ACL Reconstruction : As it happened

I had my ACL Reconstruction done on 13th March 2015.

Total cost            - 155 thousand Indian Rupees( ~2500 USD)
At                            - Global Hospital , solingnallur , chennai , India
Surgeon                 - Dr. Clement Joseph       
Surgery duration - 1.5 hrs
Satisfaction   Level       - More than happy

Before going for surgery I was searching on internet about the process so that I can mentally prepare myself . As I had never went  through any surgery before  so there was lots of questions and doubt  in mind . But I didn't found much information. So here I will share my experience as it happened.

My MRI report confirmed that my right knee ACL is damaged . Physician told me that I need to go through a surgical procedure otherwise there is high chances of getting early arthritis , plus I my self was psychologically distrubed as I was not able to run , jump , applying kick on my byke.

I went for 2nd opinion to Dr Clement Joseph at global hospital , he confirmed the same.

Dr Clement Joseph is one of the top reputed orthopaedic surgeon in south India and did more than 2000 ACL reconstruction and thousands of other ortho surgeries in his 15+ years of  experience . He is a kind and  compassionate . I felt very comfortable with him in my first meeting.

I decided to go for surgery . I met with  insurance persons and made my self financially ready.

On 12th March   I got admitted myself in hospital.

Day 1 (12th March)

I got admitted in evening around 5 PM .

Nurse took my blood sample . I met this sexy anesthesiologist , she asked me question regarding my smoking habbit , alcohol consumption,  medical history , drug allergies if any . Then they took me for my chest X-ray and ECG.

They gave me hospital costume , in which I looked like idiot . Plus it was not safe with respect to my modesty.

I was told not to smoke that night and not to eat or drink any thing even water  after 1 AM in night as my operation was scheduled at 2 PM next day . Generally roughly before 12 hrs of surgery you should be NBM (Nill by mouth).

Day 2 -The "D-Day"

Nurse measured and noted down  my BP , temperature in morning  . At 8 AM  she gave me some antibiotic lotion cum soap and told me to have a  bath . Afterward she gave me a antacid as my stomach was swelling like anything because I havent took any food or drink from last 10 hours.

Again she checked my BP and temp at 12 Noon .  And told me to put off my underwear because underwears are not allowed inside O.T. I resisted because my modesty was already at stake. We reached a bargain ,she gave a diaper.

At 1:30PM they took me Operation theatre . Anesthesiologist met me , already mentioned  that  she was sexy and beautyfull and I was worried as my diaper was not strong enough to prevent some unwanted embarrassing situation.

She opened the laces of my costume . My upper body was fully exposed .I avoided any eye contact (you know the reason) . She made me sit on operation table, told me to bent  and gave me pillow to keep between my thighs and stomach.  Then she injected some medicine in my spinal cord it was not painfull but I felt some thing like ant-bite and something passing through my nerves. I lied down with my face facing toward celling of room . Within 5 minutes , I cannot feel anything in  lower part of my  body. My both hand where stressed as if  I was Jesus on the cross . On my left hand they put  syringe and stared the dip . My right hand was used for measuring my BP . My chest for measuring my heart function . By this time I gave away all worries about diaper and surrendered  myself totally to doctor. They drew curtain across my chest ,so that I cannot se what going on at operation site.

Doctor came said hello , I replied . He  switched on the music player in operation theatre with  soft music and started his work. There was lots of screens ,where they were observing my vitals. I just tried to divert my attention by thinking of my Ex-girlfriend. I know that was  enough to fully distract my mind from operation.  Some times you can use sweet and bitter memory with your ex in such situation. 

After almost 1 hour Doctor asked me that whether I want to see the procedure on screen .Initially I was tempted to see but then denied becuase I dont wanted  to raise my BP unnecessarily.

Finally , after 1.5 hrs operation completed . I was shifted to recovery room. I stayed there till the time I got some sensation back on my feet and was able to move it a little  which took some 2 hours. After that I was send to my room.

They gave me some water and juice and gradually started my oral diet. I had dinner that night. After dinner they gave injestions so that I can sleep. By this time , I was having no pain , although I was able to move my legs. But , in midnight around 2 AM I woke up because of pain . It was paining like somebody have fired three round of bullet in my right knee. Nurse came she again gave  injestion and the pain slowed down.

This was the only pain I felt during the whole process.

Day 3

Now the recovery module started . BP and temperature check . Doctor visited in moring . I was given pain killers and antibiotics all day  also juice , breakfast and lunch .  In evening they did X-ray of my knee to make sure that everything is fine. Then dinner and sleep.

Day 4

Day started same as day 3 , today physiotherapist came and made me stand and walk , taught me exercises. Some dressing of the operation site happened.

Day 5

Same as above , but I was able to walk alone with elbow cluthers. I went to washroom alone and walked near about 200mtrs and did knee bending exercises .

I was discharged by evening and told to do the exercises and meet doctor after 5 days .

"Aam admi" v/s "Aam Admi Party"

Let me begin with caricaturing a Common Man.

He is the most Practical creature on earth, can easily shed his idealism when confronted with  situation.  Yes, he is exploited but I doubt, he will leave no opportunity when he get the chance to exploit.Urban common man will have more idea of things ranging from IPL to IPad, but very less idea of "Idealism in politics"....They simply  don't care about it... As far as their patriotism is concerned .They want that as in Cricket , India is mighty power , in the same way India should be mighty power in global areana. In their veiw India should be a military superpower . They dont care, who does it and by which method. All they want that they should get it . Various times,  I  feel that how selfish these common man is, how narrow his mind is, how he dont have far sight. But then I realise  probably that's why he is bloody  Common Man,  otherwise he would have been  "Khas Aadmi".

Most of them overtly claim to be 'secular' and 'caste-agnostic' but covertly they want their own community and caste  pride to be raised above than others community and caste pride. These are the same people who did'nt helped  "Nirbhaya and her friend"  on that shamefull day of 16 dec 2012. Peoples who commit "honour killing" are also aam admi.

Enough !  I talked,  infact  I cursed , the common man to a extent that I am feeling relaxed. Because as a common man , it obvious for me to hate a common man. I can't hate Narendra Modi , Rahul gandhi, Salman khan, Amitabh bacchan etc . I can only hate thoes people  who  are like me . If somebody like me talks to me , then I am alerted that he can cheat me , but if some one extraordinary talks to me , I feel lucky and blessed to a extent that I am ready to kiss his ass.

The real issue is  that common man dont have  "real sense self respect" , he finds honour in honour killing. He find political participation in political Bhakti.

When you dont respect your self , you dont respect others who are like you..

The unfortunate condition of common man is understandable. He is never celeberated . He is never treated well by any state machinery. He dont have anybody to back him up . He is always looked upon as a potential prey. In such situation how can we expect this aam admi to be magnamous , upright, man with higher values. It only when you feel secure of your existence in this jungle you talk and follow idealism.

Arvind kejriwal , if had contested election as a incumbent  delhi's CM ,he would have tasted much bigger success . Just only for single reason that he  would have carried a tag of extraordinary  man and not of a common man during campain. People don't want  AK to deliver  only "examples of Idealism" , they want improvement their life. The least they care about is "Idealism".  AAP should stop showcaseing their stunt of Idealism and understand that if they really want serve aam admi. If they want to get love and support of aam admi then be should be more practicle.

I hope that the next govt in delhi should be of "Aam Admi Party". Which should empower people , so that the self respect is inculcated in every aam admi , his life become more secure , then automatically Things will be much better.

Modi-Nawaz relations :hope and reality

Nawaz sarif faught  and won elections with promise of  improving relation with India and getting back Pak economy on track. These were the two most important promises among others. After comming to power in mid 2013 , he did lots of gesturing toward India to send a message that he is keen to establish a flourishing relation, but nothing solid action had been taken on the part of Pakistan to support the gesturing.

On the contrary , Modi faught and won the election on promise to send a strong message to Pakistan that India's concerns must be taken seriously , plus  terrorism and talks cannot go side-by-side. But there is one common ground that both the prime minister are pro-business and both want to revive there respective GDP growth rate.

Political enviroment in Pakistan is not so stable , Tahreek-e-taliban-pakistan(TTP)  is the major  headache , secessionist element in balochistan, insurgency in karanchi. Abdullah Abdullah likely to take over power in Afganistan after karzai. Modi a hardliner as deemed in pakistan has take over as  PM in India. On the economic front  Nawaz sarif govt is not able to deliver as  what was expected from him. All these  have created lots of cynisim in Pakistan and Opposition led by Imran Kham is trying to harness it . In this situation Nawaz Sarif is  politically weak right now in pakistan . Moreover Nawaz sarif hate relation with Parvez Mussaraf and his trials had cost Sarif a significant  loss of respect in some section of military .

Domesticaly weak leader have very less to offer and deliver , In current scenario Modi will demand more and more and Nawaz will have nothing to deliver rather than gesturing. Narendra Modi's cheif demands may include mumbai 2008 convicts , daood ibrahim, peace on LoC. Firstly,Given the civil-military relation in Pak peace on Loc cannot be sustained. Secondly, conviction of mumbai convicts are distant reality becuase of internal pakistani politics as for that he have to confront with right wing militants which can be risky and counter productive for his own political interest .lastly daood , who have footprints both in saudi and pakistan and given the relation of Nawaz with saudi this also can be seen as a non-deliverable. Nawaz sarif have to do lot of political management domesticaly before comming in postion to deliver something for betterment of Indo-Pak relation.

Moreover, the recent miliant attack on Herat indicate that inteligence agencies in pakistan are trying  to stab any possibilty toward "aman-ki-asha" as evident from Indian inteligence report which claims that this attack was hastly drafted .

Bigger picture suggest that to expect any major  success in Indo-Pak relation in near future will only be over optimism. Although the hope should never be dropped , because a strong ,stable and friendly pakistan is in Indias interst. some amount of patience and prudence is required on both the side and hand holding should be done by both  toward "Aman ki aasha".

Opportunity Index - Alternative to caste based resevation

 Indian constitution provides "equality to opportunity " for all citizen. Following the policy of positive discrimination reservation to certain group of population for admission in educational institute and employment is provided by govt of India. Indian govt identifies caste and tribe as only impediment to equality of opportunity. Caste is one of barrier but not the only barrier. Their are many like gender, family income, rural accomodation, level of education and awareness of parents, etc. Their are people who have favourable position in caste hirarchy but not in other hirarchy and vice-versa. 21 st century india is diffrent from 20th or 19th century india. We cannot use early 20th century british narative to describe 21st century india. Caste is no longer class. Given the level of inequality , their is still need of providing reservation for upliftment of last man of line across every section of society.

For eg :- we can easily find students in IITs and IIMs of scheduled caste but it will be difficult to find student from family Which is Not economically sound given the though entrance examination which need coachings . These coaching charge high fee , unaffordable by poor family. Family educational background, rural-urban accomodation also have role to play.

Barriers are not simply caste, economic background, level of education /awareness of family , gender, access to ammenities etc acting individually . But They are funtion of all the above mentioned factor acting in totality. One cannot take one factor individually and make decision according to that but have to consider funtion of all factors in totality.


Their is need of index , where a certain weight is to be alloted to all factors and a weighted average is to be calculated that is to be called as - weight of opportunity. Based on this calculation a index is to be made and the candidate who have most disadvantaged postion is to be given preference.

 These prefence should not be only used mandatorily in the case of public employment but private employers should also be given option to recruite according to it. Private employer who follows such index for recruitment should be given tax benefits. Govt of india , should link this index to aadhar card which is to be revised after a fixed period of time , all the benefits should be given accordinglly.

This will bring more inclusive growth ,and contribute toward nation integeration and justice as Caste and religion based reservation are dividing society , they have done less gain than loss to indian society..

Tax free India , is it feasible ?

Tax free India , is it feasible ?

(Prologue:- Modern economy is very complex ,I do not claim to have Phd in it , but as a well  informed citizen , i am giving my view) 

Recently BJP have initiated a new debate on making India Tax free claiming that many country have implemented it and India can also do the same. At this point we need to ask some basic questions .Which are the countries? What are the fundamentals of their economy ?will It  suit to India ? Why BJP have taken this stand Dec-2013 onward and not tried to implement during period when it was in power or pushed this idea  when it was in opposition 2004 onward ?

Before answering  above question we must know  logic behind tax. In India general people are taxed at two level one at level of income/earning(direct) and another at level of consumption(indirect) .  only few people who are earning above some threshold value are taxed at income with differential   rate for different slab whereas everybody who is consuming anything or availing any services are taxed. For instance people are taxed on matchbox ,medicine, food, fuel , wine etc. Basically the wisdom behind this approach  is -  rich people consume more so they will pay more tax than poor people. This system is called as progressive taxation system. What ever the Govt earn with these tax is spend upon Defence,maintain law and order, building infrastructure, welfare of people , upliftment of poor and last man of line . Agriculture , unorganized sector do not fall in tax net in this system.

Coming back to questions . There are near about 15 countries which are tax free, most of them are very small countries with tourism or petroleum export as major business.Only Saudi Arabia is a major economy among them. Saudi earn 40% of their revenue from petroleum export.Citizen of Saudi pay 2.5% religious tax mandated by Islamic law rather than traditional income or corporate taxes.From these two source Saudi generates enough revenue look after expenses of its state machinery  and welfare of people.

Looking at India we find that we spend our nearly 40% of our revenue earned from export on importing petroleum In 2011-12 , the figure was astonishing high over 53%. So , if we will stop taxing we will left with no money to take care of our expenses. India is a country with vast socio-economic inequality we have to protect the weakest section of society and spend on their upliftment. At a time when expenditure on education, heath care is very low and we have increase  it in order to raise people standard of living ,we need more revenue.

Their is hue and cry among taxpayer's that why should only a minority of people i.e 3% should be taxed. I agree that tax  net should be increased and more people should be brought in tax net , but abolishing it , is not a solution . the people who are earning so much that they are able to pay tax must now that society and state  have contributed immensely for their development so that they can earn what they are earning. So it the duty of these people to pay back the society , so that other people can also be facilitated with same opportunity which they had.

As a alternative , it is suggested that we introduce transaction tax in order to compensate the loss of revenue. But we must know the fact that very less people transact by bank . Most of people in India deal in cash. India is basically a cash driven economy. Then how can we tax on transaction? so this is also not a feasible alternative.

Given the condition , it sound more like political gimmick rather than any realistic agenda. BJP  ,with its voter base in urban constituency , want to capitalize the anger of people who pay income tax .  BJP is wise enough to  understands that they are losing urban middle class  vote at hand of AAP . So they want to gain attention of voters with such gimmick. If they really care for it why they have not taught of it when they were in power or pushed it for discussion in parliament when they were in opposition ? It is only after AAP  moral win in Delhi assembly election  , they started talking of it in second half of Dec 2103 .

A gradual reform toward increasing tax base , Introducing and implementing GST ,and other such measure can really help India rather than such  gimmick.