Sacrificed Wisdom... Tooth ;-)

Most of us love to have wisdom teeth (one tooth will be more than sufficient); that's the only physical evidence of one's wisdom ;-). I had the opportunity of possessing one. This write-up is about how I "lost" it.
To be frank, I have no idea whether pre-molar tooth qualifies for a wisdom tooth. If at all a dentist reads, I request him/her to comment of the veracity of my claim.

For long, I had an extra tooth right before my left molar. There was no problem for it to co-exist until it started disrupting the harmony of my other teeth. The disruption was sensed by my brain as an annoying pain (something like the sing-song of a mosquito, hovering near the ear which can be ignored, but it can't be ignored). A visit to the dentist confirmed my apprehensions that wisdom teeth had to be sacrificed for my other teeth to function properly in future. Surgery was advised and an appointment was fixed. Now, what does surgery got to do to pick out an extra tooth?! I asked to the same question and the doctor enlightened me that the tooth was infact growing horizontal. I understood vaguely and nodded my consent. I was prescribed with tablets and instructed to start taking them a day before the d-day.

The appointment was in the evening, on my request, as I didn't want to take a leave for such a "surgery". I had also intimated my friend at work, that if things didn't go as per plan, I would be taking a sick leave on the following day. The means of communication was delegated to an SMS, mainly because I was not sure of my ability to speak, post the complications in surgery ;-). The d-day arrived.

The dental clinic is just a few meters away from my place. I was late by a few minutes (credits to the ever increasing traffic). The dental surgeon had arrived and my dentist was also there. There were also a junior dentist and a nurse for the operation. An x-ray was taken and studied. When I saw the x-ray I realized why it was called a surgery. Most of my tooth was concealed in my gums. Only a tiny bit was visible outside the gums, just the tip of an iceberg. The surgeon would have to cut open my gums and extract the tooth.

I was seated on the special dental chair and a lamp was focused on my mouth. The doctor gave two anesthesia injections to my gums (rather to two nerves in my gums). There was a searing pain. After a few minutes half of my mouth and my tongue were numb. The apparatus were laid out near the table; miniature versions of cutting, digging and grinding equipment. Then the surgery began. My mouth was open and the surgeon's hand was inside working on my teeth. My dentist was consoling and cajoling about the surgery. The junior dentist and the nurse were looking; horrified would be the right word for the expression on their faces.

(To be frank, I was enjoying the experience. Not the actual surgery, but all that was happening around me. I was so amused that I wanted to laugh out load. It may seem strange to imagine the situation but I had to make a very sincere effort not to laugh.)

The surgery was completed in 45 minutes. It culminated with two stitches. A ball of cotton was jabbed. Strict instructions were given on what to do and what not to do. I was not even sure whether I could open my mouth to speak. I was trying to explain the situation to them in a pathetic sign language, which of-course was a miserable failure. I even called my father (read SMS) to the clinic, just to speak with the doctor. The doctor looked at me in surprise and gave the go-ahead for me to speak. I just mumbled something which was not even clear to me. ;-)

I couldn't speak properly for an entire day. Half of my face resembled lord Hanuman. I was gifted with a cute x-ray (that's what my sister called the x-ray) and a bill of 1.5K.

Well, that's about the sorry tale of my wisdom tooth.

Are we socially responsible enough?

What is social responsibility? You might have come across this term many times during the recent past. What with floods, droughts, tsunamis and even earthquakes. I define social responsibility as giving something back to the society in our very own individual means. But, whatever we are doing, is it sufficient enough? Read on.

Most people know me for my community on orkut about blood donation. Well, though we have a head count of 1869, as of date, (phew! that's a huge number) we are still not in a position to meet the emergency blood requests, most of the times. Today was one such day where there was literally a struggle to find AB+ blood for a child admitted in Manipal Hospital.

I got a call (wake up call!) from Mr. Mahesh, the child's father around 10.30 in the morning. I was at home, sick (will be sick for another 6-7 days). The request for AB+ was made. Since it is a positive blood group I was confident of helping the father without much trouble. The spreadsheet I maintain was referred and two donor (who were residing in the neighborhood of the hospital) numbers were given out. Twenty minutes after, I get a call from the father, no one is picking the phone on one number, and the other donor is out of station. Well, this was not new. Generally people do not update their changed numbers (contact details) either because they are just not interested or because they would have forgotten that they are a part of a community to help people in need, in emergencies. Some people also feel that it is one other community on orkut, so why fuss about it. People also travel and such instances can't be helped. So two more numbers were given. It turned out that both the numbers were "not reachable". Now I get a bit worried, so I start calling people. There were around 25 numbers out of which as many as 15 numbers were "please check the number you have dialed" and "wrong number". This is not supposed to happen during an emergency where someone is battling for dear life.

Then, I had some partial successes. Two people agreed to come forward; but the time was a constraint. Then I called Varun, a student studying near Koramangala. He was ready to even bunk classes for the noble deed, if required. He was free during is lunch break and the doctors and father were fine with the time. After a harrowing experience of almost two hours some purpose of the community was served. Someone was indebted with gratitude; Varun had the satisfaction of being the hero of the day. Hats off Varun!!! For the rest of you, just think it over.

Now coming back to the subject, Social Responsibility. (You are not expected to read further; I have given some bitti [free] unwanted gyaan [knowledge] below.)

Every individual has his or her own way of responding to the social cause. Some people donate cash (easiest way according to me), some in kind, some donate organs (after death, of-course), even the entire human body (hey! i can proudly say that two in our home have pledged to do so), some teach, some clean the environment, some say no to plastics, some sponsor midday meals for kids, some take care of children education, etc. We have innumerable means of helping our fellow beings in times of distress and crisis. But is this sufficient? I am not blaming anyone; its just an individual's conception of doing things. Every person has his or her own priorities.

Except for human organs and human body, everything else has a substitute. Blood, is one such element in nature which cannot be substituted with anything else. People die when blood requirements are not met on time. Precious lives are lost just for the sake of the red liquid. Moreover the donor replenishes his blood within two months; with reduced cholesterol and many other benefits. So whenever you hear a cry for help, please respond positively.

Something to ponder:

1. Bindu: A very enthusiastic and eager blood donor. She has been to two of our blood donation camps, traveling far and wide. But on both the occasions, the doctors refused to draw blood because of weight issues. Please don't lose heart Bindu; just try to put on weight.
2. Rajesh: I proudly attribute this "ನೀರು ದಾಹಕ್ಕೆ ರಕ್ತ ಜೀವಕ್ಕೆ" (means water: thirst :: blood: life) to him. Words are very powerful, but what about the deeds? He has donated blood just once. His guise, when we have so many donors around, how does my donation matter. Buddy, you haven't experienced an emergency. Please alter your mindset.
3. Prakash: A donor whose weight is just around the borderline. Donated blood a couple of times; however the donations begin with a serious discussion with the in-charge doctor about weight, and number of donations made so far. I will always try to be of some use and never give up. ;-)
4. Putta: (Sorry, he wouldn't recognize if I used his real name) Not sure how many times he has donated blood. but he always has a dislike towards voluntary blood donation camps. I will definitely drag him to a hospital in case of an emergency but there is a need to change the mentality.

So, that is all from side. Let me know if some eyes have opened and please be responsive to such requests. Don't turn a blind eye as this may lead to a loss of a precious life.

PS: (not disclaimer!) All the names and events are true. Just don't sue me for defamation :-).

90 minutes sleep cost 10.5K!!!

Royally duped!!! That's what comes to mind when I think about what happened the other day.

My 90 minutes of sleep cost me a cool INR 10,500. Don't believe it? Then read on...

It was Tuesday, the last day of June 2009. My company was having its monthly shutdown (blame recession). Employees had to take leave without pay for a certain number of days in a quarter. It was one such occasion where-in even though I was on leave I had to go work. Since I was already without pay I look the liberty of going late to work. Rather than the liberty, I would say it was my love for sleep, my habit to get up late, my lack of enthusiasm to see the early morning rays, bluntly said my laziness. :(

The regular bus to my company starts at 7.40 am near my place. There is no other direct bus to the company. However another direct bus to my office leaves from Gangenahalli, which is exactly one bus stop away from my regular bus stop. As I have a valid pass to board the BMTC bus (that's our local public transport), I went to the stop to catch a bus. I avoid buses which are full when I have time.

On this particular day I was a bit late (thankfully not because of my laziness). When I reached the stop, the time was around 9.15. The stop was sort of empty, I was happy. A bus came, which was sort of ok to board. The bus had doors. Suddenly there was an influx of passengers who were not there in the stop earlier. As I was supposed to get down at the next stop, I boarded the bus last. There were people standing on the steps and asked others to get in. Their guise was that the driver would close the doors. The bus had already started to move. At that point of time, I received a call on my cell phone. Since the bus was now crowded, I took out my cell, put it on silent mode and again placed it in my pocket. As soon as I lifted my hand, the person near me told that someone's phone had fallen down from the bus and he wanted me to check whether it was mine. I was sure that I had kept the cell phone in my pocket, but even then checked to make sure again. To my horror the phone was not there. At the same time, another person told that a phone indeed had fallen off the bus and had broken into two pieces. You usually doubt when one person tries to confuse you. But, when two different people tell the same thing you will be forced to believe them. In my case, I believed them! The bus slowed down near a speed breaker and they actually made me get down, saying that the broken phone was there on the road, a few feet back. I retraced my steps back and then it struck to me. Eureka! I have been royally duped. The person/s responsible for stealing my phone made me believe in their crap story.

Now here is some introspection. As soon as I found my phone missing, I knew that I had lost it. My analytical mind put past a conspiracy that someone flicked it and threw it out of the bus to his counterpart. What my mind couldn't process was that, I was being innovatively duped, something which was never heard before.

So, on that fateful day my sleep had cost me dearly. INR 116 for every minute of extra sleep.

Though I have got a duplicate SIM with the same old number, I have lost all my contacts, reminders and photographs. So, when you call me/ message me and I will ask "May I know who is this?", please do not be offended. I may forget some important days as well; please forgive me.

Visit to Hubli

Friday the 29^th May.

The time was around 2 p.m. and I was working at my office. One of my very close friends called me and mathadtha mathadtha a program was fixed. ‘Visit to Hubli’ occupied our calendar for the weekend. I called another friend of mine and then there were three of us for the trip. After some failed attempts, the bus tickets were booked online and things were in place for the trip.

The onward journey was eventful right for the time I started from my residence. I was a bit late; reached the bus stop and wasted precious minutes for the local BMTC bus which didn’t turn up. Then I took an auto, cursing myself for being late. To my “delight”, the auto driver took his own sweet time to reach the bus stand even though I told him twice that I was in a hurry. I reached the bus stand just-in-time. My friend was waiting for me outside the bus. We boarded the bus and then the journey to Hubli began without much ado.

Our excursions are usually adventures (not adventurous, mind it) as we seldom plan in advance (whenever we plan something, it fails… that’s a different story). So, it was no surprise that even during this trip the adventure began just as the bus reached the outskirts of the city. The bus was stopped two times for duration of about 15 minute each. It was even taken to two depots for inspection. The driver had a misconception, that there was some problem with the vehicle. He was not convinced even when other bur drivers as well as the mechanics confirmed that everything was fine. Traffic was also blocked for about 3o minutes due to an accident on the highway. All in all, the bus reached the destination a good three hours behind schedule.

Saturday the 30^th May.

Both of us reached my friend’s place and freshened up. My friend in Hubli had booked a cab and sort of planned an itinerary. We set out for the first destination Badami after having our breakfast. The roads were a mixture of sorts; good for the most part and bad at some. Badami is famous for its caves. The one thing you need to make sure is, not to bring any sort of food or liquid items. There is practically an army of monkeys which literally attack you; especially if anything you carry interests them. The best thing to do during such an attack is to surrender and had over whatever interests them. Your heroics would be futile. We witnessed one such attack, and it was not a pleasant sight. We roamed about the place, took some pictures and moved on to our second destination Pattadakkal. Thereafter we visited Aihole. (Please go thru the links for details about the places.)

After Aihole we headed back to Hubli and on the way, had our lunch. The lunch was not exactly lunch as the time was 4.00 pm by the time we had it. Moreover the hotel we visited only had sandwiches. We reached Hubli around 9.00 PM, had a hearty supper and then started off to Dandeli. Just before we started we noticed that the air in one of the front tires was low. We suspected a puncture. The vehicle was fuelled and tires were filled with air. After filling air the driver confirmed that it indeed was a puncture but very mild. To our dismay, there was no wheel spanner in the vehicle, even though it had a spare wheel and a jack. The vehicle was driven in the same condition towards Dandeli. Though we were skeptical about reaching our destination without any incidents, we couldn’t help the situation. The driver was confident enough to take us in such a condition. We reached Dandeli in the middle of the night.

Sunday the 31^st May.

Dandeli is basically a wild life sanctuary. The safaris happen in private jeeps which are permitted for a fee. A guide from the forest department will accompany in the journey. The safari started at 6.00 in the morning; it was mind blowing. The sceneries were awesome! We sighted a couple of deer and 6 – 8 bison. There were more bison than deer in the forest. We were also taken to a view point in the forest. The view cannot be expressed in words; you have to see it and enjoy it. The safari was excellent. Our plan (or rather the lack of it) didn’t allow us to have breakfast. Don’t forget, we were still using the punctured wheel. On the way back we flagged down another vehicle, borrowed the tool and changed wheels. The spare wheel was also in a bad shape, but somewhat sustainable. As we had changed wheels, we also changed our plan and decided to go to a water resort for boating. One resort was full and we were directed to another resort nearby. There we decided to also have a water massage. The boat (coracle) ride was ok. We also took turns to row, and even to pose for pictures. After the ride we were led to place for the water massage where Kali River flows on/thru rocks. The deal is to sit on the rocks and experience the water pressure/flow. Wow! A unique kind experience. After this thoroughly refreshing “massage” we headed back to Hubli. We again missed out our food due to non-availability.

On the way back, the dreaded thing happened. The spare wheel which was not in its prime of health breathed its last breath! We had a flat tire in the forest. Though it wasn’t in the “middle of the forest”, there still was no human habitat around and we were in the middle of no-where. The driver of the vehicle removed the mildly punctured wheel from the boot, hailed a vehicle on the road and just left. There was no network coverage (for our cell phones) except for good old BSNL. We only had one means of communication and nothing else. But, my friend with the BSNL connection, instead of conserving the charge started playing games on his cell phone. This pissed me off and we even had an altercation. Three guys on the road, in the middle of no-where with a parked car having a flat tire… what more to say!!! We waited for a couple of hours and then our driver returned with the fixed wheel. As we still didn’t have the wheel spanner, we were forced to flag down a passing vehicle, borrowed the tool and changed tires. We again thanked the Samaritans profusely and continued our journey back. It was around 5.00 in the evening when we reached our friend’s place. We freshened and went to have some food. Came back, packed our things and headed for the bus stand. We stopped to have a full meal (the first one for the day). Due to my friend’s diligence we couldn’t have the local food (jowar roti). We were well in time to catch our bus back. The journey back to Bangalore was uneventful.

All in all, even this turned out to be something, which we usually experience whenever we go out on a trip. Adventure, thrill, fun, fight and bonding all thru the way.