Left or right ? Up or down ?

You know what I'm stuck with ?? I'm stuck with 11 chapters of systemic pathology, a task that seems endless and then there's community medicine that I just cant get myself to read regularly because the enormity of pathology in my mind just seems to overshadow the importance of community medicine..Uggh

There's an endless list of friends, family, relatives and neighbours that I need to please and that leaves very little time to study, that's the problem with living in closely knit societies like ours, but hey it has its own advantages, like free food :D a shoulder to lean on and an ever abundant source of support, so basically its all about managing my time ( which I need to do more appropriately now, since we're fast approaching our finals date ).

One of the things worth mentioning that has happened lately is a major shift in my plans. I've decided to switch priorities, switch from making neurology my best choice to to IM ( Internal Medicine). And I'm very whimsical and scared of doing it, beacuse I've been in love with neurology for the past , I dont know, 7 years ! and now I realize I might not be as interested in it as I thought I'd be and the feeling sucks. It feels like stepping out of a failed relationship, a relationship that you thought was perfect until you simply lost interest but are still too clingy to let go of the idea of being in a relationship ( Yeah, too complicated) . So just to make things a little less simple I've decided to act like some divorcee to step into a bar and ' explore other options ' ( No I'm a practising muslim and I dont go to bars in real life, in case it got you wondering ). So, I've added more possibilities on my list , they're IM  ( difficult to get in and needs high scores ), Neurology ( I still see hope in it ) and paeds ( not exactly my thing but still a good choice).

Attending a seminar on ' The long road to residency' just made me question my determination and and ability to go through those lengthy application procedures. A point came when I thought I'd rather just go into R & D and do some probably underpaid but less hectic work and forego the hassle. But you see I just cant picture myself not attending to patients or not doing a hospital job. Being a doctor for me meant , interacting with patients and treating diseases ! Its just so difficult to change your own opinion about your own choices that you once so passionately made..

My mom says that I should take things one step at a time and focus on my efforts right now, I think thats what I should be doing

Watching the semis

Pakistan Zindabad !! ( long live Pakistan) - that was the slogan of the day on 30th March the day we had our semi-final ( Cricket world cup 2011) against India. Matches with India are always sensational, not only because both the teams are wonderful at the sport but also because India and Pakistan have long been rivals at almost everything, so its almost like a battle ground out there at the stadium.

Students from our college had arranged for the screening at a local banquet hall, so it was a huge screen and spectators from most of our college around that screen watching it with lights off, hooting, singing and enjoying every bit of it !! I must say, it was one of the most memorable days of my life, sitting with my friends, painting flags on each others face and then jumping up and down on every sign of success in the match !! But after one inning Fary, Azz and I left for Shii's place since a few of our friends were gathered at her house to watch the match. We drove down to her place like around fifteen blocks away with our faces half white and half green looking like ultimate fools :D We got pretty shocked stares including one from a lady who almost forgot to look ahead of her after her car passed us by :D

At the end of the day we lost the match, but that day and the days before shall forever be etched in my mind. Going team shirt shopping with friends, and trying to find green stuff ( Pak flag is green and white and all possible green items were out of market due to the cricket passion), waving my beloved national flag and praying for my team, its all a beautiful memory..We may have lost the match but it just helped all of us Pakistanis bind more strongly :) Long live Pakistan !

Patriotism on fire !

Its 23rd March, Wednesday, today. Back in 1940, 23rd March was the day when the Muslim league resolved to establish a seperate nation called Pakistan, which was then geographically a part of India. This day is still celebrated as 'Resolution Day' and is a national Holiday. To top that ,today Pakistan is also playing its quarter final against West Indies in the Cricket World Cup 2011, so its Patriotism on fire. Yes Cricket for Pakistanis is all that and more, its faith, its sentiments, its patriotism, its ego etc etc. So yeah I have my fingers crossed for victory tonight :)

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 :)