Saturday 1 September 2018

Travel Blog- SANDAKHPU TREK

“WHY EVERYONE MUST TREK TO HIMALAYAS AT LEAST ONCE IN A LIFETIME?”


Sitting at one place for a year, day in and day out is a boring job which is what I practically did for most of 2017 while preparing for my post graduate entrance exam. So, once the exams were done and dusted, I along with 4 of my college friends decided to do something thrilling to push ourselves out of the comfort zone, physically and mentally and we could come up with nothing better than to trek in the mighty abode of snow- the Himalayas. Since our exams finished in January, the only possible winter trek available to us was Sandakhpu, near Darjeeling along the Indo-Nepal border.
To acclimatize for the trek, we went to Darjeeling a couple of days earlier and to get our adrenaline racing we did river rafting in the freezing cold waters of Testa river. The starting point of our 7 day trek was a tiny village named Jaubhari which is two hours’ drive from Darjeeling at an altitude of 6400 feet. From Jaubhari we trekked 40 km in 4 days to reach the highest point of our trek, a village named Sandakhpu which could be best described as a dream castle floating above clouds at an altitude of 12000 feet above sea level. The road to Sandakhpu which passes along the periphery of Singalila national park, home to the elusive red panda and the exquisite rhododendrons, is a smorgasbord of landscapes we learnt in our geography textbooks. We would walk through the rough rocky terrains, dusty roads, steep slopes, through fluffy clouds and tread on fresh morning frost along the way, sometimes with our right foot in India and left foot in Nepal. The thing which kept us going was the spellbinding sight of the snowline of Kanchenjunga in the foreground which resembles the image of a giant sleeping Buddha (as can be appreciated in one of the photos). The unique feature of this trek which attracts trekkers from all corners of the world is that it is the only trek from where you can see 4 of the 5 tallest mountain peaks in the world- Mount Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu.
The difficulty level of the trek is rated as moderate but with temperatures dropping sub zero, nights could be very cold. However, our trekking organization, Indiahikes ensured that we stayed sufficiently warm in the quaint tea houses which served as our resting places for the night. Often, after our day’s trek we would huddle up in these tea houses, sipping hot cup of soup and listen with rapt attention to stories of mountains and trekking expeditions narrated by our trek leader or play a game of Antakshari or listen to Nepali songs from our guides while steaming hot rice with dal and sabji were being prepared in the kitchen. The best experience however was on the night when we had to stay outside in the tents. We were taught how to erect a tent and we had a session of stargazing outside our tents and woke up in the morning to the most beautiful sunrise above clouds with sunrays painting a magical golden hue on Kanchenjunga.
One of the things which fascinated me about the people living in this part of the world is the minimalist lifestyle and the attitude of gratitude which they seemed to have been blessed with. And the interesting part of the trek was to have such locals as your guides. Our guides, Mr. Ajay and Vijay were simple, soft spoken men who would often softly sing a prayer each time they caught a glimpse of Kanchenjunga, India’s highest mountain peak, during our trek."Kanchenjunga is the real breadwinner for us", Mr. Ajay told me once when I was observing him chanting a mantra looking at the mighty mountain. He was merely stating the obvious but it was something which we as city dwellers hardly give a thought to. Do we think of our work, our job, our source of livelihood with as much respect as these local guides do for their forests and mountains? An image of a diminutive 5 feet 4 inches tall man from Mumbai bowing down to the 22 yards strip of red clay on the day of his retirement at Wankhede stadium came rushing to my mind. It is not hard to surmise why people with gratitude tend to be the ones most successful.
As I continued the trek, I realized how we crib and cry over innocuous, insignificant things, making much ado about nothing whereas the people here in the mountains were just happy if they could see a glowing Kanchenjunga in the morning from their windows for it meant the weather gods were happy.
I strongly reckon this has got something to do with how shut off these people are from rest of the world. I was so glad to have found that the Airtel 4G girl was a liar. To be honest, I would want the 4G girl to remain a liar. I want the Himalayas to stay this way. Let them not be bothered by whatever shit humans are doing sitting on a toilet sit and typing frantically, "We will not let Padmavati release in theatres" in the comments section of a random social networking site. Digital detoxification is the need of the hour which is why I would urge people to embrace the mountains and happily get disconnected from the noisy world around us and get in touch with the sound of their own hearts beating with joy with each footstep closer to the summit.
Trekking at such high altitudes needs strong lungs, stronger will power, discipline, team effort and balance. A small mistake and it can prove fatal."Mountains don't give you a second chance", our trek leader Mr. Vikas, one of the nicest guys I met on the trek, said on the first night of our trek. This line stayed with me throughout the trek. In many ways, along the trek, at various points, I realized mountain was just a metaphor for life. If you look at it, we are always walking on the edge of the cliff, physically or metaphorically. The question is do you peep down in the valley and see death staring at you and get frightened or do you look up and see the giant mountains beckoning you to summit them. The choice is always ours.
There are challenges during the high altitude trek but then there is an opportunity to outgrow them as an individual and as a group. Each trekker has a different pace and while some might reach the summit earlier, the trek leaders and guides ensure that everyone makes it to the top. I think there is a wonderful leadership and life lesson to be learnt in this.
While I have tried my best to provide some insight into this beautiful trek, no number of adjectives can do justice to the feeling you get on completing a high altitude Himalayan trek because-
Once you surrender yourself to the Himalayas;
Once you have seen the radiant sunrays painting magic on the snowy canvas of Himalayas;
Once you have imbibed this minimalist lifestyle;
It will be hard for you to not realize that there is so much to life than the mad rat race for marks, ranks, positions and riches.
When I left the city to go to the mountains, I thought about the people there and how they have nothing.
When I met them, I got to know they had everything that I ever needed.
Perhaps Gandhi ji was spot on when he said, “The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed”.

- Dr.Devashish Palkar


(Photographs attacheded with(out) permission from Shail Shah's camera. )



Saturday 21 July 2018

"HOME CALLING.. "

"HOME CALLING..."

"Sir, it's been 45 days.. I want to go back home!", Mr. Jayesh asked Dr. Rahul with tears rolling down his face.
"Oh. Very soon..", Dr. Rahul replied without making an eye contact.
ETEC- I/M,
a shorthand for Eye to Eye contact- initiated and maintained,
Dr. Rahul had written in the mental status examination of Mr. Jayesh, a couple of hours ago; a clear sign suggestive of improvement in patient's mental condition.
Mr. Jayesh used to work at a bookshop 3 years ago when was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
Like a random bullet being fired from the gun of terrorist in a crowded space, the bullet of Schizophrenia had hit him. There was no answer to why only me? Even the terrorist had no idea who he was shooting. Worse still, we are yet to confirm which terrorist organization fires the bullet of Schizophrenia.
This was the second time Mr. Jayesh had been admitted in Psychiatry ward after his Schizophrenia worsened on medication. He had again started hearing voices of unknown males wanting to harm him and kill him which had caused him much distress. He was diagnosed as a case of resistant Schizophrenia this time and was given 9 ECTs after which he was stabilized on Clozapine.
"When will I get to go home?", Mr. Jayesh asked again.
This was a question which often dreaded Dr. Rahul for there was no clear answer to the question when a psychiatric patient would be allowed to go back home.
The only way to respond to this question as Dr. Rahul had learnt was to ask another unrelated question.
"Are you still hearing the voices?", Dr. Rahul asked coldly.
"Well, I think the voice from inside is stronger this time.." Mr. Jayesh replied.
"Wait. Have the hallucinations changed? Shit.." Dr. Rahul asked finally establishing an eye to eye contact.
A wry smile played on the lips of Mr. Jayesh.
"Don't worry, doc. It's not hallucination. It's the voice from within. The voice which exists inside all of us but which gets muffled by the noise outside us..."
"And what does that voice say?", Dr. Rahul asked curiously.
"Well, it says different things at different times. But usually it's always right.. Right now it is asking me to go back home.."
Home. The place which Dr. Rahul had not been to for 1 and half months now after coming to Mumbai for his residency. It had been a tough decision to leave home for a better institute 400 km away. But he was sure this was a decision which would pay off well 3 years down the line. Suddenly, he was filled with a longing to go back home. And usually when a man develops a desire to go back home, he will go back regardless of the oceans he has to cross. Vir Savarkar had jumped into an unknown ocean, Aron Ralston cut his arm off in a canyon to free himself; all for that one desire- of wanting to go back home.
The next morning as Dr. Rahul got ready to attend the rounds, sensing his professor in a jolly mood gently asked him if he could be allowed 2 days leave to go back home. To his utter delight the professor had nodded his head in approval.
At that same time, the nurse came running to Dr.  Rahul.
"Dr. Rahul there is something I want to tell you. Mr Jayesh is not on cot since morning. I think he has absconded.."
Dr. Rahul smiled.
"Don't worry, I will complete the formalities soon.", saying so Dr. Rahul sat down to write a leter informing Mr. Jayesh's abscondence to Chief Medical Officer.
After some time he sat down again to write his leave letter and mailed it to his professor.
After 45 days, Mr. Jayesh and Dr. Rahul were leaving for home.
"What would you do after going back home?", Dr. Rahul had asked Mr. Jayesh a day earlier.
"For now I haven't thought about anything beyond going back home..", Mr. Jayesh had replied.
In the 200 thousand years of human existence on this planet, is it not surprising that we have failed to create anything more gratifying than the feeling of going back home...?

~ Devashish Palkar
#PsychiDiaries #PsychiaTRYST

"HOME CALLING.. "

"HOME CALLING..."

"Sir, it's been 45 days.. I want to go back home!", Mr. Jayesh asked Dr. Rahul with tears rolling down his face.
"Oh. Very soon..", Dr. Rahul replied without making an eye contact.
ETEC- I/M,
a shorthand for Eye to Eye contact- initiated and maintained,
Dr. Rahul had written in the mental status examination of Mr. Jayesh, a couple of hours ago; a clear sign suggestive of improvement in patient's mental condition.
Mr. Jayesh used to work at a bookshop 3 years ago when was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
Like a random bullet being fired from the gun of terrorist in a crowded space, the bullet of Schizophrenia had hit him. There was no answer to why only me? Even the terrorist had no idea who he was shooting. Worse still, we are yet to confirm which terrorist organization fires the bullet of Schizophrenia.
This was the second time Mr. Jayesh had been admitted in Psychiatry ward after his Schizophrenia worsened on medication. He had again started hearing voices of unknown males wanting to harm him and kill him which had caused him much distress. He was diagnosed as a case of resistant Schizophrenia this time and was given 9 ECTs after which he was stabilized on Clozapine.
"When will I get to go home?", Mr. Jayesh asked again.
This was a question which often dreaded Dr. Rahul for there was no clear answer to the question when a psychiatric patient would be allowed to go back home.
The only way to respond to this question as Dr. Rahul had learnt was to ask another unrelated question.
"Are you still hearing the voices?", Dr. Rahul asked coldly.
"Well, I think the voice from inside is stronger this time.." Mr. Jayesh replied.
"Wait. Have the hallucinations changed? Shit.." Dr. Rahul asked finally establishing an eye to eye contact.
A wry smile played on the lips of Mr. Jayesh.
"Don't worry, doc. It's not hallucination. It's the voice from within. The voice which exists inside all of us but which gets muffled by the noise outside us..."
"And what does that voice say?", Dr. Rahul asked curiously.
"Well, it says different things at different times. But usually it's always right.. Right now it is asking me to go back home.."
Home. The place which Dr. Rahul had not been to for 1 and half months now after coming to Mumbai for his residency. It had been a tough decision to leave home for a better institute 400 km away. But he was sure this was a decision which would pay off well 3 years down the line. Suddenly, he was filled with a longing to go back home. And usually when a man develops a desire to go back home, he will go back regardless of the oceans he has to cross. Vir Savarkar had jumped into an unknown ocean, Aron Ralston cut his arm off in a canyon to free himself; all for that one desire- of wanting to go back home.
The next morning as Dr. Rahul got ready to attend the rounds, sensing his professor in a jolly mood gently asked him if he could be allowed 2 days leave to go back home. To his utter delight the professor had nodded his head in approval.
At that same time, the nurse came running to Dr.  Rahul.
"Dr. Rahul there is something I want to tell you. Mr Jayesh is not on cot since morning. I think he has absconded.."
Dr. Rahul smiled.
"Don't worry, I will complete the formalities soon.", saying so Dr. Rahul sat down to write a leter informing Mr. Jayesh's abscondence to Chief Medical Officer.
After some time he sat down again to write his leave letter and mailed it to his professor.
After 45 days, Mr. Jayesh and Dr. Rahul were leaving for home.
"What would you do after going back home?", Dr. Rahul had asked Mr. Jayesh a day earlier.
"For now I haven't thought about anything beyond going back home..", Mr. Jayesh had replied.
In the 200 thousand years of human existence on this planet, is it not surprising that we have failed to create anything more gratifying than the feeling of going back home...?

~ Devashish Palkar
#PsychiDiaries #PsychiaTRYST

"HOME CALLING.. "

"HOME CALLING..."

"Sir, it's been 45 days.. I want to go back home!", Mr. Jayesh asked Dr. Rahul with tears rolling down his face.
"Oh. Very soon..", Dr. Rahul replied without making an eye contact.
ETEC- I/M,
a shorthand for Eye to Eye contact- initiated and maintained,
Dr. Rahul had written in the mental status examination of Mr. Jayesh, a couple of hours ago; a clear sign suggestive of improvement in patient's mental condition.
Mr. Jayesh used to work at a bookshop 3 years ago when was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
Like a random bullet being fired from the gun of terrorist in a crowded space, the bullet of Schizophrenia had hit him. There was no answer to why only me? Even the terrorist had no idea who he was shooting. Worse still, we are yet to confirm which terrorist organization fires the bullet of Schizophrenia.
This was the second time Mr. Jayesh had been admitted in Psychiatry ward after his Schizophrenia worsened on medication. He had again started hearing voices of unknown males wanting to harm him and kill him which had caused him much distress. He was diagnosed as a case of resistant Schizophrenia this time and was given 9 ECTs after which he was stabilized on Clozapine.
"When will I get to go home?", Mr. Jayesh asked again.
This was a question which often dreaded Dr. Rahul for there was no clear answer to the question when a psychiatric patient would be allowed to go back home.
The only way to respond to this question as Dr. Rahul had learnt was to ask another unrelated question.
"Are you still hearing the voices?", Dr. Rahul asked coldly.
"Well, I think the voice from inside is stronger this time.." Mr. Jayesh replied.
"Wait. Have the hallucinations changed? Shit.." Dr. Rahul asked finally establishing an eye to eye contact.
A wry smile played on the lips of Mr. Jayesh.
"Don't worry, doc. It's not hallucination. It's the voice from within. The voice which exists inside all of us but which gets muffled by the noise outside us..."
"And what does that voice say?", Dr. Rahul asked curiously.
"Well, it says different things at different times. But usually it's always right.. Right now it is asking me to go back home.."
Home. The place which Dr. Rahul had not been to for 1 and half months now after coming to Mumbai for his residency. It had been a tough decision to leave home for a better institute 400 km away. But he was sure this was a decision which would pay off well 3 years down the line. Suddenly, he was filled with a longing to go back home. And usually when a man develops a desire to go back home, he will go back regardless of the oceans he has to cross. Vir Savarkar had jumped into an unknown ocean, Aron Ralston cut his arm off in a canyon to free himself; all for that one desire- of wanting to go back home.
The next morning as Dr. Rahul got ready to attend the rounds, sensing his professor in a jolly mood gently asked him if he could be allowed 2 days leave to go back home. To his utter delight the professor had nodded his head in approval.
At that same time, the nurse came running to Dr.  Rahul.
"Dr. Rahul there is something I want to tell you. Mr Jayesh is not on cot since morning. I think he has absconded.."
Dr. Rahul smiled.
"Don't worry, I will complete the formalities soon.", saying so Dr. Rahul sat down to write a leter informing Mr. Jayesh's abscondence to Chief Medical Officer.
After some time he sat down again to write his leave letter and mailed it to his professor.
After 45 days, Mr. Jayesh and Dr. Rahul were leaving for home.
"What would you do after going back home?", Dr. Rahul had asked Mr. Jayesh a day earlier.
"For now I haven't thought about anything beyond going back home..", Mr. Jayesh had replied.
In the 200 thousand years of human existence on this planet, is it not surprising that we have failed to create anything more gratifying than the feeling of going back home...?

~ Devashish Palkar
#PsychiDiaries #PsychiaTRYST

Saturday 30 June 2018

DOCTOR'S DAY

DOCTOR'S DAY..

"This is bleeding heavily.. Bring the dressing tray.. Fast!",  Dr. Ravi shouts while applying pressure over the blood oozing from the deep wound on the patient's forearm..
The nurse picks up pace and brings the sutures and dressing tray.
"Tring tring.."
Dr. Ravi's phone rings. It's in his pocket and since he has worn sterile gloves, he asks the nurse to pick it from his pocket.
"Should I pick it up?", the nurse asks.
"Who the ghost wants to talk to me at 3 AM?", Dr. Ravi shouts while still trying to control the bleeding.
The nurse shows him the phone.
It reads Rakesh calling.
"Ahh. Let it be. He is my college friend. That stupid Suarez fan. Just wants to pull my leg over Portugal's defeat. Ahh Ronaldo. Why did you have to lose? Anyway, just forget it. Let's get done with this first, sister.", Dr. Ravi asks the nurse gathering his thoughts over the task at hand.
As he bends nearer, he smells of alcohol from the mouth of his patient.
"Fucker!", he curses silently.
Just then a policeman comes running.
"Is he stable?", He asks.
"He is bleeding heavily and not keeping his blood pressure well. I suspect he has internal bleeding.. We are waiting for the intern to bring the USG machine. Till then I am managing the external wounds.", Dr Ravi replies.
"Its a medico legal case. He was driving his Mercedes on the racecourse road under influence of alcohol and crashed into a bike coming from the other side of the road. The person driving the bike died on spot.", The police informs.
"Ahh. That's too bad but nothing new. We see such cases daily.!", Dr. Ravi replies.
Just then an intern brings in the portable USG machine and the radiology resident performs FAST(Focused Abdominal Sonography in Trauma).
He quickly does the scan and informs Dr. Ravi that there is an active bleeding in the abdomen and that an emergency OT needs to be done to save the life of the patient.
Dr. Ravi asks his juniors to get the OT ready  urgently. He switches off his phone and goes to the change room to get himself scrubbed.
In the OT, Dr. Ravi who has not slept for last 30 hours, is all charged up to save the patient. There are only few things other than watching his favorite footballer Ronaldo play which make him excited. Emergency OT is one such thing.
It's 6 am and finally Dr. Ravi comes out of the OT, tired but relieved that he has managed to save the patient.
He switches on his mobile.
There are 11 missed calls from Rakesh.
"Fucker. I know Ronaldo lost.!", Dr. Ravi curses under his breath.
He orders tea and sits down to call Rakesh back.
"Yes, fucker I know Ronaldo lost.", Dr. Ravi shouts on the phone.
"That's not what I called you for. Something terrible happened last night. Rahul and I were out to have tea at 2 AM to celebrate Uruguay's win on our bike and...", Rakesh breaks down and starts crying..
"And what? Tell me fast", panick all palpable in Dr. Ravi's voice now.
"A Mercedes crashed into our bike and.... Rahul...", He mumbles and again starts crying.
"Fuck. Fuck. No.. Where did this happen? On racecourse road?", Dr. Ravi asks.
"Yea. How do you know?", Rakesh asks with a sense of astonishment.
"Where are you.? And how are you?"
"No. I was lucky. I am okay. We are at Rahul's house. The funeral is at 10. Are you coming?", Rakesh asks.
"Yea. I am rushing..", Dr. Ravi hangs up the phone.
Just then the wardboy arrives with the cup of tea.
"Here's your tea, sir.
Happy Doctor's day, sir".
Dr. Ravi looks up with tears rolling down his face.

~© Dr. Devashish Palkar

Saturday 17 March 2018

THE FARMERS MARCHED

THE FARMERS MARCHED


Last week, India woke up to something spectacular. A huge, peaceful rally of the poorest farmers, marching all the way from Nashik to Mumbai to make their demands heard. The march itself was special, because it included zero violence, zero breaking of public property, much to the chagrin of the Opposition.
Here is my small effort to paint the happenings of that day in the form of a poem..


"In the heat of March,
The farmers marched,
The fire in their hungry belly burning,
The anger in their eyes raging..
Yet they marched with poise and grace,
Silently, to not disturb the human race..

The farmers marched..

The city woke up to their silent steps,
Aghast and in wonder..
Red they wore,
Red they carried..
Feet bled
And flags fluttered..

The dirty politics had found a new colour..
In the dirt and blood that covered their feet,
Alas.. The sweat had been conveniently forgotten..

But behold.
The red on the streets that flowed was real,
The red in the air that fluttered was unreal...

In between the two reds,
We forgot to read,
Which red mattered and which did not..

For a day, the city turned red,
Woke from their bed,
Out of guilt and compassion,
Offered to the hungry farmers a morsel of bread..
The bread, made from the wheat
Had been irrigated with the farmer's sweat..

The authority offered then a rose,
And once again in the red beauty of the rose,
The thorns were forgotten..

For a day, the city turned red.
And then they all went to bed..
As though nothing had ever happened..
Well, on most nights they did the same anyway..

The farmers marched.
Back to their fields parched..
The media smiled..
The politicians smirked.
And the irony laughed.."


~ Devashish Palkar

Monday 2 October 2017

The forgotten revolutionary writers of India

While it is a known fact that our revolutionaries were men of exemplary courage, they were equally skilled at using a pen. And I am sure when you read this line, Gandhi ji and Nehru's writings are flashing in front of your eyes. And that's the exact reason why I want to write about the forgotten revolutionary writers of India..

There are 2 letters in Indian history which had deep impact on my mind as a kid.
One of the letters was definitely more famous-
The letter Gandhiji wrote to his father accepting his flaws and deciding to become a better person. That was really something I admired because speaking out truth definitely needed courage.

But equally courageous if not more was a letter Bhagat Singh wrote to his father stating, "Meri dulhan to Azaadi hai!'' I was blown apart reading that letter. It gave me goosebumps. It made me cry.
Equally powerful was Bhagat Singh's essay where he tried explaining why he turned atheist and took up armed violence. Also, while in prison Sukhdev once contemplated suicide and Bhagat Singh wrote him a powerful letter to dissuade him from taking such a step.
And unfortunately all these writings of Bhagat Singh were never a part of our school curriculum and hence for many people Gandhiji's letters and Nehru's letters to Indira are the only ones which come to mind when I talk about their favourite writings from the freedom movement.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar wrote many emotional poems(most of them in Marathi) while he was in Andaman jail but many have no idea about it..

Then there are writings of Ram Prasad Bismil, the stellar works of Ashfaqullah Khan and many more revolutionaries which have been forgotten by time and history..

Many people asked me today why I oppose Gandhi ji. My answer is- I don't hate him, I respect him for a person that he was but somehow in the shadow of Gandhi we have forgotten countless other revolutionaries who contributed much more than Gandhi ever could for the freedom of the country..
While we build memorials for Gandhi ji and continue to bear the burden of another Gandhi family, let us not forget the contributions of those whose birthdays are not celebrated as National holidays..

On Gandhi Jayanti, let us not forget that Gandhi wasn't the only one. No, the Azaadi didn't come, "Bina khadag, Bina Dhaal!"

JAY HIND.

~ Devashish Palkar

P.S. I have included only those revolutionaries whose writings I have had the pleasure of reading and I am sure there are many which are not a part of the list. If you know any apart from these, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.. Thank you. 

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