OPUS - Unleashing the Creative Osmanian by Teja Thota

OPUS u n le a s h i n g t h e c re a t i v e o sm a ni an

Os mani aMedi calCol l ege Cl as sof2006

Osmania Medical College Estd. 1846

E.S.L. Narasimhan Governor, A.P.

Chief Minister, A.P.

Dr. C. Sidappa Gowrav Principal Osmania Medical College

OPUS

The Magazine Committee

Editor In Chief Dr. C. Siddappa Gowrav

Student Advisors Dr. Rajasree Dr. Pari Plavi Dr. Meera

Editors English

Telugu

Faraz Ahmed Farooqui Rubina W M Sashidhar S Janardhana Rao G Varun Teja

Art Editors Ravi Varma Sai Praneeth Lakshmi Asritha Gopikanth

Rajesh Songa A Viswajith S Praneeth Jagan Mohan

Concept & Design Vedant Kumar - UV Communications Mohammed Irfan - UV Communications Mohammed Imaduddin Teja Thota

Photography K Abhinav Raja Ashok Hari Krishna

Creative Artist Praneeth Raj Patel

Working Committee N Sai Prasad Veena Rao B Dinesh Sabitha C Vamsi Krishna Sindhura V

U Ravi Teja Ramya G K Sindhura V Sai Sharanya P Arun Raghav G Prasanna Kumar

OPUS

Contents Memorials

Through the Ages

Faculty Articles

Interview with Dr. Sudhir Naik

Student Articles

Poetry 38 Interview with Moka Praneeth

Pulse

Fun Zone

Paintings

Telugu Articles

Department Gallery

Batch Photos

OPUS

Faculty Articles

An Ode to Osmania Medical College by a Student and Teacher It was in the year 1972, I stepped into Osmania Medical College as a shy girl full of zest to become a paediatrician. Ah! I still remember the dettol wiped floor of Osmania General Hospital. The hospital taught me to be kind and patient. The medical knowledge imparted by the faculty was such that it remains through out your life. There was discipline among students. Alas, I could not become a clinical doctor, nevertheless as a Pharmacologist, I served with much sincerity and dedication towards the students as a medical teacher, for which I have deep passion. Yes, I love my college. It is here that I have grown into a Professor. It has been an honour for me to serve in Osmania Medical College. Earlier, there was dedication, total involvement and reverence amongst medical students towards the faculty. Such were the high moral standards set at that time. Osmania Medical College is one such institution where once a student or staff member joins, it makes them universally accomplished. The students are a wonderful lot, possessing academic excellence and a flair for extra curricular activities as well. I returned to this Mecca of medical excellence as a service Post Graduate student of Pharmacology in June, 1994. Getting a degree in Pharmacology was not the emphasis; I picked up the art of teaching, which I now realise, has overshadowed my student ambition of a pediatrician. Three years of P.G molded me into a dedicated teacher. The joy of teaching in OMC inspired me to pen these few lines. A medical teacher holds a deep fountain of forgiveness towards the students. A medical teacher has forbearance and her teaching gives wings to the pupils, allowing them to fly far and wide. A medical teacher is a pillar of strength and is always there in pain and joy to encourage and pamper the students. A medical teacher is the guiding light for a medico who shows the way and is always there to care and understand in the hour of need. God could not be there everywhere and therefore He made mothers and gurus or teachers. After so many years of service in teaching and imparting knowledge, when I walk out of this hallowed temple of education, I will carry these sweet memories to hold forever.

Dr. Sandhya Kiran Osmanian and Professor, Department of Pharmacology

A Quote Nothing is ever certain, nothing is ever safe

War

Today is overturning yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s settled good Everything dying keeps a hungry grip on life Nothing is ever born without screaming and blood - John Cornford. The poet is the great grandson of Charles Darwin. He died at the age of 24 fighting in the Spanish Civil

â&#x20AC;&#x153;He that picks up all sorts of wood, soon gets an armfulâ&#x20AC;?. (German)

Contributed by: Dr. Jagathi Dept of Pharmacology

OPUS

Faculty Articles

The Incomparable OGH To me, Osmania General Hospital is an institution which is beyond any comparison. The work pattern and the speed with which emergencies get justice is a wonder to be marveled at. I would like to narrate an incident which happened about 15 years ago, when I was on duty. Two pretty, young girls around the age of 20 years who were state level athletes and were ruthlessly and mercilessly stabbed all over their bodies by anti-social elements in a gymnasium near Kachiguda Railway Station, were brought to the casualty at OGH in the night. One of the girls was brought dead to the hospital and the other girl was in shock with multiple stabs and mutilations over the head, neck, face, limbs and abdomen. Within fifteen minutes of admission, she was wheeled into the operation theatre in the Emergency OT complex with no preparation, no investigations to evaluate, as there was no time to investigate and evaluate. In that hemorrhagic shock, with injuries all over the body, for a young girl of 20 years, it had to be a complete general anesthesia only. Then started the everyday miracle which is the tradition of OGH. The neurosurgeon on duty repaired all the lacerations on the left frontoparietal region and head, elevated the depressed fracture of the frontoparietal bone and evacuated the extradural collection of blood in the head. The plastic and reconstructive surgeon on duty with all his clinical skills repaired the badly mutilated face, nose and neck and made it look in proper perspective. The orthosurgeon on duty reduced the fractures of both bones on the forearm by fixing them with rush nails and repairing all those irregular lacerations on the limbs. The general surgeon on duty did the exploratory laparotomy and repaired the multiple omental tears due to the stabs, closed a huge jejunal perforation, and removed the spleen which was bleeding after the stabs. The entire surgery lasted for about 4 hours and all the surgical specialists were working in tandem, and in perfect harmony all through. The patient recovered from anesthesia after surgery without any complications and was later discharged from the hospital. When I look back, the memories of that incident fill me with a sense of pride, which I can’t explain in clear detail. Aren’t we just ordinary mortals? It is this great institution’s legacy and work culture, which made it all possible. Not all institutions can boast of an in-house specialist and super-specialist to render justice to all clinical problems. Such a feat would never be possible and feasible in even the greatest of corporate hospitals, as without the deposit of caution money, the patients will not even be attended to, and there is no guarantee that all super specialists will be available on duty at any given point of time. The incident did not fetch any recognition for me or for my colleagues then or later. We were never bothered about that. Even to this day, I remember my colleagues that day on duty; Dr. G. Prakash Rao, the neurosurgeon, Dr. Narayan Prasad, the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mohsin Ali Khan, the plastic surgeon, and Dr. G.V Prakash, the general surgeon. They are the unsung real heroes of that occasion. I am reminded of Mark Antony’s famous words during Julius Caesar’s funeral oration: “The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones”.

Dr. C G Raghuram Professor of Anesthesiology OGH

“A person is unlucky who falls on his back and breaks his nose”. (French)

OPUS

Faculty Articles

Perceptions Perceptions, mindset, attitude - all the three terms practically mean the same. Things are perceived as they are projected, provided, the perceiver is not a part of the situation, but a mere onlooker! For instance, I happen to be a passerby on a road where a road accident had already occurred. Curious, I pause to find out what went wrong. I am told a version which I ‘perceive’ as having occurred. This, in fact, could be what the other one has ‘perceived’ and can continue as a chain reaction. I might pass it on. In the process, someone with more imaginary skills might add some colour to what had already been ‘perceived’ before passing it further. Sometimes, the alterations are so numerous that the original gets completely distorted. With this ‘perception’, I try to exert my reasoning mind to understand how much of what it has perceived so far was in fact ‘projected’; especially, in regards to people! The history makers, the so called achievers, the award winners! How truly deserving are these people? So many attributes could in fact just be projections! So speaking, here are few of my ‘perceptions’: That I am not an isolated individual, That’s because I, as an individual in reality am, a part of this vast universe, Connected in one way or the other with every other thing, That nothing is strange and no none a stranger, It’s the same life force energy flowing through everyone and everywhere! The only thing that matters is the way things are ‘perceived’. Only ‘perceptions’ matter! Perceptions turn either into reality or myth once one goes through the situation. We perceive the external world through our five physical senses. It is generally perceived that humans are blessed with an additional sense i.e., the sense borne out of wisdom, or the sixth sense, the inner or intuitive eye, or the third eye. It is given so many names. While the external senses protect the body and provide comfort, the intuitive sense, as per my perception, tries to keep one connected to the so called “universal consciousness”. The sixth sense guides us from time to time to deal with everything and thereby maintains ‘universal harmony’. And that is how, I perceive, life is kept alive! The sixth sense, as I perceive, lies dormant within us and it needs to be invoked. It’s the way one perceives oneself that makes all the difference as perceptions go on to create personality! If one is projected as talented in a particular field, it is possible to nurture that skill with a positive attitude or perception, over a period of time. After all, there is hardly anything in nature that is absolutely impossible!

Dr. Meera Professor of Microbiology

I earnestly wish that every individual perceiving these ‘perceptions’ of mine should develop an attitude, which is all positive and beautiful for themselves. The way you lead your lives depends on your perceptions. Life is beautiful, and we know that beauty should not be perceived as something physical; it comes from something much deeper than that. Beauty in fact lies in one’s perceptions which frame the attitude!

“God makes the back to the burden”. (Spanish)

OPUS

Faculty Articles

Snake Bite Patients Don’t Obey Glasgow Coma Scales xI would like to share our experiences with various snake bite patients admitted to our hospital from time to time. Many of them, at the time of admission, are still and motionless and mimic brain-dead patients, but there ends the comparison. A particular case in our RICU two years back is worth mentioning. A twenty year old girl, working in a poultry farm on the outskirts of Hyderabad, was bitten by a snake (krait) in her sleep at midnight and the patient could reach the hospital at OGH only 6 hours after the bite. She was brought in a deeply unconscious condition with no reflexes and no response whatsoever. The pupils were dilated and fixed and the caloric test was negative. All the protective reflexes, viz sneeze, gag, cough and carinal were absent. Only her circulation was going with feeble attempts at respiration. She was admitted to our RICU and straightaway put on ventilator and critical life support and the necessary treatment for snake bite. There was no trace of any CNS activity for around a month but her CVS, respiratory system, hepatic and renal systems were functioning adequately without treatment. We did not lose hope and we were in for a real surprise, when she regained consciousness nearly a mouth after her admission. The patient stayed with us for one more month, improved gradually and we had to ensure that she recovered her neuromuscular power adequately, so as to enable us to successfully wear her off the ventilator. Two months after her admission to our RICU, she was discharged from the hospital in a fully healthy and ambulatory condition with no residual damage, whatsoever. The patient still comes to us for review and is doing fine. The moral of the story and the above experience is that one should not give up resuscitating snake bite patients first because they look like brain dead patients. It is worthwhile continuing the resuscitation as long as the other systems hold good. After all, let us not forget the famous saying “There is always a light at the end of the tunnel”.

Dr. C.G.Raghuram Professor of Anaesthesiology OGH

Medical Humanities Where stretchers screech and patients reach Doctors are the force, and Sisters on toes Ruptures are banned and deliveries are planned Anemia and Eclampsia go hand in hand Abortions and Abruptions seek the attention Bleeding and pallor cause lot of tension HIV's and HBS Ag's are no bar as all are at par Kick counts are important and Partograms significant

Dr. S Anita Asst. Professor OB-GYN Niloufer Hospital Osmanian 1983

Women are in pain and wait for the gain Fruits are borne by being humane

“It is the very backbone of wisdom not to trust too hastily”. (Latin)

OPUS

Faculty Articles

YUVA - The Future A Resource Center for Information, Guidance and Health Support to Youth aged 10-19 years Objectives of YUVA: l

Single window support and outreach services to youth on various issues faced by them (medical, psycho-social, sexual). To train all the stakeholders dealing with adolescents to equip them to adopt adolescent friendly approach. To take up research and evaluation of adolescent issues and programs.

YUVA is a one-stop service for the youth to address YUVA will adhere to the following principles: issues pertaining to: l Care and empathy l Pubertal changes including body image issues l Confidentiality and privacy Psycho-social problems

Low self esteem and depression

A partnership initiative of the H&F Welfare, N.R.H.M, WD & CW Dept.

Niloufer Hospital, Dept of Education, Youth Ministry and N.G.O’s.

A center of its first kind in the State of Andhra Pradesh

Respect for child rights

High risk behaviour and experimentation

Non-discriminative and a non-judgemental attitude

Working for the best interest of the youth

Drug abuse

Sexual abuse

Sexual and reproductive health

Expected outcome:

Life skills

Holistic development of the youth

This will Create a Department of Adolescent Medicine in Niloufer Hospital

Stress related problems

Ensure preventive, promotive and curative, physical (including sexual and reproductive) health of adolescents.

Career guidance

Rights and legal support

Dr. P Sudershan Reddy

Let empowered youth gain knowledge to make the right choices in life

Dr. Hima Bindu Singh

The service providers:

Dr. G Preethi M Uma Devi (Counselor)

- Gynecologists

- Psychologists

- Psychiatrists

- Counselors

- Legal Experts

- Cosmetologists

- Nutritionists

- Outreach Workers

Let youth modify their health behaviour

- Physicians

Let youth lead life with renewed self esteem and confidence

Let youth have knowledge about life skills to cope with challenges in their lives

Have youth gain clarity about their career goals and the future

“Even hares pull a lion by the beard when he is dead”. (Dutch)

OPUS

Faculty Articles

Sources of Inspiration and Strength A famous scientist had once remarked that if he was able to look beyond what others could see, it was only because he had stood on the shoulders of giants. On the same note, I too have derived great inspiration and strength from the hearts of giants. Usually, I pick up some words of wisdom from such giants, mull over them with my whole heart and keep them at the back of my mind through the day; in short, a part of me is in ‘meditation’ on the ‘heart’ of that saying. I have found this very useful and practicable. It helps to keep me centered within my self. I would like to share just a few of such ‘heart’-ening expressions. -

Our role is to sow. The harvest is His. The next crop of seeds is His.

You cannot create love in others except by consuming yourself with that love, allowing yourself to be burned up in that love.

Each of us is a particle of a larger body moving forward.

Many truths of life are not necessarily obvious. We need to delve deep into the silence of the heart, far from the noises of life. This is the holy temple, the vibrant space of love. This love, carry it inside you like a protective jewel.

Love the living, its no use loving the dead.

The most important thing for a human being is to work towards his own evolution and attain levels of consciousness that will let him see life from more real aspects. No one can force him to do this. What is the point in being intrigued by the secrets of the universe when his own nature is quite as mysterious to him?

Love means tenderness, sacrifice, generosity, forgiveness, compassion, sympathy and ability to bear the pain of the one loved.

We need to exchange a self–centred, fearful, tearful, purposeless life for a life of absolute confidence, courage, conviction and fulfillment of our life’s purpose.

I am a human being only if I am human in my outlook, human in my approach, human in my behaviour and human in my generosity, in my love and in my capacity to die for others.

A human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.

When an electron vibrates, the universe shakes.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.

We change the world not by what we say or do but by what we become.

The total number of minds in the Universe is one.

Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul.

One who has one goal has only one problem – how to get there. But people have many goals, so they have many problems.

It is the soft who wins the battle always not the hand, the hard is broken.

Dr.Pari Plavi

“Blood boils without fire”. (Spanish)

Professor Department of Anatomy

OPUS

Interview

Tête à Tête with Dr.Sudhir Naik A group of four students interviewed the noted cardiologist, Dr Sudhir Naik at his residence. Having completed his undergraduation and post graduation from Osmania Medical College, he went on to do his super specialisation in Cardiology from AIIMS. He went on to become Professor of Cardiology at Osmania Medical College. He is a founder fellow of Indian Society Of Echocardiography. He is presently working as a senior consultant Cardiologist at Apollo Hospitals. He came across as an extremely affable person, full of life. It was a real pleasure talking to him. He was kind enough to share some of his fond memories and his views on various topics with us.The following are excerpts from the interview. Sai Prasad: Sir thank you very much for having agreed to give us your precious time. Dr. Sudhir Naik

Dr. Sudhir Naik: My greetings to all of you. I must congratulate all of you for coming out with the annual college magazine of Osmania Medical College. We also wanted to publish a magazine 40 years back, but at that time it was a herculean task to get the magazine printed as the costs of printing were enormous. Faraz: How do you remember Osmania Medical College, back when you were a student?

Dr.Sudhir Naik: The best part of my medical education was that our batch of 1959 had the unique distinction of studying in 3 colleges despite being in just one medical college. We started out in Osmania University in our first year, the next two years in Afzalgunj and finally in the present Osmania Medical College. We enjoyed our time, within a framework of limits. Our professors were very strict, if you wanted to learn, say, physiology, we had to carry the book Best &Taylor and had to get it signed by Prof. Sitaramiah, the professor of Physiology, before we could enter his class. And believe me in the first six months we could not understand the book at all; by the time you finished the first chapter you'd forget where you started and what you'd learnt. To pass in the pre-clinicals was a tough job in itself. And then, the next was the clinical side, which was wonderful, putting on the white coat and going around as though you were the best doctor in the world, not knowing what was there on the other side. We had wonderful teachers, like for surgery- Dr. Bahadur Khan, the HOD of surgery. It's always a sheer pleasure watching a master craftsman at work, and Dr. Bahadur Khan was one such. Once I remember a surgeon was operating, and the whole field was full of blood. We being in 3rd and 4th years were all worried. They asked us to leave the theatre. We came outside the theatre. Then Dr. Bahadur Khan just strolled in non-plussed and stopped the bleeding. When he was removing his gloves, we heard him laugh, “Ha! Chaku pakadna nahi aatha aa gaye surgery karne aata". His clinical acumen was impeccable. I remember one incident where he walked in to the outpatient, saw a patient sitting, and said, "Why is this lady here? Send her to GMH. This is an ovarian cyst!" Such were our teachers! Veena: If not a doctor what else would Dr. Sudhir Naik be? Dr. Sudhir Naik: I decided to be a doctor, I became a doctor. Actually, I wanted to be a surgeon, and I got a seat in Mumbai in KEM Hospital under Prof. Hinday, a neurosurgeon. But after working in Osmania, who would like any other place? I came back the moment I got a seat here and I was under Dr. V.K Naik. Dinesh: What do you think of the present day medical education system, and how do you think it differs from the system back in your time? What improvements do you think can be made in our teaching system? Dr. Sudhir Naik: My first suggestion to make medical education better, is that the teachers must keep you up to date with the latest technology, rather than teaching archival medicine. For example, the students should be taught about applied anatomy, ECG, and echocardiography in their final year, rather than postponing it to the PG level. That way, they would develop a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the basics of medicine. The students today are just as bright as any; it's just a question of how you mould them. In addition, with the advent of the Internet, the old fashioned didactic manner of teaching is now outdated. Students are now reading up on the Internet. So all a teacher has to do, is create a little inquisitiveness in the student, give him a little push and guide him. A change to a new pro-active approach to teaching is what is needed today. This would make the students more confident and it would help the student communicate concisely, clearly and comprehensively. You must be able to get information from the patient, interpret that data and use it for his benefit. How well you do it, despite all your knowledge and skill, will ultimately depend upon your communication. Veena: There has been a lot of progress in the health care industry since you first entered this field, in terms of technology. Where do you think we are heading? Dr. Sudhir Naik: What medicine was, when we started, was science and art with a human touch; today's medicine on the other hand is 13

“Like blood, like means, and like age, make the happiest marriage”. (German)

OPUS

Interview

slowly turning to be only technology with no human touch.There weren't many investigations back when we were students. It was just the professor who made the final diagnosis. The small clues, the small secrets which are the key in coming to a final diagnosis, that was the fun of it. It wasn't just fun, but it was also a great learning process of how without technology, we could achieve excellent results. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have technology. With technology we should try to improve the predictive value of clinical examination. Today's medicine is evidence based; you can't just decide what procedure you want to perform on a patient. I'd also like to add that critical to practising medicine today is keeping in touch with etiquette and ethics, while maintaining an evidence based approach. However, there now seems to be a over reliance on technology to such an extent that the art of practising medicine now seems to be dwindling. Dinesh: What kind of opportunities did Osmania offer to you when you came back here as a Post Graduate student? Dr. Sudhir Naik: I feel the greatest thing was the stimulus that we got from our teachers. They were very inspiring. We would always want to be like our teachers, like Dr. V K Naik, Dr. S R Rao, Dr. M D Menon; these people were like walking encyclopedias. Veena: PG in India or residency in the US, what's your opinion regarding that? Dr. Sudhir Naik: For the present generation, with globalization, if you want to learn and acquire the skills to be a great physician, the opportunities available in the US in the best centers are becoming less. You may work in the US, but ultimately what is important is that if you're coming back with those skills, then it makes sense. Most people go there in search of greener pastures, and once people get used to that kind of life, they don't feel like coming back. I would suggest there should be an exchange program/training program, and everything should be made available at the leading edge of technology, with wonderful teachers. Then even India would be a great place to pursue post-graduation. Faraz: Why did you particularly choose cardiology as a specialization? Dr. Sudhir Naik: In those days, cardiology was an interesting field because everything was based upon clinical diagnosis. There were only two centers in the country where the latest in cardiology was taught: AIIMS, and CMC. I joined AIIMS in 1967, immediately after my MD. I joined there because I found they had great research labs and they used the latest technology. To go from OMC to AIIMS, I experienced a change in work culture. The workload was immense, and there was nothing like off duty hours or a day off. It was hard training, but we enjoyed it. My colleague, Dr. Khalilullah, along with Captain Mendis designed an indigenous pacemaker (KM pacemaker), and we presented this at Osmania Medical College for the first time. Sai Prasad: How do you manage to balance your professional and personal life being in the medical field? Dr. Sudhir Naik: It depends on how you want to spend your time. Once you have a clear cut idea that you have to do certain things, you have to do certain things. Dinesh: How do you deal with the stress of the medical profession? Dr. Sudhir Naik: Every person in this world has stress - a first class student, an IAS officer, an MBBS student. What's important is living with stress without stress. Events can't overtake you. You have to take control of events. If you don't do that, you'll get lost. So, the important thing is you have to accept reality and find ways and means to tide over the crisis. If you succumb to that, you won't be able to succeed any further. Faraz: Any parting thoughts? Dr. Sudhir Naik: I wish you best of luck. I'm very happy because you're starting something we wanted to start 40 years back.Please keep going, and when you finish and go for higher studies, you should pass the responsibility on and make your juniors ready. In the larger interest of the institution, you need to work collectively and only then can you succeed.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The body pays for a slip of the foot, and gold pays for a slip of the tongueâ&#x20AC;?. (Malaysian)

OPUS

Student Articles

Close Encounters of Every Kind You must be thinking…”What a weird title for what is obviously another diatribe about the college”. Well I’d have to agree with you about the diatribe part and to find out the rest keep reading. It took me three years of boring, unrelenting and mind numbing study in facilities resembling concentration camps to finally get into what was purported to be the dream institution to study medicine in Osmania Medical College. Things started going downhill pretty much from that high. I always imagined a medical college to be placed in a large estate amidst lush green fields and vibrant life with people scurrying around in their dazzling white habits speaking in hushed tones exuding confidence with every stride and mannerism, and the hundred year old palatial building forming an imposing backdrop to this scene. Then came the reality check. The college was placed in crowded Koti and was in what appeared to be a building left standing after a bomb went off inside. Windows shattered and walls cracked. Well I can go on like this complaining and whining how all my hopes were dashed in an instant, thrown into the depths of Tartarus never to rise again. Walking in for the first time was for the mandatory Medical Examination, where we were asked to submit a urine sample and out walks one guy who apparently was saving up for the event. He comes out delicately balancing the contents of the flask given, filled to the brim making sure not a drop of the precious contents escapes. I caught the eye of the person behind me and we started sniggering. I should have realised then, that this is how I would spend most of my time in college. Sniggering, laughing encompassed by the simple and bountiful joys of life. I am not going to talk about academics as I am sure we all have our fair share of nightmares. Moving on to more important matters… Then came the seniors who, well, pretty much made sure that I ran home as soon as the class was let out. Inevitably I was caught, sang the only song I knew the words to (an Austrian folk song) and probably made the biggest blunder of my student life and I am still paying the price. I was threatened, cautioned, lectured about manners and made to do quite a few things that I never imagined I’d do. The very same things that left me red in the face for weeks together now are my source of cheering and these rather embarrassing moments gave me quite a few friends too. Till I came to this college I never appreciated the plethora of personalities one could meet. One friend has a knack for converting even the most innocent expression of speech to one filled with double innuendos, another would refuse to bring his nose out of the textbook even for a whiff of fresh air and yet another couldn’t care less if the earth stopped spinning as long as he had another person to talk to. S. Janardhana Rao

There were singers, and dancers and philosophical thinkers, painters, I really mean artists,

2006 Batch

“An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains”. (Dutch)

OPUS

Student Articles

athletes and real bad*** fighters. My mind screamed out in apprehension and spun in confusion. Then I started settling down. Look at the good in each person, people usually say and I intended to take that advice seriously. Well, now that I am in my tail end of life in college I can say the strategy worked, for the most part at least and I have more friends than I ever dared dreamed possible. Our first year in college was spent in running away from seniors to the extent where we ate lunch in the bus depot, afraid to give even the remote opportunity to the old fellows; gossiping and all other such important things, punctuated by the occasional episodes of pre-exam cramming and mugging up. The second year brought with it the much awaited clinical postings where we spent greater part of the day running between college and hospital and catching up on sleep in the lectures in the afternoon. I’d say without hesitation that it was also the most momentous year for us. We did the NYDC where we worked with the scary seniors as equals. A situation we thought was impossible a few months ago. At this juncture, I met a bunch of people who, let’s say, were extremely principled and truly believed that they could bring about a change in society at large, one person at a time. After that, we spent a good deal of time playing volleyball uncontrollably every evening, till the time came when we started to plot our northern sojourn of Pulse. Many consider this to be the high point of fun within the student life, I beg to differ. I don’t deny that we had fun and plenty of it at that, but, most notably the trip cemented for us the friendships that were growing in the past months. It brought us to an understanding where we could, to say the least, finish each others sentences. The downside though were the misunderstandings and minor scuffles, which only served to enhance the enjoyment when these clouds of conflict drifted off. Coming back from Pulse, we again plunged instantly into the most amazing college day we had till date, and for the record, ours this year is going to be much better than that. A full ten days of us coming to college at 9 sharp and from then on being marauding groups of people hurrying to participate in every conceivable sport and event. Ten days of pure unadulterated fun amidst friends. Then comes the highpoint of MEDEX which gave us a month’s break from classes and ten days of nerve racking stress. Organising and putting together an exhibition of all things medicine, was no small task and every day’s work was followed by a night of complaining and whining. During these days there were no divisions, no ranks, no seniority; every soul worked in the college for the cause and it really brought out the underlying harmony that I am sure is truly unique to this wonderful college, yes, I’ve been brain washed over the past few years. From the clouds of fun we then crashed down like torrential rain into the muddy waters of study and academics. We end our 4 years of student life in college with our college week, which by the time you read this, would have ended in glory and lots of memories which shall be cherished for a lifetime. It will sound clichéd if I say that coming here has changed me and affected me to no end, but the funny thing about clichés is that they are nearly always true…

“A rumour goes in one ear and out many mouths”. (Chinese)

OPUS

Student Articles

Osmania Through The Eyes Of A Fresher They were sideways and somewhat erratic movement as if I was in a weird swing. What was it? In a beautiful green campus where there were people in various kinds of smart uniforms moving around, seriously busy with their tasks. I was also in a fresh new uniform standing in a corner watching everything with anticipated excitement. Very soon, the morning drill was about to start and I had been instructed to rush to the Anatomy class later. Suddenly, somebody with a familiar voice started gently shaking me and I woke up with a start, breaking my dream of a journey into the future. We, my parents and me, were already at the Pune station. We disembarked the great Indian Railways and rushed to my cousins’ place. I had to report at the Dean’s office, AFMC (Armed Forces Medical College) by 9. 00 AM to complete the formalities of my admission to AFMC But I had no idea that it was not to be so. As instructed, I reported to the Dean’s office and was taken along with the other candidates for the medical fitness examination and test. I had always thought that this was just a formality and moreover, I considered myself to be in perfect health. Everything was going tine. My smile was becoming wider and wider with approval from various army doctors who were conducting the fitness tests. The biggest shock of my life was waiting for me when I entered the ophthalmologist’s room. The ophthalmologist declared me unfit due to my eye refraction error being slightly more than their permissible limit. In a short span of few minutes, all my dreams came crumbling down around me. The only thing I could do was hug my parents and cry. In a very gloomy mood, I then started preparing for my journey back to Hyderabad. Fortunately a news, like a cool breeze in the hot summer, came from my teachers of Sri Chaitanya that the EAMCET results were out and I had secured the 21st rank, my admission to Osmania Medical College was a certainty; still, I was not really happy because I had never dreamt of being a part of OMC and I didn’t know much about it. Before the EAMCET counselling. I visited OMC with my parents so that I could make my final decision between Osmania, Gandhi and Kasturba Medical College in Manipal where I had got a good rank. It is said, “First impression is the last impression”. But in this case, it didn’t turn out to be true. I wasn’t very impressed when I visited OMC for the first time. This was probably because of the deserted look of the college since we went there after college timing. There was no one to show us around or answer our queries. Moreover, I had previously visited KMC, Manipal and AFMC, Pune and naturally, was comparing the look and plushness of their campuses to Osmania. I had great expectations in mind regarding the infrastructure. Throughout the two years of intermediate, our teachers used to encourage us to work hard so that we could get admission into a prestigious college like Osmania. After being disenchanted at my first visit, I visited Gandhi Medical College and Hospital which was my next option. The campus looked nicer and a little more inviting. However, when I took advice from seniors, teachers and my father’s doctor friends, there was unanimity among all of them that I must give first preference to Osmania. Wondering about such a strong recommendation from everybody about Osmania, I started exploring the deeper layers. OMC is one of the oldest premier institutes of AP to which admissions are strictly on merit basis. It is a vast institute with many hospitals attached comprising about 10,000 beds. It caters to a large number of

“Having two ears and one tongue, we should listen twice as much as we speak”. (Turkish)

OPUS

needy patients providing clinical material of every category to students. For any medical college which is seriously involved in training future doctors, the most important factor is the number and variety of patients it attracts. In this aspect, no other institute is comparable to OMC. Osmecans are successful doctors all over the world bringing fame to their alma mater and making their nation proud. After the admission process, all the students were called for the orientation programme. That one day of college completely changed my opinion of the college. We were welcomed with a lot of warmth by the seniors and faculty. Once college began and I started exploring the campus, I realized that my previous opinion had been based only on the outer appearance of the front part of the campus. The introductory classes by various departments were very insightful and a great way to welcome students to a medical college. The staff consists of brilliant and dedicated teachers. There is also a lot of facility for extracurricular activities. I had a glimpse of the Reference library and its peaceful ambience was quite alluring. Even more impressive is the e-library, donated by the alumnus. Such facilities can be a matter of pride for any world class institute. Now, I think I have landed in Osmania by destiny and feel very fortunate about it after spending only a few weeks here. I am grateful to the Almighty for he not only disposed when I proposed but re-proposed. Long Live Osmania Medical College

Student Articles

Sania Jiwani 2010 Batch

Pulse of a Medical Student Hello Friends !!! I know every colleague of mine in this college is proud to say that he is a MEDICO. This column is just to let everyone know the pain shared by medical students in their metamorphosis from raw, exschool kid ducklings to qualified doctors in their swan-like white coat glory. Bright eyed youngsters have a euphoria of qualifying for a premier medical institution. The selection process sieves brilliant students habituated to being front runners, and brings them together as equals. From being the ‘Topper’ of his class at school, the freshman student is immediately demoted to being just ‘one of the guys’ ! Thus, begins the medical student’s long and rough journey, where small victories are few and hardly won. Confusion and contradiction dig at him throughout his academic career. Hardly has he acclimatized to the feeling of achievement at having made it to the medical college, that he has to contend with failure-he has to get used to the idea of flunking in exams ! But with the toughness and strength in him, he adapts readily to the changed scenario in his life. He learns to grin and bear it all - the cadaveric gloom of the dissection hall and the equally gloomy thoughts and predictions regarding his future. The boredom of biochemical reactions, of blood and urine and their changeable colours over the Bunsen flame, the experiments in physio-lab that make a first year medico stab his own

“The one-eyed man is a king in the country of the blind”. (Spanish)

OPUS

Student Articles

Hello Friends !!! I know every colleague of mine in this college is proud to say that he is a MEDICO. This column is just to let everyone know the pain shared by medical students in their metamorphosis from raw, exschool kid ducklings to qualified doctors in their swan-like white coat glory. Bright eyed youngsters have a euphoria of qualifying for a premier medical institution. The selection process sieves brilliant students habituated to being front runners, and brings them together as equals. From being the ‘Topper’ of his class at school, the freshman student is immediately demoted to being just ‘one of the guys’ ! Thus, begins the medical student’s long and rough journey, where small victories are few and hardly won. Confusion and contradiction dig at him throughout his academic career. Hardly has he acclimatized to the feeling of achievement at having made it to the medical college, that he has to contend with failure-he has to get used to the idea of flunking in exams ! But with the toughness and strength in him, he adapts readily to the changed scenario in his life. He learns to grin and bear it all - the cadaveric gloom of the dissection hall and the equally gloomy thoughts and predictions regarding his future. The boredom of biochemical reactions, of blood and urine and their changeable colours over the Bunsen flame, the experiments in physio-lab that make a first year medico stab his own fingers with needles for learning about blood grouping and all ... wondering what he ever did in past to deserve all this!!! Then comes the first hurdle of medical life. .. .FIRST YEAR EXAMS almost all students work hard with the fear that if he won’t get through the exams, he will be RETAINED in ..... Then comes the SECOND YEAR . . . where he sets up his date with DISEASE and all its dramatic manifestations... The mind of a medical student is a virtual battlefield of emotion. He watches his school friends enviously as they celebrate the spring of their lives, while he struggles with microbial invasions and drug pharmacokinetics, forensic perversions and pathogenesis of syndromes. He, broadens his horizons in the microscopic world of vague and nebulous like forms, explores the architecture of pathological specimens and slimy frogs and sooty drums of the pharmacology lab. Now he enters into the clinical arena and wards where they are mould into good practitioners. On one hand, he is taught about the great theoretical medical facts, while on the other, he is even taught of inadequate tools in the face of human suffering. His immature Psyche and youthful personality struggle to keep pace with his expanding knowledge and experience of life. As he struggles with his own tenuous adulthood, academic exams wait at every step to quash his zeal. He comes face to face with an eternal contraindication: How in the world can he value the sanctity of life and dedicate his own life, to safeguard that of the others. Under siege from foes of his indefatigable spirit, he learns to keep up his enthusiasm and keeps the fire burning within. He knows his journey is long : really long, while his school pals are already settled in different professions already earning, he still seems to have an eternity of study and more examinations before he can even dream of earning. His courage is bruised but never crushed and patiently waits for his bright future ahead. All the majority of humanity learns about life in detail after the age of fifty [50], he witnesses and internalizes before he turns twenty five (25). For all those great survivors engaged in making sense of the word ‘HUMANITY’ and marvel of human existence, this tribute goes out from an ex-medical student and potential teacher to the present medical student and potential healer..... And hats off to you!!! A MEDICO..... HATS OFF TO THE MEDICAL STUDENTS AND ESPECIALLY TO ALL MY PROFESSORS WHO ARE 19

“Watch the faces of those who bow low”. (Polish)

OPUS

Student Articles

SHAPING US FOR THE FUTURE HEALTH GIVERS Yogesh Patel 2006 Batch

Life in a Hostel “Arey Mug unda?” This is our alarm tone. Like a parade, people one by one come into the room looking for buckets and mugs of which there is exists a perennial shortage in our hostel. Searching for a mug is like finding Mackenna’s gold. If we had a barter system prevailing today, we would trade 100 kg gold even for a single broken mug. “Arey aipoinda?” This is the next most frequently asked question. This is more annoying than the first one, driving away the little bit of peace of mind we enjoy while bathing. It is the only question the answer of which varies very much with reality. Guys say “5 minutes ra“ but come out after 25 minutes. After bathing, we now are ready for a dangerous manoeuvre i.e. combing our freshly washed silky hair with a dirty comb stuffed with a ton of mud. Then comes the paper room. I have always had a doubt lingering in my brain, “Why can’t front page headlines be as attractive as pictures in Hyderabad Times?” While the main paper will be lying around like yesterday’s paper, the entertainment section will be read by minimum of five people. We march into “the mess” like a company of soldiers, fighting with food, forcibly pushing it into mouth and telling to a friend sitting beside us “arey ee mess eppudu inthenara ?” We pick up our bags which contain only one thing- an age old apron, un-ironed, all folded and dirty -and go to posting, where we stand continuously for 3 hrs asking a patient’s whereabouts and listening to their woes, gaining as little knowledge as possible. Then we return to the hostel for lunch. Ever seen a stampede? Come to our mess exactly at 12 o’ clock either on a Wednesday or a Sunday and you can see one quite literally! There are guys pushing each other like flood victims to get past through a small door, the mess worker shouting “Saar undandi saar! Saar enti saar idi!” amidst the pandemonium. But we won’t listen because that’s chicken day and only the first few get the leg piece. And then it’s time to go to class. See how cruel life is! Just one word ’attendance’ makes you spend 3 continuous hours in utter boredom. You can see another stampede in the backbenches, where we have guys sitting on each others’ laps even when the first few benches are empty. After the second nap (remember, the first one is in the class), we get up for mess. During the nights, the mess food gets more distasteful than ever. I’ve made up my mind to give an award to our mess worker for making the same insipid food every day. I bet none of you can achieve what our mess worker does with ease. Even if you or I were to take our chances in the kitchen, we could, by chance or accident, whip up something appetising. But our mess worker? Never!!! No exaggeration. Ask any hosteler nearby. After dinner we spend the rest of the night mostly in the TV room – very addictive (if the remote is in our hands). Often, some guys, very fond of news, come and ask for the news channel. We normally accede to their “Cleaning a blot with blotted fingers makes it a greater blot”. (Spanish)

OPUS

Student Articles

demand. Hardly any time passes by before another guy comes, asking for the same news. They watch it only once, but we guys watch the news nearly 10 times a day. Just as the clock nears 12, our stomachs growl, our hands and legs involuntarily climb the wall behind the hostel and get into Basra, the Guinness Record holder for the most unhygienic hotel on earth. We pay the person sitting behind the desk, our mouths uttering the words “Ek biryani rice bhaiyya! Double masala dalke!” There, we encounter friends already sitting in the waiting bench saying “Entra, nuvvu kuda biryani rice aa?” After eating for the 5th or 6th time in the day, we arrive at the most addictive part - “SOLLU”, “BATHAKANI” or “CHIT CHATTING”- whatever you call it. We gather in a room, find a comfortable place to sit, then start talking about everything from “eeroju Spandana dress bagundi kada” to “Jagan separate party pedatada” to “US-Iraq war” and pretty much every part of Webster’s encyclopedia gets a look. Here, I would like to mention about some of our friends behaving peculiarly as the night gets darker. They suddenly disappear in the middle of the discussion. Don’t panic! We usually find them on the terrace, walking around in the dark, smiling continuously like psychopaths as they speak on the phone to some other psychopaths (probably), uttering the most polite words which we don’t normally expect from them. Finally we (excluding the psychopaths) go to sleep at 3 or 4 a.m. when most of the rural India wakes up for their daily routine. We don’t need an alarm. Remember our default? “Arey Mug unda?” NOTE 1:

This schedule only holds good for guys whose biological cycle is intact.(I mean there are guys whose day starts at 12 pm).

NOTE 2:

All the characters and situations in the above article are fictitious. Any resemblance is purely coincidental and I owe no responsibility for such. Hence you can’t sue me.

I conclude by saying “This is only one side of the coin. The other side is unity, study, and friendship. I cannot discuss them here as it’ll take the whole magazine if I do. We, the hostelers are proud of who we are, what we do, and are grateful to our college which brought us together in our second home, the hostel”.

N. Tej Lohit Reddy 2006 Batch

“Show a dog a finger, and he wants the whole hand”. (Yiddish)

OPUS

Student Articles

Love Your Life The Way It Is “Kirthi” the teacher calls out my name. “Yes, Madam”, I reply, realising that the most cherished moment of the day is over and from now onwards, the professors take control and begin to unhesitatingly pump information. Their looks haunt me. They seem to imply that I do not know a thing in this profession, and that I have a long and bumpy journey, one which they have managed to successfully complete many years ago, and have seen scores of dumb-heads come and go every year. The looks of my Intermediate lecturers used to be so different. They were expectant in nature. They were confident that I would make them proud, that I was capable, talented, and worthy enough of achieving the lofty goals set by them. Here, after my name is called, I lose my recognition and I go back to being just another of the many faces in the class. I had longed to come to this college. I had dreamt of sitting in a class full of white aprons. Once my big moment of the morning ends, I start talking to the girl sitting next to me to see if I was alone in feeling this way. Her feelings mirror mine and that only makes me feel more disappointed. At home, I still get my due recognition from my mother but I am not quite the queen bee that I was anymore. She has started to focus on my younger sister now. My parents seem to think that I have already achieved something and should look after myself, and do not require being paid attention to. “Unfair deal”, I think. As the class gets over, I am brought back out of my reverie. We discuss movies and novels for a while before the next onslaught of information begins. The non-stop lecture has one single bright moment, again, my name being called out for the attendance. Sapped of energy by two long lectures, I decide to skip the last afternoon class and go home. Home, where I can make my presence felt, where I would be explained why I was given only dal and rice for lunch, or why I was not taken out over the weekend. “Where are you going?” asks my classmate. “Going home,” I reply vengefully. I decide I would go by auto today. “Let me make full use of the pocket money given. There is no point in sharing the journey with others, save money everyday, discomfort myself, go home and get ignored”, I mull. I stop walking and wait for an auto. One, two, five minutes, and yet I see no auto, further compounding my despair. Then I glance across the road and see a hut, roof full of holes through which rain water was dripping and inside it, 6 people, huddled up for warmth. They were laughing, joking, and enjoying the rain. What surprises me, is their contentment in what little they have and how they seem to be thankful to God for it. A yellow colored auto glides over, obstructing them from view .“Memsahib, kidhar jaana hai,” the auto driver asks, placing his auto and services in front of me. The thought of a quiet journey home tempts me for a moment, but composing myself, I give him a quick smile and start walking towards the bus stop…

Kirthi Narayana 2010 Batch

“A dog that has once tasted the flesh cannot be kept from the flesh”. (Latin)

OPUS

Student Articles

A Tribute To Ross

Samatha Toopran 2010 Batch

I still remember the day when our Zoology sir started the lesson Plasmodium vivax.. “Yet another boring life cycle!” I thought (which later proved to be the most important IPE question). The moment he took the name Begumpet, I was delighted.”At last!Some scientific achievement is related to my city.!” Our sir said that Dr.Sir Ronald Ross who played an important role in the study of the life cycle of the Plasmodium vivax had actually conducted his experiments at a laboratory in Begumpet. That very moment, I was determined to see that place. As soon as I reached home (thankfully, they used to leave us at 5 o’clock in the first year) , I shared the news with my father and asked him, rather ordered him to take me there at the earliest.Meanwhile, I gathered more information on Dr.Ross, as I eagerly waited for the day. On the day, we started relatively early in the morning. After a short journey in the car, we stopped by an old building. We were finally there but I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the building.”How could a laboratory of such great historical importance be left to its fate like that?”, I wondered,feeling bad for the poor condition of the building. As we parked our car and made our way to the building, a stranger shouted out for my father. The man turned out to be my father’s childhood dear friend with whom he lost contact. My father greeted his friend,an expression of mingled surprise and joy on his face and they slowly slipped off into a never ending conversation which left me feeling bored and left out. After a while, my father observed my restlessness and told me I could go have look by myself. I went in, excited by the fact that I was walking in the same place where the miracle happened. After walking some distance, I saw a door, half open at one corner of the building. I was suddenly struck by a strong desire to know what was in the room. At that moment I heard some noise from that place. I was taken aback out of fear, then I thought “Come what may, I will go in”. I slowly progressed towards the door and flung it open. A strong beam of light struck my eyes. Out of the blinding light, I heard a voice, ”Who are you, little one? Why are you here?” It was an old man. I introduced myself and told him I had come to see Dr. Ross’s laboratory. The man smiled and offered to show the place. I wondered if I could trust him, but my enthusiasm to see the place blinded any doubts I might have had about him and I followed him. Later, as we walked through the silent corridors, I asked him who he was. ”I am Ronald Ross”, he replied.”Are you the Ronald Ross?”, I sought to verify with a shiver. There was a moment of silence. I quickly followed fearing I might lose him. Finally, we reached Dr. Ross’ laboratory.”This is where I conducted my experiments on Plasmodium vivax and tested infected malarial blood. Do you know my assistant, Hussain Khan played an important role in my research activity? He even accepted mosquito bites”, he explained. Finally, on the 20th of August 1897, I tasted the sweet sweet fruits of my effort I discovered the oocytes of P. vivax in the crop wall of a female anopheles mosquito”, he continued proudly. Ultimately, we sat down on a bench and began to talk. I asked a lot of questions regarding his research and he answered each of them with immense patience. Suddenly I felt a hand on my back. I turned around and to my surprise, found my father standing behind me. ”Who are you talking to?”he asked. I turned to find that the old man who claimed to be Ronald Ross missing. He was nowhere. For sometime, I just gaped into emptiness. Then I fell into deep thoughts. “I spent a few minutes with Dr. Ronald Ross! Isn’t it true? Was that just my imagination?” A heap of questions ran through my mind. The analytical part of my brain suddenly started working. “How could Dr. Ross be alive? How could I be talking to him?” It all seemed impossible but... I made my way back home with a lot of doubts disturbing me that day. That August 20th, everybody in the class was dressed in red. Perhaps a tribute to Ross.

“Feet that are used to move cannot remain quiet”. (Spanish)

OPUS

Student Articles

Health ... Mind Over Medicine Not once should we forget the essential fact of an action being a mental phenomenon. A patient comes to a doctor saying “My leg hurts”. A leg which was working so well, suddenly speaks out, saying it’s in pain and wants to work well again. Take its body out on a walk, and do all the things it did before. Flesh that speaks out through the mind in the form of agony! Now its upto us to bring that body back to normalcy and help it engage itself back into the world. What I want to impress is that should we not approach medicine with a philosophical spirit? I am sure and you will agree with me that holism in medicine is not academic. Curing the body by a mechanical and materialistic approach has shown medical errors. Disease as we learn, is taught and shown to us as an objective entity with an organic basis and seldom is the psychological aspect mentioned. Where is the entity of the mind amidst all this? The mind is, simply put, the functional property of the brain, hence, both mutually complementary. Could not one embrace this fact, and supplement this concept to the technical and objective aspect of modern medicine? Should we not work on our emotional and intuitive quotients. Why is empathic care not being stressed upon? It is obvious that the doctor patient relationship is becoming paternalistic, or simply put, active-passive. Are we blind not to see in the patient the loss of certainty, freedom in action, of being able to see the world in that wonderful way, when there exists disease? It would be terrible to not recognize that the patient deserves more opportunity to express himself and take a more active part in his treatment. We have to recognize the fact that we are unknowingly hindering a process of healing, which most of the time is self-repair. We definitely cannot see how the mind manifests in this process. It’s is a purely functional structure, not physical. It does not extend through the dimension of space. But it definitely acts through the will to make the body act. Hence would it not be logical to ask information on what the disease means to the patient? Would it not make sense to include the patient’s narrative of the disease into the diagnosis and treatment. We cannot afford being neutral observers in an objective world. It is necessary in our profession that we have this quality of being empathic. In the moral sense, humane and in the metaphysical sense –HUMANISTIC. Disease is not the critical core of medicine, the patient is. Hence, the patient becomes the initiator, agent, terminator and the source. To retrieve requires communication, a skill slowly being lost, as a result of increasing emphasis on a subjective approach. He comes with a load of history and needs something that can be known to the physician through a “dialogue”. So essential are the components of emotion and interaction, that we cannot compromise on this art of dialogue. There will be the question of medicine being a science or an art. The answer would be it is a science which is pure artistry. Hence the urgent need to train oneself, learn the art and practice it. It doesn’t come in a day. The art of communication , I am sure will bring with it the empathy and the much needed metaphysical approach of holism into practicing medicine.

“Hypocrites kick with their hind feet while licking with their tongues”. (Russian)

B Prajwal Chaitanya 2006 Batch

OPUS

Student Articles

Thoughtless Turmoil On one of these days of incessant rains, I hung my water soaked brain outside to dry. This masterpiece came out at that time and forgive me for it. All those tall, proud trees that kissed the Earth with a “thud” to make this paper possible, I cry for them. But, I have planted my share of seeds so good-bye guilt. My entire family drinks coffee including me, why, you might think. Just because its a habit, but man! Aren’t we addicts! Incidentally, the body takes more than 10hrs to flush it out of the system. I decided that enough of icecappuccino and black-tea, I started out on a health fad. Jogging! I thought will do me some good. Running is natural right? But know this, every time my feet touch the ground, the shock on the knee is equivalent to a door slam. Walking is even more complicated, you shouldn’t walk early in the morning because your blood sugar levels are low, neither can you do it in the evening because that is the time when trees give out CO2. So that effectively killed two of my choices. I finally drag myself to a gym and all I can hear is about hernias, cramps, sprains, fractures, free radicals causing cancer, etc! A man cant even swim contently these days, forget the inferiority complex you get by all those “Calvin Klein” accessories but actually, chlorine screws up my hair, eyes and skin and I’m really scared of skin transmitted diseases. Cycling? In this traffic? You must be joking. It takes months to heal a fracture. You cant get calcium by drinking milk these days because milk is just “soap and oil”. I thought, let me have a soft drink, but the thought of “pesticides”, “teeth melting in soft drinks within 2 days of continuous contact” inhibit me. I felt ordering a pizza would do good at this moment but the amount of cheese used in preparing a large pizza is sufficient enough to cause traffic jam in at least one small blood vessel completely. Hello there! Can I have some water please? I’m thirsty ! On second thoughts, forget it! (Fluorides, Arsenic poisoning, E.coli, Plasmodium!) Could you snub out your cigarette please? Passive smokers inhale 20% more carcinogens than the smoker. But, in this guy’s case, it saved his life. He was still-born and the midwife took the baby to his uncle, who received him with cigarette smoke and the kid came alive. He grew up to be the famous painter Picasso. Vegetables and fruits, once a storehouse of nutrition are now just hazardous organic substances, thanks to the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides by greedy farmers, no more natural jobs in farms done by earthworms, rats etc! Every thing is artificial and modern.

Nitesh Bajaj 2008 Batch

And what about varicose veins, diabetes mellitus and peripheral vascular diseases?? After reading all this, please don’t heave a sigh and take a deep breath because the air is laden with lead dust and chemical carcinogens from vehicular pollution and the nearby factories. Though I would like to air a few more thoughts, I regret that I cant write anymore because excessive writing causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (this screws up your wrist leaving your hands completely useless). May be I need to undergo a “Thought rectification therapy”, then again I could be put into a hypnosis induced coma...

“One foot is better than two crutches”. (Romanian)

OPUS

Student Articles

Spawning Babies “Yuck! Don’t tell me that you have to go to those stinking government hospitals and learn to treat those illiterate and irritating patients!” said a squeamish Lalitha, when a senior explained what they would do at the postings which for other soft hearted people, was an experience to cherish. Monica, a first year pass out says, “Wow, we get to interact with so many patients? Can we try and test our new knowledge on them?” A pain for a few, learning experience for a few and a mere pastime for a few other students. No matter how one defines postings, it is an inevitable part of every medical student’s life. Amrita was very excited about her first day at the hospital and the best part was that it was her favourite branch of medicine - Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Luckily enough, she got posted at the Government maternity hospital, Sultan Bazar. A few minutes walk from her hostel at the Osmania Medical College premises. “I have butterflies in my stomach! Just imagine, seeing the baby coming out of the mother’s womb! I’m really thrilled” she exclaimed, visibly delighted. A glimpse of the hospital and the first thing you notice is the mob. The daily scene at the hospital would be that of innumerable patients and their relatives waiting endlessly to get a “chitti” and a “goli” from the doctor, the caring staff of the hospital (a few of them relaxed while others tried their best to get the situation under control) and of course, all the doctors regulating the check-ups and maintaining their cool at the same time. “Agle baar aaoge, tho bina bathaye operation kar doongi” asserts Dr. Nisha to one woman who got pregnant for the seventh time. Sita, the wife of a labourer, narrated that her fourth delivery was because her family wanted a baby boy. This is just one of the zillion cases which come into the hospital every day. The people of lower socio-economic status, especially daily wage earners do not usually follow prescribed family planning in spite of every effort by the government to educate them otherwise. Dr.Bhanushree says, “Every day, we get such a large number of cases and it is usually not their first or second pregnancy.We advise them to participate in the family planning programs but they usually don’t pay heed. What is truly sad is that, it is often the newborns who suffer most, as the parents are unable to provide them with proper nourishment and care.” Amidst all this, the immense pride and joy that comes with a new life is priceless. “Awww! I was frozen looking at the baby. She was so pink. It feels like being on top of the world” says Neha, who had the pleasure of holding the just born. Newborns lighten up every one’s face with a smile. I hope that the parents-to-be understand the responsibilities towards their children as well as the society at large and behave accordingly. Let’s hope that in our country, no child’s future is left insecure because of them being prisoners of birth and every child is provided with equal opportunity to shine and lead the nation forward.

“Misfortune, wood, and hair, grow throughout the year”. (German)

Anusha Vakiti 2007 Batch

OPUS

Student Articles

VSV Diaries ... Positivity and Self Belief Walking along the dusty road.

many obstacles you have to face. Believe in righteousness, for on Jan 30th, 1948 the battle was won not by the man who shot the bullets, but by the man who took them on his chest.

Wind was blowing past my ears

AYRUS SPEAKS: SELF BELIEF

Sending tremors down through my trembling body. I looked towards my left and there as no one to answer my stare.

I was very inspired by a story which my father told me sometime ago. There was once a tree, lodging the nest of a happy crow family in a field. One day the farmer came and proclaimed, “I will bring some workers tomorrow and have that tree cut down”. The young birds were scared, but their mother comforted them saying there was nothing to worry. Just as she said, nothing happened. The farmer spoke again, “I will bring my friends tomorrow and have that tree cut down”. But the mother crow was as calm as before. She was right. Finally the farmer said, “Tomorrow I will cut the tree myself”. The mother crow immediately flew away with her children for she knew, self help and self- belief could conquer the entire world, leave alone cutting down a tree.

AYRUS SPEAKS: POSITIVITY I was walking…

Then I had a same hopeful stare To my right and was too, like its counterpart lonely. I looked behind and to the end of the long serpentine road in front of me, But in vain. I could hear my footsteps trampling The lifeless foliage on the earth. Perhaps none have ever dared To walk through this lane of life, I thought. This small grain of thought gave a pat on my back driving away the tremors I was feeling before. Now, I stood with a perfect stance, And my further steps were beaming with confidence, for now I realised, I was on the right path...

There is genius in self-belief. It conquers all those who oppose. It annihilates all obstacles. It gives confidence. Everybody believes in a determined man, for his rule is to accomplish whatever he sets out to do. So, tighten your shoes, step up the paddle, embark upon your mission with a new breath of confidence, fill the empty pages of the future history with your inspiring deeds, and let the world echo with your victory cry, saying CONQUERED!

Dare to be different. V S Vineeth

Dare to take an untravelled path

2007 Batch

Never compromise with anything unjust even if you have to go against the entire system. No one might be there with you during this endeavour, but be sure you take it, because the same old persons would surely be back to say “Mate you proved us wrong”. Never leave this right path of life, no matter how 27

“All we can hold in our cold dead hands is what we have given away”. (Sanskrit)

OPUS

Student Articles

Feral Children Have you ever wondered how it would be if you weren’t brought up by your own parents and instead raised by wild animals? Such amazing things are happening in our world. There are children who are raised by animals : Wolf-girls, Monkey-boys, Gazelle-boys and even an Ostrich boy. They are called “Feral Children”. Animal parents? Cases of cross species nurturing among animals are so common. An example is a Kenyan dog, who on finding an abandoned human baby in the forest, picked her up and carried her home to her own litter of puppies. Another example is a large number of wolf children particularly in India. One explanation is that women with young children or babies would leave their infants at the edge of the fields while working, and wolves would emerge from forests and steal them. Specifically, it’s believed that a she-wolf whose cubs have been killed might be attracted to human babies, with her powerful maternal instincts driving her. Animal characteristics: Many children who’ve lived with animals tend to behave like their foster parents; they walk on all fours,make the same noises, and can bite and be aggressive, suggesting that they have spent their formative years with those animals eg.Oxana Malaya can be seen in TV running on all fours and barking like a dog. Wolf Children: Kamala and Amala,the wolf girls of Midnapore are 2 interesting cases of feral children.The wolf girls were about 18 months and 8 years old when they were found together in a wolves’ den. They were not sisters but were abandoned and taken by wolves some years apart. This incident dates back to 1920. That year, Joseph Singh a missionary in charge of an orphanage in Northern India, heard of 2 ghostly figures accompanying a band of wolves near Midnapore in a Bengal jungle. He built a hide in the tree top overlooking the pack’s lair. As the moon rose, Singh saw wolves coming out one by one, then sticking their heads out briefly to sniff the night air before bounding forwards. Into the clearing came two hunched and horrible figures. They were described as “hideous looking creatures with hand, foot and body like a human being but with a big ball of something over the shoulders for a head. Their eyes were bright and piercing unlike human eyes. Both of them ran on all fours.” Later on, Singh returned with a hunting party. They broke into the wolf lair and captured 2 human children along with 2 wolf cubs. The children turned out to be two girls aged about two and eight. They appeared ghastly due to matted hair on their heads and haunched four-legged gait. They were then rehabilitated in the orphanage. These girls seemed to have no trace of humanness in them. It was as if they shared their minds with their companions from the jungle. They tore off any clothes that were put on them and would only eat raw meat. They curled up together in a tight ball and growled and twitched in their sleep. They only awoke after the moon rose and howled to be let free again. They had spent so long on their fours that their tendons and joints had shortened to the point that it was impossible for them to straighten their legs and even attempt to walk upright. They never smiled or showed interest in human company. The only emotion that crossed their face was fear. Even their senses became “wolf like”. Their eyes were supernaturally sharp at night and would glow in the dark like a cat. They could smell a hunk of meat across the orphanage’s 3 acre yard. Their hearing was also sharp, but “Grasp no more than thy hand will hold”. (Portuguese, Spanish)

OPUS

Student Articles

eerily the voice of humans was strangely inaudible to them.They longed to get back to their wolf mother. Before any progress was made, Amala fell ill and died. Before she died,though,she made cooing noises, the first stage in the ability to talk in a baby. Then, Singh tried to socialize Kamala. Through a combination of massage to loosen all limbs, and dangling of food just out of reach, he coaxed Kamala into standing and walking. She never learnt to walk smoothly. Gradually Singh trained her to eat normal food, sleep along with the other children and welcome other children’s company. He struggled to teach her to speak. Starting from just 12 words at the age of three, her vocabulary gradually expanded but she was never in the same league as the other children of her age at the orphanage; her words were partly formed and her grammar tilted. Eg. bha for Bhat(rice). Even at the age of 16, after 14 years in the orphanage, Kamala had the mind of a 3 year old. This demonstrates how mentally naked humans are when born and how much we rely on society to shape us. Human culture operates on the mind as a gigantic conditioning apparatus without which we would remain at the level of animals. The Lobo girl of Devil’s river: This is one more wolf girl who could not adapt back to humanity.She would howl at the moon every night and attract wolves far and wide from the wild to where she was held captive.She later escaped to join the wolves. Ivan Mishukov, the Dog Boy: This boy lived with street dogs after he was abandoned by his parents.The police could not separate this boy from the dogs despite 3 attempts. The dogs came to defend him each time. The maternal instincts of these animals are amazing. I would like to add that somewhere down the line, there is harmony in nature which if not disturbed by humans can continue to be its way.But, it is pathetic that humans abandon their own children unlike animals, and these lost babies are deprived of their human life. Though humans only use animals for their selfish purposes, animals are actually nurturing human children. Bravo, Dear animals!

Shaik Nafeez 2006 Batch

“If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings”. (African)

OPUS

Student Articles

It Is Attitude That Matters! Have you ever pondered over the two contradicting words aspiration and contentment? To keep the fire of aspiration always glowing within us, while living a satisfied life is truly a Herculean task, seemingly quite ironical too! Let us take a closer look. They are in fact complimentary to each other. True contentment does not ask us to end aspiration, but asks us to appreciate and enjoy what we have got, before focusing on getting more! Once we start aspiring, a similar confusion arises in deciding how much involvement to show, in pursuing our goal. Obviously we all aim at succeeding in it, which demands that we dwell in that idea for sometime, involving our mind, body and soul. This amount of loyalty and involvement, naturally translates itself into that much attachment , which in turn transforms into the untold misery that we undergo, when we fail to succeed. How can we minimize this mental suffering? A logical retrograde solution which we tend to adopt is, to reduce the amount of our involvement, in an attempt to avoid disappointment. In other words, it is detachment from work or, we bring down the level of our aspiration. By doing all this, we are focusing on how to recover ourselves, in case we don’t succeed. It is not the detachment from work, but the detachment from result, which we too often misinterpret. Why at all do we have this fear of failure? It is due to our ignorance that the antidote for any adverse situation is already within us, that is our self confidence. In order to touch the best corners in life, some thorny paths have to be trod on. Such pains are meant to be borne, there is no escape! In fact, it is these experiences that make us more worthy of success and more capable of assimilating and appreciating fame. A failure can teach us a lot more than what a success does. This is not just positive thinking, but it is the essence of life. Stress is a positive force, or rather it is wiser to perceive it that way, rather than be crushed under its pressure, by which we achieve nothing. The ones who can sustain and withstand a blow, emerge to be much stronger personalities than before! Trying is just a noisy way of not doing something. So, why say, “I am trying to do it” which means less involvement. Rather, lets say to ourselves,”I am doing it” and show absolute involvement. Performing the task at hand with perfect dedication is victory in itself. Then why ever bother about the result? It is this inability to control or predict outcomes that emphasizes the importance of our instinct in taking decisions and the beauty of performing the task, rather than the outcome. At the end of it, whether we succeed or fail, we gain. Nature has by default instilled enough strength in us to cope up with the stress, if by chance we don’t win. So why not give ourselves an opportunity to realise this innate strength? After all, winning in life is all about winning over our thoughts and winning other’s hearts, but not just the victory in any individual endeavour. Trying is just a noisy way of not doing something.

P. Saranya 2005 Batch

“If you ever need a helping hand you’ll find one at the end of your arm”. (Yiddish)

OPUS

Student Articles

Happy Accidents Serendipity In Major Medical Breakthroughs Accidents in medicine: the idea sends chills down your spine as you conjure up thoughts of misdiagnoses, mistakenly prescribed drugs and wrongly amputated limbs. Yet, while accidents in the examining room or on the operating table can be regrettable, even tragic, those that occur in the laboratory can sometime lead to spectacular advances, life-saving treatments and Nobel prizes.

contaminated by the Quina – quina trees, the man identified a substance we call quinine. He shared his discovery with fellow villagers, who found it useful for treating the symptoms of malaria. Quina – quina trees grow well on humid hill sides at altitudes of 5000 feet and above from Columbia to Bolivia , so were readily available to native tribes.

Major medical discoveries sometimes appear to happen by accident, yet the real reason for the seeming miracle usually turns out to be the presence of a highly knowledgeable scientist at the right place and time. Louis Pasteur wrote, “In the field of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind.” Winston Churchill once said, “Men occasionally stumble across the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.” Within the scientific community, a certain stigma is attached to chance discovery because it is wrongly seen as pure luck. Happy accidents happen everyday, but it takes intelligence, insight and creativity to recognize a “Eureka, I found what I wasn’t looking for !!” moment and know what to do next.

In 1630, Jesuit missionaries in Lima, Peru, documented how they successfully treated malarial infections with extract from the cinchona tree, many experts believe native villagers showed the Jesuits how to extract quinine from the bark of the tree.

A fascinating and entertaining look at the surprising role serendipity played in some of the most important medical discoveries. QUININE The discovery of quinine arguably ranks as the most serendipitous medical discovery of the 17th century. From 1630 to the 1920s , it was considered the best malaria treatment available. The legend of quinine accidental discovery in the Andean mountains of South America began when an Indian with a high malarial fever came upon a stagnant pool of water. When he drank from the pool the water tasted bitter but his fever went away.realizing the water was

In 2010, 380 years after the Jesuits documented its effectiveness, quinine is still the basis of a number of successful antimalarial drugs. SMALL POX VACCINATION In 1796 ,Edward Jenner, a British scientist and surgeon, had a brainstorm that ultimately led to the development of the first vaccine. A young milkmaid had told him how people who contracted cowpox , a harmless disease easily picked up during contact with cows , never got small pox , a deadly scourge. With this in mind , Jenner took samples from open cowpox sores on the hands of a young dairymaid named Sarah Nelmes and inoculated eight year old James Phipps with pus he extracted from Nelmes’ sores. [Experimenting on a child would be a anathema today, but this was the 18th century.]the boy developed a slight fever and a few lesions but remained for the most part unscathed. A few months later, Jenner gave the boy another injection , this one containing small pox. James failed to develop the disease and the idea behind the modern vaccine was born. Though doctors and scientists would not begin to understand the biological basis of immunity for at least 50 years after Jenner’s first inoculation , the technique of vaccinating against small pox using the human strain of cowpox soon became a common and effective practice worldwide. PENCILLIN The identification of Pencillium mould by Dr. Alexander Fleming in 1928 is one of the best- known stories of medical discovery, not only because of its accidental nature , but also because penicillin has remained one of the most important and useful drugs in our arsenal and its

“It is better to be a mouse in a cat’s mouth than a man in a lawyer’s hands”. (Spanish)

OPUS discovery triggered invaluable research into a range of other antibiotic drugs. While researching the flu in the summer of 1928 ,Dr. Fleming noticed that some mould had contaminated a flu culture in one of his Petri dishes. Instead of throwing out the ruined dish, he decided to examine the mouldy sample more closely. Fleming had reaped the benefits of taking time to scrutinize contaminated samples before. In 1922, Fleming had accidentally shed one of his own tears into a bacteria sample and noticed that the spot where the tear had fallen was free of the bacteria that grew all around it. The discovery peaked his curiosity. After conducting some tests, he concluded that tears contain an antibiotic – like enzyme that could stave off minor bacterial growth. Six years later, the mould Fleming observed in his Petri dish remained him of his first experience with a contaminated sample. The area surrounding the mould growing in the dish was clear, which told Fleming that the mould was lethal to the potent staphylococcus bacteria in the dish. Later he noted, “But for the previous experience, I would have thrown the plate away, as many bacteriologists have done before.” Instead, Fleming took the time to isolate the mould eventually categorizing it as belonging to genus Penicillium. After many tests Fleming realized that he had discovered a non-toxic antibiotic substance capable of killing many of the bacteria that cause minor and severe infections in humans and other animals. His work, which has saved countless lives won him a Nobel Prize in 1945.

Student Articles

how memory works. The accidental breakthrough came during an experiment originally intended to suppress the obese man’s appetite,using the increasingly successful technique of deep brain stimulation. Electrodes were pushed into the man’s brain and stimulated with an electric current. Instead of losing appetite , the patient had an intense experience of déja vu. He recalled, in intricate detail, a scene from 30 years earlier. More tests showed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated. Scientists are now applying the technique in the first trial of the treatment in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This accidental discovery of stimulating the brain from within with electricity is hoped to become a treatment for Parkinson’s disease, depression and Alzheimer’s disease in the future. There is no doubt that these accidental discoveries are some of the most important scientific discoveries made by man. It is hoped & that fortuitous accident will continue to benefit our species and we will continue to hear scientists exclaim,”Eureka!” For all you would – be Nobel Prize winners, remember the one trait that tied all these lucky strikers together: Open mindedness. As the American physicist Joseph Henry once noted , “The seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us, but they only take roots in minds well prepared to receive them.”

X-RAYS X-rays have become an important tool for medical diagnoses,but their discovery in 1895 by the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen had little to do with medical experimentations. Röntgen experiment with electrical discharges were occurring, he observed that he could see through the skin of his hand and literally see bones in his hand. This discovery was the basis of the invention of the X-ray machine. Röntgen found that this new ray, which had many characteristics different from the cathode ray he had been studying , could penetrate solids and even record the image of a human skeleton on a photographic negative. In 1901 , the first year of the Nobel Prize , Röntgen won for his accidental discovery of what he called the “X-Ray”, which physicians worldwide soon adopted as a standard medical tool.

Contributed by:

Sania Jiwani 2010 Batch

WAY TO REVERSE LOSS OF MEMORY More recently, a neurosurgeon Professor Andres Lozano, performing experimental brain surgery on a man aged 50 stumbled across a mechanism that would unlock

“Only the tent pitched by your own hands will stand”. (Arabic)

OPUS

Student Articles

How You Look At It Ramlal was anxious. His fever had not abated since 2 weeks nor had his weakness. He anxiously awaited his turn to be examined by Dr.Vaidyanath. As soon as he met the doctor, he found comfort. After being examined, he felt confident that he would be alright. Such was the greatness of Dr. Vaidyanath and such was the aura of positivity he exuberated. He could cure almost any illness. But far before that, he would cure the fear and worry it caused. His medicine and his words had great effect. Chandan, a medical student posted under the doctor, was fascinated by his amazing skill. He wanted to learn it as well. So he asked the good doctor the same. “I’ve learnt a very important lesson in my life. Let me share it with you” he replied and started. “I was a very anxious student back then and after joining MBBS, I had every reason to be. My books were many times bigger than the biggest ones I used to read, I thought I could never read so much in so little time. I was very afraid of being ragged. So afraid that I used to scurry home as soon as my college ended. Friends, I had none, because I had a an inferiority complex that never allowed me to speak freely with anyone. I was afraid of what they would think of me. On top of it all, I was scared the most of being punished. It was Monday. My first posting at a hospital. I was late by a half hour. Our professor seemed very strict, and I was afraid he would scold me in front of everyone. So afraid, that I thought of not attending. But, at the same time I did not like missing my first class. I was in a fix. I didn’t know what to do. I sat down on a patient’s bed, bending my head down in worry. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. It belonged to the patient on whose bed I was sitting. He smiled at me joyfully and wished me good morning. I was in no mood to reciprocate. He asked me, “If doctors worry like this, how can they comfort patients?” I retorted that he didn’t know anything about the fears and difficulties of my life. In response, he showed me a photograph of his family. He pointed to his face and said, “In about a month, only this face will smile and the rest will weep.” I did not understand. When I asked him, he told me that he got his visa to heaven and his flight was scheduled in a month. I was shocked. How could a man on his death bed, joke about it? When I asked him, he said, “It’s OK. Everyone dies. But do you know what true death is? It is to be forgotten. So, I have no problem as my family will remember me forever. It’s better to die once than die every day living in fear of death. It’s not about how long you live, it’s all about how well you live.”

Tejaswin Kumar 2006 Batch

I was silent for about a minute. Then I asked, ”But why are you so happy?” He replied, “Even on my deathbed, I was able to convince a person to think of changing his attitude.” Saying so he closed his eyes forever, but with a smile on his face. His family gathered around him and gloom descended. I rose and slowly walked away thinking about what he said. That one line seemed to have a profound effect on me and I decided to attend the class that day. Even being scolded in front of the entire class did not depress me, for the words that patient said still resonated in my head. All my troubles seemed so trivial. I learnt a valuable lesson that day that all that matters is how you look at it.”

“The hasty hand catches frogs for fish”. (Arabic)

OPUS

Student Articles

What is Impossible? ... Nothing ! Words are very powerful. They can do everything for humans. Raise hopes, shatter dreams and even disappoint us. Among such words, a word that captured my attention is impossible. This word is one of the most disappointing words. Impossible means a task that cannot be completed. Is it really true ? Could there be something that difficult, that man cannot even comprehend to complete? I don’t think there is any such thing and I don’t even know who included this word in the dictionary well, for those who don’t agree, I can’t change your thinking, but since nothing is impossible, I am sure going to attempt it. I know for each of you there would be many things you could name, as I too have considered many things impossible, before I reached where I am today. I too, was scared of this word impossible. Chemical equations, physics problems and finally the Anatomy lessons, I too had my own problems, but after hours of consideration and many walks through the lane of wisdom, I found a solution to my problem, a cure to this despicable disease – determination! Yes, that’s it! I came to know something, that for me became a governing principle. It was a thought that I wish to share with you today. If a man can discover DNA, stop on Mars, get back soil from moon, fly above the clouds, swim in the deepest of oceans, even clone, all the toughest of jobs, then could there be anything impossible? The answer is, it gives power to fight the demons of disappointment, courage to face every difficulty, a strong hope of living up to your dreams! The answer is clear – nothing is actually impossible. Does your heart skip a beat? Don’t you feel like you can conquer every throne, walk on stormy seas, climb the tallest of mountains, score a 100 percent in your chemistry exam and make your parents proud! well, it does that to me I am sure it will to you too. There are many things that are quite difficult to accomplish, but not quite impossible. You’ll have to trust me, but if you just put your eyes on your goal, fill your heart with determination and give your 100 percent then there is nothing you cannot do. I have done it and it works because I believe in myself and have the power to struggle – like everyone else. As I end, I ask everyone to believe in yourself and struggle hard. Everything you do must be without the fear of failure and without the thought of it being impossible, and I am sure one day in our dictionaries, the definition of impossible would be myth, removed from reality.

“Wit without discretion is a sword in the hands of a fool”. (Spanish)

Zahra Abdul Rasheed 2010 Batch

OPUS

Student Articles

Medical Applications On Mobile Phones It is so obvious now, but to think of it, mobile phones are truly amazing. They let you call from anywhere, let you catch up with friends on SMS and social networking sites, as well as let you look at the world of the internet through a screen less than 4 inch that fits in your palm, pocket and bag. As mobiles mature and grow, there arrives a new crop of mobile applications which will change the way we work and probably also change the way we live and look at life. Probably one of the simplest and first learned words of our lives is the very reason for this change - Apple. Apple is a company that developed the iPhone. It’s a simple phone, but the heart of the apple iPhone however, is its applications, which can be installed onto the phone. There are thousands of applications that are being developed everyday, which are life saving and life changing. Apart from Apple, the Blackberries, the Sony Ericssons and all the others are catching up. Let’s have a look at the applications: - The simplest and the one which all of us are familiar with is the medical dictionary, which is just the beginning. - Epocrates Rx is a clinical reference application that provides information on drug, disease, lab, and drug safety for physicians including use and adverse effects of drugs. - Medcalc is, you guessed it, a medical calculator. This iPhone application is able to compute medical formulas. Calculating dietary requirements,calorie intake and height for weight, the routine in your paediatrics posting might be a thing of the past.

Gnaneshwar Raj & T Naveen 2007 Batch

hospital monitoring system to the obstetrician and gynecologist’s and nurse’s mobile phones. - One of the significant developments might put the our best friend, the stethoscope, the life saver, into jeopardy. Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College London invented an application— which turns an Apple iPhone into a stethoscope. More than 3 million doctors have downloaded the application and Physicians across the world are increasingly use their smart phones to monitor patients’ heartbeats. How does it work? The iPhone can be used as an electronic stethoscope and to interpret stethoscope sounds in minutes. The program uses the combined output of the iPhone’s microphone, motion sensors, and camera to get a much more accurate reading than a simple acoustic stethoscope, and then it shows your heart’s waveform on the iPhone’s display. It also has recorded heart murmurs, lung sounds, and bowel sounds.This truly is a great development and might change the future of emergency medical care Apart from this, come software and applications which help to learn from e-books and finely compiled notes about medical or as a matter of fact any field Other simple applications that help students are, case history taking, ECG guide, Human Atlas 3D, and many more on their palms. And then a look at the day to day applications which (not only amaze but) let you play a piano on your phone, measure and use your phone as a ruler, translate weird foreign languages into your own, prepare for an interview, scan bar codes, track flights and trains, control you mouse using your phone and operate your webcam at home.

- Medical Lab Tests provides a quick reference to normal values of common clinical lab tests - Dr. Rounds is a health mobile app that allows doctors to keep patient records all in a pocket size piece of hardware. It track of visits, diagnosis, procedures. This app removes the paperwork from the doctor’s daily rounds and gives easy verifiable information to the patient. - Airstrip OB is essentially a mobile health monitoring system. More specifically it is a portable ICU monitor that tracks the mother-to-be and fetus’s waveform data which includes heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, maternal contraction patterns, and any other vital signs all in real time during a woman’s labor. Information is transferred from the

“Your hand is never worse for doing its own work”. (Welsh)

OPUS

Student Articles

The Smart Virus The recent pandemic – causing H1N1 flu virus used a new biochemical trick to spread effectively in humans. According to an international team of scientists. The details, published on Aug 5 in the open – access journal “PLOS Pathogens”, expands the repertoire of known factors. Flu viruses can hijack a host cell and amplify injection in mammals, including humans. The discovery not only yields new insight into the subtle biology of flu, but also reveals another genetic marker public health officials can use to presage pandemics. The H1N1 flu virus, a combination of 4 different avian and swine flu viruses, caused a worldwide epidemic in 2009 and 2010, sickening as many as 34 million Americans and causing upto an estimated 6000 deaths in the US alone, according to the CDC (Centre for Disease control) Typically, the presence of 2 amino acids – Lysine and Asparagines – in specific sites on a key avian virus protein are required for a flu virus to make the jump from an animal host and replicate efficiently in human cells. The H1N1 virus lacked both of the amino acid building blocks, posing a puzzle for scientists. The new study, conducted in mice, finds that lysine AA residues in a completely different location on the protein and is responsible for the H1N1 virus ability to adopt to and co-opt human cells. Moreover, this misplaced AA substantially increases the lethality of an avian H5N1 virus. “This pandemic H1N1 has this mutation and is why it can replicate so well in humans” says co-author Yoshihiro Kawaoaka of the University of Wisconsin- Madison’s school of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Tokyo. “This gives us another marker to help predict the possibility of future flu pandemics”. The new study also includes critical data for the 3D structure of the H1N1 protein known as PB2, which originated from an avian virus. The structural data, says Kawaoka, provides essential insight into how the virus interacts with the host cell, and could help provide a basis for antiviral agents that could be used to thwart a future flu virus that uses the same AA trick to inject human cells. According to co-author Bart L Staker of Emerald Biostructure, Inc ; the structural data also reveals changes in the surface shape of the avian virus protein in H1N1, which could, in turn, be responsible for thwarting factors in the human cell that would otherwise inhibit infection.

“A broken hand works, but not a broken heart”. (Persian)

Contributed by

Deepak K 2008 Batch

OPUS

Student Articles

The history of Telangana

Contributed by:

Daya 2007 Batch

“Telangana” – This may be the most frequently heard word in our state in the past one year. Some fight saying they want it, some protest; some of them silently, while others violently by ending their lives. Why has this issue remained controversial so far? Here is the history of the region. Between 221 BC – 218 AD the Satavahanas ruled over this area. After being under various rulers, the Qutubshahi dynasty established their rule. They ruled from 1520 – 1687. Later the Nizams established their rule and they ruled from 1724 – 1948. The entire Telangana region and certain parts of present Maharashtra and Karnataka were under the name Hyderabad state and the present Coastal Andhra, and Rayalaseema were under ‘Madras Presidency’ within the present day Tamil Nadu. So how did Andhra Pradesh come into existance? In June 1946, a woman named Chakali Ailamma revolted against the zamindars and doras and it led to a movement called Rythu KooliIa Udyamam. The peasants revolted against the landlords and the Nizam’s rule. In 1947,even as the entire nation celebrated its freedom, Hyderabad State was still not a part of India. The Nizam refused to accede to the Indian Union. The Govt of India launched a police action called Operation Polo on 13th September, 1948. The Nizam surrendered and agreed to integrate Hyderabad State into the Indian Union on 17th September, 1948. Then new Hyderabad State was set up with B. Ramakrishna Rao as the Chief Minister. On other hand, the telugu people in Madras Presidency faced discrimination and the demand for a separate Andhra state arose. During that period, Potti Sreeramulu embarked on an indefinite hunger strike. He started the strike on 19th October 1952 and died on December 15, 1952. In 1953, the state of Andhra formed with T Prakasam as CM and Kurnool as Capital. Soon there was a call for Vishalandra saying that all Telugu speaking people and should be under one state so another movement began called the Vishalandra Movement. To solve this, the government appointed a commission in December 1953 called the ‘Syed Fazal Ali commission’. As the voices demanding a single state increased, the Government of India made the ‘Gentlemen-deed’ of 1956 in Delhi with signatories from the three regions which would make up the new state. From Telangana : B. Ramakrishna Rao, K.V. Ranga Reddy, M. Chenna Reddy.

“A good heart breaks bad fortune”. (Persian)

From Andhra & Rayalaseema : B. Reddy, N. Sanjeeva Reddy, Sardar Gowthu Lachanna. The deed agreed to integrate both states under some conditions. The salient points of the deed were : 1. The revenue coming from each region would be spent on development of that particular area. 2. Development of educational institutions in Telangana. 3. The jobs, reservations for Civil services, and other government sectors should be given in populationratio basis. 4. Complete ban on liquor. 5. At least 40% of ministers in the cabinet would have to be legislators from Telangana. 6. If any person (from Andhra, Rayalseema) should get a job in Telangana he should have been a resident of Telangana for a period of at least 12 years. 7. If the Chief Minister were to be from Andhra or Rayalaseema, the Deputy Chief Minister would have to be from Telangana and vice versa. The first movement for a separate state began at Khammam in 1969. In 1969, the Telangana Praja Samathi (TPS) political party was established. It won some assembly constituencies in the Telangana region, but due to a political ploy, the movement never quite reached a crescendo. In 2009, there has been a renewed demand for a separate Telangana state led largely by students groups.

OPUS

Poetry

Confessions of a Medaholic They said: Good God! Not Medicine You might want to change your decision! There is nothing in it for you.. Life full of ado & still no clue Why are you headed thereto? When you can triumph elsewhere by your virtue? Even after graduation, still no respite.. Why stick to your conviction despite? Bypassing you, everyone else will outdo.. Still there is no clue what next to do?

What they will never know is that: The content to be learned is although very excess A charm of its own is etched in this plexus Questions we ask in the name of case presentation Crazy we are is no doubt the interpretation End of the day, symptoms and signs when we uncoil It gives us a sense that is worth all the turmoil!! No matter how long we’ll patiently wait To live those dreams to which our hardships equate For this profession still our hearts beat

Anitha S 2006 Batch

No matter what, there will be no retreat May God bless each one of us who’s a Medico The title ‘Dr’ upon whom is yet to bestow.. We let go our pleasures, ready to take the bruise.. God! Help us in this daunting cruise! “A person whose heart is not content is like a snake which tries to swallow an elephant”. (Chinese)

OPUS

Poetry

My stint with MEDICINE thus far... Oh my GOD!! is what I said, When I went in to see the dead; “Anatomy” it read over head, The first step for me to become a Med. “Biochemistry” dealt with all mystery, Fats, carbs, proteins and their history, Whose metabolic cycles left me jittery! “Physiology” taught me mechanism of Biology, Action Potential, Muscle Contraction and NM junction, It was like fiction but formed the basis of my education. And then I was done with the 1st year of Medical Chronology!

G Betty Douglas 2007 Batch

Abnormality was the highlight of “Pathology,” Had to be read, read and read, Until you meet the Head Who in turn simply said “How little you have read!” “Forensic Medicine” narrated stories of the dead, About Lacerations and Aberrations on their head; Doing Autopsy is what I dread,

But there was nothing I could do instead! “Microbiology”: Every student wanted a glimpse of it all, No matter even if it cost a fall; To glance at culprits stained in red and blue, But ended up gazing with least bit of a clue. Finally, completed my second year, the longest in chronology! “Ophthalmology” describes the eyeball, In a book which appears small, To be learnt excluding nothing at all. The first thing I heard in “SPM” was Park, When I opened it, everything became Dark, Ended up giving me the Spark, To make a Social Mark! Seemed very easy to me, But included separate worlds under E N and T; Also called Otorhinolaryngology, Which I’m yet to complete in my third year’s Trilogy.

Painting Life Always loved painting…. know why? When I’m done and packing, Looking at my hands, all mosaic,

Sofia Fatima 2008 Batch

Tired with all these mis-paintings, fetching the bottle to my glass, Oh! I coloured it blue. Painted the house red, blue, green and black,

And when my fingers comb through my messy hair,

Heading to save my painting in a safe place.. my rack,

My hair’s streaked pink and orange.

Oops! I did it again, an orange streak in the sky,

Now I touch my books, They lose their print to brown paint,

The best part of my painting,

Now what? I take my phone,

And the orange streak just got the chance to be a rainbow in my sky.

And the keypad is drenched red and green,

My stained hands, colouring everything,

“A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride”. (African)

OPUS

Poetry

Dissection Hall This poem is a small effort to recapitulate our feelings and memories of the dissection hall. (Sept. 2006 – June 2007) Walking down the dissection hall, Soulless cadavers haunting around, Here come the fearless warriors, An enthusiasm so profound. Gloves, scalpels, and forceps, Flipping Cunnighams’ for the steps, Tearing the cadaver from shoulders to hips “Oh my God! What a mess!” Next is the turn of the poor thorax, Heart and lungs came under the axe, Fracturing the ribs from sternum to spine We never realize when it was done. Time for abdomen, head and neck,

Enthusiasm has come down to a speck, “I dos” become “You dos” As the gossip in the hall echoes. Relations of the stomach, triangles of the neck, Here comes Sankranthi, Its time for a bunk. Ten happy holidays, everything gone blank. Looking at the Chaurasias’, our hearts sank.

K B N Sindhura 2006 Batch

Brain is now all set and ready, For its own autobiographic study, Chiseling through the cranial vault, The organ gets exposed at last. Nuclei, tracts, ventricles and pons, Cerebral arteries and Circle of Willis, Bull’s eyes explored for retina and lens, Well this a subject that never ends!

Awesome (Mis) Interpretation Gosh! Was that hemoptysis?? Or vomitus with blood? The guy doesn’t even yelp!! Could he be in the need of immediate help? Rise and shine, The medico in you tells, You start off towards the bloke, With differentials popping up in your mind, You hurry! Lest he choke. It could be an ulcer, Bleeding and posing a grave danger, Tumour is another possibility, But to know where it is, You need an emergency endoscopy! Time seems to be galloping away, You tell yourself “Try just a little harder, Diagnosis might just be around the corner” Varicosities could have landed him with the same Oh! How difficult they are to tame, Poor guy!

If only he had learnt to care, The lone liver which he insulted, To extents it could no longer bear, Must be a drunkard, you conclude. Tension writ all over, You with all the courage you muster, Finally reach him and blurt out, “Hey there! Need any help mister?” Lo and behold! The mystery is revealed, The moron’s smile has all the possibilities sealed, ‘Cause he was chewing a “paan” obviously, His mouth bearing witness to it instantly. Alas! You think that ended the chapter, With your hopes of diagnosing alive no longer, You ended up sans a trophy, But the idiot still had a symptom that of Salivary, hypertrophy!!

“An Emmet (an ant) may work its heart out, but can never make honey”. (Turkish)

Haneefa Ansari 2007 Batch

OPUS

Poetry

Friends forever . . . (Hostelers Of 2006 Batch) Active sportsman and all-rounder Suneel (Mamu) and Anudeep, Just wake up to see Kiran Kumar and Dileep burning the midnight oil with all the pain, But Rajesh Songa, Rakesh and Venkatesh Sajja are still at the peak of their sleep. Rajasekhar-surgeon and gentleman joins Lohit who’ll soon be a IAS officer, As Mourya and Goutam K get ready for posting, little Sharath can find a bucket, with Sandeep coming to his rescue. Cool as the moon, artist Sai Praneeth and shuttler Moses are casual and quiet, While Venkat Prasad and Nishant are ever willing and bright. “Wake up Popuri Praneeth you are getting late for college”, That’s what ex-CR SriVijay and his friend Laxman have to say. Cricketers and sportsmen Arun Singh and Satish are in the fray, Party lovers Chilka (Rakesh) and Cotton tolerant and brave. While Gandham and Gurram are just ready to narrate a tale, Cool and suave Ramidi Karthik & Jail Singh have their say. Charming Jayender, Kalyan, Viswajith with sweet smiles will smoothly sail. Mighty Joyson and Babu Rao here they come, To be helpful to Karunakar, Phani and ViswaTeja. As Karimnagar legend, Uday Kiran entertains, Pramod, Naresh and Nagaraju D are in an excited state. Awestruck, everyone is by Ramana with his punctuality, But what a change in final year Dr. Manjunath. Einstein Narender and gadget guru Sai Prasad D V - what two fine gentlemen, Prasad and Santosh (Happy) here come the real men. Naughty VidyaSagar joins Bharath as they watch a movie in Goli Netaji’s laptop, But kick-boxer Krishna and Shashikanth have even something better to enjoy. Little master N S Srikanth waits for the weekend, As Revanth and Pavan accompany him in their journey home. Oh! Hostel would have been so boring and dull,

Raja Ashok Koganti

If it hadn’t been for Varun Teja and Jampani Ravi Teja.

2006 Batch

That leaves us with semi-hostellers Dinakar, Prasanna and Suvvari But what would all these be, if it is not for the stalwart Nagaraju E.

“We do not walk on our legs, but on our will”. (Sufi)

OPUS

Poetry

I kept walking... On a cold winter morning,

A song that felt one with the wet green leaves,

When all life lay curled up in its place,

A song that felt one with the flower strewn road,

Feeling heavy n lazy,

A song that felt one with the sun rays,

And i was no exception,

That were struggling to pierce the thick canopy of mist,

Until...

A song that was taking me away with it...

I heard this lovely song,

And i kept walking,

That came from far away,

Wishing that the song never muted,

Made me grab my jacket,

The leaves never dried up,

And sucked me towards its source.

The mist never melted,

A song,

And the road never ended...

Sindhura Vaddamani 2006 Batch

That felt one with the sharp cold wind,

Sunrise In the wee hours of the morn,

The herald of dawn,

Through hazy eyes,

So juvenile yet so wondrous,

I could sight the orange horizon,

Breaking upon creation,

And then from behind the clouds,

Lifting weary spirits high,

Like a jack in the box, He rose,

Marking the genesis of a brand new day!

Sindhura Vaddamani 2006 Batch

Born to fly I stop…..I wake up…..I move on… To rise and to rise.

What’s the Sun, if it is defeated by the Moon, What’s Fire, if defeated by water, I want to be like blood,

To leave paths behind and trace new clouds,

When it runs, it is life…

To search destiny,

When it flows out, it brings a change,

To rise and to rise …

To rise and to rise…

To design a new route,

To give the job assigned to my life, a completion,

To conquer the world’s best,

Give my each breath a purpose,

To be at the peak,

To live till I die,

To rise and to rise…

“Fear a silent man. He has lips like a drum”. (Yoruban)

Sofia Fatima 2008 Batch

OPUS

Poetry

Ups And Downs In Life Life is a seed; Human being - a farmer; and situations - rain, Sometimes the seed erupts into a plant and sometimes it's a time of vain, The farmer showers so many fertilizers to cope, Sometimes he wins and sometimes unfulfilled is left his hope. Life is a friend or unfortunately a foe, The friend has a humble look, but the rival has terrible show, The friend is lovely but the rival has a character so hollow, Giving us hardships which unwillingly we have to swallow.

Nisa Zareen 2008 Batch

Sometimes we touch the stars- so high! But sometimes are left to crawl on earth and sigh, Sometimes life lands us on moon- so bright! But sometimes we have to carry through the gloomy night. At times life is easy, sometimes we walk through thorny ways, Remember, achieving through obstacles will only lend happiness, So after winning a smile and after losing, determination should be realized, Being optimistic will only give contentment and make us civilized..

Life is a wind which sometimes is in our direction, Driving our boat on, but sometimes, against us, Sometimes our boat moves slowly, sometimes with great pace, Both the situations with determination we have to face.

Then and Now Then I had MBBS to learn, Now I have life to learn! Then I knew what my goals, were Now I don't know towards what I am going! Then I cared about my dress, Now I care about my character! Then I had few friends without emptiness, Now with lots of friends, I am blank! Then I called friends for work, Now calling friends is work! Then I doubted everyone, Now I doubt myself! Then I played volleyball, Now I am played by emotions. Yogesh Patel 2006 Batch

Then I grew physically, Now its mentally! Then I loved sweet foods,

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Loose lips sink shipsâ&#x20AC;?. (American)

Now I love sweet memories! Then I worried about my result date, Now I worry about our departure date! Then I wanted my college years to end, Now I want them to restart again! Then I entered college with an aim to study, Now I end college with an aim to love someone! Then I knew the college principal, Now I know what principles are! Then I believed my mind, Now I believe my heart! Then it was the beginning Now there is no ending!

OPUS

Poetry

The Conflict There was a dream that I dreamt,

You are lucky,

With my eyes wide open,

You got a chance to write a life line,

A pen in hand,

Reverberated the morose hospital,

A thought in mind.

God gave me just a single chance, Single chance to be lucky with my lifeline pleaded I.

I was flying off to a world, A world full of poems, SNAP! A pen power woke me up,

Learn to love what you do,

But just to lull me back to a sleep.

Was written on patients’ faces. Let me do what I love, cried I.

A sleep with a nightmare, My wings clipped,

Life is a gift,

My flight suddenly halted,

Present it, ordered the operation theatre.

I fell into the valley of life.

My life is a gift to me, Please give it back to me, yelled I.

My hand ached to create my poems, But how could I?

A road called courage,

My hands were being placed,

Led from the valley of medicine to the world of poems.

Placed on cadavers and lepers.

I remained mediocre, Hesitating to take the flight to excellence.

Poetry, prose, literature, Transformed to disease, death and health.

I don’t want to be somebody,

My pen was replaced,

Somebody who can give life.

By a machine they called the stethoscope.

I want to be the ONE, The one who can take their life to live it.

“I wanted to write about broken hearts”, I yelled. Just mend these fibrous hearts, the ECG smiled.

I don’t want to just breathe....

Allam Bhavana

I want to LIVE!!!

2007 Batch

“A closed mind is like a closed book; a block of wood”. (Chinese)

OPUS

Poetry

Spread a Smile A smile is the most beautiful expression,

It will make your sorrow light to bear,

It leaves an everlasting impression,

When you smile, happiness you do share,

Of the happiness inside your heart, it's a reflection,

Yes, a smile is the most beautiful expression.

A smile is the most beautiful expression. So my friends always smile and spread a smile, Keep smiling whether it's summer or spring,

God has given us many a reason to smile,

Then the winds will seem to make you swing,

So never waste a while..!

And everything will seem to you a lovely thing, Nisa Zareen 2008 Batch

Yes, a smile is the most beautiful expression. Keep smiling even in deep despair,

To My Beloved Till I met you I had none so attached, Our soul is one though our bodies detached.

Though deserted by everyone,I was never alone, Thanks to the loving care you have always shown.

I never thought you shall ever be mine, Without you my world sees no sunshine.

Even a single scratch on you makes me livid, Because you're the one who makes my life vivid.

My world before was mostly dull, But everything changed, what can I tell?

You give me power to work miracles, My gratitude to you, oh my dear spectacles.

You are the first one to feel my tears, With you every blur in my life clears. I am always with you wherever I go, You give me company at times high and low.

Narendra Hirwani 2006 Batch

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A wise man changes his mind, a fool neverâ&#x20AC;?. (Spanish)

OPUS

Poetry

An Ode To Nature In the wake of dawn, The red rising sun in the far east, Like the vermilion for the horizon, And the chirping birds flying for their morning feast, Forming a necklace as they hasten. Oh! The majestic lush green trees around, Waving with the soothing breeze, And the carpet of grass spread on the ground, With dew drops rolling with ease.

Everything around turns grayish black, Showing nature's colourful play, As the exhausted birds hastily come back, To their cozy nests made of hay. The jet black sky with twinkling stars, Like crystals studded in the cosmos, And the silver moon with grayish scars, Peeping from the veil of clouds…..

The pretty little buds turning to flowers, Alluring the blissful bees as they pout, The fragrant mud drenched with showers, Adorned with tiny seedlings which sprout.

T Shireesha 2006 Batch

As dusk approaches, The sky looks blushed with crimson red, With clouds lined by a golden sill, The bright red sun with its rays still spread, Hiding behind the distant hill.

Friendship Friendship is like a journey, Along which sorrows are none but joys are many. Friendship is like a cool breeze, Which ends our problem and puts us at ease. Friendship is like a blooming flower, Whose fragrance fills every hour.

Friendship makes each moment memorable, It makes the journey of life enjoyable. Precious might be a golden ship, But selfless and priceless is our great friendship. Friendship is a powerful pirate's ship, May long live our friendship….

Friendship is like wonderful song, Whose melody thrills all along. Friendship shelters us in every storm, It gifts us moments that are special and warm. Friendship brings us all together, Leaving behind sweet memories to gather. “Absent-mindedness is searching for the horse you are riding”. (Russian)

E Sowmya 2010 Batch

OPUS

Interview

In Conversation with

Moka Praneeth Words like “APPGE”,”AIIMS”,”PGI” always make their way into our routine conversations and leave a sense of concern amongst most of us about our future post-MBBS. So we decided to interview a senior who could share his success story with us. Raja Ashok caught up with Moka Praneeth on the phone. Moka, who is now a 2nd year resident in Internal Medicine at AIIMS, was delighted when we asked him for an interview.

Dr. Moka Praneeth

Internship which involves hours of back-crunching hard work in the hospitals had surely not dampened the energy in Moka, as getting into AIIMS in his very first attempt was a cake walk for him. He secured the All India 2nd rank in the AIIMS entrance examination for which he appeared just 2 months after he finished his internship. Here are some of the excerpts from a telephonic conversation with Moka Praneeth: Raja Ashok: Osmania being your mother institute, can you tell us what, according to you, is the best part about Osmania? Moka Praneeth: OMC has many hospitals attached to it. As a result, several undiagnosed cases are referred to Osmania from peripheral colleges, and rare clinical cases can be seen by an undergraduate student. The clinical exposure that you get in Osmania is just incomparable, you probably won’t find it anywhere else in the state and also the presence of healthy competition among the students leads to collective academic growth of all. Raja Ashok: Having looked at the standards in Osmania and AIIMS (which is considered the zenith of health care in the country), what differences do you see between the two? Moka Praneeth: AIIMS being the apex institute, the rarest of rare cases are referred here. It’s not an exaggeration to say that if a rare case is not seen in AIIMS, it will not be seen in the rest of the country. Almost all investigations are available here. Even the poorest of patients get several expensive investigations done, most of them free of cost. As a result, almost no case goes undiagnosed. In AIIMS, the interdepartmental coordination is excellent, for example, there are Radiology conferences where students and residents of Radiology and Medicine are taught how to interpret images. The disadvantage in AIIMS is that there is a very hectic work schedule, hindering us from preparing for the future. Raja Ashok: Having cleared the exam just two months post internship, how could you handle your exam preparation along with your duties at hospital? Moka Praneeth: Internship is probably the most important phase where one has to strike a perfect balance between studies and postings. Duties were really very tiring but, on a non-night duty day, I used to read utilising whatever time was available.I used to constantly remind myself that exams were not end-points, and I always tried to develop a clear understanding of the subjects in my UG days. That helped me a lot in the short span of time that I had to prepare for the entrance test Raja Ashok: What was your strategy for preparation, which helped you crack the entrance in your very first attempt?

OPUS

Interview

Moka Praneeth: I put in my best efforts in preparing and tried to make the best use of the limited time that I had. I was mentally prepared to accept whatever the result was. Reading out of interest towards the subject rather than a mere entrance-oriented approach helped me. Raja Ashok: How important is practical knowledge for any PG entrance examination? Moka Praneeth: Practical knowledge and clinical experience gives you a lot of advantage for the exam, as these days, exam papers are increasingly featuring clinically oriented questions. There is actually a substantial distinction between theoretical and practical knowledge. Practically, we see a limited type of cases which are more common; whereas theoretically, even rare cases need to be studied. Both of them are equally important for the test. Raja Ashok: Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was language a barrier during your initial days at AIIMS? Moka Praneeth: My struggle with Hindi dates back to the time I entered OGH. It still exists, though it has improved a lot. Raja Ashok: Were you ever in a dilemma about staying back in India or going abroad? Moka Praneeth: Never! The thought of my going abroad at any point in the future doesn’t arise. The reason is that I would like to do as much good as possible in my life, to the people of my country, with whom I grew up. That good would be in the form of service towards the profession. Raja Ashok: Having studied in a premier institute in the state with some of the best teachers, who was the doctor whom you admired the most? Moka Praneeth: I am thankful to all the teachers who have taught me. I found Dr. Pratap Reddy’s (Surgery professor) and Dr. Swarnalata’s (Medicine professor) classes extremely interesting. They are the faculty members in OGH whom I admire the most. Raja Ashok: Where do you like to see yourself ten years from now? Moka Praneeth: As a good general physician/subspecialist, working in a reputed institute so that I the get satisfaction of treating patients. Raja Ashok: Your secret of success in one word. Moka Praneeth: Desire to win. Hardwork, perhaps.

Pulse

Pulse - Feel The Wave As I sat down to summarize the most memorable 17 days of my life, nostalgia hit me so bad that tears rolled down my eyes. Sipping a cup of coffee to stimulate my brain cells, I took a stroll down the memory lane. Even after one year, our North India trip feels like we just got back home yesterday, everything so fresh and yet beautiful! I don’t want to sound like a school kid back from an excursion and describe the places that we have been to (once you go you’ll anyways get to know about them). So, here are ten solid reasons why I feel you should not miss Pulse. 1. To begin with, I love the holiday season. Technically, most of us do (except for a few exceptions that I don’t want to talk about). The very thought of 18 long months of books, labs, clinicals and exams in 2nd MBBS gave us nightmares of boredom. So pulse was like a breath of fresh air for us and to top it all, we were visiting some of the lovely places India boasts of.starting with Agra, Mathura, Haridwar, Musoorie, Shimla, Manali, Kullu, Amritsar and Delhi. The contrast of freezing hill stations and places where temperatures were as high as 45 degrees was already reflecting on our minds. 2. Trust me, one single tour can do wonders. At least it did for me. Having been transferred from another medical college I hardly knew anyone from my class. I wished that someone would listen to my silent screams of how boring and frustrating college life was without interacting with my classmates, or as for that fact without having any ‘true friends’. As the journey kick-started ,the guys and girls started interacting, the ‘speak your heart out’ sessions, dumb charades ,singing and even the most silly games played bonded us all so well that somewhere in the middle ,mere acquaintances became best of friends. We shared excitement, happiness, sometimes pain and of course clothes! The post-pulse effect has been amazing with all of us understanding each other so well. 3. Who wouldn’t want to experiment with something exciting? The river rafting in the white waters of the Ganges, ice skiing in Rohtang

pass, horse rides on the hills of Mussoorie and not to forget the paragliding on the way to Manali - everything was a spine-tingling experience. We overcame the worst of fears, screamed till our energy levels dropped and had one hell of a time. When you get back home you can’t help but miss these unique experiences. 4. We were lucky enough to have a group of efficient organisers and they teamed up with ‘lotus travels’ (I have great memory!). Except for the rare change in the schedule we had a perfect trip. The accommodation was great as we stayed in plush five star hotels *ahem* and resorts which made us feel like celebs! and yes how can I forget the food? It was ambrosial. Hot jamoons in Shimla, aloo parathas in Delhi, the steaming ‘Maggi’ in Manali would be my three favourite picks. Though we missed ghar ka khana ,the variety was something which satisfied our taste buds. But the hostelers were more than happy to dump their stomach with excess food as it was a revenge that they took on the mess owner who served them with his “can-you-eat-this?” kind of dishes. 5. It was a cluster of intelligent brains and creative souls at the annual fest of AIIMS, New Delhi (this was the ‘actual purpose’ of the trip which the made herculean task of convincing the principal for permission for the trip, a little easy for us). It was an amalgam of brain storming sessions, fun events, cultural bonanza and apparently this was the only ‘educative’ part of our tour. Though we couldn’t take part in any of the events due to time constraints, we interacted with medical students from different corners of the country each one struggling hard to prove that their college is the best. But as it goes without saying, Osmecans rock! 6. ‘Special relations’ . Each one of us on the tour would be having their

own story to tell. The bus driver who would refer to the gals as his beti, the aunty who was kind enough to let us use her sweet enough to note down our birthdays and and makes it a point to wish us all the way from Manali. These relations cant be expressed in words and the emotional quotient attached with them is boundless. 7. Being a photography freak I CANNOT miss but add this point. There were little photo-sessions every now and then, with the students making zany poses to add zing to the fun and frolic. And yeah we even had a professional photographer who would click photos of everything. Buy my words, photos are the best memories. Whenever I am low or depressed I just look at my tour pics and it lifts up my mood and brightens my face with a smile. The scenic beauty of the places is a ‘must capture’. 8. How would any tour be complete without shopping? We all had our share of dilemma and confusions of what to buy and what not to. The Palika bazar in Delhi, Mall road in Mussorie, Shawl market in Manali were filled with our blabber and ‘broken Hindi’ trying to bargain our best with the shop keepers. Yes, shopping was up for grabs as we all emptied our pockets but were proudly flaunting the stuff we bought for ourselves (each one of us assuming that we had a better deal than the others). 9. Finally the best part was the ‘bag of surprises’ that was in store for us. The visit to the Golden temple at 2 a.m and the night stay in a Gurudwara were was located on a hill will top the list of the most unexpected things. We were in total surprise with the acts of heroism exhibited by our class guys when a group of cheap local guys were troubling us and this made us girls realise that even after all the hooting and commenting that they do, they still care for us and the feeling of oneness rushed through our veins.

10. Just to make it a round figure, I’m doing this, though it’s partly true. As the trip ended ,as much as I missed the company of friends I did miss the places too.I always dreamt of Paris or Switzerland, but there is nothing denying the fact that India is beautiful in its own ways. Our trip had everything that a traveller could ask for. And yes, before thinking of an another country, I am sure this time I would try and explore another part of India, may be Eastern India. So I hope this little attempt of mine in convincing my juniors about the value of pulse (and in making the seniors nostalgic) is a successful one. Cheers! Anusha Vakiti 2007 Batch

How I Met My Friends It all started with our 24 hour train journey to North India. 150 classmates (most of whom I didn’t know). All of us were super excited, singing songs, playing dumb charades, it was utter chaos. What caught my attention amidst the pandemonium was a guy clad in goggles with a camcorder zooming in and out on everybody. It made me feel like an alien for a second and I thought he was one. It turned out that he was one of our classmates, and there was no getting rid of the cam or the goggles (sometimes we wondered if they worked as night vision goggles as well) for the rest of the trip. Travelling in a train couldn’t have been more fun. Agra was our first stop. We all got ready and went to visit Sikandra and then the Agra Fort. The cameras were out for the first time and so were the poses. The river Yamuna with the Taj Mahal on its banks looked spectacular. We were all eager to see it up close. I was dumbstruck!! In that moment I experienced something that is beyond words to express. I wasn’t surprised when I heard recently that Sangeeth, a senior, actually sat down meditating within the tomb. The Taj Mahal was just beautiful. The Agra trip ended with one of our chaperons getting lost, who thankfully was found, and Asri’s first entry into her socalled pulse diary. Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur were our next stops. Buland Darwaza, Funch Mahal (by the way, that was how our guide with a fake accent called Panch Mahal), Janthar Manthar were some of the places we visited. Imad was renamed “Kadai Imad”, thanks to his unique act of getting into a huge kadai (a large steel cooking utensil for the unfamiliar) out for display, which was strictly not supposed to be touched.

Amritsar was next. Wagah border brought out the patriotism within me that I hadn’t experienced for quite a while. We were all shouting slogans while the guys were busy going gaga over the Punjabi girl who was dancing to a folk tune. Amritsar ended with the visit to the Golden temple. The peace, discipline, bhajans and its eternal beauty left me simply mesmerised. We began our journey to Dharmshala. It is one place I’ll cherish all my life. It began with Asri’s act of going “talli” (Punjabi for high) after eating a fake “rum ball”, and ended with the guys diving into the ice cold pool of water below a waterfall. An amazing place! It was where Sindhu, Asri and I got our first “The Three Musketeers” picture. Manali was next on our list. By this time, thanks to our hired cook’s utterly distasteful food, foodies like me were craving for chicken. We went out and hogged and hogged, and then there was just no stopping us. We wrapped a python around us, climbed onto yaks, petted rabbits, got into the native costumes (not just the girls!!) and spent the evening by a river side. Fantabulous!! In an effort to make our trip more adventurous we drove to Rohtang pass, only to find out later that though it didn’t snow that day, it did so heavily after a few days. Whatever!! The adventurous ones had fun climbing to the peak and not so adventurous (like SP, Teja, Sindhu, and I) had fun eating Maggie (which couldn’t have tasted better!!). Others managed to have fun making snow balls out of whatever snow they could dig-out of the ground. As is truly said, little things give us a lot of joy.

Shimla - our next stop. Two days of awesome fun. The first day was all about a hill top place – Khufri, horse poop and more poop! We got onto our horses, which spared us the horror of walking knee deep in poop, but at the same time gave us one of the most horrifying experiences. Go-karting atop the hill was fun, with Nafeez’s car being the slowest. The person before her, after her and even the one taking the next turn also finished their laps while she was still on the track. Arun Raghav on the other hand, set the track on fire literally!! He drove so fast that the owner had to put aside that car because its tyres came loose. On returning, when most of us fell asleep tired, one of my more enterprising friends, SP, decided to use the time to do his laundry, something that was strictly forbidden by the hotel management. Though he intended to keep it a secret we eventually found him slogging on the floor of the bathroom swinging away. A prank call ensured that he ran to the reception dripping soap, apologising to a bewildered receptionist. The next day we were thrown out of our hotel rooms rather unceremoniously. We stayed on the stairs, eating Domino’s pizzas and apples and got to know each other’s deepest secrets as we played Truth or Dare. The last stop was Delhi. The whole purpose of our trip – to attend PULSE at AIIMS. Sadly I missed it. Later I came to know that it was only about food, Daler Mehndi and everyone dancing.

The journey came to an end the next day. We boarded the train back to Hyderabad, back home after 18 days. 18 days of non-stop fun. This article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning; the songs we sang (Faraz started imagining himself to be Farhan Akhtar after his “Rock On” song became an accidental hit),the dances we danced (Vamsi’s Lovestory 2050 robo step) and the desperate attempts at playing dumb charades with ad-titles (because we ran out of movie names). This is how I met Sari, Sin, Asri, Ruby, Shru, Sahi, Shar, Vamsi, Teja, Jenny, Ram, San, Sab, Sashi, Imad, Faraz, B, Tarun, SP, Nafeez, Sid, Sangeeth and loads others!! This is HOW I MET MY FRIENDS! Veena Rao 2006 Batch

OPUS

Fun Zone

Laughter is The Best Medicine 1. Beware of your doctor uttering these phrases during surgery a)

Damn! Page 47 of this manual is missing!

b) Better save that, we’ll save that for the autopsy. c)

Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what’s that?

d) Oh no! I just lost my Rolex! e)

... and could you stop that thing from beating? It’s throwing my concentration off.

Anyone seen where I left that scalpel?

g) Orthodox medicine has not found an answer to your complaint. However, luckily for you, I happen to be a quack! h) Fire! Fire! Everyone get out! 2.

Quick Diagnosis Nurse: Doctor, Doctor! The man you just treated collapsed on the front step! What should I do? Doctor: Turn him around so it looks like he was just arriving.

A Psychiatric Joke Neurotics build castles in the air, Psychotics live in them, Psychiatrists are the people who collect the rent.

Some benefits of Alzheimer’s Disease: a)

You never watch repeats on television

b) You are always meeting new people c)

You never have to remember your spouse’s complaints.

d) You can hide your own Easter eggs

M. Pallavi 2010 Batch

“Throw a lucky man in the sea, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth”. (Arabic)

OPUS

Fun Zone

Lets Play The Mind Boggling Game Here are a few puzzles which are all set to boggle your mind.

Starting with the simpler ones,

6. The minister chose a slip and destroyed it. Then he opened the other slip which said “leave”. So the slip he chose must be “stay”.

1. Why do the black Ambassador cars consume less petrol than the white ones?

5. 28 days; because on the 27th step once it takes a leap of 3 steps, it crosses all the thirty steps.

2. A person was walking along the railway track. He saw a train approaching. Instead of getting off the track he ran towards it. What could be the possible explanation?

4. The bucket containing invisible paint should turn invisible. 1 Because the black Ambassadors are less in number then the white ones.

5. A frog fell into the well and broke his hind limb. The well had 30 steps to climb out. As the frog was injured it could jump three steps a day but fell back two steps. So all it could jump was a step a day. After how many days would it cross all the thirty steps? 6. One day a King and his wise minister had a rift. The king wanted to banish him. This brought a public revolt. So the king decided to play a game. He said that he would give his minister two pieces of paper. One would be “stay” and the other would be “leave”.

Contributed by

But the king gave both the slips with “leave” written on them. The wise minister knew the trick and exhibited his wit in a noble way. Can you explain how he did it?

Abhishek 2010 Batch

“Let not the bottom of your purse or of your mind be seen”. (Portuguese)

ANSWERS

4. As a child I used to fantasize about “invisible paint” which I saw in cartoons and fairy tales. But now I realized that there was something terribly wrong with the animation of a bucket of invisible paint. Do you realize this?

2. He was in a narrow railway tunnel and was nearer to the end from where the train was supposed to enter the tunnel.

3. An archeologist claimed to have found a coin on which it was indented 340 B.C. ; he was either joking or lying. Do you know why?

3. Because who knew that Jesus would arrive after 340 years to save the world.

So all the best and do not give up easily.

OPUS

Fun Zone

Medical Students’ Ploys You’re in the OT, when the attending doctor asks a brilliant question that you’re sure you should know the answer, but don’t. What can you do? The ploys employed by medical students l

“Would you please repeat the question?”

Ignore the doctor & act like you didn’t hear the question

Repeat the question aloud to buy time

Ask for clarification of the question

Say “I’m not sure what you’re after” (you know so much you need more specificity)

We didn’t cover that in class

I haven’t had that posting

The doctor was on vacation when I had that posting

Our body (cadaver) was missing that part

Be ill (get sympathy)

Get “hypoglycemic” and pass out (gets attention but no sympathy)

Contaminate yourself so you have to leave the operating theatre

Keep asking the doctor questions

Memorize some obtuse fact and ask the doctor that question

Feign hearing deficit

Sana Mazhar 2006 Batch

Check Your Medical Vocabulary 1) Anorexia: a) A mental condition caused by eating excessive beans a) Loss of appetite b) Like the shape of a doll’s head b) Fissure-in-ano c) An excessively long and narrow skull c) A sister species of T-rex 5) Anadipsia 2) Pneumoencephalopathy: a) Desire to dip one self in a cold pool a) Airhead b) A feeling of intense thirst. b) Newcastle Disease c) Size zero - no adipose c) A congenital malformation where lung tissue grows in the brain 3) Abrachia: a) Congenital absence of arms b) Congenital absence of the brachial plexus c) Inability to stop walking 4) Dolichocephaly “Man’s mind is a watch that needs winding daily”. (Welsh) Answers: 1-a,2-b,3-a,4-c,5-b

OPUS

Fun Zone

Common Medical Misconceptions -

The myth: “Cracking knuckles will cause arthritis in your later life”

The cracking sound of knuckles is caused by the bones moving apart and forming a gas bubble which produces a sound when burst. The worst that can happen to a compulsive knuckles cracker is weakening of finger joints but not arthritis. -

The myth: “Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through your system”

Chewing gum cannot be digested by the body, hence it just continues through the system without sticking to the insides. -

The myth: “A person must drink at least eight glasses of water everyday”

The human body needs at least 8 glasses of fluid everyday, which includes fluids from all kinds of food, tea and coffee. Over time, the word fluid got replaced by water, resulting in this myth. -

The myth: “Sugar makes kids hyperactive”

No study could detect any difference in the behaviour between children who had sugar and those who did not. -

The myth: “Back pain should be treated with bed rest”

The opposite is true in this case. Bed rest can prevent or delay the full recovery of the lower back pain. Contributed by

The myth: “Eating at night makes a person fat”

This is a complete myth, because it doesn’t matter what time of the day you eat.

Sana Hyder 2010 Batch

“He who spends more than his worth, spins a rope for his own neck”. (French)

OPUS

Fun Zone

Some Interesting Facts DID YOU KNOW: When you sneeze, your entire body stops functioning; even your heart! If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture your rib.

Contributed by

If you are right handed, the finger nails of your right hand will grow faster than your left hand.

2010 Batch

E. Sowmya

AMAZING MEDICAL FACTS: By the time you finish reading this sentence, 50,000 cells in your body will have died and been replaced too!

Ingesting very small amounts of ink over an extended period of time would change your eye color slightly.

A person breathes in 40 pounds of dust during his or her lifetime.

Human saliva has a boiling point 3 times that of boiling water.

25-30% of all humans sneeze when exposed to the sun, or any other light source.

The human nose can remember 50,000 different scents.

The human brain stops growing at the age of 18.

The body grows a third of an inch every night, but shrinks to the original size the next day. Gravity makes the difference.

Food gradually tastes more bland at the age of 70 as taste buds are reduced to 2/3

Contributed by

The thumb is the same length as the nose.

Sana Hyder

2010 Batch

â&#x20AC;&#x153;He laughs at scars who never felt a woundâ&#x20AC;?. (German)

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Paintings

OPUS

Rajesh Songa & Sandeep Anne 2006 Batch

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

2006 Batch

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

Dr Padma Asst. Prof. Of Anatomy

OPUS

Telugu

A Viswajit Reddy 2006 Batch

Dr Kashiram Prof. & Head of Department Community Medicine

OPUS

Telugu

Dr Kashiram Prof. & Head of Department Community Medicine

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

Karunakar 2006 Batch

OPUS

Telugu

OPUS

Telugu

ANATOMY