Thoughts on Saving a Life

I am pressing on his chest ..13, 14, 15.. Tony gives him two breaths by squeezing the Ambubag. Then I continue with the chest compressions 1, 2, 3, 4,.... My arms are aching. My breathing is fast. My heart is pounding hard. Only if I could share my breaths and my heart beats with him! We are doing CPR on an 80 year old man whose heart has just stopped beating. He had a heart surgery four days ago. He recovered pretty well from the surgery until this morning when his blood oxygen level started to fall. We put him in the High Dependency Unit where nurses can monitor him around the clock. We gave him supplemental oxygen with nasal CPAP. Half an hour ago, he started being very agitated and pulling off all the cables attached to him and more importantly his supplemental oxygen. We were trying our best to calm him down in vain. Without enough Oxygen for a few minutes, his ailing heart ceased to beat. I activated the Arrest Team. It is 3 o’clock in the morning. Everybody arrives in 2 minutes and started doing their job to save this old man’s life. We put an endotracheal tube to deliver oxygen into his lungs more efficiently. We gave him adrenaline through his veins to augment the blood supply to his vital organs. We gave him chest compressions and ventilations to help his failing lung and heart. His heart starts beating but in a very ineffective rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. We try to convert it into a more effective rhythm by giving him an electric shock. The first shock does not work. Then came the second shock – no response. We increase the shock energy and give the third shock. To our great relief, the wave on the ECG monitor changes to a normal rhythm. We dare not breathe for a moment as that change in rhythm can be only transient. This time we (I’d rather say the patient) are lucky – the heart keeps beating in normal rhythm. We are all tired but happy. We are savouring the joy which can only be understood by those who have saved people’s lives with their own hands. The patient needs to be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit where he will be monitored closely and treated accordingly. We have saved a person’s life with great difficulty. First of all, we operated on his failing heart with the hope of prolonging his life. The operation needed a lot of manpower and material resources. After the operation, he had to stay in the Intensive Care Unit for two days, which again needed a great deal of resources both human and material. This person’s life is so dear to us and even more to his beloved family. We all are trying to save one person’s life by doing our best and it needs a lot of effort and resources.

However, in some places some people are trying their best to destroy people’s lives!! And it is easy for them – they just need to pull a trigger or push a button. They are trying to destroy as many lives as efficiently as possible. Some do it for their country; some do it for the religion; some do it out of vengeance; some do it just for fun. No matter what the purpose is, the result is the same – somebody’s life destroyed. That person must surely have wanted to live. That person must have had beloved ones who would languish at his death. And above all, that person was a human being like us. It is not fair – it is so difficult to save a life but so ridiculously easy to destroy one. It has been happening to humanity since the dawn of civilization. It is the reality and that reality is so painful for me to face. What can we do to stop this? Or are we just condemned to face this painful truth?

Alnwick Castle 

A day at Hogwarts Wizarding School

Hogwarts Wizarding School has fascinated me since I first met Harry Potter. It is where all the secret arts of magic are taught and young wizards are produced. I have always wanted to attend that legendary school of Hogwarts knowing that it might be quite different from TTC – the school I went!

Today, my dream has materialized. I got up early, filled my broom with Shell Unleaded and flied along A1 (it is the motor way going to Scotland). Hoping that speed cameras are just dormant, I overtook every wizard I saw along the way so that I would not be late for school ( Professor Snape does not like the late comers!!).

After 26 miles of over speeding, I arrived at Hogwarts which is known by the muggles as The Alnwick Castle. It is situated in the historic town of Alnwick which is 35 miles north of Newcastle. It has been the family home of Dukes and Duchesses of Northumberland for over 700 years now. The castle is so beautiful that it has appeared in many films including in Harry Potter as the Hogwarts Wizarding School.

The 13th century castle stood magnificently in the middle of the vast grass field which is traversed by the river Aln. Walking towards the entrance, I imagined myself as a first year Wizard student coming to Hogwarts for the very first time. Of course half giant Hagrid was escorting our group - Ron and Hermione by my side!

The main building is protected by two walls with a very wide grass field in between. The walls are enormously thick and high to withstand the assaults of the enemies – the Scots! Walking through the grass field, I saw in my mind the Grffindors and the Slytherins practising the Quidith!

The grandeur of the interior of the main building is breath taking. The entrance room is decorated with weapons of the 19th century. All the walls of the room are filled with swords and pistols of the bygone days. The dining room shows a collection of the finest porcelains. The enormous fireplace is decorated with exquisite sculptures. The sword presented by the King is being displayed proudly beside the fireplace. The dinner table can accommodate 16 people. On the walls are hung many gigantic portraits of the family members.

There are many other rooms which show the luxury and the splendour enjoyed by the Lords of Britain. The most striking of them all is the library. It is the biggest room in the castle with all the ancient knowledge stacked beautifully on all four walls. Finely carved wooden panels adorn the walls, windows and the ceiling from which magnificent chandeliers are hanging. The busts of Shakespeare and Bertrand Russell are over looking the visitors. Antique mahogany tables and upholstered chairs are just enhancing the grandeur of the hall. Everything I see is antique and splendid – except a big plasma screen TV and a state of the art DVD player at the corner of the library. The guide says that the Duke’s family is still living in the castle and they love to watch TV in the library!

After admiring the sumptuousness enjoyed by the family of the Duke of Northumberland, I walked out of the castle. I did not have a glimpse of Professor Dumbledoor.


About 5 minutes’ walk from the castle is the Alnwick Garden which is in fact a group of gardens with different themes. The first garden I walked in was the Rose garden in which there are myriads of roses which are of different colours and scents. Walking among many hued roses savouring their sweet smell is an unearthly experience.

Three other gardens namely The Serpent Garden, The Ornamental Garden and The Labyrinth are equally breath taking with their very different beauties. The last garden which is quite interesting by its name is The Poison Garden. Inside is full of plants and flowers which are very beautiful – but lethal! There I saw a beautiful yellow flower which looked very delicate and harmless. The guide told me that it is highly poisonous. An image of a girl swiftly passes through my mind. Then in my mind, I started dialling the Poisons Information Centre for its antidote. There may be an antidote for the flower’s toxin but a poisoned heart can never be cured!

The centre piece of the Alnwick Garden is the Grand Cascade, the largest water feature of its kind in the country. It is about half the size of a football ground. Every minute 7 thousand gallons of water tumble down a series of 21 stages of cascade. At the same time, a spell binding water display is created by some hundreds of separate water jets. The effect is hypnotizing.

The return journey was uneventful. Fortunately, I did not see Voldemort today!

The Knight of Fantasia

Fantasia has enthralled me since childhood after watching the film “Never Ending Story.” Still, I can savour the pleasure every time I recollect the memories of that film. When Fantasia and my own day dreams merged, this poem evolved.

The Knight of Fantasia

A beauteous, heavenly, starry night
Decorated with the moon shining bright
There I beheld a majestic garden
With the gate of gold open.

I walked into the garden straight
Along the alley paved with jade
My way’s guided by the lanterns
Along the alley with the light golden.

Everywhere, I perceived the flowers
Under the light of moon the stars
Flora were unearthly and with aroma
Blooming proudly with ethereal colours.

At the alley’s end I perceived
A square lying in grand peace
Standing at the centre of the square
Was a large fountain of white marble.

I heard the splashes of water
Resembling the music of guitar
A pleasant breeze was blowing
Just to enhance the romantic scene.

Savouring the beauty of the night
I noticed somebody appear beside
I perceived a maiden fair
Environed with stardust there.

Language possesses not enough words
I cannot express her fairness thus
But I can say she was a belle
And much fairer than all the fair.

She eyed me with her sparkling eyes
And gave me a graceful smile
She’s the Empress of Fantasia
She said and welcomed me so dear.

I kneeled before her and then
She knighted me with her wand
I thus became the Knight of Fantasia
But others call me a Day Dreamer.

Unflinching Determination

This poem came from the very bottm of my heart. It was written over ten years ago but I still like it.

Unflinching Determination

The endless is the desert
The sun burning bright
The grilled sand is ruthless
And the hot wind in its flight.

The body burnt by the sun
The feet reddened with blood
Tramping alone a young man
Tortured by the mighty thirst.

At the peak of his sufferings
He saw a little Oasis
Covered with tall green trees
Was the water cold and clean.

But

Just gave it a glance and continued
As couldn’t afford his course askew.

A Seductive Black Hole

Black Holes are the heavenly bodies formed by the collapse of massive stars. They are infinitely dense and their gravity is extremely strong. The stronger the gravity, the greater the velocity a subject needs to escape from that gravitational field (Escape Velocity). Nothing can travel faster than light, and even the light itself cannot escape from the attraction of a black hole.

A Seductive Black Hole

I didn’t believe when Hawking said
That the holes in Heaven are so black
And that their attraction was tremendous
Even light itself can’t escape thus.

But now I know such a force exists
Even on the earth we live
It is so strong; Oh! It’s true.
That’s why every night I dream of you.

The Manly Heart

First of all, I will present to the reader “The Manly Heart” which is my very first poem. It was written in 1994 when I was in the first year in the medical school. This poem sort of pressed the Start button of the poetry machine in me, which, having been started once, seems to work forever. I got the inspiration from George Wither’s (1588 – 1667) poem the title of which is also “The Manly Heart.” It was my father who showed me that poem after assuming that a few days of his poor son’s silence was due to a broken heart!

The Manly Heart

Because of those little rosy cheeks,
Shall I be unable to sleep?
Be she the fairest of them all;
Or lovelier than Demi Moore.
If she does say nay to me,
Why bloody should I think of she?

Because she is intelligent,
Shall I allow myself go mad?
Be she wiser than all of thee;
Or smarter than Marie Curie.
If she thinks bad of me though,
I can scorn and let her go.

Because of her high prestige,
Shall I forget mine and weep?
Be she greater than all women;
Or higher than a princess even.
If she thinks not high of me,
I wouldn’t care how high she be.

Because she owns a noble heart,
Shall I bow to get her love?
Be she brighter than the day;
Or kinder than Nightingale.
If she is not so to me,
I wouldn’t care but forget she.

Because she is the best of all,
Shall I waste my time to adore?
If she loves me and this I learn,
I’d die for her in return.
But if she snubs me without a thought,
I’ll just tell her “GET LOST!”


The Next morning, my father found the poem I had written and he instantly wrote his own version of The Manly Heart. You will see his great sense of humor in it.

The Manly Heart
(Revised)

Be she larger than a whale,
Or stronger than a nine force gale.
So far she is a woman true,
Don’t worry I’ll know what I should do.

Her reputation foul in the air?
There is a saying “Foul is fair”
Though she smells foul like sulphur dioxide,
I know, not dangerous like cyanide.

Her tongue sharp like a razor blade?
But her weak brain will compensate.
Though she’s rough, coarse and old,
(only I know)
She’s worth the weight of her hips in gold.