Songs (5 things - Week 98)

This must be a first. My laptop screen is currently bifurcated into equal halves - one portions. Both sections are currently under construction. While on the left side of the screen, this blog is being built word by word by yours truly; the other half is now showing the 'live' telecast of Crystal Palace vs Arsenal football match.

I have put live in quotes because it is almost live, not actual live. Along with this stream, I'm also following a live blog giving kick by kick updates. Now, the blog describes the action well before the actual action is shown in video format. When you consider that the blog is written by someone watching the match on his telly, then you don't need much else to question the dubious nature of the word 'live' shown against the match.

It is an interesting experience actually. I'm doing, arguably, two of the best things I love to do at the same time. And you won't be wrong to question the depth to which I would derive pleasure from each. Overlapping isn't generally added up in such cases. But since the live stream takes it upon itself to hang for some time every minute, I'm freed up in between to write to you.

The reason I'm forced to do this is because of our Saturday midnight deadline. I have had a pretty hectic week at work. This is unlike the ones I've had before. Since the work is mostly service oriented now, 12+ hours of daily work doesn't actually mean 12+ hours of actual work. It means that you have to be alert and work, as and when customers come along. This line of work is bound to end in a week. So hopefully, I'll have a decent, well thought out blog for Women's day at least.

As for today, I hope you'll excuse me, and take in lieu of the usual chitchat, these five soothing Tamil songs.

***

1. En veetu thottathil

2. Malarkale malarkale

3. Nadhiye nadhiye

4. Enavalae adi enavalae

5. Kannukku mai azhagu

***

You don't have to be a genius to pick up on the fact that these are some genuine, ever lasting ARR classics. If not for the lyrics, you can easily notice the repetition of words in the first sentence. That is as close as it gets to an ARR signature in words.

I promise I'll pick up the slack over the next few weeks.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

I will miss you... (5 things - Week 97)

The cause of pain in this world is never the past;

it's always the future that was taken away from you.

So, if you had noticed, we had happened to skip the conversation last week. My grandmother left this world cos of old age last Saturday. The same grandmother who wanted to be at my wedding so badly, that we all were sure that that was the only reason she was living for.

I am at a loss of words actually. This is the second time such an unfortunate event has happened in my family. My grandfather passed away two weeks before my cousin sister's marriage in 2009. Even though we went ahead with the marriage, as was my grandfather's wish, she couldn't attend it. More reason for her to want to be at my wedding.

She was down with cough and cold when I got back home from training back on February 1st. When I talked to her then, her only demand was that she must be there at wedding. The fact that it is to be at Aluva, 250+ km from here was always going to make it difficult, but she made the journey successfully for the engagement, and we were hopeful of repeating it once she regained her health.

But once we had to take her to the hospital on 5th on account of low sodium levels, the chances of her attending the wedding started to wane. Because the last time she had low sodium levels, it took her two months to get back to full health and we didn't have that much time.

Time. It's a funny thing. The most conservative rule in my land states that you can't hold a marriage until 16 days have passed since someone close has passed away. A more relaxed rule puts that number at 41. So, my grandmother calculated it to perfection when she decided to leave us, exactly 42 days before my marriage.

I met last Saturday morning before I went to office. Doctors said that her sodium levels were back to normal and that she would be discharged in a day or two. She seemed frail, but that was on account of the general lack of health and compounded effect of the illness. She was shivering a lot too. But overall, it didn't seem as bad as it would eight hours later.

My final words to her were poittu varam ammumma [I'll come later grandma] and she replied in the affirmative. I didn't know then that she wouldn't reply when I came back in the evening.

Life is like that. The future is not always what you expect. What I had planned to do last weekend included watching an Arsenal match and then spending the Sunday calling up my friends and inviting them for my wedding. I ended up lifting the mortal remains of my grandmother, and generally, coming to terms with the situation.

And when the future you wanted changes to something unpleasant, that is when you feel the pangs of pain pressing into you. My wedding is the one of the biggest changes in my life, and I had planned for how it'll develop my relation with my grandmother. I had situations decided, scenes scripted and dialogues memorized. Now all that remains a would-have-been-future.

Even though she had never read this column, she knew very well that I write here every week, and used to keep enquiring about it. For the five things of this week, I want to talk about the five things I had planned for, which will forever remain just that.

***

1. Going to meet her with Ammu.

2. Reading to her the Ammu, Amma and Ammumma post I have planned for the Women's day next month.

3. Having her teach my nephew basic stuff like she had taught me.

4. Learning more stuff from her about the life in the just independent India.

5. Having her at my Marriage.

***

All I can thank the good lord is for the chance and good health he gave her to attend the engagement ceremony. Even though taking her back so close to the wedding is a little bit cruel, I guess this is better than me having to attend the wedding with her bed ridden back here in Trivandrum. At least now, I'll know that she'll be as close to me as she possibly can through out the wedding.

Make do (5 things - Week 96)

This conversation might be too less for your comfort and mine. I’m supposed to be on a bus heading back home in another three hours and I’m yet to finish my packing. And like most of my packing adventures, this had begun over 48 hours ago, and still in the end, I see myself short of my target. I don’t know how it happens, but I’m sure you would have felt the same too. If not you, I’ve thirty four other people over here going through the same.

This week has also been taxing. Even though the end of the program might bring joy in that manner, the eventual conclusion of the program has left many of us in tears quite literally. Even though we have had multiple ice breaking sessions in the previous three weeks, it was only now that we were getting to know each other better. As soon as it came to that, we have to leave each other, and be on our way to the different corners of the country, not knowing when or where we are going to meet again.

Such is always the twist of fate. Change in inevitable. But also unavoidable is the need to adapt to the change. After thoroughly exerting ourselves here for the past three weeks, we are now on our way to get back to our original life. We have been warned of the dangers ahead of us, and also been given advice and techniques on how to handle ourselves, if we find ourselves in such danger.

So, considering my emotional state and my pressing need to get back to packing, please accept this list of five recommended books for reading that I’ve received over the past three weeks as the 5 things for this week. Please excuse the jumbled nature of the list.

***

1. 7 habits of highly effective people

The author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.Covey shows how to build the healthy relationships that are key to an effective life. This classic is well worth reading for its perspective and practical advice.

2. One minute manager

The one minute manager is a concise, easily read story that reveals three very practical secrets: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands.The book also presents several studies in medicine and the behavioral sciences that clearly explain why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. By the book's end you will know how to apply them to your own situation and enjoy the benefits.That's why The one minute manager has continued to appear on business bestseller lists for more than two decades, and has become an international sensation

3. 20 crimes that shook India

Souvik Bhadra and Pingal Khan’s Red Handed – 20 Criminal Cases That Shook India, cannot be called a thriller since the twenty cases analysed in the slim paperback volume are well-known to most Indians. However, what makes it a worthwhile read is the analysis and comments that intersperse the well-known facts.

 4. The Shiva Trilogy

The mythological – historical – adventure – fiction series is all but immortalized as one of the trend changers amongst Indian books and Indian publishing as a whole. The series is creative, out-of-the-box and very much Indian.Amish Tripathi, the author of the Shiva trilogy, namely The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras  needs to be applauded for three things One a brave attempt at mythology with descriptions of epic proportions,ahem!figuratively speaking.Second, characterizations and research- He is completely in sync with what and how the readers would want their heroes and antiheroes to be and has amplified the heroic in each of the characters, including even the mundane ones. Thirdly – His farsightedness as far as the calculations of the far reaching effects and impact of the book. 

5. A Hitchiker’s guide to the Galaxy

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the year

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Glad to be up here (5 things - Week 95)

Well, that was an eventful week. So much has happened/is happening that I don't know where to begin. I finally overcame my fear of having roadside food. After the Jaundice attack of Nov 2013, there was a conscious decision from my side to stop having roadside food, as we can't sure of the source from which they are gathering the water they use. I kept the thought of questionable water fountains to one side and really enjoyed the bhel chat that I had on Wednesday. And there's no complaints of any kind, up until this moment.

Another thing I was reacquainted with this week was Information overload. Having been trained in the ways of absorbing such situations over the course of my engineering degree, I was subsequently involved in the process of de-learning the said techniques over the past four years. So, I hope you will be sympathetic to me when I make it known to you that I was subject to this apparent torture of Information overload.

At some point in time, the concept of information overload must have been dealt with care. It was a signal of danger, the execution of which might push a person over the edge. After all, there is a limit to the amount of matter that a person can mentally digest. Then, as the amount of information a person is supposed to know grew, grew the need to fill the vessels that much faster - by vessel I mean our empty heads.

With the penetration of technology in our daily life, the concept of Information overload has gained another perspective. If earlier you had to force someone into Information overload by making them sit for hours in a classroom, the tech products we use these days have made us willing subjects for the same procedure.

Even though Google brings only ten links in the first page when you search for something, the concept of getting lost in the various links on the multitude of pages must not be an alien concept to you. You start your journey searching for "How to make dumplings" and after an hour or so, you might be trying to understand the reasons behind the strained relationships between China and Japan.

In case you are wondering what kind of Information overload I was subjected to, I'll say that it was of the good kind. We had an exercise this week, in which each of us had to speak about a topic of our choice for five minutes or so. In the course of various discourses, I was glad to be at the receiving end of many a nugget of information - stuff that I couldn't wait to share with you over here. A feeling which brought back to me the original purpose of this blog - sharing what I learned this week.

So, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Hope you are ready for a classic "5 things I learned this week".

Shall we begin then??

***

1. Time bank

This was a concept shared by a friend of mine as he spoke. When you are born, you are given an account in an universal bank, which keeps track of the amount of time you have left in this life. There is no question of credit from any source, and there's a perennial debiting procedure going on. And you can never know what's your exact balance. The worst bank in the universe, right?

Well, we can't do much, but go with the flow. Everyone is subject to the same rules. We should just make sure that every second is used in the best possible manner.

2. Respect

The concept of respect is pretty much known to everyone. We have been told since we were little that we have to respect our elders, our seniors, our friends. But this friend of mine, who spoke today, had the opinion that there should not be any eligibility criteria in giving respect. No matter who is in front of you, it wouldn't hurt you one bit to give them respect.

3. Water flows from the sea to the river. Wait. Whaaaat!!??

Mind blowing right. Well, I knew that there's this theory of big bang, which resulted in the present universe. And that the universe is constantly expanding even now due that explosion which took place eons ago. What I didn't know was what would happen once the effects of the explosion would fizzle out. This friend of my mine came to speak about the same, and he shared the opinion of certain eminent scientists who feels that once the energy of the initial explosion is completely decimated, there would come a point in time, when time would start flowing back. That means that in that universe, I would be born by the procedure of death in this universe, and I would die by the procedure of birth in this universe. Weird, huh??

4. The science behind the customs

One of the best things about having non-south Indian food is the customary presence of a sweet dish at the end of the meal. And yesterday, one of my friends here had chosen to speak on the topic of the science behind Indian customs. I am planning to put through his entire content as a separate post, as it demands at least that much. Anyways, the reason about giving sweets at the end is to slow down the digestion process. And that is why we are usually asked not to eat it at the beginning of the meal.

5. Memories flash by

I've have to take credit for this one. I was lying on bed, feeling a little bit nostalgic about college days, when I realized that, no matter what, I couldn't make my mind play out the past in one continuous stream of images. It always has to be shown in flashes. An event which took hours to happen in the past, will be revisited by you now in a mere fraction of a second. Guess what they show in the movies are not real after all.

***

I haven't done an epilogue in ages, and today is good as any day to restart. I gave my speech today, and it was interesting to me because I got a feeling of how this conversation of ours is playing out in your mind. I chose the topic of "nothing" and chewed on ten minutes of my colleagues time with that. So, basically, it was like what I do here in the blog. I was able to view firsthand the reactions that I get from people. And I am happy to note that it is what I expect more often that not. Thank you for being such a wonderful audience.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Resolutions (5 things - Week 94)

3 pm on this Saturday afternoon has myself sitting here on the bed. Yes, I’m one of those to whom a bed is not just a place to sleep in. It is someplace where I spend more than one third of my day, and hence, I prefer to bring some variety into the proceedings.

Anyways, as I was saying, I’m sitting here and searching for a topic to ponder about for today. I found some and now I’m going to let you choose from the following three options.

A. Food items from Delhi that I miss – because I had aloo paratta this morning and it has made me nostalgic.

B. Five words from English – because I am too lazy to go out and find some new stuff to write about.

C. Resolutions which have petered out – because I think it is a nice topic to talk about.

So, as you have decided, Option C is the way forward. I like the way you chose what I wanted to right about. And we will wait no longer and we’ll go straight into five not-necessarily New Year resolutions of mine which didn’t see February.

***

1. Personal gym

I’ve had friends going to the gym since I was in school. And I can say with pride that I didn’t bow into peer pressure. I chose to keep away and be my skinny, unhealthy self. But when I saw a senior at work bulk up over two months, prior to his marriage, in order to look good on the big day [and maybe for the night that followed that day], I realized that maybe I would have to do the same. So, as part of my New Year resolution of 2013, I decided to buy myself some weights and practice with them at home. Now, you might be thinking why I didn’t join any gym. I was too lazy to go through all those repetitions that the trainers force you to. I wanted to be control my exertions and be able to stop when I want.

And as I found out, I stopped soon enough.

2. Learning French

It’s very useful to learn a foreign language, said someone. And study German if you are going to because most of the good engineering companies are based in Germany, and it’ll give you an advantage. So, I decided to go and study the French language. Even though I was ready to invest my time into it, I wasn’t sure of investing financially, especially because the rates were so damn high.

So, I found some site on the internet which made you meet with people from around the world who wanted to learn some language, and in return they would teach you the one they know. I listed that I wanted to learn French, and listed English, Hindi and Malayalam as languages I knew.

One fine day, I got a mail. So, this lady from Canada who knows French wants to learn Malayalam. And more interesting was that she sent me the mail with snippets of it written in Malayalam. She had more than a basic control over the language.

We tried to make the mutual study work, but our time zones meant that either one of us had to way up early or stay up late. So we dropped the idea.

3. Writing something everyday

This was a middle of the year thing. One fine day, I decided that to force myself into writing, I’ll try to write something daily and publish it. You can see the ruins of forced semi-literature at http://thedailylore.blogspot.com/.

4. Watching Mindless TV serials

I meant stop watching mindless TV serials. Well, this was taken late last year. And thankfully, since I didn't stop watching them, I have one more point to add in this list.

5. Reading something everyday

You are supposed to pick up good habits from your better halves. So, I tried to pick this habit of all this year. And sadly, I can’t make sure that I read at least one chapter from a book every day, before I go to sleep. I need to binge read a book. I can’t consume it in installments.

I wonder how she does it though.

***

So, that's all for this week then. 

Have a great weekend!! 

'til next week.

Excuses (5 things - Week 93)

When a decision was made to port the outlet for my literary outpouring to another portal, I decided to put some serious thought into it. That was mostly because my last blog was named "The pasture of lunacy". Not the most inviting one, but for the sake of having a noticeable difference in title with respect to other blogs, I had gone ahead with something I subsequently regretted.

I know it's hard to believe that a substantial amount of time was spent on thinking up "Excuse me please", when the time came to christen the new blog. And you are right, it was more of a hunch naming. Mostly inspired from a famous Malayalam movie dialogue, the title was meant to indicate an act of seeking attention.

But over the weeks, I've found that the title is also symbolic of the many excuses that I give here. "Was busy with work at office", "was traveling for most parts of the week", "was so engrossed in falling in love that I forgot that I had to write a blog post", etc etc. The one for this week is that "I forgot I had to travel over the weekend, so I'm late for posting this".

Excuses of this kind have resulted in many changes here. The latest one saw the posting time delayed by 24 hours, to the midnight on Saturday. 

The funny thing about today is that I still haven't decided on what five things I'll be writing about. There had been this huge itch to scrap the "5 things" thing, but it's something I've shunned out cos it's the soul of the blog.

OK. After some quite thinking of 30 odd seconds, I've decided to enlighten you with five sentences, five quotes from the book laying on my lap

.

I have always been lucky in a way that I've always had people who nudged me towards excellent books. In fourth standard, the local librarian introduced me to the captivating stories of Enid Blyton. In eighth standard, my friend recommended me to read this book called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone". And one month back, my brother took this book of the shelf and gave it to me and told me that this was nothing short of inspirational. And I agree.

So, for the "5 things" of this week, we'll be taking in the beauty of Paulo Coelho words from the "Manuscript found in Accra".

Shall we begin then??

***

1. "We do not agree about dates or about the best way to worship God, but in every other respect we live together in peace."

2. "What is knowledge? It isn't the absolute truth about life and death, but the thing that helps us to live and confront the challenges of day to day life...... It's the knowledge thatti lives in the hearts of men and women of good will."

3. "But even in cases of unrequited love, there is always hope that one day it'll be requited."

4. "Defeat comes when we fail to get something we very much want...... Defeat end when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end; it's a lifetime choice."

5. "We were born alone and we will die alone. But, while we are on this planet, we must accept and glorify our act of faith through other people. Community is life; and from it comes our capacity for survival."

***

So, that's all for this week then. 
Have a great weekend!! 
'til next week.

To the BANK!!! (5 things - Week 92)

After working three and a half years as an Electrical engineer, and three and a half months as an Embedded Engineer, I completed my switch to being an Officer with the Bank last week. And I mostly had people asking me "Why??" and "Will you be happy there??". It brought back memories of the time when I resigned my last job to pursue something similarly crazy. I had no intention to make that a thing by repeating it again this year, but the opportunity that presented before me was too good to forgo. And I chose it only after a very deliberate, unwritten dissertation.

I don't feel the need or the responsibility to defend my decision against the scrutiny of the public. Nor does the public have any right in demanding an explanation from me. I only had to convince three sets of people that this was the way forward for me. First was myself and her. Second was our family. And third, and most importantly, I had to convince the interview board, comprising of the top brass from SBI, that having me in their ranks was going to be fruitful for both of us. And as you can see, my arguments supporting my decision were convincing enough to land me the third career stream of my life.

All this has me placed at the Althara Branch of SBI in Thiruvananthapuram district for the next four months or so. And I have been working there for the past four days. Working might not be the right word for it though. Without my ID validation [to be completed by next Monday] and my basic training [to be completed by the end of the month], what I am currently doing is being a sponge. I am just taking in as much information regarding the working of the bank as I can.

Basically, I was a spectator watching from the customer side of the counter. Now, I'm watching the same story from the other side of the counter. It'll take me sometime to get accustomed to the requirements and rigours of the daily. But from whatever experiences that I've had, I love the job. It could be the new-ishness, which will rub off, but I doubt whether it is that.

It might seem like bragging, but I'm someone who loves helping people - those who have had real world interactions with me would concur. And since this job involves a lot of customer interaction, it is something I believe I will enjoy doing. I've already had the opportunity to assist people with opening of their accounts, helping them with their pension accounts, and hearing their grievances and directing them towards the concerned official. I know that this is not my job at the bank, but this first hand client interaction is something I think I'll always enjoy.

Then again, there are a few things we have to keep in mind while interacting with the customer, especially when they are as varied as the variety you'll get at a public bank. For this week's "5 things", we'll go through five basic skills that are to be sharpened for being a good servant to the public.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. Smile

First and foremost, greet everyone with a smile. No better way to start a conversation. If not for anything else, as someone mentioned to me, most people usually find it hard to get mad at a person who just smiled at them. 

2. Courtesy

Courtesy can be shown in various ways. Offering a seat, a pen; being courteous enough to respect each and everyone of them with the title 'Sir' or 'Madam'; speaking in a language comfortable to them; treating every customer equally; etc etc.

3. Willingness

A willingness to help, no matter what your position is. If you can't help directly, then it has to be made sure that proper directions are given so that help will be provided. If possible, do follow ups too.

4. Accountability

If you can help, then it's your duty to make sure that you act to help. The weight of accountability is something you have to be aware of.

5. Resourcefulness

So, you are supposed to help, you feel accountable to help, but for some unknown reason you can't. You have to be resourceful in these cases. Handle the customer as required so that they don't feel burdened, while making sure that proper help is provided as soon as can be. And as long as it is not illegal, go out of your way to help them.

***

All that I said above has been put into a single quote by this great man. Live by this quote, giving cent percent always, and you can work without guilt, no matter what the result is.

***

So, coming back to the initial topic, what do I do when people ask me why I joined the banking sector at this stage of my career?? I simply smile and say it is the right choice.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Heart Attacks (5 things - Week 91)

I love the week between 25th December and 1st January in any year. There's Christmas in that week; there's the beginning of a brand new year in that week; there's also my birthday in there. It is that time of the year, when it's the norm to be glad and jolly. And keeping in toe with the standards of narration in this conversation of ours, in this festive period. we will talking about Myocardial infraction aka Heart attacks.

The reason this topic was chosen during this time of the year will have to wait. Before that, we'll go through some general information regarding this topic.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. What is a heart attack?

The heart muscle requires a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood to nourish it. The coronary arteries provide the heart with this critical blood supply. If you have coronary artery disease, those arteries become narrow and blood cannot flow as well as they should. Fatty matter, calcium, proteins, and inflammatory cells build up within the arteries to form plaques of different sizes. The plaque deposits are hard on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside.

When the plaque is hard, the outer shell cracks (plaque rupture), platelets (disc-shaped particles in the blood that aid clotting) come to the area, and blood clots form around the plaque. If a blood clot totally blocks the artery, the heart muscle becomes "starved" for oxygen. Within a short time, death of heart muscle cells occurs, causing permanent damage. This is a heart attack.

2. What are the symptoms of heart attack??

Many people aren't sure what's wrong when they are having symptoms of a heart attack. Some of the most common warning symptoms of a heart attack for both men and women are:

Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest. The discomfort usually lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It also can feel like heartburn or indigestion.

Upper body discomfort. You may feel pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of the stomach (above the belly button).

Shortness of breath. This may be your only symptom, or it may occur before or along with chest pain or discomfort. It can occur when you are resting or doing a little bit of physical activity.

3. How to survive a heart attack alone??

Should you experience a heart attack – regardless of whether you’re alone or in the presence of others – the very first thing to do is to call for emergency medical help. You need specialized treatment to be delivered to you as quickly as possible in order to save your heart muscle.

Large studies have also shown that taking an aspirin – the most commonly taken blood thinning medication in the world – during a heart attack improves survival.

Most cases of heart attack are caused by a blood clot forming in one of the blood vessels responsible for supplying blood to the heart. Taking an aspirin during a heart attack may help as it prevents the clot from getting bigger, giving the body a chance to break down the blood clot. If you have aspirin at home, and you know that you are not allergic to it, then you could consider taking it while waiting for the emergency medical services to arrive.

4. How to administer CPR??

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR, is an emergency procedure performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest. It is indicated in those who are unresponsive with no breathing or abnormal breathing.

CPR alone is unlikely to restart the heart. Its main purpose is to restore partial flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart. The objective is to delay tissue death and to extend the brief window of opportunity for a successful resuscitation without permanent brain damage. Administration of an electric shock to the subject's heart, termed defibrillation, is usually needed in order to restore a viable or "perfusing" heart rhythm.

How to perform CPR is given here and here.

5. How are future heart attacks prevented??

Having had a heart attack or treatment does not mean you will never have another heart attack; it can happen again. If necessary, bypass surgery may be performed in the days following the heart attack to restore the heart muscle's supply of blood.

The goal after your heart attack is to keep your heart healthy and reduce your risks of having another heart attack. Your best bet to ward off future attacks are to take your medications, change your lifestyle, and see you doctor for regular heart checkups.

***

The reason this topic was chosen was because two of my relatives experienced this in two vastly different ways.

The first case was nothing short of a miracle. He was taken to the hospital because he was experiencing stomach pain since the day before. An ECG was taken and it was found that he had had an heart attack more than 17 hours ago. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was alive.

The second case kept begging for a miracle to happen. He had laid down to sleep, but was making unusual sounds. When he didn't respond, he was immediately taken to the hospital. But his heart had stopped beating for almost 20 minutes by then. Doctors were able to bring back a heart beat and he was put in the ventilator. The doctors feared that brain death had occurred. Still he was kept in the ventilator for four days - because his son was reluctant to sign the document to bring him out. His son waited for a miracle to happen as long as he could.

In this moment, I pray that his soul rest in peace, and may God give his family the strength to get through this tough period.

***

'til next week.

Situations on Train (5 things - Week 90)

Do you know what's going to haunt you your entire life?? That piece of dumpling which you took from the plate. The actual culprit is the food outlet serving five dumplings to two persons - giving them the unnecessary headache of splitting one in half to keep things equal. But they can excuse themselves saying that they are a profit organization, and that they would rather have two people ordering two plates.

In that scenario, all of this boils down to the individual who eats the fifth dumpling without even asking the other, whether they want half of it. And I thank God that I wasn't that person. Because if I were to be that person, then I would have to hear what I'm saying right now - "..how could you eat that half of my dumpling.."

In short, life's going great.

What's not going great is this Jan Shatabdhi train being an hour late. It's going to act as an unnecessary catalyst when it comes to the post scribbling review session. Which means that I'll be compromising on paragraph spacing, indentation, spell check, grammar check, etc etc. And here you were thinking that it's easy to write these things.

I agree that I'm not doing much more than stringing together sentences in a logical pattern, but still it takes effort. If you are in doubt, ask the person who took my half of the dumpling, who was supposed to have a post ready for publishing last week.

And here I am, writing things in the last minute to keep the ball rolling over here. My answer to what to write about is the mantra that a senior bestowed upon me a few years ago. When Dijin chettan read this blog after it had gone dormant (pre-2013) he commented that I "needed to have experiences to get writing again. And if there's a lack of motivating experiences, then just observe your surroundings. There are more stories to be told that you can imagine."

For this week's "5 things", I'm going to observe my surroundings and we'll have five situations we come across whenever we are traveling by train.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. Weird smile by children

So you are a child and you are traveling with your parents by train. And they meet this long lost friend of theirs who you haven't met on your life. What should you do?? Smile. And I've seen these smiles to be weird and uneasy most of the time. I don't know the reason why though. You're welcome to check it out for yourself the next time.

2. The teenager who is too cool

So you're a teenager now and you are traveling with your parents by train. If you even sniff a chance to get a seat away from them, you'll take it. Why?? Because you are too cool to be seen with them that is.

3. The ticketless running from TTs

If you see a string of people making their way to one side of the train, throwing plenty of nervous glances towards their posterior, then you can be sure that the TT is coming to check your ticket. And if you don't have a ticket, better join that group.

4. Different sleeping positions

Open mouth is my favorite - to watch that is. To execute, I prefer "banging your head on the window frame" position. And there's lots more. The "Nod off on to that complete strangers shoulder" position, the "vertical axis head exercise" position and the "I'm not sleepy, I'm just imitating a pendulum" position demand special mention.

5. What's that guy doing on his mobile??

The one on the left is playing Pokemon on his phone. The one on the right is playing Grand theft auto on his phone. And someone here might actually be reading what I'm writing down. We are all snoopers.

***

Just last night I was joking with my mother that railways is my other mother. And not just because it feeds my entire family. I've been traveling in trains since I was nothing more than a toddler. Only since the turn of the millennia, when we settled down in Thiruvananthapuram did the frequency of train journeys come down. The rail network has kept me company in long journeys and taught me the virtues of patience and observation. Both of which helped in making this conversation today.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Five of the best (5 things - Week 89)

A very short post for this week, as a lot of unexpected stuff keeps on happening around me these days, derailing me from my normal routine.

The engagement ceremony went off without any hitch thankfully. I had to readjust my mundu [dhoti] only once, which was like one percent of what I expected. And there were relatives going around clicking pictures like that's why they came to the event. Can't complain though. They have given in their creations before the professionals come back with their art work. For the 5 things for this week, we'll go through five of the best pictures to come in till now.

***

1. The “MAIN” event of the day.

2. The “COMEDY” event of the day.

That's my cousin sister placing a strand of flowers on her, as per the custom. But my cousin was so afraid of ruining her hair that it took way longer than required.

3. The “SMILE” event of the day.

This was the default smile we decided on to give to everyone who came looking for one. Not bad, huh.

4. The “pain-in-the-a**” event of the day.

“Stand over there. Put your hand on her shoulder. Look at each other.” Thank God that we had only one professional photographer for the ceremony.

5. The “What-the-” event of the day.

That's my mother-in-law being genuinely surprised by my dining tactics. I was trying to avoid the camera that was trying to get me eating food.

***

We've all heard of friends giving surprises to the groom and bride on their special day. Let it be putting up big humiliating banners outside the marriage hall, putting itchy powder on the bed for the first night, etc etc. My dear friend, Dileep, went one step further and decided to give such a surprise for our engagement.

He created the following comic strip from a collection of innocent pictures taken at the engagement. Suffice to say, he's not getting invited to the marriage.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.

Will you marry me??

***

Ek bandha thaa,

Ek bandhi thi,

Ye he unki love story,

And for us, it is the most beautiful piece of history.

***

We met 285 days ago. Our first impression were the polar opposite of what it’s now. After all, “Meh” and “Nerd” aren’t the more pleasing of first thoughts about your life partner. Over six months, our perceptions changed as we slowly fell in love, as fast as we could. And now, in another 30 odd hours, we are going to exchange two pieces of precious metal to officially indicate that we are each other’s for as long as possible. However, it has been months since we decided to be each other’s for forever and more.

The journey of us reaching this point will have to wait though. Today, there is a more pressing story to pursue. I’ve an important question that I have to ask her. I’ve already asked her this question before, and I know the answer to it. And, if you have read the heading for this post, you’ll know what the question is. If the question and the answer are already known, the real question is then with regards to the purpose of asking it again.

The original purpose was that I had made a promise to her that I would write about her the day before our engagement. But as the days caught up with me, I found myself at a loss of words. But slowly, there came into view another purpose for this prose. The purpose of this prose now is to remind her why I asked her that question the first time.

Shall we begin then my dear??

***

1. Total disclosure.

If there was a foundation to build our life on, it couldn’t have gotten better than this. Our deal to enforce total disclosure was not the best of ideas back then. It had its rough moments. To compensate for that, it also had its not so rough moments. But what it gave us was the freedom of speech – the freedom to tell what we love/hate about each other. And it’s what paved the way for us to find out that we love as much as possible about the other, and we hate as less as possible about the other.

2. Can’t say no to each other.

The idea of not being able to say NO to the other works marvels when you are with the right person. If not for the right person, it may leave you feeling vulnerable and exploited. But the idea of saying yes to everything you say, keeping full faith and trust in you, is not something I dread, but actually something I enjoy. And I love the fact that you trust me as much, to say yes all the time.

3. You support me supporting Arsenal.

I always feared about how my future other half would feel about my unhealthy obsession with the football club, Arsenal FC. Just the past fortnight tells the whole story. Two Saturdays ago, you saw me go into grumpy mood after the Man United game that we lost 2-1. Over the past two days, you see me merry as we won three games on the trot. I’m highly susceptible to the fortunes of a team playing 8500km away. To understand and handle this fluctuation, on top of the myriad other factors which affect ones mood, is difficult.

And so, I am as happy as I can be, in knowing that you support me supporting Arsenal.

4. Similarities

Just the past week, you knocked your left knee against something, making it swell up. To mirror that, my body decided to skip more than a couple of steps on the stairs. Now, I’ve a swelling on my left ankle. I know you hate me saying this but, "See, we are sooooooooo similar."

Jokes and painful knocks aside, I think we are way too similar than you would like to admit. For starters, we both had to give up an activity that we love because of an ankle ligament injury we had while performing it. You lost your left ankle to dancing, I lost my right ankle to football.

We both decided to try to make it in core engineering and hence, passed up opportunities in other sectors which would have suited us better. We ended up regretting our decisions and chose a different course.

What I mean to say by all this is that we could understand each other’s viewpoints, and more importantly pains, because of these similarities. And that brought us closer.

5. Accepting me

I always feel like I have different personalities to match different situations. One to fit in with my friends, one to fit in with family, one for work, one for strangers, one for acquaintances. When I felt someone/some group needed me to be something else, I make a new personality to match that. For you though, I didn't have to make a new personality. I tried on a lot of different personalities before deciding that being myself was the best option with you. Because you accept me for what I’m.

***

And for these reasons, and lots more, I love you. But most of the time, I love you for no particular reason at all.

I still haven’t decided whether I should go formal and ask

"Ms.Sreerenjini Menon, will you be interested in accepting a proposal of marriage from me??"

Or, whether I should try the other way.

"Ammu, will you be mine forever??"

I am going to put them both away and just ask

"Will you marry me??"

I know we both can’t wait to start our lives together.

***

I think I have just justified my nerd credentials with this writeup. I don’t care. I am lucky enough to find someone who loves me as much I love her. I have refrained from terming us as soulmates during the discourse, but I would be hugely surprised if this isn’t as close as it gets to being soulmates.

And so, let me take your leave. There’s a lady waiting for me, with a ring. I never intend to disappoint her.  Hopefully, we will have a few snapshots of the function when we meet next week. Until then, bye.

Goof ups (5 things - Week 87)

Yes. We're going to talk about some of the more spectacular goof ups, instigated and carried out to imperfection by yours truly. Let me start off with the latest one then.

I normally am very hesitant to buy shoes online. The main reason being I can never be sure that they look as good as they look in the pictures on the site. We live in an age where, with artificial lighting, clever posturing and unbelievable editing, anything that looks as drab as garbage is made to look like next big thing in fashion.

So, it was nothing short of a monumental decision that I made earlier this week to buy shoes from Amazon.in. I went to their site, went to the men's shoes section and put in the filters - size UK11 or above, preferably Puma [as Puma is now sponsoring Arsenal]. And that's how I chanced upon this predominately black, with red designs and a Ferrari symbol "boat" shoe. No. The goof up isn't with respect to it being a "boat" shoe.

I clicked order and spent close to what you would spend for a dinner buffet for two at a Taj restaurant. It got delivered to me, within two days, yesterday. I came back from work, all excited - I made a mental note that this would be what a teenager feels on Xmas day. You know what is inside the package when you are opening. But that doesn't take away the feeling of genuine happiness as you open it. You can't wait to get your hands on it.

Alas, the shoe was only big enough for me to put my hands into it. In the name of the product, there was a "Puma NM Jr". I thought Jr was just an extension to the naming sequence put out by Puma. And since they didn't say it was for kids anywhere in that page, I assumed my assumption to be correct and brought the shoe.

Fortunately, Amazon was kind enough to accept that it was a mistake from both sides which created this situation. Kids shoe in the men's section, along with myself overlooking the Jr. They have accepted my request for return, and will refund me soon.

I guess, all's well that ends well. But it'll be some time before I return to buy shoes online.

And for today, we'll go through five such goof ups as the "5 things" for this week.

Shall we begin then??

***

1. Amazon shoes

The less said, the better.

2. Hollywood chappals

Four months before, I brought chappals from an established local store, Hollywood. In one month, the sole began coming off. I stuck it back together using Fevi-qwik. Last Sunday, it came off completely while I was in the neighborhood of that store. I went in and expressed my lack of satisfaction in the product that they sold. It was then that they said this *conditions apply thing to me.

"This chappal is not intended for rough use. Stay away from water, and it'll be fine."

If you live in Kerala, you'll know that recently, the rain isn't stopping for more than a few days. To avoid water while walking here is like to avoid potholes while driving. But the shop owner was good enough to hear me out, and offer me merchandise for the money I had spent on the original chappals. I went from home wearing half torn chappals. I came back wearing brand new chappals, one belt and a pair of socks. :D

3. Wolverine Tee

I think I might have mentioned this Tshirt before. The first one I brought without parental guidance. A black Tshirt with three cuts across the chest, showing a red underlying layer of cloth. Wearing it would make it look like you just had Wolverine strike you. I still don't remember why I brought that.

4. My phone

Well, get this into your head. When they offer you 10% off on a phone, check if they are going to release the next generation phone in that series anytime soon. If you can wait that long, that's better. Cause they'll selling it at around the same price then. And yes, I fell for the 10% off.

5. My Engagement shirt

"A little lighter."

"I think the last one was better"

"This one is okay, but I think we should check for more options in regular fit. If nothing good comes up, we'll settle on this one."

"Size 42 is not there. Let's check the other shop."

A pleasant Saturday which I had hoped to spend with my fiancée, turned into a sneak-peak of what my future shopping experience would be like. The shirt we finally picked up for the engagement turned out to be a lighter version of what I originally had brought. To spend an equal amount of money to buy another similar shirt is certainly as close to a recent goof up as I can serve to you.

P.S. The lady choosing the shirt isn't always this crazy. She just wants all the wedding proceedings to be as close to the one she has always imagined.

***

It would close to being criminal if I invite you for my engagement only a day before the event. So, let's get the formalities out of the way. I'm getting engaged to this amazing woman on the first Sunday of next month, 7th December 2014. Even if our relationship can wait for a little longer, she is very much due a post dedicated to her. And that's how it's going to be next week. A little bit of added pressure for me.

P.S. Don't remind her that I wrote a post on having that operation on my ass within a week, and I kept her waiting this long. And NO!!! I'm not giving you a link to that operation post. You are welcome to search and find it out for yourself. :P

P.P.S. Technically, it's still Saturday for another 1200 seconds.

***

So, that's all for this week then.

Have a great weekend!!

'til next week.