I had a dream 2.1, Dr Ruit and his "gwache" lens

Sweating and panting, I paced myself into a deep dark patch in some Bolivian rainforest. I was being chased by a cynical guy I really couldn’t  figure out but I had a feeling he was quickly gaining ground. 

BAM! 

A rifle shot ricocheted from a nearby trunk missing my head only by an inch. I could feel my neck getting dryer, my body aching, my head swirling around looking for a better direction to head into.

There was none.

Just then, I heard another shot. Something hit me on my ass and I fell flat on the muddy, moth infested forest floor. “Check if the guy is ok”, barked someone. The voice was recognizable but a little weird to be certain. “He’s fine boss. Should we pull him up?” A strong arm grabbed me by my neck. I was starting to feel numb throughout. I spit out some blood.

“So we meet again”

I focused my eyes. My dirt ridden glasses could hardly help it focus. But then my adrenaline pumped brain registered someone so distinct that took a while to reaffirm myself that he was for real.

Dr. Ernesto “El Che" was smoking his usual trademark hand rolled Cuban cigar, taking a short and then a long puff as he blew it out into the fresh air.  

“Where’s the dope?”

“What?!”

“Where’s the dope Marks gave you? "Where the *&^% is it?”

“Who’s Marks?”

“This guy is ^&*%ing ridiculous. H-O-W-A-R-D  Marks.”

“Why would I even do business with him? I am clean. Btw would you mind signing an autograph for me? I have a paper in my breast pocket. huge fan.”

“Kill him”

BAM!

The whole world seem to spun around, twisting and turning as I hear a very distant voice… “muu…” ….. “muukkk”…… “YA! Mukhe!!”

“Hey man, wake up! The exams over”

Don’t look at me like that. I did everything I could in an hour and THEN they extended it for one more. What was I supposed to do?

If a kid comes to me and says he wants to be an engineer when he grows up, I will give him a nice slap. Of course that’s child abuse but the kid has no clue what he’s talking about. Not that I am discouraging him or anything, it’s a good thing that he wants to stick his ass to the study table or watch his prof speak Russian but I am adamant on the fact the kid has had too much of Iron Man comics to read.

got to be extra careful

……..As you grow up, you slowly realize that anything you do could get difficult.

Saying NO to a birthday party you really want to go to but you are stuck with some project work you have to do, drinking a bottle of beer upside down, reading a text that says “I just had the best pizza in a long time and I didn’t invite you”, waiting for the stupid elevator to come all the way up from the basement to the 9^th floor, playing Temple Run while standing on the bus or the worst of all, staying up in the exam after a 48 study marathon. You don’t want to study with the Koreans. First they don’t sleep and they don’t let you sleep. Last semester was just horrible.

And if writing irrelevant crap wasn't enough , Halal sold his bike. Its now officially 5^th hand. I think it was the best decision he has had to make in a while as I was pretty sure I would have got a call from a nearby hospital requesting my presence for a guy who just lost his head. I had an infinite number of “the life-flashback thing” of a much younger version of me running around naked when I was trying my very best to put my ass on the passenger seat. But I do miss going around on it, especially the quick trips to mcdonalds.

Moving on to more serious stuff, I will be writing about someone to whom I got introduced for the very first time when I was reading Readers Digest back in 2007. There was this story about an eye doctor from Nepal who travelled to far, remote corners of the country to cure blindness caused by cataracts. Dr. Sanduk Ruit.

Born in Okhaldhunga, a remote place in eastern Nepal, Dr Ruit had a difficult time in his early years.  Like most children in those areas, going to school was a huge struggle. He is believed to have spurred into being a doctor after his sister died of tuberculosis when he was in his late teens. THAT must have been really hard to take.

But eventually he did cut out to be what he dreamed of. After a three year ophthalmology residency, he got to work with Prof. Fred Hollows who later became an integral part of the work he has been doing right now. Hollows helped him to focus his goals, clear out the path and aided him in undertaking the latest cataract micro-surgery technique using implanted intraocular lens.

In a career exceeding more than 30 years, Dr Ruit has alone completed more than 100,000 successful cataracts surgeries all around the world including the likes of North Korea. That’s a lot of eyes cured. The technique he devised, known as Ruitectomy, helped to bring the cost from $100 to mere $5 making it accessible to the less fortunate who were hit by cataracts the hardest.

The "gwache" lens, an example of IOL

Ruitenomy is a stitch-free surgical technique that allows cataracts to be removed safely without stitches through two small incisions. Dr Ruit engineered International Standard IOL (intraocular lens) is then replaced for focus. (I was called “gwache” while trying to explain the very same thing not too long ago hahaha. She will have to think twice before she says that again.) The lens is manufactured in Tilganga Eye Institute which he founded in 1994.

A website claims this :

Based on calculations from several sources, it is now estimated that more than 4 million of the world's 20 million people with cataract blindness have already had their sight restored through Dr. Ruit's pioneering SCIS surgery and low-cost artificial lenses.

It is not surprising that Dr. Ruit has been awarded and nominated for both national and international accolades as his work speaks volumes of the amount of dedication he has for aiding victims to see the vibrant, colorful world again. It is truly remarkable that he goes to the most remote of places in Nepal to help the neediest without any charge whatsoever. He truly sets the bar high for the next generation who plan to follow suit.

On a final note, we have just recently released Quill’s final issue for this semester. Click here. Downloading the pdf shouldn’t be a problem unless you are in Nepal. Adsl sucks big time.

That’s all for this time. Hope you will have a great day. I will be back when I am all done with my finals which will duly take place next week. I have also got a crazy assignment due today which will take half a day to figure out what the question is talking about and the other half to complete it.

Nah… Will just copy it.