The ophthalmology scare !

So there I was studying about anterior blepharitis, chalazion and hordeolum 5 mins ago when I slammed the book shut and turned on a new tab with blogger to get my eyes off the images of stye on Google images ! Studying ophthalmology gives me the creeps, I'm ultra sensitive about the eye, observing it closely and the look of the fleshy interior lid margins set my heart on gallops and the mere discussion of cases on eye trauma paints such a horrid picture into my imagination that it makes my ears ring ! I bunked all the classes when we were supposed to attend and observe eye surgeries simply because I knew I wouldn't be able to stand it.

Everyone has their own share of phobias and weaknesses I guess, attending anatomy dissestions, surgeries and the sight of blood have never been a problem with me but the EYE drives me insane. I hope studying about it for four months will improve my tolerance !!

Of maayuns, birthdays, treats and surprises

I know most of you consider that I've really lost my touch at blogging or have simply lost interest but trust me , thats not it..It seems the past two weeks were the most heavily scheduled weeks of my life, commitments that need to be kept, promises that had to be fulfilled, tests that had to be taken and most importantly tonnes of parties that HAD to be attended...here's how my week passed...

Sunday - Rubab's birthday surprise
               Dido's sis maayun*
Monday - Shi's birthday and a trip to Sea View
Tuesday - Rub's and Shi's birthday treat at Arizona Grill
Wednesday - Dinner with family
Thursday -  Bake Sale
Friday - Dido's sister's wedding
Saturday - Azz's sister's engagement
Sunday - BBQ at at a family friends' home
Monday - Ward test
                 RD's cousin's wedding

and amidst all that I had to fit in my studies too. !!! .And wait did I tell you guys how deceptive Seniors can be ? Most of the people I know rely heavily on the senior's opinion's, pattern's and  choices for their own study planning but for some adamant reasons I've always made my own opinions and made choices that suited my own style. I never just take the senior's word for everything, they're not always right. For instance, there was this senior back when I was in third year who'd scare me by telling how tough Forensic medicine is, how you have to take down notes of everything the professor says and also that no matter how hard you study you will always get a mediocre score, well AAAAINN it never happened that way, I scored the highest in it and found that the easiest exam was of Forensic medicine !! I was also told by some people that the 4th year of medical college is the easiest, 'you could even get married if you want too, it wont be a problem to handle the wedding and studies at the same time' , was what I was told ! but heck no, I dont think its that easy. We have a whole lot of systemic pathology this semester along with Ophthalmology and Community Medicine/Public Health, doesnt look all that simple to me..And oh btw I'm also trying to form an opinion on Community medicine which I heard one senior say was the toughest subject she ever came across ( I so NOT think so )

MK's beautiful braid with a paranda and flowers at dido's sis's maayun

when we bunked to sea view

RD's cousin - the bride

*maayun - The event based on the theme color , yellow. It traditionally involves applying Ubtan ( a yellow coloured skin conditioner made by herbs and spices) to the bride, now merely a superficial ceremony. It is practiced in some families and is not a mandatory part of the wedding

Annual pilgrimage to Haws Bay 2011 - Guest post

  

The following is an account by a blog follower of his recent trip to Hawks bay, a beach of Karachi. There you go Yaseen Ch, your post has been published... :)

Annual Pilgrimage to Hawks Bay 2011

It was a bright Sunday morning right at the end of January when we left for a picnic party to Karachi’s famous beach called Hawks Bay with lots of old and young people and some really young ones too.

Our initial plan was to leave at 11 but late as usual, we were finally able to left at 2:30. It took us an hour to reach the destination, we were definitely behind schedule, but as they say " It is never too late to have fun”

Chicken Biryani and crispy Aalu Chanaa, made by our fellow friends, were the lunch meals for the day.

It was relatively calm and there were few people out there on the beach something which is usually rare for a beach as busy as Hawksbay. The Soothing noise of the waves gives you a thought of never changing and never ending. Of being static, caught in time, it was the same sight and the same sound one year ago when i came here for the very first time and will stay same 50 years on. Only human feelings, emotions and company changes. 

You can’t stay on the beach without running, it compels you, and the sense of distant places almost over rides you. So do we decided to have a race which never ended as planned and instead was followed by a solo long run right to the end.

Joy of such visits is doubled if you have company of little ones who barely have learned to walk and we were lucky to have two of them. Nearly of the same age and having their first sight of the wide horizon.

Such visits are stored forever in your photographic memory, the faces, the dresses, the sentences spoken and gestures are never forgotten and continue to give you joy for all times to comes as there is a famous saying 

“Ask not what tomorrow may bring, but count as blessing every day that Fate allows you”

Summer time is lawn time !

Iits almost the time of the year to wear Lawn again, and the city is filled with billboards and hoardings with advertisements of models in dresses made of flashy lawn prints tempting enough to actually visit their lawn exhibitions. So what is lawn ? its a very light cotton-ish fabric that is ideal for the summers, especially for the hot , humid and dreaded summers of Karachi. Just yesterday we planned of going to Nadya Hussain's ( a model ) lawn exhibit, so after college uj, rubber, shee and I went to the Pearl Continental Hotel, where the exhibition was supposed to be,  but it was only after we got there that Shee reminded us that the exhibit was at actually at Marriott ! but there was another exhibit at PC, Yasir Waheed's and since Yasir Waheed is a trusted name in lawn brands we decided we to go ahead and make our visit of use. It was the last day of exhibition and most of the good prints were already sold out but I bought a few for my mom and myself nevertheless..

Nomi Ansari

 Nomi Ansari is a famous dress designer but its the first time that he's introducing his own line of lawn prints, I'm really looking forward to his exhibition, its in the third week of March, I just hope the prices are affordable !

Nadya Hussain

Her line of lawn prints were the ones we wanted to see that day but instead ended up at the one below, but I'm glad we did because I later read and heard comments that the fabric wasn't very upto the mark and the designs weren't very adequate either.

The place where we landed !

 The next post would be a guest post ! The first in the history of this blog :) so stay tuned :)

Back to business

I'm back from my dream vacation, and I say dream not because it was way too fantastic or because I spent the time at a resort on some island, but dream because it was too short to be real, sitting back on my laptop right now, the past fifteen days or so seem like a dream. I'd thought I wouldn't get much jetlagged since the stay was very short but nay, I dont think I've been this badly jet lagged even after trips that were two months long. But then again I think the present always seems more intense than the past, just like every summer I'm found saying that "summer was never this hot !"

I'd be documenting more stuff and would be blogging more frequently but for now I'm off to sleep...drops down  ZzZzZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Hotel California

I'm past my first week in CA and the jet lag has almost completely worn off, but my allergies have kicked in, i wonder why, it happens all the time ! Im at my uncle's house and we have guest from Arizona as well, my other uncle, its such a full house :) I'm really liking it..the idea of a huge family with lots of cousins is always so pleasing to me.I only wish I had a few cousins my age, almost all of mine are younger than me.My uncles kids in CA are the ones Im closest too, I love it when they call me Baaji ( urdu for elder sister) or show me their stuff and play all kinds of games with me. I LOVE them and of course I LOVE my aunt and uncle too, they're my second set of god gifted parents :)

My uncle from dad's side and another uncle from mom's side would be coming to visit us this week too, and I'm really looking forward to that..Cheers to family :)

PS - I know I havent uploaded any pics in a while, its just that I left my laptop in Pakistan and am using my cousins pc..ill do the uploading as soon as I get there. I promise

Say hello to the slave in me !

Guess where I am at ? No prizes for guessing it and booo if you failed. Well, I am in California right now. Remember I posted on how my vacations got extended and that required a shift in travel plans ? So basically I had to cut my electives at LN Hospital short, pack up, say goodbyes and board the plane. Its just a stay for 15 days and I'll miss about 4 days of college in the middle, but anyhow atleast I'll get to meet my relatives.

What I'm really  annoyed about right now is the fact that the doc whom we ( Huz and I) worked under at the LN hospital has refused to issue me an experience certificate , let alone a LOR ( letter of recommendation). I mean I get it that he'd find it difficult to trust my skills enough in a period of two weeks to write an LOR for me, but heck, he even refused ticking on those tiny boxes in a performance assesment form so that the administration could give me a written acknowledgment of my two weeks at that hospital.Reason - "Two weeks just isnt enough for any kind of acknowledgment" I mean what is he, kidding me !.He made us work like a mule, made us stay back extra hours everyday, asked us to do assignments and then....it all goes to waste just because I couldn't do a complete one month of slavery for him. He was so annoying that even Huz has chosen to stay away from him after I left, I'm sure he'd drive him up the wall if he stayed.

And oh yeah did I mention that he didn't even give us lunch breaks ?!!, Huz and I would rush to the cafe and grab some cookies and gobble them down as we walked from the OPD to the ward after him..Now isnt that cruelty ??

On the other hand bestie and other friends at the cardio ward are under a wonderful, happy, humorous doc who takes them as humans and encourages them too..I'm envying them !

PS - All the other neurlogists in that hospital were all really cool.