These Romans are crazy!

It has has been quite some time since my last-post and a lot has happended since, foremost amongst them being my descent deep into Coffee-country - in misty Veerarajendrapet, Coorg! (....on second thoughts, "ascent" would be more topographically appropriate)

Image shared by mudeth

So the next 3 years of posts come to you from Coorg Institute of Dental Sciences, Veerarajendrapet...CIDS, Virajpet, where i am doing my Residency in Pediatric Dentistry.

It has been 11years(!!!) since i landed in Bangalore, so my relocation was looong overdue.....and the near-forgotten thrill of being in a new place amongst new people has resurfaced; and how! I daresay i realize how jaded Bangalore had got me, and my shift is like a shot of vim in the arm.

Living in Coorg feels different for sure, but i imagine that it could resemble life in Lutetia (know thy Asterix).... for here too, people love their 'wild boar' (a la Pandi Curry) and their 'magic-potion' (a la no-explanation-required) and have a healthy disregard for all things that aren't Kodava (a la these-outsiders-are-crazy). And they don't mind a rowdy bash-up once in a while too.

Publish Post

More later, can't see too well despite the sunny weather....mist rolling in, you see.

Sexy Back

I'M BACK!



I'm back to the blog after an extended absence....

during which...

i finished the impossible Bowring posting.

woolmer bought a one-way ticket.

india too.

dr. uma started acting up for a signature.

virginia tech mourned.

we got a whopper of a stipend.

the reith lectures concluded.

prostho-posting concluded without any hassles.

a birthday came and went.

the guys went on a holiday.

and an adventure.

dr. uma continues the cold war

iPod Nano arrived into possesion.

original bike papers departed from possesion.

and other stuff...



On the whole its good to be back!

The Kiss Of Life

I recently attended a CDE-workshop on Dental Emergencies and First Aid.


Almost all the interns from college signed up for the course, which was conducted by the Bangalore-based Nightingales Lifesaving Services...it was a 2 day course held over the weekend, and all of us were initially cribbing that we'ed have to give up our precious weekend to attend the workshop.


However, the workshop was so good and the speakers so engergetic that none of us really missed our Sunday-afternoon nap or Saturday-movie... We all sat ramrod straight, listening aptly to the Instructors explain what we should and shouldn't do in a variety of emergency situations. All this in our college's very own, A/C'fied, darkened Audio-Visual Room....in conditions where i myself have dozed off many a time.


The course was really well balanced...a bit of theory since we already had background knowledge, and an emphasis on the practicals. On the 1st day we were lectured about First Aid in varied situations...Drowning, Choking, Bites, Fractures, Falls, Burns..you-name-it.


The 2nd day focused on CarioPulmonaryResuscitation..or CPR, with each of us getting to practice on a male dummy..which funnily enough, was named Annie! We had to keep at it till we could perform CPR to the Instructor's satisfaction, both on an Adult as well Child-dummy, following which we were certified as qualified to perform CPR.


Interestingly, CPR guidelines change from country to country (European Resuscitation Council, American Heart Assoc etc...) and also undergo major technique-revisions almost every year. What that meant was that, we'ed have to get ourselves re-certified after a year.


I've always felt that it was a major lacunae in the Syllabus that neither a dental nor a medical student in India learns CPR, both as an under-graduate...and even at a Post-Graduate level! It's kinda nice to know that i now, if the need should ever arise, will be in a position to, perhaps, save someones life.


It's a nervy kind of feeling to know you can do CPR...once you are certified, you never want to be in a situation where you will have to do CPR. But at the same time, it re-assuring to know that if you are...you'll know what to do. Hopefully...

Technorati Tags: CPR, medical, heath

The AoL experience

(Retrospective Post)

(adjunct post to "Back from THINK INDIA)

VVMP...Ved Vigyan Mahavidya Peeth is the actual name of the AoL ashram where i spent 3 days. It's not too far from the city to be inconvenient... just remote enough to get lose the urban feel we all arrive with.


I confess i haven't been to many ashram's... The only ashram i actually have spent any meaningful time in is the Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry and in Auroville. Auroville, of course, sets a pretty high standard, and i found that VVMP matches up quite well...


The ashram is spread over 70 acres, and the adjoining lands are mostly fields, some of which are tilled by the Ashramites themselves, as part of their ashram work schedule. There are also a sprinkling of Health Resorts and private farmhouses near the campus, many of which function is quasi-spa's, offering Massages and Ayurvedic treatments, keeping with the 'mind-body-soul' theme of the place.


The ashram itself is built on a set of 5 small hills, with a lake close by. The are the usual kiosks for internet, essentials, spiritual literature, souveniers, laundry, mail, ATM, visitors-desk etc... A massive accomodation facility is located at the base of the hill, consisiting of around 250~300 single rooms, where most of the attendees stay, including some of the International participants. On the ridge of the hill itself, looking down towards the lake are various bungalows where most of the foreign participants stay, in 'ashram-luxury'. At the highest point is the guru's abode... where SriSri stays, looking across the amphitheare carved out of the slope of the hill, to the jewel of the ashram- the Vishalakshi Mantap.

(The Campus the hilltop...our room's at exteme right)

It is a breathtaking sight to see at dusk, when lit up, with its dome pulsing myriad colours. It consists of 6 levels, 2 of which are accessible to the public.... me and a senior managed passed off as Ashramites and managed to make it to the 4th level....and let me tell you, the view is just fabulous. You get unparalleled views in all directions, and as darkness falls you can see the glow Bangalore's lights light up a section of the sky. Incidentally, we got caught by some Bihari guards who spotted us from down below and came up just as we were coming down...we almost got reported- fast-walked our way out, mumbling in Kannada since we knew the guards wouldn't know any!

(An evening with the Guru..."Satsang")

One of the evenings we attended was spent with the Sri Sri himself, who interacted with his followers in a question-answer session. It was a forum for people to ask questions to the Guru himself, on philosophical and metaphysical topics, and to hear his wisdom. Needless to say, everyone in the audience was quite eager to listen to the pearls of thought that Sri Sri would have to offer. The actual experience, however, was quite lacklustre... and i thought, showed the Guru to be nothing more than a wily orator. A few examples...


Example1:

(hands raised in the crowd...mike is passed to one person..)

"Pranam Guruji, i want to ask you, how one should live one's life to attain perfect peace?"

".....well....(smiles)....(pauses)....you know....if someone tells you this thing...then he does not really know....(pauses).......aaaaand....if you ask such a question to someone who really knows....he will not tell you....(smiles again)"

(laughter in the crowd...mike is passed on quickly to the next person)


Example2:

(many hands raised...one person stands up)

"Jai Gurudev! Guruji, i have come here to see you all the way from Varanasi, and i just wanted to know, if there was any point where you realized your destiny...any turning point?"

(mild laughter from the crowd)

" Well, for that i can only refer you to the many books that are available in our Spiritual Library. You read and you will come to know...(smiles)"


Example3:

(following a meditation session, Sri Sri asks the crowd if anyone was unable to meditate, man stands up...)

"Guruji, i tried to meditate but i was unable toe...because of severe back pain that i have had for many years"

"How much do you have?...100%?" (stretches hands apart)

(Man pauses..bit confused)

".....30% pain, Guruji"

"Okay, now take a deeeeep breath."

(man breathes in deeply)

"Now relax"

(man exhales)

"Now is your pain decreased?"

(man pauses....then nods)

"Now do you have pain?"

(man still nods....laughter in crowd)

"Okay how much percent pain do you have now?"

"10%"

"Only 10%!!!...and you want to keep that also!!!!"

(laughs loudly....crowd picks up on his laughter and laughs loudly)

(mike is passed on)




Seriously, dude....Whatta Sham!!!!

Technorati Tags: AoL, art of living, spirituality

Back From THINK INDIA

(Retrospective Post)

I had a pretty good time at the Think India convention.... we were a total of 19 from our College- 9 guys, all my classmates save two. (On the whole there were apparently 800 delegates, though i think the organizers fibbed.)

It was a 3-day event held at The Art of Living International Centre, AoL's massive Bangalore Ashram, around 25kms from the city. The campus is HugE, and growing, and has the very impressive Vishalakshi Mandir as it's focal point. (see photos)

I was expecting Dorms, but we were assigned rooms in the Ashram's big accomodation facility. There was a hitch in the accomodation the very 1st night - we were given the wrong combination for the lock to our room, and it was 1030pm by the time we got in.

Thankfully, the rooms were pretty nice. (read: clean!)


There's a 11pm curfew in the Ashram, but get this, they don't shut the gates! (that's "freedom" for ya!) We all walked down to the closest village, a kilometer away at 1130, bought some liquor and happily walked back to the room. We didn't exactly abide by Ashram rules after that.

Neither did we pay much attention to the instructions from the Think India guys...

That's the good thing about having friends who have the same attention-span as you ....

...you all get bored at the approximately the same time!

We attended only the interesting lectures...mostly only on the 3rd day. Rest of time, we were generally lolling about through the ashram. The girls, on the other hand, i think, attended almost every lecture... they even attended the Yoga sessions faithfully!!...waking up at 530am!!! Hehehe..

( Vishalakshi Mandir at the heart of the Ashram )

The convention was largely all talks discourses.... Guruji's, Professional's, Scientists, Doctors, Social Workers... a whole mixed bag. Some of the speakers were mind-blowing...i mean, really really really good! But most of the others were just plain boring, coz they just kept repeating on a common theme.

Ancient-scriptures were linked to Scientific advances.
The relevant Shlokas were quoted to prove that the New ideas of today can be found in millenia old texts.
Everything from Business Theory to Rocket Science to General Relativity were ascribed to the Vedas.
By the end of it, many speakers went beyond just linking the old and the new, and were directly attributing ancient-knowledge as the seed for today's developments.

Every time one of these speakers would start off, we'd get up, all 9 of us, and walk out! LOL!!!


Like i mentioned before, a few guys were really fantastic... they were crystal clear about what they wanted to convey. It was awe-inspiring and really an absolute pleasure to sit and listen to these guys talk. That they were true masters of their subject came across to everyone, just by the words they spoke. You could actually see that these guys were going to succeed, just because of the way they thought about life and things. T'was really a treat for my cortex!!!

There was an interactive session at the end of the 3rd day...a kind of closing session. I didn't make it to the session (as usual!), but i later heard that the ABVP-guys, who acted as moderators for each group, kinda hijacked the (every) discussions to voice out their political agenda.

I had been pleasantly surprised at the lack of overt-propaganda in the entire 3 day, but i guess this was it. (read my apprehensions: previous blogpost)
We finally got back into Bangalore at night, in a crowded bus. (3rd day)


It wasn't my usual idea of a 'break'...but we had some very 'different' fun. Besides, college authorities were giving us 3-days-attendance ...and i think we made full use of that.

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Think India...Think!

[Alternatively titled: Join the Klan, mein furher!]

I'm off to the Think India convention... from the 11th to the 13th.

Who'd have ever thought i'd ever go to an event organized by the ABVP! And not just visiting the place...Staying there! For 3 days...Christ!





I present several quotes from the "Think India" website:



"In the context of the present day degradation of the nation's social and moral values....."

"...ignite the minds of the youth..."

"...addressing the need of spirituality and patriotism..."

"... to trigger appropriate action on the part of 'intellectual soldiers' of our country..."





Also, a page describing the topics to be covered lists the very first topic as:

"Spiritual Nationalism"

(Love the wordsmiths who thought this term up...)





There's also an essay competition. The topics being:



"India as a nation: A SWOT assessment"

(attached text: SWOT: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats)

"Branding India to Indians"

(attached text: "...Account for the existing image of India and make out a case for its change in terms of... religion, democracy, in the coming years...")

"Role of students in campus and society"

(attached text: "...student activism as an asset to society and not a liability...")

"Spirituality, Society and Development: towards Synthesis."







Is it just me or did you just notice a pattern here??? :D

Lets just hope there isn't any lynching! click

Bison Attack!

I was the victim of The Bison last Friday.... even though i'd got through her turf without incident, i still got gored. It was pretty ugly... she thought i was questioning her judgement. She pretty much let me have it in front of everyone.

A very humbling experience... the logical half of my brain says it's okay, forget it, at least now you'll be careful in the wilderness. The other side however, would like nothing better than to take aim and shoot a rusty nail in one ear and out the other.



The sad part is, i had to go apologise later. The boss is always the frikking boss.



Why run a risk?... Throw the dog a bone.......Or in this case, the Bison.

Campfire New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!!

This year my SMS greetings to everyone read:

"Happy New Year! Have tonnes of fun and a grand year ahead.

-Dinesh"

We all met up at BMC-UGH (Bangalore Medical College Undergraduate Gents Hostel) and had a good old time. Campfire...on the roof (!!!), under the stars, with speakers hooked up to the plug-points from the rooms below us. It was a chilly night so having the fire was a really nice touch. Daaru was sponsored by us seniors, and the juniors joined us later too... some of the guys were real surprises, we never thought they'd drink, or smoke... when they did both, we were suitably impressed. At midnight, everyone broke into spontaneous hugging (lol)...me too. (I kinda sprained my back in the process...badly.)





At one point in the night, the fire had gone out and there were only glowing embers- Amit, a junior and a good friend, and yours truly, walked across.



The hostelites took to the streets outside hostel, stopping every vehicle and wishing them for the New Year. Imagine being stopped by 100 odd guys at night! Naturally, the drivers were bloody intimidated... you could tell, 'coz once they were through the crowd, they accelerated like crazy! This is a yearly event, and Part-2 of this is the Cops... who come to restore order, and drive us back into the hostel and shut the gates. Easier said than done - every year someone gets thwacked by the cops, and the guys then get quite aggressive... abusing the cops from behind the shutters and stuff. Phun!



We kept talking on the roof, and the guys kept fading away. Juniors first, then seniors, then some of my own batchmates, till we were down to 6 guys...talking philosophical stuff. That continued for a long time, and of the stuff that i do remember, some of what we said was pretty profound..i swear, the ghosts of Plato, Kant and Nietzsche were among us yesterday. We just kept going and going....till finally we just got too hungry, and i was sent to get some emergency grub. (from the bus-terminus)



I reached home at 430 in the morning...ripped the whole way, and i couldn't feel my fingers when i got off the bike. Spent New Year's morning in Church and the rest of the day at home, with the family...but i couldn't really take it beyond 1 in the afternoon and i crashed till 6pm. Plus my back was giving me hell.



I hate screechy, weepy children....that said, tomorrow, i start my Pedo rotation! Crappity crap! At least there'll be 2 other batchmates alongside, doing their roatation in Orthodontics. Also, 2 of the guys are off on outside-postings...lets hope the month turns out okay.



...lets hope the year turns out okay.

...as for New Year resolutions, this time i've made some. (I used to long ago, and not at all in between)

However, only when i actually break my resolutions will i actually reveal what they are...saves me some shame, i think.





God bless us all in 2007....this year is going to be an important year for me, lets hope i can live upto the expectations, my own, most of all.

Technorati Tags: newyear, campfire

Rocking around the Christmas tree.....

X'mas this time was really fantastic! Well, Christmas-eve to be exact.... This time the party was at my place, so being home alone for X'mas turned out to be a super thing! The guys descended on home-sweet-empty-home at around 7pm, and proceeded to go progressively insane till the wee hours of the night.

Though the party was a tad slow initially, we were in high-spirits real soon..in no small part due to the intercession of my favourite holy man- the Old Monk from Mohan Meakin, who did his job flawlessly after 7years of hermitage in a cask. Also deserving accolades for its role in fuelling the party- The Pig; that martyred itself to provide Vindaloo for the sake of 12 famished dentists....


The grumpy neighbours shut up and put up too, which was a pleasant surprise. (Maybe we got them grooving inside their homes...after all we were playing some pretty dinchak music!)


Aqua vitae flowed, shirts came off, we swore by our friendships everytime we crashed into someone, someone threw up, someone took pictures, someone danced, someone shouted, someone got senti, someone watched my mpeg collection, everyone had a sexy time. By the time it we wound up, we were all just a bunch of phenomenally happy guys with glazed eyes and delayed reaction times....good vibes all around! Really, an X'mas (eve) i'll remember.


God bless the baker's at Thoms for their excellent Plum Cake!
God bless the distillers at United Breweries for their outstanding firewater!
God bless my liver for working extra-hard to spare me from a hangover!

Internship!

Alternatively titled: The past 2 months

Finally i'm an House-surgeon! A bonafide, genuine, authentic one. It's been a back breaking journey so far... lets hope there's truth in the saying "The best steel passes thorough the hottest fires".



NOVEMBER:

Internship began and my first rotation was in K.C General Hospital, Malleshwaram. What an awesome posting to begin with- close to home, enter upto 45mins late, leave 30mins early, interesting work, nice people and a totally cool Staff Doctor to oversee our work. We couldn't have had it better. Our seniors, the outgoing batch of Housies were posted with us too, and they kind of 'handed over' things to us. And thank god they were around- they were at the end of a full year of clinical-rotations and always knew exactly what to do when. Their presence was very reassuring and it allowed us to build up our own confidence levels to 'intern-level'. I've now realized that being an Intern is all about having faith in your own abilities...do the same thing old thing, but do it with confidence. Although, its scary as hell when youre testing out your abilities for the first time.



DECEMBER:

I'm currently posted in the Dept. of Operative Dentistry Endodontics, also known as 'Conserv' (U.G speak) or 'Endo' (P.G speak). No seniors now to help us. Since only so few of us came out of the end of the Final Year pipe, there are only 2 of us to a single batch....when a usual Inter-batch has a minimum of 4 Interns. So me and my permanent batch-mate, Gunjan, are doing double the work that an Intern Batch usually would in the same time. We're sweating blood. But we're learning loads. Thankfully, our efforts aren't in vain; people are aware that we are are working sincerely. At the end of a hard day...i swear to you, it feels great to be exhausted!

Last Class Trip. Missed!

I am going to miss my class-trip.

I can’t believe my timing…Neither can my friends

When I told some of my close friends that I wouldn’t be making it coz I was going out-station the same day as the trip, many of them just laughed.

And when I assured them that I wasn’t kidding, they laughed even more. They think I’m joking.
They’re like: “Who will miss the trip- You? Hah-hah, we know you’re coming.”

You see, I’m always counted-in - by default. Any head-count and I get counted-in automatically, and THEN asked later.

So if/when I have to refuse, this is what happens- I get disbelief.

Which makes the "saying-“-sorry-I’m-not-coming-”-experience even more bitter for me. This is what happened today.

I already felt like crap for not being able to make it to the trip, but when I finally told people I wasn’t going, I got incredulity and doubt…It was assumed I was coming anyway. Slit skin, insert salt, rub…

But this class-trip is a bit more significant than the others- It JUST MIGHT be my batch’s last trip together. Sure, the guys will go to Goa once, but it isn’t the same as having the entire class along.

Once the results are out, I can already see people rushing headlong into Internship. The studious ones will start their PG-entrance-exam preparations, many will join practitioners as assistants, a few will arse about…. a few won’t even make it into Internship! But Interns are Interns…(and Repeaters are Repeaters) and those left out of Internship for 6months will get no sympathy- life will just rolllll on.

There’s another reason why I so badly longed…YEARNED…to go on this trip. You see, I don’t really see myself passing all my papers this time... (something I have no problem admitting as such). And once the results are out, most of my batch is going to carry straight on, with a ho-hum, into Internship, while I get left behind till March.

…and “Before-Results” is going to be the only time that I will be seen as an equal amongst classmates. “After-Results”, well…it’s the reason I want to go on this trip with my entire batch, before the results come.

(PS: Arrrgh! Life is going to be unforgiving- It’s frustrating at times to know this and still be helpless…..Shit, this is kind of ‘negative’ blogging that a missed class-trip brings on! Hope my bad mojo doesn’t stick!)

(PS2: There's a song which comes to mind now...a Kenny Rogers number: "You Picked a fine time to leave me Lucille..." hehe)

The 1st Years Chronicles/KU64 Review

A new batch of juniors has unceremoniously been inducted into the Bachelor’s programme at my college even as I write my final exams finishing 4 years at Dental-School.

Watching them troop down from one lecture hall to the other; they walk around the corridors, unsure of themselves, looking this way and that, eagerly absorbing the sights of a busy teaching-college.

Only yesterday, it seems, I too was one of them, just a “plus-two-pass”, eager and excited to begin the next big phase of my life. I can’t help but be envious of them.

It’s almost comical when they cross us in the corridors. While most of them fail to make the distinction between Patient and Senior, a few of them are already vaguely conscious of a hierarchy they are a part of…and they indicate this awareness by developing an uncomfortable stiffness as they cross us. Plus shifty eyes, and quickened pace. Nothing could delight us more.

KU64

It isn't a movie about a mystery airplane. It isn't a crack commando regiment. It isn't a super-secret molecule that can kill millions. It isn't a map-reference to a hidden bunker. It isn't a elite spy's code-name. It isnt a German U-Boat.

It's a Dental Clinic.
Make that, The World's Coolest Dental Clinic.
And its in Germany.

So, Maybe a dentist with some secret fascination with WW-II submarines decided to name his clinic KU-64?
Not really, it's named after its Kurfursendam address in Berlin.


Check out some pics of the place. The whole place is about 'light, space, freedom'...and YELLOW!

Here you combine dental treatment with a luxurious relaxing spa-retreat...

And relax in a 10,180-square-feet spread.......(Must be easy to get lost!!!)

It accommodates 8-fuck-lucky-dentists at one time...

Who probably treat beautiful hotties...all day long.

LUCKY BUMS!

My Luck is a Hoover....It Sucks!

I just gave my Oral Surgery clinical exam…it went okayish.

And then I went and screwed myself.

Post-Exam, a couple of my friends, who had finished our viva’s went to the Canteen to do the post-exam post-mortem of how the exam had been for us and for the batch in general, how the External-examiner had turned out to be, how much the internal-had actually helped us, etc, etc...

We leisurely finished our grub and made our way back to the College, and I decided to clean up my locker, which was looking a bit messed up from the past week of exams.

Suddenly, two of the guys I had to gone to the Canteen with, and who are also my locker-neighbors, came running from the ground floor, with worried expressions on their faces.

“She knows what we’ve been talking about, man!!!”

“What?...Who?”

“She…”

“Ya, I don’t know how, da, but SHE KNOWS…she just shouted at us.”

“Shit!.............Are you sure?????”

“Yes, yes, we just GOT ITT from her!”

“What did she day?!”

“She said you’re not even Interns yet and this is how you behave!!!”

“Shit.”

“She’s calling all of us.”

“Oh Fuck.”

“Oye….Have the marks been sent?”

“I think they’re still deciding…”

“Fuckkk.” (2 voices simultaneously)

“What were we saying da????!!!”

“We’re Fucked man, Fucked.”

“What were we saying DAA????!!!”

“Shit…I was saying ‘mangalore’ and all”

“I hope she didn’t hear me!”

“Go fuck yourself…she heard everything.”

“Shit, I said ‘unfair bitch’ daa!!!”

“Uhhhhhhhh…….Maga!!!!”

“Maga…we’re fucked!”

“Shit...why did we sit there man.”

“Are you sure she’s not normal-angry?”

“Aye, she just SHOUTED at us man!!!...She said ‘come after 6months’”

“FUCK!”

“Yeah- FUCK only!”

“Come lets go meet her.”

“Faaaaaaaak maaaaaaan”

“Tcha!”

“We’re screwed na?”

“Yeah.”

"Shit."

"Fuck."

(EDIT: I re-read this article and realized there's nothing to suggest the setting in which this took place, so here it is:)
Our canteen is right behind the corridor lining the HOD's chambers, and the Oral Surg HOD's chamber opens right into the very corner of the canteen where we were sitting.

We had finished our viva and were sitting there. And they were inside hosting lunch for the external! Luckily our voices didn't carry much beyond the window....noone IN the room heard it, except our prof who was standing near the window itself. And we weren't talking very nice things about her!

We were summoned by her later and she gave us a piece of her mind....and we apologized profusely. Thankfully, we hadn't mentioned names so we palmed it off as if we were talking about another prof...(lol) which pacfied her a bit. And luckily I had only been asking the questions about her... all the dirt came from the others who were answering me.

Still, total tension till the results came!!!

Fudging

My 1st RCT!...and oh yes- I love fudging!

I finished downloading the "James Blunt: Back to Bedlam" album yesterday....frikking awesome.
Theres a neat page which allows has .rar links to individual songs (nifty if you cant down the album in 1 large file)...try them if you like.

Tear & Rain
Billy
Wisemen
So Long Jimmy
Out Of My Mind
High
No Bravery

...My favourites songs from the album (in decending order).

...Theres Cultural Week coming up in GDC, and i plan to participate in a whole lotta events.
I'm gonna try the DDos strategy...swarm the server and you might bring it down...participate in as many events as you can (with a reasonable level of competence, of course)..and you might land a few certificates. I might as well make the most of the last 2 years of life as an undergrad.

I did my VERY FIRST RCT (RootCanalTherapy/Treatment) today...its really easy!!! I was expecting a tough-as-hell procedure.... but my patient actually dozed off! If the guy was actually relaxed enough to doze off, inspite of a handpiece drilling away into his tooth right in front of his eyes, then altough it might sound stoopid, but i'm considering it a high compliment. Whoopee! Tomorrow i determining the working-length of the canal, and will do the bio-mechanical-prep.

In another news, i wrote my 1st Internal Examination of Oral Surgery- an exam invigilated by the PostGraduate-freshers of the MaxFax dept.....just 1 year senior to us and just learning their way around GDC. We walked all over them...

There was a collective sigh of relief when the faculty-member gave us the question-paper and then left, leaving the pappu's in charge...3 of them. Right away i pulled out my notes and started checking out what i didn't know. The best that one of them (the "principled-turd" of the 3, i've decided) could come up was "Put your book away!- Ask around, but at the very least dont cheat from THE BOOK!!!". So i put it away- for some time. Later, i was passed a chit that had the Classification of Cysts on it, when he came up behind me and took it away. Moja-Farjer! In my mind a giant hand opened the 2nd floor window and gently flicked him through it. The other 2 guys were OK, and gave us all "aww-okay-we've-done-it-too-and-we-sympathise-so-cheat-away-besides-we're-new-here-and-we-dont-want-to-be-marked-out-as-bastards-by-the-student-community-just-yet" smiles. We returned "thanks-for-letting-us-cheat-dudes-and-we-know-you-need-us-on-your-sides-so-dont-throw-your-weight-around-understand-and-we'll-be-all-right-chum" smiles right back at them.

I think i'll pass, thanks to them, unless they cross-check my paper with what the guy next to me wrote, hehe!

To reserve or not to reserve?

Am I For or Against the changes in the reservation policy?

I sat down to answer to myself where I stood on this issue, after watching 2 debates on CNN IBN (moderated horribly by that damn Sagarika Ghose woman) and another on Headlines Today.

I’ve been feeling a bit muddled in my head about where I actually stand, and so I decided to make up my mind on an issue that not only is bound to affect my education in the future, but also in the immediate present is an important issue.


The fact that I am a Merit student in a Govt. institution makes it all the more necessary to crystallize my views on the subject. And then on top of all that, I am a member of the Medical-fraternity that is leading the protests. And that too in a college that is actively involved in the whole thing.


While thinking about where I would stand, I realized I had some ideals that I was not willing to compromise on, namely:

• The country must progress at all costs.
• It is not progress if it remains concentrated to a section of society.
• Although uniform progress for all is a utopian ideal, it is not unreasonable to expect that SOME progress must be felt amongst all, no matter what magnitude the change may be to different sections of society.
• No one section must be unfavourabely depreived of the chance to improve according to their potential, no matter which end of the spectrum they come from.

Im still thinking about it...

Room 7 Woes

I’m posted in Prosthodontics…Department 7 in Govt. Dental College, Fort, Bangalore.

Alternate mailing address: The Fires Of Hell, Fort, Bangalore. And kindly address all fan mail to Dr. P, the HOD and Slave-driver-of-the-month.

When students meet each other, they’ll usually ask each other where they’ve been posted.

So a typical conversation would go like this:

“Hey, where you posted?”

“Oh, I’m in 2. You?”

“I’m in 5. So how’s it going?”

“Cool. Hey, we saw a really interesting case today…”

“Really, what case?”

(Conversation continues)

But this is what happens to me nowadays:

X: “Hey, where you posted?”

ME: “I’m in 7.”

X: “Oh.”

(Silence)

X: “uhh…Till when.”

ME: “16^th of May.”

X: “Hmm…”

X: “Okay, Best of luck man. I gotta go.”

X” “Bye.”

ME: “Bye.”

The department is that hard.

Well, the work is pretty okay as such. But it’s long, intricate and physically very demanding. Get past that and you can learn to appreciate the subject- as long as the work turns out OK. Coz, make the slightest error and your end up FUBAR’ed instantly.

Vaseline won’t work …you will get rogered, you will learn to take it like a man, and you will weep like a little girl (If & when you are told to start all over). But its all good in the end…I haven’t known another situation where the saying “The finest steel passes through the hottest fires” rings more true. It’s sounds really corny, but at the end of the posting, as a Dentist, you will be better in many ways.

(am no longer posted in 7..i’m just posting this entry late)

PG Exams

A Post-Graduate...or PG-exam is the like the Eco-Challenge. It’s an extreme event...literally!

You have to undergo grueling training for months.

When it starts you have to be in great shape…mentally and physically.

You sometimes have to suffer through the night to reach a Pit stop.

You ­need your team to be with you every step of the way.

There’s a lot of luck involved.

Towards the end it just seems to go on and on.

And when it’s over you wonder how you did it.

Rajiv Gandhi University just got done with its PG examinations. Phew! How do those P.G’s do it??? A practical examination that lasts for 3 days and ends in a Spanish-inquisition-meets-Clinton-impeachment-hearing-style-grand-viva where you defend your Thesis. Oof!

As a worker-ant, I got sent to collect the grub for the examiners-lunch from a nice hotel. The PG-student who appeared for the examination was a nice guy, who helped us Undergrad’s a lot, so I was more than happy to oblige.

He passed with flying colors. Examiners are nice-guys when their bellies are full, you know!

(...Inshallah, I shall take part in the Eco Challenge too one day!)…(or is ‘one day too’ more correct?)