ABC of Avoiding Breast Cancer

October, the breast-cancer awareness month just passed away, and I am late yet again in passing on this information.

Although I am a firm believer of the saying, better late than never, there are times when delay can cost lives, and those are the matters where one should never take lightly. Breast-cancer is one such case, where timely diagnosis and treatment could save lives.

Therefore, October or November, I believe, it is our duty to keep spreading awareness about this killer disease among our peers. (Men too are included, as their chests too are susceptible to this cancer.) 

 Breast cancer, as I understand it, refers to the malignant growth of tumor-cells in the breast tissues, and their infiltration and proliferation to other tissues.

 Many a times, the development of benign tumors to cancer might take months altogether, and therefore, many a times, these slow changes go almost unnoticed.

 However, they can prove to be deadly once they proliferate the blood stream and the lymph nodes(the circulatory system) and migrate to other parts of the body, developing into a cancer.

The preventive measures that can be used to detect any malignant growth in the tissues range from simple screening, which includes regular check-ups, mammograms (X-rays), to more sophisticated scans like CT and PET

The risk factors for breast cancer are multi-pronged, ranging from lifestyle related factors like late maternity, avoiding breast-feeding(?), obesity (?) and age to genetic predispositions like family history of breast-cancer. 

Most importantly, early detection minimizes risks of complications,  maximizing  chances of recovery.

For knowing more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, you can visit www.cancer.gov or browse any of the authoritative websites.

Breast Cancer in India, by Professor Indraneel Mittra

Breast Cancer Overview on cancer.org

Read more at:

"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."  -Benjamin Franklin 

(American Statesman, Scientist, Philosopher, Printer, Writer and Inventor. 1706-1790), courtesy: brainyquote.com 

The silent sufferer

Walking down the road, my eyes fell on an empty Minute-maid juice bottle lying just beside the road; the amateur footballer in me couldn't resist an opportunity such as this and a gentle kick brought it on the path. (If only it was so easy to bring someone who has lost his way, back on to the right track..)

 Kick-after-kick, the empty PET bottle rolled along the road, sometimes in the middle of the road, and sometimes teetering on the edges, and a soon, the goal-post was within sight.

 A cardboard box that contained some empty packets, some discarded left-overs, some packaging material and other random stuff beside a DMS booth was the target I had in mind, and standing a few steps before the box, I kicked the bottle hard, aiming for the target and the bottle landed just short of it.

 Suddenly, I heard a few woofs. Surprised, I looked around and found three puppies emerging from beneath the car parked near the booth.

 The threesome were cute little furry animals, I bend down to take a look at them, and I heard a slow growl from under the car, along with the short woofs. Evidently, an adult canine was resting beneath the car, keeping a watch on the young-ones.

 As I was adoring them, and wondering where did they catch this itch from, which seemed contagious, suddenly a skinny bitch came up to them and started grooming them. Looking no better than a skeleton coated with skin, the bitch had a gaping wound on her back, and a plastic rope tied around her abdomen, twice-over. It appeared as if it was the handiwork of some mischievous uncaring hooligans, who, probably in order to derive their dose of sadistic pleasure, must have been harassing her.

 Not being able to bear the painful sight, and having no remedy at my disposal at that time, I walked on.. thinking little about the sufferer, and more about the mother.

There is something in a canine that can't stand a cat.

 Sometime during the last week of July

Its not that the dogs have any personal enmity with the cats, but they just can't tolerate a cat in their surroundings. It somewhat reminds me of the inherent dislike of the right-front for the leftists, and the hatred that communists keep in reserve for the capitalists.

 Can't say much about its etiology, but it is fairly common feeling among the canine family towards the feline; so much so, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a family-feud running for generations altogether.
So much so, that one might be tempted to call it co-evolution at work, more specifically, an evolutionary arms race.

 I don't have much of an idea as to who is trailing whom in the evolutionary race, but, do know for a matter of fact that the canines still give the cats a run for their money (if they have any).

Today was no different either, as I noticed two bitches in my courtyard trying to sniff out something from a crevice below the wall. Initially I thought they were looking for a shelter for their litter, but, soon after, I observed they were struggling to dig out some live creature from the crevice. My initial guess was a rodent, but as the bitch kept barking repeatedly, I had to crouch down on my knees and as I peeped into the crevice, I noticed a kitten, sitting there coolly.

 Now, as is the tendency of a normal being, ones' sympathies flow out more easily for a young one, than for an adult, and I tried to coax them away from the kitten in order to ensure its safety.

 But, the bitches remained adamant, even after repeatedly coaxing and petting, and kept coming back to the same place, following the scent, reaching out for the kitten and barking repeatedly.

 Because of which, I had to lift one of them with their front paws, and walk them out of the courtyard.

 Even after latching the gate, the bitches didn't give up and tried entering in through the gate, but were not successful.

 An hour afterwards, I left for the day, however, I did notice flower-pot broken when I returned.

 Perhaps it was the canines, perhaps the cat.. But, there's something in a cat that the canines just can't stand.

Missing U

Yesterday, after discovering the keys for first and the last letters, along with one in the middle, but first in the keyboard (Q) of the alphabet were not working,  I decided to clean up my keyboard for the first time. (A thorough cleaning up, from the inside, was what I meant actually.)


After taking out all the keys, soaking them in soap-water, and rubbing them shiny clean (well, almost, given its old age), and brushing away the insides of the board (that's what a keyboard sans keys would be called, right?), I started putting the keys back onto the board, which taught me a lot about the spatial orientations and the various shapes and sizes of the keys, and towards the end of this process of learning, I discovered that a key was missing from the pile.


 It was none other than U.


 I started searching frantically for it, as I couldn't imagine how miserable my life would become without U.
To my relief, I did manage to find the key which was hiding under a cloth-piece, but that inspired me to think what would the great lyricists would have sung, had they found themselves in a similar situation.


 So, here's a compilation of excerpts from some of the songs written by famous (almost all ;) composers and bands. Enjoy

Here without u baby                                                                -Brad Arnold, 3 Doors Down

U have only been gone ten days,

But already I'm wasting away.

I know I'll see u again

Whether far or soon.

But I need u to know that I care,

And I miss u.                                                                            -Incubus

Where are u now

When I need u the most?

Where are u now

When nothing is going right?

Where are u now

I can't see the light.                                                                  -Justin Bieber

Where are u now when I need you?

Now when I need u so bad?

When my heat's almost exploding

And this tension drives me mad                                              - The Waterboys

Now I love u more

Than I loved u before

And now where I'll find comfort, God knows

'Cause u left me

Just when I needed u most

U left me

Just when I needed u most                                                     -Dolly Parton

Wish u were here                                                                    - Pink Floyd

There's always something

In the way

There's always something

Getting through

But it's not me

it's u

I hope to lose myself

For good

I hope to find it in the end

Not in me

It's u

It's all I know                                                                           -Switchfoot

U are everythin' in my life, see the joy u bring

And ain't no one I compare u to

And I know that u will never walk away from me no matter what

And that's why I plan to do the same thing for u

And I want u to know

And I don't care what they say, I'm gonna be with u

I'm gonna be with u, I wanna be with u

And I don't care what they do, I'm gonna be with u

I'm gonna be with u, I'm gonna be with u                                   - Akon

I can’t go on, I just wanna be with u.

And now that u’re gone,

I just wanna be with u.

(Be with u)

And I can’t go on,

I wanna be with u..

(Be with u)

Wanna be with u..

(Now that u’re gone)

Just wanna be with u..

And I can’t go on,

I wanna be with u.

Oh..

Just wanna be with u, just wanna be with u.                      - Enrique Iglesias

 Just then, somebody discovers the lost key..

Each time I’m holding u close,

That’s when I need u the most.                                           -Lee Mead

When you lose something you can't replace

And I will try.. to fix u.                                                         -Coldplay

Ooh got u where I want u

Got u where I want u

YEAH                                                                                 -The Flys

 With apologies to Bieber J.D., The Flys, Vox B. U2, Arnold B., 3 Doors Down, Coldplay, Iglesias E., Incubus, Mead L., The Waterboys, Parton D., Switchfoot, Akon and Pink Floyd

Resilience

Sometimes one can learn great thing from small incidences in life.
Today, I met a lecturer from Shimoga, and we were going along a road in IISc, discussing languages (computer languages, I mean) when suddenly we say some yelping sound.

 As we looked ahead, there was a car, some meters ahead of us dragging along a canine, under its wheels, and we could hear the cries of the dog which, was trying to avoid coming under the tyres of the small car, but, it seemed as though the car driver was hell-bent on running the car over the dog/bitch.

 At that point, apart from being aghast at the insensitivity of the car-driver, we both thought that we are going to see a distressing (reade bloody!) sight right in front of us, but, what we saw a few seconds later was quite incredible.

 After getting mowed down by the car, the god got up, and to our amazement, sprinted towards our side of the road, and leaped over the fence into the lawns by the roadside.

 Now, none of us had expected that to happen, after what we had seen a few seconds ago.
But, that spotted brown canine's resilience amazed us, and taught us a lesson for life.

 No matter how bad the situation might be,

a) you must try to minimize the damages during the hardship,\
and then 
b) Stand up yet again and start running towards your goal, as if nothing had happened before.

Did anybody say Osama?

 Osama bin Laden seems to be the talk of the town lately, with the news of the US military operation which resulted in the death of the 'most wanted terrorist of the world' in Abbotabad, roughly 50 km away from the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad.

 The operation was planned meticulously, and carried out stealthily, so much so, that, it is claimed that even the Pakistani Army, whose Military Academy was barely at a kilometer's distance didn't know much about.

The seals terminated the man perceived as the numero uno threat to their country, in less than 40 minutes, but, it took them about 10 years to dig him out, after the 9/11 attacks on the twin-towers.

 The question is why? 

 It is claimed that he used his wife as a human shield and was hiding behind her, before he died, but who was responsible for shielding him for 10 years?

 # Although the reports coming in now contradict this theory: 

(Osama bin Laden 'was not armed and did not use wife as human shield')

 And where are the witnesses? If they managed to save the people who were living with him, why aren't they being covered by the media?

 They say, that the man was responsible for creating a global terror-network, but they fail to ascribe the reasons that led to the creation of Al-Quaida in the first place.

 

 Although, they condemn the acts of terrorism acted out by the terrorists, but nobody condemns the multi-billion dollar arms industry that fuels acts of violence across the globe; rather, many a times, these head-of-nations meet each other, just to negotiate these multi-billion dollar arms deals, which would be unnecessary, if they could sit together and work out a mutual-disarmament treaty.

   

 Although, we are led to believe that this symbolizes the victory over terrorism, the waves of which were felt the hardest by the western nations some 10 years ago, I believe much more  needs to be done, if are to realize even partially, the goal of harmonious and peaceful co-existence.

Good-Samaritan, bad-Samaritan

We all must have heard it, at some point or the other, that the people in the metropolitan are too busy to even look at their neighbors, let alone feel for them, and it might be true in many instances.

 But, what we forget, while presenting such a picture of the city, is the other side of the coin.
Although we may be correct in stating that whenever there's an incident in the city, very few people actually come forward and help, and most of them just stand there as mere spectators; but still, there are a few who do come forward and lend a helping hand.

 Yesterday evening I met with such an incident that inspired me to write this post.

I was going towards Lodhi road for a discussion in IIC on Nuclear Waste, and as soon as I crossed the Kotla flyover, and was heading towards Defense Colony on the BRT stretch, which was divided into two lanes by a raised divider in the middle of the road. (acting as a lane separator).

 As I was going down that corridor, a bit preoccupied by my thoughts, I felt a sudden jerk on my right side, and I saw a white small car's side rubbing past my shoulders and before I could realize it, the motorbike got unbalanced and skidded on the road for a few meters before coming to a stop. All I could see was the white car zipping ahead in speed, not caring to stop and see what had happened behind.

 Thankfully, my bike's leg guard and the helmet were in good condition, and saved me some injuries, which could've proved serious otherwise. And the fact that the motorcycle skidded in its lane, not wavering on to the divider or on either sides, which again could've proved deadly.

 I was lying dazed along with my motorcycle on the middle of the road, as some people who were coming behind, stopped their vehicles  and helped me get off the road, on to the side-lane.

 One guy inquired about my condition, and the injuries, while the other lifted my bike and dragged it off the road on to the side-lane.

 Somebody then offered me water, and others asked me if there was anyone whom I could call.
As I was in a lot of pain at that time, and feeling dizzy, I took out my mobile and dialed my father's no. and handed it over to him, who then told him about the incident and that they were taking me to the hospital.

  One of the persons who had stopped there, asked me if I needed some water, and a car-owner agreed to take me to the hospital. I took the motorcycle keys, or probably somebody handed them to me, and sat in the car, while the car-owner (who later turned out to be an advocate in the Delhi High court, Mr. Mohit Jolly)
took my helmet and bag and placed them on the rear-seat.

 After some driving, we reached Moolchand Hospital and Mr. Mohit asked for a wheel-chair right-away, and escorted me to the emergency ward.

 I removed my torn and dirtied clothes, and lied down on a stretcher, and was attended by the the attendants, and Dr. Salman Durrani, who asked the attendants to clean the wounds, after the inspection.

 Mr. Mohit then gave his card (from where I came to know of his name) and said he was leaving as my parents were arriving shortly.

 After that, my mother arrived at the ward along with my brother, and after their arrival, I was administered a ATS, and a Voveron (painkiller) injection.

 After one more inspection, I was prescribed three X-rays, which thankfully didn't reveal any fractures, and  two stitches on the elbow, as the bone had got exposed due to the abrasion.

 The rest of the injuries were not too serious, and they got away with Iodine tincture scrub, and then I was discharged.

 Before I came home, I wrote a letter to the police that I don't want any action against the unidentified accused, as there was very slim chance of nabbing him, in the absence of any identification (Nobody could note down the registration number of the car.) and I was reminded of the lengthy procedures of the judiciary, and the pitiful stories of people who did file a case, and are still being tormented for their mistake. (Along with the predicament about the bike's insurance).


 However, there are a few things that I learned from this incident:

 1. Always be prepared for the worst, as one never know when things may go wrong for you.
 2. While you are driving, always be on your guard against reckless drivers.
 3. You find all sorts of people in the city; as I found several good ones, along with a despicable one

I'm writing this with a bandaged arm, thanks to the good Samaritans, and the hospital staff I found on the road yesterday, and hopefully life would return back to normalcy in the a matter of two weeks.

 However, I still wonder, if we keep on withdrawing cases, or not filing them at all, due to our fear of facing the hassles of the judicial system, and letting the guilty escape Scot-free, where would our society be, in the coming years?

 And further, how many times do we see a man in need on the streets, and how many of us really stop by and help him? Moreover, how  many of us would be willing to part with our own belongings, in order to help the needy?

Time-pass shayari

अर्ज़ किया है:

कि दीया नहीं चिराग है, 

मोज़ा नहीं यह जुराब है!

 और कब से चाट रहे हैं जिसको,

 भेजा नहीं मेरा दिमाग है 

(शाकाहारी लोग भेजे के बजाए दही से काम चलाये!)