Nightmare of a deluded mind

Swimming with the tide 

I boasted about my skills 

Never once did I entertain a thought 

Who is the sailor & who is the trailer? 

Deluded by perception 

Always thinking I was an exception 

Life gives a check when you least expect

Self delusion is underestimated 

Humility is underrated 

If only facts mattered to a delusional mind

Could I have prevented this self-scarring

Contempt for advice is the norm 

When you're riding a storm

A winning mind never bothers to know a what, how, when, where & why

A defeated mind searches for what, how, when, where & why

Shattered dreams & a lost grind

Still thinking am I lost or it's just a nightmare of my deluded mind? 

WE DON'T MATTER, DO WE?

Mercilessly & ruthlessly, with a stroke of a pen, Maharashtra state government orphaned the general category medical students. General category is a misnomer. We can label it as 'unwanted' & 'uninvited' category. We were yet to come to terms with 50% reservations, however, painfully we had internalized that. And all of a sudden, 10% EWS quota & 16% SEBC quota is being shoved down our throats.
To give a perspective to the uninitiated readers, for admission to post-graduate medical courses in maharashtra only 24% seats remain available for open category students. For certain branches like dermatology, literally only 4 seats are available in the entire state of Maharashtra. The hardworking student, howsoever good he maybe is effectively being told not to pursue his dreams. While it may seem exaggeration to few people but as an open category medical student in maharashtra, the only analogy which seems fit is being a 'Jew' in 'Nazi Germany'. The politically influential community in maharashtra extracted its pound of flesh & left us at the mercy of money making ecosystem of private medical colleges.
I believe that doctors for very long have become soft targets. It suits the political class & its narrative to blame the doctor for their own administrative failures. Blaming doctors for lack of supply of medicines is much easier than actually ensuring their supplies in the hospital. It is very convenient to blame the doctor for lack of medical infrastructure than to create the required infrastructure.
Similarly, the fundamental question here is why do we need reservations at post-graduate levels? Reservations is a loaded question with many social, economic & political aspects to it. But common sense suggests that counter injustice cannot be an answer to historical injustice. And what has happened over the years is that reservation is being used as political tool. It's used by the political class like steroids to bail themselves in an upcoming election without thinking about its long-term ramifications.
I've very consistently held an opinion that general category has been politically stifled very effectively. We were more interested in knowing medical science & legitimately so. But I think society now wants us to know legal & electoral science as well. Time has come that we arm ourselves politically & legally so that we can practice our profession at peace & not let others preach what we must do. It's time that we begin to matter.

Dr. Bhaumik J. Kamdar

Truth-An Illusion

Our quest for truth dates our existence itself. Existence of mankind & its perpetuity through ages has raised curiosity about our evolution & rightly so. Why do we exist? What is the truth of our life? What is the purpose of our life? Many such evolutionary questions have teased some of the finest minds in the history of mankind. What distinguishes us from other species is our ability to think & our element of curiosity. Our quest for absolute truth has passed on from generation to generation. Yet, all that we have found is that truth is relative in nature & that relative truth complies with the contemporary needs/views of the society to make them believe that their version of truth is absolute in nature.
Assuming that a question was asked in 18th century to a physics student about nature of light & he answers saying that light is particle in nature then who is correct?  Student, Newton or Einstein? Similarly assuming that some years or maybe centuries from now earth is proven to be flat then who is correct about the shape of the earth? We(majority prevalent opinion), ridiculed flat earth society members or our ancestors before Galileo's views were accepted by the society. Many such examples can be put forth. But the ultimate question remains, what is the absolute truth? Before searching for such questions we must try to find answers which have remained unchanged throughout the journey of mankind.
If we study anything in-depth we realise that events, opinions & personalities exist in a cyclical fashion. As Sir Winston Churchill said, "The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see". We are a part of a circle whose radius is infinite. In our perspective we're moving forward but in reality we're just encircling that all elusive truth. The 16th century renaissance idea that 'man is the centre of the universe' is a very comforting belief. This belief fails to give us a detached view of mankind. The most difficult part about having an objective view about the universe or the mankind is our attached view & our inherent bias which intuitively reflect in our emotions. I have always believed that human emotions are an absolutely essential prerequisite for the society to exist. But detached views & objective opinions are required to understand the absolute truth.
Truth is multi-dimensional, traversing the realms of all known universal dimensions. It is detached, fundamental, unbiased & objective. Our quest for truth & our survival prerequisites have an inherent conflict of interest.
Detachment is a precondition for absolute truth but that detachment is in contraversion to the basic survival prerequisites i.e. EMOTIONS. Maybe that's the reason why universe is created in such a way that we believe that we're moving forward towards that absolute truth but in reality all we end up doing is encircling it.

Three AM Tears

Wish my mind could think
Investigate, why I always sink
For all the sadness provoked thoughts
And all the guilt driven pleasures
I cry looking at my past full of treasures

For all my procrastinations
I have no one to blame, all excuses, lame
For all the bully I'm subjected to,
For all the behavior I'm objected to,
For every habit which people don't like
I can't answer their barbs & I go off strike
For every thought which didn't match theirs,
They looked at me with judgemental stares,
Every person whom I told I feel bad & bullied
They consoled me with a laughter making me sullied

I laughed at their joke on how I'm
Fat, ugly, serious, unwitty & chronically sad,
Their opinions are gospel judgements,
Mine are hostile testaments,
For every crease on my shirt,
They laughed as if I had worn a skirt
I can't match their wit,
So I couldn't defend my shit
My answer is a question to myself
Should I let this affect thyself?

But I'm not a muscular, unemotional, alpha male,
Stereotyped caricature of what society expects,
Neither I'm a rich, elite whom society respects,
I'm a product of societal insecurity,
Subservient to anyone who shows authority.

For all my alleged infirmities, I can't answer anyone,
Object of ridicule & punching bag for everyone,
Maybe my insult will invigorate me to do something,
So that I just don't write a poem & do nothing.

-Bhaumik J. Kamdar

Lutyens Media-Time for Introspection

      Media & Credibility, these two words are seldom used together. Historically, media has always been dominated by left-wing pseudo intellectuals. Their only claim to fame is their proximity to power circles in lutyens Delhi & over-usage of oxford dictionary. Conventional media has become a propaganda tool for left-wing ideology.
      The media space required for an alternate ideology in a true bipolar democracy has never been provided by the mainstream Indian media. This is the reason why political events in India have always flummoxed the arm-chair media in lutyens Delhi. Going by the political discourse dictated by lutyens media, the scale & spectacular success of Ram Janmabhoomi movement cannot be explained. Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi government in 1975 exposed all the pseudo liberalism of Indian media, when it was asked to bend by the then government, it began to crawl. With the exception of media giants like Ramnath Goenka, media proved itself to be a government stooge. Lutyens media must realize that they don't have proprietorship over what they define as 'Idea of India'.
     What has now hurt lutyens media is not the clampdown on freedom of speech but their loss of undeclared monopoly over political discourse in India. In this digital social media age, it's the voice of the previously silent Indian majority which is making noise. Lutyens media is unable to digest the fact that previously silent Indian middle-class has become politically opinionated. Previously, political discourse in India was unilateral. The agenda was set  by the media & right to express your opinion was a privilege exercised by lutyens media intellectuals. But today, social media has provided a platform where the intellectual caste divide doesn't exist anymore. Today, India is more opinionated than ever before. 2014 elections demonstrated the rise of the silent Indian majority. Going by the media debates from 2012 to 2014, the rise of Modi just cannot be explained. But social media discourse perfectly captured the mood of Indian masses.
     NDTV's cry over one day ban is not about freedom of speech. It's their cry over being held accountable & being questioned by the government. Lutyens media has never been scrutinized. Accountability is fundamental in any democracy. Mainstream media must use this as an opportunity to re-establish itself as what they should be-The 4th pillar of democracy. Frankly, today lutyens media is heading towards irrelevancy. If they still believe that majority in India can be dictated by their debates then it's the time for them to pack their boots. Practically, it's the social media which is actually the voice of the people today because the agenda & discourse is decided by 'We, the people of India' and not 'We, the people of Lutyens Delhi'. 

AAP claims Modi masterminded chikungunya in Delhi

                In a video addressed to AAP followers, Delhi Chief Minister & AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal claimed that dengue & chikungunya outbreak was a well thought out plan by PM Modi to defame the Delhi government.
               Kejriwal said that PM was terribly disturbed by the pace & scale at which AAP government was working in Delhi. He said that the mohalla clinics in Delhi were creating a revolution & soon WHO was all set to declare Delhi as the world's first disease free city. Referring to his sources in the Ministry of External Affairs, Kejriwal said that Modi government refused to grant visa to a WHO delegation which was going to come to Delhi to study the working of Mohalla clinics. He said that WHO Director had personally called him & said that he was keen to apply the concept of Mohalla clinics in New York & Washington. So in a bid to sabotage the working of the Delhi government, PM Modi in consultation with LG Najeeb Jung made extensive plans to wreck the health care system of the Delhi Government.
              Citing his sources in Health Ministry Kejriwal claimed that 5 months back the National Centre Disease Control(NCDC) received special instructions from the highest echelons in Modi government to breed highly infectious & potent mosquitoes which are

 lethal.
             Also sources close to Kejriwal confirmed that throat surgery was just a reason given by him to save his life from Modi made mosquitoes. Earlier in a video Delhi CM had claimed that PM was hatching a conspiracy to kill him & that this Chikungunya outbreak was a part of that well orchestrated conspiracy by the Modi Government. Deputy CM Sisodia's visit to Finland was also intended to save his life. Dy. CM Sisodia also addressed the video jointly with Kejriwal & said that his flight to Finland was also infested with Modi made mosquitoes & only after application of Patanjali made mosquito net he could save himself.
           Both CM & Dy. CM citing an internal AAP survey claimed that this episode had exposed the Modi Government & that in the next assembly elections AAP would win all the 70 seats in Delhi & all the opposition candidates were all set to lose their deposits.
            Meanwhile BJP Spokesperson Dr.  Sambit Patra mimicked Kejriwal coughing heavily & advised him to visit Patanjali Mansikrog Upchar Kendra for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD).

(The above article is intended as a piece of humour)
Bhaumik J. Kamdar
3rd MBBS
K. J. Somaiya Medical College & Research Centre, Mumbai

Bikhre Sapne

Sunhere safar ki aash na thi
Andhere dino ki khweish liye
Sansar ki ulat sajish liye
Humne sapno ka jaal bichaya
Kuch sapne savarte gaye
Kuch sapne sapno me hi bikharte gaye

Tute hue sapno ki doli ka bojh
Chintit mann ki uljhi soch
Kuch khwab chand ummed ka khel hai
Sansar ka virrodh aur swayem ka mel hai
Unki bikhare sapno ki gaatha hai
Humari ummedo bhari radha hai

Sapne aur hakikat ki ye spardha hai
Kuch hum jeete kuch hum haare
Kuch woh muskuraye kuch woh roye
Isse zalim ko kuch zindagi kehte hai
Kuch bekhauf hoke to kuch sharimdagi se....