Her Fall Fiesta

With crunchy, crinkly leaves everywhere

Autumn had painted the town yellow, orange and red.

She changed the wreath on her door, again

Like she had every year, for all of sixty seven.

Until next time, 

Chandana Shekar

Happy Doctors' Day 2011

To the 5.5 years of medical college,
To the cocktail of slogging and fun,
To the pre-pg and pg struggle,
And the life that starts later on..
Cheers mates... Happy Doctors' Day :) :)

 

Loads of love,

Dr. Chandana C. Shekar

  

That innocent Val day..

February!! Everybody thinks of Love when it comes to this month!! Everybody knows what the 14th of Feb is. Love is in the air. Gals who are always complaining mellow down. Guys take time out for their gals even between the World Cup schedule. Archies and Hallmark shops blush to red and shoppers fill in. I have regularly shopped for the Feb 14th since I was seven years old. Nah, don't raise your eyebrows!! That was for my sister's birthday which is on the same date. You people na!Prototype thinkers!! Uff!! ;-)

But yeah, not to deny, Val day happens to everyone when in high school or college or a little bit later. One or the person comes up and one or the other gift comes up. Whatever unique or personalised or expensive gifts people buy, I always remember the first Val day gift I had exchanged.

I was in Class 4. On Val day eve, I was out with my elder brother and his friends. They were talking about what gift a guy had bought for the next day. The curious me asked them as to what they were talking about. They said that he had a bought a gift for his friend and people do that on that day. So, basically I understood it as friendship day! Those were the days when I used to have a huge collection of different kinds of pencils. We weren't allowed to use pens until the next grade.So it was just pencils and pencils. So anytime a friend had a birthday, the gift that person would get from me would be a couple of nice pencils. So I went home, gift wrapped a couple of pencils into two packs and gave it to two friends on the next day! And to top it, I 'enlightened' them too about the 'occasion' and hence, received return gifts from them the next day, which was again, pencils!!

Years passed and I got the 'actual' enlightenment about Val day. Flowers came, gifts came, wishes came. But I'll never forget that Val day. It was innocence celebrating friendship. Even while writing this post, that Val day memory brings a smile on my face.And I guess that's all that matters .

Well, Val day may be about your spouse and blah blah, but its just celebrating love in general. And love exists in every single relationship. Be it the one you have with God or with your dog. So go on, celebrate love. I agree that Love is to be loved all the time, but this is one month to celebrate it. Maybe we can call it, the 'Carnival of Love'. :)

Cheers..
Until next time,
Chandana C. Shekar

"Oh!I saw an ambulance at that hosp!! So cool!!"

A few months ago, my sister got into MBBS. Soon after her admission counseling was over at the Common Entrance Test Cell and her admission got confirmed, she was messaging all her friends that she got through and was to be a budding doctor now. Ofcourse she had specified which college she was getting into. Congratulating replies came, calls came and it went on. But one girl surely outdid the rest of them. She called up my sister and said, "Oh that college!! I've seen that college. It has a huge campus, huge hospital. There was an ambulance 'also' in front of the hospital ya! Cool!!".. Huh? Finding an ambulance in front of a hospital is something worth mentioning? Nowadays there are freelancing free ambulances too!! And this after all is a  Medical College Hospital. Sounds funny, but at that age, all that that girl had was innocence, joy and excitement. I remember saying similar stuff when my best friend A was trying for admission at the IISc. We were just excited about the campus and the boulevards there and the stipend and what not! But not once did we talk about the coaching there. When you're genuinely excited for someone, every small thing looks exciting. IISc didn't happen, but all the better ISRO did!! And I am so proud of her :).  Every time I talk about my best friend to anyone, I sure mention she works there. Anyways, back to the younger ones, my sister's friend was happy for my sister and that was all that mattered..I wish both of them all the good luck for their endeavours.

Until next time,
Chandana C. Shekar

Nostalgia Revisited

"Nostalgia". Have been living with this word for quite a few months now. It started just before my Internship got over. College life of five and a half years came to end and everybody parted ways, with promises of keeping in touch in one way or the other. Thanks to facebook and free sms packages, few friends still do keep in touch. However, no means of communication matches the company spent in person.

One of my friend D left Mysore last week. Again, it was going away of a friend for six years. She, and two more friends - S and S shared a room in the Hostel. Me and another friend who were localites were found at that room very often. There were n number of times when Mom called asking, "Where are you?" and the answer was invariably "Hostel"; even though I was elsewhere at times, because I knew saying 'hostel' would be safe! We discussed crushes and gossips there, slept in the afternoon and missed classes, had those late night combined study sessions during exams, prepared Maggi which took ages to cook on that electric stove, slept the night over when we got late roaming outside and it was past the curfew at home and so on. We've shared laughter and tears, success and failure in that very room. Six years of all that, and now its all over. I can never go to that Hostel again, and never can I answer my Mom's question about where I am as 'hostel'.

Just the day before D left, we friends had gone out on a drive. A friend A got a call from home and he went, "Shh!! Call from home." And everybody went silent. We've done so much of that all this while and now, that's over too. One reason is that we are getting older (??), more responsible and hence parents won't bother. One more is that everybody is getting busy with their lives, trying to make a career or getting married. Nobody has time to loaf around and hence, this situation won't arise in the first place!!

Yesterday I and a friend S were chatting. The topic of conversation shifted to Marriages. He said, "There is still time. Look for a guy who can get you a Management quota Post Graduation seat and get married. Enjoy life till June 2011 and then start your Pg life". No surprises, Me the rebel, started talking about 'Compatibility' and how funny a few arranged marriages are and the business proposals that go with it. My friend thought it looked like I would get into a Love marriage and said so. The conversation continued and I said, "Arre yaar, If I want to get into a Love marriage and my parents don't agree, aur main bhaagke registered marriage karoon, tum please witness banke sign karna." And He said,"Tu chinta math kar yaar.Main tumhaara Bhai banke tumhaari shaadi karvaaonga". And then both of us burst into a laughter. The Dulhan is here. Dulhan ka Bhai is ready. Now where on earth is the Dulha?? One fine day when I get married, such thoughts and comments and conversations will also cease and turn into nostalgia. What would we talk about then? The gifts to get at baby-shower??

Life's been just books and books nowadays. Whether I 'actually' study or not, top most priority now is books. Everybody's got busy studying and hardly anybody calls or messages, forget meet anybody. I have two friends -T and S. We message each other at night so that we have some company to keep us awake, which is very difficult with those fatso books in front of us. The sms conversations we have everyday are very typical. Its always like - "Hey, sup?"  .."Studying ya. You?" .. "Same da. How's it going?" .. "Bad. Yours?" .. "Pathetic. how many questions?" .. "60. You?" .. "Arre don't ask. Im sick n tired. What bakwass is this..." and on and on. But thinking in the sense of nostalgia, maybe one fine when we all get our Post Graduation admissions done and shall be pursuing our courses, maybe we shall miss this part too. Maybe not the frustration we have now, but maybe the pleasure of waking up at our own time, not worrying to dress up, mom making coffee for us more than a couple of times a day, ghar ka khaana and maybe these conversations. Pre-PG life is the worst phase of a Medico's life. With all the frustrations and insecurities, the friends who give us company through this journey sure make the tiring journey easier, even though its a wee bit.

Well anyways, I want this Pre-PG life to get over soon. And like all other souls who are sailing in the same boat as I am, I too want a happy ending to this.

Until next time,
Chandana C. Shekar

Random Monday Ramblings

It's 1:00 am and I'm having Cadbury's dairy milk fruit and nut. It's all melted and it feels so good to lick it off my fingers. It reminds me of that dairy milk silk's ad. Hmmm.. Nice ad.

Why is the blue water bottle in my room today? Where did the pink one go???

My brother thinks that I write well and I should write for a column or something. My best friend thinks I'm wasting time writing my blog even and I need to sit and study for my entrance.

When asked why guys smoke, a friend said, "it feels like an orgasm". Another girl replied, "Yuck! What a poor substitute."

Niluvaddamu ninu yepudaina
nuvu evvaru ani adigena
aa chitrame gamanisthunna gotthagaa
That's playing on my phone. I like that song.
 
Call my phone. You'll get to listen to
Your mind's in disturbia, it's like the darkness is light
Disturbia, am I scaring you tonight?
Disturbia, ain't used to what you like
Disturbia, disturbia

But no better substitute to
Yaare koogaadali yaare horaadali,
yemme ninage saati illa

 Or even,
Nanna haadu nannadhu, nanna jeeva nannadhu
Yendhedhigoo,Innendhigoo

Wonder if my dad's earning depends on my mom. Coz my mom's an obstretician and dad's a paediatrician.

What if I was at Las Vegas this right moment?

Day care schools in USA charge 1000$ per month itseems. Wow!! Got a career option if i don't get a PG seat. :)
A friend of mine always ends the conversation with "happy studying". Well, maybe these wishes are necessary to negate the frustration of studying!!.

Drug of choice for S.aureus food poisoning?- 'Nothing'!!.. Yippee!! one drug less to remember :)

6 hours 18 minutes, and not a single message recieved on my phone. Hello everyone!!! I exist!!
I saw this on a bike- "Dad says no racing for kids".. Was that for others or for him?

My sister refers to my mom and my mom's best friend as 'chik-chik friends'.. huh?

A friend's friend got married tonight at a water park! The invitees could play around the water slides itseems.Hmmm, had never heard of anything like that.

The night's so silent.. peace :)

I know of a girl who's getting married. I pity her husband for the kinda girl she is!!

I did something new today.. yeah!!! :)

According to a preventive and social medicine textbook, 'youth' ends at the age of 25! Shit ya, so I have only two more years of youth remaining? poor me :(

Same old routine from tomorrow. Ouch!

I love myself :)

Okay , enough now. Good night everyone :)


Have a nice week ahead,
Chandana C. Shekar

Slap-up Thoughts #7

"If not reciprocate to someone's feelings, atleast respect it."

Bit busy,
Chandana C. Shekar

Slap-up thought #6

A girl to a guy trying to touch her, "Itna frustrate mat ho ki ek din castrate ho jayega"

 ( Don't be so frustrated that you get castrated one day). Lolz.. Fits those kinda buggers. :)

From the movie Rocket Singh.

Cheers,
Chandana C. Shekar

Microfiction Monday #3

Here's for Microfiction Monday. I got two takes on it this time. Enjoy it n take it on :)

"Three old saints of wood we are,

Mourning today, our Ace went afar.

May his pure soul rest in peace,

May there be no more worries." [;-)]

and

"We four saints went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water,

Jack fell down, had an already broken crown,

But had no Jill, to come after"

p.s.- Bit busy, will read your blogs soon.

Have a nice week ahead,

Chandana C. Shekar

'Malegalalli Madhumagalu', A 9-hour-long, Unique, Night Play

Warning: This a lengthy review. Couldn't help it.

When "Malegalalli Madhumagalu" was being enacted at Rangayana, Mysore, I was more than excited to watch it. Had many reasons for it. It was the 700 pages Magnum Opus of our literary icon Kuvempu, was a 9 hour long night play and had heard that a lot of effort has gone into it's production. More than anything, I found it's poster very very interesting.One day, when I was driving , I passed in front of Kalamandir and saw the poster again. It had impressed me so much that I thought I should blog about it. The same day, my aunt got us tickets for the next night's show. Was more than happy. Even though I had been to Coorg and returned to Mysore just before the show, wasn't feeling a bit tired or sleepy. Just wanted to watch the play.

A 9 hour long play, under the direction of C. Basavalingaiah, music by Hamsalekha, art direction by H.K.Dwarakanath is based on the theatre adaptation of the novel, which was done by K.Y.Narayanaswamy. Set in four stages,Vanaranga, Dundukana, Puthani Vana and Rangadarshini, it actually felt as though we were in Malenadu.With 150 characters, 58 scenes, 48 songs, and 67 actors and just 5 months of production, the play starts with a ring that is lost in the Dharmasthala hundi and the story is narrated using folk forms such as arjuna jogis and koravanjis and others.

I'll be wrong if I say that there was perfection in the play. There was "more than perfection" in every minor thing.It was not just that there was a stage and the act was on it. There were characters to the right, left and even above it ( believe me they were on trees too) and hence, we audience had no option but migrate to the world they had created for us. Though this play is based on a classic, there is comedy, drama, music, love, political issues , issues between the society and the individual, the caste system then, spread of christianity, beliefs and customs and lot more in it.

The characters, oh you'll adore them. Guththi and his dog Huliya- oh huliya is the play's sweetheart. Whoever has played that part deserves a big applause. Playing a 'dog' that well is something beyond our imagination. Mukunda was my favourite. He perfectly fit into the love story hero character. (psst- he was handsome too). Aitha and Pinchalu were the cute newly married couple and played their parts well. Devaiah was amazing being the confused and escapist himself. Subbaiah hegde, I guess is some veteran actor. His display of emotions had no bounds. Was too very perfect.The Christian father and his 'beesekallu'(bicycle) was a laughter roller coaster for sure. Aithakka and her spontaneity; Ayynoru and the typical brahmin attitude he carried off so well; the pudi saabru and their horse; the mallu pandit and his mallu-kannada accent; Thimmi, Nagakka, Chinnamma and their anxiety; the depiction of the Rana; Swami Vivekananda appearing out of nowhere, that too behind and above the audience; the wild boar hunt; the potrayal of huli kallu neththi well above the trees and dawn with saambraani dhoopa and clouds; the artists getting into position in the darkness; the artificial rain, everything was more than what the audience expected. The stages were set so well against the background of trees and the like in open air, that it actually felt like we were taken to the villages of Simbhaavi, Hoovalli, Konooru, Huli kallu neththi and others.

The spontaniety in the emotions, dialogues, climbing trees as though they were experts at it, and hopping and running around of the artists very much needs appreciation. In the whole play, there was not even one single slip or one single stutter. Every character , be it in the nook of the stage also was very involved in the play and upto the mark. There was one guy who caught my attention. He had no lead role, but was doing minor roles here and there, loved the way he did it.Just that he was really good even though he had such miniscule roles. Music was at its best too. The title track and the 'hara hara' track will surely make you nod your head.

I'm not somebody who knows theatre in and out. Not a regular critic. My review is just as an ordinary audience. All of you who are like me, trust me guys, you will have the same opinion if you watch it. There were people who were as old as 60 years and more present among the audience. And when the audience were supposed to shift places to the next stage, everybody was rushing to get nice places to sit and not going out to eat anything! After the play, I spotted somebody asking the crew for a CD of the tracks in the play. Somebody else was literally running behind the person who played Huliya when he was walking away. The artists couldn't be seen because they were totally surrounded by people congratulating them. Sometimes, some artists deserve such fans I guess.

Well people, if I keep writing, I shall praise it on and on and on. So let me just tell you that, if in case you get a chance to watch this play, please do go watch it. You will surely and surely and more surely enjoy it. It was scheduled to end on the may 11th. On public demand, two more shows got added and now, three more have got added. So it's on till May 21st I guess. Heard they have plans to take it to other districts as well. Getting the tickets there is a major problem. But it's worth standing in the queue for it. The ticket is priced at only Rs.40 and that's the only bad thing about the play. The play's worth hell a lot more than that. We pay more than that for bakwaas movies like athithi tum kab jaaoge!. Name one movie which you think is the best ever. Black? or even Ben-Hur? Guys, let me tell you. This play is a lot more better than that. None of the movies and none of the stars are even comparable to this play. It's that outstanding.

Plays are supposed to be for entertainment. This one, take it from me, was nothing less than an 'experience'. Had it continued for a further nine hours, I would have loved to sit and watch it yet.

p.s.- Not a bit of exaggeration in this post.

The guy sitting there in front was the one I was talking about, who had minor roles and yet, was good.

.








The 'beesekallu' Ride

A scene from the play.










The silver lining over the blue cloths were used to depict clouds.The girl was on a hill top so was amidst the clouds at dawn

The tree-top there was Huli-kallu-neththi. That's guththi, thimmi and huliya the dog. There was another scene which was played at a spot more higher than this, but I couldn't capture it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A scene from the play

Cheers,

Chandana C. Shekar

Microfiction Monday #1

"Microfiction Monday". Got it from Susan's Blog. In simple words, Susan puts up a picture and anybody who wants to, can write about the picture- but, in 140 characters. That's it. For more details, go to Susan's blog Stony River. Found it exciting. Doing it for the first time ;-)



Here's the picture...

And here's my take:

"Two make a couple,

Three make a crowd.

Where on earth is mine?

Shall go look around."

First time with this,
Chandana C. Shekar

The Saga of my 'Lost and Found' Nokia

Warning : This is a lengthy one.

Okay, I'm so very glad that I could add the word 'found' after that 'lost'. It so happened that I was the owner of a Nokia N70 mobile phone. And now, I am, again. What happened in between is very obvious, I had lost it. The story goes like this. I had a nice working phone, with no complaints and no need to change to a new phone. Yet, just because it was more than a year that I had changed my phone, my mom and I felt that I can buy a new one. Just then had I fallen in love with Sony Ericsson Satio and so, bought it. Updated my new phone with the contacts and stuff from the old one and kept the nokia thingy to rest in a shelf in my room.

After a week, I wanted a snap that was clicked from my N70. I checked my shelf and couldn't find it. Now where can it go flying from there?.I guessed I must have put it into my table draw. I had wanted to do that, but wasn't sure if I had done that. I couldn't check my draw because it's lock was jammed.

There is this friend of mine, Sanjay. He had fed some softwares to that phone. There was a security software, wherein you feed a number other than your's to that software, and if any other sim card than the one you are using is inserted into it, a message will be sent to the number you already fed from this thief's number. I had done that. So I relaxed a bit, thinking that if anybody uses the phone, I shall anyways get to know. If that doesn't happen, then my phone is in my draw.

After more than a month, my friend forwarded me an sms saying a particular number is using this phone. I went to the police station and lodged a complaint. I loved my phone, and I couldn't let it go. Atleast not when I knew who was using it. This was march 31st. Dad gave the police whatever he had to too. Well, things never work otherwise you know. We got our assurance and came back.

One week passed by, and dad had paid two visits to the station. The staff there said that the complaint has been forwarded to a certain branch which takes care of such stuff and we better go there directly.

Got to know that the case file has not even been opened in that station. The inspector there gave assurance again, and told dad to call him after a couple of days. Three weeks, 2-4 calls per week, just assurance and assurance.

One day, he said that he had called that number and told them to return the phone within 30 minutes. 3 days passed and nothing happened. A friend of mine was courteous enough to let me know the name and address of the owner of that number from the phone service provider. Called up the police and told the same. They asked us itself to get more data if possible, coz they will have to go through 'formalities' if they have to do the same!!.

Two more days, and I get my phone back!!! Yippee :) .

Now time for my doubts.

Didn't the police think that that bugger would switch his phone off when they called him and told him to return the phone? They wouldn't be able to trace him because the address he had given to the phone company was fake. It made no sense.

When a common man can get details about a number from a company, why do the police have to worry about going through 'formalities' to get it?

I was telling my friends about this, and 4 of them told me either to bribe the police or get some influence soon, or forget my phone. Our system has rotten totally is it?

Major doubt about the culprit. The number is registered in a girl's name. So the police said they can't investigate it seriously and find out who it is. Since when did this 'Female sympathy' start in India? I don't see it for other things!

The person who returned the phone happened to be the brother of the girl who was using it. He said he bought it from some stranger in the bus stand. I had heard that girls are rented out at bus stands and stuff by pimps. But since when did people start selling mobiles there?

And even if that's the case, why on earth has my maid stopped coming to work abruptly? Now don't call that a co-incidence. Her previous month's salary is due in a couple of days. If she had to quit for any other reason, she would do it after that. She wouldn't let go of 1200 bucks!

Wonder if the police don't wanna waste their time on this or there is something else going on. But whatever crap thing it is, I'm happy I found my phone. Atleast they helped me a bit, and I shall have my gratitude for that!.

But I have to pay for my carelessness I guess. That bugger has deleted my snaps and I lost a few snaps clicked with a few people. Will never be able to click snaps with those people again in my life. I really regret losing them. But I wonder why he hasn't deleted my contacts list?!?.

But well, something is better than nothing . :-) Yippeee...yahooo.... I got my phone back :)

Glad to have found something lost,

Chandana C. Shekar

A conversation #2

I luckily happen to know a 'package' called Dr.Ashwini Shenoy . She was my senior at our hospital. Now that her exams are just around the corner, madam seems to be on a forward-sms-sending-spree. This one here was a conversation sms-sms again.

              On 24/04/10, @ 1:30am,

She: "Sometimes, we struggle through the bitter coffee till the last sip, only to discover sugar crystals lying at the bottom. That's life - sweetened but not stirred."

Me: "I have a doubt. How can you stir life?"

She: "U can... stir up something which is obviously there, but not surfacing. It just requires a push sometimes. Try it. It may involve letting go of ego though."

Me: "Sometimes even if you let go of your self-esteem and try as hard as you can, you never get the things you want in life."

She: "See if you can't get something and you think you should have it, then give it your all. Even then if it's elusive, then maybe you deserve better."

Me: "One more doubt. When somebody is happy with what they have, why is it a compulsion to have something 'better'?"

She: "Valid point. Maybe you deserve better is a cliche. Maybe it's best for you to judge what's good for you. And it's frankly irritating when another thinks otherwise. In that case, a little pessimism helps. After all, man thrives in tragedy and reaches the next level when he didn't know he is capable of it. Diversion from a hurt so strong can only make an achievement so great. Maybe unconnected but yet it'll be the reason still."

Me: " Sounds better :). That's going on my blog now! :)".

Nice gyaan coming out of the laughter-box prankster that she otherwise is!

Here's one more forward I got from her. I thoroughly loved it....

"Thought for the day: Always smile in the morning...... It makes people wonder what you did last night ;-)"

p.s Ash- Thanks for being the courtesy for a post here ;-). Don't ask for royalties now!!

Off to being jobless again,
Chandana C. Shekar

A Conversation

Started studying today. Thanks to a friend of mine. But when you try to study after ages, Oh man!, it's really tough to even sit at your table yaar!!. Needed a change. Got an urge to write. But staying at home all day almost leaves you with nothing to write on. Was just remembering If I wanted to write on something earlier and I hadn't. And one thing struck me. A conversation. And then I was sure that that would be the post here for today.

I had some guests at my place a couple of days back. A family with a 4 year old son. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him. After Paediatrics posting during my internship, I hardly found kids cute. Almost everyone from my College would agree to that (excepting the people who wanna take up paediatrics as a speciality). Our postings were so hectic and irritating ( Coz we did all other work except what Doctors ought to do), and with kids crying all around, at the end of one month, we had had enough of kids!!. But this one, was too cute and refreshing. I wouldn't mind spending time with him every single day. Loved the way he talked. I'll tell you one conversation that happened.

His Dad happens to be an Orthopaedician and the way this kid describes that is ,'My dad repairs broken hands and legs'. Courtesy his Kindergarten School, he can identify parts of the body. Now,

Him: " You also are a Doctor like my Dad? What do you repair?"

Me: "Well, I'll be a surgeon. I'll repair a lot of things then."

Him: "Lot of things? Name them."
Me: "Well, If I become a plastic surgeon, I'll repair scars. Like the one you have on your chin."
( He had a scar on his chin due to a fall and I thought that would be the easiest to explain to him).
Him: " That's all? Why repair that? It doesn't hurt at all!! Repair something that hurts. That will help people"
Me: "????...Ok.Forget it. So what will you become when you grow up?"
Him: "A Cricketeer, but only in the evenings. I'll play for RCB one day!! I'll be a Doctor during the day."
Me: "Oh!! That's nice. So will you also repair broken hands and limbs like your dad?"
Him: "No, Dad will do that. I will repair only knees and elbows"
Me: "Why only that?"
Him: "Because they hurt the most. Don't you know?!!!"

Well, All I could do was smile. Smile at his innocence, his know-it-all attitude, his zest for life (cricket and medicine huh?), and his thought to help people... Kids, they think wounded knees hurt the most!! :-)  No comments, but I really wish his innocence stays with him forever. Hope nothing else in life hurts him more than wounded knees.

And oh yeah, Cricket!! India and Cricket can never ever be seperated!!Never. No ways!! It's a religion out here. I guess that's the only thing wherein you can actually call India as a secular country. The only religion that everyone here is tolerant to. Such a small kid, and he wants to play for RCB!! I can understand if he would say that he wanted to play for the Indian team, but RCB??? Well, IPL Impact !! Guess this is worth all the publicity and hype and media coverage and what not the IPL has!!.

Chandana C. Shekar

Slap-up Thoughts #1

Hey everyone..

Me back from hibernation :-) . Sitting at home all day makes you miss college . It makes you miss friends more than that. I was going through my old snaps and a few messages (which I liked) on my phone. There was this one message that a friend, Harsha had sent. It said,-

"There are times when the best let you down. And there are times when the worst pull you up. Life is such. It's always around to give you a wake up call. It's upto you to listen to it. No point crying over spilt milk"

It had made a lot of sense that day when he had sent that to me. I was kinda feeling low then for something. Somebody who I had trusted big time had let me down, and I wasn't even able to figure out a reason. And when I got this message, I don't know how, but I kinda 'momentarily' felt really great.I atleast stopped trying to reason as to why that had happened. Made me feel a lot better.. Nice message..

Life's gettin weird n more weird day by day. Too many decisions to make. Too many plans to execute. But worst of all, too many hurdles in my way. Wishing myself luck. :)

Will be back soon. Till then,
Chandana C. Shekar

Hans Christian Andersen

I happened to see on google today that their logo has some changes. The usual way that Google celebrates an event. When I saw what they are celebrating, I really felt it was worthwhile. It happens to be the 205th birthday of Hans Christian Andersen. Does the last name sounds familiar? Oh I'm sure it would. All of us would have listened and read fairy tales when we were kids. Who wouldn't have read Andersen's fairy tales and Aesop's fables?. Those were among my favourites for sure. Well, in case you guys are not able to recollect which stories were of Andersen's,.. do u remember 'Thumbelina'...'The little mermaid'...'The ugly duckling'...'The steadfast tin soldier'...'The princess and the pea'? Oh yeah... Those were among his famous ones..

When his stories have made atleast a part of our childhood beautiful, there is no harm tryin to know a bit of this writer right? That's what I did today. And I found it really interesting. This Danish writer, who was born in some slum area, to a shoemaker and a washerwoman in 1805, had very little education. His mom opened him up to the folklore , but died due to alcoholism. His father opened him up to literature and plays, but died later. He was an extremely emotional child and his hysterical cramps were even labelled as epileptic fits. When his father died, he was forced to work as a weaver, tailor and at a tobacco factory. Once he was humiliated with his trousers being pulled down because they suspected he was a girl. At the age of 14, he went to Copenhagen to make his career as a singer and actor. He got associated with The Royal Theatre due to his soprano voice, but was rejected once his voice began to change. He finally realised he could write and when he wrote many plays, but all of them got rejected. Finally, due to his acquaintance with a director of the Royal theatre, he got into classes, learnt grammar and the like, and his tales concieved. He fell in love with a woman, who he describes as, "She has a lovely, pious face, quite child-like, but her eyes look clever and thoughtful, they were brown and very vivid". But he had to have his heart broken as she was secretly engaged to a chemist's son and later, went on to marry the same guy. A leather pouch containing a letter from her was found round his neck when he died. He travelled the world, wrote Fairy Tales and Stories, met writers and playwrights and novelists. His last unfulfilled love was a Swedish opera singer, to whom he dedicated one of his stories. After all his tours and writing and the like, he died at his home in 1875. But his tales, they never did. And they never will.

Well, that's pretty interesting. All that we knew when we listened to his fairy tales as kids, were the imaginations to which he managed to take us. For those few minutes, we lived in the fairyland that he created for us. And once we were done, we exclaimed, 'wow,nice' :). Who knew that the life of such an amazing author, who makes every kid smile, had so much of hardship in it? He survived so much and yet managed to put in such beautiful stories for children?His novels and other writes have his sorrows expressed. But his fairy tales? well, not a wee bit of the shadow of his sorrows. Maybe this is the talent of making people smile even when you are totally down the ditch. Well, how much ever anybody writes about him, it can never suffice. And I'm too very amateur to write anything about such a playwright and novelist. But I'm sure that the next time I read out any of his stories my nieces or nephews or even my kids, I shall get a feeling of respect for him. All I wanna say is, Hats off to you Sir. Thank you for making the colorful and magical fairyland a part of our childhood. Salute you whole heartedly. May your soul rest in peace.

p.s.- Got  long and hectic 3 days ahead :-(

Until after 3 days,

Chandana c.Shekar

Down the memory lane

This one goes specially to the 2004-2005 batch of  J.S.S. Medical College, Mysore :-) .

Finally Internship's over. Feels so empty today. I wokeup in the morning, and as usual, the still-sleepy me was deciding what clothes to wear for the day to hospital. Having nice coffee at home also felt inferior to the ordinary coffee my friends and I used to have at Parivar or Chavdi almost every late morning. I don't know if I'm missing the work. Maybe I am, a bit. But friends, oh god...missing them big time...Divya messages me saying she is feeling bad to walk to hospital alone. Moo messages saying he doesn't see any of those familiar vehicles parked... Well, that was enough to get me miss hospital more.

5.5 years of JSSMC...I still remember the very first day when we went to college. Everything was new. All the twists and turns, ups and downs, laughters and tears, crushes and enemies, jealousy and pride, so much happened. Spent the most influential years of our lives with a batch of people. One campus united different kind of people from different parts of the country and taught us to cherish and enjoy life together. Everything we did and everything that happened in life had the same people in it. And now, it's already time to part ways. Won't ever see atleast 70% of them again in life I guess.. Now it feels that 5.5 years happened within a spur of a moment..

UG life was fun. First couple of friends in college, bunking classes, proxys, the first year college day competitions, organising something for the first time, Sixers' trophy and the ragging, the birthday treats in first year, the whole class flunking in Biochem first internals, dissection hall and all those memories, pricking ourselves at Physio lab, some conference that happened and the whole class going to the movie 'Black' after that, unwanted rumours and gossips, few friends flunking in final exam and everybody going sad about it... First year had a lot of memories. Everything was in front of us to explore.

The Hospital postings in second year, standing on the footboard of the college bus to go to hospital on the very first day, getting posted with 'unit mates', with whom we scared the shit out of those poor patients, some medicos strike that followed, sitting at nescafe every single day in third term until dusk... enjoying the bus rides, cribbing on missing the bus back to college, asking for music to start in the bus before the bus itself started, the crushes and dates, my first ever trip with friends,organising events for college day competitions and participating too, getting shit scared whether we would pass in Pathology exam or not, getting caught for getting mobiles to Forensic class, never ever attending Pharmac classes,... Well, second year was an experience for sure.

Community medicine was one subject where we scored without actually knowing anything. That's where we learnt to leave hulas. The Jipmer fest ( we won antakshari there too ), kerala trip, all of us gathering at one patient to look into his/her eyes/ear/nose/throat at a time, our first class party, worrying about attendance at the end.... all was third year.

Whether we learnt anything in final year or not, we sure learnt how to copy in exams!!! Oh everybody did. All the internals and all the very intelligent methods of copying!! From chits, to sheets, to mobile and ear phones...and different ways of using the ear phones... From booking benches to dividing the portions with neighbours to finding out what size sheets would be given in the exams... well, everything was taken care of :). The long awaited class socials and finally clearing the exams to become Interns!!Whoo!!

Whatever said and done, Internship was the actual finale.. New name plates with 'Dr.' added to our names, steths hung aroung our neck and unbuttoned aprons.. Finally things were how we dreamt of always :). Made friends with people who we never thought we would even talk to. 'Duty doctors' room' was the most sought after place. Parivar and Chavdi trips became as necessary as air and water. From rating the PGs to complaining about night duties to going out for unit treats, well, had a lot of fun.We were no more students, nor were we responsible staff. Tensions resigned and outings and fun reigned. We complained about collecting reports and those stinking dressings and those post-op duties. But deep down, we enjoyed postings sure..For me in particular, Internship was one really important phase of life. Everything that happened in this one year was very unexpected. Something happened which I would say was the best thing that could ever ever happen to me. Was yet living it and something awfully pathetic happened too. But well, learnt my lessons atleast. Who can forget the last one month? Everyone started feeling nostalgic already. Interns' room got full with more and more people. Treats and parties happened every now and then. And the slam books!!!I need to write one mroe article to explain the slam-book-filling experiences. When I sit back and think, I enjoyed Internship. Memories of it always and always will bring a smile on my face. It would be one year of life which I can never forget. Lots and lots of memories.

We are done today, still wanting to live those days. Grad day is around the corner and after that, everyone would go their ways... How much ever I write about college life, would never suffice.Neither would I be able to make complete justice to it. All that I can say is, We've lived life's biggest bargain these years. And will miss it big time sure... Loved life at JSSMC n JSSH :)

P.S.- Happy Ugadi to one and all.... n yeah, my blog has crossed the one year mark :)

Cheers,

Chandana C. Shekar

Good enuf a day :)

Three friends... a coffee bar... discussing about their ex-s. How does that feel? I don't know how it actually felt.Everything from Ouch to Wow I guess. Was an experience for sure. Two hours that I absolutely loved. All the hypothetical statements to generalisations to arguements to laughing at each other's 'emotional mantra', to sighing sayin 'how i wish it worked' !! Everything seemed so.... I dono what. We were so lost in our own world, that the weird looks that the lady sitting at the table next to ours was giving us, coz she felt we were laughing too loud also didn't bother us! But when I sit and think back about my day, it gets a smile on my face for sure :-) .

Early in the morning I went to the gym and I found out that I've royally lost weight. Not 1 or 2 , but 6 kilos. Whoo!! Just in a couple of months and moreover, I never went to the gym all this while. I never exercised. And it happened yet!! My friend says it was coz of 'mental torture' that I had. Well, whatever, stress or not, I'm happy with the end result. :) The smile it got on my face early in the morning is still on. What a nice way to start my day :)

Had a good enuf day. Content with my day after a really long time. No regrets to sign off for the day :-)

Good night.
Cheers,
Chandana Shekar

Hey..

Im back.. put up a post, and it got deleted for god knows what joy!! Well, all I know now is that Life's a roller coaster ride!! Nothin less than that. And this particular moment, when I'm using my laptop after a really long time, I really am not able to make out if my laptop is more screwed, or my life is!!

One thing, -like 'lesson of the day'- When your low, talk to friends. They sure do help. Even if your the ugliest duckling in the world, they make you feel like Miss World!! If nobody's accessible, which is quite a possibility, then go through your old snaps or even the testimonials written for you on orkut or elsewhere. One smile that it gets on your face would mean a lot at such times. It worked on me, though I never expected it to. Just sharin the tip. Someday, somebody might need it. :)

Well, 2 a.m. and too sleepy. Gotta hit the bed.

Cheers
Chandana C. Shekar

Random again :)

One days goes 'yuck', and the next day (so far) goes so good :). Sometimes, even if you're not doing anything exciting in life, life seems amazing.. It feels, what I would call 'a pleasure'. They say two is a company.. Well, it can be any kinda company. When its good, its nice. When its better, its whoo. But when its the 'best', its 'WOW'. I've had some real nice company today. Even though I was doing the boring job of filling my application form for my PG entrance, I swear I didn't get bored. When somebody genuinely wants to help you, it feels so good. Even though the job is so damn simple, you just don't feel like saying a 'no' to the help offered. And if somebody goes out of their way to help you, all you can do, is stand back, and smile :-). I did. :-) And I really enjoyed that smile of mine. Not very often do you get to enjoy your smiles thoroughly in life. I haven't got many oppurtunities after my college days. Well, how, who, where??...well, all that's not necessary. Just that, I'm glad :-). Well, anyways, had a nice time today with my friend- One friend of mine, who never reads my blog :-). And so, is not gonna get bloated up by how much praise that 'idiot' gets here :-).I swear we didn't do anything special. Just hanging out, or maybe I should say, just doing some pending works. But still, I liked my day... till now..

It's getting time for my night shift to start. And work is not that great offlate. Maybe I should say that a colleague is not that okay offlate. So there are unnecessary complications popping up. Its like a classical example of - Two is a company and three is a crowd!! Well, problems exist at more than half the workplaces I guess. But I just wish, it wouldn't exist at mine.Anyways, gotta deal with the shit..

Hey one more thing. I watched few shows by 'Russell Peters' today. My friend had videos. I swear guys, he is amazing!! He is a 'comedy phenomenon'. The best comedian I have ever seen. You should surely watch him guys. He is so sarcastically hilarious, and he doesn't have a margin to his jokes. His jokes range from deaf people to races to accents to girlfriends to porn!! I swear that guy is too good. Do google out his videos on youtube and watch them. You'll find it really worth watching it. Don't be surprised if you are ROFL or LMAO :-)

I had to go to the temple today. And church too maybe. I'm gonna get allotted new postings from tomorrow and there is one 'dreaded unit' where I don't even wanna step into. I missed to the places of worship today. Just hoping god gets some mercy on me and doesn't put me into that hell.

Well, That's it for now I guess. The day's ending and the night's starting. For me, Work is starting. Something I have not been looking forward to. Especially after having spent a day, which I would smile thinking of.. And knowing that the night's gonna be bad.. Well, All good things come to an end maybe. I just want this 'glad' phase of life to last longer. I want more of days like today. If not more nice people in life, atleast I don't wanna lost the few nice people who already exist in my life :-)

OK guys, see ya tomorrow. Do write in.
Cheers

Loads of love,
Chandana C. Shekar :-)