Hello guys, hope you all are safe and healthy in this Corona lockdown. Before I jump into the topic, in case you missed reading last year edition of this blog, please do check Appa|My God|Part 1 .

Coimbatore|December 4, 2015 – After spending vacation at our native place, me and Amma were travelling back to Mumbai. Appa had a mild fever, so he stayed back. Before we even reached Mumbai, we got calls that Appa had been admitted to hospital in Coimbatore after complains of urinary blockage. By the time Amma flew back to Coimbatore on 6th December, 2015, Appa was already diagnosed for Chronic Kidney Disease(CKD) and was put on dialysis. During the 22 days of hospital stay, Appa was undergoing catherer hemodialysis (temporary) every alternate days and subsequently was tested for tuberculosis, jaundice etc. In the meanwhile, I enquired about various dialysis centers in Mumbai and made arrangements for shifting him. After coming to know, the only motive of hospital was to extract heavy bills, somehow we managed to discharge Appa and took him home in our native place. A person who himself walked into the hospital on his foot, had to be stretchered off while discharging. Since his condition was so bad, we couldn’t relocate him to Mumbai. Subsequenty, Appa was operated for AV fistula (permanent) at a private clinic in Coimbatore and was undergoing dialysis there.

Mumbai | February 10, 2016 – Finally Appa was in condition to travel and we shifted him to Mumbai. One day after returning from dialysis, there was an abnormal swelling at fistula area, so visited the chief doctor at the dialysis center. He checked Appa and asked about the history. Appa was a very active person, neither a diabetic or hypertension patient(primary causes for CKD) and would walk daily around 5kms. The doctor said, ‘Sir, you have been wrongly diagnosed and put on dialysis. You had a temporary urinary infection due to fever, which should have been treated off easily. Since you have already undergone over 35 dialysis, its now difficult to revert you back to normal, but I will try my best to switch you to medicines instead of dialysis. Even a normal healthy person when put on dialysis, would develop CKD subsequently.’ I never saw my Appa so dejected and upset in my entire life that day. He continued living the rest of his life on medicines and finally breathed his last on June 16, 2017.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) had estimated that medical errors happen in 1 out of 10 patients every year globally. Harvard Study conducted by Prof. Jha revealed that 5.2M medical errors happen annually in India. According to article from Department of Pharmacology, AIIMS Rajasthan, there are four broad types of medical errors: WHO reports that 57.3% of allopathic doctors in our country have no medical qualification according to 2001 census. The entire world is now looking at corona death toll, but every year millions of innocent people die due to medical negligence. India ranks first in exporting quality doctors and nurses to developed nations, on the contrary ranks 145 out of 195 countries on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index (HAQ) far behind our neighbours China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, according to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study published by medical journal The Lancet in 2018.

My takeaway points :

1. Never believe one doctor blindly, always go for a second opinion :
   When an IIT alumni like my Appa succumbed to such a plot, its even much easier to fool the illiterate people. How many incidents we have heard of mother operated for cesarean rather than normal delivery.
2. Medical research :
   Almost all diseases are related to lifestyle changes. Research about the changes to be made in one’s diet and follow them. Apart from general physicians, its equally important to know specialists in your locality. This will be helpful during emergency situations.
3. Emotional burden :
   A medical illness not just affects the patient, but also the people around him. Its very important to be strong and pass that strength to the patient which will help him/her recover quickly. There was a time when Amma used to take care of Appa in hospital and myself would go to work in mornings and take Amma’s tuitions later in the evening. So sharing of duties and responsibilities helps reduce the burden.
4. Financial burden (Survival of the fittest and richest) :
   As said, nothing comes for free. A CKD patient has to spend minimum of 25000-30000 INR per month on dialysis and medicine. You might have seen exorbitant charges for treatment of Corona patients such as one below. How can a normal person afford this.
   
5. Need for better medical infrastructure :
   Prevention is better than cure. Each country needs to have adequate medical infrastructure to sustain and withstand any pandemic.

STAY HOME… STAY SAFE…

…(to be continued)

November 28, 2019

Thanksgiving Day.. uff, what’s it? To be honest, I too came to know about it only few years back when I moved to Germany. Its celebrated mostly in US to acknowledge people for their help and support throughout the year. Personally, I would thank the person on a special day to him/her rather than wait for this thanksgiving day. This special day is Birthday!!!

BIRTHDAY… I often introspect is it a day to celebrate or to worry about the years left to do something for posterity. I do remember a professor in my Bachelors telling a student on his birthday : “Have you done something special to celebrate your birthday? Grow up and be responsible!!” Over the years, I stopped celebrating birthday only to be reinstated by my mother in recent times. I did question my mother why she was so enthusiastic over my birthday celebrations for which her reply would be simple: “Its my birthday too”.  It sounded crazy to me as her birthday was on different date. She did further say : “Every mother is reborn in a labour. It marks a beginning of second life for each of us.”  I couldn’t get to the terms what she was referring until unless I came across a video collage posted by my former colleague Mrs. Aakanksha Kasbe few months back. It beautifully portraited the transformations and struggle a mother has to undergo during those 10months of pregnancy and then grooming of the kid. Fast forward to my birthday on 15th August 2019, it happened to be the first time I am away from mom in all these years. I may have received hundreds of wishes, but still the physical absence made the day not so great.

Birthday celebrations differ from person to person. Some celebrate with family members, some like to party with friends. Some even keep their birthdays secret as they don’t want to celebrate or find it tiring to reply to wishes. Whatever it be, if possible, make a point to spend time with your parents as its a special day for them too.

So, most of you might know or have seen birthday wish statuses on my social network. Some of them have even questioned why I do so. The answer is simple. It’s a token of gratitude to the mothers for introducing such wonderful personalities in my life. Appreciate the people around you and also the people who created them. Thats the biggest THANKSGIVING gift one can present to anyone!!!

Dedicated to all mothers 

Its all but natural for a child to be more attached to the parent of opposite sex (termed as Oedipus Complex). In my case, with Amma being ever present throughout the day be it from waking you up, preparing food to accompanying you to school, teaching you, I was a Mamma child. As they say, you don’t feel the importance of a person until they are absent. YES. I did feel the same on this fateful night, 2 years back.

Mumbai |June 16, 2017 | 18:10 – As I was winding up the day’s work at office, I got a call from Amma in a panicky voice asking me to hurry immediately to home. Accompanied by my colleague on my return to home, I could sense the problem. Appa had been suffering from renal failure for past a year and half and his health deteriorated since a week with the onset of monsoon. He was lying unconsciously in the bed and the doctor declared him dead at around 19:30. Within the next 3 hours, all the formalities of taking the corpse back to our native Coimbatore was completed and as I sat besides the coffin in the ambulance on way to airport, the scenes of him landing in Mumbai as a boy in early 20s carrying a trunk box joining IIT Bombay and now leaving the city wrapped in a box was flashing across the mind. Days passed, months passed and I finally landed in Germany to start my Masters.

A year passed and in 2018, I returned to India for vacation. One day, I  was searching for a shop in a locality but to no vain and I knew that Appa knows this place very well. Without giving a second thought, I immediately dialed up appa’s number only to realize he is no more with us. A silent workhorse behind the scenes, who ensures the smooth functioning of the family unnoticed, a father’s sacrifice is understood when one tries to step into the void. Twelve years back when I was in class 10, appa suffered a critical health setback and I could remember his conversation with the doctor : “Doctor, please be frank and clear about my health. I have a young family and have to plan arrangements for them accordingly “. Probably at that time, I was not mature enough to understand it, but now I could imagine how a father puts his family first even without thinking about his health. I hereby quote the following message from my friend who is a researcher abroad and lost his father last year :

there is always a lot of thing to be done once you are home
constantly reminded of the things dad used to do
now all that you have to do
especially small small house things
sh*t! some times its like a head storm
when you come back you will know
some times while doing those things tears fall
i wanted to tell you this the very first day i had come
but now only i recall

Now, on occasion of Father’s day, words fall short by as I try to pen down the emotions & memories, and instead tears fall by. I dedicate this to all the fathers for their immense sacrifice day in and day out & also for near and dear ones who are missing them. Lastly I would like to conclude with a status update from a friend :

Dad, you used to tell me that boys never cry. I don’t cry in front of people. But when I am alone, I can’t stop myself. I miss you dad

…(to be continued)

March 16, 2019 | Saturday : With the semester break going on, day being a weekend and previous one being International Sleeping Day (March 15), I opted to begin the day late. By the time I woke up and finished my routine of checking WhatsApp & texting “gm” to my mother, it was already past noon. With great difficulty, I made a cup of Coffee and coincidentally with the weather being sunny after a long time, I went for a jog with my friends. By the time I returned, it was already past 4 in the evening and  with tiredness creeping in, I ate some fruits and decided to skip the lunch. With the rest of the evening spent in watching movies, playing piano, I finally had the strength to prepare dinner and made light course of semiya upma.

You might be wondering why this person is talking about all this? The motivation for writing this blog was provoked at the end of these activities – yes the dinner.

On other days, I would rarely think or sense the taste of the food while eating. Cook, eat, wash dishes & repeat : that’s become a routine. It wasn’t the same yesterday while eating the upma. I would sense happiness, satisfaction while consuming it , because it happened to be my only course meal for that day. It sparked a thought within me : what about those people who don’t have/afford even a single meal in a day. Is it that demand for food is surplus to the supply/production? The answer is No. According to article from Los Angeles Times and U.N. data in 2017, the world produces enough food to feed 7 billion people, but still over 795 million suffer from chronic hunger. 1 out of 3 people suffer from some form of malnutrition and around 3.1 million children under age of 5 die each year due to lack of nutrition.

Though the prime reason for the problem is poverty which is relatively difficult to solve by a common citizen like us, there are some things which we can definitely do. I mean, the consumption and wastage of food. According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, about one third of food produced for human consumption are never used. The food wasted by the consumers in wealthy nations almost amounts equal to the net food produced in sub-Saharan Africa.

So guys, while out in restaurant or even at home, think twice before you order food and before wasting them. These small steps from you will save the resources (economy & food) and help in eradicating the problem of poverty and hunger in the long run.  #SayNoToFoodWaste

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”    – J.R.R. Tolkien

 

Each of us, at some time or the other, moan at the difficulties and hardships in our lives. Some of them get more dejected when they compare their lifestyle to others. They feel an air of injustice looming over them  and God has been unfair to them by giving waves and waves of hardships, and not success.

On a Monday noon, tired and exhausted, after finishing off some personal work , was hurrying to work. Seated in the bus, the ‘Virus’ dialogue of ‘Life is a Race’ from 3 idiots movie came across my mind and slowly, but unknowingly slipped into thoughts as mentioned in the first para. My day dreaming didn’t last long as the traffic at Teen Hath Naka junction in Thane woke me up, only to see a disabled person with one leg crossing the road all by himself. People might ask what’s a great deal in that? Before I proceed, let me say few things about this place.

As you can see from the images, Teen Hath Naka is a junction of 6 main roads along with few service roads. Vehicles have to wait for 3.5 mins in the signal and cross for just 30 secs. Sometimes, lack of impatience from drivers can lead to such chaos.  When crossing such a road seems to be risky and challenging for a normal person, the disabled one did it all by himself.

This courageous person showed us the bridge between success and failure and what it takes to be, in order to travel towards the right direction. When players of a loosing team keep on trying till the final whistle is blown, we loose hopes after experiencing few setbacks in our lives. We always expect shortcuts or others to do our task. There may be thousands of reasons for our failure, but only those failures can be key to our success.  The one who works hard towards his goal will succeed. People might feel whether all hard working people do succeed? But one thing is for sure,  that all successful people did work hard for it. So let’s focus on our goal and work towards it, rather than grumbling over the setbacks.

Life gives us  plenty of opportunities to come up : the one who sees difficulty in those opportunity fails & the one who sees opportunity in those difficulty shines.

Thanks for joining me! Here is my first attempt in writing a blog. I would like to share few thoughts from the experiences, both personal & from meeting diverse people so far in my life. I am grateful to my parents for giving me a wonderful life which helped me learn and adjust to different circumstances and an opportunity to meet so many people.  I am thankful to my music student cum mentor Mr NC Narayanan whose has been a pillar of inspiration and friends, Ameya Joshi and Mihir Rambhia who encouraged me to start blogging. I would request you to please share your thoughts, comments on the blogs which will help me learn and improve.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton