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The Snake, the Stick, and the Door

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There are moments in life when a man’s entire education deserts him. Years spent acquiring degrees, mastering complicated subjects, and developing an impressive professional reputation may count for very little when Fate decides to place a snake in his path. At such times, the human brain, which has served its owner tolerably well through examinations, ward rounds, and professional conferences, may pack its bags and leave without giving notice. The medical profession, naturally, is particularly vulnerable to this sort of disappointment. Doctors are accustomed to being regarded as sensible people. They are consulted on matters of life and death, expected to remain calm in emergencies, and occasionally addressed in tones suggesting that they possess knowledge of the universe denied to ordinary mortals. This can create a misleading impression that they are equally competent in every department of human existence. They are not. The events I am about to relate took place in the officers’ me...
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Midnight Encounter with Courage

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  “ Mard ko na dard hota hai aur na darr lagta hai ”, he used to say.  This was way before 1985, the year " Mard (the movie) " came out with Amitabh as the megastar.   It was 1969. Neil Armstrong had landed on the moon.  Woodstock was over It was still 4 years for Zanjeer to be released Amitabh was yet to become famous. He was a friend of my dad  in his first year of college, who had arrived at a firm conclusion about himself. He was, he maintained, a man of indomitable courage.  There are people who are known to be brave, and there are people who are brave enough to say it loud at regular intervals. Dad’s friend belonged very definitely to the second category, although he had hopes of graduating to the first. Nothing frightened him.  Ghosts were a superstition for the intellectually undernourished. Darkness was merely the absence of light, and haunted houses, one gathered, were properties in need of better management. In short, he was a young man who ...
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FUBAR - Three Future Doctors, A Good Knight and A Bad Idea!!

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    The Scheme  O ur second night in the AFMC hostel began with the kind of confidence that only first-term medical students possess,  an intoxicating mixture of innocence, exhaustion and supreme confidence . I ndeed, looking back, one might say that of the three ingredients,   innocence was the first to be shown the door, while confidence was merely waiting its turn.  The exhaustion would become a lifelong partner.     There were three of us in 5Mid3 room in the hostel. Me, Baba and B1 (Nicknames for keeping the identity confidential). The previous night had been spent in what AFMC generously called “orientation.” By the second night, we were so exhausted that even the thought of getting out of bed was an unreasonable demand. Sleep had stopped being a luxury. It was now a fundamental human right. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to inform the mosquitoes.     They launched a full scale offensive...     Under the barrage of mosqu...
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FRCS: The Internship Edition

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  Every doctor has to be a beginner before becoming an expert.
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Measured by More Than Merit: How Bias Distorts Our Perception of Calibre

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I failed. All three subjects—Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry. So did 22 others. In all, 53 students out of 107 didn’t make it through First MBBS that year. But when your name is on the failure list, it doesn’t matter how many others are there with you. It feels solitary. Sharp. A personal verdict. At AFMC, failure isn’t just academic. It’s almost moral. We were told to report to the Dean’s conference. Everyone knew what that meant. Not a conversation—an indictment. The man we were about to face wasn’t just the Dean. He was a serving General. A towering figure—by position, presence, and reputation. He walked in with a file and a fixed expression. The room braced itself. One by one, he called out names of those who had failed. When he reached mine, he paused. “Atul Jha,” he said. His gaze lifted. “You’re the son of Col Jha, aren’t you?” “Yes, sir,” I replied. A flicker of familiarity crossed his face—recognition not just of the name, but of its weight. He and my father had ...
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When Durga Whispered....!

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     It had been a long, draining day. My head was full of problems that seemed impossible to untangle — deadlines pressing like weights on my shoulders, half-finished tasks piling up, and a gnawing sense of frustration that no amount of planning seemed to ease. Even the simplest decisions felt exhausting, and every step forward seemed to be met with resistance.  Out of despair and helplessness, I just got up and left. I walked aimlessly, hoping the evening air would quiet the noise inside me, though the tension in my chest refused to relent.      That’s when I noticed her. A little girl stood beneath a tree, tugging at a kite hopelessly knotted in the branches. She pulled and pulled, but the string wouldn’t budge. I moved forward to help her. Probably one soul that I can help today. Probably one task, that I could achieve. She seemed to understand and stepped back with a smile inviting me to try. Curious, I stepped forward and tried myself, but the ki...
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"KitKat to Care: The Power of Early Influence"

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  What can Nestle teach us?  Apparently a very important basic lesson....      I n the early 1970s, Nestlé faced a serious challenge in Japan. Their core product, instant coffee, was met with resistance in a culture deeply rooted in tea consumption. Early marketing efforts failed, and conventional strategies to convert adult consumers proved ineffective. But instead of pulling out, Nestlé took a long-term view. They got in Clotaire Rapaille, a child psychiatrist.  What?  A child psychiatrist for coffee makers?  Yes!!! Its true.     They redirected their focus — not toward immediate sales, but toward the generation.  Rather than pushing coffee on adults, they introduced coffee-flavored sweets and desserts to children and families. One of their most culturally impactful moves was the introduction of KitKat, branded with the phrase “Kitto Katsu” — a pun meaning “surely win.”  The campaign linked KitKat with academic success a...
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