APAO-AIOS 2013

Hyderabad started off as one big boring journey to end as one big boring journey too. But, in between those two boring ends was a conference that was the exact opposite of boring.

I have never been a person for train journeys. Call it my vice or whatever, I’m used to travelling by air, and love the feel of not having to take care of everything during my travel. Yes, I am lazy, so air is a perfect option for me. That being said, I was really excited about this train journey my mom and I decided to undertake to reach Hyderabad. Looking back, the only reason we did so was because one of my mom’s colleagues literally sold us the train option (all the advantages, disadvantages, etc.). I think the last time I’d travelled by train was a good 8 years back, with a wildlife group (again, I did not have to take care of much during that journey. See, I simply LOVE that sort of a feeling.). So, now 8 years down the line (and having grown up into an adult), I looked upon it as something exciting and new that I was to do. As the day arrived, all I wanted to do was wrap myself in my warm blanket and curl up in my bed. I did NOT want to enter that train. But, enter I did, with my minimal luggage and a heavy heart, as I waved my Dad a goodbye. I did feel a little excited, but that ended when I realized that I was going to have to spend the next 12 hours on the top berth, with no window next to me, and in that train. Have I mentioned before that I am a little claustrophobic?

All that said and done, it wasn’t that bad. I slept through most of the journey, but once I got up at 5:30 am in the morning, I had no idea what I was supposed to do, lying in that top berth with everyone below me, fast asleep. I don’t remember the next details with absolute clarity, so I might have drifted off into the uncomfortable morning sleep again. The next part of my adventure only added to my misery. I realised I didn’t have a roaming plan on my phone, that train got slower and slower with every station it stopped at, and once we got down, the crazy rickshaw drivers started quoting exorbitant fares to get to our hotel.

When we reached our hotel, my morale reached an even lower ebb, just looking at the place. I thought there’d be something more to it than a simple building that looked like a residential one, rather than a hotel. There was nothing to do! No place to even roam about in there. My last experience in a hotel had been in Evershine Keys, Mahabaleshwar- a place where I enjoyed food, sleep, sports and all the luxuries of a 5* resort. Oh man, this trip was turning into one big trip to boredom. Mom said I could accompany her to the conference venue. There they always have something for the family members of delegates, to do. Yeah mom, I was going to sit there all by myself, watching kids perform for their family members. How boring.

I think she realised that. So, we went and enquired about the spot registration for “Accompanying Persons”. However, since I am now a doctor, I got myself registered as a delegate!! And from there, this conference just got better and better J Now that I was an official delegate, I could attend all the sessions I wanted, learn whatever I was interested in and enjoy the great food too. And that is exactly what I did. The food wasn’t the best ever, but good enough (especially the Mexican, Continental and the Pastas. But, then, I am a big fan of non-Indian food any way. Maybe I was really born in the wrong country :-p ).

So what did I learn? I learnt that I am genuinely interested in Genetics of the Eye. I particularly enjoyed the sessions that dealt with experiments trying to find the exact genes responsible for Glaucoma and Keratoconus, and well as some genes found involved in various Ocular Surface Disease. There was a session by APAO (Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology) on Ocular Genetics that I found very interesting. I know I would enjoy doing something like that for the rest of my life. I attended about 3 sessions on Genetics and found each more interesting than the one before J

The other end that I clearly enjoyed was the area that dealt with the Microbiology of Corneal infections. I am so so so in love with Microbiology, even three years down the line, I feel this weirdly nice feeling in the pit of my stomach, the moment people start discussing microbes. The session I attended dealt with the uncommon pathogens (Nocardia, Microsporidius, Acanthamoeba) which geometrically enhanced that feeling. Ooh, it was a treat to listen to it all. I also attended a session on Ocular AIDS…it did not particularly live up to my expectations of it. Maybe, I expected  more lively speakers…I don’t know. It was good, but not the best.

I think that session that really made a difference, was the one on Publishing Papers. Now that I have data under my belt and I need to start writing papers to get it noticed, I thought this session would make a whole lot of difference and it actually did. I ended up feeling that I need to analyse my own expectations from this project and all, but it has made me feel a lot better about my fear of rejection of my papers. I have to work very hard on making my paper readable and interesting enough, but I have a few nice tips to refer to, when I start doing that. I think I enjoyed this session the most J

Another important aspect of my trip to Hyderabad was a visit to LV Prasad Eye Institute. I came back feeling a little scared of the whole setup. I was, however, reminded of my dear school when I was in there….the whole snooty, we’re-the-best attitude and the segregation. Oh man, I loved that atmosphere, and maybe I do need it again. Because, if I do Ophthalmology in India, a fellowship in LVEI will be my obvious next step. So, yeah, I was a little overwhelmed by the whole system there, but since I was reminded of my school-life that I am so in love with, I would be excited about my stint there.

On Saturday, we visited Snow World. It is an artificial snow-area, which tries to give you the feel of all those snow-clad areas in Winter. I’m saying tries, because it isn’t the same for obvious reasons. But, in a hot place in Hyderabad, that is the best thing you can get. It was fun, we got a nice picture and I had my first experience with snow (the artificial tag can go to hell J ). I was too bored and tired to attend the Gala Dinner, and later we were told that we didn’t miss much. So, yay! I got to sleep well.

Our last day was full of adventure. I, first, met up with my two close friends from school who now work in Hyderabad. That was a major highlight of my trip. There is nothing better than getting together with the people who’ve been such an immense part of your life for the most critical years of your life. 2 hours wasn’t enough to catch up on each other’s lives but we did try our best. Love you guys!! I am going to take your invitation to come to Hyderabad again and crash at one of your places, seriously. Be ready guys J

Now comes the boring part of our trip. We had a train to catch at 2:45 pm. We had to get to the station at least half an hour before because we didn’t know our seat numbers. I booked a cab to the railway station. We got into it and started off, only to have the driver asking us, “Kya aapko station ke rasta pata hain? (Do you know the way to the railway station?)” WTH. We spent the next one and half hours moving around the city, going the wrong way several times, till he finally got us to the Secunderabad Railway Station only 10 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. We went to the enquiry booth, only to hear that our train did not leave from this station, but from another station which was almost an hour away. A double WTH. They said we could try to catch the train from Begumpet (which incidentally was the station closest to the conference venue. Hmph.).

There started a race against time. Mom went on the manic drive trying to get to the station as fast as possible. We got a taxi cab with a driver who knew his way around. On reaching the station, it was a scene to watch. Mom was running around everywhere trying to ask for details of our train. People at the enquiry windows were trying help her in that broken southern-style English of theirs. Ultimately, a Good Samaritan guy told her to calm down, as he helped us with the touch-screen that showed us our seat and coach numbers. Although they told us that the train was a good 10 minutes late, mom dashed up the staircases and down, trying to get to platform number 2 as fast as she could. I was so sure something was going to happen to her. But, thankfully the race was uneventful as we made it to the designated platform, well in time. Our train came after a good 15 minutes. Gave us all the time in the world to catch our breath and relax a little. Also, it gave us time to conclude that we are just NOT used to travelling by railway, and next time, however far that airport is from the venue, we are traveling by air and nothing else.

My first ever full-fledged conference- the APAO-AIOS 2013 ended on a good note. And, I was delighted to see so many satisfied and happy Ophthalmologists who all told me just one thing : Take Ophthalmology. There isn’t another branch like this, in the world….