ramadocblog

“Filled with food with layers too good!

Pack them up nice and slow dats food!

Sometimes you do not know whats in the docks!

Opening it was fun; the tiffin box!”

Potato is literally the saviour of tiffin box in the north while coconut is the saviour in the south! Just an observation really! Not an invitation of Uttar dakshin debate! 

read on!

When we were young (er!) the tiffin box was a treasure! 

Most favoured of course was the puri masala or even puri halwa! But the standard tiffin for most ‘north’ indian kids in KV was the Roti or Chappati and dry sabji!

The small cut roasted Potato were the best! You can never go wrong with Potato!

Now I seriously miss this favourite vegetable of my mom! She could do magic with potatoes! I try to avoid them as much as possible but those french fries are so tasty!

Many times she would always have a set of boiled potatoes in the fridge ready to cook! 

The boiled ones could either be cut and made into sabji for the Roti or mashed and made into stuffing for her famous aloo sandwich or aloo paratha! Oh the fans she had for her aloo dishes!

If nothing is available for guests she would simply make some aloo pakoras!

In one type of her own special Upma she used to put small pieces of aloo and that used to lift the taste! The only way upma gets my approval! Either you roast some small onions or used small potatoes!

Her aloo dum was also very famous and so was the aloo kofta! The koftas were so delicious even before she had to put in the curry that many times she had to make extra dry ones! 

Then she had this trick with bread and aloo that used to result in amazing rolls and cutlets!

So breakfast and tiffin box was her forte! The tiffin box food filled by her had so many fans! I normally had to defend her dishes and distribute them myself since that is the only way I could get it myself!

The standard dish for our train travels was the roasted dry potatoes and Chapati on the first day and Chappati with Baingan ka Bhartha from day two onwards! One of the main reasons why we used to like the train journeys was to savor her dishes! If you are lucky you will get those Bitter gourd or stuffed Karela! The Chappati would be made with plenty of oil or Ghee so that it would not get spoilt was her justification! Luckily no of us used to look like they had such an expert chef in home!

Now while she could cook Bhartha and stuffed Karela in a jiffy; we normally stick to roasted potatoes or onion tomato only!

Giving Idly or dosa with chutney is not an option since we know that it would get spoilt so Chappati with the stir fried vegetables are still the best tiffin box materials!

Miss those days of tiffin box! The two layers and the basket which used to come with it! Finally the plastic water bottle which later on was the Milton ones which were so good but very liable to get lost! 

Another thing of those days we used to love were the disco songs of Celebrity Bappi da! A quick sketch on a busy day!

 Shubh ratri! 

“The pit you dig is very big you see!
Then again it could come back to thee!
So remember that chain of events now!
What goes, comes back and how!”

Read these three incidents and you will get to know the common link between them!

A wife attempting to frame her husband as violent so she could elope with her lover!
Another spouse alleging that her pub-owning husband was an alcoholic in order to leave him and take control of the pub!
A retirement home manager who gave laxatives to a resident before referring her to a psychiatric hospital for slight dementia and incontinence!

This manipulative perception of reality is called Gaslighting!

It is the trend and in the recent times it is very serious!

read on!

We all know how children tell stories to escape punishment or even for entertainment!

I know of my cousin who as a child claimed that he saw an elephant lay egg!

Telling innocent stories is quite all right since that shows great imagination but (he he!) as you get older the stories seem more real and then the differentiation between the reality and the imagination is left to imagination!

Like in the novel The devotion of Suspect x or the movie Dhrishyam; people start even believing the ‘truth’ what the hero wants them to believe!

This is especially so when the person who makes this is very intelligent and perceptive which is a dangerous combination indeed!

This is where Gaslighting comes into play!

Gaslighting is a colloquialism, defined as manipulating someone into questioning their own perception of reality!
The expression, which derives from the title of the 1944 film Gaslight, has become popular now though the usage is now much more wide!

In the age of social media posts and reels; the demarcation between real and reel is a big issue!

The term originates in the 1938 British play Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton. The play was adapted into a 1940 film in the UK, Gaslight, which was remade as in the US as the 1944 film Gaslight!

The theme was to portray a seemingly genteel husband using lies and manipulation to isolate his heiress wife and persuade her that she is mentally ill so that he can steal from her!
One of the husband’s tricks is to secretly dim and brighten the indoor gas lighting, insisting his wife is imagining it! This is where the name comes from!

In the recent times the relationship between partners has been an issue with Gaslighting coming into the forefront!

Gaslighting is now a strategy that is intended to break down the trust you have in your memory, instincts and self-esteem. It can make you doubt yourself and depend more on the “objective” perspective of your partner – while in reality, they are taking care of only their best interests!

There are apparently different types of gaslighting…

Outright Lying is the first where the abuser lies to their victim even when there’s evidence to the contrary. Then you have Coercive gaslighting which involves using force, punishment, or threats to manipulate the victim.
Then you have the Scapegoat gaslighting when the gaslighter deflects blame onto someone else to avoid having to take responsibility or to escape damage to their relationship, reputation, or power!

You also have the questioning of reality! Which is also known as reality manipulation, and this type of gaslighting is especially harmful to the victim’s mental health, because it sows self-doubt and confusion. Finally you have the Trivializing which refers to minimizing or dismissing the victim’s feelings, accomplishments, or experiences.

It has been suggested to be an abusive behaviour and can be a sign of more frequent and worsening abuse to come.

In this context you must know about DARVO!

DARVO stands for Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim Offender!
It’s a series of actions used by a perpetrator as a defence mechanism when their unkind behaviour is questioned or called out. It works to confuse you and your sense of reality!

The first is of course Denying your memory or perception of an event which obviously is gas lighting. Denying can be direct or with a story with added created incidents.

Then comes the attack that tries to break down your credibility and finally comes the blame shifting. This is where the perpetrator manages to make you out as the one at fault!

Guess when a term introduced in the 1920s gets famous in more than a hundred years later, you often wonder whether you have progressed or regressed! Its all gas! But it’s all talent when it comes to celebrity Usha Uthup!

Now turn off the light and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

“The cough is bad, yes it’s sad…
The patient said to the doctor looking lost like in Rome!
But you look fine to me says the doc!
Oh! Tis not me with cough but my wifey at home!”

You are seriously examining one patient and in the middle you get a question from the bystander, “Doctor, cough is very persistent”

You suddenly get shocked that the person never spoke about Cough; persistent or not!

Then you realise that he or she is speaking about himself or herself!!

Welcome to the world of side consultation!

read on!

Remember that in this day and age, it is difficult to spend time and effort to come with a patient for his or her visit to the doctor!

So it is natural that some ‘incentive’ is sought!

When a bystander is not very forthcoming then it is actually ok since only the patient knows what he or she feels!

The bystander would only repeat what the patient says or many times confuse the patient more!

A big issue is that suddenly the bystander feels that he or she is an important part of patient’s life and asks questions which the patient had already asked or you had already explained to the patient in this or the last visit!

Of course when suddenly a payment is needed you can see the disappearing act!

But the most difficult scenario is the side introduction of the bystander as a patient!

Since I have been in a government hospital before, this was not an issue since everyone is seen there as a patient and like a triage we have to select the ones who are more serious.

In a private or a corporate hospital though you have to tread the lines very carefully!

Suddenly they would stretch their ears to be examined by you in the same line of examining the patient or draw out their chest and may be cough a bit!

It is a big dilemma since as a Human/doctor you cannot refuse to examine but as a doctor in a corporate or a private hospital, examining without a proper consultation entry is not only wrong but it is also illegal!

Yes! It is illegal!

This is because when the patient makes the payment and his or her name is registered in your system; the very fact that he or she is making the entry means that he or she is consenting to be examined by the doctor!

Also the fact that his or her name is generated in the system with or without a payment means that now the consent is ‘official’!

Only after such a procedure can you examine the patient. In fact if you have to do any additional procedure and process; you have to add another layer of consent and only then you can do the procedure!

Even if you are not charging any fees like say in a medical camp; there still must be a registration which is like the official consent!

This is the first major issue of side consultation!

Another most important thing is that you will never have full attention on his or her symptoms! It will get mixed with the original patient and be a big mess!
On top of that if the bystander actually needs a medication then what can be done! You cannot simply add his or her medication or test on the original patient’s list and tell; right, the numbers 1 to 4 is for the patient while the 5 to 7 is for your bystander! It does not work that way!

This is where experience is a big issue! No bystander would ever ask such doubts to a senior doctor who is always serious or irritable! It is usually for the junior ones or those who seem a bit too friendly!

The best thing is to gently urge them to register or if you are lucky ‘meet’ another specialist. It is a difficult task in most cases but rest assured, if the problem is severe enough for the patient it is obvious that he or she would consult properly as soon as possible!

Your aim is usually to slowly get all the attention which has been distracted to be back on the ‘original patient’ as soon as possible! It will be like a tug of war going back and forth and you have to win at all cost! If the symptom is mild which it usually is then the ‘reset’ back to the patient would be faster! If the symptom is severe or the bystander is persistent then it is a difficult task indeed!

Some would generously say that they will register and then you will have a gasp of relief! It is also possible that they would have been testing you with the test subject of the ‘original patient’ to see if you are ‘worthy’ enough to be spent money and consulted or not! Then all is well!

If you do see and announce all is well, then it is actually an ‘act’ because everyone knows that it was only a superficial consult! Unfortunately if you see without registration it could be reported to the management and they may not be ‘patient!’

Then again if you outrightly refuse, then you can expect a review of being a rude and unpleasant doctor! It is a proper double edged sword and there is no escape without some cut!

But all said and done, the side consultation is akin to meeting doctor in the middle of the hallway or a lift and then asking about your symptom! It does not work! It is always better to seek a proper consultation which shows how serious anyone is about his or her health!

I still remember how one day in the examination chamber of my chief where forget doctors, even patients would not dare to speak much; one bystander suddenly tracked a side ear block and pain consultation! We were all shocked on how chief would react!

He calmly told him to ‘go’ with the junior doctor which was ‘me’ and told ‘him’ to register and do a couple of tests along with an x ray and hearing assessment! It took him half a day and some big ‘amount’ to get everything done! After all that when he went back to the chief with all the reports and now with the upgraded post of a proper patient; the chief merely glanced at the reports and stated, “everything is normal! No need to do anything more!”

I had never seen a patient so upset on being told that he or she was normal! But I am sure that he would never do a ‘side’ consultation in his or her life again!

That is the power of experience! Experience also reminds me of the famous poet of an even more famous son who also had a not so famous grandson! Ok ok, the celebrity is Harivansh Rai Bachchan!

One of my most effortless sketch done in less than 5 minutes in heavy rush but luckily no side consultation!

Have a good night!

Shubh Ratri!

“I may be round but I can make you small!
Course if you Respect me then you can be tall!
Add me in front and twil be a great fall!
I am zero! Beware of me you all!”


Do you know the contribution of India to Mathematics is literally and practically; ZERO!

Now do not think too much!

We are the inventors of the number which can make you a prince or a pauper with just its position! The ZERO!

read on!

Mathematics and india and kids simply gel together!

Mathematics is a subject of divine quality is my take! Everything is so perfect!

One of the few areas where you have an absolute! There may be so many different ways to reach the solution but there is only one answer!

It is like SARVA DEVA Namaskaram…which means that you can pray to so many or any gods but the final prayer reaches the ONE!

Another amazing character of Mathematics is the fact that you can immediately tell how much you are going to score in any examination!

While studying, when I used to feel sleepy, I used to solve some mathematical equations and the joy of seeing the solution used to make me so happy and of course awake!

Of course since I never pursued engineering examinations, Mathematics was only simple and a joy! I am sure if it was a compulsion, it would have been not so tolerable!

I used to love finding the X! Specially since I never had one!

But remember that the whole symbols and numericals we use all over the world today are Indian origin! They are so unique and efficient so much so that even computers used the same numericals!

In the classical period of Indian mathematics important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara II, Varāhamihira, and Madhava.
The decimal number system in use today was first recorded in Indian mathematics!

Ancient and medieval Indian mathematical works, all composed in Sanskrit, usually consisted of a section of sutras in which a set of rules or problems were stated with great economy in verse in order to aid memorization by a student.

This was followed by a second section consisting of a prose commentary (sometimes multiple commentaries by different scholars) that explained the problem in more detail and provided justification for the solution.

One of our most important contribution was ZERO!

So in the 7th century a man known as Brahmagupta, developed the earliest known methods for using zero within calculations, treating it as a number for the first time!

The use of zero was inscribed on the walls of the Chaturbhuj temple in Gwalior, India. Carved into a wall the numbers 270 and 50 can be seen today and have been established as the second oldest recorded zeros in history!

The city of Gwalior was designed so that the gardens around the temple were large enough so that each day the gardens would produce enough flowers to create 50 garlands for the employees of the temple!

What we now call zero in English, Brahmagupta named “shunya” or “sunya”, the Sanskrit word for emptiness or nothingness!

So when you are asked the contribution of India in mathematics and later technology you can proudly say zero! Talking about technology brings into mind this amazing tech show I used to love watching! The best part of that was the birthday celebrity Yash Pal!

Now zero in your bed and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

“He looked like him twas not a whim!
Same eyes same look! He was shook!
Then the movement made it clear!
He was looking at a mirror! “

Do you know how an algorithm helped reunite a child with his parents after almost ten years of being kidnapped!

A remarkable true story indeed!

read on!

One of the most common themes of many old movies was the brother or sister or even the parents getting separated in a fair or MELA!

Then how they grow up and in the end they all meet for a grand reunion!

I think one of the foremost movies on that note was the movie WAQT! How one brother even goes to the point of injuring his own brother till he sees the BACHPAN or childhood photo!

Some of the reunions come with amazing emotions like boxing and uttering the name like in Jhonny mera naam! Or some have a Tattoo or some body mark!

The ultimate fun was when in the movie Angoor when Sanjeev Kumar tells to his twin; “Do you have a ’til’ or ‘mark’ on your body?” and when the twin surprisingly says no! He replies, “even I do not have then we are brothers!” The fact that they were identical twins was not enough!
That was the best satire to the theme of reuniting with long lost brother and finding them with a tattoo!

In one movie called Amar Akbar and Anthony; the father meets his long lost son by a toy gun hidden on the ground! The exasperated father asks him, “you remember the toy you had hidden so many years back! But you do not remember you own father who gave you the toy in the first place!” It was emotional then but seriously funny now! I am actually thinking how careless the mother would be to lose all her three children on the same day!

Of course the best reunion of brothers has to be the Yaadon Ki barat! I just love that song and the brother’s meeting on the stage with the eldest brother watching and crying on the side! Dharm paji played that role to perfection! Iu have seen that movie even in Tamil and Telugu! Goosebumps all the time!
When that movie was shown in DD, everyone was humming the song the next day!

Many families wanted to get separated so that they could later get reunited with this song! Ok Ok! I am joking but still that song really worked!

Now that was movies, fun and entertaining and ‘paisa wasool!’; but ( he he!) this story mentioned in the Novel Nexus by Yuval actually shows the positive side of the AI!

So in 2009, a criminal gang abducted three-year-old Gui Hao while he was playing outside his parents’ shop in Sichuan province, China.
The boy was then sold to a family in Guangdong province, about 1,500 kilometres away.
In 2014, the leader of the child-trafficking gang was arrested, but it proved impossible to locate Gui Hao and other victims. ‘The appearance of the children would have changed so much, explained a police investigator, ‘that even their parents would not have been able to recognise them’!

In 2019, however, a facial recognition algorithm managed to identify the now thirteen-year-old Gui Hao, and the teenager was reunited with his family!

To correctly identify Gui Hao, the Al relied on an old photograph of his, taken when he was a toddler. The Al simulated what Gui Hao must look like as a thirteen-year-old, taking into account the drastic impact of maturation as well as potential changes in hair colour and hairstyle and compared the resulting simulation to real-life footage!

In 2023, even more remarkable rescues were reported. Yuechuan Lei was abducted in 2001 when he was three years old, and Hao Chen went missing in 1998, also at age three!

The parents of both children never gave up hope of finding them. For more than twenty years they criss-crossed China in search of them, placed advertisements and offered monetary rewards for any relevant information. In 2023, facial recognition algorithms helped locate both missing boys, now adult men in their twenties!

Remember those apps which show how you look older or younger? Well, now apparently they are pretty accurate! Ok when you are old may not be pretty though! Then again looks are not everything for those who do not have looks! The fact of the matter is in the matter! And the roles that matter! Like the ones played by celebrity Veerendra Saxena! Just the right amount without much fuss!

Now play some Yaadon ki barat and sleep!
Shubh ratri!

“It moves round and round
The machine is cool and makes this sound!
It can mend any cloth just give it a try!
Course it can’t mend a broken heart, now don’t cry!”

One of the most marvellous machines we all used to have in our homes was the majestic sewing machine!

Did you know that it was literally a dream!?

read on!

Those days the best time pass for housewives was embroidery!

A stitch in time literally saves more than a dime!

The clothes we used to get used to have long sleeves which had to be stitched! Those days we used to outgrow our school uniforms at the drop of a hat!

Which is why we were always given oversized pants and shirts which we would soon ‘grow’ into!

If the pants become short then mom used unfold the bottom and fold them again and stitch them over! Then we would apply iron over it to ‘hide’ the previous fold!

The shirt pocket of the spot white uniform was the first to come off!

If you have not used the shirt for long you can simply rip the whole thing out but then if it is even a little old then the part of the shirt behind the pocket would be cleaner than the rest of the shirt! Then it would stand out like a, well torn pocket on a white shirt!

So we would carefully preserve the shirt pocket in our pant pocket and give it to mom who would stitch them back! If by mistake she forgets to change the thread then it is a disaster! The lining would be another colour which would again stand out!

During the holidays mom would mend the curtains and other torn clothes which still looked usable!

Sometimes dad would take it up and do a great job too! Since it was basically a machine, he was pretty good at it!

I used to marvel at that machine! How the pedalling used to spin the whole contraption! How occasionally the belt used to come out and we used to put it back in! Sometimes the belt would break and then my dad would repair that and fix it back much to the delight of his audience which was usually my brother and me!

Occasionally he used to put the oil in the central place and the sound would reduce and the machine would be more smooth!

It used to be a delight to see how the needles used to go up and down and how the machine gobbled up the separated clothes from one side and then join them up! Things like bobbin and threads were the technical terms we used to be proud of knowing!

Even placing those things and re threading the needle was an expert work done by mom and dad to their amazed fans!

Later on though they got a motor which used to get connected to the machine and the need for pedalling was not there! We were almost sad to see the pedal go!

Each posting we used to go, we used to eagerly wait for the sewing machine to get delivered and assembled! After assembling all other things when the sewing machine used to get assembled we knew that we had settled in the new house albeit temporarily!

Till the last, my mom used to do some stitching or the other though the major work was usually done by dad. The amount of stitching she had done on her favourite gown was incredible! This in spite of having so many new ones!

Of course one day the machine became silent; forever…still the memories of that constant railway track like sound makes me smile…

Now of course the stitching is limited to needle and thread and smaller things like a button or so which usually my daughter and I do in our house! The other day I was searching for a needle in the house realising that mom would have kept it in that little shelf of her sewing machine! My daughter has started even the woolen stitching which of course is another blog!


But (he he!) what is truly incredible, is that the idea for the sewing machine came to inventor Elias Howe in a dream in 1845!
He had been musing over the idea of a machine with a needle that would go through cloth, but hadn’t managed to figure out exactly how it would work.

However, a particularly lucid dream saw him about to be cooked by cannibals, while they were dancing around a fire, waving their spears!
He noticed that at the top of each spear was a small hole, with the up-and-down motion of the spears and hole remaining fixed in his memory when he awoke!
He realised that this could be the key to a machine that would work – having the hole in the needle close to the point, instead of the traditional other end, which enabled the mechanical sewing machine to become a technological possibility!

Dream also was the coming together of Deadpool and wolverine! The movie was good one time watch! A quick sketch on a busy day and when under the weather…

Now need sleep so bad!
Shubh ratri!

“Bio chemistry maths and physics!
All are core and then there’s civics!
Oh the streams they are a ton!
Mebbe be a dancer, now dats fun!”

The amount of choices children have nowadays to choose and decide what they want to be is a complicated issue!

Unfortunately there is no mathematical equation which can solve this problem!

read on!

The tenth standard Board examination was in some ways more stressful that the 12th! This is because during our time, the 10th class results decide our future subjects.

The chief in that were the two major players! Mathematics and Biology!

One was compulsory for Engineering while the latter for medical courses!

Though there were some exceptional kids who selected commerce by choice; the majority of the crowd just went with the flow!

Most selected both Mathematics and Biology while Physics and Chemistry were anyway there!

The only language was English which was selected by default!

The only crux was that you need to score at least some cut off marks to select these subjects in the 11th grade. Even if you take some other syllabus like the state, you still need to have good score in the 10th to get selected.

Now children have so many choices and many of them are so clear on what they want to be! The training and coaching starts as early as possible and their path is clear at least for them! Of course the subjects are similar but then you have more choices and streams to select now!

There are so many different fields to choose and you have so many options, not the age old doc or engineering!

Of course with trend, even the competition is fierce since data and knowledge and information is free to everyone!

In this case you apparently can apply a formula to select what you want! Of course it is never straight forward and there are lots of variables to be considered, but in the end it is a matter of choice.

In this you must know about the Nash Equilibrium.

Nash equilibrium is one of the fundamental concepts in game theory. It conceptualizes the behavior and interactions between game participants to determine the best outcomes. It also allows predicting the decisions of the players if they are making decisions at the same time and the decision of one player takes into account the decisions of other players!

Nash equilibrium was discovered by American mathematician, John Nash. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 for his contributions to the development of game theory.

The simplest example of Nash equilibrium is the coordination game, in which both players benefit from coordinating but may also hold individual preferences.

The most famous example of Nash equilibrium, however, is the Prisoner’s dilemma problem, in which each of two prisoners have the choice of “cooperating” with the other prisoner by keeping quiet, or “defecting” by confessing. If both prisoners cooperate, they will face little jail time, but if exactly one of them defects, the defector will immediately go free and the cooperator will face lots of jail time. The catch is that if both prisoners choose to defect, they will both face a moderate amount of jail time.

Can we apply this to the selection of field or subjects…

Imagine two competing students: Student A and Student B.
If any of them do not take the field they are losing out of the opportunity to get that field!
If both take the same field then the competition is more and that is akin to deflection by both!
Which is exactly what the majority of the students do, they select all the options or ‘deflect’ and actually have a limited ‘jail time’! Which is akin to more competitions albeit with more options!

The one student who decides not to deflect or select the ‘routine’ then gets a better path! Of course only the start! What happens later does not follow any equation! Unfortunately with so many variables it is a difficult matter even for Nash!

At some point there must be an AI who would take all the options and the history and the skills of a student and finally compute a proper ‘option’ for him or her! Of course there are some algorithms which do just that but they lack the ’emotional’ aspect. That one code is missing! Once that is done then maybe the decision is smooth!

Also the person who does make that ‘code’ is set for life! Nash or not! Or maybe if you can dance then do just that! Teach the hook step of the latest trend and make not Nash but cash! Speaking of dance reminds me of the best dance teacher; Nirmala Nagpal! Her students were both Madhuri and Sreedevi! And her dance directed videos are even now epic! You may know her (in case you did not recognize by the sketch; really!?) as Saroj Khan!

Now all equations lead to the single point of sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“The lockdown the fear
It was not long ago but very much near!
The scare of life so delicate so tender
Was that all real sometimes I do wonder!”

The other day in my timeline of FB I came across the blog I had written about when we were under lockdown and under the attack of COVID!

Will share it some day but got me thinking of how we survived that!

After some years it may be difficult to imagine the days spent in anxiety! The medical tests and the nose swab!

At least we humans normally help each other! But did you know that in the wild if you find an animal with healed fracture that means something very special!?

read on!

The first time when lockdown was announced in the end of March 2020; it did not affect us much since we were medical personnels and we had to anyway continue our work!

Slowly over the weeks as the cases rose and the toll began, then the seriousness of the whole pandemic hit us in the face!

We had designated areas in the house where we used to come first after the hospital visit and clean ourselves!

After doing a COVID positive case in those early days we were asked to immediately discard the disposable robes and take bath right there in the hospital and leave!

The face mask used to fog so I used to use the ones with the filters and used to look like a robot! Doing surgery especially emergency like septal hematoma drainage or the most common surgery done during those days which is Tracheostomy was not easy! We had to do them fast and scream within the mask!

Even regular OP was not usual with the distance maintenance and masks! So many times I would have told the patient who would be literally coughing without any tissue to use one or at least do it away from my face!

Those were the days when the Telemedicine took wings! So much so that in the peak of my consultation I would have ‘seen’ about 40-50 patients everyday! Thank god for great internet connection and a good phone!

Still remember how in the early days I would be comforting everyone with confidence when actually we did not know much in terms of treatment!

Then the study of CT scans and the blood tests and the value interpretation became the norm!

We were also part of the volunteer doctors who used to aid people in direction and guidance for the proper treatment and assessment of severity!

Now all these feels like a dream! The only good thing was the great drive! Since the road was empty, it was a breeze to drive and we loved it!

Of course helping one another and healing is the only way you can defeat any pandemic!

On that notion it has been found that if you have a group of animals and one of the animals has a long bone fracture which has healed; this means that the animal was well taken care of by other members!

This is because in the wild, a fracture or even an injury is actually a death sentence! There is no place for a weak animal in the wild! The predators and the scavengers would just pounce upon you! The youngest, weakest and the injured can only survive with help!

So if animals can do it then I guess Humans must too! All that mushy sentimental talks reminds me of Birthday celebrity Rajkumar “Raju” Hirani!

Now think of those days with nostalgia and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“Orange and blue maybe some cola too!

Sweet like honey, lots of cavities too!

All that juice we used to drink nay a thought! 

Don’t be alarmed if they put ya in a spot!”

Do you remember Rasna!?

Those days having a party means having Rasna!

read on!

The ads for rasna used to be so misleading! The way they used to show that the drink is so easy to make and so tasty!

You had to put insane amount of sugar to make it sweet or else you get this tingly metallic taste!

The concentrate and the mix were two components we were supposed to mix with water and drink!

How the small pack was ok for at least ten people though we would dilute it further and make it twenty!

Of course when someone does not drink it then we would have double taste!

I never liked that drink except for the cola flavour which of course was a competition to the carbonated drinks!

The best part about the drink was that when it used to get left over we used to put it in plastic disposable cups and freeze it! And voila we have instant popsicle! Of course at the time we did not know that was the name!

Then by default the next day all the kids who initially would show off their orange or black tongue instantly would then be having sore throat and cough!

Of course as kids we thought it was worth it!

One of the main issues with rasna was that the thick heavily coloured concentrate was like a dye! Even if one drop leaked out, it would stain your hand and maybe your dress! If any of the kids were making the mix then that is inevitable!

You can tell that the kid has made or drank rasna by just looking at his or her hands!

Party and juice is a dangerous combination because of this! The best juice even now is simple lemon juice with a little salt and plenty of sugar! Maybe add some soda and that is the best!

Unfortunately even that does not suit me now! 

Used to even love the rose sherbet! Mix it with milk and that was the best way to drink milk! Then again it was ridiculously sweet and red! No way that was natural whatever the label says!

It is the same with all the squash which used to go around in shops and everywhere else! You had to put so much water and tons of sugar to make them drinkable! 

Then you have the juice cartons! The real mango or apple or orange ‘juice’! One of my friends who had a farm used to tell us how they used to sell their old rotten overripe and worm infested fruits to the ‘juice’ companies who used to mix them and make the juice! After that I have never had the urge to drink another one!

In our medical college there used to be a famous juice shop who used to make this juice called the combo! It was two glass of lime juice and soda! It used to be a hit since with the price of one, two can share the juice though most liked to drink both!

The best thing about lime juice is that only when it is fresh it does not taste bitter! There are some exceptions but this was more or less the case!

As far as the history goes the first marketed soft drinks appeared in the 17th century as a mixture of water and lemon juice sweetened with honey. 

While the first artificial soft drink was by Schweppe followed by Dr Pepper and Coke! 

In India Coke also came as Parle Cola or the Gluco Cola! 

For a while carbonated drinks were a rage even so much so that some went ahead and got the soda maker to make the drinks at home! Then again after some time it fell flat in all ways!

You like soft drinks only till the time you have a restriction in its use! If you are allowed free access, then you may not have the thrill or the fizz so to speak! In the place I live, soft drink is like water! There is no special thrill or craze since it is always there! 

Of course finally as you grow older you will realise that the tastiest and the best drink which no one had any restriction to use and will always be the best drink, is…WATER! Drink and ok not water but still the glass reminds me of the famous Premnath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath in Karz who ‘speaks’ by tapping his fingers on the glass! Epic movie you can enjoy!

Now drink warm water and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

“What do you want to be when you grow up?
Asked the father to his lil buttercup!
The kid thought and said future I cannot see!
But all I want is you to be proud of me!”

My son got me this mechanical pencil which I used to skecth when he went on a picnic from his school! Made me happy and proud!

Most of the time the son would always look up to his father (now daughter and mother is a discussion for another day!); and would always want his father to be proud of him! His quest is usually to impress his father since Mother’s are usually easily impressed!

But (he he!) what would someone do if he had a father who had won the Nobel prize!

Well disprove him and win another Nobel!

Yes! That happened!

read on!

Physics is apparently the subject to love and is the subject which is the base for all the universe and matter and everything else!

The force between the molecules and atoms and what not!

The beginning of universe can apparently be only explained by physics and probably the end!

Physics can both create stuff and destroy!

Physics is the final say!

If my classmates and I liked Physics in the 11th and 12th grade then it is only because of our amazing teacher! One of the best teachers to have been part of our life; Usha Madam!

She was a brilliant physicist which is surprising since it was the KV! Her passion to teach was rivalled only by her love for physics!

The best thing was her acceptance of the opinion of minions like me! There was a question in the 11th grade which went something like the ‘work done by friction’ is positive or negative or something similar (my memory was never my most strong point!). The answer madam expected was apparently negative but then afterwards in the discussion I asked her, “but madam, Work is scalar! It can never be negative! is it not!” What I told her is not important but suffice to say that I created enough doubts for her to reevaluate the answer! The question turned out to be wrong! She gave grace marks to everyone!

My only regret in not writing the engineering examinations was that Usha madam would have been happy if I had taken engineering (Of course whether I get it or not is another matter altogether!).

The issue with physics for me was we had to imagine stuff!
The first thing which we had to imagine was the torque! I have never understood that! Then you have momentum! Then the fact that there are so many forces like even the Gravity which you cannot see!

There is not such problem with both mathematics and biology at that time! There was only one solution and there were cells we could see!
Now of course as a hobby and pastime, Physics is beautiful! I can finally see Usha madam and her love for the subject!

Now coming to the father and son!

Sir Joseph John Thomson theorised that Electrons were particles and his experiments and later research proved that! So much so that he was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 1906!

Now imagine if you had a father like J J Thomson! What would you do to topple his achievement! Only to make him proud of you of course!

Years later, Thomson’s own son, Sir George Paget Thomson, came in to radicalize the theory even further. These particles, named electrons, weren’t just particles, and they also weren’t just waves. Turns out they were … both? In 1927, George Thomson observed an electron beam pass through a nickel crystal, and watched diffraction patterns occur, which utterly changed what scientists thought of electrons!

Diffraction is when wavelengths bend around an object when they interact with it, and given how George Thomson proved electrons to do this, scientists were fascinated about how these unique particles behaved in this manner !

What this showed, however, was that electrons travel through the universe like a wave, but still somehow interacted with different objects as a particle!

So it was proved that electrons were both wave and particle!
George Thomson was awarded his own Nobel Prize in physics in 1937!

And no, George Thomson’s son did not try to prove that electrons are wavy particles! I think the Nobel committee would have decided to keep the Thomsons away from the electron!

Now Devanesan Chokkalingam, also known as Deva is one composer whose father and child will certainly proud of him!

Now turn off that particle or wave and sleep!
Shubh ratri!