Friends

When reconnecting with old contact, acknowledge time lapse

Nitya Sai Soumya

In this digital age, identifying useful contacts and expanding the network is easy. In fact all this so familiar that everyone has some tips for others. However, only a few people understand the importance of keeping the network alive and manage to do it. What is the point in having a ‘close to thousand' contact list, if you cannot ask the perfect person for help because you have not spoken to him for ages!

In a busy world, losing touch is bound to happen. With tight schedules, impending deadlines, and unexpected emergencies keeping you exhausted all the time, catching up with old friends takes a backseat. So popping up before one now, because you need him, makes you feel guilty.

Take a close look at everyday life and you realise that these situations more frequent than you think.

Fortunately, it is possible to reconnect with people even after a long gap. You need not let go a valuable contact because of the time lapse. And if you are intending to reach out to a person about a job opportunity, relocation or career shift, here is how you can make the reconnection less uncomfortable and potentially successful:

Choose right medium: Social media is a great platform to reconnect with people. But it works only to the extent of being in touch. Connections through the medium lack exchange of intimacy and seem impersonal.

So, if you are intending to build a good relationship, it is better you meet the person, do not leave him messages but talk to him in person. Invite him for a cup of coffee or dinner. In case he lives far away from you, call him or write a mail.

Make the attempt: To some extent, the other person is also responsible for the time lapse. Moreover, he too could be looking forward to opportunities to improve his relationships with his contacts.

So, do not hesitate to reach out to a long neglected friend. He might be actually excited to get back in touch with you and appreciate that you started the renewal process. Also most people feel complimented to know that their connections still remember them and consider them suitable to seek help.

Acknowledge the gap: When trying to reconnect with an old contact, first acknowledge the time lapse. You both know it exists; you cannot proceed without addressing it. So talk about it frankly and honestly. Tell what kept you occupied all this time. But d o not offer it as an excuse.

Be genuine: Be genuine about the kind of relationship you share with the person. Be transparent about the reason behind your attempts to reconnect. Do not act like his best buddy and pretend to care for him when you are reconnecting with the person after some years. Do not try to hide your agenda beating around the bush. The success of a reconnection depends on how tactfully you handle the question “why now?” Do not be surprised, annoyed and discouraged if at all you get a negative response.

Offer help: Whether the other person obliges to your request or not do offer him your help. Tell him that he can feel free to approach you whenever he is in need and that you are willing to support him to the extent possible. Stick to this promise. This approach creates a positive opinion of you on the person and marks the beginning of a promising relationship between you. He might reciprocate your help some other time in future.

Getting in touch with a person after a long gap is a difficult task, especially if you need a favour from him. However, if your approach is genuine, your chances of success are good enough.

Nitya Sai Soumya

faqs@cnkonline.com

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article968657.ece

Communication Overdrive

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article938373.ece

Communication overdrive is the true productivity killer

Nitya Sai Soumya

Communication plays an important role in personal effectiveness and business success. This is the reason why there is so much emphasis on it in the workplace. However, of late, communication is out of control and is taking productivity out of work. Now it is time to control communication overload so that it does not burden further the already overworking teams.
Communication overload is in a way result of excess prominence we gave to collaboration and teamwork. With arrangements like remote teams, telecommuting and flexi-time coming to existence, communication has reached an explosive state. Another source of it is our attempt to increase visibility— the pressure to reach more customers, be more responsive and productive.
We suffer communication overload in different ways. Some of them are innumerable meetings, being copied to hundreds of unnecessary mails, receiving redundant information because the sender wants everything on records, and increased insistence on collaboration even where it is not really required.
Mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs, numerous ways to message and chat, social media, and tools that facilitate virtual meetings have made communication so easy that now it has become difficult to control it.
Communication overload is a bottleneck to productivity. It consumes time and energy, which can instead be used to do more important tasks. The pressure to meet demands from different directions coming at the same time causes stress. The flood of unwarranted communication diverts our attention and prevents us from focusing on a more important task on hand.
Another disadvantage to communication overload is that it can make us commit mistakes. When there are many communication sources providing several pieces of information, identifying and extracting relevant and current information from them is a tricky task. Making decisions based on this information is dicier. Using information from a mail while the latest update is waiting at the fax machine can result in costly blunders! So it is high time we realise the significance of communication in our lives and limit it to the extent required.
Here is some guidance on it:
Limit sources: Just because there are so many choices of communication available, it does not mean that you have to use all of them. Also, the communication tools that you use need not be available with the client.
So use popular communication tools and go for a new one only if it is really necessary. For example, you do not need videoconferencing to connect with a client in your city.
Organise sources: Maintain a log to enter details about phone calls. Separate messages/ faxes according to the subject or relevance and keep them in different folders/ files. Set deadline to reply based on priority. Once you respond to a communication, mark it so as to avoid confusion. Avoid sending and receiving redundant messages. You need not send a mail to your boss with details about what you spoke on the phone every time you speak with your client. You can update him when there is some significant development.
Protect channels: In a period when there is so much emphasis on expanding networks, it is enticing to give your phone numbers and email addresses to everyone you meet. But this will get unwanted communication that leaves you with little time for genuine business. Sometimes, you many even end up being inaccessible to true customers because your communication channels are busy.
Resist the urge: Overcome the obsession to check e-mail, phone messages and social media updates frequently. Try to allot time for it, say five minutes after every hour. Depending on the nature of your job, you can even limit it to once or twice a day!
When calling for a meeting think whether you really have to meet people personally at the point. May be it is enough if you send them an email. When in meeting, stick to the timings and the agenda.
When sending mails, consider whom you are keeping in the loop. Similarly, ask your colleagues and clients to keep you in the loop only if you should know what is in the message. Use predefined email distribution list judiciously.
Overusing communication and communication tools causes serious problems to personal efficiency and productivity. So, to make them serve the purpose they should be used only when they are needed.
Nitya Sai Soumya

ASI - Karnataka

Dear fellow ASI members,

Wishing You & Your family a Happy & Fruitful year 2011.

Karnataka State Chapter has been contributing vibrantly in its activities since we last communicated to you all. CMEs were conducted at length & breadth of the state, namely Chikodi, Gadag, Bellary, Bangaluru, Bidar & Belgaum.

Chikodi branch was enthusiastic and enterprising in organizing a CME programme under the able leaderships of Drs Rohini Kulkarni, Dayanand Nooli & Ravindra Bhate. Showcasing local academic work in the form of a symposium was novel. All specializations were covered in the symposium ‘Endoscopy’.

This year another Annual CME & clinicals for postgraduates named SURGIQUEST at Bellary commenced under the stewardship of Drs. Vidyadhar Kinhal & Channanna. With increasing number of postgraduate students, it would be worthwhile to develop regional CME & clinicals centre for postgraduates in addition to the present B’luru. The popular Bangaluru PG CME attracted staggering 325 postgraduates! Being aware of inherent inertia & feasibility issues, yet I am sure with some leadership it would be possible to replicate the successful model of Bangaluru at Mangalore, Belgaum & Bellary as well.

Bidar was the latest city chapter to be inaugurated under the leadership of Drs. Ragate, Bali & Kamtikar. We wish this young & enthusiastic branch blossoms to make a mark across the state.

2-day CME at Belgaum was thoroughly organized and executed by Drs Shashi Uppin & Dr. Shrishail Metgud. In addition to the participation of local & invited faculty in the CME & clinicals this year, an quiz programme for the Post Graduates by Dr. C. S. Rajan was the highlight.

The Chairman had the privilege of Inaugurating & participating in a 2-day Basic Surgical Skill programme conducted by Mysore Medical College under the able leadership of Drs. Avadhani Geeta, Ramachandra & Ravikumar. Interestingly, they have been independently conducting this programme for last few years which has one novel programme ‘Guru Vandana’. Such good program needs to be associated with the State Chapter to increase the visibility and widen horizon.

The Annual PG teaching programme, conducted by Bangalore City branch stood to its reputation of cohesion, abundant clinical material and very high registration. This year’s mantle was undertaken by Drs Anjanappa, Kalaivani & Rajan. Quiz Master Dr. C. S. Rajan spearheaded the Annual Quiz Programme for Postgraduates impressively yet again.

On the chapter policy front, the present body noted two important areas where the chapter needs to ponder and take action. Firstly, there are hardly any districts in Karnataka that don’t have a medical college, needing a revisit to the existing reservation as medical College area & non medical college area. Secondly, need to digitize the records of the state chapter. This body made an effort to act on these however consensus seems to be eluding. I hope the efforts would continue by the next body for the benefit of deserving aspiring leaders.

Amidst unraveling of scams affecting every sphere of the society that reveal the nexus between the very guardians, healthcare sector is not likely to be far behind. Our profession has witnessed sudden change in its mode from unorganized small entrepreneur to capital intensive corporate enterprise. Already, there are loud allegations heard about existing nexus with drug & instrument industries that is detrimental to the interests of the patients. These exposures might act as a wakeup call to reflect.

Finally, health care delivery to consumer and healthcare sector as an industry are a reality today. However, the patient perception and regulatory rules are archaic. They need to be updated by proactive participation by us so as to make them contemporary or else we will be the ones facing onslaughts after media & lobbyists!

Kindly do visit us @ http://www.kscasi.com/ for more.

Wishing to see you at Bijapur,

Dr. Sharad M. Tanga
Chairman

ASI

Dear Fellow ASI members,

Most have returned attending the 70^th Annual National Conference relishing the gala academic feast emphasized by the newer challenges of entrepreneurship & technology.

On similar lines, the response for the slated 29^th Annual State Conference at Bijapur has been amazing. The leadership headed by Chairman elect, Dr. Tejaswini Vallabh, Organizing Chairman of the Conference Dr. Arvind Patil, Organizing Secretary, Dr. Mallikarjun Patil and others are leaving no stone unturned to make the conference a success.

The impressive brochure that has wonderful information, layout and printing; the individual efforts of each one of them to go personally to various regions of the state to invite and facilitate registration and other endeavours are all testimony to the desire of making the conference memorable.

The conference would be grander and still better with bigger contingents from Bengaluru, Mangalore, Mysore & other corners of the state. Let there be no apprehensions. We are sure one would let pass experiencing the lovely place of tourism, hospitality and the academic feast of the two missing dimensions in Surgical Practice - Surgical education & Service.

Dear members, kindly register in groups if you haven’t done so far.

Greetings for a Happy & Purposeful year 2011.

Yours truly,

Sharad M. Tanga

Chairman, ASI-KSC

For Creative people

Hello,

‘The War of Art’, you have got it right, ‘The war of Art’ and not the classic The art of War.

Individuals who use creative faculty predominantly have their own personality. They more often believe in being Independent, not conforming to the rigidity of discipline. They are often labeled as talented yet disorganized and weird.

Though they are gifted to create something new, they are found wanting in manifesting the true potential. Some of them experience, as Steven Pressfield the author labels resistance in general & ‘Writer’s block’ for authors in particular.

I came across this interesting & compelling book as one can get identified with. At many places it seems he is addressing you and your issues. Steven Pressfield shows readers how to identify, defeat, and unlock the inner barriers to creativity.

This book is more specifically meant for artist, poets, authors & visionaries who create something anew.

Impressed, I noted some excerpts of the book for ready reference, which I am sharing this with you.

Happy discovery,

Sharad M. Tanga

Notes of 'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield

The War of Art – Steven Pressfield

Break through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Foreword by Robert Mckee

Book ONE

Pressfield labels the enemy of creativity Resistance, his all-encompassing term for what Freud called the Death Wish – that destructive force inside human nature that prevents one to accomplish long-term laborious task.

A rogue’s gallery of the many manifestations of Resistance. In the instance of writers it is ‘block’, a paralysis whose symptoms can bring on appalling behaviour.

Book TWO

Pressfield lays out the day-by-day, step-by-step campaign of the professional: preparation, order, patience, endurance, acting in the face of fear and failure. He emphasizes that the professional focuses on mastery of the craft.

Book THREE

Looks at the ‘The Higher realm’. He says, ‘when we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us…we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete’. Indeed stunning images and ideas arrive as if from no where. He shifts gears and looks for the cause of inspiration not in human nature, but on a ‘higher realm’. The ultimate source of creativity is divine. The innate power to discover the hidden connection between two things – images, ideas, words – that no one else has ever seen before, link them, and create for the world a third, utterly unique work. Like our IQ, talent is a gift from our ancestors. In the fortunate talented few, the dark dimension of their natures will first resist the labour that the creativity demands, but once they commit to the task, their talented side stirs to action and rewards them with astonishing feats. In short, if the muse exists, she does not whisper to the untalented. When inspiration touches talent, she gives birth to truth and beauty.

What I do

How many pages have I produced? I don’t care. Are they any good? I don’t even think about it. All that matters is I have put in my time and hit it with all I have got. All that counts is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome resistance.

What I know

The secrete is this. It’s not the writing part that is hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance.

The Unlived Life

Resistance is the toxic force on the planet. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be. If you believe in God you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from achieving the life God intended when He endowed each of us with our own unique genius. The Romans used Genius to denote an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling. A writer writes with his genius, and artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center. It is our soul’s seat, the vessel that holds our being-in-potential, our star’s beacon and Polaris.

BOOK ONE

Resistance – Defining the enemy.

Resistance is Infallible: Rule of Thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.

Resistance never sleeps: The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.

Resistance is fuelled by Fear: Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.

Resistance only opposes in one direction: Resistance obstructs movement only from a lower sphere to a higher, it kicks in when we seek to pursue a calling in the arts, launch an innovative enterprise, or evolve to a higher station morally, ethically, or spiritually.

Resistance is most powerful at the finish line:

Resistance recruits allies: The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.

Resistance & Procrastination: Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize.

Resistance and trouble: The working artist will not tolerate trouble in her life because she knows trouble prevents her from doing her work. The working artist banishes from her world all sources of trouble.

Resistance and this book: What finally convinced me to ahead writing this book was simply that I was so unhappy not going ahead. I was developing symptoms. As soon as I sat down and began, I was okay.

Resistance & sex: Sometimes Resistance takes the form of sex, or an obsessive preoccupation with sex. Because sex provides immediate and powerful gratification. It goes without saying that this principle applies to drugs, shopping, TV, gossip, alcohol and the consumption of all products containing fats, sugar, salt, or chocolate.

Resistance & Fundamentalism: The artist and the fundamentalist both confront the same issue, the mystery of their existence as individuals. Each asks the same questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of my life?

The artist and the fundamentalist arise from societies at differing stages of development. The artist is the advanced model. His culture possesses affluence, stability, enough excess of resource to permit the luxury of self-examination. The artist is grounded in freedom. He is not afraid of it. He is lucky. He was born in the right place. He has a core of self-confidence, of hope for the future. He believes in progress and evolution. His faith is that humankind is advancing, however haltingly and imperfectly, toward a better world.

The fundamentalist entertains no such notion. Fundamentalism is the philosophy of the powerless, the conquered, the displaced and the dispossessed. The fundamentalist cannot stand freedom. He cannot find his way into the future, so he retreats to the past. He returns in imagination to the glory days of is race and seeks to reconstitute both them and himself in their purer, more virtuous light. He gets back to basics. To fundamentals.

Fundamentalism and art are mutually exclusive. He creates destruction. Even the structures he builds, his schools and networks of organizations, are dedicated to annihilation, of his enemies and of himself. Fundamentalist experiences resistance as temptation to sin.

The difference is that while the one looks forward, hoping to create a better world, the other looks backward, seeking to return to a purer world from which he and all have fallen.

The truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.

Resistance & Criticism: When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived our own life.

Resistance & self-doubt: If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), Ám I really a writer? Am I really an artist?’ chances are you are.

Resistance and fear: The more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that the enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. An professional actor takes up roles that challenges him. He refuses roles that are repetitive.

Resistance and isolation: The theme of the book – even if we can’t at the start understand the problem or articulate it. As the characters arise, each embodies infallibly an aspect of the dilemma, that perplexity. These characters might not be interesting to anyone else but they are absolutely fascinating to the writer. They are us. The writer imagines the reader, whom he conjures as an aspiring artist much like his own younger, less grizzled self, to whom he hopes to impart a little starch and inspiration and prime, a little, with some hard-knocks wisdom and a few tricks of the trade.

Resistance and healing: The concept seems to be that one needs to complete his healing before he is ready to do his work. This way of thinking is a form of Resistance. The athlete knows the day will never come when he wakes up pain-free. He has to play hurt. What better way of healing than to find our center of self-sovereignty?

Resistance and support: Seeking support from friends and family is not desirable. The more energy we spend stoking up support from colleagues, the weaker we become and the less capable of handling our business.

Good dreams with muse: A dream that inspires and encourages it is a deeper self that is delivering the dream like that. Don’t talk about it. Don’t dilute its power. The dream is for you. It’s between you and your Muse. Shut up and use it.

Combating resistance: Turning professional

Professional	Amateur
Plays for keeps	Plays for Fun
It’s his vocation	The game is his avocation
Full-time	Part time.
Seven days a week	Weekend warrior
Do not over identify with out jobs	Over identifies with out his avocation, his artistic aspiration. He takes it so seriously that it paralyzes.
She doesn’t talk about the mystery	Amateur over glorifies and is preoccupied with the mystery.
Knows that fear can never be overcome	Believes he must first overcome fear.
	Takes external criticism to heart

A Professional: Somerset Maugham was asked if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. ‘I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. ‘Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine O clock sharp’. In terms of resistance, Maugham was saying, ‘I despise Resistance, I will not let it faze me; I will sit down and do my work.’ He reckoned another, deeper truth: that by performing the mundane physical act of sitting down and starting to work, he set in motion a mysterious but infallible sequence of events that would produce inspiration.

What writer feels like: Principle of priority a) You must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important and b) You must do what’s important first. What’s important is work.

The artist must be like that marine who is miserable. He has to love being miserable. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt and humiliation.

Qualities that define us as professionals:

Ø We show up every day.

Ø We show up no matter what so as not to let down our co-workers, or for other, less noble reasons.

Ø We stay on the job all day.

Ø We are committed over the long haul. Until we hit the lottery, we are part of the labor force.

Ø We accept remuneration for our labor.

Ø We do not over identify with out jobs.

Ø We master the technique of our jobs.

Ø We have a sense of humor about our jobs.

Ø We receive praise or blame in the real world.

A professional is patient: The professional understands delayed gratification. He is the ant, no the grasshopper, the tortoise not the hare. The professional arms himself with patient, not only to give the stars time to align in his career. He knows that any job, whether it’s a novel or a kitchen remodel, takes twice as long as he thinks and costs twice as much. He accepts that. He conserves his energy. He prepares his mind for the long haul.

A professional seeks order: He will not tolerate disorder. He eliminates chaos from his world in order to banish it from his mind.

A professional demystifies: A pro understands that all creative endeavor is holy, but she doesn’t dwell on it. She knows if she thinks about that too much, it will paralyze her. So she concentrates on technique. The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods. She doesn’t talk about the mystery, while an amateur over glorifies and is preoccupied with the mystery.

The professional has learned better. He respects resistance. He knows if he caves in today, no matter how plausible the pretext, he will be twice as likely to cave in tomorrow. Resistance is like a telemarketer; if you so much as say hello, you are finished. The pro doesn’t even pick up the phone. He stays at work.

A professional prepares mentally to absorb blows. His aim is to take what the day gives him. He understands that the field alters every day. His goal is not victory (success will come by itself when it wants to) but to handle himself, his insides, as sturdily and steadily as he can.

A professional does not hesitate to ask for help.

A professional does not take failure (or success) personally. He cannot let himself take humiliation personally. Humiliation, like rejection and criticism, is the external reflection of internal resistance.

Tiger Woods – Photograph Flash – Tiger woods didn’t react reflexively. He didn’t take it personally & thirdly he didn’t take it as a sign of heavens malevolence. What he did do was maintain his sovereignty over the moment. He himself still had his job to do. The professional cannot allow the actions of others to define his reality. Tomorrow morning the critic will be gone, but the writer will still be there facing the blank page. Nothing matters but that he keeps working. Short of a family crisis or the outbreak of World war III, the professional shows up, ready to serve the gods.

The professional blows critics off. He doesn’t even hear them. Critics, he reminds himself, are the unwittingly mouth pieces of resistance and as such can be truly cunning and pernicious. The professional learns to recognize envy-driven criticism and to take it for what it is: the supreme complement. The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts.

A professional recognizes her limitations: She gets an agent, she gets lawyer, she gets an accountant. She knows she can only be a professional at one thing. She brings in other pros and treats them with respect.

He continues his journey.

A professional is recognized by other professionals.

You, INC: Making yourself a corporation (or just thinking of yourself in that way) reinforces the idea of professionalism. You the writer may get swelled head, but you-the-boss remember how to take yourself down a peg. If we think of ourselves as a corporation, it gives us a healthy distance on ourselves. We are less subjective. We don’t take blows as personally. I am Me. Inc. I am a pro.

BOOK THREE

As resistance works to keep us from becoming who we were born to be, equal and opposite powers are counterpoised against it. These are our allies and angels.

Approaching the mystery: The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set into motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to your aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose. It’s an attitude of egolessness and service.

Invoking the muse: The last thing I do before I sit down to work is say my prayer to the Muse. I say it out Loud, in absolute earnest. Only then do I get down to business.

Sustain for me. Homer doesn’t ask for brilliance or success. He just wants to keep this thing going. Lastly, the artist’s wish for his work: Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would not otherwise have occurred. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.

The process of self-revision & self-correction is so common we don’t even notice. But it’s a miracle. And its implications are staggering. Who’s doing this revising anyway without our exerting effort or even thinking about it some voice in our head pipes up to counsel us? Angels – Muse. What exactly is it doing? It’s Organizing. The principle of organization is built into the nature. Chaos itself is self-organizing.

When we like God, set out to create a universe – a book, an opera, a new business venture – the same principle kicks in. Clearly some intelligence is at work, independent of our conscious mind and yet in alliance with it, processing our material for us and alongside us. This is why artists are modest. They know they are not doing the work; they are just taking dictation. Its also why ‘noncreative people’ hate creative people’. Because they are jealous. They sense that artists and writers are tapped into some grid of energy and inspiration that they themselves cannot connect with.

Ego	Self
Resistance makes its home	Angels make it their home
Likes things jus the way they are	Wishes to create, to evolve
Believes in material existence
Death is real	Death is illusion
Time & space are real	Time & space are illusions – we move ‘swift as thought’ and inhabit multiple planes simultaneously
Every individual is different and separate from every other	All beings are one
The predominant impulse of life is self-preservation. We live and act out of fear in all we do.	The supreme emotion is love

Dreams come from the self. Ideas come from the self. When we meditate we access the self. When we fast, when we pray, when we are on a vision quest, it’s the self we are seeking.

The self is ever growing and ever evolving. The self speaks for the future.

The instinct that pulls us towards art is the impulse to evolve, to learn to heighten and elevate our consciousness. The ego hates artists because they are the pathfinders and bearers of the future, because each one dares.

We fear that we actually possess the talent that our still, small voice tells us. We know that if we embrace our ideal, we must prove worthy of them. And that scares the hell out of us. What will become of us? We will lose our friends and family, who will no longer recognize us.

Of course this is exactly what happens. But here’s the trick. We wind up in space, but not alone, instead we are tapped into an unquenchable, undepletable source of wisdom and companionship. We lose friends. But we find friends too, in places we never thought to look. And they are better friends, truer friends.

The authentic Self: Each kid was who he was. Even identical twins constituted of the exact same genetic material, were radically different from Day one and always would be. We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we are stuck with it. Find out who we already are and become it.

We have entered mass society. The hierarchy is too big. It doesn’t work anymore.

The artist must operate territorially. He must do his work for its own sake. In the hierarchy, the artist faces outward. Meeting someone new he asks, himself. What can this person do for me? How can this person advance my standing? In hierarchy the artist looks up and and looks down. The one place he can’t look is that place he must: within.

I trusted what I wanted, not what I thought would work. I did what I myself thought was interesting and left its reception to the gods.

Qualities of a territory

Territory	Hierarchy
Provides sustenance
Sustains us without any external input. Our role is to put in effort and love. The territory absorbs it and gives it back to us in the form of well being
Can only be claimed alone
Can only be claimed by work
Returns exactly what you put in

The artist and the mother are vehicles, not originators. They don’t create the new life, they only bear it. That is why birth is such a humbling experience.

The sustenance one gets is from the act itself not from the impression it makes on others.

The supreme virtue: Contempt for failure is our cardinal virtue.

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Give us what you have got.

Association of Surgeons of India - Bijapur Conference

Message for the First Announcement

Dear Fellow ASI members,

The Annual ritual of conducting the State Conference is underway. The place is North Eastern part of Karnataka, Bijapur and the dates are 4^th, 5^th & 6^th of February 2011.

After a gap of almost 15 years, we are returning back to the land known for their hospitality. Bijapur, earlier known as Vijapur used to be the home of the Bahamani Sultans. Apart from the world famous Gola Gummata, this region has many other places of historical and architectural interest. Added, spiritually we have Kudala Sangam and Gyan Yogashrama of Sri Siddeshwar Swamiji. For members who didn’t make it to Bagalkot, here’s another occasion to make it to the world famous Pattadakal and Aihole caves.

Significantly, the 29^th Annual Conference of the Karnataka State Chapter of Association of Surgeons of India will be organized by a younger brigade. Our Chairman elect, Dr. Tejaswini Vallabh, Organizing Chairman of the Conference Dr. Arvind Patil and Organising Secretary, Dr. Mallikarjun Patil would surely make all the efforts to see that the purpose of the Conference is fulfilled.

Surgical education and Service are two important yet less concentrated aspects of the specialty. Surgical education is restricted to formal education, which is in doldrums for multiple reasons. Secondly, health care delivery (service sector) is facing plural issues in fast changing scenario. Therefore, it is very apt that ‘Towards excellence in Surgical education & Service’ is the theme of the conference.

Dear members, kindly mark these dates after mailing your registration early.

Wishing to see you at Bijapur,

Yours truly,

Sharad M. Tanga

Chairman

ASI-KSC

Association of Surgeons of India - Newsletter

Dear fellow ASI members,

New team of Executive Committee assumed office after relishing the academic feast and hospitality of Bagalkot Conference. Chairman elect, Dr. Tejaswini Vallabh, E. C Members Drs. Harwal & Mathapati and G. C members Drs. Chinniwalar, Dhaded, Rajan & Venkatesh Rao join us this term.

The Conference team comprising of Org. Chairman, Dr. A. S. Mallapur, Org. Secretary, Dr. Ishwar Kalburgi and ably aided by other members of the conference Committee made it possible to host a good state surgical conference at an unexpected place.

The new team wishes to address issues that can be implemented on a visible horizon of 1 year. It wishes to consolidate, optimize our strength and address sustainability issues.

The demographic profile of Medical Colleges in Karnataka has changed radically in the last decade. There are hardly any districts that don’t have a medical college. The ratio of reservation: 1 in 3 years for Chairman elect and 50% of E. C. Members for Non Medical college area members needs to be given a serious consideration. A revisit to the antecedents and the present membership profile is contemplated, so that an amendment is introduced at the next general body meeting. Committee comprising Drs C. S. Rajan, V.V. Chinniwalar and Venkatesh Rao would go through it. Kindly mail your considered opinions also.

For practical reasons, we don’t have records that can be retrieved whenever we want. Suppose we want to know how many times a member has been the convenor for the state conference symposium. We are unable to have that information easily. Similarly, it is for traveling fellowships, orations etc. For effective functioning of the chapter, digitization of past and future records needs to be taken up. The E. C. has requested Dr. K. Lakshman to take up the task.

In spite of paying about Rs. 15,000 last year, for reasons beyond our control, the website of our state chapter was not uplinked. This year, enthusiastic Dr. Arvind Patel has volunteered to work on it at a much lower rate and move ahead. Significantly, he plans to upload CME lectures of the Bagalkot conference and blog for you fellow members to interact. Any other suggestions are most welcome.

City chapters are actively conducting the programs. However, there is dearth of reporting especially from city branches based in the interiors. On the extension front, Drs. C. S. Ragate, V. S. Mathapati & others have taken the lead to commence the Bidar City branch. Similarly, Dr. Bhaskar has started the process at Kolar.

Drs. M. G. Bhat & T. H. Anjanappa have taken the lead in conducting the National Mid Term Conference of Hernia Society of India on 26^th & 27^th June 2010. The Karnataka State Chapter is getting associated so that you all are benefited. Added, CME programs are being conducted at Bellary, Bijapur and Belgaum. Kindly register and actively participate.

We are fortunate to have a distinguished member as Hon. Secretary of the Association. We will not crib about the lack of time for the association. All of you would agree, ‘It’s the busiest person who can make time for all the responsibilities’.

A newsletter with a facelift is in your hands. That has been made possible by the untiring efforts of the editor, Dr. Uday Muddebihal.

Finally, all of us need to put that extra effort to do a little more.

Your’s in ASI

Dr. Sharad M. Tanga

Association of Surgeons of India - Bagalkot Conference

Message.

The Annual congregation of highly skilled professionals like surgeons is taking place at historically rich place of Bagalkot. Significantly, Bagalkot is going to be the host for this prestigious Annual State Surgeons Conference for the first time.

I am sure the deliberations slated here will address issues pertaining to health care delivery to the patients and also address issues the surgical community itself faces in fast changing health sector.

Health care delivery till this time was more focused on giving primary health care more often and aimed at giving better treatment to the patient. All advances including technological ones were rightly patient centric and extended to quality care of the patient. However, that left behind the health professional unconcerned. With changing scenario, there is slight shift in focus to tertiary health care and thus establishment of small/medium health enterprises across the state.

The realization of relevance of health care delivery in overall progress of the country has set the stage for acute change.

Looking for opportunities to change, early technological and entrepreneurial adopters along with academic updating will take the surgical community ahead.

Wishing the 28th Annual Conference of Karnataka State Chapter of ASI every success,

Dr. Sharad M. Tanga
Chairman elect.

Present Scenario of Health Sector in Gulbarga

Health Sector poised to take a leap in Gulbarga.

Health care delivery is poised to take bigger strides in Gulbarga from its position of stagnation in recent times. The gears are slated to shift from containment and self-satisfaction to progressive acceleration.

A decade or two ago, Gulbarga was a recognized referral center not only for Gulbarga district but also for this whole region. The commencement of Medical College by visionary Late Shri Mahadevappa Rampure saw the pooling of skilled medical professionals. It was a period of establishing identity and survival.

However, the arrival of second generation of health care professionals coincided with period of quality care of patient and life quality of health care professional himself. It was an easy period of maintenance and sustenance. This shift in focus and attitude didn’t match with the requirements of patient satisfaction and market forces. The lack of support for merit in teaching institutions, economic and cultural milieu of this region compounded the disenchantment.

This resulted in exodus of large number of patients to neighboring health care centers. The situation was so grime and glaring that it drew the attention of the government administration. An interactive session with the doctor community was initiated by Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Secretary, Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board.

Today, the cycle of proactive initiative in the health sector is taking shape. Some out of need, the rest out of inevitability.

Reputation tarnished, the arrival of third generation of professionals with super specialty qualification in significant numbers, the high concentration of doctors in relation to the population of urban Gulbarga challenged the sustenance. Spearheaded by Shri Shashil Namoshi, HKE Society’s Basaweshwar Hospital is taking the institutional lead in amending the anomalies constructively and innovatively.

Amidst this, almost like God sent, Arogyasri health scheme is slated for implementation in Karnataka. This is a cashless, tertiary care programme to all BPL cardholders of the state. It is a win-win situation for the citizens, doctor and government.

One of the requirements for empanelment of hospitals is 50 beds setup. Doctors who don’t up scale their establishment are set to loose out on major chunk of patient population. Consequently, market forces will invoke professionalism amongst the doctors.

This shuffle in health care scenario will have its strain on Doctor-Patient relationship. Unless this Doctor-Patient relationship is understanding and harmonious, the productivity will be hampered. There will be need to work on this association – recapitulation and reassertion of few basic tenets.

Basically, doctor assists nature in alleviating pain and disease to increase the longevity. The end of destiny is inevitable. Emotional outbursts and the subsequent violence as an alibi are deplorable. Secondly, medicine is an inexact science of probability with ambiguous clinical situations. Expecting the doctor to assure or convey a certain outcome is undesirable. Thirdly, health care delivery is a teamwork executed by supervision in a coordinated fashion. Assigning 24-hour responsibility to the treating doctor is asking for too much from the already beleaguered doctor. He is leading a busy and challenging life situation. Finally, don’t expect your doctor to share your discomfort. Involvement with the patients suffering might cause him to lose valuable scientific objectivity.

Finally, the law of the land has included the health care delivery under the purview of Consumer Protection Act. Thereby, implying that the profession is not a seva. An individual cannot have both the cake and the cream.

Subtle reorientation, adjustment and collective change will see a vibrant health sector hub in Gulbarga again. People of Gulbarga have excelled in most spheres, even in adverse circumstances. There is every reason to believe that better times will be back, too soon for the people to perceive.

Sharad M. Tanga

Why bad happens to Good People

This is a note and not a transcript of a lecture ‘Why bad happens to good people…?’delivered by Deepak Shinde of Alma Mater, an evolving consciousness.

Some anecdotes will not be elaborated for either want of time or they being cliché, however the message will be noted.

Commenced with the clarification of who you are? A conversation between the master and the disciple was used as an anecdote. During the process, your true identity was conveyed to be a life/an bundle of energy and not your name, classification of animal kingdom etc. Thereafter, it was suggested that you drop the identity of who you are in this world and then listen to this transformational talk.

Drop your identity label of this worldly world.

Often repeated story of a horseman, horse, son and kingdom was narrated to illustrate that the events that occur in life have their own relevance. To sit in judgment of whether it is good or bad is incorrect. One never knows whether it is for good or it is for bad. Example of ghastly death of Rajiv Gandhi was quoted. However, that incident enabled Sonia Gandhi to exhibit her tenacity and become one of the most powerful women in the world. Or else she would have remained a housewife. It appears harsh however it’s a reality.

In the background of bad something good emerges

While you are being repeatedly put to trials, reassure and pray

Oh Lord! What are you preparing me for?

One needs villain in life to bring the hero in you.

In another conversation with his master, the disciple asks, ‘Have you seen God?’ Does he really exist? It was narrated to clarify, ‘to understand you need knowledge, however to feel it you need to experience it.’ One will experience it while you are with nature – fresh breeze/rain etc. The private divine experience is to be experienced. There are two experiences – one with the world of incidents/relationships and the other between you & HIM. Subtle experiences.

Nothing is right or wrong, one has to experience it, don’t resist it.

Don’t resist it: A good example of driving on the correct side of the road was quoted, while traffic signal, corruption were other ones. In such instances there is nothing one can do for certain results, even in instances where one is sure you are right and the other one is wrong, don’t make it your agenda of proving him wrong, it might be suicidal. The rule of life in relationships is, if it’s your life that is at stake, it doesn’t matter whose mistake it is, adjustment, compromise, sacrifice is the rule of life. If you are making/confronting similar situation repeatedly, just think whether something can be wrong with you as well. You can also be wrong. I can also be wrong.

Get the man right, the world will automatically look right.

What can you do for ubiquitous potholes? Focus in between the potholes and thus negotiate.

Focus on things that are positive, negotiate and be happy.

Good people don’t know to take care of goodness. They want to earn a good name and live a bad life. It’s better to earn a bad name in order to have a good life.

If you believe, people are taking you for granted; it is you who is to be blamed. Teach them of how you would like to be treated. You are treated the way you teach them. Assertion and not aggression is the key. He quoted the reason behind maintaining the discipline during the lecture sessions. Doors being shut, prohibition to carry mobiles and wristwatches are intended to benefit all those people who have come to listen and secondly, the organization would like to be taken seriously. Conspicuously, so-called busy elite of Gulbarga sat through the 150 minutes programme without attending to the mobile. Earlier he also highlighted the over indulgence with sms/mobile use.

People treat me the way I teach them to treat me.

You need to be confident/courageous.

Existential perspective: Life is the consequence of series of choices one makes. One consequence is immediate - action and reaction is immediate. Another one is delayed.

The rule of life is, if the consequence is immediate, it is equal – it is equated, if the consequence is delayed it multiplies (Karma).

Example of money lost: If you loose money, old account is being settled.

If money, favour and goodness are not reciprocated be happy that life will return it in a multiplied form. Life is a multiplier.

Don’t use your power to convert wrong to right.

Today’s success and today’s defeats are just another step in the long journey of your life. World judges you by the action, however God/life judges you by intention. Don’t worry about being bad to leave a good life.

Be character oriented and not reputation oriented.

If you have intentionally wronged, seek forgiveness.

Therefore for pure selfish reasons be good, Life is a multiplier.

God/Silversmith puts the you/silver in the furnace till the time he can see his image in the medal. Till the time you have enough qualities of him in you. How centred/composed and how better you have become than before is the consequence.

If the silver/you glitter, you become better. Don’t make the result bitter. The ending will be good. Have Faith.

Life is not a hole it’s a vent. Never see life in isolation – everything has its own limitation. The story is not yet over. See life in totality/holistic perspective. The ending is always good.

Don’t go according to expectations, bends are bound to be there, but there is no end.

Night is the darkest just before sunrise. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Consider sharing this with your friends who have attended the programme. It might help them to recapitulate and enliven the experience. People often need reminding for remembering.