Ever thought 'Mister'?

Something interesting I came across in one corner of some book lying in some(other) corner of a yet another some room in some building existing along some lane (simply got lost, uh!)...

In News Writing, they have 'some'-thing (again?) called Style Sheets. It contains rules for preparing Reports. Something ('some' again!!!) like,

'First time an organizations' name is spelled in full with its abbreviation in brackets. This abbreviation can be used at every other instance of its mention'.

Similarly, it contains even the grammatical, semantical guidelines. Like, 'all the statements will be in Passive Voice', etc. etc. Every News paper has its own set of rules that are collectively called as Style Sheets. This ensures uniformity in the language throughout the News Paper giving it a homogeneous look and feel

Now coming to a point. One of those rules is this. If a persons' name is William Smith. First time his name is mentioned, its written as 'tom-dick-harry...William Smith... some other tom-dick-harry' and next time onwards just Mr. Smith is written instead of the full name. It is said, that whenever Mr. is used, only the Surname follows it. In short, Mr. William Smith is wrong.

This means, even the Presidents', Prime Ministers' names are directly mentioned at first and from second instance of its mention, Mr. Vajpayee, Mrs. Patil is used.

Perhaps, Cascading Style Sheets got its name from its similar function in HTML

Anyway, any similar observations?

Are they heard?

We at our work place have few timings that we adhere to, whatever happens. 10am in the morning: F&H (Fresh and Honest – our coffee cafe), 12:30pm: Lunch, 3pm: F&H. Today we were there at our usual time 3:30pm, being late is part of work right – be it office-work or coffee. As we started sipping our respective refresher, mine being a hot black coffee, one man shyly in a trying-to-approach mode moved towards us. We looked at him and he diligently handed over his Orthopaedic OP Consultation Report to us. Being part of the Ortho implementation of eHIS, I saw it and understood his concerns of reviews and follow-ups and told him that he has to come back to hospital and go to Urology department, room no. so and so day-after-tomorrow i.e. 21^st of July.

He was an old guy, not completely ragged but looked struggling. We asked him where he is from for he was to return after a day, could he afford to go home and come back? I just glanced through his report and knew he was from Anantapur. That was local. But his reply was surprising. “I don’t have any house. I just keep moving around and stay on whatever I get”. This came as no surprise to us. It has always been a case with the kind of patients that we get - from a poor village who come all the way just with a hope to see themselves and life better.

Though the hospital gives all its services free, was it enough? He was prescribed of medicines. Our hospital does not provide medicines for Outpatients but for Cardiac, though all prescriptions are taken care off for Inpatients including their diet. He was supposed to buy his medicines. Next obvious question from him was, “Sir, I cannot afford food, what I will buy medicines?” Then it struck. Here was the man, who didn’t have money for food, of what use was a free hospital for him? Person needs to supplement himself with proper diet if he had to recover. Fine, his entire Laboratory, Imaging tests will be done without his spending a pie, but how much of it was to improve his life? Biologically, may be substantial but in terms of life…?

We did what we deemed best in our limited perception. We bought him medicines for 2 days, not for 5 days which was prescribed for him, anyway he was to come back after 2 days to Urology Department which could always change the prescription and gave money for a meal. One person who we discovered as a pharmacist was following this conversation closely. He had come on some work to the hospital. He too at the end offered money for another meal and explained to him in pucca local language about his next course of action of coming to hospital, etc.

We have hospitals which offer free medicare, irrespective of any barriers, to all. We have educational institutions which give free educare to all, irrespective of anything. But do they solve all of their problems? These are building blocks for improving once overall life. But just individual existences are like cotton and plastic. Unless they are woven and molded into cloth and buttons, we don’t a single good piece of shirt! These are institutions which solve the monetary problems. But it’s the unique human who can change lives of each other. Make life a better place to live and let live.

More of Human Care is required than just the Health Care. Counseling, spending some time with the person and talking to them in the language that is understood to them makes such a great difference to them. The Consultation Report of this patient was in English. Of what help is it to the poor who doesn’t understand the black and white ink on the screen. It was worse than the black smoke coming out of their beedi, they understood it! But how much can an institution go to make things better for people. The people whom the hospital caters to are illiterate. Whether its English or Telugu or Hindi was hardly a concern. It loops back to the Human touch than Biomedical equipments.

Are they understood? Are they heard…

Text Slip - Flip!

ʍɐnnɐ do ʇɥɐʇ? ʇɥǝn ɔ1ıɔʞ on ʇɥıs 1ınʞ¡
...dı1ɟ ɐ ʇsnظ sı sıɥʇ

no No NO! its not some new language i am learning that outlashes even chineese in appearance. Its just some Flips of text. The above lines are Flip of:

"This is just a Flip...
¡ʞuı1 sıɥʇ uo ʞɔı1ɔ uǝɥʇ ¿ʇɐɥʇ op ɐuuɐʍ"

where second line is a Flip of:

wanna do that? then click on this link!

This is one those few cosmetics that appear unfathomable till its found out to be something that happens with just a click of 'some' button on 'some' website. That 'some' is the word that adds value to these stuffs, till they are discovered. So, click on the link in Header that takes you to that 'some' which makes Geek-of-a-Meek!

A Stony Bench-

How many times have we felt simple? Sounds absurd? Another way to say it would be how many times have we felt without any burden or weight on us…light? How many times do we get lost in a thought, scene or a moment?

Recently, I had been with my builder for getting our house registered some 6 miles from my room. On our way back after registration, builder ventured to show his farms to me to which I readily agreed. It was always a delight to see the rural folk and life of the fresh air taming the noise under the skull infusing some purity, serenity. Three bikes soon screeched to a halt at the end of a typical rural path of mud, dung and slush of summer. Means is more important than the end, it is said and known. But here the end of the road (means) was as fascinating rather, more fascinating than the means itself. Later I was to realize that this end in itself was a means to yet another apparent end.

At first look, the scenic beauty of the over-stretching green fields, as described by many, stood indescribable. Statement ‘It is left for one to experience’, sounded convincing. There are two ways of looking at the feelings that were to come my way. Everything in this world is available to all. One chooses to accept that which appeals to ones own self at that particular moment. Another perspective says Nature is the best teacher. It chooses to teach one self at a particular moment that it decides. Without any clue as to which stood applicable that day, I knew what was coming was more of a fact than a bitter lesson we are used to.

As the gaze fell all around, everything seemed still including the heart beat. Calmness of the evening increased the wildness within to stay there for ever. Practically, impractical though. The portrait before the eyes went beyond the boundaries of the fields to be bordered only by the mountains, some having a tapering head still in a hope to not just reach the sky but pierce into it. There was something more in that ambience than just the brown and green colors being stimulated by the predominant cons or the sweetness of the fresh sugarcane from the fields that the gullet readily accepted that day after satisfying the ever hungry taste-buds.

Sitting on a stony bench at a seemingly one corner of the field, the open field asked to whisper silence into the vociferous ears that they had become. The language was unknown, yet understood by something again unknown. Mind stood still. Was it a moment or an hour of a moment? Time too chose to be quiet without notice. The pouch containing my cell phone too seemed to respond and lightened its identity.

Soon we were on the bikes with some sugarcane sticks as a token of love given by the fields, the nature that nature was used to – giving and giving. A thought of keeping this moment within me for ever surfaced. Next thought gushed in; a part of me was already taken from me even without my knowledge. I was living in that thought, in that field. It is not the sofa in the veranda that I am sitting on but the same stony bench in the field that I was seeing now again, this time not through the eyes but through the ink of my pen…

'"Atleast once a day be a child, my children" said the happy Master

"Stop kidding!" thought disciples'

New Ear to the New Year!

So here we are back to a day where we hear and and are asked about one thing very casually,
whats your resolution for this year?
Little does the word 'resolution' know that it is only on this day that it is remembered
and little do we know that the word 'resolution' feels proud to celebrate its birthday along with every new year and that everybody in this world knows its age with each year (excluding the dates existing in BC format and firmly believing that resolutions became known in AD alone) passing by

Lets make it different this time
Form a resolution and post it for eternity (provided internet becomes immortal), and anybody asks, just direct them to that url
next year direct them to the same (old) url (and content too!) and let everyone now realize that you are one person who stands on his resolutions, forever and ever!