Rural Service for Doctors.

Out of Blue, doctors who are going to complete their internship this year, are asked to work for a year in Primary Health Centre in Rural Area. They have signed a Bond when they took admission in Medical College, but for last 4 years this bond was not enforced.Now our enthusiastic Health Minister in Delhi want to enforce the Rural Service clause in entire country, so in next 5 yrs not a single village in India will be without the services of trained MBBS doctor. Predictably Doctors who have faced this farce off and on for last 30-40 years have not taken kindly to this dictate from govt. In Maharastra about 50% have paid the Bond amount of Rs. 1 lac and will not do this Rural service. State is richer by Crore or so and has found out new avenue to fill up state's treasury. Next they will increase the Bond amount so that they can get more money.

But it is more pertinent to try and find out why Doctors are not opting for Rural stint.Usual perception is that these citybred doctors don't want to serve Rural poor inspite of getting expensive Medical Education -paid for by the state. This impression is reinforced by media ,especially Print media. Reporter dont finds it necessary to talk to those who have done Rural Service and find out ground realities. This year those graduates who were preparing for Post Grad.CET for a year would not like to go to Rural area for a year and then appear for CET. Its better to give CET when you have just passed MBBS and have prepared for CET. But others are refusing job that will pay them about Rs. 17000 P.M. There must be reason for that.Past experience shows that many Rural Posting don't have adequate basic facilities to stay. The food is another problem. One can imagine plight of a Lady Doctor in Rural PHC. There is pressure from the local politicians. Many Govt. M.O. dont want them to interfere in the local set up they have established. Sometimes they are asked to do work they are not trained for -like performing Post Mortems. Unavailability of Medicines, Pathological Lab, X Ray and Sonography and other items is another big problem. Just posting a Doctor in PHC doesn't always solve the health problems of rural areas.

Solution to this should be provided by preparing a Model Action plan. This can be done as project by IIM's. Doctors are available and if given just basic facilities they are willing to work in Rural areas.Govt. has no clue about how to carry out project to provide medical help in rural areas and may be they don't have necessary funds to do so.As in past ,for 2-3 years Doctors will be forced to go to Rural areas and then govt. will discontinue the scheme, which will result in great mess for Post Graduate admissions as happened just 4 years ago.

Party time in the Morning- F.M.Radio

For last two months or so, I am using FM radio as Wake up alarm. Since most of the FM stations have limited stock of songs and they play the same songs almost at the same time everyday, I change the FM station everyday. I keep the Radio on while I go about my morning chores-read Newspaper, my Cuppa of Tea or get ready for work. As Radio is playing in my bedroom, I recognize the song by tune. Most of the songs being played are remix version and one thing is common in all these songs, their rhythm. There is only one Rhythm-THIG..THIG…THIG.. THIG….. There is no variation, no change, nothing. For the entire period of about 2 hrs or so, one feels as if one is in Disco or pub. The different beats, sounds used in original song is completely lost. Sure these songs-remix version are good for party or in disco, but why should it dominate our music so completely? With these songs there is no difference in style and sound used by different music directors. There are songs with very special beats or sounds which has elevated them to classics. In these remix version they sound like any other mediocre composition. Its necessary for FM stations to play original version of the songs in their morning programme as well and not to relegate them in programme after 9 pm.

'Que' mannars

We were visiting Hoover Dam, It was hot afternoon and we decided to have some soda and Ice Cream at the cafetaria. It was a small place and there were only 2 people behind the counter. There was a long Que of some 15-20 people and person taking order was not particularly quick.We had to wait for some 30 mts. before we were at the counter.she took some time to get what we wanted and more to calculate the charge and change to be paid to us .But during this entire period, people after us in the Que were waiting calmly,talking among themselves,joking. There was no murmur of protest, nothing.

We had gone to Naaz 8 to see 'Chup Chup Ke'. It was weekend and 'Krrish' was just released. There was a long Que, as tickets for Krrish were sold out for all the shows that day, line was of people who wanted to pick up their tickets booked by phone or on net. But there were few who wanted to see other movies running there and their showtime was fast approaching. Only one ticket counter was open but there was no protest and everyone waited for their turn at ticket window. when we entered the moviehall,we had missed the begining.

Imagine situation at Andheri station ticket window. There are 3 ticket windows,the line has some 10-12 people. Ticket clark sitting in poorly lit and poorly vantilated room where temp. is around 38-40 C (110+) has to give ticket for stations between Andheri and Churchgate and Dahanu Rd. on W.R.. Andheri and C.S.T. by main line and Harbour line,Andheri and Karjat,Khapoli,Kasara and Belapur-Panvel.One way or return for all different lines. He has to exactlly know the location of the station,its fare, calculate 'orally' the amount to be collected and change to be paid.He issues the ticket and gives the change. This takes about 15-20 secs. This is what actually happens every day.

But what's the reaction of people in the Que?

" Abe, Haath jaldi chala."
" Saala, soya hua hai kya"
" Chal Fatafat,deri ho rahela hai"

And it goes on.Ticket clark ignores all these barbs and continues to issue ticket nonchalantly.

Cinema Theatres in US

While taking part in discussion on Movei expirience in Single screen and Multiplexes in India, I felt strong urge to pen my expirience-as a visitor from India- about Movie expirience in USA. During my stay in LA and San Jose I saw six movies-4 Bollywood movies and 2 produced in Hollywood and realesed in US.

Hollywood movies were realesed with lots of pre realese advt./actors being invited to talk shows of Jay Leno & co. Trailors on almost all news channels giving some detail of the storyline.Jokes about the storyline by stand up comics etc.I did not come across any "critical" reveiews of the movie in any newspaper or on News channel, may be I missed it. Only thing I could know was 1st week's collection and it's standing in just realesed movies- at present 'Click' starring Adam Sandlar is in 1st position. Theatres are usually in big malls and have multiple screens. They are nice with jazzy lights and very good ambience.Unlike our multiplexes inMumbai, only basic snacks are available. Tickits are checked at the entrance and there are no assigned seats no. or screen no. is printed, so theoratically one can see any movie screened there and as often as one wants to.Sound is good so is picture quality. Its enjoyable expirience.But this account is incomplete as I was persuaded not to go to Theatre in UV Village near USC,as crowd there is not good(?).

For Bollywood movies there is only one theatre-Naaz 8. I saw movie in Naaz8 of Artesia and in Fremont. Its really difficult to differentiate the two though they are some 400 miles apart. Its collection of 8 single screen theatres!Naaz8 reminded of Chandan and Chitra and Naaz(remember it?) in Mumbai. Dimly lit(Subdude lighting!) entrance and corridors with very poor ambience. Walls had posters of forthcoming movies mounted in old wooden frames, clenliness was not high on the list and Naaz in Fremont had such small Mens Restroom with just 2 urinals!!Men! was it dirty? Though sound and picture quality was ok,it was not great expirience. Unfortunatelly 'Desis'-well behaved everywhere- were transported to India. Popcorns littered the floor,Children were running around and shouting,few laughed so loudly and for so long that it would drown Paresh Rawal's comedy. In the interval the Indian Chai and Samosas were as bad as it used to be some 10 yrs back in India.I almost felt that I was watching movie in single screen theatre in India.Same callous attitude of theatre owners toward their customer. Same run down, poorly lit,dingy and dirty theatre.If i had encountered a rat or two, the expirience would have been complete. My host said that this is better than nothing,so we have to tolerate it. This is the only place we can see Indian movie so....

Should it be like this? Will Indian producers like yashRaj films,Karan Johar and Rakesh Roshan insist on Hindi movies to be exhibited in good theatres-mainstream theatres? May be a show or two daily or on weekends.Naaz8 charges are not less than other theatres, its just making more profit by exploiting Indian viewers.Indians in US can and will pay more to watch Hindi movie in good theatres.Who knows they will make more money as Hindi movies will be realeased in more theatres and for more shows.

" Solution " to Reservation in Higher Education

Sunil Joshi, guest contributor to Gaurav's Vantage Point has interesting, market oriented solution for Reservation in Education. Simply put. he advocates liberlising the education sector so that anyone can provide any type of education, at a fee that market can bear.Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty advocates the same thing while talking to Shekhar Gupta in" Walk the Talk".

Idea is good,but can it be implemented successfully? our past expirience is not encouraging. Today all the educational institutes have to take permission from Govt. Dept. of Higher Edu.,Proffessional bodies and various other authorities including UGC. Still IIPM and Amity flourish. When Jharkhand Govt. liberalised education, many institutes of Higher(!) education opened in that state with 2-3 room campuses. Finally Supreme Court had to intervene in the matter and banned them. Maharastra and Karnataka have highest number of institutes for higher education , and when there is inspection after public outcry,it's reported that many dont have basic facilities,faculty or staff and equippments/Labs.Medical colleges dont have clinical material(Patients).I know many Doctors with MD/MS who cant perform simple operations independentlly.Many have not seen routine operations during theirMedical edu..These days almost all commerce colleges in Mumbai offer Diploma/Degree in management, are these worth anything?Many of them get job offer with salary of 1-1.5 Lac/PA.

Now imagine the state of affairs if we liberalise the educational field completelly. Yes if stringent conditions are applied than we will get a good institution, but buisnessman is not interested in that. He will get it sanctioned by providing minimum of facility,paying low salary to teachers, and bribing or bringing political,communal or castist pressure. How will a parent or student will evaluate these institution or their fees, their programme & courses offered(Whats that in indian Context?). You must have seen advt. for computer classes-NIIT,APTECH etc- how many student understand what is offered and whether fees are appropriate?.

To liberalise education completelly, we require dedicated educationists,philanthropists who will donate huge sums to start good institutes and vigilant govt. and knowledgeble public. Unfortunatelly we have none and wont see them in forseeable future.

Home Again

After almost almost a month, I could manage to get my internet service.In February end my contract with BSES ended and my net closed down. To compound the matter, my apartment required repainting and it was not possible to work on desktop or even use laptop.I had applied for MTNL triband but they couldn't supply router as they were out of stock!! There was waiting period of 2 months.Even as I write this the Versova Tel Exchange has cleared workorders of 16 January and there are more than 1000 pending applications!!.
I have been unable to understand this. We are talking about increasing net connectivity for almost 3 years. Mr. Maran had announced his plans for Triband as soon as he became Minister at Centre.Is it difficult to manufacture Triband router in India?If they are easily available in all computer stores then why should it not be available with MTNL? Or is there something fishy here? Most of us would not like to wait indefinitely for net connection ,so we would buy it from the open market.Is there kickback to mandarins in Communication ministry or to Ministers party ? Do people in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo face same problem? what about US/UK?
Anyway after a month I can now log on to blogs and renew friendship's realized how much I missed reading blogs.It was like being cut off from your friends and didn't know what was happening in their lives.Like serials on TV one gets attached/addicted to Blogs and Bloggers.Has Gaurav got new Job? What Amit is doing after returning from Pakistan? Is he writing on England series? Is Vikrum in India? or has he returned to his home? Missed very interesting scientific essays of Sunil.Has Umas's indian writing or Sonia has added new colour ? So many things to read and ponder about.After a month I feel that I have returned home and it's time to relax and read interesting stuff.

STD/ISD Booths.

Last month I attended Conference tour of Egypt organized by our Association.Tour was conducted by reputed tour organizer from Mumbai.Ours was of group of some 110 or so Medical Consultants from Mumbai,and many are owner of small Nursing Homes in Mumbai.Few of us had Mobile Roaming facility, rest depended on Phone service in Egypt. Now Egypt has good Telecom facility.With so many visitors from Europe,UK,USA and different parts of world, this is not surprising. We purchased Calling Cards from shop in our Hotel in Cairo.But things are not as simple as it appears. With so many companies operating in Cairo,its difficult to find Kiosk having phone whose card you posses. Ofcourse most of the public places have phone kiosk but during tour or while visiting a monument you don't have enough time to search for a particular phone.Since you don't know the pulse rate and charges,suddenly in middle of conversation you are cut off.. At that odd hour its almost impossible to find store selling phonecard. Few had purchased calling cards of Airtel from Mumbai airport,they had to purchase phone card of Egyptian company to call local number, then punch in card number and then punch in home telephone number..You need someone to prompt the 16 digit number or you are going to miss out or punch a wrong number and have to start all over again.Sometimes it was frustrating.
My experience in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur,Singapore or US /UK is no different.Then one realises the ease with which a visitor can make Local/STD/ISD call in India.Thanks to innovative scheme of MTNL/BSNL, we have STD/ISD booths all over India.Any small town or even district place will have number of booths and one can choose and select from which booth to call.With advent of cheap mobile and STD calls,big cities and towns are witnessing decline in these booths.But in smaller towns and District places they are doing roaring business.We instruct our maidservant to call us from her native place-Rajapur in Konkan-before she boards ST bus for Mumbai.Its so simple,transparent and hassle free. Its easy to punch in number,and one can check whether correct number is dialed can talk as long as one wants to,keeping watchful eye on charges!.The booths are open for more than 18hrs a day, so calling is almost 24x7.Besides it gives employment or additional income to large number of people,thus serving a social cause in this country.Really one of the really innovative idea !

Our group had gathered at friend's house to usher in 2005.'Group" consists of friends who had met for the first time when they were students in 5th std. in Bharda High school opp. V.T. A common passion for cricket had brought us together though we were not in the same class in subsequent years.After S.S.C. all of us joined Science stream in KC. college and after passing out Inter Science, I joined medicine in Mumbai,others went for engineering used to meet during vacations,go for cricket matches, evening walks on Marine Drive, party together-Prohibition was just removed from Mumbai- go for Christmas and New Year eve parties, go out on picnic together and over the years, group became cohesive.We were close friends. Luckily for us, all of us got married in'74-'76 period,shifted to suburb Juhu-Andheri at the same time,had first child -all daughters-in '76-77' and second child -sons-in '81-'82 period.Because of these happy coincidences we could remain together as group.
Now we were partying with families, go on vacation tours together, and though the children had their set of friends, the unwritten rule was that they had to be present in group's parties and tours arranged during vacations. Years flew by. Here we were ushering in 2005. we,friends and spouses were present. Children had moved to US for studies. Girls had graduated and were holding good jobs, all of them except A..... were married and Boys were doing their Masters in US. There was sense of satisfaction and happiness in the air. As if our life's goals, mission had been achieved. What more could one ask from life?
All the friends had good prosperous lifestyle, could give good education to children, daughters was married, and sons were planning to settle in US( They will manage, wont they?). Now we were free to plan and live life as we wanted to. Do things or pursue hobbies which we had put off for years.
Anchors on the TV show had started countdown and 2005 had arrived. We hugged and wished eachother and then as if on cue, children phoned in from US wishing us Happy New Year, all of them had to wish all the uncles and aunties !!. Everyone was in high spirit but H... was not well, she had upset stomach, so she wouldn't join for dinner.In the euphoria of the celebrations no one noticed.
Next day afternoon she phoned me.She was passing blood in stools. I immediately fixed up her appointment with the surgeon friend. He phoned me in the evening.There was a Large Colorectal Polyp. she was posted for Colonoscopy next day. There was large Polyp in colon.we took biopsy and now had to wait to find out whether it was cancerous or not. we spent anxious 5 days and then the verdict was out-it's benign tumour.Second opinion was taken and CT scan done. Same finding. Non cancerous Polyp. Gastroenterologist was confident that he would be able to remove it by Colonoscopy. As it has broad base he may need 2-3 sittings.H... had undergone 2 c-sections and was not willing for surgery. Besides she feared that colostomy will be done and she was not prepared for that.No amount of arguing could convince her, so we decided to go for colonoscopy. But 2 session of Colonoscopy removal convinced us that surgery would be the best option. By then it was time for her daughter to come to India to purchase her wedding dress and jewelry. Then there wasn't sufficient time between Surgery and her US visa interview date. (There was 4 months wait for Visa interview!). They got their Visitor's Visa and now there wasn't sufficient time to recuperate from surgery before she was to fly to LA. So she went for her daughter's marriage, friends from the group went to US to attend the wedding. She returned to India and we took appointment for Colonoscopy.News was bad ,Polyp had grown in size and CT Scan had suspicious area. She was posted for surgery in Lilavati Hospital. I accompanied my friend and we waited in the big lobby on the 1st floor.After long wait-operation lasted for 5 hours- surgeon came out.we hurried to meet him.
He just said " She will need Chemotherapy".This almost shattered us but I recovered,
You could get clear margin and remove the tumour?
yes.
Nodes involved?
No,
Liver metastasis?
No,
Local metastasis?
Ya, in Paracolic gutters and P.O.D.
He walked away. So much for breaking the news gently.!! Such are vagaries of life. This Slow growing Cancer did not spread to the surface of Polyp, instead it chose to spread towards the base, through the wall of the colon to the area outside. Not a single Biopsy showed even a suspicious or pre cancerous cell.!! Here we were faced with Stage III cancer.This is the reason why people believe in Luck,Destiny and stars!
That one sentence had shaken my friend.Now onwards life is going to be different. Ours is generation which made transition from Joint family to Nuclear family. We grew up in large families -what you see in 'Saas Bhi Kabhi...Grand-parents,parents,uncles,aunts,cousins and even guests from native place lived under one roof.There was solid extended family support for everything.The strength was in number and families could take illness,financial disasters, scandals,deaths in it's stride without flinching.But we had moved out from this big comfortable shelter, and were living independently with wife and children.the extended family was there, but it was scattered. After 25 yrs it was not possible for the family to be together as cohesive force.Ones brothers and sisters and cousins were just a phone call away,but they had limited time for you and years of separation had weakened the bonds.They will phone ,come and meet but for an hour or two.Then they have their life,children,and other problems to take care of. One realizes comfort and strength of joint family during such phases in life. We had added disadvantage. Children were far away from us.They would phone everyday but it was not possible for them to come and be with us. With this cancer ,its treatment and possibility of complications, it will be difficult to manage work and look after his wife.He had to go out of town often on business trips.Now it would be difficult to leave H... alone. But the group became the extended joint family.After being together for almost a lifetime we were one family. Circumstances had conspired to force us to be together,to join forces to face the adversary. We were there to give support,to comfort each other,to allay fear of unknown future, and to let everyone know that he/she is not alone.H... has completed Chemotherapy. She did not loose her hair( Her biggest worry) rather she tolerated chemo. very well and had no adverse reaction.She is 'CURED' at present.
We have gathered to usher in 2006. Mood is sober.Events of 2005 has not dampened our spirit. This year children have come home to celebrate Christmas and New Year.There is hope in the air,K.... will be leaving for US in Jan to be with her daughter who has on 28th delivered a healthy baby boy ! The first of the Grandchildren. Life is beautiful once again.We have something to look forward to. God willing 2006 will be year of Grandchildren and group will visit U.S. to bless them. Anchor has started reverse countdown.... but mentally we are already in 2006.

Million Missing Girls

The recent article in Lancet has again focussed on Female Foetecide that is practiced in some parts of India.There will be edits in Newspapers-TOI- has it as lead edit today.There will be seminars and discussions, but at the end of the day whats the solution? how do we tackle this problem?
As this study has shown, all the 'established' causes have fallen on the wayside.
Its not poor but Middle class and rich are major offenders.
Dowry is not the cause for aborting girl child.
It's not illiterate mother, rather well educated mother prefers to have male child. It also absolves husbands who were accused of forcing their wives to get Sex determination done.
Our society is supposed to be agrarian so extra pair of hands(Son) was preferable. But now statistics show that even in rural economy females contribute more economically, so its not an issue.
As obstetrician I feel really helpless.As technology advances, with 3-D Ultrasonography, better resolution on good machine,it's very easy to know sex of the child. It is now possible that on 3D USG machines even mothers will be able to know sex of the child when USG scan is in progress.
With newer technique even Abortion is easy to perform.Few tablets and female foetus is dead.It will abort on its own or Doctor will have to do to protect mother from severe infection.
In ART methods , its possible to Pre select sex of the foetus before Embryo Transfer.
So where do we go from here? You cant educate well educated mother. All that we have done so far is to show danda of PNDT act to doctors.But there will be black sheep in every field and there will be greedy doctors who will be willing to carry out USG scan.With these newer machines he wont have to even say anything.Mothers will recognise sex of the foetus.
I sincerely hope that we will be able to find out some ways to reduce this.I believe that there is steady decline in demand for sex determination tests.May be after few years ratio will correct itself. But till than I will keep my fingers crossed.---PK

On World AIDS day

Today is World AIDS Day.Once again its a day to take a hard look at the year gone by and reflect on what we have been able to accomplish. In this battle against one of the most unusual Infectious disease,are we Winning or Loosing? Well, the answer is loud and clear. Right now AIDS has upper hand.We simply have no clue how to handle this epidemic.There are as many solutions as the stakeholders.Poor HIV positive person is bewildered, frightened,helpless person, who has no idea about the disease,and prognosis.Today he is in good health.there are no apparent symptoms to indicate that he is harboring a deadly Virus which is rapidly multiplying in his body and is annihilating his immune system.He knows that he is HIV +ve, but is not aware of what he should do.He has been told that this disease is not curable.He has no knowledge about ARTreatment,and even if he knew, he cant afford it.Large chunk of the funds to fight AIDS is spent on awareness programme.There is little money for subsidizing tests and treatment.He will work today and will wait for the day when Virus will decimate the Immune system and opportunistic infection will strike to begin the end.Then he will be shunned by friends and relatives.But will it matter? He will be already isolated in his mind, waiting for the end to come.
There is no solution in sight.We have to change the approach but what should be the new approach to tackle AIDS?.Awareness can go only this far.There is urgent need to define AIDS as "Infectious Viral Disease" which is not curable.( All Viral diseases are not curable -they can be prevented by Vaccines).This epidemic should be tackled like any other Infectious disease epidemic.There is need to bring change in our Sexual Behaviour.There should be more emphasis on "Safe Sex".These days there is more promiscuity and matching ignorance about STD and 'Safe sex'. Girls- even well educated ones- dont practice safe sex, have unprotected sexual intercourse,and are more worried about getting pregnant than contracting killer diseases like AIDS or Hepatitis B or C !!
In today's TOI there is article about HIV testing done without consent.Why this privileged status for HIV testing? Do you need specific consent for Hepatitis B, Diabetes,Kidney disease, cancer testing ? Should we take special consent for X-ray chest for T.B. and ECG for heart disease. Two years ago when SARS virus hit the S E Asia, anyone transiting through these regions were quarantined on airport.Did anyone take permission to test?
Till last year Blood Banks were collecting blood from donors and then testing it for HIV and other tests. If +ve the blood was simply destroyed after disinfection. Donor was not made aware of HIV status as it was legally forbidden to do so.He would infect his wife,children and donate Blood twice a year which was never used.!Thank God this absurd rule is now removed.TOI article goes on to add that this clandestine testing has actually reduced the spread of infection.Doctors can also act as counselor and HIV +ve person can spread message of awareness better than anybody.
Surprisingly HIV +ve person is treated by Dermatologist and not by Physician!!Its throwback to the time when AIDS was cosidered as part of venereal disease!If there are complications than Physician is called in.In US HIV +ve person is looked after by Physician.Obstetrician - the most vulnerable medical practitioner in contracting disease from patient- has no role in any AIDS programme.This sunday there is a conference on AIDS, arranged by IMA-Mumbai.In the speakers list Obstetrician is missing! Lets hope that in 2006 we may find new, more effective way to contain this epidemic.Amen.

Chhota Shahar-Bada Shahar

Rashmi in her excellent post tried to define a 'chhota Saher' and 'bada Saher". Its very difficult to define whats chhota or bada sahar.Gaurav feels that if young people from a city like Indore want to move out to big cities than its Chhota shaher.well we can debate what's Chhota or Bada Shaher and never find an answer. Its like who is Indian?
Though i was not convinced by arguments put forward by Rashmi.Attitude of people of Indore is present in magacities like Mumbai,Chennai(of Khushboo fame) and many other.I have stayed in Mumbai my entire life but i have desire to settle down in small(!) towns like Baroda, Valsad, Navsari or Gwalior.The reason I dont pursue this is due to the fact that I am spoilt by this uniturrupted electric supply in Mumbai and am wary of daily Load shedding of some 2-10 hrs thats part of life in other cities. This desire to go to small city may be is the result of nostalgia of my years spent in Girgam(Mumbai).
One way of defining chhota shaher is Physical Boundaries of a city.Small towns have bit of intimacy.We meet same people on different occasions,time and places.People know the landmarks and there are places, shops,food joints known and visited by many residents. There is someone famous for chaat,other for Kebab,third one for Kachodis and list goes on.This is almost impossible in metropolis like Mumbai. As a city grows this intimacy, togetherness is lost and then its bada, anonymous sheher where people mind their own business and are not bothered about you.City looses its characteristics and is like any other city in the country.Visiting Cities in U.S.A. gives you same sense of deja vu.You have seen one, you have seen all. But this is just an academic discussion.This change will be relentless and we will have to live with it.We will be nostalgic about the small town,village we came from.But its a mirage. If you ever return, you will find it has grown to big Sheher, just like one you came from.

Blogfriend.

That excellent journo-blogger Sonia has informed her blog admirer that she is as pretty as his grandmother but meaner. Now I will accept the first part of this but meaner? naa.That brings me to a question? Can you profile a Blogger by reading his/her posts.? I am regular reader of her posts.I don't know whether she is Beautiful,pretty,Attractive, fair,tall or Short and Fat, unattractive or looking like my grandma.But her posts inform us about her concern for dispossessed,those who got raw deal from life but have chosen to fight back against heavy odds, a battle they may loose.A post on Book reading gave her views on rich and famous having a sham ball at a 7* dos.Her trip to Cambodia.........
I believe that's where blogging is different than writing a piece in Newspaper or weekly.There writer is bit impersonal. Write up is about an event or person in news.Sometimes the write up is different form of advertisement and nothing remotely nasty can be written in it. Novel or short story is all about characters of the story.Sometimes it is autobiographical or writer's past experiences may intrude but its not whole thing, otherwise all the characters of the story would be almost same.
Blogging is about your day to day life.What you feel about happenings around you.YOUR experience,views,take on daily events in YOUR life.Thats why eventhough sometimes the language,prose is not great but its imminently readable and interesting as its all about life through bloggers eyes and mind. Sometimes we have witnessed the same event but someone will blog about it with absolutely different and interesting viewpoint. This reveals bloggers traits which helps you to profile him.Most of the bloggers do write about their friends,workplace,events in their lives, their relatives,spouse.....At the end of the day after few months you develop a friendship with this blogger which he/she may not reciprocate.It takes you to their blogsite everyday to read what your blogfriend has to say about world around him.

In Defence of IIPM

I am no way connected or interested in IIPM activities and strongly condemn the comments by IIPM sympathizers attacking Rashmi and issue of Legal(!) notice to Gaurav.It is their basic right to express their opinion on IIPM activities which can be refuted or ignored by IIPM.I would like to be Devil's advocate and join issue with Rashmi and Jammag.
1) The Full Page *Advertisement* of IIPM.:-Well since when are we suppose to take seriously what is stated or shown in advetisement? There are so many bloggers working in Advertising firms in various capacities.Do they believe anything they write in any advertisement? whatever is stated in full page advertisement of IIPM,you must take it with bucket of salt. It is no crime to make false claims in advrtisement.It's been done everyday,by everybody, in all advertisement.Give credit to IIPM that it has not resorted to inserting articles in major newspapers,extolling virtues of IIPM or placement of IIPM graduates with their inflated salaries.
2) Ranking of IIPM:- Is anyone bothered about these ranking except the institutes?whats the use of ranking when you can get admission on your score and merit ranking.May be first few in the Merit list can select, rest have to take whatever is offered to them.Besides these ranking are big joke and I simply throw the' India Today' issues on ranking of Medical,Engineering colleges and B-Schools in dustbin.Ranking depends on many variable factors and different agencies give different ranking depending on the weightage given to different criterias.( India Todays ranking of Best chief Ministers-Mr.Naidu & Mr.Krishna-lost elections).I am presuming that they have carried out the whole exercise with honesty and sincerity.Only fools will take admission on the basis of ranking given by Outlook-C,India Today etc.
3)Campuses of IIPM:- A building in Bandra-Kurla complex costs real money.If you dont get acres of public land at throw away lease rent from the Govt. then such a campus is great thing.BTW I have seen campus of many Engg. colleges which are converted coaching class/ school/ Tin sheds.This is in Mumbai.If they have A.C. classrooms with decent desks and P.A.system it is better than what we are used to.Even a decent Toilet is improvement on campuses of many reputed Engg. and Medical colleges. have you seen the campus of* Deemed University* in New Mumbai? Whats wrong with well organised small canteen?Atleast one IIPM campus did have swimming pool ! wow! English Architecture? How many know whats that? You want to do MBA or Architecture? If you are interested in taking admission please go there and check it out . If you dont like what you see don't take admission. If you are a lazy slob then who can help you?
4) Fees:- Now since when this high fee for MBA is an issue? I think we settled that almost 2 yrs ago and gave fitting reply to that Prof.M.M.Joshi who wanted to reduce fees of IIMs.We fought a pitched battle with him and his hidden saffron agenda, remember?We had decided to keep the fees high as students were assured fat salaries on graduation . Even banks were willing to offer loans to prospective students.Keeping that in mind IIPM has kept its fees high between 4.5- 8 lacs.IDBI bank is there to give loan.I am sure they have extension counters in IIPM campuses.But look at the brighter side.IIPM offers free Laptop and Free Europe tour.You have recovered atleast 1.5 lac.and don't have to spend on package tour to Europe!
5) Faculty:- Students were satisfied with their permanent teaching staff .What more you want? If professors from foreign Universities are not not taking lectures then only students have right to complain.
6)Placement:- Why should you believe what is advertised by IIPM? Placement will also depend on Business cycle.When economy is growing, more will get jobs.There were quite a few companies who visited IIPM campus for recruitment.30-40% were recruited from campus recruitment and other managed on their own and got the job with salaries upto 4.5 lacs.Not bad, na?
7) Degree: The MBA/BBA degree conferred by IIPM is not recognised by AICTE/UGC or any state universities.Does it matter? There are so many Degrees in different fields which are not recognised by Indian state.(Medical Degrees from CIS./Mauritius/Seychelles/) .Does that mean they don't know the subject?As long as IIPM graduates are useful to companies which can hire them to carry out their work its ok.
8) Mr.Arindam Chaudhury: Why should it bother us whether he is MBA or not?From which IIM?Anyone can call himself as management Guru.Why not? If he can set up and manage such an Empire than he is Guru.Whats in MBA degree.Is Mr.Jagmohan Dalmiya a Cricketer?But he has made BCCI wealthiest sport body in India.Mr.Chaudhury is better marketers than many IIM graduates.If students believe him and enroll for MBA in IIPM than they are doing it with their eyes wide open.Dont blame him for students' carelessness.Nobody is forcing students to join IIPM.Find out everything you want before joining.If you foolishly believe everything that's given in advertisement than you have noone but yourself to blame.
Above is my opinion based on whats written in article in JAMMAG.I personally have no knowledge and don't waste time reading IIPM advertisement.

It's a Dog's life

Thrice a year, when the maid who takes my pet dog Blackie down for walk, goes to her gaon on vacation , I have to take him for his daily walks.I take him to lane behind my housing society which has virtually no vehicular traffic and there is large playground adjacent to it.We are familiar with the stray dogs who have made it their home.Most of them are borne here.They are in three groups,and each group has it's own garbage dump. In the morning they are in group surrounding the ragpicker who picks up garbage from neighboring societies sorts the garbage,and keeps aside what she can sell,rest is again filled in plastic bins,from where its picked up by BMC garbage van.Pack of Dogs have that short period, to rummage through the garbage to look for and eat.Skirmishes and fights are common features,since Blackie is not one of the contender for food,they don't bother with him.rather two young dogs want to play with him,tail wagging but Blackie likes only one of them so to other one his response is is to ignore or start low growl which keeps him away.I would avoid feeding them when Blackie is around as controlling them is tough.
Everytime I look for the addition and passing away of old friends.Socksy who was hybrid between stray and may be Pom was intelligent leader of the pack, always ready to rush when intruder was spotted.He was on good terms with Blackie as both had grown up together.But in May, Soksy was weak and disinterested. He would not get up to greet and would look with pathetic eyes.His coat was dirty and there were patches where there was infection.He was being treated but it was a loosing battle.Today morning I did not find him in the pack.It's loss of a friend. Kalu is stray,strong and present leader of the pack.He has many scars to show for the battle fought and won in last 2 yrs.There is a bitch in the pack. she is pregnant at present.May be this would be her third litter.I hope this time few of the new born will survive.From her last littre none survived.But should they?
It's pathetic situation.Since High Court has passed the judgment directing BMC not to kill strays, BMC has lost interest in them.It seems its more profitable for BMC to catch and KILL strays than to catch and sterilize them.NGO who had filed the PIL doesn't have financial or managerial resources to carry out sterilization of strays.They are dependent on BMC to give land to keep sterilized dogs.BMC would hate to part with anything.So there is explosion of Canine population.There is great strain on space and availability of food.Since pack guards its territory fiercely, there are fights and many are seriously injured.Weak ones have to sneak in others territory for food.If they are spotted, they are attacked and injured.Last May a dog had sneaked into our area at night.He was spotted and attacked.He took shelter under the School Bus parked during vacation.Hungry and thirsty he dare not come out from his safe place.He was so fearful that he would not come near the edge.It took almost an hour to cajole him to come and eat Biscuit and milk.He had wounds on the back, near ear and another near leg.During night he managed to sneak away safely- hopefully.When I was a child, we had practice of keeping aside food for Dogs and cows was believed by Hindus that feeding Dogs and Cows will prevent fights among members of the joint family and bring prosperity.Today the practice is dead and with fridge in every house there are no leftovers to feed stray dogs.So canine population has exploded and food source has dwindled.This is slow,painful death by starvation and disease.
Is there a solution to this problem? I don't know.These days one hears constant complaints about stray dogs creating mayhem.Their incessant barking and fights at night are the constant cause of complaint.Last month a stray who was attacking passerbys was stoned to death in Andheri.Group of sickos brutally killed a bitch and tried to burn her.In future stray dogs will be more aggressive as available space for them will reduce.There is no communication and coordination among NGOs workig for strays.Availability of funds is a problem for any animal lover.But people have inherent love for dogs and are willing to help care for them.A milkmen gives milk for all the three packs while supplying milk in our area.An old lady lugs heavy bag filled with chiken legs to feed strays in almost 2 km.area.She refuses all help and does this as mission.Its time for all the Animal Lovers and NGOs to pool their resources and carryout directed help in more organised manner.This problem requires urgent solution.Any suggestions from our IIM trained bloggers? I urge them to apply their skills to find solution to this problem.

Commercialism Of Education

Commercialism of education is one problem that perpetually bothers Indian mind. Our first reaction is 'Its bad and shouldn't be allowed.' But what is comercialisation of Education?. Providing higher education to students who couldn't get admission through regular channel-CET score- by charging high fee is considered bad. The student may have just few marks less than 'cut off ' marks and in many cases more marks than many SC/ST/OBC candidates.Besides if he is paying in lacs to get the education than he is basically more interested in subject than the student who has joined just because he /she has good score or is admitted through reserved categories. Should we unfairly assume that he will be a bad student and after graduating his first aim will be to recover the money spent on education and not provide service to people.This is absurd because students who take admission through regular channel don't charge less to the patients or take less salary as Engineers or B school graduates.There is hue and cry if Private Medical colleges-who have to have attached Hospital providing Free Medical treatment- charge 1.5-2 lacs as fees and wants to increase it but if Prof. Murli Manohar Joshi wants to reduce fees charged by IIM's from 3-4 lacs to 1 lac then there is great protests from likes of Narayan Moorthi.Its ok if IIMs-and other B schools- charge huge fees but bad if Pvt. Medical colleges charge the same fees for MBBS course.
This has resulted in funny situation.There are no new private Medical colleges started in India.-Except Minority institutions.On the contrary established Pvt. Medical colleges are threatening to close down and state wants to take over.Whereas all the neighboring countries have decided to tap this market and now one can do MBBS from Nepal,Sri Lanka,Mauritius,Seychelles,Ukraine,Russia,Uzbekistan and now even China. So we wont let Indians open a Pvt. Medical College in India but allow Indian student to pay 5-6 lacs Fees in foreign exchange and take dubious Medical education in above countries.This is abs. Novel way of preventing commercialisation of education in India.we need fresh, new thinking about higher education.May be its time to admit Paying NRI/Indian students to even state run colleges to make them financially viable and in case of state run Medical colleges to upgrade and maintain hospitals and provide better hospital care to patients.

Chawls of Mumbai

Maharastra Govt. order to evacuate and demolish dilapidated buildings and have brought chawls in the limelight once again.Chawls are unique for Mumbai and are responsible for cosmopolitan ,liberal ,tolerant culture of Mumbai.Most of them were built between two World Wars by people who had made money in 1st world war and the rooms were rented out to people moving in with families to Mumbai from interiors of Maharastra and Gujarat.They formed the famous 'Middle Class'.If you make money you move to flats of Colaba,Marine Drive,Walkeshwar,Hindu and Parsi Colony.The architecture was what they had in village they came from without the Angan in front and Court yard in rear.Typical tenement was common Gallery,large 12-18' x 10' room, followed by smaller Kitchen with Bathroom(Mori) at the end with Tap for water.Common Toilets were norm.There was no provision for underground water tank and Water supplied by BMC did not reach overhead tanks due to lack of pressure,so storing water in big drums was necessity.Que for the toilet in the morning,dirty ,stinking, poorly lit,chocked toilet was common and was ordeal most people dreaded.Many overcame the stink by smoking Bidis in toilets and got addicted to smoking.The Chawls had Wooden Beams and columns,Burma Teak meant good construction,Floor consisted of wooden rafters at the base,Brick coba, and china chips in nice designs,Kota or Shahbad stone or plain cement on the top.No tiles.I lived in small dead-end lane in Thakurdwar area.We had 3-4 stories chawls with 10-40 tenements.Residents of first two chawls were predominantly Gujarati and Marwadi,rest were inhabited by Maharastrians.Few of the ground floor rooms were dorms for those who had come to Mumbai for work leaving their families in village.They worked as Mathadi workers and others from Konkan area worked as plumbers,painters,peons in small offices. We had Chambhar(Mochi),Bhandari,Khatri,Kasar,Sonar,Brahmins, Desais and Low caste Patels from South Gujarat.There was no caste discrimination.Everyone took part in Festivals.Kamble who had shoe shop, was in charge of Sarvajanic Ganesh festival for many years.I dont remember being asked not to play or not to mix with low caste people.We were aware of the caste but it had no place in our day to day life.This has given Mumbai its unique character.
Tenement were small so there was no space for residents.You use home to bath,eat food and sleep.Rest of the time you have to be out of the house.So groups were formed according to age and each group had its meeting place.During holidays and vacation half the day was spent in company of friends. With plenty of time on hands you indulge in games-cricket being favorite,but we played Kabbadi,lagori and Marbles.Carrom was very popular,and Table Tennis on small wooden bench.There was no TV, so Radio Ceylon with Binaca Geetmala was hot favorite.We had timeon hand, so could take part in Election campaigns.I remember election meetings of George Fernandes for Lok Sabha.He defeated S.K.Patil of Congress and virtually put an end to Patil's political career in Mumbai.For decades Fernandes was called 'George the Giant Killer'.In seventy Marathi youth was attracted to Shiv Sena with its 'Son of soil' ideology.There was constant conflict between socialists and Shiv Sena.Most of us couldn't pursue studies after SSC due to financial constrains.Even passing SSC was tough as at home there was no space to study.We used to go to GMC Gymkhana bldg. on Marine Drive to study.Terrace was another good place.Most got job as clerk in BMC or in Govt. offices.Gujrati boys completed their college education and took jobs in Banks or offices.With hard work and diligence they progressed but couldn't reach very high posts.Very few could break through the Middle class bracket.
Festivals were the most enjoyable period. First festival of the year was Kite flying on 14 Jan.we would gather on terraces and it was funfilled day.Holi was no-no as there was no water to take bath in the afternoon.Monsoon session would start with Govinda.We had Handi which could be broken with 3-4 Thars.It was usually local affair but Govinda from Umerkhadi was famous then as well.Ganpati festival had Pride of Place.we had Sarvajanik Festival and most Marathi homes has Ganpati. for 1-7 days.Majority had Gauri as well.It was 10 days of fun,music,orchestra, 3 act Drama etc culminating in the Grand Visarjan which would start at 9 pm and end with immersion at Chawpatty beach at 1 am or so.For a quote a few years we had Pauranic themes played out by Moving figures.Entire set up and its perfect working for 10 hrs or so daily would take up quite a lot of time and effort, but there would be long queue to see the show which would make it worthwhile.In subsequent years focus moved to huge idols of Ganesh and for us there was nothing to do as cultural programme degenerated to 16 mm movie shows and an evening of orchestra.Most difficult part was Visarjan -to move and immerse 12'+ idol required great effort and to take it for immersion in deep sea, in darkness with full tide was scary as well.Navratri was celebrated by Gujarati residents with Garba and Dandia.We had Dholi and shehnai and dandia ras was more like "Dholi Maro... in DDCS than what we see these days at Falguni Pathak's show.Diwali was less noisy-most couldn't afford bursting crackers-and emphasis was on making Kandils, usually similar Kandils for entire chawl which gave beautiful look to entire lane. Very beautiful Rangoli was other special feature of Diwali-in fact we had Rangoli competition for few years.Entire night was spent in creating Rangoli,some with nationalist or Shivaji themes,other with intricate designs and few with nature as theme.Christmas and New year were not celebrated as we didn't have Christian families.
But most of all, it was feeling of being part of one BIG family.There was more togetherness, cooperation and help.If male member had to go out of Mumbai or a family member was admitted in hospital, one need not worry on home front.Neighbours would take care of children,and food was never a problem.Someone is available to attend hospital or be with you just to give company and courage.Somehow money needed for treatment was arranged.Almost everyone was invited to attend marriage.And attending funeral was almost mandatory.Everyone in your chawl knew almost everything about you, your extended family and sometimes about your guests as well.Many felt this lack of privacy stifling,but there was nothing one could do.Those bonds of friendship,togetherness are still there.Weakened,frayed but important part of my upbringing.It has helped me to be more understanding of other's problems,made me more tolerant of other's idiosyncrasies,liberal in outlook and to be practical and pragmatic in life.

Mangal Pandey

Today with the release of Aamir Khan's much awaited film based on Mangal Pandey-India's First Martyr in the war Of Independence, time has come to examine that period of Indian history.Was it India's First war of Independence?. What we had learned about it in our History Books is very different than what is taught today. It was called Sepoy mutiny.It was analysed then in more detail. Today It is our first war of Independence and detail as well as reason for its failure are given Nationalist spin.
Basically it was not war in which common people participated as in French Revolution or American War of Independence.Rather they were the victims and suffered atrocities unparalleled in British History. Protagonist were Indian Sepoys in Army of East India Company and Armies of Maharajas and Nawabs of Princly states which were taken over by East India Company-aptly called campany sarkar.The war did not spread south of Vindyas -todays Northern Maharastra and many Princly states-especially those who had cosy, profitable relations with British- did not join the rebellion, rather they joined forces with British. British counterattacked Delhi with Sikh and Gorkha forces.The area affected was Delhi and what is todays U.P.Most of the Sepoys were high caste Hindus and were fighting for more pay , perks and resentment against greased Cartridges.While Princes wanted to be allowed to rule their states. There was nothing for the Aam Adami.He was passive onlooker and participated in loot,rape and atrocities against British for which they were punished by British army when they gained control again.Punishments to Villagers and captured sepoys were most cruel in British Army's history. British had Well trained proffessional standing army part of which had rebelled( mutinied).Indian army of Princes had not seen action for very long time.So the Mutiny was spearheaded by rebellious section of British Indian Army and it's fate was foregone conclusion.
To compound the matter Mangal Pandey, did not wait for the appointed date to start the rebellion-6th May-but jumped the gun and attacked his supirior officer,then tried to commit suicide by shooting himself, was captured,court martialled and hanged on 8 April. The company to which he belonged was disarmed and dismissed.This incident forwarned British and they tried to find out the conspiracy hence rebellion started from Meerut(Merath) earlier than appointed date and led to confused, disorganised attacks against British which had better army and heavy guns,mortars.No wonder rebellion failed.Had it succeeded thanAam Adami would have gained nothing. Instead of British rulers, we would have had Indian rulers who were partners with British in exploiting Indians.The First War of Independence is as fictional as Aamir Khan's Mangal Pandey.

Towards Electronic Annual Reports

Come July and one is inundated with Junkmail called "Annual Reports" of Listed Companies.All the Company Chairmans have this fascination of Glossy Annual Reports which runs to some 150-200 pages,carrying their statement-Vision( sic)- for the Company. Mug shot of the Chairman-M.D. is a must on the first page.Now with Shares being in Demat form, there are shareholders with just 5-10 shares.Rather they form the majority and each one gets this "Annual report".These days our housing society office looks like a Raddiwala's shop as most of these reports are dumped there by the Postman-They don't fit in the postbox provided to the member. How many shareholders read or even glance through these reports? Most of the Shareholders have shares of some 15-20 companies, Units of 4-5 Mutual Funds.Do they have time to go through these reports?.How many of us really understand Balancesheets of Companies and their subsidiaries reports are almost in standard format informing nothing.
So why are we supporting such waste of paper and consequent loss of forests.We take pride in being IT savy-no IT superpower (!) nation,then why cant we put our Annual reports and accounts on Website? Those interested can go through it and download-print whichever portion they want to.The cost of producing,printing and dispatching these reports must be more than Dividend received by most shareholders.Surprisingly IT Giants like Infosys sends printed reports. One can argue that Company Law requires this, but surely it can be changed.As long as Accounts are Published and are made available to Public the purpose is served.We talk of Paperless office and e-Governance and all high fandu jargon.But in practical terms its same old story repeated year after year.Its time to put stop to this nonsense,and move towards "Electronic Annual Reports"

Our Role in Disaster Management

When disaster struck Mumbai in the form of heavy rains and floods,we realized that we had very poor disaster management system, and blamed Govt./Police for this.But what is the role of citizens during disaster? No one has any idea what we as citizens supposed to do.Take the case of Tuesdays floods with few examples.
Everyone wanted to reach safety of the home irrespective of the perils along the way.I gave lift at 11.30pm to group of 5 ladies with their children. Chidren had gone to school near Chandan cinema and their mothers got worried and left their homes on Yari Road at 4 pm to go to school and bring them home.While returning they had to cross overflowing Nallah where there was very strong currant as water was flowing to sea in ebb tide. They took 8 hrs in rains, darkness and flooded Link road for to and fro journey.Where children were safe? In school or on roads?
Mr. Mahesh Bhatt interviewed a lady, who went to pick up her daughter in Jamnabai School which was under may be 7 feet water and from there to Neena's home in Juhu, wading through water for 1 1/2 hrs.Mr.Bhatt applauded their efforts. But where they were safe? in elite school like Jamnabai or on road flooded with dirty water? Surely elite school like Jannabai can safely keep student and provide water and food to students for upto 24 hrs.
Ms. Dilnaz Boga -Journalist with Mumbai Mirror-moves out of safety of Times Bldg. with 2 lady colleagues to go to their homes in Mahim and beyond and has described her experience in Mumbai Mirror.Its a good copy to read but can she explain what was the need to leave safety of TOI bldg in first place.TOI doesn't have facility to keep journalist there for 24 hrs?
I agree with bloggist 1963, that people would like to be with their families during disaster but disasters are not managed by emotions. You have to carryout your assigned role to manage and help in disaster.So its important to fix citizens role while planning disaster management..Everywhere schools are used for shelter during disaster and here we take children out of safety of school to dangerously flooded roads.In future schools and office should be equipped to accommodate students and staff for the duration till all clear is given or safely moved by authorities.
Lesson to be learned from this disaster is to be at safe place during disaster and move only when all clear is sounded, as was advised to Londoner during 7/7 Bomb blasts.If this simple principle were followed by officegoers in Mumbai, then they would have stayed put in safe place like office or nearest safe place like home of friend or relative nearby.This would have prevented traffic Jams caused by stalled cars,(even their costly cars and other valuables would have been safe),easy movement of rescue teams which were held up by traffic and fewer incidents of need to rescue people who were trapped in surging water while going home. There would have been fewer people on stations and lot easier to provide water and food.Telecommunication would not be overwhelmed and their dear ones would not have spent hours worrying about them. In my hospital, staff and even visiting doctors were asked not to leave till water receded and was safe to go home.We made arrangement for the food(just omelet and bread).Even a couple who wanted to use toilet in the hospital was asked to stay in hospital premises till water receded.My daughter was asked to stay at relatives place till we fetched her next day evening.A doctor friend in Parla -west was host to friend's daughter and her friends for upto Wednesday afternoon.They were safe and we spent worryfree night.This horrowing experience was completely avoidable and unfortunately there were many who lost their lives for not following this First principle of Disaster Management.

New Life amidts Flood of Mumbai

Watching clips of floods in Gujrat,Goa,Raigad on TV I had always thought that this is one situation Mumbai wont face. Psunami may be, but not floods as we know.My only expirience of flood was during my trip to mahabaleshwar in August of 1999, when incessant rains had flooded river near Mahad/Poladpur.But it was not dangerous as we soon left for Mahabaleshwar.In the past ,during heavy rains at high tide in Mumbai, streets would get flooded,but it never caused anything more than minor irritation. Besides one always knows which areas get flooded and can avoid them by taking detours.It was different story this time. Rains caused flooding everywhere and area near sea in Juhu,Goregaon, Jogeshwari and other places and strong current caused maximum distruction and deaths.
I was fortunate that I chose to stay home.I had to go to Mumbai to meet my Tax Consultant to file return and I had planned to return home with friends who work in fort area.My appointment was for 4 pm so after lunch I was on net reading Amit's blogs on cows and foray in the Lovers corner in Orbit Mall.But previous experience had taught me to keep an eye on rains, so by 2.30 pm I was convinced that this rain will flood the streets and trains will stop as Matunga,Mahim,Dadar ,Parel will get flooded as they usually do.I phoned my friends in Fort area told them that I am not coming and they should leave immedietally or stay there in the office till water recedes.They were surprised as there was no rain there.So I told them to Phone before starting.
At 3pm Doctor friend phoned to asked whether he could do C Section in my hospital as he had no light and emergency light would not last long.He couldnt transfer the patient as roads were flooded.Fortunatelly my house and Hospital in Seven Bunglow is on higher ground and there is no flooding, and we had electricity.I asked friend to bring the patient to my hospital and I rushed to hospital to keep Operation Theatre ready for immediete surgery.In 15 minutes friend was in hospital with patient and theatre was ready,but Anaesthetist was stuck in flooded street. Water was upto Bonnet of his car.So he started walking in the waist high water with strong currunt and heavy anaesthetist bag on his head. Its just 1km from hospital but walking was difficult. Our anxiety level was rising faster than water in the street,If we loose the child or mother becomes serious its disaster for us.Besides so far we had electricity but how long will it be there ? To operate in Emergency light,even the thought was making us anxious and nervous.After waiting for 30 mnts. we phoned other Anaesthetist friend.Outside his building Water was chest high and water had entered BSES transformer in the compound so there was danger of Electric shock. But he agreed to come. Doctor friend went to pick him up.Thats good about old model M-800. it can navigate in flooded street better than all these new cars.By this time 1st anesthetist walked in ,all wet.I asked him to change and tried to contact doctor friend on Cell.Luckily Orange network started working & after 5-6 tries call was through and I asked him to rush back to start operation.
We were all set now, Washed up,Patient prepared,Anaesthetised and... light went out.Inverter light took over, all light except operation light were switched off. No AC, no Cautery, No electric suction.Emergency foot operated suction was availabe.In 5 mts baby was out,crying loudly, By this time second anesthetist also walked in.Neonatologist took care of the baby and we completed the operation without any further problem.But it was tense time for us.If things go wrong there is no help, no blood to transfuse.One has to just thank God.Tomorrow She is going home.Will she remember her first delivery? Will she tell her baby that she was born on a day when Mumbai had record rainfall and was flooded? In all these stories of horrowing expiriences,the story of her birth is not interesting.But its one story which has happy ending,a story where a new life has come amidts all this destruction.