My culture is in my character and not in my clothes!

Come holidays & I begin to resemble a cave-dweller - disheveled, wearing old jeans & older T shirts, hair combed in a hurry (and this last only because my grandmother keeps comparing me to a pishaashi). 

One 'fine' day i was on my way to my dear library - my 2nd home these days - when i was accosted by a 'well-meaning' family acquaintance right in the middle of bustling Malleswaram. 

"Whaaaat happened to you?! Are you sick?!" he shrieked. 
"No Uncle! Why do you ask?" said I, trying to smile. 
"Look at you!! Walking on the streets wearing jeans & a T shirt!! No earrings also! And no bindi?!
Look girl. This is not done. How can you step out like this?? You look terrible without ear-studs. (well then i look terrible almost everyday, Uncle. -_- )  And does your mother know you go outside without wearing a bindi?! This is totally against our culture, child! Never do this again!" 

These last 2 sentences were delivered in such a high-pitched tone that everyone one the footpath stopped to stare at us - wondering what sin i had committed, perhaps. Mumbling some non-committal reply, I wished him a good day & scrambled away (almost right into the path of an oncoming 276 :P)

Later, however, back home in one piece, i began to think about what he'd said. 

Culture is NOT defined by the clothes one wears! And i have nothing against dressing ethnic - i love Indian wear, earrings & bindis too - just not all the time. 
Does that make me a bad person? 
Does that mean i'm 'against' our culture? 
Nope. 
I love & respect my culture. I also believe that one's culture is in one's character - not just in the way one dresses. One's culture is in respecting others - not just in one's appearance. One's culture is in working honestly & sincerely - not just in one's choice of clothes! One's culture is in knowing how to dress, when & where! 
Cheers. 

The Hospital

It has been said, 'A hospital sees more prayers, more tears, more joy, more anger, more peace, than any other place in the world.'
How true!
Not even a place of worship would see more fervent prayers...
Not even the departure or arrival lounges of an airport would see more tears - of sorrow AND happiness. For yes, while you see dozens of people sobbing in grief - you also see people shedding tears of joy & relief...
Nothing could come close to the joy you can witness in a hospital - the joy when the surgeon says "Success!" outside the OT, the joy when a nurse comes out with a little bundle in her arms, the joy when a test report reads 'Normal', the joy when a patient opens his eyes & smiles...
Anger. A patient's anger, a doctor's anger, families' anger... Anger is inevitable. But the miracle is, you see peace too! Patients sleeping peacefully, knowing that all will be well... Families smiling in peace, having full faith in the doctors... And best of all? The peace on the faces of the doctors & nurses, knowing that they've done their job well...

The most touching incident i've witnessed in a hospital is this. The head surgeon stepped out of the OT after a marathon surgery, to be fervently thanked by the parents of the little girl who underwent it, for having saved her life. "We only heal. He saves" said the surgeon. "Thanks is not needed.. Your faith is enough."

Probably it would be apt to end with a quote from Erich Segal's Doctors -
"He had spent most of his lifetime studying the art of medicine and realized now that he would never really understand its mysteries.
For medicine is an eternal quest for reasons - causes that explain effects.
Science cannot comprehend a miracle.” 

And I stumbled across Erich Segal.

Having heard only about one book of Erich Segal's, the magnum opus 'Love Story', never did i think i would take a look at his books - assuming, rather arrogantly, that they would all be 'just' love stories which i had absolutely no interest in reading.
On one particular day a week ago, however, i stood forlornly in my library, having exhausted all the available titles by my favourite authors of detective fiction/ thrillers/ crime/ just anything by Jeffrey Archer.
It was then that my eye fell on the shelf holding Segal's books.
I, rather typically, immediately dismissed Love Story - ignoring the librarian's excited "we usually keep 10 copies in stock, kid, it's a miracle you found one" - and instead picked up a book titled, The Class. Rather - no, very - reluctantly.
I finished it overnight.
I loved it.
Since then, i've finished another of his books - Doctors. Loved, loved, loved that too.

The Class

A compelling saga of the myriad set of students who meet, for the first time, on the steps of Harvard University one grey morning. A complete page- turner, the book chronicles their lives, the relationships they form, the competition, the stress, the failures, successes, hatred, sorrow, joy & love they encounter, together - right from the beginning of their college days, to the day they graduate, and their lives thereafter.

This book is in no way limited to Harvard. I could relate to it perfectly well as a BMSCEian - and found myself hoping i could form the kind of strong & everlasting friendships the protagonist does. :)

Doctors

It is no secret to most of my friends that i had a burning desire to become a doctor. Well, that didn't materialise, but i do try to vicariously live my dream by reading a string of Robin Cook books, watching Grey's Anatomy and so on. (Sad, i know.)

I am so glad i picked up this book.

Erich Segal introduces the reader into the lives of a very richly diverse set of characters - all with one dream. To become doctors. From the day they step into Med School, to the day they dissect a cadaver... From the day they see their first live patients to they day they walk out, triumphant, with an  M.D and set out to serve the sick in hospitals across the world - this marvellous story gives the reader  a glimpse into the lives of doctors -  the voluminous ( too mild a word) syllabus, their marathon working hours as residents, the struggle to set up a practice & to keep it running... 

All while trying their best to stick to the Hippocratic Oath they took so long ago.

A must read.

I might even give Love Story a chance. :D