Santhosh's ramblings

Lord strip me bare Strip me of my intellect On which I put my dependence Strip my will bare The will that loves control  Strip my heart bare Heart that preserves self Strip my soul bare A soul that longs for appreciation To expose a naked spirit Spirit that finds oneness  With your Holy spirit  So that I may be full Filled with your mind, your will and your desires.

The world around and the world wide web, is openly offering freedom for my mind. Freedom from the traditional beliefs, ways of thinking and values that I have held on. Whether it be for the values that undergird my personal life, societal or life as a nation. It offers alternative frameworks and answers for the foundational questions, that I thought I had a grip on. Even for the logical thinking and scientific temper, the world is offering an alternative. The question I am grappling with is, what is offered as freedom is it another form of slavery. Freedom from one way of thinking to be enslaved to another way of thinking.   The promotions through the AI based algorithms, are so efficient that once I put one step into the waters of thinking differently, the systems start pulling me back in, with regular updates on the same themes. Of the varied alternatives that are being offered – three remain upmost in the wanderings of my mind. One – the values that undergirded my personal and soc

The pandemic and its impact on our lives have been an eye opener. With many known people passing on, many still struggling to come out of their various health and broader issues due to pandemic - the issues that I have been challenged about in the past no longer seems important. Of many issues, three stand out with fast losing priority in life. Yesterday I would have struggled with it, today it seems irrelevant. One - personality differences. People who see, think and behave differently from what I think they should, always was a challenge. But today this does not seem so important. These people are to be celebrated and encouraged because one does not know who might suddenly face a crises and move on.  This is what Jesus did too - got 12 people with totally different personalities and celebrated life together with times of meals, washing feet, retreats etc.  Two - the perspective differences on issues that matter to me. Today it seems very irrelevant. I have strongly disagreed over suc

I had heard about Father Stan but did not know much about him. Yesterday, attending his funeral was a challenging and encouraging time. Challenging because, listening to his life over last two years, I was wondering how an 84-year-old frail man with Parkinsonism can be considered as “dangerous” and imprisoned.   One knows that such a person with multiple comorbidities have no reasonable chance of survival in Indian prisons! Encouraging because, here was a man who intellectually analyzed situation (Social analysis) and lived out a life that makes a difference in the lives of the people who had come to adopt as his brothers and sisters, or in one sense his family! Last year or so, the information about his life and what he shared prior to his imprisonment, was very encouraging. A man who had the clarity of thought, convictions that moved him, courage to live out that convictions, and compassion that drove him to the very end, despite being labelled as a criminal! Why were the power

I came back after spending a few days with some Good Doctors. Yes, there are good doctors these days too. These days when doctors are being beaten up supposedly for their misdeeds! How did I label these doctors as good ones? Let me take you through 6 sets of criteria. Why are these people in Medicine ? They have a sense of fulfillment! They are there, yes for a job, they do receive a salary, they have a job satisfaction, not because of the salary they get only but things beyond the salary. They are some of best in their field among their peers in college! Though working in not so well-known locations, they are doing much in their career, bur career advancement is not what gives them the fulfillment. They see the career and job as a platform to care for those who do not have easy access to health care. And they find fulfillment in the fact that Medicine is a vocation – to be part of something bigger than just a job or career, though these are important. Where do they practice medicin

Growing up, we never had these days of remembrances! Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Daughter’s Day Son’s Day etc. You were expected to remember each other every day and even if you did nor want, there was not much option! Especially between fathers and sons! You were dependent on each other, one for support, growth and sustenance other for significance, fulfillment and expression of his love…So it was taken for granted that you need each other, and you need to remember each other to move forward in this life…. As I grew up and moved out,  with my own family and children, becoming a father myself, I needed to be reminded, to remember my father off and on. There were days, in the business of being a father, a professional, a team leader, and engaged in various other busy roles, that I needed to be reminded to remember your father well! Not that he was forgotten, I will call and ask how he is, and keep in touch, but to remember is to remember well. Remembering well takes a bit of reflectio

Observing the health care systems going through changes in the current pandemic is déjà vu if you know the history of health care. There was a day, when we had leprosy hospitals, TB hospitals and in the recent past HIV hospitals because we were afraid that these patients will infect others or there was stigma associated! Soon the mainstreaming concept came in and slowly TB, HIV and to some extend Leprosy got mainstreamed, of course with infection control practices, isolation wards for MDR TB etc. being part of regular health care system. This season is one for creating COVID-19 wards, hospitals, and care centers. I am sure once COVID-19 becomes an endemic, we will get back into mainstreaming of COVID19 care and setting up systems for infection control, respiratory illness isolation systems etc. Similarly, there is the déjà vu of health care systems. With increasing complexity of care, in COVID19, nurses are coming to the forefront and wards and systems are being managed by nurses.