Longings of a heart

“The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and a wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of dart in the pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden-that is what the state is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc. are simply a waste of time.”- C.S.Lewis. The Cath lab at my teaching hospital is a state of art facility practicing cutting edge medicine. Through real time X rays and microscopic catheters, holes in the heart are patched up, adamant, unrelenting skipped beats are brought back to rhythm and obstinately narrow blood vessels are dilated to infuse current of life. For an anaesthesia registrar, it is an out of ordinary posting. With a slightly delayed start of the day and an occasional coffee break in the sun, it offers respite from t...

“An anesthetist has hours of leisure, minutes of horror and seconds of terror”. - Unknown “A professional is one, who does the thing he knows best, on the day when he does not have the mood to do so.” The operating facility in the centenary building is nestled in the second floor. Set up exclusively for women and children, this place can be an anesthetists’ nightmare. Unlike its elder cousin, the main operating complex, that resembles the British TV show, the crystal maze, it is well built and technically advanced. Only that her virtues are compensated by its appalling emergencies. Its walls of glinted marble have seen it all and the medical personnel within it have done it all. With Women rushed in with babies stuck in their pelvises and naughty kids aspirating a peanut or two, the moments for the duty-on- call are no less than a Hollywood suspense thriller. It was one of those days when I was on call, during those hours of leisure that the obstetrician rolled in a g...

"Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom as a little child will by no means enter it". Luke 18-16,17. Being a registrar has its own set of health hazards. From inhaling medical gases to eating stale food, you are at risk of many medical dangers you fight to mitigate. It is riding a stallion that may stamp you as it gallops. In the last one year I was down with a bout of chickenpox and conjunctivitis. A few episodes of gastritis and many days of fevers that flee in no time. My colleagues had a tougher time. Some had sprained their backs and were confined to bed for weeks. One of my close friends met with an accident and was out of action for a semester. I cannot recollect what I had been doing that day. By evening I was down with severe cramps in my tummy. Some machine was churning my innards with persistent vigour. The stomach pain gave way to loose stools. I...

“Christ did not die for all men, but for each man. For, if you were the only person existing in the universe, He would have still died for you.”- C.S.Lewis .   Emergency operating room is a venue of diverse emotions. As an anesthesiologist, you listen to the stories of patients and cannot but be touched- sometimes with warmth and empathy and sometimes with heartbreak and pain.  The duty that day was not a hectic one –in the sense not one that would get onto your nerves. As I was sipping my coffee two slips requesting for surgery were passed on to me. One was a 7 year old boy with 45% burns and since the child had some time for the mandatory 6 hours fasting, I had a chat with the pediatric surgery registrar who was on that case. It was one of the saddest stories I have heard.   The father of the boy posted for surgery had an illicit relationship with one of the relatives. The mother having known the truth had a major fight with her husband. The latter g...