Forbidden Fruit

Me : So how is it in the hospital? must be full fun na..
Friend : No yaar, gets boring max times.. we're not allowed to do anything major, just assist the docs.. (talks more similar stuff, indicating that internship in a hospital is not really that much fun!)
Me : So what exactly do you do these days?
Friend : I'm posted in anaesthesia, so we have to watch in the OT (operation theatre) how they induce it etc..
Me : Wow.. you know what - I have this crazy fantasy of going inside an OT someday!
Friend : Do you wanna come? You can come till I have my posting! My last day of posting is on Saturday, so this is really your last chance of doing something like this!
(There was a wide 100W smile on her face! And no, she wasn't insane!)
Me : Are you mad?! I mean, you can't really just take anyone inside the operation theatre, can you?!
Friend : Arre it's ok, no one cares! If anyone asks, just say you're an intern or extern, and they won't ask anything else!
Me : But they know you all, and so they'll easily know if someone is extra na? And what if they ask me to pass something to them - I don't even know the instruments and other stuff you use! They'll easily make out something is wrong! What if they ask for ID?
Friend : Arre no one is bothered, the docs and assistants are doing the surgery, and we'll just stay a bit back, and they rarely ask for our help - interns are not valued much re, so we're just watching things only, not doing anything at all - we read books, msg etc, inside the OT, so it's all a relaxed environment!
Me : But if they find out something like this, we both will be in trouble yaar!
Friend : They won't find out, and if they do, max they'll kick you out! Just stick with me, and do everything I do and nothing will happen.. My batch mate has smuggled one non-medico inside once before also!
Me : oh.. let's see..
(Except for the language and detailing, the convo is pretty accurate to what took place!)

This conversation took place between a medico friend and me last Wednesday. This was big - she was offering to covertly sneak me into an OT! Too tempting to resist; I did give in!

Yesterday morning, as decided, I met her at the hospital gate, and we drove inside, parked, and were walking towards the hospital building. In 10 mins, I was in a corridor, leading towards the OT area. We removed our shoes, and she took me to the MOT - some place where they just dump their bags, have cupboards etc - sort of like a retirement room. So far so good - in case someone doubted me, I could still just say that I've come to meet my friend and cook up some explanation as to why I was meeting her in the MOT and not the canteen! She then asked me to wait while she arranged for the OT gown, mask, cap and slippers. Ironically, and conveniently, all this became my cover for sneaking inside, rather than the patient's protection against infection! Now I was fitting in the crowd - no one could even see my face, and I could easily pass off as one of the interns. I just had to keep my mouth shut, and stay behind the crowd with my friend.


Then the guided tour started. We went straight inside an OT where a surgery was in progress. I was bit unsure at first, but everything was more reassuring in a few minutes. The surgeon and his team were quietly doing their job, the nurse assisting them, few interns simply sitting in some corner chatting, talking and texting on their phones etc.. It was true - no one cared or even noticed my presence! My friend and a couple of her friends started discussing something about the surgery and why it was done etc (there was a hilarious turn of understanding in some time, read ahead) She then told them I was a non-medico and they gave a surprised "aha?!" smile! I clicked a few pics of the room with my cell. I was watching the surgery on the LCD on the far wall, and at times going closer to the table and looking at it. I then asked my friend what it was all about. She said it was a vaginoplasty and that they were repairing and reconstructing that area etc.

Then after a while we went to the adjacent OT, where some poor guy was being operated upon for oral cancer or something, and they were operating his mouth and lip area. Funny part is, there was music playing in the OT - yes, music! either the radio or someone's cellphone was singing some hep hindi song! I couldn't resist laughing behind my mask!

We returned to the first OT. My friend and her colleagues picked up the case file and again started discussing something in little-understandable medico lingo! She came laughing towards me and spilt out the new understanding - the patient was a guy (!), who had testosterone intolerance, and hence his male organs were removed, and now they were constructing a vagina! She said even she hadn't seen such an operation before, and it was uncommon, if not very rare.

After sometime we went to see a couple of other patients being given anaesthesia prior to the surgery. One of them was an old woman and the other a young man. On the whole, the experience was great! One of the reasons, admittedly, is also that few people get to see the inside of an OT unless they are on the table themself (!), or are of medico background. Indeed forbidden fruit is sweetest!

Prayer to the rain gods!!

Firstly, for the record, I stand on the thin line between a theist and an atheist, or am rather an agnostic. (I'll leave it up to you to wiki for these terms!) However, I do have one strong prayer to make - to the rain gods, if any - please run a vacuum cleaner in the sky, for astronomers all over the world, amateur and professionals alike, would like to enjoy a grand celestial show this month! (Yes, of course the solar eclipse!)

This eclipse is the longest total solar eclipse that will occur in the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132.
The following is part of a pdf on NASA's website, showing the path of totality over a small part of western India, near Mumbai (click to enlarge). The totality band is around 250 km in width, and the time of totality increases as one approaches the central line of eclipse.
(Similar maps for other areas can be downloaded from NASA's website)

I am very excited about this eclipse, as it would be my first total solar eclipse; if the clouds don't decide to screw it up completely that is! To watch totality, a few friends from college and I are planning to go to a friend's home town, Nandurbar. It is supposedly a dry place year round, and does not receive heavy rainfall in the monsoon. Latest updates are that the sky is still pretty clear there, but we are all keeping our fingers crossed!

Forgiven, Not Forgotten

During 11th and 12th, or rather while preparing for the IIT-JEE, we had a great group of friends; still are, just that we have all scattered into different colleges and can't meet so often etc. Anyhow, back then, after we were done with all our exams, some of us had gone to Solapur for a few days, upon Abha's insistence, to stay at her place and have fun! We sure had a lot of it, and just one of those cool things was her brother showing us videos of a band- 'The Corrs'. We had all heard them for the first time, and more or less everyone liked it; the guys can attribute part of the liking to the pretty girls in the band! I recall vividly how Piyusha, Abha and I had instantly loved a couple of songs like 'So young' and 'Toss The Feathers'! Abha had probably heard them before, but was equally enthu this time around!

After the trip, I used to enjoy a few songs by the band, but didn't much care to listen carefully to their other songs. Today, about three years later, while simply trying to listen to 'different' songs than I usually enjoy, I came across a few more good songs by the same band. One of them, which I find very apt somehow, and people close to me will agree, is called 'Forgiven, Not Forgotten'.





(Yes, all the girls are pretty! The one singing is my favourite though!)

The lyrics are not much fancy, yet strike a chord, and the music is a bit soft in the beginning but picks up well after the first stanza.

All alone, staring on
Watching her life go by
When her days are grey
And her nights are black
Different shades of mundane
And the one-eyed furry toy that lies upon the bed
Has often heard her cry
And heard her whisper out a name long forgiven
But not forgotten

You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're not forgotten

A bleeding heart torn apart
Left on an icy grave
In their room where they once lay
Face to face
Nothing could get in their way
But now the memories of the man are haunting her days
And the craving never fades
She's still dreaming of the man long forgiven
But not forgotten

You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're not forgotten

Still alone, staring on
Wishing her life goodbye
As she goes searching for the man long forgiven
But not forgotten

You're forgiven, not forgotten,
You're forgiven, not forgotten,
.
.
.
You're not forgotten,
You're not forgotten,
No, you're not forgotten.