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Vaccination : An extreme sport in Pune, India

Getting a vaccine shot in Pune, India is akin to extreme sports. Almost ! Coz you are trying to avoid getting killed while aiming for the prize- literally the gift of life and hope, this Vaccine.  Every excursion out of your home is like going on a mission, given the horrible system of affairs in Pune today  ! Live blogging this to kill time as I wait in line here.   It’s my fourth attempt to get the 2nd dose for my aged parents (75yrs+) today. The first time we were turned back after being in line for 3 + hours as we were on day 45 after dose 1.  Apparently some random new rule here in this centre  says 2nd can be only on Or after Day50 . I inquired around and learnt I can go after Day45. That (Second ) time we were sent back again after being in line for couple hours coz only 100 lucky people can get the vaccine in a day ! Rest can go home. Third time all centres in the vicinity ran out of vaccines.  Given my proximity to the problem from a professional perspective, I had t
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India’s fight against COVID-19 : Virus to Vaccine & beyond.

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Exactly a year ago, I had journaled1 my first brush with the ominous COVID-19 virus, traveling back home to Pune-India from the United States during a pandemic that was still in its nascent stages. As a past practitioner of medicine primarily and an inquisitive business system analyst by profession, I remember being equally parts curious and nervous while comparing the stark contrast in the administrative pandemic response & surprisingly common public apathy across both countries. The pandemic shone a bright spotlight on some blind spots in healthcare systems across countries.  I nervously agreed with everyone who predicted an impending public health disaster given India’s weak & under-resourced healthcare infrastructure. A year later, with its astonishingly low case positivity & COVID-19 related mortality as compared to some star healthcare systems abroad, India (pleasantly) proved many of us wrong.  With a population of 1.3 billion people that is 4x that of the United Sta
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Tale of Two Countries and a Virus

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This evening I reached Pune , India from Nashville, USA via Newark & Mumbai. A physician by education and a Healthcare IT consultant by profession, I have first hand experienced the healthcare systems of both countries from close quarters. And I am borderline worried by the (in) different attitudes, weird experiences and sights across cities and systems .  Let me begin by stating that I believe this outbreak can be contained if everyone takes necessary measures before they seem necessary.  Prevention is always , always, always better .  I booked my tickets such that I am at minimal risk of exposure during the journey . So I consciously avoid travel options via Boston and New Delhi given high volumes of positive cases reported from these cities . I prefer to book a direct flight instead of one halting anywhere in Europe . As luck would have it , a mid-air technical snag brings us back to crowded indifferent Newark for an unscheduled lay over of over 8 plus hours. I smil
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Embracing Change: Balance for Better

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Embracing Change: Balance for Better One of my recent posts in Atos Syntel's International Women day Compilation on Balance for Better 2019. Change is Good
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My beautiful White Vitiligo.

It’s a beautiful day outside today – the brilliance of the sun over powered by some lovely grey clouds- it’s cool and breezy; exactly how I like it to be. I know it doesn’t fit in with most of your definitions of how or what beautiful days are supposed to be; but then my definition of beauty was always out of sync with you, world. Trust me, I did try to match up for a very long time. I have Vitiligo. I don’t fit in your box of beauty. I struggled trying to find a small corner in that box- with no real help from you. You stared. You still do. Your curious stare rakes up some dormant uneasy emotions that transformed me instantaneously into someone I used to absolutely hate. When you stare it makes me want to cover up my mouth as I speak, but the moment I start to do that I realize the hands are even worse so I am now trying to hide those hands awkwardly behind my back, under the table, looking down trying to avert your gaze and wishing I could say something to distract you from
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So what’s the Outrage of the Day?

Does any of you have this regular guy in your morning routine who starts off your day wishing you a good morning every single day before ruining it for you by detailing why it really isn’t a good morning? Well, lucky you, if you answered in the negative. I have this crabby colleague I travel to office with, who is perpetually pissed with everything and everyone every-single- damn-day. Nothing, absolutely nothing pleases him- be it the crisp morning air which is to him a grim reminder of the office drudgery to follow or the cheerful Safai worker who very courteously nods at us day after day (reminding him of freeloaders in his society who don’t pay up society maintenance charges leading to inefficient garbage disposal which is the root cause of this city becoming un-livable) or my desperate humorous attempts at   steering away from conversations that can trigger off any of the above! As per him, potholes are meant to be repaired by none less than the Prime Minister himself (si
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The other side of the story ;-) For Aamir Khan

Crowd sourced Blog ..with inputs from multiple rants :)  Dear Mr. Aamir Khan “NOT ALL DOCTORS ARE GREEDY” “THERE IS NO PROFESSION THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAN” “DOCTORS ARE OBLIGED TO SERVE BY CHOICE, NOT BY COMPULSION” Sir, I have been a big fan or your work, life and principles. I am also a fan of ‘Satyamev Jayate’. But I was shocked to see the episode on 27th May, 2012. You are an Icon. You should have thought well and done the homework before doing such a biased show. There are only two people in the film industry that are being taken seriously by the thinking class of society, You and Amitabh Bacchhan. So, when you give such a biased and one sided version of a story, it hurts. Speaking about such a thing on a “commercial” TV show is bad. (I am sure you have taken a big amount, only doctor are supposed to do charity and social work, not actors!!! Right!) I want to highlight few important points here. And yes I am qualified to make observations as I am a medical stude
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