Revisiting the blog... 9 years later

 I remember my blogging days from my early undergraduate days as a naïve writer/ student. A casual revisit to the blog rekindled those memories, my days as a clueless college student. Now, one MBBS, one MS, a decade of life churning experiences, and 9 years later, all of these efforts into writing a simple blogpost seem unimportant. It's amazing to note that something that occupied my mind in my every waking minute could mean nothing at a later point in life. Time does heal!

Oh and also it's pretty interesting that there's also so much that has not changed a bit in my life. Like my addiction to twitter or playing games (I've reinstalled Hay day that I first started in 2014). And websites like Instagram and Pinterest which started as a basic image sharing app have gone on to become sensational! My love for photography, designing stuff hasn't changed a bit. I am still creating wallpapers for desktop and mobile just like I used to do back in those days. (You can check it out here)

Maybe this looking back rekindles my interest in writing. Maybe I would write more on this blog than I do on my personal journal. Maybe I'll forget about this blog altogether. Who knows!

Lost

A song that has lost its tune
Got stranded in my heart.
Little does it know that
The music in me has drained,
My poems have lost their words,
My words have lost their meaning,
And nothing ever rhymes anymore!

I never meant to search what I lost,
'Coz I will never realize that I've lost anything at all!

The song shall cry inside of me!

Words

Words.
Wonders that man weaves
Into poems and prose.
As love and life.

Where,
A smile is more than a curve,
The moon is more than white,
Love is more than an emotion, and
Death is more than an event!



Words,
That swirl the lines,
That entangle the reader,
That smother the writer.
That. That will be lucky aberrations.

Happy reading and Good luck writing!

And then, the story begins...

You write. I read.
It begins. And ends.
The story. Happily ever after.
Not always.

You talk. I listen.
It begins. And ends.
The story. Happily ever after.
Not always.

You smile. I sigh.
It begins. And ends.
The story. Happily ever after.
Not always.

You give. I take.
It begins. And ends.
The story. Happily ever after.
Not always.

You walk. I follow.
It begins. And ends.
The story. Happily ever after.
Not always.

You walk away. I give up.
It begins. Again.
And ends. Again.
The story. Happily ever after.
Not always!!!

Writer's block - Not a poem

This nervous tap on the keyboard,
Could tell you how desperate I am,
To get on board, to get back to
Writing, to come back with a bang!

I think of a topic,
The clumsy thoughts,
None of which clique,
To touch the hearts!

My writing hits a trough,
Ideas that no more haunt,
Nothing is good enough,
For me to flaunt!

World Diabetes Day

World Diabetes Day is celebrated on November 14th of every year with the hope of spreading awareness about this disease which, if left untreated, invariably proves fatal.

Diabetes is a very common disease in India. We are a population at a very high risk for Diabetes!
Diabetes mellitus is primarily a condition where the blood sugar level is high. This occurs mainly due to insufficient/defective insulin or when the body tissues are resistant to the insulin.

Types of Diabetes mellitus:

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: This is due to insulin deficiency. Insulin is produced by the beta cells of pancreas. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune reaction where the white blood cells (policemen of our body) mistake a friend for a foe. i.e., The WBCs think that the beta cells are foreign bodies (like the bacteria) that have intruded our body. So the WBCs set out to destroy these cells thereby causing insulin deficiency.
Type 1 diabetes commonly occurs in children, hence it was also known as "Juvenile diabetes". There's another name, Insulin dependant diabetes mellitus (IDDM). This disease is mostly inherited and is treated with insulin.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Also called Non-Insulin Dependant Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM). This type of DM is characterised by insulin resistance which may/may not be associated with insulin deficiency. A number of conditions lead to type 2 diabetes mellitus. The major reasons being lifestyle, diet and stress. This condition is also transmitted via genes.

Are you at risk for Type 2 Diabetes?

• Do you skip your work-out schedule to get extra sleep?
• Does your job put you under a lot of stress?
• Do you have to finish the arduous task of getting rid of the (loads and loads of) left over diwali sweets by eating them on your own?
• Do you smoke?
• Are you a hypertensive?
• Are you obese?
• Does the majority of your diet contain carbs and fats (less proteins)?
• Do you have a family history of Diabetes?

If your answer is "Yes" to any of these questions, yes sir/ma'm, you are at risk for diabetes!The blood sugar levels are brought under control by insulin and tons of other modern drugs which are really effective.
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM): This type of Diabetes Mellitus occurs exclusively during pregnancy in some women and disappears after delivery. GDM indicates a high risk pregnancy and these women require constant medical care. GDM is one important cause of sudden fetal death!
GDM affects the fetus in more than one ways. It causes macrosomia (big baby) which can cause difficulty during normal vaginal delivery. GDM also causes respiratory distress in the baby (which is a terrifying condition) among various other complications.
Oral hypoglycaemics (drugs that help to bring down the blood sugar levels) are contraindicated during pregnancy and insulin is the only drug to be given to treat GDM. With proper drug administration and frequent antenatal check-ups GDM can be brought well under control.


Symptoms:

The main symptoms of diabetes mellitus are frequent urination (polyuria), increased thirst (polydypsia) and increased hunger (polyphagia).

Complications:
The increased level of sugar in the blood is such a nuisance! If left as such for long, they may cause one or more of these:

• Cardiovascular problems: Myocardial ischemia (Heart attack)
• Diabetic retinopathy: Usually, the light entering the eye falls on the retina from where the light is carried as neurological signals to the brain by the optic nerve. In prolonged diabetes, the retina may be damaged, leading to blindness. LASER photocoagulation is used to treat retinopathy
• Diabetic nephropathy: The increased sugar levels may damage the kidney and this requires dialysis treatment.
• Diabetic neuropathy: The nerves get damages, leading to numbness or tingling sensation. Now, when this occurs in the legs, due to numbness, the patient is unaware when his/her foot is being injured. Later diabetic foot ulcers occur.
• Any open wound takes a really long time to heal.
  
• Diabetics are prone to infection, especially those patients with open wounds. The foot ulcers are difficult to treat. This may even require amputation.

Prevention:

Prevention of diabetes mellitus involves proper screening techniques and major lifestyle modifications.

• Periodic blood glucose level estimation
• If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, allot time for exercise.
  
• Monitor your BMI
• Watch your diet. Include food rich in fibre.
• Quit smoking. Much better, don't even start smoking.
• Hypertensive patients, keep your blood pressure under control.
• Relax yourself. Music or Yoga helps.

This post is not to scare you in any way. The main aim was to let you know that Diabetes isn't that deadly afterall. Adequate and timely management allows diabetic patients to lead a normal life! It's you who has to take care of your body and stay healthy. Now you can stop being a couch potato and train your way to fitness!

5 things that made me smile...

It has been a while since I blogged. There have been a lot of incidences that made me smile in the last 4 months. It was then when I realized, moments that make us smile will be cherished more than moments than make us laugh. Here I am, recalling some of them.

1. I have an incredible set of friends. We didn't get to hang out much in the past few months. And when we did spend time together, we had so much fun and those minutes were filled with bantering! It usually creeps me out when somebody guesses what I'm up to, and more so, when they say "That's because I know you!". But I realized, a thoughtful gesture from a friend, and when I act surprised, the reply "Hey, I know you!" makes it such a beautiful moment. The most beautiful moment!

2. I spent about a little less than a month in the Paediatric ward. One morning I was just watching a newborn, when he was sleeping. All of a sudden I got to be a spectator to something splendid. I got to see the newborn yawn in his sleep and stretch a little. That made my day. The most beautiful moment!

3. One evening, it was a picture perfect moment here at Tirunelveli. We had a cool breeze, mild drizzle and a tinge of yellow on everything from the setting sun! The most beautiful moment!

4. My day would be incomplete if I hadn't logged into Twitter. Here are some of the most beautiful tweets I got to read recently

• @NeelaVanam To whom does the plant belong~ to the bird that dropped the seed~ or to the master who owns the field?

• @arattaigirl நீ சொன்ன பொய்கள் அனைத்தையும் நம்பினேனே... நான் சொல்லும் இந்த ஒரு பொய்யை நம்பக் கூடாதா?

• @nelsonnium If there's a tear rolling down your cheek, and you haven't the slightest clue why, don't blame it on a tearduct leak, your soul just sighed.
  

• @antoniOanbu வெளிச்சத்தை நோக்கிய ஒரு நீண்ட தேடலே இரவு

• @nandu Your visit to an Indian wedding is incomplete if you've not scaled and proudly installed yourself on a towering stack of plastic chairs.

Since I had a blogpost written on giving up the habit of dealing with stuff in multiples of five, I'm stopping with writing about just 4 of the places where I smiled!

And there are always the freebies, that make me smile! (Read: Grin)

P.S. This post comes after desperate attempts from me to overcome my blogger's block!

மனிதர்களின் 10 வினோத பழக்கங்கள்...

நம்மில் பலருக்கு நம்மை அறியாமலேயே பல பழக்க வழக்கங்கள் உண்டு... அதில் சில வியப்பானவையும்கூட. அதைப் பற்றிய ஒரு பதிவுதான் இது...

(முன் குறிப்பு: இதில் நானே பின்பற்றுவது சிலவற்றை மட்டுமே!!!)

1. அதிகமாக நான் கவனித்து, எனக்கு புரியாத ஒரு பழக்கம், ரூபாய் நோட்டுகளில் தங்கள் பெயர்களை எழுதிக்கொள்வது! இதன் நோக்கம்தான் என்ன?! தான் போகாத ஊருக்கும், மாநிலத்திற்கும் தன் பெயராவது சுற்றட்டும் என்ற எண்ணமா அல்லது இதே ரூபாய் தன்னிடம் திரும்பி வருகிறதா என்ற ஆராய்ச்சியா?! பரிட்சைத்தாளில்கூட பெயர் எழுத மறக்கும் நண்பர்கள், ரூபாய் நோட்டில் பெயர் எழுதுவதில் சலிப்பதில்லை!!!

2. தெருவில் நின்றிருக்கும்போது யாராவது வழி கேட்டால், “நேராக போய் வலது பக்கம் திரும்பி, பிறகு இடது பக்கம் இரண்டாவது தெருவில் திரும்பினால் மூன்றாவது கட்டிடம்” போன்று எதையாவது சொல்வதோடு நிறுத்தாமல், அதோடு கையால் சைகை காட்டி, வழி கேட்ட நபரை சற்றும் பார்க்காமல், வழி சொல்லும் தெருவின் தூரப்புள்ளியை மட்டும் உற்று நோக்குவது என்னாத்துக்கு?!

3. பட்டன் ரிப்பேர், பேட்டரி அவுட் போன்ற தெளிவான காரணங்களால் ரிமோட் வேலை செய்யாது என்று தெரிந்தும் அதை இரண்டு தட்டு தட்டி உபயோகிக்க முற்படுவதும் அது தப்பித்தவறி வேலை செய்துவிடுவதும் எந்த இயற்பியல் விதி என்று தெரியவில்லை! மொபைல் ஃபோன்களுக்கும் இது பொருந்தும்!!!

4. ஏன் வாங்குகிறோம் எதற்கு வாங்குகிறோம் என்று காரணம் இல்லாமல் வீட்டில் அடுக்கி வைப்பதில் இப்போதெல்லாம் திரைப்பட வி.சி.டி.க்களுக்கே முதலிடம். தன்னிடம் என்னென்ன திரைப்படங்கள் இருக்கின்றன, அதில் எத்தனை பார்த்தது, எதெது பார்க்காதது என்று பலருக்கும் தெரிவதில்லை! ஆனால் குறுந்தகடு வாங்குவதும் குறையவில்லை, அதை பார்க்காமல் அடுக்கி வைக்கும் பழக்கமும் மாறவில்லை!

5. தெரிகிறதோ இல்லையோ, கருத்து சொல்வதுதான் இன்றைய ஃபேஷன்! புரிந்தும் புரியாமலும் இருக்கும் அனைத்து வலைப்பூவிலும் சென்று கருத்து சொல்லாவிட்டால் தூக்கம் வராது சிலருக்கு! வலைப்பதிவிலும் ஃபேஸ்புக்கிலும் புரியாத சமாச்சாரத்தை ‘லைக்’ பண்ணுவதும், சம்மந்தமே இல்லாமல் கமெண்ட் செய்வதும் (நான் என்னைச் சொல்லலீங்கோ!!!) யார் சொல்லிக்கொடுத்த கெட்டப் பழக்கம்?!

6. புத்தகத்தின் பக்கங்களின் நடுவில் மயிலிறிகை வைத்துக் கொண்டு, அதோடு நிறுத்தாமல், அது குட்டி போடும் என்று புருடா விடுவதும், அதற்கும் ஒருபடி மேலே போய் இறகுக்கு பசிக்குமென்று அரிசி வைப்பதும் சித்து வேலைகளின் ஆரம்ப நிலை! (இதையெல்லாம் நம்பி சிறு வயதில் ஏமாந்த கேஸ்தான் நானும்!)

7. பரவலாக எல்லோரும் பார்த்திருக்கும் ஒரு பழக்கம், தெருவில் நடக்கும்போது கீழே வசதியான அளவில் ஒரு கல் கண்ணில் தென்பட்டுவிட்டால் போதும், அது ஒரு குழிக்குள் விழும்வரை அதை எற்றிக்கொண்டே நடப்பது சிறு வயதிலிருந்து பலருக்கும் விருப்பமான ஒரு ‘ஸ்டைல்’!

8. வெற்றிலைப் பாக்கு மெல்லும் பழக்கம் எவ்வளவு கெடுதலோ, அதோடு தொற்றிக் கொண்டு வந்துவிடும் மற்றொரு பழக்கம் அதைவிட ஆபத்தாக தெரிகிறது. வெற்றிலை போடுவதற்கு முன் வாய் நம நமவென்று இருக்கிறதோ இல்லையோ, அதை மெல்லும்போது ஒரு வெள்ளைச் சுவர் எதிரே தெரிந்துவிட்டால் பலருக்கும் அதில் துப்பிவிட வேண்டும் என்று வாய் நம நம நம நமவென்று ஆகிவிடுகிறது!

9. எந்தவொரு பட்டியலிட்டாலும் ஐந்தின் பெருக்கல் தொகையாகவே கணக்கிடுகிறோம்... 5 சாப்பாட்டு வகைகள், 10 வினோத பழக்கங்கள், 15 பல் துளக்கும் எளிய முறைகள் என்று எதை எடுத்தாலும் 5! எனவே, இந்தப் பழக்கத்தை துறக்க எண்ணியதாலும் வேறு எதுவும் நினைவுக்கு வராததாலும், 9 பழக்கங்களோடு இந்தப் பட்டியலை முடித்து விடுகிறேன்!

(பின் குறிப்பு: தமிழில் பதிவெழுத வேண்டுமென்ற என் வெகுநாள் ஆசையை இந்தப் பதிவோடு நிறைவேற்றிக் கொள்(ல்)கிறேன்!!! )

Summer, Sweat and Sufferings

Summer is nothing special to us. It is the only thing in this part of the world that is always with us, next to air.
For us, it is always a surprise to hear about places where sunshine is given a 'warm' welcome. Summer is so unwelcome here!
People have been talking about election scenario heating up in Tamil Nadu and about the Indian cricket team being on fire. I don't think its about the spirit. It must be the climate, the heat!
In January, I couldn't wait for the season of cucumber, melons and mangoes to come. But now I hate coming home dehydrated and panting like a dog!
How many of you enjoy drinking water from the fridge every now and then and feeling thirsty already even before you close the refrigerator?! How many of you like getting drenched in sweat immediately after a shower?! Sucks, right?!
To add to the woes, we have lectures at noon. During our travel, the sun would have had enough time to roast us, and add salt and pepper. And when we reach college, we will be asked such questions which will make us feel like we are being thrown into boiling oil. By the end of the day, we would be hung like Tandoori Chicken!
We have 'Sun'days seven days a week, only that it is not as much fun!

Life?

Life is a poem
I get to pick my favourite words

Life is an art
And I am its master

Life is a gamble
I just play my game

Life is a lie
I never take it seriously

Life is beautiful
I let it come to me

Life is a bitch
I get to kick its ass

Life is life
And I am living it!

Writer's woes!!!

I always admire those who are able to write blog posts frequently and fluently because I've had troubles with writing regularly. I am an irregularly irregular blogger.

I had been thinking the reason for it and came up with this post. I don't write very often mostly because I don't have anything worth writing! But I do manage to come up with some crap occassionally!

Another important reason is Twitter! I express anything that I want to, on Twitter, within 140 characters, too often that I don't let it shape up to a sensible blog post!

And more often we all have that tongue-tie, mind block, word block and even nose block, that in no way help us to frame a worthwhile post! If people don't have any of these and still don't write, it means they have a life beyond blogger!

To all those who are able to write then and there, creatively and sensibly... Respect!

Welcome 2011

I know, it's 10th of Jan, a bit late to be giving a welcome party to the new year! But as you know, I've been (pretending to be) busy with my preparations for our University exam, which I'm supposed to be appearing for, one month from now! (Oooh! Now, that gave me a chill!!!)

Since we are having exams in the first week of February, we are expected not to celebrate Christmas (which I've never celebrated so far, just saying), New year's eve (just for the sake of count!), New year and also Pongal!!! All these come during our study holidays. On December first, I usually resolve to study the whole time till Feb and forego all these occasions, only to end up having a gala time on all the above said days! And of course, guilt prevails over me for the next week! (That explains why I'm late at throwing this welcome party, I was feeling culpable all this time for having wasted my time, I actually had huge fun, on 31st Dec and Jan 1st.)

Looking at 2011, I am just curious how this year is going to turn out for me. I usually have an idea at the beginning of every year about how it is going to be. But this year, I'm totally blank (partly because, I don't want to have any expectations, followed by disappointments). And I've realized, it feels good to start something with an empty mind (yeah, neither empty head nor empty brain, just empty mind!). However I wish this year gives me wonderful surprises, like the past 4 years, and treats me like it has, so far! (Yes, I've forgotten the 'bitterness' of 2010 already! :) )

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :) (Belated! Hehehe)

Happy New Year!!!

On this day, as the world is looking to plunge into 2011, when I think of 2010, all that prevails over me is just bitterness! Never has any other year given me such really bad surprises! However, 2010 gave me some of my best moments too! I just wish 2011 has a lot better in store for me!



Wish you all a very happy and a prosperous new year!!!

May you all get the iPods and iPads that you wished for, and so may I!!! :D I am not taking any resolutions, but I've got a huge wishlist for this year! May the stores offer enough discounts for me to afford them! God bless! :D

Records And Me

If you’ve started reading this, thinking it’s going to be about the records I made/broke, I’m sorry, you’re wrong!

BTW, I haven’t made/broken any “records”, yet!

My Twitter friends would know what this is about because I’ve been ranting about the record-writing work I’ve got to do now. I even warned them that I might be coming up with this blog post since I was so obsessed with the record work I’ve been doing.

I’ve been writing this Social and Preventive Medicine record for quite sometime now. It’s not a big deal, since we’ve finished half the record already. But I hate doing record work, no matter how much!

My experiences with records and record submissions have been tragic. I am that person who keeps writing the record till the last minute of the deadline. And the last minute, well I spend it for covering the record with the laminated brown sheet, which, most of the time, I manage not to make a mess out of it. Thanks to the adequate training I already got in school for the covering-under-emergency skills!

One probable reason why I hate records is that, after the record submission and after the professor corrects it, the one word he/she is going to write on my record note is going to be either “Rewrite” or “Redraw”! Yep, I’m so bad at it! There was this one time when one of the profs asked me to redraw every diagram in the record. I was so pissed off, I just erased those “redraw”s and submitted back, without redrawing! God knows what happened to that record, as I had to go back to that department only during exams.

But this time I’m giving my best shot at this record-writing thing and I just hope things turn out well! Okay, now I guess I should get back and resume my war with the SPM record! Ciao!

Title: Title

For the past few months, I've been really enjoying the title music and video of various movies... I thought I would post 5 of my favourite titles along with the video link here. I don't think there has been such a compilation for title videos so far. Here I post mine! Please be patient enough to watch them :D
These are the movie titles that I found interesting!

1. Madrasapattinam (Tamil)
This title has the frame moving throught the districts of vintage South India, a.k.a madrasapattinam, the technicians' names appearing in places of the district names. The music, and the colour tone were so good!
Watch the titles here


2. Arya 2 (Telugu)
This movie has a cool title video.. I love the CG work done here. Though the title runs in Telugu, the visuals just kept me interesting watching the titles!



You might want to skip to 6:30 to watch the title as this movie has a few scene before the titles start!


3. Wimbledon (English)
Don't know why, but I just like this title video! :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvCMrxwFIw&feature=related


4. What's your Raashee (Hindi)
Priyanka Chopra enacts each zodiac! I just love the lighting, choreo, the graphics, colours and the whole idea as such! One of the brilliant titles according to me!
Watch the titles here


5. Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru (Tamil)
This is a funky title video. Just as interesting! I love the way DIETING changes to EDITING! ;)





Hope you enjoyed these movies as much as I did! Sorry about the poor streaming from the Non-Youtube sites, I was just too lazy to edit the videos and upload them on Youtube to embed here!

The Bad Cook...

Yeah, that’s me!

Once upon a time, there happened a cooking competition! And some idiot enrolled me in it without even asking me! After all how could he know that my cooking skill is only as good as a dog’s ability to fly!

And there I was, forced to take part in the event, and ‘honour’ it! So what?! I can learn cooking in a jiffy! This competition wanted us to cook something using Mushrooms!

After hours of whacking my brains (when I said “jiffy”, I didn’t actually mean it!), I came up with a “brilliant” idea! I’ll make Mushroom 65! But how?! I’ll use some ready made masala and just deep fry the marinated mushrooms and then display it in a presentable manner! Duh! Atleast this is enough to take part in a competition just for the sake of participation!

The day came, when I had to ‘compete’ using my cooking skills! And things went as I planned! There were other participants who had come with amazing and equally tiresome recipes! They were working like hell in their counters to make the mushroom taste good! But here, I was like a cool keg! I didn't care if it would be good enough! But, will it work out?!

Seems it did! The judges came, tasting the mushroom stuff from each counter. And then they came to my counter too! They tasted ‘my’ mushroom 65. I was keyed up to know their comments. And then one of the judges exclaimed, “Aaha! En amma senja maathiriyey irukku!” (“Wow, it tastes just like what my mother used to do!”) So, it was tasty?! I was totally excited! I was sure I’m going to win!

Time for the results… I was still excited about it, though I knew I was going to win anyway! They started announcing! “The third place goes to… some blah blah blah!" Who cares?! I’m gonna get the first place! “The second place goes to… some blah blah blah!” Come on… I know that already! Announce the winner know! “And here goes, the winner is…” My heart was pounding! “some blah blah blah!” “Uhhh?! What?!” My pulse was racing! They had called out my name and I couldn’t hear it properly in all the excitement and adrenaline pumping! “Hey announce it again, I didn’t hear my name!” I wasn’t sure if I should stand up and go to the stage yet!

And then, someone else stood up to go to the podium! So the winner is “some blah blah blah”! And they hadn’t actually called out my name! Oh that explains why I didn’t hear it! But how come I didn’t win?! I was astonished and shocked at the same time,

Because little did I know that, the judge’s mother used the same ready-mix that I had used and that the judge knew how his mother made Mushroom 65!

Damn!

A Case Presentation…

Don’t worry… I’m not going to present a case here!

Case presentation… This is a page which, I’m sure, will have a place in every medico’s diary! This is something over which we would have given enough thought during our clinical years.

To the non-medicos out there, case presentation is nothing but we’ll be given a patient, we’ll have to ask his history, examine him and come to a diagnosis and then present it to a professor. Sounds simple, right?! But it isn’t so! Why?! That’s what this post is about. Read on…

The case presentation part of the clinical life is never going to be easy. The problem lies not just on one point, but on a variety of factors, which makes the probability of you screwing your presentation near infinity (I know that the maximum probability of an incident is 1. But let me tell you, case presentation is beyond the limits of mathematics).

The difficulty in a case presentation starts from us. First of all, the fear in students is the most important factor. We are scared that we would go wrong in our presentation. And that obviously poses serious troubles when you are about to present a case, standing in a special location in the hall, in front of the professor and 50 students. And of course, it goes without saying, we go wrong in the examination part. Examining a patient doesn’t just have few/some/many/too many/way too many rules. It has loads⁵⁰ of rules and even more exceptions! Here again the probability of missing out on relevant point shoots up.

Okay, if you get through all this and if you are one person who can fly solo, hold on… You have the professors and the patient himself to make things worse! However, I don’t blame them!

The professor is there to teach us, to correct our mistakes. But because of our clumsy presentation he/she ends up only correcting us. Sometimes we start feeling if the professors are there only to point out the mistakes in the presentation. And some corrections will be pointless. But you will have to stand in front of them, not to have a nervous look on you face and correct your presentation even if you are sure that the book says otherwise. Here comes the most important problem, “What is right? What is wrong? Should you add this point in you presentation or not?!”. This is because, there are instances when the text book is wrong and the professor corrects it. But it’s not the same with another professor. He/she might want to go with the textbook. So, it is upto the student to decide which to follow, and how to present, depending on the professor. Most of the time, we won’t know what a professor will be expecting. So, no doubt we are going to go wrong in presenting!

If you had been wondering how the patient will be a problem, here comes… Most of the time the patient gives different histories to the student and the professor. There have been a lot of incidences where the student presents that the patient has some particular complaints and when the professor asks the patient, he/she comes up with a few more complaints (which, with our ill luck, will be vital details taking us closer to the diagnosis!), the professor stares at the student presenting the case and he/she looks helplessly at his/her classmates who will be giggling at their dismal friend by then!

Whatever, case presentations are meant to be a learning process. You are allowed to make mistakes (but only as long as you are ready to correct them and learn quickly). When you are about to begin your presentation, you will feel that you are going to end up as an epitome of embarrassment, but by the end you will have only climbed two rungs on the ladder of your self-confidence and four rungs on your ladder of knowledge!

Case presentation is definitely a thrilling experience with some pit holes, rugged terrain and a saccharine destination!

Handwriting

We know the clichéd opinions about doctors and poor handwriting. I tell you, these doctors are not born with bad handwriting. Some even have excellent handwriting in their childhood. Only in the process of becoming a doctor, they lose their good handwriting. And this, I say from experience!
No, I wasn't born with an "awesome" handwriting! But I atleast had a legible handwriting when I was in school. Now, all I have is just a pen, that can make a few blunt curves and some straight lines on paper. This artwork fails to make sense these days, and my handwriting only gets worse with time!

This was my handwriting when I was in class XII


Now, after joining MBBS, it became like this


Later,


Presently, this is my handwriting!


I have no idea, what it's gonna be like in another 6 months!
Oh hey, I'm not even a half doctor yet! So you can expect worse!



P.S: However, my true class notes will, almost, always be like this


Yeah, I can't help it, when I'm really sleepy during lectures! And so this is what my pen does, in class!

Guess it is more beautiful than my handwriting!!!

I, me and my life!

      The past month was a real test to my character! Had so much going on around me, over which I had no control! This is one truth that hit me hard right on my face! Till then I was thinking I was on top of the world, I always had a feeling, everything is under MY control! And last month taught me it isn’t so!

     I was made to face completely new situations, situations which I haven’t experienced even once in my life so far! There were a lot of incidences which made me doubt my own abilities… And this is one thing that I haven’t been exposed to very often! I hate evaluating my capacities! I would say I’ve always been a go-getter!

     There were days in last month when I felt if I should even get up from bed! (No, I’m not talking about my laziness again here! I mean, I was just reluctant to start my day!)  I was actually scared to face my life! I was worried about what might go wrong once I set out on anything! I was worried what MORE might go wrong if I did anything!

     And about 75% of what went wrong wasn’t under my control! I had no power over them! And this realization of life’s frailty came really bad on me! And last month saw me losing faith in life, losing faith in me… for the first time ever! I could see life wasn’t so cool, it had its share of shortcomings!

     There were so many things that went really wrong last month! Don’t ask me what! Not just one thing! It was a month of realizations for me! Realization of bitter truth!

       Hope I can face difficulties boldly in the future! I have never been a coward! But I’ve had problems in sorting out what went wrong last month!

      But now, things have improved. And I’m happy to have found my groove again! I guess my life is cool and back!

My Name And I…

How many of you can relate yourselves to your name?! I know, when I think of myself, I don’t think about my name. It’s just me, me to myself! But when others think of me, the first thing that comes to their mind will definitely be my name!

From nowhere, I’ve got this question suddenly… “Am I nothing without my name?! Is my name, my only authentication?!” Even in this post I’ve used My Name And I instead of My Name And Me so that I become the subject, not the object! I want to be recognized beyond my name!

Do I sound weird?! Oh come, on… Please bear with me, this is one of the abstract thoughts that hit me every now and then!

But why?! May be because I want to be known for what I have done and my name has got nothing to with it! Confused?! Let me put it this way, I want to be identified by my soul and not by name! My parents named this soul Preethi. But it’s me who has grown and shaped this soul! Weird again?! Forget it!

Now, if somebody can imagine me, without my name and yet identify me, that would be an accomplishment for me!!! I would consider it an accomplishment, good enough for a life time!!!

How do I do it?! I’m searching for the answer…

 

(Enough of this confusing post, I guess! Hey I keep getting stupid thoughts like this very often! And this is the first time I’m blogging about it! Let’s see how many of you get these kind of ideas too!!!)

Promises to keep…

Why should keeping a promise be so difficult?! I guess, anything that goes by the name “Promise, duty or responsibility” becomes a real tough task for me! I made a lot of promises to myself this week, and they turn out to be a headache for me!

Some of my “resolutions” for this week…

• To study sincerely for my practical exams! It goes without saying, how hard it is for me to stay with the book!
• Not to tweet until the exams get over… Hmmm this one, I’m able to do it, but seriously with some great efforts to refrain from tweeting!
• Not to watch any movie till Sunday! This one has been quite easy as no movie released last weekend and I’ve watched all the movies that are “worth” watching up-to-date. This “worth” watching list is really compact, you know!
• Not to sleep beyond 8 a.m! Aah this one is the toughest! I’m wondering why! Even if I sleep early, I get up late! I find it really difficult to fall asleep at night, and waking up in the morning is even more difficult! I am an epitome of laziness, isn’t it?!
• Not to skip any meal. I never like to skip my breakfast! But I LOVEEEEEE to skip dinner and on working days I am made to skip lunch. But now I’m not able to have any meal! It’s like I hate eating at all!

Unable to sleep, unable to eat… Hmmmm…. NO! I’m NOT in love! Definitely not! If you are unaware, FYI, in this era, nobody is going to have sleepless nights and empty stomach when in love! And I don’t think I’m going to fall in love when 99% of the guys around me are AGMARK dumb idiots!

Hey skip it!

Okay, coming to my problem, (is it even a problem?!) the differential diagnosis could be “ASE” syndrome! Anorexia and Somnolence due to (or during) Exams syndrome! Seems I am one person who is not going to have insomnia during exams!

Promises…. Noooo…. They suck!!! I shouldn’t have even made them in the first place! I doubt if I will ever even think about the spelling of praamise! Or is it promis?! Oh I don't know! I'll not make any promise anymore, I promise! (Obviously, anything that is a "Promise, rule, resolution or glass"... is meant to be broken!)

For Robert Frost, it was

“But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.”

 

For me, it is going to be

“It is very difficult to wake up from sleep

And miles to go for the promises I have to keep

Just so that after exam results, I don’t have to weep!”

Our National Game…

With the Hockey World Cup matches on, I was just wondering how come our National game suffered such a downfall in our country. It is really heart-breaking to know that a Cricketer is needed for promoting the event on TV! It’s time we woke up!

5 reasons for why hockey should be our National game:

1. Because hockey is a very interesting game.
2. Because only as long as hockey is our national game, it would get enough attention.
3. Because we have a national association for hockey.
4. Because the hockey ground is very big. So when people run across the ground, they lose weight  and become fit and don’t have to go on diet.
5. Because since childhood, we were taught that hockey is our National game.

And there are about a thousand reasons for why hockey should not be our National game!

Some of the reasons that I could come up with, right now:

• There are more interesting games in the world!
• People do not mind much about Indian hockey.
• The BCCI is richer than Indian Hockey Federation.
• The Indian hockey players are not even paid properly by the IHF.
• People like a lot of other games more than hockey.

I guess may be the games on Playstations or Cricket should be made our national game. Cricket has more aspirants for it in our country than any other game and it generates an enormous revenue! Needless to talk about the stardom and glamour enjoyed by a Cricketer!

 

And there’s another game that we all really enjoy… That’s Dumb charades… I’m almost sure it would make a worthy competition with hockey in the contest for our National game!

Brain damaged review!

I watched four movies last week. They were My Name Is Khan, Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya, 50 First Dates and Karthik Calling Karthik.

MNIK and KCK were good... worth watching once. 50 First dates... I loved the movie. A simple story with a sweet presentation. It was Awesome!
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya... The movie was tolerable till Mannipaaya song. After that I just couldn't stand any nonsense from Jessie! Apparently, Gautam Menon has deliberately characterized her so. But the hero and heroine have really given their best for this movie and they look their best too!

Of the four movies I watched, the lead roles of three movies had some kind of brain damage.

Rizwan Khan in My Name Is Khan suffered from Asperger's syndrome, Lucy Whitmore in 50 First Dates suffered from Short term memory loss, Karthik in Karthik Calling Karthik suffered from Schizophrenia.

And Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya?! Well, the director was brain damaged! And yeah, finally when we walk out of the cinema, we would have definitely suffered some damage!

Asperger’s syndrome and Movies…

Watching My Name Is Khan, has aroused curiosity in me about Asperger's syndrome. (My text books have a lot of syndrome names in them, and none of them kindle my interests though!) This syndrome is not new to us and it has been already well portrayed in Rain man (Raymond Babbit played by Dustin Hoffman).

Asperger's syndrome is a mild form of Autism. Though in Rain man, Raymond isn't picturised as a person with Asperger's syndrome, he is clearly potrayed as an autistic individual with characters so similar to Asperger's syndrome!

Watching the mannerisms and body language of Shah Rukh Khan, reminded me of Raymond babbit throughout the movie. (And seriously, MNIK would have been just "another" movie if the hero isn't an Asperger's syndrome patient)

And the movie is said to be an Indian adaptation of Forrest Gump. However, I didn’t feel so!

About Asperger's syndrome... It is named after the Austrian paediatrician Hans Asperger who first described this disease in his patient. People with it show significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests. There is relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development.

The linguistic problems include abrupt transitions, literal interpretations and odd pitch, loudness and rhythm. They appear to have particular weaknesses in areas of non-literal language that include humour, irony and teasing.

The patients enjoy social aloofness and show lack of interest in other people. They are characterised by an excessive preoccupation with a very specialized interest (such as timetables, just like Raymond babbit!)

Intelligence level can be normal or enhanced!

The cause is unknown and treatment is based on behavioural therapy

 

Written on: 22-2-2010

Posted on: 28-2-2010

Flute Music

I always like to listen to flute. There are so many pieces of flute music in Tamil cinema, as preludes, interludes and BGMs... My favourite list is so long... Here I post only the Top 10 of my favourites...
Sorry about the poor upload quality.


10. "Vaseegara" prelude from the movie "Minnale"

Composed by Harris Jayaraj. The tempo, along with the beats compliment the tune.




9. "Pachai nirame" prelude from the movie "Alaipayudhe"

Composed by A.R. Rahman. We can really feel good on listening to this prelude.




8. "Pachai kiligal" interlude from the movie "Indian"

Composed by A. R. Rahman. The first part of the audio that I've uploaded is not flute. But the following tune is played on flute. Both are really good to listen to




7. "Azhagiya asuraa" prelude from the movie "Whistle"

Composed by D. Imaan. This music really sets up the mood for the song.




6. "Annul maeley" BGM from the movie "Vaaranam aayiram"

Composed by Harris Jayaraj. This is the tune of the stanza of the song "Annul maeley" which comes as a BGM in the movie.




5. "Siragugal vandhadhu" BGM from the movie "Sarvam"

Composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. A cool tune in the movie. The BGM tune of Ilayaraja remixed in the movie was so popular and this BGM is least noted.





4. "Munbe vaa" BGM from the movie "Jillunu oru kadhal"

Composed by A. R. Rahman. This is the tune of the stanza from the song and it's really cool not just because of the tune. The percussion and instrumentation give it an appealing pace.




3. "Airtel Theme" by A. R. Rahman

This is everybody's favourite. Needless to talk about it




2. "Naan pogirein" prelude from the movie "Naanayam"

Composed by James Vasanthan. The beauty of this tune lies in the absence of any other instrument initially and being accompanied by just chords from the keyboard in the latter part. It feels so pure!

You might want to listen to the original as this upload doesn't carry the real effect of the song.



1. "Thee thee" interlude from the movie "Thiruda thiruda"

Composed by A. R. Rahman. I am not sure how many of you would have even noticed this music. This is my all time favourite. According to me, this is a master piece from the Mozart of Madras!

"Social" networking sites

We all know the role played by social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and even Blogger in the lives of Netizens today! We Netizens want to prove that we are social. But all I've realised is that these sites have only made me an introvert! I've realised that I'm not able to express my views directly to someone, looking into their eyes. But if we are to convey something through these sites, it's no big deal for us... The dependence created by these sites is seriously harmful! We start living a "virtual" life... With our computer or any other device like the mobile phone we are able to access a whole lot of social networking sites... These devices become our body (don't ask me how... hmm okay let me put it this way... The power supply and data connection become our breath, the RAM of the computer becomes our heartbeat, the OS becomes our brain and the hard disk becomes our memory), and the websites become our life!
Without any of these we cease to exist!
Isn't that a pathetic condition, that some inanimate object controls us and it lives our life?!
It's high time we went out and experienced the real world! Feel the breath of fresh air! After all socialisation can be done with your neighbour too... Aaha I meant your real neighbours, and not your Farmville neighbours! ;) :)



PS: I am not an exception to all these. But with this post, I take it as a message to myself!

My New Laptop!

It was a really exciting day today! I bought a new laptop. A Dell Inspiron 1464 laptop. "Cool Blue" colour. Core i3 processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB hard disk. This is all i wanted. And bought a few accessories for the laptop too... I was very happy about it, and happier when my mom said "It's nice, looks good"... My dad too was satisfied that it is worth the money he spent on it!
About the colour... I wanted a pink one. If I don't get pink, I thought i would go for green or red. But the sales people were against it and they said these colours would look horrible once they've faded. They suggested black or blue. I was sure I wanted something different. So chose Blue.
But when you give me a list of colours, shades of blue will be my last choice. I don't know how I developed an aversion towards that colour. I guess may be since my school uniform was Navy blue, I got bored of it, since I'd worn it for 12 years at school.
And may be that's why I can "tolerate" lighter shades of blue and not the darker ones.

And about the laptop... I haven't switched it on yet! This is so unlike me... Inspite of all the excitement and happiness, I haven't taken it.

Now I'm going to use it for the first time! I'm going to take my laptop... I'm going to experience it! Right now!

I me myself!

All about me, my experiences, my thoughts and my actions! :)
ABOUT ME:
A medicine student!
Studying at Tirunelveli medical college, Tirunelveli
A person who thinks I am not meant to be studying medicine, but fit enough to become a good doctor! I don't mean I don't like MBBS. I really enjoy it! And I am really proud to think that I'm going to become a doctor one day! All I meant was that I feel I didn't work that hard to join a Governement medical college and get a merit seat!
That's about my profession
About my hobbies... I love browsing the internet. I like to meddle with my computer. My computer will even cry if it could because I just make it go crazy and "HANG" itself! Then I like listening to music. I wanted to play the guitar and tried it. But it was only a disaster! Beware, I haven't given up yet!
I want to learn a lot of languages. Especially Malayalam and Hindi (just because I don't understand Hindi movies)
I like to be straight-forward, simple and honest! But I don't know how far I'm successful with the "Honesty" thing with my parents. But I love them as much as I love chocolates!!!
I fear my irresponsibility and also my laziness. I'm sure these are not going to help me in anyway to come up in life! And I don't like being irresponsible and lazy myself, but I can't help it!
I am new to writing and I'm not sure how to sequence all the above said lines! And now I don't know how to conclude this post!
So I'll just say... Bye, Take care, Be good! :)