Exploratory Universatory

Apna Radio

My latest affliction is MSN International Channel Apna Radio.com

Check it out at www.apnaradio.com - It makes up for all the punjabi CDz
that I forgot to bring. Nice mix of Punjabi, Hindi, Sufi music with
occasional ghazal hours.

posted by Virk @ 9:15 PM 0 comments

Doctors and patients

Suppose you are the dean of a medical school. There are two students
interviewing for a single seat. One of them says she wants to be a
doctor because she has always wanted to be a doctor and the other says
she is not sure if she wants to be a doctor but her life's mission is to
help the patients. Whom would you pick. Is this information enough to
make a right decision. Who would be a better doctor. Who do you think
has higher commitment towards the profession.

posted by Virk @ 1:40 AM 3 comments

Car pool passenger to Berkeley

I have started visiting the library of the Life Sciences department of
University of Berkeley. This is a library and paleontology museum, so
you can appreciate the jaws of tyrannosaurus or the vertebrae of
brontosaurus when you are not reading anything. They have a life size
model of T-Rex and it refreshed the memories of King Kong (2005). On
that note - I highly recommend King Kong - for spectacular graphics, and
the emotional bonds between animals and humans - reminded me of my pet
dog - Macho (May his soul rest in peace).I sometimes drown myself in
guilt for not being able to take care of him as much as I should. Would
never ever keep a pet if I am not able to treat it as a family member.

I come to the library with my uncle whose office is in downtown
Berkeley. On the way to office he picks up some passengers from the bus
stop who travel to Berkeley city or BART station. BART is the local
metro train of the Bay Area (Rapid Transport). If there are three people
in the car, we can use the car pool lane. So every one benefits - the
passengers get a free, faster and comfortable ride and we get to work
faster via the car pool lane.On some days the differences could be as
much as forty five minutes for a half hour ride.

Today we had a guy who is doing Master's in Acupuncture Science. First,
I didnt know that there is a Master's degree in Acupuncture which is
four years long, has same pre clinical subjects as MDs. Second, I was
not aware that you have to be licensed to be an Acupuncture specialists
(In Michigan you dont require a license), Third, they can order tests
pretty much like Family Physicians and get billed for those and finally,
I didnt know that a medical school training is of 4000 hours compared to
3000 hours for Acupuncture specialists. This guy is also a Tai Chi
instructor and plans to learn Chinese once he gets his license.
Professional education is expensive in the states and he is $70k down in
debt. He plans to start practice next year to pay off his debt but his
plan could be delayed by one year as he may spend one year in China for
apprenticeship. Subsequently he wants to practice for five years and
then become eligible to apply for a doctorate. Interestingly MDs can get
a license in Acupuncture by just doing a weekend course. So apart from
discussions on methods of Acupuncture we also discussed limitations of
western system of medicine and benefits of alternative therapies. I
would be turning 29 soon and on so many occasions I have ridiculed
myself for spending half of my productive life in school. This guy who
was revising his lecture for today sitting in the rear seat of car is 61.

posted by Virk @ 7:21 PM 0 comments

Baby's day out

Today was my day out to San Francisco. We went to fisherman's wharf, the
crooked road, Metrion Cineplex, main beach, mona lisa italian
restaurant. It was warm and sunny - a perfect day for lazy outing. Now I
am sleepy and forcing myself to make this entry.

posted by Virk @ 9:24 PM 2 comments

Historians should be allowed to write only in Peer reviewed journals

I am not sure how much of this is correct. Seems to be a random flight of unchained Virk fantasy.
Nevertheless, Ram Swarup Joon is supposed to be a respected historian.

posted by Virk @ 4:40 PM 3 comments

My New Year celebrations

I celebrated my new year here. It was truly a divine experience (no pun intended). At 2330 hrs the raagis started with Vaaheguru jaap. I swung in and out of meditation a couple of times, my trance broken off by small kids passing by my nose. And as the clock struck 12, a Nihang Singh started pounding Nagarras - which I think were too soft for my expectations. There was all round excitement with chants filling every corner of the hall. Stupidly, I started missing sphagetti, balloons and drunken revelry that I have been witness to my previous mass scale new year celebration events. But this one would definitely be worth remembering.

The last one I remember was the Dec 31, 2000 which I spent at home, watching TV and missing Goa.

posted by Virk @ 4:34 PM 1 comments

Sunny California ??

I reached California on Christmas day and today its been exactly seven
days. For last seven days I havent seen the sun, its been raining
incessantly. Yesterday,(31st December) I went to Bhog ceremony at a
family friend's place near Sacramento. On our way back, I went to see
the beautiful campus of University of California, Davis. I also went to
see the Governor's office of California in Sacramento. The Governor btw
is Arnold Schwarzenneger.

Due to floods, I-80 highway which connects San Francisco and New York
was closed - so it took us close to three hours to reach home via detour
rather than the usual 45 minutes.

posted by Virk @ 4:20 PM 0 comments