I was driving through a road leading from the conservative Bangalore to the swanky side of the city when it struck me like lightning! My hands were trembling and my head was on a merry go round, I was finding it hard to even clutch my steering wheel when I decided to stop. It was my “Hunger pranks” and not a typhoon I was experiencing. Adding to my woe was the parking problem and I had to park a fair distance from a popular café I decided to go for my much needed bite. I then found a Babylonian garden to cut across and beat the dust and smoke and I eventually got in.
This is supposed be a connoisseur’s paradise and a regular stop for people addicted to its coffee. It was peak snack time and the place was packed and bustling with activity.
I found my place next to a couple enjoying their delicious food and I had to pretend a smile to the lady although I had my curious eyes on her plate! They were an elderly couple and man had with him a cloth bag stuffed with fresh vegetables, had stopped by on their way home from food shopping. I called for the waiter to place an order to live again. By then the elderly couple had finished eating and my shared table was empty expecting another group of customers. My table mates were this group of men who got seated. One of them unfolded a newspaper and started to read. The guy on the table next to mine started to read its flip side and started a conversation with group. The conversation included various subjects and I even wondered why our pals did not actually start their own newspaper! My order finally arrived and I got tucked in with their dialogue in the background. Then heralded the entry of the local political gang to socialize with this huge conglomeration of humanity which had assembled here. The latest trends in the political scenario were then the centre of attraction with people voicing their opinions and future predictions. The financial damage for our “leader” in waiting was the evergreen and never refused cups of coffee which does not cost the world in places like these. I then looked around and found wannabe artists, writers and journalists lounging around the place. I saw our slow paced government employee seated to beat his frustration as he sipped his coffee with his snail pace. My visuals then included young families with their noisy children enjoying their day out.
I then became present to these kinds of small pleasures which are hard to find in posh eateries and restaurants. The table etiquette is blown into the air and people enjoy their food whole heartedly. The chatter is a bit too loud to me, but who cares; it’s the freedom to be oneself that matters here. There are no DJs playing, no dandy cutlery or crockery. Its just plain great food with no strings attached and homely atmosphere. I feel sad for people who need to always need to play the character they are not for the sake of others. These are the people who are totally unauthentic to others as well as to themselves. They are pseudo modern, pseudo sophisticated and spurious. Today, I was impressed by the happy moments and pleasures that people living in a conservative society experience and cherish that many perceive insignificant. I hope this would give you some food for thought.
My satiety centre in my brain was refusing to give up and I had to order something more. “Would you like to have anything else sir?”
“one bonda soup and coffee”
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Religion Inc.
I am getting into the habit of being very critical of the seers and religious heads off late. Please do not catch me wrong that I am trying to analyse the confluence of different religions that exists around me. I think I would leave this to the socio-religious thinkers of our barren and fractured society.
I have got a very different angle to the way the some seers and the religious heads lead their lives, their ambitions and goals they set for themselves. With exception to some of the gurus that live in this age and era most of them in my opinion do not lead the stringent and pious lives that they are expected to do so.
Very recently I have started reading and trying to learn the nuances of how businesses are set up and run. I do have some clues about what a start up company is and how the green bills flow into a company. Although I am taking toddler steps towards getting the big picture, I can at least recite the alphabets correctly now.
I saw a picture of a great personality of our country inaugurate a humongous medical college set up by a well known religious institution a few days back. The cost of building one must have been equal to half yearly revenue of an established information technology company I guess! But the irony lies in how a non profit organisations which is supposed to have dedicated its life to the amelioration of society raise this kind of money? It has come to such a state where in the majority of the educational institutions in our country excluding the ones that are setup by the government seem to be solely owned by the seers. Try getting yourself a chance to study there and you will see the brutal side of the otherwise pious and peaceful mask the seers adorn themselves with.
Coming up with such colleges and schools and also running them successfully and profitably require a deep sense of entrepreneurship. Seers and religious heads have a huge pool of unquestioning and unconcerning potential venture capitalists in its followers and devotees. That’s a businessman dream investor of sorts. They usually head the management in these institutions and dictate its affairs. The seers employ advertising agencies and public relations personnel to popularise their institutes. They are looking for paying customers who can increase the bottom line in their organisations. The only prerequisite that one has to posses to study here is a fat bank balance. Meritorious and deserving students form a minority here. The profits are also exempt from most taxes by the virtue of being a religious organisation. No wonder you see seers having the latest Mercedes or helicopters as their prized possessions! I think they do more harm to the society by churning out doctors and engineers below the average competence standards. What hurts me most is that innocent people are victims of these qualified quacks that live amongst us today.
Its is very disheartening to see that organisations which have the elevation of moral and spiritual values of the common man as their main mission, in all reality do more harm than good. This is like skipping the main course to eat dessert in a buffet! The short sightedness of the people with apparent high intellect and positions of high social responsibility is starkly lacking and I think it should be exposed like a raw wound. Hope to see that day soon…..or will I ever?
“Captain Sharma, you will be required to fly our customer today barefoot”
Why? This is obnoxious!
We have a seer chartering our jet today captain…….you know the customer is always right eh!”
I have got a very different angle to the way the some seers and the religious heads lead their lives, their ambitions and goals they set for themselves. With exception to some of the gurus that live in this age and era most of them in my opinion do not lead the stringent and pious lives that they are expected to do so.
Very recently I have started reading and trying to learn the nuances of how businesses are set up and run. I do have some clues about what a start up company is and how the green bills flow into a company. Although I am taking toddler steps towards getting the big picture, I can at least recite the alphabets correctly now.
I saw a picture of a great personality of our country inaugurate a humongous medical college set up by a well known religious institution a few days back. The cost of building one must have been equal to half yearly revenue of an established information technology company I guess! But the irony lies in how a non profit organisations which is supposed to have dedicated its life to the amelioration of society raise this kind of money? It has come to such a state where in the majority of the educational institutions in our country excluding the ones that are setup by the government seem to be solely owned by the seers. Try getting yourself a chance to study there and you will see the brutal side of the otherwise pious and peaceful mask the seers adorn themselves with.
Coming up with such colleges and schools and also running them successfully and profitably require a deep sense of entrepreneurship. Seers and religious heads have a huge pool of unquestioning and unconcerning potential venture capitalists in its followers and devotees. That’s a businessman dream investor of sorts. They usually head the management in these institutions and dictate its affairs. The seers employ advertising agencies and public relations personnel to popularise their institutes. They are looking for paying customers who can increase the bottom line in their organisations. The only prerequisite that one has to posses to study here is a fat bank balance. Meritorious and deserving students form a minority here. The profits are also exempt from most taxes by the virtue of being a religious organisation. No wonder you see seers having the latest Mercedes or helicopters as their prized possessions! I think they do more harm to the society by churning out doctors and engineers below the average competence standards. What hurts me most is that innocent people are victims of these qualified quacks that live amongst us today.
Its is very disheartening to see that organisations which have the elevation of moral and spiritual values of the common man as their main mission, in all reality do more harm than good. This is like skipping the main course to eat dessert in a buffet! The short sightedness of the people with apparent high intellect and positions of high social responsibility is starkly lacking and I think it should be exposed like a raw wound. Hope to see that day soon…..or will I ever?
“Captain Sharma, you will be required to fly our customer today barefoot”
Why? This is obnoxious!
We have a seer chartering our jet today captain…….you know the customer is always right eh!”
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Real super heroes….
I was at a filming site, courtesy of a family friend. It was the filming of a song, which are an integral part in Indian movies. They play a major role in entertainment and also in making the flicks intolerably long sometimes. The protagonist of the movie was played by a very popular star in this particular regional language. There were loads of his fans waiting to get a glimpse of their idol. The star was the centre of attraction on and off the camera there. I also had this rare privilege of having a photograph taken with him much to the envy of others who were refrained from even getting close to him.
I was at this filming site for a couple of hours and observed very grossly the procedures of film making. The confusion was compounding at every passing minute and the director was yelling on his microphone to bring some order around the place. It had not sunk in till then the reason for such a big hustle in this tiny make shift studio place which was setup. It did not take me long to realize though! It was this huge conglomeration of technicians, artists and casual laborers that added to this disarray. I then became present to the hardships that the supporting crews have to go through to make a movie. The actors as always get all the attention and help. The producer and the director are always tracking every breath of their lead face to make sure he is pampered and happy. They are always at the core of every action at the site. Unsurprisingly they charge a fee that would be more than my dream lottery!
The stark contrast was the manner in which the second rung technicians, artists and casual laborers are treated. I saw the dance troupe which danced with our lead artist on the song. It mainly constituted of wannabe actors who just hang around the film industry’s hub waiting for their destinies to have a paradigm shift to get them an opportunity to have others dance around him. They were dressed up in glossy outfits ready to take orders on the sets. They don’t mix around with the main cast of the movie and I could see their submissiveness and inferiority complex they carried. It almost looked like they were ostracized from the main crew. How many of us who watch Indian movies tend to realize the co dancers in the songs and give due credit to their participation in making the song viewable? I must admit that I never did and maybe I will never be able to do it. Well partly to blame are the camera angles that focus on the lead of the movie. Actually I would use this as a safe excuse!
The next were these bunch of men designated as the “light boys”. They hung like trapeze artists on high ceiling grills and weak make shift ladders. The safety of these workers is in an utmost pathetic condition. They hung precariously from these high positions with only Aether (Greek god of air) to his rescue if he was to fall asleep up there.
These were just a few examples I have illustrated here to give you all the tip of the iceberg. The others like the trolley pullers who help the cameraman give you those unbelievable shots under a waterfall, the cooks who don’t have enough to eat themselves, and the beautification artists who cover the pimples of our gorgeous heroine all face the same scenario.
Guys, the next time you are at the cinema to watch your latest crush on screen or your macho man beating up the baddies, please realize that there were armies of under privileged people who make these super heroes.
Wanna watch a movie tonight? I have invites for a premiere!
I was at this filming site for a couple of hours and observed very grossly the procedures of film making. The confusion was compounding at every passing minute and the director was yelling on his microphone to bring some order around the place. It had not sunk in till then the reason for such a big hustle in this tiny make shift studio place which was setup. It did not take me long to realize though! It was this huge conglomeration of technicians, artists and casual laborers that added to this disarray. I then became present to the hardships that the supporting crews have to go through to make a movie. The actors as always get all the attention and help. The producer and the director are always tracking every breath of their lead face to make sure he is pampered and happy. They are always at the core of every action at the site. Unsurprisingly they charge a fee that would be more than my dream lottery!
The stark contrast was the manner in which the second rung technicians, artists and casual laborers are treated. I saw the dance troupe which danced with our lead artist on the song. It mainly constituted of wannabe actors who just hang around the film industry’s hub waiting for their destinies to have a paradigm shift to get them an opportunity to have others dance around him. They were dressed up in glossy outfits ready to take orders on the sets. They don’t mix around with the main cast of the movie and I could see their submissiveness and inferiority complex they carried. It almost looked like they were ostracized from the main crew. How many of us who watch Indian movies tend to realize the co dancers in the songs and give due credit to their participation in making the song viewable? I must admit that I never did and maybe I will never be able to do it. Well partly to blame are the camera angles that focus on the lead of the movie. Actually I would use this as a safe excuse!
The next were these bunch of men designated as the “light boys”. They hung like trapeze artists on high ceiling grills and weak make shift ladders. The safety of these workers is in an utmost pathetic condition. They hung precariously from these high positions with only Aether (Greek god of air) to his rescue if he was to fall asleep up there.
These were just a few examples I have illustrated here to give you all the tip of the iceberg. The others like the trolley pullers who help the cameraman give you those unbelievable shots under a waterfall, the cooks who don’t have enough to eat themselves, and the beautification artists who cover the pimples of our gorgeous heroine all face the same scenario.
Guys, the next time you are at the cinema to watch your latest crush on screen or your macho man beating up the baddies, please realize that there were armies of under privileged people who make these super heroes.
Wanna watch a movie tonight? I have invites for a premiere!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Divine ignorance!
India is a land of various religions and their network of related casts and communities. This large scale religious diversity also has its share of controversies. The latest one to hit the wrong notes in the divine sections is the issue of the “Paryaya” among the ashta mutts in South Canara in Karnataka. Paryaya is a coalition setup between the eight mutts in the Udupi region with this very diplomatic way of sharing power to run the affairs of the Sri Krishna Temple in Udupi. The stumble block to the smooth transfer of power has been that the succeeding administrator, Sri Sugendra Teertha swamiji of Puttige mutt has violated an unwritten code of conduct to be followed by the seers. The apparent mistake is that he traveled abroad and crossed the seas in order to do so. I cannot see another way of getting to the US without crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It is called the Samudra Yana. The controversy still lingers on and a solution is yet to be reached. But the only thing that has not stopped is the war of words between the successor seer and those against him. Their spats in public has not only damaged their reputations but also reduced their following and credibility. The seers of these mutts are the guardians of the brahmanical knowledge base. It is a very ironical to see people of apparent high level of intellect behaving in such a mundane and atrocious conduct.
I do not see why such a trivial issue like traveling abroad should come in the way of worshipping the god and take over the reins of administration. We have seen one of the most respected, broad minded and the face of Hinduism to the world, in Swami Vivekananda who traveled abroad to make his epic speech in the World Parliament of Religions way back in 1893. No person with a sane mind can make a mockery of Swami Vivekananda’s visionary knowledge and ideas. The young scientific minds of this country would argue as to how crossing the seas can make an individual impure or not fit for the act of worshipping the almighty who according to the scriptures and other popular philosophies is supposed to exist everywhere.
It is high time that we break the shackles of these kinds of unexplainable, unscientific and mindless thinking patterns and move on to become more practically oriented. That is exactly what happened in the 12th century when soci-spirutual leader like Mahatma Basaweshwara accomplished this herculean task. He strived to break such nonsensical ritual practices and caste divides to unite all people under an umbrella of a philosophy which focuses on practical and productive living which also had spirituality interweaved into it.
It is disappointing that a community that is known to be the intellectual cream is tight lipped at this kind despicable conduct by their gurus. I am surprised to see that eminent personalities, social thinkers and Gnanapeet awardees like Sri Girish Karnad and Sri U R Ananthamurthy who always had an opinion about anything under the sun are now in hibernation about this issue.
As India moves to be a world power, our religious leaders should also adapt to the new living patters of their followers and not create such unwanted and ludicrous controversies which do not contribute to the growth of our society. Spiritual leaders are seen to be role models, and this kind of public altercations by them sends a wrong message and sets a negative example. I would like to quote Sir Charles Darwin who said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Seers are you listening?
I do not see why such a trivial issue like traveling abroad should come in the way of worshipping the god and take over the reins of administration. We have seen one of the most respected, broad minded and the face of Hinduism to the world, in Swami Vivekananda who traveled abroad to make his epic speech in the World Parliament of Religions way back in 1893. No person with a sane mind can make a mockery of Swami Vivekananda’s visionary knowledge and ideas. The young scientific minds of this country would argue as to how crossing the seas can make an individual impure or not fit for the act of worshipping the almighty who according to the scriptures and other popular philosophies is supposed to exist everywhere.
It is high time that we break the shackles of these kinds of unexplainable, unscientific and mindless thinking patterns and move on to become more practically oriented. That is exactly what happened in the 12th century when soci-spirutual leader like Mahatma Basaweshwara accomplished this herculean task. He strived to break such nonsensical ritual practices and caste divides to unite all people under an umbrella of a philosophy which focuses on practical and productive living which also had spirituality interweaved into it.
It is disappointing that a community that is known to be the intellectual cream is tight lipped at this kind despicable conduct by their gurus. I am surprised to see that eminent personalities, social thinkers and Gnanapeet awardees like Sri Girish Karnad and Sri U R Ananthamurthy who always had an opinion about anything under the sun are now in hibernation about this issue.
As India moves to be a world power, our religious leaders should also adapt to the new living patters of their followers and not create such unwanted and ludicrous controversies which do not contribute to the growth of our society. Spiritual leaders are seen to be role models, and this kind of public altercations by them sends a wrong message and sets a negative example. I would like to quote Sir Charles Darwin who said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Seers are you listening?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Negatively unique…….
I was home…..that’s the feeling I got the moment I landed in Bangalooru airport when I was returning home after a gruelling 1st semester at UWA. I loved the feeling of getting back into my ghetto and comfort zone. I came in contact with the crumbling infra structure of my beloved city when the conveyor belt to transport baggage gave way on my arrival and it was like the final moments of a football world cup final where everybody on my flight were doing their best get to their baggage first. Welcome home chinnu! The first day was spent in total hibernation trying to wipe the jet lag out of my body. The adventure begins now….
India is an absolutely unique country. The uniqueness lies in its languages, cultures and most importantly the food. There is another unique concept that we fellow Indian brothers share unknowingly. That’s the harsh reality that I was struck when I ventured into a taking my car out and take a drive. The sight I saw on the road then shocked me. No! It’s not about the road conditions if your mind wandered in that direction. It is the lawlessness of the drivers who use them that shocked me rather rudely.
I experienced a total deliberate ignorance of the drivers around me to follow the traffic rules. There was a driver driving one of the premium brands of automotive history blatantly standing on the right lane when his insane mind is definitely originating nervous impulses to turn left on the traffic lights. Then I had a student on the ever popular motorbike cramming dangerously between two monster looking buses. To add to the agony was that he had no protective gear on him and had an IPod stuck in is ear. I think he had the Guns n Roses song, “knocking on heaven’s door playing on it”. Yeah mate you will get there rather quickly!
Then I proceeded to the next intersection. Two guys on their two wheelers ahead of me are in my opinion the busiest people alive on this globe. They had to have their meeting on their way home driving their respective vehicles. I then saw a truck approach them in the intersection, but the both of them were ignorant to that harsh fact and proceeded to continue to move and lie on the highway to hell. These guys were willing to risk their lives in order to save 3 seconds of their precious conversation in a rather precarious way.
Then a few minutes past by and I had a dose of the BPO industry's contribution to my city, CABS! These companies have filled our city's roads with cabs of varying shapes and sizes. I had this driver behind me who was in a great hurry ferrying its executives that he was honking away to glory behind me knowing very well I had no place to neither go myself nor have any to spare for him to go. This is what I would call road rage!
We have a sense of pride and accomplishment in the fact that we break rules and cause inconvenience to others around us. I can never understand why we have least concern to other people who like us also have a life and the right to lead it fully and comfortably. I have heard people who gallantly announce the ways and tricks they used to waylay the law which we all as law abiding citizens of the world’s largest democracy that we should follow sacredly. What surprises me most is that the educated elite do not seem to care an aorta bit. Another surprising reality is that the government and law enforcement department vehicles are the biggest law breakers. It was the car of a high court judge of the court that bravely skipped the red light in front of me!
In my opinion it is not about illiteracy that is a stumble block to my country’s development, but is the urban public apathy in its unilateral decision not to follow the rules laid out.
All said and done it is home sweet home. Let us hope we change our ways to help us and others lead a better and organised life in the future. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
hey auto….jayanagar bartira? The adventure continues………………………………..thud! Oh pothole…….
India is an absolutely unique country. The uniqueness lies in its languages, cultures and most importantly the food. There is another unique concept that we fellow Indian brothers share unknowingly. That’s the harsh reality that I was struck when I ventured into a taking my car out and take a drive. The sight I saw on the road then shocked me. No! It’s not about the road conditions if your mind wandered in that direction. It is the lawlessness of the drivers who use them that shocked me rather rudely.
I experienced a total deliberate ignorance of the drivers around me to follow the traffic rules. There was a driver driving one of the premium brands of automotive history blatantly standing on the right lane when his insane mind is definitely originating nervous impulses to turn left on the traffic lights. Then I had a student on the ever popular motorbike cramming dangerously between two monster looking buses. To add to the agony was that he had no protective gear on him and had an IPod stuck in is ear. I think he had the Guns n Roses song, “knocking on heaven’s door playing on it”. Yeah mate you will get there rather quickly!
Then I proceeded to the next intersection. Two guys on their two wheelers ahead of me are in my opinion the busiest people alive on this globe. They had to have their meeting on their way home driving their respective vehicles. I then saw a truck approach them in the intersection, but the both of them were ignorant to that harsh fact and proceeded to continue to move and lie on the highway to hell. These guys were willing to risk their lives in order to save 3 seconds of their precious conversation in a rather precarious way.
Then a few minutes past by and I had a dose of the BPO industry's contribution to my city, CABS! These companies have filled our city's roads with cabs of varying shapes and sizes. I had this driver behind me who was in a great hurry ferrying its executives that he was honking away to glory behind me knowing very well I had no place to neither go myself nor have any to spare for him to go. This is what I would call road rage!
We have a sense of pride and accomplishment in the fact that we break rules and cause inconvenience to others around us. I can never understand why we have least concern to other people who like us also have a life and the right to lead it fully and comfortably. I have heard people who gallantly announce the ways and tricks they used to waylay the law which we all as law abiding citizens of the world’s largest democracy that we should follow sacredly. What surprises me most is that the educated elite do not seem to care an aorta bit. Another surprising reality is that the government and law enforcement department vehicles are the biggest law breakers. It was the car of a high court judge of the court that bravely skipped the red light in front of me!
In my opinion it is not about illiteracy that is a stumble block to my country’s development, but is the urban public apathy in its unilateral decision not to follow the rules laid out.
All said and done it is home sweet home. Let us hope we change our ways to help us and others lead a better and organised life in the future. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
hey auto….jayanagar bartira? The adventure continues………………………………..thud! Oh pothole…….
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Divided we stand!
I was standing in the bus stop which has now become an eternal pool of ideas for my blogs. Another fellow Indian sat next to me. I smiled at him, but he darted his vision away from my face. After a few seconds he stood there expressionless staring at me like an archer staring at his bull’s eye. I got a feeling if this person had a super sense of seeing through people’s body and I felt transparent.
I smiled again trying to invoke a response at this human face staring at me. He was a statue. I then shifted my sight on an attractive advertisement board glittering away on this lonely and dark street.
The bus was unsurprisingly late and I had to wait that bit longer. In the course of just loitering around I saw this person trying to see what I was upto and was definitely trying to judge me. This made me uncomfortable. All he had to do was just smile back and connect. But he chose not to, but I could sense the curiosity etched on his face trying to find out more about me. I brushed it away as another one of those instances which I have been in before.
In my short stint of living abroad, these kind of situations pop up very frequently. Our own countrymen do not greet each other. There is an inherent fear among Indians living abroad that other Indians tend to stick to them and would ask them for help if they get friendly or even to just exchange courtesies. Why do we forget our human relation values which are praised and so widely spoken about in other cultures?
I don’t see the logic behind this narrow mindset. I think most Indians living abroad have their own competence which helps them get there. Why do we fear people who come from the same motherland elsewhere so much?
I see the division of an Indian society here much more than back home. This is silent and unexpressed but inherently a very strong kind of discrimination because it is led by some of our country’s fine tuned brains. I would like to call it intellectual discrimination. So here we are, half the globe away from our beloved country land and surprisingly (or unsurprisingly!), divided we stand!
I smiled again trying to invoke a response at this human face staring at me. He was a statue. I then shifted my sight on an attractive advertisement board glittering away on this lonely and dark street.
The bus was unsurprisingly late and I had to wait that bit longer. In the course of just loitering around I saw this person trying to see what I was upto and was definitely trying to judge me. This made me uncomfortable. All he had to do was just smile back and connect. But he chose not to, but I could sense the curiosity etched on his face trying to find out more about me. I brushed it away as another one of those instances which I have been in before.
In my short stint of living abroad, these kind of situations pop up very frequently. Our own countrymen do not greet each other. There is an inherent fear among Indians living abroad that other Indians tend to stick to them and would ask them for help if they get friendly or even to just exchange courtesies. Why do we forget our human relation values which are praised and so widely spoken about in other cultures?
I don’t see the logic behind this narrow mindset. I think most Indians living abroad have their own competence which helps them get there. Why do we fear people who come from the same motherland elsewhere so much?
I see the division of an Indian society here much more than back home. This is silent and unexpressed but inherently a very strong kind of discrimination because it is led by some of our country’s fine tuned brains. I would like to call it intellectual discrimination. So here we are, half the globe away from our beloved country land and surprisingly (or unsurprisingly!), divided we stand!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
been there done that.....
I was eating dinner and flipping through the television channels at home and suddenly there was something familiar that caught my eye. The channel reception was not good and I could barely see the actors. The information bar on the bottom told me that it was a weekend movie named “The Motorcycle Diary”. I am not too sure wether the last word in the name was singular or plural. I may have been wrong on that. But the important news is that I had watched this movie back in my home country and it was about this Argentina born Cuban revolutionary persona, Che’ Guevara.
So, what is the attention grab in a revolutionary for a wannabe scientist with a bird brain like me?! The only similarity between both of us is the fact that we are both doctors and the parallelism ends right there. Che’ failed the army entrance test because he was an asthmatic. But the failure turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This gave him a chance to join the medical school. During his time as a medical student, he took time off to volunteer as a health care worker even in the presence of his chronic asthmatic condition. He travelled extensively throughout South America on a motorcycle with a biochemist friend volunteering at different medical communities helping them in treating people.
Among them is one instance I remember very vividly is his act of treating leprosy patients in an island in Cambodia and spreading awareness about leprosy to the other unskilled health care workers. The lepers were isolated on a different island which lay across the river and the health workers would cross the river everyday to treat them. Che’ brought about a psychological change in these patients by spending time with them and improving their self confidence. He was their star! Che’ then travelled to other South American countries before finally getting back to medical school to finish his studies.
His revolutionary ideas then made him Fidel Castro’s aide in the Cuban revolution era and the rest is popular history.
Well what I like about Che’ is his daring medical travels that took him to the most unlikely places on this globe which benefited the people in distress. It is amazing to be able to come in contact with the people who are miles away from the nearest health professional let alone a hospital. Health care in many countries is in an impoverished condition and millions die due to lack of health care facilities. For me Che Guevara is a personality who beat the odds which no medical professional would dare doing. I would definitely remember him as a “medical revolutionary” who had, been there and done that!
So, what is the attention grab in a revolutionary for a wannabe scientist with a bird brain like me?! The only similarity between both of us is the fact that we are both doctors and the parallelism ends right there. Che’ failed the army entrance test because he was an asthmatic. But the failure turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This gave him a chance to join the medical school. During his time as a medical student, he took time off to volunteer as a health care worker even in the presence of his chronic asthmatic condition. He travelled extensively throughout South America on a motorcycle with a biochemist friend volunteering at different medical communities helping them in treating people.
Among them is one instance I remember very vividly is his act of treating leprosy patients in an island in Cambodia and spreading awareness about leprosy to the other unskilled health care workers. The lepers were isolated on a different island which lay across the river and the health workers would cross the river everyday to treat them. Che’ brought about a psychological change in these patients by spending time with them and improving their self confidence. He was their star! Che’ then travelled to other South American countries before finally getting back to medical school to finish his studies.
His revolutionary ideas then made him Fidel Castro’s aide in the Cuban revolution era and the rest is popular history.
Well what I like about Che’ is his daring medical travels that took him to the most unlikely places on this globe which benefited the people in distress. It is amazing to be able to come in contact with the people who are miles away from the nearest health professional let alone a hospital. Health care in many countries is in an impoverished condition and millions die due to lack of health care facilities. For me Che Guevara is a personality who beat the odds which no medical professional would dare doing. I would definitely remember him as a “medical revolutionary” who had, been there and done that!
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