Harbinder Virdi

On 3rd December 1971 we fiercely and vigorously attacked the Indian army with infantry brigade near Hussainiwala border. This brigade included Pakistan army’s Punjab regiment together with the Baloch regiment. Within minutes we pushed the Indian army quite far back. Their defense posts fell under our control. The Indian army was retreating back very fast and the Pakistani army was going forward with great speed. Our army reached near Kausre-Hind post (Kasure). There was small segment of Indian army appointed to defend that post and their soldiers belonged to the Sikh Regiment. A few number of the Sikh Regiment stopped our way forward like an iron wall. They greeted us with the ovation (Slogan) of ‘Bolé-so-Nihal’ and attacked us like bloodthirsty, hungry lions and hawks. All these soldiers were Sikhs. There was even a dreadful hand-to-hand battle. The sky filled with roars of ‘Yaa Ali and Sat Sri Akal’. Even in this hand-to-hand fighting the Sikhs fough...

A gentleman was once visiting a temple under construction. In the temple premises, he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he saw, just a few meters away, another identical idol was lying. Surprised he asked the sculptor,” do you need two statutes of the same idol?” Said the sculptor, “we need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.” The gentleman examined the sculpture. No apparent damage was visible. “Where is the damage?” asked the gentleman.“There is a scratch on the nose of the idol,” replied the Sculptor. “Where are you going to keep the idol?” asked the gentleman. The sculptor replied that it will be installed on a pillar 20 feet high. “When the idol will be 20 feet away from the eyes of the beholder, who is going to know that there is scratch on the nose?,” the gentleman asked. The sculptor looked at the gentleman, smiled and said “The God knows it and I know it!!!...

When a male teacher misbehaves with a girl student, a policeman robs a helpless citizen or a man in the garb of a saint, assaults a woman it raises more indignation. And rightly so, because they have broken the trust placed in them which they enjoy by virtue of their position. They are guilty on two counts, one of committing a horrendous act and the other of breach of trust. There is a piece of Sufi lore that explains it better. A famous Sufi of his time was on a long journey along with his disciples. When tired and hungry, they decided to halt under a tree. The tree that gave them shade also gave shelter to a flock of birds in that barren landscape. One of the disciples wanted to supplement their meagre fare by adding a dish of peafowl. He took out his bow and arrow and managed to bring down a bird. His elation was suddenly disrupted by the frantic behaviour of the birds. Their persistent ruckus drew the attention of the Sufi, who called out to the leader of the birds. He asked ...

A Persian folktale called “Marvarid” (The Pearl) high-lights the virtue of patience that sadhus, bhikshus, hermits and sufis achieved. A poor god-fearing man and his wife earned their livelihood by spinning cotton into thread and selling it in the market. One day, as the man came home from the market, he met a friend who was in dire need. The good man gave his day’s earning to his friend and went home empty-handed. His wife said that since there was no food in the house and no cotton either for the next day, he could take the only things they had, an earthen pot and a broken dish, to sell. The man took these to the market but found no buyers. He turned sadly to go when he saw a fisherman passing by with a fish to sell. The fisherman said, “Since no one is buying my fish or your articles, why don’t we exchange our goods?” The grateful man took the fish home and his wife cut it up to cook. To her surprise she found a pearl inside. But her husband ...

Once a king called upon all of his wise men and asked them, “ Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation and place, every joy and sorrow, every defeat and victory. I need only one answer for all questions? I am looking for something which can help me, when none of you is available to advise me or guide me? Tell me is there any mantra?” All the wise men were puzzled by the King’s question. They thought and thought. After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealled to all of them. They went to the king and gave him something written on paper, with a condition that the king was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems to be no way, only then he can see it. The King put the papers under his Diamond ring. Some time later, the neighbors attacked the Kingdom. King and his army fought bravely but lost the battle. The King had to flee on his horse. The enemies w...

There was once a great scholar. Everybody in the kingdom appreciated him because he was so learned. Unfortunately, inspite of his great learning he had great pride. One day,this scholar put on a gold necklace and went to the palace of another king. He said, “Whoever can defeat me in wisdom will get this necklace. I challenge everybody!” All the scholars in that particular kingdom had heard about this scholar and they were afraid that they would lose. So they would not accept his challenge. The king was very sad that nobody would accept the challenge. Finally, the court jester said, “I accept your challenge.” The king had almost surrendered to the scholar but thought it would be amusing to see his jester compete. He believed he was only a joker and would not be able to win the necklace. The court jester said, “ I will ask you four questions. if you answer any of my questions correctly, then you will lose, but if all your answers are incorrect, then I w...

Sleep deprivation can addle someone just as much as a bottle of whiskey and therefore justifies regulations to protect patients from yawning surgeons, asserts a recent editorial in the   New England Journal of Medicine . For one thing, surgeons who have been awake for 22 of the past 24 hours could be required by law to disclose their condition to patients scheduled for elective surgery, who could then decide whether to turn to a fresher white coat or reschedule, write the authors. Not so fast, replies organized medicine, including the   American College of Cardiology   (ACC). Yes, fatigue can fuzz thinking and degrade technical skills. However, mandating disclosure of sleep deprivation would usurp a physician's professional judgment as to whether he or she is fit to operate and could give litigious patients one more reason to file a malpractice suit, physicians argue. "It opens a whole can of worms," ACC senior vice president for advocacy,   Dr Jim Fasules , said in ...

  Having recently been shown ineffective in the treatment of MI, the focus on glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) appears to be shifting to myocardial protection during cardiac surgery, with early results in this indication looking promising [ 1 ]. In the latest study, perioperative use of a GIK solution has shown benefits in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy undergoing aortic-valve replacement for critical aortic stenosis. Senior author, cardiac surgeon   Dr Domenico Pagano   (University Hospital and University of Birmingham, UK), commented: "The advantage of GIK in this study was so stark that some might say it should be used already in this indication, but we have to conduct a larger study to confirm that it is associated with benefits in clinical outcomes."  

AngioSculpt   percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) scoring balloon catheters, manufactured by AngioScore, are subject to a class I US   Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall due to complaints of retained device fragments or significant arterial injury, which may lead to death or the need for additional surgical intervention [ 1 ]. The FDA issued the safety alert from the MedWatch FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program on Wednesday. The recall affects 17 682 AngioSculpt PTA scoring balloon catheters; OTW 0.018" Platform, of multiple sizes, including the following model part numbers and including all sizes and lot codes for the following models: 2076-4020, 2076-5020, 2076-6020, 2092-6020, 2105-6020. Products were manufactured by AngioScore from September 2009 to November 2010. A medical device recall notification letter dated November 15, 2010 was issued to US customers, who were instructed to immediately discontinue distributing ...

Once a wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for lifetime.   But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I’ve been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."   Life An Odyssey by Dr.Manish Maladkar

Low levels of HDL-cholesterol levels, despite treatment with statin therapy for elevated LDL-cholesterol levels, remains a significant risk factor for cardiovascular events, according to a new analysis [ 1 ]. The inverse relationship between HDL-cholesterol levels and cardiovascular outcomes remained significant even after adjustment for on-treatment LDL-cholesterol levels, age, hypertension, diabetes, and tobacco use, report investigators. "Even when you have adequately treated patients with a statin, the risk associated with low levels of HDL cholesterol remains," senior investigator   Dr Richard Karas   (Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA) told heartwire , "and the magnitude of that risk is quite large."  

Women who consumed at least 102 g of red meat a day had a 42% higher risk of cerebral infarction than those who ate 25 g or less daily in a new analysis [ 1 ]. The findings "suggest that consumption of red and processed meats may increase risk of cerebral infarction," the authors, led by   Dr   Susanna C Larsson , (National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden), conclude. "These findings merit confirmation in additional large, prospective studies and in experimental studies on possible biological mechanisms," they add. The study was published online December 16, 2010 in   Stroke . The prospective population-based study included 34 670 Swedish women aged 49 to 83 years who were part of the   Swedish Mammography Cohort   study and completed a diet and lifestyle questionnaire in 1997. In addition to providing information on education, weight, height, smoking, physical activity, aspirin use, medical history, fam...

Predictive factors for developing candidemia in patients undergoing cardiac surgery are more or less the same as those of the general intensive-care-unit (ICU) population, according to the findings of a new prospective observational study [ 1 ]. Dr   Daniela Pasero   (University of Turin, Italy) and colleagues reported their findings online December 22, 2010 in   Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery .         According to researchers, candidemia is a well-recognized complication in critically ill patients who are hospitalized, and the "incidence of invasive infections from   Candida   [species] has increased dramatically in the last three decades in the ICU setting." A previous study had identified cardiopulmonary bypass time as a possible risk factor for candidemia in patients admitted to the cardiac ICU (cICU); the current study was designed to determine whether this theory held true and whethe...