The end of Octobers..

So guys, 
We are at the end of October, with cold slowly sticking in. And since I am from Odisha, we also face our yearly quota of cyclones and low pressure rains to exaggerate the cold that is already spreading it's root. 
Why I am talking about it ? May be because these season changes are making me ill. Its been 5 days since I had cold and now only the dry cough is lingering on. The only respite would have been sun rays of the noon, which also have been snatched away by these low pressure cyclonic winds.

May be I am a little irritated and wanted to vent here, after avoiding my favorite junk foods, drinking plenty of kadhas (herbal mixtures) and all those allopathic medications at my disposal. Also working job isn't helping either..making me exposed to cold wind in morning or evening. Ohh, when will my dry cough subside? The throat is paining, difficult to talk, difficult to eat or sleep :(

Enough with my rants, just some words :)

End of Octobers,
bring the cold,
also the cyclonic winds,
make life little difficult.

Winter, a season... 
I want to welcome,
for I lay on my bed,
covered with blanket or shawls !

but I am not young,
Job being the priority,
so brings the hesitations,
also fear of chills of winter!

I caught the cold,
added with dry continuous cough,
irritating, frustrating...as it hurts,
making me run for medications.

So, I wait,
till it subsides,
have some warm drink and pills,
as I go home and sleep.

Drug resistant micro-organisms, the reasons

Hello friends,
Today I am going to discuss a topic related to antibiotic resistance. I am a medical microbiologist working in a corporate hospital, which mostly deals with critical care patients. 

Antibiotic resistance, is one of the greatest danger lurking around our community and most of us are unaware of it. Unless you face some medical emergency, you won't even care about it too. If there are 16-20 antibiotics used in hospitals, in most of the cases, we had seen a resistance of about 12-13 antibiotics in 70-80% of cases. 
What it meant to you all? If you get any serious illness, most antibiotics won't work on you, you need more expensive antibiotics and the cost of your stay is also more. These higher end antibiotics, being narrow spectrum, also affect adversely to your liver and kidneys, so doctors have to plan dosage regimen to keep it to minimum. 

Why is antibiotic resistance so prevalent in our country? A lot of reasons could be thought of;

1: Over the counter antibiotics used without doctors prescription. (by pharmacist or quacks)
2. Use of antibiotics even in viral or any other fever.
3. Over use of antibiotics ( killing of good bacteria of gut and proliferation of resistant bacteria in body)
4. Non compliance in using antibiotics (not following complete dosage regimen of 3-5 days)
5. Use of antibiotics by veterinary personnel (like poultry, goat, other animals and we take their meat)
6. Improper disposal of antibiotics ( by laboratories and hospitals, household antibiotics in drain, expired antibiotics in the river or water bodies)


What we eat, what we drink, is now filled with drug resistant microorganisms (bacteria and candida). And we are ourselves responsible for it, each one of us. There is no awareness, no facilities and no checks on these illegal activities happening in regular basis as no one cares.

Result? Even common illness are not treated by antibiotics and it will become bigger problem later.
Simple hospital stay or surgeries will make you prone to infection of hospital flora if strict aseptic measures not maintained.

What to do??
1. Only registered doctor prescription for getting antibiotics. Doctor will decide if your problem is bacterial illness or viral one.
2. Proper follow up of antibiotic use. ( if doctor says 5 days then have antibiotic for 5 days rather than stopping it midway.
3. Proper facilities in place for disposal of expired antibiotics, make people aware of it and strict punishment to those who discard it in river or community water bodies.
4. Regulation of antibiotics given to animals, be it fish, poultry or mammals.
5.Awareness campaign about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.
6. Use of narrow spectrum antibiotics in the primary level after discussion with medical microbiologist (if positive in culture and staining.)


That's all for today guys....hope you get some ideas about the danger of antibiotic resistance.

Interdependence

Human being are social animals. From ancient times, we lived in groups, families, following a set of work to contribute to the society. We worked hard to make our family safe, and climb the social ladder, to live a comfortable life. But it also means conservative lifestyle, ideologies with limited view of society. The ones with a different mindset were considered strange, fools or anti-socials.

Although, changing times bring more individuality within  the society as we thrive to live a more independent life. Which is a good thing, as it make people more aware of themselves and the surroundings. But then, it had also certain sacrifices, that come with these kind of independence. In most of the developed nations, people are getting more and more independent, and mature even in teenage years. Losing innocence as early becoming a fashion statement. More people want to life alone, separate from family, love and marriages are fleeting moments or phases. Elderly are more prone to live alone. 
It also bring more stress in life, as there is competition for achievements, enjoyments. Now, a laid back life, or spending company with family if scorned upon, or made fun of. More joint families are growing apart, along with familial discord. What are the reasons?

The bonds are breaking, which were formed out of trust and interdependence. As we shy away from reliance to family, relatives or friends...we become more and more alone. And our ideal friends or people who will care about us, are very hard to find. 
So, I ponder sometimes, what is the true path to follow. After all we can't live without interdependence, for we human are social animals;


Interdependence,
the invisible string,
that connects the people,
or gears interlocking,
keep the clock moving!

From ancient times,
the cycle of lives,
be it sadness or joy,
struggles and success,
seeking calm and peace.

The warmth of company,
sharing of pleasures,
or activities of ordinary, 
that keep them going,
with their limited intellects.

But then came, the era,
knowledge sinking in, 
the pursuit of curiosity,
bring out the awareness,
stretching those invisible strands.... for separations.

And now, as we see,
discords of the hearts,
the stress that it brings,
the charm of independence, 
scorns for interdependence..

So, I ponder,
which way its going to be!

My understanding on God in Hinduism

Whatever I would be speaking now is about my understanding of God after living a Hindu life. Also I would like to say, I am a man of science and try to see logic or reasoning behind anything.

I am a born in Hindu family, and worshiping many Gods is natural thing for us. How can be there, many gods? Well, for a Hindu which sees divinity in all people, its nothing different. From my understanding, we respect the wisdom of saints, even revere them as god because they were most close to attaining the status of god because of the knowledge and experience they have accumulated. Thus we have many saints, Rishis, many sects, belief systems which later became much bigger into religion.

So, again, why many gods....because even in Hindu belief, the actual god or supreme being that oversees the World has no form, all seeing, all knowing...so vast that, there is no one way of reaching him. (we call it MahaShiva, MahaVishnu, Parambrahma depending on the sects or thought process).

Thus, this vastness of universe were overseen by spiritual beings or people who have attained that level of spirituality. This became the basis of many gods, and worshiping them for our normal livelihood.

Anything, anyone which help us connect to spirituality while living our lives in this materialistic world will be revered as god, if it also teaches us or creates a path towards divinity. 

Since there were million of people, we had many gods. {I would like to clarify here, 33 crore devi devta does not mean 3.3 billion gods or goddesses, rather 33 type of demigods that were prevalent in prayers at that time}. 
Each people follow their own god or divinity and we accept it as long as that path lead to god, or the divine force and in the process, also make them spiritually refined. 


Confused? I was too...but let just say, the supreme being be a cluster of photon ( infinitely large one), and a time came when parts of it were spread out. The world was formed, living being came to be, finally human came. 
Now, we have a concept of Karma...for our actions we will reap benefits or punishments sooner or later. It could be day, month, years, afterlife or after reincarnation. The concept of reincarnation is essential in Hinduism.

Human are considered most closest to god, because they can think spiritually.  But no one can reincarnate to one. From small insects to Human being, it takes millions of cycle of birth and death. What does that means? The soul (let say photons) are getting refined with all the experiences they get in life and the action they do. 

From human, more they become spiritual, more they become closer to the supreme being and when their soul ( read photon) became most refined, they get assimilated into the supreme being and that's what we call attaining Moksha. Thus we have terms like Paramatma (Supreme soul) or Parameswar ( Supreme God) for naming 'Supreme being.'

So friends follow any religion, any path...no matter what you do, sooner or later people will get Moksha but your actions/ Karma will define the path filled to flowers or thorn. You may reincarnate into a life of struggle if you do bad karma (for example,  which is against the values of live and let live ). 
*And by religion and concept of God...this reasoning connects with me most.


Finally I would say this, remember if your religion preaches God is only for human and deny the presence of other living beings, then its not a religion of god.

And for others, live you life as you please, follow your belief system, gain experiences, let your actions be good for you and others. You will have no problem reaching god even if you want or not. ;)


PS: I have taken some words from science to describe my understanding but that's for clarifying things and not making things equivalent. ( like photon and soul)

To connect

I just had this desire to connect to new peoples and know more about the world. I used to chat a lot in my early internet days during school time but eventually it all got lost in my quest for education, social stability from my academic achievements.

It's never late to start something new, to chat online or visit new places and someday I really want to do the same. In online chats, most of netizens are teenagers and young adults, which does make it a little awkward. Still, I can hope that I might learn or experience something new and make new friends.


To connect,
is what my heart desire,
something new, exciting,
widening my world view!

In this vastness,
till the horizon,
the more I look,
the more I want to know!

I might be nothing,
speck of sand on seashores,
waiting for the waves to come,
taking to unfamiliar places!


To connect,
might be my loneliness, 
as I thrive for society,
ones to share my interests!

Am I too lazy, 
or a bit cautious...
shyness or nervousness that hinder
to even take my first step!

So, I had kept it casual...
with little communications..
some reading, or browsing,
sharing of life experiences. 
....
.....

Still, I wish something more,
a heart desire.....to connect ?? :)

Veg, Non Veg or something more?

Hello friends,

Just a few days back, I was having some discussion with my laboratory technician about food. It starting with a simple comment on how great the weather is, and how he wished to have some mutton curry to go with it. When I commented that its Navratri time (9 days of worshiping or enjoying the festival of Goddess Durga), he acknowledged and didn't said any further. (Although, here in Bhubaneswar, Navratra is not a big festival).

But it made me recall a conversation I had with him about food habits in his village. He had said that he does not believe in specific days of abstinence from non veg foods in Hindu festivals like others and in his village, they regularly go for hunts of wild animal like wild boar, deer and enjoy their delicious meat. 

When I asked if forest officials didn't stop them, he answered that they hide and go in night. If they outnumber forest officials, they used to tie them and beat them. I was surprised by the way he naturally talk about doing something wrong or illegal. When I told him that he is wrong to do so, he said, its normal in villages near forests where they smuggle woods, hunt animals because they were poor. They had scanty food from small land they grew food and they need extra food which is easily provided from the forest. They disliked how forest officials stop them, so it was only their anger against them. I was taken aback, even if I knew he was wrong, I had nothing to say.

Now that I think of it, people have their need and I don't have any authority to stop them. But still, as a nature enthusiast, my concerns about the fate of animals, and forest itself, wanted him or such villages to stop such activities.


Coming to the topic, India is a primarily vegetarianism country where it's considered pious. Those who enjoy meat too, stick to veg meals during religious festivals, certain days like Monday, Thursday ( Hostels in Odisha strictly follow it) and some in Tuesday and Saturday depending on their beliefs. Majority of our diet consist of vegetarian food which indirectly promote conservation.

I personally support vegetarianism (not Vegan as they even avoid milk), even if it makes me a hypocrite ( as I enjoy occasional treats of chicken and prawn). I believe we should take food as necessity and not out of greed or pleasure. 

But then, like my technician, how many would believe in my opinions or thoughts?? They too have right to enjoy their food and have a healthy living!
We as a species are already putting lot of strain on the environment and its resources. We also believe in equal rights to all human being....then what should we do??


As a Nation it's our responsibility to have balanced growth and proper use of resources, how it's possible? I believe;
1: We need two child policy or one child policy in countries with highest population be it China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. 
2: We should have universal food for all ( which would need farmer support, purchasing and storing of food and proper distribution of food), so that they have no need to hunt or kill. 
3: For meat, strict rules to be followed for Animal husbandry and any kind of meat from wild animals be prohibited and guilty should be strongly punished. No excuses be heard as we are already providing food.
4: Promotion of Vegetarian food, Vegan food as a strong marketing basis.

Finally, there is a very thin line between Greed and Necessity and we need to make it clear. 
.
..
....
Is it about Veg, Non Veg or something more??

Attending a Conference

So, I went to this state conference to attend. It was a conference of Medical Microbiologists from the state, inviting speakers from other states. 

The speaker talked about Polio and its history, its path to eradication due to vaccines, obstacles and hiccups that it faced and the future course. While the symposium was about Mycology and its clinical importance (Fungal infections like Tinea, Keratitis, Mycetoma etc). Overall it was an interesting session.

I went there as faculty, (although the previous visitation as post graduate student was still fresh in my mind) and many of our teachers and guides were present in the conference. 
I was there to also present a poster about the works done at our hospital and how it helps in clinical cure of patients. Posters by faculties were mostly for sharing of experiences from their postings and I was excited to share the same.

I shared my experiences with my juniors, doctors who came to see the posters and waited for the evaluators / Judges to come and see my poster. 
The Poster presented the clinical application part of our subject. (Blood stream infections)
I was the last person to be evaluated (as I was the only faculty since others were post graduate students). 

Finally it was my turn and the judges saw my poster. I was preparing myself for the demonstration, but before I could explain my study, they started asking the basic theory like definitions, asked about veracity of the study. When I told them its a retrospective study ( studies done from the data provided from past year), they started questioning the study itself. 

I was disappointed, for their intention was more like showing faults and picking mistakes rather than understanding the study as a whole. They didn't even allowed me to tell them my perspectives and understanding about the subject. I work in a corporate hospital and understand the prejudice the medical college have. I also know that I might have been lacking too in some areas, still it was saddening.

The teachers in government medical colleges are so wired to see only faults that they ignore the larger cause. I wanted to display the practical applications of microbiology in clinical set up, but I was confined to bookish definitions and validations. 

How can you learn and grow, if you only see faults and mistakes and ignore or even discourage people to tell what they know?? ( Still I hope its my own opinions but my experiences in medical college from postgraduate days tell me otherwise.)

Blind date with the world

This world is a vast place, 
with lots of culture...
and exquisite lifestyles. 

But what attract me most,
are great natural beauties,  
the charm of the scenery!

Be it rocky mountains, 
or the lush greenery, 
Canyons or creeks,
also caves with dark depth.

Be it alien world under the oceans, 
the swimming fishes and turtles,
or walking above the clouds, 
some experience unknown, hidden to us!!


So, I would go, 
see what the world has to offer, 
thrills of this adventure,
a blind date...... be it called.



#TheBlindList, #SayYesToTheWorld

Jack of all trades, master of none

Hello friends, just trying to write something, with my opinion on the phrase as the title suggests. Here it goes;

It was fun,
mingling with the buddies,
playing cricket or football,
having some casual talks.

Immersing self in novels,
or writing some blogs,
having small gatherings,
with snacks and carom.

Study with a goal,
getting average scores,
passing by as I go,
from one class to another.

I was in their groups,
but its being temporary,
as soon as got separated,
so stopped the communication.

I loved everything,
curious of the world,
developed multiple hobbies,
not one to invoke passion.

Then why I feel the void?
even though it was fulfilling,
what I failed to notice,
the one, that is missing.

I achieved a lot,
yet feel the melancholy,
dreams that never meant to be,
times that had to be jolly!

I learn a lot,
got many information,
expanded my knowledge,
also the virtual experiences....
but still I lack,be it any field,
yesteryear, all that's gone, 
mocking whisper, accusing me being......
jack of all trade, master of none!


Although there are some 'trades' (experiences), that I never had. But then, not many out there have lived their life fully and understood the various perspectives,or had many encounters, happenings.