Today is Good Friday. It meant that I only had to do rounds and wait for emergencies if any. I did that. But I didnt do what I should have done – I didnt go to church today. OK I can give you pretty acceptable excuses – I was on call, there were 4 cases in casualty (3 at 10 AM and one at 12 noon) which would have meant that I would have had to scurry back from church, I was tired etc etc. B ut I wonder whether that suffices.Yesterday I rediscovered my drive to learn driving …. and today I discovered that my “drive” to go to church seems to be at an all time low. Part…

You’re gonna laugh at me, but I still dont have a drivers license for a 4-wheeler and can hardly drive a car! I’d enrolled for driving classes about 4 months ago but stopped after 2 classes – lazy bum with a million excuses. Finally I was inspired by the fact that Becky was touching up her driving skills at home (she already had a license) . I called up the guy and in the hot afternoon sun I finally restarted my driving classes! It felt a little weird and at times I was all over the road, but at least I seem to have started again! Hope th Drive lasts longer and I can get my license!

This morning when I went to receive the baby after a C-section, as is not unexpected the baby shot out a great stream of urine straight at me. The nurse who saw it said, “Doctor, if a newborn baby pees on you it means that you are getting married soon!” How true – I’m getting married in less than 2 months!! But is it true??! You see – the babys stream was good but his aim was bad – so he actually missed me by an inch! I hope that has no significance!!!!

We’d been planning to fumigate the Nursery for the last 1 week. This is where we physically seal the room and then use formaldehyde to sterilise it. This is done for about 48 hours and at the end of it everything inside including the room, the cradles, the phototherapy unit, the equipment, the walls are all sterile and bacterial contamination is eliminated. I decided to do it this week as we still have only 1 baby in the nursery (not counting a couple of other temporary babies just passing through for phototherapy or observation). The nurses worked hard to clean it first with soap and water and soon the doors and windows were sealed totally with duct tape to make…

Its funny – the stuff you learn from life that you already knew but it hits you hard when it actually happens!So what happens when you let a cup of curd just stay there for 1 week? You’re right – it becomes unbelievably curdled and inedible! thats a fact that i knew, but I really discovered it today.i’d forgotten about a cup of curd that I had made last week and forgot all about it. So it lay covered in the warm kitchen corner till today when i decided to throw it out. So how did it look? The picture kinda shows you what it looked like! Trust me – it smelt worse than it looks. In a jiffy i…

1+1 = 2This is is just to show you that by mid-day I had 1 patient in the paediatric ward and 1 patient in the nursery. This is the lowest census I have ever had and it is worrisome. The wards need to fill up soon and I’m trying as hard as possible to do that! 48Thats the total number of children I saw in OPD today. Paradoxically that’s one of the highest i have ever seen!! Guess the inpatient and the outpatient numbers dont relate! 16That was the number of idlis I discovered in my dinner carrier after I picked it up from the mess and opened it up in my room. The normal number of idlis I eat…

The day started off fine with very lazy rounds and just as I was bout to pick up my lunch Sandeep called me and went off to his house and hogged on great rice and chicken with ice cream.But that wasnt the best part of the day!I then managed to sleep well in the afternoon and felt very refreshed. No calls to disturb me.But that wasnt the best part of the day!Had a long chat with Joyce who was leaving Vellore and was working on her US visa to start off with John Hopkins and get married. We discussed CMC, gowns, wedding etc etc!But that wasnt the best part of the day!Also had a loooooong talk with Becky as she…

Yup…. I did it!! I shaved the growth on my face today as I felt it would regrow more densely and more uniformly. My facial hair has a vague pattern – it grows as a moustache and then as a stubble on my chin and there’s no connection between the two! It kinda looks unique and pretty cool I think (and Becky loves it). I’m hoping that shaving it will help it grow better. It felt weird seeing myself shaved and clean in the mirror as its been about 3 months since I did it. here are pics for you to compare and comment!

Over the last couple of days I had several babies in the hospital with a little jaundice. This is quite harmless and we treat it by putting the babies under tubelights (“phototherapy”)As I walked into the Nursery today the babies looked really cute – sprawled out under tha lights and sleeping!! Just one of those cute baby moments i managed to catch on my camera!

I reached chennai after a slow journey quite late in the night and slept with the excitement of knowing I’d meet Becky tonight.We met at church and the service was awesome.Back at home we sat and discussed the invitation cards and made out the format and the words. It felt really good sitting with her and talk about the wedding. The whole day was awesome – lovely lunch by Amma, a looooong chat on the terrace about marriage, kids, the future, work and lots more….. and suddenly it was time for dinner and my train. We cosied up in the backseat as Appa drove us back to the station where I got off and bid her goodbye. That emptiness gripped…