impatience is the new life!

There is nothing as good in catching the people's eyes as are the mobile company ads- be it the Airtel's ARR tune, Reliance's kar lo dhuniya, Hutch's pug campaign,Vodafone 's zozoo or the latest " impatience is the new life" banners of Airtel all over! What caught my attention of all the above was the statement of the last Airtel ad and real truth in it- Impatience is the new life.

A day does not pass for me without having to think about the instances of impatience either by me or those around me! Not a single day goes without someone crossing the closed railway gate on the way to work. There are some real daredevils ( not the Delhi daredevils!- we have some in every city) who cross the rail tracks with the monstrous wailing trains not more than a hundred metres away, on the rush towards work. I too have been guilty of impatient crossing of the tracks , as it has become the norm. If you thought you had crossed one step, foray into the GST road ,shows the people's reluctance to wait . At least a dozen vehicles cross the yellow line after the signal change to red and at least a couple of vehicles try to cross the road before the orange turns red- its highly surprising that you do not get to see an accident everyday. And if at all people happen to stay behind the line for pedestrians to cross ( that happens only because of the khaki clad men)- just a look at how these vehicles zoom off the line - most of the times before the last guy has crossed the road- even the F1 guys could have complex!!

My most frustrating experience with the people' s impatience is at my workplace - hospitals and scan centres. Both patients and referring doctors are equal in their hurry in getting things done, even in the most non emergent of the settings. It would be a little fair on their part in case of emergencies ; still there are instances when , we as radiologists , need time to have a thorough look and sign the report.

"Four things do not come back- spoken word. sped arrow, past life and neglected opportunity"

As a radiologist I would like to add the fifth one- "signed report". Though you could get it back rarely , it definitely takes a price, especially in the form of your pride/ sometimes money.

That's what makes us radiologists especially vulnerable to this new way of life. There have been many instances , one , where a doctor asked for emergency report for CT study of the para nasal sinuses for a patient who had cold for a week . I still don't fathom the reason for such urgency

There are also patients who want immediate reports for conditions that have been bothering them for years ! And some who cannot wait for another 30 minutes or so when there is a really sick patient shifted I suddenly for a study. They make a big hue and cry as if they are going to lose a billion dollar deal ; but I can see the same persons waiting endlessly for other things (remember those days when well heeled people waited outside the gates of the US consulate at the Gemini flyover , not very much unlike beggars - I don't see them , nowadays - guess because Bush thought India became a real friend by sucking up to his N -deal and the consulate has hence become more respectful). And I guess the same people would not mind to wait for a movie ticket or for a drink at the bar

And that's what hurts me more - the misplaced urgency and impatience!- which is not only going to affect them , but also the people involved in their act, willingly / unwillingly. Hope people become more judicious in showing urgency!

This is not a spa really

Don't come to the conclusion that this is some new relaxation table or similar thing , by the way patient is lying casually , with a crossed leg

This is the good old CT scanner , on which the person is lying for a head scan.

Don't know what prompted him to strike this pose!!

Taking risks like eating rusks

Though the header is a funny line from the Vaigai express Vadivel's vocabulary, the following thoughts recorded are quite serious and useful with regards to taking risks and looking for opportunities! I read these in my favourite life enhancing magazine "Frozen thoughts". I am just recording those here , so anyone who have not had the chance to go through the magazine , but inadvertently stumble on this blog ( though ,quite a rare statistical possibility!!) , would become more interested in getting hold of the magazine and benefit from it.

There are no risks… only opportunities

There is no security TO life. Then where is the question of security IN life. The need for security keeps you transfixed in life. Then where is question of transcendence. Our comfort zones become our prison, within which our potential remains locked up. Imagine a banyan tree growing inside a pot - only a bonsai is possible. It may be artistic, but it doesn't serve the purpose for which it was born. There is security in remaining a seed whereas a plant is always vulnerable. But then, what is the purpose of the seed? It contains a thousand forests within. It is only in its transcendence into a plant the possibilities of a forest exist. If you do not dare to give up certainty for uncertainty, you will not move ahead. Growth is in giving up what you are to become what you can be. It is astonishing as to how the world makes way for a resolute soul! It is amazing how obstacles move out of the path of a man who chooses to transcend, than to remain transfixed. Throw yourself into the unknown. Make a rebellious move. Take a daring plunge. Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at. Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise. There are no risks… only opportunities. The higher and the beyond are awaiting us… - Voice of Love

In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed. People

wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there

any hope for them. Whatever you do, you need courage.

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always

someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always

difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are

right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end

requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs.

Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women

to win them. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has

nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may

avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot

learn and feel and change and grow and love and

live. Risks must be taken, because the greatest

hazard in life is to risk nothing. - Leo F Buscaglia

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in

nature, nor do the children of men as a whole

experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the

long run than outright exposure. Life is either a

daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose

sight of the shore for a very long time. - Andre Gide

Twenty years from now you will be more

disappointed by the things you didn't do than

by the ones you did do. So throw off the

bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour.

Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.

Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no

community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and

ultimately no life, without community. - M. Scott Peck

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never

have a love affair. We'd never have

friendship. We'd never go into business,

because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's

nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs

all the time and build your wings on the

way down. - Annie Dillard

There came a time when the risk to remain

tight in the bud was more painful than the

risk it took to blossom. - Anais Nin

A ship in harbour is safe but that is not

what ships are for. - John A. Shedd

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

- Alfred Tennyson

The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers

to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's

self to destiny. - Napoleon Bonaparte

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more

useful than a life spent in doing nothing. - George Bernard Shaw

I am always doing that which I can not do, in order

that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

The young do not know enough to be prudent, and

therefore they attempt the impossible and achieve

it, generation after generation. - Pearl S. Buck

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not

dare is to lose oneself. - Soren Kierkegaard

Bite off more than you can chew,

then chew it. - Ella Williams

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the

opportunity in every difficulty. - Winston Churchill

You'll always miss 100% of the shots you

don't take. - Wayne Gretzky

Creativity requires the courage to let go

of certainties. - Erich Fromm

This nation was built by men who took risks -

pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness,

businessmen who were not afraid of failure,

scientists who were not afraid of the truth, thinkers

who were not afraid of progress, dreamers who

were not afraid of action. - Brooks Atkinson

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it

is because we do not dare that they are difficult. - Seneca

The web address fir the magazine is http://www.frozenthoughts.com/

Funny cricket quotes

"He's the hooker in a team full of virgins; the drinker in a team full of people who don't drink.

Mike Atherton

Guess this is the best of the lot in the last six months, where Athers was able to enjoy the disharmony among his old foes and take jibes at Mr.Ricky on Andrew Symonds issue. The sarcasm is evident from the fact that , captain clean himself had significant alcohol related issues at the beginning of his career

“Hopefully, he gets all of them in a boot camp and Freddie [Andrew] Flintoff and [Kevin] Pietersen hurt their knees, that would be great.

Shane Warne

Shane, the maverick is not still forgiving the laptop coach for putting him in a pre Ashes boot camp. Buch didn’t comprehend that having Warne toss the ball in his hand was enough to send Poms back to their dugout( sorry dressing room -so much T20, yaar)

It's interesting to see each other's balls. Mine's, one side is a little bit rougher than Ben Hilfenhaus.

Mitchell Johnson, probably too innocent to understand this was a good fodder for double entendres. But our silly minds don’t come to think of the cricket balls that he is talking of.

There's no question he and his bowling tactics were inside my mind that series, and I knew I'd hit rock bottom when one night I rolled over in bed to give my wife Mel a kiss goodnight and all I saw was Freddie Bloody Flintoff.

Adam Gilchrist

This is the worst example of the equivalent of the work related stress. Hope Gilly didn’t duc k on seeing his wife’s face, imagining a Flintoff beamer

If you're dead you can't earn any money. Life's obviously more important than earning cash.

New Zealand's Ross Taylor

Ross probably told what nobody ever knew; probably he will make a very good self help consultant once he hangs his boot

Twenty20 is not a gentleman's game. It's like a one-night stand and not a marriage. It is a street format and the goonda [thug] doesn't know what is a late cut or a cover drive.

Ad man Prahlad Kakkar

How wrong was the adman proven in the recent IPL (remember Rahul’s, Sachin’s, Kaliis’ and Hodge innings. It was a case of bashing the T20 just for the sake of it

It's a truly absurd thing [for the BCCI] to flex their muscles in the commentary box for fear that Ravi Shastri (IPL) and Craig McMillan (ICL) might accidentally exchange bodily fluids that could eventually infect all the right-thinking people of the cricketing world.

Dylan Cleaver in the New Zealand Herald

Another fine one, which was as good as spitting on the face of BCCI- BCCI went all the way to nail the ICL as would a ruthless business house do- they had to because ,IPL was a stolen idea and only way to erase that would be to destroy the original owner of the idea!

The more mistakes you make, the more responsibility you are given."

Sir Viv Richards with his views on the executive of the West Indies Cricket Board

Laments about the sorry state of WICB; not knowing it’s the norm in Indian politics ; more corrupt you are, more chances you are given to swindle!!

There are more backroom staff than there are players out there … so how the hell does a player think for himself.

Geoff Boycott

How true is that; they have transformed a simple game into such complexities with not much in terms of addition of skill?

If I have a drink in hand, I excuse myself by saying, 'I'll just get a drink' but never show up in front of that person again.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Our captain Marvel (not exactly after T20 WC), is not alone in this, as this is what we do to avoid the PETER English in our class/ work / anywhere

He intimidated opposition fast bowlers; they might deny it, but he did. I'm sure a few of them thought about wearing a helmet when they were bowling to him. I did.

Jason Gillespie

Yeah I too though it should be made mandatory for fast bowlers to bowl with helmets lest someone die on the field hit by a bullet from Haydos’ bat on live TV

If I happen to play I'll put 150,000% in.

Doug Bollinger, before his OZ debut. I think no one ever got excited so much to quote such a high percentage of commitment - unmatched

Nicknames II

The come the Karthiks , AK, GK and SK ; all of them called smarty in variable contexts, though the name is most associated with SK. Then follows bajji’s memsaab kavitha , called meen kaari for her voice and the noise she generates(its got nothing to do with her appearance though). Following her is kundhavi shortly called Kuvi and the lean mean guy called Malli. Then comes the big one called poppy- was he called so because he was under the influence most of the time; next to him is the small fighter called murugesn , named ninjak for his karate training in the first year. Next to this introvert comes the born extrovert , who never seemed to have a trouble in starting a conversation with anyone on anything – the Iyer as nagraj anand was called. The big boys were loaded in this batch- next came the leader of mafia- I don’t think you can have a name for the gang leader Naveen chow.

Next was my chris friend , who was called mini( short for Padmini) , but her smile was big, I guess?! Then came the guy with looks of a gentleman even in his first year; and the way he was serious about his studies earned him the title of Professor directly!! Following him was another hunk , Prashanth who didn’t feel hurt at being called a bihari! Following him is a present day colleague, who didn’t have a flattering name thanks to her “cylinder”ical appearance – sorry about the physical comment – but she now looks a lot leaner, but I guess she has lost the smile and mischief in her eyes nowadays. Then was Priyadarshini , called paatti , probably for the way she could keep on talking ( but what I hear now is she does not have much time to say even a hi to her friends!). Next come the guys who were responsible for most of these names- rajan and mahendran. Rajan could not be given any other name than EP for fear of retaliation; but mahendran was not to be spared, though he was one guy , whom you never wanted to be on the wrong side, he was called minnal (he liked it ) and also apple boy for his plump face( guess he didn’t like it much!) . Contrasting that active guy is the saintly looking ramesh , called baba. The next one, sangeeta’s was a smaller version of the name Praveena had. Next was a smart guy, one time Mr .KMC with loads of attitude , called paruppu for the same and he also had a name called rahul?

Then comes my oors selva who was called “giant” for his physical appearance and his other one was an unflattering jo___( sorry machi , enna next time pakkum pothu adikka matte nu nambaren!). Following him was his alter ego, the one and only peter of the batch ( I don’t have to give an explanation for the name!). Then comes my dearest buddy, captain – though he was called “bulb” for the surprise expression he gave always!! I am leaving out some of the unsavory and unparliamentary nicknames in order to avoid hurt; sivakasi sridevi had a name relating to her liking for tea!

Not for nothing was this guy with the post graduate degree even during his UG period –MD – though they were his initials- was called IB garu (intelligent boy). My UG and PG batch mate was called suppi/ super ja , I have skipped a word in between , I guess! Then was the golden guy thangam who was called thaadi even though he dint have a big one – another misnomer.

Following these are my real good unit mates , with whom I guess I can take liberty! To start with was vani – she had a name – kajol – running for the hairstyle with which she returned after a vacation (1st year /2^nd year- I forgot). But more common amongst us was the way she pronounced V e e r a with a drag!!(But she could have missed noticing that drag). Though it’s by me, I think I got to accept that we have that name that still sticks to us – butter boys – we still take it as a compliment, though it looks and is left handed. We had names amongst us – veer was called gundu boy by Vijay - though he looks a lot fitter after struggling without proper food in the US. I don’t remember if I had a name- everyone called me by full name – though I am more used to being called IV I school.

I pause to think if I should hold back my friend vidya’s name ; ok I think she is quite a friend now to be hurt by that- anyways we had already told her the name we had when there was a thaw in our tom and jerry relation , towards the end of the internship! When we told the name – psych- for her scooting during the internship – she was actually relieved to hear that! She was expecting something very bad from us , without realizing the nice guys within us!! Vijay was variously called vichu mama and chalak chalak for the way he restlessly moved his legs during sleep! Vishranthi was always nice to me , so I never used a nickname for her. Dear vivek was called EV – standing for editor vivek – not elicha vaayan as is the common belief

That sums it up! This has taken a Sunday afternoon and evening; but its been worth going down the memory lane for me (sorry couldn’t avoid the cliché)

Apologies to anyone if at all they read and get hurt and promises to remove the offensive segments

dr. know none

Please don’t think this is about a quack or someone who finished his medical degree in a far off land with nothing but a stylish name to boast off or about someone who did his MBBS for such along time, that his son would be of the same age as his study duration!! Nor is it about someone so senile with severe cognitive impairment! It is about a not so young radiologist in his late twenties, who interned out of a reasonable medical college and postgraduate institute and his travails!

Problems come in various forms for a radiologist. Lots of case than one can handle, continuous inflow of sick and trauma patients, having to talk to referring consultants in between and emergency ultrasounds when ones hands are already full are the possible scenarios that can crack you up! All these are inescapable situations for a radiologist; but one thing that is avoidable, but problematic is the situation when the patients insist on talking to you. Though I feel that every radiologist has a duty in explaining to the patients, the test of the results, at least if the patients insist. But I most of the times , avoid directly dealing with patients, as when you try to explain medical problems in lay mans language , there definitely is a chance for inappropriate perception of the problem by the patients. But there are some persistent patients who wont take no for an answer!

One such north Indian gentle man had come to collect his MR report I had reported the previous day. Being busy that evening, I was in no mood to spare my time. But the Hindi speaking people, quite persistent as they are a lot of times, got in saying he will only take a couple of minutes. He had diffuse disc bulges at a couple of levels; I just told him that and expected him to leave hearing that . But he wanted me to explain the management and in spite of my reluctance to do so , he just kept trying to pull some words out of my mouth. I just told him that it could be either conservative or surgical and most of the time doctors try conservative treatment before resorting to surgical options. But the gentle man- I don’t know whom he wanted to stump – me or the orthopedician- seems to have told the ortho doctor straightaway that he had discussed his problem with the radiologist (my name specifically) and that he did not need any surgery . The doctor who had probably put him in his list as a prospective surgical candidate was pretty annoyed that he sent a message to my MD, asking him to restrain his radiologists from talking to his patients. Though my MD didn’t say anything directly to me, I got the message through someone!

I felt done in by both the patient and the referring doctor – both were not courteous enough to me- the doctor at least could have sorted out the matter with me! But these things keep happening and you don’t expect any decency and courtesy from those who rob their patients while sending for investigation (what else would I call those who get more than half of the cost of tests as referral charges. After a small wave of frustration and anger , I resigned to my fate and thought that the best way to respond is to act like Dr. know none , asking the patients to talk with their referring doctors , who know what is best for their patients (more so for their own pockets)

God save the patients from a lot of these money hungry crocs( sorry docs)!!