Wednesday, June 13, 2007

our 1st day at dissection...

i still remember the day vividly.....we were all gathered near the entrance waiting for our anatomy sir dr chawla.......still dont know his first name...he was a thin lanky fellow...with his dyed hair..which seem so unnatural n broken front teeth...but with a heart of gold...this is DR B V CHAWLA for u.....he spoken in broken sentences n repeated the same thing 4 to five times (v actually counted it once)...n asked did u get it over n over again.....(that wud be upto 20 times in one hour...)..ya ya that was our favourite pass time over the 1 yr he took our lecture


now coming back to 1st day of dissection....we were grouped out near the entrance..a bit afraid to go in..the stench of formalin made its way upto the door...so some of them went even further away from the door to escape the odour...we cud see bodies placed on dissection tables...the dissection room was a huge room with tables arranged at regular intervals...in one corner hung a skeleton...n there was a mummified body in another corner...we wud learn later it was to be used to study surface anatomy....

some of the bodies were jus upto the thorax...the legs were jus cut off..maybe some other students had already done dissection of legs...

there were huge windows on both the walls thankfully to bring in fresh air...

dr chawla arrived n v entered the hall with him....the vapours causing eyes to water n the stench causing burning within the nose as v breathed....we wondered how were v going to survive three hours thrice a week for one whole year...

as he stood by one table....giving us demonstration..he soon realised we were well behind him n so obviously cud not see anything..but no one took a step ahead to get closer to body...he exclaimed..my dear students dont be afraid of these bodies or dont think of them as something dirty or anything as such...they r your books..waiting to be explored...they r here for u to understand better the mysteries of body...the sooner u accept them...better knowledge you will gain....n will be helpful for u for ur future...at least for future exams he said with a smile laying stress on exams...

slowly we went near...our eyes n nose stinging...he explained to us the basics..how to cut with scalpel....peel off skin...cut off yellow layer of fat...yes yes..it is actually yellow..then he showed us artery n veins n told us how to differentiate..artery being thicker n pipe like n deeper within the body..while veins were thin n collapsed n superficial...

soon he assigned us to different tables....thats where sarah met julia...my self n saira were together...n sarah was on other table...when sarah told her abt us...she exclaimed..hey its like AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY...WOW THATS NICE

even today v think abt it n laugh

so we began wit dissection wearing gloves n all (sir didnt wear them...n in later dissection sessions we too wud not be wearing them) but the 1st day v jus cud not imagine touching body without gloves...the skin was tough...didnt expect it to be so hard....then came yellow fat...well our body was healthy...didnt have much fat to cut thru nor was it burned or something like the adjacent tables body...poor people got stuck wit a burnt body cud not study anything...they wud come to our table the whole time to see muscles...
n the body on other side...so fat..they got thru the fat at the end of 2 sessions...

when i 1st got feel of a nerve i was like wow...its so strong..cordlike..one cud not break it wit bare hands...tendons looked so nice shiny n all....they were actually pretty

well when the 3 hours ended....v were glad v were done for the day...

slowly v did get adjusted to smell...started dissecting without finding it mucky..we cud even eat tiffin sitting beside the cadaver.....but b4 all this a girl did faint as v had so often heard..but it was more from stench n the fact that she was empty stomach n standing for 2 hours rather than fear or any such thing...
one of the guys..tied friendship band to the mummyfied body...one of them cut the ear of the cadaver jus from wanting to do something rather than anything else...its a way to give way to fear building up within us initially.....our body's eyes were open n we wud not like him looking up into our faces..so we wud cut a piece of skin n put it on his eye like a patch...
one day i saw the peons piling the cadavers on top of each other on one trolley n taking them to the cold storage....felt really bad..thought these were human bodies after all n they shd be treated wit dignity...n not piled up one on other as if they were jus things....it was a great leveller...made me realise wat we can be brought down to...

Thursday, May 24, 2007

why m i writing this...

i want people to know there is a degree called BDS...that i is a different course all together n not a sub branch of MBBS....that it involves 5yrs of training...v work on patients right from 3rd yr onwards...n that v r required to complete certain amount of work to be able to appear for exams...that v have to appear for practical exams in final yr where v r required to do everything v wud be doing in our day to day practice...that v have search our own exam patients.....v do have to study abt overall human anantomy physiology...n other subjects...that v study a lot more than jus 32 teeth...learn a lot more than pulling a tooth out....actually speaking extraction is the simplest dental procedure....n a lot more that goes into becoming a dentist.....

how i began writing...

i knew the reaction sarah n saira were gonna give when i wud tell them abt writing...they wud be like r u out of ur mind..n who wud like to read abt dental course....so i was prepared when i announced one day in the 1st week of internship...hello people i said in authoritative tone...n they glanced at me n were like what is this female gonna come up with...

I wanna write a book narrating the 4 yrs v spent in dental college...n b4 they cud say a word i continued..i dont know who is gonna read it..or if any1 is gonna be interested in it...but what the hell v r not doing anything better these day....n i guess this wud be fun....i have already spoken to julia coz i knew she wud be the only one enthusiastic abt such a project.....n have spoken to rohit n i have made him agree to help me (rohit is my sweet dear boyfriend who is a bit conservative n thinks i push things a bit too far...writing a book being one of them)..so its now up to both of u to decide...n i hope u both will agree...

by the looks of their face i knew i had won this battle...n i knew sarah wud convince vishal for me...(he is one of her best friends n my rakhi brother...n i know only sarah can make him say yes..)

so with sarah n saira on my side i and my group ventured into writing our experiences of these four yrs...

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

what brought us here.......

as for me i didnt think i had an option...since i was a kid i wanted to be a doctor...used to write dr sara on blank pages.....it was my dream...but it got near to being shattered...when i didnt get in mbbs...i was broken....didnt know what to do...how cud i fail so miserably in something i so badly wanted...had worked so hard to get.....cudnt accept it..jus cudnt take up bds...so took a standby option after the 1st round....then slowly...i calmed down...gathered myself together...decided being a dentist wouldnt be so bad....i cud add the dr perfix...n of course there was advantage that the life wudnt be hectic..n no emergencies....no cancellation of plans....so giving these excuses only to satisfy myself n convince myself i took it up in the next round.....


as for sarah...well it was her dad's dream...her dad is a builder...not very highly qualified...came to mumbai from manglore with jus few hundred rupees n made it big in the city of dreams...but his 1 dream was unfulfilled...he wanted to be a doc..n well sarah was quite opposed..she didnt wanna study work hard to be a doc...she proved that by getting a rank so unmentionable that i wudnt get her admission in even i guess speech therapy....well her dad then gave her ultimatum study again n give CET again or take a management (donation) seat....she now knew she was cornered....so she said ok for management seat but told her father that i m not gonna do mbbs come what may....i m not jus sticking my fingers in other people's orifices...except the mouth.....i will only do dentistry...her dad decided to give in that much...n here she was.....


next person is saira....hmmm..she is a happy go lucky carefree girl....also very hard working.......in 10th she got good percentage...she took up science..as arts n commerce was beneath her dignity...it was only for lesser mortals she said not for her highness saira shaikh.....well then she jus loved biology right from school days..she was allergic to physics n maths.....so there wasnt an option but to go for PCB (physics chemistry biology) group......she wud have jus loved doing anything from BSc n then Msc n Phd...or even physiotherapy......she jus gave CET coz everyone was giving..n basically to give a try....n she scored jus fine to get into our coll....



julia roberts.....aka juliet robert (got to know this secret only at the end of 1st yr at exam form filling time)....she is a bubbly chirpy girl...although forced into this profession....yet here the situation was very different....she got a very good rank..was getting into mbbs...but her parents were really not for mbbs...coz her elder sis was in mbbs...they said she is 26 n still studing for post graduation.....so they didnt want her in such a lengthy course...n they put her in bds though she wasnt too happy abt it......