My Rant of the day.........

It  is said that “Idle mind is devils workshop” and with so much free time with me there has been a constant flow of thoughts in my mind but then when I sit down to jot these my mind goes totally blank. I know that I have not been cut out to be a writer and hence may be missing the tricks of the trade when it comes to pen these thoughts. In addition to the random thoughts there few issues with has been always on my mind and those are….getting a suitable employment at Chennai itself, finding a cook/housemaid to be based at home and the third is the operation of my wife who is suffering from some bone related issues.  

Second and third opinions has been taken regarding the operation and the final conclusion is that operation of the left leg is a must and it can be done within next 6 months or so provided my wife is not facing any discomforts. But each day being a pain we have decided to go ahead with the same end December in spite of various suggestion from persons to try out alternative medicinal treatment such as Unani & Ayurvedic  and so forth. The decision about the hospital also was being debated for various factors such as cost, patient care and the expertise the doctors & facilities of the hospitals. Finally we shortlisted three hospitals at Chennai…. MIOT, Apollo & Bone and Joint clinic where we plan to get this surgery done. While browsing the net I came across very bad reviews of experiences by patients at MIOT hospital and there were over 15 recent reviews of knowledgeable patients writing about the bad experience they have faced during post operation treatment and the rude behavior of the doctors and other personnel there. Some reviews painted Dr Mohandas in very bad light which had an negative impact in our minds about the hospital..Like I had mentioned in my earlier post Hospitals are similar to hospitality industry where all concerned needs to be courteous and that instance I decided to go ahead with Apollo hospital though it is costly.

Apart from my personal issue there is quite a lot happening around me and once again there has been a storm warning in Tamilnadu with heavy showers for next 4-5 days….we have been having showers form this morning and this definitely disrupts the traffic in Chennai because of the flooding and pot holed roads……..it would be a total chaos to travel about. The other news making waves in the media and internet is the birth of a girl child to Aishwaraya Bachan…media went berserk with this news while I am sure that all over India at least 70,000 births would have taken place yesterday which has gone untold. So many controversies floating around about this baby just because the child is born to famous personality ….phew it good not be in the eye of the media!!!!!

I sure love to write more but then my mind has gone blank now ………………………

Healthcare….Do the doctors and hospitals care about the patients??

Going to a super specialty hospital at Chennai was quite sickening for it looked more like a government hospital with hardly any space to walk nor sufficient seating arrangements for the patients in various counter due to very large crowd of patients and their attendants. Most people I saw yesterday in the hospital are from Bengal and to cater to their needs the hospital authorities have even employed a Bengali to be seated in the help desk. Medical tourism is not only for foreigners but also for Indians staying in other states and generally Chennai and Vellore draw huge crowd from various parts of India and from the Middle East.

 Hospital is a hospitality service industry but then the way the secretaries and the other hospital personnel deal with the patients are much to be desired for since they carry out their service as though they are doing favors to patients. The said hospital does charge hefty fees for their services but they hardly bother about the hardship the patient is undergoing…..we were in the hospital from 10am to 3.30pm just for a 10 minute consultation with the doctor. But then if you have a friend or a relative working in the same hospitals then all rules are broken and they get preferential treatment and are able to meet the doctors even if they do not have an appointment. There have been various movements in India to curb favoritism /corruption in all walks of life and the recent Anna Hazare movement galvanized the population of India to fight against all sorts of corruption but then unless all of us have a common goal the root of corruption will never get uprooted for ages to come.

Another thing I noticed is that a doctor would suddenly leave his cabin while examining the patients and inform the secretary that he would be back in a short while but would not come back for over a hour or even longer and the usual excuse given is that there was an emergency either in the ward or in OT. The out patients waiting for the doctor has no other option but to wait in vain for the doctor to return and finish their consultation. It is understood that going to a hospital means that the whole day needs to be written off for but what irks me is that I have found the doctors to be chatting with other doctor friends elsewhere while the patients are waiting desperately to see the doctor. An incident occurred few years back in another super specialty hospital in the city….I had gone to meet the specialist in connecting with some gastro issues and were waiting in the reception for the doctor to come to his cabin but alas he was in the opposite cabin chatting with another doctor and a friend for over a hour. On approaching the reception and asking her to inform the doctor that we are waiting to see.. She tells us that doctor is busy in a technical discussions and he cannot be disturbed whereas we could hear the conversation and the laughing the cabin and they were engrossed in casual talks and jokes!!! That was the last straw and I walked out of the hospital much to anger of my wife and to this day I refuse to go to that particular doctor.

It is sellers market in health sector because of the reputation and brand image each one has created in their respective field. When we or our relative has fallen sick or have recurring health issues we tend to go to the hospital which has famous doctors in the field and doing so we have to bear the brunt of lousy service, hefty charges and so forth. There are so many doctors who are good, quite humble and approachable but then their brand image is zero or zilch and hence they are not preferred by the general public and they languish in small time polyclinics plying their practice or set up their own clinics. 

The views written above are purely my views due to the experience I have had in hospitals and in no way a negative thought against any hospital or a doctor. But the final conclusion is that healthcare in India is for privileged few who are wealthy or famous or having a relative working in the hospital!!!

A week since i left Oman ...R&R

Leaving Muscat...taken from air just after take off

Relocated to Chennai from Oman after working for almost three years now and am currently in my sabbatical break between jobs which I plan to take up in Chennai itself after couple of months. A welcome change from the day to day stressful times I had there. My return coincided with Diwali or Deepavali round the corner and it was good to be back home among the near and dear ones for this occasion. 

The monsoon rains this time did dampen the festivities in Chennai as it was pouring cats and dogs early morning and also late afternoon and hence there was no bursting of fire crackers around the city. The rains eased out in late evening and immediately the skies lit up with array of colorful burst and yes we also had some fun on our terrace. Yet I do have a feeling that the fervor of the celebrations did not match that of the times when I was young. I still remember my grandmother waking us all at about 3 am in the morning and go on with the ritual of nalang (vermillion paste being smeared on the legs) and then oil the hair for the head bath. Then after the bath we take blessings of the elders and adorn new clothes …burst fire crackers till about dawn and have breakfast of hot idilis & sambar. Fond memories and I do miss those times when the entire extended family be together and celebrate this festival.

 Few photographs taken from my balcony

Dawn with dark clouds looming

Hawk Owl

Pair of colorful Kingfishers

 

I keep myself occupied these days by reading books, or browse the net or by taking photographs of the nature from my balcony without thinking about the uncertain future ahead of me. I know that life is tough and I would have to face the challenges as they churn out and I am steeling myself accordingly.More notes will follow in the days to come. Have fun friends Season greetings to one and all !!!!

Yadon ki barat…… (Memories flooding)

I am not talking about the famous multi starrer Hindi movie of early 70’s but the rush of memories that invaded my mind while watching old Hindi songs on TV yesterday. A string of songs featuring Neetu Singh from the movies Khel Khel Mein and Deewar transported me back in times while I was very young for my connection with her starts way back to 1961. Now don’t get me wrong for there is nothing romantic about the connection as she was my playmate there (a brief encounter) 

My father was posted in SriGanganagar- Rajasthan from 1958 to 1962 and the early memories from there is slightly vague for I was too young, but then I do recollect two servants who were at my beck and call, our Alsatian female dog named Sheba, my father’s double barrel 12 bore rifle, making of manja and flying kites from terrace during the late summer and so forth. It was in Sriganganagar that I met Neetu Singh when was a 3 year old child and me just about 4 years old. I hardly have any recollection of the meeting but then my father and mother had stated this and when my father was transferred out of this town we gave our dog Sheba to Neetu Singh’s father as it was not possible for us to take her along with us to Bangalore which was about 4 days travel by train.

After leaving Ganganagar I never gave a thought about this till such time I was reminded by my mother while watching the movie Yadon Ki barat …wow she looked great and I can surely say that she was the fantasy girl of millions of young Indian men for I was one among them those days. I have watched most of her movies which had released from 1972 onwards till such time I completed my college in 1979. Thinking back it makes me smile that I was so besotted by her just because she had been my playmate when she was 3!!!!  

The beauty of the human brain is such that memories last a life time but then like in computer if you do not browse the correct section of the grey cells you do not get a clear picture even though you could have a deluge of unrelated incidents popping up in your memory. I will surely share some of the interesting memories of mine as and when I am able to piece it all together.

Back from future or is it back to future ???

Last three years has been amazing with all aspects and quality of life I have been living here in Gulf while on Job assignment. With my relocation date nearing which is just a week from now I am steeling myself to the life back home in India for there is immense change between here and there in the basic amenities such as infrastructure, power, water and so forth. Indeed it is a pleasure to be back in India for all the near and dear ones are there, but then I would really miss living here.

Potholes on roads a common thing seen in India

The first thing that comes to my mind is the sorry state of Roads in most parts of India which is pocked with holes which magically appears during each monsoon because of poor quality of materials being used while construction of the same ( each year the roads are rectified by the municipal corporation in bits and pieces..How else would they be able to earn their share of the bribe if contracts cannot be awarded year after year?). Another common scene you come across in India is that roads are dug up for some utility and then there is no repair carried out by the company or the municipality for a very long time creating chaos to traffic. One incident I would like to share here is that the roads in front of my house was done using concrete and all was well but four months later we had an excavator digging up this road in the center for laying drainage lines to the locality and now they have laid the pipes and filled up this trench with the excavated material..So either side of the road is concrete and in the center it is just mud ,and this settles down during the rains making the roads unusable. No amount of complaint to the local municipality is heeded and the residents are suffering the consequences of development. 

Roads in Gulf countries

At Chennai  when I think of driving 38 kilometer through the pot holed roads with unruly traffic to go and see my father , it gives me jitters… this drive would take me around hour and half to reach destination and would be totally mentally and physically exhausted in spite of an air conditioning in the car. Here in gulf this drive would just be 15-20 minutes because of good road conditions and orderly traffic (though you do get few unruly drivers on the way here in Gulf.)

Next thing is constant power cuts which make life quite unbearable at home especially while at home (Most offices have backup generators running during power failures). Here in Gulf in the last three years I have witnessed only one power cut and that too a scheduled one for maintenance just for 30 minutes…..Further i have never had my taps run dry during my entire stay of the last three years here...

I guess having lived there before I came here made me appreciate the benefits of working here but then most of us would have to turn back one day or the other to our country. Well I need to recalibrate my thinking as I return back to India and I am sure it is going to take a while to adjust to the bustling life there with all these shortcomings.

Old memories of times in Iraq

Recently while browsing the net I came across an article about the water quality of Lake Razaza, Iraq becoming more saline due to restricted inflow of water and immediately the floodgates of my memories opened up to the times i was working in Iraq.

After my engineering degree in 1979 I was working in one of the reputable companies in Bombay / Madras (now Mumbai /Chennai) involved in Mechanical projects. My discipline being Electrical engineering I was desperate to go back into that field and when I was offered a job as Junior Engineer Electrical with an Indian Company called Makers Development Services Private Limited(Builder and developers of Makers Chambers at Nariman Point ,Mumbai) who were contracted to build a township in Baghdad, Iraq. The lure of Petro dollars and the adventures to come by I grabbed the offer in spite of objections from my mother because of ongoing war between Iraq and Iran.

Reached Baghdad on 7^th April 1981 with a group of 10 persons after traveling on road for over 20 hours from Kuwait since all international flights terminated there or at Amman in Jordan due to the war. I have written a incident which took place on our road journey in an another note called Carnivorous Brahmin about our dinner on the road side where I got to taste camel meat…an experience. Since I was part of the mobilization team we went direct to the camp area which is within the site premises and to my utter disbelief I found myself staring at few cabins which served as our accommodation and a huge barren tract of land with no buildings in sight and few kilometers away in the line of sight was the Baghdad International airport which was being used by the Iraqi air force at that point of time. The persons with whom I traveled from India were of my same age group and we became good friends during our stay there and we have gone around most of Iraq on sightseeing and fun trips.

Most weekends in summer we take local beer in ice box and travel to Razaza Lake for having a refreshing swim and beer on the shore. This was the second largest fresh water lake in those times and we used to drive 90 to 100 kms  all the way from Baghdad to Razaza lake through the holy city of Karbala and our normal mode of transport was a 3 ton single cabin dyna pickup with mattress at the back where 6 to seven of us would be seated or sleeping. One of such trip is etched on my mind because of the gruesome incident that took place that day. We were coming back from the lake and the roads had little or no illumination except for the headlight of the vehicle and at a distance we saw another vehicle parked on the side of the road with hazard lights blinking and a little ahead of this vehicle there was a dark shape on the road. My friend who was driving the vehicle stated that it is an animal hit by the vehicle and he would take this between the wheel base of the vehicle since we were traveling too fast to avoid it…he did that and we bounced a bit when we crossed over the thing but then we gave no thoughts of it till such time the vehicle started losing power and started stalling and making noise in the crankshaft. 

We then parked the vehicle on the side of the country road in twilight and started checking the crankshaft and to our horror we saw black clothe wound in the shaft..it was a piece of abaya normally worn by women in gulf countries and the underside of the vehicle splattered with blood, bone fragments and white substance which we later knew as brain. We were shit scared because the realization had just set in that we had driven over a women who was initially hit by the earlier vehicle and we were in a place where war time military rule was prevailing and if caught in the check post prior to entering Baghdad , we sure could kiss our ass goodbye forever. Well we pulled out the bits of the clothe tangled in the crankshaft and drove the vehicle in the muddy area beside the road to hide the traces of blood and flesh and then drove towards our camp in utter silence. Cursory check of our papers and we were through the check post with a sigh of relief and immediately on reaching the camp took the vehicle direct to the washing bay and washed the vehicle clean to avoid any unwanted question the next day.

We never dared to go back to Razaza lake for next three months due to the fear of being recognized by someone or the other. Thinking back I feel bad that I had to experience this incident for we never knew if the woman was already dead or was she grievously injured in the first place . Even today this incident sends a shiver down my spine !!!!

Onasadaya........ Today

Crappy feeling this morning..maybe because of the wakeup call from Rahul who did not realize that he is in India on vacation called at 6.40 am that too on a Friday. Tried to go back to sleep but after tossing and turning for few minutes it was evident that I would not go back to the land of the nods.. so woke up and had my morning tea.

Onam being celebrated today by the people from “ Gods Own Country” ( Kerala) so called up few friends and wished them on the festivities. Being curious by nature started browsing the net to find out the reasons for the celebrations and this is what I learnt about the festival

Onam is an ancient festival still surviving in modern times celebrated the annual  home coming of Demon King Mahabali from Patala (Underworld). Onam is an unique festival since Mahabali has been revered by the people of Kerala from prehistory times. According to the legend everybody in the state were happy and prosperous and the King Mahabali was highly regarded by his subjects so much so that the gods under Indra were jealous and they approached Lord Vishnu stating the Mahabali is now equivalent to Indra now and the universe cannot have both as it would create an imbalance. Mahavishnu took up the Vamana Avatar and tricked Mahabali to Patala. By the grace of Mahavishnu each year Mahabali visits his people on an annual 

basis.

Onam falls in the Malayalam month of Chingam (August-September) and 10 days festival showcases the rich traditional culture of Kerala with Intricate flower carpets, elaborate banquet lunches, Vallamkali ( Snake boat races) on river Pamba, Thumbi thulla and kaikottikkali dances by women and folk dances Puli Kali and Kummatti kali. The central feature of Onam is the grand feast called the Onasadya, prepared on Thiruonam ,a 9 course meal have between 11 to 13 essentials and is had on banana leaf with people sitting on the floor.

 The following Malayalam song is generally sung during Onam

“maveli nadu vaneedum kalam,

manusharellarum onnupole

amodhathode vasikkum kalam

apathangarkkumottillathanum

kallavum illa chathiyumilla

ellolamilla polivachanam

kallapparayum cherunazhiyum

kallatharangal mattonnumilla

adhikal vyadhikalonnumilla

balamaranangal kelppanilla “

and the translation of this song is as under

When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,

All the people were equal.

And people were joyful and merry;

They were all free from harm.

There was neither anxiety nor sickness,

Deaths of children were unheard of,

There were no lies,

There was neither theft nor deceit,

And no one was false in speech either.

Measures and weights were right;

No one cheated or wronged his neighbor.

When Maveli, our King, ruled the land,

All the people formed one casteless races

Such a rich heritage of the people of Kerala is celebrated with lots of pomp all over the world where you have Malayalees residing and gulf having a huge population of people from Kerala is no different. So this day I have been invited to have Onasadya along with my colleagues at their mess.

Though an Indian I never really gave a thought to reason for this celebration but today i got to know about this festival. I know many of my friends would know all the things i have written about Onam, however this is for few of them like me who are totally blank about this festival. By the way King Mahabali is the grand son of Prahalad whose father was slain in Narashiman avatar.