Sikharpur days ( Mountain of west-The Waterfall-2)

White milky stream of water falling above them and deep pool underneath gave the kids ample opportunity to spread their wings. The warm sun rays were acting as support to them from the chilling cold water. It was loud, and fun as the guys were swimming in the pool while Lata near the shore where it was little shallow to her liking.

" Dhanush, check out my new move that I had learned from swimming in the village pond." saying so, Sambhu took a deep dive and remain inside for a while. Before Dhanush could realize, Sambhu jumped behind him.
" That was fats, how did you do that," Dhanush seemed surprised and admired his trick.

"Lata, take that..." Lochan threw handful of water to her face and laughed.
"What are you doing, go play with Sambhu...let me take my bath in peace.' Lata scolded Lochan, ' I wonder where is Parvati, It would have been fun if she was here."

With his mischief ignored, Lochan lost his interest and went towards the boys. Sambhu and Dhanush were having diving competition. Lochan joined them, though he was no match to them. Lata watched them from far, from her secure location. She had learned swimming but still remain cautious as she had promised her father.
" The guys are really having fun, and the waterfall looks great, I want to stand underneath it." Lata sighed while enjoying the view.
" The what is stopping you, go have fun." a soft whisper to her ear startled her. She looked back only to see Parvati standing there.
" Parvati, where have you been? We were so worried that you might get lost in unfamiliar place."  Lata said with a concerned voice.
" The way the guys are playing, they looked less worried about me," Parvati chuckled.
"Parvati..." Lata gave a fake pout, which make Parvati giggle more.
" No, no...I know you were worried as you are my best friend. But then...I can find you from above, is I ever get lost. Did you forget that I can fly?" Parvati sid with a smile.
" Yes..you can," Lata answered realizing the power of Parvati. The reason, the boys could play without concern was also because they believed in Parvati. But for her, she was a friend,  a young girl of her age. It makes her forget sometimes that the girl is actually a spirit, a being similar yet different form her.

" Why so gloomy face, I am still your friend. Also...I have a surprise for you all." Parvati said with a cryptic sound. But first, let me join the bath. I will take you towards the waterfall."

Parvati took Lata's hand and slowly moved towards the fall. The rocks were slippery at first, but later it become deeper and she swam freely with Parvati by her sides. The boys had drifted from the fall and were busy in their diving games. They hadn't realized Parvati's presence. It was magical for Lata as Parvati took her hand and slowly floated above her as they reached the fall. Lata felt the pressure of water falling from above which was partially diverted by Parvati for making it easier for Lata.
" It's great..thanks Parvati for you help." Lata shouted.
" Don't mentioned it. Now we can play here for a while. Parvati started diving and smimming around her. Before long, it was noon with sun above their head. The boys had already gone towards the shore and waiting for Lata to come. They saw Parvati with Lata and shouted them to return.
" Hey. Lata, Parvati....come back. Its getting hot out here." Dhanush called them back.
"Let's go back, Parvati, " Lata puuled Parvati's hand as she was immersed in her play.
" Alright, I am coming back." Parvati answered and both returned slowly with Parvati holding hands of Lata.

" Parvati, when you come back?" Sambhu asked her.
" Just when you were doing your monkey dive!" Parvati said with a mocking voice.
" What did you say..?" Sambhu was offended.

"Now, now..don't fight." Dhanush stopped the.
" Let's have our lunch...Uncle gave us some delicacies!" Lata said as a diversion.
" Yeah..I am so hungry for the play." Lochan said.

" Yes, the lunch..now I can have it freely." Parvati too spoke as she had to eat silently in the village as the children ate with their hosts.

" Yes, let's have it, then Parvati can share the surprise, she talked about," Lata was still curious about it.
" Surprise...what surprise?" Dhanush and Sambhu said in unison.

"Ahh, the surprise...I will tell you all about it.....prepare for it!!" Parvati said with her mysterious laugh.

The children were curious...

--------------- to be continued------------------

Luxury

Luxury,
the richness and comfort,
splendor of extravagance,
a lifetime of leisure.


Ah, world being the stage,
moving through the marketplace,
choices and preferences,
carefree, spending our days.

Being focused to out needs,
adding up to our greed,
we hangout, make merry,
cherishing with our breed.

Luxury indeed,
we live it out,
work and play,
life is all about.

Those silent screams,
desertion and despair,
being taken for granted,
obscured in the chaos.

Living in the bliss,
those loud noises,
the blinding brightness,
placed on their habitat.

Broken, torn in pieces,
poisoned, skewed faces,
captured or thrown out,
surrendered to their wishes!

Luxury indeed,
for, we don't matter,
everything you took,
that we had to offer.

Luxury,
virtue of knowledge,
convenience of facility,
diving into superfluity. 

Be it our innocence,
or lack of empathy,
reaction of competition,
or result of selfishness.

As long as we live,
expand as a species,
seeking out prosperity,
comfort of our facilities.

Fortunate we are,
for, we were cared,
our needs being met,
by devouring the resources.

Luxury,
longing of opulence,
living in excesses,
partaking nature resources.
But, we need awareness, 
for the sake of harmony,
who compensates our demands,
what's the price....of our luxury!!

Sikharpur days(Mountain of west-waterfall)

The path was continuous and straight as the children went back towards the road they took to come to the village.
" Narendra uncle told us that there is a small passage somewhere here?" asked Sambhu impatiently.
"It will come soon. Just keep your eyes open and look for the large Peepal tree." Dhanush answered.

Apparently, the nice sightseeing they wanted to have, was a famous waterfall of that village. They were early, so decided to have some adventure of their journey. The large peepal tree, as told by Narendra uncle, would be somewhere to their right and could be seen from the road.

"But I don't see any here," Sambhu complained as they walked through the dirt filled road.
" Why are you so impatient, just enjoy the walk!" Parvati commented as she flew from his side.
" You are the one to talk? Your feet is not even touching the ground!" Lochan protested.
"It's been a while that I went outside, let me have my fun!" Parvati ignored Lochan and laughed.

And so, the fight ensured as Lochan and Parvati started arguing. Dhanush tried to stop Lochan as Lata took hold of Parvati.
" Parvati, don't start a fight, we have a lot to cover!." Lata stated.
" Wait, do you hear something?" Dhanush pointed out.

Everyone stopped their activity and listened. Lata closed her eyes and moved her head towards the direction of the sound.

" It feels like bustling of the wind, from the dance of thousand leaves." Lata said,
" It's the Peepal tree, " Parvati said excitedly as she flew high to look for it. The children followed her. It was little far but withing reach.

The children found a small curve towards the right. It's smaller and hidden by bushes but a definite path as people had walked through it making it like a walkway.

"What did Narendra uncle told about the waterfall?" Sambhu asked.
" We have to take this path for half an hour and then turn left towards the rocky path above. It will take some time but then we will see it." Dhanush answered.

So, the children run as they have to save time too and now they have found their path. It was indeed as uncle told but they reached the rocky path earlier than expected. Now they had to be slower as it looked little dangerous for them to take. Parvati was in the front, followed by Sambhu and Lochan. Dhanush hold Lata's hand and slowly walked though the clearings away from obstructions

" Hah, ha, it's tiring,' Lochan said as he reached the top of the small hill, holding his knees and looked behind to see Sambhu and Dhanush slowly catching up. Parvati was circling around him.
" You all are so weak and slow," Parvati rued, " Let me go ahead and check around the place. It's towards this path?"
" Alright, you go ahead. I will come with Sambhu." Lochan replied.

"So, should we rest a little." Lata suggested.
Yes, I would like to have some." Dhanush said and he sat on a small rock while Lata settled on a patch of grass.
" Where's Parvati? I don't seee her here," Lata asked Lochan as he was the first to arrive.
" She went to explore the area.' Lochan answered, ' Should I go to find her?" Lochan had rested enough and wanted to go towards the waterfall.
" We will go together," Dhanush said firmly, as it was a unknown land, " Also, we could hear the sound of waterfall from here, it's near anyway."

It was prenoon and the children had rested enough. They decided to move, and Dhanush leaded the pack. As they finally reached their destination, they were greeted by sprinkles of water drops. The floor was slippery and in front of them was a big waterfall, with water reflecting as white, it looked like milk.
"It's magnificent, I have never seen something like this."Sambhu was in trance.
" Yeah, it's beautiful," Dhanush agreed as he saw the water falling from above.

" Everyone, be careful and watch your steps" Dhanush was in leader mode.
" Where is Parvati? " Lata asked.
" We will look for her later,' Sambhu said, ' first let's have a bath"

The children got excited and took out their clothes. Lata went to a small pond, as it was shallow and she could have little privacy.
The boys jump staight to the fall below. They were strong and confident. The pool below look deep and devoid of rocky formations, an ideal place to dive.

" It was great,' lochan shouted, ' its been a while that we had such a great bath"
" Yeah, let's have fun" Sambhu shouted back.

The noise of the fall was masking their sounds. But they didn't care as they laughed and shouted and played with water as much as they can.

------ to be continued-------

Infectious Syndromic Testing: The next step for diagnosis

Diagnosis of multiple pathogens in a single test: Saving time,  saving life

Clinical microbiology is transforming with the advent of newer technologies. Molecular technologies are opening up new avenues.  One of such technologies that came recently in the field of laboratory  diagnosis isFilmarray technology. It’s a nested multiplex PCR. 
It’s advantages are diagnosis of multiple pathogens involving diversity of organisms including Bacteria, Viruses, Fungus and Parasites. 

When a patient presents at a hospital, Clinician in a hospital expects from the Microbiological laboratory to diagnose the presence of infection, and report of the same as early as possible. Routine  diagnosis techniques are slow and takes hours to days to be reported.  But with the arrival of  Filmarray technologies, everything will change. The diagnosis of multiple organisms can be done in  60 minutes.  It’s a molecular study in a closed setup, preventing contamination and increasing the  specificity of the test. 

So, with the introduction of panels like 1)Respiratory and Pneumonia panel, 2)BCID panel for sepsis, 3)Meningitis and Encephalitis panel, 4) Gastrointestinal panels,  has revolutionized  the field of clinical microbiology and also helped in speedy detection of infectious pathogens.  This has prevented the guesswork, and lead to more accurate diagnosis of the same. Since the test has high sensitivity and specificity,  it helped in correct diagnosis of infections present and resistance genes to antibiotics if any, thus it is also used for antibiotic stewardship in the hospital.

Since it detects multiple pathogens in one single panel test, it also prevent the days lost in multiple diagnosis forum like conventional culture,  serology testings, and even PCR detection of single microorganism. There are many bacteria and viruses which can't be detected by any of these methods because of cost constraints, but are included in these panel, thus making it more easier to detect.

Finally, Molecular Diagnostic technologies are the future, as they are time saving and accurate. Though it's in nascent stage in Indian laboratory diagnosis scenario, but more and more hospitals are taking up these technologies to help detect infections. 
It's costlier than conventional diagnosis techniques but when one compare it with the total money spent in medical diagnosis and treatment,  length of hospital stay and resulting increase in morbidity and mortality of patients, it's the best option available today.