Keep running, time doesn’t wait for anyone: Dr. Radhakrishnan

About:

Hello, I am Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan, born on 26/01/1981( now you know why the nation really declares 26th January a holiday .. hehe ).

I’m doing M.D. Anesthesia (I’m a doctor in my final year of residency) presently living in Pune, but based in Kerala. I’m passionate about my blog, writing short stories, reading and dogs. I’m also a typical Aquarian with lofty dreams, creative ideas and a quirky sense of humor trapped inside, waiting to explode.

Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan

My Interview – My Life

Q: Welcome to Speakbindas.com. Let’s start with your childhood. Where were you born and raised? Any fond memories from your childhood that you cherish even today?

• Hi. I was born in Dubai, UAE. Yup, I’m one of them… the dreaded Mallu NRI. I studied there till 7^th Standard before completing my education in my hometown of Kannur in Kerala.

Q: As a child, you carried any special talent or art?

• As a kid, I was really quiet around people I didn’t know. But anyone who’d met me atleast twice recall me as an extremely mischievous brat. Of course, I blame the TV for that. I was raised on sitcoms like the Golden Girls, Charles in charge, the Wonder Years and M*A*S*H*even as a kid. It’s only natural that I had “an answer for everything.” Academically, I was a class topper till I left Dubai. Nowadays, it’s still pretty much the same… only now, I lead from the other end of the scoreboard !!

Q: What nickname/s you have/had so far?

• Pythoroshan ( I actually got this one way back in 10^th standard… a take on Pythogoras and some altered equations I was creating myself. ) 2. Dosha ( Rhymes with Roshan… that and the fact that I can never pronounce ‘R’ right… ironic considering my name. )

Q: What education you acquired? How was it in sense of troubles? Whether you could complete the same easy way or faced the financial issues? If yes, how you overcame the same?

• I’m presently about to complete my 10^th year in the medical field on 27 September 2009. So where am I? I’m still at it.. finishing my final year of post graduate studies in Anesthesia. For anyone considering joining the medical field, let me just make it clear. It’s never going to be a walk in the park. There’s so much more than just the ‘odd 3 dozen books’ to read over 5 years. So many a time, brilliant students fall by the wayside simply because they cannot cope with the stress of work, the endless hours, seeing death on a daily basis. Nowadays, I see so many people sending their children into the medical field as a prestige issue or to carry on the family business, but that’s just insane. This is a profession where a single moment or lack of concentration at 2am in the morning after a 36 hour workshift can end up killing someone… and the only thing you can do about it is learn from your mistake and start the next day. No school can prepare you for life as a doctor.

Q: Who was/were your best friend/s during your school/highschool times?  Are you still in touch with them?

• Best friends during school? Sandheep Rajendran and Seema Nambiar, both excellent friends, who have shown, by example, how to cope with adversities and be successful in life. Arun B Nair for teaching me the value of the phrase ‘laughter is the best medicine’. From college life, Dr Harikrishnan B L, Dr Anees E K, Dr Priya Sooraj, Dr Riyaz Sheriff and Dr Sheena Riyaz were great friends who made medical life bearable and have always been by my side through good times and bad.

Q: What was your favorite subject of study?

• I was pretty good at Maths and English back in school, I think. In med school, I was more into ophthalmology and forensic medicine.

Q: What was your favorite sport?

• Soccer, no doubt. Umm… you did mean ‘watching it on TV, right and not attempting to actually play the game and make an ass of myself ?’ I’m pretty loyal to my favourite teams – Italy, Inter Milan, Man United… sigh, ok, also the Indian Cricket team.

Q: Any teacher that you still remember as particularly influential?

• So many come to mind from the medical profession… There was a Dr Philippousis, a jolly young Pharmacology sir who was always encouraging us inspite of our blunders and always had a secret formula or two for all the 10,000 odd drugs we had to remember. It’s unfortunate that I needed a formula to remember his formulas in the end.

• Dr Padmanabhan, my ENT lecturer. He’s brilliant in all fields of medicine, unlike most of the others, who tend to let a few areas slip away while focusing on their respective specialties. However, I still remember him because he’s someone who cares deeply, both for his work and beyond the medical field. I still remember him stopping his own lecture to read to us from a national magazine , the atrocities that took place during the Gujarat riots and asking us never to grow up to be like this. That image of passion stuck with me long after the riots ended.

Q: What was the first job/profession/business you started working for after completing your education?

• Well, this is kind of a trick question for us medical residents since I’m working more than 80 hours a week and technically it’s a learning opportunity. The degree at the end of this tunnel is my LICENSE TO KIL…oops, I mean, LICENSE TO HEAL. J

Q: Are you popular in your friend circle or say your community for some art /specialty/talent you have? If yes, tell us about it.

• Well, to those who know me personally, I guess I’m the standup comedian in the gang. But in recent years, I’ve made more new friends via my blog, GODYEARS. It’s been great since I’ve had the pleasure of meeting like minded people from across the globe over the last 4 years and not had to be judged on silly things like caste, nationality or religion. This is where I’ve gotten to meet so many talented and creative people and appreciate life uninhibitedly from different points of perspective. I really hope to make many more new and creative friends via this forum in the years to come.

Q: In addition to being paid money, how else has your career created value in your life?

• Being a doctor is unlike any other profession. Besides healing lives or eradicating germs, you learn about taking up responsibilities, working ungodly hours and seeing beyond caste and colour. Of course, knowing all that can go wrong with the human body also makes me appreciate all that is right in my life and count my blessings more.

Q: What is your most significant accomplishment as a professional/businessman/employee?

• Man. That’s a real doozie. I don’t know. I’d have to say seeing a patient happy and pain free after a successful surgery, but again, I’ve been doing this for 3 years now so there isn’t any particular face that comes to mind, be it 10 minutes old or 95 years old.

Q: What does the word “family” mean to you? Who are in your family? Tell us about your family life.

• My family is my safety net. They consist of my parents and elder brother. They’ve always been there for me, supporting me in all my decisions, even if they didn’t totally agree with it.
• My dad is one of the most hardworking people I know who devoted his entire life for his kid’s upbringing, sacrificing his own happiness and luxuries. My mom too is a housewife who lives just to see us kids happy. Seeing their sacrifices in life really makes me feel insignificant about the times I crib after a hard day’s work. I wonder if it’s just me or my generation but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live upto their level of hardwork, selflessness and commitment in this lifetime.

• One of the sad parts of being in the medical field is perhaps that work and duty take up so much of your time that you find so little time to spend with the ones you love or to show them how much they really mean to you.

Q: According to you what should be the role of a man and a woman in family life?

• I’ve heard all the justifications for and against this, but I still stick by the belief I’ve had since I was a teenager. I believe both share an equal role in maintaining a loving atmosphere. Somehow I’ve never been a big fan of the “I bring home the bacon and dollars, while you look after the kids and be the perfect homemaker” policy. After all, both should have equal rights to all decisions affecting their lives, right ?

Q: What is your definition of “happiness”?

• A happy family life with a loving wife, 2 kids ( I’m not going to be selfish – one can grow up to be a world class ballerina and the other can be the next Bill Gates.. simple dreams, you know ? )… oh, and atleast one dog which actually responds to my order of ‘COME’, irrespective of whether I have food in my hand. ( Hasn’t happened in 2 decades, but I’m still keeping my hopes up ! )

Q: What is your most memorable travel experience?

• can’t really think of any… sorry.

Q: If you were re-born as an animal, what would you want to be?

• No doubt about it… a dog in my house. Are you kidding me ? I’d get served food before the humans, eat meat even on days when the family’s observing strictly veg diets, have my own comfy spot below the fan and in front of the tv, get people to open doors for me and sleep on the bed.

Q: Do you think life in villages or small towns is more peaceful than in big cities?

• Honestly, no. It’s just that the stress is of a different nature. Having seen village life up close and personal during our medical visits to rural areas, I’d have to say I prefer a city life anyday.

Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan

Q: Do you believe in God? Do you believe in rebirth?

• People always ask me whether I believe in God since some of my views on religion in my blog tend to be a bit severe. Well, the fact of the matter is, I do believe in him, no doubt about it… I’m just not too sure about his policies. I mean, you see all the suffering some pious people face and compare it with the luxuries some rotten guys have and it’s hard to believe God’s gotten it right, karma or no karma. Hopefully, he’s just dozing off leaving the Earth on ‘autopilot’ and our prayers on his answering machine for now.
• Rebirth.. definitely believe in it. Can’t finish all the sins in one lifetime, can I?

Q: Are you happy with present system of education? What changes you aspire to see in it?

• I wish that it was more job oriented rather than just mugging up facts from books and by hearting it till the last exam bell. There really ought to be more aptitude tests in school to help guide students in the right direction.

Q: What do you think about corruption amongst politicians/bureaucrats?

• It’s kind of like asking “What do you think of the water in the sea” isn’t it ? It’s there, it’s abundant and even if you try taking out as much water/ corruption as you can, there’s never going to be an end to it. Accept it and continue.

Q: What are your hobbies?

• I’m an avid reader, movie collector and blogger. Since the last 4 years, blogging has overridden the others. It’s been a great medium to tell the world how I feel and find out their opinions too. But work hours hardly permit time for even that these days.

Q: What do you read? In other words, are you into reading? If yes, share your favorite books.

As I mentioned, I read a lot. My interests tend to vary across all genres ranging from Mathew Reilly, John Conolly, Jeffrey Deaver, Dan Brown to Paulo Coelho, Robert Ludlum and the Chicken Soup Series.

Favourites ? Let’s see : In no particular order

1.      The Kite Runner

2.      Angels and demons – Dan Brown ( much better than Da Vinci Code )

3.      Ticktock & Watchers – Dean Koontz ( the kind of books I’d love to write )

4.      The Wedding – Nicholas Sparks ( a worthy successor to The Notebook )

5.      Veronica decides to die – Paulo Coelho ( an underrated book )

Q: What was the happiest moment of your life?

• Passing my final year MBBS… certain moments from my first love come to mind as well.

Q: What was the gloomiest moment of your life?

• Recently, this year had a severely debilitating episode of sacroiliitis with sciatica which left me bedridden for over a month. I literally couldn’t move my leg because of the pain for weeks. That has to be one of the most hellish periods of my life.

Q: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

• I’d like to visit Venice in Italy. It just seems like such a beautiful place. I’d like to travel to Singapore too for much the same reasons. And of course, I’d like to enjoy Dubai as it is today. Because I know it’s changed beyond recognition from the time I last visited it.

Q: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorites ones?

Ans.: Again in no particular order :

1.      Shawshank redemption

2.      Jerry macguire

3.      Love actually

4.      Terminator 2

5.      Andaz apna apna ( Hindi )

6.      Hot shots – part deux

Q: What are some words or phrases you use most?

Ans.:

1.      Oh man!

2.      Go jump in the well !

3.      Who da maan ?

Q: What image about you, you want to create in other people’s mind?

• More than a doctor, I’d like to be remembered as a good guy… someone who people remember with a smile and happy memories. If not that, I hope they remember me as “that filthy rich guy with the hot wife and thousands of fans.” I’d settle for that too J

Q: What would be the one thing you would change about yourself?

• My ( non existent ) fitness regime

Q: What is your deepest fear?

• Hurting the ones I love.

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

• Probably Princess Diana. Sure, she wasn’t perfect but her heart was in the right place. I mean, seriously, today’s role model is Paris Hilton ?!!! Oh boy, we’re screwed.

Q: What’s your favorite food?

• Prawns, I guess.

Q: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

• I’d have to say simpler. You can crib all you want about how technology has made life seem so impersonal, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s made everything accessible at the click of a button.

Q: What’s your overall perception of life?

• Keep running. Because time doesn’t wait for anyone. Be good. You never know when you’ll need a favour from someone you don’t particularly like.

Q: Any special message you would like to share with people you know as well everyone else? This question is question-less question. That means, if you have something inside you that you really wish to tell but couldn’t be covered in above questions, you can share it ALL here.

• I really wish there was a cure for sadness, but there isn’t. We’re stuck with it. So wherever you are, do me a favour and just do one selfless act today, showing someone you care for them or that they matter in your life. I really do believe even one random act of kindness can make a difference. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but hey , you can’t blame me !! After all, we Aquarians always have our heads in the clouds J

P.S. I will not be promoting my blog godyears.blogspot.com on this questionnaire since that would be an annoying and shameless form of self promoting, so even though it’s a blog filled with action, romance, drama, emotions, comedy, songs, heroes and myself, don’t think of godyears.blogspot.com. I repeat, no godyears.blogspot.com. Nope. Don’t go there. Ignore the fact that I’ve hyperlinked it so you can get there at the touch of a button.

Oh ok.. you can go there. But only because you insist. J

Have a good day wherever you are .