Initial days of my brush with blogging

It was with at the behest of one of my colleagues at my hospital that I spent a couple of hours understanding the nuances of what actually a blog is. The year was 2008. The month was November. The climatic fervor was youthful. I discovered the diamond. As a child I had practiced writing my own diary that chronicled daily events in my own biased version; little did I know that a lot of people are writing their diaries in the web version for the ordinary person to read, appreciate and be inspired. A blog is a diary in which you can pen down anything you want. It will be updated within seconds and it will remain forever in the monarchy of internet. I was left ensorcelled by the possibilities of creative power attained, if I started to operate my own blog. That night I got a fragmented sleep, and wool-gathering was the essence of the coming day. I was partially in a reverie. Oh how badly I wanted to start sharing my observations with ordinary people, how badly I wanted to let people know my edition of life and it’s lanes. Every life is a story worth telling. Every life is a jamboree worth its gall.

The next morning, I signed up on blogger, the official blog platform of google. Though during those days a lot of folks were using wordpress, I was a bit cynical to host my blog on wordpress. I don’t know why. May be it had to do with the installation process and customization efforts that required a bit of insight knowledge of the technology, which I was not sure whether I possessed. I was more comfortable with the blogger interface and the options of templates and layouts it provided. In a matter of minutes, my blog was all ready to take birth. I was as happy as a sandboy and my mind had started working on what would be my first blog post.

Shed away the social myopia

One must keep on exploring the facets of life, for I believe that ideas, thoughts, predilections and activities are waiting to embrace you in your trajectory. One must try to explore oneself and find out what evokes the best out of him. From soda to hog, the versatility always had a leading edge over banality; why not find out what all you excel in, or what all you enjoy indulging in?

I love to try my hands in a gallimaufry of ventures, and that has added to my versatility. I can cook well, find out the required information from the search engines by putting in just the right search keyword (I frequently use keyword tool service by google), drive for more than a day at stretch, remember people’s names whom I have not met in last 20 years or so, relate well with the basic tenets of spirituality and apply them in my own life, operate a Swiss-knife like a pro, remain on my sensible nerves even after not catching forty winks for 72 hours straight, and make a gravey face realize the luminosity of life.

I am fortunate that most of my hospital employees are also quite adept at multitasking. I expose my employees to a wide variety of works that require diagonally different mindsets and skills, and it happens quite often that I get hold of a dark horse. Such is the irony of life that a majority of people are not doing what they can do really well; ill-fitted equipment has never produced the exceptional results.

Shed away the social myopia and watch out for your substance.

10 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do

1. Knowing one’s own blood group. It would further help if you know the blood group of your family members. No one knows when the time puts you in a position where a timely blood donation offered by you saves a priceless life. So head to the nearest lab and get your blood group tested if you are not aware of it by now.
2. Knowing basic cooking skills. Don’t take your feet back by the failure of being criticized. Flaunt the what-the-hell attitude and surprise your family. It would also help you in exploring a whole new realm of self-discovery. A shabbily done sandwich might not appear appealing to the eyes, but it holds energy reservoirs to keep you going. And a coffee is a coffee; it tastes awesome even when the amateurs try their hands in.
3. Knowing to manage money. Being spendthrift might bring you an acute kick, but to survive in the jungle, you need to know the importance of planning with your financial matters. It happens so often that we underestimate the power of money and look lost in rainy days. Don’t get stupefied by the shine of the nickel in your pocket, treat it wisely. Make budgets. Invest intellectually.
4. Knowing first-aid & CPR. You never know when would you be in a position to save a life; in a crowded park, in a busy cafeteria, while crossing the road or while kneeling down in a temple. Heart attacks can occur anywhere; accidents can occur anywhere. Even government in India is encouragingly carrying out lessons in basic life support at a good scale. You don’t have to be a medical or paramedical professional to understand this. Just a knack for serving social responsibility is all it takes. A lost life is disastrous; stand up and pledge to bring about a change.
5. Knowing to play with kids. Children have an altogether different time zone; a different world indeed. They spread eleemosynary happiness wherever they step in. Borrow some positivity and innocence from them and shed away those burdensome worries that plague you every now and then. Don’t let you mental muscles fall prey to ageing; it’s best to be as giving as a kid.
6. Knowing to operate a computer. Obviously this is out of bounds for the underprivileged population; they are busy toiling hard to make their ends meet. But for the people who can afford, a computer is worth an investment. The future would be relying heavily on technologies that are driven by computers; so its but natural for you to keep abreast. Google a lot. Read a lot. Learn new things.
7. Knowing to maintain cleanliness. Untidy spaces clutter your minds as well. Many of us procrastinate tidying up our rooms and homes thinking about the efforts involved. But as you start practicing it, you would find it is one of the most productive exercises ever done. We should not put ourselves in  contaminated envelopes; for in the expedition of purity, cleanliness matters.
8. Knowing the basics of exercising. Most of us won’t think twice before paying up the fee for a health club; it’s the motivation that starts wavering after initial sessions. Exercising is vital. No matter if you are on the wrong side of forty or on the right side, if you don’t optimize your physical activities, you are lessening your chances of attaining the pinnacle of fitness.
9. Knowing the art of listening to others. Random acts of kindness often come when you start listening to people. The more you listen, the more you understand. Blabbering, even when the other person is on a different perspective altogether, would just fatigue your vocal cords and increase the void in your inner-self. Be patient. Be reasonable. Be kind. Lend your ears.
10. Knowing to express love and care. Be warm, tender, thoughtful and affectionate. As a doctor, I hold my patients’ hands to let them know that I am there for you. It’s important to share love. What else is the fuel of life, if not love? Love has the power to over rule the greatest odds. A loving soul is the axle of a content life. Love is the only juggernaut of this celestial sphere.

Hey Doc, I Googled And Got Something Else

Want to become a doctor? Or already a practicing clinician? Well, be prepared to face a flurry of questions from your patients, relevant or irrelevant. While some patients get satisfied testing your basic clinical knowledge, some have the quench to get you reminded of your final professional viva voce.

No one is at fault, it is the sociological development.

With the popularization of search engines and availability of medical data related websites, patients (and the population in general) have started feeding their symptoms & signs to the search bar and preserving the results to test your skills.

Don’t gouge your brains; patients are willing to be elucidated. Though I understand, human body is a cathedral of complexities. No longer acceptance of the superficial interpretation of the disease and its management, you will have to justify why the war broke out, what weapons would be used and when will the peace be restored. While to some of us, it might feel as a redundant infringement of our contented domains, to some it gives a thrill.

It also provides uncalled for and unintentional witty outbursts sometimes, in otherwise mind-numbing routine of clinicians. And the humor is shared by patient as well. It’s the part of learning process. As clinicians, we should respect our patient’s smallest of the queries and in turn, it lies on the patient’s perspective to refrain from making a final verdict on a doctor’s skills by giving the contents of the medical website, he browsed the night before, a preference. Medical Science is a perplexed field and only a trained doctor knows its versatility and applications. There is an army of atypical syndromes, atypical clinical presentations, atypical infections these days and medical websites or pre-coded software programs are unlikely to take their significance in fair account.

I feel good in attending to patients’ smallest and bizarre-at-the-best queries, as to infuse accurate understanding is imparting practical education and if you have been chosen to treat someone’s health issues, why not do it with an élan and in a flawless way with the broadest smile?