Blissful Life

When you apply skepticism and care in equal amounts, you get bliss.

Month: May 2017

  • Joining Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement

    Till yesterday, I had thought that I had joined Vivekananda Memorial Hospital.  But, yesterday there was an orientation session for new employees at this organization. And the events made me realize that I have indeed joined, or want to join, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, the parent organization of VMH.

    SVYM’s story is very heart-touchingly written in the blog of Dr R Balu (RB).

    I am not aware of any other organization which has the story of its inception so beautifully and lucidly laid out. RB’s experiences that led him to start SVYM are relatable. And he has made it possible to connect dots from those strokes of inspiration to the concrete structure that exists today.

    But Dr M A Balasubramanya nevertheless described the same in a couple of hours yesterday. Some of his words dug deeper than I expected them to go inside my mind. I was expecting him to speak about how they had to undergo a lot of hardships and struggle to reach where we are. He did. But I wasn’t expecting to shake my mind and say that SVYM now has presence throughout Karnataka and caters to lakhs of people under education, health, community empowerment, research, training, and ultimately development and achieved this growth over 32 years by not faltering even once from its core values of “Satya, Ahimsa, Seva, Tyaga”. It sent depolarizations through some of my old neurons.

    We had a brief on organization policies, accounting practices, etc.

    After lunch, we went on a long trip to Kenchanahalli and Hosahalli campuses where other activities of SVYM happens.

    Kenchanahalli is on the verge of being converted to a centre for socio-economic empowerment program.

    And Hosahalli! Hosahalli is a beautiful campus in 24 acres. There is Vivekananda Teacher Training and Research Centre here. And befittingly, the tribal school right next to it. Dr Ramkumar who works there rightly puts it. After years of working in Bengaluru and other places,.  they come here with lots of experience and every day they face a new challenge. The tribal kids have their own culture. Their language is different. Their aptitudes and attitudes are different. There is sometimes more to learn from them than to teach them.

    Challenges like these, and the motivation to work with principles to overcome these challenges on a regular basis is what makes SVYM truly special

    Take this example from Vivekananda Memorial Hospital.

    VK is an 11 year old boy who got admitted with Diabetic Keto Acidosis. We were counselling him and his mother regarding the importance of strictly taking insulin, even while in school. And we were concerned about them being not able to recognize and treat hypoglycemia. The mother was in fact very much aware of hypoglycemia and apparently she used to manage it at home using sugar water.

    “But who will make sugar water for him at school, ma?” we asked her. She gave a blank smile.

    We gave our usual advice. “So, keep a sweet something in his pocket so that even at school when he feels symptoms of hypoglycemia he can eat it”.

    She smiled and said “My boy is just a kid. He will eat the sweet whenever he likes.”

  • Rekindling Ambitions

    On the eve of independence day in 2013, I wrote this post
    which was about keeping ourselves safe from getting involved
    in situations where doing good might be bad. I grew more and more
    pessimistic about life and people around me since then. Going through
    the comments section of any news item would put me in a state of teeth
    clenching aversion towards fellow country men.

    I was not like this. I was patriotic. I called myself ASD of India. I believed in people like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam when they said that it’s possible to do anything if we have a desire strong enough. Swami Vivekananda’s words “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!” would make me determined to succeed.

    My schools were the best. They never taught me the meaning of impossible. Everything seemed possible. Everything seemed interesting. Everyone was involved with the same spirit.

    But college was something entirely different. Suddenly, I was exposed to the bad, and sad sides of humanity. Not just in the immediate surrounding. Newspapers suddenly became sources of bad news. In fact, I quit reading newspapers entirely. They were becoming too negative for me. Or was it that I was too weak to face the reality? Maybe. But I could imagine alternate realities (or fantasies) in which people are far less corrupt and far more content. I could imagine spirited colleagues. I could imagine living in a better society.

    For some reason, I assumed that those were just fantasies. I grew too pessimistic. I assumed that honesty will never win and that as time goes on, things will get only worse. I figured that we were doomed. I knew that there was no future for humanity.

    This negativity has contributed more than a little to my decision not to run behind a post graduate seat. I had already grown sick of the education system much before I grew sick of the entire system. I was not going to spend any more time in that toxic environment that’s called “college”. Any college.

    I was clueless on what to do when I joined Vivekananda Memorial Hospital. It took me more than a month, but now I’m finally beginning to understand.

    Yesterday, there was an orientation session here. VMH is run by Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement. The CEO of SVYM, Dr MA Balasubramanya gave a speech in the orientation session. He ran through the history of the organization. The values of SVYM is “Satya, Ahimsa, Seva, and Tyaga”. SVYM does an incredible amount of good work in Karnataka. And it started from two batches of students of MMC. It has taken 32 years for this organization to become what it is right now. And it hasn’t paid a single rupee in bribe to reach where it is.

    The most important thing that he spoke yesterday and that hit me hard was that it was indeed possible for honest people to survive. That it was indeed possible to do good things. That good people do, in fact, exist.

    I have a theory of love. When you fall in love with a person the first time, there is a component of infatuation. Once you grow beyond that, you start to see imperfections in your partner and stop loving them as much. But there is a certain moment in the relationship where you fall in love with the same person again. The difference is that this time, you know all the positives and negatives of your partner and you are loving the whole person. This newfound love is unbreakable. Because you have accepted all the bads of your partner, there is nothing new that can change your love.

    I think I should now apply the same theory to ambitions. Initially we go through the rosy feeling of the entire world being full of possibilities and unlimited potentials. Then there is a rough patch in which you grow tired and weary, and forced to give up. It was only when I had given up and threw my hands in despair that I got help.

    If I had ever been able to believe in mythical spirituality, I’d have called it Swami Vivekananda’s infinite power. Otherwise, what can explain the coincidence of my first love of the world be propelled by Swami Vivekananda’s books and now, my rekindled love of the world be propelled by an organization that lives by his name and values?

    Positive thoughts come to you when you are surrounded by positive people. Fortunately, I’ve come to such a place. Now is the time to ride the wave. Expect more.

  • VMH – first few days

    Getting to Saragur from Mattanur is a tricky business. The shortest
    route isn’t necessarily covered by public transport. My initial plan was
    to reach Mysore via Virajpet-Hunsur and then take a direct bus to
    Saragur. But later, I dropped it in favour of what my mom suggested –
    get down at Hunsur and take a bus that cuts through the corner.

    So
    I did get down at Hunsur. Turns out, in Hunsur there are two KSRTC bus
    stations. One is for urban buses – the one I got down at. The other,
    inter-village rural bus service, is where I would find buses to Saragur.
    Luckily it is walkable distance between the two stations. At the rural
    bus stand, there was a bus to HD Kote. It’s 11 more kilometres between
    HD Kote and Saragur. But there was no direct bus to Saragur. So I got
    into the HD Kote bus.

    And that was the slowest bus
    ever. It stopped at every house and couldn’t accelerate faster than a
    turtle. At HD Kote bus stand, there was a city bus going to Saragur
    waiting for me. This one was faster, yet slow.

    Thus, I
    reached Saragur at 1.30. Half an hour late on schedule. Took an auto to
    Vivekananda Memorial Hospital. Ms Latha was waiting for me. She welcomed
    me and arranged my stay in the guest room next to the canteen (on the
    way to doctor’s quarters). Although it is shared accommodation,
    currently I am the only one in my room. I quickly freshened up and
    reached hospital.

    Said hi to Dr Chaithanya Prasad who
    was in General Medicine OPD and whom I had met last time I came to VMH a
    couple of weeks back. He asked me to get introduced to others. So I met
    Dr Sitaram in Orthopaedics OPD and Dr Sridharan in Paediatrics OPD. I
    also had to introduce myself to Dr Narendra whom I had met last time. I
    couldn’t find other consultants. Then I reached Casualty were Dr Susan
    was writing something in a case sheet.

    She is also new
    here. We spent some time seeing patients and talking about the hospital.
    Later, at 4, there was a meeting of all RMOs. They were talking about
    mobile units, their functioning, any problems they are facing, etc.
    Small corrections to duty roster was also being made. I was asked if I
    could manage emergencies and assigned to Kenchanahalli for Friday night.

    After
    that there was rounds. After rounds, I sat in casualty for some time.
    Then, when I was about to leave, Dr Susan was taking a case for next
    day’s grand rounds.

    Wednesday morning, sharp 8 am.
    That’s when grand rounds begin. All doctors come around a case that is
    being presented. Today’s case was a lady with pregnancy induced
    hypertension and anemia. Dr Susan presented the case under the
    mentorship of Dr Padmaja. There was a brief discussion on the management
    of such case and the failures in ANC.

    After the case
    presentation there was journal club in training hall where various
    people presented different journal articles. Dr Shreyas presented his
    own research on obesity and vitamin D levels. Dr Jyothi presented a
    study on thyroid disorders in HIV patients. Dr Dennis (?) presented on
    National Health Policy. The National Health Policy topic is so vast that
    it was not even half finished at the end of the given time.

    After
    the presentations there was an announcement that a community dinner is
    being planned the next night where we would cook and eat ourselves. I
    volunteered to bring firewood and start fire, along with John, Eric, and
    Shubham. Others volunteered for preparing various dishes.

    Afterwards
    there was rounds. And after rounds I went to casualty. I also sat with
    Dr Haripriya who had asked on the previous day to read the medical log
    book of an HIV patient to figure out what the striking points of his
    history was. We discussed this along with Shubham and found various
    points like the low adherence, the weight variations (or lack of it),
    etc.

    That evening Dr Padmaja, took the firewood
    volunteers away from rounds to find out a place for the oven. John is an
    expert in fire making. We found a place close to Dr Prashanth’s
    residence. The group of Bengalis who worked at the hospital was also
    staying right next to that place. They helped with the firewood and also
    with setting up the oven.

    Then, I got a call from Dr
    Prashanth who would demonstrate bladder wash on a patient who needed it
    every day for me. Since Dr Prashanth would go on a 10 day leave the next
    day, I had to do the bladder wash to make sure this patient’s catheter
    wouldn’t get blocked. Unfortunately, this patient’s condition worsened
    the same night and he was referred to KR Hospital because we suspected
    perforation.

    I tagged along in the casualty that night
    with Dr Susan and Dr Jyothi who were having tag duty. Had late night
    dinner which Dr Shivambika prepared. Then went back to my room to sleep.

    Thursday
    morning we woke up at around 5:30 so we could complete the 5 procedures
    that were pending – three lumbar punctures and two pleural taps. I did
    one of the lumbar punctures.

    After rounds, had to take
    care of orthopaedic and surgical patients too as Dr Prashanth was on
    leave and he was taking care of them before. I was feeling slightly
    disorganized and tense during this day.

    Later, in the
    night, I went to the community dinner. Fire was already taken care of.
    Cooking was half way through when I reached. Chole was being prepared by
    the Shubhams when it began to rain. And boy did it rain?

    We
    had just gotten things to safety of the guest house next to Dr
    Prashanth’s when the rain started becoming heavier and heavier. Some of
    us had run to the Bengali settlement to see if making Puri would be
    feasible. But by then rain was too heavy and we had to abandon that
    plan.

    When the rain finally finished taking its toll (including several people who slipped and fell in muddy water), we organized in the guest house and started eating whatever we had already prepared.

    It was a merry night with mimicry show by Bharath and training in deadly combat skills by John. The carrot halwa was superb and so was the fruit salad. I slept very happily that night.

  • Joining Vivekananda Memorial Hospital, Saragur

    I joined Vivekananda Memorial Hospital as a Resident Medical Officer, on 18th April, Tuesday, around noon.

    VMH is a secondary care hospital started by Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement at Saragur which is a place almost 1.5 hours by bus from Mysore, but just one hour by private vehicles.

    There is a one year course called Fellowship in HIV Medicine offered by this hospital and educational institution that I plan to join later.

    I had visited this place a couple of times earlier. First as an attendee in a research workshop back in my second year of MBBS and then, in the first week of April, as a prospective student and employee. At both times, I have felt that this place works in a well organized way.

    I am sure this place will help me become a better physician and a better person.