The Irony of Study-life

After a big break, finally, I got to write something on my blog today. Now, finally, it’s time to give this blogging a continuation that it deserves. The reason for this break was my final exam (masters thesis defense). So, basically, it is finally over after a long arduous journey of ups-and-downs.

I don’t know whether I enjoyed my study or not – I guess, not that much, at least during the whole study period. But, finally, when its over, I feel like I somehow enjoyed it. But, this vibe is coming just now – I had never experienced this kind of positive vibe since I started my lab, which was really pestering.

I don’t know how long people take to finish their masters degree, but I feel like I took longer than anyone; however, it is still average duration in Mahidol University, Thailand.

You know what? The biggest irony of study-life it feels as if it has been dumped on us as a curse, and thus the journey becomes even harder because it is always tainted with the negativity.

While I was student, I use to feel that rest of those who do not have study, they are more blessed than me, because at least they don’t have to worry for exam and for their grades. They just have work that they have to finish which can be negotiable in terms of deadline to finish every time they are assigned some task or even for their regular work. And, for that they are getting paid nicely. But, now, I have started to feel that it is other way round.

Life is not always a bed of roses neither does it is challenge. Its just some regular pattern which is filled with certain maze. We have to figure out the pattern and match it. The one who can understand the maze, they will pass the test or else they will lead to some weird path. However, there is always a route to come back to the normal way – after all, it’s a maze.

Every time we start something or given a task, we feel that it is the biggest and nothing can be bigger than this, but once we cross that stage, there comes a even tougher situation where you again have to get engaged in performing and solving the problem.

So, it is better to start thinking that what we have now to finish is easier than the one that is coming next!

 

An Account of an Experience: International Conference

March 22-23, 2012: this is one of those dates that will remind me of moments I have spent and cherished. It was one of those momentous days that had been successful in bringing the beautiful minds of the world under one roof  to share their work experiences and their intellectual pursuits. To clear any further delays and doubts, it was an international conference organized by our department (Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital) in Garden Cliff Resort and Spa, Pattaya, Thailand  which is situated in the east coast of Gulf of Thailand, about 165 kilometers south west of Bangkok. The topic of conference was: “Oxidative stress in Cogenital and Acquired Hemolytic Anemia”.

The night before we left, I got sleep for just three-and-half hour, but the enthusiasm of leaving for the program in a group and attending the program was so high that I could barely sense that I was tried. We left at around 5:30 AM in the morning as we had to reach to our destination at around 8:30 AM or earlier so that we could take a sigh of relief after traveling in bus shaking-and-moving, and jerk our travel hangover off  before entering into conference room with fresh face with twinkling eyes.

The conference room was commodious to accommodate even more than 200 people in one sitting with fantastic lightening system and a very high speed broadband internet – the only thing I care much after my study – it gives me a company when I often gets bored with monotonous things protracting for long time. The conference was even more exciting for me because though the whole conference was based on the hemolytic anemia, it did touched some parts on oxidative stress and diabetes (which is one part of my research I am currently involved in)  in some parts – specially during the opening section of the conference. 

Thank God!, unlike any other conference, seminars or meetings, this time I was not sleepy and luckily I was not dozing off like some looser in a corner of the conference room. The only reason was that I really enjoyed the talk and interesting cross-questions going on. I guess that what kept all faces revived and away from dozing off.  Finally, the first day ended with a nice, perfect lunch and gala dinner with the panoramic view of the sea from the dinning hall – it was simply majestic.

When I was there, I felt as if I was enjoying only half or one-fourth of what other guys were enjoying (because of the pressure of my work which I carried along with me) with lunch and dinner and the moment that has blanketed the entire milieu accompanied with the delegated from the various parts of the world, but when I am here writing right now, I feel as if even I enjoyed more which means something to me, and that has left some kind of strong feeling that I won’t forget ever in my life.

The next morning came up as an ending day and we were supposed to pack up our things from those DELUX ROOM which we were granted one for each. We were supposed to leave on the second day soon after the ending of the conference – grabbing our bags right straight to our hospital bus, which was really saddening.  We were treated as delegates and not as a student that what made it even more special for all of us. I am still thinking how much money our department had spent on that conference. It was simply awesome!

Thanks to Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, for making one of those momentous day in our life.

---

If you want to visit my album gallery of this moment you can follow this link: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/fromphone 

---

 

 

 

The First Four Days of New Year 2012

It has been really pleasantly-overwhelming when it comes to enjoying few golden days of my life and taking time off for myself after a long time this year. On Friday (just a day before our holiday was about to begin) I was planning and was brooding making list of things I would be doing in the holidays. But god knows how it passed so flawlessly that I didn’t even realize that my few golden days I had been bestowed just for this moment after long time is up now. And, now, going back to college is just like a huge chain of macabre events getting unfolded every bit of passing seconds.

Just like any other day, my day from tomorrow morning is about to being. Same list of things: waking up with lark, scurrying and rummaging things early in the morning, collecting whatever damn thing I had to grab, clinch on my fist on, reaching to department early morning before 8 or fortuitously before 9 AM sometimes, getting hands and my lab-coats dirty with chemicals, scenting it with the some repelling smells all over it, changing globes often and making sure that nothing will even flab its wing on my samples and make it contaminated will be my daily job. This is not something awkward, not anything like bizarre or unusual – this is all what I have been doing since I joined biology field as my carrier choice, and this is going to be even more aggressive than this in the days to come – by the way, this is my life now – at least for now.

This has been so meaningful to me for I got sometime out of this hectic life for myself after long time. Watching movies had been my best time pass with coffee, blanketed in the few cooler days in Bangkok in my cozy bed. Getting even a breeze of cool air in Bangkok is just like being blessed by the supreme commander of lords, because there is a saying which is famous among the Bangkokians, “There are just three climates in Bangkok throughout the year round and that is hot, hotter and hottest.” So enjoying the cooler climate in Bangkok is one of the few things we can flaunt of, and obviously I will not dare to miss this.

My first days went so unknowingly that I feel sorry to myself. I was supposed to enjoy every bit of this holiday, but when I woke up as usual in the morning which I tagged it as “Waking up with lark”, it happened to be a day when lark got happy with me – one the first day my lark was earlier than me – rising-and-shining. By the time I finished checking my emails, females – whatever there was, it was already above mid-day. And the sun has already gone down by the time I finished my first movie of the day. So, as it was the new year’s eve, I went to the Central World where the count-down is being held every year with thousands of people dancing to the beats of the music-bands beating their drums and singing to the top of their voices engulfing the entire milieu – was really a mega-event to witness on any such historical day.

My remaining two days went by as swimmingly as it was supposed to be – again with few more movies and then lingering my entire days in my lab corridor. And, now, its today when I am totally consumed with the apprehension of the days from tomorrow morning. As I am typing here when the usual days from tomorrow is reeling in my mind as the movie reels — totally vivid, clear, transparent and majestic – there is something uneasiness going into my deep heart and it is throbbing faster and louder adding to the beats of heart amplifying it to its limit: I feel like a small child who don’t want to go to school, but is being forced to do so. Nothing is different, except I am not crying, whining and grousing for being enjoined to do something I don’t want to.

But the show must go on and so do I. The apprehension of the coming days might linger for a while, but have no choice other than to endure it. So, appeasing myself with a consoling tone, “It’s gonna be fine, it’s a new beginning, it’s a new era, it is going to be a fresh new beginning – lets get started over again and god be with me and with us.” Lets just do it taking aside the apprehension engulfing us soaking within us!!

The Year 2011: Goodbye!

Today morning when I woke up and as always soon after logging into my Facebook account, the first thing that I noticed was how much people were enthusiastic about the new year and their respective new-year-resolutions – everybody had and have one as obviously. Even my Facebook-wall has been filled to its brim with the wishes of new year; felt like everybody is so cheerful and full of life taking aside their feelings of animosity. Just like at the end of the day, at the end of the year it feels like we do care even though we might have said, “I don’t care!” What a great day it had been!!

For sure, just like as always, the year 2011 had been filled with challenges along side other opportunities, however, there had been some imbalance in weighting in our individual circumstances. There had been some tough times while on the other hand enjoying some blissful unforgettable moments of our life. We saw some historical commencements of the events time and again. Collectively, it has been a a great year of our life time. Since it has garnered lots of historical moments of our life time which is very rare to see in just a year of time, it can be called one of the historical years of our life.

With the beginning of every new year, we all hope and wish that the the coming year will be one of the best time of our life and we wish that everything will go swimmingly, and so was this year. Despite of some security threats this time in Bangkok the celebration seemed unaffected with the presence of thousands of people and pouring more and more as the time approached to 12 o’clock mid-night. I could see people joining in the commencement of the mega-event as a couple, in family and in group of friends. Sadly enough, though Bangkok doesn’t comes under one of the best fire works display around the world, it was huge and magnificent for me and might had been for most there.

We have been bestowed a 4-days leave for this year’s celebration this time as always and I had been thinking and planning very meticulously of my four-days-leave and thinking of spending it very wisely and making good use of it. It had been just like once-in-a-blue-moon for me when I had to work from early in the morning till evening in lab because of my uncanny results beleaguering me time and again pushing me towards losing my temper and my perseverance. However, by the end of the day I felt like I do really made a good use of it.

Apart from all those stymies we have been facing everyday in the year 2011, for me, the year had been somewhat okay, if not that macabre nor do so magnificent. But, I think the days ahead will be inviting some moments from the year 2011 and the challenges will still be there at least for the time being. And the forthcoming fighting days are still challenging. Lets see how it comes and goes. Wish you guys will have a wonderful days ahead with flying colors.

Wishing you a very very happy new year 2012, and may god help us all to bear the forthcoming challenging ahead and may we all be blessed with our desires coming true this time if not all.

A Christmas Message

Before I begin my verboseness talk right here, I would like to wish you all a very very Happy Merry Christmas. Hope you guys are doing well in your life with your work, study and everything that you are into – not to mention everything.

For the Asia Pacific region, yesterday was Christmas day, but for those who are staying and living in the western part of the world, it is today. Not to mention, its because of the approximately 10 to 12 hours of time difference. I don’t know how you guys celebrate in the western part – might be something in more vibrant way than it is being celebrated in the countries having majority of population with other religion than the Christianity. However, it is being celebrated in almost all countries all over the world – even in the countries which are not a secular states like Nepal and India – just to mention few for example.

Its been quite a while I have not blogged something in the regular fashion as I have been doing in last couple of months. Sometimes it use to be like 2 blogs-a-day. But, ironically, being busy during the Christmas time, I have been unable to update it. So, I thought of putting something during the Christmas day or the day-after-Christmas. So, finally, somehow  fortunately I got little to insert in the big space of this big-blog-space this time.

When I post some blogs, mostly my blogs have some Thailand-touch specially Bangkok. In fact, this is what happens when you stay in some place – you have got little knowledge about that place, but everything else is just blank except with few news from the websites. I have been getting complains from my friend that I am not writing anything about Nepal from where I belong. But, I guess this can be understandable. You can’t simply copy-and-past information from some news sites, and it doesn’t sound any good to mention the news from my family or something – this will just simply be quirky, irking and creepy.

So, for Bangkok specially, I think there might have been some fun because I ended up celebrating my Christmas this time in my advisor’s house with my friends and technicians from our lab. In Bangkok, I guess this didn’t go much better-and-bigger this time because of the bomb threat in some places inside Bangkok – to specify more precisely, it is something like 10 places – largely parts of the city that is usually crowded with the tourists. And according to the governmental Intel source, this threat remains till this new year 2012. But, I hope everything will be fine and the new year celebration will not be marred with the security issues because the government has already beefed up the security system inside the city and elsewhere. And, also because the city dwellers have not yet sensed anything suspicious and haven’t heard anything saddening regarding threat. So, hope New Year will be even more bigger than this.

This time the Christmas and New Year in Thailand has been welcomed by a little bit of cool climate. I say cool in a sense that in most part of Thailand as you know, you need at least a fan to cool yourself in the sultry weather and without a fan or AC it will be like a hell to stay. But, for now, we do not need fan during the day time and the nights have been little bit more chiller, so you might need to use a light blanket to warm yourself. Usually this pleasant weather lasts for few days to maximum a week every year, but this time its been like more than 10 days or so. So, I guess, this might bring a better experience to the tourists and the locals who will be celebrating New Year inside Thailand.

One last information, if you are a tourist, do not forget to attend the New Year countdown in front of Central World in the downtown Bangkok.