Twice Lucky!

Twice Lucky

I just dodged a bullet, two in as many years. What I am telling you now, will come as a surprise. It came to us in our family too also, as a huge surprise!! Bear with me since the note is a detailed one, but I hope you find it informative. Perhaps you may even relate it to your own experience or a family member or a friend.

It’s primarily about my health wherein changes have occurred in the last 2 months, most of them minor but they ultimately add up.

I remember telling a few of my friends and relatives that my cardiologist had said that the heart medications could in a few patients cause constipation. Constipation could be a side effect of the blood thinners and statins. In my case, this problem did not start immediately after the placement of the stent in February 2025 (this was the first bullet I dodged). It started around six or seven months later. I used to take SoftOvac (Isabgol) and that would give me some relief.

However, it got worse about a month back and straining myself everyday was beginning to become a rule rather than an exception and a painful exercise. In the meantime, my back pain and left knee pain (sciatica issues + osteoarthritis) had got worse and the timely intervention by my brother-in-law who dragged me to meet a Spine Surgeon at Corporate Hospital was extremely helpful. This doctor after a physical examination and a couple of exercises suggested TENS treatment by a physiotherapist. He did mention that the Physiotherapist would suggest a few basic stretch and muscle strengthening exercises and that I must follow the instructions daily. 

The physiotherapist did the TENS (transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) + ultrasound pain treatment for 7 days. The person told me that if I want to become normal, I must carry out certain stretches and muscle strengthening exercises at least 6 days/week. The exercises were taught from the 3rd day of TENS. It was recorded on my phone so that the sequence would be adhered to. There has been an improvement and my back and knee pain are at a minimum. I have not stopped my daily exercises. But there is a small pain in the upper back of the spine and this could be from the stretch exercises. Hopefully, this will eventually reduce – this is my understanding!

An altogether new problem suddenly surfaced 7 or 8 days back. Pain in the lower left side of abdomen. The pain in my abdomen became unbearable and I decided to meet a General Physician at a Corporate Hospital. My wife spoke with my cardiologist who suggested a General Physician in a different Corporate Hospital on Saturday, 14th March 2026. However, this doctor wasn’t available for consultation till 23rd March.

My younger son then called the Hospital to check if a doctor was available right away. As luck would have it, we found a General Physician at the 12:30 PM slot on 14th March 2026 at a Corporate Hospital, closer home.

After a fairly detailed consult and physical examination, the doctor concluded that the pain appeared to be in the region of the large intestine (colon). All other organs seemed okay. But to be sure the doctor suggested that we get an ultrasound scan done and show the scanned image and report the same day.

We got the Ultrasound scan done at Corporate Hospital itself. Report stated that at the descending end of the Colon, the wall has thickened causing the pain in the lower left side of abdomen. I am guessing that the passage had got narrow as a result of thickening, resulting in pain and difficulty during evacuation.

We then headed back to meet the General Physician again with the scan report. While the Ultrasound Technician said it was not urgent to do a CT scan, the General Physician on the contrary thought otherwise.  The Doctor insisted on getting a contrast CT scan to be done as soon as possible to understand whether it's a simple infection or something more ominous.

But, to do a contrast CT scan, the blood creatinine count has to be within limits. We got the blood tested at Corporate Hospital and found the figure to be 0.87, which is within the range of 0.72 to 1.18. It was a green signal to proceed with Contrast CT scan. 

For getting the Contrast CT scan done, we checked and found a Diagnostic & Research Lab closer home to be more reasonable in their charges. And thankfully they were open on Sunday, 15th March 2026. We went at 7:30 AM and started the process of getting the Contrast CT done.

Contrast CT scan of the abdomen and pelvic region isn't a simple test... Got to know about it first hand on Sunday. 

When I was called to lie on the cold CT scan sliding table, it looked pretty simple. The assistant just said relax, don't shuffle and hold your breath when told over the speaker. The whole thing was over in less than 5 minutes. 

I was very happy that it turned out to be such a simple procedure. 

The assistant gave a knowing smile and said that it was the first part of scan on an empty stomach and colon. Now let's prepare you for the second step. He gave an oral contrast mixed with 300 ml water and orange juice concentrate. I was asked to drink and come back for a 2nd helping, 20 minutes later. 

After the 2nd repeat oral contrast of 300 ml, I was asked to walk around and help the liquid to descend to the colon. The assistant said it could take up to 1.5 hours for the contrast to spread itself inside. 

Twenty minutes later, he asked me to take the 3rd dose of 300 ml contrast with water and orange juice concentrate. Thankfully, he said he will stop with the 3rd dose. 

30 minutes later, I saw him waiting for me... I was happy that this would be the 2nd and final scan, since both the tummy and intestines were brimming full with contrast solution. 

But, when I saw him prepare yet another 300 ml of oral solution, my heart skipped a beat. He assured me he would not ask me to drink that right away. But he made me lie on the CT scan table for another 20 minutes. My mind kept guessing what he would propose next. He also must have thought what would be my reaction to what he would propose next!  

All questions went away when he asked me to be prepared for the next scan. This time the scan was done with fluids and contrast in the system. 

Post this, the assistant smilingly said, "Sir, we will not leave you without troubling you a bit". That perked up my ears, not knowing what to anticipate. He poked a canola needle to inject dye into the bloodstream on my right arm. Once done, he said turn over so that I can inject 200 ml fluid of contrast from the backside...and this came as a shocker. Having no alternative but to obey his orders makes matters a bit easy...since one needs to surrender to the demands of the situation. Surprisingly, it wasn't painful as I was wondering...but this wasn't the end. He asked me to sit up and drink another 200 ml of oral contrast with water and orange juice concentrate. By now, I had resigned from thinking...I did as told and then he conducted the scan not once, but three times more. 

When I thought it was all over, he returned and said we need to do one last time and it's called "Delayed CT Scan".

Once done, it was a big relief to be allowed to go to the restroom. The liquid in my system was bobbing much like the fuel tankers on the roads.

Ten minutes later, he finally gave me the green signal to change to my clothes, removed the canola and said, "you may proceed home, now".

Thanks to my folks for patiently waiting, it out from 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM and being there for me for the entire duration that lasted 4 hours. Care givers get more stressed when compared to patients, I guess. It's like sitting in a cage of the waiting room, not knowing when the door will open. To my family and friends: thank you for being my strength. 

I tried asking the assistant for clues about the outcome of the scan...however, he was emphatic when he said he didn't know anything about the scan and dismissed all my questions sternly. A wrong word could cause immense damage to the patient, is how he closed our discussion on this topic. Only a doctor has the authority to interpret and tell the patient about what is written in the report. He just said, “collect the report anytime post 6 PM after calling the front desk”. 

The report was given at 5:30 PM on Sunday itself. All the organs are reported to be of right shape and size. Only Liver (fatty liver leaning towards fibrosis) is reported as enlarged. Prostate is also enlarged but it is common for men above 65. We could only understand the last statement which said, “Advice Colonoscopy / Biopsy for further investigation”.

Today, 17th March 2026 was the day of reckoning when we had to meet the General Physician at the Corporate Hospital. Luckily both my sons joined my wife and me to meet the General Physician. The doctor had insisted that the entire family be present to listen.

The doctor took the last statement mentioned in the Contrast CT Scan Report and emphatically suggested Colonoscopy with Biopsy to rule out any issues. The doctor went to extent of stating that a biopsy of the hardened tissue must be sent for biopsy and subsequently a PET Scan may have to be done to check the spread of cancer, if detected. While this sounded quite a scary, my reaction was to understand what was the next step to be taken instead of allowing our minds to conjure thoughts of a doomsday. According to me the doctor was thinking too much into the future. But having started the tests, it was better to go through the entire process and get a conclusive report.

Options were few. I had no choice but get the Colonoscopy done. I was then referred to meet a Gastroenterologist at same Corporate Hospital. Good for us that he was available and gave us his time to explain what needs to be done. He had read the Contrast CT scan report and said he would do two things, Colonoscopy and Endoscopy. Colonoscopy to check for the hardening of the colon walls and Endoscopy to check the reason for fatty liver. He seemed knowledgeable and said he would scrape some tissue from the hardened section only if he was certain that it required a biopsy. Scarring the tissue is not a good idea he said. He took the next step of booking us for the first slot on 20th March and asked us to meet his team to get further instructions on the process of preparing for the test.

The process is simple and should take 15 minutes to complete is what the doctor said. But preparation time needs to be factored. Also, tablet Clopilet (blood thinner) needs to be stopped for 3 days from tonight till the Colonoscopy is completed. My cardiologist had given the green signal for getting this done.

We reached the Corporate Hospital at 8:40 AM as requested. Previous night, the Coloprep medication was very effective. I must have gone to the restroom at least a dozen times from 10:45 PM onwards to 1:45 AM. Thankfully, I was not dehydrated as the liquid meds and water (3:5 litres), was consumed within a span of 4 hours. 

On the 20^th March 2026, I was wheeled into the OT at 9:20 or 9:25. I was able to see a large clock in the OT. The assistant to the Gastroenterologist came in at 9:45 and immediately commenced the two procedures. First was Endoscopy. Thankfully, by the time they inserted the probe through the mouth, the anaesthesia had kicked in and I did not realize what was happening. They also did the colonoscopy after completing the endoscopy.

When I got my senses back, I was being wheeled back to the holding room from the OT at 10:25 AM.

It was a huge relief to know that the colon wall hardening is not malignant. In fact, the doctors decided not to extract any tissue for biopsy. It was like being given a new chance to carry on! And no wonder like my college batchmate had said, "I dodged a bullet"! A 2nd one, in as many years! 

Back at the holding room the Gastroenterologist came to update all of us. He ruled out cancer and prescribed simple medication for the next fortnight. However, he said my Liver needs a fresh look through an ultrasound scan and he proposed that I get it done on 23^rd March 2026 (Monday) at 10 AM. This is to decide on the medications required to get the liver back into shape and its operations. 

There were many anxious moments in this short journey and I must thank my entire family, especially my wife to have been my strength for the entire duration. I must also thank my sons, their wives and grandson, besides my siblings and their respective families for their support and wishes.

All's well that ends well! 

Temple Town - T Narasipura

 

Temple town of Tirumakudalu Narasipura

This temple city in the state of Karnataka is unique and draws a parallel to Prayagraj in the north. Both these places have a Triveni Sangam and host Kumbh Mela.

While the Sangam in Prayagraj is a confluence of three rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical underground Saraswati, at T Narasipura it is the confluence of rivers Cauvery, Kabini and Mythical Spatika Sarovara. Also known as Dhakshina Kashi, T Narasipura is a sacred pilgrimage center and hosts Kumbh Mela, once every three years.

The two temples Gunja Narasimhaswamy and Agastyeshwara are significant, being more than 450 years old and finds a mention in Skanda Purana. This sacred town was patronaged by Vijayanagar and Mysore Kings. The name of the village – Tiru stands for ‘three’, Kudalu means ‘Sangama’ and Narasimhapura means the place of Lord Narasimha.

While we had visited this holy town almost a decade ago, we hadn’t paid much attention to the temple history. This time on 7^th December 2025, we were invited to join for the 10^th year annual ritual of my father-in-law’s younger brother. My brother-in-law suggested that we join him on the 3 hours’ drive and we did! This time we reached a bit early and found ample time to spend some quality time at the two temples and learn about its origins and history.

Getting to learn about some finer aspects from Priests themselves is extremely interesting. Later, reading about it in Google is like joining the pieces of a big puzzle and it all adds up to recreate history in our minds. Documenting it makes an interesting read not just to ourselves, but also for the generations to come.

Gunja seed is an ancient medicine, toxic because of the presence of Abrin, a protein similar to ricin and viper snake venom. Its botanical name is Abrus Precatorius and its also called Rosary Pea. This is used as beads in a percussion instrument and each seed weighs less than 0.15 gram. This plant is a perennial climber, slender and twines around trees, shrubs and hedges.

I wonder how many people know that Gunja seed is the determining factor in deciding which kshetra was more sacred – Kashi or T Narasipura.

As the legend goes, a washerman used to come to this Triveni Sangam to wash clothes daily. One night Lord Narasimha appeared in his dream and guided him to an anthill which had a Vigraha of the Lord himself embedded deep within. Next morning the washerman went to the same anthill and poured water on it and unbelievably found a beautiful Vigraha reveal itself as the mud slipped away. Having found the Vigraha, the washerman deemed it fit to build a temple at the same place. For this he would require financial resources and he had none! The Lord himself appeared in his dream again and guided him to his washing stone, and lying beneath this stone was treasure – enough to help the washerman build a magnificent temple. The Lord was mighty pleased with the washerman’s devotion and commitment and wanted to bless him. Lord Narasimha said “Ask and you shall be given”! The washerman wished that he get an opportunity to travel to Kashi, take a holy dip in the Ganges to rid himself of all sins and attain moksha. Lord Narasimha replied that there was no need to travel to Kashi as this place was more sacred than Kashi. To prove his point the Lord put Kashi and Narasipura on the two sides of a balance (measuring) scale. Narasipura was heavier by weight equal to one Gunja seed. To this day Lord Narasimhaswamy holds a gulaganji in his hand. There is more similarity between the two sacred places – In Kashi Lord Shiva is worshipped as Visveshwara and here he is worshipped as Agastyeshwara. In Kashi one can have darshana of Vata-Vrikshsa and here it is Brahma Ashwatha Vriksha.

This Brahma Ashwatha Vriksha is adjacent to the Agastyeshwara temple, yet another place of worship in T Narasipura. This temple is built on a slender strip of land that guides the two rivers Cauvery and Kabini to a meeting point. As the legends goes, Agastya muni while traversing the Dandakaranya forest decided to halt at T Narasipura and offer his prayers to Lord Shiva. He directed Lord Hanuman to get him a Linga from Kashi but didn’t have the patience to wait for his return. Even the auspicious time for doing the Prana Pratishtapana was fast approaching. He then decided to make a Linga out of the river sand on the banks and performed the Prana-Pratishtapana of this Linga. When Lord Hanuman returned with a Linga from Kashi, he was surprised to see that Agastya muni had already completed his installation, Prana Pratishtapana and worship of the idol. He was visibly upset and in a fit of rage, he dealt a severe blow atop the newly made Linga. But since the Prana Pratishtapana was already done, this had turned into a living idol and couldn’t be destroyed. The rear of the Linga remained intact and it is so to this day. But the front portion developed a slit giving passage to Ganga to trickle from the opening. To this day water trickles from this slit and is offered as tirtha prasada by the purohit. While the purohit was telling us this story that probably dates back to the ancient times, we listened with absolute awe and seeing the surprise, he went to the Linga and scooped up 5 to 6 Udharne of this holy water and gave it to us as prasada.

We then proceeded to partake in the annual rituals and offered our respects to the departed soul. It is considered good to conduct these rituals in a tirtha kshetra and this town has a sizable population of priests who conduct them. The arrangements were extremely good and so was the food – homemade!

What came as a pleasant surprise was the pot hole free roads all the way to the town. Living in Bangalore city which has only pot holes and virtually no road, this came as a BIG surprise to all of us. On the return journey however, there was an accident and the traffic was diverted through a single lane mud track. Some anxious moments before we hit the main highway once again and the return journey was event free. We must thank Google for mapping all the narrow lanes as well – such a detour is important in case of an emergency.

We stopped enroute at a restaurant for a cup of coffee and it was pretty good and perhaps a tad better than what is dished out in Bangalore restaurants/Darshini’s these days.

Memories November 29 and 30, 2025

Memories…keeping them alive with a few words of Appreciation.

November 29^th and 30^th have been milestone days in our life and we thank all our family members and Sambandhis for have graced the special occasion and for having been there for us.

Indeed it was very eventful the last two days and not forgetting the month long run-up and preparations that went towards planning, coordinating with all the stakeholders, who worked towards making the event a success. 

It is easy to conclude that the program went off very well and all the invitees enjoyed themselves during the get together. But what we do not give much credit is to the small group that combined so very well to pay very close attention to all the details to make it a success. The five... Uma, Rohit, Lavanya, Rahul and Sanjana deserve a very *Special* pat on the back, to have planned and managed the events so very beautifully to make it a resounding success!! 

The remaining two, Tanay and I also deserve some applause for staying out of the way, not interfering and not getting under their skins by giving unsolicited advice...

We tried out a different caterer this time and he prepared our choice of recipe to the entire satisfaction of each and every guest on both days. His set of people were extremely polite and checked with all for a second or third helping - almost the way we look after our guests when they come home to share a meal with us. He deserves a round of applause...what finally matters to the invitees is whether the food was tasty and was it tastefully served...it remains etched in their memories for a long time to come and brings a smile when asked, how was the function? 

Narendra, our family Purohit has evolved to become a proficient one and all that he learned under his grandfather's tutelage is being put to good use and with no compromise in the rituals or Vedic mantras. Honestly, he is the one-person instrumental in making this event take shape. On a chance meeting almost a year or year and half back, he mentioned to Uma and I, that he had  dreamt performing Shashtipoorthi. That set our minds in motion...why not convert his dream into our reality. Uma was to complete her sixtieth year on 18/Feb/2026 and it is auspicious to perform Ganahoma, Ayushyahoma, Rudrahoma, Dhanavanatarihoma, Navagraha puje during the course of sixtieth year. All these homas were to be done after Udaka Shanti. We put it back into Narendra's court asking him to fix a good day/date and reserve himself for those days to personally conduct the event. He committed himself to it and conducted the events extremely well.

Udaka Shanti is a Hindu ritual involving sacred water to invoke peace, purify a space, and remove obstacles. The name combines "Udaka" (water) and "Shanti" (peace), and the ceremony uses Vedic mantras chanted over a pot of water to bless it. This holy water is then sprinkled around the home or new business to purify the environment and protect from negative energy.

Key aspects of Udaka Shanti:

Purpose: To bring peace and harmony, remove negative influences, and ensure a spiritually clean environment for auspicious events. It is often performed before major life events such as weddings, housewarmings, or childbirth.

Ritual: Priests perform the ceremony by chanting Vedic mantras, particularly from the Yajurveda, while invoking deities and blessing a pot of water.

Purification: The water is considered sacred and is used to purify the home, property, or individuals by being sprinkled or consumed.

Benefits: The ritual is believed to remove obstacles, foster positive energy, and create a harmonious atmosphere. It can also be performed annually to maintain a positive environment.

Significance of water: Water is a central element, representing purity and the life-giving force. The ritual uses the purifying properties of water to cleanse the space and the minds of those involved. 

On hindsight, it was a good spur of the moment decision. We hear more about the head of the family going through these set of rituals when they approach sixty but we hear less of such an event for the wives...it was an occasion to respect the better half for having reached a milestone in her life. Added to that was the completion of our 40 years of togetherness that made the celebration that much more special!! 

With the Almighty's grace the two day event was successfully completed and we thank all the members of our family for combining so very well to provide such a wonderful experience not just to us, the immediate family but to all those folks who came for the events...everyone looked very happy...they all joyfully took part in the events, stayed with us for the whole event and blessed our family as they said their good-byes. 

A cyclone was brewing in the Bay of Bengal but thankfully it did not dampen our spirits or stop us from doing all that we did in those two days. 

As I conclude my narration, I must thank each and every one of you for gracing the occasion and being present for the entire duration of the program.