ChaiTeaLatte

BEST WISHES FOR A PEACEFUL AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR

WHAT WE NEED NOW

Amit Varma is blogging from an area of India hit by the recent tsunami.

But that need is redundant now, says Dr. Narsimhan. "What we need now," he says, "is kerosene........."

To burn the bodies.

(link via Instapundit).

STORIES

The scale of destruction caused by the recent South Asian tsunami is staggering. There are so many stories: From the Washington Post.

With ocean on one side and a lagoon on the other, the four-acre orphanage was a strikingly beautiful place, set in a grove of stately palms. The children -- some of whom had lost parents in the civil war -- lived four to a room in whitewashed cottages with red tile roofs and attended school in the village nearby. Bougainvillea spilled from concrete planters.

"People used to come and take photographs of the flowers," said Sanders, a handsome, youthful-looking man who speaks precise idiomatic English and peppers his conversation with Scripture. "They used to say it looked like Eden.".............

He raised his hand in the direction of the flood and shouted, "I command you in the name of Jesus -- stop!" The water then seemed to "stall, momentarily," he said. "I thought at the time I was imagining things."

INCONCEIVABLE

That's what the horrific death toll to this week's tsunami seems. Inconceivable. I can't get my mind around it. But it always seems that way. Many more died in the early 90's in Bangladesh due to severe flooding. A million people died in the Iran-Iraq war. And how many are dying today in the Sudan? One of the very strange things about modern culture is that through the internet, satellites and television, all of humanity's suffering occurs on our very doorstep. It is staggering. But then, the response is that much greater.

Mom and I were watching the news yesterday and they were showing pictures of medical teams from various countries getting ready to travel to the affected regions. And UN griping of stinginess aside, the world community, including the US, has pledged millions already. I'm sure the actual amount spent will stretch into the billions over the course of time. Rightly so. Tim Blair has been keeping up with much of this on his website, along with links to charities where you can send your donations.

Update: I couldn't get the permalink to work so I just linked to Tim Blair's site. Thanks for the heads up about the broken link, Ingrid. And jcwinnie in comments brings up the quick action of doctors without borders. We have one physician here, trained in Sri Lanka, who is leaving on the first for Sri Lanka with clothes, formula, etc. that was collected at our hospital. I wish him and the people of South Asia the best.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

blog friends! Merry Christmas! (or Happy Holidays, as appropriate. Because I would never be not appropriate, you know).

INDIAN MOVIE SONGS AND MEMORIES

Mom was watching hindi film songs on television. They were playing old songs, the kind she listened to in school. The girls in her high school lived in dorms and shared each other's clothes and care-packages. Mom made her own blouses and a beautiful suit which was a kind of celery green color and very dashing. The kurta was so tight and fitted that her older brother would not let her wear it, but the other girls loved to borrow the thing. It was cut just like the suits the actresses wore as they strode along fields of flowers, singing and dancing with one or another Kapoor. "The girls loved to borrow my blouse. Once, one of the girls left a note in my cupboard saying, 'didi, I borrowed your blouse. I hope you don't mind'. I didn't mind. We borrowed each other's things all the time, we were not so formal as they are here in America. We would never think of asking".

I THINK IT'S TIME TO AUDIOBLOG....

Oh no! My optometrist suggests reading glasses, as my eyes are very tired from working in the microscope and at the computer so much (although, to be honest, it's more the computer that tires my eyes out). I am myopic, wear contact lenses, and apparently this is a common problem for myopics that work at the computer a lot. Rats, rats, rats, rats. I'm not even forty!!!!!!!! I feel old and broken.

So, in an effort to spend less time at the computer, maybe I'll audioblog so you can hear my melodious and mellifluous voice. Dulcet tones discussing pathology and shoes. Or something like that.

Also, on the way out of the office, I saw an elderly woman in great big eyeglasses and a purple coat and hat asking for a pair of 'readers.' As she left, she turned and said, "I wish you a happy holiday. I wish you peace and health." She looked about a hundred, stooped and gray, and yet so vital. Her voice was surprisingly strong and rumbled when she spoke. "I wish you peace and health."

OK, I COULDN'T RESIST

More reasons: niece and rest of family visiting, holiday parties, work responsibilities, visiting friends (hi, Lisa), and sometimes, just sometimes, staring out my big picture window looking at the trains and cars and people. The people are the best - jogging, shopping, playing, laughing, arguing. A few weeks ago, as I was getting ready to step into my building, I heard a couple arguing. She was in a red coat, tall and blond. He was tall, with brown-hair, and hunched into a miserable "yes, I'm listening," posture. And she said, "I just don't feel like we are connected, and why don't you......" I didn't hear the rest because I am not that into evesdropping, and besides, I wanted to go upstairs and crash. Poor things. He looked really miserable.

REASONS FOR NOT BLOGGING MUCH LATELY

Life.

I SAID SPANISH REQUISTION, NOT SPANISH INQUISITION!

I had to review a case from Spain the other day, so one of the other pathologists (who speaks and reads spanish) helped me out with the case. No one expects the Spanish requisition!