THE SWEET MEMORIES OF VISIT TO A MOVIE THEATRE

     The day on which all of us were taken to a movie in a theater was a big day. It was a family outing much looked forward to. It was a rare occasion and had its own special appeal. As a young boy maybe in the early primary school, I remember accompanying my dad to a classic - "Benhur". I was awed by the war scenes and the seriousness of the movie what if I understood nothing! The settings were great and I thought that the war scene was real!I also remember going to some Hindi movies with my mother and aunt. The dressed worn by the actress were displayed in the theater. I understood nothing of the hindi movies but felt very bad when almost every one cried in the theater! The movies I really enjoyed were the Kannda movies with Narasimha Raju a comedian playing some role usually with Raj Kumar. I was so fond of him that on a trip to Bangalore when my aunt, a doctor at Bowring Hospital asked me what I would like to visit most in Bangalore I replied "Of course, Narasimha Raju!" She politely told me she did not even know where he stayed and I tried to convince her that maybe he lived on the road they had just named after him! This was during my 7 th standard vacations. Any movie would begin with a "News Reel" a black and white depiction of news. One of the news surely would be about "Rashtrapathi Radhakrishnan". For some reason the black and white news played much faster than natural. I was really impressed by the 'speed' of the old polititians till I later understood that it is a technical problem!
     In the school they would rarely show us some excellent black and white movies. Usually they were about some scientific discoveries or about rockets, space travel etc. I would eagerly wait for that rare day. I still remember some scenes from those movies clearly. My beloved uncle would take us ( my cousin and myself) to some English movies at the New Chitra talkies. Usually they were spy movies. Enemy was always more intelligent than what the hero assumed him to be. However after all the action (usually mindless - ending in a large factory which produced God knows what) the hero always won convinsingly! This was during the high school, PUC and MBBS days. During the Post Graduation I would go to movies with my friend Gurudutt who was studying to be an Ophthalmologist. We would see an English movie on most Fridays. It would cost us Rs. 3.50 each for the balcony ticket (in the front portion). Reaching the theater from the hospital would cost less than a rupee. One packet of Masala ground nut and a cold drink each would be around Rs 2. So Rs. 10 in all saw us through a movie session. We walked home after the movie which was healthy and free.
     I just cannot come to terms with the present day scenario of going to a movie theater. Gone are the days of cheap tickets and simple eats. You are forced to take a huge packet of popcorn and a big coke. Some times one wonders whether people go there to eat or t watch the movie. Movies themselves are insipid. They are made by the people with questionable IQ s for people with even lower IQ s. Rarely we find gems among the muck. 100 crore club probably is another social club like Rotary or Lions nothing to do with the actual collections! However there are no superstars any more. No wonder people do not take the trouble of visiting movie theaters regularly. Any 3 Hindi movies seen in the course of 1 year will give you material and ideas sufficient for that year's releases. Once in a way however, a Lunch Box , a Dirty Movie, a Kahani will surface keeping the hope alive and faith intact. No wonder we hardly remember recent movies and never forget the movies like Lawrence of Arabia, Titanic, Inferno, and the like!

THE EPISODE OF THE MAN WHO SWOONED

     I reach the HOD office of Medicine department at 9 AM. today as usual. After meeting the people, signing documents and dictating a few letters and communicating digitally with some people I was driving to the teaching hospital .
A narrow road leads to the hospital. Usually vehicles are parked on the left side of the road and that makes the road even narrower. To make the matters worse, some two wheelers come on this narrow one way road from the opposite side. This forces the pedestrian to walk virtually in the middle of the road  exposing himself to all the vehicles. A car stopped. An elderly man got out of the car and even before closed  the door, swooned and fell. Another car passed him and possibly grazed his head. I was 2 cars behind this and saw it happen. As it was an unexpected event and there were people around, I was not too sure whether the man's head was hit by the door or the car that passed. The man who fell down started to bleed from his forehead just above the right eye. I was in 2 minds. I parked the car on the side of the road, got down came to that car and watched. The man driving that car also was an elderly man. He was shaken by the episode. People gathered around and started to ask questions. "What is the color and make of the car that passed by?" asked one person. Her blamed the driver for not noting the number. The driver was trying to put the man inside the car into the back seat and was struggling to do so. No one of the 50 or so people gathered around helped. One scooterist came from the opposite direction and blocked the door to ask some stupid questions of gossip value. He had to be shooed away to make way for the patient to be put inside the car. I helped the old man to do this. Then I volunteered to accompany them to a hospital leaving my car behind. I left the hospital only after making sure that the person was stable and his daughter arrived.
     Whatever happened to our civic sense? Why do we hesitate to help people in distress? Is it the reflection of "me" attitude rather that "we"? Maybe like the nuclear family. We are distancing ourselves from serious problems - "As long as it is not me why should I bother" is one reason. "Why should I get involved in a police case?" is the other one. How on earth do we expect these people to help us in our crisis?
     By helping them I got delayed elsewhere. I do not know whether I am right or the other 'wise' people are right. I am sure there ate more questions than there are answers. Sometimes the answers may be obvious and some times the answers may not come at all.
     I suddenly remembered my childhood days when we were a big homogeneous group unconditionally helping each other. If a boy fell from a tree and got injured, we would stop playing, attend to him, give him water, take him to the nearest doctor who usually did not charge, get medicines take him home and tell only the mother (underplaying the seriousness) and avoid the father and disappear. We pledged to remain so for all time to come and help each other and other people also. I wonder whatever happened to the pledge!

THE CASE OF THE "WRONG CALL"

     It was a very tiring day. I went to bed at about 11 45 and slept off immediately. I had to get up at 4 45 next day to be able to go to the gym. At about 12 15 I was woken up by the shrill ringing of my mobile phone. I picked up the call almost immediately
     The caller, obviously a lady was inconsolably crying. I was surprised but all the same decided to continue the call as the caller was obviously in distress. After a while of sobbing and actual crying, the caller introduced herself as a PG in Pediatrics. A baby had died in the ICU of her institution and the relatives were threatening to manhandle her and her co PG both ladies in the first year of training. Obviously it was the wrong call. I am heading the department of Medicine at a different  institution. The first thought was to say so and softly encourage her to call her HOD. I asked her whether the higher authorities have been informed. She replied saying that she tried to but they refused to take any responsibility saying that only imparting education was their responsibility. I immediately understood the seriousness of the situation. I surmised that the person must have saved the number as HOD and dialed  it. Still it beat me why she dialed me! By the time she realized that I was not the person she wanted to speak to and promptly disconnected. I tried calling her back and she did not pick the call.
     I like mysteries - I always liked to read the novels based on mystery. I always thought that the problem can be solved by logical thinking and action. Now I got an opportunity to put these into action. The number, named of the caller and the institution were the only leads available. Were they enough to solve the puzzle at the dead of the night? Was I justified in helping a PG from another institution? I have 2 daughters who are doing their higher medical training at different institutes. I would have appreciated someone going out of the way to help them. Then I should also do the same!
     I had to some quick thinking. Maximum number of the seats this time went to PG s from Andhra. So, logically no harm thinking that this girl is also from Andhra. I have always found PG s from Andhra quite resourceful and closely knit. So I decided t wake up an Andhra PG and gave him the number and name of the PG and the institution. To the credit of all Andhra boys, they tracked the identity of the person in next 15 minutes! The phone belonged to one of the PG s from our institutes who had stored my number as HOD. He gave the phone to his wife who was working in that institution and in turn, she had lent it to her friend during the hours of duty. This solved the mystery why she had called me.
     Then came the appropriate action. The PG whose wife was having the mobile went to the spot. He was surprised by what he saw. The ladies were hiding inside a small room in ICU. There was a commotion outside the ICU. It was pathetic to see that the management security or the police did not take it seriously. The doctor who went successfully escorted the lady PG s out of the ICU  and took them to a safe place.
     This case is another eye opener. Do we have to wait for something to happen before helping the ladies in distress? Where is the chivalry? It is nauseating to see the people not even doing their own duty for which they are regularly paid. I feel only making people liable for their inaction will be a good answer. There should be stiff fines based on the duration of inaction. Repeated offences should lead to successive demotions and dismissal altogether after the last possible demotion.