Sutured Dreams

  Names of certain individuals have been changed to hide their identity. Example 1 "I want to marry someone who has never been in a relationship in her life," proclaimed Tommy. "Don't you have like 7 ex-girlfriends?" I asked. "Yeah, so?" "Nothing..." Example 2 "I don't like that girl (who I've never talked to) anymore," said Tommy. "Her dress showed too much upper arm. Hideous." "Dude, you do realise that you're wearing bright red pants while handing out fashion advice?" "Yeah, so?" "Nothing..." Example 3 "You should marry soon. A wife would take care of all of your problems at home." Yes, clearly expecting someone to give up all her dreams to sort my shit out seems reasonable. Example 4  "Bro, I need you to find a girl for me," said David. "Seriously?!" I asked, wondering if he'd mistaken me for someone else. ...

The names of certain individuals have been changed to protect their identity One of the things that the Covid pandemic has shown throughout the world is that when push comes to shove, generalists are what the public needs. Specialists are great but the backbone of the health system comes from the generalists who do just enough of everything to prevent it all from falling apart. This was interestingly a prediction that one of the most inspirational teachers in my life, the late Dr KC Gopalakrishnan sir hammered into my skull back when I was in final year. Unfortunately the problem is that there is unfortunately no glamour in being a generalist. All young doctors prefer to be a specialist. The public prefers specialists. Family medicine doctors are not well trained. Emergency medicine is an underdeveloped field in Kerala. I do know outstanding GPs who are practicing good medicine but unfortunately you get the feeling that a lot of generalists feel underwhelmed by the trajectory thei...

The names of certain individuals have been changed to hide their identity  " To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. "                              - Hamlet, William Shakespeare Lockdown has now reached 50 days. That's 50 days of mostly being stuck at home alone save for some brief interactions with neighbors and stepping out for essential shopping every couple of weeks. This is a perfect environment for old memories to start quietly creeping through the curtains of my mind. And most of them, unfortunately, are not very pleasant. Most of the tragedies in my life have been due to fate but some of them were caused by the malevolence of others combined by own naturally passive behavior. This was most apparent during the time when me an...