Few minutes with Venus
Those were pre penicillin days. Penicillin came into universal use only in the late forties and early fifties of last century and revolutionized the treatment of many infections. Venereal diseases [diseases that are transmitted by sexual contact] were amongst these. When I was a medical student in the early sixties we saw a few of these relics who were suffering from the effects of having contacted gonorrhea in the pre penicillin days. The common complication was stricture [narrowing of the urinary passage]. These sufferers would periodically come to the hospital to get the passage dilated. The instruments uses were called bogies [don't ask me why this name] . These were graduated curved steel tubes which were slid down the urethra one after the the other and the narrowed portion was forcibly opened. Then the whole passage and the bladder would be irrigated with liquid mercuric chloride solution [an antiseptic].The victim would howl with pain during the procedure.
Once when I was doing this procedure, hearing the cries of the patient my senior said 'few minutes with Venus [sex worker] and life long with Mercury'
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Happiness
As most agree, it is a state of mind influenced by external inputs.Few days ago I was very happy when Khalin became the number one amateur golfer of the country. That he also broke the course record by playing the round in 62 strokes only added to the pleasure.His father Hitesh Joshi [a scratch golfer] is a personal friend, topped my cup of joy. Khalin Joshi who is all 18 years will turn pro by the year end, and I hope he will keep making us happy.
Some days I feel happy even when there is no such input. This kind of stupid happiness and elation is akin to feeling sad for no reason. A state of mind devoid of all thoughts is supposed to give one great mental peace and many are the methods of meditation that are taught to achieve this. I have failed to achieve a thoughtless brain or mind.
As you age and see the world around you becoming increasingly unfamiliar, you begin to think that it is the ageing process. This is not really true. It happens because you are no longer in the thick of things and your utility to the community is much less or not at all.This creates a sense of dejection and older persons thus become mentally and physically aloof. The only way one can avoid this state of mind is to keep it occupied.
Occupying the mind is not easy with out exercising the senses. If one is idle then he will be forced to live in the past and his company will be so tiresome that people will avoid him adding to the misery. Using the eyes to appreciate the beauty around you, ears to listen to fine sounds of music, nose to smell the scent of flowers or aroma of a cup of coffee or the whiff out of a bottle of mature single malt whiskey, get the warmth of the morning sun and the cooling breeze of the evening wind on to your bare skin, stretch your muscles and bones. These activities will keep your brain cells so occupied that the mind [ a collection of past and present thoughts] has very little time for mischief and this is the best way to avoid depression of old age.
Talking of old age, many elderly are over medicated. Older persons need lesser and fewer medications. But I see the reverse. Any number more than four is not easy to follow. I mean if one were to take four medications at different times, one can be sure that an elderly man or woman will not follow the regimen.
Most vitamins, minerals, tonics, nose drops eye drops, ear drops are useless and waste of good money. Medication for high BP should be such that pressure doesn't fall too much.Low BP is as much of a problem as the high BP.
It is time I stop these ramblings of my mind which started with some thing and ended up with some thing else.
Old age?
As most agree, it is a state of mind influenced by external inputs.Few days ago I was very happy when Khalin became the number one amateur golfer of the country. That he also broke the course record by playing the round in 62 strokes only added to the pleasure.His father Hitesh Joshi [a scratch golfer] is a personal friend, topped my cup of joy. Khalin Joshi who is all 18 years will turn pro by the year end, and I hope he will keep making us happy.
Some days I feel happy even when there is no such input. This kind of stupid happiness and elation is akin to feeling sad for no reason. A state of mind devoid of all thoughts is supposed to give one great mental peace and many are the methods of meditation that are taught to achieve this. I have failed to achieve a thoughtless brain or mind.
As you age and see the world around you becoming increasingly unfamiliar, you begin to think that it is the ageing process. This is not really true. It happens because you are no longer in the thick of things and your utility to the community is much less or not at all.This creates a sense of dejection and older persons thus become mentally and physically aloof. The only way one can avoid this state of mind is to keep it occupied.
Occupying the mind is not easy with out exercising the senses. If one is idle then he will be forced to live in the past and his company will be so tiresome that people will avoid him adding to the misery. Using the eyes to appreciate the beauty around you, ears to listen to fine sounds of music, nose to smell the scent of flowers or aroma of a cup of coffee or the whiff out of a bottle of mature single malt whiskey, get the warmth of the morning sun and the cooling breeze of the evening wind on to your bare skin, stretch your muscles and bones. These activities will keep your brain cells so occupied that the mind [ a collection of past and present thoughts] has very little time for mischief and this is the best way to avoid depression of old age.
Talking of old age, many elderly are over medicated. Older persons need lesser and fewer medications. But I see the reverse. Any number more than four is not easy to follow. I mean if one were to take four medications at different times, one can be sure that an elderly man or woman will not follow the regimen.
Most vitamins, minerals, tonics, nose drops eye drops, ear drops are useless and waste of good money. Medication for high BP should be such that pressure doesn't fall too much.Low BP is as much of a problem as the high BP.
It is time I stop these ramblings of my mind which started with some thing and ended up with some thing else.
Old age?
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Bismillah and his Shehanai
Since I gave up my evening clinic work I find some idle time at my disposal. I use it to play golf, badminton, afternoon naps, reading and more importantly, listening to music. Readers of my blog are familiar with my love towards Hindustani classical music.Though my first love is vocal music, I often listen to this music played on Shehanai. Shehanai is a reed instrument and the note produced is smooth and easy flowing. I have found a lot of mental peace listening Shehanai.
Common knowledge is that the instrument came to India along with the invading Muslim armies around the 10th century. I also was under the same impression till I read a well researched article written by Dr Dileep Karanth, [who incidentally is my wife's nephew][Indian Oboe reexamined, published in the journal of Asian studies] Dileep is by profession a physicist and has other interests as one can make out if one reads this article.
Shehanai in one form or the other existed in old India since prehistory and spread from there to other parts of the world and the music played of course came under a lot of foreign influence notably Sufi Islam.
The greatest exponent of Shehanai was Late Bismillah Khan, Bismillah died recently at the ripe old age of 90. Honours came to him aplenty including the Bharath Ratna. Despite all this he remained a simple person managing his large family and dependents. His home was the temple town of Banares and in one of the interviews he said he found the presence of God while playing the shahnai on the banks of river Ganga which flows by Banares. He also often performed inside the Kashi Viswananth temple. He in fifty years transformed shehanai from an instrument performed during festivals and marriages to that of an principal instrument of classical Hindustani music performed on stage like any other.
Though he is no longer with us I have vivid memories of him playing the shehanai. It was a visual and auditory treat. I remember his face with the trimmed white beard and the laugh lines around his twinkling eyes. With black coat and a write cap he had stage presence rarely seen these days. What I liked about his music is that he rarely gave in to musical calisthenics to impress the audience. His was smooth and easy on the ears and played as much for us as for himself.
Traditional music as we have seen is slowly disappearing. Shorter versions with more titillation seem to be the order of the day. But old music like old wine is still available thanks to quality electronic storage devices.
Since I gave up my evening clinic work I find some idle time at my disposal. I use it to play golf, badminton, afternoon naps, reading and more importantly, listening to music. Readers of my blog are familiar with my love towards Hindustani classical music.Though my first love is vocal music, I often listen to this music played on Shehanai. Shehanai is a reed instrument and the note produced is smooth and easy flowing. I have found a lot of mental peace listening Shehanai.
Common knowledge is that the instrument came to India along with the invading Muslim armies around the 10th century. I also was under the same impression till I read a well researched article written by Dr Dileep Karanth, [who incidentally is my wife's nephew][Indian Oboe reexamined, published in the journal of Asian studies] Dileep is by profession a physicist and has other interests as one can make out if one reads this article.
Shehanai in one form or the other existed in old India since prehistory and spread from there to other parts of the world and the music played of course came under a lot of foreign influence notably Sufi Islam.
The greatest exponent of Shehanai was Late Bismillah Khan, Bismillah died recently at the ripe old age of 90. Honours came to him aplenty including the Bharath Ratna. Despite all this he remained a simple person managing his large family and dependents. His home was the temple town of Banares and in one of the interviews he said he found the presence of God while playing the shahnai on the banks of river Ganga which flows by Banares. He also often performed inside the Kashi Viswananth temple. He in fifty years transformed shehanai from an instrument performed during festivals and marriages to that of an principal instrument of classical Hindustani music performed on stage like any other.
Though he is no longer with us I have vivid memories of him playing the shehanai. It was a visual and auditory treat. I remember his face with the trimmed white beard and the laugh lines around his twinkling eyes. With black coat and a write cap he had stage presence rarely seen these days. What I liked about his music is that he rarely gave in to musical calisthenics to impress the audience. His was smooth and easy on the ears and played as much for us as for himself.
Traditional music as we have seen is slowly disappearing. Shorter versions with more titillation seem to be the order of the day. But old music like old wine is still available thanks to quality electronic storage devices.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Arvind Kejriwal
Every now and then, India throws up extra ordinary men and women. One such person who is making news and forcing us to take notice is Arvind Kejriwal. To swim against the norm, to protest against injustice, delay, corruption, poor governance against an all powerful state is no easy task and requires extraordinary courage.
I don't think in recent times any individual has won my admiration as this man has. At present he is crusading to get this country a clean administration.
I wish him success.
Every now and then, India throws up extra ordinary men and women. One such person who is making news and forcing us to take notice is Arvind Kejriwal. To swim against the norm, to protest against injustice, delay, corruption, poor governance against an all powerful state is no easy task and requires extraordinary courage.
I don't think in recent times any individual has won my admiration as this man has. At present he is crusading to get this country a clean administration.
I wish him success.
Club of fifteen
40 years ago, the conditions of medical practice were very different. The support systems that have developed over the years were nonexistent then. There were no ambulances and to transport a seriously sick patient to a hospital was a night mare and I was witness to many a death occurring for want of timely help. Adding to the many owes, the doctors worked in utter isolation and there was no communication at all, even among doctors working in the same area. They often faced the same problems but were unable or didn't want to get help from others. Was it fear of loosing patient to the other doctor, or a innate complex or lack of confidence or combination of all of these? I didn't know. There was a local association of doctors and this was dominated by hospital based doctors whose ethos was very different from that of us general practitioners.
I set out to remedy this. I went around and met doctors who were running solo practices like mine and got five of them to agree to meet once a month over a cup of tea. The first meeting was held in my house, some 30 years ago. This was a success. Then others joined and we limited the number to 15 as we found this number manageable in our homes. The group became so popular that we found a waiting list. The new one could join when one of us left the group, This generally occurred by death and rarely by resignation. If the members of this group are considered good and well informed doctors, a lot of credit should go to the club of fifteen and the members have remained close friends over the years. The once a month meeting has gone on nonstop in all these thirty years!
An offshoot of this core group is a larger organisation called Family Physicians Association, Bangalore.
About this group, I will write some time later.
But my first love remains the club of fifteen!
40 years ago, the conditions of medical practice were very different. The support systems that have developed over the years were nonexistent then. There were no ambulances and to transport a seriously sick patient to a hospital was a night mare and I was witness to many a death occurring for want of timely help. Adding to the many owes, the doctors worked in utter isolation and there was no communication at all, even among doctors working in the same area. They often faced the same problems but were unable or didn't want to get help from others. Was it fear of loosing patient to the other doctor, or a innate complex or lack of confidence or combination of all of these? I didn't know. There was a local association of doctors and this was dominated by hospital based doctors whose ethos was very different from that of us general practitioners.
I set out to remedy this. I went around and met doctors who were running solo practices like mine and got five of them to agree to meet once a month over a cup of tea. The first meeting was held in my house, some 30 years ago. This was a success. Then others joined and we limited the number to 15 as we found this number manageable in our homes. The group became so popular that we found a waiting list. The new one could join when one of us left the group, This generally occurred by death and rarely by resignation. If the members of this group are considered good and well informed doctors, a lot of credit should go to the club of fifteen and the members have remained close friends over the years. The once a month meeting has gone on nonstop in all these thirty years!
An offshoot of this core group is a larger organisation called Family Physicians Association, Bangalore.
About this group, I will write some time later.
But my first love remains the club of fifteen!
Test Cricket
For a lover of test match cricket, the just concluded test between India and Newzealand was a rare visual treat. Despite the fact that the test didn't last five days, it had enough to give me pleasure. There was correctly played 158 runs by the youngster called Chateswar Pujara. Unlike in the one dayers and twenty twenty cricket, a century in the tests has to be built on technique and temeperment and this youngster had both. Then there was spin bowling at its best. I was able to see an off spinner bowling what appeared like a ball which spun from right to left, a kind of reverse googly and and another ball which skidded through like a top spinner. This remarkable bowler who goes by the name of Ravichandran Aswin may be our next Chandrasekar who got our first test wins abroad some forty years ago. That the oposing side had to suffer this excellent performance didn't matter. I was able to watch some great batting and bowling and also some excellent catching as a bonus.
Under 19 Champions
Normally, in the present day India, good news is rare. But two items of good news is indeed a luxury. India won the test match against Newzealand at Hyderabad and the under 19 world cup in Australia on the same day! I was fortunate to watch both. The boy with a strange name of Unmukt Chand led the under 19 team from the front and beat the favorites Australia to lift the cup. The juniors doing well augers a bright future for Indian cricket.
Much ado
Our 80 odd Olympians returned with six medals and none of the six was gold. But the way these second class winners were feted and awards showered on them left me wondering. One sports writer felt it was a great performance as we had only four medals in the last Olympics! One of the most populous of nations, claiming to be an emerging economic and technological power house could produce only six medals should be a matter of concern and shame, but we celebrated. One of the medal winners, an army man demanded to be promoted to the officer grade!
Every thing is wrong with us. Our priorities, policies, programmes, delivery systems. You name it. We have become experts in not doing it well.
Except in cricket as it happened to day!
For a lover of test match cricket, the just concluded test between India and Newzealand was a rare visual treat. Despite the fact that the test didn't last five days, it had enough to give me pleasure. There was correctly played 158 runs by the youngster called Chateswar Pujara. Unlike in the one dayers and twenty twenty cricket, a century in the tests has to be built on technique and temeperment and this youngster had both. Then there was spin bowling at its best. I was able to see an off spinner bowling what appeared like a ball which spun from right to left, a kind of reverse googly and and another ball which skidded through like a top spinner. This remarkable bowler who goes by the name of Ravichandran Aswin may be our next Chandrasekar who got our first test wins abroad some forty years ago. That the oposing side had to suffer this excellent performance didn't matter. I was able to watch some great batting and bowling and also some excellent catching as a bonus.
Under 19 Champions
Normally, in the present day India, good news is rare. But two items of good news is indeed a luxury. India won the test match against Newzealand at Hyderabad and the under 19 world cup in Australia on the same day! I was fortunate to watch both. The boy with a strange name of Unmukt Chand led the under 19 team from the front and beat the favorites Australia to lift the cup. The juniors doing well augers a bright future for Indian cricket.
Much ado
Our 80 odd Olympians returned with six medals and none of the six was gold. But the way these second class winners were feted and awards showered on them left me wondering. One sports writer felt it was a great performance as we had only four medals in the last Olympics! One of the most populous of nations, claiming to be an emerging economic and technological power house could produce only six medals should be a matter of concern and shame, but we celebrated. One of the medal winners, an army man demanded to be promoted to the officer grade!
Every thing is wrong with us. Our priorities, policies, programmes, delivery systems. You name it. We have become experts in not doing it well.
Except in cricket as it happened to day!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
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| Brahma Kamal
This extraordinary flower blossomed two days ago at night in my back garden. It has several unusual features. The single most unusual one is that it flowers at night and has a life of six hours. You can see by the picture that it buds out of a leaf and belongs[?] cactus family.
Some questions naturally arise. The extraordinary beauty attracts which pollinating agent? and that too at night?
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