SPARRC & STRIDES

#112 Post

This post should be interesting for I have some outside events to report and analyse; most of the time I keep psychoanalyzing. 

SPARRC INSTITUTE

Dr. Kannan Pugazhendi is regarded as a maverick doctor who gives excellent results for knee pains. I consulted him a fortnight back and it was some experience: he just pressed my knee muscles and the calves and the spine and kept rattling names like “this muscle is weak; that needs strengthening” as his assistant kept taking notes. Dr. Kannan sees over 100 patients in three hours and no patient gets to open his mouth for a ONE MINUTE examination. The consultation fee of Rs. 700 is worth its weight; soon his team take over and advise for “Therapy and Rehab” sessions.

            This man sees patients at Alwarpet centre while I do the therapy sessions at Besant nagar centre. Rs. 25 k for 24 sessions is value for money; I would have been happy to pay twice that sum.

            Venkatesh is my physiotherapist and he is hardworking. He spends an hour massaging my abdomen, knee and calf muscles where I am reduced to agonizing oohs and aahs. At times it gets so painful as I ask him to stop; the muscles are treated as Thangam my cook kneads wheat for making chappatis. He explains this mode of treatment, “Sir, there are muscle trigger points which we are trying to relax. This way the pain comes down in a couple of sessions before we teach you strengthening exercises for each particular muscle.” At the end of each session there is ICING the whole structure and I definitely feel an improvement in my knees.

            Venkatesh went on leave and the therapy sessions are done by females. This is a real back-breaking work. They press the fingers hard on the skin, at times using their elbows to add pressure at those conjoint points. I feel nothing but gratitude. Truth be told, Suganya is better masseur than Venkatesh; she has an intuitive sense of the pain points and goes attacking them with pressure and elbows that reduce me to biting my tongue to suppress a yell.  There was another very young therapist, Protima, who said, “Sathya, your muscles are now free but your mind is not registering the healing.” She added, “You are used to a limp walk, try lifting your knees for each stride.” I followed her advice as she taught me how to walk. I had really forgotten the gait and good news is my knees are on the mend.

            I walk to the beach and regulars at Eliots say, “You sure have a funny gait with a half limp and half bends, It sure is sexy for a visual.” As for me, I recommend SPARRC to anyone with any kind of pain. They sure are effective as hell. Besides very decent people. 

STRIDES CONSULTING

            I had a three days Soft skills training at St. Joseph Engineering College at OMR and it was a fantastic experience to watch other trainers in action. Over three days, I attended the sessions of 13 trainers and I learnt an ocean of a lot. I am glad that this company is kind enough to put me on as a SHADOW where my job is only to watch others in action.

            One learning I had was “Soft skills is a career and of course you will be impacting lives but  that should not be your primary focus at this first year engineering students level, this is a career for you. Your objective should be to get a good feedback at the end of three days.”  I can aim for glory at the corporate level or when the audience is matured where there is scope for daring experimentation.

            I must thank Priscilla Joseph for her kindness in taking me under her wing. I am so fortunate to attend the sessions of high quality trainers that I feel a sense of liberation and feeling right. Now I am mentally prepared for this role.  Strides Consulting has enriched me both on content and delivery for an very important insight: there is no such thing as a perfect content or a preferred delivery style. You walk your way through and the course content will take you to the destination.  It is such a pleasure to see tongue-tied students open up and speak so fluently on a public platform on day-3. Another insight is: You need a team of trainers, the lonely bird does not get the contract. This is an interesting space; you only get paid for "working on for the day" and you are free to work for anyone on idle days for a daily labour kind of feel but what the hell, there is never a dull moment on the WORK days. 

            On Monday when I came back from the day’s labour of 9 to 6, my head swooned in dizziness. I am used to fever, cough, knee pains but this head dizzy spells got me in a panic. I kept vomiting – threw up the entire dinner in the closet – and felt the Yama was riding his bulls in the vicinity. The next morning when I told Venkatesh of these faints, he said, “Sir, it might be due to high BP or even vertigo.” He took my blood pressure and said that at 150 it is a bit too high, “Sir, avoid salt and oily foods.” That morning assurance felt divine and timely, He really is gifted with a good mouth and a great heart. Thank you, man.

Miscellany

I am fortunate having Pandian as the buyer of my apartment. He said, “Sir, I don’t intend moving in. You can reside here as long as you wish by paying market rate rentals.” I told him,” Thanks man, I don’t intend staying for more than 6 months here.”

            I will turn 50 by April end and I wish to celebrate it in a new home. I don’t want to purchase any apartment and I feel it is better to live on rentals. I am investing over a crore in mutual funds and equity market and hopefully these can fetch a 15% return on year to year basis. As for as my next residence, I am planning a Abu Dhabi visit for December (hoping that I will be jogging fit by then) for a job search. Sabeesh, my ex-colleague at Adline, said, “Sathya, I will arrange you the best bed space in town and near your favourite Sangeetha restaurant.” I must make 50 k  in Chennai but I am doubtful. If Dubai shows an empty harvest, I plan to settle down in Bangalore for 2019. I don’t think I will miss anything leaving Besant nagar except the friendly expertise of my cook, Thangam Mami. She truly was as reliable as a clock in the last 8 years and I plan to give her a good purse as a parting gift.

            And as for me, I am happy with life. I am slowly winning caring friends like Neetu, Lalit and Ashish Bansal. There are quite a few who care for me from my IMT circles. TH Iyer mama supports me unconditionally and he says, “Sathya, mad fellow, don’t leave Besant nagar at any cost. This is paradise on earth and I like to see you daily at the Beach.” Then there is Dhamma Mani Sir, Deepak called from Dubai to advise on investment basics and so many really. Yesterday was my dad’s 29^th death ceremony and both my mother and Viji were here. I was telling my sister, “Of the three, I am the smartest and most intelligent. Even if I die today, I have a body of work that will be read and respected by the next generation.”  She nodded heartily as I said, “If I ever have a publishing contract for an autobiography, what a tale that would make. Very few know how to heal childhood traumas and bipolar and I have done that. It’s a story that could be of interest to millions of readers. I will pitch for a contract in Europe or USA and trust me I will die both rich and famous.” I also replaced all the guitar strings and it sounds divine as I spent at least an hour on it. The fingers leap across the frets with a new found expertise. Sathya is great, Sathya is genius much like my heroes Sherlock Holmes and a very real Alexander the Great.   

Post Script: I must work on a blog on "Alexander" which I have been putting off for over a year now. Another must be on Sherlock Holmes, Granada Series which had Jeremy Brett in the lead. Actually I grew up on Arthur Conon Doyle's works, Star Trek and so many beautiful things in my school days. Doordarshan was splendid those days with Lucy Show, Yes Minister that I go nostalgic even today. Someday I must also attempt a blog on Vadivelu, a Tamil comedian I admire a lot.