Laughter......The Best Medicine

The woods are lovely dark and deep....

2009-01-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

THE WOODS ARE LOVELY DARK AND DEEP....

Akshay Gopinathan Nair

What better way to bring in the New Year than to spend it in the quiet, calm wilderness, deep inside the forests of central India. While winter may not be the perfect time to spot wild animals in any national park; the

ghostly dense fog lurking over the never

ending green plains as the e

arly

morning sun rays struggle to penetrate the mysterious, thick blanket of mist, give

the forests an ethereal aura which is something witnessed only in

winter.

Against this

magical backdrop, you see a Royal Bengal Tiger majestically striding towards you – an absolutely breathtaking sight. Welcome to Bandhavgarh Na

tional Park, Madhya Pradesh – truly the heart of Incredible India.

Having been to Ranthambhore and Corbett tiger reserves,

Bandhavgarh seemed to be the obvious choice for our next visit. We made the bumpy three hour long drive from Satna, a major junction on the Mumbai-Patna route, to Tala, a small

village which serves as one of the entry points into Bandhavgarh National Park. Tala is dotted with many dhabas, budget hotels as well as the luxurious Mahua Kothi, a high end five star property. The White Tiger Resort is owned by the Madhya Pradesh tourism department and provides good, affordable accommodation.

After accommodation, the next thing on our mind was the safaris into the park. While arrangemen

ts for the safaris can also be made online, we chose to look around and eventually managed to hire a Maruti Gypsy a sturdy 4x4 for ourselves with Sikandar and Annu as our drivers. All the guid

es and safari drivers in Bandhavgarh have organized themselves and formed a union which augurs well for the tourists who have to pay a uniform fee of about a thousand rupees per safari, which can be shared by up to six tourists, the maximum number of tourists permitted in each vehicle. Excursions into the park are allowed at twice in a day; the first is the morning safari, from 0630 hours to 1030 hours and later, the evening safari, from 1430 hours to 1730 hou

rs.

Bandhavgarh, in wildlife circles, is synonymous with tigers; and

with a mere 105 sq. km. housing 26 tigers in the zone accessible to tourists, Bandhavgarh has

the highest tiger population density in India. Over the four days we spent in Bandhavgarh, we made six visits into the park and spotted tigers on four occasions. Bandhavgarh National Park was the

former hunting ground of the Maharaja of Rewa, and also the first place where white tigers were first discovered.

On the morning of our second day in the park, news filtered through to us that a tigress had paid a visit to a farmer’s house in Tala village and managed to steal a calf. Pug marks of the tigress were also found near the main road to Tala gate. With a mixture of awe, fear and wonder that out hotel was barely a few meters from the villager’s house, we entered the park

on what was easily the coldest day of the winter yet. And it was on this day that we experienced the most unique and novel way explore the forest – on elephant back! Not only can the elephants travel deep inside the forests through the vegetation reaching places vehicles cannot; but also wild animals such as deer, boars and even tigers tend not to react to the elephants’ presence allowing tourists a close view of the animals inside.

A tiger, after a heavy meal, usually prefers to laze around hidden amongst the tall grassy bushes, unperturbed by any commotion around it. Thanks to the elephant safari which the forest officials organized, we were able to get within a few feet of the one such beauty which turned out to be the same tigress that had earlier come to the village for a meal. What a moment it was!

While the experience of elephants carrying tourists constantly coming in and around the tigers could be stressful for the tigers, the park rangers ensure that the tigers are never disturbed or unduly distressed and should they feel that the tigers are uneasy; the rangers quickly call off all elephant safaris. However it was heartbreaking to see that a few of tourists who came in to the park, showed no concern what so ever for these majestic creatures – constantly using their camera flashes, talking loudly among themselves and even, would you believe it, even clapping when they saw a tiger.

But it is not only tigers that are found here; the other residents include gaurs (Indian bison), sloth bears, leopards, porcupines, wild boars, sambhar deer, barking deer, nilgai deer and chital (spotted deer). Another feature of this unique biosphere which hits you almost immediately as you enter the forest is the abundance of birds – from the grey Malabar hornbills to blossom headed parakeets, from blue bearded bee eaters to white bellied drongos, owls, Indian rollers , most of which we saw in barely a few days.

At the heart of the forest, perched on a seemingly never ending plateau, stands an almost unassailable fort – the Bandhavgarh fort. Entrenched deep in history, the fort can be visited throughout the day, permission for which must be obtained from the forest office at the Tala gate. The fort is home to numerous Red- headed Vultures, a species which, we learnt later, has come dangerously close to extinction over the past decade.

With the perfect blend of history, wildlife, virgin forests and a high probability of spotting tigers, Bandhavgarh is a place no wildlife aficionado should miss. As we left, we couldn’t help but feel that four days was far too less to fully explore the enchanting forest that is Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. In spite of the dwindling numbers, India is still called ‘the land of the tigers’, and after this captivating trip, I must say that Bandhavgarh National Park would surely have to be its capital!

The Jumbo Legacy

2008-12-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt from an article I read on cricinfo….

“…..In many ways, it's also the start of a new era. As Dhoni said at the press conference, modern-day Indian captains had grown so used to Anil Kumble being there as a perennial Plan B [A when it was a turning track] that the idea of going into a series without him seems almost bizarre. Both Amit Mishra and Yuvraj Singh are stepping into large boots, and the best thing they can do is chart their own course. The minute Mishra worries about 600 wickets, or Yuvraj about 7000 Test runs, then they're lost….”

Ok Ok, fine, I wont let my blog become an online shrine to Kumble.

PS: If you are reading this, Jumbo, Please come back for one more match , please.

The clock has begun to tick....

2008-10-10T02:23:00.000-07:00

Everybody who knows me knows how much I revere Anil Kumble, both as a cricketer and as a person. This, is my third post on the old wizard (Here are the earlier ones - 1 & 2).

I just watched the Australian innings fold at Bangalore, Zaheer finished with 5 wickets; Ishant Sharma finished with 4 wickets and Harbhajan had his bunny, Ponting's wicket.

The Indian Captain, Anil Kumble had figures of 43-6-129-0. Surprsing.....Just a couple of months ago, in Sri Lanka, Jumbo finished with figures of 37-4-121-0. Not often does Anil Kumble go wicketless. Whats more....this was the 56th time he had conceded more than 100 in an innings, surpassing the previous record holder, Muttiah Muralidharan who has had 55 such expensive outings.

When stats show that Kumble has claimed only 25 wickets in his last 9 matches.....When debutante batsmen begin picking up Kumble's googly...........When tail enders are able to survive an entire Kumble over without a decent lbw shout, let alone losing their wicket.....when the famous Kumble 'rocket' flipper doesnt get wickets consistently......Thats when, I'm afraid, its time to go.

As I get all teary eyed reminsicing about 6/12 vs West Indies and the unbelievable 10/74 , and as much as it will shatter me to see you go,Anil Kumble, I think the clock has begun to tick.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=hqkNQav4ynE&feature=related

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=F2hoilMeXH0

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=UuQsdnY-e_U&feature=related

The GRAND ex-'PRIX'-ence!

2008-10-07T12:46:00.001-07:00

It just was one of those moments..when I read that the first F1 night race was to be held in Singapore, I immediately made up my mind to go and watch it. People tried to dissuade me saying, “The cars would go past in a second…what could you possibly see?” and "Why do you want to see these cars which keep on going around in circles?" Well, it’s really difficult to answer these kinds of questions especially to the same ‘knowledgable’people who later on ask questions like “Is ‘Shoe-maker’ still racing?” and “Is Murali Karthik driving for Kingfisher*”. After resisting myself from responding violently to these questions, I moved on…..as nothing could change my mind and finally with big holes in all my pockets, I was on my way to Singapore.

From the moment I landed at Changi airport, it was obvious that this city had

been possessed by the F1 spirit. Hoardings, banners, advertisements, discounts if you showed

up with your F1 ticket and so on were all over the place. One could sense a palpable

national pride involved here; a pride in showcasing a world class city – the perfect stage for

hosting a first of its kind event.

Clarke Quay by night

Although perfect in every way to suit European television viewers, the challenge of setting

Singapore up for a night race was something the authorities certainly overcame and

how! Each and every aspect of the city – its roads, its bus network, the underground train

service, the restaurants – everything was geared up to handle this rush of nearly

120,000 people during these three days. And nothing at all seemed like a last minute

preparation – it simply looked like the culmination of something perfectly pre planned years

ago with everything falling right into place.

At the venue (note the pass hanging around my neck :) LOL! ) and below,

The Old Supreme Court Building.

The first thing I did in Singapore was to collect my tickets from the F1 office – they came in a

cool sleek black case with glossy slick plastic bar coded cards neatly tucked inside. I suddenly

felt after seeing these über cool tickets that almost having to sell off my right kidney in the

black market to pay for these tickets was worth it after all! I mean look at the silly paper

tickets we get for our cricket matches and look at these F1 passes....these were

beautiful…! (sigh) Coming back to reality…I spent the rest of the day meandering through the

streets of Singapore….Everyone around seemed to be in the F1 mode. Once at the circuit,

much like Monaco, it was difficult to imagine that this circuit too was actually a part of the

city…and mind you, not some far flung suburb but the heart of the city.

Giancarlo Fisichella in his Force India and below Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen appears to be staring right into the camera!

The facilities at the venue – the entry, the security checks, the seating – everything went off

smoothly. And what’s more, we had clear TV screens right in front of our seats across the

track with speakers which blared out live commentary. The more I saw the immaculate micro

management of the arrangements, the more difficult it got for me to imagine an

Indian Grand Prix anytime in the near future. The circuit park was dotted with numerous

merchandise shops and many food outlets serving Thai, Indian, Indonesian, Korean cuisines and

of course Singapore’s most famous Tiger Beer!

The view from my seats....the cars slowly turn in and the blast off towards turn 10. (Below) An absolutely crazy Japanese Ferrari fan

It was not just formula one that was on show here; there was a whole bunch of support races – The Porsche Carrera Asia Cup, The Aston Martin Cup and Formula BMW Asia Series. To go with the on track excitement, there were a whole range of musical performances which were played out live during the breaks .

David Coulthard in his super sleek Red Bull and below, The most beautiful beast on track..The Safety Car

Friday practice and Saturday qualifying gave us photo-buffs enough photo ops, but it was the Sunday race that we had all come here to watch and we weren’t disappointed (the results are for you to see - all pics posted here have been shot by me!). Fuelled with delicious southeast Asian food and having downed a couple of Tiger beers (Sorry Mr. Mallya) watching the race under lights was an absolutely surreal experience, with cars zooming past, the smell of burning rubber wafting through the air, the ear drum shattering scream of the beastly engines, the gorgeous Singapore nightscape around and the stars above – I realized I was at a place where history was being created.

Nick Heidfeld overtakes Sebastian Bourdais and below, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton

While the race itself was expectedly punctuated by a couple of safety car periods,

Renault’s out of the box thinking ensured Alonso leapfrogged the rest to secure a comfortable

win. Ferrari’s collective clumsiness ensured that they had a forgettable race. A few laps saw

Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella bravely hold off a host of drivers behind as he held P2 for a

while. I was the only one cheering each time Fisichella passed by the stand where I was; but

after pitting he too fell to the wayside and finally as street circuits have in the

past, Singapore too threw up a few surprises on the podium with Nico Rosberg claiming

second place.

Toyota's Timo Glock (My favourite pic) and the race Winner (below) - Fernando Alonso (Renault)

The whole journey had certainly been a thoroughly enjoyable one. All in all, Singapore is easily the best Grand Prix to attend from India (Sepang doesn’t even come close to a thrill of a street circuit). While it may not be the cheapest, it certainly has a lot to offer.

With a race marshal , after the race and (below) Riding over the kerbs at turn 5 (literally)!!

The meticulous arrangements, the beautiful lighting, the drama, the safety car trips, the crashes, the heart breaks and of course the unique language –‘Singlish’ made it an unforgettable experience!

*The question, I am guessing was meant to be “Is Narain Karthikeyan driving for Force India F1?”

PS: Special thanks to my friends Aditya Naik, Amit Masurkar, Aditya Pandit and Medha Naik for making this trip a special one.

For higher resolution images, visit : http://picasaweb.google.co.in/akshaygn/Singapore2008?authkey=uRTzcuOlC0A#

I'm only happy when it rains!

2008-09-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Two articles of mine (one is an interview and the other one is an article on how wet weather races differ from dry weather races) featured in Chequered Flag, India's only Formula One magazine...

(click here) I'm only happy when it rains

(click here) F1 Physician

Cant wait for Singapore !!!

The Tiger Trail

2008-04-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

After having visited Jim Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal last year , we had zeroed in on Ranthambhore as the next national park on our list and in early February, we finalized our travel plans to Ranthambhore National Park (RNP), Rajasthan which is a mere 12 km from the nearest railway station, Sawai Madhopur..
Like most tourists in Ranthambhore, we had booked our safaris online at the Rajasthan Tourism website and this made it very easy for tourists by eliminating touts and agents. But with several high end and budget hotels in Sawai Madhopur, finding easy accommodation was no problem for us when we reached there on a rather chilly April morning.
With the magnificent Ranthambhore fort and Jogi Mahal, an erstwhile royal palace in the backdrop, the central area of Ranthambhore has a chain of perennial lakes as compared to the drier peripheral area which is dotted by a few seasonal ponds and watering holes. And a trip to both these starkly different areas gives us two completely different stories. The area around the lakes is bustling with life – aquatic birds, ungulates, reptiles, and a host of other mammals including the tiger enjoy lush green surroundings which has deserted forts, ruins, dilapidated citadels all around. In contrast, the peripheral zones have the classical ‘dry deciduous’ forest with stunted ground cover in a different terrain consisting of steep slopes, narrow valleys and flat plateaus, with a lesser density of animals; the difference is so stark that you almost wonder if it’s a different national park altogether.
RNP is divided into five routes on which the vehicles are allowed to run. A fixed number of vehicles are allowed on every route and the allocation of the route to vehicles is by lottery.
Our 4 day long stay in Ranthambhore saw us make 7 trips into the park with at least one safari on each of the five routes and a guide accompanying us on every trip. The guides pay attention to every sound that comes from the wilderness since amidst the dense vegetation it is only the warning calls made by langurs, deer and peacocks that give an indication to the location and movements of tigers. Armed with our cameras and zoom lenses, we set out to find the big cat who rules the jungles of Ranthambhore. But sadly, apart from a ten second long glimpse of a tigress running into the bushes at the end of day 1 and a radio collared tiger sitting in the shade of a tree about 100 meters away seen on day 2, we were yet to see a tiger up close in its full glory. On our way out of the park, we spotted a leopard which appeared to be startled at being noticed and quickly sped into the bushes.
Although we hadn’t had a ‘good’ sighting of the tiger on days 1& 2, the cool hazy morning of day 3 made up for it in a way and gave us a beautiful sight – of a peacock with its entire plumage spread out, rhythmically swaying its feathers in a graceful dance to woo a peahen. Ranthambhore boasts houses nearly 300 species of birds and we managed to spot quite a few of them such as the the painted grouse, the crested serpent eagle, the beautiful Asian Paradise flycatcher and the near threatened Oriental Darter.

We also spotted a few crocodiles lazing around near ponds, basking in the sunlight and then stealthily slipping into the water only to stay afloat while being so still, one could easily mistake it for a log. Although we had enjoyed our visits into the park, I would be lying if I said our visit had been complete since we were yet to see a tiger from close proximity. After our last planned safari into the park on the morning of day 4, we decided we had to do something about having not seen a tiger the way he had wished to. Acting on Shashank’s idea, Siddharth, Shashank and I went to the Forest Office with the intention of meeting the Divisional Forest Officer of Ranthambhore National Park (DFO - an officer of the IFS cadre). We met the DFO - Mr. B S Shekhawat, who heard us very patiently and then asked us to arrange for another safari and he would ensure that the vehicle would be made ‘zone free’, i.e it would not be restricted to any particular zone. But not before making it clear that what he was doing was not the usual practice and was an exception. We were ecstatic and immediately cancelled out train tickets for 4 p.m. and luckily managed to book seats in a train that left Sawai Madhopur at 10 p.m. But the biggest challenge was getting a vehicle for the safari. After enduring two hours of the mid noon heat, standing in a long queue and seeing the ugly face of government administration - how every level of the bureaucracy can be manipulated, we were lucky enough to have been able to arrange a 6 seater vehicle. The frenetic activity had already left us tired but it was all worth the trouble as we found out.
Later in the afternoon, within seconds of entering the park, under a tree beside a lake, laid a splendid looking two year old tigress barely twenty feet from us. And if that wasn’t enough, she stood up and walked right past us. Seeing a tigress barely 4 feet away from our vehicle gave all of us goose bumps – what an awe inspiring sight it was! We stayed close to her for nearly an hour tracking each and every movement of hers and capturing her beauty in our cameras. Everything about that one hour was surreal: the grace, the arrogant yet regal walk, the beauty of the black stripes draping her orange body giving her the perfect camouflage and the imperial Ranthambhore fort in the background as she walked into the dense vegetation and into the fading sunlight.

What a perfect end to four wonderful days in Ranthambhore. The tiger might certainly be the most exquisite and royal of all creatures, but in our quest to see a tiger in the wild, we had discovered that there is so much more to the National parks in India than just the tiger.

lingua mallua

2008-03-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

My Favourite movie ever (that is after Borat) is ‘Company’. Yes, I know it’s a surprising choice, but it genuinely is a good movie. (click here) Apart from being a well made Ram Gopal Varma movie, the reason it is so special to me is the presence of Mohanlal. Now, even though I have the classical mallu surname ‘Nair’, I can safely say my maternally dominated upbringing has not let much mallu influence seep into me.(FYI, my mom is a tam-bram) All the same, I have made enough trips to Kerala, watched enough Asianet and even drunk kallu (locally brewed toddy made from..What else. COCONUT!) to know my Mallu roots well enough.
Coming back to ‘Company’, the mallu drenched accent of Mohanlal made the movie watching experience even more entertaining. Try this – in the movie, the police under the Commissioner – Mohanlal, raid the goons’ hide out but they seem to have been tipped off and have flown off to Hongkong…..
Mohanlal to his sub ordinate : “Suna haim woh log Hong-gong gaya haim. Chalo unko pekadne mein to hemara plan flob ho gaya, lekin kam se kam ungo kundry ke bahar to bhech diya!”
(I have heard they have fled to Hong Kong. We may have flopped in our plans to catch them but at least we have made them leave the country.)
The above dialogue epitomizes the Mallu diction : The uniqueness of Malayalees is that they speak all languages in Malayalam.
By the way there are a few people who have taken this mallu accent thing far too seriously. Check this out.
Now even the non observant non south Indian can pick the regular ‘sero’ , ‘zimbly’ or ‘comblete’ but it takes a true mallu to notice the subtle nuances of Malayalish (Malayalam+English…well, it sounds better than Engalayalam!)
Speaking of Hong-gong (Hong Kong), apart from the regular Mus-kett and Thupai (Muscat & Dubai) , there are quite a few places/countries which have been rechristened by Mallus. As I have learnt from a few uncles and my father too,
Zimbabwe is now – Simbaagway
Switzerland is now- Syusserlent
Bangladesh is now – Bengeladesh
And for some odd reason, all – I mean ALL Mallus – even my cousins who are as old as me , are in a time capsule in 1972 and refuse to acknowledge the fact that Sri Lanka is no longer known as Ceylon (or See-lone).

Another Mallu quirk is the prounounciation of the ‘qu’ syllable. It is clear to me that getting this pronounciation right is impossible for anyone from Kerala.
All of us have heard the Saddam Hussein attacking Kuwait joke, so I wont go there again. But the other words have never ceased to amaze me.
Exquisite – es-kyus-sit
Quickly – kyuk-lee
Quintal – kyun-del
All ex students from SVJC (Swami Vivekanand Junior College) will agree with me that back in college, we had an overdose of Malayalee professors in college – from Babu Saar and Unnithan in Maths to The Sir John in Biology, Mr. George who taught in the commerce (‘com-airs’ for Mallus!) , Rama and finally Mrs. George for Chemistry!
And one particular memory of Mrs. George was her pronounciation of the Avogadro’s number. I would always look forward to the way she would reel off the Avogadro’s number ….6.023 x 10²³
Here it comes…...”Six poind sero two three…..into….tendrupaar tondy three”.
The part of ‘ten to the power of twenty three’ was kyuk-lee (quickly) compressed into what we heard as ‘tendrupaar tondy three’. Mindblowing!

No south Indian can ever not hear the name of the suburb ‘Sion’ being pronounced as ‘Sa-yawn’ at home. And I still snicker and giggle when I hear my granny say “mu-lend” for ‘Mulund’. (Im still pervertedly smiling as I am typing this part!)

Sigh….if only I was a true bred mallu who had not been corrupted by the silly ways of English schooling in Mumbai.

Doordarshan & Gully cricket : A lost legacy

2007-09-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

I know I am running the risk of sounding like and old ‘old’ man when I say this but having watched my nieces and nephews grow up, over the past few years, I am convinced that our generation; and 'our generation' would include my peers, probably between 21 and 26 years old; is probably the last generation to have had a non digital, unadulterated, uncomplicated, out doorsy childhood.
I vividly remember the excitement that only the last paper of the annual examinations could bring in. And once the summer vacations began - the daily routine would begin with cricket in the morning, after a break for lunch all of us friends would gather around the TV and switch on Doordarshan and wait patiently for 'Fun Time'. Once it was evening, it was back to cricket, catch ‘n’ cook, dabba udali, apa dhubi, lagori and chor - police going on right up to 9 in the evenings.
The unbound joy of watching 'Gaayab aaya' and 'He Man'. And once in a while He man would be replaced by the puppet stories of 'Potli baba'. Each of these programs would be punctuated by ads of Bournvita (Mann ki shakti Tann ki shakti ,Bournvita) , an occasional patriotic 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' or perhaps 'Baje Sargam Har Taraf Se'. But one would rarely get to see any such programming on television that was dedicated to children during the other months of the year except f0r Sunday mornings and Saturday evenings which had the monstrous 'Giant Robot' performing PT exercises and launching missiles from the tips 0f his fingers at the orders of a small child who would instruct Giant Robot over his watch-cum-walkie talkie and the robot would easily destroy his rather ‘challenged’ Japanese enemies. Come to think of it, such simple, uncomplicated viewing - No computer generated graphics, no complicated names or stories, easy animation and an even easier name - He is a robot and he is , well, a ‘giant’ . So what do we call him? How about ‘Giant Robot’? As simple as apple pie, isn’t it?
The rare luxury of having my father rent out a VCR cassette of Tom and Jerry – the evergreen ‘Sholay’ of cartoons, would throw my brother and me into ecstasy. And it was not until we were almost out of school , did we have a dedicated cartoon channel – Cartoon Network, which had Swat Kats, Bird-Man, the Centurions etc – a far cry from the dilemma faced by today’s kids – of having to choose between Pogo, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney channel, Hungama and what have you.
Another distinct memory of my childhood is ‘Tinkle’. This monthly turned fortnightly publication by ‘Uncle Pai’ would have me and my brother fight over who would get to read it first every single month. I wonder if children today read any Amar Chitra Katha publications at all. All my Mahabharatha and Ramayana gyaan is the result of reading Amar Chitra Katha and of course the family addiction of the early 90s – Ramanand Sagar’s TV epics.

Coming back to ‘building cricket’, I just don’t see any one playing it these days. Underarm cricket, box cricket, pheki cricket – all of them surely are extinct now. Gone are the days when the building entrance gate pillar would bear the stumps marked on it with chalk and a large rectangular stone would be the bowlers bowling mark cum popping crease cum stump. And the kind of run out dismissal which was unique only to building cricket – ‘current run-out’ – where the batsman would be run out if he was short of his ground and if the bowler caught the ball and had some body part touching the stump!
And with smaller building compounds, more and more cars and lesser and lesser playing space , the only form of cricket we are going to see the kids play is going to be on Playstation, Xbox and the computer.
Now a days, relationships seem to progress fast, trends and fashion are changing even faster, life in general seems to be going by so quickly and when I happened to see this news report that said how 13 years old are active on orkut and facebook, I couldn’t help but feel sad for these kids who, have, sadly grown up too fast.

Way to Go, Jumbo!

2007-08-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have always been of the opinion that Indian cricket and Indian cricketers, do not deserve even half the fanatic blind support they recieve , the emotion and the passion they evoke amongst the masses. But today , I take it all back , all for one man - Anil Kumble. http://akshaygn.blogspot.com/2006/10/celebrating-jumbo.html
I have been a faithful fan of his right through the dark ages of Indian Cricket (1992-1999/2000) where right/left arm 'allegedly' fast , full toss bowlers - Srinath, Prasad, Kuruvilla, Mohanty, Harvinder Singh, Salil Ankola, Manoj Prabhakar, Mhambrey, Dodda Ganesh , Youhannan, Noel David , etc (phew ! thats quite a lot!) would invariably lose the plot in the opening overs of our bowling. They would have Sanath-Kalu followed by Aravinda , Anwar-Sohail and then Ejaz (I hated him), and Gibbs-Kirsten hitting all of them all over the park.....and poor old Azhar and later on , Sachin would have to bring in Kumble well within the 15 overs .Instead of attacking , he would have to bowl defensively and in spite of this ,he more often than not could take wickets.He never got credit for what he did.And soon injuries , a few bad performances , some bad luck and finally Kiran More as the chief of selectors ended Kumble's one day career prematurely after the 2007 WC.

I have always been a bowler's fan - whichever form or cricket it may be. The satisfaction of seeing a batsman getting out lbw to a Kumble special rocket flipper is matched only by the replays of Murali's sadistically obscene heinous crimes against batsmen on Lankan pitches.

Yet, No cricketer's feat has brought me so much joy as Kumble did when he reached his maiden test century.....!

He is now (at the end of the 2nd day in the 3rd test at the Oval) at 561 wickets , 2 short of Glenn McGrath's 563 wickets. Lets hope he achieves two feats in the same match.

PS : Kumble now holds the record for the maximum mathces played before scoring a test century (117) , previously held by Vaas (97). He also holds the record for maximum wickets taken lbw followed by.

Shane Warne , Murali , Kumble - 3 contemporary greats will soon be at the head of the list of leading wicket takers in tests. Kumble , may not be the greatest in terms of wickets tally or average (although he has an almost equal 'wickets per match' figure as that of Shane Warne) ; but he will surely have the highest test score amongst the three here ! Shane Warne : highest score - 99 out ! eat your heart out Shane....!

Current Mood : Euphoric
Current Song : Chale Chalo (OST Lagaan - A R Rahman)

Joy to the World.

2007-08-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

Dr. Joy Patankar

(1962 – 2006)

A Surgeon par excellence, an inventive thinker, a meticulous planner, a brilliant orator, an inspiring teacher,a son of the soil, a literature lover, a Master at word play, with an ever growing cache of interesting anecdotes and theories right from Maratha history to Hindu Mythology down to nanotechnology; a gadgetophile with a heart of gold.

It is an honour, Sir, to have learnt from you so much more than what you have taught, to have worked under you; to have worked alongside you and to have been worked upon by you.

The man who let me perform my first independent surgery,

We miss you.

PS: The arm is perfectly fine, Sir, perfectly fine.

Things I want to do in this lifetime....

2007-05-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

"Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
- M K Gandhi
Driving home , leafing through magazines , surfing TV....just a few times you come across, read or see something and go "aah....wish I could do that"

Here's my list of "Gosh....I wanna do that atleast once" things...
Some of them are just stupid things i wish to do , but probably know I can never get myself to do them.

1. Watch the Monaco Grand Prix from the grand stands. - (Sep 2008 - Singapore GP)
2. Win a poker tournament.
3. Win lots of money at Vegas.
4. Go Vegetarian (Yeah Right!)
5. Recieve a standing ovation (someday....someday!)
6. Visit the Pyramids in Egypt.
7. Improve my French.
8. Go to Japan and have sushi.
9. Go for an A R Rahman Concert.
10. Stand as an umpire for a One Day match.
11. Get better at small talk.
12. Visit a wildlife sanctuary somewhere in India and watch a tiger. (June 07, Corbett , here I come !) - (DONE - Ranthambhore ; May 2008)
13. Learn to Bartend and mix the perfect drink. (DONE - ask Sumedh, Veena & Rima ! HA! )
14. Solve a Rubik's Cube .
15. Go bulemic and lose lots of weight.
16. Save someone's life (almost came close to doing it once!)
17. Get drunk and then play cricket.
18. Meet Borat in real life. . . !(Sometimes I meet him in the mirror...Not!) Sorry :(
19. Travel overseas (say Australia (March) or Italy (September)..) with my best friends for over a month on a shoe string budget.
20. Own a Sports Bar .
21. Drive a Ferrari Modena 360.
22. Make a comprehensive family tree and know who is who in my family for once and for all to avoid all those puzzled looks that come on my face when wierd relatives ask me "You know who I am , don't you?" at family weddings.
23. Stay in a posh grand glitzy hotel in London.
24. Own a Foosball table.
25. Have 3 dogs - a labrador , a cockerspaniel and a german shepherd.
26. Visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum , DC. (thanks Kulki!)
27. Visit all 7 continents.
28. Stay in a castle.
29. Stop allowing outside influences to determine the way I think, act, and feel; in whatever little way it does now.
30. Have a movie marathon of my favourite 5 comedy movies with my friends at my place.
31. Have a pair of handcuffs.
32. Be a police Officer for a day.
33. Get better at playing the tabla.
35. Have someone gift me a Nikon D 200. (DONE - atleast half done, I own a Nikon D80)
36. Learn to ride a motorbike . (Yes, I dont know how to ride one !)

The List will see more and more additions as I become more and more crazier.

Current mood : Nostalgic
Current song : Teri Deewani (Kalash Kher - Kailasa)
Thanks , Ashwin Kulkarni - got this idea from your blog.

My Visual DNA

2007-04-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

My Favourite Movies !

2007-03-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
What can I say about this movie ! If you haven’t seen this movie , you have probably missed out on the biggest and the best comedy movie ever. Dirty, Ugly, Repulsive , Crude , but downright funny. With its satirical pranks played on unsuspecting Americans by the main characters – Borat Sagdieyev and Azamat Bagatov , this movie is two hours of non stop laughs. (caution: after the movie , you tend to speak in a Russian accent for a few days) .
Trivia: this movie won a Golden Globe for best actor in a comic role , and an Oscar Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay (too bad ‘The Departed’ won).
I have always seen movies like Air Force , a couple of James Bond movies where the Americans were always the good guys and the Russians the terrorists.
Well , finally the Russians have struck back and in style ! Waawaaveewah !
Recommended Watching : Any day when you are feeling low or anti American.

Andaaz Apna Apna
Crazy Movie , Crazy Dialogues , Crazy Characters and Crazy situations. That’s all this hilarious movie is all about. Shakti Kapoor in his only non villainous , non raping role in Hindi Cinema is actually funny. The first time Paresh Rawal’s comic side came to the fore with his senselessly funny dialogues like “mark idhar hai , Teja mai hoon!”
Karishma , Raveena were good. But Aamir , Salman , the Ajit look alike and Viju Khote (Robert) with their excellent comic timings make the movie an absolute winner. One of the few movies you can watch over and over again.

Swades
Easily one of the best Hindi movies made in the last 20 years. One of the main reasons I liked the movie was because Shah Rukh Khan played ‘the character’ – Mohan Bhargava , and not himself – ‘Shah Rukh Khan’. To clarify my point, I’d like to point to all of SRK’s other movies – Kal Ho Na Ho , K3G ,Mohabbatein , Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna , Veer Zaara , Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Don’t you think it’s the same character – Rahul / Raj ie. Shahrukh Khan. who is growing up and the different movies have just captured different phases of his life .
Why for that matter even in Asoka , he seemed just like Rahul wearing a different costume with his typical smile , laugh , arrogance , that tiny bit of stammering and that weird thing he does with his eye brows while kind of squinting his eyes!
Aamir Khan, on the other hand, never seems repetitive – DCH, Lagaan , Mangal Pandey, RDB . SRK- He just doesn’t come out of his Raj/ Rahul mould . BUT Swades , thankfully saw director Ashutosh Gowariker do just that. For a change Shah Rukh Khan did act well.
Amazing background score.Brilliant songs.Excellent acting by others in the cast such as Kishori Balal (Kaveri Amma) , Gayatri Joshi (Geeta). Few scenes get a lump in my throat everytime I watch the movie – the scene where the water boy is running past the train screaming “paani lo paani, pachis paisa, pani lo pani”and Mohan is moved to tears as Melaram hands over some change to him to buy a glass of water.
Outstanding movie.
Recommended Viewing : Jan 26th of Aug 15th, I guarantee you will stay patriotic for a year atleast!

Airplane !
The God of all slap stick comedies. Non sense comedy all around. This movie was one of the first few movies of Leslie Neilson. Right from the opening titles to the ending credits, not a moment that does not have some humour in it – subtle or overt.
Caution : Try not to watch the movie before flying out to some place, and definitely not while on an aircraft.

The Godfather(I)
A Masterpiece!
The only movie of Marlon Brando I have ever seen , And I do not want to see any other movie of his simply because I fear that movie might not match up to what he has done in The Godfather. Gripping right from the beginning to the end.Epic scenes : Bonasera meets the Godfather ; Godfather meets Sollozo ; Godfather meets Bonasera (undertaker) after Sonny is dead – each scene , each dialogue , each word stays with you , haunts you.
One of the finest movies to have ever been made.
Recommended Viewing : Any day any time.

Satya
Dark and realistic .Ram Gopal Varma - (RGV) ’s first of his underworld Trilogy – Satya stands out for its superb emsemble cast and stupendous acting by each of them. Chekravarthy as the protagonist – the silent intense ‘Satya’ is excellent. But the real stars of the movie for me were Manoj Bajpai (Bhiku Mhatre) and Shefali Chaya (Bhiku’s wife).
One of the first movies in Hindi Cinema to portray the Mumbai underworld realistically.
One of RGV’s finest works.

Company
The second of RGV’s trilogy.
If Satya was brutal , crude and hard hitting ; Company was suave , sophisticated , stylish , but with the same impact. Although he got much critical acclaim for his part , I personally think Vivek Oberoi overdid his part and did ham his way through quite a few scenes. None the less , Ajay Devgan was intensity personified and he did a fantastic job.
Now blame my mallu roots or call it the effect of sub conscious Asianet/Surya TV viewing, but for me , the real hero of the whole movie was Mohanlal. Just loved him in the movie.
Be it the accented dialogues , or the typical malayalee mannerisms , he was absolutely brilliant through out the movie.

Sarkar
RGV’s last movie in the Underworld Trilogy. The movie begins with a note from RGV that this is his tribute to The Godfather. Similar in many ways to The Godfather yet dissimilar in many ways. Sadly Sarkar saw only a few ‘complete’ characters who had depth and some recall value – Sarkar , His sons (Shankar, Vishnu) , Rashid , Selvar Mani , may be Swamiji.
But once you saw The Godfather , you almost knew everybody –The Godfather , Tom Hagen , Sonny , Michael , Luca Brazi , Sollozo , Kay Adams , Tessio , Clemenza , everybody !
Nonetheless , Amitabh , even though essaying a role that had already been acted out in the best way possible , did a mighty good job of it. As did Kay Kay Menon and Abhishek.
Good Background music and tight editing keeping it only a little over 2 hours made it a good movie.

Maqbool
The Indian Adaptation of Macbeth.I haven’t read or seen Macbeth in any form. Maqbool makes you go through the whole gamut of emotions.The chemistry between Tabu and Irrfan Khan is magical. Personally I think Tabu has acted out of her skin , so much so that you start hating her for the treachery she commits in the movie.Great songs. Very Marlon Brando / Godfatheresque performance by Pankaj Kapoor. Hindi Cinema at its best.

Kimi wins OZ GP.

2007-03-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

Kimi Räikkönen drew first blood in the battle that got underway at Melbourne’s Albert Park, the season opener for the 2007 FIA Formula One Championship with a resounding win. Leading for most of the race, he always seemed like winning the race right from the start, which saw some drama as Alonso, who had started 2nd on the grid ,dropping down to 4th position at the first corner. Defending World Champion Fernando Alonso’s new team McLaren had a great outing with Alonso finishing on 2nd position and his rookie team mate Lewis Hamilton finishing third.
Others among the points were Hiedfeld, Fisichella, Massa, Rosberg and Ralf.
The race had a perfect setting with clear blue skies, a bone dry track and 22 drivers eagerly waiting to start off.
Kimi lead into turn one which later on during the course of the day , proved to be the only point on the track where an overtaking maneuver was possible. But Alonso lost major ground as Lewis, who stealthily took the inner line into turn 1, edging out Alonso and Kubica, then swiftly splitting the two McLarens into the straight that followed.
Lewis soon dropped a place but quickly regained his composure to snatch 3rd position back from Alonso. Kimi Räikkönen, by now was already gaining a second a lap. This surely had to mean the reason he set an ultra quick qualifying lap was his light fuel load.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who started at the back of the grid steadily was climbing up but found himself stuck behind David Coulthard, Honda’s Barichello and a very, very sluggish Jenson Button. But by lap 5 he overcame Coulthard, as Kimi set his first of many fastest laps, in the same lap.
By the 8th lap the gap between first placed Kimi Räikkönen and 3rd placed Alonso was almost 10 seconds.
Now a 2 stop strategy is considered normal in Albert Park, but was Ferrari going to spring up a surprise with a 3 stop strategy? It seemed highly improbable; Ferrari would have backed Michael to pull it off, but it just didn’t seem right here. We would have to wait and find out.
The 12th lap saw the first retirement with Christijan Albers retiring after banging his car into the barricades. The excuse: his ear plug had come off, which distracted him and he missed the braking point! Unbelievable!
The first round of pitstops were expected between the 19th to 25th laps , but Hiedfeld came in earlier in the 15th lap and came out on track in front of Red Bull’s Webber and Ralf and Trulli to claim 6th position.
Meanwhile in the middle of the pack, the train of Button, Reubens, and Massa finally saw some change with Barichello finding his way past Button at an unexpected corner.
But at the top, Alonso now looking quite settled but subdued had clawed his way past Kubica into 3rd position.
Now the 18th lap from Kimi was an absolute blinder : a text book in-lap , setting the fastest first and second sector timings , quickly in and out of the pit lane , rejoining in 4th behind the Mclarens and Kubica .So he wasn’t light on fuel after all , he was simply brilliant with the car ! Outstanding driving from the Finnish driver, but will he carry it through the race?

The Williams, Red Bulls and the Renaults had been relatively out of any action on the track but at the head for the first time in his debut race Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was leading the Australian Grand Prix.
The question now was – when will the McLarens pit?
The answer came in the 22nd & 23rd laps with Alonso and Hamilton pitting in consecutive laps, although Hamilton’s in-lap was compromised by some back marker traffic, he eventually managed to frustrate Fernando Alonso by emerging in front of him from the pit lane.
Hamilton gradually building up his lead gradually showing that even though they were team mates, the competition was fierce as ever.
By lap 28, Massa and Coulthard were the only drivers who hadn’t yet pitted.
And it seemed as if the two drivers might just pull off a one stop race.
Finally in the 29th lap, Massa pitted for what seemed an eternity, surely this was going to dent his chances of getting any championship points. But it was a one stop race for him for sure!
The 31st lap saw STR Ferrari’s Scott Speed – unimpressive throughout, retiring from the race.

The 2007 Season has brought in new rule changes – a new pit speed limit of 80 kmph down from 100 kmph and Refueling had now been disallowed during safety car periods.
And Jenson Button got an extra lesson at that with a drive thru penalty for speeding in the pit lane in the 31st lap.
By the 33rd lap Massa had crept into the top ten. The 37th lap saw some action and drama with Rosberg overtaking Ralf in stunning fashion and Kubica disappointingly retiring; he looked like a genuine contender for a podium position.
By lap 39 the second window of pit stops had come up, this round of pit stops would be rapid pit stops with only the exact amount of fuel required to finish the race going in to the car.
Heiki Kovalinen had a moment of concentration loss, spinning his Renault in the first corner of his 40th lap, with Massa gaining a place on him relegating Kovalinen to 9th place.

In the 41st lap, Kimi Räikkönen dipped below 1min 25sec barrier with yet another brilliant in-lap coming in for a super quick pit stop rejoining the race in 3rd place behind the McLarens - but they still had a pitstop each to go.
The 45th saw Alonso pitting and he came out on track ahead of Lewis Hamilton , much to everybody’s surprise. Now, had Ron Dennis asked Hamilton to pull up just enough to let Alonso come out in front? Had this been all pre planned?
It very well could have been!
Massa, by now had now come to a respectable 6th position and was only nursing his car to the finish line to get points for his team. Commendable indeed, having started from the absolute back of the grid
With ten laps to go, Kimi was now all seemed set to win, but last minute uncertainties have always been Kimi’s specialty and he was surely driving this car to its limit with almost 15 seconds between him and Alonso.
During the 50th lap, old war horse Coulthard, trying an over optimistic overtaking maneuver on Wurz, launched himself over the Williams car, resulting in both their retirements.
Heiki Kovalinen, meanwhile seemed completely at sea with yet another spin, thankfully, this time, it didn’t cost him a place. Massa by now kept chopping away at the gap between him and Fisichella and with five laps to go the scarlet car of Massa was all over Fisico’s rear view mirrors,
This is what F1 racing was all about: nail biting, nerve wracking finishes.
The battle brought back glimpses of the epic battle Imola had seen between Schumi and Alonso.
But at the head of the pack, Kimi looked absolutely cool, all set to win the first race of the season. All his critics who questioned his professionalism or rather the lack of it surely were silenced now.
First race for Ferrari - very quick, very clinical, very Kimi indeed!
Alonso, very unlike him seemed as though he had held himself back but did a good job of finishing in second place.
Lewis – what an impressive debut it had been for him! A dream race: finishing with a podium position on his debut race. The last time we saw that was back in Monza last year with Kubica doing the same for BMW Sauber.
Hiedfeld, Fisichella, Massa, Rosberg and Ralf were the others amongst the points.
The podiums saw a new combination of Jean Todt and Kimi Räikkönen which all Ferrari aficionados surely will hope to see more often now.
The competitiveness established, fierceness undeterred, spirit renewed, the F1 season ahead seems to be a lip smacking proposition. The ‘circus’ now travels to exotic Sepang in Malaysia, early April which promises to be an equally engaging cliffhanger. Cheers till then.

Internship Blues . . . . . .

2006-12-19T05:09:00.000-08:00

The modified version of the otherwise well known 'Food Chain'

(This latest blog of mine is dedicated to the numerous medical interns all over the country who at this moment in time are ghisaoing themseleves off doing mundane , useless , purposeless tasks ; or probably running some errand for someone higher up the hierarchy ; all in the name of learning something during this chaotic journey called internship.
So , incase you aren't or have'nt been an intern , chances are that you would'nt be able to appreciate the below expressed frustration.
And in a very clichédly and also very irritatingly schoolboyish way , let me begin with the dictionary meanings since doing monotonous manual labour during my internship has suffocated and killed all the creativity in me ; and I can't do any better than this.)

intern :
n. A physician who has recently graduated from medical school and is learning medical practice in a hospital under supervision, prior to beginning a residency program.
Usage :
'intern' as in , "Dr. John is training as an intern at the Irvine School of Medicine in California ."

also , Indian version

intern :
n. 1.poor innocent individual starting out with a whole set of impossible goals and naive ambitions that end up crushed under the path of some self-righteous bitch/bastard that is dissatisfied with his/her own life and for getting a ass as his/her superior and taking it out on cute young girls / sincere guys who might actually make something of their lives and live their dreams.

2. Free servants in the workplace.
Usage:
'intern' as in: "Abbe Intern , sun na , go to the third floor , get me the brown file ; then go to the radiology dept , give it to the resident doctor there ; collect the reports of the urine samples you sent in the morning from the seventh floor ; come back here and don't you dare leave this place until I tell you to do so.You got that ?!?"

Note : Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly, explicitly banned slavery.

Im currently at the fag end of my internship.And Im tired , irritated , frustrated and annoyed with the system.

Fact no. 1 :
The intern is on the lowest step in the food chain. Not only can he be eaten up by the one on the step above him , but by anyone and everyone above him in the food chain ; and even those remotely unconnected to the food chain ! (see the photo diagram attached above )

Fact no. 2 :

An Intern may may lose his/her name for the duration of his/her posting . He/She will be referred to simply as 'INTERN' , or usually ' INTERN !!!!' or 'AYE INTERN!!'

Fact no. 3:

An intern's job is only blood collections.

Corollary : Blood collections are exclusively an intern's job.

Let me explain :

In the morning , the intern must complete his mandatory round of pricking every patient and drawing blood. However , if , at any other time during the day , should a need for more blood collections arise , 1 collection or 25 of them , no houseman will ever do that.

Even if a syringe+needle and a spirit swab is given to him, the lousy oaf would rather run about for hours looking for the intern and ask him to do it , he will keep 'missed calling' the intern continuously untill the intern finally calls back or he will give it a miss alltogether and then jhap the intern the next day , rather than do the collection and finish it off in a couple of minutes.

Fact no. 4 :

In the absence of the real naatevaik , the intern becomes the patient's naatevaik .

eg: "Aye sun na , dekh , yeh patient ka relative nahi hai , usko tu neeche X-ray nikaal ke leke aaja , aur phir upar la , iska 2-3 collection baaki hai , toh serum ammonia tu jaake Healthcare mein de , aur blood culture e-lab mein de de , aur sun , vapas aate waqt , uska X-ray collect kar lena phir CCL se iska reports trace kar na hai, aur haan , mein bhool hi gaya , iska grouping - cross matching ka sample blood bank mein dena hai , woh bhi kar na . aur jyaada timepass mat kar , jaldi aaja"

(Aaah ! Now we know why the relative is bloody absconding ! )

Fact no. 5 :
Apparently ,there is no job too low or unfitting for an intern.
Eg:
Scenario i.
"Aye Intern , sun na , hum log ke liye chai leke aana , aur sun , khud ke liye bhi lena"

(WOW ! Thanks !! Im sooooooo happy , I needed that cup of tea 'SO' badly . . . yeah right )

Scenario ii.
"Aye sun na , dekh abhi 12 baj gaya hai , tu ward 40 mein jaake ruk , 2 o' clock ko mera ek relative aanewala hai , uska x-ray aur USG karvake aana "

(bus ?? itna hi ?? aur kuch nahi ? UNKO chai nahi mangta hai kya?? saala kaamchor !)

Scenario iii.
After 15 days in the same department , the registrar (houseman's boss - refer diagram) doesn't recognise you and asks you :
"Tu kaun hai ?"
Me - "Intern"
"Acha Ho gaya , chal sun , tereko 30 number ward malum hai?"
Me (trying to escape with a straight face) - "Nahi !"
"Bas Kya? Chal chod , Kisko bhi puchle , aur udhar jaake Sunita patient ka file leke aanaa"

(Harami sala , try telling a 50 year old , fat , post menopausal , irritated , rude , foul-mouthed , bitchy maushi to run this stupid errand and lets see if you come out alive from the verbal assault you'll recieve)

Scenario iv
"Intern , yeh Nirmala patient ka parso bheja hua urine culture ka report trace karke laa , aur sun , aaj subah jo bhi samples bheja tha , woh sub trace karke laa na "

(Aur kuch saheb ? Joota pochu ? jhadu ? pocha ? bathroom saaf karu ?)

Fact 6.
Sanity still exists .
Yes , It would be injustice to those housemen and registrars* , who have made life easier , if I didn't acknowledge their tolerant and friendly behaviour with us - interns.
Nonetheless , Internship has been an enriching experience during which I have made a lot of mistakes , learnt a lot from them , made great friends and had a ball !

* Dr Srikanth Kakad(Med) , Dr. Anup T (Med) Dr Trupti (Psy) , Dr Sachin(Surg) ,Dr Sundaram (Surg) , Dr Mihir (Orth), Dr Vikramaditya (surg) -RNCH - absolute gems and great clinicians .Thanks guys !

Disclaimer : (After spewing so much venom, I need to save my ass, don't I ?)
Note : That the doctors and the paramedical staff at KEMH are doing a fantastic job with the resources available to them is a well known fact , and is sincerely appreciated by the author. With due respect to the senior doctors at KEMH , the picture alongside the article is only a satirical caricature of the hierarchial architecture that exists in our hospitals.No part of this picture or this article depicts any particular individual(s) , but , it is merely an exaggerated reflection of the system in place.The author's over indulgence is not meant to hurt any concerned party's sentiments.No offence should be taken since , none is intended.

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

After Gandhi-giri , is this Baba-giri ? . .

2006-12-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

A statue of Dr. B R Ambedkar is destroyed in Kanpur . Within a few hours , Maharashtra burns. A 23 year old youth loses his life in the riots in Nashik. One more is killed in Osmanabad district.A curfew is imposed in Pimpri and Pune .Sporadic rioting is seen all over Mumbai with public transport virtually shutting down. People stranded at work , schools shut; roads closed. Chaos all over. But the worst is yet to come , 2 boggies of the Deccan Queen are burnt in Ulhasnagar.
All of this happened as a result the anger and rage amongst the people who wanted to protest against the desecration of Dr. Ambedkar's statue.Is the anger justified ? Yes. But are the means justified ? No way.
After Sanjubaba showed the nation what Gandhigiri was , are we now seeing Babagiri ? Most definitely not , if at all anything , its only dadagiri !
Dr. Ambedkar's vision of a discrimination free India was and is noble and exemplary. A man who was truly way ahead of his times. And at a time when dalits were discriminated against , he stood up for them and championed their causes, made consitutional arrangements to ensure equitable distribution of opportunities and resources . The old Hindu society ,supposedly had a religiously sanctioned racism that had maimed, dehumanized and destroyed hundreds of millions of people through the ages .
But now 56 years after Ambedkar took the first step in the social unification of India ,one doesn't see the kind of inhuman and degenerated practices of caste based discrimination often, especially in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai.Ofcourse , my thoughts here , obviously , are those of an urban observer. The whole concept of 'untouchability' has been universally abolished . His vision , 'not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially' , has been achieved. But there is a lot of work left to be done.
I see no reason why burning trains , stoning shops , stopping traffic and disrupting normal life can do any good. I am not against the protests , I am against the way they protestors protest. Not only are the way they protested a massive waste of time , energy , human resources ; but more importantly this is a step back in time , in terms of our thoughts and idealogies. If someone's thoughts , ideas or actions hurt someone else's sentiments , there is surely a more civilised way to register one's protest.
The saddest part of this whole affair is that Dr. Ambedkar was a Gandhian , and would never have approved of this. He was someone who personified the idiom "the pen is mightier than the sword" . The country has come a long way in trying to achieve social uniformity , and this is not because of the politicians , but inspite of them.
However , when such unnecessary acts of violence take place , it only ensures further alienation of the so called oppressed section of society. They drift more and more away mainstream society , of which they themselves ,unknowingly , are such an integral part of. This 'Rang De Basanti and Lage Rahe Munnabhai ' generation should realise that only when this vision of a unified people is achieved ,will the country go ahead.
This vision will never be achieved overnight or in a matter weeks or months. It has to be a gradual, radical, sustained and united effort by an entire generation. It will be oppressed, suppressed and questioned; it may not be practical at first .Call it overtly Utopian , bhashanbaaji or impractical but a beginning has to be made somewhere. What we need is not a secular rethink, but a secular movement or perhaps even a secular revolution. It must change our thoughts, words, ideas and eventually reflect in our actions. And as citizens for peace, we know deep down inside that this is not only the path to peace but also to progress. The Power to help ourselves in within, we just need to find the strength to use it responsibly.
Jai Hind.
Jai Maharashtra.

The Death Of Indian Cricket Telecasts

2006-11-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Indian Cricket Telecasting ,
1983 - 2006
Died an untimely death.
Allegedly driven to commit suicide by three main accused persons -
1.Excessive Sponsorship,21 ,
2.Mindless Competitions,45
3.Spaghetti Tops ,(sweet)16.
Last seen with a mumbling , fumbling , 'punny' , sardarji (previously convicted for assault on a parking attendant - with kicks and punches; now uses fast , meaningless words , expressions learnt by rote and brightly coloured matching ties and pagadis for the same purpose ).
Also implicated in the murder are 3 more accomplices -
1. Plunging Necklines,18
2. Extravagant Jewelery,43
3. Ghastly Make-up,33
All three of whom are known to work for an expert assasin - Ms Mandira Bedi , by attracting the onlookers' attention towards themselves , thus successfully concealing their boss' incomprehensibile, insignificant, negliglible knowledge of cricket.
All the suspects and accused work together in tandem , simultaneously ; to create one of the biggest blunders in Indian Television History , on the most inappropriate platform , a daily soap channel - SET max.
Resuscitation was attempted by Bhogle , Gavaskar et al ; however , it was all in vain . . . .
The last words , reportedly heard were "Hoo Haa India" (meaning and purpose not known).
R.I.P

That Familiar Tune . . . . Once again. . . .

2006-11-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly surprised to find this old song on the net - I remember, as a kid , it used to be one of my favourite songs on TV.And not simply because it had a very catchy , multi-linguistic , patriotic tinge to it ; but because it had an absolutely stunning video ! That song was "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" . . . One of the doordarshan-ised Prasar Bharati released National Integration songs that stuck in my memory . Another one that I can recall is "Baje Sargam Har taraf se" .
Anyways , after looking up for it on the net I found out that Mile sur mera tumhara was released in 1987 commemorating the 40th anniversary of Indian Independence .The amazing part of the video was the beautiful , yet simple way in which it captured the absolute essence of each and every state it featured - picking up famous celebrities from each state , combined with great locales , stirring music and vocals by stalwart from the field of music - the result being a masterpiece.
Its an absolute treat - The tall man manoeuvring his boat , the tibals dancing with the mountains of the north east in the back ground , Narendra Hirwani , Kamal Hassan , that tall thin malayali on an elephant , Hema Malini , Lata Mangeshkar , the punjabi family of 15 - all on one tractor! , Kapil Dev ,Shabana Azmi , Sunil Gavaskar running with the flame torch in the rain , Amitabh Bachchan , Jitendra with Mithun ! , the metro of Kolkata , Mario Miranda painting a landscape in Goa , and finally the Tricoloured kids coming in running from three different directions (remember the sardar kid wearing a saffron pagadi?!) . . .with the music building up into a crescendo and finally merging in with Jana Gana Mana You could
feel the goosebumps and the lump in the throat as you watch the video . .As kids , we obviously couldnt have appreciated the finer points of this song but there was something in it that made us fall in love with it and watch it over and over again each time it was aired on DD.
The newer National Integration promotional videos aired on TV with all maestros singing a few lines each of the national anthem on an A R Rahman composed background score and video shot in Ladakh is indeed good , but , not a patch on Mile Sur.. -(Sigh!) They don't make 'em like this anymore . . . .

The link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7OkWpfTz1U&mode=related&search

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

Celebrating Jumbo

2006-10-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

It is indeed sad but true - Indian Cricket is all about stars-stars with flair, style and charisma. One wouldn’t mind India losing a match, if Sachin scored a century in it or Sehwag got a trailblazing 50. And there lies unfortunate way in which we perceive the game and its spirit. Talking about match winners, Sachin undoubtedly is one of India’s biggest performers, yet he has not been the most consistent, persistent, diligent performer for India; and no, I’m not talking about Dravid either. The most underrated, overlooked yet most productive player for India in recent times has been Anil Kumble. And this is not me, but the statistics that shout it out aloud. Away from the limelight and the media’s glare , poor old Jumbo does not get a small mention anywhere in the various cricket columns written by everybody from ex cricketers to administrators to scantily clad television anchors , even on his birthday – 17th October. I’m sure everyone remembers the newspaper supplements and magazine covers dedicated to Sachin on his birthday. But I know, Anil Kumble, as always would be the last person to be perturbed by this. For someone who holds an array of bowling records (including being only the 2nd person in the history of the game to score 2000 runs and 500 wkts in Tests, after Warne), he is hardly a discussed name in Indian Cricket. Nonetheless, I hope this stalwart is blessed with greater success in the future, and the selectors - the wisdom to pick him in the team. All the Best Jumbo

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

All Blown Away

2006-10-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

I hate to be repetitive but I just have been so absorbed by the formula 1 championship that I just couldn’t help myself from blogging about it . . .
Michael Schumacher retired from the Japanese Grand Prix due to an engine failure, in a race that he would have most definitely won, had fate not intervened. . . . Bitter Bitter disappointment. To understand the extent of disappointment of Schumacher’s exit from the race, one needs to know the situation.
2004 – Schumacher wins 13 out of 16 races – he showed unbelievable consistency, absolutely no one came close.
2005 – The ground below Schumacher’s feet slipped giving him no time to react! He slumped to a miserable finish at 3rd position in the championship. Alonso’s great driving and McLaren Mercedes’ bad luck narrowly snatched away the championship from Raikkonen’s grasp.
2006 – Everyone expected Alonso to steam roll the competition into submission, but guess who’s back in form – The man in scarlet – Michael Schumacher. Now 2006 was an uphill task for Schumacher because he not only had to regain his lost fire but he also had to catch up with the flying Spaniard.
The season after the US grand prix swung heavily in favour of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, with the German showing why he is the undisputed king of the track. Simultaneously the cracks in Renault started up – an engine failure at Monza for Alonso and he lashed out in the press, blasting off his own team for lack of support, He then went on and blamed the FIA (Federation Internationale d’Automobile) the regulatory body of F1, alleging them of “rigging” formula one, of fixing results and of manipulating the rules and regulations to help Michael Schumacher.
Now Monza (Italian Grand Prix) was even more poignant and historic because Michael Schumacher after much speculation declared his intentions of retiring at the end of the season. Cut to Shanghai, Michael Schumacher overtook Alonso on the track – fair and square; yet Fernando went on record saying that Renault was deliberately botching up his championship chances. This surely was not the way a true champion would react to failure. A true champion is one who after victory, rejoices, celebrates but begins his quest for the next win; and at the same time, takes defeat in his stride, not looking for scapegoats for his failure.
The Scenario before Suzuka (Japanese Grand Prix) – Alonso and Schumacher – both were tied at the top of the championship table with 116 points a piece.
As the race progressed, Schumacher stamped his authority all over the race by overtaking Massa, albeit in a preplanned move, and running off at the head of the pack of cars. Alonso, too, to his credit splendidly overtook Trulli and then tactically, in an engrossing game of pit-lane poker came in front of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa after the first round of pit stops.
The stage was all set for an epic battle to the finish – The Grand Master versus the New kid on the block.
Sadly, it was not to be. In an unfortunate twist to the tale, Schumacher’s engine blew up, a mere 17 laps from the chequered flag, leaving Alonso to take the lead. Alonso, now in 1st place, drove a flawless race after that to finish the race, which in all probability is his championship clinching race.
But what happened after that was truly special. Schumacher stepped out of his, now defunct car, waved out to his fans – not the most common thing you would see a driver do, after having to retire from the lead position of a grand prix. He walked all the way back to the pit lane; into the Ferrari garage, with a smile on his face. He met each and every member of the pit-crew. Hugging and shaking hands with them , thanking them for the unflinching support he had received from them .He walked across to the Ferrari think tank – Jean Todt and Ross Brawn , embraced both of them and sat down with them to watch the remainder of the race; all without showing any disappointment or anger.
Was he not disappointed? Of course he was, and why not? It was his penultimate grand prix. He was leaving the job he loved doing the most. It was his only chance at winning his 8th Championship but now it was all over. Which driver wouldn’t feel aggrieved? But here was a true champion. And here in lies the difference between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.A driver who has won 92 times and one who has raced 85 times. I am sure Alonso will go on to be an illustrious driver with a great record. But he has lots to learn from Michael. Schumi had demonstrated his ability to ruthlessly strive to win but to also accept defeat gracefully, something a certain hot headed Spaniard has yet to learn. The wizened old man of Formula one isn’t the most revered person in F1 for nothing. His track record speaks for itself. But his true character shone through in the most unlikely of times.

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

Shame on Schumi. . Its solely his fault !

2006-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

It was after ages that I actually got to see an entire F1 race start to finish (Qualifiers included ) . And boy! was it an interesting race or what !
I am, without doubt, one of Schumacher's biggest admirers. And as all Schumi fans do, I too, do not want Fernando Alonso to win. Yet, this Sunday, what we witnessed was sheer magic from the Spaniard's car.
From starting behind Schumi, to overtaking him, to lapping him, to finally almost winning the grand prix; he achieved what nobody else might have. Unfortunately for Alonso, his premature exit handed Schumi an opportunity to get some championship points. With Alonso out, Schumacher then drove the most magnificent 10 - 12 laps, setting fastest laps after fastest laps, in conditions which were drying fast. Where half the cars on track had dry weather tyres;Schumacher made driving look like child's play , setting the circuit on fire , and that too on intermediate tyres (tyres not meant for overtly wet conditions , but not ideal for dry track conditions - hence the name).
Going past Coulthard, Kubica, Ralf and Massa, MS soon found himself in 2nd position once De La Rosa pitted. Now , Ferrari have always been one of the most talented and shrewd teams on the pit wall , for they have at the core of the team think tank 3 brilliant minds - Ross Brawn , Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher. This formidable trio has seen Scuderia Ferrari scale new heights with many a world championship and also seen humbling lows like last season. But more often than not; their skill, decision making capabilities and blind faith on each other have seen their team sail through. However, it just wasn’t their day today.
Mistake number 1, when MS pitted for the 2nd time, they should have put him on dry weather tyres. The track was drying fast and it would have been difficult if Michael had to make another pit stop for a change of tyres.It was imperative that Ferrari change the tyres .If not putting in new dry weather tyres; atleast replace the intermediates he was on.
Mistake number 2. Not pulling him in for a change with 11 laps to go.Schumi was 2nd, De La Rosa - 3rd (8 seconds behind him) and 26 seconds behind him was Nick Heidfeld.
Now Schumi's eyes would have lit up with the prospect of him wiping off 8 points off Alonso's championship lead in a single stroke. And he wasn’t going to give it up for anything.Sadly, both De La Rosa and Heidfeld were on dry weather tyres that were making the cars clock a good 5 second quicker than the cars on intermediates. This meant that it was only inevitable that Michael would be pushed down the order, and the fights for 3rd and 4th places that ensued took its toll on Michael's car and the German had to retire with just 3 laps to go.
Had he pitted in for a tyre change when the gap between him (2nd) and Heidfeld (4th) was 25 seconds, there would have been enough time for him to get out of the pits and still be ahead of Heidfeld , albeit in 4th place - losing a place to McLaren's De La Rosa. Instead , Schumacher's greed saw him fight a losing battle on bald tyres offering him no grip.
You could almost feel Schumacher's unwillingness to cede even a single point to Alonso's 11 point lead. He wanted to extract as much a large pound of flesh as he could from Alonso's lone DNF (did not finish) of the season till date. Had he thought logically and nursed his car to the race the tale might have been different. Alas, hindsight is always 20/20.And so the F1 circus moves on to Turkey .And the championship table at the top stands as if Hunagaroring didn’t happen at all. I don’t want to prophetically declare that the championship might just have been thrown away by MS, but Hungary 2006, is a race he would like to forget, for sure.

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

The Middle Path

2006-07-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

During my medicine posting in my internship training program, I was posted in an exclusive HIV unit. Almost all the patients admitted in the unit were in various stages of the disease resulting from HIV infection.A very scary experience indeed . Being a doctor , I know that touching these patients wont give me the disease , but I also know what a tiny error in judgment while collecting blood or inserting an intravenous line or handling these patients' samples , can do .I mean , there were times when I'd see these patients and then try to think , how would I react to being told that I have this disease that is definitely going to kill me and that I will live for only a few years from now , and the number of years , too can be anything from three yrs to 8-10 yrs.
The number of HIV positive patients in Mumbai is mind numbingly high. Tuesdays (new cases) and Thursdays (follow up) are the HIV OPD days in KEM Hospital. Each Tuesday meant at least 100 new cases in KEM alone.
Consider this scenario : A person hailing from UP (or usually Bihar/TN/Kar) , leaving behind his wife in his native place , comes to Mumbai ,in search of a job.. . . lands up with a menial job as a taxi driver or something even less satisfying - financially . During his long lonesome stay in Mumbai , he succumbs eventually to temptation and visits a CSW (commercial sex worker/prostitute) , gets infected with the virus ; months later gets his wife and kid back here , obviously , his wife , in due course gets infected and then they have a child . The child unfortunately is then HIV positive, with of course, an HIV –ve sibling, who will be left all alone in a few years' time.
The surprising thing about this scenario is the consistency with which it presents itself again and again and again . . .I , personally , in my short stint , have seen at least 25 such patients.
And I thought I had seen it all, until I saw this: Champa, Kanaiamma, Rosy – three HIV +ve hijdas in the OPD.
Hijdas are such a mystery. Now I have had these Q&A sessions with all my non medical friends, when we all are having a night out or something like that, where everybody clarifies their myths they have heard and believed in. Sex related queries, weird medical questions ….the works. And believe me; this issue on Hijdas has come up very often. What is a hijda?

I have friends, who are mortally scared of Hijdas. Many of my friends duck inside the car when they see Hijdas on the road (this group includes fully grown men too!). Puzzlingly, effeminate men or ' baylyas*' are ridiculed by being called 'chakka' or 'hijda', but, surprisingly, every hijda that I or my friends have seen or met has always, unfailingly, been more masculine than all my friends and me put together with their thick baritone voice that's high on bass, along with their, incredibly and amazingly loud clap (which comes out loud in the first attempt!) – "Aye Raju". Add to this , a healthy dose of being felt all over by them - and who wouldn't give money to not be subjected to that. I have also been at the receiving end of some rather nauseous, vulgar and stunningly quick, obscene visuals; which of course make the hijda community, collectively, even more repulsive.
The fact, however is that these Hijdas have successfully managed to only isolate them further. These Hijdas are basically either castrated men or hermaphrodites (born with genitilia of both sexes) or just plain men masquerading as Hijdas. They are shunned from society, regarded as the third sex and are given no social rights what so ever. The result being, they have to resort to obnoxious behaviour so that a fear psychosis is built in the minds of the people who then are vulnerable to demands for money at traffic signals, weddings, child births, etc.
But the most disturbing aspect is their disturbing and promiscuous sexual behaviour.
Hijdas work as CSWs .Yes, prostitutes. And obviously the question to ask is who 'does' them?
Well, a lot of people. Hijdas prefer to be passive partners in any form of sexual contact with men, i.e., they are always at the receiving end, literally and figuratively.
So here are these Hijdas who presented with HIV related symptoms, and were clinically investigated and revealed to have HIV infection. They come to the HIV OPD at KEM Hospital.
Now the governments of Maharashtra and India have done this fantastic job of setting up ART (anti retroviral therapy) cells in main hospitals , which provide anti HIV drugs at a massively subsidized rate of about Rs 1200-1300 per month versus Rs 4000-6000 if taken over the counter. This as a one time expense is affordable , but as a life long recurring expense , it is quite a tough ask.
Well , what about loans ? Most Hijdas are unregistered individuals – with no proof of residence , nationality , ration card , driver's license, election card and passport ; they simply don't exist for the government . And the question of actually paying this large sum , every month, for as long as they might live , only for medicines is a tough one to answer given the means this money is earned. Hospitalisation can further complicate issues...
So, sadly, the Hijdas return to their homes, now diagnosed as HIV +ve, resigned to their fate.
These Hijdas however exhibit great understanding of the situation and refrain from any sexual activity, once diagnosed as sero positive.
Where does this leave them?
What is the government doing for them, who are as much a citizen of this country as you or me? Rehabilitation ? Loans ? Insurance ? Apart from the rare headline grabbing event of a eunuch being elected to the local government body somewhere in the interiors of India, absolutely nothing….
At least the next 'aye raju' you hear, evokes not just fear, but also some sympathy

Mumbai - resilient or indifferent ?

2006-07-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a sickening day . Sickening just doesnt sum it up .I was at my old house at about 6:45 pm when Parag called me up to ask if I had heard of any bombs going off anywhere , I said I had no idea since i didnt have a TV there and that I was going home , so I'd check it there and call him back in a few minutes.He , uncharacteristically and abruptly, hung up.It struck me a few minutes later that i could probably check online on some news site if what he said was actually true, and lo - the first headline on rediff.com said "Bomb Blast at Khar Road Stn."
I tried calling Parag , and after about twenty futile attempts to get through , I gave up.I left for home and what I saw on TV shocked the devil out of me !
7 bomb blast.
0ver 150 killed
over 700 injured
My first reaction was of denial and then I was just shocked....Shocked , numbed and unable to react to the visuals the news channels kept throwing .
Bodies being strewn , blood splattered train compartment, limbs , torsos lying around.
Panic .Fear . Phone lines jammed(It now dawned on me why Parag had 'hung' up).Helplessness.
You couldnt help but feel for the weary traveller returning home after a tiring day in his/her usual 6:15 Borivili fast , and was jolted , out of the blue ; of all the unexpected things, a bomb! And now not being able to tell people at home that he or she is safe.
What about those who died ?
I tried calling everybody I knew who lived on the Western Line. After innumerable attempts , I managed to trace the few people i knew on the Western line, and thankfully , they were all safe.
And then , the tales of common people going out of their way to help people stranded , injured. . . .
One such tale :
Written by an acquaintance of mine , sent to me by Narsi:
"....."STUNNED" - Mumbai Mirror."7 BLASTS ROCK MUMBAI"- yahoo headlines.Which editor wrote these lines? Which fool had the guts to talk about my mother land, MY CITY being stunned!!! I was there. I was on the train, in the hospital and on the streets and I didn't see Stunned. I saw Stunning...stunning acts of kindness. And nothing rocked Mumbai. No self respecting Mumbaikar can believe that. No. Its not 'blasts rock Mumbai' because Mumbai rocked, man. She simply ROCKED.Here is my story.For those who came in late...I have started working in a tutoring firm at Andheri. So it's the night shift for me since the students are based in the States. So there I was standing at Dadar station. Waiting for the Borivili fast. She came bang on time. After the normal physical exercise routine (in other cities they call this 'boarding a train'...we Mumbaikars know better:) I got in. The train started.
Next stop Bandra...Lots of people got in...some tried to get out. After the usual round of expletives, shouting and 'chod do na yaar...are maramari mat karo' (forget about it, man...don't fight guys) the train started.BOOM!
My first impression was that the over head wire that supplies current to the train's engine had snapped. There had been a flash like a yellow light and then the lights went out. People started panicking. I don't know why but at such times I have the tendency to restore calm....a very close friend had once called this habit...tere mein kida kam nahi hain..(can't translate this one)
Anways, I roared out that people should calm down. Miraculously, they did. Someone asked for the chain to be pulled but by then the motorman had pushed the breaks. I jumped out of the train like the rest of the commuters and saw that the first class compartment ahead of us had blown up.
I moved towards the compartment. People had already started pulling others out. Lots of guys had climbed the harbour line bridge that starts near Bandra station. Slowly, the injured started emerging. The first guy whose hand I held was merely stunned. He didn't have any money left...his wallet was gone I think. I gave him twenty bucks and he went his way. As I turned towards the train, I saw a guy with lots of blood on his face...thankfully none of it was his.
He had temporarily lost his sense of hearing. Walked with him for a distance. Bandra station was a stone's throw away from the blown-up compartment. He recovered soon and some one took him to the station. I turned and saw four guys carrying a fifth. The injured man was alive but i think, his hand would have to be amputated. A big guy was holding the patient's right shoulder and was shouting for some one to steady the man's head ,which had no support. With nothing else to do, I stepped in.We took him to Bhaba hospital, Bandra. While the journey up till the auto rickshaw was tough ,the journey till the hospital was an eye opener.
Carrying a 90 kilo man over the railway tracks, then over a 2 foot incline near the tracks, then over a railing and through the jam caused by the numerous autos which were ferrying patients to the hospital was tough even when four of us were carrying him. We reached the main road outside the station and got into the auto. The big saand (strong-guy) who had earlier called me for help, literally dragged a fellow who had hired the auto out and we got ourselves in. The big guy was sitting with the auto driver and I along with two others was holding the injured man on our laps.
Then the most beautiful thing happened. The guy to my right told the one to my left to start reciting verses from the Koran and to blow on the man's head. I think it is some Muslim prayer. The big guy said,"Oh lord! Have Mercy on this man!". A few minutes later that injured man who was half awake all this time started saying "Shiv shiv shiv...om namah shivay ...om namah shivay."
When I think back about that moment I smile to myself. We six of us in that small auto heading towards the hospital had done it. We had defeated the terrorists. Who can say we were stunned...we won guys. We won. We defeated the terrorists' plan by that simple act of helping a fellow INDIAN. We didn't have to invade Pakistan or kill Muslims. We had won. Of course we could have lost if the 2 muslims had walked away from the man knowing that he was Hindu but they didn't. They continued working with me at the hospital for nearly an hour transporting bodies to the morgue, taking patients to the upper floors and providing a little water to the other impromptu volunteers. Going towards the office after all this was over, was probably the stupidest thing I ever did but that gave me the chance to see the City become one. Guys in designer tees, shorts etc. were flooding out of their houses with water bottles. The rick I used was stopped in 4 places...two places for others to get in ( the driver lied saying we were going to Parel.) and at two others, hands full of Parle-G biscuits were thrust in so that we and the thousands of others like us who had been affected by the Western railway system being shut down could have something to eat. The over crowded buses were being given food and water at some signals with people throwing biscuit packets into the bus...even good old Bourbon biscuit...yummy:):):)
All in all a lot happened yesterday but my city didn't budge. We have been hit before, we have been hit yesterday and we will continue to get attacked. The only thing to do is to come together. Together as One. For that is what the terrorists don't want to see. They don't realise that the more they attack us, the closer we become. We cant let ourselves go down so we can't give up.You may think what I did was pretty heroic...it was may be...but I like so many others wouldn't like to be called heroes. It feels very uncomfortable. If you want to give us a name just call us Mumbaikars. That name is all-inclusive...
ISHAN BHOLE ..."

I was moist eyed by the time I finished reading this . Cynics , pessimists call Mumbai insensitive , indifferent and what not. But there is no denying that , even though i know , it sounds cliched , and i care a damn that it does , "the spirit of Mumbai just doesnt die . . ."
My gratitude to the thousands who carried the dead and the injured ;
to the thousands who poured on the streets and gave food and water to the stranded
; to the thousands who lined up the hospitals volunteering to donate blood ;
to the incredible never say die attitude of the doctors in the Municipal hospitals (at one point in the night at KEM's ESR -emerg surg room , had more doctors than patients - they couldve handled a war , forget these blasts ;
to the thousands of Ishan Bholes.
Salaam Mumbai .
Jai Hind , Jai Maharashtra.

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

The past four years. . . .

2006-05-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Everytime i went back to my college (ACPM Medical College - inset) in Dhule , i would not simply be shuttling between two cities , or two districts , or two geographically different locations , it almost always seemed like a sort of time travel .
Here was Mumbai , this jostling city where , no matter what , people always had something to do , or atleast it seemed so and here was this quaint , laid back town of Dhule where people had all the time in the world. . . . . and
And its not just the surroundings that made me realise the diametrically opposite kind of places i was juggling between , but also the people.
I am convinced beyond doubt that , even though , staying in Bombay for my undergrad studies would have probably meant better standard quality of the same medical cirricullum ; going to Dhule for the past four years has till date been the best thing that could have ever happened to me .
And I just can never ever forget living in this tiny , quaint little medical college in the district of Dhule . . . . . . . . . . . for having made me a better judge of people and situations , for finally making me realise the importance of each and every single rupee that i spend; for making me very tolerant , patient and completely mellowing my temper down ; for making me half maharashtrian - half southie and adding a whole new language to my CV ; for making me realise that not all brilliant ,smart , outstanding people need to know english and more importantly people dont need to know oxford certified fluent english to be brilliant , smart and outstanding ; for showing me that a cellphone is not one of the basic human necessities ; for making me realise that even cough syrup can give you a hang over ;for giving me Amit , Milan , Meghna and Seri - my friends for life ; for showing me that bhakri aani loncha can be the best meal ever ; for teaching me to wash my own clothes (kaam waali bai ishtyle - dhadaam dhoom) ; for making me miss my mom's food;and for a zillion things that staying away from home has taught me and i can't remember now . . . . but most importantly , making a man out of an absolutely mamma's boy.

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .

Moved in...

2006-05-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

My family has just moved in to a new home, Not far from the old one. . . . . Its a new beginning none the less, and hence the commencement of this , my new blogspot .. . .
As a kid , my parents moved a lot. . . . . . .but I always found them...! ;)
Jokes apart, I still haven't completely got acclimatised to the new house.
I'll be uploading a few photos of my new home soon. . .

© 2006 .No part of this article may be reproduced or quoted without the expressed permission of Akshay Gopinathan Nair .