an itinerant observer

I am a Medical Officer leading a team of two students, a nurse, and an in-house doctor for what seems to be a typical ward round. We are seeing some patients that have just been moved under the care of our team in an Oncology unit. While on round, one of my patients needs the nurse, who promptly leaves to attend to the call. As we move on, the students also leave for a class. The in-house doctor soon requests leave as well. I'm beginning to take all this as a sign of something insightful to come. I am left to see the next patient by myself. I see her as any another patient who needs medical attention until we get into a conversation that is both remarkable and, as I foresaw my day to be, insightful. In a mere 45 minutes, my encounter with this patient will leave an extraordinary impact on the way I interact with other patients. And so the 45 minutes begin... I inquire about her well-being and get a vague response from her. As I'm taking notes in her file, she br...

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when I came across the store. “Ai’s Cream!” the banner outside screamed in bold red letters. Scrawled underneath was illegible (to me) text 诶 艾 ' 娜 西艾伊 诶 , also in bold red, that I assumed referred to the English above it. There was no way for me to confirm it.  But, I was intrigued all the same. The name, as well as the store, seemed to be an anomaly in Hikkaduwa, the well-known beach resort along the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, where I was sojourning for a week. Perhaps the Chinese have infiltrated Sri Lanka too, I mused. I had been told by my much better half that there were two reasons for being in Hikkaduwa then: (i) For Relaxation and Rehabilitation (or R and R, to be hip); (ii) Our friends accompanying us (or us them); in fact, they were the ones who had decided the itinerary.  Also, worth mentioning here is that it was a self-imposed vacation away from home, kids and work - an ‘away vacation’ happening a second time ...

If you are lucky you may come across a book that challenges your assumptions, upends your convictions and knocks down your indoctrination. If you are really lucky then said book may present an alternative and limitless world view of possibilities that generates a warm fuzzy feeling within, perhaps because your assumptions have been challenged, convictions upended and indoctrination knocked down. I can safely say this has happened to me recently. After several years of sporadic reading of contemporary fiction, creative non-fiction and general non-fiction, I present to you….drum roll….Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari! This remarkable book belonging to the genre of ‘popular science’ per it’s cover is certainly that but goes far beyond. It is a highly evocative, provocative and candid outlook on Homo sapiens (modern human beings, in other words) – where they’ve come from, but more importantly where they are headed (hence, Homo Deus alluding to humanity version 2.0). All that, ...