A 2008 Round Up........

2008 ended sooner than i realized.....and today as i sit recalling the days gone by ....i realized it has been a year where i have learnt a lot ...both at work and in personal life.......At work i faced a challenge that i really didn't know how i will be tackling it. One fine morning i go to the hospital ( my old work place -Dawki) and i suddenly hear both my senior colleagues were being transfered out......and i was left to take charge over the whole PHC area. Things happened so fast the before i knew i was briefed about the work , papers were being signed and taking over charge was done.....my colleauges were given their Send Off party and i had four sub centres, 19 villages, 15 field staff, 17 hospital staff, a pile of file work, a number of health programmes , some already started , some which i had to conduct..... and with no knowledge what so ever of running a Health Centre. All i knew was i had studied dentistry.....not how to run a PHC . I had no time to sit and brood over the happenings around me ......i needed to act and i needed to act fast. My other dentist friends told me just take leave and come home since it was not a job of a dentist to run a PHC......easier said than done but how could I do that ??? My conscience would not allow me . I had to do it ....at least try to do . Well i did. i sat down to do some home work first and by the end of the month i at least knew where i stood......and then slowly the programmes started ......the pulse polio prog. , the malarial spray prog, RKS, etc. and before i knew days passed into weeks .....weeks rolled into months and after about 8mths i had a new releiver who came and joined me and i handed over charge of the PHC happily to the new doctor. Nooo!!! i don't miss it nor do i want to be in his shoes. Am just happy taking care of the 32 little pearls. But it had given me a satisfaction that i atleast didn't turn away from my resposiblities and no doubt , i did learn a lot in those few months.It was a good experience.
Than came the biggest tragedy of my life......my father suffered a second stroke and this time never to recover .......it was the worst two months.....a period where i had to take some crucial decisions.....a time when the doctors told me the harsh truth......as they kept on reminding me " you are a doctor too ......you should understand and know the fact." Of course i am a doctor but here it was a daughter they were telling all those facts about and it was about her father. Not easy to digest ......inspite of knowing everything. My father finally left us. Though i was prepared mentally knowing his condition, he went when i was least expecting .......but he went in peace which made me happy for him. But his death hit me slowly when all the relatives left and things were quiet.......and till today i don't think i could come in terms with his death...... and it was with the loss of my father i started my very first blog......"Life is a Journey."
2008 also brought me in touch with my old school and college friends. It was lovely since they made an effort to come all the way to Shillong to meet me. I was touched. For few seconds we were like loss for words and silence said it all.
We parted with a promise to keep up with all the news specially now with the net, i suppose it would be much easier.
2008 was a year of friends. Especially after i started blogging......i have come to know many wonderful people. And today am reminded of a lovely saying ......." there are no strangers in this world .......only friends ready to be met "
And finally as the year was ending, i get my transfer order and before 2008 ended i joined my new place of work .....well things did happen last year.......some good ...some not so good ......but all is well that ends well!!!
Looking forward for a fruitful 2009. Keep Smiling !!!!

Closing of a Chapter........

After a tearful farewell in Dawki , i have joined in my new hospital and finally my things were shifted and arrived home. And today i recall my first day when i had gone to Dawki.....a fresh graduate , updated with the latest in dentistry, very enthusiastic and looking forward to my job , all eager to put to practice what ever i had mastered in college.....the best part was that here i would be my own boss. No more running over to the head of the department for every small permission. I could not wait to start off. I was given a quater and so brought my stuff what ever i would need to turn that little cold whitewashed 3 roomed place into a livible one. After all this was going to be my home for the next , God knows , how many years . And i did turn it into a very cozy home. I had a constant flow of visitors......my friends would come from far and near and spent a weekend......and would enjoy like no body's business. By the end of their stay , they would all leave recharged......lol. In the hospital , i started seeing patients and i remember they could not understand my language....so i thought , if i had to reach out to them , i needed to learn their local language......and i did . My teachers were all the kids in the area. I would spent hours with them and thats how i picked up the language and by the end of 6mths i could converse well enough with the patients. It was my first stay in a rural area.....i started observing their lifestyle.....their occupation.....their habits......well no where did dentistry figure in their life. How was i going to talk to them about cosmetic dentistry when some of them have never used a toothbrush in their lives. I suddenly realized i had a big challenge in front of me ......so all the classroom talks took a back seat. I had to get to the root problem first....create an awareness among them.,introduce them to dentistry. The hospital had many programmes. I got involved in them and when ever we had a health camp i saw to it that i could speak something to crowd about teeth.This paid off in a big way. But apart from that , I learnt a lot about rural life.....saw their hardships....saw the many elections where the candidate comes and makes promises and then forgotten for the next 5 yrs.I saw the simplicity of the people , their kindness, their trust on me, their warmness....all that they have given to me in the past years. I am grateful to each one of them. Today as i stand and bid them good bye , i could only say a thankyou to them.
A chapter has closed in my life........and whenever i open this page i would always recall my days here with fond memories.

Keep Me Safe Please.......

The Candle March today brought back fresh memories of that fateful night when the nightmare started. An sms was all that was needed to rob our sleep....Terror has struck Mumbai. And with it came back more memories.......the delhi blasts ....the gauhati blasts all in the past consecutive months....... the memory of the nine year old in delhi .......the children who lost their parents in gauhati...... the father who could never get out of the driver's seat.....the last phone call of a loved one still haunts us......well the list goes on.....what is the future???......when will the blame game stop?????...... what answer can we give to this young child when he asks why do we light candles here...... who are those people???......why do they hate us ????......and so many endless questions that arises in his little mind. And will we ever we able to give him any surety when he looks up to you and says with all innocence and hope "Keep me safe please ". Lets all join hands and work for a better future.....a safer future......a brighter future for the children of tomorrow.

The Box of Chocolates.......

One day a parcel arrived out of the blue and when I opened , it was a box of chocolates sent by my best friend specially for my son and I should admit that i did have a cub's share if not a lion's. It was a beautiful packet and i din't have the heart to throw the empty packet so i decided to add to my collection.....my own museum collection which goes back to my childhood days......i have all sorts of souveniers in it. What struck me most about the box was that it contained four little boxes which looked liked the trinklet box i have to keep my stuffs but here it contained far more precious gems . As i opened each of the small boxes , with the chocolates overflowed a lot of care , love , understanding and thoughtfulness. It was a priceless gift and words simply fall short when I want to say a thankyou.....but nevertheless here is a big THANKYOU....

Diwali.....The festival of lights.

This is one of my favorite festival.....Diwali .......the festival of lights. And here i often remember a hymn we learnt in school.......It was written by Sri Rabindranath Tagore and it goes something like this........."amidst your numberless stars.....let me place my own little lamp.....In the dance of your festival of lights ......My heart will throb and my life will be one with your smile....."!
I wish we could burn more candles in our everyday life and spread the spirit of brotherhood among our selves . Lets hope the light of our lamp enlighten us in every way and we do away with all the walls that we built around us built bridges instead. Let each lamp that we place in our homes signify the smile that we want to bring on every smileless face we see around us.And lets not wait for the next diwali to light another lamp.

A Pledge of a Friend.........taken from a diary

"I met you as a stranger

took you as a friend

hope we meet in paradise

where friendship never ends......"

"These are a few lines that often comes to my mind when i think of you my friend......we met by chance.......and the day i extended my hand of friendship to you......i had also pledged that i would try to be a good friend to you......i offer a frienship where i don't judge you .......but i try to see from your point of view......where after a fight we could still hold our hands and smile into each other......where in spite of no time we created time...... where other practicalities of life will never effect the genuinity of our friendship.....where in spite of the distance between us .........it could only take a second to reach when we were needed......where everything comes with an unconditional tag......where many a questions had no answers.......inspite of the fact that i know where i stand in your scale of friendship . I write this in my diary today and the day when i am gone, my dear friend, please know you meant a great deal to me. Thankyou for walking into my life...... I have tried to be a good friend to you and for all the times that i have failed you ....may i be forgiven."

This was a confession of a friend in his diary.........Well friendship sure is a very powerful relationship.....and i beleive in this institution very strongly because a friend is a gift from God and lucky are those who find a good friend in this fast paced world. A friend who knows you through and through and loves you all the same......unconditionally.

Freedom.....A bleak future

Just as we were recovering from the series of bomb blasts that shook the capital city and our country on the whole .....another went off and shook Tripura and the whole north eastern region .....and with it came the red alert all over the region. Suddenly the festive moods of the people fizzled off and even the coming of Goddess Durga could not lift up the spirit of the people in Shillong. Adding to it the rains were pouring non stop. People are suddenly apprehensive to hang around in crowded places......late nights were suddenly thought twice......young boys and girls were given dead lines to be home....the men in uniform were extra vigilant and in doing their duty were also constantly reminding the general public that all is not well in and around us.
I was in the capital on the 27th of sept. when another bomb blast shook the city where among the many , a young boy of 9 yrs lost his life.And I asked myself "did the young lad know that today would be the last day of his life when he got up in the morning......did he know that the hugg that he was getting from his mother was the last one.....did he know that he was having his last meal.....did he know that he was sleeping in his bed for the last time ......??????" There were no answers. what about all those people who have lost their loved ones ???? Its heart breaking when in a country like ours where Independence Day is celebrated with such pomp and show , that we are actually not free to even breathe the morning fresh air without thinking what the day has in store for us......as my friend rightfully said " when we get up in the train we don't know whether we will reach the destination?????" Sad !!!! How long will we be chained like this by our thoughts and fears?????? when will we walk with our head held high ???? When will we break free from all the narrow domestic walls that we built around us ??? When will we start judging a man for what he is ....and not by his caste, creed or relegion???? Is it fair to bring up our children in a world where we are plagued with such hipocrisy and where his life is so uncertain...????? And most important of all, will he know the true meaning of freedom which now looks so bleak.....???? Its a long road to freedom....a winding steep and high.......but when you walk in love with the wind on your wings and cover the earth with the song you sing .......the miles fly by...... (thats a little song that i learnt back in school).....and today i fully understand its meaning ......will our children.....the future of tomorrow..... get to cross all the miles and the stones that comes on their way and turn them into MILESTONES.....?????