Last week I was suffering from a severe stomach pain. But that’s not of so much concern. When the pain did not subside in 2 days and only grew into a full body pain I decided to take the risk and go to the doctor. Yes, believe me going to the doctor for something as small as stomach pain is a big big risk in today’s world.
To my astonishment, the doc didn’t even ask me where exactly it was paining or what kind of pain it was. He just listened to me for 30 seconds or so, looked at his watch (seemed like he was in a hurry) and wrote some 5 medicines on my case paper. Yes, that’s not a typo. He wrote FIVE medicines !! That too for 5 days. Only when I asked him he told me eat something light for the day.
I got medicines only for 2 days and took only one dose after which the problem subsided by itself.
That posed a serious question in my mind: What has happened to the doctors today? Instead of diagnosing my problem, why did he give me so many medicines? I recall a scene from the movie Anand where the doctor gives some fake medicine to a rich lady because she always feels uneasy. When questioned, the doctor tells his friend that he does this so that a poor cancer patient coming to his hospital can be given treatment free of charge. So, is this why the doctors simply give medicine and not actually tell us that “You have eaten something rubbish outside. Don’t eat for 2 days, have lots of fluids and you will be fine.” Or, is it the other way around? Because the doctors give us instantaneous relief medicines, we also do not bother to find out the root cause. All in all, neither the doctor nor the patient tries to find out the real cause and rely heavily on instant relief medicines. The vicious cycle continues and things continue to worsen.
Where and when will it all stop?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
2009 !!
2009 - The year of the worst global recession ever. However, the year proved to be one of the most eventful years of my life - literally, a life-changing year for me. As I sit today and reflect back on it, following are the major highlights of this year in my life:
1. First meet: The year started with our first meet. The date was purely arranged by our parents. Reluctantly, I went with my parents to see him. My first glance on him and I thought, "Ohh no, he looks better than me, I will never marry him." Months later, I put a varmala around his neck and took seven marital steps (pheras) with him :-)
2. Engagements: Both me and my brother got engaged in March.
3. Moved back to India: Something that was on my mind ever since I stepped foot in US, finally materialised. I was finally able to move back to India after a stay of almost 4 years in a foreign land.
4. Bhaiyya's marriage: My elder brother got married and Sneha bhabhi was welcomed into the family.
5. I got married! : The major highlight of the year for me was obviously my marriage. It changed my life completely just as it does for any other girl.
6. Chhutku arrives: My sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy "Saatvik".
1. First meet: The year started with our first meet. The date was purely arranged by our parents. Reluctantly, I went with my parents to see him. My first glance on him and I thought, "Ohh no, he looks better than me, I will never marry him." Months later, I put a varmala around his neck and took seven marital steps (pheras) with him :-)
2. Engagements: Both me and my brother got engaged in March.
3. Moved back to India: Something that was on my mind ever since I stepped foot in US, finally materialised. I was finally able to move back to India after a stay of almost 4 years in a foreign land.
4. Bhaiyya's marriage: My elder brother got married and Sneha bhabhi was welcomed into the family.
5. I got married! : The major highlight of the year for me was obviously my marriage. It changed my life completely just as it does for any other girl.
6. Chhutku arrives: My sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy "Saatvik".
All in all, it was the year that connected a lot of new people with my life. There was one more event which I have purposely skipped here. Fingers tremble as I muster up courage to write this...will always miss you Appuji.....
Friday, August 21, 2009
Paraya Dhan
Preface: Wrote this poem about 4 months back, found it today while surfing on my Google Docs. Not in a mood to change the font to Devnagari right now.
Beti lakshmi ka roop hai
jane yeh kitna sach, kitna jhoot hai
jin haathon ko pakad kabhi chalna sikhaya
aaj unhi haathon mein mehendi rachi hai
waqt na jane kaise beet gaya
aaj usi beti ki doli saji hai
dulhan bankar, saj-dhaj kar
aaj badi woh khush hai
maa-baap, parivaar chhoot jayenge aaj
bas yahi ek use dukh hai
jab bichhadna hai fir milne ke liye
fir bhi kyon aankhen bhar aati hai
beti paida hi hoti hai jane ke liye
fir kyon sab rote hai jab woh sasural jati hai
jab jab uski yaad sataye
ghar par milne woh aati hai
apni hi kokh se toh janam diya
fir kyon parayi kehlati hai ?
do parivaaron mein bantkar
bhi woh khush rehti hai
uski duvidha woh hi jane
kisise na kuchh kehti hai
Beti lakshmi ka roop hai
jane yeh kitna sach, kitna jhoot hai
jin haathon ko pakad kabhi chalna sikhaya
aaj unhi haathon mein mehendi rachi hai
waqt na jane kaise beet gaya
aaj usi beti ki doli saji hai
dulhan bankar, saj-dhaj kar
aaj badi woh khush hai
maa-baap, parivaar chhoot jayenge aaj
bas yahi ek use dukh hai
jab bichhadna hai fir milne ke liye
fir bhi kyon aankhen bhar aati hai
beti paida hi hoti hai jane ke liye
fir kyon sab rote hai jab woh sasural jati hai
jab jab uski yaad sataye
ghar par milne woh aati hai
apni hi kokh se toh janam diya
fir kyon parayi kehlati hai ?
do parivaaron mein bantkar
bhi woh khush rehti hai
uski duvidha woh hi jane
kisise na kuchh kehti hai
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
My 'bhaav' skills
One of the many concerns I had while re-migrating was how to buy vegetables in India.
I used to always refuse to go with my mom to the sabji-mandi as she used to bargain a lot or as we say do a lot of bhaav. 3 years in US was easy- just go to Cub Foods/Walmart/Krogers and grab whatever you need, put it in the cart, pay by credit card and drive back home happily. Even though you get vegetables in departmental stores in India too, they are not as fresh as the local sabji-mandi and expensive too. So one fine day, I went to the sabjiwalas that sit outside my house. I looked at cauliflower and said nervously "kaisa diya flower?" (I had gone reluctantly with mom a few times), he said "8 rupay paav". I had absolutely no idea whether this was cheap or expensive. But still I tried to maaro chance and said,"7 lagao, aadha leti hoon." To my surprise he agreed. I was thinking I should have said 6. Nevertheless, this continued for about a week by when I got an idea of which vegetable is running at what rate in the market.
I was back from jodhpur after a week and we went 'sabji' shopping. We took some 4-5 vegetables from the same vendor, the total cost came to 82. My husband gave me 105 Rs and said softly "I challenge you to get me back 30 Rs". Ab toh meri izzat ka sawaal tha. "pachattar laga lo bhaiyya",I said. He did no-no, I did yes-yes for some while after which I shouted loudly "Bilkul baraabar hai". He finally resigned and gave me back 30 Rs which I turned around and flashed to my husband smilingly.
I used to always refuse to go with my mom to the sabji-mandi as she used to bargain a lot or as we say do a lot of bhaav. 3 years in US was easy- just go to Cub Foods/Walmart/Krogers and grab whatever you need, put it in the cart, pay by credit card and drive back home happily. Even though you get vegetables in departmental stores in India too, they are not as fresh as the local sabji-mandi and expensive too. So one fine day, I went to the sabjiwalas that sit outside my house. I looked at cauliflower and said nervously "kaisa diya flower?" (I had gone reluctantly with mom a few times), he said "8 rupay paav". I had absolutely no idea whether this was cheap or expensive. But still I tried to maaro chance and said,"7 lagao, aadha leti hoon." To my surprise he agreed. I was thinking I should have said 6. Nevertheless, this continued for about a week by when I got an idea of which vegetable is running at what rate in the market.
I was back from jodhpur after a week and we went 'sabji' shopping. We took some 4-5 vegetables from the same vendor, the total cost came to 82. My husband gave me 105 Rs and said softly "I challenge you to get me back 30 Rs". Ab toh meri izzat ka sawaal tha. "pachattar laga lo bhaiyya",I said. He did no-no, I did yes-yes for some while after which I shouted loudly "Bilkul baraabar hai". He finally resigned and gave me back 30 Rs which I turned around and flashed to my husband smilingly.
Spoon Feeding vs Bureaucracy
This is another in the series of re-migration to India. 4 years of spoon-feeding in US spoils you enough to get starting problems in India.Now you must be wondering what sort of spoon feeding am I talking about here.
Scenario 1: You are a new hire in a US company. The HR greets you with a big big (of course fake) smile. She tells you about the company policies and regulations, makes you sign the 'privacy' documents, medical insurance etc etc. She even explains you the 401K plan punctuated by some jokes on which you smile hesitantly (bcos u dont know who is she trying to make fun of ).Then she takes you to the seat allocated for you.Your team manager comes to you and greets you with a stiff smile (techies havent yet learnt the art of fake big smiles). He briefs you on the projects they have in mind for you. He talks about your past experiences/education etc etc. And then takes you around to meet with the entire team.He then delegates the job of setting up your machine, account, deskphone etc etc to one of his subordinates. You start attending weekly team 'meetings' ( a big big waste of time) and then get on track with your work.
Scenario 2 (or rather my first working experience in India): The HR calls me and tells me she has a list of some 50 documents that I need to submit while joining. She has sent me the list in an email. I open the email and see a document with 4-5 paras of text. I read it carefully twice and collect all my documents and go to the office first day for induction, thinking I am all prepared. And then I come to know that there is another group in the company which requires some 20 documents 'immediately',which also includes my X and XII marksheets and engg 'all' semester marksheets!! I havent seen/used these documents in ages.Luckily hubby is at home, he runs downstairs to the stationery shop and faxes me the documents. They just assume everybody carries their marksheets for induction. And to my surprise, most of the other candidates did have their X and XII marksheets with them. In addition to the 4 passport sized photographs submitted to the Background check team, they need another 4 passport size photographs (Again, they just assume that everybody carries 4 passport size photographs with them). Luckily that day, I was carrying mine.
The point I am trying to make is in US even common knowledge is iterated so many times that sometimes you get sick of it. For example, hardly anyone is actually hearing what the HR says about company confidential policies. You are just sitting there nodding to every word that she says and actually thinking about which restaurant you would go for lunch today. But in India, there are a lot of unsaid rules and regulations which has now become common knowledge and hence there is no need felt to actually say it out aloud.But to someone like me, it translates to a lot of running around. Its been almost 2 weeks since I joined, and I submitted one document yesterday and one document is still pending !
I am hoping in some time, I would come out of US 'spoon-feeding' mode to Indian 'bureaucracy' mode.
Lessons learnt: Carry all your documents for any official purpose in India, you never know when what will be required.
PS: Did you notice my habit of putting quotes to highlight a point ? One of the many gifts from Uncle Sam.
Scenario 1: You are a new hire in a US company. The HR greets you with a big big (of course fake) smile. She tells you about the company policies and regulations, makes you sign the 'privacy' documents, medical insurance etc etc. She even explains you the 401K plan punctuated by some jokes on which you smile hesitantly (bcos u dont know who is she trying to make fun of ).Then she takes you to the seat allocated for you.Your team manager comes to you and greets you with a stiff smile (techies havent yet learnt the art of fake big smiles). He briefs you on the projects they have in mind for you. He talks about your past experiences/education etc etc. And then takes you around to meet with the entire team.He then delegates the job of setting up your machine, account, deskphone etc etc to one of his subordinates. You start attending weekly team 'meetings' ( a big big waste of time) and then get on track with your work.
Scenario 2 (or rather my first working experience in India): The HR calls me and tells me she has a list of some 50 documents that I need to submit while joining. She has sent me the list in an email. I open the email and see a document with 4-5 paras of text. I read it carefully twice and collect all my documents and go to the office first day for induction, thinking I am all prepared. And then I come to know that there is another group in the company which requires some 20 documents 'immediately',which also includes my X and XII marksheets and engg 'all' semester marksheets!! I havent seen/used these documents in ages.Luckily hubby is at home, he runs downstairs to the stationery shop and faxes me the documents. They just assume everybody carries their marksheets for induction. And to my surprise, most of the other candidates did have their X and XII marksheets with them. In addition to the 4 passport sized photographs submitted to the Background check team, they need another 4 passport size photographs (Again, they just assume that everybody carries 4 passport size photographs with them). Luckily that day, I was carrying mine.
The point I am trying to make is in US even common knowledge is iterated so many times that sometimes you get sick of it. For example, hardly anyone is actually hearing what the HR says about company confidential policies. You are just sitting there nodding to every word that she says and actually thinking about which restaurant you would go for lunch today. But in India, there are a lot of unsaid rules and regulations which has now become common knowledge and hence there is no need felt to actually say it out aloud.But to someone like me, it translates to a lot of running around. Its been almost 2 weeks since I joined, and I submitted one document yesterday and one document is still pending !
I am hoping in some time, I would come out of US 'spoon-feeding' mode to Indian 'bureaucracy' mode.
Lessons learnt: Carry all your documents for any official purpose in India, you never know when what will be required.
PS: Did you notice my habit of putting quotes to highlight a point ? One of the many gifts from Uncle Sam.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Mumbai's 'LIFE'line
I know I know...a post is due on life post-remigration. But this one focusses on only one aspect of it. Having lived in Mumbai for about 11 years before going to US, one of the things that I missed the most was travelling in Ladies II class in a Mumbai local train.Funny as it sounds, it was so soothing and relaxing to be able to finally achieve this feat.
In my first lcoal train journey after moving back, two college students were discussing their assignments and complaining about how one's dad is not allowing her to go on the weekend trip with friends. Not that much time has passed since I passed college, but it was nice to know there are a lot other people who are in the same situation as I was several years back. The two friends were really tensed about this and making schemes to 'manaofy' her dad - bringing a faint smile to my face.
In another journey from Dadar to Borivali, I was amazed at the skills of a fellow passenger on finding out if platform will come on left or right (I am not sure how much will this skill be appreciated by non-Mumbaikars).She calculated this by
1. Looking out hanging from the pole.
2. The signal- I didnt understand this part but she said something about this signal being down and other one being green.
3. Whether there was a Virar local coming on the track on right.
Another very important element of Ladies II class are the vendors who sell earrings, hair clips, pass covers, etc etc. There was a middle-aged lady selling hair clips. She had a daughter about 8-9 years assisting her. As the mother sat down on one of the empty seats (it was about 10 pm) tired by the day's work, the little girl picked up the box of goodies and started shouting "aye buckle le.." The expression on the mother's face changed to that of a proud parent seeing her child stepping into her shoes.
It is very interesting to observe different strata of people (to be precise, women) doing really odd things - cutting vegetables for next day, making weekend plans, knitting a sweater, doing makeup, playing antakshari, discussing about movies,husbands,in-laws and what not.
Truly, local trains are the LIFEline of Mumbai. They do not just transport lacs of people everyday to and fro. People spend a major portion of their LIFE in these trains. It gives you an opportunity to observe LIFE from several different perspectives.
In my first lcoal train journey after moving back, two college students were discussing their assignments and complaining about how one's dad is not allowing her to go on the weekend trip with friends. Not that much time has passed since I passed college, but it was nice to know there are a lot other people who are in the same situation as I was several years back. The two friends were really tensed about this and making schemes to 'manaofy' her dad - bringing a faint smile to my face.
In another journey from Dadar to Borivali, I was amazed at the skills of a fellow passenger on finding out if platform will come on left or right (I am not sure how much will this skill be appreciated by non-Mumbaikars).She calculated this by
1. Looking out hanging from the pole.
2. The signal- I didnt understand this part but she said something about this signal being down and other one being green.
3. Whether there was a Virar local coming on the track on right.
Another very important element of Ladies II class are the vendors who sell earrings, hair clips, pass covers, etc etc. There was a middle-aged lady selling hair clips. She had a daughter about 8-9 years assisting her. As the mother sat down on one of the empty seats (it was about 10 pm) tired by the day's work, the little girl picked up the box of goodies and started shouting "aye buckle le.." The expression on the mother's face changed to that of a proud parent seeing her child stepping into her shoes.
It is very interesting to observe different strata of people (to be precise, women) doing really odd things - cutting vegetables for next day, making weekend plans, knitting a sweater, doing makeup, playing antakshari, discussing about movies,husbands,in-laws and what not.
Truly, local trains are the LIFEline of Mumbai. They do not just transport lacs of people everyday to and fro. People spend a major portion of their LIFE in these trains. It gives you an opportunity to observe LIFE from several different perspectives.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A journey ends, another begins....
Cant believe its finally happening !! With less than a month to go, I am going crazy with all the wrapping up to do. Never realised I gathered so much stuff in my almost four years of stay here.
But more than anything, I am not able to understand the turmoil of emotions that I am going through right now. Its not easy to leave a place which has so many memories attached to it. And I literally mean, so so so many !!! My biggest lessons in life were learnt here.I think I hit the bottom-most point in all aspects of life at one point or another in these four years-academically, professionally, personally, financially. But I was blessed with such amazing friends to stand by me in these times -made some really good new friends and the bond of friendship strengthened further with the existing ones. Craziest times were lived here, did some things that I had never done in my life before - playing cricket at 2 am in the parking lot, talking about whether God exists or not for an entire night with two people who are not even ready to listen to each other,my first nightout for a project (I never did nightouts before!).There were so many firsts - first time away from family,first job,first apartment,first car,first snow ! Ohh - its been by far the most eventful phases of my life. I know I cant go back and live those moments again, but they will be etched in my memory till my grave. In a way, all these experiences here have made me the person that I am today. This was the only time in my life that I had to take all my decisions alone(ok not all, but most). And one of these decisions was to go back to India (read here).
As I get all nostalgic about my years in US, the fact that I will soon be in India is very exciting. Not just be in India, but to enter a new phase of life is even more exciting. But, that demands another post when I actually do land in India. Right now, let me just keep wandering in this walk down the memory lane...
But more than anything, I am not able to understand the turmoil of emotions that I am going through right now. Its not easy to leave a place which has so many memories attached to it. And I literally mean, so so so many !!! My biggest lessons in life were learnt here.I think I hit the bottom-most point in all aspects of life at one point or another in these four years-academically, professionally, personally, financially. But I was blessed with such amazing friends to stand by me in these times -made some really good new friends and the bond of friendship strengthened further with the existing ones. Craziest times were lived here, did some things that I had never done in my life before - playing cricket at 2 am in the parking lot, talking about whether God exists or not for an entire night with two people who are not even ready to listen to each other,my first nightout for a project (I never did nightouts before!).There were so many firsts - first time away from family,first job,first apartment,first car,first snow ! Ohh - its been by far the most eventful phases of my life. I know I cant go back and live those moments again, but they will be etched in my memory till my grave. In a way, all these experiences here have made me the person that I am today. This was the only time in my life that I had to take all my decisions alone(ok not all, but most). And one of these decisions was to go back to India (read here).
As I get all nostalgic about my years in US, the fact that I will soon be in India is very exciting. Not just be in India, but to enter a new phase of life is even more exciting. But, that demands another post when I actually do land in India. Right now, let me just keep wandering in this walk down the memory lane...
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