Found this saying on John Mayer's Blog and liked it a lot.

Now that I have the time to do the things I always wanted to do,I find myself drawn to doing absolutely nothing at all! I am Planning a trip to Mangalore/Manipal and perhaps Mysore,as I need to go to ask for a refund at Manipal University(where I joined a DNB programme before the NIMHANS result came out) and because Mysore is the place where I spent 6 of the best years of my life and haven't visited in a year and a half.

What I like about Mysore is that the side effects of globalization and opportunity haven't yet kicked in there,hence the traffic is manageable, land is not as overpriced as in Bangalore,and you won't find shops squeezing into each other in any street possible in the hope of attracting customers.Instead you will find wide roads and some greenery and one of the most beautiful lakes you'll ever come across in South India.It's called Kukurehalli Kere(Lake). Apologies if I haven't got the spelling right,but my heart is in the right place:-)

In terms of eateries, The Jewel Rock is one of the finest restaurants I have ever been to.Period. The food is good,drinks are reasonable,and the ambiance is good. In fact,it is unique in that everything about that place is NOT EXCELLENT,yet many people of Mysore are bowled over by that place and keep frequenting it. I was one of them,back when I was there.

The palace was,is,and will be the first thing that pops to everybodys mind when the word "Mysore" is spoken but I visited the place only once,and that was because my family was with me when they were waiting to admit me in College,and I haven't gone there since.

You tend to feel comfortable in a place like that, and although I couldn't stand the place during my first 3 years there,towards the end of my course I absolutely loved it,and I sorely miss it to this day.

Apart from that I have been seeing movies that are not new. In fact I just saw Munna Bhai MBBS for the first time about a week back. Yes,I know I know "How the hell have you not seen it?" and all that but I loved it!! It was hilarious and although replete with songs and melodrama ( 2 things I find hard to tolerate in a movie), it raises a lot of issues that are relevant in the practice of Medicine,things like treating the person and not the illness,taking the time to ask the sweeper of your hospital his name,and getting close to your patients,even if that means risking getting hurt if the person doesn't respond favourably,or in the worst case,dies. Because Medicine these days is becoming like any other industry,with Corporations ruling the roost,and money talking all the way through. In fact,money talks to such an extent that some of the Doctors who man the Primary Health Care Centres(PHC'S) take money from patients even though they aren't supposed to

What they are doing is not imminently unjustifiable because the kind of pay they get is really really bad, and they have families to feed and they need more than what they get as their salaries.

But on the other hand,the patients who come there are so poor, and for them to spare even 20 rupees which they give to the Doc ,for services rendered,hurts like hell. And if they have a condition that is beyond the scope of the PHC to treat,then God help them.Because even with the Yashaswini Scheme for Farmers being fully operational,the discounted bill is itself exorbitant for them. Had they been charged the full rates the number of suicides of farmers would have risen drastically.

Which is why health care needs to be more affordable.Because diseases like Cancer,Heart Disease and Diabetes do not have a class preference and affect the rich and the poor equally. The poor are left to wither and the rich tolerate the hand that fate has dealt them,with insurance playing a major supporting role. But even with the best of hospitals,the bottom line is profit. Because if a hospital shuts down,then they will not be in a position to help even if they really want to.

The Hospital that is closest to attaining middle ground is Narayana Hrudayalaya,where you find the best of consultants and where the rates are as subsidised as is practically possible. The "charge the rich and serve poor " philosophy works there,if not perfectly then as close to ideal as possible

Anyways that's it for now..more later. Take care and try to be charitable.