Nirastra Bhav!

That is Harry Potter doing his jaadu in desi. Well, I am as confused about what the movie was about, after coming back from the movie, as I was while watching it. I thought the confusion was because I missed the first 10 min, but, when I read that only thing that happens in those 10 minutes is the incident that prompts Harry to use his magic outside the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and leads to a threat of expulsion from the school.
Needles to say he is saved from expulsion by his Prof Dumbledore. Then there is a piece about ministry getting paranoid that Dumbledore is creating a magician's force, which could pose security risk to ministry. And they send Dolores Umbridge, as a teacher at Hogwarts, who makes life of students quite miserable. How she meets her nemesis, is one part of picture. And it is as non-noteworthy as rest of the movie.
Then there is a threat from (now returned) Lord Voldemort, and he is trying to take over control of Harry's brain. And that is climax of the movie, where Voldemort and his cronies have a confrontation with Harry, Ron, Hermione & colleagues.
Dumbledore appears from nowhere and fights a battle of his life to return the attack launched by evil Voldemort. Then Harry does a mental battle with Voldemort and prevents him from taking over his brain. And that was it.
Well, I was waiting that something worth attention to take place somewhere in the movie. But I kept waiting and movie ended without giving that something.
Must have made sense to die hard HP fans, but for the uninitiated in HP saga, it was a case of movie falling well short of expectation.
But who is complaining when it is a big hit at the box office!

Ellora in rainy season!

Wish I was a poet to describe this greenery!

Somewhat difficult route to Sita Ki nahani

The Waterfall on cave 29 - The Sita ki Nahani

View from Sita ki nahani
A cave with a view!
Hand in hand!

Cricket on the Mhaismal plains

Fascinated by the wild flowers! So cute!

First Rains at Aurangabad caves: A Pictorial Essay !

Chini Kum

Had heard that it is again a ‘young girl falls in love with old man’ film. Directors from bollywood and holiwood have been flirting with this idea since long time, and there are many films attesting to this for example ‘Jogger’s Park’ & ‘Six Nights & Seven Days’. Novelty was the way the inevitable love happens, this time the old man (Buddhadev Gupta) is none other than big B, and girl (Nina Verma) is charming and now mature Tabbu. Big B is chef and owner of a restaurant which according to his own words is ‘finest Indian restaurant in whole of England’. Tabbu drops into his restaurant and returns a Jafrani rice unsatisfied. Big B with his big ego as a best chef explains why his hotel is the best and insults her, and she leaves crying. Next day in comes a dish of Jafrani Rice, big B testing it, guesses & shoots out its exact recipe, from its taste, then he is informed by his waiter that, the honour of making that dish does not belong to his hotel, it has been sent by the customer, whom he had insulted.
Thus begins the odyssey of love, the fiery but intelligent exchanges between Tabbu and big B is the best thing in whole movie. At times though the dialogues go a little overboard and we are reduced to feeling ashamed. Director could have avoided that. Then there is little 6 year old neighbour ‘Sexy’ who is dying of cancer, who plays a big Mamma & agony Aunt to big B and his big ego. At times play is brilliant, but at others it just manages to become cheap.
Ultimately Tabbu and Big B decide that they should marry, speaking to big B’s mother is not a big problem & Tabbu manages that without much difficulty. Talking to Tabbu’s father, played by Paresh Rawal, is a real pain in the a** for big B, considering he is not only as old Tabbu’s father but couple of years older than him!
Inevitable refusal from him leads us to second part of this movie, and here it becomes just another plain Bollywood drama with Paresh Rawal taking a fast unto death and big B trying to win him over with food and some old fashioned reasoning, but nothing works as we move towards climax.
In the end the big Kutub Minar comes to rescue (believe me!), as Amitabh hugs the iron pillar in front of Kutub Minar, with his back towards the pillar, and tries to touch his two hands together, from behind the pillar, his mother comes in nick of time and helps him to pull his hands together. When someone manages to do this, his wishes are fulfilled.
I would not spoil your fun, by telling what happens next, suffice it to say that, there are flashes of brilliance as well as moments where the humour gets too under the waist and embarrasses us.
But it is worth it, if you can not get enough of Amitabh. Tabbu doesn’t speak, much, but God! That sly look from the corner of her eyes, it would be enough to turn your heart to jelly anytime. Of course love the title song.

Up, close and personal with uterine fibroids!

Got this hyserectomy specimen recently, on cuttiing open it revealed beautiful fibroids. Dr. John Minarcik of Rosalind Franklin University liked it so much that he made this teaching video. Thank you Dr. Minarcik, I am flattered!

Hori khere raghubira...

Glad that I did not title this post 'Country in riot of colors'; the phrase I found to have been over used & cliched. Check out these items from ibnlive or NDTV.
But then I realised that, that is what it is! A riot of colors!
See for yourself -


But senior generation was conspicuous by their absence. Though I suspect that some of them might have been busy with this -


Previous night we burned a quiet holi in the backyard of our house.


Myself, my wife & son made a list of things that we fear and things that each of us should not be doing. And we burned that list in the holi, it was interesting to see our fears turn to ashes in holi. We all preyed that we will improve after this symbolic act!
Happy holi!

Cricket cricket oh lovely cricket...

Cricket cricket oh lovely cricket... youh always take my wicket!
Goes a calypso song. I seemed to have got over my obsession with cricket. But the generation next seems to be keen on it...

Style seems more important than play!

Hurda Party

If you are in Aurangabad, this time of the year, you will surely be invited to some hurda(tender jowar grains, heated/barbecued in the fire.) party. We went to our farm today, there were so many funtions like marriages today, that noboday was free to come with us. So we went there all by ourselves.
But it was fun. En route to farm we saw this -

In the farm we enjoyed the picnic -

Then we had one of the most delectable hurda of this season-

Trip back home was fun filled -

But don't ask me what happened after we reached home!
All that hurda and couple of (very) big cups of tea, created havoc with my stomach, and only after couple of antacids and some really difficult time I felt better.
Oh the perils of such parties!

The Republic day: Dil hai Hindustani...

The title means the heart is Indian.
We all love our country with all its pluses and minuses. I dont know whethere their is any country which does not have a minus. And I hope I am not opening a Pandora's box by saying that. Also, I am not sure how others feel about their country.. Hence a little doubt whether & how people perceive minuses regarding their country.
Anyway went to flag hoisting ceremony, all men & even children decked in whitest ever kudta-pajamas, women in whitest saree giving the Rin supreme woman a run for her money. Shool children in crisp uniforms, it is a great site. Wish I had the camera with me.
TV channels were showing the deshbhakti songs, celebrities telling what the republic day means to them.
And yes the long holiday...ahead.
It is great to be alive (and kicking!)

Makar sankranti at Aurangabad

Makar sankranti has always been about flying kites for young and old.
Here are some pics of kite flying competition (peinch), where we are supposed to cut the opponent's kite with our own.












Even the girls joined in enthusiastically in what has traditionally been boy's domain.















Passion of the senior generation was also quite evident.















Enthusiasm of young one's was quite overwhelming, and elders were constantly reigning that in.




















For women it is all about the traditional haldi-kunku (going to each other's homes, socialising & exchaning small gifts etc.)

Farm...

Went to farm today, nearly an hours drive,roads gives the satisfaction of participating in car rally; but worth it definitely.
Enjoyed the picnic.
Came back & started exploring the medical blosphere through KevinMD's feeds. Really not sure how I am going to read all the email coming my way, all the interesting & ever increasing web resources.
Hope to find answer to this one...

Coping with ailing parent.

I guess I am one of those people for whom coping with ailing parent can be tough. Every time my father needs to be hospitalised, I feel paralysed. I think why so early? Why me?
I know this is a perpetual cycle, many people have gone through it, many will, but I can not take it in my stride; and I am not sure whether it should be taken in one's stride.

Change is the mantra.

Leafing through that Al Koran book 'Bring Out The Magic In Your Mind', I found this interesting line -
There was a person once who said this to President Roosewelt, 'Something interesting is always happening to you.' He answered, 'I take care that it does.'
If the life is becoming the drab routine and leaving us drained at the end of the day, I think we should dare to change the pattern.

It is back to work..

Celebration over, notable thing was families & friends gathering at someone's home and partying; policing was very strict on the roads, though I saw three people riding on a single bike, obviously drunk, harassing an innocent man, for not walking properly. Isako kahate hai ulta chor kotwal ko date. (Case of pot calling kettle black.)
Fail to understand why some people drink as if it is the last day of earth.

Blogging on New Year's Eve

It is good that my pc just next to my microscope, so whenever I feel like talking I can just key in something!
These days posting cases mostly at ipath, where there is less of an hastle. Most of the time is spent in reading emails of the various mailing lists that I subscribe.
But interacting with people online has been quite a fulfilling experience.
More later, Enjoy the New Year's Eve!

Lights! Camera!! G. lambia!!!

Stool Saline preparation showing protozoa in action, shot with Nikon coolpix 3700 in video mode, converted to real media with real producer.

Video of parasite, stool salin prep

Some cases are here --

http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/61968





http://telemed.ipath.ch/ipath/object/view/62191




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/63316




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/64153




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/64486




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/65348




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/65609




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/67822




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/68180




https://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/68511




http://telemed.ipath.ch/ipath/object/view/74182




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/78339




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/79016




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/79439




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/80782




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/81167




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/81477




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/81422




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/81739




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/82112




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/82607




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/82926




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/83326




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/83527




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/83764




http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch/ipath/object/view/84528

 

Uterine fibroid.
Posted by Sachin

Dear Friends,
Posted by Sachin