The Perks of Being Doctor

I ll try and keep this one short and crisp. A lot has been written about the tough life Doctors lead. So on and so forth. And almost every Doctor has at one point or the other written or expressed as to how they are over-worked, dealing with life-threatening diseases, not having a life of their own, so on and so forth. For all these they do deserve a kudos. They are no doubt providing a valuable service. But when it comes to their personal lives, it all seems depressing. So i came up with the perks that one gets from studying medicine.

1. You are always a scholar. Or in the process of passing an exam. You live the dream . You are always a student. pre-med school, med school, residency, specialization super-specialization easily 10-12 years of your life as a student.

2. You are probably the one who doesn’t clog up people’s timelines on social networking sites with pics of your holidays abroad, or weddings or kids. ( you prevent people from feeling depressed)

3. You can always get out of any social gathering you do not want to  attend even if it is on a Sunday by saying “I am on call” . No questions will be asked ( and in most cases it’s not a lie either)

4. You can kind of use the same excuse in a modified way to get out of a social-do you did attend but found boring. ( Sorry! It’s the hospital. there’s an emergency)

5. Everyone always remains in touch with you. You are probably one of those rare “chosen ones ” in school with whom everyone exchanges at least a holiday greeting once a year. ( Hey! it always pays to know a Doctor for you never know when you may need an “internal consult”)

6. Your Bank balance is enviable. Not only because you earn it!(THAT everyone does. so mainstream! ) but also because you don’t have the time or energy to spend it.. so it all just kind of accumulates.

7. You are quite the catch in the Indian wedding scenario! remember . For an Arranged marriage it’s always a Doctor first and if it’s a love marriage chances are that acceptance rate will be high. Because hey! You are a DOCTOR!

8. You are never at a lack of topics of discussion. even amidst strangers. Because as soon as anyone learns that you are a doctor, they WILL tell you about some ailment that bothers or bugs them.

9. You have seen so many plethora of human emotions that nothing surprises you. EVER!

10. Last but not the least, you never have to wait in the long queue waiting for the doctor to see you! 🙂

Salon Chronicles

I know . There’s a lot of jokes doing rounds regarding a woman and her salon bills. In fact most of the people think it’s a frivolous activity and the amount of money spent – obscene. But there are so many reasons a woman goes to the saloon and trust me, “looking good” is just a tip of the iceberg.

I don’t know if anyone has heard of the adage but I’ve. It goes something like this, “a woman should never lie to three people, her lawyer, her stylist and her tailor”. And somewhere down the line this is true.

When a woman goes to the salon it’s not merely to upkeep her looks. Salons are the ultimate destination for quality time with the girls. Yes, we do have girls-night-outs too, but it doesn’t even hold a candle to the salon outings. After all ,what could be better than sharing mutual exchange of information, ( I refrain from using the word ‘gossip) than over mud-masks or better still sharpening those talons for’ serious damage’ or ‘self-defence’ (yes! that’s what we mean by a manicure)

Even if you can’t manage an outing with the girls, you can still find plenty of other reasons to go to the salon.  There’s an unlimited stock of Vogues and Cosmopolitans in store for you, to catch up on that ‘reading’ you missed. Oh! and the best part of the salon is undoubtedly your stylist.

A little more needs to be elaborated on this particular creed . A stylist is one person who knows you and your life inside out. Partly because they are multi-taskers, ever-so-patient in hearing you out and at the same time stylishly snips your hair to give you the perfect look. These are the group of people who worry about your skin, hair and at times your sleep-cycles and alcohol input too. They are the people who always compliment you on your looks , and if you look stressed never fail to ask you the reason. So what if the bills are a bit high? in this age, where nothing comes for free why should empathy ? ( might I add :a trip to the salon is better than a trip to the therapist?)

I look at saloons as a sort of substitute to the philosopher’s stone. It elates the mental state of mind more than the physical. after all a little pampering never hurt anyone.

P.S- I know several guys too who used to hate the idea of going to salons for something more than the occasional haircut but after being introduced to the plethora of options for pampering, hey too look forward to these little trips. (Of course they never admit in public)

But i think the day’s not far when salons will cease to be a woman’s paradise

When Princesses grow up

An odd thing to say ,let alone write about. But it is something which every single father-daughter relationship goes through. I remember a very popular saying as i write about this. It goes something like, “there’s one guy in every girl’s life who sets a benchmark for all the men in her life” of course true to form, most of the guys assumed it was the first boy-friend/crush/love but no guys.. that’s not who we refer to. We are invariably referring to our dad! 

While growing up , Dads are the only guys in a girl’s life and he makes sure that she’s the only ‘girl’ in his life too. so what,if he has a wife! his daughter is the apple of his eye, his little princess, the one who must be shielded from all the evils. and so the Dad stands tall like a fortress between you and the world. And the daughter on her part adores her Dad. It’s not something that is taught to us. No! its something that we are born with because I can wager that no man and I mean no man can ever treat a girl as nicely as she has been treated by her dad.

And then one day you grow up! you are off to college. You are off to shielding yourself by yourself. You are ready to take on the world but well there’s one small glitch to this plan. -Your Dad. see, you may have grown up from your barbies and fairy-tales but your Dad unfortunately hasn’t. For him you are still that toddler who needs to hold his finger. the biggest example of this is my Dad. just the other day , he told me “come,we ll go shopping and I ll buy u a nice frock and ice-cream afterwards” I know most of you will go , “ya, so?” and so let me tell you.1. the last time i wore a frock was when i was 9 yrs maybe and 2. I don’t indulge in ice-creams when I m dieting. It just made me realise how out-of-sync with my life my Dad was.  So in an effort to “update” him I took him to lunch and we had a really long chat. well it was not that fruitful either because everything was too new to him and he kept referring to the past. I agree that was not a success but at least it was a stepping stone to ….. well i don’t actually know what. because i somehow got a feeling he was not going to accept this change.

Well i was discussing this issue with my girls and some of them the problem is far worse. One of them decided to break the ice by introducing her boy-friend to her dad. She thought it might work out well ,since her mom already knew about the guy and she was okay with it, Now she describes the incident as “the most horrible decision I ever took” because apparently not only did her Dad not accept the guy ,in the span of one hour he managed to intimidate the guy so much that he started doubting himself and by the time the meeting was over her confident and charming boy-friend had been reduced down to a ‘nervous wreck’ ,as she put it. I believe it took her some time to get her relationship back on track but from what she tells me ‘family events” are something he refuses to attend. Point-blank. 

Guess Dads will never take too kindly to the boy-friends or spouses because i think they don’t like the thought of not being the only man in your life.

This also made me realise something else. Remember the incessant times he got on your nerves? by asking you “who,What,Where? when will you be back? whom are u going out with? etc etc? I know it drives most of us nuts and all we feel like is shouting, “i can take care of myself” true . You can take care of yourself. And Yes! he knows that you can too. But i guess it’s just his reflex. He would Rather not see you fall and get hurt . it doesn’t mean that he has no faith in you or he doesn’t trust your capabilities. It just means that he s scared to see you getting hurt, he still wants to be the fortress.. Just like you unconsciously want to your guy to pamper you like a little princess…

confessions n obsession of a shoe-a-holic!

yes! Now that I’ve successfully grabbed the attention of both the sexes ,let me begin. For all the guys out there, who never understood why their better half’s half of the wardrobe is adorned with shoes, or why the better half spends more than half of her salary on shoes, I ll just try and ease you guys into the mindset of the shoe-a-holic.

Most of the guys I hang out with can never understand this obsession of mine. For them ( and i quote thee) “it’s just a shoe! it’s only function is to protect your foot”

Alas! If only they knew!

There are still a few who blame foreign influence on it!! (yes! I do hang out with them too because some crazy views apart,they are genuinely nice!) Remember Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and The City ? Or how about the shopaholic from Sophie Kinsella’s hits? yes! i ll give that to you. Growing up and devouring all the chick-lits possible, I’ve been influenced to some extent. But that’s only with regard to the brand of shoes I wanna sport. My obsession with shoes can be traced back to the time when I was fed a daily dose of evil queens n dwarfs n triumph of good over evil.

Remember a certain girl who used to work in the cinders.was mistreated by her evil step-mom and still managed to live happily ever after? 

yup! this is Cinderella we are talking about! okay ! Granted ! she did have a wand-waving fairy godmother (sigh!) n the likes but remember how Prince Charming actually found her? GLASS SLIPPERS! and so dear guys.. if you really have to blame someone for your gf spending  hours at the malls buying shoes, blame Brother Grimms (or if possible yourself too for a little bit because maybe your better half is searching for her Prince Charming by searching for the perfect shoes!) this story of the glass slippers s something we take quite seriously because as we grow up and realise that fairytales dont actually happen in reality a small part of us still keeps on hoping that maybe Prince Charming will finally locate us one day recognising the shoes we wear!

!

but jokes apart! there is another reason why I m in particular so fond of my shoes..

no matter how much I binge or how much I avoid the gym, that’s one size that never changes. My shoe size doesn’t judge me if I have extra Chocolate Sauce over my already calorie-ridden dessert! no! it remains ever faithful to me. and I don’t need to be a specific size to wear it either! unlike the clothes which may or maynot look good on you, shoes will always look good on you.. ballerinas.wedges,stilletos, just name it. and I can assure you ,that all you ‘ll need to rock it is a confident smile and an attitude to kill…

now you know why a certain Marilyn Monroe said..” Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”

and i say there’s no such thing as too many shoes.