Bell the CAT... online!!!

I was very happy to see the progress India was making when they announced that CAT will go online!!! Though I am not a test taker for CAT, I was thrilled to see students going into prometrics and giving the exams on the date of their choice instead of so many giving the written test on a single day on same paper.

But alas, the test day was DOOMED! There was a server error!! I wonder when will India really improve! When will Indians use the technology they have for their own use and stop selling it to other countries! I have also seen that the clothes in US are usually of very good quality when compared to those in Indian Market. But to tell the fact, 99% of the garments in US Market are imported from Asian countries like China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some from Vietnam, Phillipines etc., Its hard to find MADE IN USA garments!!

Similarly, there are many exams which are completely online and can be taken as where and when the candidates like to! The system is wonderful. Examples are GRE, TOEFL, USMLE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT etc., But in India, only CAT is the native Indian Exam for which lakhs of Indian students dream and prepare entire year. What a terrible effect on those little minds! The ones responsible for this should be sued! Cant they check on server functioning? The same status exists even on the result days of important exams, be it any field.

Why Why Why cant Indians use their technology and brains for their own development???? Inspite of this, I wish all of the students best of LUCK!!!

Washington DC - The Nation's Capital

Recently I had a life time opportunity to visit District of Columbia. Here, I am adding a few snaps of the lovely place. The place is a MUST see! Never miss an opportunity to do a trip.








The Smithsonian Castle












The World War II Memorial














The United States Capitol









The Washington Monument

















The Korean War Memorial


















The Lincoln Memorial















The Lincoln Memorial

View within Ronald Reagan Airport



Ford's Theater



City of Washington





The Pentagon















Madame Tussauds Museum

















St Patricia's Church




















Chicago Airport


















The White house






Minneapolis

Jai Iowans!

This is just one more example of how things can go wrong at odd times. I was all excited to be back in Iowa City after a gap of 3 days. I got up early in the morning and was in full preparation for the next day's program. I drove out to the hospital in the breezy rainy day and when returning, it struck to my mind that the mail box hasn been checked since 3 days!! God knows why I did it, but I did it! I stopped the car in the middle of the road, thought why simply bother to turn off the engine for a second's work. I got out of the car and slammed the door behind. It was chilled out and the temperature was around 3 to 5 degree. It was windy and drizzling. I ran into the mail room and opened my mail box. As I opened this, I realised that something has went wrong. No doubt, as usual, the intution was proved right in a minute. I took the mail and locked back the mail box. I still felt there is something missing in my hand. I didnot realise till I went to my car, it was the car key. I had left the engine on, so the key was left in place. I pulled the handle of the car and it was enlightenment of my foolishness. The door was locked with the car running and the wipers moving to and fro. I checked if I had got the phone but alas, NO. I cursed my fate and the blunder that has occured! I checked the time, it was 7 am. There was nobody around and I was unable to leave the running car in the middle of the road to get my phone from my apartment which was around half a mile form there.

The ray of hope brightened when a lady came on the road and I dared enough to ask her the favor. I was freezed with no cold protective gear on. She gave me her phone to call up and also the numbers to call. I initially thought of calling an Auto service but they were all closed. Then I had no other option except to call up the Iowa City Police Department to help me out from the situation. They responded in 10 minutes and my car door was opened. I felt so happy and turned around to thank the person but he was gone! One more episode of Good Samaritan behaviour of the Iowans,so a JAI for them :)

2012 - Movie Review

2012 - Movie Review
[****1/2 - 4.5 stars]
Director - Roland Emmerich

This is the movie we have all awaited to watch in 2009. Movie of the Year! Yes, We were warned! The movie stands to the expectations we have had. Worth of 6.5 USD. Full Paisa vasool if you fancy graphics and visual effects. Be sure to select a seat in the theater so that you can see only the screen, and nothing else! Even if not, the movie just grabs you into it.

Can anybody guess, how the warning surfaces? I mean not in history as in Mayan calendar but as a scientific proof. An Indian Astrophysicist while working in an underground [thousands of feet] copper mine in India discovers the beginning of the Dooms day. He warns an American geologist and scientist, his friend about the catastrophy which may occur soon. The enormous eruptions from the surface of sun having its effects on the polar alignment of earth and response is alteration in Earth's crest resulting in devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. The movie starts in India in 2009 and ends in year 0001 day 27!!! It goes from India to DC to G8 Summit to Paris to Tibet to California! There are too many characters to list. From a fiction author to President of US!



The movie has all... President of United states - chief's of all G8 nations - powerful businessman from Russia - Science freaks - family - children etc., Politics - courage - spirit - craze - conflicts - emotions - love - betrayal and whatever you ask for!!! The movie depicts Indians as Intellectuals [invention of the catastrophy], Chinese as Hard workers [building of a ship that can evacuate people in just 2 years], Americans as Administrators [when all leaders of various countries just accept whatever US dictates].



The happiness and bliss pictured with a crazy Radio jockey Charlie is hilarious but also reflects how some people can give up their lives to experience something great once in life. The satisfaction and dedication of President of US is truly inspiring. I wish our politicians had been like that!


"The minute you stop caring for others around you, thats the end of humanity". The scene where there is an effort to save special species on earth is very similar to the episode in Bible where a similar huge ship was built to save life with a hope to flourish. History just repeats itself.


You just cant imagine how the Earth may come to an end or rather a new beginning. Donot search for any logic in the movie. Though there is much sense in the movie, there is lot of non sense! Just sit back, chill and enjoy the movie. All in all, a great movie, worth every penny.



PS: This post has been written especially for a dear friend!

Roman Decline - Very interesting reason!

I was recently going through a piece of literature wherein there was only a statement, "The lead lead to Roman decline!". I was initially puzzled that how can there be a typo error in such a nice piece of work. Influenced by "Gudiya" character of "Baa, Bahu aur Baby", a Hindi weekend soap, I decided to clearly understand the sentence. In Gudiya's ishtyle, "Iss sentence mein pehla 'lead' matlabb heavy metal lead scientifically jise Pb likhte hai jii!! Aur doosra 'lead' matlabb english word lead meaning same as 'caused'" Somehow few characters of the TV serials and movies do influence our life a bit. I was compelled to browse through the internet and was happy to find the reason. Its a worth chip of history to be shared.

As we all know, Romans were known for their abilities to build one of the earliest empires. They were considered to be highly intellectuals and constructive. But little did they know that one of their brainy ideas would result in the fall of their empire!

The cartoon depicts the great Julius Caesar!!!

The romans were the pioneers in preparing the plumbing system. Can we believe that they initiated the work with lead pipes!?! So lead is also called as Plumbum and hence its chemical symbol of 'Pb'. One of the hypothesis for the fall of Roman empire was LEAD!!

One of the article in Newyork times by JOHN NOBLE WILFORD published on March 17, 1983 states that "Much of the food and wine the Romans consumed to such excess was contaminated with amounts of lead far exceeding today's safety standards. Accumulations of lead in the body can cause one form of gout, a painful and sometimes crippling inflammation of the joints, as well as the mental retardation and erratic behavior normally associated with lead poisoning. The coexistence of widespread plumbism and gout during the Roman Empire seems to have been an important feature of the aristocratic life style that has not been previously recognized and this provides strong support for the hypothesis that lead poisoning contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire". A study was conducted by Dr. Jerome O. Nriagu, a Canadian scientist who reviewed the personalities and habits of Roman emperors from 30 B.C. to 220 A.D!!! It seems the Romans used to drink high amounts of wine which as additionally flavored with a syrup prepared by brewing grapes in lead pots. Dr. Nriagu tells that "One tea spoon of such syrup can cause chronic lead poisoning!!!"

I felt this information very interesting and an addition to the examples of how an intended plan or invention proved to be a reason for drastic fall of a massive human empire!

"LEAD lead to ROMAN decline"

Lewisite.... Anti Lewisite...

I am in this medical field since almost 7 years. I had heard the name British Anti Lewisite which is used as a chelator in treatement of Heavy metal poisoning like arsenic, mercury etc., But I never got the time to know the history part that why is this chemical which is dimercaprol; [2,3-dimercaptopropanol] called so!

Recently I attended a lecture where the history was revealed and it caught my attention and made me feel that its worth to put it on my blog.

Lewisite, an organo arsenic poison [combination of acetylene and arsenic trichloride], is a vesicant and lung irrtant. It is named after 'Winford Lee Lewis', a chemist and a soldier in American Army. In 1918 he found the thesis of Julius Arthur Nieuwland at Maloney Hall, a chemical laboratory at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC. His brain was so much oriented towards World war I that he proposed the compound to be used as a Biochemical Weapon!!! Cruel mind... They started to produce the product, Lewisite, in huge quantities at a plant in Cleveland, Ohio. The formula was borrowed by the Japanese who proved more cruel by improving the formula by mixing Mustard Gas with Lewsite, a mixture which could be used as a inhalant at lower temperatures and definitely more poisonous. This was the birth of LEWISITE in WWI. The rediscovery of Lewisite in 1918 was too late for its use as a chemical warfare agent in WWI. However, the allied forces were well-aware of its existence at the start of WWII.

Then, Britishers, who were much worried of this compound were compelled to do research. British biochemists, under supervision of Sir Rudolph Peters at Oxford University during World War II, discovered an antidote for Lewsite, Dimercaprol aka BAL [British Anti Lewisite]. This was all done secretly in order to counter the attack with Lewisite but proved to be a helpful invention as BAL is now used in various heavy metal poisonings.

In mid 2006, China and Japan were negotiating disposal of stocks of lewisite in northeastern China, left by Japanese military during World War II. Residents of China have died over the past twenty years from accidental exposure to these stockpiles.

Some of the statments here are borrowed from Wikipedia. And few from the lectures. I never realised the history of a drug would be so interesting. I will try to add few more interesting stuff whenever I come across!

Human brain...phew... Accidental discoveries prove worthwhile whereas intended discoveries prove disastrous!

In Memory lane #11

Life sometimes gets so busy that we never get a chance to cherish our memories. I just passed through such phase. I was so busy these days that it took me almost a gap of 3 months to go back into the sweet cherishable memories. Continuing from 'In Memory Lane #10'....

We were quite tired up of the heat within the Sumo, the so called affordable SUV of India. Being tired physically never hampered our spirit as we left Kollur and pursued our journey towards Murdeshwara. All of us were so excited that finally after visiting two temples, we are going to have fun at beach. While travelling, few people in the middle row dozed off. But the people at back who felt all fine from the sick nauseating feel were overenergised playing Rummy. Dr Pocket throwing off the cards one after the other with God not favoring for his win. Dr BM who was in fact not playing and seated with me in the front along with the driver felt very happy pulling Pocket's legs as each card was thrown down. Pocket vowing each time to win by next play. Arumugam, our driver was concentrating in searching the road in between ditches, the road was so worse.


We reached Murdeshwara by 430 pm. This was the first time all of us saw the tallest 'Gopura' completely engulfing the temple. There were two big elephant statues guarding the entrance.




We planned to visit off the temple first and spend enough time on the beach. As we entered, Dr. R, asked me to pose as if I am feeding grass to the elephant statue. Then he said "This snap of an elephant feeding an elephant will be hilarious". Everybody including me had a moment of huge laughter. I invited Dr R to join me so that it will be two elephants feeding one! Dr Pocket was cursing Dr BM for playing a spoil sport for the game of Rummy. The temple was so pleasant and inviting. We took blessings of Lord Murdeshwara, offered our Puja and walked along the huge hill behind the temple where many large statues glorify the effect of temple.



The view from the hill top gave us a huge satisfaction and proved our trip to the place as worth!






Then was the run towards the beach. We enjoyed playing on the beach for almost an hour. Me and Dr A were busy carving our names on the sand.



It was getting dark, we felt that leaving murdeshwara without eating fish would not be a 100% value. So, Dr SM, the one with huge elephant ears, ran to the shop and asked what all types of fishes are there to eat. Rather than to eat, he was busy improving his GENERAL KNOWLEDGE! Dr. BM, standing right behind him spoke out "Shut up dude, just order couple of best ones. I am hungry!" Dr M and Dr Pocket were adamant to take a bath. We were adamant to eat fish. So, all got some time for their respective works. Pocket was disappointed to find nothing left to taste when he returned. Pocket requested me, "Anna, order one more for this poor guy please!" showing off his upturned empty pockets. Never to be fooled by Dr Pocket's empty pockets, his bank account is usually overflowing!


There is no way to reject the POCKET REQUEST. So, there went an order for a fresh huge "Baangde Meenu". I asked for Rava Fry as a special for Dr Pocket, as usual for his fate, it wasn available. So, he had to contend himself with whatever he got. He was not left alone to enjoy, Dr SM and Dr R were helping him out! We had a last glance towards the temple and the setting Sun.





Arumugam queried where do we want to end the day, at Murdeshwara or Gokarna! Gokarna was never in our plan but there was a chorus 'Why not! Its an Aye to Gokarna'. We rushed towards our great Sumo and the wheels rolled faster. It was 11 pm and luckily we got a decent lodge with hotel for dinner. Though almost everybody wanted to sleep off early, Dr Pocket was adamant that he wont sleep without winning a game of Rummy and show his winning streak to Dr BM. We decided to make him win for our sake to sleep off! Even with our efforts, Dr Pocket took 2 hours to win and finally we gave rest to our eyes at 215 am and to keep them alive for the next fun filled day!