book review

Book Review: The Lost Decade by Puja Mehra

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I enjoy reading books that describe the arc of events and developments over a time frame. It may span centuries. Or shorter periods that are more intense and eventful… like Puja Mehra’s “The Lost Decade 2008-2018 – How India’s Growth Story Devolved Into Growth Without A Story“. Full book review – The Lost Decade Read … Read more

Book Review – The 1,000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford

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I’m sure you, too, have wistfully thought of a future that stretches out forever, with time passing you by. But if you did extend that fantasy out, not to eternity, perhaps, but just, say, a thousand years… What would you see? That’s the intriguing premise behind  “The 1,000 Year Old Boy” by Ross Welford. Full … Read more

Book Review: The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion

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I have a rule of thumb about reading strategies. If a book makes me laugh out loud thrice in the first ten pages, I read it. And that’s how I came to read one of Fannie Flagg‘s with the rather unusual title: “The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion” Full book review – “The All Girl … Read more

Teaching Surgery

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(This is an excerpt from my new book, “Heart, Guts & Steel: The Making of an Indian Surgeon“)

I was assisting my Junior Resident with her first hernia repair. And it was moving along at a snail’s pace.

From time to time, I was tempted to urge her to hurry up. “If you stick with this, we’ll be here until dinner time!”

But I left the words unspoken.

Better surgeons than I had been patient with me while I learned to operate. Now it was my turn to return the favor. So in a quiet tone, with no trace of the irritation within, I asked her: “What are you worried about?”

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Crisis

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(This is an excerpt from my new book, “Heart, Guts & Steel: The Making of an Indian Surgeon“)

My patient was going to die.

And if he did, it would be my mistake.

The thought was like a drumbeat, pounding inside my skull. Although still a trainee, I was the surgeon in charge of this operation. And I was in deep trouble!

“Give me a vascular clamp, quick!”

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Losing Control

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(This is an excerpt from my new book, “Heart, Guts & Steel: The Making of an Indian Surgeon“)

A few minutes later, I was in the operating room, making an incision into his belly. It was full of clots. Clearly, the innocent looking stab had gone deep, slicing into vital organs.

When I cleared away the clots, we saw the problem. The knife had pierced his gall bladder, a tiny bag-like organ beneath the liver that stored bile. The wound had gone through it, barely missing the liver to stop milli-meters short of the largest vein in the body. Just a little deeper, and the patient wouldn’t have made it to the hospital alive!

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Book Review : How To Create A Mind

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I’m reading Ray Kurzweil’s “How To Create a Mind“. As I indulge my curiosity about artificial intelligence and read about machine learning, all the background learning about neuroanatomy back in medical school comes in handy. You’ll find a snapshot in Ray Kurzweil’s ‘How To Create A Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed‘. If you’re … Read more

Book Review: The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden

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In “The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden” there’s never a dull moment as you try to keep track of the hilarious incidents and twisted tales of a motley cast of characters. It eventually ends with… A handshake with a Prime Minister – and the King. Full book review of “The Girl Who Saved … Read more