When I was a 3rd year dental student at Nair Hospital Dental College, we had to study a lot of cysts and tumours, basically benign and malignant ones, in Oral Pathology. Our teacher was a genius by the name of Dr.Ravi Shetty.

The matter was very hard to learn and memorise and one day I asked him in a candid conversation “As a general dentist, do we really have to know all these details in so much depth?”

He said “Technically no. But there will be ONE patient you will see sometime in your life time where you will either regret not having studied them well or thank me for making you.” That moment came for me 2 years ago when a lady called and said “Doctor I have a huge ulcer on my tongue I cannot eat anything.”

When she came in, I could not see her tongue at all. It was enlarged, inlcerated, crustated and did not look good at all.

Within 30 seconds, I knew it was advanced stage cancer. Which one? Not sure but sure seemed like Squamous Cell CA given the lateral border of the tongue was involved.

I was shocked and became numb but has to gather myself but this was the easy part.

Annual Ganpati Visarjan thread:

Typically I go around noon and walk at the far end of Laxmi Road in time for the first or second Manache Ganpati to have made their entry.

This year, I decided to be at the tail end right in the middle of the sea of devotees to see how that experience is, as they are ending the Miravnuk on Laxmi Road.

#Pune
#GanpatiVisarjan2024
#गणेश_विसर्जन Empty roads and Rangoli welcoming Devotees who start lining up around 2.00 PM for the “Courtside seats”.

As I started walking on Lakdi Pul, the sound of the Dhol Tasha reached my ears and I got the first glimpse of the processsion at the other end in Alka Chowk.

My annual Ganpati Mandal walk thread.

I cover the “Manache Ganpati” along with Mandai and Dagdusheth and a few more as time and energy permits.

Hope you enjoy watching the photos as much as I did taking and compiling them.

#Pune #ManacheGanpati #GaneshChaturthi2024 1. Shree Kasaba Ganpati Known as the Gramadevta of Pune, Shree Kasaba Ganpati is the presiding deity of the city.

Built in 1639 by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Jijabai Bhosale, this temple holds immense historical importance.

It leads the immersion process on the 10th day, with other mandals following suit.

The magic of modern medical technology:

Patient calls on Tuesday morning in acute pain. See him. Complains of severe pain in the gums adjacent to a lower left premolar. Also unable to eat. Pain starting to radiate to ear.

Normally these are warning signs of a cavity invading the nerve and needs a root canal or extraction.

I took 2 X-rays of the offending tooth and both showed no pathology. The tooth did not respond to any diagnostic tests either.

There was some bruising on the gums which the patient himself attributed to toothbrush trauma. I wanted to be sure so advised him to get a CBCT aka 3D scan to rule out internal resorption or a fracture. Placed him on an anti inflammatory.

The patient called in the evening stating he was in very acute pain and just not able to eat anything. He was on his way to get a scan.

I put him on a stronger anti inflammatory. I probed a little about temperature sensitivity and he said now having ice cream was providing total relief from pain!

BINGO!

That’s the textbook test to establish diagnosis of partial necrosis aka the nerve was dying. As a result, there are gases formed and that’s the cause of intense pain.

Applying cold to the tooth acts to reduce the intensity and hence provides relief from pain.

But the question of basic cause still was a mystery.

Took the kids on a joy ride on the Metro today!

I never imagined we would have one in Pune in their liferime!

One of my favourite aspects are the various scenes we get to witness from the Metro that we would normally be fortunate to experience.

Like the various bridges…..





Some more bridges and some tracks…..

Pune has always had a rich tradition of “Ganpati mandals.” Associated with the same is a history of “Dhol Tasha troupes”.

Schools like Ramanbaug,Numavi and Jnana Prabhodini have had one for a long time. In the early 1990’s, 2 school boys yearned to play in a Dhol Tasha troupe. They approached their “Shakha Shikshak” with a request to have their own Ganpati mandal, mainly so they can play the Dhol Tasha.

The shikshak agreed to have a 1.5 day Ganpati and the boys were able to get started with their Dhol Tasha dream.

I have said this so often!

When you are a student, you are either in a university town or urban America and surrounded by people your age.

Happy hours and weekend parties help build a decent social life.

When you start working, that starts dwindling.

Specially if you are

https://twitter.com/i_sudeepa/status/1746004437980917828

Now in rural America in states like Ohio, Idaho, Nebraska which does not a lot of Desi folks living there.

Eventually comes the inevitable move do suburban life, which is when the loneliness really sets in.

Weekdays are pretty much occupied by work ans household chores.

Healthcare in India is set for a major overhaul.

@ThePollLady shared this article the other day:

#India #Healthcare #VentureCapital #Doctors #Hospitals Initally healthcare was a Patient-Doctor relationship.

Then the Corporate Hospital Ownership came in and made it slightly commercial. People don't realize that this arrangement made it possible for doctors to avail of world class technology and deliver the best healthcare.

Dental treatment gets a bad rap for being "painful".

If done by a well qualfied, skilled dentist with proper diagnosis and anesthesia, there is usually zero or near zero pain.

The pain and discomfort if any is usually during the healing phase.

There are 2 factors that are responsible for this.

The difference in how the person's body and immune system reacts to surgery and dental procedures ARE surgeries. No one can predict that.

The other, and more relevant factor, is how well the patient follows the post operative instructions.

Senior couple living alone in Pune 4.

Over the last few months, wife has been deteriorating mentally at a rapid pace.

And hence physically also.

Husband is struggling to cope.

Goes to terrace for a 5 mins break.

Comes down to find wife is not in the apartment. Panic strikes.

Calls made to daughter and couple of neighbours.

Friends called. Search ensues.

Local police station reports old lady at police station in the city area. Unable to remember name and address.

Daughter goes there and finds her mother.

Turns out that area

Back in the 90’s, the Palkhi was basically an unexpected unplanned holiday from school and a LOT of people walking on FC Road!

Move to 2023 and it means so much more!

Reverence, respect, dedication, perseverance and better understanding of our culture!

#Pune #Palkhi2023 I had the distinct pleasure of walking on FC road just as the warkaris started coming and ended up getting a Darshan close up of both the Tukaram and the Dnyaneshwar Palkhis towards the end with some friends.

I won’t write too much right now but here are some pictures!

I feel Twitter is the best social media platform. It has tremendous social, educational and networking value.

Personally it has helped me create a lot of awareness about the importance of oral health and clear a lot of myths about my profession.

As an aside, it has enabled me to help people in dental pain also.

What happened today was the best example of that.

I woke up to a few people tagging me in this tweet:

https://twitter.com/sardesairajdeep/status/1668104758903595008

He was a normal 13 year old kid. Studied in one of the good schools in town. Fortunately it wasclose enough to home.

So close that not only did he go to and return by cycle, he used to go home for lunch and make it back in time too.

But one day, fate had something terrible in store for him.

He was struck by a speeding vehicle and suffered a head injury.

He was unconscious for approx 3 weeks and it was touch and go.

By God’s grace, he made it though and recovered from the accident.

He was back in school and over the course of next few months

Some day I will make up for not having visited the temples of Goa.

But this time, when visiting family in Singapore, I took the initiative to visit a few amazing temples.

I will cover one temple at a time to do justice to them.

Hope you enjoy.

#Singapore #Temples #Hinduism Sri Thendayuthapani Temple:

Prior to 1859 Nagarathars worshipped a Vel (spear), a representation of Lord Muruga, under a tree. The Vel was kept under a Pipal tree (Arasa maram) at the bank of a tank (pond). Fresh water from the hill emerged as a waterfall and filled the tank.

This is a GREAT point and one I feel should absolutely introduced from next year!

For those who are wondering what it means, a brief background:

NFL games are played on Thursday(1 game) Sunday (2 games each at 1.00 and 4.15 and one game at 8.00 PM) and 1 game on Monday Night.

https://twitter.com/kaustubhradkar/status/1659793093397303297

The Networks involved in covering are CBS, FOX, NBC and ESPN with now Amazon also for 2 years.

Amazon is the exclusive provider for Thursday night, while CBS and FOX carry the games at 1.00 and 4.15 PM, while NBC and ESPN have the prime time games at 8.00 PM.

#Thread on Maharashtra Day:

Sometime in the early 2000’s a young Maharashtrian musician realised that Marathi songs were not being played on the FM stations, as they were not commercially viable.

He decided to address this situation by making a landmark Marathi song. He took a unique approach. He decided to make that the sole focus of his life.Over the next 18 months, he did not take up any project.

The other decision he took was that it would be done with the best singers, in the best recording studio and with the most talented musicians.

Mumbai: the city of dreams, Local trains and now Metro, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar!

Must be a mammoth task to govern it and I was fortunate to get a first hand view of the flagship of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation today, thanks to @Khaki_Tours!

#Mumbai #BMC Most people will@say Mumbai was formed by the amalgamation of 7 islands, but in reality there were 23 of them.

A large part of the city is reclaimed land and 2/3 feet under sea level, which often causes flooding during monsoon, often unfairly blamed totally on the BMC.

Just when I thought I had had an amazing morning, my dear friend @nitinwelde made it even better!

What a beautiful city we live in.

Some shots…..
1) Army Institute of Physical Training
2) Race Course
3) Race Course
4) Poona Club Cricket Ground

#Pune Shaniwarwada.

We had the pleasure of attending the “Hidden Temples Of Pune” Walk with @GodboleSandeep today.

Posting some photos from the walk.

Thank you Sandeep for introducing my beloved city to me.

Such hidden treasures we never were aware of!

#Pune #Temples #Heritage

#GaneshChaturthi is a very very big day in Pune.

As sad as it is to bid farewell, #GaneshVisarjan is an even bigger deal!

It’s something you should absolutely try and experience first hand at some point.

#Pune
#GanpatiVisarjan2022
#गणेश_विसर्जन It starts with the Rangoli. The boys and girls who do it are amazing artists specially since you practically get only one shot.

A constant fracture is the “Bhagwa” “भगवा”.

#Pune
#GanpatiVisarjan2022
#गणेश_विसर्जन

For many, 15th August, 1947 was the summit in the fight to achieve Independence!

In reality, it was the base camp!

As we celebrate our 75th years of Independence, the question always comes up “Are we really Independent?”

And I feel that it’s relative!

#IndependenceDay You have to look at it like vectors!

Relative change of position in a specific direction!

And in this case, that arrow has to point upwards, forwards and onwards!

So a visit to the post office the other day reminded me how much Independence we have truly achieved!