour and the supposed halo.

Plaster mouth

2011-01-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

'Plaster mouth' is the name I have probably acquired in my line of work, for upholding the law of the land. My line of work being, diagnostic radiology and the law I upheld, being the PNDT (The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act. I quite deserved that name, as I am yet to reveal the sex of a child antenatally, after practicing for close to 7 years (PG period included). The latest people with grouse against me are none other than my sister and mom and it is them who have called me that. She is a couple of weeks from her EDD and I am yet to reveal the sex of her kid, in spite of all kinds of threats from her. I think I would continue to hold on the info from her

Funny inquiries and encounters keep coming during day to day practice, especially from the moms of the pregnant ladies or from the ladies themselves. Most common being the pair of six decade old eyes trying to squeeze out any kind of picture from the ultrasound monitors, breathing behind your neck( literally); I , for one being a person, who hates being watched/ monitored or whatever. On most occasions, I have tried to be polite and as them what they were doing, only for them to tell me worriedly that they are not able to identify anything (I always wonder, if they expected the photographs of babies to come out!

A lot of inquiries come with a sheepish smile, regarding the sex of the baby.
And most of them, without fail say that they only want a female baby (which I most of the time, presume, is not true)

Another funny inquiry was when the pregnant lady asked me, if it was a "paappa". I hid my smile while scanning and then told her everyone has a paappa inside, she told me that she meant a baby girl ; I had to ask her what she would call a baby boy- she nonchalantly told it would be a thumb. She pleaded to know that if it was a paappa , so that she could get all the scolding from her mom in law, sooner than later( as she already has a "paapa". She was one lady, whom I wished I could answer her query; still I made sure I didn't break the law.

The irony of all this being the fact that, I am not in favor of the law in individual (non professional) capacity. When the couple have the right to decide to have a child, plan the time for a child, to know whether the baby is normal and responsibility to take care of the child both inside and outside the womb, I wonder why the hell , they are not entitled to know the sex of the baby. I am sure not everyone is going to go to a doctor, asking for an abortion. I have always thought that, if someone is not willing to have a female child, it's because they cannot afford to bring them up properly. And moreover, the reluctance, that is associated with bringing up a female kid, is that financial burden associated with the matrimony. The government instead of trying to slay the demon that dowry is, instead is trying to tackle the problem, with small steps, which don't exactly render a solution.

Bringing up of male and female kids cost the same; it’s only the marriage part that lets everyone see, girls as a liability. If government or the people themselves address that issue, there is no difference between a male and a female child. Hence it would matter little, if it's a girl / boy and the need for prohibition of prenatal sex determination will entirely go. But alas there will be a group of sonologists, who would be dead against this; as I hear they make a killing (pun intended), revealing the sex of the child. And also radiologists like me need not have to be "plaster mouths"

Funny cricket quotes of 2010 selected from Cricinfo

2011-01-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

1.It's up for Boucher to start a relationship with de Villiers

Ramiz Raja probably meant partnership during commentary for the second Test between Pakistan and South Africa

Nov 22, 2010

2.We've got a little bit in common...I love golf

Shane Warne understates the traits he shares with Tiger Woods

Nov 13, 2010

3.He has been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive

Daniel Vettori on Sachin Tendulkar ahead of New Zealand's Test series in India

Nov 2, 2010

4.Test cricket is bloody hard work, especially when you've got Sachin batting with what looks like a three-metre-wide bat

Michael Hussey is another Australian sick of seeing Sachin Tendulkar rack up the runs

Oct 20, 2010

5.I am sick of seeing Sachin scoring so many runs

Michael Clarke is glad Sachin Tendulkar has been rested from the ODI series after he scored 403 in the two Tests

Oct 17, 2010

6.I never dared to break the glass of his house while playing cricket as I used to be extremely scared of him.

One man who could restrain Virender Sehwag's big-hitting was India's world champion wrestler, Sushil Kumar, who grew up in the same locality as Sehwag

Sep 15, 2010

7.The golden goose ain't got too many eggs now.

Dean Jones believes the ODI format is on its last legs

Jun 16, 2010

8.Everybody knows I can dance well and I can bowl fast too. There are only a few bowlers who can do that

Sreesanth knows he has a rare combination of talents

Jun 8, 2010

9.I have joked before that there is a good chance that I might retire before Tendulkar

MS Dhoni on Sachin Tendulkar going strong at 37

Apr 24, 2010

10.We got called the Avatars in the corner. But I reckon I'm a little bit wider than him, which I can't say about many people.

Stuart Broad compares himself to England's newbie Steve Finn, who's beaten him for height

Apr 14, 2010

11.I'm not sure what the problem is with Graeme, but he has suddenly developed poppadom fingers. They are breaking all the time!

Jacques Kallis on his South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who had to leave the IPL after breaking his finger

Mar 18, 2010

12.I will pay anything, even go to the theatre, to watch the innings 100 times. I have already reserved a CD to watch it any time I want.

Virender Sehwag is ready to stake everything for a replay of Sachin Tendulkar's epochal double ton

Feb 26, 2010

13.Ryder may have the longest lower abdominal strain in history - someone with a heart transplant would have been back quicker.

Adam Parore is mystified at why Jesse Ryder's being wrapped in cotton wool for so long

Great escape

2010-08-08T04:56:00.000-07:00

Interesting and funny events occur during all the trips, no matter ,the nature of trip. Our honeymoon trip also did not fail on the account. The beginning was true to the Indian standards , train to Madurai arriving casually late by 2 hours, making us stand on the platform at 11 o clock , only to look amazingly at so many people who had caught their sleeps on the platforms. The travel was good as it was second AC, in which we were travelling . We had no chance to meet strangers ( co passengers ) with strange actions,as it was late night and most were in their slumber. I too tried to sleep o the upper birth, envying all those sleeping blissfully on a rocker. I was also afraid of going beyond Madurai, if at all I slept well . I never got more than a few winks and was totally alert from six in the morning , only for the train to reach our destination by 7.30. There we had the driver arranged by the resort, ready to pick us.

It was a nice Indica with a good driver, conversant in Tamil. I kept asking about the places I wanted to know, without distracting him from his primary job. we had our breakfast at a hotel on the highway. We kept passing the highway , looking at nothing but hills on either side. My wife was good at sleeping in a moving car , so she had no trouble, as the car seat made a good bed and i made a good human pillow. She was well till we negotiated the first few of the 17 hair pin bends we had to encounter, after which she started retching as i she had a germ laden roadside chicken biryani. Then she felt a little OK after we got down and took a breath of fresh air. we proceeded uphill to the resort thinking her ordeal was over. No sooner than we got down , my wife puked everything she had for breakfast, before rushing towards the restroom. Luckily for us and also the resort she vomited close to the lawn rather than the middle of the lobby( if that had happened , we would have been unforgettable guest in the most unpleasant way.

We got a nice room , changed and we thought we will try some local food. We got down from our room to find only a few shops and a north Indian Jain restaurant and a mixed menu Malayali hotel ( I mean including beef). Then we heard that there was a Saravana Bhavan in the town. We had even decided to go there; then we came to know that we had to travel 20 kms on a jeep on the hill roads taking one hour to get there. So we thought we would try out the vegetarian Jain hotel. We went in as we had no options

There was one north Indian family loading themselves all wheatish things. There was no one else other than them and a thin bespectacled guy serving them. The surprise was that there was no cashier . My surprise was gone later , when it became clear that the thin guy was doubling ,rather tripling as the waiter, server and cashier / manager. Further surprise was that the guy was not willing to take orders fro us till he finished billing the north Indian family. I wanted the most rapidly available item on their menu, but he was in no hurry , serving me only a good 30 minutes after we entered the place. I gobbled whatever was on my plate and my wife nibbled whatever was on hers and pushed the rest to me. And for the night we bought whatever was needed so the my wife would churn out a simple and nice meal.

And the biggest escape came to the front only the next day when we went for sightseeing. We had to have our lunch in the small town square before going the other way for further sightseeing. we were taken to the Saravana Bhavan , which was nothing more than the namesake of the famous , overcharging hotel chain HSB. And my goodness, the crowd there was maddening than at the real HSB. The driver had to use his local influence to get us in to the hotel for a meal;without which we would have had to stand in the queue for at least good part of an hour. The food was eatable and not complainable( which is always the case when you are hungry and have missed home food for a couple of days - but retrospectively , not a place where you would pay and eat ).We were just thanking our stars that we didn't venture out to eat at this place the day before and for escaping the ordeal.

FACE IS THE MIRROR OF THE MIND

2010-08-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

This is a old proverb that , i came to hear during the primary school years. There have been moments when i have experienced the same , unable to hide my feelings to the people around me. My parents can obviously sense my moments of anguish/ frustration , so easily , even before, I thought I was showing them. The same held true for me with my parents.

Yesterday afternoon , I learnt the face could reveal a lot about the mind of even the strangers, while watching Arnaab Goswami's interview( screwing) of HONOURABLE Minister Suresh Kalmadi. The way he talked and gestured , even a kid could be sure that , our Hon'ble minister was trying to hide a couple of huge pumpkins under the plate. The face of our dishonorable minister revealed more than it could hide. The mild stammer and irritability to fend of the questions gave away the fact that he had a hand / leg or what not , in the CWG scam. I just wonder whether it's commonwealth games or Corrupt Wealth Gobbling!!

However one thing is sure; the TV channels will get new fodder,sooner than later and our Kalmadi can go relax and frolic with his heist . Just as the Pawars did or the king (is that what he is) Raja did. We can't do anything other than fret about the amount of tax we paid duly by 31st July as honorable citizens

Cute short stories

2010-07-19T07:06:00.001-07:00

Fear

There was a lion who feared nothing except the crowing of cocks. A chill would go down his spine whenever he heard a cock crowing.
One day he confessed his fear to the elephant, who was greatly amused.
“How can the crowing of a cock hurt you?” he asked the lion. “Think about it!”
Just then a mosquito began circling the elephant’s head, frightening him out of his wits.
“If it gets into my ear I’m doomed!” he shrieked, flailing at the insect with his trunk.
Now it was the lion’s turn to feel amused.

Moral: If we could see our fears as others see them we would realise that most of our fears make no sense!

Nice short stories from the net

2010-07-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

Growing Good Corn

There was a Nebraska farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon...

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

This is for a lot of us

2010-07-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

Where are we heading ?

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; We've added years to life, not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but, lower morals.
We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. Where are we heading ....?
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family -- an unwise investment indeed.

So what is the morale of the story????

Don't work too hard... and you know what's the full word of family?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER, (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Nice short stories from the net

2010-07-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

Bad Temper

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."

Nice little stories from the net

2010-07-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE

Nice short stories from the net

2010-07-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Value
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special - Don't ever forget it!

2010-07-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

NO ORIGINAL THOUGHTS NOW , SO JUST A GOOD THING THAT I READ

The Best Things in Life are Nearest

The best things in life are nearest:
Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet, duties at your hand,
the path is just before you.

Then do not grasp at the stars,
but do life's plain, common work as it comes,
certain that daily duties and daily bread
are the sweetest things in life.

Robert Louis Stevenson

FUNNY REQUESTS AND PRESCRIPTIONS

2010-01-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

Due to the dearth of motivation to write as well as lack of ideas (not sure which factor is more responsible), I go back to the easier way of commenting on funny things that found my eyes or rather the things that my eyes caught. Below are some of the funny prescriptions that snatched my attention, enough to click a snap!

Little pearls from cinema

2009-12-19T18:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a long respite for the only follower of the blog. I don't intend to give them continued relief, I still like to scribble some things down here , at least to make myself happy , if not the readers!! So many thoughts crossed my mind , but nothing really impressive came out ; so I am using borrowed vocabulary from the movies ( good ones at that ) to fill the space and pass some message!

"One's body is only as healthy as the mind feels "- the protagonist in the movie Taxi driver says- implying that mind is the ultimate thing that dictates health or otherwise

" A man is not just his job . He's a lot more than that."- the Jordanian girlfriend of the CIA agent played by Di Caprio , tells him in the movie 'Body Of Lies'- this should definitely ring in the ears of

all the workaholics , who are obsessed with work , oblivious to every other thing!

Is your employer good?

2009-10-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

Work occupies half or even a lot more of our time in a day (awake time that is!). Most people work for others (employers) putting in their best for the owners to earn a larger profit. However there could be moments when people would wonder, if the effort they are putting is worthy. Such fleeting thoughts are excusable; but if they recur on a daily basis, there’s got to be an organic problem – either in the individual or the organization’s fiber. And if a lot of people in the work place, who feel the same, it’s quite probable that there’s a problem with the management. When I was just pondering whether there are any practices of the companies that could reveal their traits

The companies that insist on depositing your educational certificates with them are real undemocratic ones that hope to curtail your freedom to move out, by restraint, rather than anything; good companies would retain talent by nourishing them and not threatening them!
Those that take decisions regarding the employer’s work nature /hours , without even having the courtesy to discuss with the concerned
Those who make their employers work on all days , without closing , thereby enjoying greater income, but without compensating the employees by any means
Those who don’t give their employees adequate leave as per the prescribed norms and show no mercy, even if they are sick
Those who talk to their employees without any respect / abuse them unnecessarily
Those who don’t realize the human resource potential of the trained staff, just believing money can get anything
Those who think and behave as if the customers / clients are the only assets of the institution , without looking from the staff point of you
Those who don’t delegate ,even to a tiny extent , trying to keep their fingers in all the activities, there by losing their own energy as well as robbing their staff’s independence
Those who keep a continuous tab over the staff, to the point of hindering the personal freedom as well as spoiling the positive vibes at the workplace
Those that expect you to shoulder extra responsibilities , at the same time not expecting any adequate compensations for that
Finally , the most important , those who don’t care to pay the salaries in the first couple of days to the staff, without realizing , how big a deal it is and how significant it is for a family!

The organizations doing all or most of these mistakes could be thriving at one point, making them falsely believe that whatever they do is correct. They forget that, life is a cycle, and don’t foresee that the downturn of the wheel of life will be rapid and steep, if they don’t take steps to prevent it. Government always turns a blind eye to these practices, by the private employers, never taking any proactive step. And the managements are quite shrewd in smaller organizations that they do not allow the staff to unite for their own cause. Even if they stood up, there’s the Hobson’s choice of quitting / being thrown out of the job!! I just wonder, why can’t there be any independent organization on the lines of ISO (9000 for quality assurance too the customers and 14000 for environmental management) that, these private fellows clamour to get to boost their image- why not an ISO for assessing the HR practice of the organization. I am damn sure this would be abhorred by any employer, because most don’t have it in them to subject themselves for such an examination in the present state of affairs. I shall only hope business men would be more scrupulous; but that is a far fetched expectation from them, I guess!!

DARK STRETCH

2009-10-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Another day off from work; another bout of hectic and haphazard planning by the three of us, only to have a slightly unexpected turn. This has been our norm since our UG days, which would have been explicit to the people who know us / those who have read the previous blogs

Three good movies. Three of us. But each of us had seen one of those movies and no one was prepared to watch any of the movies again. Hence we narrowed down the already narrow choices.

We ended up at my friends’ house which was close to our chosen destination that day. Our destination for that day was the hidden lungs of the Chennai city. That place is a totally sylvan enclosure, lying along the course of a water body (one of the most stinking, at present). If the clues have not been enough, the densely vegetated area, by the estuary houses the largest banyan tree, in Asia, I guess.

Though I have walked alone from the main common entrance till the common area, a couple of times, enjoying every moment of the serenity and beauty, I always wanted to go further (lure that the restricted places always exert). I had read that the vegetation was denser and more beautiful; and that the path would end in a beach free from the crowd. In our famous common beaches (Marina and the Elliot’s) we get to see a big human sea and their pollution, before going close to the real sea. I have always longed to see an unpolluted, uncrowded beach, as a live experience. But I had to wait for more than 3 years to get a chance to see that and I got it today.

My friends luxury sedan , shorts( yeah – truly , because those who we met inside were all in the same – more like a dress code- a formal dress would have brought on queries , I guess) and his presence of mind happened to be the pass that day into the restricted area. We had the privilege of walking about 25 minutes up and down the narrow mud/ tar paths winding through the vegetation. Though the upward journey was not frightening, as there was enough light during the early twilight. But the same cannot be said about the return journey. We had spent only ten minutes outside the gate which existed between the little forest (that’s the feeling I got when you walked in the dark) and the beach. We just went a little further close to the point where the estuary met the sea- but there was nothing dramatic, except that you don’t get to see that very often. It was a little late for us to walk into the sand as it was getting darker; I was more worried about walking through the path back in the near dark. Twilight had passed and it was quite dark even at quarter past six on that humid evening. We had to rush our paces on the way back, searching for the little light strewn paths, so that we wouldn’t get harmed by any of the nature’s weapons (reptiles of any kind was possible there!). And we were quite relieved to get back into the car; off we went to the unrestricted Elliot’s beach and walked and talked till we got bored and ran out of things to talk. Now, I really have second thoughts about whether secluded beaches are any good as the common crowded beaches. May be it’s because, we wrongly chose a humid, cloudy day to go to the place I longed to see for a long time ; probably I need to go there on a fine evening to ascertain that !!

Is your doctor good ?

2009-09-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Almost all people go to doctors at some point of their lives, though most of the times, is for common illnesses. And simple treatments are adequate for most of the problems. But still I am not sure of the factors that help the patients in choosing a doctor. Most cases, it is still the 'kai raasi' factor, mostly through hearsay / word of mouth and the degree of "busi'ness of the practice (pun intended)

The practice of the doctors is considered to be proportionate to their skills and knowledge; but most of the time its unfortunately untrue. It's got to do more with their PR skills most of the time and the way they flaunt their degrees, the validity of some of which are not known! But there are also some really good doctors who have huge crowds, because they are genuinely good!

There is no real objective way to assess how good a doctor is , from the patient's point of view; and there is no system like ICC / ATP rankings to rate the docs , thought people still ask if a so and so doc is the number 1, much to my amusement and embarrassment!

Being a doc myself (though belonging to the most hated fraternity among the doctors themselves), I feel there are certain clues to identify the nature of your doc

1. Those that resort to injections for all sorts of fever, as the first line of management

2. Those who charge the same fees for follow up consultation even within 3-5 days

3. Those who insist on getting investigations done at specific places only

4. Those who insist on buying specific drug brands only in spite of cheaper and equally good options

5. Those who own the pharmacies, where profit margins are mostly double (its never passed on to the patients

6. Those who talk ill about the other doctors in front of patients

7. Those who ask for concession for costly investigations, specifically mentioning a figure, without asking for maximal concession (they would still be getting their usually exorbitant commission, by inflating the charges!

8. Those who admit patients in their small nursing homes, more often than not

9. Those who send their sick in patients for investigations , without the care of a doctor / trained nurse

There are a lot more , which I will keep adding!

MY SKY ART

2009-09-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Search stages

2009-09-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

I always thought that searching for a life partner was a single step procedure, in the sense that once your set of criteria matches, things would naturally fall into place. But from the first as well as second hand experiences that I have had, the search process usually could be divided into at least four parts, especially, if your horoscope is a little screwed up.

The stages could be named finicky, relaxation, rationalization and desperation; names being self explanatory! Umpteen criteria from looks to the family to the place to the education / job to a lot more trivial things are kept as an initial filter, which would, in most cases be unfulfilled. Non matching of even a single criterion is not tolerated. At least six to twelve months go in this screening, by which time; they would be ready to pass on to the next stage

Next is the stage of relaxation when a couple of non essential variables are relaxed, to widen the ‘catchment’ options; still the rigidity in the essential items is not removed. This search goes on for another six months; a lucky few get a result with this manoeuver; rest are to pass through to the next stage which is ‘rationalization’ where a few of the previously uncompromisable factors are relaxed and search is continued. That ‘s when the people concerned , realize the futility of looking for that perfect match; common sense prevails ; but by then quite a few matches that would have fit the present criteria would have gone along . But some people get the chance to go back to previously rejected matches to make amends and solemnize the relation

And the worst thing is for those who are option less even after ‘rationalization’, who never the less go into the stage of desperation, especially for the reason of warding off towards the wrong end of twenties. That’s when, everyone concerned hurtle hurriedly towards any option, that comes their way, compromising a lot of supposedly very significant variables

I am forced to wonder, how it would be, if there was rationalization at initial part of the search, itself, minimizing the heartburns and disappointments associated with the search