From Where I See- Book Review

I finished reading ‘From Where I See’ by Dr Ajay Yadav this morning and let out a sigh. When I closed it and read the back cover, something which I usually do only after I finish a book in the fear of  getting to know the turn of events, well this time I couldn’t help but smirk.

“It’s not only a book; it’s the path to revolution, a journey towards a utopian world. Accepting the truth is the toughest job in the world. If you feel that you are open minded, have the courage to accept the truth and a desire to change the world. Be a part of the change and take the first step to build a road to the ideal world”

The story begins with a doctor being interrogated at a typical Bollywood style <imagine while you read> police station for his friends death , a friend who was struggling with intrapersonal, interpersonal, inter-social and inter-religious conflicts which eventually  kills her. Soon after which he is in flashback. What follows after that is 'Point A to point B to point D to point G to point Y to point A to point S to point Z to point E...'. The writer in my frank opinion has opened a Pandora's Box; the consequences are for the reader who opens the book. A plethora of issues are discussed in the pretext of conversations between family and friends, and not to forget the in depth seminars which run in pages. The idea although is quite new, this for me as a reader terribly fails, terribly.

My dilemma with the book is plain and simple:

To build the plot with the characters or to put a across a hundred of those pragmatic opinions?

The research with the social, national, religious issues interspersed in massive amount in between is completely laudable. What fails is the connect; the discussion is a pain to read not because it is revolving the truth but because they are extremely longish. At more than one instance I admit I forgot where, why, how and who was talking to whom! I had no issues with the facts and data put across; they just seemed to be in the wrong place. The characters speaking so much over tea or dinner about varied topics appear only simulated. It is mostly the authors point of view talking, as he himself says, this book is his effort to find the root cause and probable remedies of conflicts, and a try at exploring hundreds of pertinent questions. Thumbs up!

Thumbs down for the structure, if this was a little different maybe the story had some chance of keeping me hooked, the issues raised are very much relevant to the world of today. Humanity indeed has to be our only religion. At the end of all the colloquy, all of a sudden out of nowhere the police do find out the killer, and then the discussion gets back to the journey towards ‘The Utopian World’. This story is no chiclet novel material, nor based on corporate intrigues involving mega millions or political chicanery as the foreword says, it is written with a valid intent but falls short of a decent composition. It needs an editor. Period.

Title: From Where I See

Author: Dr Ajay Yadav

ISBN-13: 9789382536819

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Lifi Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Number of pages:401

Genre: Fiction

Language: English

Price: Rs.300

My rating: 1.5/5

PS: This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Swine Flu- Lessons From The Lab

“Tring…tring…triiiiing”

The phone rings for the nth time in the laboratory while everything and everyone are up to something, all are doing their duty to help the patients of the hospital which I can vouch is always more than their individual capacities. 

One of my technicians picks the call.

“Hello Namaste, Microbiology” she says.

While the machines run and beep continuously, a technician receives samples, another processes samples, and an another attends an another call on the other telephone, a few patients wait outside for reports, a housekeeping staff of one of the wards waits inside for reports, a clinician calls for reports, a reporting desk assistant enters some reports, and I one of the microbiologists verify some reports, in the midst of this routine she comes to me with the cordless with quite a dreary look.

“Ma’am please speak to this patient, she is asking for her H1N1 report”

I take the call.

“Hello how may I help you?” I ask the patient out of habit.

And the rest is to be swallowed, in the name of the Hippocratic Oath.

There are times such as these when we get to hear from patients the most absurd things possible to a point that they question the credibility of a doctors duties and what I understand of such difficult situation is this, if there is someone who has to show a great deal of patience it has to be the doctors. It can be nobody else.

With the ongoing H1N1 epidemic we have lessons to learn, and believe me when I say 'A LOT'. If you were to pick up a newspaper and read about ‘swine flu’ which I am sure has more than one column nowadays, you may find information on these lines:

Picture Courtesy

‘Death toll rises to….’

‘.....city’ has ‘x’ number of positive cases, and ‘y’ number of deaths

The fear is but obvious. I wish we paid attention to reverse of the coin as well. The working of Indian health care system, especially our preparedness with dealing such an epidemic, the availability of antiviral drugs and vaccination-the pros and cons; when to take them, why to take them and who should take them. The problems, more so solutions to the problems, these are the issues that need to be addressed. Even if they are, the point is that they are not very precise. As a result the pressures and forces acting upon the health care providers are more of social nature than medical due to this trepidation created. We are letting this run us as if we do not have a judgement of our own, well until the next epidemic.

Diagnostics and therapeutics are central to the working of a hospital and no doctor would risk his patient’s life by delaying a test. H1N1 testing is a molecular test, done by a method called Polymerase Chain Reaction and only a few laboratories have the setup and authorization to run this test, thus the logistical problems. Although automation and technology has reached the highest level possible in diagnostics there are areas which are new to us doctors as well. When the workload reaches a threshold, the maximum that a laboratory can do is increase its working capacity through various means, that’s exactly being done in the testing centres across the country. This scenario was quite unexpected in these places too. It is relatively easy to put the blame on the working of a system although some complaints will have the truth in them, thanks to the commercialization. 


We must not forget one thing, a diagnosis that would not have been made otherwise is now scientifically understood and medically treatable. There is no sensibility in hitting the panic button for the wrong reasons. This all the more gives us a good opportunity to confront the reality of the influenza virus. A common cold may not be a common cold after all. The antigenic shifts and drifts, the pandemics and epidemics are not for history, they are here to stay. Let us face it together!

“Tring…”

The cordless on the table rang again.

“Namaste, Microbiology, how may I help you?” I asked.

“Doctor, I wanted to know my daughter’s H1N1 Report” came a query from a father at the other end.

I remembered his voice, the same man who had called at least five times the last evening. How could I forget the fear and anxiety in his voice, and that of the mother’s whom I could hear from behind? I searched for the status of her report as eagerly as him. Doctors are definitely humans, at the end of throughout the day.

Picture Courtesy

I am doing mine, are you?

-R.

Of Waters And Boats

“Good morning Ma’am, kaise ho? Breakfast kiya?”

 

He asks ritualistically while I verify reports of patients in the laboratory every morning. We call him ‘Tasleem’, a young lanky boy of seventeen from Assam who is quite the songbird. There is no tune that he is not familiar with; there is no Hindi song that is not in his playlist. When I hear him sing, I get perturbed thinking about his job as a housekeeping staff in the hospital, such raw and beautiful talent in the wrong place.

Yesterday when he wished me so, there was a subtle change in his tone. I looked at him and smiled.

“What happened Tasleem, everything fine?” I inquired. His reply was something that made me think there is more to this boy’s charm beyond his adolescent silliness. 

“Bina paani ka naav jaisa hai mera life Ma’am” he said and smirked.

I thought about it all day. There are a hundred wise sayings and quotes about boats on shore and how they need to be sailed. But what Tasleem told me was beyond all that. At times we learn from people whom we least expect to teach us. I am grateful to him for that, of course he does get a word or two from me every other day on how he needs to grow up ;-) We all need water, don’t we? Something to use our oars against. While most of us at some point cry and complain of the battles of routine, there are some who find it difficult to find even that purpose in life. What if there is no water, no battle, no purpose? Eerie feeling!

Hope you all find enough waters to sail, a merry good weather and lots of sunshine. And do take care of your boats. Have a good day :-)

-R