Musings Own Thoughts

All transactions in life have a purpose and we are looking to any interaction to get the maximum out of the interaction for oneself. So we maximise profit, pleasure and power for ourselves thinking that since life is short and the more we get out of it the better. However, life teaches us that the maximum profit, pleasure and real power come from double thank you moments.  Capitalism defines double thank you moment as one in which both the buyer and the seller thank each other because both are benefited by the interaction and both because of the benefit accruing to each other say a genuine heartfelt thank you to each other. So can we have consistent double thank you moments in healthcare as far as the hospital is concerned. Contrary to the oft held belief that profit comes from reduced costs and increased prices the truth is that profit comes a combination of a cure for an ailment which is the primary objective of healthcare and a pleasant experience which can certainly create the doub

  Today I would like to write this blog based on stray thoughts based on my own notions or what are perceived by society of rights and obligations.  The pictures above tell a story Primary Healthcare, modern healthcare and free healthcare nations. We need weave our blog around these areas if we want to get any conclusions.  While I am not a welfarist socialist who will say that the almighty state which is the coercive tax collecting behemoth, is bound to provide free healthcare without any limitations, nor am I a free marketeer saying fend for yourself and you get what you deserve. Even as I see that contrary to one's expectations the green areas on the world map providing free care is bit larger or almost the same as that with no free healthcare. The mixed map of some free and some pain in which India is seen is the smallest group.  To my mind health and healthcare are both a right and responsibility for the simple reason that the variables which determine the state of a person

 

 Productivity and convenience are always desirable. As a relatively old hag, I am discovering the power of ChatGPT and realising its potential in reducing drudgery and hours focussing on figuring out use different language models for specific purposes. Honestly, I see no harm in using these in general as all of us are not experts in writing letters and appropriate salutations. Deriving these from LLM's Large Language Models which I guess are generating these responses is no different from use of algorithms to read Electrocardiograms, Radiographs and even EMG, EEG and Halter Records to quickly give an interpretation.  I have seen recently the power of ChatGPT and just a generation back we were fascinated by the search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and others we seem to now feel the same fascination about ChatGPT. The vital difference between search engines and ChatGPT is as follows. Search engines give many results from most specific and relevant to less specific based on search

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast everyday of the week". This is a famous quote from Management Guru and person who is known as one who laid down the principles of Modern Management Theories. He was known for the famous theory of Management by Objectives. In simple terms it defines the mission and objectives of the organization in very clear terms. Then it ensures it communicates the same to every employee. This in turn needs to be monitored and measured by performance. These performances attract rewards and create fresh objectives. This is theory but if this blog was all about theory then I should not be writing it at all.  In my experience it is very important that fundamentally the leadership defines the objectives of an organization and create a strategy based on the same.  In my experience when I was entrusted with the leadership of a hospital, I was not given a clear statement of objectives, accept a loose statement "Your Health Our Mission". I was told by

  As a person who has made an effort to study Vedanta I have found it extremely hard to put Vedanta into practice at all times. The equanimity required in the face adversity of any kind is difficult to attain and but all efforts in this direction will gradually and imperceptibly find fruit. The topic of this blog arises based on the fact that new situations and challenges in the face of the rapidly changing surroundings can make the mind play tricks.  At many stages in life especially in mine I have faced doubts in my abilities to tread a path which is different from the routine. This was so when I was given the job to head an over 100 year hospital, without any previous experience. Human beings are creatures of habit who like predictability and reasonable order but this is not the case and my generation needs to constantly reinvent itself. I distinctly remember that in 1975 when I joined Science college I was introduced to a book by Alvin Toffler called Future Shock, which professed t

 BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate and it is defined as the amount of energy required to carry out basic functions like breathing and keeping your heart beating. So it is a measure based on a formula.  Is this relevant to this blog  the answer is Yes and No as BMR seems quite complicated and has no practical value. But this acronym was a short form for "Basics me raada". We meant that students of studious nature always try to give high flown complicated answers to simple problems without understanding the basics. For medical graduates from Mumbai this was applicable to students of the top ranking medical college Seth GS Medical college and KEM Hospital when compared with us lesser mortals from Grant Medical College and JJ hospital.  The reason for choosing this topic is that increasingly we are facing a problem in all fields of life where the packaging of ideas concepts and theories take precedence over the practical aspects of getting things right from the bottom grass roo

 This is a very tough topic to write on and the title of this blog is based on the title of two books Whole numbers half truths which I have read a while ago and another book Private Truth Public lies which I have read a summary of without reading it on account of it being a book published in 1997 and it being a bit expensive to buy.  A fundamental flaw of human beings is our propensity to judge people instantly and see them based on our own belief systems and preferences. Besides this our upbringing environment and the present climate of fake news and spread of lies makes this exercise of sifting the truth from falsehood a difficult if not impossible task.  Another difficulty lies in the unalienable fact that the search engines and google algorithms feed us what we want to hear and there is no way of verifying the truth in this complex world. Data is the new oil is the oft repeated slogan heard in the present day and the data scientist who can analyze this without putting on a glass o

I think that this phrase is often quoted with respect to people who are respected in society for their higher qualities. The words we hear are What a great person is so and so and yet see how simply he lives his life. This suggests that greatness in thought does not go along with simplicity in living.  If I were to ask randomly individuals how do they define Simple Living the answers will vary with most persons in terms of weather simple living is seen as austerity,uncomplicated relationships or even passive existence. Similarly High Thinking the answers will vary too. It may mean scholarly intellectual thought, value driven thinking or even type of thinking when one is high on spirits.  So in my quest to make sense of this phrase I searched the origin of this quotation if any. The name of Mahatma Gandhi came on top and the Bhagavad Gita. I wonder weather it was the Google algorithm related to my browsing history that created this. On a deeper dive this was a saying from the Autobiogra

 Today in this blog I am attempting to write about Dr. Burjorji Antia, Senior Partner and Solicitor of Mulla & Mulla Craigie Blunt and Caroe a Solicitor firm located in Mumbai in a building called Mulla House in the precincts of the iconic Flora Fountain Building. As a person from the medical field I never knew Dr. Antia and even as my father was a small time lawyer the world of solicitors and lawyers of this kind and their daunting offices were for me another world.  In the mid nineties as an Orthopedic surgeon struggling to establish practice the easiest thing was to take an attachment to Parsi General Hospital where I was potentially given an opportunity to treat and admit Parsee patients. For non Parsee patients I was told by my colleagues to get an attachment to Masina Hospital in Byculla which was considered a very old and ordinary hospital with a crumbling infrastructure and very basic equipment. In the pregoogle era Mr. Burjor Antia for me was an unknown writer a scholar of