101 questions ( 101 chodyangal ) movie review

Siddhartha Siva is an young Malayalam actor and  Director whose first movie in Malayalam fetched him a  National  Award
 The film won the award for Best First Film of a Director and Best Child Artist (Minon) for the small boy who enacted its main role .It also won the Silver Crow Pheasant Award for Best Feature Film (Audience Prize) at the 18th International Film Festival of Kerala.
I have known Siddharth for long and knew his sense of humour even under dire situations he went through and won over .


story and script is also by him


 Its about a small boy of around 8 to 10 years born in a workers family with a disabled special child as his sister ,the boys name Anil Kumar Bokharo becomes the butt of jokes in his class because of that name
his father a factory worker had named him after the legendary industrialist Bokharo hoping his son would rise one day to become an entrepreneur like his namesake had
his father loses his job in the factory where he had worked for years ,he is  loyal sincere and honest but becomes the scapegoat for the strike organised by  the local trade union  while others get back to the job ,everyone knows about this injustice  including the factory CEO  but circumstances make them helpless to take him back .
The family falls into very difficult conditions where even a meal a day becomes a challenge
Sivanandan the loving father is a gentle person who never blames anyone for his misfortunes he neither rants nor despairs but pours his love to his children ,his wife works hard as a coolie to make the fires burn in her house taking the disabled child with her
 she often gets angry with hers sons dreamy ways as he is their only hope .


A new school master ( Indrajith ) joins and he is a bright young man with concern for his students ,he on hearing that the free midday meal would be stopped shortly devises an idea of children who can to bring two packets of food every day one for themselves and other for those who cannot bring that
Bokharo asks his mother for the food packet ,her despair is shown as anger to her son while the father hugs the boy and consoles him feeling sad he could be of no use for his children
Both actress Lena who is the mother and Murugan as the father have really lived their roles and bring tears to our eyes in every scene ,
she does manage to give her son the coveted food packet one day but when he needs it every day to school like his friends she shows her frustration on him .
she happens to meet the master and tells him the situation in the house and asks him to spare Bokharo from  the new rule .
The master visits their home and tells Bokharo he had never insisted and it was only for those who could bring the packet  to benefit those who could not .
He now has a special eye on the boy who is a hope for his poor parents ,he also realises that Bokharo is bright and very observant child .
One day he gives him a job of compiling 101 questions for a small general knowledge booklet he planned to publish and he would promise Bokhara one rupee for every question which would be given only on completion ,his motive was to encourage the boy to start enquiring and also to make his first earning with sincere work .
to Bokhara the quest diverts his mind from his knawing hunger and despair in his home as he open eyed watches the world and its small wonders while questions and answers tumble in his creative mind which he dutifully compiles in his meticulous hand
when 50 questions were completed and on the day when there is no money even to buy medicines for fits for his sick sister he desperately pleads to his master for the fifty rupees to be given immediately as he desperately needs it his master gives him that and nothing more so that he would know the value of money .
the story meanders with their life sunk in poverty and hope receding ,the final scene comes when Bokharo puts his one hundred and first question to his master touching our hearts .
A simple story through an unfortunate child's mind directed with finesse and enacted by brilliant actors
Dr V.P Gangadharan the well known medical oncologist has a single stellar scene in the movie the significance  would be known by its end
please see the film as we need to encourage such good films but be prepared to be touched .

Lingual Amnesia

 Some are very quick in learning new languages but I have always been deficient in this department.

 Directions, names and languages have been my Achilles heel (not much left out right ? )

 Though by birth a Malayalee having spent my childhood in Tamilnadu I could converse read and write in Tamil but can only speak well and manage to read in my mother tongue Malayalam !

 I have always regretted this for I have missed out the rich lore of Malayalam literature and also am not able to write in it and thus unable to communicate to many in the local language .

 Hindi was another handicap for me ,again the Tamilnadu childhood and extreme antipathy to Hindi during those days there days was the cause ,

 we never had a third language of Hindi unlike in Kerala and hence the heavily accented mallu Hindi was also not my prerogative .

 So in fact my language capabilities were reduced to a meagre three Tamil, English and spoken Malayalam, that borders on the intellectually challenged level of linguistics!

 In the Gulf luckily I worked for eight years in a hospital with interpreters to help us translate to Arabic for patients who needed that .and many did ,because even educated Arabs were more comfortable in their language rather than in English .

 I even attended an Arabic course but after more than a month succeeded in learning nothing and quietly removed myself from the scene.

 In Brunei too where one could manage with English knowing Malay and Chinese is a real advantage

 Nurses here act as interpreters

 The interpreters I feel are a strange species

 Once they start their translation they get absorbed in their conversation with the patient so much so they forget there is a third person around and that’s me.

 In UAE based on the local culture one could never get to a point abruptly,

 That would be an insult

 generally it would go like this

 For example if I wanted a bone marrow done on a patient the interpreter would start off with

 Salaam maale khum and reach out to shake hands

 Maalekhum Aslam shaking hands for 2 minutes or hugging for 3 minutes or kissing on cheeks which would take 5 minutes as the case may be

 Keff halik ( how are you ? )

 Hum dulha ( fine ) this from the other side

 And then the litany of enquiry would begin!!

 How’s your family,

 How’s your wife or wives,

 How are your Children your cats goats camels fields palm trees your servants

 And if you are unlucky the patient would be courteous to ask the same questions not to you but to the interpreter

 This juncture often would create a trance situation in me and I would be transported to a nether world

 Slowly in measured slowness the topic for which the interpretation was needed would be touched up on with great finesse with a spiritual sprinkling in between ,

 This opportune moment of great importance may involve some more shaking hands or even hugging and kissing

 Then one could add another 15 minutes

 Everyone happy

 Then the topic

 can we do a bone marrow would slowly emerge from the interpreter

 this would raise some eyebrows and some questions

 finally the man would remember that somebody else called me was existing in the vicinity and would ask what the patient wanted to know

 the answer would come out crisp and clear and quick as trained to do by me then the whole process would begin again between the two important people ignoring me again

 Generally I used the time to browse FB or post a couple of pictures in it or I would quietly slip out for a cuppa coffee and time my re-entry when the mono dialogues were finished a couple of times I even wrote a blog post in the gap once.

 In Brunei things were little faster but still at times the interpreters just forget the person who needs it

 This is termed as Lingual amnesia.

 This is described in Oxford dictionary as the person who needs the language is forgotten

 (in truth its not that bad as many patients know excellent English in both countries and many also understand well ,

 just a reason for me for another blog post !)

LAST JEW OF COCHIN

Solomon was dying 
it was early in the morning in the relief centre 
Solomons eyes were closed but he saw his messiah his white mane flowing in the wind and the etched features .

The  long silver beard thick and curled ,   tall and muscular  arms outstretched he could clearly see the saviour of Jews leading into the deep blue thundering sea

The waves were huge and crashing the coast dipped deep into the sea  as  lightening flashed and heavy rain lashed

Nothing deterred them now as they followed their chosen one who led them with no fear  into the deep sea

Faith removes fear

The thundering hooves of the Egyptians were heard closely now as they followed in haste

 Moses stopped with his raised hands looked at the dark sky and hailed his lord to save his people

His cries were sepulchral and reached the skies

The dark clouds erupted into roaring rains

The sky turned blood red and dark and foreboding

and the  deep sea parted its way

Moses  strove forwards descending into the deep ocean

the waters were towering on the sides like glass waterfalls glistening and hurtling  but not making one of them wet as they followed him into the deep waters ,

Huge fish could be seen on the sides like an aquarium

Ships stood like figurines in glass

The sea remained  parted till every Jew was on the other side and as the Egyptians  in their horses followed them it crashed on them

It  sunk them like match boxes their huge chariots led by white steeds fumbled and sunk with no trace as hordes of Egyptians and their pharaoh were lost into the ocean and snuffed out of existence

It was all quiet

Solomon was dead

The last Jew in Cochin had left the world

The relief home was sombre in its silence

it was dawn and the inmates were slowly waking up into another day of destituteness ,

a few looked at Solomon as he lay there  with a beatific smile on his face

the smile on seeing his  saviour at last .

he had been in the centre  for the last decade

Age had caught up on Solomon and the lonely existence in the deserted synagogue  was denied to him

He had persisted to stay there even when his people had left one by one to the Promised Land

To Israel where their saviour had led them from the chasing pharaohs and his soldiers it was eons after which Israel as a state could come into existence

Solomon was an young man when Hitler exterminated Jews like rats gassing them in multitudes in the most horrible holocaust and racial snuffing the world had ever seen

Jews anywhere in the world had always been persecuted as Hitler .drove them out of Europe

 Those with skills could manage to reach the shores of the US of A where they made a mark and became a powerful community

But during all this the Jews in Cochin were never in trouble

 They had always been treated like they were part of the land

And how they were

Many could speak Malayalam well and they knew all the local customs

They were good business men and were prosperous

But they never abandoned their faith or their traditions

To them their community was above all their language their customs their holy books their God and their synagogue were above anything else

They never married outside the community and maintained purity of their race

They were very particular on this

It was long long back when  a group of Jews had migrated from Europe fearing the persecution of the Spanish

They had met the maharaja of Cochin and asked him refuge

The maharaja asked for a glass of milk to be brought to him

He took some small pebbles and put it in the milk

He looked at the Jewish leader and said  “you would be like the pebbles here and can never be part of us “

The Jewish leader was wise he asked for another glass of milk and some sugar he stirred the sugar in the milk and gave it to the maharaja and said

“Your highness we would melt like sugar in this milk and make it only sweeter  “.

The Maharaja was impressed

He gave them a large piece of land and allowed them to carry on their business in peace and practice their religion with total freedom

Probably India and Kerala were the only place where Jews were not persecuted

And thus the Jewish community in Cochin grew around the synagogue.

Solomon was the fourth child of Yehuda and pearl

His dad was a tombstone maker

Strange job but he was in it from childhood as an apprentice slowly learning the art of creating tombstones with their epitaphs and most of the tombstones that adorned the Jewish cemetery were made by him

He was a busy man too as young and old died in the community making it smaller and smaller over time

He too left early and an epitaph went up over his tomb which said

“Here lies Yehuda the one who wrote for the dead” ,

And some Hebrew hieroglyphics

Alas he too was gone.

Solomon was just a child when it happened,

He had seen his dad bending over the stones in the cemetery working in pouring rain or hot suns,

He used to tag alone as he liked the quite of the cemetery

People rarely came there even though it was just off the Jewish settlement

They came there only when dead or with the dead

But for Solomon it was a dear place a place where he felt his dad’s presence

With time he could hardly remember his dad

 His face had faded away but he could still feel his presence as a wispy memory

He could see the knurled hands as they worked the clicking sounds as he chipped away the stones and cleared the weeds

It was his mother he remembered well for she died when he was in his sixties by then she was eighty two and was just planning to fly to Israel when it happened.

All his brothers and sisters all eight of them had flown one by one and settled down in Tel Aviv and so many other places

 They wrote back tales of the Promised Land asking him to join them but Solomon knew in his heart he would never leave his Cochin

He would never leave his tombstones where he could feel his dad in the stones

 During the monsoon it rained for days in Cochin

The incessant downpours would hammer into the tombstones creating strange sounds

He would sit under one of the awnings listening to its fall as it was music to him

He would light an occasional cigarette cupping his hands to prevent the match from going off in the gusts of the rain

During rains the electric current would often go off and Solomon would sit in the dark hooded and bearded and the people found him strange

It was then he would think of her

She was always in his mind all the time day and night

But she would become alive in such lonely moments

He would hear the tinkle of her anklets in the dark

He could smell the jasmine adorning her black hair

He could see the colour of the jacket and skirt she wore

He felt happy to see her almond eyes looking at him fleetingly

Solomon too then had lovely blue eyes with brown freckles

He was a handsome man in his youth  

He was then working in Deborah’s shop

Deborah and Benjamin were the richest in the community

They owned many shops but the one where Solomon worked was their earliest   started with the money  Benjamin had got as a present from Deborah’s dad who was working in Malaysia in an estate  and was reasonably rich ,

Benjamin had started it as an all-purpose shop and it had flourished

Young Solomon was one of the many who worked there

The Jews in Cochin always had a closeness to their own

The shop was near pazhayarakavu  Bagavathy temple

The Devi temple was housed in the Dutch palace

Cochin is one place with history every where

All one needed was to scratch it anywhere and rich lore’s would start flowing like a river

Over the years Cochin had the Dutch the Portuguese and the British ruling its pockets

The maharaja too had his fiefdom

The Dutch had given away the palace to the maharaja as a gift and he had made a temple in it

This was where Solomon first saw her

His Lakshmi

She came from the Brahmana samooham in Mattancherry a colony of houses with many Brahmin households speaking a mixture of Malayalam and Tamil.

The Brahmins of Cochin added to its variety

They had their own small temple inside but still the girls would come to pazhayarakavil in the evenings adorned with jasmine flowers their anklets twinkling

They were pretty and most of them knew classical singing and dancing and hence walked with grace

Lakshmi was the only daughter of Kailas Iyer and Mani mammi

 To Kailas Iyer and his wife mammi   Lakshmi was everything

Kailas Iyer was the manager of the cooperative Bank

Lakshmi  was the most good looking girl in the colony and many young men  in the neighbourhood looked at here with a sigh

Solomon too fell for her the day he saw her

On that day she had come to the temple with her friends walking daintily  lifting her skirt as the road was wet after the rains

He couldn’t take his eyes off her

It happens that if there are intense feelings to someone it is felt unseen by the person.

Suddenly Lakshmi looked back as she had an uncanny feel that someone was looking at her

And she looked into the brown flecked blue eyes of the Jew

Their eyes locked for a  second before she willingly looked elsewhere but Solomon knew she had noticed him

He felt happy and did not know why

By then he heard Deborah calling him and he went away

But he looked out for Lakshmi since that day

His mother asked him to continue his studies and go to college so that he would get a good job in Israel as there was no doubt that sooner or later they would go there but Solomon was never good at studies he was not good in his father’s job too

He managed to do his job in the shop and was happy about that

Finally his mother too stopped telling him

His eldest brother David would call him a wastrel but his sister in law Sarah was kind to him and would protect him from David’s hard words

 it was to Sarah he would tell all is secrets and his problems

And it was to Sarah he told of how he had fallen for a Brahmin girl!

By now Lakshmi too had started searching for Solomon when she came to the temple they looked at each other with a gentle smile

During the festival in the temple Solomon managed to go near her in the crowd and pass a letter to her

He had pored over it for days and wrote it with great heartache and he felt happy that Lakshmi took it from him he never expected a reply but the next day Suppini the slightly hare brained boy in the Brahmins colony walked into his shop and handed over a letter from Lakshmi he was stunned

He rushed inside the small store room and opened it to read it

His Lakshmi had written that she too liked him but felt they had no future as her dad would never allow her to marry a Jewish boy so better to forget things earlier and carry on

She was a realist but Solomon would not take this as an answer

He was going to get his Lakshmi whatever

Years rolled on with their furtive glances graduating to hurried whispers under dusky corridors in the Dutch palace where Solomon would declare his unparalleled love to his girl

By then David had found a Jewish lass for Solomon and was planning to arrange their wedding

Leora was studying in college but liked Solomon and had agreed for the match.

Solomon knew her well as they had all played together as children

She was a nice girl cute to look at but not for being his wife

To him that could be only Lakshmi

He met Leora near her college one day and told the truth of his love for Lakshmi

Leora laughed a bit sad initially but promised she would tell her father that she was not happy on getting married to Solomon on some pretext

she knew her dad would agree for anything and they were also in the verge of travelling to Israel so it really wouldn’t matter much as her choice there would be wider .

David was furious at the turn of events and looked at Solomon with suspicion he knew his brother had an eye for an Indian girl

Sarah who knew all just kept her secret

Time was passing and Laxmis dad had started looking for a match for her

It would be now or never

Solomon was ready to run away with her but she wanted nothing of the sort

Solomon dared to do the unbelievable

He strode straight into Lakshmi’s house one day and met her dad

Kailas Iyer was reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee in a steel glass and the radio was belting out a Carnatic classical when he knocked the door

“Yes what can I do for you? “

asked Kailas Iyer as he opened the door

“Aren’t you working in Deborah’s shop?

 Iyer had seen the boy there .

“Yes sir I am “

 “Ok anything you want to tell?

He stood like a rock and Solomon was not called inside

“May I sit sir? “

Kailas Iyer did not like the tone

“Ok sit in the veranda “saying this he offered a chair to the visitor and he himself sat on an easy reclining chair

Yes

Well sir Iam a Jew living near the synagogue and my name is Solomon

I know I know Kailas Iyer was a bit impatient

He prided himself in knowing most of the people in and around the area

“I knew your dad he was the one who  made those tombstones right ?

 died years back I remember  “

Yes sir

“Ok  what brings  you here now “

“Sir, Lakshmi “

“Lakshmi!  what about Lakshmi  “

Kailas Iyer found it strange this fellow could name his daughter in a conversation

“What does Lakshmi have to do with you? “

“Lakshmi your daughter “

“Of course Lakshmi is my daughter……. What? “

“Well sir I like her, can I marry her  ? “

Kailas Iyer sat like a stone

It was unbelievable

This this Jew fellow could come up to him and ask for his daughter just like that

He was shocked and stunned at the audacity

“Get up

Get out

Before I go mad

What do you think you are

How dare you ask for Lakshmi’s hand?

Get lost “

 “Sir don’t get angry

I can look after her well

My passage to Israel is assured and as my wife she will come along we will lead a happier life

 Abroad “.

“You go to Israel or Nigeria for all I care “

“You thought I will give my daughter because you can take her to Israel you idiot I will kill you

get out now how dare you could ask me the question  “

Solomon was angry now

“Sir I did no wrong Lakshmi too likes me ask her if you want  

I just asked for her hand like a man “

“Well I don’t want some shop attendants coming here asking for my only daughters hand

So off “

By now kailas Iyers neighbours had smelt trouble and had slowly come there

“What’s the  problem Kailas a  ? “

“This fellow wants to marry my Lakshmi it seems he will take her to Israel “

 “No wonder these Jews were driven off from everywhere “this from a rotund neighbour

Solomon drew himself tall

“Don’t you curse us Jews

We are  brave people and the best

If you don’t want to give your daughter so be it but if you touch on my community I would become a different person “

“Look look he is threatening us now get out or I will call the police  

He could hear Lakshmi whimpering inside “

She knew it would end up like this

Solomon had tried to meet her and tell her that they could run away but kailas Iyer had his hawk eyes on him

He also put in a word to David and Benjamin who had taken loans from his bank and Solomon was strictly told to lay off Lakshmi .

One fine day Lakshmi had got married and gone off leaving a giant vacuum in his heart

Solomon turned dour and mostly never smiled

His age was catching up he was in his late forties

He moved into the synagogue as its caretaker and would sit long hours in the evening in the cemetery thinking of his Lakshmi

He heard she was now in Bombay in Matunga where most of the Iyers lived married to what else another banker and she had two children too

The Jewish Romeo still pined for her

His mother had stopped asking him to get married

She knew it would never happen

David and Sarah and all the others had left to Israel

And his mother had died just before she could leave

She never was very keen and was happy to be with Solomon but David wanted her there

Having   a senior citizen in the house could get a   lot of advantages for the whole family in Israel

But the day she was to leave his mother too died of a broken heart

Solomon was truly alone now

More than sixty years he had aged and looked different from the blue eyed boy he was earlier

Kailas iyer had died and Solomon had even gone to the house hoping to get a glimpse of his Lakshmi he saw her with her greying hairs in distress crying over her dad

Her feelings for the Jewish boy had all disappeared as an infatuation.

But to Solomon it would never go

To the people around he was like a relic

Once The local daily published an article on the last Jew which made him popular

Tourists would ask for taking photographs with him and he would get paid

He lived like this

The synagogue too was becoming old and faded

The government maintained it now as a heritage property

Newly appointed clerks collected ticket money for seeing the place and a lot of tourists visited it

There were numerous handicrafts shops strewn around the synagogue

Solomon was in his late seventies and was officially jobless but was allowed to stay in a small alcove in the synagogue

One day he became sick and was admitted in the local government hospital

Solomon had a stroke and had right sided weakness he could no longer walk by his own

Hence his food became a problem as he could not walk to the small tea shops where he had his food

The police one day shifted him to the relief centre full of beggars and destitute

His last days as a Jew in Cochin would end there

And finally the day had come a

  Moses the messiah  who took him at last to the promised land came to him  in his last dream

Thus This is the story of the last Jew in Cochin .

Note : having lived for more than two decades in Cochin I had always been fascinated on the Jewish settlement and their synagogue

his story sprung off purely on my imagination and has no relation to anyone who lived there or are still living there .

NIGHT ( MARES ) DUTIES OF A DOCTOR

Many  people accuse doctors of wallowing in luxury not being as noble as they profess to be .

having been fed over the ages on the nobility of this profession they tend to forget that it is also practiced by the same humans belonging to  other professions and not Martians .
 no special moral superiority is granted to medical doctors on graduation ,like any other person they have a life to lead have their pains and pleasures and families to look after and dreams to fulfil so the expectation that every doctor should sacrife his all for the sake of society would not go much beyond idealistic stories or in movies .
Having said this it is also known that there are many among doctors  who conduct their profession with utmost decorum and within their ethical boundaries if not one cannot see the merits accrued to the state of health over the years .
Becoming a doctor by itself is also not a small joke ,to get through the rat race of getting a coveted seat ( Iam mentioning by merit of course  ) it requires years of drudgery and hard work of cramming up millions of facts attending classes ,dissecting the dead and spending hours in crummy pathology laboratories with bottled specimens or in anaesthetised operation theatres cutting and stitching human tissues .
food and sleep generally is priority number two those times and mostly so for many throughout their profession .
commitments to time can hardly be given by any doctor as the unexpected could turn up at any time and cancellations could well be the order of the day leading to stress and frustrations .the obvious question is after all after choosing the profession why complain ,true nobody does that but at the same time no physician needs to be defensive to any critic of his time he has earned it well !

Over the years I had more unslept  nights than slept ones !

During internship if at all we slept it was the sleep of the dead as working continuously sometimes for four days we could get a few winks and a quick grabs of food ,so busy were government hospitals those days and so crowded ,

I still remember the crowded wards of Kilpauk medical college hospital where I studied, it  had patients on the floor and under the beds and in the corridors like many government hospitals even today do ,

house surgeons or interns as were called had to administer all injections for the patients which would amount to more than hundred ,we used glass syringes boiling in a steriliser as this was before the disposable era ,armed with a long list we used to fill the hot syringes with the medicines from their vials ,break th glass ampoules with a click of our fingers not even using a cutter many times injuring ourselves and then walk to the patients in ill lit corridors and give them the injections sitting on the floor ,we would be interrupted with all sorts of emergencies and admissions from the casualties and if there was a sudden surgery due to an RTA or an emergency situation we would run helter skelter before the chief or his assistants  arrived  ,many times I had eagerly scrubbed and entered the theatre for getting a chance to be part of a surgery was a coveted thing for interns as there was tough competition in a teaching medical college from senior house surgeons ,post graduates junior assistants etc and invariably they would ward us off to the far lying blood bank to cross match and collect blood for the patient ,those days there were no blood components and one had to draw blood from patient take it an a vial  go to the remote blood bank area open the locks and enter the frigid rooms switching on the lights opening the huge refrigerators take the blood bottle and cross match the sample and hug it and run back to the theatre sometimes in pouring rain and after reaching the OT with so much effort would  be yelled at by the big men there for being late .

we were attenders nurses room boys and junior doctors all together but this is how we learned .
the duty room itself was like a tiny ward with the same beds in the ward  rusted and with dirty bedsheets but we slept their like kings when we were permitted ,
we awaited with dread every time the attender knocked the door and called out for a doctor from a speciality praying that it was not us and many a time no prayers were answered in internship .
it was like the knock of the gestapo in Hitlers Germany
 Our teachers were strict but  had a fondness for us unrivalled in any profession
they had this feeling of us being part of the family as children who needed to learn the hard way and they were protective and taught us their greatness slowly .
internship is more like an Army base camp for a doctor .


During my post graduation days too night calls were there but relatively lighter as it was only speciality concerned and we had some junior helps
later during early days of private family practice in kochi I never stopped people from ringing the bell or seeing them during nights ,most of the nights would be interrupted by patients many times over some were really genuine needs many were absurd as they could have come during daytime but would give silly excuses like we were busy etc,
many would come in rickety auto rickshaws or cars to take me into distant house ,
I had walked through slush and mud and heavy rain for long distances to see patients over the years ,
some would just take us to homes to confirm death which would have been evident hours before so that they could get a convenient death certificate needed for property dealings later and invariably no fee were collected from death houses and hence they would get it all free ,

over time I would get wise and stop the 24 hours open clinic as there were lot of hospitals around to serve at all hours ,I would restrict myself to strict timings and appointments .

 I would lock the gates still at times some would jump over the wall and shout out till I opened the doors some would give their piece of mind at the doctor who was selfish and not bothered about the poor sick society ,
this kind of ranklings were  a kerala speciality coming out of their brainwashed militant socialistic attitudes  but many  also understood the hardship of doctors and the work involved and were ever grateful ,many of them still remember us .
After drifting into oncology I continued night duties in lakeshore hospital where it was as busy as it could come but I used to enjoy those days as I had a passion for my speciality and I felt I could really do my mite for reducing the sufferings of cancer patients ,many nights were spent over long talks with colleagues in the casualty or in the wards in between patients and strong tea from neighbouring hotels .
In UAE too I continued with night calls which were quite tough as it was a very busy tertiary referral centre and our on calls were highly stressed up at times with no time to breathe but there was lot of fun too ,late in the nights specially during winter we night owls used to meet up in the ground floors for a cuppa tea and at times a relieving smoke and spin our yarns till our mobiles shrilled ,
I remember I even put the hospital contact name in my mobile as shalliyam which in Malayalam w meant Trouble ! so every time I had a call from hospital it used to say shalliyam shalliyam
on call Rotas also used to create lot of irritations  with colleagues specially during long holidays like Ramadhan days ,
it was generally accepted that if one does on call during the small id one could be free during the big one or vice versa as each had approximately more than a week
once unfairly I was continued to be put on call during both and this was I felt was for favouring someone
 I protested and naturally the mediator suggested we toss a coin ,up went the coin and landed to my luck on my choice but both mediator and the other would not agree and said the coin should not roll over but should be caught in hand ,for which I just kept quite as I knew how the wind swayed this time the coin this time fell against my choice  and I did the calls ,

the funny end of the incident was the public hugging that the benefited friend gave to an offended me after a month of silence from my side !
today it all looks so childish and I remembered this over a conversation with another dear friend
Iam narrating all this as an experience most doctors go through at some time  of their life
yes it is their job and they chose it but it is also a job that requires a lot of sacrifices

At 55 today I am free of night mares ( calls )

but for the real one s! of course

ulu ulu

Into the heart of Borneo

The word Borneo makes one think of  the colour green ,a world of lush tropical forests meandering streams and the sun peeping through tall trees in falling rain .
This turns out to be true as we realised on  travelling into its heart to the Temburong national park in Brunei .
The national park itself  a part of the Borneo conservation efforts is only a small portion  of the 575 sq km of forests hills and waterways
 Unscathed by mankind there were exotic and rare varieties of plant and small animal life
The dwarf squirrel ,the black butterfly also named as the White rajah after the ruler of erstwhile Sarawalk the Englishman James Brooke ( read the white Rajahs of Borneo ).
The Brunei government   preserves the  rich  flora and fauna the country is blessed with .
adventure and ecotourism are  encouraged but with great care not to disturb nature in any form .
Even the capital city is richly endowed with greenery trekking hills are available within the city limits itself which is rare anywhere .
To reach the Ulu resort in temburong national park one had to go by motor  boat bus  to Bangar in Temburong and from there by bus to .Batang

one has to go in a longboat canoe fitted with an engine then to reach the resort .

The day trip arranged by sunshine tours was around 150 Brunei Dollars per head of which entry charges to national park was around 80 dollars

 We were picked up from the Empire hotel the exotic five star hotel befitting its name by the beach very near our house at 7 am sharp by the tour people and dropped off at Bandar seri Begawan jetty

We got into the steam boat which was more of a small bus with rows of seats ,the steam boat left Bandar and the Kampong Ayer ( Kampong means village and Ayer is water )

 The water village was  called the Venice of the east by traveller Antonio Pigafetta when he visited Brunei in the 16th century

Its  is a small city of houses built on stilts on the Brunei river in Bandar Seri Begawan the capital ,one could reach it by motor boat taxis called Perahu Tambang .

 There are wooden houses some made of concrete and some are fitted with all luxuries like AC ,internet connection etc .

The motor boat bus sped along the blue waters quite fast ,the city receded fast ,we went through mangrove banks thickly green uninhabited with the occasional bird fluttering out ,there were crocodiles too there it seems but usually they kept away when  boats plied in daytime .if one was very lucky one could spot a rare proboscis monkey too !

 the plump driver continued his work unaffected by my presence on  his side as I had migrated from my seat  to get a front view of the action and take some photos ,the driver was used to tourists doing just that , slowly I even found a small perch to place my haunches on and focus more better in the speeding boat and suddenly was amused to find a small crowd around me imitating what I started .

 we reached Bangar in about 45 minutes and eased into a jetty stop with all facilities ,we got into a local bus which drove along narrow streets to reach another jetty on the other side of the island ,on the way we saw some longhouses .

 Incidentally the long houses are seen in  countries like Malaysia ,Brunei ,Indonesia etc .

 I had read about them in the travel book by BBC correspondent Palin called Full Circle .

Longhouses are exactly what it it means ,it contains a long array of rooms or apartments with a central common area where all residents could gather ,even though the families lived in separate apartments there was a communal feel to the house ,such living began  in the days when people needed to live together for safety from enemies or wild animals ,today longhouses are   dwindling with  people living more in individual houses some  longhouses still existed in the interiors .

 

on reaching the steep jetty we quickly adorned our life jackets and got into the canoes which were motor powered ,

5 passengers excluding the driver in each canoe was permitted .

we could sit on a small seat and lean back ,the boat skimmed on the green waters speeding along placid and at times turbulent waters ,whenever we reached rough waters driver would off the engine to prevent us being sloshed ,we did get wet a bit and was careful with our cameras but the ride itself was exhilarating ,both sides the embankments were mountainous full of thick forests wild flowers b and rare plants  tall thick trees .

  A real garden of Eden .

Brunei's first national park, the Ulu Temburong National Park, is located south of the Temburong district, covering 550 square kilometres of the Temburong forest. The national park has a scientific research centre facility, the Kuala Belalong Rainforest Field Studies Centre, which is only accessible by boat.The Temburong District is rich in unspoiled natural heritage, including the Ulu Temburong National Park (formerly the Batu Apoi Forest Reserve).

 The  resort  was perched on a steep bank and we had to gingerly step out of the rocking boat and climb wooden steps to  a hall with souvenuirs and a small restaurant there were also around 19 cottages to stay overnight but we were there only for the day .

 there were no TV ,internet connection or mobile phone range there and one was cut off from all these modern day distractions to be in the lap of nature .

We then started our trek to the hill nearby .

the park was famous for its canopy which was a 50 foot steel bridge built on tall towers with steps this was on top of a hill which one had to climb first.

 the canopy was built for scientists who needed to study the flora and fauna above the tall treeline on top of the hills ,today it has become a tourist attraction .

the climb was also hardy some over wooden steps then over rocks gnarled giant roots some mud and slush ,

 I was gasping and sitting  on every rest stops  and finally after an hour of climb reached the canopy

looking at it from below and its steep curving ladder  I decided to call it a day and refused to join my family who were brave enough to plod on those vertical limits .

 So I only have a second hand version of their joy in reaching the top its cool winds and wonderful sights of unremitting green hills the tree tops and the azure skies .

We then clobbered back down and on  the boat to a small waterfall ,we had to walk a bit this time  barefoot over sharp stones which was a torture

 I stood for long in the cool shallow waters with tiny fish nibbling our soles

we  returned  to the resort for a lunch which I could gulp down well because of some handy  yoghurt conjured by the attentive chef on my request !

 later after a dozy rest on easing chairs facing the flowing river we got back into the canoes and then got back to and later to Bangar and Bandar

It was a trip into the virgin Borneo forests ,a treat for our senses and a balm to our soles

Mustaches for the Prostate

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oncology or cancer speciality in medicine has made great strides though the common perception of the C word has not only not changed but the cancer phobia has only increased with time.
In 1960 the five year survival rate ( in oncology and hematology the percentage of patients who survive for five years is taken as a measure ) was around 10 % which today is more than 60 % which means 60 out of 100 patients would live after five years .

Many of them could get cured too depending on the stage ,type ,associated problems and condition of patient ( performance status in medical lingo )and also the centre and skill where the treatment is given as oncology today has become a very specialised field .
A lot of money goes into research into new molecules to combat types of cancer and behind it are hard work ,and hard funding to achieve results ,approval of drugs by bodies like the Federal drug authority USA which could be called as the gold standard of approval today requires years of meticulous research and fool proof trials in several phases and approval by peer bodies before reaching the market hence drug companies who spend the money have a pay back period where they own the patency and the drugs are exorbitantly costly .

  Cancer research is also funded by the society at large and private organisations .

Foundations one example is the Max foundation which has been doing yeoman service by distributing life saving drug imatinib maselate for millions of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients.specially in third world nations .
( one keeps finding FB statuses of imatinib being given free of cost in such places this is mostly Max foundation .)
  Breast cancer too has a lot of backing and is well known to the public who participate in breast cancer runs badge drives and dinners and balls.
 Celebrities like Angelina jolie have put in their charisma behind such drives .


The prostate gland unfortunately had been a back bencher ,a cancer usually affecting older males the tumour had a low profile and treatment too was static over the years if it was localised depending on the patient one could have a radical prostatectomy or radical radiotherapy which could be called as curative but the side effects too were not very gentle and if spread out ( metastatic ) hormone therapy where the effect of androgens were reduced by several means ( androgens are male hormones which can stimulate prostate cancer cells to grow and multiply ) was usually the start with bone protecting agents like zoledronic acid ,with time when the patient turned resistant to hormones and the cancer grew chemotherapeutic agents like taxotere and prednisolone or mitoxantrone were used it stopped with that .
Even screening for prostate cancer with Prostate specific antigens a tumour marker seen in  blood was controversial as it produced a lot of false negatives and wasteful treatment where it was not needed but all of a sudden treatment for prostate cancer has had an upturn with discovery of more than twelve new exiting molecules like taxol derivative cabazitaxel ,Hormonal agent Arberiterone ,Immune agent siplucel T and Injected Radium 221 an alpha particle which is injected into the vein .
The rush of such molecules sure had reasons for it it was mainly good funding behind the research  how did this happen ?
 it all started when one  Michael milken developed prostate cancer and  was cured by radical surgery he knew when breast cancer was getting more than 500 million dollars as funding poor prostate cancer was getting only 50 million dollars
  he felt he should give back and he started a foundation which worked relentlessly in trying to raise funds of prostate cancer research the national prostate cancer coalition came about just like the breast cancer coalition .
Clay Hamlin was a wealthy real estate developer
he was a go getter and his principle in life was lets do it no not today but yesterday

He too was a prostate cancer survivor and joined the  board of national prostate cancer coalition as he was from philadephia he developed an annual funding event called philly for prostate which initially was a golf event to attract all corporate chiefs  to empty their pockets for the cause but later metamorphed into a huge funding event with dinners conferences runs and races with many celebrities thrown in and brought in much needed funds .

  It seems once during a fund raising dinner a bit too much of good wine made Clay swoon and fall to the floor flat .
Amongst the many doctors attending the dinner one was an emergency room specialist who quickly started artificial respiration to poor Clay  who on waking up according to his own words found the ugliest guy in the world on top of him !

The month of November was movember for moustache or grow mustache in November for prostate cancer awareness .
 there is an FB page on this and they encourage men to grow mustaches in this month

  to quote
"If you're going to make such a bold statement, you have to believe you look awesome. If you appear unsure of your moustache, you'll just look like a chump. It's like hitting on a chick or wearing plaid pants. Men who sport moustaches are bold. It takes balls to go against the grain and grow a mustache. It says, "I don't give a rat's ass what you think, society. I like my facial hair." "
unquote

Even girls could grow one but are not advised to do so they could just support with mustaches drawn !

To make the story end the spate of drugs for prostate cancer grew giving life and hope for its victims due to these two individuals and their funding's and several moustaches too !!

Dead soldier going on leave

India is an exotic land ,at same time of the year one could go to a desert burning like a furnace or climb a mountain in the himalayas which would be subzero in temperature or trek in a green forest , lap in the turqouise waters of a wbp.blogspot.com/-1VCpjib6UXA/UqaoC9gEOzI/AAAAAAAAMgo/OaX6j_QkhgM/s1600/Sikkim_Gangtok_Nathula_Baba%2520Mandir.jpg" imageanchor="1" >rm sea or speed along a three laned highway dwarfed by highrises in a city . theres so much to see and experience in India ,my children often say they remember best the places they have gone in India over the years .the passes and hill stations we visited are ever memorable . Way back in the nineties we went To Darjeeling a qauint hill station with a toy train chugging its way up ,we stayed put in Ghoom which had the honour of having one of the highest railway station in the world ,it was bitterly cold and the small Gurkha home ucm restaurant we went for dinner had a plumpy matronly lady owner cum waitress who selt rum on the sly for weary nationals to cobat the cold . After doign the sights and munching pastries in the famous deli in darjeeling we sped to Gangtok alongside the bewitching Teesta river white water rafting and canoeing were watersports coming up in a big way in these places ,Sikkim is one of the most beutful states of India with its pristine forests and rare fauna and flora ,Gangtok was like any other hill station foggy and cold with lighten warm rooms inside frosted windows as we alighted from our four wheel drive and caught a maruti van to go to our hotel . We liked Gautam the teen driver of the van immediately he was asuch a pleasant unassuminfg boy he was full of exitement when he talked of th3e places we had to see in Gangtok and informed us that he was ready to take us to lake Psongo 10500 feet above if we so wished ,we said we will think about it . We walked around in the cold dusk visitng a famous Buddhist monastery in the market we returned to an ethnic Sikkim dinner in the restaurant ,with christmas coming the place was all spruced up . Next day Gautam came early as we had agreed to go with him ,we had to elave early as one needed army permission to reach psongo lake ,Gautam first went to a police station to meet his cousin a cop for some much needed recommendation the cop came with us to the army camp and talked for us as the limit fr that day was already over we also added that we have come a long way from Kerala and finally got the pass . the road up was dizzyingly steep and for many hours through virgin forests and snow covered slopes ,we could feel some shortness of breath with the altitude and piled orselves up with all sort of wollens we had taken with us after hours we reached the Psongmo lake 40 km from Gangtok ,the icy blue waters was etherally calm reflecting the azure skies and the tall snowy peaks ,everwehere there was snow on it sbacnks and yaks wandered arond with tourists having a ride ,a few tea shops clutttered aroudn to give feeble warmth ,we were surprised when a rotund paunchy swamiji walked around with just a dhoti and no shirt in the freeze and even posed for some photographs sportively smiling away ! Gautam aksed us to hurry along our way as we still had to cover another steep 14 km to reach the Nathula pass ,we were a bit hesitant on its safety as most tourists stopped at the lake but Gautam assured us he would bring us back safe and sound and it was something not to be missed hew as right of course . the road turned trifle tricky from then with no trees but only snow everywhere on the hard rock like mountain slopes which were threatening and huge our lone maruti van chugged it way up lost in the white wilderness as we huddled in collective togetherness . i almost dozed off and woke with a splitting headache and mild shortness of breath asGautam stopped we were at the Nathula pass itself . the china border was just across and we could see the Chinese soldier standing there he waved too at us !! Gautam took us straight to a mandir called Babajis Mandir this was actually a small memorial temple for a Punjabi jawan who plummeted to his death from a mule during the 1962 war with China ,strangley he is said to have appeared in the dreams of his friends that night and aksed them to build a memorial for himself so that he protects the place forever ,the army took it up as a morale building exercise and it is still maintained by the army ,we entered in with our socks prayed and offered our respects we sat down to be served hot kheer and chapatis by our own jawans themselves as langar or prasad . It seems Babaji the jawan who died is still considered as living ,the army even pays his salary to descendants and every year the youngest soldier in the regiment goes to thier house in Punjab ona months leave and stays with them as if the Babaji himself is on leave and as promised till date no incursion has ever happened in that area . i published this in the Indian express as an article Dead Baba goes on leave !!