कराची का बचपन कैसा होता ?

अरे ओ समय ! ज़रा बताओ ना ! कराची का बचपन कैसा होता ?

दादी माँ की उन गलियों में , रहते तो कैसा होता ?

जो होती ना सरहद , ना बटता हिंदुस्तान
अमन के एक मुल्क में, बचपन कैसा होता ?

अगर खुंभ होता सिंधु किनारे,
तो पुलाव पकोड़े का स्वाद कैसा होता ?

क्या यूँ ही गिरती है बारिश की फ़ुहार ,
जहाँ है दादी की कहानियों का संसार ?

ज़रा बताओ न समय , कराची का बचपन कैसा होता?

दादी माँ की गलियों में, रहते तो कैसा होता ?

 जो होती गर्मियाँ , तो कश्मीर की ठण्ड सेंकते
बिना तारों के, स्वर्ग कैसा होता ?

क्या यूँ ही पतझड़ की झड़ियां हैं लगती
जहाँ दादी की यादें हैं बसती  ?

ज़रा बताओ न समय , कराची का बचपन कैसा होता?

दादी माँ की गलियों में, रहते तो कैसा होता ?

Breastfeeding : What’s stopping our Modern Moms?

Breastfeeding is not only good for the health of the child, it also keeps the risk of breast cancer at bay. In a pooled analysis of data from 47 studies, mothers who breastfed for a lifetime total (combined duration of breastfeeding for all children) of one year were slightly less likely to get breast cancer than those who never breastfed.

Mothers who breastfed for a lifetime total of two years got about twice the benefit of those who breastfed for a total of one year.

There are several ways in which breastfeeding keeps the breasts healthy:

1. Breast feeding keeps the breast cells working 24*7 which limits their chances of misbehaving and growing cancerous. 
2. Women who breastfeed don’t experience menstrual cycles for up to 9 years. This works as a natural contraceptive and also lowers the estrogen levels. 
3. Breastfeeding releases a battery of hormones in female body, one of them being oxytocin. This helps in keeping postpartum depression at bay. 

Traditionally women used to spend more time breastfeeding, this can be attributed to the fact that more children were born per family. Also, women were mostly confined to their homes with a very small percentage working. Breastfeeding ensured a good health for the newborn as well as the mother, keeping various diseases at bay like breast cancer, diabetes and postpartum depression.

But in recent times more women are stepping out to have a full time career and keep pace with fast moving life. This in turn leaves them with little or no time for themselves and their newborns. As a result, women are spending less time breastfeeding their infants. Decreased breastfeeding time means increased risk of diseases for mother as well as the child. 

So what are the reasons that stop our modern moms from breastfeeding their newborns?

Short term maternity leaves:
An average Indian Workplace allows maternity leave of no more than 3 months. In such scenarios a new mother has no choice but to leave her child in daycare and compensate with formula feed. Formula feed is inadequate in nutrients for the newborns since it lacks the antibodies and immunoglobulins that only a mother’s milk can provide.

Lack of awareness about breast milk banks:
Most women in India are unaware about expressed breast milk. The fact that breast milk can be pumped and stored to be used later is largely unknown in India.
Pumped breast milk is safe to be stored in refrigerator for up to 5 days and can be reheated for feeding. This provides a comprehensive solution since it ensures that the newborn is fed exclusively on breastmilk and the mother also gets the benefit of breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding distorts the shape of the body:
There is a widespread opinion that breast feeding distorts the shape of a woman's body. While it is true to a certain extent, the benefits of breastfeeding negates the effect it has on body shape. Moreover, one can achieve the desired body shape later with the help of proper dieting and workouts.

Less number of kids per family:
With couples having only 1 or 2 kids, the lifetime total breastfeeding time has also reduced significantly. A woman on an average won’t spend more that 1 year in her lifetime breastfeeding her kids.


With inputs from: Dr Rohan Khandelwal
This article was first published on Curofy- India's largest community of doctors.

NEET- The Good, The Bad and The Inevitable

NEET or National Eligibility Entrance Test has become a locus of confusion and controversy for many students. A single entrance exam for medical colleges all over India based on the CBSE course invokes a mixed response from the aspirants.

Image Credits: Indian Express

So let’s first see what NEET is.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET-UG is a entrance examination in India, for students who wish to study any graduate medical course (MBBS), dental course (BDS) or postgraduate course (MD / MS) in government or private medical colleges in India.NEET-UG (Undergraduate), for MBBS and BDS courses, will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). NEET-UG replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) and all individual MBBS exams conducted by states or colleges themselves.

Supreme court approved for exam to be conducted in 2 phases. NEET-1, which, took place on 1st of May and NEET-2 which will be conducted on 24th of June.

On 5th May the supreme court gave another ruling according to which students who have given NEET 1 and are not satisfied with their performance can appear for NEET 2, given they let go of their NEET 1 candidature .

Why is NEET a Bad News?

The ruling to conduct NEET came on 11th April, 2016. By which time most of the students fill the forms for state exams as well as private colleges, which can cost anything from Rs 500 to Rs 2000. This means that the money which they spent on all these forms was a waste and now they would have to fill NEET 2 form all over again.

A centralized exam based on the CBSE Course will have an adverse effect on students from state boards since the syllabus and course are quite different, also given the short notice in which they have to prepare, it is really unfair.

Why NEET is a good news?
A single exam for all the colleges all over the country means uniformity. There would be no state quotas or regional bias. This would also remove the burden of giving multiple exams for the same course over multitude of colleges.

NEET would wrestle out the powers out of college management and give it to the centre for admission of students for healthcare course.

The apex court rejected the contentions of the state governments, private medical colleges and also the minority institutions like Christian Medical College Vellore and Ludhiana that they have the legislative competence to hold separate entrance tests. It would decentralize the management-state university nexus.

Also, since this exam is based on CBSE course it would bridge the gap between education disparities of center and state board in the coming years.

The Conclusion

NEET is conducting an unbiased, undivided and uniform entrance exam for medical aspirants all across the country. The only thing going against it is that the ruling came in a very short notice period.

If the same ruling that gave students 2 months to prepare for an exam that initially held only 15% of the total medical seats would have come earlier, a lot of confusion and furore over the judgement could have been avoided.

NEET is the first step towards ensuring national uniformity in medical entrance exam and the intentions behind it are welcomed.But ideally, NEET should be implemented from 2017, instead of 2016 to give teachers and students sufficient time for preparation. Meanwhile, as the NEET storm takes time to subside, students should aim to give their best for the second phase of the exam.

This article was first published on Curofy- India's Largest Community of Verifies Doctor's.

अरमान |

गर अरमानों के पंख होते , जमीं पर पैरों के निशान ना होते
होती पंखुण्डियों की सरसराहटे
हर फलक पर नए सपनो की आहटें ।

गर अरमानों के पंख होते, आँखों में उम्मीदों के अश्क़ न होते
हर तरफ होते मंज़िलों के कारवाँ
लंगरों बिन कश्तियों के काफ़िले  ।

गर अरमानों के पंख होते ,क्या  हम किसी के करीब होते ?
मन मचलते चल पड़ते नए साहिल की ओर ,
क्या थमाते हम किसी को अपने जीवन की डोर ?

साँस.

'गर उमीदों में दुनिया बसा कर ,
ज़िन्दगी से खुश हो तुम ,
क्या साँसों के गुनेहगार हो तुम ?

'गर आंसुओं में सपने दबा कर ,
गुमसुम गुमनाम हो तुम ,
क्या साँसों के गुनेहगार हो तुम ?

'गर अपने कल को माफ़ कर ,
आज उसमे यादें ढूंढते हो तुम ,
क्या साँसों के गुनेहगार हो तुम ?

'गर हर सुबह सूरज के साथ जागकर ,
अपनी रूह को सुला देते हो तुम ,
क्या साँसों के गुनेहगार हो तुम ?

'गर हर पुर्ज़ा कर्ज़े में डूबा के ,
जीवन की नैया तैराते हो तुम ,
क्या साँसों के गुनेहगार हो तुम ?

'गर हर लहू का हर ज़र्रा तुम्हारा ,आज ज़िंदा नहीं है ,
बस जी रहा है ,
तो हाँ मेरे दोस्त , साँसों के गुनेहगार हो तुम ॥ 

Too much?

GDP was dropping, Inflation was rising,
President was on foreign tours, Filling personal clutch,
Kleptocracy much?

People were dissented, Government was stranded,
Did people forgive? No redemption such,
Democracy much?

Planes are overhead, Bullets ahead,
Chaos all over, Peace? No sir!
Anarchy much?

Too hard to live, No reason to love,
Survival is a task, Still smiling for lens,
Diplomacy much?

Farmers are dying, Children are crying,
PM wears a suit, Impresses Dutch,
Hypocrisy much?

The Scale Is Wrong.

Ever felt like you are part of a puzzle so big
You try really hard but you cannot fit
No matter what you cut, you can't fit for too long,
It's not you, it's the scale that's wrong.

Remoulded every bit of you yourself
Changed so much can't recognise myself
No matter what you change heart sings the same song,
It's not you, it's the scale that's wrong.

Shed your wings to walk amongst these mortals,
Gave up your powers so you can live on Earth,
But still you can't find where you belong,
It's not you, it's the scale that's wrong.

When they confine your spirit and break it down,
When boundaries cut your love and pin you to ground
It bleeds so much you don't know if it'll clot
It's not you, it's the scale that's wrong.

Weight of scales make your breathing so hard,
Anger exceeds fear of getting caught,
When you know you are right, that's the way you were born
You know its not you, its the scale that's wrong.

Land-mines all over, you are sick of being scared,
So you trip every wire and blow up the world
When there's no one  to judge or hold your account
It wasn't you but the scale was wrong!