Vedant '10 - Half Way Through

Yes, the week that I was dreading has come to an end. I'm in a dilema here. I have every right to be happy with the way things have turned out. And I also have every right to be unhappy too. The first event of the week and the Festival, the English Essay-Writing Competition, went well. We had 15 participants. Not bad. And some of them were different from the ones who'd registered. So, I was happy. The entire morning went off quite smoothly. One down, the big one still to go.

The Staff Debate was held in the afternoon. Frankly, the meaning of Staff-Debate is a few hours of entertainment for the less-entertained section of the crowd in BJ, if you know wha I mean. The topic was 'Live-In Relationships', and the speakers had a whale of a time talking about everything apart from that.

Tuesday arrived with a friend asking me to help out with the Solo-Singing eliminations. That was a pretty tough task, but the end-result was satisfaction and an eagerness to watch the selected participants sing on the final day. Overall, I felt glad I managed to help her out.

In the meantime, I started getting calls from people outside of college, interrested in paticipating in the English Debate. My earlier uneasiness regarding organising the event was vapourising off quite easily. I was feeling excited about it all. In fact, on Thursday afternoon, I even managed to get all the permissions for the chairs and the table-cloths. I was so excited about it all.

And then it happened.

4 people cancelled their entries. On the eve of the event. I wanted to hold somebody and shake them through and through till every cell in their body hurt. Why in the world did have to happen at that bloody time!! I'd been praying through the entire weekend that I did NOT want the event to happen. And just when I decided that I did want it to happen after all, somebody up there decided to listen to my long overdue prayers! Yeah right, that was so comforting.

It was of no use to hold the event. So, yes, I cancelled it all. Felt dreadful. It isn't right to do this, everything at the wrong time. Any way, point is, my work is sort of done.

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!!

PURANDAR 2010

Purandar totally ROCKED!! I had more fun than I expected to have and, once again, found the ardent love I feel for all things Nature.

We left on the 29th, i.e. Friday afternoon. One State transport bus filled with around 103 2nd years and around 7 seniors. It was very stuffy. Obviously. Reaching the foot of the fort by bus took an hour and a half. I could feel my excitement rising as we wound through the streets of my dear city, the noise of the guys singing right behind all of us.

Once we had reached the foot, it was time to haul our heavy back-packs onto our poor backs and start the rigorous journey to the top. It took us a long time to actually manage to reach our base camp. The path uphill wasn't the most difficult in terms of climbing. It was steep and dusty with very few proper foot holds to utilise. Of course, our bags didn't make it any easier.

One of the first rules of ascending a hill or a mountain is that, you shouldn't stop. Making a stop on your way up for a few minutes makes you more tired. All the lethargy that seems to be a centimetre away while walking, floods into you, pushing you into the static inertia from which it is tedious and more energy-consuming to rise. I tried my level-best to put that stop at bay. I could feel the heat and blood charring my face, I could see the redness that my arms were slowly producing, and I could here the vapours of hot sweat leaving my face, as I puffed my way up. Our leader's calls of, "Just five more minutes!" helped in a very small way to actually keep us moving. At one point, I decided not to pay any heed to all the mountain-advice buzzing in my head and I sat down. I deserved it. We had covered 3/4th of th journey, and I had boiled to limit of vapouring into thin air. My mom's advice was now ringing in my ears - " Don't do anything life-threatening." This wasn't exactly that, but I didn't have to wait to move into that category, did I?

Pressing Matters

The exams having finished, and my voice and health having returned to more or less normal (I can sing now, without flinching at the sound of my voice!), I now turn my attention to two pressing matters: The Thyrotoxicosis Seminar which will take place on the 5th of Feb and the final decision on my ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) Project.

We had a rehearsal of sorts on Thursday (21st Jan) for the Seminar. My presentation took 15 mins, more than 2.5 times the alloted time. I have to cut down on a lot of matter, something which I am so NOT interested in doing. I've spent ages on making the presentation just right. Lets see what my guide has to say about what we can cut down upon. But, as such the experience of standing up there and talking was brilliant. I did not have jitters. That might not be the case on the 5th, when there would easily be a huge crowd, and the venue would be the MGA. I'll be doing all that I can this week, to make sure I'm fully prepared.

The ICMR project deadline has come, and it is the 15th of Feb. Having come down to two topics, I'll hopefully be making a decision and submitting a report to the Ethics committee of our college for approval of the project. I am hell-bent on doing this project and I do hope things work out well.

Moving onto the earliest and most enjoyable event of all, we have a trek to Purandar Fort next weekend (29th, 30th, 31st). This reminds me a lot of the Lohagad trek we had last year, and I can't wait to go for another one. We will have a meeting mid-week so that we can be told of the itineary and the stuff we need to carry. But, I'm a hundred percent sure this trip will be a major fun trip for me.

The weekend was a welcome break for me, with all the remnants of my illness bearing down on me during the week. Also, we missed out on almost 17 days of our paediatric posting because of the terminal examination. So, the last week in college hasn't been a restful one, complete with 3 hrs being spent in the wards. I love paediatrics. The patients are so CUTE!!! And, I get to unleash all of my sweet side onto those patients. We have an amazing lecturer teaching us too. A Dr. Chhaya, who has a certain way with children and us too. I really wish we had been able to finish the entrie posting. It would have been an experience. But, now I do know that there's one branch I wouldn't mind specialising in.

And I saw my Micro marks. They are pretty ok. I've passed by a fair amount. It wouldn't have hurt to score a little more, bu then medicine isn't about scoring marks, it's about learning and enjoying the subject. So, that has been able to console me a bit.

This week has been fun. Hope the next one is too :-)

OVER!!!

And so they are. No more formalities left, and no more last minute prayers. My exams have officially ended and I am taking the deepest sigh of relief I can manage.

Practicals turned out to be ok. When I look at each of them separately, of course, I can easily point out the best and the worst. Because, I did have them. So, since I do have time right now, I'd like to reveal my best and worst. Here goes,

12th January, 2010:

FMT- We went and waited for almost an hour and half before something actually happened. And that something was quite an event. One of the peons told us that we'd been called in groups of 10. I got up ( I am amongst the first ten in our batch from r.nos. 145-174). Making a quiet and steady line, we went to the cold room where they conduct all the post-mortems. God! The only thoughts wandering in my otherwise empty mind, were," Crap, please don't tell me you are going to take the Viva here!!! Surrounded by dead decaying partially open bodies!!! I'll faint before you manage to finish your first question!"

The HOD was there, with a fresh body beside him. A 'mama' (that's what we call the ward boys in coll) was standing next to him, fully loaded with knives and scalpels, already having finished half the job of removing the viscera. This was the body, our HOD told us, of a criminal, killed on the previous evening. He had received three bullets, and the bullets were being looked for, in the viscera.

Frankly, this is what I'd expected to find when I came into medicine. A dead body, as fresh as live.....raw, red blood oozing out on every cut.....the viscera all shiny red with sickening yellow mucous attached at places....the bones looking all glistening yellow.....

One entire year and I finally saw what I was looking for. It was quite a sight! The criminal definitely looked like a criminal. I could imagine him, and the scene around him, when he was alive. He looked frightful even in that state!!

The HOD showed us one bullet which they had managed to find, and the organs it had managed to pierce. The liver looked bright red, and very innocent!! (the second batch that went in, came out telling us that the second bullet was found in the liver. It didn't remain innocent any more!)

The only thing that grossed me out more than the dead body, was the smell. We're used to formalin now (although it never fails to bring tears into my eyes:-( ). But, the smell here was the one associated with the slaughter-house, the cutting up of raw meat....the smell of dead rats...the usual smell we all run away from.

Thankfully I did not faint, and came out pretty impressed. The viva took place after that and I had a good time. I had our HOD questioning me and I answered everything. It was a satisfactory viva, and I think he understood that I knew my subject. He looked particularly excited when I mentioned 'Panchanama' and descrobed what a warrant was. Day 1 was successful amd satisfactory.

13th January, 2010:

Pharmacology- The first thing to mention here is that I fell ill. Again. I got another round of cold and cough, and fever in the evening. I think it is Pharmac. Even before the theory paper, I was in a state. But, this time was worse. I decided that it did not matter, how the practical went.

The spots were a little tough. But, I think I got the drugs right in the table-work. I'd expected to totally be lost when that came along. So, I was more than just satisfied. The pharmacy viva was good and simple. My label turned out to all correct, and I answered all the questions correctly. There was a lot of participation from Dr. Momin (my examiner), with his gestures of agreement. So, I'm assuming that to be a good sign. The grand viva was plain horrible. I was reminded of what Anatomy used to be last year. The difference was that this was worse, because instead of a PG student, I had in front of me, a Professor, who got the impression that I was at the other end of the intelligence scale. It hurt. Illness not withstanding, I did not deserve such a bad viva. But, it was over, and thats all I cared about.

14th January, 2010:

Microbiology- The one started with tough spots. They were pretty out of the world. But, I realised later on that I had got the Spore Stain correct, and I couldn't feel more proud of myself. if I could get that, I could definitely get above 5 in the spots. The Viva on culture media and biochemical tests could have been better. I knew the stuff she was asking, but I needed her to prompt a bit. But, the 'her' in question was Dr. Suvarna Joshi ma'am, who was smiling all through. Its always nice to have a teacher in front of you, who can put you completely at ease, and calm you down. And Dr. Joshi's smile does exactly that. So, despite knowing that I did not do as well I could have done, I came back saying that it had gone pretty ok. The Gram stain and Zeihl-Neelson stain were a little messy. A lot of pink and purple on the fingers. Also, it is difficult to look for bacilli in the ZN stain. Luckily, I showed that slide to Manoj sir, and he said wat I thought was the bacillus, was actually a bacillus! Wow, that's new! I'd neevr gotten the hang of ZN staining. The Gram stain was easy, and I got Gram +ve rods, which the teacher said, were correct.

Dr. Dohe ma'am took my grand viva. It revolved around the two stains only. She only asked me about differences between Bacillus and Clostridia, because they were the differential diagnosis of my result in the Gram stain. I liked the viva a lot. I answered almost everything. There was some question, to which my answer was,"I don't know", but I don't even remember what it was. She asked me if I was a localite, where I stayed and said I could go! I felt happy and at ease.

15th January, 2010 (today):

Pathology- If there ever were an average practical, this would be it. The spots were good, the slides were easy. The first viva (on the two slides I had to identify) was ok. I could answer some, could answer a question on Typhoid. The slides in question were, that of Acute Ulcerative Appendicitis and Tuberculoid Leprosy.

The grand viva was ok. She didn't ask me much, I answered a fair amount. Nothing that led to "I have no idea ma'am", but nothing that had me jumping up and down with the answer. So, thats what it was.......quiet.

Note: Pathology might have gone better if I hadn't ended up with my worst stage of laryngitis today. Now, I have even given exams in this dreadful voice!!

So, thats the description. Its pretty easy to decide the order of practicals according to my performance. So, here goes.....

1. FMT

2. Micro

3. Patho

4. Pharmac

Thats my order of liking. And my marks should be accordingly. I'll come to know within in a few days...

Till then, it is going to be two days of complete rest and silence. I can't even bear to hear my voice. And I desperately need to eat, sleep and live like a loser who has nothing to do in life :-)

Ok, now eyes are tired and the HCl in the stomach is screaming out aloud for food to acidify. Hail, 2010 again!!! May the start be a good one!!

Year 2010.....Begins...

Happy New Year to one and all!!! We’re half way through our terminals, and I have already suffered through the horrors of having to stay up late into the night. It is my fault. I HAVE to do everything one day before the exam. To my luck, we had papers in the afternoon. So, I was able to do whatever I wanted to.

The papers have been good. Pathology was the best followed by Microbiology and then Pharmacology. I would partly blame my cough, cold and fever for the debacle that Pharmac was, but then, it would also be because I was never as well-prepared for Pharmac as I was for the other two. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology was good by its own standards. I’d spent more than half of the time I had for preparation, sleeping. So, considering all that I’d managed to study in the rest of the preparation, I had a decent paper. I wrote everything I knew, pushing it into one answer or the other. Over all, I had a much better terminal than the one last year. Of course, practicals are still left. They start on the 12^th and finish on the 15^th. But, I should say I’m quite satisfied with whatever I’ve written. The rest of my satisfaction can only be determined by the marks I manage to procure.

I’ve spent the past two days resting a bit. Not that the cold has reduced a lot, but at least I’m feeling much better than I was two days back. Now, just waiting for my practicals to get over so that I can breathe a breath of relief.

The New Year again this year, wasn’t very great. I was studying. And I haven’t made a lot of resolutions this year. I’d just like to be a little more regular than I have been in the first term. That’s all.

I definitely hope that 2010 brings, in terms of peace and brotherhood, a surge of hope for all of us. It hasn’t started all that well. What with the lastest news about a policeman being beaten to death by some criminals in front of the stopped cars of two Ministers. And, the Ruchika Girhotra case which evokes the dormant barbaric anger from the deepest corners of our hearts. 19 years on, and the sheer position of the accused is enough to help him get free with just a fine!! We talk about our country moving ahead, as new years come. But the examples we see seem to pointing in a completely different direction.

The Wizard Of Literature

It isn't everyday that a 15 year old decides to write a novel. And it isn't every day that, that 15 year old gets this novel published. To top that, it isn't every day that this 15-yr old, turns out to be your brother!!

Through the single-minded determination, the creative excellence, the thorough understanding of the beautiful subject of Mathematics and the irresistible urge for adventure

Various

I have to talk about so many things that have happened over the past three weeks. Can't wait to get started. Firstly, I was able to watch a live open-heart surgery. We weren't allowed to go into the operation theatre, we watched it on an audio-visual ensemble ( like I had in the Live Laproscopy workshop). Oh My God!, was it breathtaking or what!! I was floored! First time I've ever watched a real heart beat away to glory. It was a Mitral Valve Replacement. The valve had been calicified and stenosed, and they replaced it with a artificial one. The surgery took about 3 and half hours, and I was there throughout. We had to take special permission from our HOU to go and watch it. And, we even had our attendance filed, because of that. Once in a lifetime chance. I want to thank Dr. Inamdar and his team with all my gratitude. Not only did they perform the surgery well, but they also guided us ( half of the 2nd yr batch that was watching) through the entire surgery, explaining even the simplest of steps they carried out. Thank you so much Sir, I will remember this forever! I'll put in some of the pictures and videos we took.

Next on line, was the Medicine term-end. I didn't really get a chance to study a lot for it the preceding weekend. A lot of social obligations:-) But, my point would be, there was no use any way. I suppose you would remember the name of Dr. Dushyant Pawar, who scares the crap out of us, and completely takes our case. Unluckily, we had to present our exam case to him. And, as you would guess, it wasn't very pleasant. I was still able to answer something. But, he totally crapped the guy next to me, out. Well, if I fail this one, it wouldn't be because I didn't know anything. The best part of the entire torture was that I didn't even care how the thing turned out. I just breezed through it all, not feeling one ounce of regret or pain!!!

The Inter-disciplinary Seminar on Thyrotoxicosis got postponed to Jan. I'm a little disappointed. Because, I put in major efforts into the presentation. Oh yeah, this one topples last year's Enzymes by miles and miles. But, on the brighter side, I get to study more for the terminal exam coming up , and after that headache is gone, I can put more effort into this!

Which reminds me, Terminals on our heads now. And the library just beckons almost every second. I wonder how I never seemed to appreciate it before! I'm not worried, but yes, definitely hope to come out better in these terms than the ones last year!!

And there is a change in our timetables now. We have both our lectures in the morning, from 8am to 10am, and the clinical terms from 10am to 1pm. As much as I hated this when it initially started, I end up getting an hour before lunch, which I put into studying religiously. Guess, everything always works out for the best:-)

The posting we have now, is Preventive and Social Medicine (PSM). Not much of a subject, but its a quiet posting.We go to an Urban health Centre, about a 10 min-walk from college, and have a lecture there. Up till now, we've just been into the slums once, to watch a street-play on Dowry, performed by our seniors for the women there. Its nice. I never thought I'd say this, but I seem to like PSM!

Well, thats all I can think of. I am getting irregular with the posts. Just don't have a lot of free time. I hope to study hard, you see. Hopefully I'll write before exams begin ( which would be on Jan 4th, by the way). Otherwise, well, Best of Luck to me, and hope I have a glorious New Year and very good start to it too...

Seista!!

And a very unexpected one too!! We were told that Thursday was declared a government holiday. Alandi yatra. I don't even know why that is a government holiday this year, when there was nothing last year. Any way, point is, Thursday was declared a holiday.
To my utter delight, and the absolute disgust of about 200 other people in college, a low-pressure zone built up in the Arabian Sea. Result: Heavy ( and I mean H-E-A-V-Y) rains, searing winds and dark dreary skies paid homage to the beautiful and warm state of Maharashtra. I remember talking about how much I missed USA, in my last post. And, as if my prayers had been heard, I got New York's climate down here!! Dark clouds, sun hidden behind their thick coat, cold air hitting you in the face as you travel by rickshaw every morning, and rain!!! The feeling of 9pm at 5 pm......I'm telling you, this week has done away with everything called stress and tiredness of last week's.
So, because of the incessant and heavy unseasonal rainfall that we had, the basement of BJ got flooded (as it normally does. But, you wouldn't expect floods in November, would you?), and the PSM department had to cancel our practicals on Wednesday. I decided to attend the Pathology practicals with the other batch. And then decided to bunk Thursday. Of course, at that point, the holiday had been shifted by our college from Thursday to Friday. So, basically, I've got a four day break!! Hurray!!! It is amazing! I already feel all the fatigue ebbing away.
Not that I haven't given myself work to do. I've got Medicine to complete ( rather, START), and I've landed up with one of my favourite things to do: Prepare a presentation!! This one is an Inter-Departmental Seminar on Thyroid Gland. Department of first-year are involved, and I'm doing the Physiology aspect of the gland. It is going to be so much of FUN!! Putting together a presentation on something I loved from last year, is definitely alluring.
And, I started with Immunity in Pathology. Robbins' rocks!! I know it is very long, that chapter, but, it is enjoyable at the same time!!
And, lastly, the weather has returned to normal again. The sun has come out in the open, and yes, the afternoons are again pretty hot as usual. BUT, the past week was one of the best of this year's. I know a lot of damage was done, lot of fishermen are still missing, the winter crops have taken a beating, and lot more.....yet, personally, I probably did need something of this sort to help me pull myself out of the slumber I was in the danger of slipping into.