This post is dedicated to my best friend(you know who you are), and for those who wished my notes to be resurrected.
5 years have taught me that a best friend is someone who drags you out into the light, and shows you where you stand.
there are a lot of 'references to context' in the note below. the names are held back for obvious reasons:
1. news on the television. a few batchmates are in a room at the attavar hospital. the headlines say:
"Cop killed in cold-blooded murder"
K: "how can it be cold-blooded? we're warm blooded right?"
2. A: "da, you think, if i have a son, and you have a daughter, they can get married to each other?"
B: "you are not coming ANYWHERE my son, my daughter, or any other member of my family!"
3. D: "da, i'm gonna have a colonoscopy done.."
A: "oh.."
D: "without anesthesia.."
A: "what? why?"
D: "i want to experience what a homosexual goes through."
A: "oh, ok..
(the next day)
A: " how was it?"
D: (shaking head, pressing lips together)
"not.good"
4. A group of guys are at a bar/hotel and are ordering drinks. a lot of pegs of hard liquor are on the way to the table.
E: "you ordered?"
A: "yeah"
E: "what're you having?"
A: "wine."
E: "what? wine? order something else man. vodka, rum, whisky..."
A: "wine is royal man. the French have it. The emperor Louis the XIV had it during the 15th century."
E: "oh, ok. but i'm pretty sure Louis the XIV didnt drink a 25 rupees bottle of local Golkonda wine.. ok?"
5. one co-intern(f) to another.
I: "why did you decide to do internship here?"
A: " i have friends here."
A: " why did YOU decide to do internship here?
do you have a boyfriend?"
I: "no."
A: " a girl-friend?"
I: "no"
D: " a dog?"
6.senthil's on my bike. i'm riding. we've just missed a bus, a lorry, a bicycle crossing the road, and an old woman. I'm driving at 40 km/hr on a narrow road. he hasn't said a word so far.
me: "senthil, sometimes i have a feeling that i'm a rash driver"
senthil: (pats on the back) "the feeling is mutual dude"..
7.G: "sometimes i have a feeling that i like you..."
J: "*smiles*
G: "but the feeling lasts for a very short time.."
J: *frowns*
8.F : "dude, there's this real cute chick sitting in the lib man!"
A: "oh, ok. which batch?"
F: "dont think she's in my batch man.."
A: "ok then, which course?"
F: "nope, no idea. wait, i'll check"
( he disappears and appears a little while later)
F: " i dont think she's in this college dude. she was studying something totally different. tried speaking to her"
A : "oh, thats strange"
( A and F walk out) meet R.
R: "hey guys! whats up?"
A: "there's this real cute chick inside the lib man. haven't seen her before."
R: " oh, which batch?"
F:"oh, she was studying _______ course"
R: "SH**! thats the dean's daughter! you tried hitting on the dean's daughter? you're brave man!"
F : "!!"
A : (laughs)
9. M: (calling up a close friend who's doing internship in a different state)
(abuses the person N, his family and showers a flurry of bad words)
N( on the other end of the line, amongst family members)
: "ah, yes. home, kmc. (heaves a sigh of relief) i love you too man."
Monday, November 15, 2010
BLACK
this is for the 07 folks, for a while off from your books. the war looms large eh?!)
24 hours of travel. That was as much as I’d been through. Having caught a bus from Pondicherry to Bangalore. And then a KSRTC from Majestic at around 6:30 am which rattled its way through the curvy roads of the Western Ghats. AND which broke down 2 hours before it was supposed to reach Mangalore.
I found myself, a backpack lugging on my shoulders, another at my feet, counting at least 20 oil tanks pass by until another KSRTC bus passed by. Soon after was casualty duty. 7 hours of it. At night. 5 hours of sleep and then back to work during the day time because the Medical Officer needed an extra intern to work during the day. So there I was the
10th of October 2009.
Flat on the bed.
Feeling a little feverish.
Exhausted.
And the lights switched off.
“everybody loves Raymond” was playing in the other room. Ajith’s laughter in bits.
It was then that I felt a flapping, in the room. Like that of a bumble bee or a butterfly. About 5 in 2 seconds. Gentle fragile wings. I couldn’t localize to where it was. But I could swear I heard it. I looked to the area where I heard it last, when suddenly, it darted from one end of the room to the other.
My muscles tensed.
I almost choked on my own breath.
I maneuvered to lie on the bed to get a better glance at it. And lay still.
And then again heard the flapping.
No other sound.
Alright. This confirmed that I wasn’t hallucinating. How could ANYTHING get into my room when the windows and doors are always shut?
I has to be a big butterfly I thought to myself.
Just then something leapt from behind me and sat on my neck, its fork-like legs clasping the nape of my neck,, moving from one side to the other until it threw itself to another corner of the room where it seemed to sit on top of my bag.
My heart suddenly thumped inside my chest, and I got on to my feet, immediately to switch on the lights.
I quickly scanned the room, looking all over where the creature was, but.
Silence.
I had never ever been faced with such a situation. If me or my friends had to deal with animals, they at least would’ve seen it! Here I was dealing with either my mind or an enigmatic creature.
I looked around but found nothing.
I glanced at my bag were I had sensed the movement.
It was then that I noticed the movement. Like the leg of a frog. Slinking over the zip of my bag. Creeping.
My presumptory diagnosis: a frog.
A hyperdynamic frog. And I hated frogs from the core of my being. But it was a THING. It was just this creature to me. A black patch camoflauging to the colour of my bag.
I could discriminate, no arms, no head, NOTHING. OK! I needed help! I called Ajith into my room.
“Dude! There’s this thing inside my room man!”
“what?”
“I dunno! I’m damn sleepy. Its this animal!”
”Like I creature or something. Come and see”
(he gets up and stands at the door to my room)
“where is it?”
“its there man. Somewhere. Just keep looking.”
I was trying to see whether he’d localize it himself. Because it was so bloody invisible. Whatever it was. How could something BLACK, not stand out?
Every ray/beam of light on it seemed to DEFLECT off it. Like it was non-existant t othe human eye. It could COMPLETELY miss your eyes even if it were right in front of you!
“WHERE is it?” ajith asked again.
“I want you to find it yourself man” I told him.
Wanting him to experience the phenomenon himself. Of optical deceit . then I told him.
“look at my bag. The black thing on it?”
“there’s nothing there”
“look carefully. Beside the zip”
“oh yeah! That! It’s a bat!”
I moved my head a little at the knowledge of the nomenclature.
“yeah! There were a lot in the hostel. Its typical”
“what do we do now?”
“lets confirm it’s a bat first. Lets make it move”
I got a broom from the kitchen.
Ajith caught hold of it and stood a meter from the bat. With one swift motion, he swept the broom towards the bat.
It missed.
The bat stayed still.
We were freaked out at the motion itself, that we took a minute to compose ourselves.
“lets try again”.
He pushed the broom towards the bat now. And the next second, the bat jumped off the bag and rolled over to my bed.
We stared at it silently.
It still baffled me. The creature. It was STILL a THING to me. When it first ran across the room, I thought it was a mouse. But now, I couldn’t decipher anything apart from a mouse like head and frog like legs.
“dude, we need to get this out as soon as possible. Its all over your things. You could be infected.” Ajith said.
(yeah right! I thought to myself)
“what do we do?”
“lets open a window. Or the balcony door. It needs to escape.”
“And then what? Let MORE bats fly in? we don’t need an invasion!”
“bah! What are the odds of that happening?”
We didn’t know. Two schools of thought. Two different strategies. One goal.
To get the bat out.
Ajith got a bit daring. He wanted to make the bat fly off and out the house.
He got closer and threw the broom at it once more.
And THIS time, the THING unfurled its appendage, like a wing. Like Batman’s cape of the Nolan series.
And when I saw THIS, I felt every organ in my body contract. My blood stiffen inside its veins and a fear that I never experienced before.
It was then I remembered the initial scene in batman begins., where the young Bruce’s fallen into a small cave. And a million bats fly past an inch from him and he suffers a panic attack.
I don’t believe anyone would’ve understood the scene until he/she experienced it themselves.
I understood then, that a great fear of something develops when you don’t understand it. When your years of experience and memory of a pattern of senses don’t add up to the perception at hand.
While we were taken aback at it having unfurled its wings, it suddenly took to flight.
Flapping extremely clumsily yet, making a flight of absolute noiselessness.
It flew round and round my room. Unable to perceive what the door was open. But the moment it did, ajith and I shrieked and scampered into the other rooms. Excitement coursing through our minds.
The last we saw of the bat was in the living room.
24 hours of travel. That was as much as I’d been through. Having caught a bus from Pondicherry to Bangalore. And then a KSRTC from Majestic at around 6:30 am which rattled its way through the curvy roads of the Western Ghats. AND which broke down 2 hours before it was supposed to reach Mangalore.
I found myself, a backpack lugging on my shoulders, another at my feet, counting at least 20 oil tanks pass by until another KSRTC bus passed by. Soon after was casualty duty. 7 hours of it. At night. 5 hours of sleep and then back to work during the day time because the Medical Officer needed an extra intern to work during the day. So there I was the
10th of October 2009.
Flat on the bed.
Feeling a little feverish.
Exhausted.
And the lights switched off.
“everybody loves Raymond” was playing in the other room. Ajith’s laughter in bits.
It was then that I felt a flapping, in the room. Like that of a bumble bee or a butterfly. About 5 in 2 seconds. Gentle fragile wings. I couldn’t localize to where it was. But I could swear I heard it. I looked to the area where I heard it last, when suddenly, it darted from one end of the room to the other.
My muscles tensed.
I almost choked on my own breath.
I maneuvered to lie on the bed to get a better glance at it. And lay still.
And then again heard the flapping.
No other sound.
Alright. This confirmed that I wasn’t hallucinating. How could ANYTHING get into my room when the windows and doors are always shut?
I has to be a big butterfly I thought to myself.
Just then something leapt from behind me and sat on my neck, its fork-like legs clasping the nape of my neck,, moving from one side to the other until it threw itself to another corner of the room where it seemed to sit on top of my bag.
My heart suddenly thumped inside my chest, and I got on to my feet, immediately to switch on the lights.
I quickly scanned the room, looking all over where the creature was, but.
Silence.
I had never ever been faced with such a situation. If me or my friends had to deal with animals, they at least would’ve seen it! Here I was dealing with either my mind or an enigmatic creature.
I looked around but found nothing.
I glanced at my bag were I had sensed the movement.
It was then that I noticed the movement. Like the leg of a frog. Slinking over the zip of my bag. Creeping.
My presumptory diagnosis: a frog.
A hyperdynamic frog. And I hated frogs from the core of my being. But it was a THING. It was just this creature to me. A black patch camoflauging to the colour of my bag.
I could discriminate, no arms, no head, NOTHING. OK! I needed help! I called Ajith into my room.
“Dude! There’s this thing inside my room man!”
“what?”
“I dunno! I’m damn sleepy. Its this animal!”
”Like I creature or something. Come and see”
(he gets up and stands at the door to my room)
“where is it?”
“its there man. Somewhere. Just keep looking.”
I was trying to see whether he’d localize it himself. Because it was so bloody invisible. Whatever it was. How could something BLACK, not stand out?
Every ray/beam of light on it seemed to DEFLECT off it. Like it was non-existant t othe human eye. It could COMPLETELY miss your eyes even if it were right in front of you!
“WHERE is it?” ajith asked again.
“I want you to find it yourself man” I told him.
Wanting him to experience the phenomenon himself. Of optical deceit . then I told him.
“look at my bag. The black thing on it?”
“there’s nothing there”
“look carefully. Beside the zip”
“oh yeah! That! It’s a bat!”
I moved my head a little at the knowledge of the nomenclature.
“yeah! There were a lot in the hostel. Its typical”
“what do we do now?”
“lets confirm it’s a bat first. Lets make it move”
I got a broom from the kitchen.
Ajith caught hold of it and stood a meter from the bat. With one swift motion, he swept the broom towards the bat.
It missed.
The bat stayed still.
We were freaked out at the motion itself, that we took a minute to compose ourselves.
“lets try again”.
He pushed the broom towards the bat now. And the next second, the bat jumped off the bag and rolled over to my bed.
We stared at it silently.
It still baffled me. The creature. It was STILL a THING to me. When it first ran across the room, I thought it was a mouse. But now, I couldn’t decipher anything apart from a mouse like head and frog like legs.
“dude, we need to get this out as soon as possible. Its all over your things. You could be infected.” Ajith said.
(yeah right! I thought to myself)
“what do we do?”
“lets open a window. Or the balcony door. It needs to escape.”
“And then what? Let MORE bats fly in? we don’t need an invasion!”
“bah! What are the odds of that happening?”
We didn’t know. Two schools of thought. Two different strategies. One goal.
To get the bat out.
Ajith got a bit daring. He wanted to make the bat fly off and out the house.
He got closer and threw the broom at it once more.
And THIS time, the THING unfurled its appendage, like a wing. Like Batman’s cape of the Nolan series.
And when I saw THIS, I felt every organ in my body contract. My blood stiffen inside its veins and a fear that I never experienced before.
It was then I remembered the initial scene in batman begins., where the young Bruce’s fallen into a small cave. And a million bats fly past an inch from him and he suffers a panic attack.
I don’t believe anyone would’ve understood the scene until he/she experienced it themselves.
I understood then, that a great fear of something develops when you don’t understand it. When your years of experience and memory of a pattern of senses don’t add up to the perception at hand.
While we were taken aback at it having unfurled its wings, it suddenly took to flight.
Flapping extremely clumsily yet, making a flight of absolute noiselessness.
It flew round and round my room. Unable to perceive what the door was open. But the moment it did, ajith and I shrieked and scampered into the other rooms. Excitement coursing through our minds.
The last we saw of the bat was in the living room.
A NIGHT AT THE PEDIATRIC ICU
11:45 pm.
1 yr 9 months.
thats the age of Fatima, a pediatric patient wheeled into the Ped ICU at 12:00 am in the night of 5.11.09.
she came, tongue bitten and swollen, a swollen lower lip, hands and legs moving frantically in all directions, pushing and struggling.
status asthmaticus, is what we were told, which led to status epilepticus. a stain of blood over her lower cheek. impules shooting across different areas of her brain. unsettling her. sparking movements beyond her control.
a bed was prepared and tubes inserted into her.
Ryles: To remove what remains in her stomach.
which could be accidently inhaled and drown her.
Endotracheal tube: To make sure that humidified air goes straight to the lungs.
An Oximeter: To measure the amount of oxygen in her blood.
2 pediatric post graduates stood. holding her down. examining her. trying hard to stabilize her. Aditya and I stood, assisting them.
"her ventiation is a problem. we'll need to call anesthesia."
the Anesthesia PG was called.
"her pulse is racing. she has a fever."
a pediatic professor was called.
"her convulsions need to be controlled."
a benzodiazepine was injected.
"her fever needs to be managed"
tepid sponging was done and a paracetamol suppository was introduced.
"she still has those involuntary movements!"
the pediatrics prof calls the Head of the Unit.
12:45 am- 1:00 am.
Enter Paeds HOD.
a gentle manner. a curious diagnostician.
"whey're there alarm bells ringing all over?"
We realize that bells are ringing every second. one for the blood pressure thats plunging(98/56) and the other for low respiratory rate. among others.
And this is only one patient we're talking about.
One head nurse. another staff nurse. they run about, loading medicines, clearing debris, sanitizing the place and pacifying the baby.
an infusion of 20 ml bolus Midazolam takes place.
the child's drugged now. moves slowly.
"yes, go ahead. she needs a clear passage".
the Anesthesiology PG swings into action. is handed over a laryngoscope and flicks it open to use its torch and curved steel limb.
Gains access.
Introduces the endotracheal tube.
Breath.
Air.
Breathe.
The sisters hold the kid down. restraining her with a few straps.
Intoduce and IV line.
Food.
Catheterize her.
Relief.
3:00 am.
the Anesthetist walks in to assess the patient.
And whats more?! EVERYTHING that you do or administer to the patient has to be RECORDED and documented. So the process drags on the hours.
AND the biochemical, microbiological and pathological status of the patient updated as soon as possible.
with the devices helpingm
2 nurses, 2 post grad students, 2 professors, 2 anesthesiologists stand around...
monitoring...
stabilizing...
diagnosing...
(caring?)
ONE patient. 8 professionals for ONE child.
slowly, each one of us left the scene. Overcome by fatigue and sleep. Eyes Shutting.Brains dimming.
the light's fading.
the ICU never sleeps of course. Some one would always be around.
=-------------------------------------------------------------------------------=
the next evening, i saw her again.
Her hand stretched out as though in flight.
Her face a whiff of radiance.
Her back arching forward to reach out to some invisible bird in the air.
"Sir! What is she on? This doesn't look like involuntary movements!"
"She's on ketamine."
*(smile)*
well, of course, when i said i hate pediatrics, i meant, i hated dealing with kids. or anything child-like.
but pediatricians. > \m/ !!
1 yr 9 months.
thats the age of Fatima, a pediatric patient wheeled into the Ped ICU at 12:00 am in the night of 5.11.09.
she came, tongue bitten and swollen, a swollen lower lip, hands and legs moving frantically in all directions, pushing and struggling.
status asthmaticus, is what we were told, which led to status epilepticus. a stain of blood over her lower cheek. impules shooting across different areas of her brain. unsettling her. sparking movements beyond her control.
a bed was prepared and tubes inserted into her.
Ryles: To remove what remains in her stomach.
which could be accidently inhaled and drown her.
Endotracheal tube: To make sure that humidified air goes straight to the lungs.
An Oximeter: To measure the amount of oxygen in her blood.
2 pediatric post graduates stood. holding her down. examining her. trying hard to stabilize her. Aditya and I stood, assisting them.
"her ventiation is a problem. we'll need to call anesthesia."
the Anesthesia PG was called.
"her pulse is racing. she has a fever."
a pediatic professor was called.
"her convulsions need to be controlled."
a benzodiazepine was injected.
"her fever needs to be managed"
tepid sponging was done and a paracetamol suppository was introduced.
"she still has those involuntary movements!"
the pediatrics prof calls the Head of the Unit.
12:45 am- 1:00 am.
Enter Paeds HOD.
a gentle manner. a curious diagnostician.
"whey're there alarm bells ringing all over?"
We realize that bells are ringing every second. one for the blood pressure thats plunging(98/56) and the other for low respiratory rate. among others.
And this is only one patient we're talking about.
One head nurse. another staff nurse. they run about, loading medicines, clearing debris, sanitizing the place and pacifying the baby.
an infusion of 20 ml bolus Midazolam takes place.
the child's drugged now. moves slowly.
"yes, go ahead. she needs a clear passage".
the Anesthesiology PG swings into action. is handed over a laryngoscope and flicks it open to use its torch and curved steel limb.
Gains access.
Introduces the endotracheal tube.
Breath.
Air.
Breathe.
The sisters hold the kid down. restraining her with a few straps.
Intoduce and IV line.
Food.
Catheterize her.
Relief.
3:00 am.
the Anesthetist walks in to assess the patient.
And whats more?! EVERYTHING that you do or administer to the patient has to be RECORDED and documented. So the process drags on the hours.
AND the biochemical, microbiological and pathological status of the patient updated as soon as possible.
with the devices helpingm
2 nurses, 2 post grad students, 2 professors, 2 anesthesiologists stand around...
monitoring...
stabilizing...
diagnosing...
(caring?)
ONE patient. 8 professionals for ONE child.
slowly, each one of us left the scene. Overcome by fatigue and sleep. Eyes Shutting.Brains dimming.
the light's fading.
the ICU never sleeps of course. Some one would always be around.
=-------------------------------------------------------------------------------=
the next evening, i saw her again.
Her hand stretched out as though in flight.
Her face a whiff of radiance.
Her back arching forward to reach out to some invisible bird in the air.
"Sir! What is she on? This doesn't look like involuntary movements!"
"She's on ketamine."
*(smile)*
well, of course, when i said i hate pediatrics, i meant, i hated dealing with kids. or anything child-like.
but pediatricians. > \m/ !!
GRENADE ON THE GROUND.OST
Aditya came up with this real cool soundtrack for the play. If you guys have heard Jim Morrison's "Riders of the Storm", you can identify with this song.
Grenade on the Ground
Grenade on the ground(2)
Into this hand we're borne,
Into this trench we're thrown.
Like a gun without a bore
A soldier out alone.
Grenade on the ground.
There's a nazi on the loose,
Hell bent on Hunting down the Jews,
Make him walk the line astray,
Let your children play.
If you give this man a life,
Sweet memory will die.
Nazi on the loose.
Nazi on the loose.
Boy you gotta love your gun(2)
Take it in your hand,
Then you'll understand.
The world on you depends
Our life will never end.
Gotta love your gun.
YEAH!
Grenade on the Ground
Grenade on the ground(2)
Into this hand we're borne,
Into this trench we're thrown.
Like a gun without a bore
A soldier out alone.
Grenade on the ground.
There's a nazi on the loose,
Hell bent on Hunting down the Jews,
Make him walk the line astray,
Let your children play.
If you give this man a life,
Sweet memory will die.
Nazi on the loose.
Nazi on the loose.
Boy you gotta love your gun(2)
Take it in your hand,
Then you'll understand.
The world on you depends
Our life will never end.
Gotta love your gun.
YEAH!
CASUALTY DAY ONE
we're hanging around the casualty being busy with what it entails us when a neurosurgery PG wanders in. he's a short guy, with a crop of hair that looks like a spikey spider's web.
then suddenly, wheelchair with a patient happens to be rolled in. the patient doesn't seem to be in his senses. he blabbers constantly. i go towards the patient and ask him what happened to him. there's a glee in his eyes and he smells strongly of a peculiar odour.
he doesn't reply and speaks incoherently.
i ask the bystander(the person with the patient): "what happened to the patient?"
he says : "the man fell from a height of 3 floors".
i ask: "was he on alcohol?"
the patient then points to the bystander that he'd like to drink.
i ask again " did he fall from some place or is he drunk?"
patient: "i fell from the sky! i fell from up there!!"(points skyward)
the patient's evidently disoriented, so we call the NeuroSurgery PG to the scene.
he asks the bystander: "when did he fall down?"
ByStander: "3 years back."
NS PG: "give me his reports."
now, the NS guy isn't keen on taking up too many cases. so the NS goes through the reports and decides. "the patient's constantly blabbering. i cant get too much of a history from the bystander too. give a reference to the Psychiatry PG".
Enter Psych PG.
the Psych PG begins to assess the patient.
he rules out psychosis and mania and narrows it down to an organic brain syndrome. a report says that the patient had a sub-dural hematoma in the past. the present condition is a sequelae.
NS pg: "alright, so you'll take up the case".
Psych Pg: " me?! we cant admit him into our department! its an organic brain condition!"
NS pg: " but we cant treat him! i just spoke to Sir. and he said that the patient was on conservative
treatment and he has to continue conservative treatment."
Psych PG: "he seems to have encephalopathy. that is causing all his symptoms. we aren't equipped to deal with that!"
NS Pg: "then treat him conservatively"
Psych PG: "obviously we psychiatrists treat patients conservatively! we put patients on anti-psychotics. what else do you think we'd do?"
NS pg: "either way,we cant admit him now!"
Psych PG: "yeah, so put him on conservative treatment"
NS pg: " yeah. ok.."
meanwhile two female interns enter the casualty, collecting blood samples. they say
"hi victor! hi vijay! "
"hey!"
"so you guys have day duty?"
"yeah"
"do you guys have an umbrella? its raining."
"nope! use your aprons!"
they look around and walk out. the next minute a breathless patient is wheeled in and vijay and i get busy tending to him. during this time , i notice the two interns walk out carrying a black umbrella with them. the patient we're tending to gets a little more critical, and so anup and i spend the next half hour monitoring him.
a little while later, a tall burly looking man walks in, a little harried, and asks the staff nurse.
"sister, did you see my umbrella that i kept outside my room?"
vijayram and i reckon that he's a Medical Officer, suggested by his Demanour.
Staff Nurse: "sir, 2 interns asked us and took it. they went for lunch. they'll be back in an hour"
the MO looked on. Vijay and i couldn't look anymore and we started giggling quietly.
there were 2 other patients who came in disoriented.
on examination, we found them to have crepitations.
one seemed to be on the verge of developing seizures. i was concentrating on catheterizing one patient when the other was being examined by a post-graduate.
(if you want to learn how to catheterize, read my 'unofficial notes')
after about 5 minutes, i found the PG vigorously pressing upon his sternum with both hands clenched.
"get an ambu bag and mask," he told me.
i rushed to get it and he pulled the ventilation mask aside to allow me to use the ambu bag.
perspiration drained his forehead. and he kept pumping his chest. another post graduate joined him later on. each taking turns to revive his heart.
" have you injected Adrenaline?" he asked the nurse.
"yes, " she replied.
15 minutes. and they kept trying to infuse life into him.
feeling his pulse.checking whether his lungs expanded.
but to no avail.
the patient was quiet. blank empty eyes that stared at the ceiling.
finally, after 5 minutes they decided to call it off.
Let go.
there are other lives to save.
we walked away. a curtain concealing the newly dead.
i looked at Vijay and Anup.
There was a faint sense of dejection in their eyes.
i asked Anup. "dude, what did he die of?"
"CRF" he told me.
"but I felt he had pulmonary oedema"
"yeah" VIjay said. "towards the terminal stages, it becomes a multi-system disorder"
"couldn't anything have been done man?" I asked anup, "and dialysis is costly right?"
"dialysis. Yeah. thats the only way out."
we came back and sat at our desks quietly.
the next 5 minutes, we spent in silence.
i cant remember now, but later on i found out that the other disoriented patient also succumbed to renal failure. A
then suddenly, wheelchair with a patient happens to be rolled in. the patient doesn't seem to be in his senses. he blabbers constantly. i go towards the patient and ask him what happened to him. there's a glee in his eyes and he smells strongly of a peculiar odour.
he doesn't reply and speaks incoherently.
i ask the bystander(the person with the patient): "what happened to the patient?"
he says : "the man fell from a height of 3 floors".
i ask: "was he on alcohol?"
the patient then points to the bystander that he'd like to drink.
i ask again " did he fall from some place or is he drunk?"
patient: "i fell from the sky! i fell from up there!!"(points skyward)
the patient's evidently disoriented, so we call the NeuroSurgery PG to the scene.
he asks the bystander: "when did he fall down?"
ByStander: "3 years back."
NS PG: "give me his reports."
now, the NS guy isn't keen on taking up too many cases. so the NS goes through the reports and decides. "the patient's constantly blabbering. i cant get too much of a history from the bystander too. give a reference to the Psychiatry PG".
Enter Psych PG.
the Psych PG begins to assess the patient.
he rules out psychosis and mania and narrows it down to an organic brain syndrome. a report says that the patient had a sub-dural hematoma in the past. the present condition is a sequelae.
NS pg: "alright, so you'll take up the case".
Psych Pg: " me?! we cant admit him into our department! its an organic brain condition!"
NS pg: " but we cant treat him! i just spoke to Sir. and he said that the patient was on conservative
treatment and he has to continue conservative treatment."
Psych PG: "he seems to have encephalopathy. that is causing all his symptoms. we aren't equipped to deal with that!"
NS Pg: "then treat him conservatively"
Psych PG: "obviously we psychiatrists treat patients conservatively! we put patients on anti-psychotics. what else do you think we'd do?"
NS pg: "either way,we cant admit him now!"
Psych PG: "yeah, so put him on conservative treatment"
NS pg: " yeah. ok.."
meanwhile two female interns enter the casualty, collecting blood samples. they say
"hi victor! hi vijay! "
"hey!"
"so you guys have day duty?"
"yeah"
"do you guys have an umbrella? its raining."
"nope! use your aprons!"
they look around and walk out. the next minute a breathless patient is wheeled in and vijay and i get busy tending to him. during this time , i notice the two interns walk out carrying a black umbrella with them. the patient we're tending to gets a little more critical, and so anup and i spend the next half hour monitoring him.
a little while later, a tall burly looking man walks in, a little harried, and asks the staff nurse.
"sister, did you see my umbrella that i kept outside my room?"
vijayram and i reckon that he's a Medical Officer, suggested by his Demanour.
Staff Nurse: "sir, 2 interns asked us and took it. they went for lunch. they'll be back in an hour"
the MO looked on. Vijay and i couldn't look anymore and we started giggling quietly.
there were 2 other patients who came in disoriented.
on examination, we found them to have crepitations.
one seemed to be on the verge of developing seizures. i was concentrating on catheterizing one patient when the other was being examined by a post-graduate.
(if you want to learn how to catheterize, read my 'unofficial notes')
after about 5 minutes, i found the PG vigorously pressing upon his sternum with both hands clenched.
"get an ambu bag and mask," he told me.
i rushed to get it and he pulled the ventilation mask aside to allow me to use the ambu bag.
perspiration drained his forehead. and he kept pumping his chest. another post graduate joined him later on. each taking turns to revive his heart.
" have you injected Adrenaline?" he asked the nurse.
"yes, " she replied.
15 minutes. and they kept trying to infuse life into him.
feeling his pulse.checking whether his lungs expanded.
but to no avail.
the patient was quiet. blank empty eyes that stared at the ceiling.
finally, after 5 minutes they decided to call it off.
Let go.
there are other lives to save.
we walked away. a curtain concealing the newly dead.
i looked at Vijay and Anup.
There was a faint sense of dejection in their eyes.
i asked Anup. "dude, what did he die of?"
"CRF" he told me.
"but I felt he had pulmonary oedema"
"yeah" VIjay said. "towards the terminal stages, it becomes a multi-system disorder"
"couldn't anything have been done man?" I asked anup, "and dialysis is costly right?"
"dialysis. Yeah. thats the only way out."
we came back and sat at our desks quietly.
the next 5 minutes, we spent in silence.
i cant remember now, but later on i found out that the other disoriented patient also succumbed to renal failure. A
FAHEEM’S BANQUET AND THE BLOOD
one saturday afternoon. and ALL the batches convened to one place.
Q : lets say, you're part of an organization that helps the poor patients of Wenlock and Lady Goschen by donating medicines as well as arranging for blood donors. how would you create an aware ness programme?
A: CALL the mad ad's team of 06.
and what follows is PURE INSANITY. i've never watched a mad-ads show or seen a team at work before. its way different from the other forms of theater. but what i saw that day, is something i cant quite keep off from writing about.
how would you show, that its safe to donate blood, and enlighten those who dont know about blood donation?
(some ideas crop up amongst those involved)
rohit:" what kind of a crowd are we going to perform to?"
atul: " jobless people. on the streets. doing nothing. "
me: "dude, this is at bharat mall dude! they come there cos they CAN! they should be reasonably educated!!"
varsha: "haha. yeah".
scene one:
sita (rohit) is in the forest of chitrakoota. cant say acting feminine comes easily to him, but rohit goes to the centre of the stage, one arm folded, the index finger of the other hand pointing to the middle of his right cheek. walking coy. a shy look on his face. a little flirtatious.
laxmana(faheem) revolves around sita, round and round. like some sort of shield, because he represents laxman rekha. if anybody tries to come close to them, they'd be pushed or thrown aside.
ravana( in the guise of a beggar) (sushruth) comes to beg for arms to sita. he gets pushed aside by faheem.
ravana:"ayyo rama! waat eez this?"
ravana then asks sita to come out of the line, she does, and the next minute, ravana's grabbed her(rohit) and carries her in his arms. ravana's ecstatic, so he laughs.
Q : ravana's got bout 10 heads. so how do you represent em all?
A : the rest of the team jump in and prop their heads next to ravana's. and ravana laughs.
and so do all the heads.
and so does sita too!
well, we still haven't come to the point. so guys.. focus!
rama goes to war with ravana cos he has sita. in the war that ensues, laxmana gets wounded and falls to the ground. rama summons hanuman to get sanjeevini.
hanuman brings sanjeevini to the battleground. varsha walks daintily into the scene.
and SANJEEVINI, happens to be a GIRL, (varsha)
rama: "ayyo! not THIS sanjeevini! the PLANT sanjeevini!!!"
hanuman: "sanjeevini all happened in olden days. this is 21st century!
why sanjeevini when you can give BLOOD!"
"BLOODMAN!" he calls out loudly.
ENTER BLOODMAN.
burton rushes into the scene. his blood red cape(someone's dupatta) 'flying' in the air.
atul(MC):"see! this is how you can transfuse blood."
with swift motions, they tie one end of the dupatta to laxmana and the other to rama, and depict blood transfusion.
there were other scenes as well. of course.lol.
ps: thanks for the food faheem!
Q : lets say, you're part of an organization that helps the poor patients of Wenlock and Lady Goschen by donating medicines as well as arranging for blood donors. how would you create an aware ness programme?
A: CALL the mad ad's team of 06.
and what follows is PURE INSANITY. i've never watched a mad-ads show or seen a team at work before. its way different from the other forms of theater. but what i saw that day, is something i cant quite keep off from writing about.
how would you show, that its safe to donate blood, and enlighten those who dont know about blood donation?
(some ideas crop up amongst those involved)
rohit:" what kind of a crowd are we going to perform to?"
atul: " jobless people. on the streets. doing nothing. "
me: "dude, this is at bharat mall dude! they come there cos they CAN! they should be reasonably educated!!"
varsha: "haha. yeah".
scene one:
sita (rohit) is in the forest of chitrakoota. cant say acting feminine comes easily to him, but rohit goes to the centre of the stage, one arm folded, the index finger of the other hand pointing to the middle of his right cheek. walking coy. a shy look on his face. a little flirtatious.
laxmana(faheem) revolves around sita, round and round. like some sort of shield, because he represents laxman rekha. if anybody tries to come close to them, they'd be pushed or thrown aside.
ravana( in the guise of a beggar) (sushruth) comes to beg for arms to sita. he gets pushed aside by faheem.
ravana:"ayyo rama! waat eez this?"
ravana then asks sita to come out of the line, she does, and the next minute, ravana's grabbed her(rohit) and carries her in his arms. ravana's ecstatic, so he laughs.
Q : ravana's got bout 10 heads. so how do you represent em all?
A : the rest of the team jump in and prop their heads next to ravana's. and ravana laughs.
and so do all the heads.
and so does sita too!
well, we still haven't come to the point. so guys.. focus!
rama goes to war with ravana cos he has sita. in the war that ensues, laxmana gets wounded and falls to the ground. rama summons hanuman to get sanjeevini.
hanuman brings sanjeevini to the battleground. varsha walks daintily into the scene.
and SANJEEVINI, happens to be a GIRL, (varsha)
rama: "ayyo! not THIS sanjeevini! the PLANT sanjeevini!!!"
hanuman: "sanjeevini all happened in olden days. this is 21st century!
why sanjeevini when you can give BLOOD!"
"BLOODMAN!" he calls out loudly.
ENTER BLOODMAN.
burton rushes into the scene. his blood red cape(someone's dupatta) 'flying' in the air.
atul(MC):"see! this is how you can transfuse blood."
with swift motions, they tie one end of the dupatta to laxmana and the other to rama, and depict blood transfusion.
there were other scenes as well. of course.lol.
ps: thanks for the food faheem!
IN THESE TIMES
IN THESE TIMES
Ok! I’m back. But a shadow.
Forensic practical classes are ‘almost’ an exercise in futility. But for intelligent dramatics staged by my gang of guys.
3 pm. The mangalore weather. Humid. Sultry. In a class sans AC. What could be worse. And its so hard to sleep off on those half-desks that populate the demo room.
The tutor’s teaching how to fill up some godforsaken letter. ‘certificate of death’. ‘medico legal case’. Well, they’ll obviously come into use later on, but for the moment, they were just pieces of paper.
Azeb’s sitting beside Anurag. His cheek flopped on his arms collapsed on the desk. He’s a shadow. Too. I mean, one look at him and you’d think he’s a Somalian refugee.black. cadaveric. He wouldn’t have eaten lunch, breakfast AND the dinner the last night. So it so happens that he mumbles to anurag..
“dude, I think I’m gonna faint man. Please try and get me out of this class. I think I need to lie down somewhere.”
Anurag on the other hand, decides to take matters to his own hands. He stands up, in the middle of a sleepy listless class, and says..
“sir, the boy next to me has fainted. I need to take him to the hospital. Can I do that now sir?”
Well, an intimation was all that was needed. Who cares bout permission? The next second, Azeb stands up, and walks straight out of the class.
Now, it so happens, that the LCD Screen is a little distance away from the door. And the door is half open.
The whole class stares blankly at what happens.silently. Azeb walking his eager, energetic manner towards the screen. He manages to walk behind the screen, and the next minute.
BANG!
He crashes into the door and falls flat on the ground.
The whole class exclaims in concern. “oooH!”
A few people giggle.
And strangely enough, while a few people stand to notice what happens, Azeb suddenly pulls himself up.. and walks outside towards the forensic department. An amused Anurag soon following him.
What I heard later was, that azeb fainted, YET AGAIN, when he reached the department.
I remember him telling me, “dude, fainting is one of the MOST heavenly experiences I’ve ever had man! Its SHEER BLISS. I swear it!”
Ok! I’m back. But a shadow.
Forensic practical classes are ‘almost’ an exercise in futility. But for intelligent dramatics staged by my gang of guys.
3 pm. The mangalore weather. Humid. Sultry. In a class sans AC. What could be worse. And its so hard to sleep off on those half-desks that populate the demo room.
The tutor’s teaching how to fill up some godforsaken letter. ‘certificate of death’. ‘medico legal case’. Well, they’ll obviously come into use later on, but for the moment, they were just pieces of paper.
Azeb’s sitting beside Anurag. His cheek flopped on his arms collapsed on the desk. He’s a shadow. Too. I mean, one look at him and you’d think he’s a Somalian refugee.black. cadaveric. He wouldn’t have eaten lunch, breakfast AND the dinner the last night. So it so happens that he mumbles to anurag..
“dude, I think I’m gonna faint man. Please try and get me out of this class. I think I need to lie down somewhere.”
Anurag on the other hand, decides to take matters to his own hands. He stands up, in the middle of a sleepy listless class, and says..
“sir, the boy next to me has fainted. I need to take him to the hospital. Can I do that now sir?”
Well, an intimation was all that was needed. Who cares bout permission? The next second, Azeb stands up, and walks straight out of the class.
Now, it so happens, that the LCD Screen is a little distance away from the door. And the door is half open.
The whole class stares blankly at what happens.silently. Azeb walking his eager, energetic manner towards the screen. He manages to walk behind the screen, and the next minute.
BANG!
He crashes into the door and falls flat on the ground.
The whole class exclaims in concern. “oooH!”
A few people giggle.
And strangely enough, while a few people stand to notice what happens, Azeb suddenly pulls himself up.. and walks outside towards the forensic department. An amused Anurag soon following him.
What I heard later was, that azeb fainted, YET AGAIN, when he reached the department.
I remember him telling me, “dude, fainting is one of the MOST heavenly experiences I’ve ever had man! Its SHEER BLISS. I swear it!”
ULLAL
megs: Can i eat an albendazole?
amy: you have to chew it.
megs: why?
amy: b'cos, when u chew it, it gets broken and coats the intestine, thereby killing the hookworm.
megs: really? ok. i heard u're supposed to eat it once in 6 months.
me: i had 2 tablets in a week!
megs: oh, thats too much!
amy: yeah, but its that pukish sweet.
me: no! its not! its the pleasant sweet. its nice.
amy: you just want to contradict whatever i say.
me: No! but contradiction is important.
amy: no!
me: oh megs, gimme that tablet... let me eat it and show you..
megs: No! its MY tablet!
amy: you have to chew it.
megs: why?
amy: b'cos, when u chew it, it gets broken and coats the intestine, thereby killing the hookworm.
megs: really? ok. i heard u're supposed to eat it once in 6 months.
me: i had 2 tablets in a week!
megs: oh, thats too much!
amy: yeah, but its that pukish sweet.
me: no! its not! its the pleasant sweet. its nice.
amy: you just want to contradict whatever i say.
me: No! but contradiction is important.
amy: no!
me: oh megs, gimme that tablet... let me eat it and show you..
megs: No! its MY tablet!
Dumbness 2
first year: are we done with com med? no.
second year: are we done with com med? no.
third year: are we done with com med? No.
fourth year: are we done with com med? Yes!
fifth year: are we done with com med? NO!
and to speak about the 5th year as being the most excruciating of all the years combined. TWO MONTHS of it, BACK to BACK.
"moodbidri is fun!"- My Ass!
"Ullal is cool!"- My Ass!
Urban posting
there was this time when i was returning from home and happened to reach a little late for duty. i told my co-intern to hold on to the bus a little longer, try and make it wait for about 5 minutes, I"m just reaching.
she says: "hey, i tried telling them to wait, but they wouldn't. dont worry, i'll try covering for you. i'll get you attendance. get back to your place and rest."
i thought.. fine! hope it works out...
the next day i'm at workand there's this person who's the staff in charge who tells me..
"you were absent from work yesterday no?"
i was wondering how she knew.
"Your co-intern asked me, whether she could give you proxy. its not right no? you shold have informed us before going home..."
and at that moment, my thoughts came to a stand-still.
i had NO IDEA how to wiggle out of that situation. NO CLUE how to counteract that accusation. i just looked on. sheepishly.
the tutor sitting in front of me smiled at the situation i was in.
i got back home and for the next 3 hours, i went into depression.
not because i might get an extension(one extra day to work as punishment) but because i could not COMPREHEND how STUPID my co-intern could be.
its as good as standing up in class and asking the professor.
"ma'am, can i give proxy for my friend?"
terrible! i swear it!!!
second year: are we done with com med? no.
third year: are we done with com med? No.
fourth year: are we done with com med? Yes!
fifth year: are we done with com med? NO!
and to speak about the 5th year as being the most excruciating of all the years combined. TWO MONTHS of it, BACK to BACK.
"moodbidri is fun!"- My Ass!
"Ullal is cool!"- My Ass!
Urban posting
there was this time when i was returning from home and happened to reach a little late for duty. i told my co-intern to hold on to the bus a little longer, try and make it wait for about 5 minutes, I"m just reaching.
she says: "hey, i tried telling them to wait, but they wouldn't. dont worry, i'll try covering for you. i'll get you attendance. get back to your place and rest."
i thought.. fine! hope it works out...
the next day i'm at workand there's this person who's the staff in charge who tells me..
"you were absent from work yesterday no?"
i was wondering how she knew.
"Your co-intern asked me, whether she could give you proxy. its not right no? you shold have informed us before going home..."
and at that moment, my thoughts came to a stand-still.
i had NO IDEA how to wiggle out of that situation. NO CLUE how to counteract that accusation. i just looked on. sheepishly.
the tutor sitting in front of me smiled at the situation i was in.
i got back home and for the next 3 hours, i went into depression.
not because i might get an extension(one extra day to work as punishment) but because i could not COMPREHEND how STUPID my co-intern could be.
its as good as standing up in class and asking the professor.
"ma'am, can i give proxy for my friend?"
terrible! i swear it!!!
GIR
There was this time when we were in our 2nd year. pediatrics was nothing but 2-3 hours spent joblessly in one of the halls in Attavar. Batchmates were either reading, chatting, sleeping or sitting doing nothing.
Rajiv, our friend was sitting with someone else watching a few explicit videos on a camera phone( a Nokia 6600, if i'm not mistaken)
Mr X lion was sitting behind Rajiv. Mr. X is a bit of a loud mouth. and always finds some reason to speak to someone about himself or his kind, regarding some stupid topic. and since he's burly and well built, nobody likes to mess wtih him. so whats the way out?
tolerate.
so thats what everyone's being doing with him since time immemorial. Rajiv, as you must know by now, is a reasonably whacky fellow.
Mr. X: "ey, Rajiv, what're you watching?"
Rajiv: (doesnt look back) no answer.
Mr. X: "oye rajiv! tell what you're watching no?"
(chiding tone, almost insulting)
Rajiv: (no answer) engrossed with the video.
Mr. X: (taps Rajiv's shoulder) " Ay, tell what you're watching!"
Rajiv turns around in one swift motion, and says:
" Your Mother!!"
Mr X: (goes red in the face)
Nobody's EVER ever insulted him.
nobody's EVER spoken back to him.
batchmates around the both of them begin to have amused smiles on their faces, but nobody
laughs.
Mr. X: "rajiv what did you say?"
Rajiv: (his back towards Mr X, watching the video trying to avoid him for obvious reasons)
Mr. X:" Rajiv, what did u say?"
Rajiv:(still no reply)
Mr. X: "Rajive, i will fuck you and your entire family, right now and here!"
the tension in the air was almost palpable. an impending fight was in the air.
then SUDDENLY, a PG walks inside to take attendance.
Thank God for him, the incident was forgotten.
and everybody dispersed.
Rajiv, our friend was sitting with someone else watching a few explicit videos on a camera phone( a Nokia 6600, if i'm not mistaken)
Mr X lion was sitting behind Rajiv. Mr. X is a bit of a loud mouth. and always finds some reason to speak to someone about himself or his kind, regarding some stupid topic. and since he's burly and well built, nobody likes to mess wtih him. so whats the way out?
tolerate.
so thats what everyone's being doing with him since time immemorial. Rajiv, as you must know by now, is a reasonably whacky fellow.
Mr. X: "ey, Rajiv, what're you watching?"
Rajiv: (doesnt look back) no answer.
Mr. X: "oye rajiv! tell what you're watching no?"
(chiding tone, almost insulting)
Rajiv: (no answer) engrossed with the video.
Mr. X: (taps Rajiv's shoulder) " Ay, tell what you're watching!"
Rajiv turns around in one swift motion, and says:
" Your Mother!!"
Mr X: (goes red in the face)
Nobody's EVER ever insulted him.
nobody's EVER spoken back to him.
batchmates around the both of them begin to have amused smiles on their faces, but nobody
laughs.
Mr. X: "rajiv what did you say?"
Rajiv: (his back towards Mr X, watching the video trying to avoid him for obvious reasons)
Mr. X:" Rajiv, what did u say?"
Rajiv:(still no reply)
Mr. X: "Rajive, i will fuck you and your entire family, right now and here!"
the tension in the air was almost palpable. an impending fight was in the air.
then SUDDENLY, a PG walks inside to take attendance.
Thank God for him, the incident was forgotten.
and everybody dispersed.
AUSTRALIA
We were in Lh one. Sydney dude (!!!) was gonna take class. he comes into the class and walks around. the class is scared stiff of him. the dude with the double degree. HOD of medicine.
he starts class in a "house md' sort of manner.
Sydney: "what is the cause of Diabetes Mellitus in India?:
class: absolute silence.
nobody wants to get up and make a fool of themself. because ANY answer is potentially wrong according to Sydney. ANd a wrong answer would lead to heads turning and amused reactions.
well, there happens to be this Rajiv guy i was talking bout. smarty pants. (well, not completely)
he has this knack of approaching any topic laterally.like oblique thinking or whatever.
he raises his hand, straight to the ceiling. unflinching.
the class wonders what he's going to say.
Sydney: "yes, tell me..."
Rajiv: "sir, its due to the rise of the great indian middle class..."
well, the answer that the class expected was, a hereditary cause, sedentary lifestyle, or unhealthy food habits. as soon as they heard this answer, the class broke into laughter.
Sydney: (a little thoughtful) "that is correct. a recent study in Chennai has proved his point..."
Rajiv stood there. beaming.
he starts class in a "house md' sort of manner.
Sydney: "what is the cause of Diabetes Mellitus in India?:
class: absolute silence.
nobody wants to get up and make a fool of themself. because ANY answer is potentially wrong according to Sydney. ANd a wrong answer would lead to heads turning and amused reactions.
well, there happens to be this Rajiv guy i was talking bout. smarty pants. (well, not completely)
he has this knack of approaching any topic laterally.like oblique thinking or whatever.
he raises his hand, straight to the ceiling. unflinching.
the class wonders what he's going to say.
Sydney: "yes, tell me..."
Rajiv: "sir, its due to the rise of the great indian middle class..."
well, the answer that the class expected was, a hereditary cause, sedentary lifestyle, or unhealthy food habits. as soon as they heard this answer, the class broke into laughter.
Sydney: (a little thoughtful) "that is correct. a recent study in Chennai has proved his point..."
Rajiv stood there. beaming.
DUMBNESS
oodles of it. i/we sometimes come across. because there was this incident. all of us were huddled together around a patient in the confines of Lady Goschen.
the fan turning at the rate of one rotation per minute. the mangalore humidity working its disgusting way on our skin.
bags, aprons, and books hanging by a finger, and dumb nursing students standing around like sheep in the middle of the city.
we're all in waiting for Dr. Priya Ballal. the most remarkable of our OBG profs. Himmat stands aside, quickly writing down his case sheet after rigourous reading the night before.
a little chatter here, a little chatter there, and a few yawns. the unit's beginning to get past phase two of the morning when suddenly Priya Ma'am appears.
Himmat runs and stands next to her, unsorted papers and books on his hands.
Dr. Priya: "who's presenting the case?"
himmat (hand raised up): "ma'am, me..!"
Himmat: "Renuka, age 26 yrs, beedi roller by occupation, hailing from mangalore..."
(vigorously turns the pages, scans through them quickly)
By this time Priya Ma'am's waiting for him to talk. a confused Himmat then says...
Himmat :".... came with chief complaints of... pregnancy..."
the whole unit erupted with laughter. Priya ma'am broke into a smile and started laughing too.
the second impressionable one was when i was in the med posting.
i was standing outside one of the inner rooms of Wenlock's OPD. a few of my unit mates were inside with a PG, when mr.X-lion, comes walking in late.
Mr. X: "what're they doing inside?"
Me: "neurological examination"
Mr. X: (thinks for a little while, cocks his head to one side and then says) : "its a CNS case na?"
(CNS= central nervous system)
i stare at him. all thought suspended for a second and nod my head quietly.
he walks in and i stand there, dumbfounded.
the fan turning at the rate of one rotation per minute. the mangalore humidity working its disgusting way on our skin.
bags, aprons, and books hanging by a finger, and dumb nursing students standing around like sheep in the middle of the city.
we're all in waiting for Dr. Priya Ballal. the most remarkable of our OBG profs. Himmat stands aside, quickly writing down his case sheet after rigourous reading the night before.
a little chatter here, a little chatter there, and a few yawns. the unit's beginning to get past phase two of the morning when suddenly Priya Ma'am appears.
Himmat runs and stands next to her, unsorted papers and books on his hands.
Dr. Priya: "who's presenting the case?"
himmat (hand raised up): "ma'am, me..!"
Himmat: "Renuka, age 26 yrs, beedi roller by occupation, hailing from mangalore..."
(vigorously turns the pages, scans through them quickly)
By this time Priya Ma'am's waiting for him to talk. a confused Himmat then says...
Himmat :".... came with chief complaints of... pregnancy..."
the whole unit erupted with laughter. Priya ma'am broke into a smile and started laughing too.
the second impressionable one was when i was in the med posting.
i was standing outside one of the inner rooms of Wenlock's OPD. a few of my unit mates were inside with a PG, when mr.X-lion, comes walking in late.
Mr. X: "what're they doing inside?"
Me: "neurological examination"
Mr. X: (thinks for a little while, cocks his head to one side and then says) : "its a CNS case na?"
(CNS= central nervous system)
i stare at him. all thought suspended for a second and nod my head quietly.
he walks in and i stand there, dumbfounded.
MEDLEY
4th year was the time when most of us got a little daring compared to the other years. I mean, what could they do to us? The prof’s or the management. We were carrying the weight of the world anyway. The classes in the afternoon were boring beyond words..
Attendance as you all know, is carried out by the prof’s calling out numbers.
It’d run like this… 179 –present ma’am.
180- present ma’am.
181- (female student with specs stands up to answer the attendance) PRESENT MA’AM! (the whole class erupts into a chorus)
And she’d feel so embarrassed, she’d scorn at the class before hiding her face with her hands on the table. And then everyone’d laugh.
And a few other NRI’s would answer in this manner when they had to say their numbers out loud.
“twennie nayne!”
“thuR(tongue rolled up back to touch the hard palate) TEEN!”
year one.
The quintessential gang of guys I’d say in my group were aditya, azeb, himmat, ajith, Thomas, and vijay. There was this one time when we taking part in a treasure hunt organized by our seniors then, Husain, Ahad, Wazim etc. (these were the seniors who initially started off literary club)
We were in charge of getting a few articles necessary to run the treasure hunt. It so happened that the ‘treasure’ was a human skull. That we managed to offer cos we were in first year and had access to it.
Anatomy being a big subject in first year.
We had unfortunately lost the hunt, having arrived at the treasure 4th(so much for all our talent!) and were on our way back to the hostel when we decided to stop by ‘dosa camp’ for a snack.
The place is packed. And so we squeeze in-between those customers who are already seated and try and order what we want.
At that point, ajith doesn’t have any place to keep his belongings(read skull) so he picked it up from the packet that was on the floor and placed in front of the customer who was feasting on a dosa.
And all this was in full view of at least 15 customers and 7-8 waiters etc.
The customer, a ~40 something year old man suddenly said in kannada/english:
“Aiyayo! What is this! Are you mad?!! I cant eat with this on the table! You people have any sense??!”
And immediately got up from his seat, and left in a hurry, cursing us behind his back.
i wonder if he paid for his dosa for that matter!
_______________________________________________________________________________
ps: one blog of a friend of mine that i find really hilarious is this.
http://iamwriteherelol.wordpress.com/
do check it out!
alright. i think i'm gonna retire my notes. thanks a lot for reading em! i enjoyed writing them as well. tc and all the best everyone.
Attendance as you all know, is carried out by the prof’s calling out numbers.
It’d run like this… 179 –present ma’am.
180- present ma’am.
181- (female student with specs stands up to answer the attendance) PRESENT MA’AM! (the whole class erupts into a chorus)
And she’d feel so embarrassed, she’d scorn at the class before hiding her face with her hands on the table. And then everyone’d laugh.
And a few other NRI’s would answer in this manner when they had to say their numbers out loud.
“twennie nayne!”
“thuR(tongue rolled up back to touch the hard palate) TEEN!”
year one.
The quintessential gang of guys I’d say in my group were aditya, azeb, himmat, ajith, Thomas, and vijay. There was this one time when we taking part in a treasure hunt organized by our seniors then, Husain, Ahad, Wazim etc. (these were the seniors who initially started off literary club)
We were in charge of getting a few articles necessary to run the treasure hunt. It so happened that the ‘treasure’ was a human skull. That we managed to offer cos we were in first year and had access to it.
Anatomy being a big subject in first year.
We had unfortunately lost the hunt, having arrived at the treasure 4th(so much for all our talent!) and were on our way back to the hostel when we decided to stop by ‘dosa camp’ for a snack.
The place is packed. And so we squeeze in-between those customers who are already seated and try and order what we want.
At that point, ajith doesn’t have any place to keep his belongings(read skull) so he picked it up from the packet that was on the floor and placed in front of the customer who was feasting on a dosa.
And all this was in full view of at least 15 customers and 7-8 waiters etc.
The customer, a ~40 something year old man suddenly said in kannada/english:
“Aiyayo! What is this! Are you mad?!! I cant eat with this on the table! You people have any sense??!”
And immediately got up from his seat, and left in a hurry, cursing us behind his back.
i wonder if he paid for his dosa for that matter!
_______________________________________________________________________________
ps: one blog of a friend of mine that i find really hilarious is this.
http://iamwriteherelol.wordpress.com/
do check it out!
alright. i think i'm gonna retire my notes. thanks a lot for reading em! i enjoyed writing them as well. tc and all the best everyone.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
i'm sure all of you know what this stands for. it reminds me of the time i was first in the room when this guy along with two others was ragged in the confines of the bastion of the frighteners-kaprigudda mens' hostel.
that place can be quite intimidating from the moment you enter it to staying there for at least a year.
i was in the room where vasu, faisal and abhimanyu kar were. a kapri room then, (or now) is the size of a matchbox, cemented beds on either side, and a cemented table at two corners overlooking a square window. i saw them asking a few insignificant questions to aditya and anagh who were also in the room. cant say the answers were of any interest.
and then arrived this guy, and since he couldn't understand hindi, he appeared a mute spectator to what was happening most of the time...
it was then that abhimanyu kar said, "you", pointing to the guy: "take the stage", "act out a little drama".
it seemed as though he was proud to have heard the words. he stepped up to the middle of that tiny room, bare footed, on the red oxide and suddenly raised his hands to the sky, like a middle eastern prayer, and said:
"oh allah! the desert is hot. and huge. and endless. i need to cross it. please help me cross it!"
and then, he bent down, and touched his toes. and looked around at his spectators.
he then pointed to aditya, and said : "you, come here,and pray with me " and made him stand with him.
he then proceeded to raise his hands up in the air, telling aditya to do the same, and said:
"oh allah! the desert is so big and endless. please send me a camel. so i can cross the desert!"
he then proceeds to touch his toes. adi's eyes are still on the ceiling, so this guy makes adi touch his toes and act out the prayer.
meanwhile, the entire room is eagerly watching the scenario.
the guy(pointing to anagh) : "you! come here, and stand with me, and lets pray to god to send us a camel!"
the guy: "oh allah! please send me a camel so that we can cross the desert!"
and then, repeats the acts of arms stretched to the sky and touching his feet.
and then, this was what he said (pointing to anagh and aditya)
"oh allah! i asked you to send me camels! why have you sent me donkeys?"
there was silence for the next 30 seconds...
not one word did anyone say. vasudevan sir looked on incredulously. faisal seemed to have this look of bewilderment on this face.it was abhimanyu who broke the silence. he said:
"yaar! that joke put me into a coma man!"
and then, adi and anagh burst out into laughter that lasted a cool ten minutes... and so did the rest of them...
after this show, the guy was sent promptly back to his room!
that place can be quite intimidating from the moment you enter it to staying there for at least a year.
i was in the room where vasu, faisal and abhimanyu kar were. a kapri room then, (or now) is the size of a matchbox, cemented beds on either side, and a cemented table at two corners overlooking a square window. i saw them asking a few insignificant questions to aditya and anagh who were also in the room. cant say the answers were of any interest.
and then arrived this guy, and since he couldn't understand hindi, he appeared a mute spectator to what was happening most of the time...
it was then that abhimanyu kar said, "you", pointing to the guy: "take the stage", "act out a little drama".
it seemed as though he was proud to have heard the words. he stepped up to the middle of that tiny room, bare footed, on the red oxide and suddenly raised his hands to the sky, like a middle eastern prayer, and said:
"oh allah! the desert is hot. and huge. and endless. i need to cross it. please help me cross it!"
and then, he bent down, and touched his toes. and looked around at his spectators.
he then pointed to aditya, and said : "you, come here,and pray with me " and made him stand with him.
he then proceeded to raise his hands up in the air, telling aditya to do the same, and said:
"oh allah! the desert is so big and endless. please send me a camel. so i can cross the desert!"
he then proceeds to touch his toes. adi's eyes are still on the ceiling, so this guy makes adi touch his toes and act out the prayer.
meanwhile, the entire room is eagerly watching the scenario.
the guy(pointing to anagh) : "you! come here, and stand with me, and lets pray to god to send us a camel!"
the guy: "oh allah! please send me a camel so that we can cross the desert!"
and then, repeats the acts of arms stretched to the sky and touching his feet.
and then, this was what he said (pointing to anagh and aditya)
"oh allah! i asked you to send me camels! why have you sent me donkeys?"
there was silence for the next 30 seconds...
not one word did anyone say. vasudevan sir looked on incredulously. faisal seemed to have this look of bewilderment on this face.it was abhimanyu who broke the silence. he said:
"yaar! that joke put me into a coma man!"
and then, adi and anagh burst out into laughter that lasted a cool ten minutes... and so did the rest of them...
after this show, the guy was sent promptly back to his room!
CHARACTERS
first, a note about the mangalore rains.
DAMMIT! %&#*%#)*$%
well, i'd prefer to use aliases for the characters i refer to in my notes:
in the note: year one, the guy is someone called Ivan.
the guy who got the israelites out of canaan: Jacob.
and this guy, whom i thought i'd speak bout, is someone called Rajiv. year 4.
an Obg class, 3-4pm. people have rested their bones, having driven bikes from kapri or trekked the distance from nandagiri to college. the first class was important, but then, our attention span being like, 5 minutes. no one seemed interested.
and then walks in this teacher. scarf over head.a curt, mean look on her face... and walks up to the last bench and sits down. we've seminars as you all know that goes on and on, and this teacher has this annoying habit of asking the students to stand up and answer questions from the topic that has been presented.
and whats more, she comes up with this concept of, "boys Vs girls"! i mean, wtf?!!
it so happened that we were being taught twin gestation (by our batchmates of course) we were sitting bored. twiddling thumbs. some trying hard to balance their head over their pivot joints, as it kept falling in all directions. thumbing text messages. etiology, c/f, bla bla bla. and its the stuff that you can pick up and understand better reading from the text book, than some fool trying hard to sound like an ndtv news reader..
then, the first presenter finishes, and our friend is sitting behind. chatting up with his friends about how useless the system of education is, when the prof spots him.
ma'am: "you, stand up. what are the causes of twin gestation?"
now the answers could be, super-fecundation, occurs more in the african negroid population, or as a result of in-vitro fertilization.
rajiv : (without batting and eyelid) "multiple coitus ma'am!!"
and the class burst out laughing..
rajiv: "what? i'm right no? whats wrong?!" he gives questioning looks to everyone around him.
ma'am: (smiles) "yes, then what else?"
well, he managed to answer the rest of the questions, cos it seemed fairly easy. but it was quite apparent where his mind was during the class! lol!
flashback to year 1.
we've the dissection tables. and this is when we've moved to the latter part of the first session of the year. i'm sure you all know how much of a challenge osteology was. i mean, you've this mis-shapen pieces of bone, that its quite tough to describe what areas of it are and what the essential features of it are. well, if you probably had a cube or a pyramid, you could call each surface, by name or an alphabet and describe its features.
and every organ has to be identified whether it belongs to the right side or the left side of the body.
so there was this time, when we'd kind of finished with the upper arm, and were now dealing with the thorax.
i was sitting on my table. uninterested as usual. and happened to look at the table next to mine. i saw azeb, ajith and i think senthil, and someone else called mary.
there was the cadaver, and a heart kept over the chest.
mary is this 5'5 tall girl, who's spent her school days abroad. and so she speaks with an accent. and she's indian.
she walks up to the cadaver, and before picking up the heart, she lifts her hands shoulder level and says:
"awrite! awrite! is this the rite heaRRT, or the left one?"
i saw senthil look at her incredulousy. ajith smiled back, smugly. azeb , almost stifled his laughter as her ran a few steps away from the cadaver and giggled to himself.
there are a few other experiences from the dissection hall. that's probably one place which none of you'd forget...
PS: names have been changed to prevent brain damage.
DAMMIT! %&#*%#)*$%
well, i'd prefer to use aliases for the characters i refer to in my notes:
in the note: year one, the guy is someone called Ivan.
the guy who got the israelites out of canaan: Jacob.
and this guy, whom i thought i'd speak bout, is someone called Rajiv. year 4.
an Obg class, 3-4pm. people have rested their bones, having driven bikes from kapri or trekked the distance from nandagiri to college. the first class was important, but then, our attention span being like, 5 minutes. no one seemed interested.
and then walks in this teacher. scarf over head.a curt, mean look on her face... and walks up to the last bench and sits down. we've seminars as you all know that goes on and on, and this teacher has this annoying habit of asking the students to stand up and answer questions from the topic that has been presented.
and whats more, she comes up with this concept of, "boys Vs girls"! i mean, wtf?!!
it so happened that we were being taught twin gestation (by our batchmates of course) we were sitting bored. twiddling thumbs. some trying hard to balance their head over their pivot joints, as it kept falling in all directions. thumbing text messages. etiology, c/f, bla bla bla. and its the stuff that you can pick up and understand better reading from the text book, than some fool trying hard to sound like an ndtv news reader..
then, the first presenter finishes, and our friend is sitting behind. chatting up with his friends about how useless the system of education is, when the prof spots him.
ma'am: "you, stand up. what are the causes of twin gestation?"
now the answers could be, super-fecundation, occurs more in the african negroid population, or as a result of in-vitro fertilization.
rajiv : (without batting and eyelid) "multiple coitus ma'am!!"
and the class burst out laughing..
rajiv: "what? i'm right no? whats wrong?!" he gives questioning looks to everyone around him.
ma'am: (smiles) "yes, then what else?"
well, he managed to answer the rest of the questions, cos it seemed fairly easy. but it was quite apparent where his mind was during the class! lol!
flashback to year 1.
we've the dissection tables. and this is when we've moved to the latter part of the first session of the year. i'm sure you all know how much of a challenge osteology was. i mean, you've this mis-shapen pieces of bone, that its quite tough to describe what areas of it are and what the essential features of it are. well, if you probably had a cube or a pyramid, you could call each surface, by name or an alphabet and describe its features.
and every organ has to be identified whether it belongs to the right side or the left side of the body.
so there was this time, when we'd kind of finished with the upper arm, and were now dealing with the thorax.
i was sitting on my table. uninterested as usual. and happened to look at the table next to mine. i saw azeb, ajith and i think senthil, and someone else called mary.
there was the cadaver, and a heart kept over the chest.
mary is this 5'5 tall girl, who's spent her school days abroad. and so she speaks with an accent. and she's indian.
she walks up to the cadaver, and before picking up the heart, she lifts her hands shoulder level and says:
"awrite! awrite! is this the rite heaRRT, or the left one?"
i saw senthil look at her incredulousy. ajith smiled back, smugly. azeb , almost stifled his laughter as her ran a few steps away from the cadaver and giggled to himself.
there are a few other experiences from the dissection hall. that's probably one place which none of you'd forget...
PS: names have been changed to prevent brain damage.
YEAR ONE
first of all, thank you so much for your response. i really dint expect a number of you reading them!
that is inspiration enough to write more!
and yes, a note about the mangalore rains...
DAMN them!!
the first day of colllege as you all know, is when the orientation happens.
of course, there are curious eyes all over, nervous, initial introductions.. some not so good. and others warm and friends hitched up by a moments noitce.
we were all in this huge hall, that was in bejai, where the classes occur and beginning to weather ourselves to the mangalore humidity.andthe dean was about to lecture us.
now the mke and the speakers, were in a terrible shape. once someone speaks into the mike, there'd be spiking high pitched noise that would follow the loudness of a gausian curve.
the dean started speaking, "good morning everyone, welcome to ... ", and when he said that, there was a harsh sound, like the sound heard when you put a non-tuining tv in high volume.
and then he said, "can some one fix the microphone?".
well, it was an absurd statement of course, the attenders in charge of the mikes were no where to be found. all 250 students exchanged glances and looked around.half expecting some worker to take charge and fix it. and who'd think that ANY of the FIRST year students would know how to fix the frequency or an electrical problem dealing with an appliance they'd probably never used in the past.
there was about a 5 second pause, after which one particular boy, stood up from the middle of the seated audience, and started confidently walking up to the microphone controls.
he was about 5'5, dark complexioned, and thin. specs perched strongly on his nose.
the initial response was silence. i was in awe! to think that someone had probably read up or worked with electronics apart from giving time to crack the entrance tests that were medicine. if there's anything apparent in a medical college, the crowd contains certified nerds, of varying capacities.
and this guy, who seemed to know MORE than the rest of us. he was one step ahead. which surprised the rest of us.
this guy went up to the controls. switched off the microphone, and pulled out the plug.
and mind you, this was the DEAN of a college, who had served for more than 25 years!!
and what happened next,was the dean, nonchalant about what happened, continued with the orientation.
and that was how first year began...
that is inspiration enough to write more!
and yes, a note about the mangalore rains...
DAMN them!!
the first day of colllege as you all know, is when the orientation happens.
of course, there are curious eyes all over, nervous, initial introductions.. some not so good. and others warm and friends hitched up by a moments noitce.
we were all in this huge hall, that was in bejai, where the classes occur and beginning to weather ourselves to the mangalore humidity.andthe dean was about to lecture us.
now the mke and the speakers, were in a terrible shape. once someone speaks into the mike, there'd be spiking high pitched noise that would follow the loudness of a gausian curve.
the dean started speaking, "good morning everyone, welcome to ... ", and when he said that, there was a harsh sound, like the sound heard when you put a non-tuining tv in high volume.
and then he said, "can some one fix the microphone?".
well, it was an absurd statement of course, the attenders in charge of the mikes were no where to be found. all 250 students exchanged glances and looked around.half expecting some worker to take charge and fix it. and who'd think that ANY of the FIRST year students would know how to fix the frequency or an electrical problem dealing with an appliance they'd probably never used in the past.
there was about a 5 second pause, after which one particular boy, stood up from the middle of the seated audience, and started confidently walking up to the microphone controls.
he was about 5'5, dark complexioned, and thin. specs perched strongly on his nose.
the initial response was silence. i was in awe! to think that someone had probably read up or worked with electronics apart from giving time to crack the entrance tests that were medicine. if there's anything apparent in a medical college, the crowd contains certified nerds, of varying capacities.
and this guy, who seemed to know MORE than the rest of us. he was one step ahead. which surprised the rest of us.
this guy went up to the controls. switched off the microphone, and pulled out the plug.
and mind you, this was the DEAN of a college, who had served for more than 25 years!!
and what happened next,was the dean, nonchalant about what happened, continued with the orientation.
and that was how first year began...
2 incidents
alright. its gonna be quite a while before i write again. just two incidents in my mind that i thought i had to mention here.
just back from bangalore. its quite amazing how the city can seem different to you at different times of your life. be it a teenager, adolescent or adult.
anyway, there's this best friend of mine. his name can be likened to the dude in the bible who brought the canaanites out of israel or the israelites out of canaan. or whatever.
anyway, he used to study in the nearby medical college. and it so happened that he dint write a test that was supposed to be written 2 years ago. the one on family planning, the marks of which will be added to internal assessment of the final year. and of course, it goes without saying, that that test was crucial.
and this friend of mine, is a person who doesnt care a damn bout the college or its rules. he'd walk in 15 or 25 minutes late once class starts and sit down. and he'd always do that to any class no matter what. and the prof's are so used to his ways, that they'd just give him attendance anyway.
and it so happened, that one day, he realizes that the internal assesment marks are important, and walks up to the HOD of obg.
him: "ma'am, i could not take the family planning test that was held in 2nd year ma'am because i was busy with something else. can i take it now ma'am?"
the prof: (gets up from her desk. walks a little further, and looks at him and says): " do i look like a donkey to you"
him: (answering his usual, straightforward manner) "ma'am i'm not entitled to such an opinion because i'm just a student.... but.."
and i really dont know what else he said. but this itself got me into splits of laughter!
and the second, was when our usual gang were at liquid lounge. and of course you know what liquid lounge is. once we're done eathing and drinking, what remains is who drives whom back to the hostel.
i'm usually the most sober of the group. strangely.and so what remains is me, ajith and babar's bike.
this must've been in august, and the rains still havent let up. i sit on the bike, and try starting it with the button start. it doesnt work. and so i try kickstarting it. that too doesnt work. maybe it needs a little extra power, and so we call the bouncer who's standing outside lounge to help us out.
he tries kicking it a few times, but it still doesnt start.
we couldnt possibly call anybody else to give us a drop. they werent in their senses, nor would anyone thnk of coming back through the pouring unpredictable rain and helping us out.
we decided to solve the problem ourselves. ajith and i.
i got onto the bike, and ajith sat behind. we managed to push it to the slope of the road beside lounge.
we let gravity do the work. the bike rolled down the hill and seemed to go smoothly untill it gently stopped.
we got off the bike, and started pushing it. ajith started pushing the bike from behind and we managed to get past the main road onto sturrock road. from then on, it was one winding flat road, and we managed to get it past sturrock as well. by this time, i wasn't high at all and ajith seemed to get off his highness.
(lol!)
then, there was another slope beside casa grande, which we rode down, and the bike rolled into a stop again. from then on, the road was uphill. we heaved and pushed and tugged at the pulsar 180 up the hll upto kaprigudda circle. by this time, we were quite tired. we had just a few metres to go untill we reached the hostel.
we were pretty upset that the bike dint start, so we called babar to check on his bike.
me: "dude, your bike's conked man! we had to push it all the way from liquid lounge to here. had a tough time".
babar: "whats wrong with it? nothing can be.." he says as he sits on it, and tries starting it. he switches on an insignificant button on the right side of the handle of the bike, and presses the 'on' button.
the next minute, "VROOM!" the bike kicks into life.
the post mortem of the incident was of course another matter. i can just safely say that i know my bike more than someone else's.
just back from bangalore. its quite amazing how the city can seem different to you at different times of your life. be it a teenager, adolescent or adult.
anyway, there's this best friend of mine. his name can be likened to the dude in the bible who brought the canaanites out of israel or the israelites out of canaan. or whatever.
anyway, he used to study in the nearby medical college. and it so happened that he dint write a test that was supposed to be written 2 years ago. the one on family planning, the marks of which will be added to internal assessment of the final year. and of course, it goes without saying, that that test was crucial.
and this friend of mine, is a person who doesnt care a damn bout the college or its rules. he'd walk in 15 or 25 minutes late once class starts and sit down. and he'd always do that to any class no matter what. and the prof's are so used to his ways, that they'd just give him attendance anyway.
and it so happened, that one day, he realizes that the internal assesment marks are important, and walks up to the HOD of obg.
him: "ma'am, i could not take the family planning test that was held in 2nd year ma'am because i was busy with something else. can i take it now ma'am?"
the prof: (gets up from her desk. walks a little further, and looks at him and says): " do i look like a donkey to you"
him: (answering his usual, straightforward manner) "ma'am i'm not entitled to such an opinion because i'm just a student.... but.."
and i really dont know what else he said. but this itself got me into splits of laughter!
and the second, was when our usual gang were at liquid lounge. and of course you know what liquid lounge is. once we're done eathing and drinking, what remains is who drives whom back to the hostel.
i'm usually the most sober of the group. strangely.and so what remains is me, ajith and babar's bike.
this must've been in august, and the rains still havent let up. i sit on the bike, and try starting it with the button start. it doesnt work. and so i try kickstarting it. that too doesnt work. maybe it needs a little extra power, and so we call the bouncer who's standing outside lounge to help us out.
he tries kicking it a few times, but it still doesnt start.
we couldnt possibly call anybody else to give us a drop. they werent in their senses, nor would anyone thnk of coming back through the pouring unpredictable rain and helping us out.
we decided to solve the problem ourselves. ajith and i.
i got onto the bike, and ajith sat behind. we managed to push it to the slope of the road beside lounge.
we let gravity do the work. the bike rolled down the hill and seemed to go smoothly untill it gently stopped.
we got off the bike, and started pushing it. ajith started pushing the bike from behind and we managed to get past the main road onto sturrock road. from then on, it was one winding flat road, and we managed to get it past sturrock as well. by this time, i wasn't high at all and ajith seemed to get off his highness.
(lol!)
then, there was another slope beside casa grande, which we rode down, and the bike rolled into a stop again. from then on, the road was uphill. we heaved and pushed and tugged at the pulsar 180 up the hll upto kaprigudda circle. by this time, we were quite tired. we had just a few metres to go untill we reached the hostel.
we were pretty upset that the bike dint start, so we called babar to check on his bike.
me: "dude, your bike's conked man! we had to push it all the way from liquid lounge to here. had a tough time".
babar: "whats wrong with it? nothing can be.." he says as he sits on it, and tries starting it. he switches on an insignificant button on the right side of the handle of the bike, and presses the 'on' button.
the next minute, "VROOM!" the bike kicks into life.
the post mortem of the incident was of course another matter. i can just safely say that i know my bike more than someone else's.
DAY 3
manu, akshay , ravi , ghayoor, shabin and i were at the cafeteria room. at the convention centre. the nucleus of all mayhem.
11:30 pm.
accusations flying across the room. arguements hitched up out of the stress that all of us were under.
our muscles tired after running the cleaned tiled rooms that made up the halls of the t.m.a pai convention centre.
"where's the money? where are the bills? who's picking up the guests tomorrow? is the guest going to speak at this time only? what if we start a little late?
are we still going to have the session as per schedule? where are the certificates? why is this momento broken? have we some last minute invitations?"
well, if it weren't for the effort that our dear junior volunteers put in, we wouldn't have figured anywhere as organizers of an 'international' conference. thank you so much batch of '07!
and faheem as well! and suma.
but yeah, getting back to the scene on day 3.
in the middle of all this confusion, one of us gets a call. manu speaks to us, ashen faced." 3 international delegates are missing.they haven't reached their hostels yet."
then, like as though a storm was put on pause on some giant plasma screen and surround sound, we all fell quiet.
akshay: "do you have their numbers, sharath?"
me: "no."
akshay: "ghayoor, shabin.. do you?"
they shake their heads. more silence. there wasn't a word we could've uttered. we understood each others thoughts perfectly.
wasn't it our responsibility to keep track of them? or assigned members of our team to be in charge of them? wasn't there a curfew to be imposed in all hostels, as a safety measure?
what if they went missing and never turned up? what if.....?
each of us could picture ourselves behind bars, shirt ripped off and squatting on the floor.
the great indian lock up.
(gawk!)
akshay decides to inform a staff member about the situation. he'd probably know better how to handle it.
and at that moment, shabin runs in holding his phone to the ear. speaking quickly to someone at the other end. he picks something up, and rushes out. and while he does so, all of us(akshay, ravi, ghayoor and me) believe that he's got a lead and follow him. he runs out, gets on prashant agal's bike, and rides off.
now at this point, ravi noticed a few men on the road carrying rolled up banners and walking away from the convention centre.
a banner, is nothing but a poster representing the company that sponsored parts of our conference. its a huge piece of cloth, so it costs a lot. and it so happened that some of 'em were stolen the day before.
akshay having noticed this,shouts out, "oye! kahan jaa rahe ho?" (oye! where are you going with our banners?") and runs out into the street, following those people.
and i, sensing the trouble that we're in at the moment, use my micheal johnson skills to do the same.
so imagine us, with our black and gray coats, ties, and formals shoes, running in the middle of m.g road, at 11:45 pm in the night, after theives who are at least a hundred meters away.
and run i did! i managed to catch up with them. akshay soon following suit.
i shout at them.. "what are you doing with our banners? where are you taking them?"
they look a little surprised...and reply..
"your banners? these belong to the city corporation. " and he shows one of them to me, evidently belong to the corporation.
i feel a little bad for accusing them wrongly, and reach out a hand to say sorry, and we dint mean to do that.
at that moment, one of them grabs my hand, and grips it tight. he said, "tis alright, tis alright".
i smell alcohol in his breath. and there were 3 of them.
i can honestly say, i thought those ppl would thrash me on the street and leave me for dead that very moment. my heart skipped more than a beat, and i pulled my hand off, (luckily!) and joined akshay and ghayoor, who were walking a little way off to join them at the convention centre.
and yeah. the international delegates reached safely. at 12.
11:30 pm.
accusations flying across the room. arguements hitched up out of the stress that all of us were under.
our muscles tired after running the cleaned tiled rooms that made up the halls of the t.m.a pai convention centre.
"where's the money? where are the bills? who's picking up the guests tomorrow? is the guest going to speak at this time only? what if we start a little late?
are we still going to have the session as per schedule? where are the certificates? why is this momento broken? have we some last minute invitations?"
well, if it weren't for the effort that our dear junior volunteers put in, we wouldn't have figured anywhere as organizers of an 'international' conference. thank you so much batch of '07!
and faheem as well! and suma.
but yeah, getting back to the scene on day 3.
in the middle of all this confusion, one of us gets a call. manu speaks to us, ashen faced." 3 international delegates are missing.they haven't reached their hostels yet."
then, like as though a storm was put on pause on some giant plasma screen and surround sound, we all fell quiet.
akshay: "do you have their numbers, sharath?"
me: "no."
akshay: "ghayoor, shabin.. do you?"
they shake their heads. more silence. there wasn't a word we could've uttered. we understood each others thoughts perfectly.
wasn't it our responsibility to keep track of them? or assigned members of our team to be in charge of them? wasn't there a curfew to be imposed in all hostels, as a safety measure?
what if they went missing and never turned up? what if.....?
each of us could picture ourselves behind bars, shirt ripped off and squatting on the floor.
the great indian lock up.
(gawk!)
akshay decides to inform a staff member about the situation. he'd probably know better how to handle it.
and at that moment, shabin runs in holding his phone to the ear. speaking quickly to someone at the other end. he picks something up, and rushes out. and while he does so, all of us(akshay, ravi, ghayoor and me) believe that he's got a lead and follow him. he runs out, gets on prashant agal's bike, and rides off.
now at this point, ravi noticed a few men on the road carrying rolled up banners and walking away from the convention centre.
a banner, is nothing but a poster representing the company that sponsored parts of our conference. its a huge piece of cloth, so it costs a lot. and it so happened that some of 'em were stolen the day before.
akshay having noticed this,shouts out, "oye! kahan jaa rahe ho?" (oye! where are you going with our banners?") and runs out into the street, following those people.
and i, sensing the trouble that we're in at the moment, use my micheal johnson skills to do the same.
so imagine us, with our black and gray coats, ties, and formals shoes, running in the middle of m.g road, at 11:45 pm in the night, after theives who are at least a hundred meters away.
and run i did! i managed to catch up with them. akshay soon following suit.
i shout at them.. "what are you doing with our banners? where are you taking them?"
they look a little surprised...and reply..
"your banners? these belong to the city corporation. " and he shows one of them to me, evidently belong to the corporation.
i feel a little bad for accusing them wrongly, and reach out a hand to say sorry, and we dint mean to do that.
at that moment, one of them grabs my hand, and grips it tight. he said, "tis alright, tis alright".
i smell alcohol in his breath. and there were 3 of them.
i can honestly say, i thought those ppl would thrash me on the street and leave me for dead that very moment. my heart skipped more than a beat, and i pulled my hand off, (luckily!) and joined akshay and ghayoor, who were walking a little way off to join them at the convention centre.
and yeah. the international delegates reached safely. at 12.
DAY 1
6 days could be described in so many different ways. For me it was the recreation of the word ‘busy’. What were our lives otherwise? Stringing together useless clerical pieces of work together. Spared from each other by spaces of inactivity. Of watching the world pass. Undergraduates scurrying across to complete bits of work. Hospital staff moving from handling one conjunction to another
As the first day approached, it seemed as though we were at the throes of a storm. At the swivel of a whirlpool. And watch, we did. Manu of course had inundated himself with work. And jk had the task of developing protocols to how he would handle the load of work.
But when the days arrived… there was no refusing its resounding entirety.
I’m standing, coat on, looking my best. Ironed. The cloak keeping off the prying cold of the air condition. When, akshay arrives, flurried. Dr vrp says.. begin. Where’s the invocation, he asks? The chetna kids are supposed to start off with it, but they are no where to be seen. Damage control. Find a junior who knows how to sing. A prayer song at that.
10 seconds later, we’ve found someone. I ask akshay.. dude, what now? Go according to plan, or improvise. Akshay’s immersed with stuff that’s happened. A million things running through his mind. I decide to make the junior girl sing. Confirm with dr. ajay kamath. He says, no, how will the chetna kid feel? I think he’s got a point. Find a chetna kid and ask the mother whether she’ll sing.
Yes , she says. She will.
Medicon 09 started off with the tender voice of a child singing a prayer song.
As the first day approached, it seemed as though we were at the throes of a storm. At the swivel of a whirlpool. And watch, we did. Manu of course had inundated himself with work. And jk had the task of developing protocols to how he would handle the load of work.
But when the days arrived… there was no refusing its resounding entirety.
I’m standing, coat on, looking my best. Ironed. The cloak keeping off the prying cold of the air condition. When, akshay arrives, flurried. Dr vrp says.. begin. Where’s the invocation, he asks? The chetna kids are supposed to start off with it, but they are no where to be seen. Damage control. Find a junior who knows how to sing. A prayer song at that.
10 seconds later, we’ve found someone. I ask akshay.. dude, what now? Go according to plan, or improvise. Akshay’s immersed with stuff that’s happened. A million things running through his mind. I decide to make the junior girl sing. Confirm with dr. ajay kamath. He says, no, how will the chetna kid feel? I think he’s got a point. Find a chetna kid and ask the mother whether she’ll sing.
Yes , she says. She will.
Medicon 09 started off with the tender voice of a child singing a prayer song.
BIKES
an inextricable part of a male student's life in a hostel, will simply have to be his bike. its as good as likening it to that novel, eragon. each dragon rider would be united with its soul mate- the dragon, or some hogwash like that. bah! its takes quite a bit for me to read these fantasy novels anyway; not to say that i dont fantasize, but i'd prefer if it were outta my own mind than some fool writing some 'magical' story.
anyway, let me show you glimpses of what a bike can do to you.
it can give you... bliss!
my memories of long rides on the bike comes from maybe my ride to moodbidri or manipal. there's an open stretch of road ahead of you. cool breeze splashing across your face. and you're in absolute control of your bike; one twist of your right hand over the accelerator and it can propel further on the road, the surroundings could get a lil more blurred, your face would experience cooler air and you'd feel like you can direct the bike wherever you want to. like it becomes part of you.
whew! i could go on and on, but there're a few incidents that i thought was good enough to speak about.
one night (obviously, we aren't 'sunshine boys', wake up early, pray, study? rofl!) babar, aswani, pagal (prashant agal) me, hare krishna, and anagh. decide to go to thaneer bhavi. this was the time i still hadn't got my dragon as yet.
we ride to the outskirts, ie, through MG road, and towards panambur, and as you know, the road to the left, before that oil refinery/port, is thanneer bhavi.
we take a mud road which leads to a straight tar road.. now, from here on, its ONE STRAIGHT ROAD.
to the left of us, there's an inward projection of the sea, to the right of us, is the huuge oil refinery. there are street lights on either side, so the path is reasonably well illuminated. this stretches on for about 1 and a half km.(thats how big the oil refinery/port is)
we ride on, there's no way we'd go off the road, becos the street lights are faintly reflected on to the water, and we can see a few boats gently floating in the water.
after about 2 km, once the oil refinery seems to end, there begins to be, vegetation on to the right, and water on the left. this is when the street lamps end.
so whats ahead, is pitch black darkness. the only way you can move ahead, is by the light of your bike.
hare has aswani pandey as pillion. i'm pillion to anagh. and babar's riding agal.
(lol!)
so what do we do now?
switch off the lights.
exactly! switch 'em off! and RIDE into the darkness. the experience i had 2 years back was one of the most exhilarating experiences i've ever had. you've no clue where you're headed! you cannot see ANYTHING.(for a similar experience, try closing your eyes and running on a tar road at night)
the only reassuring thing is, that you're riding on the road. the only emotion that could strengthen you, is trust. that the road in front of you is straight. and you're moving in the right direction.
a phenomenon that a group of bikers commonly identify with, is the 'keeping a tab' job. the bike ahead, stops when he races a little too fast, and looks back to see if the other guys are slow, or are catching up. its a safety tip that most people follow.
anagh was riding the bike, trusting the darkness, his 'anti-social' mane of hair flying in the wind, and i lapsed in and out of panic.
then all of a sudden, we hit something. i saw anagh fly off the bike towards the right, and i was thrown towards the left. the bike skidded, fell and revved a little way off the both of us.
surprisingly, help was hardly a minute away. we saw babar and aswani rush towards us, and ask us whether we were hurt.
babar, did the 'keeping a tab' job. with the lights of his pulsar off, and in the MIDDLE of the road!
i mean! how dumb is that!
luckily, i wasnt hurt, anagh got a few bruises. but nothing happened to the bikes.
i'd probably tell you the other bike experiences later.
and also, there are SO many experiences/stories/ incidents i can relate here, but some come under the purview of
1. um, should i write about it here?
2. let me change names and write em up!
3. go to hell! i wanna know what happened.
so you guys choose. and depending on what you want, i coud possibly relate.
PS: to finish off, i heard azeb's in delhi now. and there's this little incident. he, of course, doesnt know a word of hindi, so when a person came up to him and asked him:
"yeh room khali hai?" (pointing to the room, next to his)
azeb: "khali nahi, empty hai!"
anyway, let me show you glimpses of what a bike can do to you.
it can give you... bliss!
my memories of long rides on the bike comes from maybe my ride to moodbidri or manipal. there's an open stretch of road ahead of you. cool breeze splashing across your face. and you're in absolute control of your bike; one twist of your right hand over the accelerator and it can propel further on the road, the surroundings could get a lil more blurred, your face would experience cooler air and you'd feel like you can direct the bike wherever you want to. like it becomes part of you.
whew! i could go on and on, but there're a few incidents that i thought was good enough to speak about.
one night (obviously, we aren't 'sunshine boys', wake up early, pray, study? rofl!) babar, aswani, pagal (prashant agal) me, hare krishna, and anagh. decide to go to thaneer bhavi. this was the time i still hadn't got my dragon as yet.
we ride to the outskirts, ie, through MG road, and towards panambur, and as you know, the road to the left, before that oil refinery/port, is thanneer bhavi.
we take a mud road which leads to a straight tar road.. now, from here on, its ONE STRAIGHT ROAD.
to the left of us, there's an inward projection of the sea, to the right of us, is the huuge oil refinery. there are street lights on either side, so the path is reasonably well illuminated. this stretches on for about 1 and a half km.(thats how big the oil refinery/port is)
we ride on, there's no way we'd go off the road, becos the street lights are faintly reflected on to the water, and we can see a few boats gently floating in the water.
after about 2 km, once the oil refinery seems to end, there begins to be, vegetation on to the right, and water on the left. this is when the street lamps end.
so whats ahead, is pitch black darkness. the only way you can move ahead, is by the light of your bike.
hare has aswani pandey as pillion. i'm pillion to anagh. and babar's riding agal.
(lol!)
so what do we do now?
switch off the lights.
exactly! switch 'em off! and RIDE into the darkness. the experience i had 2 years back was one of the most exhilarating experiences i've ever had. you've no clue where you're headed! you cannot see ANYTHING.(for a similar experience, try closing your eyes and running on a tar road at night)
the only reassuring thing is, that you're riding on the road. the only emotion that could strengthen you, is trust. that the road in front of you is straight. and you're moving in the right direction.
a phenomenon that a group of bikers commonly identify with, is the 'keeping a tab' job. the bike ahead, stops when he races a little too fast, and looks back to see if the other guys are slow, or are catching up. its a safety tip that most people follow.
anagh was riding the bike, trusting the darkness, his 'anti-social' mane of hair flying in the wind, and i lapsed in and out of panic.
then all of a sudden, we hit something. i saw anagh fly off the bike towards the right, and i was thrown towards the left. the bike skidded, fell and revved a little way off the both of us.
surprisingly, help was hardly a minute away. we saw babar and aswani rush towards us, and ask us whether we were hurt.
babar, did the 'keeping a tab' job. with the lights of his pulsar off, and in the MIDDLE of the road!
i mean! how dumb is that!
luckily, i wasnt hurt, anagh got a few bruises. but nothing happened to the bikes.
i'd probably tell you the other bike experiences later.
and also, there are SO many experiences/stories/ incidents i can relate here, but some come under the purview of
1. um, should i write about it here?
2. let me change names and write em up!
3. go to hell! i wanna know what happened.
so you guys choose. and depending on what you want, i coud possibly relate.
PS: to finish off, i heard azeb's in delhi now. and there's this little incident. he, of course, doesnt know a word of hindi, so when a person came up to him and asked him:
"yeh room khali hai?" (pointing to the room, next to his)
azeb: "khali nahi, empty hai!"
LALBAGH- THE ashish incident.
Lalbagh, is a different league compared to the other hostels. Lalbagh’s like a fortress. A ‘H’ shaped building, 5 floors, and a quadrangle at the centre. And there’s a narrow tar path running to meet it, and you’d most definitely see a house with the words ‘Shakila’ engraved outside, with a dog inside barking its head off to any passerby.
Not to mention how the lalbaghites responded in an equal manner. Most of you will agree that there’s nothing comparable to it. Lemme run through a few glimpses of that place:
a) Aditya climbing down from the 4th floor balcony unto the window ledge and precariously trying to get hold of the room key through the shutter window in order to get into the room.
b) That broken down sofa way at the back, where some of us were lucky enough to sit our asses on, in the tv room, that showed, many a….. ahem… um.. shows that must not be spoken about… um, here..
Tv was more of an educational ride I’d say, to those who did nothing apart from sit at home, study their books, and write their tests to get into this med college.
c) that big yellow dustbin upon which some of us sat upon after dinner and had mindless conversations about everything…
well! I’ve deviated from the point again! Coming back to ashish now.
Ashish, as we all know, was our first year CR, a subject of controversy, laughter and brotherly bonding. Ashish is a thoroughbred Rajasthani Jat. I remember his first announcement as Class representative. He stands far at one end of that huge lecture hall that is in the Bejai Campus and says into the mike:
“all the footballers, are playing the football, in the football field, so please cheer up”.
Rofl!
Anyway, there was this one night when I was trying hard to munch on some terrible chaurasia anatomy, in my room which was in the corner of the 2nd floor, when I heard a mumble.
Which turned into a royal rumble.
Ok. That sounded terrible. But anyway, it sounded as though a bunch of hooligans were let loose. I ran outside my room and looked down from the corridor/balcony and looked into the quadrangle. I saw Ashish down, at the centre, and a group of guys around him. There was shrieking, howling and screaming all over the place.
Since there wasn’t anyway, any of us could give him a taste of his own medicine, that he dispensed to us during our birthdays(read, squeezing, slapping on the back, extorting as much pain from the male areola as possible) we had to scale things up.
A few guys filled up buckets of water and threw them from different floors and into the quadrangle, and right onto ashish. Drenching not only him but a lot others as well.
And the other thing that happens during birthdays at twelve, is the frenzy and excitement that surrounds a gang of guys together. Its simply MAD. Once they get together, guys simply forget who’s birthday it is, and find some excuse to go around bashing. So here, one person would simply shout out another fellow’s name, the crowd lets go off the bday guy, and hold the other fellow’s hands and legs, carry him, and the next minute, he’s kicked/thrown to the ceiling/and has his clothes ripped apart.
The mess manager, having been rudely woken by the commotion, came out in the quadrangle when.. “SPLASH!” he became drenched with a full bucket of water thrown from the third floor.
The noise of course, woke up the neighbours, and the police was called. And few hostelites happened to abuse the police too, with the ‘new vocabulary’ they knew of the local language.
It was mayhem. One other person picked up the doberman’s( security guard) cap and started throwing it around. From one person to another. Until we found him running around for it.
Needless to say, the incident was reported to the dean etc, until we were known as ‘one crazy batch’!
More later….
Not to mention how the lalbaghites responded in an equal manner. Most of you will agree that there’s nothing comparable to it. Lemme run through a few glimpses of that place:
a) Aditya climbing down from the 4th floor balcony unto the window ledge and precariously trying to get hold of the room key through the shutter window in order to get into the room.
b) That broken down sofa way at the back, where some of us were lucky enough to sit our asses on, in the tv room, that showed, many a….. ahem… um.. shows that must not be spoken about… um, here..
Tv was more of an educational ride I’d say, to those who did nothing apart from sit at home, study their books, and write their tests to get into this med college.
c) that big yellow dustbin upon which some of us sat upon after dinner and had mindless conversations about everything…
well! I’ve deviated from the point again! Coming back to ashish now.
Ashish, as we all know, was our first year CR, a subject of controversy, laughter and brotherly bonding. Ashish is a thoroughbred Rajasthani Jat. I remember his first announcement as Class representative. He stands far at one end of that huge lecture hall that is in the Bejai Campus and says into the mike:
“all the footballers, are playing the football, in the football field, so please cheer up”.
Rofl!
Anyway, there was this one night when I was trying hard to munch on some terrible chaurasia anatomy, in my room which was in the corner of the 2nd floor, when I heard a mumble.
Which turned into a royal rumble.
Ok. That sounded terrible. But anyway, it sounded as though a bunch of hooligans were let loose. I ran outside my room and looked down from the corridor/balcony and looked into the quadrangle. I saw Ashish down, at the centre, and a group of guys around him. There was shrieking, howling and screaming all over the place.
Since there wasn’t anyway, any of us could give him a taste of his own medicine, that he dispensed to us during our birthdays(read, squeezing, slapping on the back, extorting as much pain from the male areola as possible) we had to scale things up.
A few guys filled up buckets of water and threw them from different floors and into the quadrangle, and right onto ashish. Drenching not only him but a lot others as well.
And the other thing that happens during birthdays at twelve, is the frenzy and excitement that surrounds a gang of guys together. Its simply MAD. Once they get together, guys simply forget who’s birthday it is, and find some excuse to go around bashing. So here, one person would simply shout out another fellow’s name, the crowd lets go off the bday guy, and hold the other fellow’s hands and legs, carry him, and the next minute, he’s kicked/thrown to the ceiling/and has his clothes ripped apart.
The mess manager, having been rudely woken by the commotion, came out in the quadrangle when.. “SPLASH!” he became drenched with a full bucket of water thrown from the third floor.
The noise of course, woke up the neighbours, and the police was called. And few hostelites happened to abuse the police too, with the ‘new vocabulary’ they knew of the local language.
It was mayhem. One other person picked up the doberman’s( security guard) cap and started throwing it around. From one person to another. Until we found him running around for it.
Needless to say, the incident was reported to the dean etc, until we were known as ‘one crazy batch’!
More later….
THE LATE NIGHT BIKE RIDES
what do you do when u've a little petrol in your bike. no morning class the next day. no 'mid-life crisis' to deal with. and not much to study.(yea right!)
take the bike out for a drive.
well, thats what we did. well, some of us. i dont remember who all though. but himmat was definately in the gang. cant possibly imagine an adventure without himmat.
kmc, is in one way, license to do what you want.
well almost.
so we know, and have been taught by seniors, that any time you're in trouble, mention the name(kmc), show a face thats relatively apologetic, and get away with whatever you've done.
it could be either entering through the city limits or jumping a signal or going the wrong way in a one way lane, mentioning that you're a medico, would help a LOT!
so it so happened, that a few guys, and himmat decide to go to the graveyard, just for kicks. the idea of hanging around the dead seemed to excite them.
a few bottles of coke were bought. along with a packet of chips.
among the tombstones, and a flickering streetlight over head, there dint seem to be much life, and so 12:30 pm was spent chatting up, laughing and pulling each other's legs.
then, suddenly, they heard the gate open, and in came the cops.
"yen madtha idheeri illi? " (what are you doing here?) asks the head cop.
himmat:" sir, kmc!"
what followed was "FFFATTT!" one tight slap across himmat's face. the next minute saw them, rushing out of the cemetry, leaving the coke and chips behind for the cops, and rushing back to the bikes.
and if that wasn't enough, again,i heard this in bits and pieces from the other guys, is this story:
himmat, babar, ashish, joshi and a few others are at thaneer bhavi beach. its one looong stretch of road, wth no street lamps, in the outskirts of the city, and facing a beach beyond a few coconut trees.
again , at night.
there are a few nitk fellows drinking at another part of the beach. the cops come to hear of it, probably because of the noise and come over.
and instead of questioning the nitk fellows first, the happen to question our gang.
again,
"what are you doing here?"
himmat: "sir, kmc!"
"FFATTTT!" One tight slap across himmat's face.
and what ashish believes, is that the cops dont trust that this gang is from kmc, so he reaches out to pull out his wallet in order to show the id card which says, student of kmc.
"FFATTT!" another resounding slap on ashish's face.
what remains to do, is a quick run towards the bikes to get away from the scene. just get on the bikes. and ride away AS FAST AS POSSIBLE before anything worse happens.
now each rider, has a pillion rider, that accompanies the rider for company/navigation or the lack of a bike.
babar, rushed towards his bike, started it, and drove it hard through the mud and tar, when suddenly, he heard a voice.." oye! babar! babar! wait!!"
joshi, our frail, bony, mushroom hair cut. class representative, was seen sprinting fast after babar!
babar forgot that he brought joshi to the beach!
take the bike out for a drive.
well, thats what we did. well, some of us. i dont remember who all though. but himmat was definately in the gang. cant possibly imagine an adventure without himmat.
kmc, is in one way, license to do what you want.
well almost.
so we know, and have been taught by seniors, that any time you're in trouble, mention the name(kmc), show a face thats relatively apologetic, and get away with whatever you've done.
it could be either entering through the city limits or jumping a signal or going the wrong way in a one way lane, mentioning that you're a medico, would help a LOT!
so it so happened, that a few guys, and himmat decide to go to the graveyard, just for kicks. the idea of hanging around the dead seemed to excite them.
a few bottles of coke were bought. along with a packet of chips.
among the tombstones, and a flickering streetlight over head, there dint seem to be much life, and so 12:30 pm was spent chatting up, laughing and pulling each other's legs.
then, suddenly, they heard the gate open, and in came the cops.
"yen madtha idheeri illi? " (what are you doing here?) asks the head cop.
himmat:" sir, kmc!"
what followed was "FFFATTT!" one tight slap across himmat's face. the next minute saw them, rushing out of the cemetry, leaving the coke and chips behind for the cops, and rushing back to the bikes.
and if that wasn't enough, again,i heard this in bits and pieces from the other guys, is this story:
himmat, babar, ashish, joshi and a few others are at thaneer bhavi beach. its one looong stretch of road, wth no street lamps, in the outskirts of the city, and facing a beach beyond a few coconut trees.
again , at night.
there are a few nitk fellows drinking at another part of the beach. the cops come to hear of it, probably because of the noise and come over.
and instead of questioning the nitk fellows first, the happen to question our gang.
again,
"what are you doing here?"
himmat: "sir, kmc!"
"FFATTTT!" One tight slap across himmat's face.
and what ashish believes, is that the cops dont trust that this gang is from kmc, so he reaches out to pull out his wallet in order to show the id card which says, student of kmc.
"FFATTT!" another resounding slap on ashish's face.
what remains to do, is a quick run towards the bikes to get away from the scene. just get on the bikes. and ride away AS FAST AS POSSIBLE before anything worse happens.
now each rider, has a pillion rider, that accompanies the rider for company/navigation or the lack of a bike.
babar, rushed towards his bike, started it, and drove it hard through the mud and tar, when suddenly, he heard a voice.." oye! babar! babar! wait!!"
joshi, our frail, bony, mushroom hair cut. class representative, was seen sprinting fast after babar!
babar forgot that he brought joshi to the beach!
BIRTHDAYS-boys-KAPRI
what does a birthday remind you of? cakes? gifts? love?
we at kaprigudda and formerly lalbagh, mens and boy's hostel respectively, receive love of the physical kind as friendly pats on the back.
and kicks on the behind.
and what could that possibly leave the birthday boy with?
1. insomnia.
2. a hematoma on the thigh.
3. tingling and numbness sensation on the leg.
4. incapacitated for the day.
5. red marks all over his body
6. make him regret the day he was born.
well, of course there's the cake. but thats a different matter altogether.
lemme tell you bout how a birthday eve turns out.
5 pm: the birthday boy is met with smiles as he sits in class.
6pm: while he walks the corridors of the hostel, friends and acuaintances giggle as they see him.
8 pm dinner: people around him look at him strangely. with more than a passing glance.
a few pat him on the back reminding him of the times to come.
11 pm: a gf(if present) calls his friends and asks them to go easy with the love. its alright if she gives him enough. the birthday boy begins to have palipitations.at this moment, he is wearing:
a extra underwear.
a short. + jeans+ another pair of pants.
(which wont help anyway!)
he applies lignocaine cream on all the essential parts. ( a painkiller)
at around 11 thirty, while he's inside his room, there's a knock on the door. he wouldnt open with the first knock anyway.. then it would turn into a thump, and before you know it.. the people outside would literally break the door down with the noise.
by this time, our friend's broke into a cold sweat.
he's 'brought' out. made to stand and hold against a resistance which can either be a huge friend. or the grills of the window he is facing.
and what happens next can be liked to the manner in which goal keepers of the english premier league have their practice sessions. of kicking the football across from their side of the field to the other.
and the kicking continues for a cool 20-25 minutes, or in special cases.. lot more longer.
what ensues is like a criminal being tortured. well, the first few kicks or thumps ache, but then, he is numbed as the minutes progress.
then, the roommate suddenly remembers he's bought a cake, and brings it out to keep it in the corridor.
when he does so, all that the crowd of around 30 guys wait for is the bday guy to slice the cake.
the next moment can be likened to a scene from the amazon river in south america. imagine a herbivore(cow, deer) entering into the water, and then the next minute, ferocious piranha's rip the animal apart unitll whats left is pieces of skeleton of the animal.
well, here.. nothing remains of the cake.
thats the typical birthday in the boys' hostel. i've another story to tell which doesn't actually follow this format. catch you guys soon!
we at kaprigudda and formerly lalbagh, mens and boy's hostel respectively, receive love of the physical kind as friendly pats on the back.
and kicks on the behind.
and what could that possibly leave the birthday boy with?
1. insomnia.
2. a hematoma on the thigh.
3. tingling and numbness sensation on the leg.
4. incapacitated for the day.
5. red marks all over his body
6. make him regret the day he was born.
well, of course there's the cake. but thats a different matter altogether.
lemme tell you bout how a birthday eve turns out.
5 pm: the birthday boy is met with smiles as he sits in class.
6pm: while he walks the corridors of the hostel, friends and acuaintances giggle as they see him.
8 pm dinner: people around him look at him strangely. with more than a passing glance.
a few pat him on the back reminding him of the times to come.
11 pm: a gf(if present) calls his friends and asks them to go easy with the love. its alright if she gives him enough. the birthday boy begins to have palipitations.at this moment, he is wearing:
a extra underwear.
a short. + jeans+ another pair of pants.
(which wont help anyway!)
he applies lignocaine cream on all the essential parts. ( a painkiller)
at around 11 thirty, while he's inside his room, there's a knock on the door. he wouldnt open with the first knock anyway.. then it would turn into a thump, and before you know it.. the people outside would literally break the door down with the noise.
by this time, our friend's broke into a cold sweat.
he's 'brought' out. made to stand and hold against a resistance which can either be a huge friend. or the grills of the window he is facing.
and what happens next can be liked to the manner in which goal keepers of the english premier league have their practice sessions. of kicking the football across from their side of the field to the other.
and the kicking continues for a cool 20-25 minutes, or in special cases.. lot more longer.
what ensues is like a criminal being tortured. well, the first few kicks or thumps ache, but then, he is numbed as the minutes progress.
then, the roommate suddenly remembers he's bought a cake, and brings it out to keep it in the corridor.
when he does so, all that the crowd of around 30 guys wait for is the bday guy to slice the cake.
the next moment can be likened to a scene from the amazon river in south america. imagine a herbivore(cow, deer) entering into the water, and then the next minute, ferocious piranha's rip the animal apart unitll whats left is pieces of skeleton of the animal.
well, here.. nothing remains of the cake.
thats the typical birthday in the boys' hostel. i've another story to tell which doesn't actually follow this format. catch you guys soon!
THE VIJAY INCIDENT-gokarna
of course he was the star. who else could come close to it. anyway, lemme chart out who went on the gorkarna trip in the first place. of course, there was aditya, anagh, azeb, manu mathew, sriram, me, himanshu and.... of course! vijairam. damn! almost forgot him!
the first day, we reached the place by a 5 hour trip by train. the day was uneventful. the sand, the water, the waves, a frisbee that all of us rejoiced in.
and of course, ethyl alcohol, in different forms, as well as... you know. the stuff we smoke...
you know.. that thing.
bah! anyway.. here goes...
we're ordering food in a cafe. its 9 pm at night. and we've ordered the most exotic food available there. isreali, mexican, spanish, and with it our very own indian biriyani. i happen to order squid, cos i thought i needed the protein, and vijay, sitting next to me orders a prawn fried rice.
we were all ravenous with hunger, so we pounced on the food as soon as we got them. and you definately cant expect us to be in our senses because... well, you know.. we .... we simply werent in our senses!
vijay starts coughing a bit next to me. i wonder whether he's ok.. and ask him if he's fine.
says nothing. we continue eating.
then after half hour, vijay excuses himself and walks away from the table and into the darkness. i wonder whether he's got a stomach problem and ask whether he needs company to the hotel room to puke. offer him a promethazine. i keep one or two tabs of anti-histaminics in my wallet, just in case.
he says nothing. says he'll be fine.. and gets back to the table.
that is when we noticed a bit of it. a small swelling towards his left cheek. the area around his parotid gland, slowly enlarges to become a little bigger swelling.
well, what would we just-passed-final year-boys' think? its a local inflammatory reaction, and all of us dont bother about it, and continue eating.
after dinner, everyone takes a walk to the beach, and lies on the sand. looking up at the sky. the clouds. the darkness. or the inner surfaces of our eyelids... or whatever.
aditya's busy responding to requests of hindi songs by manu, who's.. you know.. high. and falling asleep now and then.
anagh's stepping in and out of reality, high.
sriram's almost dozing off. the good little bangalorean boy.
vijay's doing god knows what. in the sand. as it is he doesnt talk much. so you wouldnt know if he's passed out or not even when he's alive and breathing and sitting right in front of you.
and i was dreaming. as usual.
since we were falling asleep, we decided to return to the room and doze off. we booked two rooms, with 4 in each. and please note, every place there is dark, unless youre close to a building and there's an electric bulb over head.
2 to 3 of us got back. and it was then that i saw vijay's face. and i froze on my tracks. my revolving brain suddenly stopping at a signal.
vijay's face slightly began to swell. the skin towards the left side of his face became shiny due to the stretching.his periorbital area began to gather more volume. making him look chinese. the area above his lips began to swell as well.
well, it seemed obvious enough he was getting an allergic reaction. i began to get wary.
but then, the rest of us were soo terribly sleepy, that we just crashed on to the bed. vijay, too, thought of sleeping off.
but not me.
i walked to and fro, to wonder whether vj needed to visit a peripheral health centre or not.
i needed a second opinion, and so i called sriram. who was our tour guide, (to kodachadri, kumar parvat, or WHEREVER) and this is what he says...
sriram: " da, its unilateral, nothing's gonna happen, he's gonna be fine in the morning, dont panic"
himanshu." dude, someone in my family too has experienced this, its no big deal"
and i couldnt call the rest of the folks because, they wouldnt answer their phones, nor did we have any IDEA about what they were doing.
and all this was when i hadn't spoken to azeb in about 9 months. well, we're essentially best friends, but sometimes we've fights that end in period's of silence that lasts aages. and this was one such time.
my mind was racing. what if vj develops anaphylaxis? what if he develops larygoedema. he doesnt speak much as it is, what if he gets respiratory depression and passes out? he wouldnt even be able to shout for help! the horror!
thats when aditya, anagh and aditya came back.. and helped to ease my tension.
we used the hoteliers help to get an auto, from civilization( 7 km away) and come close to the resort where we stayed.the hoteliers on the other hand, wondered how food could cause such a reaction.
and if you dint know, that part of the state, had experienced at least 4 fatalities within the past month.
so the question of a casualty, was very very dicey.
so there we were, holding one torch, in the dead of the night, walking towards a small hill, which would lead to a road, on top of which was an auto, which served as the only ambulance to revive vj.
and VIJAY by then, seemed to deteriorate further. his face was grotesque, lips pouting. imagine, blowing up a baloon, and then imagine blowing up areas of the balloon so that it stretches the rubber to thin out and lighten the colour of the part that is being stretched. it was.... horrifying!
and while we were walking, vj's slipper suddenly tore, aditya quickly replaced it with his, and we kept walking. into the darkness. a small pen torch to guide us.
when we reached the hill, we held hands, cos there were huge rocks on the ground, that needed a firm sure gripping, before progressing to the next step above. after about 15 minutes, we reached the top, which showed us a mud path. we sent sriram and anagh with vj and decided to get back.
who decided to get back? azeb and me.
and with our steadfast egoes, you cant expect us to speak to each other.
but then, the night was dark. our only torch was gone. and there were two rocky paths in front of us..
and there was this eerie silence of the waves and the sight of bushes as big as humans around us...
we decide to take one path..
we walk a little further.. for about 2 minutes, and reach a dead end. a throny bush facing us.
me: "dude, azeb, i'm scared man. i think we took the wrong path"
azeb: "shaddap bastard, let go of my hand! dont be a chicken. "
the first words we said to each other after 9 months of uncomfortable silence. best friends. co-directors of 3 prize winning variety shows.
what followed was the walk down towards the hotel on the beachside. and us waiting for sriram, anagh and vj to return.
and of course, since there was, nothing to do, except , wait, azeb, decided to .. you know.. light up.
after close to an hour of them disappearing, they returned... in the dark of course..(it was close to 2:30)
vj entered the room first.
azeb, in his state, first looked at vj in the light of the room.. and burst out laughing saying..
"hanuman! hanuman!"
and after him comes, 'sri-ram'
the first day, we reached the place by a 5 hour trip by train. the day was uneventful. the sand, the water, the waves, a frisbee that all of us rejoiced in.
and of course, ethyl alcohol, in different forms, as well as... you know. the stuff we smoke...
you know.. that thing.
bah! anyway.. here goes...
we're ordering food in a cafe. its 9 pm at night. and we've ordered the most exotic food available there. isreali, mexican, spanish, and with it our very own indian biriyani. i happen to order squid, cos i thought i needed the protein, and vijay, sitting next to me orders a prawn fried rice.
we were all ravenous with hunger, so we pounced on the food as soon as we got them. and you definately cant expect us to be in our senses because... well, you know.. we .... we simply werent in our senses!
vijay starts coughing a bit next to me. i wonder whether he's ok.. and ask him if he's fine.
says nothing. we continue eating.
then after half hour, vijay excuses himself and walks away from the table and into the darkness. i wonder whether he's got a stomach problem and ask whether he needs company to the hotel room to puke. offer him a promethazine. i keep one or two tabs of anti-histaminics in my wallet, just in case.
he says nothing. says he'll be fine.. and gets back to the table.
that is when we noticed a bit of it. a small swelling towards his left cheek. the area around his parotid gland, slowly enlarges to become a little bigger swelling.
well, what would we just-passed-final year-boys' think? its a local inflammatory reaction, and all of us dont bother about it, and continue eating.
after dinner, everyone takes a walk to the beach, and lies on the sand. looking up at the sky. the clouds. the darkness. or the inner surfaces of our eyelids... or whatever.
aditya's busy responding to requests of hindi songs by manu, who's.. you know.. high. and falling asleep now and then.
anagh's stepping in and out of reality, high.
sriram's almost dozing off. the good little bangalorean boy.
vijay's doing god knows what. in the sand. as it is he doesnt talk much. so you wouldnt know if he's passed out or not even when he's alive and breathing and sitting right in front of you.
and i was dreaming. as usual.
since we were falling asleep, we decided to return to the room and doze off. we booked two rooms, with 4 in each. and please note, every place there is dark, unless youre close to a building and there's an electric bulb over head.
2 to 3 of us got back. and it was then that i saw vijay's face. and i froze on my tracks. my revolving brain suddenly stopping at a signal.
vijay's face slightly began to swell. the skin towards the left side of his face became shiny due to the stretching.his periorbital area began to gather more volume. making him look chinese. the area above his lips began to swell as well.
well, it seemed obvious enough he was getting an allergic reaction. i began to get wary.
but then, the rest of us were soo terribly sleepy, that we just crashed on to the bed. vijay, too, thought of sleeping off.
but not me.
i walked to and fro, to wonder whether vj needed to visit a peripheral health centre or not.
i needed a second opinion, and so i called sriram. who was our tour guide, (to kodachadri, kumar parvat, or WHEREVER) and this is what he says...
sriram: " da, its unilateral, nothing's gonna happen, he's gonna be fine in the morning, dont panic"
himanshu." dude, someone in my family too has experienced this, its no big deal"
and i couldnt call the rest of the folks because, they wouldnt answer their phones, nor did we have any IDEA about what they were doing.
and all this was when i hadn't spoken to azeb in about 9 months. well, we're essentially best friends, but sometimes we've fights that end in period's of silence that lasts aages. and this was one such time.
my mind was racing. what if vj develops anaphylaxis? what if he develops larygoedema. he doesnt speak much as it is, what if he gets respiratory depression and passes out? he wouldnt even be able to shout for help! the horror!
thats when aditya, anagh and aditya came back.. and helped to ease my tension.
we used the hoteliers help to get an auto, from civilization( 7 km away) and come close to the resort where we stayed.the hoteliers on the other hand, wondered how food could cause such a reaction.
and if you dint know, that part of the state, had experienced at least 4 fatalities within the past month.
so the question of a casualty, was very very dicey.
so there we were, holding one torch, in the dead of the night, walking towards a small hill, which would lead to a road, on top of which was an auto, which served as the only ambulance to revive vj.
and VIJAY by then, seemed to deteriorate further. his face was grotesque, lips pouting. imagine, blowing up a baloon, and then imagine blowing up areas of the balloon so that it stretches the rubber to thin out and lighten the colour of the part that is being stretched. it was.... horrifying!
and while we were walking, vj's slipper suddenly tore, aditya quickly replaced it with his, and we kept walking. into the darkness. a small pen torch to guide us.
when we reached the hill, we held hands, cos there were huge rocks on the ground, that needed a firm sure gripping, before progressing to the next step above. after about 15 minutes, we reached the top, which showed us a mud path. we sent sriram and anagh with vj and decided to get back.
who decided to get back? azeb and me.
and with our steadfast egoes, you cant expect us to speak to each other.
but then, the night was dark. our only torch was gone. and there were two rocky paths in front of us..
and there was this eerie silence of the waves and the sight of bushes as big as humans around us...
we decide to take one path..
we walk a little further.. for about 2 minutes, and reach a dead end. a throny bush facing us.
me: "dude, azeb, i'm scared man. i think we took the wrong path"
azeb: "shaddap bastard, let go of my hand! dont be a chicken. "
the first words we said to each other after 9 months of uncomfortable silence. best friends. co-directors of 3 prize winning variety shows.
what followed was the walk down towards the hotel on the beachside. and us waiting for sriram, anagh and vj to return.
and of course, since there was, nothing to do, except , wait, azeb, decided to .. you know.. light up.
after close to an hour of them disappearing, they returned... in the dark of course..(it was close to 2:30)
vj entered the room first.
azeb, in his state, first looked at vj in the light of the room.. and burst out laughing saying..
"hanuman! hanuman!"
and after him comes, 'sri-ram'
MEMORIES
the following pieces are going to be random cos they stand out most in our history of about 5 years...
1. when it was sriram's birthday and his hand was in a cast in first year, we couldnt possibly bash him up could we? so what was the alternative? his room-mate!!
which was of course, divya vara prasad! and that fellow did his best to resist being the object of love and wishes. i remember there were about 6 of of us holding him up, and he twisted and turned, like he was some sorta huuge anaconda, and we were wildllife poachers. but he couldnt get away... we kicked him. and we kicked him hard!
2. senthil sundaravandandandan.
i'm in my room, trying to catch the few winks of sleep that morning brings. when i get a msg from aditya or dvp, i dunno.saying, come to the balcony fast. i come outside to find a little crowd in the quadrangle that is lalbagh. and one fellow sprawled on the floor, one hand over hs epigastrium, a doting dvp holding his hair from falling across his face, and few more of us, walking or rushing to the scene.
and "according to santa", his 'key' fell down on the ledge, and santa, (holding his sembulingam in one hand) facing the balcony, reaches down to pick the key, when the next minute, his heel hits the edge of the ledge and he's thrown off the balcony and on the ground.
i'm sure ajith will say he, 'heard' the thud of senthil falling. rofl!
god, i'm sure there are more stories regarding ALL of us. but let this just be. now that we're in different places..
3. anatomy class. boring. dead boring. some tutor or godknowswho is teaching.
large class. hot. its so hard even to sleep off because we're unaccostomed to the heat.
senthil. bored. wants to get out of the place. sitting at the back. decides to crawl on the ground, reach the entrance of the class, and then slip out.
what happens then??
the door crashes open, and CPR enters.
....... AND sees senthil on all fours.
what does senthil say?
"ma'am, stomach ache.(holding his stomach).. need to go to toilet".
the fucking brilliance!
..
ok. i cant remember more. and of course there's lots. will write when i remember them~!
1. when it was sriram's birthday and his hand was in a cast in first year, we couldnt possibly bash him up could we? so what was the alternative? his room-mate!!
which was of course, divya vara prasad! and that fellow did his best to resist being the object of love and wishes. i remember there were about 6 of of us holding him up, and he twisted and turned, like he was some sorta huuge anaconda, and we were wildllife poachers. but he couldnt get away... we kicked him. and we kicked him hard!
2. senthil sundaravandandandan.
i'm in my room, trying to catch the few winks of sleep that morning brings. when i get a msg from aditya or dvp, i dunno.saying, come to the balcony fast. i come outside to find a little crowd in the quadrangle that is lalbagh. and one fellow sprawled on the floor, one hand over hs epigastrium, a doting dvp holding his hair from falling across his face, and few more of us, walking or rushing to the scene.
and "according to santa", his 'key' fell down on the ledge, and santa, (holding his sembulingam in one hand) facing the balcony, reaches down to pick the key, when the next minute, his heel hits the edge of the ledge and he's thrown off the balcony and on the ground.
i'm sure ajith will say he, 'heard' the thud of senthil falling. rofl!
god, i'm sure there are more stories regarding ALL of us. but let this just be. now that we're in different places..
3. anatomy class. boring. dead boring. some tutor or godknowswho is teaching.
large class. hot. its so hard even to sleep off because we're unaccostomed to the heat.
senthil. bored. wants to get out of the place. sitting at the back. decides to crawl on the ground, reach the entrance of the class, and then slip out.
what happens then??
the door crashes open, and CPR enters.
....... AND sees senthil on all fours.
what does senthil say?
"ma'am, stomach ache.(holding his stomach).. need to go to toilet".
the fucking brilliance!
..
ok. i cant remember more. and of course there's lots. will write when i remember them~!
SNIPPETS FROM KAPRI
himashu's pics on his profile brought up a lot of memories. of course you'll agree that our batch (04) was a class apart from the others.
the kodachadri trip for one was crazy. i remember we dint realize we'd reach that late, around 12 am. and we'd have to use our torches to trek the long journey through the mud path. i remember harsh saying, "i'm scared, anything can happen" and a reasuuring azeb saying, " dont worry, we are all with you".
kids!!
and the other incident where sriram got off his bike to look for a signpost in the jungle, and the next minute, we saw him crash down into a small ravine. and we got off our bikes and car and checked whether he was doing ok. and when he got up and stood, we all burst into laughter.
sriram: "ah, i thought there was a sign there."
thomas: "did you see anything? "
sriram: "no!"
and when we reached half way to the top, we were surrounded by a pitch black darkness. there's that other pic where aditya, anagh, harsh, anurag and a few others are sprawled on the ground. dead tired.
few people went to look for wood for the fire, few others were pitching the tent, and our very own dj with his ipod perched in front of thie fire.
as the night progressed, some of you withdrew from the circle around the fire and went and slept in that already collapsing tent. divya vara prasad included of course!
the next morning we awoke to a fluorescent blue sky, and found ourselves on top of a hill. the clouds underneath us, as well as miles and miles of forest and grass.
the kodachadri trip for one was crazy. i remember we dint realize we'd reach that late, around 12 am. and we'd have to use our torches to trek the long journey through the mud path. i remember harsh saying, "i'm scared, anything can happen" and a reasuuring azeb saying, " dont worry, we are all with you".
kids!!
and the other incident where sriram got off his bike to look for a signpost in the jungle, and the next minute, we saw him crash down into a small ravine. and we got off our bikes and car and checked whether he was doing ok. and when he got up and stood, we all burst into laughter.
sriram: "ah, i thought there was a sign there."
thomas: "did you see anything? "
sriram: "no!"
and when we reached half way to the top, we were surrounded by a pitch black darkness. there's that other pic where aditya, anagh, harsh, anurag and a few others are sprawled on the ground. dead tired.
few people went to look for wood for the fire, few others were pitching the tent, and our very own dj with his ipod perched in front of thie fire.
as the night progressed, some of you withdrew from the circle around the fire and went and slept in that already collapsing tent. divya vara prasad included of course!
the next morning we awoke to a fluorescent blue sky, and found ourselves on top of a hill. the clouds underneath us, as well as miles and miles of forest and grass.
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