An Amatuer Guide for Planning a Himalayan Adventure Trek!
10/21/2015 11:27:00 am
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| Those were the best days of my life! |
I recently completed the National Himalayan Hampta Pass Trekking Expedition organized by the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI). This was my first national trek and it was a wonderful experience. The base camp for the trek was at Manali and the top most point of the trek was Hampta Pass which is around 14000 ft (for reference the Mount Everest stands 29000 ft tall). Would like to share a few tips which helped me planning the trip. Read on to find out!
The first and the foremost thing is to make up your mind. The rest all falls in place automatically, trust me on this one. Until you decide on that nothing will seem going your way but once you decide this, all things seem to fit in. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; seems way too difficult to start off, but then once you see the bigger picture it’s like child’s play (exaggeration I know but then these things need a push, infact a lots of pushes to be convinced). And what’s the easiest way to fix up your mind? Book tickets. Book tickets for the trek. Book tickets for travel. Book tickets for your stay. (The more you are unsure about yourself, more the tickets you should book: P). The fear of losing money on cancellation is a good enough inspiration for most of us. On a serious note, that’s the next thing you do. Most of these the National Level treks fill in fast, especially the slots around holidays. Plane tickets get costlier by the day and train tickets fill up fast, so it’s always better to finish of these bookings well in advance. Also keep a buffer for your bookings , especially the return tickets. If the trek schedule changes or you have any other issue you always have a spare day to tackle these. The other advantage (and the more important one) is that you can check out the adjacent places like most of us did. When your boss thinks that you are "HAVING Typhoid" for 7 days, you might as well have it for 10 days :) ;) You may not get to such an opportunity later.
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| If this doesn't inspire you then nothing will!! |
YHAI is a national level
non-profit NGO which organizes group treks all over India. Lifetime membership
is cheap and that entails you to trek all over India, including local YHAI
groups. They have professional, disciplined guides and safety issues are taken
care of. (We had a 17 year old girl who had come all the way from Gujarat all
alone. Kudos to her but credits to the YHAI team too for building that kind of trust and reputation). All this at a very reasonable price. You can read about the organization here and have a look at their adventure programs here. The other options are
private trekking groups. They organize group trek as well as private treks for
5-6 people. These are bit costlier but then they provide better facilities. You
can chose either. Google them, you will find lots of such groups.
If you haven’t
made up your mind, please do that. People who don’t come for treks (but wish
that they were once you show them those awesome selfies, velfies and other pics)
have this common question: Why are you going for a trek? Or other variations of
this question like : “Itne upar jake kya karna hai?”, “Upar jake neeche hi
utarna hai to upar kyun jana hai”, “Pahad chadne mein kya maza hai”, “Why subject
your body to such atrocities?”. There are many answers to this question, but
then none of them can answer it perfectly. The only way you will be able to
find out the answer is to experience it. Pictures are not even a close
representation of the kind of fun you will be having. It’s something that you
can’t describe in words. The other problem that one faces is the lack of
company. It’s difficult to convince people in the first place, secondly people
have different preferences. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is partly to blame for that
I guess. People expect to find someone like Deepika Padukone these treks (They
themselves are akin to Rajpal Yadav but then no harms in dreaming ;)). The only
reason you should do this is YOU. Most of the people we met had come alone.
Discovering new people, people from different states, different age group, and
different cultural background is way more fun than hanging around with the same
people and discussing the same things that you do routinely. The room I was
lodged in for the 1st day had 4 other guys. We instantly connected within
no time and to such an extent that people thought we had come together. We
bonded on so many things, Bollywood being the most commonly discussed topic and
the one which never came up was Medicine. The latter felt so good J
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| The Panch Pandavs: Mr Anand (the alpha male of the group), Ajay (aka Haryanavi dude aka Suresh aka Afghani, Vijay (aka Ramesh), Manjunath (aka Majnu) and Me (aka Dactar babu aka bhaiyyaji selfie wala smile)) |
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| I, Me and Myself |
So that now
that you have crossed the two major hurdles, the Why and the with whom ones,
the next one is How?. There are two types of people at the treks, one who will
pack everything in their field of view in their backpack and the other who will
be dependent on the first type for everything on the trek. Either one is bad
and you need to have a balance cause it’s YOU will have to carry the bag all
the way up (unless of course you have a pair of X chromosomes like Goddess
Deepika, in which case you will have many Rajpal Yadav’s to do that job for you).
It’s a good practice thing to make up a list
of things and keep on adding things to it as you remember/or get advised to
carry. Carry a decent sized bag, you shouldn’t drown in the weight of your own
bag, at the same time you need to it to be spacious to pack stuff you want to
carry there and which MAY carry back from there. Pack your stuff well. Carry
extra plastic bags. They come in handy all the time and you may not be able to
get them at some place (The Manali Market had a strict no plastic bag policy).
Also you can compartmentalize your stuff in these. You have to pack and unpack
your bag everyday so you can have separate bags for each of the things.
Make sure
you get in the essentials first, and then you can chose from the optional
stuff. The list is exhaustive:
“Rucksack
(if You have one), Woolens, Cotton Shirts, Slacks, Cotton Pants, Sun Cap,
Shoes, Socks, Enameled or Steel Mug / tumbler, Plate, Spoon, Water purifying
tablets, Pen knife, Needle, Thread, Spare buttons, Goggles, Cold cream /
Vaseline, Soap, Toilet Paper, Towel, Rain sheet, Medicines which you normally use at home,
Camera with extra batteries. Jungle Boots/ Snow Shoes/ Trekking Boots are must
for walking on snow.”
I have
filtered a few of these:
The essentials:
A good pair of trekking shoes: If you are to take only one thing
to the trek, make sure this is it. Routine sports shoes may not suffice. That
depends on the trek you are going though. I had bought Action trekking shoes on
my friend’s advice and they were pretty good. These came in only two variants
and are available at all shops. The better option is Quechua. If you trek often
then a pair of Quechua shoes is a good option. Many of my fellow trekkers had
the same and they are good too.
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| Is there anything like a "foot"fie? |
Basic stuff as advised by the organizers: Warm clothes are essential if you trek to
North/ North East. These include warm inners, a good sweater/jacket, gloves and
socks. Trust me, when the temperatures trend to sub-zero range there is nothing
more comforting than having these. Most of us had all sorts of protection and
we still were shivering like crazy. The good thing about having our base camp
at Manali was that we could manage most of the stuff from there itself.
The Decathlon store is a good place to buy all authentic trek related stuff. Bangalore has a few places where they even rent out stuff.
Preparing your body for the trek: If there is time then it would be beneficial if you acclimatize your body a bit. Do a few local treks if possible. You can walk/jog, preferably uphill a few weeks prior to the trek. Breathing exercises also help. (Ramdev Baba ki Jai!). You don't want to end up with an injury there. It's not a pleasant experience, neither for your nor your fellow trekkers who will have to adjust for you.
The semi-essentials:
Sun protection: Yes. You read it right. You not only need to
prepare for the freezing nights but also the scorching sunlight which is
equally worse. A cap is the bare minimum
you need. A sunscreen is also helpful (at least SPF 50). At the end of the trek
there was a sharp demarcation line which separated our clothed unexposed part
of our hands and the exposed one!! Good quality sun-glasses are also helpful. That’s
a place where it’s more a utility than an accessory.
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| Chubti-Jalti Garmi ka mausam aya! |
A waist pouch: I found it to be really handy. Packing and
unpacking every day is a real pain which you will realize for yourself. Imagine
getting out your camera from your bag every time you need to capture that
perfect click (that happens quite often in these places!). At the same time you
can’t take the risk of your super costly smartphone plunging into the deep
Himalayan valleys from your pocket as you are climbing. You can’t go down to
get it back :P. I found a waist pouch really handy for stuff like my phone, my
glares, a few quick bites.
A good camera/ a phone with a good camera: Who doesn’t want to show off those
beautiful pictures once you are back? Yes I am contradicting my previous
statement that the only reason that you should trek is you, but then we all are
allowed a bit of hypocrisy. Majority of us want to capture those moments (apart
from a few who are above all these material things), not only to show off but also to relive those
moments once again. So a good camera is a must for the “Awww” wala awesome
moments. To couple that you MUST have a battery pack/power bank for the I-am-out-of-battery-wala
“Oh shit” moments. We did not have electricity for most part of the trek as I had my One Plus Two phone which captured
some amazing shots and awesome 4K videos. Many others had DSLR’s. Whatever
suits you the best!
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I owe these pictures to Xiaomi and Ambrane as much I owe to the awesome One plus two!
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A pair of chappals: It’s useful to roam around at the
camps in the night as every time you don’t have to wear and remove your shoes.
Plus your legs are suffocated wearing those shoes all day.
Rain Protection: Depending on the weather. You can buy this at
the base camp based on local advice that once you reach there
The
not so essentials:
Extra set of clothes: At these treks you need to keep your
bag as light weight as possible. Most of us had just one set of extra clothes and
we did manage. It’s not that you are going to have a bath every day. Plus
bathing in the River Beas when its freezing cold seems more like a
Roadies/Splitsvilla task rather than something you will willingly do (Splitsvilla
would be more interesting. This modern Mandakini would rather be called Ram
Teri Thandi Ho Gayi. Sad one I know but then I need to have a bit of masala).
The
quintessential stuff:
A smile on your face and a good attitude. Be open to
people. Make new friends. Learn new things. Share your thoughts.
Enjoy,
have the best time of your life and make the most of it. Kya pata yeh opportunity
Kal ho na ho!!
P.S./Statutory warning/Disclaimer:
This in no
way is a perfect guide. I am sharing my first time experience. The problems I
faced while planning my trek and what solutions that helped me. There are
better guides available and you can take the help of Google Baba as always for
more guidance. You can always add your suggestions for fellow trekkers in the
comments section.
P.P.S.
Planning to
write up a picture blog of the trip as and when I find time :)
Scion of Ikshvaku!
7/06/2015 09:58:00 am
After reading the Shiva trilogy I was quite impressed with Amish Tripathi and his style of writing. He keeps the plot exciting and at the same time the language he uses is easy to understand. I am not that avid a reader and prefer these kind of books where I don't have to look up my dictionary often. Coming back to the book. Shiva's trilogy was interesting and I liked it but I didn't knew much about the actual mythological backdrop on which it was based. On the contrary, I have recently finished Sita by Devdutt Pattanaik (which is also an excellent book and is a simple account of the Ramayana). That made the book even more interesting for me. Amish Tripathi has tried to be as parallel to the original story as he can but without intersecting the plots anywhere. The basic story and the twists take place as in the original but the circumstances that lead to each of these twists is novel, different and interesting. He keeps the reader engaged. There is a secret back story just as in the Shiva trilogy (which hasn't been revealed in the first book and hasn't been revealed in the first book). Working on a parallel story is difficult , be it writing a book or making a movie. One of the best example of this was Rang de Basanti. It was a cult movie and Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra did a wonderful job of setting the legendary story of the revolutionaries in the modern setup. And he did manage to keep the plot parallel to the original without deviating much. I feel Amish too has done a great job. The character traits , their origins their relations have been kept same as that of the original epic and at the same time the plots that connect these are different. The interactions in between these characters has also been given a humane touch (For eg one finds Bharat and Laxman pulling Ram's leg quite often). The book doesn't divulge into the core philosophy of Ramayana, but there are few references here and there.
All in all it's a good read. Eagerly waiting for the second part.
This is the opening quote of the book and I loved this one.
P.S.: Google Books is an awesome application if you are into ebooks and like to read them on multiple devices. It is available for iOS and android. It not only syncs your books on all your devices but also remembers the page where you left the book last time. This way you can resume reading on another device at the same point you left on the first one.
P.P.S: I know there are people who prefer actual books over ebooks.. But then ebooks give you the portability. You can read it anywhere and everywhere . Also the other advantage of google play books (or for that matter an e book reader ) is the in built dictionary for quick reference.
Dactar sahab , Report kaisa hai?
6/22/2015 06:33:00 am
It was 24th of December, I was posted in the USG section of Tata Hospital. The next patient was a 60 year patient named Mr. Joseph. He was operated for a cancer of the oral cavity, which recurred twice in his neck and he re-operated for the same. he had now developed another swelling on the opposite side of the neck. He was here for a USG guided FNAC from the new swelling (which is like taking out a small sample for examination). This looked like another recurrence and the cytologist examined and confirmed the presence of malignant cells. By this time Mr Joseph had figured out that something wasn't right (Being operated multiple times, he was quite well versed with basic medical jargon.) He asked me "Doctor , how is the report? " I explained him that it looks like another recurrence and I called out the next patient. He went outside and came back again asking if he can have a word with me. He asked me by when will the report be available, which is usually 2-3 days. By that time Tata Hospital had adopted an online system and patient could access the reports online. Once they are online, the patient gets an SMS regarding the same. So Mr. Joseph calls me outside and tells me " Beta, can you delay the report and the SMS by a few days?" That was a strange request as most of the patients want their reports to be processed asap. He continued, "I want to enjoy Christmas and New Year with my family in a happy mood. I don't know how many of them are left with me." I had tears in my eyes. I didn't know what to say to him.
That's when it hit me that we often do not realize what the patient goes through before he comes to us and while he awaits a report from us. As a radiologist we do not have a lot of actual interaction with patients, except for USG and intervention procedures. And that's the reason I like both of these. We used to have a lot of patients who come for yearly/ 6 monthly follow up USG to rule out any recurrence or metastasis. Imagine the anxiety each of these patients has as he boards his train for his follow -up check up, while he discusses his illness with his fellow inquisitive travelers (who always has a story about some distant relative/ friend who died of cancer or had a bad recurrence), while he waits outside the USG room for his appointment (where his fellow patients too often have scary stories), while we are doing the USG and once we are done with it. All this while he and his family are praying that he remains cancer free. Imagine yourself in that situation. It must be tough. And once he is done with it , his question is "Dactar sab, report kaisa hai?" (Doctor sir , how is the report?). I have seen my colleagues and my juniors often saying "Apke doctor ke pas jao, woh bataenge apko (Meet your doctor he will tell you the report) and that too in a rather insensitive tone. In fact even I have done that at times. This is especially true if the report has some positive findings. Communicating bad news to the patient in the appropriate way is an essential skill which a physican must develop. Due to the limited patient interaction we have, this is something that we lack and maybe that's one of the reason why we fail to convey reports to patients . For the patient however the anxiety gets even worse as the treating physician's OPD is usually 2-3 days later. Imagine what the patient goes through for those two days. " There must be some problem, that's why the doctor didn't tell me right away", that's the first thought that comes to his mind. And he thinks of the worst possible outcomes , only for the doctor to tell him two days later that the report is perfectly normal. It would not have taken more than few seconds to let him know that report is normal. And I have seen the sense of relief when I tell them that the report is fine. That look says it all. Even when there is a positive finding , I feel it's best to tell them in simple terms what are the implications of the same as patients assume the worst possible outcomes when they are uninformed. Imagine this is just one report. There are at least 5-6 reports he has to collect every time. These are times when "Ignorance is bliss" seems so apt (in the case of uneducated patients who do not have much idea about these as compared to the informed Internet savvy educated types)
At Tata , we get patients from all over India , it being a tertiary care center for oncology. Being the one of the top most government institute for cancer treatment, that's a place where patients get referred to from the remotest part of India. I had a patient who came all the way from Andaman and Nicobar for his follow up. He was treated case of rectal cancer. While doing his USG he told me how he had to travel for approximately 60 hrs from Andaman to Kolkata and from there a train journey for 40 hrs . And then he waited for another hour in the line before he came to me. All of this for a 5 min test (at times even less than that). And what would he feel if, at the end of these troublesome 100 odd hours he is doesn't get an answer. I told him his report was normal and he had this huge smile on his face and he thanked me and said if I ever visit Andaman , I have to come to his place.
The story is not different at Municipal hospitals. I was in the surgical ward during my second year of residency, going through patients' files, looking for that elusive " good exam case". While going through one such files , the relative told me "Dactar sab , kya hua hai inko, char din se yeh sab davai , test ho rahe hai. Par hua kya hai inko. (Doctor what has happened to him. We are being doing all these tests and taking medicines since four days but exactly what has happened to him). It was a case of duodenal ulcer , which I explained with the limited medical knowledge I had at the that time. The relative and the patient both had a smile on their face (in spite of the pain he was going through) and told me that no one had told them till now what was the exact problem since they were admitted.
Communicating with patients in the right way is not only important for the patients but that is also important for a radiologist. That way you assure that the patient stays with you. Also being a para-clinical branch we do not get the kind of satisfaction our surgical/ medical colleagues get once they treat the patient. Building a good rapport with the patient, talking to him is one of ensuring that. It's an important habit which we may realize once we start private practice. I remember one of my professors telling us this when we were caught postponing patients " Now you are refusing these patients, behaving rudely with them. Why ? Just because they are coming to your government hospital? Once you will leave this place you will crave to have such a number of patients and you will have to talk to them politely to each of them". Not only that but communicating with the patient will often save you time and help you from missing important findings. For e.g. One of my juniors came to with a patient saying he diagnosed situs inversus totalis (which is basically a condition when there is a left right inversion of organs) and he had some doubts in the rest of the scan. On asking the patient , this 60 year old lady ("maa-ji") pointing to her abdomen says " Beta yeh sab ulta hai . Idhar ka cheez udhar hai and udhar ka idhar. Aur yeh pitta ka thaili bhi nikala hai (Everything is opposite. The stuff on the right is on the left and vice versa. Plus she had her GB removed for stones) ". With a disappointed expression , my junior was like, " Yeh pehle nahi bata sakte the maa-ji" (Couldn't you have told me this before!). She would have definitely told him ,if he had asked her. After all Radiology (and medicine for that matter) is only as clinical as you want it to be.
As always there are two sides to the coin. The amount of cases each doctor sees every day in any of the government hospitals is huge. But that does not give us a reason to disrespect them in any way. May be for me its easier to say all this. Being on the para-clinical/ non-clinical side we do not have to interact with many patients. My clinical colleagues handle so many patients day in and day out and we can't expect the same from them. Or in fact they may be even better than us at handling patients, communicating them their reports. But for others who aren't as good as them , the next time a patient asks you this question " "Dactar sahab , report kaisa hai? ", please spare a minute and do let him know the same in a language that he understands.
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| This is so true!! |
P.S. Please do let me know your views in the comments.
Dil wali Delhi!!
5/12/2015 02:33:00 pm.jpg)
I had to travel to Delhi for an exam and this is a short account of the same. The title is sucks and is cliché but then couldn't come up with a better title so thats what I had to settle with. Is Delhi "dil - wali " ? I am not quite sure , but is definitely full of people who like to flaunt- money, looks, attitude. Atleast thats the Delhi I saw!
Anyways I write this article to share a few travel tips which I found in handy. So to start off , the first thing you need a smart phone with decent net connectivity as traveling in Delhi can be a bit confusing. The following apps come in handy :
The easiest way to search for boarding is to do an online search and select a hotel/ hostel which suits your need. There are many cheap hostels which suit the needs of people whom roaming around in the city is a priority and can compromise on stay. Booking and Hostel World are good places to start off. I stayed at the International Youth Hostel Delhi which I found a decent and safe place to stay (Read more here : International Youth Hostel).
Once you arrive at the Airport/ Delhi railway station, you should get the Metro card which comes in really handy. For a refundable security deposit of Rs 50, you can get the card at any metro station and that will save you the long ticket queues. Also you get 10percent discount on all your tickets. If you are arriving at the airport (national or international) , the Airport Metro line is the cheapest and fastest way to get into the city. The ticket for New Delhi station is just 100 bucks which will take anything from 300 to 400 bucks by cab. For traveling within the city, metro is the cheapest option and from your station to your destination you can choose either the above cab services or the local autos/ cycle rickshaws.
I didnt get enough time to roam around but I did manage a few places. Out of the Red Fort , Jama Masjid (both of which are closeby) and Humayun's Tomb, I like the latter the most. If you are group of people it would be advisable to take a local guide as roaming around just looking at these monuments doesn't make much sense. The light show at the Red Fort is something you should not miss. Check out the timings here. Also a visit to the India gate in the night is a must.
I didnt interact much with people but the ones I did (mostly my cab drivers, hostel staff and a few random tourists whom I forced to clicking my pics) were helpful. The area around South Delhi is safe. I visited the India gate on Saturday at midnight and it was quite crowded with families having a fun time in the gardens parallel to the path leading to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
All in all it was a pleasant short stay!
P.S. It was a short trip and I didn't end up exploring much of the city and its people so its a shallow more of a technical post!
Anyways I write this article to share a few travel tips which I found in handy. So to start off , the first thing you need a smart phone with decent net connectivity as traveling in Delhi can be a bit confusing. The following apps come in handy :
- The Quintessential Google Maps : Click here to download.
- Delhi Metro Rail App. Click here to download. This is a neat app which shows the metro route with connecting stations , fare, approximate travel time and the nearest metro station. Also there is a list of places to visit with the metro station closest to each which comes in handy!
- Any of the following Taxi services , given the notoriety of the Delhi auto drivers. In fact you can use all of them one by one. Out of all the three services, I found Uber to be the most useful to get a cab immediately while Taxi for sure is good for booking cabs on a later period which is not possible using uber. Click on the name to download. Click here for free credits
The easiest way to search for boarding is to do an online search and select a hotel/ hostel which suits your need. There are many cheap hostels which suit the needs of people whom roaming around in the city is a priority and can compromise on stay. Booking and Hostel World are good places to start off. I stayed at the International Youth Hostel Delhi which I found a decent and safe place to stay (Read more here : International Youth Hostel).
Once you arrive at the Airport/ Delhi railway station, you should get the Metro card which comes in really handy. For a refundable security deposit of Rs 50, you can get the card at any metro station and that will save you the long ticket queues. Also you get 10percent discount on all your tickets. If you are arriving at the airport (national or international) , the Airport Metro line is the cheapest and fastest way to get into the city. The ticket for New Delhi station is just 100 bucks which will take anything from 300 to 400 bucks by cab. For traveling within the city, metro is the cheapest option and from your station to your destination you can choose either the above cab services or the local autos/ cycle rickshaws.
I didnt get enough time to roam around but I did manage a few places. Out of the Red Fort , Jama Masjid (both of which are closeby) and Humayun's Tomb, I like the latter the most. If you are group of people it would be advisable to take a local guide as roaming around just looking at these monuments doesn't make much sense. The light show at the Red Fort is something you should not miss. Check out the timings here. Also a visit to the India gate in the night is a must.
I didnt interact much with people but the ones I did (mostly my cab drivers, hostel staff and a few random tourists whom I forced to clicking my pics) were helpful. The area around South Delhi is safe. I visited the India gate on Saturday at midnight and it was quite crowded with families having a fun time in the gardens parallel to the path leading to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
All in all it was a pleasant short stay!
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| Old Delhi - View from the Jama Masjid minaret! |
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| Jama Masjid |
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| Meena Bazaar |
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| Humayum's Tomb |
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| Humayum;s Tomb |
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| Red Fort |
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| Red Fort |
P.S. It was a short trip and I didn't end up exploring much of the city and its people so its a shallow more of a technical post!
Jaya -An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata
5/03/2015 04:52:00 am
" The fear of death makes animals fight for their survival. Might becomes right as only the fit survive. With strength and cunning territories are established and pecking orders enforced. Thus, the law of the jungle comes into being. Animals have no choice but to subscribe to it. Humans, however, can choose to accept, exploit or reject this law.
Thanks to our larger brain, we can imagine and create a world where we can look beyond ourselves, include others, and make everyone feel wanted and safe. We can, if we wish to, establish a society where the mighty care for the meek, and where resources are made available to help even the unfit thrive. This is dharma.
Unfortunately, imagination can also amplify fear, and make us so territorial that we withhold resources, exploit the weak and eat even when well-fed. This is adharma. If dharma enables us to outgrow the beast in us, then adharma makes us worse than animals. If dharma takes us towards divinity, then adharma fuels the demonic.
The Kauravas are stubbornly territorial before the war. The Pandavas struggle to be generous after the war. Adharma is thus an eternal temptation, while dharma is an endless work in progress that validates our humanity."
These are words from the final chapter of the book on Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik and they quite aptly sum up the essence of the book. Rather I should say that of the epic called Mahabharata. First a word about the author's contribution. He has managed to present the humongous piece of literature in a concise manner. The text is lucid and he has tried to simplify the confusing tangles of relationships. He keeps providing us short revisions everytime he reintroduces a character in subsequent chapters. And this comes in handy as remembering the lineage if each character is a pain. It's like the desi Game of Thrones. Everybody is related to everybody in some complex way and there are too many bodies there to remember. Plus there is karma which keeps coming back at intervals. So by the time it hits back at someone, you are way ahead in the story and recollecting the back story is difficult. He doesn't complicate things by showing off his vocabulary and keeps the language simple (I guess that's the only reason why Chetan Bhagat has such a following in India I guess. But I doubt whether he does that to hide his vocabulary or the lack of it). Plus that was the very reason the scriptures were written in Sanskrit so that only a small portion of the population could understand them. I don't know how accurate his version is but it's a book that can give you a gist of the story in the simplest possible way. There must be many other authentic translations but then as they say Devil is in the details. It would have been difficult for me to interpret all the plots and subplots if they were presented in a more complex manner. That's just my opinion though. He has also provided these small snippets at the end of each chapter giving us interesting facts and revising those complex subplots. Also even though it's labelled as an " illustrated retelling " , the illustrations don't serve much purpose
Coming to the more important part. The epic itself. I am otherwise an atheist and was sceptical about reading the Mahabharata. But then it's nowhere close to what I thought. It's not about gods and goddess. And to contrary to belief , it's not about the Kurukshetra war. That definitely forms an important part of the story but it's not the central theme. In fact it's a medium through which the central theme is elaborated i.e. Dharma and karma. And by dharma it never means blind faith and superstitions as projected by some of the present day " dharmik babas" . It means the righteous path, what is the ideal way of life. It's not that reading this has transformed me at a spiritual level , but does make you think about so many things. Keeping aside the spiritual part of it, it makes you aware of how awesome our forefathers were. Compiling such a huge book and carrying forward it's legacy through so many generation is a tremendous task. All this in the world without computers (They didn't have any of the cloud drive technology where they could back up their data at regular intervals. One hundred thousand verses over a span of 18 chapters). All the stories have such good morals and which are quite appropriate even in the Kaliyug. Plus their knowledge of astrology and other life sciences is fascinating. During the war there are these arrows which multiply as they travel. Some postulate that the ancient Indians were aware of nuclear weapons and this was an example of a nuclear fission reaction. I think that is a bit far fetched, but you never know. The other interesting part and the one that I liked that the actual stories are way different than what they have been presented to us. Why have always been told the story of how Kunti asked Arjuna to share Draupadi equally with his brothers but then there are other reasons to it too. Here it is :
"In her past life, Draupadi had invoked Shiva and asked for a husband who was honest, a husband who was strong, a husband who was skilled, a husband who was handsome and a husband who was knowledgeable. Shiva had said, ‘You will get all five men that you want for no single man, except God. In another past life, Draupadi was Nalayani, the wife of a Rishi called Maudgalya. He had a terrible disease that made him cough and spit all day and covered his skin with scales and rashes. Still Nalayani served him as a devoted wife. Pleased with her unstinting service, the sage offered her a boon. Nalayani requested that he use his ascetic powers to indulge all her sexual desires. Accordingly, Maudgalya took the forms of many different men, some human, some divine, all handsome, and made love to her in many different ways. After indulging in sexual pleasures for many years, Maudgalya decided it was time to renounce the world. But Nalayani was not satisfied. ‘Who will make love to me after you are gone?’ she asked. Disgusted by her insatiable lust, the Rishi cursed her that in her next life she would be the wife of many men."
There are other interesting subplots too. Like how Shakuni was not wicked de novo and why he did the things that he did. What made him limp. How each of the Pandavas had multiple wifes and children and how each of them plays some part in the battle. How Krishna twisted so many rules and used his powers to help Pandavas win the war. How The Pandavas too lost everything at the end of it. How the epic doesn't end with the war , it ends with Yudhishtira realising the true meaning of dharma. And that's what the central theme of the epic is. How each action of every character is governed by their good or bad karma. How each of the so called good characters have bad traits which we never knew. And in the end why the Pandavas in spite of being the good people end up in Naraka and the Kauravas end up in Swarga.
All in all, it's a good book and more importantly the story of Mahabharata is something which each of us should read at least once. It won't change your spiritual thinking in any way but it would definitely make you proud about the knowledge and legacy of ancient Indians.
P.S. I read books once in a while, not that frequently, so these were just my amateur thoughts about this book. There might be better books and people who read often would better be able to tell more about the quality of the writing and it's accuracy. I personally like something which I can read uninterrupted without referring to my English dictionary frequently. Suggestions are always welcome.
PPS: Watch this guy talk about ancient Indian wisdom
Thanks to our larger brain, we can imagine and create a world where we can look beyond ourselves, include others, and make everyone feel wanted and safe. We can, if we wish to, establish a society where the mighty care for the meek, and where resources are made available to help even the unfit thrive. This is dharma.
Unfortunately, imagination can also amplify fear, and make us so territorial that we withhold resources, exploit the weak and eat even when well-fed. This is adharma. If dharma enables us to outgrow the beast in us, then adharma makes us worse than animals. If dharma takes us towards divinity, then adharma fuels the demonic.
The Kauravas are stubbornly territorial before the war. The Pandavas struggle to be generous after the war. Adharma is thus an eternal temptation, while dharma is an endless work in progress that validates our humanity."
These are words from the final chapter of the book on Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik and they quite aptly sum up the essence of the book. Rather I should say that of the epic called Mahabharata. First a word about the author's contribution. He has managed to present the humongous piece of literature in a concise manner. The text is lucid and he has tried to simplify the confusing tangles of relationships. He keeps providing us short revisions everytime he reintroduces a character in subsequent chapters. And this comes in handy as remembering the lineage if each character is a pain. It's like the desi Game of Thrones. Everybody is related to everybody in some complex way and there are too many bodies there to remember. Plus there is karma which keeps coming back at intervals. So by the time it hits back at someone, you are way ahead in the story and recollecting the back story is difficult. He doesn't complicate things by showing off his vocabulary and keeps the language simple (I guess that's the only reason why Chetan Bhagat has such a following in India I guess. But I doubt whether he does that to hide his vocabulary or the lack of it). Plus that was the very reason the scriptures were written in Sanskrit so that only a small portion of the population could understand them. I don't know how accurate his version is but it's a book that can give you a gist of the story in the simplest possible way. There must be many other authentic translations but then as they say Devil is in the details. It would have been difficult for me to interpret all the plots and subplots if they were presented in a more complex manner. That's just my opinion though. He has also provided these small snippets at the end of each chapter giving us interesting facts and revising those complex subplots. Also even though it's labelled as an " illustrated retelling " , the illustrations don't serve much purpose
Coming to the more important part. The epic itself. I am otherwise an atheist and was sceptical about reading the Mahabharata. But then it's nowhere close to what I thought. It's not about gods and goddess. And to contrary to belief , it's not about the Kurukshetra war. That definitely forms an important part of the story but it's not the central theme. In fact it's a medium through which the central theme is elaborated i.e. Dharma and karma. And by dharma it never means blind faith and superstitions as projected by some of the present day " dharmik babas" . It means the righteous path, what is the ideal way of life. It's not that reading this has transformed me at a spiritual level , but does make you think about so many things. Keeping aside the spiritual part of it, it makes you aware of how awesome our forefathers were. Compiling such a huge book and carrying forward it's legacy through so many generation is a tremendous task. All this in the world without computers (They didn't have any of the cloud drive technology where they could back up their data at regular intervals. One hundred thousand verses over a span of 18 chapters). All the stories have such good morals and which are quite appropriate even in the Kaliyug. Plus their knowledge of astrology and other life sciences is fascinating. During the war there are these arrows which multiply as they travel. Some postulate that the ancient Indians were aware of nuclear weapons and this was an example of a nuclear fission reaction. I think that is a bit far fetched, but you never know. The other interesting part and the one that I liked that the actual stories are way different than what they have been presented to us. Why have always been told the story of how Kunti asked Arjuna to share Draupadi equally with his brothers but then there are other reasons to it too. Here it is :
"In her past life, Draupadi had invoked Shiva and asked for a husband who was honest, a husband who was strong, a husband who was skilled, a husband who was handsome and a husband who was knowledgeable. Shiva had said, ‘You will get all five men that you want for no single man, except God. In another past life, Draupadi was Nalayani, the wife of a Rishi called Maudgalya. He had a terrible disease that made him cough and spit all day and covered his skin with scales and rashes. Still Nalayani served him as a devoted wife. Pleased with her unstinting service, the sage offered her a boon. Nalayani requested that he use his ascetic powers to indulge all her sexual desires. Accordingly, Maudgalya took the forms of many different men, some human, some divine, all handsome, and made love to her in many different ways. After indulging in sexual pleasures for many years, Maudgalya decided it was time to renounce the world. But Nalayani was not satisfied. ‘Who will make love to me after you are gone?’ she asked. Disgusted by her insatiable lust, the Rishi cursed her that in her next life she would be the wife of many men."
There are other interesting subplots too. Like how Shakuni was not wicked de novo and why he did the things that he did. What made him limp. How each of the Pandavas had multiple wifes and children and how each of them plays some part in the battle. How Krishna twisted so many rules and used his powers to help Pandavas win the war. How The Pandavas too lost everything at the end of it. How the epic doesn't end with the war , it ends with Yudhishtira realising the true meaning of dharma. And that's what the central theme of the epic is. How each action of every character is governed by their good or bad karma. How each of the so called good characters have bad traits which we never knew. And in the end why the Pandavas in spite of being the good people end up in Naraka and the Kauravas end up in Swarga.
All in all, it's a good book and more importantly the story of Mahabharata is something which each of us should read at least once. It won't change your spiritual thinking in any way but it would definitely make you proud about the knowledge and legacy of ancient Indians.
P.S. I read books once in a while, not that frequently, so these were just my amateur thoughts about this book. There might be better books and people who read often would better be able to tell more about the quality of the writing and it's accuracy. I personally like something which I can read uninterrupted without referring to my English dictionary frequently. Suggestions are always welcome.
PPS: Watch this guy talk about ancient Indian wisdom
Kothaligad (aka Peth)!
6/19/2014 03:00:00 am
How to reach: There are two options. You can either go via Karjat (S.T from there to the base village, Ambivili) or from Neral ( There are those larger sized rickshaws aka "Tum Tums" ). We chose the Neral route. You have to get down on the other side of Matheran at Neral. We had already booked the rickshaws as we were nearly 100 people. Its better to start as early as possible
Here is a link if you want to know about the history : History
Base Village : Peth/ Ambivili
The route from Neral to Ambivili was surprisingly pleasant. The roads were excellent, most probably due to the pre-election constructions. Otherwise the one hour journey would have been a pain, especially when ten of you are stuffed in the Tum Tum (aka "Dukkar rickshaw")
Once at the base village there is a small hotel where we had refreshments and started the ascent.
This was our YHAI group. Please forgive my editing and (non-existent) photography skills. All pics have been captured on a humble 8 megapixel Note II camera.
The trek is otherwise easy but the monsoons hadn't set in. The three and half hour climb was hence a bit tiring due to the scorching heat. The same trek in the monsoon was a superb experience with multiple small waterfalls en route. Its always better NOT to carry your umbrellas/ rain coats , cause thats the best way to enjoy a monsoon trek. Trust me you will NEVER fall ill post a monsoon trek.
These are pics from this years trek
The difference if quite evident. The route is surrounded by lush green trees and waterfalls in the monsoon. Pics courtsey : TeamBHP.com
There are no difficult patches and even newbie can scale the peak quite easily. You can always take a guide from the base village. Once you reach the top there is a cave where we rested for a while and had our lunch. There are water tanks near the cave.
There is a spiral stairs which takes you to the top. The view from there is breath-taking. A large portion of the Western Ghats is see. The experienced trekkers could name all the peaks seen.
 |
| Finally there!!! |
The way down was easy as there path was dry. Had it rained it would have been slippery and that would have made things tough.
I would like to thank the YHAI group for organizing an excellent trek. The YHAI Ambernath consists of many senior trekkers who ensure safety of all the trekkers. The fees for the trek are also very very affordable. Here is the link for the website : YHAI Ambarnath HomePage. You can check the page for upcoming treks. I am not advertising them, but they are way better than the other hiking groups which charge anything in between 300 to 1000.
Click here for more pics:
More Pics....
Zabaan Sambhal Ke !!
4/25/2014 12:29:00 pm
“…are yeh toh kitna bada mass hai , iska biopsy toh aaram se
ho jayega.”
“Look at this dude, this is such a classic exam “CASE”
“Are yeh dekh isme kya superp De Musset's sign hai, kya
solid AR hoga isko”
“F!*# man, iski toh puri wat lag gayi hai.”
These
are a few of the common dialogues we have come across in our wards at the patient’s
bedside, failing to realize that the person lying in besides us is far more
than just an exam “CASE”.
For the
past six odd years I have spent (rather I should say the six years I have
“earned”) at this amazing place called KEM, I have said /heard/overheard many
things I shouldn’t have .The aforementioned statements top the list. It’s such
a common scenario at GS when such a rare/classic/ideal exam “CASE” gets
admitted in the war. The usual pathway being:
The tired medicine houseman “tries” to impress a
“sincere” second year female (who has no idea about it, but it is presented in
a way which makes it look important.) or an Intern (who knows everything about
the condition including the rarest of chromosomal mutation associated with it
and its effect on the prognosis, but doesn’t have the time to look at the case.
Thanks to the lame MCQ oriented CET, all he sees is how fast can he finish the
collection and head back to his bestest of friends “Amit ,Ashish and Mudit)
The ignorant second years gather around the case and the
houseman meticulously shows (-off) the “CASE”. After seeing such a classic/
rare case their enthusiasm knows no bounds. The entire class follows suit,
poking the patient (sorry am I supposed to call him the “CASE”?).And like every
news at the GS campus, even this one spreads like wild fire.
All
this time when those eager eyes are staring at the poor soul lying in the bed
is wondering why so many doctors are visiting him. He has a pseudo-notion that
“Itne bade bade dactar aa rahe hai tapas
karne ke liye ,ab hum toh zaaroor thik hoke jayenge”. Alas, none of this happens .None of the “bade bade dactars “ bother to strike a
communication with him or try to explain him what condition he has and what is
the treatment and what prognosis to expect. Forget about having a conversation
with the “CASE” most of us don’t even ask/ remember his name. He is popular and
referred to, not by his name but by his diagnosis-“The classic AR patient in
ward 4!” Everyone in the college knows his diagnosis, except him of course.
Out of
the innumerable patients that get admitted in our wards there will be very few
who will be aware of what disorder they have. Even if they are aware of what
their condition is called (thanks to the not too “soft spoken Ghasu” visitors
they cater to everyday), they have no clue about what it really means. There
was this one patient who was admitted in the ward for a bleeding gastric ulcer
.While wandering (that’s the most apt word to describe what we do in the wards
during our clinical postings) in the ward his relative showed us his endoscopy
report and asked us to explain me the same. We explained him whatever little we
knew (Our first posting in the wards just after finishing first year is the
only time we have the enthusiasm to do all such things). The patient’s relative
couldn’t stop praising us as no one had told them all these days what was wrong
(And then our ). The ignorant patient and his relatives deserve to know at
least this basic information. When we recruit patients for our research
projects, we are supposed to get an informed consent document signed from the
patient. Many a times it’s a misnomer ,its patient is neither informed , nor he
consents .Its just a document which the bade
dactar hands over and instructs “jaldi se yahan sign karo.”
Many a times we expect the patient to have
that rare diagnosis we suspect or that rare sign which we have just rattofied
from Harrison, for e.g. One of us had said during the emergency hours “Kash isko intracranial hemorrhage detect ho
CT pe. I have never diagnosed one before.” Do we fail to realize what the diagnosis
means to the patients?
You will find the most passionate students at
KEM, trying to “know” as much as possible. But few of us realize that for the
patient we are not someone who comes to learn and experiment on them, but to treat
them. I was a subject for a mock USMLE practical exam for one my friends and
was amazed at the protocol they follow abroad. You are supposed to introduce
yourself, explain the purpose of your visit and seek the patient’s permission
before you touch him. How many times have you seen that happening in the wards
here? I guess never. What we do is this “Are
yeh dekh, (holds the patients knee and knocks the hammer at the patients knees)
Kya mast knee jerk hai na!” .We are used to making remarks on the remarks
of the patient’s condition, often in colloquial terms like “Kitna bada lesion hai “. We never really
care how traumatic can this be for the already dampened morale of the patient. Try
conveying the prognosis of same to the patient. I bet you will be short of
words. Also how many times has it happened that while examining the patient we
indulge in some random conversation with our colleagues which is totally
unrelated to the patient? The worst part being is all this is happening in a
language the patient and his relatives understands. This conveys a wrong
message to the patient (and makes some more sensational news for the “research
team” of Satyamev Jayate.) The one thing we must learn from all senior
professors is the way they communicate with the patients in the OPD. The
argument against it being they see a lesser number of patients so they can
afford to spend so much time on each patient, but we can at least try to be as
polite as them. Its beneficial not only for the patient but for us too. Personal
experience says that if you have just talked to the patient before the procedure
and made him feel important, it makes things much easier if any untoward
complication arises if any.
I am no “ideal” student/doctor to go around preaching how you should behave with the patients .I have been indifferent to the patients’ suffering the same way as you presently are. I have cracked the silliest of jokes and laughed on them in the wards besides patients. But you tend to realise the humane side of being a doctor when you actually manage patients, when he is more than “just another exam CASE” for you. You realise it when you need to convey the most grievous of news to the patient’s relative and you are tongue-tied. Retrospectively thinking (which is always easier), learning these things seem far more important than the hours we spent in the library rattofying the rarest symptom of the rarest Zebra syndrome. And then we realise (again retrospectively) why the KEM motto so appropriately states: “Non sibi sed omnibus “- Not for self, but for all.
I am no “ideal” student/doctor to go around preaching how you should behave with the patients .I have been indifferent to the patients’ suffering the same way as you presently are. I have cracked the silliest of jokes and laughed on them in the wards besides patients. But you tend to realise the humane side of being a doctor when you actually manage patients, when he is more than “just another exam CASE” for you. You realise it when you need to convey the most grievous of news to the patient’s relative and you are tongue-tied. Retrospectively thinking (which is always easier), learning these things seem far more important than the hours we spent in the library rattofying the rarest symptom of the rarest Zebra syndrome. And then we realise (again retrospectively) why the KEM motto so appropriately states: “Non sibi sed omnibus “- Not for self, but for all.
So the next time you find that
interesting “CASE” try to curb thy enthusiasm ,at least in front of the patient
.Also when you are besides a “patient”(this sounds much more humane) ,avoid
discussing the latest movie in theatres or the hottest girl on campus. There’s
always the evergreen katta for these conversations!
From Daga to Haaga - One year down the line.......
7/01/2012 03:05:00 am
After an extension of 2months our housemanship has finally ended. Thanks to the “stalwarts” conducting the “prestigious” CET’s we have had the” privilege” of working as a houseman for an extra 2months.Only a houseman knows how desperately he anticipates the arrival of the new batch (“365 aur 405 din housemanship karne ka difference tum kya jano ramesh babu”). We are now ready to hand over the baton of “huge responsibilities” to our “able” juniors!
So how does it feel to enter second
year PG? It feels great. However it just “feels” great, it isn’t that great. The
feeling of “I am done with all the mama work,
and all I have to do is quality work “is just too good (again it’s just a
feeling and not the truth!) .But as Peter Parker has taught us “With great
power comes great responsibility”, second year has its own woes. It’s
like having too much of responsibility with too less of power! First year flew
in no time and we were too busy rejuvenating ourselves after the CET
preparation that we didn’t FIND enough time to open our books (Retrospectively I
would say we never really SEARCH hard enough).First year is like an
extended honeymoon period. We are elated after clearing the swayamvar of the “prestigious “ CET (which is more
gruesome than the one with Rakhi)and getting “engaged” the seat of our choice.
So we bask in the glory, showing off our “prized catch” although only until the
tragedy called the second year strikes. We are suddenly expected to know
everything overnight and as we are still busy in our honeymoon, cuddling with
our darling; this comes as a harsh wake-up call which we can’t snooze. What
follows is a series of comments from our seniors and professors.”Itna bhi nahi ata “,”junior ko kya sikhayega”,”First
year mein kya kiya”(this last question haunts me now and I am still trying
to find an answer.) And all the above
comments (and ALL other comments too) come with a prefix of “Are ek saal ho gaya toh bhi-“.These
anguishes don’t end with the people above in the hierarchy, the juniors too
play a part in our misery. They are excited after their triumph and come up
with “we-must-know-by-the-end-of-one-year” types questions (exactly as we did
14 months ago).But we always have the ultimate escape route for such questions
, the “raamban ilaaj” which is being
used for years .As a senior, whenever you don’t know something you MUST know you
always have the option of saying “Kal
padhke bata .Read up and tell me tomorrow “.This works two ways either it
buys us time so that we can read up the same or we can just wait for the junior
to read up and enlighten us ,while we give the expression of “I knew it ,wanted
you to open your book. No spoon-feeding here.” During first year,“You are not
expected to know and you don’t know” ;Third year “ You are expected to know and
you know” ,unfortunately for second year “ You are expected and you don’t know”
But how does it feel to finish first
year? It not only feels great, it is. It was a fun filled ride. We are never “exposed”
to radiology as we are to Medicine and Surg. So when we prepare these two are
the broad categories we plan to do a PG in.To add to it ,getting radiology is not
the easiest of tasks so we can’t plan/boast of aspiring the same, especially
with the present pattern of our “prestigious” PGCET .It’s almost always the
second choice, atleast it was for me. After winning the swayamvar, it’s like the sexier and more elusive choice available,
which makes you ditch the Harrisons and Sabistons. And while Radiology eludes
you there are people who are skeptical about you choosing it. They try to
persuade/convince by claiming that it’s a non-clinic branch, no exposure to
patients etc. .Is it that way? I would say it all depends upon how clinical you
want it to be. You are supposed to know some clinical stuff from each branch,
be it Obstetrics, Medicine or Peds or Surg. The more you apply the clinical knowledge,
the radiology becomes much easier. Also you have always the option of
Intervention Radiology later. The thing that you miss is the work satisfaction
a surg/med housie gets when a patient thanks him after getting treated. But
remember we definitely played an important part by diagnosing the disorder in
the first place! Unlike the popular belief of “Radio people just sit in air-conditioned
rooms “, hum thoda toh kam definitely
karte hain yaar!
This one year has been a great learning experience,
though not academically but otherwise. Got the time to direct one of the best
Apurvai so far, have explored more places than what I did during my UG days and got hooked to reading books (other than those
purchased form Bhalani and National for a change).All said and done ,I am satisfied with
the decision made one year (sorry 14 months) ago.
P.S.
For all those who don’t know Daga is a book for PG preparation and Haaga is a
radiology book (The quest for a catchy title has made me come up with this.)Bhalani
and National are Medical book shops and Apurvai is our marathi college play.
P.P.S.
You may find many grammatical errors in the above and in ALL my previous and future other posts you
have the option of blaming Word’s spellcheck or my poor English. I prefer that
you be nice to me and choose the former!
