Happy New Year's!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve last written. I do warn you that this is a long post, complete with photos.

Alright, so many people want me to post more about my experiences in India – that’s fair, as I don’t want to disappoint some of my readers. So here goes.

After leaving Delhi, I realised that I left a bit of my heart there. It was a place that nurtured the human spirit from within; it was a place that enabled me to see horrible things become beautiful and beautiful things becoming ugly; it made me realised that I do not only want to become a doctor, but to become a ‘healer’ in every sense of the word. It was a place that I know that I will go back to time and time again both in the physical and spiritual sense. I know that I am soliloquising about all the good things, but there were moments of sheer frustration and random chaos that gave Delhi its indelible charm.

I went to my cousin’s wedding and my dad’s cousin wedding (in the case that some of you are confused, these were two completely separate weddings) in Porbandar, Gujarat.


This is a photo of Kirti Mandir, which is a place of honour in Porbandar, as it is where Mahatma Gandhi was born.














This is the fruit and vegetable market near my family's home. I would go and buy the vegetables needs for that day's meals. They would always give you free coriander, chilli and bay leaves. (Only if they could do that at the markets in Brisbane).









And if all else fails with medical school (which is highly unlikely), I can always fall back on becoming a rickshawala! Driving a rickshaw is absolutely fantastic! It's an experience that I think most people should try at least once in their life.

Okay, back to it...I met up with mum and my Ashakaki (kaki = aunt [your dad’s brother’s wife, that word is different to the word used to call your mum’s brother’s wife]) in the plane in Mumbai heading to Porbandar. Porbandar is a coastal city that starts to reek of dried fish in the late afternoon, while the city experiences its daily siesta. It’s a place of very fond memories with family. The celebrations around the two weddings were absolutely fantastic! I met up with my friend Rakhee (she is originally from Calgary but had been teaching English in Japan for the past year, and is now somewhere in London, UK at the moment) who was undertaking English tuitions every afternoon for boys and girls. At the sanji (in Gujarati, means ‘evening’), we got dressed up in our finery and danced the night away! Many people came up to both of us and asked whether we were professional dancers hired by the family. HAHAHAHA. Rakhee and I couldn’t stop blushing and laughing. We thought that it would be prudent to start such a company where we can rent out people to dance at functions like this. The name of such company would be “Garba GoGo Dancers”. There was a sanji also for the other wedding and, once again, we got the same compliments and people asked the same questions. Also, some people were asking about whether Rakhee and I are getting married or thinking of getting married. Hmmm…I guess when you have reached mid-20s anything, one’s family start to get a bit agitated that they are not yet married. Unfortunately, I was sick of the day of the weddings (they were both held on the same day), I was unable to get out of bed and had quite a high fever. Fortunately that only lasted a day.

After the wedding celebrations were over, I was able to relax with my mum and members of her family. We all went out to Majivana (my mum’s grandfather’s village) for the day and we did some pujas and had lunch out there. It’s always nice to see whether your family can trace its roots to. Also, it is refreshing to know that in some cultures that these sorts of activities are highly valued.

I left Porbandar and headed up to Gujarat’s main city (not the capital, but it really is in every sense of the word), Ahmedabad. I have cousins that live there and I always like going there as it is usually very different from the lifestyle in Porbandar. It is more cosmopolitan, there are many more things to do and the hustle & bustle of the city just energises you. Even though my time here was limited, I was able to spend time with my two nieces and nephew.

As for the remainder of my elective at St Stephen’s hospital, I became more and more attached to the Community Outreach Centre. I did take a few days off to experience the General Surgery department, which was absolutely wicked! I didn’t think that I would like surgery but I did. I was able to watch a lobectomy, a couple of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and removal of benign lumps from breast tissue. I was able to also see a woman, who had a full mastectomy, with necrotising tissue and a deep hole in her chest cavity, a young girl whose face was burnt off with acid, several abscesses and cysts to last me quite some time and an inguinal hernia repair. The remainder of the time at Community, as in my previous post, was incredible. I made friends in a place where people don’t necessarily trust those that come and go; I made connections with children that were more cynical than people I know (ahem…you know who you are!) I was able to move about more in the community and be welcomed into the homes of people that frequented the clinics and utilised the services that the community centre provided them with. I was given a glimpse of hope in the midst of utter destitution and poverty. That sliver of hope was more powerful than anything that I could feel…I still get chills down my spine thinking of about it.
The little girl in the pink jumper is Anjali. She is the one that called me 'papa' after I knew her for one week. I still won't forget how every time I would come into the children's area, she would stop whatever she was doing, run to me with her arms outstretched and a huge smile on her face. I only wished that there was more that I could do for her.

Okay, to pick up from the last post, which was written on the last night I was in Brisbane. The flight home was uneventful but long as! I’ve realised that the cheapest flight to and fro Australia is not necessarily the best one. My flight went from Brisbane to Singapore, 4 hours in Singapore, Singapore to Tokyo (correction: I wrote Taipei in that post and it should have been Tokyo), 2 hours in Tokyo, Tokyo to Los Angeles, 6 hours in LA (my best friend Christine picked me up from the airport and we went to walk around UCLA campus, ate at some great eateries in Westwood and then we went to Santa Monica beach for a quick walk), LA to Calgary. Fortunately, my trip back to Brisbane is via Hong Kong (which is shorter and I don’t have to travel through America). (insert photo of Christine and I at Santa Monica)

Coming home has been great! Seeing family and good friends at this time of year always rekindles the soul and makes the spirit grow stronger. It seems that everyone has changed, which is a great thing. I reckon that it is indicative of the fact that people I know have been working towards their own goals and desires. The really odd thing about being in Calgary at the moment is that the weather is fantastic (for those of you in warmer climates, you will definitely disagree with this), hovering around 10 degrees Centigrade and no snow has fallen in Calgary for weeks! It was a very brown and dry Christmas.

I’ve been able to spend time with some really solid friends. As much as I love my close friends in Brisbane, some of whom are like family, it’s reaffirming to know that you can jump back into a friendship of 4, 5, 6 and 10 years without having a glitch in it. The development of history within a friendship can be quite painstakingly difficult. I’ve been quite blessed with the friends that I have, such that developing such history has been an enjoyable journey.


My family doesn't celebrate Christmas. However, we celebrate the fact that we are together as a family and can look back at the year, along with eating some great food and enjoying great laughs. For the past few Christmases (except for the time that I was living in Kenya), I have have celebrated Christmas with the Richmonds. It's always a riot! We all wear the paper hats that come out of the crackers; every year, I have to make little rips in mine because it can't fit on my head. (Oh, those are my new glasses that I bought from Delhi). Christine and I normally ending up drinking a bit too much wine and have great conversations. This year was special because it will most likley be the last one that we will be spending together for quite some time. Also, her parents are becoming snowbirds and moving down to Mexico and her sister is moving to Vancouver to fulfill her goals of fashion desing (she is fantastic!).

Every year for New Year’s, my friends and I are always trying to think of what we can do. This year, however, Vijaykaka (kaka = dad’s brother, and this word is different from sister’s brother) bought me a ticket to “BollyVegas” and pitched the idea to me as an multicultural extravaganza. He also said that I could bring a friend. So, this year I celebrated the New Year’s with my parents, Bhavisha, Vinay, Vijaykaka, Ashakaki, and one of my best friends, Christine. Christine (who bought a dress especially for that night, not because she was prepared but because all she bought to Calgary were casual clothes) and I (glad that I left a suit in Calgary) got dressed up and before heading over my uncle’s house for a little pre-party party gathering, our mothers took photos at Christine’s house. It almost felt like Grade 12 graduation or something! Upon arrival at Vijaykaka’s house, we took back some rum-orange juice before making our way to the venue, which was a new hotel/casino that opened up in the South-East of Calgary. The food sucked at this place. No, sorry, the best dish at the place was the salad. A night of drinking vodka, rum and champagne made me and Christine quite happy (the double vodka and orange juice and taking back two glasses of champagne really put us into the ‘happy’ zone). I know that some of you might think that I have some guts to drink in front of my parents. I would rather them know than doing it behind their back. My cousin Vinay kept asking me as the night progressed, “Veevekbhai (bhai = brother), are you smashed yet?” This was the first time that my cousins have seen me drink more than one drink and I was quite composed, as opposed to falling all over myself at the first med keg (good God!). Christine, Bhavisha, Vinay and I ripped up the dance floor and it was great to create such a positive energy field amongst us, which carried us into the new year.

New Year's Resolutions (the major ones)

1. Learn to take time for myself
2. Become more active in the 'community' in Brisbane (community meaning the medical, university and Gujarati community)
3. Get back into the gym (so far so good!)
4. Tell those around me that are important how important they really are.