What gives

I have seen onions with wings and onions with a turban,a spectacle,it was a real pinched onion simulating our esteemed prime minister, thanks to our cartoonists. There is so much of a hoo ha about these haloed bulbs,I wondered why India is so obsessed with onions and potatoes.So much so that there is a phrase 'as common as onions and potatoes'used commonly in hindi and yet these humble vegetables are the ones which are quick to bag the head-lines as soon as it marginally moves from the expected norm in every sense. (Ref:Wikipedia) (Onion belongs to the genius allium capa. The bulb of the onion which grows underground is supposed to store energy. Ancient Egyptians worshipped onion.The Ancient Egyptians worshipped it,believing that its spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternal life. Onions were even used in Egyptian burials, as evidenced by onion traces being found in the eye sockets of Ramesses IV. In ancient Greece, athletes ate large quantities of onion be...

February is almost done.I am still clinging on to the heater in the out-patient. Missed the Lord's supper last sunday in the church.Sitting on the last bench in the church is not always a good idea. I couldn't sleep well past two at night.I went to the fridge,took out a piece of bread and some pomogranite juice,prayed ,broke the bread,drank the juice and then went into a sweet slumber and woke up fresh the next day-at peace, by God's Grace. (Courtesy;Grace Communion International) The bread and wine are memorials of Jesus' death on the cross (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:26) The Lord's Supper also pictures our present relationship with Jesus Christ. The crucifixion has a continuing significance to all who have taken up a cross to follow Jesus. We continue to participate in his death (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 2:20; Col. 2:20) because we participate in his life (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:13; 3:1). Third, the Lord's Supper also reminds us of the future, of Je...

I have avoided writing about all this DNB mess that has been going around forever because I am not really sure about the way things stand or the way it should stand. For us in the mission hospitals where we conduct the programmes it is a sincere endeavour to try and give the youngster who come to us a view of the alternative lifestyle which often alludes them in the course of their training. I am a DNB product.I had the privellage to work and get trained with some of the best faculties in the south of India.My time in the institution forever changed my out-look and the choices I made later in life but I have to say that I already had an inclination towards the choices I made.My teacher's facilitated it. The institutions offering these programmes have sensitivities of their own.When candidates are chosen randomly as per their performance in the CET,the very idea of having DNB programmes in subjects like family medicine and rural surgery may be beaten.Our's is a country which ...

My sister,sister-in-law and my neice were with me for a day. They literally snow-walked into Woodstock at ten for an interview scheduled at eight ,drove down to Herbertpur,spent the night with me and left the next day for Delhi. We have this tendency to jam up whenever we meet and this time the topic between them were their first-borns.My sister has a lovely little girl. They were talking about the parent’s day humdrum.Apparently the school had decided to keep the programme a secret from the parents and the grandparents.So the expectant parents,along with the grand parents were seated in the hall to see what their little ones were upto. Well past the half-time there was no sight of the little one on the stage. My sister was in tears.Her biggest fear was that her little golden darling might have passed by un-noticed as one of the trees on the stage,ultimately the kid ,all of four years danced to the family’s delight and my sister’s relief. My sister-in-law’s experience was typical...

Walking with Paul through Philipians 1,vs 9-10 . 'And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,so that you may be able to discern what is excellent and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.' Few points to be noted- Three criterias are listed here -love in abundance,knowledge and depth of insight which go hand in hand-essential,cleansing and purifying each other towards a specified and a clear goal ,firstly towards excellence which if pursued for it's own sake would just be idolatory ,but towards excellence so that one may stand pure and blameless on the day of the Christ to the ultimate goal of magnifying and glorifying God(From eternity's perspective). Love in abundance is not a goal ,neither is the knowledge of God ,or the depth of insight in isolation.They are the three essential means to the ultimate...

Manoj has been on anti-TB drugs for sometime now. He has the multi-drug resistant variety of tuberculosis.He seems educated enough to know most things about the eight drugs that has been keeping him alive. He walks into the TB clinic every week,keeps a close watch on the prescriptions written for him ,gets the prescription duely signed for charity and takes off with his medicine quite matter of factedly.Sometimes ,he makes me wonder what goes on inside his head and mind.He never whines,never complains ,he never talks an extra word. He apparently has lost a brother and a father to the disease.Now just the mother and son survive. In one of his visits I breezily asked him if he had ever seen the book ,pointing to the Bible,and he said he had just been introduced to the gospel of John and to my surprise he quoted the first verse- ‘In the beginning was the Word ,and the Word was with God and the Word was God’. All of us in the OPD were stunned to silence.Mukesh hurriedly pulled a chai...

Herbertpur is ready for the spring.I am looking forward to the season myself.March and April I suspect, will be the best seasons as yet.I haven't decided what I would like to do when the weather takes a turn for the ideal-there are a few scatter-brained ideas floating around.Hopefully I will have 'been there and done that' by the time June sets in. Today some of the family medicine students finished off with their course ,some of them are leaving for good.They were with me for dinner yesterday.Managed to rustle up a decent enough dinner for them while we went through their thesis work.Thanks to my sister,who has a way with the ladle,each time I make my VIP movements (that's what she calls it,since I reach and leave the same day)to Delhi,she manages to put in pouches of exotic add-ons into my bag-pack which makes cooking a delight and eating mysterious and fun. The food on my table surprises me every single day I whole-heartedly thank the lord for it..like my little ne...