What gives

I am spending my Christmas with friends.A lovely couple,and a five year old who is uncannily bright.She has been writing her letter to Santa for Christmas for quite sometime.She has a list she has made and written to Santa for.Nothing much but a fluffy rabbit,ring(any ring at all) and nintendo.She is more excited about Christmas then anything.She has been to neighbours on either side with her Christmas card and her gifts.A ninety year old lady who is spending her Christmas alone and a family on the other side. She is excited about the Christmas party tomorrow which her parents are planning to host for their friends.She has been on the karoake practising her christmas songs for the get-together tomorrow. For some reason she thought 25th was the Christmas eve.She was dissapointed to know that today was the Christmas eve because she thought she ought to have been a better girl,eaten her food early and gone to bed so that santa could come in with her gift. She has a special message fr...

  I sincerly thought having the presence and the blessings of the Lord was to be blessed in the objective sense by tangible stuff.I have seen well-meaning christians gloat about how the Lord has blessed them ...etc. I realise now that it is much more than that.Being blessed by the Lord  is much more than anything to have a clean slate before the Lord. How is that possible ? 'In those days John the baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,'Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near .This is who was spoken through the prophet Isaiaih: 'A voice of one calling in the wilderness,Prepare the way for the Lord,make straight paths for him.'' A repentant heart of a child kneeling down before the father in submission is an attitude of life which makes way  for the kingdom to come. How important was the message John brought before the birth of Christ and how important it is for him to make straight paths for him and prepare the way for the Lord in...

This morning I received a letter from YWAM, Australia . I have been praying for their ministry for a while. It was a video of their ministry in london. It was a whisper from my God. My God who is alive. Who never fails to answer me. http://youtu.be/zcOt59y7TzI

I was working in a hospital in one of the more remote places in India.The place inspires so many things to write about but my amused memory goes back to a wooden couch I inherited   from my friends when they left the place the day after I joined in.It was intact. I am not normally a couch potato,atleast I think I am not because I remember during my post-graduate days walking up to my boss to ask him if I should get my thyroids checked.He asked me why and when I revealed my doubt about the possibility of my thyroids  hypofunctioning  ,he gave me an amused look and expressed that it might be the other way round.That was the day I shelved any thought of my being lazy.I had got a stamp from a doctor and that too an extremely competant one. However for some reason the plastic crepes which held the couch together started giving away,till one day when my friends arrived for their yearly visit there were two big holes in the seating place. I can be quite careless with these...

There is a young lady downstairs who keeps an eye on me.It so turned out that she happens to be one of the few believers in the block.She is the first one to notify me about any mails I get,very eager to be helpful. The other day while in the wards I happened to meet her and she passed on the message that I had a mail in the doctor's common room. Not what I would have expected. I ran down to the common room and surely right on the top was a mail addressed to me in a neat familiar hand-writing .It was a birthday card from Dr C and W. Dr C and W are colleagues who have worked with me in the hospital I spent the earlier ten years of my life as a doctor. He was the best student in the batch he belonged to at St Thomas' at London.He did his specialisation in surgery and chose to come to India to work as a missionary.I remember one of his batchmates putting it as -'the utmost for His highest!' He dedicated better part of forty years for the region. When we joined afre...

She was thirty five,a mother of two,an afro-european lady,would have passed off for a teenager.She was brought into the A&E with a consolidation unresponsive to antibiotics.The radiological interpretation was,could be atypical pneumonia or any other sinister diagnosis. So there was an infection control red alert. I have worked with tuberculosis patients for the better part of ten years in India and I have seen some real bad cases.Not that we have the facility for great infection control standards in India,but by God's grace I have not contracted that infection till date. However it is a new country that I am in and was not really sure of the rules. However I decided to just approach her and talk to her as I would a regular patient. She looked a little distracted and and then one of the nursing staffs entered looking like a person in the outer space with masks,aprons and with profuse apology saying that she had had instructions from her superior to be careful.She gave me a...

I cannot tell you what the most important lessons I have learnt in life is but I can definately tell you about an important lesson I learnt this week. Every day we have different consultants coming in to see the patients .I have this habit of pulling a chair and comfortably sitting down while I go about talking to my patients.It was not a consious act on my part but my cousin who has a wider experience of the west was telling me how important it was to do that so that the patients do not feel talked down to. I have had many patients expressing their gratitude for making them feel at home because at the end of the day they are frightened of coming to the hospital. This week I had the opportunity to go for a consult with two local consultants at two different times . What really struck me was the stance they took even as they talked to the patients. They went down on their haunches and talked up to the patient even as the patients looked down at them with utter trust and comfort. ...

Every time I have celebrated my birthday in a place which is new I have always trusted in the Lord to provide .This year I celebrated my birthday in Basildon.It has been a little over a month since I joined here.My cousin Famsie called up from New Zealand the first thing in the morning to wish me a happy birthday and to let me know that she had dreamt that I wanted to eat a pink coloured cake so she insisted that I have one. I had a good quiet time early in the morning and wondered to myself how the Lord would arrange for my birthday to be celebrated.I walked into my workplace and got down to work as I usually do. Midway during work ,one of the FY1s walked into our ward with two huge cartoons full of beautifully decorated cup-cakes she had baked herself.Even as the senior in the ward called out to all of us to help ourselves to it ,I smiled to myself ,chose a pink one and thanked the Lord .Did they know it was my birthday? No. For birthday present I got a nine days of leave during chr...

No,I do not think anyone should have the right to abortion.Life is a miracle concieved by God,a precious gift from the creator . Just this morning I was reading from the book of Leviticus and reading through the list of abomination and the punishment God expects for them and was fascinated to note that the first thing on the list reads-"20:1-3 Do not give your children to Molech to be put to death (sacrificed)- Amazing God, I thought.Our God knew what was best for his creation and put the laws forward to protect us.Every child who is conceived has a 'right to life'.That miracle of life is amazing in it's ability to adapt and come up with surprises in the most unlikely way.That is why it is a miracle.Every child conceived comes with a plan from the creator and when we take the decision to snuff that life out we not only defy the creator but also deny the child the opportunity to live life. I ,in my practise as a doctor in a developing country,  have seen women come ...

I haven't been at my blog lately.Last week while talking to a patient who had been reffered by the general practitioner,I was in for a slight shocker.A side of me emerged which I had to literally fight against.I had spent a half an hour or so talking to the patient,a consultant had come in and explained things to her and then a third consultant came in and explained things again,this time it was her regular consultant.I heard a sigh from the lady- 'There that was entirely simple and straight-forward and for the first time I understand what is happening to me.' It was a little unexpected and I found myself mentally withdrawing from the patient,slightly shocked by her reaction and then I was taken aback by my own reaction. Here was a person having to struggle with a metastatic ca with end-stage renal failure with parameters high enough to qualify for dialysis but asymptomatic and it seemed almost in a state of denial and here was me getting into my...

Today was a day of celebrating a ministry called 'Arise' in the church.It is a ministry that caters to the youth  and children.One lady was called out to pray and she testified about the ministry the youngster in the church were doing.I believe the youngsters speak words of affirmation into other lives,speak about Jesus to their friends ,take time to use their talents to raise funds for the needy but most importantly she shared about a little child in the church who was asked what she would like for christmas and she said she would like a proper Bible.What she meant was till then she had to make do with a children's bible.I was deeply touched even as we as a church prayed for them. Yesterday evening I was listening to Hillsong rendition of 'Hossana',there is a line whch says "you will raise up a selfless generation....what breaks your heart will break mine" ......amazing I thought. I was thinking to myself the last week,that for ...

I am well into the last week of my first month here.It has been quite a journey.It is quite a strange feeling working in a situation where you are working in an entirely new paraphenalia just getting used to the system and the ways.It has been different.For one I am getting to know a side of England I did not know existed although if one were to follow the history closely one would expect it to be so.I got to know a new term this last week.The term was 'evacuee'.This word has been mentioned so many times in my interaction with people ,I was shocked by it at first.We have the population who were the 'evacuees' of the two world wars.One gentle lady told me that she was evacuated when she was five years old and noone ever came back to collect her after the war was over.Another gentleman told me that he was evacuated to Wales,he was eleven then and that is how he learnt to speak Welsh.One would think they are the British and have lived an easy lif...

Just come back from spending a restful week at my friend's place. Shifted room yesterday to a better room which overlooks the green on the outside.Went to the baptist church which seems to be where it should be.The church was full and alive. Today was the harvest day and it was celebrated accordingly with all the proceeds going to a place which apparently is a home to many people both orphans and not. The history of the place goes that a small girl child was found to be alone due to a mishap.An elderly lady who lived alone was requested by a gentleman of means to provide for a home for her while he funded it and that is how the home is said to have started .There was a special instructions that the contribution brought be non-perishables,since all of it goes into the storage to feed the borders throughout the year.The home apparently survives on support from the churches around Essex. The worship was lifting and the message was a matter of fact study of...

Yesterday was friday.My friends invited me to accompany them to a movie,a comedy called 'Oh my God'.It was in a predominantly Indian settlement half an hours drive from the city of London.It was a bollywood movie with Paresh Rawail .Supposedly a comedy,Paresh Rawail ,normally carries a movie well on his shoulders.I liked the movie. It was a satire directed against religion of any form.For a country like India it was almost revolutionary.It infact challenges the audience to actually think and make an informed choice.It denounces temples and any form of rituals and even idols!! It infact,challenges the audience to read the Holy scriptures and understand it whether it be Gita,Bible or a Koran.It talks about becoming a friend of God. I thought to myself-"It is atleast a step forward." It ended with a quote from Gita which sounded like "You shall know the truth and truth shall make you free" I for one would like to say Amen to that....

This last week has been a restful time at my friend's place. Her five year old Ojasvi,a tiny little lady,very british in her ways but an only precious child has become my friend.Every morning before she goes to  school and in the evening after she gets back,we play together.Reading to each other,playing scrabbles,play-acting Rapunzel and whatever fancies us.It's fascinating relating to a brit five year old.Apart from that I am   catching up with my friend from college days I am meeting after five years during which she has given birth to Ojasvi,a much sought after child who was born two months too soon,was in the NICU for two months or so and now is a delightful five year old. We have been having regular cooking sessions.We cooked momos today,biryani-the hadi style yesterday and stir fry the day before. During the day I have been getting my much loved time to just be.Not only am I spending time doing some reading,basking in the sun,taking photograp...

The last few days have been hectic.The last but one day to my off week I was hit by an onslaught of cardiac patients.If you were to ask me I love cardiology.It is my favourite subject.I have managed so many cardiac patient's in my life and yet when it comes to managing patients here one likes to follow the local protocol.So fondiparanex comes into the picture.I remember ,during the herbertpur days ,there was a medical representative who used to drive us up the wall trying to promote fondiparanex.The moment we used to see him we used to run off . So our patients rarely got fondiparenex,thanks to the MR. I am hand writing each and every protocol into a notebook even as I come to it.I think it is basically following everything to the book since every type of investigation is available. Today I wrote minutest details about paracetamol poisoning. I got a local mobile sim for myself.Washed a whole pile of clothes,went downtown and watched basildon enjoying a saturday in the town cen...

Am I a wee bit sentimental or what ! I have moved houses ,lost my purse ,have been through various phases in my life, taken most things under my stride by God's grace ,but somethings have gone along with me.I keep chucking old papers,spending old money,wearing out old clothes,even walked past a lot of people in my life but somethings I hold on to and it keeps passing the chucking test. One such precious item is a 10 pound scottish note which has been in my purse for the better part of the decade.It was the winter of 2006,November to be exact and I was visiting England for my ERS fellowship .Christmas was around the bend and I was at the Bink's in Cheltenham. I received my first post in England that year and it was a christmas card from Scotland fromDr Anne Urquat.This ten pound note was neatly folded within the card . I had met Dr Anne Urquat briefly when she visited Satbarwa years after she left India.I was deeply touched by the though...

Gotta get used to the way things are done here.Predictability factor is missing.Every day you are on to something new.I have never been in a situation where you actually get a week off after five days of ten hours week.It is like as though someone is saying ,'have a life!'So it is a lazy saturday morning.I put in my clothes for laundry.Recieved a note from Anu asking me whether she should come by to pick me up for the week-end. Got to get a few things in order. I am shifting room this week-end for one.I am trying to get my debit card working.Have not decided whether I want to go to South-end on sea for a day or two just to be away. One good news was after one and half weeks of sharing a flat ,yesterday I came to know that two of my flatmates are good believers.Got talking to one of them but the other one I must have seen and said hello to her once.She was on night call the first week I came and has been on a holiday eversince. All believers who live in the campus visit the...

C has alzheimers.She must be atleast eighty five.She accidentally consumed her husband's medicine and was brought to the A&E.Her husband looked more frail than her, was stone deaf and had to be wheel chaired around but he would never fail to chuckle aloud whenever he guessed that C wasn't talking sense.Sixtyfive years of marriage ,onslaught of debility and the alzheimers to boot had not diminished their deep love for each other.I asked her my usual bout of memory questions.Did she know who the monarch was?She did.She further added 'and here ,next to me is Prince Philip'.Her husband gave another chuckle.In between,I helped her with her tea cup as she was struggling to drink from it.They immediately warmed up and the next thing I knew, her husband wanted me to help her put back her crucifix chain that the doctor had asked her to remove during a procedure. I was extremely touched by the sense of trust and camaderie and suddenly C started telling me about how much her...

The quality of lab services we provide has to go beyond the rhetorics.The backbone of every hospital and clinical pratice is the laboratory .We have to admit that lab services remain one of our weakest points.When it remains weak,slowly the quality of medical services provided become more provisional and we remain limited in the range of medical services we can provide well. We can never think of improving our lab service till by some miracle some specialist pops into our hospital,decides to stay back and the hospital gives it the necessary backing. It is extremely mandatory that each lab personal undergo one to one evaluation at a regular interval.That keeps one on their toes. Apart form the quality control measures which apparently has been introduced in all the hospitals ,the lab continues to be a problem area.One time generalised training and workshop for the personals DO NOT HELP.After attending umpteen number of seminars and workshops they go back to the same way of wor...

Today has been a challenging day.Saw a patient with a florid ulcerative colites flare,a man apart from the steroids the doctor had put him on, was on steroids for body buiding.His bowels were giving him a hard time and he was having rectal bleed with serious discomfort in the abdomen.His CRP was normal and his X-ray abdomen did not show features of toxic megacolon ,stools were sent for routine and Cl.difficile toxins.We referred the patient to gastro on VTE prophylaxis. The second patient I saw through was a patient on CAPD with CKD grade 5. She told me that she had been anuric for the better part of one and half years and was on dialysis every night for nine hours.She had come to the regular clinic but had been sent to the A and E because she looked unwell.Her blood gasses and the electrolytes were fine.Her renal parameters looked unbelievable.She had bilateral wheezes with no evidence of fluid over-load.She did have a short history of cough with yellow phlegm for which she had bee...

Today is sunday.The weather forecast says that it is going to rain and it did.I have run out of groceries so I had to pop down to the market to get some supplies.Tescoes-I never fail to get what I want.Even managed a chilli paste. A senior has offered to take me to a church today at six in the evening.My first in the UK.The weekends seem quite deserted in the hospital corridors.I had my breakfast in the canteen.Five items of hot cooked meal,I chose sausages,tomatoes,a fry made of potatoes and onions,I thought it looked a little over the top but I managed to eat it without getting sick. Met an old lady on a walker,who swore like a fisherman but was dressed to the hilt,quite spirited I must say. It did rain as was forecasted.Was waiting for my transport so I sat down at the Wimpy's to catch a hot chocolate with cream and the napkin caught my fancy.

I spent the saturday yesterday with Dr Samuel and family.Had a lovely indian lunch and then drove to Dansbury to attend a CMF meet.Met a lot of people with old mission connections,heard what Julian had to say about what CMF is doing ,spent the afternoon talking about the bees and the weather,had wads of lovely tea which Maggie kept rustling. By the time it was all over,it was around six in the evening.Saw some cooking apples on the trees,a lovely compound with a garden,lawn tennis court,tree house and what not.Walked around a bit but the chill was unbeatable.There was fire in the hearth.Some more tea. It was time to say goodbye. Not the usual way we do our meetings back home.  

It's been less than a week since I have started working in London.Slowly but surely, the Lord's teaching me step by step,ways to settle down.I have started doing the ward works inspite of the access to the trust clinical hub coming through only on Monday.It was a full day today.Working on the ground. The first day or two were the days of just watching the world go by.Apart from the system one has to get familiar with,there is a whole line of abbreviations one has to interpret,one can call it the Basildon lingo.The commercial names of the drugs used is the other thing .I run around quite a bit asking questions which is normal for me,my sister often says I take people's trip interviewing them. It amazes me to see the patient's who come in.Most of them are elderly citizens,amazingly perky with the wisdom of the age who are unusually kind.There are many extremely fragile,like kids,who look at you with lovely innocent eyes.Mrs X turns her head each time someone walks past...

Today was my first day of work at Basildon Hospital. I got my security card made,applied for the e-access,rebooted my bank account,got the feel of the work I was to do in the coming days. Saw a case of florid sub-arachnoid haemorhage Hunter and Hess scale-grade 3,another case of multiple sclerosis with eye defects(reminded me of a little child paramjit had brought to me with similar symptoms,she completely recovered at that time but my guess is she has MS(although she has presented with the symptoms only on one occassion ),a case of oesophageal diverticulum and the  usual medical cases. Acute medical ward is an ideal place for reviewing and updating  one's medicine without the stress of A and E or the prolonged management of chronic diseases. It is also about doing things in an orderly manner,following protocols and a chance to revise medicine.The only thing that appalled me was the one week break we are liable to get every twenty one days.This is the first mont...

Sanctuary is the place you go to,to enter rest. Basildon has a sanctuary located almost close to the reception ,next to the canteen where counselling takes place.It has been labelled 'all faith room'. I entered the sanctuary just to have a look around and my eyes fell on the board which had post-cards pinned to the wall with 'messages to God'.It is meant to be the prayer needs. One read-Dear Lord please help me with my hip surgery and please be with my little son who is going to be at home away from his mother for the first time.Please bless him' Love K, Another letter read-Dear God ,please help my grand dad come through this sickness this time round.Help him to hear us and understand us and please look after him whereever he is. Love E, Dear Jesus, Please be with my husband even as he goes through this tough time. Love Em, One more read- Dear Jesus, Please look after A,B ,C and D even as they have gone to be with you. I love you. M. I sat down in th...

"...How can we fail to pronounce Freemasonry an anti-Christian institution? .. Its morality is unchristian, ... its oath-bound secrecy is unchristian, .. taking of its oaths are unchristian, ... Masonic oaths pledge its members to commit most unlawful and unchristian acts, deliver each other from difficulty whether right or wrong, favor Masonry in political action and business transactions, sworn to retaliated, to persecute unto death the violators of Masonic obligations, ...its oaths are profane, the taking of the name of God in vain, ...the penalties of these oaths are barbarous and even savage, ...its teachings are false and profane, ...its design is partial and selfish, ...it is an enormous falsehood. "Every local branch of the Church of Christ is bound to examine this subject, and pronounce upon this institution, according to the best light they can get. God does not allow individuals, or churches, (or pastors), to withhold action, and the expression of...

I have crossed half the world to come over to the UK but it is like I have never left my childhood behind.There is my family from all the world over on skype watching me,talking to me and making sure I am comfortable.My brother skyped me from Mangan,spoke to my parents,saw them after almost a month or so.Next was my sister from Delhi with my neice and my brother in law.My sister and brother -in law from Sydney were next, called in to check if I was allright on the way to the church.Muani called from Germany,caught up with her for around five minutes. Early next morning I had but opened my eyes and there was a bleep again.This time it was my cousin from New Zealand,another from Darwin and my sister in Delhi in a group chat pulling me in. This is the thing about family.The last time I was in a space like this was when the earthquake in Sikkim happened.We laughed the disaster through with all sorts of comic stuff that was going around even while the houses crumbled,people died...

A week before the trip to London was a mixed bag.My sister was given a MCQ to solve by my older sister.Is she excited about the journey or is she nervous? she opted for the latter which is not quite true but I surprised myself with the number of health issues that actually came through the last week. After starting the trip I was into it,and had no time to reflect at all. Emirates was a pleasant surprise especially the service.Airports look all the same,Dubai was no different. Landed in London in the morning.Worked my way to Elizabeth's house.Rested,showered,lunched  and it was off to RCP and GMC.Naa noi,who has been communicating with me thus far was a surprise.Her name sounded oriental but it was a beautiful black lady,as compassionate as she sounded in her communication who greeted me,guided me and looked after my luggage even as I went to the GMC for my id check. Londoners get full points in the art of helping strangers.I had all sorts of people lugging my 30kg suitc...

This past fortnight even as I have waited for the last minute paper works to proceed I have devoured books at the rate of two to three per day.My neice who keeps squeezing in time to spend with me in between her preparation for her half yearly exams keeps a count of it regularly.We also take time out in between to slip in a few cookery shows,a hollywood movie 'wanted' and ofcourse mikado,she beats me to it almost every time.It is good for my concentration and a time out for her even as she revises her french and hindi. Two heart-warming books were easily-'half the sky'-How to change the world by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn and 'for one more day' by Mitch Albom. I had read 'Tuesdays with Morris .'some years back and so the theme of 'One more day' is similar but if I were to put in a line that touched me the most it was-'My mother had she been alive,might have found away through to me because she was always good at that,taking my ar...

Today is teacher's day.My mother all of seventy five years is celebrating the reconstruction of her school.They have a function in school organised by her ex- students. My mother started teaching toddlers in the church premises more than thirty five years ago when there was no concept of nursery teaching in my region.All of us have passed through that school in the church and were carted off to boarding schools early in life because there were no good schools in the region.Now when we look back we get amazed to see the array of lives that have passed through that school..foundations laid,blossomed and have moved on in life. The fondest memories of my teachers start with my mom.There was always an element of surprise in the lessons she sprung on us and guided us through.I remember the beautiful garden,the flower arrangements,etiquettes she was so particular about,the bible stories,the nudge towards all things altruistic...our first taste of alphabets......somehow none of us sibli...

Dr.Raja requested me to see Meena since she had come down with flu and was not keeping well.She helps counsel psychiatry patients in Dr Raja's clnic.Her life is a testimony in itself.Her face and neck are burnt but her soulful eyes shine through to warm your heart.A survivor of several deliberate self harm attempts,reached out to by Paramjit's church,Raja and his wife have taken her under their wings.Even as I was examining her she suddenly blurted out that she had difficulty falling asleep at night and so finds getting up in the morning difficult.I asked her why and she told me that her memories of the old tormented her and the only time she feels at peace is when she counsels her patients ,but even after she does it she goes over what she has said and wonders time and again if she could have done it differently. I sat with her deeply touched and started talking to her.I asked her if she had some christian music that she could listen to which could lull her to sleep,she said...

I cooked full fledged hyderbadi biryani the other day and was fascinated by the perfectness of the recipes the khan mashas dish out ,tested -tried and amazingly accurate . The recipes goes as such- Mutton -1 Kg, Rice-1 Kg,(par-boiled) Three onions-deep fried, Half a tablespoon of green chillies, Half a tablespoon of saffron, Half a tablespoon of green cardomom. Four pieces of cloves, A pinch of nutmeg,  and mace, Cinnamon -four small pieces' Corriander-handful, Ginger garlic paste-one tablespoon, Jeera-half a tablespoon(Cumin seeds), one tablespoon of salt, half a tablespoon of red chilli powder, half a tablespoon of lime juice, Three tablespoon of ghee. Curd-250gms, Water-one cup. Boiled egg for garnish. Mix all the ingredients together with lamb in an appropriate utensil ,add the cup of water and cover it with the par-boiled rice.Cover the utensil and seal the cover all around with wheatflour doe to make sure that no steam escapes. Put it on fire for twent...

I am running around for my visa to the UK.Ashwin and Kenny who have joined me in the past one and half month have made my work negligible.I am therefore able to run around for my paper works.It looks like I will be out of the country by the end of the first week of September.By God's grace everything has meticulously fallen into place. Now if you were to ask me why I am going to the UK,the frank answer would be 'I don't know'. I am looking forward to the change of scene,hopefully I will allow the Lord to unload the immense muck  loaded on my person through conditioned living. It has been a tremendous journey for me spiritually...and I walk on ....or do I?

I have not met Mrs X for the past fifteen years ,somehow I connected with her in the facebook.She caught me unawares one afternoon and so we started chatting.I have fond memories of her as a great and unassuming missionary who used to brave the heat and dust of Bankura just to be with us .She used to climb the endless flight of stairs to a room which I shared with my two friends from Delhi out of choice even though as final years we used to get single seaters.Dressed in jeans shorts and tank tops to beat the Bankura heat ,our bohemian lifstyle used to raise quite a few eyebrows,not so Mrs X,she would be there drinking endless cups of tea brewed in the room heater,talking to us and just bonding with us. I liked her.For some reason,I have always carried a warm memory of her. She was a bible-totting,practising ,hard-working missionary but when she was with us she became one of us ,always game for whatever we were up to.She made us feel comfortable and accepted us as we were.What ...

Going through some transition of sort.For one I was home after quite a bit and managed to meet all my folks.The day I got back,got to meet some old friends...and it goes on.Just bid a junior from Landour goodbye .Was with me for a short visit.In the meantime,the gmc registration is come through and so I now am officially allowed to practise medicine in England.I should be running around next week for my visa. Have been doing some extensive reading and have been rather pre-occupied with my own thoughts and with helping people with whatever.It never struck me how involved I was in it all ,till my friends in the out-patient very hesistantly blurted out one morning that I had changed ever since I had come from home.I stopped short with whatever I was doing and meticulously combed through whatever it was that they thought had changed in me. The first in the list was that I did not eat breakfast with them(Read I did not eat their breakfast)..the reason being I have been put on a stric...

My sister has taken in a four year old ward who belongs to a budhist family.Her name is Lorim.She has been attending the local nursery school and never fails to surprise my sister with her candour.A lot of it seems strange to my sister for she continues to bring forth observations and comments that she has picked up in the paraphernalia of a surrounding of a drastically changing culture in her region brought forth by the onslaught of the hydel project with it’s manifold baggages.She is a perky four year old. One day the lady help, my sister has kept with her,who is a devout Christian ,Pavitra,seem to have misplaced the car keys.She was worked up and was frantically searching the house upside down for it.Suddenly the four year old quietly observed from the corner-‘Why don’t you pray to your Jesus father to help you find your keys?’.Both of them were stunned ,they did exactly that.Needless to say they found the keys. This morning I was reading the gospel of Mathew and me...

My sister has taken in a four year old ward who belongs to a budhist family.Her name is Lorim.She has been attending the local nursery school and never fails to surprise my sister with her candour.A lot of it seems strange to my sister for she continues to bring forth observations and comments that she has picked up in the paraphernalia of a surrounding of a drastically changing culture in her region brought forth by the onslaught of the hydel project with it’s manifold baggages.She is a perky four year old. One day the lady help, my sister has kept with her,who is a devout Christian ,Pavitra,seem to have misplaced the car keys.She was worked up and was frantically searching the house upside down for it.Suddenly the four year old quietly observed from the corner-‘Why don’t you pray to your Jesus father to help you find your keys?’.Both of them were stunned ,they did exactly that.Needless to say they found the keys. This morning I was reading the gospel of Mathew and me...

Today in my quiet time I was reading from the gospel of John chapter 8-vs 1-11,for the second consequtive morning I found myself reading about this incident.I could not help myself drawing a parallel between the life of the woman caught in adultery and all of us- born in sin, condemned to death but for the grace of God in Christ Jesus.When the stones of the law are hurled at us pronouncing the death sentence ,Christ stands before us as an advocate releasing us from it. Every incident in the Bible reads like my story and yours. When I enter the inner temple of communion in prayer ,the sinful me strains forward to touch the helm of the garment of the spotless lamb who is interceding on my behalf at the right hand of God,when I touch him ,the connection is made,I am restored, made whole and the annointing flows through to me like the woman who was bleeding for twelve years ..Long ago during the bible studies in ODC,Dr John had told us 'You don't read the bible but the bible rea...

A week has gone by since I had that amazing affirmation from the lord. Since then two physicians have joined me,my paper in the GMC is moving ,my patients who were sick have come for follow ups and seem to be doing well...and I am going home for a break to meet my parents.There are somethings still left to work out but I know it will happen in His good time for the lord who has called me is amazingly faithful .he never fails me. Amen.

It was a difficult Sunday.One of those days when things looked all uphill.The heat of the day was only beaten by the deep discouragement I felt within.I decided not to go to the church and wallowed in my room hiding behind a veil of confusion,fatigue,heart-ache and just sleeplessness.Normally when I miss the church I get an up-date from someone ,but none of my friends were around so there was no way I could get one. The pastor had a discomfort in the chest after church so I struggled to the casualty and examined him.Prescribed some medicine and then returned to my room when suddenly a storm broke out.I got up to my window to look out at the fury of the storm. Even as I looked out I cried out to the Lord, “Lord,I am feeling discouraged ,tired,it hurts and my faith is wavering,please give me a sign that you are with me.Will you break this tree in front of my house as a sign just to encourage me?” Next moment there was a crackling sound and the biggest branch,the size of a ful...

Maghe Ram is eighteen but with a mental age of a five year old.He was brought to the casualty with hyperthermia and in severe respiratory distress.The moment I saw him I thought he looked familiar ,till it struck me that all patient's with Down's syndrome look the same. His vulnerability brought with it a gift of compassion .Even as we tried to bring down his temperature and relieve him of the distress ,we decided to pray for him. Alem prayed ,while I placed my hand on his head ,when we opened our eyes we saw tears in his eyes.Even as we blinked away our own tears ,we had a deep peace in our hearts.Next morning his fever was down and he was sitting up on his bed,his distress relieved. Each time we come for rounds , my heart lifts up at the sight of him because these days there are  few things that make me cry........ I was thinking tomyself ,how precious are the vulnerable,they keep furrows of our heart dug and soft!

The last week has been overwhelming .With Sushil headed for Vellore,the bulk of the medicine load has left me 50% functional.Thanks to Alem who has been a big help.Yesterday a sardarjee was wheeled into the casualty with a history of snakebite in his last breath ,gasping .We resuscitated him and put him on the ventilator.To start with his pupils were dilated and fixed,half the relatives had a mind to put a stop to it all then.One educated youth decided to persist and go on with whatever we were doing.48 hrs later he is sitting on his bed and eating chapatti and subji whilst his brother who had sort of given up was emotional.His son who must be in his twenties worked as a nurses assistant all the while in the ICU,helping the sisters with everything and anything,I suppose a helpful person by nature.It was almost comical to hear the sardarjee grumble as soon as we had extubated him about how the whole day while he was on the ventilator he had asked for some water to drink and nonone had ...

Mrs S fell into my plate for counselling entirely by accident.Her daughter had consumed poison and was admitted in the ICU.Paramjeet our physiotherapist and a local pastor with a heart for evangelism happened to chance upon her crying.He requested me to talk to her.She seemed to be a mass of nerves.The wound of having lost her husband four years ago seemed very fresh and with three teenagers in a tow, life was not any easier for her.She seemed agitated ,upset,confused and absolutely hay-wire. I started by listening to her even as she poured out her struggles amidst the chaos of the sobs....when she had finished I gently introduced a suggestion for her need to be stiil if she wanted her children to feel secure.One thing led to another and when I mentioned the name Jesus,suddenly her faced cleared ,for a moment she gained ground and full of joy she recounted how in her school days her friends had taken her along for fellowship and how she had been so much a part of it.With time the wor...

I was sitting in the home of a kindly senior couple who had invited us for dinner when a family breezed in.The young kid had just finished his tenth with a 65% marks and was in a delimna because the school he had applied for needed him to get a higher marks for the science stream he wanted to take up.I was requested to counsel the kid as to what he should go about doing.Even as I started putting the various options before him every nerve in my body protested but I continued nevertheless saying what I thought was the safe thing . Even as the board exam results are out and there is a lot of hue and cry as to who has passed and who has not and I see a lot of parents tensed up for their wards I watch it all in a relatively detatched manner and pity the children who seem to have no idea as to where it is all leading them. Strangely enough the picture of a group of skulls standing in a queue....getting up in the morning,going for walk,coming back,...