Posted in family fun general God home kids personal

Pizza….. from scratch

We trudged out of the lift and into our home. I was a bit tired. She was exhausted. 17:30. Shower. Change. “I’ll make dinner tonight honey. You need some rest.” Her warm smile made my day. “That’ll be great! What are you making?”. I paused as the wheels inside my evil mind started grinding. “Pizza……. from scratch”. The twinkle in her eyes was genuine – a mix of excitement and curiosity. I shrugged my shoulder. “Promise”. She snuggled into the bed. I closed the window curtains, turned off the lights, switched on the AC and gently shut the door. 17:45. I swung into action. JJ had overheard the conversation (that eavesdropping crazy 11 year old!) and would be my partner…

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Posted in fun general personal work

“Publish Or Perish”: A motivational Post

Taking a circuitous route across many cities and countries before finally reaching a specialised unit in an academic institution is fun. I received two warnings as soon as I made this my permanent plan: You need to do a three year DM course and pass exams to stay employed You need publications to work your way up from registrar to assistant professor to associate professor and finally professor. The first warning was not too difficult to negate – without NEET in those years, it was an uneventful in-and-out-in-three-years trip, thanks to a God who cares, a family who understands and colleagues who taught me so much. The second warning brought fear and trembling to me and my team. Two main…

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Posted in fun

Weekend Project

Hand picked corn soaked in ‘act’ual flavouring, delivered ‘prime’ly by local people delicately sauteed ‘prestige’ously with a drizzle of locally sourced chat masala popped straight out of a round thing with an extra searing to darken to perfection.

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A little bit ‘late’

FACT“When called in for an emergency, she always takes a few minutes more than him to arrive in the ICU” YOUR INTERPRETATION “Yes. She asks a lot of questions on the phone and probably spends more time getting ready before she comes in” REALITY HIM12 midnight:“Sir, we have a deteriorating patient in the ICU and need you to come in”“Which patient is this”“Rakesh – the patient with viral myocarditis”He jumps out of bed in his tshirt and trackpants and puts on his crocs. 12:02 AM“I’m on the way”He pats down his hair as he skips down the stairs and jumps into the car. As he drives onto the road, he honks at the bikers and pedestrians to get them to…

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PACoVaSM Study

Title of Research:  Role of photographs posted on social media on efficacy of covid vaccines Acronym if any: PACoVaSM study (Photographs as Adjuvants in COvid VAccine in Social Media) Study Design: Volunteers interested in the study will fill a form 24 hours before they get vaccinated and will be recruited if they fulfill inclusion criteria after consent. Those without any social media accounts will be allocated to Group X separately as they are likely to have correct information about the vaccine and may question the rationale behind this study. Others will be randomised into 2 arms (pun intended). Masking is compulsory but blinding is not possible due to the visual nature of the study.  Group 1 will not have their…

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How To Save A Life – By A Neonatology Intensive Care Unit Physician

I am a Neonatologist. I am a doctor who works with newborn babies. Most of my work is inside an Intensive Care Unit with fragile prems, sick babies struggling to breathe and monitors beeping all around me. As usual, today I saved a lot of lives I return home, unmask, shower and plonk down onto my sofa with my overjoyed daughter. With a twisted smile on my face, I think about all the lives I’ve saved today. My deft fingers, practised hands, quick thinking brain and tireless feet have once again given a second life to many…. and all that within those 12 hours that started as I skipped down 5 flights of stairs from my home and ended when…

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My Coffee Habit – Level 2020

Have I crossed the limit with my coffee habit? Dope Coffee: Dark Matter – Anti Gravity Blend. This is what the coffee bean cover tells me:Instead of boring you with some generic copy, here’s the real deal We just really love coffee, man. We’re obsessed with finding the most amazing beans, roasting them fresh and sending them your way every day, just so that when you take that first sip, your eyes light up and you go “Damn. That’s some Dope Coffee.” And this is the description on the website: Our gravity-defying five bean house blend is mad chocolatey and super nutty. Smooth as a shot and strong enough to hold its grounds against anything you throw at it, Dark…

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Confessions Of An Indecisive Coffeeholic

When there’s too much to choose from…

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Posted in fun general kids

A Bloggable Sunday Lunch Addendum

Old fashioned Uraindha Kozhi Vedikkiradhu I made for lunch – cooked by Aazhamaana Porichals in traditional Ottaadha Paathiram. Kids enjoyed the frozen chicken pops deep fried in an old non stick pan. (I won’t take credit for the ketchup – we just squeezed out some from a bottle into a silicone green cupcake liner.)

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Posted in cooking fun general personal

The Coffee Journey

My deviation from the instant coffee route started when I accidentally bought filter coffee powder instead of instant coffee powder during the final stages of my bachelorhood in Trichy. I was forced to buy a South Indian filter and tried putting everything everywhere to brew some coffee – I drank whatever the  random positioning of the 3 parts of the filter, the coffee powder and hot water produced. All that changed when I surprised myself with a Breville coffee machine with a grinder for our 5th wedding anniversary. Suddenly pressing buttons produced the weirdest sounds and the nicest coffee. Pouring out the frothed milk was an art and soon I realised why I was never destined to be an artist….

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