Night at the Theatre- Einstein

I do not claim to be any authority whatsoever on the matter of drama, but simply a passionate victim that has been moved to scribble a few words on paper.

It’d been a while since I’d been to the theatre; for ‘Netflix and Chill’ had been the norm for a while now. But gladly, things haven’t changed :) A glance towards the stage portkey-ed me to the time I learned to respect it with the beloved Workshop Players in Sri Lanka. The sanctity of the stage they called it; and I remember discovering its personality. An elegant and steadfast father who saw us fall and cry, laugh and love; humbly elevating us to moments in the spotlight.

The announcements were brief, the crowd took their seats and anticipation was in the air. It was mind blowing what I felt in that moment of utter silence. Not a sigh nor a sneeze, nor a cry or a cough. At this point I must applaud the audience. There are a few things people agree on these days and I can’t be more thankful that decorum in the theatre was one of them. There are few moments in life that you’ll never forget because it made you feel something, a sort of physiological high if you will; and this was one of them.

A beautiful rendition of Eine Kleine Nacht Musik proceeded the silence played on guitars which not only brought another set of wholesome memories but was the perfect overture for a unique play.

The spotlight panned across the stage and gracefully settled itself onto Naseeruddin Shah who as it happened become the embodiment of Einstein who had been lying on the floor of the apartment the entire time. Without any ado, he swept the room with a flawless German accent as he starts recounting anecdotes from his early life; all the while subtlety letting on the sloppiness, the arthritis and the forgetfulness of the great man.

He flirted and charmed the crowd, bringing us to jolts of laughter with the kind of humour the world had forgotten. He became a huggable grandpa we all wanted as he entrapped us all in his tiny apartment and even invited a couple of audience members onto stage to explain a theory of physics. The whimsical lines written by Gabriel Emmanuel (A German Jew) brought out the part of science we all liked as a child; the curiosity, the discovery, the magic. It was all so enthralling, we were on the edge of our seats; and mind you it was one- man show! With his words and emotions, he conducted us to the tune of Einstein’s life, loves, regrets; as well as his simplicities and habits.

The lighting and music did excellently to make subtle on point changes to the tone of the narration; the epitome of which lead to a terrific and powerful shot of Einstein’s shadow cast on the mushroom cloud of 1945.

To me, it has reignited a thankfulness for genuine Drama in India, and the scope of extending its heavily needed presence into the fabric of modern Indian culture. After all we’re forced to think what it means to be an Indian. “Politics is harder to understand than physics”- declared the play. Let it not live on for the sake of tradition but to carry forward the passion of art and storytelling into the generations to come.

It’s all very well to witness a technologically growing society with a corresponding growth in BMI; but the reason why voices of singers and expression of actors will always move us is because they are imperfect. And being imperfect is to be human, bringing us together like a gravitational field. .

By the Lake

Methodist Hospital, Pratap Sagar

Half way down the road from Patna to Varanasi amongst the farms and forests of rural Bihar, lies a tiny village whose size is inversely proportional to the reputation of the hospital that it possesses. True, most of you wouldn’t have heard of it. But it’s precisely the reason I am eager to post this narrative.

The hospital was founded in 1952 by Dr. K.W. Langer, a German missionary sent by the New York Methodist Board. The hospital was first set up near the railway station of Buxar and owing to the rising incidence of tuberculosis in the region, it became the primary focus of the hospital to treat those affected. However, this was also the reason the locals revolted against the location of the hospital in the heart of the city, given the stigma the disease was and has continued to be associated with. An agreement was made with the Maharaja of Buxar (who still resides in the palace today) and land was given on lease for an indefinite period.

This brings us to Pratap Sagar, still as rural as I imagine it was in those days. The campus itself encircles a lake which are home to many fish (and snakes), and only recently got its own electrical power grid which also powers the neighbouring villages.  Close to the entrance are a couple of petty shops and the path from there lead to farms and jungle area.

The hospital started officially functioning on 20^th December 1958. Interestingly enough all supplies were sent by cargo planes which encircled the campus thrice and dropped items like milk, butter, peanut butter, soap, and medicines at a near-by air strip. The locals and patients alike enjoyed all these items for free.

In 1974 Dr. Silas Singh of CMC Vellore MBBS batch of 1952, MS Ortho from CMC Ludhiana became director of the hospital. He introduced many revolutionary surgeries during this time; which included leprosy reconstruction surgery which was an added bonus to the undampened treatment of TB which was as rampant as it is now.

His son Dr. R.K Singh (current director) was eager to go abroad to continue his studies. However, after working a couple of years at the hospital he decided he never wanted to leave. “I fell in love with the place” He said, and he took it as his calling to carry on his father’s work in this place of need.

The functioning of the hospital is rather unique. We get around 200- 300 patients a day, a maximum of 350 on some Mondays. Majority of our patients come from far off remote places. Interestingly, apart from UP and Bihar, we also get patients from Jharkhand, Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, sometimes even as far as Karnataka and Vellore! We believe it’s a result of word of mouth.

We charge Rs. 100/- for registration which grants the patient unlimited consultations for a year. A new patient is worked up by a doctor, and sent for tests which with our recent partnership with Lal Path labs takes 2-3 hours after which a diagnosis is made and the patient is sent home with a months-worth of medications, barring any other awaited reports. Some diagnoses take longer as they are discussed and deliberated upon by all the doctors. Though we are primarily a chest hospital at the moment, our moto is to help and guide any patient who comes to us, so that even if we can’t manage them, we can diagnose and tell the patient where to go rather than waste more money on surrounding quacks.

We get a wide variety of patients. Every day in the OPD I see a majority of TB and obstructive airway diseases, but also cancers, ILDs, Empyemas, Heart failures, Connective tissue disorders, etc. We pride ourselves on being one of the few centers in our region that enforces evidence-based medicine. To uphold this, we have two OTs with adequately installed laparoscopic equipment, and a bronchoscopy suite where bronchoscopies are routinely done to acquire an accurate diagnosis. We recently diagnosed a case of Mounier- Kuhn syndrome which was a relief to the patient. In fact, many patients come us having been misdiagnosed by so many others. We also insist on sending a sensitivity for all our TB patients as mono/ poly resistance is rapidly growing.

Our ward has around 15- 20 beds. As we do not have a ventilator, serious cases are referred to Patna. Our main emergencies however come around summer/ monsoon seasons where cases of snake bites pour into the casualty. Our hospital is the only place in a 3-4hr radius which has anti snake venom, which we can attribute to one of the many failings of government hospitals in the area.

The vision of Dr. R.K Singh is that the hospital is converted into a medical college and he believes this dream could be realized in a couple of years.

I’ve learned a lot over here, about life as well as medicine. I’ve learnt that people are willing to go miles for proper treatment, that mental health is grossly neglected in rural India, that in a large sea of doctors that practice business instead of medicine there are still places of solace.

There’s something about this place, firstly that brings patients here and then enables them to trust us to lead them to the right treatment. Whatever it is, I’ve worked here for 18 months, and I can be sure that there isn’t a place like it elsewhere!

(Photo credits: Manu Mathew Kurien)

A rambling of patient interactions

As I’m sure my colleagues would agree, our current service obligation with a mission hospital has done a great deal to our worldview. I’ve still 8 months to go, and as I sit here in a small village called Pratap Sagar in rural Bihar; I look back and see that its asked us hard questions about ourselves, our desires, our purpose and possibly most importantly our malleability. Along with which I’ve experienced all sorts of people and ideologies I didn’t think existed in this world. The ‘poor’ people that we serve are in a much larger debt to caste, religion, superstition, sexism, and ego/pride. The last one may surprise you, but its true. So here are a few patient interactions that are bound to stick to me for a while, in no particular order.

1    1. The Man and his daughter.

      A 18/female presented to casualty with breathlessness grade 4 and history of Anti-tubercular medication. On X ray we confirmed that it was a left sided pnemothrorax and patient immediately needed a chest tube insertion.

Me: Ji, your daughter really needs this surgery now or she may die. You don’t have to deposit all the money now.

Father: No its ok, just give me some medications and we’ll go home

Me: No seriously, its life threatening. It’s a small 10 minute procedure, and she’ll be fine.

Father: No. we’re going home.

(all the other relatives looked desperately at the man to change his mind, but he didn’t. at the back of my mind I was thinking: ‘would he have done the same if it was his son?’)

2    2. Most snake bites

16/male presented to us with history of snake bite 10 HOURS prior to admission. On examination there was severe respiratory compromise and bradycardia. We tried what we could, but it was much too late.

Me: Why did you come so late?

Relative: everyone in the village said to go to the baba first. So we went... but he only got worse…

Next day another patient came with a snake bite from the same village. He too was much too late. He too had gone to the baba. And the same relative appeared from amidst the crowd with his head hung low.

      3. Cancer

68/ male patient had been showing in our opd for 2-3 months for cough and hemoptysis. He had a large homogenous opacity in the left lung field. It looked like a mass.

Me: Ji, we’ve been telling you to get a CT scan for 3 months now, how will we give you proper treatment unless we know what the diagnosis is?

Patient: No need. I’ve no money to do it. Just give me something to make my cough go away.

Me: But baba it may be cancer..

Patient: So what? If its cancer then let it be cancer. I’ve lived a long enough life and whatever happens is in the mercy of God anyway. Just give me some medications, and your cough syrup.

      4.  Another Pneumo patient (which for all non- medicos means air In the pleural cavity which can be life threatening unless you put in a chest tube)

Me: Ji, you have air in your chest. Its not going to come out with medications. And it can become dangerous if you don’t do anything. The only solution is to put in a tube. You can pay all the money later, but its urgent.

Patient: No what are you saying? I need no such thing. I know my body. I’ll be fine. Just give me medications.

Wife: I think you should listen to him, it sounds serious.

Patient: No no I feel fine. Nothing will happen. Sir write some medications.

He signed and left against medical advice. His wife brought him back the next day gasping for breath. Thankfully he reached in time and he’s much better.

      5. My maid

She: Sir can I take off tomorrow?

Me: Why?

She: My husband got drunk and beat up my child yesterday. He needs stitches on his head.

Me: what?? Ya ya go. But can’t we do something? Like call the police? The panchayat?

She: No what will the police do..

-xxxxxxxxxxx-

She: Sir I’ll have to go home now, I’ve made the rice.

Me: why what happened?

She: Some people came and robbed my house and beat up my mother..

And I was left sick and furious wondering why people would do this to an already poor family!

      6. The locals

For this you’ll need some context. There’s a village nearby called ‘Chilheri’. They are somewhat an unusually proud group of people. The story goes that our hospital and land was given to us to run and treat by the maharaja of Buxar. It is an indefinite lease with the only condition that they will take back the land if at any point the hospital is shut down for 6 months. At the time there were allegedly protests from the neighboring villages with arguments such as: “my cattle used to graze there, how can you just give it to them?”  To which the Maharaja allegedly told them they could get free treatment here. However he never put it anywhere in writing, so its still a bit of a myth.

Recently, a 56/ male was admitted the previous night with the suspected diagnosis of lobar pneumonia. Investigations were done and treatment had started. The relatives were thoroughly explained as to the diagnosis and treatment plan. They were from Ghazipur in UP, around 2 hours from here.

The next day morning a man walks into my chamber, he was from Chilheri. He throws some tablets on my table.

Man: I want to know what this patient has and what treatment you are giving him.

Me: Yes I will explain, but please give me 10- 15 minutes to finish these cases here, they’ve been waiting since a while.

Man: why? No I want to know now.

Me: What is your relation to the patient?

Man: what is that to you? I come with lots of patients.

Me: then I’m sorry I’ve explained everything to the immediate relatives, you can understand from them or wait till I am free. (the patient was absolutely fine btw)

Man: No you have to tell me now! Don’t act smart and all. I am a Rajput!

Me: No I’m sorry please step outside.

He didn’t move. He got a chair and just sat in my room. I told him ok if you’re gonna sit here and create trouble you are free to consult another doctor. And while you’re at it you can explain to all the patients waiting outside why you’re not letting me see them. Finally I got frustrated and called the supervisors who are from the village itself and they pacified the guy.

      7. The ASD patient

A 20/ female came to our casualty gasping, with anasarca (whole body swelling due to fluid overload), and bilateral crepitations in chest. It was clear to me that she was in cardiac failure and a murmur confirmed she had a heart defect. On looking through her reports I saw that she had been to many private doctors since she was a child and they all treated her symptomatically, not bringing any relief. I was stunned. A recent Echo report confirmed that it was a large atrial septal defect. Which means no one till recently had correctly diagnosed her condition which can easily be managed on correct medication and a simple surgery. It was too late for her, even the relatives knew it. I could do nothing but refer her to a place with atleast a CPAP, a monitor, inotopes, infusion pumps.. How I wished at that moment I had all those things. How I wished that there was a simple procedure to correct her defect. How I wish I wasn’t as helpless as how her parents felt.

So there you have it. Different facets to ‘service’ in rural India. Perhaps it will take years for ideologies and superstitions to change. But of all I’ve seen thus far, the question that keeps me up at night is: Why is finance still a factor for people to live?

#righttohealth

For all those who missed it, this is my friend Manu and I singing our version of the scientist:

CMC Ludhiana

There’s a lot to love about CMC; but if I had to choose, I’d say the teeming and collective love of music and drama, and the numerous people I had the pleasure of interacting with, top the list for me. I remember when our council vice president called me on the day of play auditions in first year and asked if we’d be interested. And all we said to each other was “if you’re in, I’m in.” and in a split second decided to run towards fellowship department and give it ago. The outcome? Being a part of a hilarious play directed by the brilliance of Drs Dhruv Ghosh and Arpit Mathew. The musicals I was part of, the cantatas, the concerts, the systoles; It was never just about the music; it was the friends, and memories I made along the way.


But what really grasped me about the place was the people. I’m not a very social person, but the ease with which one could slip into conversations leaving all inhibitions aside almost instantly, cannot be exaggerated. There’s something about putting people from different backgrounds, faiths and states together in one place and watching them grow into something more than themselves, and changing their perspective as to what life really is about; and changing yourself to possibly the best version yet.

Every day on my journey from Ross to the hospital, every 10 seconds I’d see a familiar face, or a bunch of them. It’s not that we don’t see them every day; for some reason there’s a renewed freshness every time we meet; and they ALWAYS greet you with a smile. A walk around ross itself, and there’s always someone you can talk to; a senior to ask for advice, a junior to enforce your advice, or simply a chat between brothers. And this for me is the real beauty of CMC; the people. Yes there were experiences to put you down, and unfair circumstances that keep recurring but in the midst of all that are these gems of grace, fireflies on a night walk, the watchers on the wall…


CMC is not what it was. I became sad when people kept referring to the glory days in the past tense. The vision of our founder, the people who once taught in these halls, the mission that once united us despite diversity. I believe we can bounce back, and I envision greater heights for CMC. It gave me friends to last for a lifetime, mentors just a phone call away and memories to cherish. I dream and long for the day where I could work there again with the people I love, and be a part of the miracle to others as it was to me.
Let's make it a place of light, laughter, healing and music :)

Everyone has a few select moments in life that they’ll always remember, and cherish. You get a unique feeling at the time; some would describe it as if your heart skipped a beat, or a long breath of fresh air, or simply goosebumps. I remember feeling it as I heard poetry recited and discussed the way it should on a student exchange trip to Australia, when I stood on a boat in close proximity to the Niagara falls feeling a gush of ice cold water and wind on my face, when I played lurch in adams family and sang to an audience finally unleashing all the accumulated desire to do so ever since I understood what a musical was, scrubbing in for my first surgery, the immense amount of gratitude I received after directing the Christmas choir 2016, the final goodbyes at the Ludhiana railway station…

I remember getting this feeling one night as I was coming back to hostel at 3am after taking samples while posted in urology. It was the peak of winter, the wind was rusting through the leaves as I passed by mallu mess, the dogs barked from afar, the light flickered as it usually does. I turned around and got a glimpse of HSB, and the top of the hospital. Began to think of the motive with which this was established, the years of toil and sweat along with laughter and love, to become a beacon of light, an opportunity to be to others as Christ has been to us. And I thanked God that I was there at that time and place, knowing exactly that he’d put me there and being excited for what is to come..

Psalm 118

Psalm 118

The first time I read this psalm properly was quite a few years after I accepted Jesus. I was just going through the motions, wondering what the point of all of it was. Life, purpose, suffering… Why suffer at all? It hit me like a rock, this psalm. It talked to me, like nothing or no one ever had. It understood what I was feeling. Like a friend, David told me what he had done in a similar situation. Since then, it’s my ‘go-to’ buddy. Every time I desperately need God to reassure and put me back on track no matter what my circumstance is, I fall at its feet; I cry out for it. So I’d like to share it with you, it may help you too.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

For his steadfast love endures forever!

Let Israel say, “his steadfast love endures forever.”

Let the house of Aaron say, “his steadfast love endures forever.”

Let those who fear the Lord say, “his steadfast love endures forever.”

What stands out for me in this passage is the word: endures. His love endures forever. Its not a simple ‘I’ll love you forever’ but rather an understanding of our nature to run away. The song ‘Come thou fount of every blessing’ puts it best when it says: ‘Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” But carries on to say: ‘Take my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above.’ God knows it, he understands. And so his love will endure. Whatever comes, how ever far you run, his love for you will endure it. He’ll keep knocking on your door, persistently carrying you out of trenches you fell in or that you made for yourself, because he can’t help himself. His love endures! And that is ultimately the love story of our existence. A constant pursuance of pure, genuine, altruistic love. He showed that by giving his life for us. 1 Corinthians 13: 7 says- “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” So whatever you think is too grievous for Gods love to encompass, its simply not.

Out of my distress I called on the Lord;

The Lord answered me and set me free. 

I don’t know about you, but when I first read this I thought to myself; its not that easy! It cant be that easy.. but that’s just what I did. I called out to God, begging for an answer. And I got it from the next verse.

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

I achieved a smile on my face. Most problems we go through are people related; either they don’t talk to you, talk badly to you/ of you, instill fear/ physically assault you, betray your trust, make you feel that you’re not worth anything. In my experience, everyone has the capacity to do that, be it family or your best friend. There’s a small activity I like to do when faced with a problem; to ask myself what’s the worst that can happen? This verse makes you ask just that. And the answer is a resounding: not much. What can man do to you? When you have God on your side with a truck load of promises and plans to keep you safe, who is man to say any better? When you hit rock bottom, and you look around realizing there’s no one/ nothing to hold on to; you finally understand and get reminded of the person that’s been there with you from the start, and he never left. So, forget man who’s simply made of dust; and look at your creator. Man will constantly disappoint you. We’re quite incompetent that way. So instead of looking towards them for a constant flow of joy, peace and love; verse 8 onwards reads:

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

“Friends of the earth may let you down but Jesus never fails!”- Is a song we sang at an EU camp; and how true it is. He’s never failed me. I have failed, definitely; multiple times. But he’s never failed me.

All nations surrounded me;

In the name of the Lord I cut them off!

They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;

In the name of the Lord I cut them off!

They surrounded me like bees;

They went out like a fire among thorns;

In the name of the Lord I cut them off!

You can feel the intensity building in this passage. David must’ve been going through so much; enemies on all sides wanting to kill him. Is there a more fathomable justification to surrender? Thank goodness most of us reading this aren’t and hopefully won’t be in that position. But sometimes you can feel like just that in a social situation- like you’re at the bottom of a well and surrounded with people who despise and torment you. You feel ‘life’ is against you and theres no escape; you’re suffocating. Here I’ll bring in a verse from psalm 23: 4 which reads: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” David survived and he lived to tell his story; now that we’ve established that God is with us no matter what, we’ve got to remind ourselves this especially when we’re in the battlefield. And God’s never lost a battle!

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.

You will be pushed hard, You will fall. But, the Lord will help you.

The Lord is my strength and my song;

He has become my salvation.

Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,

The right hand of the Lord exalts,

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

This was it for me, my search was over. I will be brave and admit that the fleeting thought of ‘what is the point of living’ has crossed my mind, and perhaps it has crossed yours too. But after reading the above statement, it never dared to enter my mind again. This was all the purpose I ever needed; it’s a clear commitment. No metaphors here. It’s a testimony from David, and we’re free to adopt it. If we can make it through life doing only this, I think we and the people around us would be quite happy.

The Lord has disciplined me severely,

But he has not given me over to death.

If God has to make the best version of yourself during this life on earth, where you would be truly happy and content with so much to give, he will discipline you. We may mistake it for something else and may feel it’s beyond us. But the verse resonates with 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says: He will not let you be tempted more than you can bear. That’s like a school teacher telling us our syllabus at the beginning of the new year. You will overcome it.

The next couple of verses are a thanks to God. Cause once David (and I) realized this, of course he wanted to give thanks!

Open to me the gates of righteousness,

that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Like all of us, I think God loves the story of an underdog. A person who against all odds and challenges is victorious at the end. Which is why 2 Corinthians 12:10 says: For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The last two verses read:

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;

You are my God; I will extol you.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

For his steadfast love endures forever!

‘Nuff said!

Psalm 34:8 “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

A dose of youth

So I took a trip to Madhepura Christian Hospital last week, which is on the other end of Bihar where I also reside at the moment.  The journey was long and uneventful but with the sense of independence that I’d recently acquired, I felt convinced this is something I should do. And amongst catching up with an old friend and interacting with contemporary examples of missionary doctors, I stumbled and staggered across a delightful bunch of siblings that have inspired me to write this.

Anand, Numrata and Dheeraj; aged 11, 7 and 6 respectively (and approximately). The Ninan kids. Now most people who know me know that I’m quite clueless regarding how to interact with kids. I remember when I was young (or younger), I knew this problem might emerge; that I wouldn’t be able to relate to kids or understand that phase in their lives (was I weird or did ya’ll think of stuff like this too?). So I thought I’d start writing a diary of sorts so I could always use it as a reference to figure out what kids would be into at that age before I talk to them. Obviously that didn’t work out.

So I entered their house, took a nice long look at their piano which brought out an involuntary smile and yearning in my eyes; I would imagine.  Suddenly in a flash of seconds I felt a small but firm grasp on my hand leading me outside to see the rabbits.

Dheeraj, a tireless bundle of energy with a toothy grin possessing an impressive impression of Gollum from Hobbit; started rattling on about the names of the rabbits, the guinea pigs, how he couldn’t come up with a name for the third rabbit yet, how he didn’t bounce up at the suggestion to name him bugs :/ He even knew how to tell their gender! I was soon joined by Anand (who’s honestly too intelligent to still be a kid) and Numrata (who’ll make certain she can catch up with the boys). Together they took the conversation towards going to see the ducks; who as it happened were not in the enclosure. “To the duck pond!” cried Anand, and he lead the way. I felt like I was in the famous five heading off into a mystery. And I haven’t felt like that since I was a kid.

So they ran. As kids should I guess. And so did I, In my formal black pants and shirt, past the muddy field and into the foliage of the woods. It was scorpion territory; they said. We shouldn’t be here; they said.
“Yeah we should probably go back huh?” I said looking at the ground hoping to avoid a painful sting. What an adult thing to say! “Don’t worry, we know this place.” said Anand as he led on towards the pond. As we reached, the ducks swam away and we turned our attention to something else.

“Oh Dheeraj remember when we found that big spider here?” I was like “where!?” turning around trying to make sense of why children would play here, and walked into a web, which thankfully seemed inhabited at the time. “Oh yes that was huge, it was like this big!!” Smiled my toothy friend as he held up his hand and spread it as wide as it would go.

“Are you allowed to be here” I asked, but only the leaves responded with a gush of wind. And then there we saw it, a beautiful big spider, more accurately close to the size of my hand.

Careful not to walk into that, we exited the woods and entered the ‘panther’ territory. Down the heaps of sand we descended into a large field of unused space (again, with my formal black pants). “Oh! There’s a hole over there!” exclaimed Anand. “I wonder what lives there. Remember that crab we caught here? That was so big!! I know, lets dig up the hole and see what lives there.” Now I’m all for curiosity, but the next statement really turned it up a notch. He picks up a shovel, walks up to the hole in the ground and says: “I wonder if it’ll be a crab. Perhaps it’ll be a snake. But that’s ok, I’ll just cut it in half with this shovel.”

Feeling pretty dumbfounded and irresponsible as an adult, I decided better me then them. Before which Dheeraj asks me: “Are you strong? You’re fat. You’re fatter than my dad.” To which I grimaced and responded Yes, Yes I am.
We digged for a while and upon finding nothing we decided to head back. “What are you good at?” Asked Anand. “Can you run?” I wanted to say yes but I’m more of a musician! Apparently kids don’t wait for long hesitant answers cause he ran off, as did I (again, with my formal black pants), after which I believe he acknowledged that I could run.

We head off towards the basketball court (because you know, who’s tired?). Along the way we made some conversation, and they laughed at all my jokes! Sweet kids. We then started to play Ice and water, something I hadn’t played since I was 10. And might I say, I still had some dexterity in me 😊

The rest of the evening we spent in the house, playing uno, enhanced uno, racing piggy backs

and building a maze out of magnetic pieces, with ‘horrid’ dinosaurs at every corner (awesomeness).

The creativity, imagination, lack of restraint… the reach for the stars attitude, and asking why not at every opportunity. The enjoyment of life with child- like perception, is something a lot of us have forgotten isn’t it? Perhaps this is what Jesus was talking about, to receive the kingdom of God like a child. Perhaps it’s the worries that drag us down. All I know is that I had a fantastic time with these guys, and they’ve really brightened my view on things 😊

The Fatboys

I am about to describe to you what I find to be quite an unprecedented friendship of 6 dissimilar bros, one that has made my college life the best it could be, and one that promises to last a lifetime. 

We are: the FATBOYS, brothers from other mothers, the brothers of the nights watch (cause our favourite pastime was watching movies way into the night; ranging from Mathews’ collection of French movies, to soul- sucking, depressing-to-the-core movies like ‘Everest’ right before Prof which only Thejus’ spontaneity could push us to watch!)

An Andhra- born living in Chhattisgarh who has an eye for getting things (or mess boys) in order, a knack for big scale management projects, and a friend whose advice you can rely on.

A Kerala- born living in the Gulf with a tech-savvy mind, an eloquent pen; a habitual critic and your everyday cynic.

A Kerala- born who lived in Nagpur; a ‘typical’ pastors son with a talent for fitting in anywhere and with anyone, and can potentially sing your socks off.

A Kerala- born, who remained in Kerala with a talent for…practically everything, and who we deem our very own ‘nigga.’

An Orissa born, who also remained true to his state; known for his acts of random kindness, his limitless appetite, and a drab obsession for Bullets (the bike.)

And me.

Truth be told, this ensemble came together quite insidiously, we rapidly progressed to being good friends and neighbors, and were known cases of getting fatter by the day.

I remember talking to Manu first, waiting for our turn at the medical check- up prior to joining college; we had the most unlikely and uncomfortable of conversations to begin with, one I can’t share 😊 Perhaps it didn’t help that my mother had told him to ‘take care of me’ before he had a clue of who I was.

I remember meeting Thejus and Mathews on the bus while we were travelling as a batch to watch Harry Potter. I had asked Thejus what songs he listens to, hoping to find a common interest; to which he replied: ‘techno music’. Or was it disco music??!

I remember bumping into Nishant during systole (inter- batch fest) and somehow agreed to join him in a three- legged race, during which I literally bumped into his lateral malleolus and fractured it!

I remember meeting John everytime I took a break while studying for Anatomy stages. The ensemble had already gathered by then talking and whining mostly the day before the stage, and they’d somehow always choose to study just when I came down for my break!

I guess we started to really getting to know each other after we got single rooms and most of us ended up in ‘the lobby of the prodigies.’ Ground floor, just near the mess. In hindsight, that might have been a key contributing factor to maintaining our esteemed reputation.

Trust me none of us had much stage experience prior to college. But something about doings things together got us to try out for the Christmas play, and even the annual play ‘Harvey’ during which some of us found our niche! I may mention at this point that taking part in such things didn’t only expose us to the variety of skills we could attain by the end of college, no; but let us work with some of the best role models around whom we were fortunate of becoming friends with.

We would go for night walks; perhaps to amul or malik (not for exercise mind you!), morning walks after pulling an all- nighter during which we’d grab a snack at Bikaner. We used to sit in the lawn and talk for hours. We even have a tree in which we carved in our names (I know, cheesy). We used to have prayer in the terrace with a lone light and a guitar.

We used to make the same mistake of going out every Diwali to eventually realize that ‘obviously everything’s closed!’ and go to dunkin donuts because well, that’s always open.

We’d talk about life, people, ambitions, visions… our deepest secrets, our ridiculous fantasies. Our different ideologies, our different approaches to the same problem. Genuine bro talk.

We’d have fights, we’d shortly make up. We’d get our bro outta a 6 month depression by telling him there are more fish in the sea, or break into a bro’s room when he has a mental breakdown. We’d make a sincere effort at waking each other up in the morning to make up our low attendance, and eventually understand when a bro is not gonna get up even if a friends room caught on fire!

We’ve seen each other at our worst, and at our best. And we haven’t budged. Just like Thejus couldn’t after running into a pole on the terrace!

Together we put together what I believe to be the best musicals CMC has ever seen. John in production, Mathews and Thejus in sounds (though Thejus can act!!), Manu and I in the creative team, and Nishant being the backbone as he literally bends his back doing all essentials everyone else forgets. Hell we once thought we could start our own theatre company!

We used to gather in each other’s room just the night before an exam (because we didn’t feel like it any other night) and completely spoil each other’s preparation with the usual: “anyway you’re not going to study, lets talk man!!” And it lead up to some of the best conversations I’ve ever had.

In internship as was the custom, 80% of conversation should consist of which PG pissed you off, which we totally made use of 😊

As our days in CMC got shorter, our wallets opened up and without any hesitation we visited all the best eating joints in Ludhiana. We said our heartfelt goodbyes, and wished each other well.

We’re all at different places now. (Except Nishant and Thejus who are 4 hours apart!!!) 

Perhaps one thing we regret is not making time to go on a trip together. But as we turned each other’s gloomy days into sleepless nights of laughter and memories, we hope to accomplish that too in the near future.

Be it musicals, profs, failures, major life events, heartaches... We were in it together.

So cheers to a memorable start to what I know is going be a friendship that’s going to last!