drama queen by suchitra krishnamoorthy --book review

She was the teenage sweetheart of boys of my age in teenage years .. I still remember the commercial she did with shekhar kapoor (who later became her husband in real life ) which was very romantic to say the least . Then her songs like zindagi etc . Then she was forgotten . She became shekhar kapoors wife and as is usual the public forgets her . Then , as is the usual story these days , she comes back again . Not with a new song but a new book called Drama queen , her third book .

This is not your typical book . Its a fictional memoir . The book though classified under fiction has all real names involved in her life . Of course her parents whom she calls Naana and Amma , Shekhar , her friends , even Ram Gopal Varma . People were shocked to see her smsing and proposing Ram Gopal varma and his reply which is even more shocking and honest .

Not your typical filmy gossip ,the way the lead character named Suchitra Krishnamoorthi goes through life , her marriage with Shekhar , her mother who tries to control her life even into adulthood , her friends who try to help her in her personal problems and her thoughts about them is honestly written in the book . On one aspect the book laids bare the hypocrisy of conservative moral south indian culture , on another aspect it laids bare the emotional turmoils of a girl who was and is blessed with everything life could offer -- fame , beauty and money .

When you read through it especially with a liberal mindset its very funny as she has a humorous side and laughing at yourself is the greatest thing a person can possess . But amidst the humour it exposes her deepest emotional issues as a single mother who is searching for a man (She got divorced from Shekhar years back ) . The book if you probe deeper on a psychological perspective questions parenting and how seemingly well meaning parents can play havoc with the emotional life of their children .

I think the book is a good read if you like humorously written serious topic . Its not chic lit the genre where u read a book lightly close it and go for an icecream . And of course read the book if you liked Suchitra Krishnamoorthy as a singer , actor (she acted with shah rukh khan too ) , painter or as a pretty girl from Doordarshan days ..

On doctors and patients

Having studied in a government medical college we had to compete for everything . Thanks to the liberal infrastructure spent on healthcare by the government it was difficult to get access to the full teaching facilities . And dealing with the public in many aspects during the course got an idea of soceitys expectations of a doctor as well as what it was ready to give to the professionals . I did a reasonable good job in academics . But in final year surgery posting ,when the opportunity was there to put the gloves and do PR or per rectal examination i decided it just was not worth it .I mean the PR part .

Dont get me wrong ... I was as excited scientifically as well as patient carewise to read an ECG and arrive at a diagnosis and without an iota of disgust was ready to put my gloved finger into some strangers anal passage . But outside the college , i could sense the strong sense of hypocrisy surrounding the profession . They wanted the doctor to do everything for them but when it came to respect it was a conditional respect . A job which to this day i feel is the most noble (including nurses and paramedics , then comes teachers ) was considered inferior to other jobs which were cleaner , quick money earning one and even 9-5 . That was the time when the tech majors had come to india and had started giving fabulous salaries even for freshers so comparison and ridicule was even greater

I was never bullied by my seniors in college except for the friendly introductions but outside the hospital any social gathering people had to tell only the negatives of the profession highlighted .Weekly or even daily media reports of horrible doctors their mistakes , their cruelty , their bribery etc etc were headline news . Of course it took a few years and dealing with countless patients , the people in the society , reading newspapers to get the big picture . And thats when i had my first idea about how hypocritic and thankless people can be ..

Years past .. luckily i had good visuo spatial skills (needed in radiodiagnosis my specialty ), a strong clinical base and of course technical interests (we have to learn medical physics too ) . And though even to this day i am neither disgusted nor afraid of the life giving blood or anal passage , i landed in a bloodless field of radiodiagnosis .In it even blood is black or white in colour and anal passage is shade of grey . One of the most paying specialties even after a diploma i saw the same people give tremendous respect for the money earning potential of the specialty . And for the first time i could see medicine and the interaction of doctors and patients from outside a glass screen (transparent lead glass ) .In private conversations even had to listen to patients criticising the "clinicians " . Each time i think about the surgery opd decades back and switch on again after they have finished their blame game .

I am not a cynic (i hope so ) but frankly i feel so much damage has been done by "external vested "interests . Solutions are not easy but possible to make better this scenario . Medicine is a noble profession when catering to a noble population and its a known fact that as a soceity we have regressed in mutual respect . So for such a soceity at least i prefer to scan or teach . I dont have to do PR or wake up at 2 am as a teacher or trainer earning a similar salary and getting enough respect . (same goes for radiology too in many settings ) . And i personally have the greatest respect for my clinical colleagues who do the best possible even for the most arrogant patient . But still i feel sadness for the senior doctor who goes home to give her free samples to her "rich patient" (a case of misplaced sense of duty ) in the middle of the party instead of enjoying the party as anyone else . Cant we be empathic yet in touch with our times . Shall we ?

How old are you ? Movie cast manju warrier --movie review

I recently only wrote the films reflect the soceity especially good films . Manju warrier needs no introduction as she one of the best actresses who graced the silver screen . With a hiatus from the movies for almost 15 years thanks to her marriage with actor dileep it was a welcome comeback for her with this movie .

The movie tells the story of a small time wife of a small time guy . The storyline initially is typical of the strong woman in college who settles into a small job and a family woman and who lets all her dreams hover around her husband and child . They dream about a life abroad and do their best to achieve that goal . But small incidents take place in their life which has a lasting impact on her perception on life .

The story is inspiring and very relevant . It has a message to every woman especially in their 30s and 40s .. Very realistic and summed many of my blogs together . Manju warrier has acted quite well given her more than a decade long career break . And if i say the movie is a bit personal for her too refer her personal life too from recent malayalam magazines and the internet .

A detailed analysis of the movie cannot be done at this stage without giving spoilers so stopping for now ..And lastly she looks gorgeous now more than when she was younger .. :) See the movie .. Recommended for any woman including the "new age" generation as facebook , skype and parent-child relationship is also touched in it . And for men too who value or dont value their women ...

doctors and clinical establishments act

Monisha Unni was a beautiful and talented actress in kerala . She did many great movies but her career was cut short by a tragic "accident " in kerala . Her vehicle hit an unmarked divider on our infamous roads and she died instantly. Decade has passed since her death and standards of kerala roads are pathetic still and so many people still lose their life in our roads and even the neighbouring tamil nadu has much better roads .This is just to illustrate that kerala is unique in having lots of rules (like putting reflector on divider ) but rules are mainly to harass people and incessant debate but not of any practical public good

The state of our government medical colleges are at par with other government medical colleges in india . They do a good job considering the massive amounts of patients they cater to but still due to "poor infrastructure " and a host of other reasons people still are on the floor often , some get cross infections etc . The private sector with all their alleged business tactics which the public feel they do , give very good treatment often but still people feel they should be punished because they fleece them . Investing crores of medical equipment they are cruel to pass on that to the patients instead of doing charity work . I have blogged earlier on people spending thousands on sarees while cribbing and badmouthing private hospitals for billing them .

Its in this scenario that the government is introducing clinical establishments act . Its great to know that the government is taking steps to ensure that healthcare is delivered to standards . That is not only important for the votebank but a fundamental responsibility . But in a corrupt nation like ours how far should we aim for standards . And who should oversee the standards . ? Kerala is world renowned for healthcare standards compared to rest of india .. there is even a so called kerala model . Of course that model doesnt include the patients in the floor of "government " hospitals .

The rules in the act is extensive and many of the clauses are impractical when read by any healthcare personnel . It primarily targets smaller practitioners who have smaller establishments which do a decent job of patient care with decent levels of cleanliness , decent level of cost and decent level of patient comfort . As both a doctor as well as a patient (i too get occasional small illnesses being a human being ) i know most of the clinics adhere to reasonable standards . Of course they may not be the world class standards of a Mayo clinic . And spending a paltry 2-3 dollars for a drs consultation an average intelligent patient should not expect Mayo levels of standards but still they get excellent individualised care at these clinics .

An extensive discussion of this and talking about the private doctors who are forced to remain in a thankless profession is beyond this blogs scope (i have and will blog on this later ) . But for the time being its high time that the people, not the doctors ,realise that many of the overzealous management of the profession by non professionals will ultimately harm them . % years down the line you will consult the same doctor in a big corporate hospital and you may even have to take a personal loan and cry loudly at the bill . And unfortunately that same doctor will be helpless to help you cos then he would be just an employee ...

my first patient ... on pets

It was with great hope that i put the fish hook into our pond when i was maybe 9 years old . But instead of a fish what caught the hook was a tortoise . Those who know the hide and seek behaviour of tortoise head knows how difficult it is to remove the hook from it . But i tried and succeeded in removing the hook and released the tortoise . Though a slow animal it has powerful jaws and a bite from it can crush bone .Still it cooperated in the "surgery " .

This was not my first animal encounter . I had a dotted cow as my pet when i was a child and with its pointed horns was very scary . But still i used to feed it plantain skin and it used to eat from my hand . It used to roam free in the huge compound of our ancestral home and people were a little scared of it as it had the sharpest horns among the 3 cows there . But children and animals almost always get along cos they both are uninhibited and have unconditional love .

Though i dont have the memory (except my fathers description ) at the age of 2 or 3 i used to put my hand in the mouth of the big german shepherd dog of one of my great aunts . I would beleive it because as recent as 4 years back in mumbai when i was "introduced " to a rottweiler , mastiff and boxer (all fully grown ) of my friend i could sit still when it sniffed my neck . Within a few minutes the rottweiler became my friend and even allowed me to stroke its belly .

Due to conditions at home (they say its difficult enough to bring up a child and teenager like me ) i couldnt have a pet except for some pets at ancestral home which i visited during vacations . But recently got a guinea pig as pet . (again ancestral home ) . Though the internet says it wont bite it was with a little fear that i put my hand in its cage . In strange environments animals do bite if we are not cautious in initial days . But on the second day itself it allowed me to touch it and stroke it and today am holding it and feeding it . Luckily unlike me the guinea pig didnt browse internet and learn the proper manners with strangers .

Its the truth .. Gut feel ,unconditional love and body language and lack of hypocrisy is the realm of animals , young children and a few adults . Luckily even my adult friends belong to that category ..

So since tortoises live long enough more than most humans (i think 200 years ) .. i still hope my first patient is alive somewhere .

paradoxes of love songs

Yeh zindagi usi ki hai Jo kisi ka ho gaya pyaar hi me kho gaya Yeh zindagi usi ki hai

Who has sang this beautiful song from Anarkali ? She has sang for almost all the actresses of hindi film and is called the nightingale of india . She is none other than Lata Mangeshkar one of the or rather the most melodious of indian singers immortalised by her love songs . As anyone in art knows to sing soul renderingly you have to give soul to the music while singing . There is no paradox in Lata Mangeshkar singing love songs for past 70+ years except that she is single .

Now how did i pick it up . Those who follow my blogs know that im voyeuristic when one category is involved : famous people . I read their biographies online . Now before speculations and further analysis lets stop our black and white thinking of single life and go to another famous person .

Dil saa jab saathi paya Bechaini bhi woh saath le aaya" (When I found someone like my heart He also brought sorrow with him)

Known for her poetry as above but much more known for her acting she is also a paradox . Meena Kumari , the actress , who portrayed great roles of love in movies but who had an equally tragic married life . She died of liver cirrhosis brought on by heavy drinking after a tumultous married life . A happily single woman she married Kamal Amrohi and the marriage was unhappy and ended in divorce and her premature death due to heavy drinking .

No no i am not a cynic taking out and presenting the paradoxes in personal life of some celebrities . But seeing updates of my childhood beautiful woman in television Suchitra Krishnamoorthy , the blog of the pretty girl Heera Rajagopal (film Nirnayam ), and countless others i cannot but briefly wonder about the paradoxes of love .

And the real life narrations of the happily single , unhappily single , happily married and unhappily married among my small but wide circle of friends ( they do talk to me on a deeper level ) i wont say philosophically that love is an enigma . When marriages of long duration break up and some join the "single " world (seeing these days ) then too i wont say love is an enigma . I only say hold onto the love you have and cherish it and try to find it if you dont have it this moment ..

the bold and the beautiful ...NOT the serial long time back in tv

Recently i was asked how i write my blogs . Its natural to think that i search for topics spend lots of time researching it and then write . But frankly these days topics just come to me with lot of happenings going around . Of course my daily reading on various topics help too .

As latest as today after my breakfast heard a thing. A girl from our conservative soceity doing the unthinkable . Getting married to a person from another religion . The pottu or bindi she put in her profile pic though outwardly was a sign of defiance to her religion was more importantly a sign asserting her freedom to choose her spouse . Of cousre many religions have strict codes which say there will be punishment in the nether world if you marry thus , these days youngsters are more interested in following their heart . And as i have wrote in an earlier blog an interreligious marriage is the ultimate cure for all religious intolerance . Because when your son or son in law is from another religion however hostile you are , one part of you will hold back .

The same breakfast conversation led to me witnessing a debate between generations . Two women of two generations were telling their viewpoints about another womans life decisions . It was interesting to hear it . A particular educated woman walked out of her marriage due to the extramarital affair of her husband . The argument was that she should have stayed in the relationship inspite of the breach of trust . According to the elder lady saving the marriage was more important than the loss of self esteem of tolerating a husband who betrayed trust . The younger one was arguing that its a no brainer that she was very right in walking out and that too she should have remarried to a better person inspite of having kids from the former alliance .

With all the "complaints " about the younger generation i do find their honesty with themselves and with others and their less hypocritical outlook to life exciting . As i always believe its women of a generation itself who created their own troubles to some extent . Trying too hard to save a marriage and in the process losing out on their companionship , tolerating abusive husbands who sometimes even have a wife equivalent outside the home are all the older generation of indian womans legacy . Though a man , i find it ethical when the youngsters rebel against this one sided ethics . Of course the multifold increase in divorces as well as interreligious marriages are worrying to the soceity at large . But just like the pain of labour arent they the pain we as a soceity have to bear for a better soceity where companionship and interreligious tolerance is the basis of relationships ..

Pulsar 200NS bike review

I was reading through the question and answer session of a popular bike online site and though compassionate (am i ? ) i couldnt help laughing .. Question was .. Sir , I have a wife and a small daughter and which one should i choose KTM duke , Honda CBR or pulsar 200 NS .. I will be using it mainly for city commute with occasional highway ...

Anyone can buy any bike but this question was too much . Unlike a lamborgini its not safe for a 2 year old to be wedged between husband and wife in a sportsbike which is designed primarily for single ride and if at all a medium built agile rear passenger ..

Thanks to bajaj company and pulsar series now we have affordable bikes which can be used sportily yet can be used in day to day use . After some review searching as usual i bought a bajaj pulsar 200NS where NS stands for naked sports . Just like family name it is to show that it is designed primarily for sportiness , naked cos its not fully fared with all the extra plates on the side .

The bike is tall and looks beautiful with the contours oozing sex appeal rather sports appeal . With the big fuel tank and sloping rear seat and the liquid cooling mechanisms it definitely turned attention especially when it passed the sports enthusiasts territories in the city . Its a tad bit difficult to climb in compared to my previous bike pulsar 150 but thats expected considering its difficult even to climb a horse :)

The engine with its 23 bhp and sub 20 Nm torque is really good . I was especially impressed by its low end torque and it pulls effortlessly . I often felt the roads were inadequate for its acceleration . It has 6 gears compared to pulsar 150 (which has 5 only ) . Gear shifting is smooth though not ultrasmooth . Dont have to downshift too much unless speed is very low . Mainly because i dont speed in busy roads and also because its run in period of engine i drive fairly sedately now .

But when a KTM duke and Honda CBR came close yesterday i just gave a small unleashing (of course within speed limit ) and was amazed at the response . At 2/3 of price of a honda or a KTM duke its a real bargain especially if you are using it for sedate driving also ..

The suspension is stiffer but nowhere as stiff as KTM duke and thats important in indian driving conditions . I sometimes think about pulsar 200 NS like a presentable aishwarya Rai who both walks the ramp as well as goes shopping for you in weekdays .. KTM is like marilyn monroe .. Sorry .. its a bike review so back again ..

Tachometer is analog and speedo is digital .. Front and rear discs are pretty good . Mileage didnt check so far as its new but should give around 35 km per litre . Forgot the handling . With a small knee recess , the lack of central stand , the silencer shifted down and weight kept within 145 kg uniformly handling is superb .

In short for the excellent power to weight ratio and power to money paid ratio pulsar 200 NS is a good bet . My limited experience of less than a week . Again compared to my older bike this bike has a high pillion seat which is also fitting only an agile rear passenger . .. I donno whether to test the hard braking with a pillion rider or solo ride .. Time will tell :)