SCARF - Playing with students' emotions to fulfill vested interests???

My friend and colleague Naresh was the reason i applied to NIMHANS in the first place.
The guy has an unparalleled interest in Psychiatry. This unfortunate happened to him recently.
Naresh had applied to Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), Chennai for DNB primary seat in Psychiatry and attended an interview there in July this year.

After the interview, he was informed that one lady Dr. Varada had been selected for the seat and he was not selected. Naresh had quite forgotten about the interview, and was busy working as a non PG Junior Resident in the department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore.

Naresh received a call on the afternoon of 13th September from Dr.Padma of SCARF informing him that the national board had rejected Dr. Varada's candidature for the DNB seat as it found irregularities in the manner in which the interviews were conducted.
She had told him that according to merit list, he stood second in the interviews. The first place was secured by a candidate from Mumbai and as he had already joined some other institute, gave a NOC (no objection certificate)and that Naresh should take a decision to either join the seat or to let go of it by giving a NOC himself.
Naresh explained to Dr. Padma that he would decide and tell her soon, as he also had to consider the possibility of administrative formalities to quit his current job and shifting to Chennai.

Naresh asked me, and some of our senior colleagues here in NIMHANS about the offer and got a positive response. He wrote an email to Dr. Ramesh Kumar, DNB coordinator of SCARF on the night of 14th September stating his utmost interest in joining the institute and requested for an offer letter, so that he could resign from his current position in NIMHANS.

On 15th of September, Naresh received a call from Dr.Padma who said that he violated protocol for asking an offer letter without confirming that he will join the institute. She then asked him to send an email urgently, addressed to Dr. Ramesh Kumar, that Naresh was confirming that he would be joining the DNB seat on that day, 15th September, within half an hour. She told him that he could just take leave for a day in NIMHANS, visit SCARF and could go back to Bangalore to finish his formalities in NIMHANS there.

Here comes the BIG TWIST in the story!!! Dr. Varada's (the doctor whose candidature was rejected by the national board) husband called up Naresh (GOD KNOWS HOW HE CAME TO KNOW THAT NARESH WAS OFFERED THE SEAT AND HOW HE GOT NARESH'S MOBILE NUMBER....though we can see through a more obvious reason how) and told Naresh that he was planning to file a court case against the National board's decision to reject his wife's candidature and if he wins, Naresh would be at a loss,and "advised" naresh to refrain from joining SCARF.

Naresh called up Dr.Padma about the same and she told him to ignore the call, and stressed that he should immediately send an email that he was joining on the 15th of September. Naresh sent an email at 4:04 pm as per her instructions. He received an email within the next six minutes congratulating him on his joining his institute and the date of joining was 15 September, 2019, along with an attachment - offer letter of joining from SCARF. The offer letter was (deliberately?) dated 14th September 2010. He received another email in four more minutes correcting the date as 15th September,2010 from 15th September,2019.

Naresh informed his superiors at NIMHANS and also his family, who were overjoyed with the news.

Dr Ramesh called up Naresh on 16th September evening and told him that if he wanted to retain his seat, he should be in the institute by 9:30 am on 17th September, and should also pay the fees Rs 40,000 at the same time. A visibly shocked Naresh said ok, explained the situation to his seniors, availed emergency leave, borrowed Rs. 40,000 and decided to board any bus and reach Chennai by morning.
Naresh received an sms from Dr. Ramesh to check his email at around 8:30 pm in the night. Naresh could not believe the email sent to him, which mentioned that as Naresh had neither joined nor paid fees by the 15th of September- the last date of joining as per DNB rules!!!, the offer letter had been withdrawn.

SCARF may say that the institute is legally right in whatever it has done

What made Dr.Ramesh suddenly change his word within hours of asking naresh to come on the 17th of september???
If the plan was always to deny Naresh the seat, and give it to Dr Varada, who was next in line of merit, why was all this dirty business played??? Wouldn't it be face saving for the institute to request naresh for an NOC so that they could give the seat to whomever they want???
How did Dr. Varada's Husband get to know Naresh's name and mobile number???
Does the Management of SCARF know about all this? or will it too feign ignorance like it has been happening from time immemorial???
When was Dr.Varada's candidature rejected? and why did SCARF wait till 2 days before the last date to inform Dr Naresh???
What answer does SCARF management give to Dr. Naresh, his family and to themselves? being in such a noble profession, how do they justify their conscience ???



I did not expect a reputed institute like Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF), Chennai to have acted in this way!!!

Sundays are so boring!!!

Two weeks since i have come to NIMHANS, Bangalore, and i am already feeling bored on sundays!!!
I have no off on sundays, have to go to the hospital and check on my patients. I am not complaining. I am free all afternoon and evenings but everybody else is so busy here even on sundays that I have no company! I really don't understand what is it with people and work on sundays :(
I have to start coaxing people to finish their duties fast and accompany me for lunch, or a movie, or dinner.... that might work.
Have to just adjust for a week or so before my best buddy Naresh too comes here. He got appointed yesterday.
Well, i will try to find the best food joints in bangalore by next week and put up a list of places that provide good spicy food!
And a toast to loners in new cites like me.... this one is for you:

"Bhookh ke maare phati padi gaand hai,
Aur tumhe kaam se fursat nahi....
Bhookh ke maare phati padi gaand hai,
Aur tumhe kaam se fursat nahi....
Kabhi kabhi to khud ke vaaste jeelo,
Doosron ke liye marne ko, padi kaayanaat hai."

I've just been to Nagarjuna Restaurant in Jayanagar 3rd Block.
The food is goooood. I mean, I like spicy food... so, if your spice content is on the lower side, you can avoid this place. A meal for two usually costs about rs 300 :)

What makes me happy?

I was listening to a lecture from a well known Psychiatrist the other week. While speaking on how to assess a patient he said "ask him what makes him happy?"
I don't usually take notes (though all residents are expected to), but i picked up my pen and scribbled down "what makes ME happy?". After the lecture i went back to work, and after two days, i chanced upon it. I pondered for a unusually long time....
what makes me happy?.... now thats a trick question.
I call it a trick question because we often misinterpret that as what makes us smile? Happiness is more long lasting... a smile more fleeting. maybe putting a coin in an old beggar's hand or waving to a six year old kid would make me smile... but not happy.
Happiness is the smile that extends from your lips to your heart... :)

Prayer (though i pray once in 2 or 3 months :D ), cycling, speaking to my dad, listening to music, and helping my patients - make me happy.
Playing guitar.... or trying to learn to play the guitar makes me happy. i think that would make me happy as it was something i planned to do for a long time.
After all this thought, i was wondering "Hey.... all things that make me happy are within my reach... why did i never think of this before? I mean i could listen to music, i could pray, i could buy a cycle, i could buy a guitar, i could try to help my patients even more and i sure could talk to my dad!!!"
But i didn't .....
Maybe my busy mechanical life doesn't give me enough time?

:(
As Kavi Pradeep truly said "dekh tere sansaar ki haalat kya ho gayi bhagwaan.... kitna badal gaya insaan... kitna badal gaya insaan..."

SBI sunday banking branches in bangalore.

Was searching for a sunday banking branch of SBI and had a lot of trouble.... the following list might be really useful to people who need banking services in b'lore on sundays. some of these branches are named PBB - personal banking branch - where deposits cannot be made if you dont have an account in those branches. You can however take a demand draft by paying double the exchange amount :)


1. AUSTIN TOWN, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 9043
Branch Name : AUSTIN TOWN, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : 34/C, 2ND CROSS, NEAR BDA SHOPPING COMPLEX, PB NO.4
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560047
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 25365418
Telephone 2 : (080) 25544602
Fax : (080) 25574857
Email ID : sbi.09043@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0930 TO 1430
Sunday Banking : YES

2. BASAVESHWARANAGAR, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 9049
Branch Name : BASAVESHWARANAGAR, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : RUDRAPPA COMPLEX, 325,8TH MAIN, III STAGE,IV BLOCK BASAVESHWAR NAGAR
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560079
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 23237040
Telephone 2 : (080) 23234129
Fax : (080) 23234129
Email ID : sbi.09049@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0900 TO 1400

3. CHANDRA LAYOUT, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 4051
Branch Name : CHANDRA LAYOUT, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : 1210 A, 3RD MAIN, 80 FT.ROAD, CHANDRA LAYOUT, CHANDRA LAYOUT
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560040
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 23390888
Telephone 2 : (080) 23398800
Fax : (080) 2398800
Email ID : sbi.04051@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0900 TO 1400
Sunday Banking : YES

4. JAYAMAHAL EXTENSION, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 1731
Branch Name : JAYAMAHAL EXTENSION, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : 26, JAYAMAHAL ROAD, JAYAMAHAL EXTN., JAYAMAHAL
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560046
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 23330496
Telephone 2 : (080) 23430632
Fax : (080) 23330496
Email ID : sbi.01731@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1000 TO 1500
Sunday Banking : YES

5. JAYANAGAR II BLOCK, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 3286
Branch Name : JAYANAGAR II BLOCK, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : P.B.1127, 15TH CROSS, SOUTH END CIRCLE, JAYANAGAR
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560011
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 26569385
Telephone 2 : (080) 26561032
Fax : (080) 26563150
Email ID : sbi.03286@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1000 TO 1430
Sunday Banking : YES

6. JAYANAGAR IV T BLOCK, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 4926
Branch Name : JAYANAGAR IV T BLOCK, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : 1151 – A, 26TH MAIN, IV T BLOCK
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560011
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 26636702
Telephone 2 : (080) 26343763
Fax : (080) 26636702
Email ID : sbi.04926@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0900 TO 1400

7. JEEVAN BIMA NAGAR, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 5537
Branch Name : JEEVAN BIMA NAGAR, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : SHOPPING COMPLEX BUILDING JEEVAN BIMA NAGAR
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560075
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 25216754
Telephone 2 : (080) 25210548
Fax : (080) 25217061
Email ID : sbi.05537@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0900 TO 1400
Sunday Banking : YES

8. KUNDALAHALLI, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 9046
Branch Name : KUNDALAHALLI, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : NEAR MAHADEVAPURA P O DODDANEKUNDI, KUNDALAHALLI
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560037
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 28475092
Telephone 2 : (080) 28524549
Fax : (080) 28524551
Email ID : sbi.09046@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1000 TO 1400
Sunday Banking : YES

9. MALLESHWARAM, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 7080
Branch Name : MALLESHWARAM, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : 143, 8TH CROSS MARGOSA RD MALLESWARAM,
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560003
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 25943200
Telephone 2 : (080) 25943203
Fax : (080) 23311905
Email ID : sbi.07080@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0900 TO 1430
Sunday Banking : YES

10. MAGADI ROAD, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 9047
Branch Name : MAGADI ROAD, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : 13/1 & 2, A.D.HALLI, NEAR RAHEJA APTS., MAGADI MAIN RD
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560079
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 23358825
Telephone 2 : (080) 23350116
Fax : (080) 23108902
Email ID : sbi.09047@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 0930 TO 1430
Sunday Banking : YES

11. PEENYA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE BRANCH
Branch Code: 3024
Branch Name : PEENYA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : B-96, 2ND CROSS, PEENYA, BANGALORE 560 058
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 0
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 25943250
Telephone 2 : (080) 25943253
Fax : (080) 28394005
Email ID : sbi.03024@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1030 TO 1530
Sunday Banking : YES

12. PBB, KORAMANGALA BRANCH
Branch Code: 4163
Branch Name : PBB, KORAMANGALA
Branch Category : PERSONAL BANKING BRANCH
Address : 472/4E , A.V.S COMPOUND 80´ PERIPPERAL RD, 4TH BLK
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560034
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 25539925
Telephone 2 : (080) 25631013
Fax : (080) 25539980
Email ID : sbi.04163@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1000 TO 1430
Sunday Banking : YES

13. R T NAGAR, BANGALORE BRANCH
Branch Code: 7982
Branch Name : R T NAGAR, BANGALORE
Branch Category : OTHER BRANCH
Address : P.B.NO.3201, #1, MARUTHI MANSION, 80 FEET ROAD, R.T.NAGAR
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560032
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 23439447
Telephone 2 : (080) 23332151
Fax : (080)
Email ID : sbi.07982@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1030 TO 1530
Sunday Banking : YES

14. S S I KUMARA PARK BRANCH
Branch Code: 8577
Branch Name : S S I KUMARA PARK
Branch Category : SSI / SIB BRANCH
Address : NO.179, II FLOOR, S.C. ROAD, SESHADRIPURAM,
City : BANGALORE
Pin Code : 560020
District : BANGALORE URBAN
State : KARNATAKA
Telephone 1 : (080) 25943271
Telephone 2 : (080) 25943272
Fax : (080) 25943277
Email ID : sbi.08577@sbi.co.in
Branch Business Hours : 1030 TO 1530
Sunday Banking : YES

Shaayiri... i keep writing stuff... and feel like my poetry is very good (like all other poets, lol :D)

If a politician was a shaayar, he would write..

meri zindagi mein aayi woh vote bank ki tarah...
mujh mein bas gayi, jaise car mein petrol tank ki tarah...
ab mujhe dukh hota hai, ki maine hawala mein itna paisa kyon khaaya......
meri biwi ho gayi moti..... mera account - swiss bank ki tarah.....


if a lawyer was a shaayar, he would write...

maine tumhe propose kiya, civil case ki tarah....
tune jawaab diya, criminal case ki taraah....
kya hua ki main jhootha aur makkar hoon....
mujhse compare karegi, to tera baap hai BOFORS case ki tarah...

another one for devdas...
teen teen ladkiyan meri zindagi mein aayi...
phir bhi tanhaayi hai maut ki tarah chaayi....
ab to ye aadat si ho gayi hai....
bas khud se hi jhagadna , aur khud se haathapayi...

AZAD- a Hero, or a villian???

Was going through articles on Cherukuri rajasekhar alias Azad, a top Maoist leader gunned down in AP today.
Who are Maoists? are they people born with a violent streak? do they have a frontal lobe tumor( which is proved to be associated with violent behavior)???
NO. Maoists are people. just common people like you and me.Some Maoist leaders are forerunners of thought, some very talented people.
The only difference is, they chose to be naxals, the same way i chose to be a doctor,or the way my dad chose to be a journalist.
When you look properly, most of these Maoist leaders are highly learned people, they include gold medalists from many universities. Many people, whom you wish wouldn't have joined the movement and could have brought laurels to the nation in their fields of work.

Cherukuri rajasekhar was from an affluent upper caste family. he could have chosen the luxurious happy life he was given. But he chose to be a naxalite. Why? Because he believed in the naxal cause. He wanted to help uplift the down trodden and rescue them from feudal land lords and corrupt politicians. THAT WAS THE ORIGINAL MOTTO OF NAXALISM, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY TODAYS MAOISTS SEEM TO HAVE CONVENIENTLY FORGOTTEN.
No wonder naxalism is now thought of as an anti-police or terror organization, a menace. It has strayed too far from its path that it almost is meaningless concept these days.
I cant say anything about Azad, whether he was a Hero as claimed by many, or was a criminal mastermind as claimed by the police.... but i think HE FOLLOWED HIS HEART.
I cant comment on the reports of his alleged fake encounter..... but I hope HE KNEW WHAT HE LOST HIS LIFE FOR.
I come from an orthodox brahmin family and believe in heaven and hell... i don't really know where he must have gone. But i think wherever He goes, He will continue to fight for the rights of the oppressed there.
I just wish He had taken a non violent path to achieve the same in his life here. We do really need people who live for others. He would have made a fine leader, unlike the politicians we have.

Reservation - anti-reservation??? Back to square one?

I write now with a heavy heart. Whenever this topic is raised by a person, the discussion ends with a few fanatic people stressing on their point of view without thinking about others, and end up hurting sentiments, fueling more ire from others.
I was going through an article where a person was stating his anger on the merit students association's demands of reservation roll back. There was a well written thought provoking reply from a lady who said that because of few reservations, many merit students suffer a lot of injustice. The author replied back saying that she was arrogant about her merit!!!
I regret reading that post.... When you read an article, please try to empathize with the author. Try to understand his feelings,rather than giving blunt replies because the authors views are different from yours.
I come from a forward community and would have been placed better in my life without reservations! But that would really be injustice as a few really backward people got seats, and I am happy for them. I know of people a lot of backward people who genuinely benefited because i lost, and i am actually happy. It really doesn't matter to me that I did my MBBS from Coastal AP because i lost my seat in Hyderabad to reservations. Many people who deserved reservation got it.
I don't think the problem lies in reservations or our view on reservations. Reservation is a potential vote bank issue in India, and politicians have to use it! What happened to the BJP govt. that tried to impose economic backward class reservations, regardless of the caste???
Why the hell do you think Chiranjeevi wants to include the Kapu community into BCs in AP??? I agree many people in that community may have limited resources, but so do a lot of reddys, brahmins, rajus, choudaries so on and so forth. It was his ticket to the polls. He expected that kapu community would vote for him just for that issue. Some of my friends too were happy about it as they would not have to compete in open competition for a PG seat. It is a totally different issue that his polls bombed because of various reasons.
I don't agree with people who say "yeh india hai bhai.... yahaan sadiyon se aisaa hio ho raha hai, aur aisa hi hoga".... somebody has to start a change.
I totally welcome a gradual repealing of the current reservation system and adding up more reservations for the economically backward classes. This has to be done by a committee of highly learned unbiased scholars. But then, as soon as the committee is declared, there will be a huge outcry on WHY THE GOVT. DID NOT ENSURE THAT THE COMMITTEE WAS COMPOSED OF PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT CASTES ACCORDING TO THEIR RESERVATIONS???
FUNNY. ISN'T IT?
No matter how far the issue travels, it will end where it began....
BACK TO SQUARE ONE....

Addiction, life and "cut,copy,paste"

Addiction is a very serious problem in our society. and i don't just mean addiction to smoking, or alcohol!.... addiction to video games, to TV serials(god save those miserable people!), to high calorie foods and addiction to exploit others, are even more worse.
The worst part of addiction is denial. "i am not addicted to cigarettes man! i just smoke for fun"... yeah,yeah... I've heard that a thousand times from people whom i later meet in the lung cancer ward!
"I am not addicted to TV.... i just happen to watch those serials to pass my spare time" said a lady, who was brought to the hospital with severe chest pain. Diagnosis: Myocardial infarction.... in common and more interesting filmy terminology... a heart attack. What precipitated the heart attack??? "Pratyush was killed by the heartless Anamika who laced his coffee with poison, so she could elope with the twisted Ranjan..."
Before you guys try to break your computer screen, Pratyush,Anamika and Ranjan are the names of characters from a prime time daily serial.
I feel sad listening to such stories from my colleagues in the hospital. i did not believe stuff like that until eleven yrs ago when one day, i saw my grandparents weeping inconsolably after Nandamuri Raja was killed in telugu daily serial "ruthuraagaalu".
The poor guy Raja died a week later with a heart attack (this time in real life) and there was a second episode of my grand parents' crying !!!.
In the following week, i took a decision to ban all TV serials in our house. the ban is still in effect.... although my grand parents passed away ten years ago( may their souls rest in peace).
I know I wandered off the track while telling you about addiction... but what is the fun of saying something that has nothing interesting.
I can hear you shouting "You might as well "cut, copy and paste" what research has to say about addiction, instead of blogging without direction!"
I can hear my own reply echoing.."Hello!!! isn't the blog is titled A ROAMING DOCTOR'S ROAMING THOUGHTS!!!"

Depression is more dangerous than HIV!!!

Statistics show that 15.1% of south Indian urban population suffers from Depression and about 12.4% of them have suicidal tendencies!!! The prevalence of HIV in adults in south India is a meager 0.34% as compared to Depression.
HIV is a infectious disease, and i strongly believe it will be controlled in near future like all other infectious diseases.
Depression is a part and parcel of one's reactions to the way life goes about. There is really nothing we can do to decrease the prevalence of Depression in people.
But Depression is completely curable if you have a good friend who can listen to you.
We, Human beings, are a group of highly vulnerable emotionally weak species.We expect life to be good at all times, so much so, that we sometimes cannot accept failures. Hippocrates first described depression around 400 BC.
The famous actor and comedian Tony Hancock committed suicide in 1968 and wrote in his suicide note that "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times".
You could say that's the way things are, or that we all feel the same at some point of time. And that is exactly my point! We all suffer from Depression. Each and everyone of us.
And it is one thing you could help your loved ones out of.All you need is to listen. DON'T talk to them, just listen. People love it when they get a good listener. Most problems seem to vanish in thin air when you have somebody to listen to you.
The reason why most couples live happily together because they listen to each other. They don't just hear, or obey..... they listen.
Falling in love is the best cure for Depression :)
Ironically, falling out of love is the cause of major depressive disorders.
I was in and out of love a couple of times, and had to deal with a lot of depression myself. Depression led me into the dark corners of alcohol and tobacco abuse. And coming out of alcohol and Nicotine abuse was a great challenge. It took a great deal of effort to tell myself that Depression, sadness, dejection are fleeting..... life is permanent.
Momentary Happiness is far more achievable goal than with simple joys of life. Feeling the rain in your face, running with bare feet on soil, and meeting friends are some simple things that could make you Hugely happy.
Try it. IT WORKS.
And for the record, i did get out of alcohol and tobacco dependence, in case anyone of you shows my mom this blog :)

Inspiration can take you a long way!!!

I attended a class on stigma and discrimination on People Living with HIV/AIDS today.
The speaker, Mr. Rama Pandian, had come from Chennai. He is the founder of a NGO that helps People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs) in TamilNadu. It helps them get better access to govt. services, provides training to PLHAs to get livelihood, provides counseling for HIV infected people and a lot of other stuff too.
The Speaker was a source of great inspiration for me. He is leading a healthy life though being diagnosed with HIV in 1992. He shared with us his problems after being diagnosed, how he had problems with trying to disclose the news to his family, how, because of misconceptions about the disease, he lost his job... so on and so forth.
But what made me sit up was how he came to terms with his illness and LIVED productively. Most PLHAs i see in my practice or those i come across in my life have a bigger problem than HIV. they have to deal with a hugely-underestimated amount of depression.
Psychological issues can kill you! HIV will NOT. after the advent of newer drugs, and better political and medical committment, HIV life expectency is returning to near normal.

Mr. Rama Pandian thought me a very important thing.
TO BE DYING IS SURELY A PROBLEM, BUT TO HAVE TO BE LIVING WITH THE IDEA THAT WE WILL DIE IS WORSE.

Kudos Sir.

Ants in my pants...

I did come across the idiom "ants in my pants" once before, not that i took note of it mentally.
It has been one week i shifted to Vellore to join IDTRC (Infectious Diseases Research and Training Centre) in the renowned Christian Medical College, Vellore, as a junior research officer. The Stipend was nominal, at least for me, as i was earning almost up to three times back home in Hyderabad. But the prospect of learning from the best medical college in India is far more tempting than financial worries.
CMC officially didn't provide accommodation, but our boss was generous to let us use his guest house for a nominal pay of maintenance. I really didn't have any expectations about the place...... i have stayed in more dingy places that would have scared the hell out of Saddam Hussein! But the place was a beauty....
It was a big bungalow near Katpadi and my room was an 10 * 15 feet! had a good attached bathroom and was more than happy to arrange all my stuff in a plush rosewood dressing table cum wardrobe.
I spent most of the night trying to sleep. In addition to the factor that it was a new place,thanks to face book and HBO, i had screwed up my sleeping habits back home.I woke up late in the morning and rushed to the office in a set of brand new clothes from my wardrobe.I was feeling very uncomfortable, but attributed it to my "rushed up" bath. This discomfort was pretty bad a little later after i reached the office. As I was trying to figure out what was wrong, one of my senior colleagues, who stayed in the same bungalow on the first floor, said "Hey Abhishek! hope you had good sleep.I forgot to tell you,if you are using the rosewood wardrobe from in the master bedroom, just check your clothes before you wear them. There are lots of ants in the house."