Health Hazard

I am getting alarmed by the health problems that some of my colleagues have come to face during the discharge of their duties.

At least three people I know have been affected by tuberculosis and one of them even had to undergo surgery because of the complications.

At least two people I know have had mild heart attacks due to stress.Of course,in one case it was due to a metabolic problem but still stress might have been the trigger.

One of my friends was attending an interview where there was a medical checkup.The doctors found elevated blood pressures in 9 out of 10 candidates although none of them had symptoms.

I have forgotten the number of people who have mild complaints like back pain,gastritis etc.

Is the 'noble profession' really worth the price?

How to fail in exams

I recently heard some funny stories about how people managed to flunk their exams because of flimsy reasons.

A final year student was taking ophthalmology exams(viva).The examiner was a well-known terror.He asked the student to spell out the word 'ophthalmology'.The poor fellow spelt it-'opthalmology'.The examiner asked him if he was sure about the spelling and the student quite confidently replied in the affirmative.The gentleman got really pissed off that he did not know the right spelling and failed him.

There was another professor who used to fail students if their walk seemed too arrogant to him.If the students had prepared well and were confident,they were flushed down the drain.

A student who was taking his final year clinical exams noticed that the examiner was wearing a beautiful saree and could not take his eyes off her.The lady happened to notice the gleam in his eye and promptly failed him! 

Threshold!

Here is another story as told by Dr Ray.
Nepalis ,as a group,have a very high threshold for pain.If a Nepali says he has a slight pain in his right lower abdomen,for example,the diagnosis is appendicitis and he requires appendicectomy.
Once,a Nepali,who was a soldier came to the army doctor and saluted him .
He said,"Doctor,I have a problem with my index finger."
The doctor thought that since he had just saluted with his right hand,the problem must lie with his left hand and asked the soldier to elaborate.
The soldier took out his detached left index finger from the shirt pocket of his uniform and said that this was the finger that was troubling him!He had cut his finger while chopping firewood for the camp.
Hence,Dr Ray says "Be careful while treating Nepalis.Their capacity to bear pain is tremendous!"

Doctor on the move

This is a story that happened on another rainy day.
I was coming back from the hospital library at around 10 PM.It was raining and the weather was foul.Suddenly,the bike in front of me skid and the 2 people on it fell off.I got down form my bike,parked it by the roadside and went to their aid.Imagine their plight when a stranger who is in a debatably presentable condition introduces himself as a doctor and offers a free check-up right by the roadside.They turned out to be fine with only minor scratches and I continued my journey.
A few days after this,when I was going to the hospital in the morning, another set of people in front of me managed to fall off from their bike.The pillion rider turned out to be a pregnant lady and she was bleeding from her scalp wound(a small one).Luckily,a gentleman in a big SUV offered to take the bikers to a nearby hospital and I went on.
All this brings me to the question-How safe are we travelling on these roads?Whenever I travel in my car,I am thankful for the days it doesn't get dented.
Moral of the story-There is none!Advice to myself-Be prepared for accidents ,both to self and to others.

Dissection of a song

I have always been amazed at how a song loses juice when analyzed too thoroughly. This used to happen when we used to practice for our music performances. My favorite was (is!) a song named ‘Piya Basanti’.First, we had to learn the song by heart (literally).Then write down the lyrics. Then began the onerous task of preparing the background music. We only hat three instruments-guitar, drums, keyboard and the guitarist was a greenhorn (guess who!).The notes had to be simplified and adapted (for example guitar in place of flute).Chords had to be found for each line of the song. We had a small room in the college quadrangle where we used to practice. The practice used to go on till we came close to perfection (hee hee!).
Zoom forward-After the performance, when I listened to the song, I used to feel sick of the whole thing. The lines which had profound meaning and romanticism were just chords and notes to be negotiated with. Added to this was the agony of the results although the results were pretty good in some cases.
So, is it better to live like a dew drop on the leaf or live life in all its glory?!!

Life-A system of breakdowns and repairs

After 31 years of strenuous living,I have come to the conclusion that life is a system of breakdowns and repairs.The cells in our body are always going through this process.Eventually,they wear out and behold the end.This is the story of how the realization dawned on me.
I woke up one fine morning on a bright summer day.I had an exam to go to.As usual,I was not satisfied with my preparation and was not keen to go.I went anyway.I was riding a 50 cc bike.It started raining quite heavily and since I had a pseudo romantic view about getting drenched,I did not stop.The accelerator cable of my bike snapped and I started pulling it with my hands.It was late evening and not many repair shops were open.I carried on till the exam hall and completed the exam in my cold and numb state.Since I could not ride my bike at night,I parked it in my friend's place and caught a bus.The bus broke down in a remote place and I walked all the way home feeling hungry and angry(hungry young man!).By the time,I reached home,my parents had gone out and since I did not have the key,I had to wait for a full hour before I could make myself at home!
I recovered from this and went on to bigger(?) things.My car had a tyre puncture and it took me a half day to get it repaired.
My digestive system broke down because of constant abuse and I had to get an over-alling done(Endoscopy!).Plus,I had to swallow down dozens of tablets to repair it.
My mother cut her little toe on something and I am trying to help the wound to heal.
My daughter was born 2 weeks early and she is in the process of regaining her body weight.
My mobile has become de-currencified and is waiting to be recharged.
Oh!To maintain homeostasis.....ah!

Live to eat

I sometimes wish that I was non-vegetarian.They have a wider choice of food and the names of the dishes sound so colourful.
But among the vegetarian dishes ,my favourite one is paani puri.Hats off to the guy who invented this dish.I remember first eating this when I was in 6th Std in Hyderabad.I think,subconsciously,I was hooked.I do not remember when my next dose of this delicacy was,but I developed a passion during high school.
Imagine the ecstasy-first the poori goes into your mouth,then it bursts.The floodgates open ,the paani rushes out over your tongue stimulating the taste buds-sweet,sour,salt and sometimes bitter.The paani drips out of the angle of your mouth and you lap it up.The paani descends into the oesophagus lighting a fire and then into the cauldron of the stomach being churned for all its worth.
There are several names for paani puri-gol gappa etc.The poori is made from atta or sooji.
In Bangalore,my favourite paani poori places are-Sheshadripuram,VV Puram.Shankar Chaat house and near my house.
The filling is usually green peas or sometimes alu or hesarukalu(English word?).I think the best is hesarukalu as it does not have a dominating taste.