A Gift of Smile

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

On my way back to hostel today, as usual I saw my cobbler with his daughter, the ever cheerful and active young girl running here and there. His dad will be sitting under the shady tree working with shoes everyday as you can see in the photo. Without hesitation I sat there, looked at her and gave her the smiley ball that I always carry alongside me. She was jumping with joy upon receiving the ball. I never realized even such a small yet simple thing will bring joy to her. Seeing her playing with it and bouncing it across the street made my day too. That’s the reason why I always carry simple things that can bring joy to others, because you never know some people may need it more than you do~ =)

I was recovering from my trauma after getting such a relatively low marks for my Multiple True False paper in Physiology today. I have spent hours of preparation for this test but maybe I am not giving my 100% focus on it. However, my sadness will not last long as we should not be too stuck onto something bad for a long time. Looking at how the little girl living a happy life even without shoes, without iPad and without a clean toys like what other girls of the same age have in Malaysia, made me realized life is not about exams, we live to live, not to grief over something bad that cannot be reversed.

I never put high expectation to myself as I realized the higher expectation we have, the higher chances we will become unhappy. As studying in medical course is extremely tough and competitive, one way of living through it happily in this 5 years for me is to accept it and adapt to it but not to compare myself with others. There are only 2 outcomes if you compare yourselves with others.

1)  If you compare yourselves with people who have better results than you, then you will feel inferior and tend to stress up yourselves. Deal with it! Tell yourself that they are more hardworking and they sacrifice their time more, they deserve the good results!

2) If you compare yourselves with others who have bad result and generally lower performance than you, then you will feel relieved for a short moment, before you realized you shouldn’t compare yourself with them as they are not worth comparing. Thus,most of us tend to compare with people who are greater, smarter and better than us, which is healthy but should not be taken too seriously.

In a nutshell, we are who we are and there are times where we struggle so hard that we forget who we actually are. Be yourself because you are unique in your own way!


Self Satisfaction

Friday, January 11, 2013
Elyn & Siong Keat - My 2 sakai friends

Sometimes I felt so lucky to be born in Malaysia. Few weeks back when I was in the library, I came across a lady who worked there. She told me that the to and fro journey from her house to Manipal is rs14 a day which is approximately RM 0.90. Upon hearing that, I told her it is cheap in a slip of tongue but instead, she told me it is quite costly. Immediately after that, I realised I am actually one lucky dude on earth. Just last week itself, my friends and I bought coconuts to quench our thirst. Upon paying, the shop keeper charged us rs36, not for 1 coconut, but 3!

This afternoon as I was walking back to my hostel, I saw Mr Muthu with his daughter along his old and rusty shoe-repairing hut. His daughter was nicely sleeping on a piece of board covered by a not-so-clean towel under the shady tree. This sight definitely will not be seen in my hometown as everyone is happily living in their comfort zone but in India, it is a norm. There are people who struggle all their lives to earn money while there are some who lives happily with what they are having now. For me, I am fortunate to be what I am now and I am always satisfied with the people and things surrounding me.


Before I came to India, my elder sister told me that she encountered a girl who will also be coming to India to study medicine during her working period in Aeon, Station 18. Coincidentally, the girl is in the same campus with me but I have totally forgotten about it after I settle down. Today when I was having a random chat with Lai Yeng, only then she told me she knew my sister and she was the girl who talked to her. I was like ‘OMG why now only you tell me??’

The upcoming weeks for me is no-rest weeks as class tests, spotters, practical examination and  viva voce are in line prior to my block exam at the end of January. That is the reason why I have to gear up and be mentally motivated to face all these tough challenges~ =)

‘Don’t be pushed by your problems, be led by your dreams’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson


Earphone Fantasy

Saturday, January 5, 2013
I have never own a earphone of my own until today, when I have the sudden urge to buy myself one. This is mainly due to my parents who strongly oppose my siblings and I from using it since small.

Few days back I was amazed by a tweet of my friend. The tweet was something about entering your own world when you plugged in your earphone. Being a student who visits the library only 7 times a week, this is what I am looking for as a companion - a connection with music. It is undeniable that everyone loves music. The right song at the right time is just perfect to express the innerself of mine.

One of the joyous moment I had here is by scratching a smile in the faces of others. This morning itself when I went to Kasturba Hospital for a medical check-up, I was thrilled as the locals are happy upon hearing me saying simple words like thank you & happy new year in their very own Kannada dialect. The satisfaction within myself is hard to describe in words but the experiences I had gone through made me a better person.

As I am writing this blog post I am surrounded by 3 of my many best friends - Siong Keat, Phuah Sheng & Chee Sian. I feel so bleesed to have known them and go through the ups and downs with them.

Countdown 30 days more to be back in Ipoh~ =)


Hosavarushada Shubashaya

Thursday, January 3, 2013

It is the beginning of 2013 and I am glad to survive the so called 'end of the world' =)

Few days back a friend of mine asked me when is my free time. I was stumbled upon the word and it took me few seconds to realise that free time is not in my dictionary anymore. The only free time I have is
1) When I am sleeping
2) While having meals
3) When I am daydreaming while studying

As a medical student, I have to constantly keep up the pace and to survive the class tests week by week is definitely not an easy task. As you can see I do not even have the time to update my blog and to edit my wonderful pictures. So from today onwards, I shall continue with my post without beautifying it with tons of lovely photos in order to resuscitate my blog.

Wishing everyone Happy New Year and have a great start of the year~

Hosavarushada Shubashaya
(it means happy new year in Kannada language)
=)

Fantasy Playlist