Blissful Life

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

Author: akshay

  • Research Primer – 15/5/13

  • Two Ways to Go Crazy

    Yesterday was a Sunday entirely different from the hundred before it. I did two things.

    Quizzing
    8 hours of questions and answers (and excellent guesses) with my partner – Shruti parimoo
    General Quiz #1: At NIE, Mysore. We reached about an hour early and talked about neuroplasticity, and the like. Then, the first round started. There were about 14 teams and about 24 questions. Some of them:

    What does the following cartoon represent? (Of course it wasn’t this easy in the actual event)

    feet-to-meters cartoon no. 1

    Whose old logo is this?
    http://media.gizmodo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/18afup0k2v6oqpng.png
    Cricket question.
    “I would say the difference between the two side is the fielding. England
    are an all-round good fielding side. I do believe that India have
    few…3 or 4 very good fielders and … X”
    Fill X.

    Which phrase in English owes its origin to the fact that density of water at 0 degree Celsius is 0.93 g/cu cm and that of water at 4 degree Celsius is 1 g/cu cm?

    And, we didn’t get selected for the second round.
    But we watched it along with very active others.

    Dry round – a lot of questions based on “pounce and bounce” format (That is, after the question is read out, every team has a chance to write the answer and “pounce” on it, getting +10 for correct and -5 for wrong; and then teams who haven’t pounced will get the questions in infinite bounce format)
    List it – to list all the 13 individual olympic medal winners of India, all the 9 movies of Ranbir Kapoor, and all the Shiva temples based on 5 elements.
    Short Visual Connect – A set of images on the screen, find what connects them.
    Long Visual Connect – A long set of images coming one by one, find what connects them at the earliest. This one was about Raghu Ram

    Having been only to quizzes where the quizmaster rein and the participants open their mouth only to answer or “pass” this first quiz in two years was mind-blowing, not blowing, mind-expanding for me. I’d never thought quizzes could be fun too (and not just exciting)

    And then General Quiz #2 at SJCE Mysore
    Here’s where I got really surprised. Not just that all the teams who participated in the previous quiz was here, one of the QMs at the previous quiz was a participant, and one of the participants there was the QM here.
    For now, this is the longest (5 hours) and the most interesting (unlimited fun) quiz I’ve ever been to.

    Questions have all been uploaded to slideshare here.
    The preliminary round was much easier (in terms of the number of questions we could answer). My personal favourite would be:

    What is this? 😀 (See how the big circles are linked)

    And all the 9 teams participated in the second round (which turned out to be a wise decision, because the teams left out would have to watch from outside the rest of the quiz)
    In the second part, I started with a -5 for pouncing. I said “simple majority” where it should have been “The common parlance for the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group and its requirement is protection against totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by an unduly small number of persons”

    And a lot of questions later, including one that looked very similar to this tricky graph question I found from Quora, the Sheldon Cooper round started.
    We had to give the Latin phrases for the descriptions. And Shruti absolutely rocked.
    So did she in the round about books, and also the Southpark round.
    The LVC about Cricket stumped us, but those about buildings were easily solvable.

    And then it was late night, they had already began singing songs at Jayciana outside. So it was time to find out the winner, and as there was a tie between KP‘s team and the other awesome team. It couldn’t be resolved even after a few questions, so everyone left in a jovial mood.

    But here is a way to conduct quizzes that I’ve never experienced before. Find excellent questions. Pose them. And let everyone have fun. Get up from the seat. Argue with the QM. Argue with other teams. Go touch the projected image, just to see if the texture gives any clue. Look for clues in all the words spoken by each member in the hall. And successfully spend a lot of time into something that’s well worth it.

    And, Rock Music
    If I had returned to hostel straight away, it would have been an above average Sunday, but not an exceptional one.
    There was some kind of musical show to be expected later in the night. So I stayed back to join my friends. And after the fashion show, beauty pageant, results of previous events, etcetera, it started. A sexy male voice attracting crowd like shit does to flies. +Akshaya Fadnis and I climbed inside the VIP section with the first song. And within minutes we were right next to the stage. And the crowd was going crazy. The music would awaken even the comatose. Hands would not agree to stay down. And the rhythm shook the whole body.

    After being completely lost in that experience, I spoke: “Buddha calls it meditation, we call it rock music”

    Now, that tranquillity was thanks to Underground Authority.

    And that was a Sunday truly worth its name – Sunday. 😛

  • Things You SHOULD Learn from M K Gandhi

    I woke up today morning reading this on Quora: What are the biggest mistakes of Mahatma Gandhi?

    The answer tells that the British were comfortable with Gandhi heading India, and that complete non-violence was probably a big mistake. Two things.

    1. Non-violence works in international affairs. Especially after the second world war.
      This must be self evident. Today’s wars cannot be won with weapons. It is won only through diplomacy.
    2. Non-violence works even better in interpersonal affairs.
      This goes without saying. Getting angry and not cooperating with nasty people is how we’ve learned to do it. But that is violent. A better way to do it would be by helping the nasty earnestly, and sternly but politely making them a request to stop being nasty.

    But that’s not what surprised me. When someone pointed out in the comments that Gandhi had also told that non-violence is better than cowardice, the answerer said: “Well this shows that he was totally confused“.

    People, it’s not just fine to change your convictions with time, it is sometimes necessary to do so.

    That is one great lesson from Gandhi that not many have heard of or practise. He conducts experiments with his life. And he corrects himself when he’s proven wrong. Like his U turn on milk, he just needs plenty of reasons.

    We form most of our convictions in childhood. The same childhood when we are not even eligible to vote. And amusingly, we carry these convictions to our adult life, unquestioned. Think of it. Would it be clever to make the same choices in food, clothing, dreams, hobbies, and lifestyle as those you made when you were much younger and more stupid?

  • Graduation day, socials, ethnic day

    While skin posting reached its relieving end, without me taking out even the magnifying glass in that cubicle with 50 people packed inside, three events occurred on subsequent days.

    Graduation day:
    2k7 batch went out with summer dreams 2013. Dr Antony, Dr Abhas, doctors everywhere. They made a beautiful video about their life in MMC and danced to their contentment while we had good food and slumbered.

    Socials:
    I’m yet to talk with the juniors about what happened there. But in the hostel there was definitely innovative hazing methods.

    Ethnic day:
    Now this was fun. Thanks to more than a week of bugging hard work by class representatives and others Sammilan, though it was never called so, went so well at hotel ruchi. I was the DJ playing the right songs at the right times except when I muted the sound for 15 seconds just when the sexy lady part of Gangnam style was coming up.

    Everything went so well – titles, games, food, ramp walk. Fadnis and Deepthi became the ethnic couple.

    And the dance hall was simply superb with the closed room heating things up. People sweating and dancing and enjoying the night in ways that never were.

    BTW, the MMC&RI confessions page has started on Facebook.
    And it’s OBG posting for me from today.

  • Weird Dream

    I am in Mysore Junction Railway station at 8 AM, trying to cross the track to the first platform. But there’s a local train which is blocking my way, so I decide to get inside and get outside at the other side. But as soon as I get inside, the doors close and I’m trapped, along with two girls and an old man who also wanted to go out. They’re waiting for the next stop to get down, while I get to know that the train goes to Kuthuparambu (which is very close to my home, comes after Mattanur, the place I got to get down for my house) and reaches there at 10:30. Since it was Saturday, I thought I’d go home and come back on Monday, and fall asleep. When I woke up, I see that the train is already at Mattanur, and instead of going towards Kuthuparambu, it turns towards my place. I’m extremely happy and want to let everyone know…

    And then I wake up, prone, on the examination table in the hall. Aquib’s pointing towards loose stools on the bed and laughing at me, while removing his gloves. And then the professor starts taking class, about rectal examination. And that’s when I realize what’s happened. I call Sneha and ask her whether they did a rectal examination on me while I was sleeping. She said “Yes”. And bam I slapped her. I was so angry that when Hema ma’am came and said they thought I’d not mind, I just didn’t listen, but went to the professor who was teaching and said him “They did rectal examination without my permission while I was sleeping. That’s absolutely against medical ethics. And there’s even pain in my rectum now”. And the next thing I see is a PG coming inside with sheets of paper and taking statements from Raziq and all others about what happened. And that’s when I feel sad about it and later I go ask Sneha and Swathi why they didn’t ask my permission. They say they didn’t ask Nandu permission in the previous class, and then I remember I had missed the previous class. And I was feeling so sorry for everything…

    And then I actually wake up, prone, on my bed in Room #28.

    Dream within a dream. Double Dream. False Awakening. Not Inception.

  • IFMSA – Introduction To It

    The academic society is brisk with activities. It is IFMSA’s chance to talk in pathology hall today.

    A worldwide organization with its hierarchy. Medical counterpart of IEEE.

    Says US is the place for standard research. That IFMSA gives exchange student opportunity to foreign nations.
    That WHO gives internship opportunities.

    Registration is like 1000 rupee per year. Gives a card that is valid in cafe coffee day.

    Mission statement is to offer future physicians exposure to global situation.

    To facilitate medical research, exchange, etc.

  • The Difference Between Interesting Things and Useful Things

    How many times has this happened in your life?

    You’re travelling in a bus, and the person sitting in the first seat at the front suddenly puts his face outside and looks at something. Within milliseconds, people sitting in the window seats in the 5 rows behind him do the same. And in the next few milliseconds, others who can’t just turn their head and see outside, stand up and do so.

    Sensing and responding to changes around them as quickly as possible, gives monkeys a survival advantage. And there’s a monkey carrying out its survival trick hiding inside all of us. He guides our senses towards all stuff that’s different from the normal – a cool new gadget, random shit facts, photoshoped images uploaded in facebook, utterly useless questions on quora, the gap that a broken tooth leaves, a friend’s new haircut, uncovered body parts – any stuff that’s new. These are the interesting things.

    Unfortunately for us, interesting things most of the times aren’t useful things.

    Books, subjects, exams, practice, revision, exercise – things that happen everyday, the normal things. They are what turn out to be useful in one’s life.

    It’s only been a fraction of a second since that first person turned his head. You still have a choice – whether to turn your head or not.

  • Fall on four limbs

    Neonatal ICU. There are two of them. One in Cheluvamba, ground floor. Second in Kid’s Hospital, top floor. NICU-2 is called Sick Baby Ward, and is more airy. But either of them houses the tiniest kids on earth.

    Caution: Before touching any baby, use GermX (contains sterol kind of alcohol, probably) to clean your hands. Now, before you touch another baby, use GermX again. And this is in addition to the dettol+soap handwash that you’ve got to do before even entering the ward. Anyhow, I’ve decided that it’s unethical to touch any kid unless it’s essential for learning.

    Pre-term babies invariably end up here. And their feet would be the smallest imaginable.

    Photosensitive babies would be blindfolded. At times, there’d be the phototherapy unit shining bright UV light at them.

    Not to forget the sensors. There’s temperature control. And whenever it goes below the set – 36.5 or so, it’ll beep. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
    So does the heart rate monitor. Oxygen Saturation. IV Infusion rate. Everything.

    Talking about IV infusion, you should know how tough it is to find a vein and put a needle inside those tiny arms. The doctor who was doing that was later recruiting new babies (neonatals) into the ward. Mother complaining of jaundice. But the baby was pink instead of yellowish. So, no jaundice. But the kid showed us some reflexes.
    Keep your finger on its lips, it’ll open the mouth and put the tongue out. Suckling reflex.
    Hold the baby by its chest and belly, facing down, and it’ll extend all the limbs, in anticipation of falling down. Parachute reflex. And it stays till you die. Yeah, the last time I fell from cycle I fell with my hands and legs down and not even a mote of dust on my clothes.
    And the most dazzling. Hold the baby upright and suddenly let it fall back to your hand below. It’ll show surprise by dilating the eyes and extending the arms. Moro reflex.

    And the 3 questions you can ask a newborn. Have you passed meconium (first stool) within 24 hours? Have you passed urine in 48 hours? Have you started taking feed?
    3 Yes, your systems are perfect.

    Going to see autopsy tomorrow.

  • 4th Term

    Apparently, third term is over.

    And with that came a new fervor for learning.

    Posted to paediatrics from yesterday, Feb 6, a day after I turned 20. Though we missed all the days of OBG posting, I’ve attended both the days of paediatrics.

    Day 1:
    When you take a case, why is it important to know the age? 😛
    Hemolysis at day 1 is different from that at day 6.

    And how is child case history different from adults?
    There’s an entirely new spectrum of diseases that can occur.

    Day 2:
    Immunization.
    The nurses welcome us (just me and Fadnis) warmly and give us a box of used vials to play with. We arranged them in the order they should be administered.
    Age 0- BCG (0.05 mL for kids born in hospital, and 0.1 mL for kids coming from outside, is what the nurse told. And the vial said “0.05 mL for kids upto 1 month, 0.1 mL for kids above 1 month”. You can guess why the rule of thumb works) Live attenuated freeze dried Bacillus Chalmette Guerin IP (IP? Dad replied via sms. Indian Pharmacopoeia. BP would be British. USP would be US) For subdermal use.
    OPV – Oral Polio Vaccine (20 doses bottle. 1 dose = 2 drops = 0.1 mL)
    Hepatitis B Vaccine. Live attenuated. For Intramuscular use.

    Age 1.5 month:
    OPV
    Hep B
    DPT (Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) Intramuscular.

    Age 2.5 months: OPV, Hep B, DPT

    Age 3.5 months: OPV, Hep B, DPT

    Age 9 months: Measles (Right shoulder. Should see whether intramuscular or subdermal)

    And I forgot the rest.

    The intramuscular DPT and Hep B are given in the anterolateral of those small thighs as deep as that small needle (23 or 26 something) goes. The quadriceps was becoming very prominent while administration.

    BCG very superficially in the left deltoid area. The kids would be too small that they don’t even cry for more than 2 seconds.

    And a pregnant mother was being given Tetanus in the deltoid.

    No OPV was given today because the Pulse Polio Programme is happening next week and it would be overdose.

  • Microbiology Internal

    Questions from Anilkumar