Area of Hight alert and tension

Many a times we have heard of regions of High alert & tension, like for example Pak occupied Kashmir and the Gaza strip has been there for decades, then you have many other regions under conflict across the globe. There are also temporary ones that spring up like Taj and Oberoi in Mumbai when it was under terrorist siege.

Over the last week I realized there is another equally if not greater, area of high alert and tension.

It is the waiting area out side an operation theatre in the hospitals. Last weekend my dad had a surgery and it was the first time I had ever waited outside an operation theatre.

I must say it was a tense situation. Irrespective of the severity of the surgery as long as the patient is under general anesthesia there is a certain amount of uncertainity and fear.

Now if its a major operation and the patient is below the GEAD (Generally Expected Age of Death - thats made up) the tension is much higher.

I remember this one lady waiting outside from 2:30 pm till 10:30 pm.....i guess she hardly moved from there. Her 38 year old husband was having a Kidney removed due to some tumor which had formed over it. She was just standing there with some of her relatives. All faces showing signs of anxiety and nervouseness.

My dad's was relatively a minor surgery (prostate removal) but I was also anxiously waiting for any news that would come in from within the OT. Each time the door opened and some one came out you try to peep in and see if we could get a glimpse of anything thats happening in there. The entire scene gave me a feeling of mystery.

Now however critical the situation, we as Indians cannot be but curious about whats happening next door. I think it is part of our cultural make up. After some waiting, I go up and ask another person waiting outside some really non-personal questions like how is the patient being operated related to him, what was the issue, how long has he been suffering from it etc....etc and then you get on with this long medical conversation about various illness, symptoms (some times making you wonder if you were suffering from any of them).....in the end feeling more miserable than before.... this story then just spreads you see.... i tell my relatives about the other by standers I met out side and their story giving a start to a pity party of sorts.....

The climax of all this comes when the theatre door opens and the nurse calls out the name of the relative waiting outside. There is a sudden scramble to the door and it is interesting to note that all those waiting outside irrespective of whether you know the patient or not goes to the door to hear and see what the doctor was saying..... Now if an organ or tumor is removed, the doctor shows them whats been removed......I got to see a kidney with the tumor that was removed of another patient......and then of course dad's prostate that was removed.....definitly not a pleasant sight both of them....

At the end of 5 hours, once the doctor comes out saying everything went well, thats when you give a sigh of relief......

Some thing that really stood out in this entire episode was the surgeon who operated....that day he had some two kindney transplants, one kidney removal, prostate removal and another surgery. And even after so much when he came out at 10:30 pm to tell us how the procedure went he looked quite fresh and smiling. That was real stamina.....and it was quite a contrast to the situation outside.......Being a good, sincere doctor (note the use of adjectives) is truly a noble proffession.....

In a certain sense I think we can draw some parallel between NSG Commandoes and Surgeons. NSG is fresh in all our memories after the recent terrorist attacks.......Both groups are involved in saving lives that are in a critical state........

But operations of different nature fighting against enemies of different kind.............

The area of course is of high alert and tension until the operation is through...........

Obed

17 Dec 2008

Making Mud Pies in the Slum......

The other day while searching on the net, I came across a piece of text from one of C.S. Lewis's Sermons (The weight of Glory). For those of you have not heard about CS. Lewis here is a brief intro;

Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis was a Northern Irish academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, and Christian apologist. He is also known for his fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy. C.S.Lewis was also an athiest until his conversion to Christianity at a later point in life.

The following is the text;

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Over the past couple of days I have read this over a dozen times. Each time I read this the, truth in the statement keeps hitting my face. Looking at the world around as it is today, with its persistent pursuit of pleasure (in the worldly sense), I could not better agree with C.S. Lewis.

All of us at different points in time have been a victim of this aimless pursuit. Not considering the end effects of this relentless sojourn after pleasure, most of them end up being more dissatisified than ever. Then one thinks, perhaps we havent had enough and dives deeper into the pleasure cualdron until they gasp for breath.

For many of us it is a chasing after money & fame, for many other it is the world of sexual pleasure (I think most of us have fallen prey to this at different points in time), then of course stuff that elevates the mind. We could broadly classify it into 3, Materialistic, Physical and Mental Pleasure. If we observe around us most of humanity is in this pursuit and we end up becoming slaves to them. Though many of us may not want to agree with this bitter truth, it is a fact that most of the people are under the bondage of this aimless pursuit. Many of them even if they wanted to come out are unable to and end up justifying the same.

And yes, we do end up making not just mud pies but steaks, Sizzlers & a full feast with dirty mud in the slums.

It is disheartening to note that many homes & lives are ruined in this process. It would have been fine if we did not have any other choice. But the fact remains there is a choice of pleasure that is beyond anything we could think or imagine, a joy & pleasure that is everlasting & fulfilling. Most of them are blind to this fact and some pretend to be blind. You know we really need not run behind these unfulfilling desires. We have a choice.

It says in the scriptures that God will fill us with eternal pleasure which is at his right hand (now those reading, you say I dont believe in all this conservative, traditional God stuff, just force yourself to read ahead, it may not be interesting but could be insightful). Isnt it interesting that God does care about pleasure and there are pleasures at the right hand of God (pls do not take the right hand to mean physical hands).

But he offers us a different form of pleasure, one that is eternal & permanent and not transient. Even an over indulgence in that pleasure will not ruin you but will build us up. It is not one that would lead you to bondage but into freedom. It is not something that would lead you to destruction and death but to abundant life that is everlasting. I wonder why man would not desire this kind of pleasure and chooses to settle in for such insignificant, trivial ones. All of them talk about aiming for the sky in our desires and ambition. What about in our desire for pleasure. I suggest you aim for the Heavens :)

And it is all the more interesting that this pleasure that he offers is not conditional or bought with a price (thats exciting isnt, its free, not a penny to be paid) It is a free gift. You dont even have to give up your other pleasures and choose this, though once you chose this you will let go of the others.

It is finally a place where you will feel at home. It is everlasting, its truly an offer of a holiday at sea. I guarantee it will give you a high...... :):)

Why would you say no to it??

Obed

10/12/08

Indian Roads - Life's Classroom

There are two days in a week I really look forward to Sat & Sun......may be you think its the same for most of mankind as it is a weekend. It could be, but for me the reasons are special. Sat morning I have my guitar classes which I love going to and Sunday of course is the Sabbath on to my Lord......I just love to go and worship my King as his church with fellow saints.

Today being a Saturday, I had my guitar classes and the fun part is that we go to the class as a goup of 5, 2 learning drums and 3 (one of them is a recent addition) of us guitar. So, come Sat morning we get into our Indica Xeta with guitar and drumsticks (that sounds quite veggie) drive down to the house of Keba (one of the most gifted guitarists in town).
Usual routine is to finish classes, go to Murugan Idli Shop or Lakshmi Sagar and break our night long fast.
But today we digressed from our usual routine and was driving back home. Now about driving on Chennai roads I intend to write another blog.....it is an adventure by itself.

On the way we stopped at a junction for the signal to turn green and suddenly I hear a thud and felt a slight jerk in the car....no prizes for guessing, a box auto (not sure if thats what the vehicle is called) comes and bumps into the car from the back. I looked back and the driver looked apologetic and said sorry......Being the middle of the road i did not stop the vehicle and inspect the damage but just kept driving. Now my friends said I should have parked my car got out and shouted or abused or done something to that affect at the driver. They thought it was foolish of me to have just driven off.

Here I want to pause and look at the choices one can make to react in such a situation; There are generally two ways one could handle this;

The Broad Way:
The moment the auto bumped into the car, get out of the car, go straight to the driver and blurt out the usual dialogues - oh! yes....every one in this situation in Chennai uses these two sentences invariably...'Kannu theriyatha' , 'enge pathu vandi ottre'......and then it could either flare up to an argument other wise if the party who is guilty accepts mistake then you can vent out your emotions and depending on the damage done demand compensation. In most cases these drivers will not be able to afford a compensation. (Now the scenario would be different if it is a major damage where you will give an insurance claim etc, here it is about small petty bumper to bumper kisses, with a few scratches or negligible dent which is common when you drive bumper to bumper). The fall out of this would be increased levels of blood pressure, unnecessary use of unpleasant vocabulary, blocking traffic on the road leading to ripple effect of high levels of anger and frustration in other co-travellers who are affected by this petty argument.
What is the result? Absolutly nothing apart from chaotic frustration and in some rare cases may be you can extract a few hundreds from the party who is guilty of the offense.

Narrow Way:
Look back and see what happened and if the driver of the vehicle apologises, just drive off. It will if not anything help you keep your peace and may be leave the other party ponder a bit about such a benevolent gesture.
Now if the driver of the vehicle is not apologetic, you may want to handle the situation some other way. But nothing can stop us from handling any situation with grace. Tomorrow I could make the same mistake at a vehicle in front of me. How would I like the driver of that vehicle to react in such a situation? I dont think I will ever want that person to shout and abuse me for the mistake and I am sure no one will want that.

Then, perhaps we should all learn to 'do unto others what you would like to be done unto you' and I am still learning that.......i have a long way to go.........:)
I have realized over a period of time that Indian roads is a great class room. We can train ourselves in many ways to learn some of lifes good lessons (specially in the areas of patience, anger management & time management)
What do you say??
Obed
29Oct08

Rains, Slums & Politicians

Yet another day of overcast sky and intermittant rains, the sun has been hidden for 4 days. Being in Chennai, used to cribbing about heat, today I really wished the sun would come out atleast for a few minutes. But the possibilities seem bleak.

With four days of continuos rains, you have this damp feeling all over the place....this being on the 4th floor in the apartment. The basement parking lot and the courtyard of my apartment is already under water. Now when i feel so fed up of the rains, staying in the 4th floor of an apartment, i wonder how our fellow citizens staying in the slums would be managing.

In Chennai, majority of the areas have a slum, be it an upmarket, posh residential area or the out skirts & suburbs. With thatched roofs and line houses and a big family it must be a nightmare staying in one of those shelters. With leaking roofs and rising water levels it is difficult to imagine life that way...

Some how it seems unfair for them. In the last four days, all the offices in Chennai had atleast one day of holiday.... but I am impressed by my maid (almost all of them stay in slums) who comes early in the morning to distribute milk and then do the household chores in different places. Now this for a lady who stays in a slum, of course with a husband who is an alcoholic....

She was pouring out her woes this morning about having to manage this season......

Now who is responsible for their well being??? Our democratically elected peoples representatives, the Politicians.....

Some times I am absolutely at a loss to understand this genre of people, atleast most of them (i guess every Indian is)......once the rains come, they wait for different areas to be sufficiently flooded and then venture out in the rain with boots and rain coats with a host of media people to inspect the amount of water logging and give instructions........and watch out, they actually venture out when it is raining.....

And how about the preventive measures they could have taken, all of them settle in with some of the drainages being cleared before the start of the season....

For the thousands of slum dwellers in the city, it hardly makes any difference.......this portion of their life story is repeated every year........With water all around them.......i am sure it dampens their spirits......

Obed

Soul Chimes - The Genesis !

Well, they say 'a lot can happen over a cup of coffee'....... i have often wondered about the possiblities......the last couple of days in Chennai made me realize a lot more can happen when it rains 4 days continuosly with Nisha passing over the city (if you are wondering who she is, just hold your excitement, it is the name of the cyclone that passed over Chennai). With the roads inundated with water schools/colleges and most offices remained shut (its not just the kids who are happy during such unexpected holidays, now a days even the employed are, one may not admit it though). The rains where so heavy it made even driving a car difficult and of course there is this scare of some elderly sickly branches of ancient trees or the tree itself falling on to your car as you drive along.

These are the times you have no option but to remain indoors and contemplate on serious issues of life which other wise you may never do, such as, considering whether onion bajjis or potato bajjis make a better evening snack, is bathing a good option in this cold weather or just postpone it until the rain stops, does watching more TV make you unhappy (read an article recently on that)etc.....funny isnt it?? but this is precisely some of the things I did over the last 2 days....So the first day evening I tried my hands on making some onion bajjis and the second day i was offered 2 different type of bajjis one home made and the other from the next door neighbour. I must say the bajjis with Heinz Kethcup to dip, just made my rainy day.... :) today ofcourse the unfortunate Mumbai terrorist seige and the dramatic coverage of the same by various channels kept me busy for some time...... What next?

Being used to going out every evening, the time just seems to crawl on when you are home.....but you know the internet is always a good option with all the social networking sites. But that also gets on you after you copy paste 'whats up dude & how are you' to a couple of random people on your friends list and check out their Albums which invariably makes you feel every one except you are having a ball of a time.

So then I decided I should do some thing more productive or some thing I have never done before. Already in front of the computer my options already seemed limited......But all of a sudden an idea struck me!!

Yes, some thing I had thought about a long time back but never really got started.....It was to BLOG......If Amitab Bachan and the Khans can have one......why not me..... it may not come on 'Breakfast with India' that Obed Chairo started blogging, but so what?

I did a quick search on 'starting a blog', read up what ever little there was and here I am.

This is the Genesis of 'SOUL CHIMES'..............11/27........Thanks to the incessant rains in Chennai and of course to 'Nisha' ;)

Obed