Count Your Blessings

"Life is so exhausting!", I thought. Work seemed to have its own pace, slower than a freaking snail. Love life either vacant or a mess. You know those times in life where your brain and heart are totally determined to go in two opposite directions? Oh ask me more about it! The mid-twenties-crisis? Oh, ask me still more!My friends are either getting promoted, married or having kids, and I have annoying relatives asking me in their more annoying tone about my wedding plans, aarrggh!!

Then as I sat by my window sipping my cuppa, I did some soul-searching. And my day seemed brighter all of a sudden. That's because I realised that my life seems almost perfect(touch wood though). First of all, I love who 'I' am. I have a loving family who are just right for me. I have credit cards and the bill gets taken care of. I'm a Doctor and the journey to be an Attending is so far so good. I can play music, I can cook, I can write too. I have friends who I can call up to chat at 2 am because I am bored. The same friends who say 'Shut up and study' when I have my lazy days. I've been a part of a crazy gang in college. I've loved. I've had heartbreaks. I've had crushes, which I fortunately-unfortunately got over as soon as I talked to them! I've travelled to my dream destination and have made friends during the journey. I've lived alone in a new city, lived in a perfect neighbourhood, got locked out of the house at 4 am, partied hard at the most happening places, had slumber night-outs and travelled to the heart of the city for work every single day! I've known the rules and have had fun breaking them too.

So it's okay that I haven't got into post graduation 'yet'. Atleast I'm chasing my dreams and I'm almost there. I know I will be happy doing what I do at work for the rest of my life. It's totally okay that I'm 26 and single and not on a matrimonial website yet. It's okay that I don't get to put up facebook statuses like 'Thanks my dear husband' after I succeed in something. No offence but,  its fun being successful when you're single. especially when you've earned it with your sweat and blood. You're so hot and happening and you feel like the world is your playground. It's fun to guess who would be that lucky guy, who would be by you at your graduation party a couple of years from now. I'm sure it's gonna be worth the wait.

So what if life is messy at times. So what if that guy you have a crush on hardly tells you a hi. So what if that other guy, 'Mr-almost-perfect' asked you out on a date, but 'geography' won't let you go. So what if exam and its results are due. So what if everything is uncertain. How much ever scary or shitty it seems, hope for the best is all you can do. And hope is a wonderful thing. As they say, 'If you believe in miracles, you're bound to find one'. At the end of the day, the journey does matter, not just the destination.  Everything happens for a reason. And as Mom says, 'If not for sorrows, you wouldn't value joy'.

So, as long as you've got a career, a weekend life, family, friends and if you've ever had 'atleast' one guy tell you that he would fight the world to have you as his girl, you've got a life. You've got the independence to dance to your own music for some more time , until that special someone comes your way and joins in. A lot of people your age who stuck to rules are so jealous of your life right now. So if you're sailing in the same boat as I am, Count your Blessings, and Smile. You're worth it.


I have jam packed days right now and will be backpacking soon. It's gonna be an adventure sure and  I'm so looking forward to it. To Success, Fun and Love.

Cheers,
Chandana C.Shekar

A tiny flashback of my OBG postings

Disclaimer: This is just about the OBG Postings during my Internship at our hospital. No offence to other OBG people elsewhere :)

Was at a hospital today. A lady came up to me and asked, "I need to consult the Gynaecologist. Could you tell me when she would be here?". I had my college bag on and there were a group of interns or residents walking a little ahead of me. Maybe this made her think that even I belonged to that hospital. I obviously said, 'I don't know', just to get an extra question mark on her face. I didn't even know where the OBG OPD (Out Patient Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) was.

Missed my internship at that moment. Had it been at our hospital, I would have told her anything about the Gynaecologists there. Comes when? Goes when? Yells when?, everything. Wait a sec. Maybe I wouldn't be able to tell the last one. Who knows why and when an OBG would yell!! I guess even they themselves don't know. All that the world knows is that they yell. No offence to any gynaecologists elsewhere, but in our hospital, they very much do!!

Aarrgghh!! OBG postings during internship was such a pain!!Stories of the weirdness out there used to exit every single day. They always used to be the hot topic of discussion in the Interns' common room. Come on, where else would you find an 'emergency reference' put to medicine for fever and surgery for abscess in a case of thrombophlebitis?? And to top it, make the intern run to get it done asap!! Heights!!! (For my non-medico friends, in such cases, the fever is due to the abscess and when u treat the abscess, the fever subsides on its own).

Or even, making the intern go and wake up the lab technician at 4 am to get the haemoglobin percentage of a patient with no emergency and absolutely no pallor, and then it turns out to be 10.9% (That's more than mine!).And on another day, the junior PG doesn't inform the bystanders to arrange for blood immediately for a patient with 4.2% haemoglobin, because she is waiting for the 'senior PG's orders'. Wow!!

Forget that. In surgery postings, we did reasonable monitoring for patients where things from his abdomen were so totally taken off. And here, in obg, I was made to do monitoring from 11 am to 8 pm for one single elective tubectomy case. And hey, I was not supposed to go out of the ward. The patient had gone out of the ward at 6 pm and was playing with her kid. When I called her and asked her to lie down to check her BP, she said , "I'm fine doctor. Why are you checking it so often?". Yeah right! I needed that from a patient!!

And the kich-kich that exists there? Oh, I better not talk about it! All that exists in that department in our hospital is hierarchy. Not a healthy one for sure. OBG is such a lovely subject. Just that more than half the people out there are '"kich-kich"s. Wonder how the sweet ones survive between such colleagues!

One of my friend had told me, "Until and unless you open your mouth and let those PGs there know that even you have a temper, they won't let you live in peace". That so turned out to be true. No wonder my co-interns and I were so-extra-extra-happy when we raised that "To the end of obg postings" toast when we partied the night obg postings got over. Was such a relief!

Phew!! I'd never belong there again!!

Back from the flashback,
Chandana C. Shekar

Thank you Momzie :-)

"God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers" - Jewish proverb.

That's my mom's fav phrase. I've seen that written on the first page of many of her books. I'm glad God created my mom. A lot more glad that he made me her daughter. 'Mother', the word speaks for itself.. 'Great', 'amazing', 'wow', none of those words will describe her. Surely need something larger than that. She takes care of you since even before you were born. She considers you a kid even when your fifty years old. For her, your nothing but her soul, walking outside her body. You mean the world to her. She understands everything- things you say, things you don't say and even things that you yourself don't understand. Mom is one word, for an ocean of love and care.The 'only' example that exists for 'unconditional love' is hers. Can write pages about her, and yet, neither would it suffice, nor would it make complete justice.

All the while I wrote this, the only person I had in front of my eyes was obviously 'My Momzie', my idol. A great mom, doctor, wife, daughter, sister, altogether, an amazing woman. I wonder from where she gets the time, energy and willpower to work the quantity and quality she does, both at the hospital and at home, and yet, smile always. She loves what she does. I know for a fact that she has her own share of problems. But not once does she let anybody get a clue of it.

Ma, this day, both your daughters wanna say, Thank you so much,

For all the tender love you've given us, for all the care we got.

For keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, always.

For all the minute to minute things you gave us, whose importance we never realised.

For trusting in our stupidest thoughts and decisions.

For being our watchman(watch woman) all through life.

For being everything from a baby sitter to a study partner to a guide to a friend to everything.

For being a partner in crime in our mischiefs(harmless ones) and a shoulder to cry on when sad.

For lending a helping hand when we failed and shedding tears of joy when we succeeded.

For laughing on our weirdest jokes and feeling hurt for our minor bruises.

For letting us know that you are someone we can always count on.

For not minding when we took you for granted.

For having the courage to let us learn from our own mistakes when necessary.

Ma, I'd write pages and I'd never complete the things you do for us. Thanks for everything and everything and more everything. Thanks for being that amazing person you are. We feel very very proud when we say 'I'm Dr.Shylaja's daughter'. We promise, one day, we shall make you proud to call yourself as our mom. And hey, you still are the prettiest woman in the world :) Love you loads. Muah:)

Happy Mothers' Day Ma :-)

Your loving daughter,

Chandana C. Shekar

p.s.- This goes to the 'tribute to my mother' contest too. About the widget that I'm supposed to put ut here for the contest, well, i'm not able to. But here is the link for the gift i'd like to give my mom from pringoo.

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

My First Take At Story Writing :-) :-)

To,
 Dr.Priya Raghavan
G-3, Gayathri Apartments,
Basavanagudi, B'lore.

.. read the address written on an envelope in her mailbox. Priya instantly recognised the handwriting. Her heart missed a beat. She wanted to open the mail right there; but managed to get to her apartment , so that she could read it in peace. She knew she would go weak in her knees after reading it. She always did, whenever it was anything from 'him'. Sharath , the only guy, whom she had ever allowed access to her life, a long 3 years ago. The only guy, she loved more than love. The only guy, to whom she had given more rights over her, than to herself. The only guy , who was synonymous with the world for her. That one person, who she trusted more than she trusted God. The only one ,who had managed to stay on her mind, heart and soul 24*7, even though he was miles away.

She opened the letter, her eyes already filled with tears of joy. It had been two months since he had called or even written to her. She never questioned it, because she could not. He worked with Merchant Navy. He was sailing. She couldn't call him on the ship's satellite phone.She did not have an address to write to. Her e-mails had bounced back, and she had no idea as to why. Yet, yet, yet, she had no complaints. She trusted him. She convinced herself that he is busy somewhere. She wished nothing had gone wrong with him..... And as she opened the letter, there it was,... the words, in black, on white,...

"Hey Priya, I'm sorry to say this. I don't mean to make things turn ugly, but.. we need to break-up! Can't give you explainations now. But trust me, this is how it was supposed to end. Sorry again. Take care -  Sharath".

Blank.. blank.. blank... Priya's tears of joy took less than a second to dry out. They also failed to come out of her eyes. She was shocked, awestruck, numb.. She couldn't believe this was reality. How could this happen to her? She had never sensed anything of this sort coming her way. He, among all people on earth couldn't have done this to her. How could he see her hurt? How could he leave so many questions unanswered? How could it be so easy for him? Just two lines and everything over? Had he even thought what would happen of her? How could it be fine when they were not together? Why this? Why her? Why now? She was supposed to go home to her parents that week, and she planned to talk to them about him. And now this? All the Hows and Whys swept through her mind like a hurricane. She sat there, as immobile as a stone, staring into nowhere.

Three days passed. She sat in her living room, staring at the newspapers at her door, which she hadn't bothered pick up. Her colleague called to tell her that her Professor was really mad at her for staying absent without a notice. She knew that would come. Being a Post Graduate student in Medicine, when she had patients under her care, emergencies to handle and a lot more duties, she just couldn't stay away from hospital like this. Not without assigning somebody else to handle her duties. She had got leave for only 4 days for her sister's wedding too. And that was starting tomorrow! She knew she was in trouble. But nothing seemed worst than what had happened to her. She had lost her 'everything'. Life itself had come to a stand still. What would she do after becoming a physician? All her dreams of the future were associated with him. And now, how could she live life with his slot empty?

Just as she thought of that, 'Sindhu' blinked on her phone. Her elder sister was calling . "Hey Munni, when are coming home? I'm waiting for  you to come and apply mehendi for me. You know that I'm not getting it done at any parlour right? Come soon da!". .. Priya thought for a second and said, "Yeah, almost leaving". Sindhu was getting married. Unlike Priya, Sindhu always wanted to get into an arranged marriage, to see her parents happily bid good bye to her, and then, open up her life for the person, who the world thought suited best for her. Love for her, was too risky. Whenever Sindhu had said this, Priya always thought to herself, 'My love isn't risky. It's bliss'. Priya couldn't let her sorrow ruin Sindhu's wedding celebration. She packed her bags, and left,...for home... for Chennai.

Two days later, the D-day finally arrived. Priya had never seen Sindhu as happy as she was now. She wondered if she herself could ever ever be this way. She hated it when people said, 'So priya, you are the next one in line!".It made her heart bleed again and again. She helped the bride get ready, to look her best. Sindhu looked gorgeous, the perfect bride -happy, smiling, calm, anxious and shy. Priya felt really happy for her. She said, "Akka, sometimes in life, we fail to understand the value of  people who are always there for us. We never wonder what would happen of us if not for them. I just can't think of being what I am, if you weren't in my life. Sorry for the times that I hurt you. And Thanks for all the times when you lost, just to make me win. Thanks for everything. I love you". Sindhu's eyes were moist. Her little kiddo sister had grown up. The same girl, who she had taught rhymes to, was giving speeches now!. They hugged each other. They realised that they loved each other a lot lot more than they themselves knew.

"Munni, the Groom's arrived...get the aarthi thaali", Priya's mom shouted from the across the hall. Priya flashed a smile and went to welcome the Groom and his family. She hurried to the entrance,and there, ... she froze.

She remembered telling Sharath on the phone, 6 months ago, "I'm so dying to see you honey, that when I finally will, I'm sure the ground will slip off my feet".. And it happened. Right then. Right there.

Her 'akka' was getting married to 'her' Sharath!! She recalled not hearing to anything abour Sindhu's fiance, and not seeing the snap Sindhu had mailed her. She had then teasingly said, "Let there be some excitement and mystery. I shall see the 'arranged-marriage-hero'on the big day itself". Sharath knew that Sindhu had a sister called Munni. He hadn't even vaguely imagined that Priya and Munni could be the same. Maybe the once-in-a-fortnight, 15-minute-conversations on the satellite phone,that he and Priya had, never gave them enough time to talk about anything other than the love they cherished.

Priya had always taken everything from Sindhu. From parents, to clothes, to books, to dolls, to nail colours. And now, Sindhu had forver taken from her, the only thing that she truely wanted, the only thing that was solely 'hers'.

A week ago, after readin that letter, Priya had thought that she had lost everything in life... But now she realised, she had some more to lose,.... and she lost that too.

Yours truly,

Chandana C. Shekar

p.s. 1- My First time at story writing. Maybe it went a bit longer for a short story.Hope you enjoyed reading. I'm dying for feedback. Do comment. Bouquets and Brickbats most welcome :)

p.s. 2- And yeah, my creativity is tired after writing this story, and it's taking a nap. So, suggestions for the Title welcome too :)

p.s 3.- I love the last picture, It's my fav since months :). It speaks a lot.

Cheers :)

Chandana

Happy birthday Neha di.. :)

hey guys...long time.. I apologise (if it's needed though) ;-) Life's gone weird. It's so beautiful at times that I just wish time freezes.. It's so utterly pathetic the remaining times that, yet again, I wish time should freeze!I can't take it anymore.. But whatever it is, Life's been a roller coaster ride off late. More than anything, life's gone too busy. Either with work or friends and family or even catching up on that lost sleep, I've weirdly got busy. Exams are fast approaching and all that I'm doing is filling forms.Not studying a bit!! Oops..Anyways, was away from my blog..sorry.. But yeah, I swear on anything-that I feel really really honoured when my friends ask me as to why I have stopped blogging!! In fact, when I used to blog, I never knew that so many people actually read my blog. But now when I have stopped updating it and people end up asking me, I feel-Whoo!! :)

Well anyways, Today is Neha di's birthday. Most of you must be knowing her- Neha Silam.. The girl who blogs big times, chats big time, lives life big time!! She a lawyer after all dude!! Poor Mandar. I wonder if she'll even let him open his mouth at home!!heehaw.Kidding di.. :) I've never written you a testimonial or anything, but let me tell you in short,that I really think very high of you. You are among the very few friends that I would never wanna lose. Maybe be in touch once in a while, if not too often. Thanks for all the support you gave me when I needed it ( I'm sure u remember it).Your a person with a 'heart of gold'(Richie rich ;-)), a girl who makes people turn heads but has a very strong head herself. I admire the way you take decisions. I love the way you face life with confidence and courage. Your sure the best companion and confidant anybody wud get. I swear di, your family and we guys are very happy to have you :). Well di, YOUR A SWEETHEART!!! How much ever i describe you, it'll just be like describing a very sweet person. So, I'd just say- You rock di.!! :) Have an amazing birthday and an awesome year ahead. Live life full-on.. :)



Loads of Love,
Chandana C. Shekar

A relaxed day at home

Had a relaxed day. Friends came over to visit. Watched two movies. Went to the hospital for follow-up. My knee dressing has been removed and the wounds' better. Got haemarthrosis too, but swelling has reduced than day before yesterday. Got my leave at my hospital extended for 3 more days. Now need to get a medical certificate. Formalities man!!!

I want to write about some advice that I was given by someone regarding my accident. She said , "The next time this happens, don't shout at the person who hit your vehicle. Stay quiet, cry if you want to, show that your hurt, and tell him that he is harassing you because you're a girl and you shall take this matter to the Women's commission". What the hell ya!! Why are you getting women's commission here? And what does 'cry if you want to' mean? I wonder!! No comments anyways!!! You guys can ponder over this with your own views. I found it weird though! Heights of feminism maybe..

Well, nothing else with the day. Nothing exciting to talk about. Maybe I'll watch one more movie and then hit the bed :). Thanks everybody for all the wishes :). Cheers :)

Chandana C. Shekar

Diamonds are forever

"Diamonds are forever"... "Diamonds are a girl's best friends"... So go the lyrics of two evergreen songs. And its so very true. I can swear on it. Asking why? Coz I just got 'MY FIRST DIAMONDS'. And I'm on cloud nine. Or cloud 10..11...12 rather ;)

My parents bought me a 'princess cut diamond ear studs and a pendant with chain set'. Occasion? Oh, nothing like that. Just coz I passed MBBS :) And I loved it. My family loved it. My friends loved it. The jeweller loved it too!!. Lolz. Infact,I'm just running around fishing for compliments ;).

I'm loving wearing the studs everyday. Every morning I look into the mirror, these are the first things I notice. It makes me feel so good that it instantly gets a smile on my face. Not just because they are expensive or anything. But just for the fact that they look so damn pretty and chic and elegant and classic and what not. I go speechless. Absolutely speechless. Just feel lke looking at them all the while. Feels like its making me look pretty. Feels like I'm special. The fact that its my 'first diamond' makes it feel much more special. The fact that the best member of my family(my mom) and one of my best friend were with me when I bought it, makes it feel further more special. All in all, I couldn't have asked for something better. I expected a far more smaller and simpler one than this.The one I got happened to be lottery!!. I'm so very thankful to my parents for that. I'm somebody who cherishes the smallest of small joys of life. And this one is a 'feast'. Trust me girls, to know what diamonds really do to you, you should actually own one. You will feel a princess.Nothing less than that. :) I'm as glad as I could be. No two ways about it. I'm smiling while I'm writing this too. :) :) :) :)

Chandana C. Shekar

Happy Mother's Day :)

"God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers" - Jewish proverb.

That's my mom's fav phrase. I've seen that written on the first page of many of her books. I'm glad God created my mom. I'm more glad that he made me her daughter. What do I say about mom? What can anybody say about their moms? The only word that you can use to describe her is 'Great'. Or maybe something larger than that. She takes care of you since even before you were born. She considers you a kid even when your forty years old. For her, your nothing but her heart, walking outside her body. You mean the world to her. Your happiness is hers. She understands everything- things you say, things you don't say and even things that you yourself don't understand. Mom is one word, for an ocean of love and care. No matter how much any person in the world loves you, nobody can beat your mom on that. Can write pages about her, and yet, it will definitely remain incomplete.

All the while I wrote this, the only person I had in front of my eyes was 'My Mom'. She's somebody I look up to as an idol. Not is she just a great mom, but an amazing doctor too. I wonder from where she gets the time, energy and willpower to work the quantity she does, both at the hospital and at home, and yet, smile always. I've hardly seen my mom crib. She loves what she does. I know for a fact that she gets a lot of problems. But not once does she let anybody get a clue of it. She's one ideal example of a woman. For all that my sister and I have got from her, today I want to thank her. For all the love she's given us. For all the care we got. For all the minute to minute things she gave us, whose importance we never realised. For trusting in our stupidest thoughts and decisions. For being our watchman(watch woman) all through life. For being everything from a baby sitter to a study partner to a guide to a friend to everything. For being a partner in crime in our mischiefs(harmless ones) and a shoulder to cry on when sad. For lending a helping hand when we failed and shedding tears of joy when we succeeded. For laughing on our weirdest jokes and feeling hurt for our minor bruises. For letting us know that she is someone we can always count on, and for forgiving us when we hurt her. For having the courage to let us learn from our own mistakes at times. Oh Mom, I'd write pages and I'd never complete the things you do for us. Thanks for everything and everything and more everything. Thanks for being that amazing person you are. We feel very very proud when we say 'I'm Dr.Shylaja's daughter'. And we shall work hard to make you feel proud to be our mom. And hey, you still are very pretty :) Love you loads. :)

Had a nice Mother's day today. Wished mom, gave her a gift, got pooja done at the temple. Got her cake and partied. She treated us pizza for dinner. Had a lovely day.


p.s.: My Mom helped three more ladies become Moms today. Didn't get it? She did three caesarian sections today. So three babies delivered. So three new moms :) And hey, Mom loved the gift I gave her :) She was very happy.And I'm happy that she was happy :)




Chandana C. Shekar

Happy birthday Mommy :)

It's my Mom's birthday today and we had fun. Wished her at 12 midnight. Gave her her gift ( I got her a bag and a wallet). Went to Chamundi hill. Went for dinner at her favourite restaurant. And the most special part - Mom looked very very pretty :) Dad's a real lucky chap :)

Mom's kinda my friend ( as most moms and daughters are). But trust me, the things my mom has done in life for us, I'm sure not many would have done that ( No offence to anybody). I can't do even 40% of it. I don't think many will survive it too!! Hats off to her :).

I have written poems and dedications for my sis, brother, friends. I've always wanted to write one for my mom. But it never happened. Every time I used to pen down matter to write on, it would go on for pages together. Come on yaar, a poem can't be so long right? You guys tell me, when a person does n number of things for you in one single day, how can you describe a whole life-time experience in just 4-5 stanzas?!?!?! And so being the reason, I've never got to write any specific thing for her. Sorry mom :-( :-)

But then, there are two posters in my room and I love what they say. Here it is-

A mother really knows you.

A mother really cares-

you are in her fondest thoughts

And always in her prayers.

She loves you very dearly..

As she has right from the start.

And she's the one you turn to,

When you need a 'helping heart'.

M - is for the Million things she gave me

O - means she is Oh, so beautiful

T - is for the Tears she shed to save me

H - is for her Heart of pure gold

E - is for her Eyes, with love light shining

R - means Right, and right she'll always be

Put them all together, and they spell

MOTHER - A word that means the world to me

p.s.- I gave an Intra-Lesional Steroid Injection today. Yeah I know it's as easy as Intra-muscular. But I cherish the 'first time's of everything in life. And this one's no exception :)

Chandana C. Shekar

My first day at the Department of Dermatology

Dermat postings started today and it was as cool as anything. It was just in contrast to the casualty postings. In casualty, you were always on your toes and in dermat, your always sitting :) Go to the department OPD at 9.00 am.Sit with a consultant, and prescribe whatever he or she tells for the patient. You get to see cases and you'll be taught a bit too. Saw an RFC (Radio Frequency Cauterization) being done for the first time in my life. Never got to see it in my MBBS life (It's a different story that I never attended skin postings then, but people who attended also never got to see it). An hour of lunch break and then, you hardly get any patients in the afternoon session. To get one report from the microbiology lab, I went thrice!! Anyways, no regrets about that. I was sitting since morning and I needed to stretch my legs and that was a nice stroll :)


One thing I liked about Dermat is that, the diagnosis is very direct. Your diagnosis is right in front of your eyes. Its just what you see. Its not that you don't do tests in this branch. You do do investigations, but comparatively, the diagnosis is more direct and straightforward than the other branches. Or do I have to call the diagnosis as easier than other branches?!?!? I'll decide about it in the next 14 days of my postings :) I have one more job to do before my postings get over. Learn as many cases as possible, and decide whether I'll want to do Dermat for my M.D. I've kept it as an option and now I wanna decide about it. Oh boy!!MBBS life was far better. One more year, and we shall be a part of a big pool of unemployed people, not knowing what to do in life next!!


Before finishing, I wanna mention about one patient that I saw this morning. For people who are not from the medical world, The department is actually "Department of Skin and S.T.D.". So HIV +ve patients also come to this department for their check ups. They are advised regular check ups. One lady, aged around 35 years, a middle class-working woman, came to the OPD (Out Patient Department) for her check up. I saw her OPD card and it was written that her spouse was not HIV +ve , but she had received blood transfusion and had undergone a surgery. She didn't look like somebody who could have had an extra-marital relationship either. Now, how did she get the virus then? Whose to blame? You never know!!! She's been positive since the past 4 years and her spouse was tested 2 months ago too and her spouse and her kids are HIV -ve yet. I went through her record and saw that she has come regularly for check ups every month and she has had some or the other problem every month- multiple joint pains sometimes and oral candidiasis sometimes and something else some other time. And she comes all the way alone from Coorg for her check ups. She smiles at you when she comes in and when she's leaving, as though nothings happened. Felt really bad for her. Well, tip of the iceberg I guess...


Chandana C. Shekar

Aries Woman

A lot has been told about Aries and Aries women. And a lot of it has turned out to be true about 'The Ram'. I just am trying to add(?) a few traits of an Aries woman which I have observed over the period of years....

Have you just met a female, 'Classy and Elegant', with an instant smile, a firm handclasp and a warm hug? Well, You've just met and Aries woman :)


An Aries woman is very friendly. She almost trusts everybody. But once she gets to know that somebody is unworthy of her trust, that person can never ever win her trust back. If she doesn't like somebody, it clearly shows. She can't even manage to be cordial with that person. 'Forgive and forget' is not something that an Aries woman can do. She hardly forgives somebody who cheats her in any way.

An Aries girl is simple, innocent and emotional. And more than everything, she is somebody who can be called 'Classy and Elegant'. She will always and always want to be and wants everything to be 'Classy and Elegant'.

She is very independent. She can do things herself and she likes it that way. She loves to lead. She has to be the first one to do anything.She is somebody who loves challenges. Though she is strong at times, she can be as vulnerable as a baby.


An Aries woman is very honest. She cant lie. If at all she does, she'll feel so guilty that she'll end up coming up to you and telling the truth.


If you have had a bad dress day and you want to ask an Aries woman for an opinion, please don't!!! Because she is very frank and will tell you on your face that your looking a moron!! And Big mouths and gossip mouths and of the like - please beware of her!!!


When she has an idea or something she wants to get off her mind, she'll call you at four in the morning without a qualm. Why shouldn't you be awake to listen to her? She's awake. That's all that counts. She wants something. She gets it.
You will find her with n number of shopping bags.Few of which she would have bargained for such low rates that you wouldn't have ever thought of!! And few, would be so expensive that you would think that she has paid more than a fortune!!If she sees it and loves it, she buys it. She is very impulsive-be it shopping, saying things out or whatever.


She doesn't care what the world thinks of her. She does what she thinks is right. The only opinions she is bothered about, always and always would be of her family and friends.She doesn't go by any hard and fast rule about what is right and what is wrong. She decides it for herself.
Go out for a cup of coffee with her, and she will end up paying the bill many-a-times.She has a liberal attitude and at times, is lavishly generous. She doesn't mind lending money, or anything material, but she hates borrowing.She hates living in somebody else's money.

An Aries female can be moody too.You will find her to be the most chirpy girl in the world when she is in a good mood. And when she is in a not-so-good mood, you might as well end up thinking she is somebody mute!

An Aries woman is 'In Love With Love'. Its not necessary she should have a partner.She will always be yearning for that someone special in her heart, thinking about him in the monsoon and that will be her idea of romance. She doesn't need a real man for it.

To woo an aries woman, prove it to her that she's desirable. Be sincere while complimenting her. Being over-sweet and too much chasy will make her run away.


Be careful while dating her, because she is somebody who believes in fairy tales, miracles and forever lasting relationships :). So all you guys who are just looking around for a few flicks, please pity on the Aries woman and stay away from her. True that she too gets crushes pretty often.But she is sombody who lets the crush die very soon when she feels that it's not gonna work out.

When in a relationship, she is not somebody who is over possesive. She gives her spouse all the space he wants. But in case she finds something fishy, just know that the relationship is over. She goes out of her way to give you everything you want, and more. In return, she expects love too. She will be a die hard romantic, so much that every time there is a rain shower, she would love to dance with you, as though its the first time!!. Don't ever dominate her, and don't be a puppy too.She hates both extremes.She will always want a balance in the relationship. But most important,If your spouse is an Aries woman,you must remember that your woman always comes first.She'll always find reason to be proud of you. And she will be proud of you even if she doesn't find a reason. But do not forget to praise her for her talent too. She doesn't like doing anything for which she'll not be appreciated.If you want a loyal, supportive, tender, caring, yet independent and intelligent wife, then it surely has to be an Aries woman :) . And yeah,last but not the least, giving her your debit card just means an empty bank account!!. But don't worry, of the things she has shopped for, atleast 40% will be something for you ;)

p.s. : I love being an Aries Woman :)


Chandana C. Shekar