The mind of a 72 year old

When I was around 40 years old, I would look at 70 year old and older people and wonder what was going on in their minds.

Were they worried about approaching death?

Did they wish that they were 40 years old again ( or 30 or 20)?

Were they conscious that their reflexes were slowing?

Were they conscious of the wrinkles on their face and hands and the liver spots on their body?

Were they envious of younger people?

Now that I am 72 years old, I can answer these questions for myself.

I am not worried about approaching death. Does this mean I am looking forward to it? Emphatically, no. It just means that I will live my life as fully as I can and will not feel sad when I have to go.

I don't wish that I was younger. I am OK with my age with all the pluses and minuses that come with it.

I am not conscious of my reflexes slowing, but I do know that they are slowing and that others are also conscious of my slowing reflexes.

I am not self-conscious of the wrinkles that come with my age. Of course, I am vain enough to do stretching exercises in hopes of keeping my skin taut and delaying the wrinkles showing.

I am not envious of younger people. I am happy that they are living in an age of more technical advancements than I had at their age. I also am thankful that I don´t have to cope with the kind of pressures that they face– be it at work or at home.Here´s the catch– it´s quite likely that what I think is pressure might be normal for them!!!! 

Is my 72 year old mind thinking something new? I don´t think so. Itś just that I am articulating something that is probably going on in the mind of all my 72 year old friends.

USA 2022 Visit- Day 0 ( 28 Feb 2022)

Flight was BLR-LHR-DFW.

Departure from BLR was smooth . Layover in LHR was 2 hours; however we had to move from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3. That took a long time and we reached Security in Terminal 3 with 45 minutes to spare. Good enough? Not nearly, as we found out. The Security guy said that he had to check each liquid/gel/paste in my liquid transparent bag since one of them was giving off a peculiar smell. I assured him that the bag did not contain any of my bodily fluids, but he was not ready to listen. Since there was no time, I donated all my liquids/gels/pastes to LHR. Good luck to them with these.

Other than this, the flight was good. We had booked by Premium Economy and the seats are far better than Economy. One can really stretch oneś legs. I watched ´96´ starring Vijay Sethupathy and Trisha and ´ Going in Style´ starring Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Both were good.

We reached DFW at 6.30 PM , 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Sachin was there to receive us.

Customs and Immigration was smooth and , thankfully, our bags were not checked again for the processed foods that we had brought.

We checked in at Candlewood Suites. Sandeep had brought dinner as well as necessary toiletries etc and we were off to sleep.

End of Day 0!!!

Angiogram/Angioplasty- My personal experience

I underwent an angiogram followed by an angioplasty 2 days back.

This blog is a record of my experience so far:

What was the trigger?

What were the actions I took?

How did I feel before and after?

How am I feeling now? Etc

I am sharing this mainlyto dispel fears and take readers through my journey.

Disclaimer: This blog is primarily my experience. Some of these may be at variance with medical facts.The reader is therefore advised to exercise caution.

Any matter related to the heart ( romantic or medical) is serious and therefore I am writing this blog with all the seriousness that the subject deserves. However, there may be occasions where my sense of humour surfaces and I beg the indulgence of readers.

Background information:

I am 69 years old, retired for 5 years and still play badminton regularly. I swim when the occasion permits and play tennis when I visit US. Vegetarian and an occasional drinker. I climbed the Tiger Nest Monastery in Bhutan last year. This is just to show that I was and continue to be physically active.

Over the last 6 months, I found that I wasn’t enjoying my food and ate perfunctionarily. Also, I used to get a reflux action when I started eating and had to gulp water to wash my food down.

I was a known hypertensive and took BP medicine for the last 28 years including slow acting aspirin.

How it all started

On Wed ( 29th Jul), I got up at 4.30 PM from my usual afternoon nap and found that I had a persistent pain in my chest. I dismissed it as due to gas, but the pain persisted for an hour.These are the times when people get doubts. To go to the doctor or not? Why inconvenience others? Could be a false alarm. Etc etc. Trust me, I had the same doubts on earlier occasions But there comes a time when your gut tells you that you have to get up and act. This was that moment for me when the pain didn´t  go away even after an hour.Sudha had gone to her mom’s place. I told her to come back immdly and we went to my family doctor. He suggested that I get a Troponin-I test and an ECG done.

I got the tests done and went back to him next day morning ( Thu 30th Jul). By then, the pain had gone away and I was feeling absolutely fine. No breathlessness, no nothing. My pulse oxymeter reading was 95 or so regularly.

The Troponin-I test is just a blood test. My troponin-I level was 13.35 against a max of 12 for gents. ( For ladies, the max is 9). I asked him what this meant. The doctor said that the heart generates an enzyme called Troponin-I when it is not getting enough oxygen from the blood.

So, the fact that my Troponin-I level was higher than normal was an indicator that my heart 

wasn´t getting enough blood. 

The ECG report had a lot of the usual medical mumbo-jumbo that I couldn´t understand at all.

Anyway, my family doctor told me to undergo an Echo Cardiogram followed by a Treadmill Test ( TMT).

On  Thu 30th Jul evening, I went back to the same lab and got both the tests. 

The EEG was negative ( all normal), but the TMT test was positive.The Treadmill test is done at different speeds in 4 stages ( starting from slow to every fast). You are expected to walk the treadmill till your target heart rate is reached , which is 220 minus your age. In my case, the target heart rate was 220-69=151. I reached up to 127 beats per minute at the 9th minute ( end of 3rd stage) and gave up due to exhaustion.

At the end of the test, the cardiologist who did the test told me that the TMT was conclusive proof that I had some blockages in my blood vessel(s) and that I should get an angiogram done immediately, followed by an angioplasty if the result so warranted.

He was also attached to a leading private hospital and advised me to get the procedure done if possible on Saturday 1st Aug itself. I had gone alone for the test and told him that I needed to discuss with my wife. I also told him that I needed to get a second opinion and he was fine with that.

Next day, I rang up my cousin Shashi and he fixed up an appointment for me with Dr. V.K Srinivas, Chief Cardiologist at Mallya Hospital, Bangalore for 6 PM on Sat 1st Aug at his Jayanagar Clinic.

How was I feeling? Absolutely fine. I could have played a game of badminton if I had wanted to.

On Sat 1st Aug, Sudha and I met the doctor. By this time, both of us were reconciled to the fact that I had some blockage ( though how many and what was the extent was not known to us).Our main purpose in meeting him was to check whether we could postpone the procedure till the COVID pandemic went away since we didn´t want to risk going to a hospital at this time.

Dr. Srinivas took one look at all the reports and told me that I had approx 90% blockage in one artery and possibly no blockages in other arteries , though that would be known only when the angiogram was done. On the question of postponement, he said that it was risky and there was no point in waiting for an emergency to happen ( like a complete blockage, leading to a heart attack). This way, we could choose the time, the hospital, make all preparations etc. He also showed some pictures of other patients and a video stating how exactly the procedure is done.

He stressed the fact that this was only a procedure, not a surgery, and the whole process would not take more than 30 to 40 minutes max. We were worried about COVID and he assured us that Mallya Hospital is a non-COVID hospital.

I must mention here that we derived a lot of comfort from the way Dr. Srinivas talked to us and finally agreed to get the procedure on Mon 3rd Aug.

What were my feelings at this time?

I am being truthful. I had no worries at all. Yes, there was a slim possibility that I might croak on the operating table, but I knew that enough angioplasties had been done . I did have some fleeting thoughts about things going wrong during the procedure, but I dismissed them instantly.

I had full confidence in the doctor. Tips for readers---- if you do have to get a serious operation done, try to go to doctors whom you have heard about by word of mouth.

Sun 2nd Aug was spent in gathering my insurance papers, packing my kit and clothes, my charger ( very important!!).

Mon 3rd Aug, we reached Mallya Hospital at 9 AM. After the admission process and various preparations, I was wheeled into the OT around 11 AM. At this point, your dignity goes for a toss. Your robe is removed and a narrow strip of cloth is placed down your middle. I felt like King Tut being prepared for mummification except that my hands were by my side and not folded across my chest. Various people will come, lift the cloth and shake their head--- in wonder? envy? pity? I couldn´t guess because their faces were inscrutable behind their masks.

The doctor comes and explains exactly how the procedure is going to be done. It will be done under local anasthesia. There were 3 screens on my upper left side and he advised me to look at the middle screen.

Then he gave a local anasthesia near my inner thigh followed by insertion of the catheter into my femoral artery. This is painful ( inspite of the local anasthesia) and lasts for about 10 seconds.

Then the catheter is inserted and moves towards the heart. 

How many people can say that they have looked deep into their own heart? Well, I did.

Periodically, a dye is injected and the contrast can be seen on the screen. If the dye stops moving forward, or moves forward very slowly, it indicates a block. Such a block was found in my Left Anterior Descending ( LAD) Artery. The doctor showed the block to me and said it appeared to be about 90%. He then took a picture of the screen. This was the ¨before"pic.

He then went out to tell my wife that they had found the block and that they were now going to remove it.

He then moved around the catheter to remove the block and told me that a stent was being inserted to hold up the artery so that it doesn collapse. I could see a rush of some black fluid which was my blood. He then took another picture which was the ¨after¨ picture. Both the pictures were then displayed on two separate screens so that I could see the arteries before and after the procedure. ( Ultimately, it was shown that the block was around 80%).There did seem to be an increase in diameter of the LAD artery after the procedure, but itś not as if it is like a BWSSB pipeline.The change is miniscule but perceptible.But then, that is the difference between life and death.For good measure, he also told me that the entire video would be loaded into a CD and gifted to me.

Did I feel anything in my heart during the entire procedure?  The answer is No.

Did I feel a rush of blood when the block was removed and did I feel a sudden burst of energy flowing through me? The answer is No.

Was there any pain?  No

Was I awake and conscious the whole time? Yes

That is the whole point and that is why heart disease is called a silent killer. In my case, the persistent pain in my chest was an alarm and I¨ḿ glad that I heeded it. Everyone gets some indication or the other. Which one to heed and which one to ignore? A big question and there are no ready answers. However, like I said before, when your gut tells you to get up and consult a doctor, do so.

The entire procedure took no more than 45 minutes . There is some mild pain when the catheter is removed. I was then shifted to another stretcher and wheeled in to the Coronary Care Unit. I was advised not to move my right leg around and , for good measure, my right leg was tied to the bed. I was then put on drips.

Sudha was allowed to see me for a few minutes. I gave her a thumbs-up and told her to go home and come back in the evening.

Now, what to do? I wonder how many of you have seen a WhatsApp video that was recently circulating. It promises to show an award winning short film and then shows just the ceiling for about 10 minutes. When the audience gets restless, the audience reminds them that if they have got restless after just 10 mins, imagine the condition of a patient on a hospital bed who sees the same sight day after day. Well, that was my condition. So I just closed my eyes and went over my working career of 43 years. I was able to recollect instances that I had thought I had forgotten.

There was a hilarious moment too. All of us had to wear a mask so speech was not very audible. I wanted to tinkle, so I asked for a can. The ward boy took more than 30 minutes and finally came in with a floor mounted fan. I had to tell him that I wanted a can , not a fan.

I had mentioned before that I had lost the taste for food over the last 6 months. Now, I felt hungry and really enjoyed my lunch. Since the operation, I find that I am enjoying whatever I am eating. I hope this is a successful after-effect of the operation.

There is not much more to add. 

I had a restful nightś sleep in the CCU and was shifted to a room on Tue 4th Aug. On Wed 5th Aug, I was discharged and came back home.

The entire stay at Mallya Hospital was very pleasant and the staff was extremely helpful and courteous.

If you have found this story boring, my purpose of writing this blog would have been served. For that is exactly what this entire angiogram/Angioplasty procedure is -- an ordinary event like getting a wound bandaged. Of course, there may be exceptions and I am not trivialising the procedure at all.

In conclusion, I must add that , because I was physically very active, the thought that I might have a major block in one of my arteries had not occurred to me at all. Of course, I knew that some blockage was expected over the course of 69 years, but not 80%. Why was only my LAD artery blocked, and why not the others? I have no answer.

I hope I have demystified the angiogram/Angioplasty procedure. I´ll be happy to answer any queries over phone or email or over any comments on this blog.

Tips:

• Get an annual medical check-up that includes an ECG and a TMT.
• If you get a persistent pain in the chest, see a cardiologist immediately.
• If you are a gent and have to undergo a procedure, shave your chest hair. Stickers to hold the sensors for ECG are attached to your chest and if you have not removed the chest hair, removing the sticker causes more pain than the procedure.
• 
  

 

Frankfurt Diary---- Day 5---- 22^nd Jun 2012

It’s 7.10 PM as I sit down to write this blog. There is bright sunshine outside. The Euro Cup match between Germany and Greece is about to start at 8.45 PM. There is excitement in the air and a sense of anticipation.

Frankfurt Haupt Bahnhof

One of my German colleagues presented a bottle of Grauer Burgunder--- a 2009 vintage white wine to my boss and he very kindly handed it over to me before leaving for Chennai today.So I’ve got this for company along with some potato chips and some tapioca chips that I bought at the local grocery store as I’m writing this blog.

My colleague Ramesh is still here with me. As usual, after breakfast----- fruits and cornflakes---- God, I’m sick of fruits---- I think I’m going to stay off them for a month when I get back to India----we took the Crane 8.30 AM bus to Messe Frankfurt.I met a friend of mine whom I’ve know for over 35 years.We spent some time together and then I discussed some business with my German and USA colleagues who were manning the Crane pavilion. At 12 Noon, we decided to call it a day. I b ought some knick-knacks for Madhura and Greeshma and then we decided to take a taxi to Frankfurt Haupt Bahnhof ( Main Railway Station). We got off there and wandered around in Kaiserstrasse which is a downtown area. I bought a small something for Sudha there and then we found ourselves near Café Swagat where we had dinner on 18^th Jun. We had plain rice with Tadka Dal and then took a taxi back to the hotel by around 1.30 PM.

I finished my packing( we’re leaving tomorrow morning) and had a good afternoon nap. At 5 PM, I got up, got dressed and went back to Haupt Bahnhof. People were already getting ready to have fun while watching the football match. The roadside cafes were getting occupied and people were settling down in front of the large TV screens. A group of boys were practicing their cheerleading.

European Railway Stations are always nice and Frankfurt was no exception. There was a group of young girl dancers performing on stage in the concourse and a small crowd was watching them. As I mentioned earlier, there is excitement in the air. The weather is lovely and many people are driving around with the top ( car top, I mean) down and loud music blaring out.

I took a taxi back and went to the local grocery store near the hotel and bought some pistachios, chocolate etc and here I am.

Some photos attached.

A group of girls performing at Haupt Bahnhof.

 Occupying one of the front seats in a roadside cafe at 5.30PM to catch the football action on TV at 8.45 PM.

2003----- Quizzes, trips and a shorter commute

2003--- Quizzing and other activities

2003 was significant for me in various ways----- a revival in my quizzing activity, more trips abroad and a change in my office location

In January 2003, I undertook a trip to Seoul, Taipei and Singapore.I flew Malaysian Airlines via KL to Seoul. When the plane was approaching Seoul, the stewardess announced that the temperature was 2 DegC. However, I saw bright sunshine and assumed that it wouldn’t be so cold. As soon as I came out of the airport, an icy blast hit me and my nose turned blue in an instant. I had only my jacket with me and one of the first things I did was to buy a pair of gloves.

I spent a couple of days in Seoul and roamed around at will in the subways.I also visited Gangnam which is actually a suburb of Seoul but became world famous later for “Gangnam Style”. I looked up for Indian restaurants and found that “Ganga” Restaurant which I had discovered in Busan the previous year had a branch in Seoul also. It was a 45 minute ride by taxi, but was worth the money I spent.

I also had carried plenty of MTR food packets. I remember opening one Bisibele bath packet in my hotel room after soaking it in hot water for 5 minutes in the hotel sink. The karavensoppu ( curry leaves) aroma that I got on opening the packet still stays with me.

From Seoul, I travelled to Taipei via Hong Kong. This was my first visit to Taipei and I took some time off to explore the city. The Metro has been well developed in Taipei and I was surprised to see almost an underground city with plenty of shops below ground.

February 2003 saw me travelling to Singapore for a couple of days. As soon as I came back, my colleague Ramkumar Shankar and I represented Sanmar in the Chennai Regional Round of the AIMA Quiz. This was the first time we had teamed up. Ramkumar was already a veteran in the Chennai quizzing circuit and was catching up with his quizzing friends as soon as we reached the venue.

 To our great surprise, we won the Chennai Regional Round and were soon on our way to Kolkata to take part in the All- India Finals on 14^th Mar. Arun Lal, the cricketer , was the Chief Guest. We came third in the All- India finals and it was a proud moment for us.

Our seniors in Sanmar were very happy and promptly agreed to sponsor us in the many corporate quizzes that were being held---- Brand Equity, Tata Crucible,LIBA Quiz and many more. With all the prizes that we were winning, I had accumulated about 6 watches, around 4 pairs of Titan Fastrack eyewear, Rs.500 vouchers for everything from deos to a car ( just kidding!!).

Meanwhile, Sachin had got through his CAT. He first got admission to IIM, Kozhikode and we also remitted the fee of Rs.40000. He subsequently got admission to IIM,Indore and chose the latter. Sudha accompanied Sachin to Indore in June 2003.Her friend Kuckoo was living in Indore and , in any case, Sudha had grown up there, so it was familiar territory.

Sudha and I  were now experiencing the empty-nest syndrome. Sachin had gone to Indore and Sandeep was now into his second year in XIME, Bangalore. Sudha and I were both proud of the fact that both our sons were doing MBA. Sandeep had by now shifted to a room with two of his friends in Electronics City since he was finding the daily commute quite exhausting.

In July 2003, I made a trip to Bangladesh.I was given the name and address of a potential agent in Dhaka. When I visited their Office, I was surprised to see Rajesh ( Akhila’s brother-in-law).Rajesh was living in Dhaka and was working out of the Office of the person whom I had come to meet. I visited Rajesh’s house for dinner and also met his wife Aarya. I remember that we also went to Khana Khazana, which was a restaurant opened by Sanjeev Kapoor, the celebrity chef. I also went to Chittagong for a couple of days before returning to Chennai. This was followed up by another visit to Bangladesh in Aug 2003.

A major event occurred in Sep 2003. Our office got shifted from Karapakkam ( a 15 km commute each way) to Cathedral Road which was in the heart of the city and hardly 4-5 km from my house. Earlier, I used to leave home by 7.30 AM in a pool car and Sudha had to get up early to make my breakfast and also pack my lunch. Now, I could leave by 8.15 AM and , since I was using my own car, a couple of minutes here and there didn’t matter. This was a big relief for both of us and did much to improve our quality of life.

While I was busy quizzing in Chennai, Sandeep was active in the quizzing circuit in Bangalore. He had teamed up with his class mate Sai Venkat and they were winning quiz competitions left and right. Like me, he had also built up a good collection of watches, eyewear and 1 Philips DVD player which he had won at the TAPMI, Manipal quiz competition.

I visited Sachin once in Indore during an official visit and also managed to meet up with Sandeep at XIME on his birthday in Oct.

So that’s how 2003 ended--- an empty nest, Sudha and I busy with our respective careers and the boys on the threshold of completing their studies.

2002---- Another momentous year

2002 was a momentous year for me for two  things---, my career and  my exercise regime. It was also a momentous year for Sachin and Sandeep as you’ll see below.

 But let me start from the beginning.

Sandeep had sat for his XAT exam in Dec 2001 and the results came in Feb 2002. He had cleared XAT and was to attend  the Group Discussion and Interview on 10^th Mar. I was to leave for Mangalore on that day and dropped him off at the IFMR Campus in Nungambakkam. Around end Mar, we got the information that he had been selected for MBA Course in XIME, Bangalore. The XIME Campus was in Electronics City and he had to catch the bus from Koramangala. My sister Sandhya absolutely insisted that Sandeep should stay with them , particularly since my upstairs flat was also vacant.

Sudha and I travelled to Bangalore in June 2002 to drop him off. I also remember that we attended the 80^th Birthday Celebrations of Mr.S.Nagaraja Rao ( my dad’s colleague from KGF and the father of my good friend N.Patanjali.)at Woodlands Hotel . It was nice catching up with my KGF friends at the function.

 I was still handling the domestic marketing for Xomox in India. In the beginning of Aug  2002, I had planned a trip to SAIL, Bhilai. Since Raipur was close to Bhilai and Sudha’s college friend Sunanda was staying in Raipur, she came along with me. We took the Tamilnadu Express up to Nagpur and then changed trains to get to Raipur.

Sunanda and her husband Amit had come to the station and we stayed with them. After spending a lovely couple of days with them, we returned to Chennai by train on the morning of  Monday 5^th Aug.

We had barely got home at 8 AM when I got a call from my Deputy Chairman. My boss who was the Business Head had been transferred to another company within the Group. A new Business Head had joined and I was asked to take him that very afternoon to our factory in Viralimalai and introduce him to the Plant employees. I was also informed that I was now responsible for Marketing of our India-made products in the Asia-Pacific Region ( mainly through our JV partner).

A joint trip had already been planned to Japan, Korea and Singapore starting from 14^th Aug and I was now told to get my visas for these countries and accompany the Director ( Asia-Pacific) who was coming to India from Germany and then visiting these countries.

I first got my visa photos taken and then went to the Office for filling up the visa forms. With that out of the way, I flew to Trichy that afternoon and returned the next day ( 6^th Aug).Then I had to prepare for a review in Viralimalai on 12^th Aug prior to flying out on 13^th Aug night.

Meanwhile, my Singapore and Japan visas had come but there was a delay in my Korean visa.That’s when Thomas Cook advised me that I could get my visa on arrival in Korea from Japan. The football World Cup had just been jointly hosted by Korea and Japan in 2002. To encourage more visitors, Korea had issued a notification that visitors flying in from USA, Europe and Japan would get a visa on arrival. Since I was flying in from Japan, Thomas Cook assured me that I would get my visa after landing in Korea.

I took the Singapore Airlines flight on 13^th Aug night and the connecting flight from Singapore to Tokyo on 14^th morning. Wolfgang Schlett ( the A-P Director and a very good friend of mine) had already flown ahead to Singapore and Taipei and joined this flight at Taipei. We reached Tokyo at around 7 PM and then caught the bus to Le Meridien in Tokyo. This was my first visit to Japan and the sights and sounds were quite interesting.

Next day ( 15^th Aug—Thu), we travelled to Yokohama and visited the Xomox Office. That night, Wolfgang and I had finished our dinner and we were just strolling close to a Metro station in Tokyo at around 9.30 PM. Streams of people were coming out and then, all of a sudden, I heard someone shout “ KP Sir”. It turned out to be a young Engineer from Fisher Sanmar who was deputed on-site to a customer in Japan. Talk about coincidence!!  Out of all the millions who were on the streets in Tokyo that day, he found me. This was the second time I had such an experience. The first time was in 1988 when I had met my senior colleague from Sanmar while out shopping in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York. One more experience in 2005, but we’ll come to that later. We had an ice-cream together and then he went on his way.

Wolfgang introduced me to teppanyaki and a vegetarian sushi with wahabi . The wahabi was green in colour and was made from horseradish. One bite and the wahabi went straight to my nose. I almost fainted--- so pungent was the sauce.

On 17^th Aug ( Sat), we caught the morning flight from Tokyo to Incheon Airport in Seoul. Wolfgang got past Immigration, but I was detained. The problem--- I had no visa!!. I showed the Officer a copy of the official notification and said that I had not applied for the visa since I was entering from Japan. He took me to his Superior’s Office and they were talking in Korean which I could not understand. After a 30 minute wait and a few phone calls later, my passport was stamped and I joined Wolfgang outside. We then took a connecting flight to Busan which is in the South coast of Korea. Busan is a seaside resort and we were staying in one of the hotels by the beach. It was already around 3 to 4 days since I’d had a full Indian meal. I was subsisting on fruits, bread and ice creams.

After checking in and taking a stroll, I spotted an Indian Restaurant “ Ganga”. My joy knew no bounds. We promptly went there for lunch and generally lazed around during the weekend.

On 19^th Aug, we spent the day in the Office and then my hosts took Wolfgang and me to a traditional Korean dinner . There was a separate room reserved for us and I was the Guest of Honour.  We all sat cross-legged around a low table and a girl dressed in the traditional Korean costume sat next to me. Korean custom was that she should feed me with her own hand, but I shouldn’t touch her. So there she was, feeding me tiny morsels and then daintily wiping my mouth with a napkin. I took some photographs of this and then told Sudha that this is how I would like to be treated during our regular dinners at home. I’m sure you all know the reply I got.

Karaoke is a major form of entertainment in Korea and it is very common to take customers for dinner to a Karaoke Restaurant. I’m told that some Sales Engineers have bagged some major orders on the strength of their singing alone !! The Koreans also drink a lot during customer entertainment. There was a shot glass placed near each person. Every now and then, someone would propose a  toast and we were supposed to down our drink  which would then be immediately refilled. Pretty soon, we lost track of how many toasts we had and what the toast was proposed for .

Next day, we caught a flight to Singapore. One day in Singapore and I was back in Chennai.

I made one more trip to Singapore and Jakarta in Oct 2002.

The other major event was the opening of the swimming pool in Madras Boat Club. It was located on the 1^st floor and had excellent facilities. The best thing was that it was open up to 9 PM, so I could go for a swim after coming from Office. I soon became a regular and the swimming regime continues to this day, albeit in a different Club.

Meanwhile, Sachin had quit his job in Career Forum and was back home to prepare for his CAT. He really sweated it out with all the mock tests and had given strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed. He finished his CAT exams on 10^th Dec and since he had nothing else to do till the results came, he joined ICICI Prudential in a Sales position. His Office was in Nungambakkam, but I used to see him going here and there.

He had a big notebook with him and , one day I happened to go through the entries in his register. This is how it read:-

18^th Dec. Appointment with Mr.Palaniappan at Besant Nagar Beach. Very exciting prospect.Seems certain of taking a policy. Next meeting scheduled at Taj Coromandel on 22^nd Dec.

19^th Dec: Appointment with Mr.Chandrasekhar at Park Sheraton. Hot prospect.  Very good potential. Next meeting scheduled at Connemara on 23^rd Dec.

And so on. I’m told ICICI Prudential made a loss that year. I wonder why.

So that’s how the year 2002 ended.

2001 ( Silver Wedding Anniversary) and other events

2nd Feb 2001 was our Silver Wedding Anniversary and Sudha and I decided to have a get-together in celebration.

Sachin came down from Pune and we also had my mom, Kanthu, Bhagya and Anand, Viju and Veena from Bangalore as well as Ravi, Sandhya and Swathi, Shruti and Sunil. Everyone had an enjoyable time.

In the previous month, I had taken a flight from Chennai to Delhi via Hyderabad. Next to me was a lady travelling with a 1 year old kid. The poor kid was suffering from fever and had the sniffles and was crying constantly. The flight left Chennai at 6 AM. Soon , breakfast was served and I had my breakfast. But the lady couldn't eat because she was carrying the child. After I finished my breakfast, I offered to hold the baby while she ate  but the child refused to come to me.

I then told the lady , if it was OK with her, I would spoon feed her while she held the baby.She said OK. So I ordered bread and omelette.I broke off chunks of toast and fed her morsel by morsel. I also broke up the omelette into small pieces and fed her morsels.This way she was able to finish her breakfast. The baby was still crying and her repeated attempts to put it to sleep were failing. This was disturbing my sleep also.

I then told her that she should use a steady rhythm called Simple Harmonic Motion which would make the child go to sleep and offered to demonstrate it.She was sitting to my left, so she shifted the baby to her right. I then started patting the baby slowly and rhythmically and in the process went off to sleep myself.

After some time, I felt something was wrong with my patting and suddenly woke up.The lady had shifted the baby to her left and had gone off to sleep herself!!

At Delhi airport, her husband ( who was in the Air Force) received her and she thanked me profusely and asked for my address. Soon , a thank you card arrived at my house. Sudha didn't know who had sent the card and then I explained the background.

In the same month ( Janury 2001), Kannada Balaga organized a Beauty and Talent Contest for Ladies. All Kannada Organizations participated and there were a few sponsors who had donated gifts to all participants. The various rounds included ramp walking and answering queries by the panelists.

Sudha got the first prize. Vrunda Sekhar got the second prize and Apeksha Bhat won the third prize.

I also remember that my uncle T B Venkatesh underwent a Bypass Surgery in Mumbai in Feb 2001. He continues to be hale and hearty today at age 86 and still goes to work regularly. A remarkable man and I wish him many, many more years of healthy and happy living.

Dodda Chaya's daughter Malini got married in Feb 2001 in Bengaluru and Sudha attended the wedding. The groom was a fellow doctor and a Marathi.. Sudha knew some Marathi and enjoyed practising her Marathi with the groom's family and generally acting as interpreter during the wedding.

In June 2001, Sanmar Engineering celebrated it's 25th Anniversary and we had a customer event in Mumbai. Sachin was now working in Mumbai. Sudha came along with me and we stayed at Hotel Regent ( Opposite to Sea Rock, Bandra) where the customer dinner was also being held. We spent a pleasant two days in Mumbai with Sachin and returned to Chennai.

In October 2001, we booked our Fiat Palio in Emerald Green. Delivery was promised in Jan 2002.

In December 2001, I was asked to go to Australia and provide Training on Xomox Valves to the Sales Team there. Sudha came along with me and we left Chennai on 10th Dec.We flew via Singapore to Sydney and stayed at a resort called Panthers in the Sydney suburb of St. Marys. Suresh and Uma and Ganesh Prasad who was also related to us was in Sydney with his wife Usha  . ( I had already been to Australia earlier in March 2000--- just remembered this and I'll update it in my previous blog).

We had a scare when we landed in Sydney. After claiming our baggage, we were just about to go past the exit when Sudha was asked to step aside by a big, burly Australia Customs lady.She rummaged Sudha's handbag and took out some cloves which Sudha normally keeps.

Australia is an island and the authorities are paranoid about allowing any plant or livestock that is not native to the country.She was asked to throw away the cloves.

The day after our arrival, Sudha took directions and went off on her own to visit the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.She was picked up there by Suresh and he took her home. She then went shopping with Uma. Here's where a really funny thing happened. During her stay so far, Sudha had only seen big, burly ladies. At one shopping centre, she saw ( for the first time) a really svelte girl. She couldn't help herself, so she went up and told the girl " You're looking nice". The girl looked Sudha up and down and replied ( Thanks, but sorry, I can't help you". Sudha didn't understand what she meant. When she told this to Uma, she said " OMG, she thought you were propositioning her!!!" Sudha felt very embarrassed and avoided the girl while they were shopping. When Sudha told me this, I cracked up since I thought it was very funny.

After I finished my program at Sydney, we shifted to the Sydney Hilton and next morning flew down to Melbourne. Here again we stayed at a hotel. While I continued with the training, Sudha went off on her own to Phillip Island to see the penguins.

We stayed that night in the house of Patanjali and Shobha. Patan was my childhood friend in KGF. Next day, Patan took us around Melbourne. It is a lovely city with lots of classical architecture and the one noticeable feature is the number of Greeks who have settled there.
Trams still run there.We went to Victoria Market, the MCG and went by the Yarra River close to the Tennis Stadium where the Australian Open is held. The Melbourne Grand Prix is also held within the city ( not on a separate race track). In the evening, we met up with Ravi Hiremath ( my former colleague at Akay Industries) and his wife who also worked in Akay. That's where they met up and fell in love.

From Melbourne, we came back to Sydney and stayed with Ganesh Prasad. He took us to the Blue Mountains in Sydney and we enjoyed looking at the spectacular caves there.

We then took a flight to Cairns. Sudha put on her swimsuit and frolicked in the Pacific Ocean while I kept a sharp lookout for sharks. The highlight of the visit was our visit to the Great Barrier Reef in a glass bottomed boat. The corals are just amazing and change colours rapidly.

We flew back to Singapore via Brisbane and spent a couple of days there. We stayed in Hotel Regent ( off Orchard Road) and enjoyed shopping at Mustafa's in Serangoon Road.

My mom, Bhagya and Anand had come to stay in Chennai during our absence and Sandeep was well looked after.

Prior to our leaving for Australia, we got the sad news of the passing away of Seethakka Doddamma  ( my mom's elder sister) and spoke to all the cousins who had gathered in Shankara's house in Mysore for the ceremonies.

That's how year 2001 ended.