Musings Own Thoughts

India as a nation in 2012, after 65 years of existence chooses to punish and execute, by due process of law an ignorant, uneducated and indoctrinated terrorist in a clandestine hush hush manner. To top it all, its educated ministers gloat about it and back slap themselves and our home minister leads us to believe that he decided a month back on the date and chose not to inform the PM or the super mom PM about this decision. Executing terrorists was a routine occurrence and part of his daily chores as home minister. If all this does not qualify to be called bizarre and absurd, then the contention that the Government can escape its fate in Parliament on burning issues like FDI in retail etc. takes the cake. Also the eagerness of our government to take on Narendra Modi and beating their breast and proclaiming "I am macho man"  coz. I hanged Ajmal Kasab (a radical animal like man who was unrepentant and thought that he had been conferred his ticket to heaven). A matur...

THE GREATER COMMON GOOD Renunciation, sacrifice, living for others, giving up individual rights for the benefit of society are the different terms used and abused by those in power all over the world. A few days ago the Supreme Court used this phrase in the context of the judicial reference made to it in the 2G spectrum allocation case. The basic question that needs to be answered is that in a welfare democratic state where inequalities exist, should the Government intervene for the welfare of the disadvantaged? If the answer is yes as our leaders with socialistic leanings from the Nehru-Gandhi era thought, then why did the welfare state go horribly wrong? The next question that needs to be answered is can the state allow market forces to rule the roost and believe that such market driven GDP measured growth will benefit the poor by the so called “trickle down theory”? The last question to be asked is that are the present policies favouring corporate India at the cost ...

It is a quirk of fate or a sign from the celestial that India saw two judgements pronounced on the same day, supreme court giving the verdict on the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and the Gujarat courts giving a verdict on Dr Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi. Both courts found the accused guilty and deserving the maximum punishment there are many similarities and differences between both actions. Both crimes were committed in the name of religion, but both crimes could never be considered as religious acts, by even the wildest stretch of imagination. Both of them represented their masters, who conspired to get their foot soldiers to kill indiscriminately and brutally persons of a particular religion who were defenceless and innocent bystanders. While Kasab claimed that the crimes committed in Gujarat gave him enough reason to do what he did, the Gujarat accused claim that act of burning Kar sewaks in Godhra prompted them to do what they did. Fundamentalist attitudes fe...

I have just returned from the funeral of our beloved teacher Dr. Jamshed Taraporvala. He appeared a pale fragile figure a shadow of the ever smiling, young "buddha" that we fondly called him in our JJ days.  I have known him and learnt from him from my undergraduate  days where his anecdotal description of conditions like frozen shoulder remained etched in our memories. Then when fate destined that I specialize in Orthopedics, my colleague chose unit II over unit I in JJ enabling me to work under JCT directly. Grand rounds were an event lasting 4 hours on Wednesdays, with every patients problems discussed threadbare, the levels of academic discussion reaching high academic levels meant for exam going students and also catering to fresh housemen like me. The importance of treating patients ethically and giving the correct management without succumbing to the temptation of operating just to learn was firmly imparted to young knife happy youngsters. Conservative treatment...

All cliche ridden superlatives can fit the man who passed away and while he was there he was fondly remembered by  the generation which grew up seeing him, but in his death the magnitude of media coverage has left many youngsters dumb struck. Recently we have lost quite a few actors, but their death got the usual stories and a few movies, but i think the way Rajesh Khanna is being relived on screen is certainly more than our wildest imagination. By today's requirements, Kaka was a mis fit. He had no great physique, height or dancing ability, but he had expression and emoting capability which none of the contemporary  Khans, Kapoors or Roshans or Hashmis have. His style, mannerisms and looks spawned a generation which lived and died with each nuance and expression he immortalized on screen. While many thought that he had limited acting ability and a stereo typed acting style, i beg to differ cause his range of movies covered the masala romantic magic along with really meaningf...

Well this attempt by CNN-IBN to select/elect the greatest Indian after Gandhi has been on my mind for a while. A tacit acknowledgement that Gandhi was the greatest Indian, itself has been a bone of contention for some in this country. Since a bench mark has been set we are obliged to  compare the contenders with the standards set by the Mahatma. For me the greatness of the Mahatma was in the complete harmony in thought word and deed. The steadfast adherence to the values of truth and non-violence along with the basic principle of giving more importance to the means adopted to reach the goals over the goals itself. Coupled with all this, he was a shrewd tactician and a street smart politician who out witted seasoned opponents. He had the humility to listen to his bitterest critics and accommodate their views and even admit his own mistakes. And in the context of our times, Gandhi's concept of wealth accumulation for the cause and holding it as trustee is extremely important to me. ...

Aamir Khan's last episode of Satyameva Jayate dealing with unethical medical practice has raised the hackles of many of my medical friends, especially the younger generation. However, much against the tide, I will rise to Aamir's defense. While using celebrity status for social reform is in itself a debatable issue, I endorse it and found most of my friends doing the same when they perceived the issue to be clear cut good vs evil as in the case of the issues of female foeticide, child abuse and dowry. The pattern of the show is very structured and reflects the method actor image that Aamir possesses. He first defines the issue, which he carefully did and gave the clear distinction between negligence and unethical practice and focused solely on the latter. He usually starts by shocking the audience with near unbelievable and extreme examples of atrocities. Then he tries to give facts and figures hitherto unknown and which prove the seriousness of the problem. He follows that wi...

Yes and I state that high tech. investigative medicine has in many cases taken over clinical medicine and in some cases caused irreversible damage to both the medical practitioner and the patient. The topic of this debate is actually most appropriate and relevant to my present status as a teacher in a new budding post graduate training institute. All these years I have worked in mgm hospital. Working in this hospital is like working with one hand and foot tied. We have been told to deliver 21st century patient care using vintage equipment and facilities. Despite that most of us have made a success of our work thanks to our clinical skills. What we lacked in equipment we made up by keen observation, thorough examination, compassion and care for patient and experience. Our work in MGM has enabled many of us to become better physicians in outside hospitals where we work. With the advent of medical students since last year, I along with my senior colleagues have become painful...

My family and me went to Thailand on March 29 to April 8, 2012. Some musings and observations. While we all thought our Mumbai airport privatized is world class we were relegated to gate 1A terminal 2 from which some low profile air flights depart. There were mosquitoes galore, and we did not know what to mind our boarding passes or our bodies. The opening of the BKK airways plane with mosquito repellant spray could not quite repel the resilient pests from Mumbai who were determined to take a free ride to Bangkok. Why do airways serve dinner at 2am?? Just to feed us and mark as fed. Why does hindu veg meal always have paneer? Vegans of the world must start a petition to serve us vegan meals every flight. All over the world immigration officers are glum stern and slow. Security in Thailand is very tight too. We went to Phuket, pronounced Pooket and not Fuket to avoid any double entendre. Tourist destinations all over the world are same, full of touts like our own Go...

I have been watching the debate on the Railway budget over the last two days. I cannot point a single media channel or speaker speaking on the merits of the issues at hand. While in all cases the India inc. representing corporate India and the eager to identify with the rich "aspirational middle class" hog the media limelight and claim that the "jholawallas" by any name reds or TMCites are on opposite sides, the big question is does this government or any care for the national carrier the railways. I am not an economist well versed with the nuances of budget making, however it seems a fact that the railways being a cheap mode of transport has come at this price over the years by the massive concessions offered to the public at large. On the other hand the services and safety aspects have been given a short shrift and today the number of accidents and deaths are reaching unacceptable numbers. Daily loss of lives on the Mumbai suburban network alone is about ten. The...

A lot will be said about Rahul Dravid but personally I feel sad that he did not go on a performance high, but he left with his head held high and dignity intact. I will say Rahul was the "Maryada Purshottam" of Indian cricket and was idealism personified. I cannot think of a single occasion when Dravid could be faulted for his conduct. He was the guy all India loved. For the mothers he represented the ideal son, for the chicks the dependable type of guy who they could have as a partner, for the youth the brother they could only dream of having, for his peers and colleagues the person to emulate. For the purist he was a joy to watch. Yet he was fallible, failed at times but always got up to rediscover himself. Even today I feel that he could have fought on and even if he was dropped would have tried to make a comeback. Like a true Karmayogi he did his duty and performed to achieve results but maintained his equanimity at all times. There was a phase in his career where a yo...