Crow's Nest...

Perversion is a phenomenon in itself, or is it? It is in extreme cases synonymous with obscenity or voyeurism, or is it? It is a curve that reverses the direction of something, a kink if you will. Rest I leave to your pervert imagination. Living in a developing country where resources are limited and recreation of the healthy type meant for only the rich perversion makes up a considerable chunk of our vocabulary, entertainment, folklore and discussion. It is filling up one void in the filthy streets of our country and also adoring the decor in posh houses. For a doctor like myself who has seen it all and more so read it all the human sexuality holds very different connotations and meanings. Generally speaking I would not hold same ideas about sexuality as the general public would think about it. Here I don't mean to say that everyone out there has nothing else on their mind but to think about this bodily function. But all I see around myself I can very well say with some lev...

   I am a flaky customer. I look at the paintings hanging in this gallery one at a time. I move my gaze from one to the other slowly but surely. I notice the depth of colours. I measure the angle of brush stroke and marvel at the scale of the canvas. I fall for the reality of it all but I fail to make a purchase. I fail to make a purchase for I am also one such painting hanging on the wall.

We often think about a series of happenings in an event and one thing sticks out from the rest. That one thing seems to be the keystone of reasoning that puts everything into perspective for us. We then exclaim in contentment and mutter a long hummmmm.... We have reasoned out something in our mental playground and this hummm... is our victory shout.    We are all slaves to reason, explanations. We need to know how and why events occur. Is this attitude a by product of scientific era or is this something fundamental to human nature? Do we look for explanations because we have to or do we do so because we have been taught to? Maybe the excessive scientific culture stresses too much on looking for reasoning for everything.    We are not really taught any other way of examining things/events/occurances. But then the question arises is there any other possible way of going around things? If there is, has anyone tried his or her hands at it?   ...

   I consider myself very lucky. I have been born in an age when books are easily available. Information is easily accessible and very cheap. Little effort is needed to quench my thirst of knowledge, however great it might be, at times. I am lucky that I don't have to think through most of the things. I can just read them written in one book and the other and move ahead from there. It is such a blessing indeed. I don't need to find out much about the neurotransmitters of the brain and nervous system in general as I can find everything in books.    The down side ofcourse is that books are afterall opinions expressed by others and thus carry a certain slant. So in modern age most of the analytical energies of brain go into undoing those biases involved with the phenomenon rather than thinking about the phenomenon from scratch. Hasn't that shifted the pattern of thought in recent times? This critical thought is even less required in matters of object...

   Things seem to be getting back on track from today. This honey before sleep keeps you healthy and happy indeed. The sense of euphoria keeps things going during the day. Most importantly a good playlist helps concentrate.    On a different note i am just amazed at the complexity of human body. It is so delicate yet orgamized in a fitting manner. Time and again i have to believe that it couls not have developed from just nothing. I fail to believe that there is no God. Just look at it for a second will ya! The way the neurons have been put together and the way blood reaches every part of the body bathes every cell. The way kidneys develope. The way we learn to eat, sleep, walk, talk and run. It is indeed beyond luck to accomplish.

   All hail for our bro with a fro has started blogging just recently. A friend, a host and as desi as it can get Hasnain Akram has started his blog " tread softly '. Want to know what he writes? Why don't you just go visit and see for yourself.

   Telephone lines should never get disconnected. Our lives are so heavily dependent on the telecommunication methods of today that a single day without a landline leaves me paralyzed. Its not that I am such a big fan of using telephone nor do indulge in unnecessary gossip over the phone. Its just the feeling of being cut out from the rest of the world that freaks one out. To add to this miserable feeling is the out of nowhere emergency need for making all sorts of calls precisely when your phone is not available. Phone in our house is used so sparingly during day times that we are almost oblivious of its existence. But today all sorts of calls were in queue when we didn't have the facility.    Then there was this hour long search for finding the fault on our ever so long telephone line. Since grabbing hold of a linesman in the evening is a difficult proposition thus it was me who had to do this job. To do this I equipped myself with a screw driver,...

Is there any relationship between black coffee and male baldness? If there is any I would be so interested to find out. It has become almost impossible for me to take my usual dose of caffeine in the form of coffee without taking an equal dose of my mother's wrath. I don't know who has told her that coffee without milk leads to baldness. Not even a single cup has been without her very useful input on the topic. Since she is so adamant that she is right I came to doubt my knowledge. I searched the pubmed and found very little scientific data. This brought me to the ever helpful google and there were many references to coffee being actually useful in preventing male pattern baldness. Look for example here and here and here . There is one source , to my knowledge, that suggest against coffee use for hairloss. But there too the suggestion comes for the fear that too much coffee or tea cause diuresis and thus general loss of water content from body. Now who would tell...

How can he do this to the nation? How can he not build Kalabagh Dam? How in the world can he build Bhasha Dam? This dictator has wasted not only precious time from my evryday prep but annoyed me to quite some extent.

   This year again as for the past 6 years or so hujjaj have died in massive numbers while performing the ritual at Minaa . From what the state television is telling us here in Pakistan the number of dead is as high as 345 souls. Most of them are reported to be from south east Asia. Every year a variable but significantly large number of hujjaj die while performing the hajj . It is undoubtedly the largest gathering of souls on the planet earth. This time around as many as 25 million Muslims from all over the world performed the hajj . This is a large number and the figure of the dead can easily be taken for a small negligible percentage which is bound to occur in any such event with so many people from different social setups and languages gather and are bound by very tight schedules. But this certainly can't be allowed in a religion that is based on harmony, peace, value for human life and most of all discipline.    Most certainly the Saudi author...

   It is pretty ironic that internet servers all over Pakistan are clogged with users on the evening before days like new year, eid and valentines etc. And I have almost found no good use getting online on any of these days. It is mere waste of time and then again I can't even think of any webpages to surf. I wonder what people do online on these occasions. Anyways Eid Mubarak to all.

Cowasjee is one of those columnists who interest me not only for their writing style but also for their boldness in thrashing all that is not right in the city of Karachi and sometimes outside. This time around Cowasjee has addressed an issue that is closer to my profession than many. Apparently a letter was written to the President of the GMC, London. The six page documented brought or tried to bring the attention of the recipient authority to the credibility of qualifications of junior doctors who come from Pakistan. Many serious issues has been raised by the anonymous author regarding fake documentations and clinical experiences. The writer also bashed the PMDC and CPSP . The recipient circulated the letter to all the concerned authorities within England and Ireland. Cowasjee's article about the letter can be read here . I was pointed to this article through Zak's blog .    If anything this letter has served to create tremendous troubles for those young docto...

If anything in these past 55 years or so these generals have learnt one thing pretty good. The time tested formula of divide and rule. If you can't convince them just divert them. The issue of Kalabagh dam is one such diverter in place for all the public of this country. As of now the general is making headway on two very sensitive issues. The issue of Kashmir which is very dear to our nation and the issue of Baloch uprising. Both these issues as ever are being handled in the most inappropriate way and thus a complete mess is being created. But to divert our attention from these much pressing issues the general has very conveniently raised the issue of Kalabagh dam. We all know pretty well that the general is not going to make a dam. Had he wanted to he would have done so six years back but he absolutely doesn't want to.    Well I wouldn't blame the general alone for indulging into such tactics for diverting the attention of this nation from much more important ...

I have a lot to write about today. It has been quite some time since I posted a good healthy post. One was long over due.    So I will start with writing about the red blood cells in human bodies. It is very interesting to note that these are the very cells that are responsible for transferring whatever Oxygen there is in our body. Since all humans rely on Oxygen for their metabolism needs this molecule is absolutely essential for all the cells of the body except one. The only problem being that this cell that is loaded with Oxygen for almost half of its life span of 120 days it can't use that oxygen for its own energy requirements. Ironically all RBC (red blood cells) lack the ability to use Oxygen to run their metabolic functions and thus live otherwise. Irony will be an insufficient word here. There is one other class of cells in the body with similar fate but lesser irony involved. These are the renal medullary cells.    The temperatures in the...

This one is worth blogging. Read before it melts in time.

They said it was too much dandruff that makes hair loose their shine. They said it was too little nutrition needed for long hair that makes them wither and go dry. They said it was going to be worst. They said it needed oiling. They said it needed to be shaved! So i said what the hell I will shave my head and that is precisely what i have done. I have shaved my head. Now they have no reason to be talking.

The will to type words and phrase sentence is dying. The will to keep up with this blogging business is also fading. I know I say this more often than I post and precisely so! The studies are taking their toll. I am getting busy by the day although it might not seem the case to my parents who always think that I am not putting in as much as I should but I am.    I have been reading Faiz Ahmed Faiz lately. He is one rebellious poet. Most of his poetry is sub par when compared to his predecessors. But I think drawing this comparison will be unfair in that none was born in times when Faiz inhabited this earth. He was good in his own right and did his job best.    Khushwant Singh with his Delhi is once again in my reading limelight. A perverted book but original book is my opinion and has always been about Delhi. He makes you a part of Delhi through ages and makes you live a middle class life all through these ages. His journalistic approach toward...

A very happy new year to everyone. May this year be great!