Happy Diwali XYZ !

Diwali is a time to celebrate and everyone indulges in their own way to bring in the festival.Its been a long time since I blogged and this blog literally came out of a much needed cerebral outburst.I found my own reason to celebrate.

Lazing in the afternoon ,I looked at the mobile bleep and opened my mail.Out came a medical report of a little baby residing in a woman's womb.A family I barely knew apart from their medical woes.A happy family of three struck by misfortune.Their little girl had fallen prey to a disease which had no cure.A disease which would make her life miserable right from taking her eyesight away to finally make her forget her own parents and live a fretful premature life.A life which only meant having multiple convulsions a day and a behavioural catastrophe which was unfathomable.When she came last to us about a month ago,she was miserable to say the least.

That was when the mother told us she was about 3 months pregnant.Left lurking in dark about the mystery of her daughter and now an added need for protection for her unborn,we embarked on a journey to find that one bit of the humongous human DNA which if found, could ensure protection in her next pregnancy from the same dreadful disease.It was going to be more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.Hurriedly we sent out the girl's samples.Luckily for them,one tiny chink of the DNA was isolated as causative for the little girl's disease.But time was running out.There was a life in the womb to protect.A few weeks before the fetus would turn "viable" as per our government ,we sent out the little's baby's blood sample from the cord inside the uterus.And today as I opened my mail ,I smiled.The fetus was free."It" like her parents and unlike her sibling was unaffected.I got one more reason to celebrate.Happy Diwali everyone and especially to this lucky XYZ ,now sitting safe in the womb.. :)

General Elections 2014 Fiasco !

Please go to the Great Indian circus tomorrow and choose your favourite clown.It also has a variety of entertainment with acrobats who can throw money around, trapeze artists who walk on a criminal rope and other public stunt oriented artists.The ringmasters are unique with one being from a family of hypnotists who have put the country in hypnosis since decades, other an illusionist who is staging tricks of seemingly impossible feats and last but not the least a hyperbolic, chauvinist ringmaster who loves to use his whip around. Stay entertained !


PS : Writing after a long long time.The elections atleast motivated me to doing this !

I wanna grow up once again..

I want to go back to the time when getting high meant a swing. When drinking meant apple juice. When dad was the only hero. When love was mom’s hug. When dad’s shoulder was the highest place on earth. When your worst enemies were your siblings. When the only thing that could hurt were wounded knees. When the only things broken were toys and when goodbye meant only till tomorrow.... We have changed and so has everything else…...........

Happy Birthday ,Chinu !!

15th August 2006 ,exactly a year before, I experienced sanctity.Today Chinu must have turned One.Last year during this time ,I was posted as an Intern in a small serene village called Khadavli for my rural experience for a month.Set amongst the lush green backgrounds of the Sahyadri's along the banks of the river Ulhas is this sleepy town located not far away from the city but ages away from it.
It was just my second day at this place when I experienced one of the most beautiful moment of my life.The primary health centre was by definition just a small dilapidated place to provide basic or primary treatment for all and more of a referral place.With just a handful of para-medical people for help and the medical officer in-charge on leave,its entire responsibility lay on two young men - me and my co-intern.
It was early in the morning with a slight drizzle around when the local people of the village gathered at the dispensary premises for the flag hoisting formalities.The village sarpanch was to perform the same.As we stood around the flag post with our heads held high, the beautiful tricolour was unfurled and it fluttered royally in the air.We began to sing the national anthem with a gust of pride and then it happened.
With the entire village in the midst of singing the anthem ,from no where came the shouts of a woman in agony. A woman came running towards the dispensary with pallor all over the face in the midst of some violent abdominal contractions.As I stepped aside ,she was taken inside by the nursing staff.As i examined her,she was due and it was literally a matter of minutes that she started delivering with the head popping out already.I hastily put on the gloves and tore open the supposedly sterile delivery kit as the nurse put the lady into position.The next few minutes were as traumatizing to me as to the lady of course but at the end of it i guess we both experienced sanctity.The lady had just delivered her first child and it was first time I had "independently" conducted a delivery !
Thus came in a new year of independence for the country and for me.The child was named Chinu ,which I got to know when he was brought for vaccinations later.I later independently sang the national anthem which I had left in the middle with added sense of pride from bringing another Indian citizen to this world.Today Chinu must have turned one.Happy Birthday,Chinu !!

The Old Doctor

THE OLD DOCTOR
(Published Academia 2005 - Omkar Hajirnis Sem X)


As we look back into the sands of time,flashed through our minds are various thoughts of the good and bad,happy and sad,some memorable while some to be forgotten.Each of us live everyday whatever comes our way,without wondering even once ,"Is this life ?"
Same was going across the mind of a very old doctor who had served all his life under the oath he had taken years before.As he sat back in the empty room of his old dispensary,he thought of his times - the good old times as they say.He thought of the morning sun,pouring down into his room and his ever youthful smile always in place,as he met his patients whom he considered his life,came everyday with the hope which the doctor gave.The clinking sounds of the smelling bottles of medicines which were the fragrance of his life and the churning motion of the mortar.
As life churned over the wheels of time,he grew old.The same old morning sun failed to show up under the heavy buildings which grew up in front of his dilapidated dispensary.The empty benches creaked occasionally under the weight of some old trusted patient.The bottles hardly needed to be opened but their odour lurked around the room.
As the old doctor wondered what had gone wrong,why the decline,he looked outside the window and saw the heavily crowded road with glazy neon signs displaying at least a dozen boards of doctors around him with fancy degrees behind their names.He sighed: actually he pitied the people,the general population - what a waste !
This must be life he guessed.He wasn't as qualified as his younger colleagues and he had to accept it,but then wasn't medicine more about experience and skills than just qualifications ? But this was the irony of his life and he couldn't do much,not that he blamed others.
As he poured himself a glass of water and sat to drink it,he thought that he had completely drowned himself into a sea without the ability to keep himself afloat.Then from one corner of his mind came a call,it told him that he had actually managed to stay afloat after all these years.The fact that he still was a practicing doctor though terribly old,was one of a kind in the world where majority of his colleagues had either died or given their hands up.He had something which nobody could teach anybody no matter any number of degrees behind a name,which was experience and patience.Though a small doctor,he still was a great doctor and still better,a good human being.This was what mattered because because this was the aim he started his life with - to become a good doctor and a good human being.He had succeeded in his own principles and didn't care about the failure the people thought he was.He has succeeded truly.
As he locked the creaking wooden door with the rusted old lock,he put the key in his pocket,took a deep breath and put his head up as he walked away with a sense of pride.

" Saddam Hussein - CAUGHT "

"SADDAM HUSSEIN - CAUGHT" (Published Academia 2004 issue - Omkar Hajirnis ,Sem VIII)

(One murder makes a villain : million a hero -Porteus)


As I woke up to the call of the nice sunny morning ,the newspaper on the table showed headlines of some major event.I picked it up and the headlines read"Saddam Hussein- Caught".What everyone expected to be a massive rapid fire action from both sides turned out to be a squeaky description of Saddam crouched in the dark,in a small underground room not far from his hometown in Iraq.What amazed me most was that though Saddam possessed a gun,no attempts were made to fire and a "bloodless" surrender was made without a single bullet fired.
As I eased back into my chair,I wondered how could such a powerful,monstrous man give up so easily as a rat.I;m sure all of us thought this was quite strange and surprising.That time my mind wavered to all kinds of thoughts that,was he the "real" Saddam ? Why did he surrender so easily ? Why didn't he commit suicide even when he could easily do so ? Somehow the pieces did not fit together.It was blur to me as the rest of the world which was as much flabbergasted and couldn't fathom the story.
Soon my thoughts started flowing and I wondered what must be Mr Saddam Hussein be thinking when he sat alone in that dark,dirty room.How difficult it must be for him after all those years of hardship,first to grow as a leader,then to consolidate his position and then to command over the entire nation,to become the 'One man army' of Iraq.This wasn't surely what the Saddam Hussein we all knew would have done.Or was he waiting to be caught or rather did he want to get caught ? I zapped up at my own thought.It was then I started looking up at the story from this point of view and it definitely did put some of the jig-saws into their place.
Could Mr Saddam Hussein have plotted or planned the whole war ? With the Americans and others just pulled into it given the lucrative status of Iraq as a major oil supplier.Could be,why not ? Given a thought that losing the '92 Gulf War ,Saddam must be only a fool if he did not realize that he did not possess the power or strength to fight the U.S troops.But what the Americans did not acknowledge was they could be fooled into getting involved in a whirlwind which would pull them inside and rip them apart.
If we look from this side of the story,we might be seeing the success of a highly placed calculated risk plotted by Saddam which has nicely paid off.I would not be surprised if Saddam could have well,planned to attract the U.S to fight him.But then what would be his motive in doing so ? Well,he could gain the world sympathy as well as go on and topple the U.S and British economies which he has mildly succeeded in doing.
As far as I can think from this view,his plan was straight and simple.Firstly,to induce the U.S to attack.Next he could have blinded the world and made his plan look like a full fledged war by mounting up minor oppositions to the U.S troops in certain sectors.But the most pivotal part would have been to make it sure that the Americans would fail to discover any weapons of mass destruction in this country.Not only because it would evoke world attention but also it would defeat the whole purpose of his plan of projecting Iraq as a weak,innocent nation crushed by an enormously powerful nation.
Now that Saddam has been captured,the U.S would be satisfied enough but it could well be a blessing in disguise;For what they would not be prepared for is hardcore attack by Saddam directly to the masses to gain the much needed public sympathy.Added to this ,is the rapidly emerging civil car against the U.S regime which is synergistic to Saddam's cause.
In the end,I think the U.S would have to lose much more than Iraq even if they satisfy themselves about victorious in the war or should I say a 'Pseudo-war'.As far as Mr Saddam Hussein is concerned he has done his job to his nation and could well be smiling his way to the gallows.


P.S- The above article is my personal viewpoint and I as such,do not support any of the two opposing nations and strongly condemn the inhuman act called 'war' which they have indulged in.

Epilogue : This article has been written 3 yrs back,way before Saddam was hanged.Considering the still on going civil war against the U.S and the wide spread hatred for them, I guess the article's not too off the mark !

Thoughts of a murderer..

Its been several mths since I blogged..The reason being laziness mostly..To get my thoughts moving,I've come upon an idea of blogging down my previously written articles mostly published in college mags..Hope they serve as an impetus to relieve my clogged mind..


THOUGHTS OF A MURDERER
Published : Academia 2003 ,(Omkar Hajirnis Sem VI)




The wind swished through the window.He got up,closed the window and sat on his bed.The clock struck two at night.Everything was still now,absolutely still.Nothing moved except the hands over the old clock hung on the dead wall.He got up to fetch a glass of water.The candle shimmered as he held it delicately.He came back and sat on his cot which creeked under his weight.This was the fourth consecutive night that he failed to sleep.An overdose of pills had no effect.He sat still on his bed submerged in his thoughts.
Suddenly he noticed he was breathing heavily.Through the dark corners of his mind came out an array of scenes as they flashed before his eyes.
It had happened four days back.He remembered it vividly.A slim shadow came walking towards him on a lonely road.It was raining heavily.The plump rain-drops were dripping on his face;as he removed his handkerchief to wipe them off when he suddenly noticed he was sweating.He shivered as she came nearer.His hands underneath the coat were trembling.But deep inside,he was determined,He knew he could do it,there was no option left.He had to kill her.She knew too much.
She came closer and her neck shone in the twilight.She was walking as gracefully as ever.Then she came to a halt,almost four paces away from him.Both of them stayed still.Nothing moved,their eyes met.The war was on.But this time it had to end.He had enough of it.He removed a long slender.shining knife hidden underneath his coat and in it went cutting the woman's abdomen in and out.When he removed it ,blood dripped like water.A shiver ran down his spine.He took to his heels leaving the body drenched in the pool of blood.
That was it.Since then it was four days.He had run away to a dilapidated cottage on a top of a hill away from the city.He hadn't slept;nor ate properly.A plethora of thoughts wandered through his mind.He was confused.He was perplexed.He couldnot believe it had happened.He shrieked for hours.Nothing pacified him.Everything seemed to be lost.He looked at his hands,the same hands which had murdered a person.He screamed;he wept;he moaned and he howled.But all in vain.It was all too difficult to digest.Sometimes he felt like getting up and surrendering himself and at the very next moment felt like running away,far away from 'his' world.The thought of ending up his life also occurred to him.But he knew he had to do something fast,before the cops ended up at his doorstep.
He got up and opened the door to get a fresh breath of life.He looked outside in the dark.Up above the moon had come out and beneath the hill ,far away he had a panoramic view of the glittering lights of the city.So much was happening there.Nobody cared for others because they simply didn't have the time.And here he was ,far away from everyone craving for existence.He had had too much of it,Also it wasn't entirely his fault.And after all it was just another murder in the minds of people ,just like thousands that occur everyday in the world.A strange kind of feeling was now gripping him.He had finally succeeded in silencing his conscience.He felt lighter.He walked out.He had entered a new world...A world of crime,murder and dishonesty.

Deewar..Lets bring our heroes home !

The title belongs to a not too old movie directed by the notorious director gaurang doshi on the indo-pak war.The war today has already ended before it began on the foreign soils(or sands ?) of the windies ! our heroes are back home for good..a whole lot of things have been said and written and lot frustation has been vented..i wont pursue this issue ne more..they not worth my words and time..

(On second thoughts, how abt having some friendly indo-pak matches right here right now in the subcontinent considering both the teams are jobless..wud beat the world cup in revenues too..say wat mr sharad pawar..haha! )

Eye of a blogger..

I'm just about a dozen posts old and its been around 6 mths since i took up blogging..Well as u can see i'm still an amateur, trying my hand at writing about different things and gaining experience and insight into blogosphere.
From what i've noticed that every blogger has some things in common...actually a lot of things in common..Right from when a person starts thinking to blog to the time he reads the comments on his blog a million things go about in his head..Its usually something which he/she wants to share with the world and is so excited or depressed, that comes out with a blog which is pages long venting his frustation or showing his jubilation in it..But I guess the best blog is written when a person has nothing in particular to write about but still just blogs to feel good or rather feels good after blogging!Another thing i've noticed is unlike articles in newspapers or mags a blogger never edits or atleast minimally edits..he likes it to keep it in the original form..Its the personal experience written "in the flow" which makes blog-reading such a pleasurable experience..And then comes the most pivotal part..Comments ! Its human nature to expect..but a blogger can range from being a little greedy to the point of being torturous on his readers to comment..nothing short of it..!All in one..blogging brings out the hidden persona..no one can shy from it..

ps - the above opinion is purely personal and exceptions are plenty (which dont always rule !)