A dying blog

Some wise guy predicted that Facebook would wipe out personal blogs. I think that's happening to mine.
It's just that nothing of much importance happens to someone as ordinary as me. And my facebook friends know I hardly even have status updates. So this could be the beginning of the end for this old blog. Totally deleting it seems a little harsh, it's like a diary of sorts. Maybe when Ruatfeli grows up and can read all the stuff I posted about her, she'll delete it herself :P

We're starting this project on building a house of own. Maybe I'll do a blow by blow post on that.

So far, we walled up the entire area because some people are, as some people can be, pretty unscrupulous. Then we put up a retaining wall, which we filled up with soil. Which we later decided was to be a water tank, given the scarcity of water, so we got people to remove the soil again. Huge waste of time and money, but we probably made the right decision because water harvesting is a must.

Then we found us an architect to design the house. We didn't give him an estimate of our budget, just told him what our dream house would have, garage, this many bedrooms, a curved staircase(!) etcetera. So he went all out and designed us what I think is going to be a beautiful house. But now I'm terrified about where we're going to get the money. We might have to rob a bank!

Anyhow, H went and got back from a month's training at Tata hospital, and he decided no more dilly-dallying. So he got some people to dig the 'holes' for putting up the 'columns' or whatever they call it, and they're almost done. The land is rocky as rambo, we might end up paying through our nose even for that little bit of work.

I spare myself the trouble of worrying about the harsh work, and instead dream of red kitchens and blue bathrooms. Hopefully in a four or five years we'll actually have a house of our own.

Aizawl a motor khalh etc

Hmanni lawk a motor khalh ve tan khan, motor ka khalh a ka harsatna tawh te atangin point tlem kan ziak ve teng.
Driver te tan:

• Signal pe lovin ding thut suh. Chho fahranah taxi kan zui chhova, passenger an mitsir a an hmu an han ding thut mai hi chu keini driver junior tan chuan buaina tham. A zawn chiahah i din loh pawn passenger khan a hman loh phah awm si lo che a, a chhak deuhvah, rem deuh laiah signal pein han ding la, i hnung a mite leh lehlam atanga lokal te tan chuan sawisel bo i ni mai tur.
• Kawngsir a din dawnin, kawng kawi lai takah hian ding lo thei hram ila. A lehlam atanga motor lokal a hmuh theih si lo, tlan pelh dawnin a harsa lehzual bik. Chhovah phei chuan buaithlak ve tak a ni.
• Kawngsir a din dawnin, motor din tawh na sa ah ding lo thei bawk ila. Lehlam lehlam a motor a din chuan kan Mizoram kawng zimah hian inpelh a harsa. Two wheeler kawngsir a ding pawh hi kawng te ah chuan hnawk vet vet tak a ni. Han tai hlek ila in rang ve mang bawk si lo, keini kan rang nghal ruai  bawk si.
• Speed lai deuhvin tlan bik suh. Chho ah chuan 20 kmph vel tal a tlan loh chuan 1st gear a ngai a, petrol man to ropui si. Kuhva in han insiam a, zial in han fawp a, phone in han be hmanhmawh lo lutuk hi chu a hnung a mi tan chuan a lawmawm vak lo.
• Two-wheeler i khalh vang khan kal hmasa ber tur i ni lo. Harsa tawkin motor kan han 'in-side' a, kal thei dawn maw tih veleh two-wheeler rawn inrawlh lut zung zung hi chu pen fawk an chakawm thei khawp mai.
• Car atangin bawlhlawh paih suh, i chhuk hunah bawlhhlawmbawmah paih mai rawh. I fate leh tu te zawng zawng pawh bawlhhlawhbawm a bawlhhlawh paih zirtir rawh.

Mipuite tan:

• Insa i nih chuan i kawng nek danin i mizia i ti lang. Bungrua-brick, lung etc etc in unload a nih pawhin, kawngsir thei ang berah thiar khawm tir rawh. Perek leh thil hriam dang phei chu motor ke in a ngeih lo nasa a nia.
• A huhova i kal vang khan motor hlauh loh phah suh. Inkhawm bang i ni emaw, sikul bang i ni emaw, inkhel en zo i ni emaw, kawngsirah kal hram ang che. A huhova kal vang a a tlar a kal kher a ngai lo, sut palh chuan a na thovang. Horn pek nawn pawh a inthiar fihlim duh miah lo hi chu ngeiawm ve hranpa.
• Kawng i cross dawn pawhin motor tlan laklawh loh lai chang hram rawh. Muang fahran a mi speed lai veka, ka van 'cool' em, inti niawm fahran a kawng cross hi chu mumang lamah tal tai in chakawm.

Kan vai tan:

• Motor lei dawn chuan a park na tur garage hi sa/luah hram hram ang u. Kan in zawn a kawng hi kan in in a chhawm tel lo tih hriat thar a tha. 
• Mipui ke a kal hi zahthiam an ngai, chep tawk tawkah ip titihin an kal laiin car leh two-wheeler kawngsirah kan park leh si. A tlan lai motor te hi chuan kawng chu kan mamawh, mahse a sir a ding hi chu mipui kawngsir a kal ai chuan an pawimawh lo  fe zawk. 

Food for thought:

     Sorkar hian kawngsir a motor dah a khap thei si lova, an dah theih lohnan sidewalk hi siam ta vek mai se kan hlawk phian ang em?

Training at Tata Cancer Hospital, Mumbai

My poor old blog hardly seems worth updating. I would sit down to write something, but someone would interrupt and all thoughts would go flying out.

In March and April, I was lucky enough to go for a two month training to Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai for Onco-Pathology training. It scared me initially, because I didn't think my kids would manage without me for a day. But H and my relatives were so supportive that I did go, with tears in my eyes...wishing the flight would get cancelled. But 2 months have passed and now I'm back, and the kids seem to have gotten along fine. God is good, especially to me and mine, I don't know why, but He always is, always have been.

 So when I reached Mumbai, it felt strange, but weirdly, I LOVED it. I loved the way people at Tata worked. They all worked so hard, so diligently. Nobody was looking over their shoulders, but everybody, doctors, nurses, technicians, IV grades, all just went about their work doing their job. I loved the way the hospital was so organized. No reagents in short supply. No power cuts. No unnecessary delays. No corruption apparently, no private practice on the sly (:P) It was work utopia. Their state of the art facilities and equipments make me salivate. And the pathology professors were so good at their jobs, and most of them were so nice! Dr Gujral especially, took some of us (trainees) out for dinner at his own expense.

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The work ethics of these non-believers humbled me. And I wondered how much I and the other Mizo doctors have to learn, in humility, professionalism and other things. Now don't think I'm bashing my fellow doctors, but the Mizo patients will tell you how nice and approachable most of the vai doctors are to them, while some of us are so rude to our fellow Mizos.

And talking of the Mizo cancer patients, they were living examples of courage and pure grit. I stayed at my allotted hostel in Chembur, but I would always try and spend my weekends at Mizoram House. Our prayer meetings were short but real. No lengthy sermons, but they were speeches from the heart. And you would realize how much people suffer, and yet how much unwavering faith they had in God. It humbled me. I don't know how I would handle having cancer, not as gracefully as any of them, for sure. Staying at Mizoram House was like being in a gospel camp, everybody behaved their best, all goodwill towards everyone else. Although I was initially a little apprehensive about being near the sick patients (I thought they would all be sad and suffering), when I actually stayed with them, they joked about their cancer, their treatment, and all took care of each other. Their sense of humour puts you at ease, and immediately make you feel at home. One point of importance I think is that they all tell me how tired they get at home, with so many well-wishers. Maybe we can learn to give people space and show them we care without tiring them out. Maybe send cards, letters, money, food and not insist on meeting patients face to face when we visit.

Contrary to above paragraph, this patient Actually doesn't mind me visiting!

Thu ka sawi e, te ka ti ve a.

Add caption

A tuarchhel ber, a huai ber.

Infit ber!

For fellow doctors

So actually living with the patients and their relatives made cancer more real, dark and scary. A diagnosis of cancer plunges a person into a dark abyss along with his family, condemning them to a life of chemotherapy, radiation and years and years of check-ups. Being a doctor, our hardwork and/or pure simple luck places us in a terribly vital position. For a pathologist, whether you give the right diagnosis of cancer in a biopsy or FNAC will allow the patient to be treated accordingly. If you say a non-cancerous tumour is cancer, the patient will be subjected to treatment which he doesn't need, and which will eventually probably kill him. If a clinician fails to refer or diagnose a case correctly, the patient will similarly have the same problem. So I think it's important to confer, to discuss with colleagues about our cases, and refer when something is out of our specialty. It is no sign of defeat to consult colleagues in these cases. At Tata, and other hospitals, there would be regular meetings of oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, radiotherapists, gynaecologists etc to discuss cases. And these meetings are helpful not only for the patients but also for the doctors. After all, medicine is not something you pass and no longer have to ever study again. We have our textbooks, the world wide web. In difficult cases, I think we should defer giving diagnosis or treatment, till we read and know for sure what we're dealing with. Everyone can make mistakes, but making mistakes because of our egos, ignorance or carelessness is a sin I don't think God will easily forgive.

On the lighter side I also discovered Crawford market, which was a wholesale market with everything at slashed rates. This was a Capricornian haven, because, as Linda Goodman puts it, 'Capricorns like to buy the best things, but at a bargain.' Loved the malls too, but they were mostly just good to hang out at. Crawford market will always stand out as a place where you can get great handbags, toys, prints of famous paintings, most everything, and at a bargain!

I also loved the Elora Caves, or rather the ferry to the Caves. I never knew how much pull the ocean had on me, maybe because I had never seen one before!

So, my trip was a blessing, it taught me a lot academically. I attended conferences (Rs 5000 registration) for free, met many special people, learned lots of new techniques, and refreshed me emotionally. It also reminded me again of how much God takes care of me. For example, while other trainees got roommates who worked in different departments, I got one who was also in Pathology. So I could read her books, use her microscope, etc. I also was always safe everywhere I went, and treated mostly well by the residents and technicians, so I could smuggle back maximum information (I like to think, maybe other trainees feel the same way, haha). I also managed to co-write a scientific paper, for which the HOD assures me I would get first authorship. So yep, that's me, bragging, because things like that don't happen often!

Outings - Millenium Centre and Hmuifang Tlang

Two holidays in a week! What more could anyone ask for?

I always have this compulsion to do 'something' on holidays. So on Monday, which was 'Id', I took Ruatfeli and her cousins to Millennium center. Some enterprising people have set up shop right on the front, with inflatable pools and beanbags and the likes. Feli went bonkers, giggling and laughing and falling all over herself; 'A nuam lutuk! A nuihzathlak e!!' etc.

We bought one, officially for Ruatsanga, his birthday is on the 13th, but unofficially, it's Ruatfeli's. Sanga is lucky if he doesn't get his eyes gouged out.

And today, we went on an impromptu visit to Hmuifang tlang. We asked some other people to come along, but they all declined, so it was just us, with my niece and nephew and Mami.

The road to Hmuifang was pretty decent, but full of turns. Feli puked all over me in the car, white pieces of rice on my clothes and the car seat. We all got out and Rina did his number too, in yellow. We cleaned up as best as we could and finally reached the place, everyone tired and some in a sour mood.Things improved after lunch, and we explored the more accessible areas. Hruaii got a leech on her foot, I was more freaked out than her.

The Restaurant

With Hruaii

With Rina

Wild berries?

Mushrooms, poisonous??

It was a great outing, wide open spaces, grass, trees, tipsy taxi-drivers on a day off (!). And on the way back, Feli bestowed a little more puking on me, this time Kurkure flavoured with a lot of tomato sauce.

It was fun, but no more road trips in the near future, the end does not quite justify the means.

Excerpt from the life of...

On the way to the toilet, I noticed Ruatfeli has scrawnier verions of my terrible legs.

'Do you want legs like Mummy or beautiful legs?'
'Beautiful legs!'
'Really? Don't you want legs just like mummy's?'
'No, I want beautiful legs, like Barbie's.'

Unsubdued laughter from dad in the bedroom.