Trying new things

I am now at Zalm for over 2 weeks. It has been a very quiet phase in my professional life, there is no doubt about that. The lack of any professional challenge is actually quite irritating, but I find that if I do other things that are creative or productive, the irritation goes away. So, yesterday was Friday. I had debated about whether I should return to Al Muwayh for the weekend, as I am off-call this week. Then, I realised that even if I went home to Al Muwayh, I would be the one to suffer, as I would have to cook food, search for other stuff and so on. So, I decided to stay put in the room in Zalm and make myself busy online. 

I am now in the process of polishing a novel that I wrote earlier ... more than a decade ago on THIS site. Having learned where to sell my e-books, I think it is a good idea to prepare yet another e-book and try and sell it on POTHI.COM, where I have also put up my Child Care book for sale.

This is an adventure story set in India and features a group of college students fighting for survival in a forest in Madhya Pradesh. I will send the link to it once it is approved and put up on the site. I plan to price it low so that more and more people are able to access it. 

The next thing I am doing is continuing my online studies. On THIS site, one can take free courses whenever they want on a wide range of topics pertaining to all disciplines. A free course is good enough for learning, but if you wish to add the study to your CV, you need to pay a small amount of between USD 39 to USD 59 to get a verified certificate for the given course. The one I am doing currently is from the University of California, San Francisco, and is on Communication between Healthcare Professionals and what impact it can have on the hospital's Healthcare statistics and performance. 

Next on the list is watching movies that I have for long downloaded on my laptop or in my external hard disc, but haven't had the chance to watch until now. In the last two days, I watched two classics from Hindi cinema - Sadak, starring Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt and Sadashiv Amrapurkar (the last one in the role of "Maharani" - a transgender owner of a prostitute den - a role which brought him the National Award that year); and Taal, starring Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Khanna and Amrish Puri ... a musical that took the people of India by storm when it was first released. Next on my short list are other movies that are equally famous, including Aah, starring Raj Kapoor and Nargis, and a few others.

Last, but not the least, is to walk. I have begun walking about 3 days ago, and am trying to walk at least a few kilometers each evening to return myself to some semblance of fitness. Let me see how long I can sustain this activity. 

Yesterday, I received a lovely gift from one of the radiology technicians Mrs. Khairunnissa - she cooked spicy chicken and chappatis for me on my specific request which I had made the day before. I really dislike the food provided by the hospital's kitchen and I have been going around requesting Indian/Pakistani/Filipina staff to share their food preparations with me. Hope they all bring me food ... 

And on that note, I end this entry. I hope you liked it and will take some inspiration from it. Thank you.

Two down, three to go

No, this is not a description of the drinks I took today! It is the number of weeks that I have worked and will be working in Zalm. Yes, drumrolls, please. It is official: I will be spending another 2 1/2 weeks here in Zalm. It is not that Zalm is a bad hospital. In fact, there is ever so little in the form of work, that I am mostly reading/writing/sleeping/eating. Besides, the room in the hospital is fairly well-equipped and the food is free, so it all accounts for a good amount of savings in monetary terms. The hospital cleaners have to be summoned every few days to clean up the room and the corridors. But essentially, there is no stress. Internet access is all right too, as the STC signal is strong here in my room and I have purchased that company's internet card. 

So what are the negatives? Not many. The reason I am even adding this paragraph is the longing I have to be in Al Muwayh, with which I identify my own home and work. Of course, my home is just a rented place. No great shakes. I don't even have all the things that I purchased and adorned the home with. Just three suitcases of stuff that I brought back from India when I returned here 3 weeks ago, and the remaining furniture that I could not dispose off when I went to India a few months back. I have no large refrigerator, no microwave, no television, no other comforts ... but I still feel happy when I am in my old home. So yes, I do miss Al Muwayh.

There is another reason why I like Al Muwayh better than Zalm. It is the fact that Al Muwayh has become a brighter, busier small village than Zalm can hope to be ... not even in the next ten years. There are several new businesses coming up ... and the hospital, though older than the one here in Zalm, and busier, is also a more homey place. I am more at home with all the nurses and the doctors here than I am in Zalm, where I am mostly considered a "visitor". There are no Indian doctors here, and I do not know anyone outside in the village, which, by the way, is dull and not even properly illuminated at night. There is no garden in Zalm, just one open space with a lot of man-made design and furniture and a lot of children's play equipment, which lies unused because there is no grass or even false grass in this recreational space. 

As to restaurants, there are a few that are worth mentioning: there is an Indian place which serves north Indian food, and a Pakistani place that serves similar food, albeit Lahori style. A few cafetarias for sandwiches and burgers, and a few Saudi/Yemeni restaurants that serve broast and grilled chicken. That completes the restaurant scene for Zalm.

Is there anything to redeem Zalm? As I said, its hospital and its hostel are newer, better equipped and more fun to work and stay in. And that, basically, keeps me going. 

That's it for the day. Do write in and let me know your comments and share your experiences with me. Thank you.

My Zalm duty continues after a day's leave

So, I took a day's leave to return to Al Moweh and meet my room-mate and finalise all dealings with him now and for after he leaves for India. As I do not have a car, I came to Al Moweh with Dr. Atef Abdulfattah, an erstwhile dispensary doctor of Al Moweh who was recently promoted to Specialist level and transferred to Zalm.His family continues to live in Al Moweh, and he commutes daily between Al Moweh and Zalm in the morning and in the opposite direction in the evening.

I ran my washing machine to wash all the pending clothes that I brought back to me from Zalm, and later, I relaxed, doing some work on the laptop, and speaking with my family members and stuff like that. I will relax here for a full day tomorrow before returning to Zalm. Nothing else to write about, so I will end this entry here. Thanks for reading,