First corporate video made by me!

Playing around with simple tools like Microsoft PowerPoint and just one video editing software, I was able to make this simple video for my company, Veritadyne. 

I am quite happy with the results which were achieved in a few days! Let me know if you like it.....

VERITADYNE® - YouTube

#Veritadyne #Consulting #research #Education #Business

Rescue story - Diva, the husky!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since Diva left Doha! I had promised Jacqui and Ron, her wonderful forever parents, that I would do a write-up of her rescue and adventures up until she reached them; and this is long overdue. Marking the first anniversary of her being part of their family, today is the day I am finally writing this piece as a gift to Diva, Jacqui, and Ron. 

I found Diva loitering on the streets near my house on December 9^th 2019 - a muddy husky in rainy Doha. It was as if she wanted to be found by me - I stopped my car, called her and she readily came over. I tried to get her into the car but she did not want to do that. Instead, she was content to lie down on the street, right at my feet, and prepared to fall asleep! I realized she was very tired; thankfully I was so near to my home that I could see the gates. I called home for help, a leash, few treats to gain her trust (which didn’t seem like a problem) and kept her safe as she rested. Few minutes later, I organised help to have her walked home while I trailed behind in the car.

The first thing Diva needed was a thorough wash as she was caked in mud. She was clearly not too pleased but being the wonderful girl she is, tolerated it. Soon after, she was given a warm home cooked meal of rice and chicken, and I think she looked happy and content 😊

At that time, I had two dogs of my own at home who needed some reassuring that the new dog was not an intruder and that they weren’t getting replaced. But by then they were so used to the numerous foster dogs (and cats) that came and left our home that they decided to ignore this new one for as long as they could!

My daughter, who is quite the expert at giving pets the most befitting names, christened her Diva. To this day I am amazed at how well the name suits her as I have not seen a dog who is more of a diva than our Diva! I am sure Jacqui and Ron feel the same, as they very thoughtfully and graciously retained her name after adopting her 😉

Diva fit into our family extremely well and our dogs learnt to live with her. As if they had a choice! Diva took over the house and made it her own almost immediately. I was coordinating with my dearest friend Leah to re-home her in Canada; and Diva was vaccinated in the meantime. I had postponed getting her spayed as I had a busy month at work and home. This procrastination turned out to be a blessing as we discovered by mid-January 2020 that she was pregnant! Jan 30^th, she went into labor and delivered five healthy husky babies (Chase, Shadow, Cleo, Elsie and Max) and one weak baby (Millie) who we unfortunately lost that very day. Diva proved to be an exceptionally great mother and took amazing care of her babies as we lovingly watched them grow. Leah found all of them amazing homes after they had spent few months with the mother and we are all still connected. Stories about each of them would be separate posts in themselves!

What else can I say about Diva? She is the goofiest, loveliest, friendliest husky I have ever known. Always ready to play or argue, she is never one to shy away from any activity. Our chats first thing every morning were legendary as she is the most conversational dog I have ever met. One more goofy habit of hers was to fall asleep with tongue out a little. I have spent fun times secretly clicking a picture of her while she slept 😊. She was a wonderful addition to our home and showered us much needed love during tough times when, devastatingly, both our dogs passed away last year due to old age. Sending her to Canada was one of the hardest things to do, but it was the right thing to do (a desert is no place for a Husky), worth it all to see what a wonderful family she has become a part of, and how much she is loved. Jacqui & Ron even send her to doggy day care, where she seems to be the favourite, but no surprises there!

Special and warmest thanks to Leah and Arabian Saluki Rescue-NL for always supporting me, all my rescues and magically finding them all the very best homes. No one can do what you do so well, Superstar Leah. We all love you!

Jacqui and Ron, thank you for making Diva part of your family as your baby and for keeping us all involved in her life with you. May you have many years of happiness, good health and fun with Diva!

Happy Fourth of July!

“Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.” – James Bryce

Happy Fourth of July!

Doctors Day!

Yesterday was India’s National Doctors Day and here is wishing all our lifesavers a very happy Doctors Day.

Much has been said about their contribution to healthcare from patient perspectives especially during the pandemic, but I want to focus today on the important and less discussed role of doctors in research.

Doctors conduct research aimed at improving overall human (or animal) health. They could use clinical trials and other methods of investigation to work on their area of research and research question. Doctors are vital in testing drugs, vaccines and clinical procedures. Quality improvement studies maybe less appreciated but are critical to quality of patient care.

Doctors team up with scientists from universities, non-profit organizations or the private sector to conduct research. Responsibilities of doctors include

1.          designing and conducting studies investigating diseases, preventions and treatments
2.          preparing and analyzing medical samples and data
3.          standardizing potency of drugs, their doses, methods for drug manufacturing and distribution
4.         coming up with needs, ideas for medical devices and ultimately testing them
5.         developing programs and trainings (including simulations) aimed at improving health outcomes
6.         writing research proposals and applying for grants and other funding;
7.          following procedures and ethical compliance requirements for patient safety.

Without all this work of doctors, patients will not be prevented from or easily cured of diseases and quality of life standards would not have been as high as today. Even if each doctor may not have ground-breaking research accomplishments, each paves the way for someone else and hence leave behind amazing legacies.

So doctors, thank you for all that you do that patients notice every day. Thank you also for your other work like research that might go unnoticed by general public on a daily basis but is still crucial to healthcare.

#nationaldoctorsday #medicine #research #clinicaltrials #health #healthcare #doctors