Stan Scribbles

~ Kook kannan It is no news that love marriages are becoming increasingly common in India. According to a report by WeddingWire India, arranged marriages have seen a 24% drop from 2020. But I have observed that, amusingly, more and more younger   siblings are getting permission, sometimes even encouragement, to opt for love marriages. All at the expense of their elder   siblings. I’m seeing this with a lot of my friends and family. Younger siblings whose parents had been historically very harsh about the love affairs of their children, who had even broken up their previous relationships creating so much drama, have suddenly loosened up and announced, " If you’re in a relationship or anything, go ahead. We got no objections." So, what happened? Logistics happened. They started looking for brides or grooms for their elder siblings. And they realized how hard it is to  arrange  a marriage in the modern world. Sure, their daughter might say ‘no’ to any guy they dis...

~ Sushmitha V Do you have a place called home? Tuesday dawned bright and sunny. I jumped out of bed, realizing I was an hour late for my fitness class. I ran to my room, took all my clothes, and rushed into the bathroom to take a shower. I guess this was my fastest-ever sprint - unfortunately, it was only from the door to the bathroom!  "Never mind, good start!" I cheered myself. I stood under the shower, imagining it to be a waterfall, eyes shut. Crystal pure water poured on me. Suddenly, I opened my eyes to hear a weird noise. I stopped my imaginary waterfall. The noise increased in volume. I tried to identify it, so I leaned against the bathroom door, pressing one ear to it to catch the sound more clearly. It was indistinct - the words weren't clear. It sounded like the whining of a baby- who throws immediate, loud tantrums on leaving his mother just for a few seconds. I was damn curious to know its origin. So, I gave a permanent pause to my waterfall and gushed ...

~ Nits It was one of those rare days; the Head of the Anatomy department herself had come to class, unannounced. A minister had come for the inauguration of an event and, as a result, we received the golden news: our classes were canceled! And we were to head to the auditorium. Halfway through the journey, it struck me... how about an escape and a trip to the beach? And there it happened, a memorable experience which we would cherish till the end. After a couple of debates, we gathered a crowd of about 18 people and headed to Kasimedu Beach. Since we were thrifty and greedy, about 10 of us got into one auto, and the 8 in another. Now, I tried explaining the mechanics of that to my friends many times, but I was never successful!  Bearing that in mind, I shall spare you the misery of having to read that. Now, let me give you a couple pieces of advice if at all you too plan to bunk classes and visit the beach: 1. Don’t be nitwits like us, and visit the beach at 11am, in the m...

 ~  Auksarrha What is the mind? If you say your mind is powered by your brain, you’re scientific. If you say it is your heart that prowls your mind, you’re romantic.  But who knows, a s the philosopher Chang Tzu once said, "We might not really know anything because we might all just be butterflies only dreaming that we are humans" The depth of thinking of the human mind is infinite & immeasurable. Society drawing hard and fast rules to declare a person sane or insane is something I never understood. A year ago, I happened to read about a time around the 1940s when neurologists around the world claimed to have discovered "just the cure " for schizophrenia, bipolar & other maniac disorders. The radical technique was called Prefrontal Lobotomy. In a typical Lobotomy, a sharp pick-like instrument was forced through the back of the eye sockets to pierce the thin bone that separates the eye socket and the frontal bone. A small hammer was used to drive th...

~ Kook kannan As doctors, or soon-to-be doctors, we do come across all kinds of patients – from naughty school kids and timid housewives to clueless boomers and arrogant politicians who wouldn’t listen to anyone. But do you know who is the most irritating kind of patient amongst them all? Well, I got to witness the kind a few days back. He was an unusual patient for an OP at Stanley, to say the least. He was dressed in a neat collared shirt and pants and spoke solely in English, which in itself was an anomaly. Most of the patients here converse in Tamil and the few who don’t are migrant labourers who know nothing but Hindi. Once in a blue moon, we get to hear the broken English of some North Indians. But this man spoke proper English and looked like a pakka native. After the doctor asked about his chief complaints, their conversation went like this: Patient:  Prescribe Amoxycillin, sir. It's a very good drug. Doctor:  I know it's a good drug. First, elaborate your complaints. ...