Ashwini Kalantri

Jab We Met

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:02:00 +0000

It was the end of last year that I had received a phone call. I was asked if it was fine by me to take things to the next level. That do I want to formalize my 6 year old romance? Do I? Did I really want to take that giant leap? Back then, I wasn't sure. I don't know why, but it seemed to be a big deal for me. And good for me, I did!

The day was Jan 28, 2010. And what a day it had been. The fact that I was getting engaged had finally sunk in a day before we were to leave for Kunkuri. Relatives had started to come. Packing was at it's peak. And then finally, we left.

We were received, welcomed and fed and fed and then fed some more. And then it was time. It was one of those rare times when you try to balance apprehension and excitement. Soon I got on the stage, and from the other end, came the most beautiful thing. She looked stunning clad in a gorgeous sari. She was took busy making sure she could walk in that thing, but she did evey now and then look up and smiled at me. I can still remember that smile. It was the most amazing smile I had seen.

Soon we were asked to do a series of things that made no sense whatsoever. And then finally, the rings. She stood there, all smiles, and we exchanged rings! What a feeling! Hundreds of people witnessing this great moment of our relationship!

After that, everything felt so perfect. We had people wish us all through the evening. We stood there beside each other. Sneeking a moment or two, having one of the greatest times of our lives!

Finally, we were engaged. One thing I regret is, in the process I lost my sweet girlfriend!

Internship for Dummies

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:26:00 +0000

To become a doctor, you spend four and a half years of your tiny life in the medical school. When you start, you have that spark, the will to excel, you (and your parents) are on cloud 9. I have seen a junior ask a senior, with all the seriousness on his face, “Sir, Top karne ke liye kitna padhna padta hai?”

And then the dream shatters. You have incoming missiles by the name of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology. And as you succeed to dodge one lot, an even deadlier one is headed your way.

And when you somehow manage to survive this brutal massacre, you enter into this new world where you are no longer supposed to remember complex names but learn the process to make the patient healthy. And this is different from anything that you have done before or seen people doing. It’s called the internship.

It starts from something as simple as drawing blood! (Actually, that’s most of what you do). The first time that I was asked to draw blood, I had only seen it being done a couple of times. I was explained the procedure… just push the needle into the vein and draw. Simple! Well, it is. But the thrill you get when your needle punctures the vein and dark red blood gushes into the syringe is immense.

As time goes by, you start doing things that are way cooler than sucking blood out of every vein you can see. Pushing a needle up patient’s spine and collecting the CSF… How cool is that? With a little practice these are fairly easy procedures. But the sense of accomplishment is what makes everything else worthwhile.

This is just the start. As you go to the surgical side, the journey becomes more thrilling. Not able to find the vein and your patient needs fluids? No problem! Let’s cut it open and put a catheter right in the vein. Excising cysts, suturing wounds, draining abscesses, they all are much more interesting when done than read.

What you also end up doing for most of your surgical posting is dressing wounds. And not just clean healing wounds… there are ulcers that have been rotting since months waiting for you to dress them. Then there are wounds with maggots crawling out of them. Wounds with muscles and tendons exposed and pus draining. And you are supposed to clean it all up and try to make it healthy!

Then there are the surgeries. The first time you hold the knife and incise the skin, it’s a really scary moment. What if I cut too much?, you think. And then you see your senior butcher his way in. It’s all so exciting to see blood on your gloves, even if all that you have done is no more than retracting the skin! And then there is your first surgery as first surgeon! Of course it’s going to be just a hydrocele surgery, but the excitement of cutting things open is great!

And then there is the part where you deliver babies. Really scary… you start to try to remember all the various ways the baby has to bend his way out, something that had twisted your brain in the final year and would definitely put the best yoga gurus to shame! And then all of a sudden, the head pops out… after a few chants of laga laga the shoulder, the hand, trunk and finally the legs are out! And then you start to think… what did you really do? Why in the name of god did you learn all those relations of the fetal head with the maternal pelvis, when all you had to do is some fielding practice!

And how can we forget the OPD. You sit there seeing patients after patients, referring most of them to the specialists. And every now and then, prescribing them… that’s right, prescribing them drugs! This is such a wonderful feeling of… grandeur!

All this sprinkled with a bucket load of clerical jobs is internship in a nutshell. Yes, it gets monotonous at times. Your PGs would make you go through all sorts of crap. At times you would be stuck in the wards for days, cut off from the outside world. But what this does is makes you feel like a part of the system. You can now associate yourself with the medical profession. Internship as a whole is many small experiences put together. Each one special, each one different, each one thrilling. And when seen together, it’s one heck of an adventure!

Salt and Pepper

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:26:00 +0000

Its been more than 5 years. I had proposed that we be more than just friends and she accepted. What that naïve proposal started back then, is now growing into, what people call, an engagement. By the end of this month, I will be formally engaged to the girl I have been in love with for quite some time.

I really excited and at the same time quite palpably apprehensive. But I know I will sail through. And it is going to be quite a journey!

Bollywood istyle!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:50:00 +0000

Since the time that I started understanding movies, I must say, and you must agree, that Bollywood has come a long way. I mean, look at all the crap that it puked on us in the '90s. It used the same old script, that got altered by the scriptwriter. And I am sure, somewhere in the confines of Bollywood, there still is that old, original script, that everyone seems to have copied.

Not that they all were bad, we did see an odd movie that was... different, fresh, new. The likes of Dil Se.., Sarfarosh and a few more did save the day for the '90s. But these oddballs were limited.

Come 2000 and a new face of Indian cinema was revealed. It started with Lagaan in 2001. The masterpiece from Aamir Khan took the hearts of millions of Indians (who by-the-way love both movies and cricket!) Aamir hit the bulls eye again with Dil Chahta Hai. This story of friendship and love gave the youth of India something that they could relate to.

King Khan sang the tune of patriotism with Swades and more recently, Chak De India!. Hrithik wasn't far behind with Lakshya. Nana chipped in with Ab Tak Chhappan. Dil Dosti Etc again got the youth all pumped up again. Aamir came back with Rang De Basanti!

More recently, Dostana, New York, Wake Up Sid, Rock On!!, Delhi-6 all rocked the cinema houses! They all were so unique and perfectly made. They all left us thinking. You could see that very unique expression on the viewers face after he is seen the movie. They motivated us and entertained us even more.

And what's stolen my heart today is the latest by Aamir, 3 Idiots. It has been more than a week that I saw this movie, and I still can't get it out of my head. I still can't help but laugh at the crazy moments from the movie. It was a beautifully written script, even better executed by the master himself, Aamir.

What this new Bollywood has brought for us is variety, quality and a story that we can relate to. The old folks have gotten better at their game. The new ones are simply outstanding. I wait for a Ranbir Kapoor movie as much as I would for a Aamir Khan. As the acting is getting as good as it gets, the attention to detail and the cinematography is simply superb! The songs aren't just a string of rhyming words, they have meaning and they alone can make you skip a heart beat.

Today, I can proudly say that I love Hindi cinema. I no longer wait for a Hollywood flick to be entertained!

Got Published!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:10:00 +0000

Accuracy and Reliability of Pallor for Detecting Anaemia: A Hospital-Based Diagnostic Accuracy Study

In the summer of 2007, I had spent a lot of my time peeping into the patients eyes, looking at their tongues, gazing at their palms and inspecting their nails! 400 of them! Back then, it was just a summer project for the ICMR. All that I did was fantically collect as much data as I could as fast as possible. Later we put together a project report for the ICMR.

And then, 2 years later... Voilá!! I got a paper out of it! About 6 months ago we started working on this report. Trying to sculpt it into a paper. We shortened the 30 page report into a less then half, reanalyzed the data, made a few tables and graphs and then finally it was ready for submission. After about a month of submission, I get an email from the editor... "I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLoS ONE."

And day one of this year, its published! I am really excited to have my first article published in PLoS ONE!! This is huge for me! Great start to this great year!

Link

What lies ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:53:00 +0000

2009 will be history in a few hours. A lot has happened in this year. And I expect a lot the next. I am really excited about this new year. When I see through the doors, I see so much in store for me.

As I get ready to dive in to this amazing time in my life, you guys have a great new year!! Live your dreams, and then dream some more!

Jack vs Auro - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:33:00 +0000

Just got back from the theater, and I must admit that I jumped to a conclusion too fast. The much hyped movie staring the Big-B as a 13 year old boy, deserves the hype!

Both Jack and Auro have a congenital genetic condition which accelerated their physical growth many fold. And thats where the similarity ends. The angry young man, once again shows off his class. It is acting at its best. The story was captivating and the comedy - world class! I laughed my head off, all through the movie!

Google se bachke kaha jaaoge?

Is it inappropriate to use an iPhone now?

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:28:00 +0000

A handy flow chart that would help all us geeks to know when NOT to use our iPhone! I wish there was an app for that.

click on the image to enlarge.

Jack vs Auro

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Just saw another amazing movie from Robin Williams. Jack. Its a story of a boy who has a genetic disorder that makes him age faster then normal. Sounds familiar? Why shouldn't it? The Bachchans have, yet again, failed to come up with a decent script for their next movie. What do they do? Steal it!

The much hyped movie, where the junior Bachchan plays Big-B's father, Paa, seems to have the same story line as the decade old Jack. Ripping hollywood movies is no news in Indian cinema. But when the likes of Big-B resort to it, its a slap on the face.

And as far as I can see, Jack kicks Auro's ass any day!

Technology and She

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Most of us boys are obsessed by the technology that surrounds us. Be it your cell phone, a car, computer, even something as stupid as a pen drive. We need to have it all. Its a fetish we just can't give up. Whenever you see that new Alienware computer with the i7 processors or the iPhone 3GS with 32 gigs of memory or even a Segway, you know that your hormone levels are deranged. You get that feeling of rush. A craving to touch it. A craving to push a button and see things jump to life!

But the ladies just don't get it. For them it is just a box used to get your work done. How can you work on a computer of hours at a stretch, even when at the end you have done nothing? Why are you using your phone even when you are not texting or calling anyone? Whats in those stupid blogs that you keep reading? There is so much that they just don't get. The closest they get to technology is maybe making a call from their pretty little cell phone. And no, your compact is not a gadget. They would go whining that, my boyfriend is in love with his iPhone, what should I do?

Their feeling of insecurity is natural. They know they just cant compete with these new hot gadgets that keep getting hotter by the year. You can dump one for a new one whenever you want. They would let you do whatever you want. You are always in control. And if you ever get bored, you can just switch it off!

And then you say that your boyfriend is in love with his iPhone? Well, guess what? I am, and there is nothing that you can do about it.

P.S. This may be my last post. Its been nice pouring my head out here. I am so dead after my girlfriend reads this. ;)

The Apple of my "i"

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:30:00 +0000

It was back in the January of 2007 when I was seeing a live stream of a MacWorld keynote presentation from a small company - Apple. This guy, wearing a black turtle neck and denim looked nothing like a corporate guy. Slightly balding, he had an aura around him. When he spoke, people lisened. This 6 foot something, thin guy was Steve Jobs.

And the product that he unveiled that day was the iPhone! He went on and on about this legendary device that had this huge capacitive touch screen, a widescreen iPod, an revolutionary internet device and lest we forget, a phone all rolled in one beautiful shell of aluminium.

Since that day, I have been drooling for one. Why shouldn't one. The thing is the best handheld device that the world has seen till now. And we keep forgetting, its also a phone. A lot of companies have made these claims, but this truly is a computer in your palms. And then, about 9 months ago, out of the blue, I found one sitting in the palm of my hand.

The one that I own, is the second generation iPhone - The iPhone 3G. Apart from the cool things from the last release, it now sported a GPS, native third party apps, ability to tune into a fast 3G network and the list goes on. Mind you, the original iPhone still kicks all other smartphones' asses, no questions asked. The Androids, the Blackberries, the WinMos they are still a generation behind it. And what I have is the second revision of the best... how cool is that!! (Well, the third generation iPhone is also out and the 'Whats new' list continues to grow... do you hear the other phones crying?!)

Nine months, and anyone would start getting bored of their old phone and starting craving for that cool new phone that their friends have. Not me. I am still so overvelmed by the things that phone can do that I have even stopped noticing other phones.

Lets start with the most basic of its features, the phone. There is a great phone app that springs up the second you touch it. Just touch the name in your contact list and thats it. It does what its meant to do in the simplest of ways, making and receiving calls. Most devices will have the phone as the core with the other features being sidelined. But the iPhone is not a phone, it also has a phone that is seamlessly embedded in the smooth interface.

The other thing that I use is the web-browser. It nicely renders pages like it were a desktop PC. And with the touchscreen its so easy to navigate. And now with all big websites like Google, Yahoo, YouTube being rendered for the iPhone, things are even better then before.

The music players is an iPod. Nothing more needs to be said about a music player after that. But this is so much more! The touch interface makes it so easy to browse through the music library and the videos on the 480x320 screen look simply gorgeous. Making playlists is so yesterday. What I do is simply select a song that matches my mood, hit the 'genius' button and boom, I have a playlist that I am sure going to enjoy.

To add to the list is the Maps app. Using the huge and continuously updated Google maps data with satellite imagery along with the really nice A-GPS, finding places has never been so easy. My friends would mock my of being too advances and literally living on that device everytime I and use it to find something or am accurately able to guide them where that cool food joint was. But I know its just envy speaking! Every now and again, they would pick it up and adore the great things that I do with it and wondering how is a thing so small even able to do all this.

This has just changed the way I communicate. With my mails being pushed to me the movement they arrive, and my contacts and calenders being continuously sync with my Google account, I have never felt more connected. And did I mention there are more than 100K apps just waiting to be downloaded at the app store? Facebook, Twitter, chat apps, Doom, Photoshop, Remote desktop, Skype... you name it!

Words just can't describe this amazing thing. You have to see for yourself. With the third generation iPhone sporting a faster processor, more ram, a compass, voice commands to name a few, I feel a shiver down my spine everytime I think of what the next revision will hold.

Live!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:44:00 +0000

I was sitting in the Obstetrics and Gynecology OPD, measuring BPs and weights and filling thick registers, when I hear that the tickets are available!!! I knew it was on 28th, but had totally forgotten that it was this month. And then I made the worst decision, I postponed the 'Ticket buying ceremony' by a day. That day I spent thinking about who will I go with, how many tickets will we need, what level tickets... only to find next day that the tickets are no longer available!! But if you live in India, 'Sorry, the tickets are no longer available' doesn't say its over! I made a few calls, a friend knew someone, who could ask someone to get us a few tickets. So no harm done, the only downside was, we had the cheapest seats that there were! But that doesn't bother a cricket fan. By the way, I was talking about a cricket match, but you got that!

The day arrived, and what happened that day was legendary!

We had learned from our past experiences to get to a cricket match well before time if you don't want to miss anything. You just don't walk into the stalls waving your tickets at the checker, you get past the traffic, find a parking slot, stand in a looooong queue, get frisked and then your companion loses their tickets, you spend some more time explaining it to the authorities, and then finally you get to the gate leading to your stall.

Now what I saw next was a scene Steven Spielberg would be proud to shoot. I walked up the stairs and I could see people sitting around, all pumped up... I went further and I saw more of them. There was a heavenly glow around. Everywhere I saw, everyone I saw, had a wild excitement in their eyes. And then I finally climbed in to my seat. It was just beautiful. Smooth green grass, neatly cut, a nice dry pitch in the center, wickets at both its end, two huge screens on my right... and the crowd, it was amazing. It was a mind numbing experience.

Once the view had sunk in, we started to wait for the players to get out. And when they did, it felt nothing like on TV. They were really there! It was great to see Sehwag and Tendulkar walk out of the pavilion and take their stance. And then it all started. Bowlers bowling, Batsman batting, fielders fielding... it was a show sync to harmony. It was like music for your eyes. Really good music.

But this wasn't about how the players played, it was about the atmosphere. Literally, it was hot as hell. The first few hours the sun was scorching at 40 degrees trying to mellow us down. But that had little effect. The tricolour was being waved around everywhere, everyone would jump up at even the slightest sigh of aggression. And the Mexican wave, what should I say about it? It just didn't seem to stop.

The Indians batted through the sun and as the sun started to set, we had shouted our throats sour. We were piling runs like it was some backup team from Bangladesh we were playing against. With a beautiful century by Dhoni, we had pocketed a decent 354, and the players walked back to the pavilion (the Australians with their heads down.)

The flood lights had come up by now. And I never knew a stretch of green grass could look so beautiful. With the glow from the four huge flood lights towering above us, it was magical.

A few minutes later the entire Indian squad came out, stretching, running, throwing the ball around. And soon they scattered in a neat field formation. Pravin Kumar and Nehra started the massacre. The Indians, when they were batting, had the ball cover every inch of the ground. But the Aussies just couldn't connect. With the wickets falling at the right time, no Australian looked dangerous. These cold blooded hunters were easily tamed by the Indians.

At the end, India won with Australia still 99 runs short. But even a hundred grand HD screen or cinema display can ever replace the experience that those cheap tickets gave us. I felt like a kid in a toy store. The excitement, the entertainment, the emotions, the enthusiasm that a live cricket match brings can hardly be felt from that comfy sofa of your home.

Its a girl-boy thing!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:52:00 +0000

I have fallen in love so many times since that first time. Back then it was more of the excitement than the feeling. The first time I said that I loved someone, I didn't even know what it meant. It was a dialogue that generations of movies had taught us to say when you felt that spark for that special someone from the opposite sex (or who knows, the same sex!). The dialogue didn't mean much back then, but I sure did feel the spark. Just like in those movies, a call did put a smile on my face. I would wait for the next meeting. I was happy, excited and so ...naive.

It was good while it lasted. Then I fell in love again! It was a smooth flow. We just clicked. Our young hearts thought that this was it. Everything was planned, the road was laid. We would glide smoothly to the end. While we were painstakingly placing each object in our surrounding, making the ambiance look better than the Versailles, there is one thing that we forgot, us. Soon we started discovering glitches. There was turbulence in the flow. And that turbulence eroded some of our beautiful garden.

And then, one more time, I fell in love. This time I knew about the sharp edges and I knew how to dodge them. But it wasn't that fun anymore. Instead of gliding, we were more of dragging ourself. But still, every now and then, that spark would reignite and the day would feel sunny again. I would again feel happy, excited. But this time I was not that naive.

With that sense of maturity, I fell in love a few other times. Fell a few times, had fun the other. But every time understanding that this thing is so complex that I may never be able to understand it completely. All that I can do is enjoy the good times, and hope that they last really long. As for the bad times, I still haven't understood how to avoid them. Just hoping that they are quick and painless.

But this last time I fell in love was different. The last couple of months have been great. The chemistry is just right. The spark is brighter then ever, things just click and I see no sharp edges around. I am gliding again. May be its because I know where not to tread. Or just may be I have started to master the skill of pressing the right buttons at the right time.

As I was saying, I have fallen in love so many times since that first time. The thing is, it was always with the same girl... over and over again!

Community time!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:44:00 +0000

3 more months and I have (sorta) completed my PSM posting. PSM, the Preventive and Social Medicine... what it did for me was it prevented me from socialising at all! For starters, we were locked away in 'jails' about 25 kms from sevagram. A dirty room with a motheaten bed, crappy food, no source of entertainment what so ever and to make things worse, notthing to do.

We would sit in 'Kiran Clinics' from sharp 8 to 1 and see 3 patients. One of them with nonspecific body pain and has come to get his free aspirin refill that he has been taking since the last 20 years. If I distill the aspirin out of his blood, I might have enough to have a major pharma company running for their money! The second, an old lady, had an unique presentation of fever, that starts on her legs, then crawls through her spine to her chest and finally goes in her up to her head. A presentation, epidemiologically speaking, confined only to the rural indian masses. And the last guy was there just for the bi-weekly dose of injectable vitamins.

After we have run this quackery, we would go eat our crappy food, make some of our own if its too crappy to eat, take a nap, and then go and 'study'!! Thats right..STUDY! Who in the right mind expects interns to read? Add to that, literature about how elderly in some remote village have health problems! Next comes the the best part, come evening and we are free. So we sit outside of our room and... well thats it, thats all that we did. We sat! Fun, ain't it?

The better part of PSM was the GOPD postings. Again a strict 8 to 1 schedule. But now we were more like real doctors on a real hospital and were able to prescribe real medicine for some real problems. And there was less worry as if our young brains failed, we could always refer them to a specialist... and we always did ;). The best part was that we were free in the evenings and were at home!!

Over all, a complete waste of time. All that we did was stick to a strict time schedule and allthat we learned was doses of the likes of PCMs and CPMs! Way to go PSM!

Medicinal Blues... and the other colours!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:55:00 +0000

It's been 3+ months since I have joined my internship. And I have finished my medicine posting. I started off with my ward postings. My job discription - Drawing blood, filling out forms, making entries, and grossly doing anything nobody else wants to do! But the Verdict - Fun! (most of the times)

When I started, I was scared. I will actually be involved in actual patient care. What I do will matter. And if I don't exist, the system feels a hollow! That is a great responsibility on my shoulders. Then you start pricking patients and drawing blood right, left and center. And that very disposable needle eventually breaks the bubble!

But the life in the bubble was wonderful. That first time your needle enters the vein and the blood gushes into your syringe gives you an unimaginable sense of accomplishment. Then there are pleural and peritoneal taps. You push a needle in the cavity, and draw the dirty water out! How cool is that!! Every now and again, the bubble starts to form... to burst again. But the little time you get in it is great!

I spent a lot of time in the ICCU. And most of it was spent taking Blood Pressure, measuring Blood Sugar and recording ECGs. That doesn't mean that the bubbles didn't form. I did a couple of very successful LPs. I put tubes up (dead) people's throat. Gave a couple of CPRs.

On the down side, I must have completed atleast 500+ patient files. Filled out thousands of forms. Made innumerable entries on the computer. Filled in the discharge papers. But all this isn't all that bad. I mean it was no fun, but not that bad either.

Over all, I would give it a thumbs up!

Doctor Who

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:26:00 +0000

Classes, clinics, practicals, teachers, professors... It's all over now. The results came out and the way I lived my life has changed! I am now an employee and not a student. But what excites me the most is that now I am a doctor!!

4 and a 1/2 years of slogging your ass off makes you really despitate to achieve your goal. And once you really get it... you are extatic beyond words!

Plus, on top of that being a doctor changes the way people look at you. You see a new respect coming your way. They respect you not just for what you are but for what you can do... save lives!!!

But the system has a way to bring you back down to earth. It's called Internship. For starters, they pay you just 1700 bucks. We are what they call, cheap desparate labours. On top of that they make you do the lowest level of work. All that we do is suck blood, send it to labs, fill in forms, finish paperwork, make entrys and take BP. We are just a bunch of glorified attendants!!

The Final Level

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:56:00 +0000

..an X-ray on Bladder stone, luckily a specimen of bladder stone, a clamp, autoclaving, hernioplasty, fibula, the Austin Moore hip prosthesis and I was done!!! That was the final 20 mins of my last exam. And what a relief it is. I came out of the surgery seminar room at about 5 and didnt realise what just happened. This is what I have been waiting for not just for the last few months, but for the last 4 years, maybe longer.

As most of us know, getting past this torturous obstacle race is no easy task. To add to all this, you have the professors. They lurk in the darkness of the hospital corridors. Constantly observing your every move, and when the time is right, they would pounce on you. And as you go further ahead in the race, the harder it gets. Its just like that video game we all play. Well… a lot harder!! And what’s hardest is … The Final Level.

When it starts, you don’t know whats in store for you. You are all cheerful having just passed the pre-finals. Its 3/4th done you say… just one more year and BAAAM!!, I will be a doctor. Folks! Its easier said than done. Back then in February, you are carefree, hoping to organize a function or two and have your share of fun at the Gathering. Its just 4 more subjects, whats all this hype the seniors are creating. I can handle that… right? Wrong!! Those four subjects may look harmless and simple, but believe me, as your exams approach, you are going to wish you had never…ever… even thought of wearing that white coat or putting a stethoscope to your ear.

Let me tell you what I am talking about…

Behold… Pediatrics!! Now don’t go by the name. This little boy will pull hair out of your nostrils, cry all day, poop all over you and finally make you feel like you are full of it. These children, even when they are normal, they aren’t! They are this alien life form, completely different from the adult human. They act differently, they sleep differently, they even get sick differently. When you thought the children must be the easiest to handle, look at the expression on the face of a mother of two who just found out that she is pregnant!

Talking about pregnant… there is Obstetrics and Gynecology. As if dealing with girls isn’t enough, now you have to study their health problems. And honestly, why would a girl come to you and tell you about her menstrual irregularities? But if she does come… congratulations for reasons more than one!!

They even go to their doctors even when they are not sick. Dude, who goes to a doctor when you are fine? They just have a faulty body, but lets not go into that. What I am tryin to tell is its no easier than the other subjects. And when then the examiner asks you how does a couvelier uterus look like, you think you were better off with your girlfriend asking you if she looked fat in her new dress!

Lets have those hands together for… Surgery! In the beginning its so cool. No matter what the problem is, all you have to do is cut! That must be easy. Cut – Resect – Close! That’s an easy drill. And its so manly! But by the time you have finished reading about the kidney and the man organ, you will have no idea what so ever about what to cut, what to resect and what to connect!! Its all just Blah-Blah-ectomy.

And finally… Medicine. Thinking of this as ‘just a subject’ would be a blunderous mistake. That’s right… that’s how big a mistake it would be!! It’s the mother of all of them. It’s a real cocktail. You add up everything you are supposed to learn about the human body – how it works, how it doesn’t work and how to make it work – and mix them well and you are done! That’s medicine for you. But the problem is, unlike a cocktail, it just doesn’t go to your head.

That would be the study part, I didn’t even mention the fortnightly ward leavings, the case taking, the clinics, the classes, the peer pressure, parental pressure, the short attendance… and the list goes on…

But that’s nothing to worry, everyone goes through that. So can you… RIGHT?

Once and for all.... its over!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:30:00 +0000

...an X-ray on Bladder stone, a specimen of bladder stone, a right angled clamp, autoclaving, hernioplasty, fibula, the austin moore hip prosthesis and I was done!!! That was the final 20 mins of my last exam (fingers crossed). And what a relief it is. I came out of the surgery seminar room at about 5 and didnt realise what just happened. This is what I have been waiting for not just for the last few months, but for the last 4 years, maybe longer.

After I sat for the Peads theory exam on 3rd Dec (which didnt go so well), there was a huge gap before my practicals started. Most of us enjoyed the first 15 days as if the exams were over. But as 29th Dec came closer, I started feeling the heat rise.

First came Paediatrics, I was allotted the same case as 5 other. Why do you think should I go through the pain of taking the history and examining the child? I took a short history just in case, and copied the rest from a friend. The examiner wasnt that nice though, he would flip through topics like a girl would flip through a recipe book to figure out what to cook!! In the end, it didnt even feel that I was done with Paediatrics.

Obs & Gynae was next on 2nd Jan. Me, Shashi, Swapnaja and a couple others took the case together. A Obs case couldnt have been easier! The examiner, instead of asking me about my case, which was IUGR, decided to go a different way. He asked me everything about placenta previa. But that went well. Overall, this exam was satisfactory. But still I couldnt feel the relief of finishing two of the four.

Next was the mighty medicine! Honestly, I was scared. We went in and I was allotted short cases... guess what... Psoriasis!!! I had read about it a month back and not in my wildest imagination expected not just me, but anyone to get that as a case. It was as if someone was teasing me. But that went well in the end. The long case was a good case of Pleural Effusion. It was an excellent case with great findings. But guess what... they didnt ask me anything about what I had found, or how did I elicit my findings. Every thing else went fine, but that was such a beautiful case!! Theres so much more that I could have told them. Anyway, this exam made me feel that I had done something. I was relieved!

Finally Surgery! Everything went simply great!! I was happy not just because I had done good, but because I had done it all!! Once and for all, I could say... its over!!

Almost there...

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:20:00 +0000

My Exams started on 18th of this month. 9 days, 7 papers, 4 subjects... and I would be done with the theory of my final year exams!!

That should have been today. But Mumbai went boom again!! Just before I finished reading the final few topics for my last exam, news started to pour in that the exams might get postponed. At 7, the news got confirmed. The exams have been postponed until further notice.

This would have been the last one!! I would have been free for another month, when I practicals start. But all that I can do is wait for the exam and study all over again :(

Update: Its on 3rd December...

Taming the Tiger!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:46:00 +0000

I have a PC at home. And I have Windows XP installed on it. I have been using XP for over 5 years now. Why did I not change? For the simple reason, Vista sucks!

About an year ago, I had this urge to install Mac OS X in my PC. Now this is not an easy task as Mac OS is not meant to work on a PC. But I didn't realise that. I downloaded a pirated DVD image of the Mac and tried to fiddle with a few files, trying to figure out how to get this to run. And after a few tries gave it up for a later time. But the next time my PC was restarted, it crashed!! The GRUB loader used to install the OS had corrupted my hard disk. All my files, photos, movies, softwares... gone!!

But yesterday that urge came back. I went online and did some more research. And even before I was prepared, the Mac OS DVD image was done downloading. But this time I was safe. I was doing all this on a virtual computer. This would let me install Mac OS without any risks to my PC. If anything goes wrong, all that I have to do is delete a file!!

The DVD that I got is not the latest Mac OS version, but that shouldn't matter much. I am still figuring out how to use this piece of beauty. Lets see if it lives upto its name!!

Update: Guess what? Its just OK!! Its a much simpler OS compared to the Windows. Its cleaner, but its too... small! This was the Tiger, I am now downloading Leopard. Lets see if thats better.

32 Days...

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:53:00 +0000

Ever played a computer game? You have to get through a set of obstacles. Miss one step and you fall into the deep valley and die. Then you start again, until you have got it right. Then you move on to the next level. Its fun. Right?

I feel just like that. Minus the fun part. After tackling the pre university exams, and before I could even stand up straight, the next level is ahead of me. The University. Its the hardest of the levels.

No cheats, no god mode and the scaryest of the monsters who are most difficult to tackle. Let the games begin.

42 days on the board..

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:51:00 +0000

And on the positive side, 100 days to freedom. 15 Jan 09, I will be a free man. No more study or you will fail. No more stop wasting your time on the computer. No more you sleep too much. I get to do what ever I want, when I want and for as long as I want. My exams get over on that day. But as I said, thats like a light year away.

Back to reality, today was my pre-university medicine practical. And i was the extreme opposite of wonderful. I had a CNS case (my bad luck starts). I had taken hemiplagia on a few other occasions. No big deal. I was confident.

After about about 1 hr, very satisfied with what I had done with history and examination, the examiner came. I started presenting. And then i saw my beautiful poetic creation being riped to shreds. Words after words were thrown back at me. The brain never seemed so unfamiliar to me. About 1 hr had passed. From chief complaints to management, every single line had been scrutinised. I was numb. A lightening had struck me.

Then he left. Just like that. I was assaulted. My confidence shattered. Everything seemed dull.

But this is just the beginning. There is surgery tomorrow.

Update: Surgery wasn't that bad. In fact it was good. Obgyn and Pediatrics left (fingers crossed).

The Final Frontier

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:21:00 +0000

I have a blackboard in my hostel room. Many would think that I use it for noting down important stuff or practicing diagrams or teach someone (why would you ever think that? Honostly). But thats not it. It shows in huge letters the no 50. Thats the no of days left for 18 nov!

Now whats so great abt that date? Lets start with, its a tuesday, just another working day for most of you. The new NFS game gets released on that day. Yeah, thats exciting but not enough to get me to countdown to it (I didnt countdown to the iPhone release and i was superexcited abt that). Then what is it? Well, thats the day the biggest exams of my life starts. I am going to sit for the final year MBBS exams.

Once its over (and if i pass), i am going to be a doctor... Yeah! But that seems like a lightyear away.

Boys gone Wild!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:15:00 +0000

It wasnt just another cricket match. It was an Indo-Pak match. Not just that, it was the finals. It doesn’t end there, it was the world cup finals!!! (Thats right, three exclamations). We all know what happened. A perfect Indo-Pak World Cup Final! As Ravi Shastri put it quite well, with all the spiciness of the south asia! A low scoring first innings by India (What have they done?). The tug of war continues as Pakistan is doing well in the initial overs of the second innings. Indian bowlers put the breaks in the middle. India sails for a clear victory. Can that happen? IndoPak cant be so simple. The rollercoaster has got to have a few more bends. In comes Bhajji. 3 sixes of him. Equations change. Pakis see the finish line. They need 20 of 12, 13 of 6, 12 of 6, 12 of 5, 6 of 4. They had almost done that snatching of victory thing. But the coaster had another turn. The rest is history. India lift the T20 world cup! A total masala, twist in the tale, sports thriller that can give most movies a run for their money. And if you saw till the very end, there is even a topless scene. But that not what I want to talk about now. I wish to tell you the story of the other side of our TV screen.

The excitement was high when I got out of my ophthalmology lecture at 5:30 today. I reached the mess still carrying the PSM book that I was reading in the lecture. And an awkward sight meet my eye. Everyone was nicely sitting in a uniform fashion, tables well arranged. But then “Tum sab ke ghar main phone karunga... blah... blah...” explained it all. Dr Ghosh(Warden JNBH) was mad about the broken utensils and benches during the India-Australia Semi Finals. Soon the first ball was bowled and his voice was lost. Soon enough he left.

Empty oil cans were summoned in no time. Noise never felt so good. The juniors played the cans to celebrate every shot. But it was more of nail biting. Curses flew all around the room. “Saale kya kar rahe hai?”, “Inse acha to hum khel sakte hai”, “Abe maar na!!”. By the end of the innings, there was disappointment. What have they done? 157 in a T20 world cup final? Thats not enough. We have lost the cup.

But hope filled the mess to the brim for the second innings. The melodious noise of oil cans and a cooler tank filled the hall. Wicket in the first over, and everyone went berserk. We were all on our feet, arms up in the air. Yeah! We’re going to win. But the next over bought us back to our seats. Chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” “Pakistan ki....” provided the chorus. More curses were thrown at the anti-Indian decisions by the umpire (Kaha wide thi? Itna to chalta hai...), and the Indian bowlers (Kaha se select ho ke aa jate hai?).

But the Indians pulled the rope and the Pakistani graph stopped climbing. Every dot ball or a single was met with applause. Hearts were thumping (not as much as the oil cans, now deformed and unrecognisable). Were we going to win a world cup? None of us had seen that happen. Some of weren’t there and the others had much more important matters to attend to. So this was it. India Vs Pakistan. World Cup Final. India in a winning position. Pakistan doing a mere 7/over when the required rate was touching 12. Wickets kept falling for the Pakistan camp. And everyone of them was well screamed for!

Bhajji came in, cheers!! He gave them three sixes! “Saale ne kya kar diya?” Shreesanth gives 15 more runs in the next over. All they need is a manageable 20 of 12. Tensions were high? Will India finally lose to Pakistan in a world cup? The heat is on and we were all literally sweating. It looked like the pakis were doing their jobs quite well. Silence in the TV hall. Sharma is hit for a six when they need only 12. People start to lose their heads. “Isko kyu di bowling?”. Misbah screwed the final act for Pakistan. As of the Indians, the drama couldn’t have been better. We were T20 world champions, defeating mighty Australia, South Africa and finally Pakistan on our way.

It was like a soda bottle being opened after violent shakes. We danced like there was no tomorrow, seniors, juniors and PGs alike. Shirts went off, high five exchanged, another bench broken, more of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and other holy mantras. And finally, fireworks!

A perfect match. Total entertainment. But it was the TV hall that intensified it all!

I've got fish!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashwini) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:31:00 +0000

This birthday, guess what I got? Even I hadnt thought of this... It was a fish bowl, and if that wasnt enough, there were fishes in it!! Live ones!! Not one, TWO!! So I get a bowl, some sand and two fishes (live and not to be cooked). And it was ... Woooow. Its just great to see then go around. Making circles around the fake plant that I just put in. I just love them.

Now that hard part. I have to feed them two times a day. So now I have to be there every day. I have to refill the water everyday or once in two days. i have to change the water every 15 days, and clean everything. But thats all worth it!!