kolkata doctors' strike ends

another strike comes to an end.yet another strike,which will achieve nothing.the strike before this one,the one that happened in our college/hospital last month, was no different.the promises made were similar,the threats familiar and the results predictable,to say the least.

it has evolved into a set pattern of sorts;patients and their relatives come to the ER for treatment which falls short of even their modest expectations despite best efforts from the interns on duty;this in turn is invariably followed by the 'patient party' becoming aggressive and resentful towards the doctors;a careless remark from some fresh intern or an accusing comment from some casual bystander hinting at negligence on the part of the doctors is all that is needed to bring out the ugly side of a mob gone wild.

the docs are roughed up;broken furniture and smashed medical equipment(if the broken sucker machine and the wheel-less trolleys can be classified as medical equipment )quickly fill up the space where a few minutes before had stood other anxious 'patient parties'.for them,it's time to find another hospital;preferably one that is not being ruled by unruly mobs.

this time though,some doctors decided that they had had enough. a hasty phone call and reinforcements arrived quickly from the men's hostel nearby and thus began the bizarre phenomenon of doctors exchanging punches with the local goons.more bruises,more bruised egos and destruction of the already broken equipment.a media van that had arrived after receiving reports of a scuffle quickly organised itself to bolster up their TRPs.a misdirected bout of anger on the part of some doctor not in awe of the media's might caused the channel's costly equipment to take a hit.this in turn caused the cameras to be directed exclusively on the warring docs.sheer bad luck!

fight over,the docs went to their hostel feeling righteous indignation and a feeling not unlike self pride at having done what they just did.the feeling did not last long.a small platoon of feisty cops with sturdy lathis appeared quickly in the hostel and went after anyone they could lay their hands on.after a while,they were satisfied with arresting five of the doctors;one intern and four post graduate trainees.docs beaten up like common criminals and then arrested on a non-bailable offence!!

the news spread like wildfire.public sentiment in west bengal,and particularly kolkata,had never been in the favour of docs;the media made a hefty packet out of it by airing the biased videos over and over again.

junior doctors at SSKM college and hospital went on an indefinite strike.they were quickly joined by National medical college and hospital,Calcutta medical college and hospital and R G Kar medical college and hospital.

four out of five government hospitals on strike;that's more than 2000 doctors;patient services crippled and what a furore.understandable.lives were at stake.more importantly,elections were drawing near.these sort of incidences have a bad impact on voters.stern measures were called for;the chief minister issued an ultimatum to the erring docs-return to work by the next day,or face the consequences.deadline:12 noon the next day.

the next day dawned.12 noon came and went.the media was waiting for something to happen.everyone knew the government was incapable of doing anything substantial to punish the docs.it didn't dare.not that it couldn't.public opinion was biased against the docs.the public would have welcomed some punishment,some drama.but the politicians knew better.

a few cancellations of registrations could let the matter spiral out of control.the govt was stalling.a rally/protest march began from calcutta medical college and hospital.over a thousand medicos joined the march.at the end of the rally,talks were resumed between the representatives of the docs and the representatives of the govt.something was agreed upon.the basic plea/demand of the docs:security on duty,was supposedly addressed.assurances made(yet again);the deadlock broke.

the docs returned to their duty to find some lathi wielding constables at the ER.the last time a strike happened,these constables had been on duty for 5 days.since this time the strike was a bit bigger,it would be safe to assume that they would stay for at least a week.

a few saline stands have been borrowed from the hospital store room.they make up for the lack of proper medical equipment(sic!).a duty roster for the support staff has been put up.the last time,the stands vanished within 72 hrs and the roster was torn by the end of the week.

the question arises:how can docs provide medical services when
>there is not enough proper working equipment
>a dangerous doctor patient ratio
>an alarming absence of support staff(the backbone of the ER and medical wards of any hospital;don't be surprised,the docs are not the backbone,trust me on that one)
>there is a very real danger of being beaten to death every time a patient succumbs to his disease or injuries due to lack of proper infrastructure/lack of medical care/bad luck or all of the above
>the government is perfectly aware of all of this and still presents a beatific smile claiming "aalll izz welll"

what needs to be done??

>join politics and make some badly needed changes in how things work-that in my opinion is THE most effective way to go about it.
>read and think about the previous sentence again.it's not impossible.

p.s.-if you liked reading this piece then please copy the link below and paste it as your update on facebook/orkut/twitter profile.in case you didn't like my article/story,please copy the link below and paste it as your update on facebook/orkut/twitter profile anyway.

PeeR PRes$uRe

i am writing after a long long time so obviously,i have a lot to say.

first,why haven't i written all this time?because i have become less disciplined and slipped into a decay of sorts.this particular year of college does that to you.and of course,there's peer pressure of a different kind-the pressure is to not do anything and though it seems easy to circumvent,believe me,it's very difficult to do that when the alternative is so easy and lucrative.so,decay and laziness of a dangerous kind.i now realise i have lost a lot of time that may have been put to better usage.

second,i am not at all melodramatising the above mentioned situation.if anything,i have toned down the reality considerably.

now let us get down to today's topic,which is peer pressure.

peer pressure is defined as-influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms.

another defintion-Pressure from one's peers to behave in a manner similar or acceptable to them.


however,when it comes to peer pressure,we all have our own version to tell or not to tell.i say 'not to tell' because most of us don't realise that they are facing peer pressure,or if they are,they don't come out clean with it.

part of this problem is that we think of ourselves as strong individuals,whereas the truth is that most of the time we are wrong and are merely trying to hide behind a facade of supposed strength.plainly put,it is very difficult to counter peer pressure.

so what comprises peer pressure?

here are a few examples:
~drinking alcohol because everyone else is doing it
~smoking secret because everyone is telling me to try it

some more examples:
~growing a moustache because everyone says it looks cool
~walking with a swagger because your elder brother has one

a few more:
~wearing tees because...
~gymming for a flatter tummy because...

these too:
~staying clean/dirty..
~studying/not studying...
~craving for a boyfriend/girlfriend...
~reading/writing blogs...(yes,this too)
~writin in d shrt/sms form,oops
so what is so bad about peer pressure?

actually,i believe that peer pressure is not bad at all.

at college,i have seen so many spineless people that i feel like it(peer pressure) is a blessing for these kind of beings.they need to be told what to do 24x7.so that if you left them to themselves,they wouldn't know what to do and would probably go mad or worse hurt others.i am of course assuming all this but i know that i am not that far from the truth.the majority of people fall in this category.

i don't know if you have heard of a phenomenon known as an implosion.basically,it means that you explode inside but not outside so that all the effects of the implosion happen to you and doesn't affect others.just think of a small bomb going boom in your intestines.yes,it's not pretty.

if you are a person with a bit of individuality and and a basic sense of right and wrong,you will have problems dealing with peer pressure.a bit of ego thrown in,and the mixture becomes quite dangerous.these people implode.the process is slow and self destructive.

next come the people with loads of ego,with large chunks of self esteem missing,and these are the people who handle peer pressure the worst.they explode.the college kid on the rampage with a gun is a typical example.they annihilate everything and everyone in their path when their fuse runs out.

there is also a fourth category which includes people with very high self esteem and loads of confidence.they may have an inflated ego but they recognise peer pressure for what it is,a force that needs to be fought with due respect and cunning.they never take peer pressure headon. most of the time they try to sidestep it or fence it off.this is because they know that if they tried to fight it in an obvious manner,they would suffer at the hands of idiots.thus,respect and cunning.

so,what's your your category?

now,some of you might be wondering where i have copypasted these concepts from.the answer is-nowhere.that is because i have never come across any article which describes peer pressure in such a manner.it is entirely of my own imagination that i have presented the above ideas.

do not think that all this has been a joke,for it is anything but a joke.you could be a ticking time bomb yourself,ready to implode or explode.and this article might just help you.i am not betting on it though.

if you have reached this far,then you probably have lots of free time,because i don't write so well.

p.s.modesty comes to me easily.contradictory.wouldn't u agree?

true love

was watching some episodes of "how i met your mother"

it got me thinking on the subject of 'finding true love'.after all,this is one theme that one and all of us can identify with.
so,how does one find true love?is it possible at all?have you ever thought about it?chances are that you have.

in today's world of social networking and mobile phones,it is true that we come across more number of people in our daily lives than we would have had we been born a few decades earlier.so straight out,we are at an advantage compared to our previous generations when it comes to the probability of finding our true love.and if we are true to ourselves,we will find that these technological advances have actually encouraged us to use them for this particular purpose too(apart from their other uses).

but when it comes to possibilities and missed opportunities,then a simple example should be enough to show the futility of such endeavours-you might be walking tomorrow along a busy street,and by chance,the one member of the opposite sex who was tailormade by destiny/god(your choice) to be your life partner might be going unnoticed in the opposite direction.and the two of you would never ever meet.then,what good would all this technological advancement be??

you may smile,you may laugh in contempt,or you may even sneer in a supercilious way,but try as you might,you cannot ignore the above possibility.

maybe in the next ten years,we will get to see a software(good luck to microsoft & google) that will greatly narrow down our search for our 'love',but still,human nature being what it is,a software may fall far short of predicting who would be 'the perfect match'.

so what then is our role,one may ask.the answer,in my opinion(for what little it is worth),is this:
live your life like you got only one life and never pass up the opportunity to meet and greet new people,'coz you never know if that special someone is waiting just round the corner!

that's my take,what's yours?

crying

as i have grown up,i have become increasingly aware that in our society,men from adolescence upwards are not expected to cry.that only in extreme conditions can this rule be relaxed.my question is why?why cannot men cry as frequently as women?

those who answer with the cliched "men are stronger" are either ignorant or else hopeless chauvinistic pigs because in my short life i have come across many men and to my chagrin,found that men are actually far behind women when you compare inner strength.i repeat,inner strength,which is different from the brute strength of either muscle or intelligence quotient.males are blessed with more body mass and a higher cranial capacity,so have nothing to be proud of..it is just the way nature made us,nothing more.

coming back to my question,a plausible answer would be that men are ashamed to cry.even in private.
on the other hand,i have experienced a great sense of satisfaction every time that i have been able to cry freely in recent times.staying in a hostel without a single room,this is very difficult,but i take my chances from time to time=]

for example,while currently reading a book,i found my eyes watering a bit too often(kite runner is that kind of a book,do read it),and i stole a furtive glance at my roomies to assure myself that i was unobserved before i let the tears fall.girls and guys reading this may find me pathetic,but what the fuck?i cry and am damn proud of it,because deep down,i am happy that the tears still come.have you ever seen a blind man?he wants to see but cannot.have you seen a cripple?he would like to run but can't.similarly,i feel sorry for the person who would like to express his/her grief through tears but sadly,can't.wouldn't you feel sorry for such a person?

here's a poem that i wrote[yes,i write poems,in case you are wondering..and for those who are thinking where i copy-pasted it from>i am not going to tell you,am i?] when i was feeling really down some time backbecause a certain someone who was special then didn't turn out to be as i thought she would,but that's another story entirely)-

i looked into my depths and saw
the decay,that had started to gnaw
at my feelings,my emotions,my desires,my dreams,
and slowly rending me away at the seams.

this decay-it's my aching heart,
now turned a loveless,rabid dog
tearing my mind slowly apart,
and filling it with despair's smog.

all 'coz of a habit that's come about,
this habit of keeping mum,
in silence now i scream and shout,
for the tears have dried and do not come.

P.S.-that poem had been lying in my wallet on a scrap of paper for the last couple of months..and i was afraid i would lose it if someone pinched my wallet,so now that it's safely stored in some great big server,i feel relieved!

collected thoughts long overdue

so many things to write about this night...where do i start?

let's see,how about my recent trip to madhya pradesh?sounds good to me.so anyway,i visited m.p. yet again.and oh yes,it was every bit as enjoyable as the first time,because the company(seven of us hostelmates,a real handful=]) on this trip more than compensated for the lost sheen of a place revisited.and of course this time around,there was the added attraction of khajuraho,and lucknow and fatehpur sikri..

from kolkata,we went to gwalior-shivpuri-jhansi-orchha-mahoba(the coldest weather i have ever experienced)-khajuraho-agra-fatehpursikri-mathura-lucknow-kolkata.quite a packet,eh?you bet.but to be honest,it got a bit tiring towards the end.oh,and the most memorable ingredient of the trip?
playing cards=]...we even camped out in the khajuraho temple complex to play,and some foreigners took our pictures too as we happily played twentynine!

hmm,not a very interesting read,i agree.well here's something-barely 12 hours ago,i was sitting in eden gardens stadium watching sachin and sehwag make mincemeat out of the southafrican bowlers while both cruised to their centuries.my first time in front of an ongoing testmatch(or any international cricket match,for that matter)and i get to witness such marvels.sublime is the word or you might want to use the much liked phrase"lucky bastard".take your pick=]

i apologise to my nonexistent fanclub for not putting up this blog for public scrutiny as promised earlier.the error is regretted and will be promptly taken care of.

i recently watched a movie-the motorcycle diaries.it really moved me.i mean,what young che saw with his eyes are the same things that you and i see everyday.some of us choose not to see,yet it does not mean these things (injustice,poverty,disease,helplessness....)aren't there.but how many of us actually do something to remove these vices?very few,a handful perhaps,but certainly not more.
i read somewhere long ago that until you are someone/somewhere important,it is difficult to help others.and that as a dependent child/student our duty should be limited to noting the things that we would like to see changed and later when the opportunity presents itself,make full use of it to do what needs to be done.
it's all very well,but where the flaw lies in the theory is that it does not take into account human nature,which by nature is selfish and conceited.

once we climb over the wall,we seldom turn to give a hand to those who cannot climb the wall by themselves.

if you are thinking-"that does not sound like me",it could be either of two things:
1>you are one of the chosen few,mankind's gift to man.
2>you are not yet ready to acknowledge your conceit.after you cross middle age,come back and read this blogpost again,and leave a comment,how about it?

the harsh truth is that most of us fall in the second category.

"stooled" blogs

ahh,it is a strange feeling that i have right now.it reminds me of the times in school when i used to feel a bit queasy upon being asked to submit my copy after a class,for i have finally decided to make this blog public.

first things first.

it happened again.i mean,when i needed my luck to fire,fire it did,and how!i had dozed off in the afternoon,i have no recollection of ever having touched the snooze but obviously i did press it,and repeatedly too,'coz when i did get up,i was already late by 30 minutes,and was confounded.the stupid questions like how,or when,and even the suspicious who,chased each other for a while, while i took my bearings=]
i first looked at myself in the glass on the metro's door,and marvelled at my dexterity(with a bulk like mine,i had put on clothes,heavy boots,and had even managed to deodorise myself).at metro station X,the traffic stood at a standstill,and it looked like lady luck herself was on duty today when i caught sight of a groaning behemoth(people kindly call it a bus,but i suspect it's more out of a paucity of time than compassion) going my way,and would you believe it,i actually ran after the bus for fifty metres at least,and caught it running(yes,in case you were wondering,i can move fast,perhaps faster than you would have thought i could,so wipe that smirk off your face).i reached twenty minutes late,and still i entered class in tandem with the teacher(she was late as well, a rarity)-so none of the explanations that i had gone over in the bus proved necessary.

in case you have already started feeling bored with all these (to you,worthless)personal details,please leave this page and go watch tv,or youtube videos,or chat,or pick your nose,for what i am going to write next is for only the most loyal and faithful=P

all right,enough chitchat.let's get down to business.

i rarely write.it needs something very powerful to force me to type/write.and the reason for today's convulsive writing is-BULLSHIT IN BLOGS.


honestly,i feel so liberated right now,you could say that i am on a high.you may ask why.here's my answer-"bitching" can be very relaxing and very satisfying,especially that type where you don't have to compete with others to come out with the nastiest remarks,and what better way to do that than by blogging?

recently,i stumbled across some blogs,which not only declared their architects as brilliantly mysterious creatures,but sometimes went on to portray them as demigods/goddesses.i ask you,how many of us are "special"?we all are,in a measure more or less.but these writers have gone out of their way to make themselves feel special.i know that what i am writing right now is nothing much better than crap but i have the guts/sense to admit it.but these attention deprived individuals are so far out that they have started idolising themselves.
they think their poor excuse for a poem is "cute" and that to copy and paste material from elsewhere is "cool".
some weirdos have even forgotten what they had initially started out to write about and have peppered their posts with pathetic pictures of wallpapers.not me,i know that i started out to bitch and i am still trying to follow that theme, because that is what sincere people like you and me do-even if the job at hand is not to our liking,we don't mind getting ourselves a little dirty,or tired,or bored.we just do it.kudos to us!
well, that is enough for one session.but i sign off with a last snippet,and this one really takes the cake-a blogger with over a hundred posts but with a very unaesthetic sense of layout had very kindly put in a flash game of "tictactoe" for his readers,to allay boredom u might think,or perhaps to kill time while waiting for the next published post of the supposed sidney sheldon?=]

p.s.-if you have arrived here and are reading these lines,then please,oh please,treat yourself to a chocolate as soon as possible.i can say from experience that they do really lift the mood(i am unwrapping one right now!).