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