Vedant '10 - The Glorious End

Here are the outstanding rangolis created out of just powdered colours, from the Rangoli competition held during Vedant '10.

The guy who made this has won a prize in all

the cultural events - Rangoli, Poster-Making

& Sketching. Bravo, Amol Deshpande!!

Our very own BJite bagged a little something.

very proud of you!!

A picture of two friends of mine, as we tried to detach the backdrop, to take it to Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagraha for the last event - The Group Dance Competition followed by the Prize Distribution and Dr. Salil Kulkarni's performance.

The Fashion Show held at Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagraha - 'Poise', was a success too. Our college came third and the top honours were taken by SOFT. I didn't go for it. Sadly.

The last day, was mainly a success due to Dr. Salil Kulkarni's presence. God, I am such a fan!! He's a big name in the Marathi Music Industry, and he was our Guest of Honour. I love his songs, and it was surreal to hear him first hand. I even got an autograph, and a photo with him. A friend of mine took the photo, so it'll be some time before that comes up here.

After the Prize Distribution and his performance, my group of friends had a sleepover. We had a lot of FUN!!! Pizzas and the cold coffee from Durga ( famous for its cold coffees)......I didn't stay up too long. We had college the next day, after all. I was the second to drift into sweet sleep...

Currently, we are still reeling under the lethargy of the entire show. But, now our much-delayed cultural week has begun, and next weekend would the weekend of our Freshers'.....God, thigns never seem to end!! After that, would be my Gnynaec Post-End. So, March is not going to be uneventful....

Lord, help me manage it all!!

Vedant '10 - Enthralling your souls....

It's finally begun! And I think I'm really nervous about it all. I so want the next week to get over as fast as possible. And I really really want my two events to go off smoothly. Its not exactly going to be very easy, but I'm still hoping its easier than I think. And, next time on, I'm only going to do something if I DON'T want to do it. I just wish I can live through the next week, in the same happy and a little carefree way.

Yesterday's Inauguration was great. My friend, Mohini, a Bharatnatyam dancer performed the Ganesh Vandana. She is just so beautiful and graceful, it was hard to to look anywhere else. Bharatnatyam is a very expressive dance form, and Mohini takes to another level. We also watched her Arangetram a few months back, and she just keeps improving and improving! Great going girl!! We all love you!!

Our Firodiya team performed the dances from their play. Firodiya Karandak is a prestigious Intercollegiate One-act Play competition, held in February every year. All colleges perform in the initial Elimination Round, and eight are selected for the Final round. This year too, we did not manage to reach the final eight. But, with the dances ready, it was only proper that the team performed for the Inauguration. They danced better than they had for the competition!!

Some of the Juniors had prepared a performance, and one other Junior played the Violin too. She was fantastic!

All in all it was good, and our Chief Guest, Sudhir Gadgil, went away very impressed. Now, we hope the rest of the Festival also manages to spread joy and creative wind throughout the college.

Labour, in every facet of the meaning

It started with the Seminar on Thyrotoxicosis last week, on Feb 8th. It was a wonderful experience. Standing in front of a huge audience and speaking as calmly as I did, I have to say to myself, "Kudos!!". I ended with the sentence, "Even though the thyroid gland is not essential for survival, absence of the hormones can cause physical and mental slowing and affect the quality if life." That raised up a controversy amongst the teachers sitting in the front. But, there were some who agreed with what I said, and frankly, I don't think what I said was wrong. The Thyroid doesn't decide the life and death of a person. Nor do the hormones. They make a person capable of living what is termed as a normal human life. My friends said I spoke a lot better than I had, during the rehersals. Personally, I'm glad I was able to stand up for myself at the podium, and say what i thought was right when the controversy came up. Plus, I got a certificate, which for me, is more important. You could say that I am selfish enough to participate in this kind of activity only for the certificates!!

Moving onto my next goal, after two days of running around and being tense that I might not be able to finish off with all the signatures in time, I have finally sent my Research Proposal to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The results will be out in April. I don't care whether they choose my project or not, I'll be doing it any way. But, there is always a sense of achievement in having your project selected by such a prestigious body. Also, they choose just 500 such projects from all over the country. So, I guess, its easy to get what I'm trying to say. I just have my Ethics Committee proposal to be handed over tomorrow, and then wholly, and truly, I will be done with it all, till April.

After this, it is our Intercollegiate Competition Vedant to think about. I have to come up with my entire schedule to hold the Debate and Essay competitions. I don't know what the verdict on this time's Vedant will be after the bomb blast yesterday. But, lets remain hopeful.

Now, labour. In the field of Medicine. Overcoming my pre-construed aversion to the process of Miracle of Birth, I watched 3 normal deliveries and a Caesarien Section (CS), yesterday, during my first ever Emergency Duty (ED) of my term in Gynaecology and Obstretics. The Caesarian was a textbook operation. We've already had our clinic on the step-by-step manual of performing a CS. Yesterday, we had a practical version. The deliveries were a little gross, but the babies when taken out looked really, really cute. As luck would have it, we didn' see any girls being born. It was all male babies. Hmm, maybe next time!!

So its been eventful, this week. And I really hope, next week is a little less taxing. Ciao!!

Swine Flu

It has become official now. Pune and Mumbai have been subjected to a total shut-down. All schools, colleges, private tuition classes have closed down for a week, and malls, multiplexes, and cinema-theatres for three days.
Pune has witnessed a sudden rise in the number of positive cases and has the highest death toll in the country, with 10 out of 17 deaths being here, in the past two days. The drizzle we've experienced has only made matters worse.
Swine Flu is quite similar to common flu. And the prime reason why India is being affected as drastically as it is, is because our population is primarily made up of malnutritioned children, and citizens barely living above the poverty line. Add on the number of HIV-positive cases and TB-affected people in the country, the immunity level of these patients is already very low.
It is actually no use shutting down everything in Pune, because the virus has already spread in the air. Most of the recent deaths, included those of people who didn't even have a history of foreign visits, or foreign visitors. But, a virus, spreads in the sir easily and those with low immunity levels get affected easily. What we really need to do, is address the situation, personally. Increase our own individual resistance to the virus. And most importantly, do not underestimate the virulence of this virus. It is , sadly, human nature, and I would also say, the nature of a “true” Indian to decide for himself what is right and what is wrong. And more often than not, the ‘right’ involves doing exactly the opposite of what has been advised.
It had been advised by the government about a month back, that any symptoms like those of H1N1, please get tested at the institute designated. Despite that, people run all over the place, use all kinds of self-medication at times, spread the virus to a few more people, and within no time, we end up having a situation like that in Pune. Citizens have been advised to cover their mouths at all times. By, at least a surgical mask, or even a cloth scarf. Yet, I find more people without any kind of protection on their face, than people wearing masks. Most times, people find distinct pleasure in disobeying and ignoring well-meant advice.
And it all comes down to a shut-down. Trust me, it is not relieving, or enjoyable, having to sit at home, doing absolutely nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. But, how much can you study? And how many boring movies can you bring yourself to watch throughout the day? A word about getting out of the house, and one gets questioning eyes glaring at you, portraying exactly what is in the minds behind: “ Are you INSANE?”
The least I can say is, I hope Mumbai doesn’t face a situation like that in Pune. Hearing about a 13th death in the city, and 11th in a hospital which I call my own, is quite unnerving. I also hope, other cities don’t have to come to the extent of Pune or Mumbai.

• Vedant has been postponed to February. We might be able to celebrate Ganesh-Chaturthi, but we aren’t yet sure. College has been closed down for about a week now, so it will only be after Tuesday, that we’ll be able to decide on something.

Till then, I can only ask my fellow-bloggers, especially in India, to keep safe, and please use masks.

Officially Into Second Year:

Out of the blue, the results rained down upon us, and I am very happy, relieved and pleasantly surprised to announce to the ENTIRE world, that I have officially stepped into the second year!!!
My marks are not the best there can be, definitely not ones that I'm used to. But, considering my plight before the exams ( having to 'cover up' marks in Anat, in the Univs), and my overall, quite a packed year, with activities other than studying for 12 hours a day, I am glad its all over.
In fact, having looked at my marks, I am delighted that I can happily throw those bones away and put away my Anat books never to look at them again. Of course, thats not true. We have a surgery term, and definitely need Anat here. But, the point is, now I can actually LIKE anatomy and do it at the same time.
I got a distinction in Biochemistry ( considered to be quite an achievement by my mom), and I am very happy I could do it. All through the year, I have maintained that Biochem is my favourite subject. Doing well in a subject you like, is always incredibly satisfying. I expected more from Physiology, but I am not in the mood to give my paper for a re-evaluation. 'Be content with what you have' is a motto I quite strictly follow where my marks are concerned.
There are a lot of people who have got more than I have. It is not a scenario I am used to. But, strangely I don't even care, because I was so afraid that Anatomy might just prove to be, what I always thought it to be: My Nemesis.
Plus, my internal points sucked. To the core. So frankly, I've scored a lot more in the final University exam, than a lot of people. But, my internals pulled me down to what I have. Which is 'average'.
Its the first time I'm so satisfied with an average that, try as hard as I can, I can't even be unhappy! I've promised myself that I'm going to study from day 1, and I have started too. Plus, I love Pharmacology. I could read it forever. So its a good start.

Moving over to Vedant 2009, we did quite a bit of work over the past one week. Organising committees devoted to individual events, sending out search parties for potential sponsors, sending out delegations to different colleges in the city to invite them..... it has been fun. I am devoted to the English debate. It took quite a brainstorming session of about 4 hrs to come up with rules. We still have the judges left to decide.
Right now, though, Vedant has been put on hold, with the outbreak of Swine Flu in Pune. It has become a situation and the city isn't quite capable of handling things well. We've had three deaths, and many positive throat-swab results. Colleges have been shut down for at least a week, and we have to wait for our Dean's decision on Tuesday, to decide the fate of our event.
With the amount of work we've put into it, one part of me wants it carry on. But, there's also the less confident second half of me, which fears managing the event, and so wants the stop. We'll see what happens. Till then, hope to enjoy the glory of officially becoming a second year student. :-)

FNAC, An Unexpected Meeting, Badminton, Vedant

So as the title would prove it, I have a LOT of things to talk about. Lets get started then.
Firstly, today, the wards weren't bad. We were given a case of pseudopancreatic cyst, for history-taking. I am dead sure we made quite a mess out of it. And, the patient was irritated too. So, umm, can I please call upon somebody to help us out? Just a brief idea about how exactly we go about talking to a patient. It definitely looked weird and terribly layman, what we were doing. We hardly looked doctors. Especially the haphazard way in which we were going about doing the history.
But, we did manage to get some idea of it all, and sat in a side-room to write it all down properly, where the JR ( Junior Resident ), Dr. Sharad, asked us whether we wanted to watch an FNAC ( Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology ) being taken. Before that, he gave me some forms to fill. Obviously, clerk-work. But, its nice to feel important and helps in making a good impression in the long run. FNAC is a procedure carried out to investigate any lump for a malignant tumour ( cancer ). A very fine needle is pierced into the lump and then the lump is aspirated, onto two slides. This is then taken to the Laboratory for primary investigations. Actually speaking, I'm not very disturbed by the needles now. I am, but not as much as I was about two months back. And thats an improvement. The patient in question had a lump in the neck. We did something worth mentioning today. So, I'm quite happy.
Plus, tomorrow, we're going to the Operation Theatre, and hopefully, will get a chance to watch some good surgeries. Of course, the greatness depends upon the skill of the doctor involved. I'm praying that there is no doubt on that part.
Moving on, we were to have a meeting for the Vedant that we have organise this year, later today. So we had some time on our hands. I and another friend decided we'd accompany Shreya and Lubhna to the badminton court where they wanted to play. I managed a few shots myself. Of course, I'm not tournament material, never was. However, I haven't held a racquet in almost 5 years. So giving that push to each shot I played was invigorating. At least, I know I can get better if I want to give it a try. Felt great. Add on the eraser-throwing session we had before playing the game to get some shuttle-cocks down, was fun too!!
The meeting for Vedant was okay. We have a core committee now, and maybe that will help us a bit. As I have mentioned last year, the Vedant is an inter-collegiate event organised by the II/I batch of students of BJ. Because it is held around Ganesh-Chaturthi, is is named after one of the names given to Lord Ganesha : Vedant. We want to make this event better than it was last year, so it will require maximum efforts and dedication from our side, especially the localites, because we are supposed to know this city better than anybody else in college. Ah, well, we'll see about it. I'm going to enjoy it, I guess.
And finally, it isn't every day that you meet one of your ex-teachers and well, just have two words. I met my 8th Std Maths teacher today. She was the one who made me love Maths like crazy after a dreadful experience with the subject in Std 7. In fact, whatever small amount of love I still feel for the subject, I owe it to her. I'd never have started liking it if she hadn't been there in the first place. I thank God for two amazing Maths teachers in my last three years of school. That's the only thing that prevented me from positively loathing the subject in the 12th, when everything decided to go wrong.
Mrs. Chandy ( my teacher ) didn't exactly remember me. But, she did recognise me as a Maryite, and when I told her my name, she did vaguely remember me. Thats all I need. Just enough to know that somewhere deep down, I am remembered as one of her students. I felt blessed today. I really did. Going face-to-face with the people who created the person that stands in my shoes today, is always humbling. Not to mention, feeling like a small girl again, when they look into your eyes with the same loving and forbearing care. Needless to say, I love the feeling.
Well, today was eventful. And nicely so. Awaiting tomorrow, here's where I sign off.....Good Night!!!

Rangolis: Vedant 2008

Hi, during the intercollegiate festival of Vedant, there were these amazing rangolis drawn by the students of colleges participating. Rangolis, for those who don't know, are designs made by spreading powders of different colours the way you want them. So you can make pictures, assymetrical designs, anything. You need to have the knack for it, though. I can't drop that powder to make things work. I'm horrible at rangolis. But these ones were so, so, so pretty, I have to include them. Hopefully the pics will be upright:


A real tribute to Bal Gandharva Tilak. Its really like him!

The caption itself says it all: A tribute to Leonardo da Vinci

People didn't like this much. But I did. The colour combination is great, it really gives substance to the design. And its not easy to make all the people of the same type in this way. The idea's unique!

This is the best out of all. Can you believe thats a rangoli and not a painting?
Nobody had the guts to even move a colour from its place. It was left to
Nature to do it. The rain wore out its simple beauty.



And thats what it is. These are truly beautiful. Putting them on my blog is my way of saying "Well-done" to all those who did them and whom I'll never meet. Kudos guys! I'm looking forward to seeing some more next year!