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 

Dr. Shyamala Gopalan - a thank you

I found this wonderful article which followed the Democratic VP candidate, Kamala Harris's mother's achievements and spoke more about the contribution of immigrant women especially from India to Western countries. 

https://scroll.in/global/970540/while-celebrating-kamala-harris-we-shouldnt-forget-her-trailblazer-mothers-contribution-to-the-us

It indeed made me very proud to read about Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, Harris's mother. She hailed from my State in India, Tamil Nadu and we also seem to have chosen similar fields of study and the very same area of research albeit in different decades. Dr. Gopalan's parents later settled in my city of Chennai following their retirement, pretty much in the same area I hail from! Other than these superficial reasons, there is so much more to be proud of though. 

In fact to better understand both Kamala Harris's and Dr. Gopalan's trailblazing lives, we might need to go one generation back and look at Dr. Gopalan's parents. We are talking about the 1940s and 50s when they have been so broad and open minded, looked to educate their son and daughters equally and in fact were not happy with Dr. Gopalan's first choice of education in Home Science as they were ambitious for their daughters. They wanted them to shine as doctors, engineers or scientists rather than learn just good home science, no offence to the subject at all. It goes on to show from where Dr. Gopalan gained her brains and confidence from. Did they think women were not suited for careers and need to be married off at an early age in order to procreate and be good wives and mothers? No, this does not seem to have featured in their discussions at all!

Later their daughter Shyamala decided to apply to the US and got admitted to Graduate school. It never occurred to them to stop her from travelling so far alone to study. In fact they used their retirement funds to partly fund her first semester of study and housing. Shymala then went on to complete her PhD and continued her important work and career until her last days. What a contribution to society!

Not only professionally, but personally she had joined the Black Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and that's how she met her future husband, not an Indian but a Jamaican. She felt confident in her decision and of her parents acceptance of her decision to go ahead with the marriage. She had two daughters from the marriage and brought them up with so much panache by of course following her role model parents. She was comfortable enough to also divorce and end the marriage when finally it did not work and had no need to worry about society and the 'shame' and stigma that divorce still carries in many parts of the world including India. She retained her maiden name till her death in 2009. Hats off to you mam, Dr. Gopalan, for being such an inspiration for us women everywhere. We are very proud of all your achievements, personal and professional. 

The article in the link I shared above focusses on immigrant women and how their contribution is overlooked. It also touches upon how generally immigrant women tend to be more productive than native women and I believe it is very true. Especially Indian women who reach American shores for an education. A good percentage of us have carved our own paths and owned our chosen careers. A word of request for the Middle East countries - please take note. Most migrant women work here and yet the sponsorship rules tie our lives here with our husband or father who are our 'Sponsors'. We need a 'No objection certificate' from them to work anywhere and I don't think there could be anything more insulting than this for a woman. Please also see the potential misuse possible here. Hope things will change soon. Till then I hope. 

You all go girls, keep rocking until changes become inevitable!

Pencil drawing - Sandy

I am no great artist, but I have found it cathartic to draw my pets if they cross the rainbow bridge. It never gets easy or better......it has been more than eight weeks and I still want to burst into tears every time I think of Sandy. 

I did a pencil sketching of her and found that I could recall every patch of fur on her face with its contours in all its glory! 

This is Sandy

End of an era!

 

June 2020 has been one of the hardest months of my life for many reasons. The most important one of them was the passing of my dear Sandy. My constant companion since 2009; my most faithful friend and family member; my reason for coming home many times! 

I admit that I have simply been bursting into tears anytime I simply thought of her and hence this delayed post. I still do, but I can now write about it.....well, somewhat! Sandy made me a mother for the first time. I now had a fellow living being that depended on me to take care of her, walk her, feed her and bathe her. A member to include in grocery shopping lists and to talk about to everyone who would listen. Everyone knows how mothers cannot stop talking of their children, well, that was me too with Sandy. I moved houses for her and planned every day with her in mind, including visits to friends and family. Planned weekends ahead of time so that I could do more activities with her. When our second baby Dexy got added to the family, I was happy since Sandy now had company. Then the human babies came! 

Unfortunately, my time had to be divided between four babies now and there was little to go around. That is probably my biggest regret. While Sandy was always high in my priority, having fun was not always, as all young mothers would know. Now I wish I had had more time just being silly with both my babies. They are gone all of a sudden this year and the house is not the same. No barks and walks to worry about. We are still fostering a dog, thank goodness for that. But life is not the same without my two babies. I see her favourite treats that I never gave to other dogs since I cannot always find them and have to ration. I wish I was not saving them and just had given more to her when she could enjoy them. Regrets....guilt....stuff for mothers! It was early morning when she passed, but I was with her. I could not sleep and knew in my subconscious I think. She wanted me next to her and I sang her last good night song before she passed. Small consolations. While I can still not come to terms, I am glad she did not suffer long. I love you my baby........always be next to me.

Personal loss

Losing a pet is ranked as one of the worst personal crisis that one could face. This is also an often used excuse when people really do not want to add on an additional responsibility to their lives. 'Oh I can't deal with losing a pet, so I'd rather not have one'. Of course to me this is equivalent to saying I know I am going to die one day, so let me stop living now! While I know this to be true for all pets or even farm animals, anyone who knows me knows my partiality for dogs. I simply adore and am in awe of this absolutely faithful creation of God. There is no love as unconditional as theirs. There is no one else who would respect you as much without passing any judgement, ever. Who else joins you in your silly dances, rants and even sadness, adopting your mood to be theirs at any given moment? Who forgives you every time you make a mistake and picks up right where you left off? 2020 has been one of the worst years in my life because I already lost a cherished member of my family, Dexy. We found her on the streets of Doha in 2011, just at the start of summer. For anyone who might know this part of the world, you know that is a death sentence for any stray at 50 degree temperatures outside! Adding to this, she had a beautiful black coat, which will overheat in seconds in that kind of temperatures. She was checked by the vet and had a good bill of health and came home to be fostered until we found her a permanent home. Dexy never left until February this year for the last time. She was a very unique dog, kind of a therapy dog. I am yet to meet another dog who would even come close to her levels of patience and wonderful temperament. We have since fostered brat of puppies, many of whom have made her life miserable just by being their puppy selves and I have never seen her as much as tell them off politely! She was a rock of support to our other dog Sandy, who can be quite touchy although utterly adorable. Dexy just grew old, weaker in her last few months and one day collapsed. There was nothing more we could have done more except let her go peacefully. But like in all cases, I have been filled with regret.....could I have loved her even more? Could I have made her life more fun? Did I care enough for her? Did I make sure she knew how much I loved her and does she know how much I miss her now? The underlying reasons for such questions in my mind was the fact that my family expanded after they both arrived. My two daughters came and took up more of my time over the last decade, a problem all young families have to deal with - lack of time. Dexy, I love you and miss you like crazy. I am sorry for anything I may have done or not done. I say 2020 is one of the worst years because your sister Sandy is also very sick now and it looks like we are fighting a losing battle. Look over her as you always have, while I cling on to precious minutes with her. Your memory keeps me going.....

My Father anthology

My article on my father has been published in the anthology 'My Father'. How can I miss writing a sequel of sorts! :)
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=439146&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

Dreams

I wanted to teach you so much.
I also wanted to learn so much from you.
I wanted to mould you into a great human being, a great lady, a lovely person.
I also wanted to be your friend, enemy and soul mate.
I wanted to be very strict with you in terms of disciplining you.
I also wanted to spoil you rotten with my love.
I wanted to never say ‘you can’t do it’.
I also wanted to shield you from all the disappointment that your actions might bring you.
I wanted you to learn to live a simple life within meager means.
I also wanted to provide the world to you.
I wanted you to have numerous friends with whom you have plenty of fun.
I also wanted you to myself for a while everyday.
I wanted you to love animals, and do everything in your power to help them throughout your life.
I also wanted to protect you from the pain the world of people will give you with their careless attitude towards other living creatures.
There are a million other things I wanted to give you.
Maybe God was confused with my conflicting dreams, because he never gave me the chance to have you!

Dedicated to Tejaswee mentioned in my previous post.
http://blabberblah.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/a-letter-to-the-future/