Sunset Photography

 || Hari Om ||

Sunset Photography

Reader beware: do not let the title deceive you! Though I am an enthusiastic (amateur) photographer with a particular obsession for sunsets, this blog post is not about the technicalities of photography (which I don’t know anyway ;) )

Rather, this is bunch of thoughts that have been going through my mind over the last few months. Before getting to the bone of the topic, let me give you the backstory; a bit of preamble so to speak.

I have recently cleared my MD General Medicine and also secured a good rank for my Superspeciality entrance. I have spent most of the last few months completely immersed in the preparation. In fact, since 2016, the rollercoaster ride which started from my internship has continued through the highs and lows of residency, right through to this moment, without much of a pause or breather. 

Still, it was during these last few months of preparation, as I was watching the changing hues of the setting sun; from the windows of our house, with my parents, that the seed of this idea sprang to life!

There was a single moment frozen in time, when by some miracle of nature, the entire sky was lit in a soft orange. It was as if we had stepped into Heaven, and everything had turned to gold. There was such beauty, that you could feel the energy in the air. Yet, this beauty was something that no camera could capture.

No camera, except one. The Human Eye, the camera made by that Great Craftsman.

And I still carry that moment, the bliss of that evening, the company of those dearest to me, as treasured memory.

That moment got me thinking, about photographs, and what they really mean.

These days, we are so busy capturing moments with our devices that maybe, just maybe, we forget to capture them with the devices God has already provided us with.

The real photography is in savouring the moment, enjoying the company of our loved ones; tasting the salt in the breeze at the sea-side; feeling the breeze upon your skin.

And then, when you look at the long-faded photo that you clicked that day, everything else that you felt comes back to you.

It is a great temptation to say: “I wish this would last forever, that we could watch the sunset together, everyday”. The truth is, we all have work to do, which cannot just be swept aside. And perhaps the real beauty of such moments, is that they are fleeting, a small gateway into a different world, which gives you the energy to keep moving. It is said that nothing lasts forever; I disagree. Maybe everything last forever, we just have to take a moment to “save the file”, so to speak.

Is finding beauty only about going to exotic places and scenic locations? Well, it isn’t, at least to me. I find true beauty in the little flowers that bloom outside my window, the chirping of the sparrows as they go about their search for food, in the pattering of raindrops, in simple acts of kindness, in the intricate workings of the human body, in the heartbeat that keeps us alive. There is beauty everywhere, all we need is a moment, a moment to open our eyes.

I always hoped and prayed that I would get some time off to rest and relax, and I got much more than I had ever hoped. But it is more than that: The One I was praying to showed me that I would find happiness and bliss not by waiting for some perfect occurrence, but by enjoying and treasuring the little moments of joy He gives me, everyday.

So, when you get those little moments of peace, treasure them, preserve them. And later, come calm or storm, close your eyes and let them take you away, into the photograph.

You may click a photograph, you may share it everywhere on social media, but at the end of the day, only you know what feeling you were trying to capture. That’s what makes it even more precious!

So, I close my eyes and let my mind take me away, to the beach, the place which has always been the closest to my heart. I can feel the sand beneath my feet, feel the breeze gently ruffling my hair. With closed eyes, I see the hues of the setting sun, as the sky is ablaze, with more shades of red, orange purple and pink than I can name. A thousand photographs, a thousand paintings on the canvas of the Great Artist. As I admire the Creation, I dive deeper and deeper and am immersed in the beauty of the Creator. For He that made such beauty, must be so beautiful Himself. And as the waves tap gently against my feet, I look to horizon. I see Him there, standing with His arms wide open, waiting for me. Welcoming me home. I open my eyes, and I see Him still.

|| Shree Ram || || Ambadnya || || Naathsanvidh ||

- Dr. Arnav H. Tongaonkar 

20/10/2020

My older blog posts are listed at the top of the page.
If you liked this post, do read the others as well ! All comments and feedback are welcome.

A Flower for God

 

|| Hari Om ||

 

A Flower For God

Mother Nature is the greatest and most abundant source of knowledge. She has the answer to every question we may ask. All we have to do is ask, and then observe and listen. A single moment listening to the rustling of leaves, the gentle breeze and birdsong is enough to refresh the mind and set in motion, gears that were long considered rusty.

This story is a little different, in that the protagonist is not our usual human hero. The protagonist is a shoeflower bush, by the name of Hibiscus.

Hibiscus is a shoeflower bush, that lives in my balcony. It is a humble shrub. Unremarkable, much like its fellow plants, basking in the sunlight. The only problem was that Hibiscus had not grown a single flower for more than a year !

 It was green and fresh and beautiful in its own right. But what good is a flowering-plant without flowers ?

Thus, it was to our considerable surprise that, at the beginning of August, we noticed a little bud growing on Hibiscus.

So we watched and we waited and we hoped, but each day was no different from the previous. We were not even sure if it would ever blossom. But Hibiscus knew.

Over weeks, the bud grew almost imperceptibly in size. It was a dull-yellow thing; not quite the colour anyone was looking for, but a bud nonetheless.

Then came the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, our most precious festival. Dearest Ganpati Bappa arrived Home.

Remember, this was 2020: “ The Year of the Lockdown”. Things were very different. Instead of our usual statue of Bappa, we had a simple photograph kept for worship. But we could feel His presence everywhere. We had been unable to buy flowers to offer to Bappa, so my mother had made a beautiful garland of simple hand-made paper flowers.

But somewhere, at the back of our minds, we were really missing offering real flowers to God.

This was exactly what Hibiscus had been waiting for! On the day that Ganpati Bappa Arrived home, the little bud bloomed. It blossomed into a glorious pink flower. 

 

And along with all the paper flowers, it was the only real flower that we offered to God.

What a journey, and what a beautiful place to finally rest!

 

As I looked at the Hibiscus flower adorning the garland of Ganpati Bappa like the most regal of gemstones, I had only one thought: “ Let our lives be this way.”

Whatever little that we are able to do; as per our capacities; let that be offered to God. Let our smallest actions bring joy to others. Let everything that we do be for God, for His work, so that we may rest at His feet forever.

Just like this simple Hibiscus flower, that waited and grew ever so slowly, just so that it could rest at His feet.

 

And the best thing about God; something our beloved Bapu ( Dr. Aniruddha D. Joshi) always says in His discourses; is that God does not want only the best of flowers or the most expensive of offerings,

He is wiling to accept anything that we offer Him with Love, be it a real flower, a paper flower or even just twigs. Just like He is willing to accept us as we are, with all our flaws.

And He is there to guide us, to blossom into the best that we can be.

My older blog posts are listed at the top of the page.
If you liked this post, do read the others as well ! All comments and feedback are welcome.

|| Shree Ram ||

|| Ambadnya ||

|| Naathsanvidh ||

|| I Love You my Dad ||

Dr. Arnav H. Tongaonkar @drarnavmht

20/9/2020

Ward Stories 1 : Hope

  || Hari Om || || Shree Ram || || Ambadnya ||

|| Naathsanvidh ||

Dear readers ! For those of you who don't know me, a brief introduction: 

I am a 3rd year Resident Doctor in Internal Medicine at KEM Hospital, Mumbai.

Residency is always a roller-coaster ride, full of  struggle and hardships, but also full of the most wonderful memories. Moments to be treasured forever.

I am starting this series to share some of the beautiful experiences and interactions that I have had during my residency. These incidents have really inspired me; and they are God's Supreme blessing, which have carried me through many difficult times. Hope you enjoy reading them as well.

Now, on to the story ! 

 

Ward Stories 1 : Hope

There are many times during the practice of the medical profession that we feel that we are fighting a lost battle, and all our efforts are going to be futile. We feel that we are swimming blind in a sea of darkness, fighting a many-headed enemy that we cannot even see. It is in such situations that we are truly humbled, when we realise how little we actually know, and how little is in our control.

The best we can do is not give up, and keep fighting, with whatever it is that we have.

The story I wish to share highlights this principle. 

The story is of a young boy (for the purpose of this story, his name is Hope) who presented to us with Refractory Status Epilepticus. Avoiding technicalities, this basically means that he was in a state of continuous seizure activity. He required constant sedation and was on a ventilator in our ICU for life support. His seizure activity was not controlled on more than 5 different anti-epileptic medications. Finally, he was introduced into a state of drug-induced coma. Any tapering of the medications, resulted in an immediate recurrence of his symptoms. He was in this state for more than 60 days.

His relatives were very poor and not well educated. They were very simple people. Our morning rounds used to always end with speaking to them at length. It was heart-breaking for us to explain to them everyday that our best efforts were not working. More so because of two things: it would have been almost impossible for his parents to understand what was wrong with him, since it was far beyond even Our understanding; and because they always looked to us with great hope and faith. They believed in us, even though we felt then that we were fighting an enemy we could not hope to defeat.

During my tenure, I have seen him requiring 3 inotropes ( life support medications) just to maintain his blood pressure, completely on mechanical ventilation. He used to throw a new challenge at us everyday, and we used to respond as best as we could. But it was like fighting a forest fire with a water bottle. But, we never gave up on him. And his family never gave up on us.

And one day, after a very long time, Hope woke up!

 He opened his eyes and began gesturing with his hands. Gradually, with careful monitoring, he was now off the Ventilator.

 Literature tells us that seizure activity persisting more than 30 minutes starts causing irreversible brain damage. Well, this was more than 60 days ! Who knew what state his mind would be in ? Would the parents get their son back, or just a shadow of what once was ? Here, again, he surprised us all.

 He woke with no deficit, completely recognizing his relatives, as if the last 60 days just hadn’t happened. The best start to our new year as that we spoke to him, and he spoke to us. And his parents, the simple farmer family, showed us such love, such as is difficult to come by these days. The smiles on their faces are something that I will carry as a talisman for the rest of my life.

We had tried many novel treatment modalities, something must have worked eventually. 

But, the bottom line for me is what one of my seniors at MICU said while we were discussing his recovery:

“ We kept him alive, God saved him”

I am not disregarding our efforts, for countless Faculty and Residents from various departments, Staff Nurses, Ward Mamas and Moushis (Helpers) have invested their hearts and souls in this struggle. But there is forever a part of the battle that is not really in our hands.
 

There are many times when we lose, and fall over and over again. The only thing that we can do is to keep rising and keep fighting. Victory is never guaranteed, but the effort is what we can and must give. It is easy to get tired and frustrated, to think of giving up, but even if you win only once in a hundred battles, it is worth it for that one person, that one family! 

Hope woke from his slumber, and in doing so, became a beacon for a hundred medicos. The next time that, we are stuck in the darkness, fighting an invisible enemy, fearing defeat, we will look back and say: “ We will give it everything that we have. Hope lives on, for all of us”

SETH G.S. Medical College & KEM Hospital

-Dr ArnavMHT
( This story has appeared in print in The Larynx: the college Newspaper)

My older blog posts are listed at the top of the page.
If you liked this post, do read the others as well ! All comments and feedback are welcome.

  || Hari Om || || Shree Ram || || Ambadnya ||

|| Naathsanvidh ||