We have come a long way indeed! Our present lives are much easier and a lot more organized than it used to be. I couldn’t help mull over this thought and smile to myself as the scheduler on my mobile phone beeped at 7 pm to remind me of the impending wine-tasting event at a hotel 15 minutes away from my clinic even as I waited for the last patient of the day. It never ceases to amaze me how technology has kept pace with man’s life.  A good half an hour later I was at the wine-tasting event although I missed the introduction by the Italian Sommelier who had flown in for the event.

When the first wine of the evening was being served, I pulled out my mobile phone camera (an Android by the way) and clicked a photo of the label on the bottle. By the time the wine was being poured into my glass, the app on my phone, had ‘read’ the label and provided the tasting notes and food pairing suggestions for this wine!

As the evening progressed, I managed to get interesting information for the other three wines of the evening as well. Into the last wine of the evening, I received a message from one of my therapists who was travelling with the cricket team about an injury to a player. I requested him to send me the image of the X ray on the phone along with other tests. This I got in a minute. I proceeded to have a video chat and give the necessary instructions while still there.

On the way home, I reflected on a couple of things. How things have changed for the better. For one I recollected how wine tasting used to be a different exercise a decade back. I’d have a note book in which I would meticulously record information about the wine, its characteristics, the nose, palate, colour etc. I would then have them book-marked in a particular order and then wait to look them up in some book in a library. Secondly if in the middle of such an event, God forbid there was an emergency I’d have had to pack up and head to the hospital to have a look at the Xray etc.

All things considered I am amazed at how much easier and simpler my five inch hand phone, which runs an Octacore processor on a 4G network on Android has made my life. To me it’s a blessing in a pint-sized package. For a doctor, these things mean a lot and I am grateful. In essence I can have a life!

#technocrats #4G #Octacore #technology #Android

I thought in depth about this for several days. What makes people great? Being in the sports line the first thought that came to me was the names of many sports people I know who have shown greatness on the field. In lieu of this, Shakespeare’s quote came to my mind – Some are born great, some achieve greatness and others have greatness thrust upon them. This was applicable to the ones I know but ‘greatness’? I was convinced it had to be something else altogether.
 
In the face of the recent catastrophic rains and the resultant floods in Chennai, in which category would the hundreds of faceless, voiceless heroes and bravehearts who took it upon themselves to reach out and help ferry to safety thousands of people affected in the low-lying areas in Chennai come under? What of the police officers who braved the waters, went beyond their call of duty to help the stranded victims? What of those quiet volunteers who distributed food packets to the people whose homes were flooded and never made a show or spoke about it? What of those who opened their homes for those who had nowhere to sleep? I think it’d suffice to say I think it is these people who are truly made of great!
 
What are they made of I wondered? What sets them apart as great?
 
As I observed, the only thing they all had in common was, they were the daily, ordinary, pedestrian people who have lived through a similar life and who knew pain. The pain of having nothing, of having one’s livelihood washed away along with yesterday’s toils and tomorrow’s hopes. They know what it is like to go hungry. They know what it is like to fall and have no one pick them up. They know that tears are salty and hopelessness is crushing. They are all just ordinary individuals who found the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. They are people who get back up more times than they are knocked down. They give more for the sake of giving, without expecting a thing in return.
 
In my opinion it is these people who are truly made of great. We all sit in our cushy, high-rise apartments and crib about being inconvenienced about power-cuts, not being able to get out, about maids not coming during rains and about garbage not being cleared. But the real people are those who believe in action. They are out there making a difference without a word, without any coercion, without any expectation. In the process they have uplifted their own lives along with those of others.
 
In my opinion they are the real heroes, the unsung ones; the stuff greatness is made of! Greatness was neither thrust upon them, nor was it something they were born with. They just are what they are - sensitive. They are the ones who deserve to be hailed. This world is a better place because of them.

This Article was written for the #Madeofgreat campaign
http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/