Bliss.

Bliss.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Weird, Wild and Wonderful.

It's 1.45AM as I begin this post but this post JUST cannot wait. So I was right here, plonked on my bed, scrimmaging through the web for the Patho assignment and typing out a reply to my Quora friend Preethi (who is incidentally also a blogger, a travel enthusiast and a Pro-Kannada activist :) ) and that's when it all began. An hour or so later, I got a call from an unknown number and it turned out to be Preethi. So there was a plan to ëxplore Bangalore" and she invited me be a part of it. Now, this isn't usually things are in my life. I rushed to get myself ready and presentable and then I realized I had to get Madre-Padre to get on the same page. I convinced Ma that I've known her for a long time and that I'll be absolutely safe (travelling to an unknown place to meet new people) and I set off! 

Unsure of the bus route to Yeshwantpur, I called up a few local dosts and got a fair idea. I hopped on to the bus to Nayandahalli, then took and auto upto Nandini Layout (initially I thought I'd take the auto to Gorguntepalya but I realized that would cost a bomb) and then literally ran and caught a slightly moving bus to Yeshwantpur bus stand. I got a Day Pass done which basically meant that I could travel in any BMTC bus without paying anything more. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I met Preethi and for the first time in a long time, it didn't feel like I was meeting a stranger because we've been reading quite a bit of each other's writing. Soon, Apeksha (Preethi's school friend a.k.a Kappe :P ), Preethi and I were on our way to Orion and the chattering session began. We exchanged campus stories, complained about the crowd in our colleges, ranted about the messed up system, raved about Quora, built castles in the air w.r.t. future travel plans and meetups and basically spoke about everything under the sun. We wandered around for a while in Orion, lounged around in Landmark, walked cluelessly to a random bus stop and then realized that we needed to walk back to Yeshwantpur bus stand to travel to our next destination. We trudged back to the bus stand but the Prodigal bus eluded us for a long time. Finally we got into a bus that got us fairly close to New BEL Road. We walked along the IISc campus on a broad road shaded by a green canopy discussing the not-so-rosy life of Engineering students and clearing many myths and misconceptions. Famished,(well, not completely!) we crashed into Pizza Hut and had just placed our orders when Subbu a.k.a Subramanya (Apeksha's friend from MSR) joined us. We hogged, chatted and time seemed to fly! The best part is how we all had an amazing time despite having met for the first time. *FAITH IN HUMANITY RESTORED*


Post lunch, Subbu said he would take us to an interesting place about 2km from MSR and since we were all fed and watered, we felt upto the long walk. En route we spotted a Astrologer's place and weirdos that we are, we did the most amazing thing!! P and A walked in with a complaint that they had feelings for no Y chromosomes but each other. I was P's sister and S was A's brother. It was a tough moment for us as we tried to stifle our laughter and come up with fake names, DOBs, time and location of birth and nakshatra. The astrologer being a hi-tech dude, whipped out his iPhone and keyed in the details and calculated something and peered into his MacBook for some astrological insignia. Several cowrie shells later, he declared that the "problem" was very bad and because of a common enemy known to both of them and plotting for their downfall. he claimed to have "solved" several such cases in the past and offered to identify the person causing the problem and rid them of their problem for a sum of 4.5k. We mumbled a plausible reply, paid him the consultation fee and stumbled out laughing at our antics! One of the strangest things I've been a part of and I loved the spontaneity of it. :D

We walked along through unknown lanes, through cow-trodden paths and wide roads lined by mansions, apartments and trees talking about a great many things like we were long lost siblings (*Kumbh mela me bichde hue behen*). Discussions ranged from Quora personalities, engineering, medicine, singing paeans about our beloved Bengalooru, Marathi descendants in Tamil Nadu, qualitative comparison of animal poops, Apeksha's love for animals and imaginary plans on trying joints while I watch the fun! xD 

Preethi, Apeksha, Subbu and Me :)
We spared Subbu the ignominy of making fools of ourselves in his locality and then he led us through a tiny gate in the compound wall and.. voila! we were in the midst of greenery right in the heart of Bangalore. We walked along the path inside the GKVK campus and Subbu led us to an uspoilt rocky terrain with mini swamps and cacti. After this we realized that since 3/4 of us had to travel to opposite ends of Bangalore, it would be prudent to begin our journey backwards. This is when rain added to the celebration and we were all drenched in a span of minutes. Nevertheless, we raced the nearby shelter and watched Preethi soak in the rain. Afterthis we walked upto the Hebbal bus stand and we said our (temporary!!) goodbyes and parted ways. Preethi and I took a bus to Nagarbhavi while Apeksha traveled towards CV Raman Nagar and Subbu went back to Sanjaynagar. Preethi being the perfect host (but I can take care of myself!!) insisted on accompanying me until I found the best way to travel towards BSK. Finally, I took an auto upto 2nd stage while she took another bus towards Nagarbhavi BDA and then reached home via gaadi. After this, I had a lot more walking (in the rain) to do and my legs feel like logs but it certainly doesn't matter in the least!

At the Rocky Place, GKVK Campus
This meetup will remain in my mind for a long, long time to come because nothing about was planned, there were no expectations and yet I've come back with a treasure trove of memories and friends I really want to meet again at the earliest opportunity. :) Traveling by myself made me realize that it's important to ask when you're not sure. Ask if you are unsure of the route, of the stop you need to alight at, of anything for that matter! Once you get around to asking people when you have a question, you'll realize that most people are willing to help you around. That's the best part. Getting to know like minded people gives me the confidence to stay weird despite everything that forces me to join the bandwagon. Meeting new people is the best way to broaden your horizons, come out of a cloistered shell, exchange thoughts with like minded individuals and understand how others cope with similar issues. Sometimes all we need is the hope that we're all in the same boat and that one day we'll reach the harbor. :)

)
Prettiness by the pavement. :)

That's all for now folks! Toodles. :)

A Bit Of This And That..

Hey there folks! So I’m back in Bangalore and we’re finally done with the second internals! 2 weeks from now we will be “promoted to 5th term” and we will thence be known as “The Exam-going batch” but until then Home is the only destination. :)

So we had our theory papers and we literally went crazy trying to finish everything. Pathology especially was a tough nut to crack and despite spending 3/5th of my study time on Pathology most of us walked out rather disappointed with our performance. The bouncer in the question paper was Polyarteritis Nodosa which is a type of vascular disease.  Although Blood Vessels was covered in class and we had a vague memory of the topic being covered in class, none of us were prepared to write a 5 mark answer on it.

Basically Polyarteritis Nodosa affects the small to medium-sized arteries and it’s characterized by a “Rosary Bead” appearance. But alas, even this nugget of information failed to cross my mind during the exam. So instead I uselessly wrote about Henoch Schonlein Purpura (HSP) which is also a type of vasculitis with palpable purpura, glomerulonephritis and pain in the abdomen. Acute Pancreatitis was another question I didn't expect so I wrote a little about the pathogenesis and then went on about Grey Turner's Sign which is bluish discoloration around the umbilicus and it's seen in Acute Necrotizing Pancreatitis. Funnily enough, Aadi and I were quizzing each other just the day before the exam and that's how I thought of writing these random things.

Micro went without much ado because the paper was easy and contained many questions from our earlier Bacteriology test paper. Forensic now seems funny because although I didn’t waste too much time and began studying by 5PM, I had truckloads to finish and to top it all I fell asleep with dreams of waking up at an unearthly hour and finishing what was left. Alas, Sleep overpowered me and at 7AM, I woke up teary eyed and hoped for a miracle. As the words failed to make any sense, I resigned myself to my fate. As the dreaded hour approached, Nammu tried to pep me up by asking some questions but my cluelessness did nothing to improve my mood. Nevertheless, it takes courage to walk into the battlefield knowing that you won’t come back victorious. After vehemently arguing with roll numbers 31 and 34 that I possessed no knowledge whatsoever, we looked at the question paper and well… I began writing whatever little I could remember and concocted plausible answers for most of the questions. Fate, they say, is a fickle friend. :)

After this, we began preparing for the practical exams in all earnest. Reddy, Nammu, Likki and I were had the same practical time table so we began with Pathology and later Abhi and BP also joined us. We began with the histopathology slides (which we got from Icaboo) and then we did a bit of Hematology as well.

Our Pathology practical exam goes like this:
  • Spotters: Instruments, gross specimens, histopathology slides, hematology..
  • Haemoglobin estimation (by Sahli’s method) [which I managed to screw up to some extent]
  • Blood group determination (where again I couldn't answer many of the questions regarding blood banks despite preparing posters on the same subject)
  • Urine analysis (where you’ve got to perform chemical tests on the urine sample to look for protein, sugar, ketone bodies or blood as abnormal constituents. Here again, I freaked out over the procedures and walked around hurriedly in hope of a miracle.
  • Hematology slide: usually a type of anaemia or leukemia is given and you are expected to recognize the slide and write a report regarding the same. Usually, there is a case that accompanies the slide that gives a clue. Now here’s how it looks:
  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia
    Megaloblastic Anaemia 
    Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (look for smudge cells but
    don't depend on them :/ )



















 So on the ill-fated day, I found myself grappling with a slide that looked suspiciously like CML but the case suggested CLL. Alas, Luck and Logic had deserted me and having found no smudge cells that are characteristically seen in CLL, I presumed that the slide was on CML (even when it clearly said “70 year old with mild organomegaly and lymphadenopathy.. -_-) So when V Sir peeped into the microscope, he looked surprised and annoyed that I hadn't even recognized the slide right. Now how could he sarcastically reply to the lame answers I would give? Nevertheless I felt downright disappointed with myself and the only question that Sir asked was causes for massive splenomegaly (The previous day Sahana had told me a few but all I could remember was Portal Hypertension, CML and my fav, Hairy Cell Leukemia) So after this disaster, I know I have some Serious Issues with Path.


  • The histopathology slide was Chronic Pyelonephritis and this was evident from the periglomerular fibrosis, thyroidization of tubules and inflammatory infiltrates. I blabbered a little regarding vesicoureteral reflex and bacterial infection and the rest went on uneventfully.
There is "thyroidization"of the tubules: look at the colloidal material
in the middle of the tubule. Fibrosis around the glomerulus and
relatively larger number of inflammatory cells.
Forensic passed uneventfully thanks to the mnemonics we made to remember the bones of the wrist joint (Can He Talk Less So That They Piss) and elbow joint (Head Mistress of TLC) in the order of the appearance of their centers of ossification. Microbiology also passed uneventfully (Uppi was in a good mood and restricted himself to Antimicrobials which isn't covered yet in Pharmac) and finally it was Pharmacology (by now I sounded like a full blown frog) and Siddu Sir began by asking "So you want to go to JIPMER?" (Me: *stares blankly for 3s* and Sir repeats and then it flashes to me that he's talking about the JIPMER fest Spandan, he later informs that the management will not permit any entrants in the fear of any such similar requests in the future. -_-). It went okayish (Sir: BZD anatagonist? Me: Flumazenil! *withathat'ssoobvioustonethatInowregret* Sir: Morphine antagonist? Me: *It'satthetipofmytonguebutItjustdoesn'tflash*....... NALAXONE/ NALTREXONE!! *Whew* But I couldn't wait to get out of the place and I literally ran back towards the hostel and began packing my bags because it was time to head home! A massive speedy pack-a-thon later BP, Likki and I set off towards Nammooru Bangalooru :)

Movies I've watched lately:
  • Lakshya: A beautiful movie directed by Farhan Akhtar and starring Hrithik and Preity. Meaningful, well crafted and yes, it's got Hrithik <3!
  • Queen: I loved this movie. It's like Bollywood has finally come of age! :)
  • Bahubali: Don't ask, don't judge. I succumbed to parental pressure. -_- Not bad. -.-'
Musicophilia: I've been listening to a lot of songs lately all thanks to Hippo aka Froggie's awesome suggestions! Majority are from MTV Unplugged and take you to another world (especially with the right pair of earphones :P) with the soulful rendition and accompanying music. Music proved to be a stress buster during the exam fortnight because nothing can take away your worries like a beautiful song. Do listen to the MTV Unplugged version of these which can be found on Youtube under MTV Unplugged:
  • Javeda Zindagi
  • Maaeri
  • Rangobati
  • Jiyein Kyun
  • Saibo
  • Yeh Joh Desh
  • Nayan Tarse and Badra Bahar
  • Phir Se Ud Chala
  • Tum Hi Ho
And soo many more! Most of the songs linger in your mind because the music is so rich and pure. Also listen to 

  1. Daylight by Maroon5 
  2. Songs by Pakistan based Coke Studio such has Dholna (Atif Aslam), Lambi Judaai (Komal Rizvi) and Nindiya Ke Paar (Uzair Jaswal).. 
After landing in B'lore, the next few days were spent on the treaddie, swimming and googling exercises for losing fat in different regions :P

Saturday was time for HSR Express Ver 2.0! :)

At Sanjana's Place.. 
Appa dropped me at BSK Bus stand and after this I took a regular bus to HSR Layout. Suprisingly, I reached in just over an hour (it's usually much more than that) and after this it was nonstop chattering about everything under the sun! Medical college stories, latest trends in colleges, friends, hostel life woes and so many more things. The best part is how both of us have similar experiences in our respective colleges. After a sumptuous lunch we resumed our chatter, photo sessions and some gaming. After a walk in the park it was time to bid adieu, albeit for a short while, and soon, I was on a direct bus to Jantha Bazaar. Here's hoping that we meet again soon! There is no end to conversation when we get together :)


After this, I headed home, only to be back on the same road with family at Village, Central, JP Nagar for another hogging session. Next day, i.e Sunday was eventful because after the customary Baddie, Treadmill and exercises and lazed around till noon and then Di and I headed to BAC by 3.30PM; It was time for Sibling Swimming Session!! We had loads of fun splashing around, racing each other and literally pulling each other's legs in the chilly pool. Now this is something I want to do again before these holidays get over! :D

Be Right Back. I've got a LOT to blog today! B)

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Remembrance.



Eventually I shall not matter to you,
Just as you shall cease to exist to me.
You know that just as well as I do.
What matters is which shall precede;
Will you make me a stranger?
Or will I walk away as a lone ranger?

Today we remember the tiniest details in our story,
Some day, you maybe just another faded memory.
Today we laugh over the little things,
Some day, another shall wipe the tears of bigger things.

If I were to look back then,
I'd be glad to have let it happen
Just as much to have let it go,
After all, it gave me greater joy than sorrow.