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.

A day in the life of a surgeon

I suppose everybody has a pattern for their everyday life.Here is how mine runs.I do not know whether this is typical.Everyone has their little quirks.
When I reach the hospital,I slip into my white coat.Normally,us surgeon bros do not like wearing them,but it has become mandatory-I suppose we too should look like doctors!
My boss during post graduation never liked jeans.He always said that since jeans were not meant to be washed,they carried a lot of germs.Another chap advised against full sleeves-carriers of bacteria.So,all the various advices were distilled into a set of some sort of formal dress code.
The best dressers are the interns-they do not have exams and they do not have to act prim and proper.
Once,I was wearing faded jeans.My boss saw this and sarcastically said,"I say,what is he wearing?What I say,you play the guitar or something?"I did play the guitar but I don't think he meant it in a complementary way.
A lady intern in my unit was wearing a dress which was sort of darkly shaded at the back.The bosses made her turn around and asked her whether the dress was wet.I don't think she minded but we had a good laugh.
Wearing a tie is a no-no.The tie hangs down into the wounds that we have to clean and it is not suited for our weather anyway.
Coming back to my routine-I enter the ward-everybody greets me -I greet them back.I start talking to the patients,enquire how they are,poke into their tummies etc,change their medications or prescribe medicines.Then,I go to the operation theatre if we have a list or the outpatient department if our unit is on-call.
In the OPD,we see patients,treat them or admit them for treatment and if there is an emergency case,we operate as soon as possible.I will write about my theatre antics in another blog.