What to do before Doomsday 2012

How many times have u seen a guy getting 175 in 140 balls and still ending up on the losing side! God! Yesterday was an awful day for me! I wanted to bang the T.V., but i didnt! So i switched the channel... just to see a pretty young news anchor wasting her talent in asking stupid questions to a panel of 'experts' called in to 'educate' the masses of the much hyped 'Doomsday' in 2012!!! It was much more disgusting than India's loss to see the Breaking news ticker displaying, "2012 mein dharti ka vinaash atal" (In 2012. the end of the world is imminent!)


I switched off the idiot box and slipped into my bed. But Sachin's failed heroics had snatched off my sleep too! So i kept pondering about the Doomsday! What if it really would happen! We would have only 1141 days left! So i wondered what things should happen or can happen before the earth gets sucked in, or collides with a meteor or whichever way its supposed to end! Let me tell you...


1. Everyone should start booking their tickets to Baker and Howard Islands, these places in the Pacific are going to witness the sunrise of 21st Dec 2012 the last! They are 12 hrs behind the GMT! So you will be the last one to die! Great achievement that will be...


2. Okay did you always wished to swear or kick your Boss's a**? Now dont hesitate, do it! You may get fired from your job, but dont worry, it would be not long before the whole office gets fired from this universe!


3. I ask why save money and pile it up in those bank lockers. Your plans for future have no meaning now, its already 'planned' by Nostradamus! Withdraw every single penny, break the FDs. Take your spouse to the most hi-fi places around the world. Now no worries about your bank balance!


4. Kids wont need to go to school. Why just scrap the 10th Std Board Exams? Mr. Sibbal are you listening? Scrap every Single exam. Let them have fun...


5. Government of India should not waste time and money in building a spacecraft for Mars in 2019!!! That would never come. Instead direct all the funds towards building a huge countdown timer...
Now did someone just asked me 'Where'? Okay, right in the middle of the sea, against the Marine drive backdrop, taller than Mount Everest (forget Statue of Liberty!) No one will protest now!


6. Supreme court should not unnecessarily give out stay orders to the U.P. government for building statues. 'Aakhri Iccha' puri kee jaaye!' And we educated citizens promise, we wont make a fuss about it now! Now who cares!


7. This time we have a stable government at the centre. So i feel sad for them who didnt vote this time. The next elections wont happen ever. You missed that right of yours! Also everyone should ask Manmohan Singh to step down and give us a chance atleast now to see India being led by a young man as in Rahul Baba.


8. One happy news is that the Cricket world Cup is in 2011. So critics leave Sachin alone and let him play till 2012. In fact call everyone Dada, Jumbo, Dravid, Kapil, let us give everyone a final 'chance'.


9. Orkut, you have very less time to prove that you are atleast somewhere in competition to facebook and Twitter! Get your a**es fired and show us some real stuff!


10. Okay so in short, each one of us has very less time in our hands. Since its already the end of 2009... so do whatever you wanted to do or dreamt of doing the whole life but couldnt! Whatever! Wanted to propose someone? Propose! Wanted to Kick someone? Kick! Wanted to kill someone? Go ahead, you will spend only few years in jail. Better so... do it on the last day... no punishment at all!


Ah! But Alas the world is not ending... they said so back in 2000 too... We are not stupid enough to accept that the universe will get screwed just bcoz a calendar has no dates after 21st December 2012! Had it been true, I would have cared sh*t to write a disclaimer. But it isn't, so let me be safe.


Disclaimer: The ideas above are fictional, no intentions to hurt anyone's sentiments, political or unpolitical!


But still do you have some weird ideas about what things to do if the doomsday was for real, let me know in the comments section.


Dont worry... We will be there even post 2012... me writing silly posts like the one above and you stupidly reading it till the end...


adios


.

How to get refund from Indigo?

Ever fell in a situation where you had booked an air ticket from a low fare carrier, well in advance just to be on the 'safer' side and avail the lowest fare on a journey, but unfortunately just a few days before the departure, all your plans go for a toss and when most of the Indian low budget carrier like Indigo charge non-refundable air tickets, you are left with the big question, 'How do I go about booking another ticket without losing the money on the previous one?'

I recently went through this situation and tried to google a solution for it, but I failed to find any. So I am writing this post especially for the Indigo travellers where the tickets are mostly non-refundable. But before that let me tell you that this is not a full-proof solution from a travel agent or Indigo professionals. I am just another traveller like you trying to help you out if you ever fall in such situation. Most of the reviews that I read on the net about Indigo customer care were negative. But luckily I didn't face a single problem from their side and they were quite helpful and hospitable.

So here are the steps. I will describe the way I went about it.

1. I had booked a flight from Kolkata to Bangalore 6E 275, well in advance (about 2 months). The cost of the fare was INR 3,492/- I had made the booking from Indigo's official site www.goindigo.in and it was clearly mentioned that the fare is non-refundable.

2. Just a week before the departure day, due to some personal reasons I had to change my source from Kolkata to Mumbai. But I was in a soup as I had no clue about what to do regarding the already booked ticket. So I logged in and was somewhat relieved to see the 'Modify this booking' box in the upper right corner of the itinerary. Just when I was about to press the 'change flight' button, something held me back. I googled once again the problem and noticed that most of the people who had problems in getting the money back had tried to do this on their own. So I refrained from doing it all by myself and called up the toll free number 1800 180 38 38.

3. Mr. Ali answered my call. He was quite polite and helpful and understood my problem and guided me the procedure. He took all the details about my previous booking. He then asked for my new booking details. He cancelled the previous PNR data with my consent and deducted INR 750/- as the cancellation charges. The remainder that is INR 2732/-, he said will not be refunded in cash but will be kept with Indigo for a period of 12 months within which it can be reused for any other travel made within that specified period.

4. As I had to book a new ticket on the same date with a different origin, I asked him whether I can go back online and book a new one with the credit amount. But he refrained me from doing so as he said that to use the credit amount left either you have to call up the customer care and book it with a credit card (not debit card) or you have to visit the airport outlet of Indigo for doing so. As I didn't have credit card then I agreed on the second option.

5. So Mr. Ali helped me with making a provisional ('on hold') reservation of my flight from Mumbai to Bangalore with the new fare rates i.e INR 4132/- and gave me a NEW PNR number.

6. Then he told me to go to the nearest Airport and show both the PNR, the old and the new one and pay the additional amount, i.e. INR 4132 minus the credit amount INR 2732 = INR 1400 via Cash or Debit card but WITHIN 24 HRS!

7. So I reached airport and headed for the Indigo outlet. The whole procedure went smoothly and didn't took more than 5 minutes. And there I was with a new ticket without loosing any money except the cancellation charges,

8. Within half an hour I received a confirmation call from Indigo whether the debit card that I used belonged to me or not, may be for security reasons.

Have a safe journey...

Disclaimer: My sole intention here is to provide a flowchart to those poor souls who become panicky (just like I did) when they have to cancel a non-refundable ticket and don't know what to do next. These steps didn't bothered me in my travel. So hopefully they wont in yours too. But I insist you read the terms and conditions of any airlines before booking the tickets. And I am no agent or professional to give a full proof remedy for such a problem.

Indigo customer care: 1800 180 38 38, (+91) 9910383838

Steps towards becoming a Doctor

I am writing this post for those young minds who are eager to experience what it would be to become a doctor... but dont know how to be one. In India, the admission to the medical and paramedical courses is governed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Presently though there is a buzz about having a common entrance test for the medical admissions, but by the time I am writing this post, the Medical Council of India has clarifed that the common entrance will be started not before 2014 for the post graduate admissions and talks and efforts are going on to implement the same for the undergraduate course from 2012 session. So here I will be discussing only about the present procedure for medical admissions.


The prime criteria for becoming a doctor is for the pupil to opt for Science faculty in the 10+2 course and include Biology as the primary subject. The importance of marks of 10+2 varies according to the respective states. Some states like Tamil Nadu solely depend upon 10+2 marks as  the criteria for pre-medical admissions where as most other states only place a criteria for the student to clear the final board exam with an aggregate of more than or equal to 50%.


Once the pupil appears for the 10+2 exam, he has to clear the Pre-Medical Tests (PMT) which is held on a national level or his/her respective state entrance exam, if any. Like in my state, Maharashtra has its own MHT-CET which is usually held two months after the 10+2 exam. Most of the states have a criteria of maximum 3 attempts at this exam. Once the result for the pre-medical entrance exam are out, the pupil is subjected to a centralised counselling for the allocation of the seats.


The counselling for the PMT occurs before that of any state. The government has laid down a rule stating that 15% of the seats in any medical college in India are reserved for the All-India Quota i.e. students from any state can apply for a seat in any medical college all over India through this 15% quota. Once the first round of the PMT is over, the state counselling starts. Similarly there are maximum three rounds at the national level and 4-5 rounds at the state level for the allocation of the seats. The seats remaining vacant after the third round of PMT counselling are handed over to the state quota.


Once the seat is allocated, the pupil has to contact the respective college, usually within 7 days. The medical colleges in India usually begin in the 1st of July/August. The medical curriculum for M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) in India comprises of four and a half year of academics followed by one year of compulsory rotatory internship. In some states, there is even a compulsory bond for the student to serve as a medical officer in the rural population for one more year.
The first year comprises of pre-clinical subjects like Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry which lasts for one year. The second year is the longest one with one and a half year of training in the para-clinical subjects of Pathology, Pharmacology, Forensic Medicine and Microbiology. The third year which is the main clinical course is divided into part one and two each of one year duration. The first part deals with Preventive and Social Medicine, Ophthalmology and Otorhinology (Ear, Nose and Throat medicine). Whereas the final year which is the second part deals with the major clinical subjects like General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Radiology and Anaesthesia.


There are university exams held at the end of each year. After the final exam, the compulsory rotatory internship starts and ends after one year. There is a convocation ceremony at the end of the internship which marks the graduation of the pupil as a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (M.B.B.S.). The candidate has to later register himself/herself with the State Medical Council or the Medical council of India where they are alloted a unique registration number licensing them to practice anywhere in India.


Though long and tedious, this is the path of becoming a doctor in India. I have only described upto the graduation level. I will come up with another post describing the post-graduation procedure. Wishing you all the best for your future. Happy Reading...

Man, this 'Butt' sure wont make you Hard!

Hmmm... those college days... you liked that pretty girl... but how do you impress her? How do you show her how manly you are? Yes, pop comes the cigarette out of your pocket, you imagine yourself as SRK, lean against your bike and then just as she passes in front of you, you let that smoke ring fly out of your lips and give her a flirty smile! Well fortunately or unfortunately, the girl gets impressed by you. Days follow and you quite get a grip on her just as that filthy 3" butt strengthens its firm grip between your fingers. Well you two become so close, whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears and one day the romance builds up leaving both of you in bed! Okay now the time comes when the man in you is put to test. You try and try but the bloody thing doesnt go up! Your girl looks at you with surprised eyes and before you can do anything... BANG!!! The door slams behind you! Your dream of becoming a macho Dude just turned into a dud!

Okay let me come to the point. Impotence or Erectile dysfunction is the inability to maintain an erection while having intercourse. The other ill-effects of smoking are very well known by those who smoke, but recent medical research shows that smoking is one of the leading cause of impotence in men. Well you will ask me how???

In order to maintain an erection, the blood supply to the penis should be adequately maintained. Smoking constricts the bloodvessels of the body, thereby reducing blood flow. As a result, many men find themselves unable to maintain an erection. 20% of impotent Smokers are also believed to have abnormally low blood pressure. This reduces the flow of blood to the penis. Low blood pressure is caused by atherosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits, especially in penile area. This is thought to be engendered by arterial injury caused by smoking! Atherosclerosis decreases the calibre of your blood vessels reducing the amount of blood reaching your tool!

When your penis is erect it is because blood gets trapped inside it, once it enters and then there is no easy way out before you ejaculate. Now cigarettes have nicotine in them which dilates or open up these valves even before you let your passion unfold, frustrating both you and your partner leaving your head low, just as your dick!

So how do you avoid this embarrassment? One of the best ways to treat impotence is to prevent it in the first place. Stop Smoking! Yes, i know it is easier said than done, but there has never been a better time to stop than now. There are numerous aids available to help you quit this life-threatening and embarrassing habit, including patches, gums and medications. Think about it! Sticking that butt in your mouth will never make you a man than holding your lovers face in your hands, filled with content and deeply satisfying love... Enjoy your love life...

Marathi Manoos: The real Psyche

It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I was sitting with my books, studying for my exams due in January. It said, "Budd Chiari syndrome is a condition characterised by thrombotic occlusion of the hepatic veins." Suddenly I got startled with my Mom's scream (yes! it literally was!)... "Kirti, lavkar ithe ye, he bagh kaay jhaalay!" (Kirti come here quickly, look what has happened!" Whoa! I ran towards my living room, my Mom, Dad and Bro were glued to the T.V. as the dynamic news anchor kept screaming on top of his voice, "Abu Azmi slapped by MNS goons for taking Oath in Hindi.' And then the typical footage tactics followed repeating the 'slapping' sequence in different 'angles'. I saw the whole sequence, it was a very disgusting one! True, as the headlines said, "Black Day in history of Maharashtra". After a long time i happened to break my eye-contact with the anchor and saw my Mom and Dad. They were as much as shocked as me... No one said anything for a moment. But what I could sense was the sign of distress, discontent and sadness on their face… the reason? .....Marathi manoos was getting portrayed the wrong way… by whom?… by the media, Azmi and… the MNS!

I switched the channel. Told my parents don’t watch that thing! Very rarely they don’t argue with me when I say so, that was one moment… For the first time I told them, on my own, to watch the stupid melodramatic soaps instead… at least they were not as meaningless as the drama that unfolded in the assembly! I went in my room, slammed the door behind me, sat on my desk, opened the book, ‘Kawasaki’s disease and its management’ were ready to be gobbled up by me. But I wasn’t… I was disturbed! I closed my book. Rested back…

Someone was hurt… the common Marathi manoos was hurt!

I wanted to vent out the frustration. Then I saw the clock. Opened my lappie, set the timer for 30 mins, and logged into my Blogger account. I knew you guys are the best buddies to ventilate my thoughts to…

Its such a heartbreak to see how we Maharashtrians are being projected as an uncivilized and violent community on the basis of certain incidents that happened in the past few years. I have a strong feeling that my friends and colleagues ‘outside’ Maharashtra must be having a very different outlook towards a Marathi manoos. For you he must be a bully, wearing a kurta, glares, a vermilion mark on his forehead, a thick moustache with a beard, lathis or stones in hand… beating up people! I will be happy if this is just my assumption and not the reality… but if it isn’t still I wont blame you! The Marathi manoos is slowly getting alienated.. He is slowly getting ostracized.

What is projected towards to the people by these young, amateur, beginners in journalism is majorly devoid of the real issues crippling Maharashtra. I hate such kind of biased journalism by the media honkos… For I

believe Maharashtra is not all about Mumbai and Mumbai is not all about Maharashtra. What happened in the assembly could have been avoided. But new comers in the Maharashtra's politics wanted to grab eyeballs right from day One! I don’t support the MNS, neither do I support the SP. Fundamental values have never been a part of my life. For me Azmi and MNS both were wrong in their part. For Azmi, I just cant understand what was the fuss about speaking few sentences in Marathi? If you really respect Marathi as much as your mother (that’s how he defends himself) why are you fooling yourself by saying “I am not well versed in Marathi!!!” I want to ask him. Isn’t Marathi written in the same Devnagari script as is Hindi? And aren't 10 years enoughto learn few words in your 'motherly' language rather than learning the foul language that your son used outside the assembly! No I am not telling you to do so because Raj threatened you to, because MNS people were about to kick you… Do it for the people you represent for, the people of Maharashtra, whose official language is Marathi!

Regarding the so called “Guardians of Marathi Asmita”, you are the self proclaimed rulers, egoistic and arrogant, unknowingly and irresponsibly giving the common Maharashtrian a bad name. I strongly believe the issues that you picked up are not completely meaningless… but your antics have rendered them futile and pointless in the minds of others… Now that people have given you a chance to represent them, go ahead, give them back what they voted you for, shed the ‘dirty’ look you have got for yourself and take up some real issues and gain positive publicity! Bashing up a MLA in the Assembly, that too when Maharashtra is closing in on its 50th anniversary next May, certainly proves that you don’t understand the sanctity of the place you were placed in. If you really want to care for Marathi Asmita, go start a project for farmers in the Vidarbha under Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s name… go take care of the numerous prestigious forts of Maharaj which are in ruins today. Marathi is a very sacred language. Don’t play politics on it. Even I wont stay quiet if someone voluntarily disrespects Marathi.

So the issue is not wrong, but the way is... Azmi, I believed, disrespected it, no doubt, but that’s his nature. He provoked you, you got provoked! And look what you ended up in! He is getting unnecessary publicity and sympathy from everyone, and you..? Got banned for the next 4 years! You let the ‘rowdy’ tag get affixed even more firmer not just on you but even on the common Marathi manoos who has no say in this, who innocently watches your antics in the news and switches channels to avoid getting hurt themselves…

You are committing a much worse crime than anyone else, making your beautiful state now look as a hub of goondaism and dirty politics. But may be I am asking too much from you, aint I? Whatever! I will follow what Barack Obama said, “LETS CHOOSE HOPE OVER FEAR”

(Okay so my timer says 28:17... so let me end this post..)

Yes I hope that the tides will change, this melodrama will end, a Marathi manoos will be seen by ‘others’ the way he actually is… Soft spoken, friendly, emotional and yes... an ardent and a passionate music lover…

Light of a new Beginning

Its the 24th October 2009... and the clocks ticking in front of me... both the minute and the hour hand come together and embrace each other with the number 12 watching them from behind... it seemed as if they whispered sweet nothings in each other's ears and planned a wonderful journey again for the next 12 hours to meet at their same romantic spot...


I am just sitting in my room with my new lappie, just surfing through few of my medical sites as a pop up catches my attention... ... and Its Aritra, my twitter buddy... i read his tweet... "@aritrasen : @kirtitandel Blog has been launched with some new posts"

I click on the link that he provided me... His Blog 'Denken' was quite a nice one with him recollecting his first tweetup (meeting of twitter users from a particular geographical area) in Siliguri, West Bengal. I instantly got fascinated by this idea of blogging. I was aware i was too late on that, but as they say its never too late... I decided then and there - I am going to have a blog of mine - impulsive as I was! I was completely amazed as i browsed my other friend's blogs too and thought that I can too try my hand on this. Since childhood i had this habit of writing in my diaries but it was not that consistent... It never picked up in that sense...

So the next thing i did was opened this Blogger site and registered myself. The whole procedure took pretty much time to understand but I was enjoying it. Writing in a diary was like keeping all your thoughts to yourself but this Blog idea meant like broadcasting your thoughts to the world... a huge world! And then lot many ideas started creeping up in my mind... I always believe that whatever we do should be meaningful. I asked myself the same regarding my decision to blog. Then I thought I will use this tool for many other purposes too. At the moment apart from just letting my mind open I feel I will also use this blog to dispense out valuable medical and health awareness topics to you all. Because I believe awareness is very contagious... It spreads in no time. Like how American Author Jim Rohn says, "Words do two major things, they provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness." And using this principle I want to do my bit to this mankind. And I am sure it will definitely help everyone.

Having said that now I am thinking of writing down a list of topics on which I will be posting. I hope you all will enjoy reading my posts as much as I do while writing them.

Here I would like to sincerely thank my Friend Aritra for that pop up which trigerred my brain to start this new journey. Thank you Dude... So here's wishing everyone a happy life and happy reading...

God Bless,

Kirti