Shatter'rati!!!

Prabhath stared out of the window. The beautiful moon was playing hide and seek with the clouds. Just as he looked up, it hid behind the cumulonimbus! Soon there was darkness all over… agaainnnnnn! Darkness , well that had become an integral part of life! Both outside and inside the heart, things were just the same! He sat wondering.. how did things change? And if they did, when would it change back, to the happy old days… ########################################################################### Heyy Prabhs, wassup.. kya re kidhar gaya tha kal? ..asked Shipz Arre, Roothi ke ghar gaya tha , Jaggu ko leke.. Ganpati puja than na re uske liye! [ he always called Shruthy as Roothi as he felt that she was always a lil rootha hua types.. but she was Jaggu dada s gal baba.. itna himmat nahi ki koi use kuch bol sake… except the man himself!] So when both these guys fell in love, Prabhs was the common friend aka the messenger [ we didn’t have whatsapp those days, love was real.. love messages were less fake and had to be hand delivered!!!] . And the fact that her parents trusted him well enough to let the daughter be with him made it easier for the couple. Her dad was an ex army man , and would proudly strut the rifle on him! Jaggu was scared that we would be shot, if her dad realized that it was he who was dating her , and not Prabhs ! But the advantage was that Roothi would use Prabhs’ s name and hang around with Jaggu! When she was out, she would say that im going to visit Prabhath! Her dad s calls would be transferred to his landline[ she managed her phone settings well, call transfer kab kaam aayega?], and if uncle did call, Prabhs had to pick it up and make an excuse.. Hello Uncle, all good? How are you and aunty. She s just gone to the washroom, will ask her to call back! After this he had to quickly call her on her mobile and ask her to connect back! Phewww.. risky business haan! Haha! Aur toh aur, poore batch k saath movies jaana and then gift them the couple seats at the end of the row! Life was fun, those days of carefree existence! In order to set up an intro for Jaggu, the idea of setting up a Ganesh puja each year was set in motion. So 5 years [ of MBBS] mein 5 puja s and in each puja ..slowly introduce the guy to the family! Wow! What an ideaaaa, Prabhujee ! And after those 5 years, it did work! The parents did agree! Life was bliss! Prabhs held the flag high.. get friendzoned and set other people up.. hahaha! *********************************************************************************************** Those were the days.. seriously!! Get up.. say hi mom! Hi dad! Rush to freshen up.. catch the 7.46 am local and get to the lecture hall at 8.15am sharp. Then write all the notes, sign [ read as forge] for ten on the attendance sheet.. rush out for lunch and catch the centre table till the gang arrived, open the tiffins and give it to the best hostel buddies, and they would order his lunch plate from the canteen.. then afternoon pracs, and lots of cricket after that, followed by a session in the library and then way back home in the 8.25pm local.. wow! And the weekly emergency in the surgical unit, in which you would be thrilled to see the first appendix at 2am and that would be the mood elevator indeed! A quick cuppa coffee after that and the madamjis of the batch would start their antaakshari or would want to play TT [ read as learn to!] at 3am in the night! Crazy indeed! That coffewala outside the emergency gate, the ice cream wala outside the naturals who sold the best kulfis in the world, the dosas at café madras, the bun maska at light of india restaurant, that awesome Sali botti biriyani at café Britannica , chicken tandoori at bademiyans , khamir ki roti at zafferbhais, caramel custard at nooranis, raan biriyani at Shalimar, shahi tukda at Persian darbar, sitaphal milkshake at Haji ali juice centre…. Well the list is endless! Attending the fests and winning the dance sessions, going to all the colleges with the troupe, the make up batch k dames who would sit with the foundations and lipsticks till they looked happy and convinced that one couldn’t look more pretty, haha! The impromptu prop round with newspaper as the prop and that song from JJWS as your entry song..

jawaan ho yaaron yeh tum ko hua kya, aji humko dekho zara.. yeh maana abhi hai khaali haath, na honge sada yahi din raat.. kabhi toh banegi apni baat…

yeah.. that was good .. Aarambh, Aavishkaar, Ashwamedh, Astitva, Aakarshan.. yup all the fests started with As ..in all the medical colleges of Mumbai! Those days of unadulterated fun.. **************************************************************************************

So does this end today or the next hearing will be the final one? Prabhath asked Adv Piyush, his lawyer for the case. No , today the final orders will be written and signed and the final print drafted. That is freedom for you.. I know what you have been through! Just one more day dude! Yup , and they both decided to finally have the Aminia’s famed Chicken Biriyani…on the way back! Heyy, your wife s going to be one lucky gal.. he had heard this many times! It just reverberated in his ears.. you are the best guy i have met, and trust me.. one day you shall get everything good, all that you deserve! Yes Prabhs did get what he deserved.. haha.. he smirked at the irony of life, and the thoughts crossing his mind!! The sky soon assumed a gloom and thunder and lightening struck! It was dark, once agaaiinnn! Do good things that people say jinx the good things from happening? Or is it the astronomy as they say.. this was bound to happen the first time! Prabh et al had no idea.. but yes there was no enduring after this.. things would change.. the stone in his heart would probably grow heavier each passing day! and I guess, it would take someone really special to melt it back to its original self!

**************************************************************************************

I guess not all stories have an ending… not yet… and not all have happy endings ! So when I asked him whats happening at your end.. he replied in his shayrana andaaz..

Kuch kahaniyan aksar adhuri reh jaati hai! Kabhi panne kam padh jaate hai, kabhi siyahi sukh jaati hai! *** Inhi adhuri kahaani par toh khamosh labo ka pehra hai.. Cchhoth ruuhh ki hai… isliye dard zara gehra hai!

But being an eternal optimist, I couldn’t help myself telling him.. [ keeping my fingers crossed]

Zindagi haseen hai , ise pyaar karo.. Ho raat toh subah ka intezaar karo.. Woh pal bhi aayega, jiska hai intezaar, Rab pe bharosa aur waqt pe aitbar karo!

WoH bHi kYA DIN they......!!!!

SCHOOL…

We see the kids carrying expensive stuff to the school today.. expensive mobiles, pens, laptops..wow!
My Co Reg was narrating how his son wouldn’t go to the Peddar road school because his son’s friends came in MERCs and BMWs and this guy was dropped in a Maruti Swift! Papa I wont go to the school till you do something about it.. I told him, time to change the school buddy..or your profession..haha!


There were days when we would go to school using the B.E.S.T buses.. would carry two rupees in my pocket and the fare was one rupee each way.. those days![ cant think of one rupee for a 7kms ride now..can we!]
..then one day at 6.15am , while boarding a bus I realized that the Pant pocket had a hole. Both the coins had tinkered out..damn! the school starts at 6.45am.. what do I do? We didn’t have mobile phones those days.. rather we didn’t have a phone ! we had the landline when I was in my eight grade.. this incident happened when I was in my sixth grade!
I decided that I will walk to the school. Started walking fast , then realized that I still had come halfway and it was 6.35am already. So started to jog and reached the school at 6.55am! Oh damn.. the gate had closed. I was late.. so I made my way to the small entry gate and went in. All latecomers had to wait for 5 mins[ for mehman nawazi..or the special treatment!!]. Our PT teacher was on duty that day.. coming late meant 2 whacks with a cane and if one was lucky, you could escape kneeling down in class for the first period!


Mehta Sir came closer with the cane in his hands.. I was sweating , clothes were a lil shuffled and smelt of sweat.
Hey you..stand straight ! why is your shirt out? And look at that untied lace? Did you run a marathon and then come to school? He exclaimed angrily..
Sorry Sir, I muttered.. this is my first time!
First or last I don’t care, late means LATE..rules are RULES! Come show me your hand.. thwack .thwwaackkk.. nice 2 blows and I was on the way to class..
I joined Nivi on the first bench..

[ Nivi or Nivedita Kamath was my perennial partner, and probably the fight partner..she always had a running nose and she always pushed my hand as she wrote as she was left handed and I was a righty! Our hands clashed ,just as the swords did, in those medieval fights of King Bruce!a duel was on.. And we did fight till the teacher intervened! We don’t oft see two first benchers fight , do we?

Talking of fights, Pakya the last bencher would often do this..he was a skilled fighter and a classy sharpshooter! He would take the folden paper, load it on the rubberband.. stretch it till the modulus of elasticity was reached..and then let it off.. whoooosssh it would fly and hit the target on the first bench! And that did pain..ouchh!

***
Deviating from my story, but I gotta tell you this.. one day Pakya aimed the projectile at me ! The teacher sat right in front of me. I was unaware.. Nivi pushed my pencil down and I had to bend down to pick it up. Pakya had ‘SOME’ timing, he aimed at my back and just at that moment , I bent down to pick up my pencil.. the projectile travelled and SNAPPP, hit Yadhav sir right on his nose! Yadhav sir used to fall asleep often, but this wasn’t how he woke up usually.. He got up , those fiery red eyes looked around.. Who did this to me? Pin drop silence!!! [ only a few occasions could fathom such a silence from an otherwise extremely noisy class!] He walked till the last bench and spanked each one turn by turn.. but no one would let the name out! [ such was the unity in school.. the best days indeed!] so each got spanked & got a remark in the calendar!

.. after the period was over, Pakya got a bashing from the rest.. and that was fun too!

So getting back to the first story.. Nivi looked at me and understood that I have been caned! She was extremely good that day.. no fights, no elbowing, no throwing my pencil or eraser on the ground too! The last period was over and I made my way back home.. I was walking on the road, about a couple of kms from the school when I heard a familiar voice from a rickshaw passing by. It swerved to the left side and stood aside on the road. As I crossed it, someone tapped my shoulder..

Eh , you stay at Santacruz West.. then why you walking all the way from Kalina? It was Mehta sir and Siddharth sir in the rick.. I said nothing! Siddharth sir said- Come with us , we will drop you at the station.. but you take the bus right, then why walk today?

Damn!!! Mehta sir was silent now! He now realized ..what might have happened! In his grim voice, he said- Come here boy, sit beside me. Did you forget your bus fare today morning too! He saw my face.. and said.. Im sorry! And I got a lift till home! :-):-) 

I still remember the day as it happened just yesterday.. we form our habits early, and one of them was whatever happens , I don’t complain, self help is the best form of help! [little did I know then how the later events would unfold in life, and this would form the crux of living.. standing alone , standing tall!hehe! all that in another post…]

School was fun too.. though we didn’t talk about it then, but we knew it existed. The last page of the rough book .. usually your best friend will scribble your name and pick up the girl that he feels is suitable for you.. and then the magical words…naah not abra-ca-dabra .. but FLAMES ! and if you had a sore luck you would end up with a L.. and thus a new pair would be born! Sourabh Mitra had another way of hitting on or off someone..the PIG OR UIG as he filled in those slam books.. the gal would be really fuming when he would call her a PIG .. and then with his sheepish grin, would say[ with an accent,no wonder he s in Singapore now!]..

Whoa whoa whoa, don’t hit me gal.. I meant Pretty Indian Gal [ what an acronym Sirjee!].. only then would she smile and let him off! Haha! I thought half of the class hit on Anu the same way.. but wouldn’t dare say it to her.. she was Dave teacher s favourite and she was the strictest Mam of the lot!


***
Cricket and Kings were our national sports in school.. even if we had 30 mins we would fix up a 3 over match. One fine day, we had our Scouts camp. We reached school early and played cricket in the alley.
There was an open space surrounded by 2 buildings on either side and the air hostess trainees ka building just beyond the boundary!![ being in an airline school had its own perks…err..read as pleasant surroundings] so as the bowler Swapnil bowled a short one, the batsman Pico hit a pull shot..BANGG the window glass shattered into multiple pieces! We all ran..and luckily the school gates had opened.. we got inside,just in the nick of time ! Phew! A sigh of relief! All ten of us.. stood with the others in the line, as if nothing had happened.

The assembly was going to begin when we saw our Principal Sir walk to the podium with the occupant of that house Mr X!!!!!!!

Our principal was a strict man. We were really scared of him.. He announced on the mike.. Boys who amongst you were the ones playing cricket? I just received a complaint that his window was shattered.. [pointing to Mr X]. Speak up guys else you know what s in store for you guys! All of us feigned innocence[ class UNITY remember, no one takes the name!]..

Mr X now spoke .. I know you wont own up, but I know the names.

We all were staring at each other.. Cmon, he s bluffing ,said Abhijeet, we ran so fast..no one could see us.. phek raha hai man, chill , tension mat le.. Abhi reassured! It was then that we realized our folly.. and we saw the evidence NOW being presented to our Princi..

In the zeal to escape, we were successful [ we were PROs in running helter skelter, all good athletes those days!] but we all forgot something behind.. and we saw them being presented to the Princi!
Our school bags were kept inside the building while we played cricket.. we only kept it there! But when we fleed none of us remembered to gather them.. until now! So each bag was opened sequentially by Mr X and he handed our books to the Princi who read out the names! Our celebrity status was thus confirmed in a hung assembly.. got a bad remark and had our parents spoken to.. plus we shelled the price of the broken window glass.. sob sob.. woh bhi kya din the yaar!






COLLEGE….

After school, we landed at D G Ruparel college! God.. that was the first time we were on our own, without the uniform.. Neha and Mohnish were there too..albeit in a different division! This is where I met my best buddies too..new friends in the making.. Prashant( poopsey- the tution goer), Fahd (faddu- the fairest of them all), Vineet(vinu- the tech guy), Arvind(the Pajero sketcher), Arun(the runner),Amol (the data guy) and Aman( the guy who manned the crowd)! Each of them had something special in them[ that’s the best thing about Ruparel.. so many interesting things to quote..haha!]


Prash Paul[PP] was that lanky guy who would never wear anything but jeans. He carried the postman bag around his neck and was always omnipresent in each tution class..he had enrolled in Agrawals, IITians academy, private tuitions, each subject test series, each subject Pracs series,IIT test series, German tuitions,etc[ pardon me boss, if I have missed something!]He was a sincere , nice guy who just couldn’t figure out what to do then..I guess! [ now he s the big guy working in Apple, and he still doesn’t get me an iphone..but Fahd will get that for me, so its ok PP]. But he was a mastermind along with Allu Arvind! [The story comes later…]

Fahd was the charmer of the batch. He didn’t need a fairness cream and you could spot him from a distance. He had a copyrighted hand gesture[ babji ka thullu types!]and he hated being called Fat. F for Fahd but never for FAT! His fights with Gaurav were legendary.. they would start teasing each other and then in the middle of the classroom, a battle would ensue! And he had his female counterpart in Bhav..na re..he would argue there too! [will tell you more on that..keep reading] I was a big FAN of Faddu s drawings.. ask him to draw a simple Femur( ya, that was the easiest to draw) and he would draw it as Marasmic, nibbled by a rat and osteoporotic femur that you would EVER see in your life!

Vinu bhai was the BRAIN of the group. Amazingly talented and focused guy..IIT s loss was USA s gain! Only Mustafa doctor could challenge him.. [lol, that was a sarcasm and PP will know what I meant!..admission in MIT remember, without clearing its entrance..haha] Vinu made LEE jeans a famous entity [ I don’t wanna get killed now]

Arvind was the guy who always dreamt big. He was awesome at car designs and he made a sketch of the Pajero daily ..his dream car! [ he s the only one who owns the beast-the pajero, in our group.. im happy you made it happen!]

Arun was the BAKRA of the lot! He had just moved in to Mumbai from Ernakulum and one thing that he didn’t know about was-Mumbai guys and Mumbai gals! He was an innocent kid,only in that sense..haha

Amol s surname was the main issue of contention. It was Date [ spelt_daa tay ] but everyone called it DATE[ as in ..whos your Valentines day DATE man?!!] He was a silent performer who did very well and is the king of USA now!

Aman ,last but not the least, was a MAN of his word.. he was a friend of everyone [sshhh, I wont say more cz I know you are reading this Natasha], the bogeyman, the guy who was always there to listen to the sob stories and would quickly have a sutta and be back before you know he was gone..and yet he was omnipresent and omnipotent too!




I can never forget how we all ended up becoming DEUTSCHE at college! Our Hindi division had a capacity of 100 students and we were 150! Big problem na! Then came the vice princi Mahajan sir..

Students, Ruparelites have the best ranks and percentages in class12 exams. You all know that and that’s why you are here. So in order to score more marks and maximize your chances of making it to the Merit list, you should select your second language wisely! Foreign languages can get you good marks and so I suggest.. a majority of you should select German! [ we were the gullible, none of us knew that the German div had 50 students and 50 seats were vacant]

We were so impressed that all of us enrolled for German , the very next day! [ the German div was later combined with the French div and together they had the prettiest pool of dames.. but yeah we didn’t know bout that either!!!] So that’s how we started learning us what BHIDE Mam taught! As a matter of g**#luck [ good or bad, I wont state now cz I know that Natasha is reading this! Haha..more on that later], the German lecture was planned in a single lecture hall where the dames from ARTS and COMMERCE wings too would join us.. [ the pool gets better and better each day.. now you know why you should join our college and tick on DEUTSCHE as the 2nd language!haha]

11th std results were out and we all scored 95,96,97,98,99,100 in German [really , believe me!]
Then came 12th std , and now we had to write letters, essays, pre-cis in Deutsche.. we read and answered questions on MONIKA MAI s love affair with DINO BOTTA [ dunno what happened in the end, but they were 2 characters in our textbook ‘Lernziel Deutsche’ and they ,actually, were in love..that how we learned the three{drei} most important deutsche words.. ich liebe dich!..we also learnt Um Wieviele Uhr ist es?..but the earlier words made a mark..hehe!]

When finally the 12th results were out, our German scores were too good 57, 64,76, 84, 93,etc.. damn the guy who said this language will get you to the merit list! We cursed ourselves and how we got fooled so easily…Swadeshi hi theek they yaaran! Sob sob!

***
……………….College days were also 'the Prankster' days..

Lab partners were in! Each of us, had one, to team up with.. for the physics, chemistry and biology pracs! Bio would need us to make slides and we‘guys’ were really bad at it. That’s where having a gal as your partner helped.. they knew how to CUT and in the right areas too [ am not talking of hearts now!] and you always had the perfect slides! Hallelujah!

I remember the Chem Pracs prank where the prankster guys[read Allu Arvind and PP] got a lady s handkerchief and as Arun was walking by..quietly put it down! Arun picked it up and looked around…which gal had forgotten her kerchief! The pranksters hiding behind the pillar came out and told him that- dude this is your lab partners kerchief, go and give it to her.. see, there s she walking by [ at a distance, far far away].. so Arun [if there s run in your name, you have to RUN at some point!] ran all the way to catch up with her (and her group of friends).. he takes out the kerchief and says here’s ur hanky S_____[ name withheld!]. She looks at it and says..Naah, its not mine..who told you to run all the way and come here! They both turn around to see..but the prankster and his accomplice are not to be seen! Poor ARUN! Damn..

Also talking of Gang wars.. we did have them in college too! Faddu’s guy gang vs Bhavna s gal gang!
The boys had drawn the first blood.. his group had written a love letter by an anonymous name and kept it in Bhav s book. She had no clue and when arranging her books at home, it fell out..only to be picked up and read by her strict dad! She got an earful that day and pledged that she would make her tormentors pay! But luckily or unluckily she used the same modus operandi and our Chief was an expert in these matters. He would daily check his books before leaving for home. And one day he found a long letter neatly tucked in the lab manual! He pulled it out. Yes, it was from the gang of femme fatales!

Revenge was on the cards. So in this letter each guy was linked with a dame that the gal gang had decided upon! Since it was about everybody, Fahd decided to read it when all of us were around.. we all went together in the train , that s where this letter came up! Like a hush hush group of vultures we tore into him! He exclaimed in a godly fashion that he would read it aloud so that everyone could hear.

We were such a weird bunch of kids! We forgot that other passengers existed in the compartment too!

And the stories would be read in the sequence in which we disembarked from the train..so it was PP s turn first as he was the Bandra boy, next was me and so on.. as they read out mine, and we were laughing like crazy.. we stamped on a fellow passengers feet. Damn, Sorry Uncle we all exclaimed!! [ The passengers too were having a gala time, now I understand!] As we continued, I felt that this guy who we stamped on looked familiar! So I turn back on him to catch another glance. Yes, YES indeed.. I know this guy.. he was no one other than…My DAD! Oh damn.. what luck,your dad listening to your (cooked up) GF story isn’t what I would ever want..right! with a sheepish look on my face, I stared at him.. and then I nudged the others and introduced them! Their happy faces went on..more smiles.. I was the Rat now!
Hello UNCLE, said all in unison and I got down at Santacruz. I didn’t know what to do till dad spoke up..
hey! Nice friends ,looks like you are actually enjoying the college life!
Yes baba, I muttered and ran home! Haha! Woh din bhi kya din the..






AUR YEH ZAALIM DUNIYA…



……..They both were working in the Cardiac unit of a government hospital. Both were similar yet different. Ramaswamy came from a poor family. He was the first medico from his family. His parents were elated when he got the university Gold in the cvts exams. Having no background, he knew his life would be tough but he was unperturbed. He always thought that if he toiled hard, things would happen for him and life would get sorted!

The other boy Brian came from a family of doctors. He always fared well irrespective( of his knowledge)! His father was the head of the department and he was studying in the same institute! He got the VIP carpet rolled for him, each time. He didn’t have to fight for a hostel room , the best one was made available for him. He had the same centre for his exams and obviously he scored well too! The external examiners were Papa s friends too! How nice!

In CVTS, you work for a while, post degree, in a good institute and do a good fellowship in India or abroad. There are a few cities in our country that do excellent work like complex coronaries, robotic cardiac cases, minimally invasive key hole surgeries, transplants, etc. Ramaswamy wanted to apply in one such institute. He went there, but he was told there is no vacancy. He told them, I will again inquire in six months time. After six months , he again went and met them. He travelled in the sleeper compartment on the train, reached there after 24hrs, had a shower in the changing room at the terminus and went off to meet the head. We don’t have a vacancy, they replied.

Pls Sir, I want to work here. I will work with utmost sincerity. Cardiac surgery is my passion and it was a dream to learn from you! If there is any opportunity, I will be happy to join…with folded hands Rama requested them..

Ok son, give us sometime. As of now, there s no place!

Rama, came back to the station. He plodded with heavy steps and returned to the waiting room, and returned back!
The next day Brian came to know that Rama had applied but didn’t get a post!

Hey , what happened dude! Heard that you came back..no vacancy eh? Too bad..

With a smile, he said I shall also apply there today! And he did…

The next morning he met Rama and showed the email to him..

Here was an appointment letter as an Associate Consultant from the same place which told Rama that there’s no vacancy. He had travelled and met the guys there twice and they had said- no vacancy!
And here was the appointment letter from the same place , handed over to someone who didn’t even have to travel once for the interview.

Life s unfair and Rama got a whiff of it today. He felt sad, but didn’t show any of it..

Congrats buddy, he smiled and moved away!

But life had other plans and Brian inspite of being fed with the golden spoon didn’t join there. He didn’t want to leave the luxury of home and toil hard in an unknown land. And Rama eventually got a call from the same institute. They offered him a position below what the other guy had got and a lesser salary too. But he needed it and he took it up. Sadly that is what happens when you are alone without anyone to speak for you. You may be very good at your work, you may have safe dependable hands.. but you have no luck and influence. And in many occasions, that is all that matters.. influence!

If you are a Rama in life, you will always do well with respect to your results and patient satisfaction. But you will have to face innumerable obstructions in your path. They may not pay you your salary in time knowing that you cant do anything to them. They will earn laurels on your surgeries and take the credit, but will treat you inhumanly. And the saga will continue..

If you are a Brian in life, you will get your promotions ahead of others. You will get the fellowships easily. You will also climb up the ladder and be in the best institute and someone more deserving will be left out. Your salaries always arrive on time and you will be riding your BMW on the way home at 6pm while the other guy will be up slogging his a** till 10pm!!!!!!!!

Such IS LIFE ….. I wrote this incident because I know that ‘this’ exists across all walks of life..

But today another deserving , qualified , intelligent guy just gave up.. he ended his life as he couldn’t face Nepotism. I remember watching CHHICHHORE and I thought he was amazing! He inspired his son (in the movie) to never give up and never even think of ending your life. And sadly, he himself couldn’t follow it. We see Sonam kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Jhanvi kapoor, Arjun kapoor,Ananya Pandey,etc give flops after flops and yet bag films with big directors ! On the other hand we see actors like Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajput, Kangana Ranaut, Kartik Aryan, etc who give stupendous performances and yet get no recognition/awards or movies to sign.

***
Let me narrate this incident . We used to talk about it when we were in KEM..(another KEMH tale!)
Ayushmann as we all know him today is a brilliant actor, singer, composer, VJ-RJ,anchor, etc. A lot of these talents come up when you have no work and you have to generate work to sustain your life. So you try different things and give your 100 percent to each so that one of your talents may get noticed and you may end up with a job.

…so for the sake of the story, lets rewind back by 15yrs…


We went to our KEM central canteen in the morning for breakfast. We ordered medu vada sambar. In the corner row on the last seat was this guy wearing a disheveled look.. he didn’t sleep properly at night, we thought. We had spotted him earlier too, but he wasn’t a medical student. Then who was he? A hostelite junior told me that –Sir, he s a nice singer. Stays in one of our colleague s room. He has applied for a job in the MTV studio next door..[the MTV studios were located on the same side of the road, if you walk straight from KEM towards the ITC GRAND MARATHA hotel]. And he doesn’t have money to rent a room, so he stays with this MBBS student who s his friend and they come from the same native place up north.

Great, we exclaimed. Hope he does get what he desires! After a year we saw the same guy anchoring a show on MTV [ I think MTV Fully Faltoo].. his name read ‘ Ayushmann Khurrana’! Aahh, so here was our friend, finally on his way!!! Its funny how you don’t know this guy personally but still develop a bond as you had seen him struggle early on! Next we saw him act in Vicky Donor and his song ‘Paani da..’ won our hearts. Wow , so this guy could act and sing too! After that I think there was no looking back.. he won one award after another and we feel so proud of him..a fellow KEMite who wasn’t a KEMite..haha!
***

Lets get back to 2020… and we see a similar talent, end up differently!

Sushant Singh Rajput, I really feel sad for you. I saw your interview when you had been to the IIT fest. You were so casual , yet intelligent. You didn’t seem proud, and you knew that you still have a long way to go. I refrain from commenting on your personal life decisions or choices. But a few wrong choices, did set you off the track(maybe, i dunno). And then came the outsiders ka difficult phase , where the big guns show you where you stand...!!!


I was in the OPD, one afternoon and I checked my whatsapp.. I read that forward from a friend.. SSR hangs himself !! Damn, what a sad day! Surely the ones who forced you to take that drastic step will rot in hell! Im sure that most will boycott their movies.. I wont watch them on screen , that’s for sure! But I so hope that you could have exposed them and fought it out! Soon the media will forget your story and they will start making movies and shows as if nothing has happened!

But nonetheless, will miss you MSD star and you answered the question- Sach mein, humaare paas bahut time hai na!






The Chinese kill our MEN and how do we respond? By banning their apps! Amazing! Awesome!

<b>Sach mein, yeh bhi kya din hai!!!!!!!!!! :-(

DIL diya Gallan...!!!

“Aur aaj raat theek 12 baje se hum 21 din ka lockdown shuru karenge…”.. we heard the PM s address in the background!

We were in the hospital, where our B wing was converted into an isolation wing to primarily admit and treat all suspected patients who presented with fever, cough, cold. All the staff were divided into two teams A and B. Each team would man the hospital for 4 days without any break and then the next team would take over. Obviously, going back home was not feasible and so it was an enforced hospital stay! The thoughts of not being in touch with your family made us sad.. but to keep the morale high , we told ourselves that this is what the Army does at the border, each day, for US! Now, we are called for it and we shall not turn back. This epidemic wont go away.. we have to send it packing!

Done and dusted Jayesh finally retired on that sofa in the doctors room… would you like a coffee Jay? Savni was here ! And took 'over' from him for the next shift!
Savni s been his man Friday, always there when he needed someone the most.. that ear that heard all his troubles , fights,…and crush stories too!

Yeah, get me one Sa.. thank you. How have you been? Loving the same kaali dal and gobi ka sabji in the mess? …asked Jayesh..

Well Jay, u chipmunk, consider yourself lucky that you have something to eat. There are hospitals where the residents have nothing to eat at night, post calls! We re still lucky, you Stupidosaur! And we don’t have a Tata here to gift us the food packets, like they do in Mumbai… Savni retorted back!

Thud ..and the door opened! Komal was here too…

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii everyone.. [ the longest HI in the history of mankind..yes Komal held that record!]

Every since her UG days Komal had been that cheerful gal who would make friends with everyone. Battling her own demons[ read juvenile diabetes], she would still find ways to infuse energy into others.. it was no wonder that she decided to work in the field and practiced public health! While we saved singleton souls, Komal saved them in hundreds and thousands!

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, sit thoda door door na.. I keep telling people that maintain 3 feet distance[ social distancing!] and look, docs ho tum log aur khud hi nahi follow karte!

Looking at her angry face, Jay said.. sorry Komal, ja raha hun main.. jaate jaate tere liye ek message hai.. roz sham ko 9 baje Ramayan dekhna, is se tum apni krodha pe niyantran rak paoge, Kanya!

Savni burst out laughing… Komal was red hot chilli peppers now… Jay was playing with fire!

Luckily for him, Komal s phone rang… she spoke on the phone and kept it down..
Hey guys Sir s here too.. he will be here in a minute.. lets ask him if he s seen a lockdown like this before!

Well, that s when I met these trio again..the three Musketeers ..as I lovingly called them… always jostling and fighting at each other, ready to pounce ! haha..thats my favourite bunch of people!
So as they asked me about a similar situation before.. my mind went back to those days when I had asked Dad the same question as a child…

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Chap 1- WAR!

It was 1971. We were in Kolkata, said Dad . I was doing my Engineering. On the way back home ,suddenly we saw all the shops shutting down. The army was on the road. We lived next to the Gun And Shell factory at Cossipore, Kolkata. The govt had declared that it would be mandatory to do this for the next few days. We didn’t have a clue as to what was happening.. in the evening all the street lights were dimmed. The radio was on. It told us to switch off the lights in the evening. We were looking at a battle with East Pakistan. We were caught unawares.. there were enough food to last a week, but beyond that what would we do? Soon they declared on radio that shops would be open each day in the morning and supplies could be procured. Do not panic! Is what they said everyday, on the radio!

In those days we didn’t have TVs, Internet or smartphones.. the postal department was the lifeline! Telegrams were the last word.. it meant something serious, usually! We sent a few of them to our relatives stating that we were fine, do not worry for us!
Every night we looked up at the beautiful sky and saw the stars! God had indeed made them pretty! One early morning, at the break of dawn, we were fast asleep and the buzzers sounded! A buzzer meant a continuous siren repeated thrice at intervals of 15 sec.
It implied an impending air attack!!!!!!

Soon we saw 3 enemy planes flying in at a rapid speed..encircling the air and before they could drop their payload, 5 gnats appeared in the horizon. They were the Indian airforce !!! a duel was on the way.. it lasted 20 mins and we could see them hovering in the air.. and soon one had taken a hit, it spiralled out of control and made its way to the ground! Later we heard on the radio that the enemy pilot was caught in Sreerampore! Damn .. that day is something that I would never forget all my life, said Dad as he concluded the story!

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Chap 2- RIOTS

It was the winter of 1992. It wasn’t a good time. I distinctly remember the ghastly Hindu-Muslim riots that took place . My colony where we all stayed housed people of different religions , castes and creed! But the aftermath of the Babri masjid demolition led to the ‘ Bombay riots’.

Fuelled by anger, people went on a murderous killing spree. Fires were burning and bodies were being burnt alive. A death of humanity. Still vividly remember the terrified Muslim neighbours being protected by non muslims where they would lock the houses from outside and project that they had left the place. Gradually , it ended ..a lot of lives lost..and it wasn’t a good feeling!

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Chap 3- BLASTS

In retaliation to the riots, Bombay Bombings happened, just a couple of months later in 1993.
I was sitting on the porch, looking at the trains go through the station. Staying close to the station, this was a favourite hobby.
Suddenly ,BOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, a loud noise went through the sky.

I did not understand. I had just returned from college by train. I spoke to dad and mom at home, then changed into my ghar ka kapda and sat on the porch with a cup of tea in my hand. My Ruparel gang were planning a meet up at Santacruz at Dynasty and I thought I would get there too, in a while.

Arvind called up to say that Fahd and Arun were with him. They just came out of the station when they heart that loud sound too. It was from him that I came to know that this was not a mere loud sound..but something more sinister lurked in it! Soon in no time 12 similar blasts rocked Mumbai.. a lot of casualties, a lot of RDx too! Damn! I remember them coming over to my place, we stayed back for the night.

A lot of gory images over the news… it took some time for life to get back , on the tracks!!

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Chap 4- CLOUDBURST

NOTHING can match Natures fury!
We learnt this the hard way on 26th july 2005- the day when Mumbai stopped!!
We were doing our internship, having completed MBBS and having acquired the new title-‘Dr’..
it was raining since morning that day.. we finished our ward duties and then decided to get home asap. The roads outside Sion were perennially flooded during the rains.

We managed to catch a local but it crossed Bandra and stopped in its tracks! The whole of it…the tracks..were submerged! Also the rains were lashing out fiercely.. with great intensity! It didn’t even slowdown for a minute and the downpour continued. We were a group of 5 and I decided that its better we walked to Santacruz , atleast we could get to my home!

Being avid trekkers we loved the idea of walking in the rains, the small stone chips on the tracks resembled the uneven pebbles on the trek to Ratangad! So we jumped in the knee deep water, and waded through it. On entering our colony, the water level was till mid chest.. our bag of books went over the head and it rested der. Things were looking scary now! Somehow we managed to get home! Quickly dried ourselves.

We soon got another distress call from a group of seniors and juniors stranded at the tracks , where we were! They too were directed to my home.. and now we were a group of 14 at my place, sitting in the dark, sipping coffee, having noodles in candlelight and playing antakshari! Since the electricity was out, it took us a while to realize the gravity of the situation.

The whole of Mumbai was underwater..the sea had moved in ..the high tide surge was on its way. It needed a Red alert and the army/navy to save Mumbai that day! we too were roped in to help out people after a week.. we wnt in the army boats, checked on people, distributed food packets.. GODdd that was an experience! Something that we would always remember!

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Chap 5- TERROR ATTACK

I was at KEM hospital on 26/11, we just finished our ward rounds. Pre emerg day was the lightest day and I usually planned to take my juniors out of the campus, either for dinner or a movie! We were making plans when Anup gave me a call. It was his emergency day and I thought he needed some help with his heavy emergency. Maybe that’s why he s calling, I thought!

Arre Bangali, kidhar hai tu? Sob bhalo aache? Khabar khabo? He started off with his broken Bengali catharsis.. tujhe pata hai, abhi kya hua hai?
I said I had no idea, we were just making plans for dinner.

He said- arre terrorist attack hua hai VT station pe.. sabko high alert pe rakha hai..aur tujhe and sab SRs ko bulaya hai emergency mein.

We rushed to the emergency . we were divided into teams. 4 of us were packed into an ambulance and we were on the way to---#crimescene! We reached Cama hospital. But the whole placed looked eerie, no lights, tall trees and the wind blowing by… with gunshots heard in the background!
A policeman came and opened the door and took us all out. He stated that a vehicle can be easily attacked. So, we were crawling on the road in the darkness and making our way to the rear entrance of the hospital. All the other doors were sealed!
Being the closest hospital to the crime scene, they faced a flurry of injured guys.. continuously brought in ! we stayed there for 2 days, tended to them.. did emergency surgeries, took out bullet fragments and shrapnels.. did emergency tracheostomies , managed exsanguinated patients , gave CPRs.. tried to save each one.
This was another incident , we ll forever remember!

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Final Chapter- VIRUS ATTACK!

We have believed that war is fought on land, air and sea. But the medical crime thrillers and the ones where Russian agents sprayed dust and the person would die in no time ..stretched our imaginations and led us to biowarfare! Could this be a possibility, in the future? Could such attacks kill more people in continuum?

We have also seen those videos where we see guys gobbling fried bats, locusts, snake blood, alligator meat, rats , fried scorpions.. and oft wondered, is it necessary to screw up the food chain? Are we immune to the diseases that affect these animals> and if it did get into our system, how would we fare?

This winter of 2020,we got a few answers. The virus originating in China shook the world! A new genotype, it was more virulent than its previous counterparts! It killed people in no time and spread with equal speed. Before the countries could enforce regulations, half the globe were already under its wrath!

Hey Jay , hand me a N95 mask.. its my duty now..said Savni. It jolted us back to the present world.
Komal too got up..Damn, we have been through so much, na sir? I wonder aur kya kya dekhne milega?!
Pata nahi… but lets get back to work.. I said..

Stay safe, personal protection is of utmost importance.. you can treat many, only if you are alive! Remember that! Hope this ends soon..

Byeee, we all screamed in unison ..as we walked out………..!!!!!

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leaving you guys with a few pics of Mumbai with no souls around...clear skies once again!!!!!!!!

till next time...Auf Wiedersehen!