Dreams

The Alchemist – my first Paula Coelho book. When I picked up the book initially, the first few pages didn’t really interest me and so I put it away. I’m so used to reading thrillers and mysteries that I expect the story to start in the first page itself. It was only a while later – actually a few days later when I was bored and had nothing else to read that I picked up the book again. This time, I started off with the introduction, something which I don’t usually read. But it was precisely this part of the book which rekindled my interest in the story.

The alchemist is a story about a shepherd’s dream. In writing about how the shepherd goes forth to pursue his dream, the author puts across the message about the importance of living for one’s dreams. The shepherd’s dream is to find a treasure which is hidden in the Pyramids of Egypt. Seems very unrealistic (even in the context of the story itself) , and in certain ways unnecessary as well, for he could have gone on with his life, married the love of his life and lived happily instead of embarking on this journey which could prove very well to be a futile trip and could cost him his life even. However, eventually he chooses to believe in his dreams and goes for what he wants. This was not an instantaneous decision. It was made after he crossed many hurdles and many a time, he was on the verge of giving up on his dream.
The story brought about many points to ponder. A lot of us do not even realize what we want in life and among the few who do know what we want, we are held back by a lot of reasons – family, friends, work, society etc. The list is never ending in a way. And sometimes, it just can’t be helped, or so we think. Commitments at home, at work hold us up and we push the pursuit of our dreams to a later date, only to realize that by the time we find the time to go for our goals, it’s too late. Now, if the decision to embark on the journey is hard as it is, the journey itself proves to be no less challenging. Failures hold us back when we are so close to realizing our goals. Very few pick up the pieces from these failures and go forth to accomplish what they set out to do. It is however not an easy task by any means. Not only do they have to live with the impact of the failure, they also have to deal with the day to day consequences of that failure. It is in fact, these people who can truly take pride in their success when they eventually do.

Finally, the four obstacles to achieving one’s dreams (generally true I guess even though I don’t quite agree with everything that he says) – In Coelho’s words:

1. “We are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. We grow up with this idea and as the years accumulate so too do the layers of prejudice, fear and guilt.”

2.“Love – We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. … We do not realize that those who genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey.”

3. “Fear of the defeats we will meet on the path”

4. “Fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives – The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt. We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either”

“Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny.” - unknown

After a long tiring week.....

Itz been some time since I blogged. This week has been pretty draining - and it's just orientation. Kinda felt that one week was unnecessary for we spent a lot of precious time doing useless stuff or stuff we've gone through before. Oh well.....

Pretty glad I'm starting off with a nice team, more than manageable workload (just hope things dont change for the month), gd call schedule etc. Really can't ask for more :)

Beach outing today was GOOD! I got there earlier than the rest so was walking around for some time. It was a very refreshing change. Just walking alongside the beach with only the sound of the waves in the background and the sun setting in a distance..... Beautiful! It was worth making the effort to come down after a long tiring day. Maybe I'll make it a regular chill out place since itz pretty close to hospital.

Catching up with everyone was great as usual! Though it would have been better if there was more sunlight so that 'we can actually see each other'. Haha..... Cant be helped I guess with everyone running on different schedules. That aside, it was really great to have everyone around! Or most at least. Thanks for coming down guys!

I just realised how much I miss my CG (clinical group).....

Unexpected.....

We were all supposed to get through this together..... Wat the hell?!

D-day tmr

Results tmr..... The moment of truth

புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்

புத்தாண்டு புதிய தொடக்கங்களுக்கு வித்திடும் வேளையில், மனதில் அமைதி நிலைக்கவும், வாழ்வில் மகிழ்ச்சி பொங்கவும், எண்ணங்கள் நிறைவேறவும் இனிய நல்வாழ்த்துகள்!

Baking

Did some baking yesterday. Wanted to bake something different from the usual cakes and biscuits, so was searching for recipes for a long time. Finally came across the Apple Pie recipe. So decided to try that out, together with a lime and coconut pudding. I thought the apple pie recipe sounded kinda dubious but that was the one that turned out well, I should say. I was pretty impressed with my apple pie :) Haha..... The pudding was not too bad except that I added a bit too much of lime juice. Here are some pictures:

சிந்தனைத் துளி

நம்மவரிடையே இருக்கும் சில வேடிக்கையான பழக்கங்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று. ஒரு விசேஷம் என்று வந்துவிட்டால், அதில் இன்னார் இவ்வளவு மொய் வைத்தார்ர், இன்னார் இந்த பரிசுப் பொருள் கொடுத்தார் என லிஸ்ட் போட்டு வைத்து கொண்டு, பின்னர் அவரவர் வீடுகளில் நிகழ்ச்சிகள் வரும்போது அவர் செய்த அளவிற்கு மீண்டும் திருப்பிச் செய்வது. முதன் முதலில் இப்படி ஒரு பழக்கத்தை பார்த்த போது வேடிக்கையாக இருந்தது. உறவாக இருந்தாலும் நட்பாக இருந்தாலும், அன்பின் அடிப்படையில் அல்லவா கொடுக்கும் பொருளோ பரிசோ அமையவேண்டும்? (அதற்காக, அன்பு என்பது கொடுக்கும் பரிசின் அளவில் இருக்கின்றது என்று சொல்லவில்லை). உண்மையான அன்போடு வாங்கி கொடுக்கும் ஒரு பத்து காசு மிட்டாயின் மதிப்பு கடனுக்காக கொடுக்கும் நூறு வெள்ளி பரிசுப் பொருளுக்கு ஈடாகுமா?

இப்பழக்கத்தைப் பற்றி கேட்ட போது, அதாவது விருப்பம் இல்லாமல், 'அவர் செய்தார்' என்பதற்காக செய்யவில்லை. சில நேரங்களில், அவர் செய்த அளவிற்கு மேலாக செய்தால் பிரச்சனை இல்லை. ஆனால், அவர் செய்ததை விட குறைவாக செய்தால் நன்றாக இராது எனும் பதில் வந்தது. இந்த கூற்றிலும் உண்மை இருக்கிறது. திருமணம் முடிந்த மறுமறுநாட்களில் அந்த வீட்டினரை சந்திக்கும் போது, ' நான் அவள் பெண்ணின் கல்யாணதிற்கு 100 வெள்ளி மொய் வச்சேன். ஆனா இவ எங்க வீட்டு கல்யாணதுக்கு 25 வெள்ளி மட்டும் வச்சிடு போறா' எனும் பேச்சுகள் காதில் வந்து விழும். சிரிப்பாக இருக்கும். அதே நேரத்தில் இப்படிபட்ட குறுகிய மனப்பான்மை என்று மாறப்போகிறது என்ற ஆதங்கமும் ஏற்படும்.

ஒருவருக்கு கூறும் வாழ்த்துகளோ கொடுக்கும் பரிசுகளோ அன்பின் அடிப்படையில் அமைய வேண்டும். இன்னும் சொல்லப் போனால் எந்த வித எதிர்பார்ப்புகளும் இல்லாமல் செய்யப் பட வேண்டும். எதிர்பார்புகள் இல்லாமல், 'என் மனதிற்கு பிடித்திருக்கின்றது, அதனால் உனக்கு நான் செய்கிறேன்' என்ற எண்ணத்தோடு செய்யும் போது, ஏமாற்றங்கள் இருக்க்காது. ஆனால் எதிர்பார்புகள் இல்லாமல் செய்வது எல்லோராலும் முடியாது. என்ன இருந்தாலும் நாம் எல்லோரும் மனிதர்கள் தானே? நான் என் நண்பரின் பிறந்த நாளை நினைவு வைத்து வாழ்த்து கூறுகிறேன். ஆனால், என் பிறந்தநாளன்று அவரிடம் இருந்து வாழ்த்து வரவில்லை என்றால், ஏமாற்றமும் வருத்தமாகவும் தான் இருக்கும். ஒரு வகையில் பார்க்கப் போனால், இந்த ஏமாற்றமும் அன்பின் வெளிப்பாடுதான். ஆக முழுக்க முழுக்க எதிர்பார்புகள் இல்லாமல் ஒருவருக்கு செய்யமுடியாவிட்டாலும், கணக்கு பார்காமல் செய்யலாமே? அதே போல், அந்த பரிசைப் பெறுபவர்களும் கணக்கு பார்க்காமல், வாங்கினால் சிறப்பாக இருக்கும். எனது சிந்தனையில் மலர்ந்த சிறு துளி. சிந்தித்துப் பார்போம்.....

Food!

Feels really good to have time at hand. Finally, i can go out without having to worry about the tons of work awaiting me at home. Just a week ago, spending more than 15 minutes on lunch or dinner was a sin and an absolute waste of time. N the past two days, i've been spending 3 hours on lunch! Haha..... Never felt better in a long time :)
Lunch at swensen's was great today. The white chocolate blondie (below) was heavenly..... It's the closest to Bangalore's Sizzling brownie so far! Good food really makes one's day! :)

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry - go -round?

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down. Don't dance so fast.

Time is short. The music will not last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?

When you ask, "How are you?"

Do you hear the reply?

Do you lie in bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short. The music will not last.

Ever told your child, " We'll do it tomorrow."

And in your haste not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die?

Cause you never had the time

To call and say "Hi". You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short. The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It's like an unopened gift.....

Thrown away

Life is not a race

Do take it slower

Hear the music!

Before the song is over.

- unknown

I read this somewhere a long time ago..... I guess I am guilty of running through life as if it were a race, many times especially in the past 5 years. But the past 6 months have taught me the importance of slowing down. The importance of appreciating the small things in life. The importance of spending time with your loved ones. Life is very unpredictable. You often don't realise what you are missing until it's gone..... sometimes forever.... And no amount of regret is going to bring back what's gone. So slow down n let's hear the music before the song is over.....

Final MBBS is over!

Final exams are over!

I wanted to start this blog before exams and blog about how things are along the way. But kinda figured that I'd never get down to it with the amount of studying left to do. It's amazing how something that seems like just another exam in the phase of life can leave you so drained. The past month was literally like a roller coaster ride - both physically and emotionally. More downs than ups for me though. The stress level was unbearable and there were just so many times when I was at breaking point. Sighz..... Just thinking about how the first day of exams was or the day before surgery clinicals was gives me goosebumps.

Thanks to all of you who were really supportive during this trying period. Those calls, smses, emails really meant a lot..... A very special thanks goes to my med gang..... I so couldnt have gotten through this period without all u guys! Thanks so much!

Medical school was fun but I'll never sit for the final mbbs exams ever again, even if u give me a million dollars!