HAPPY NEW YEAR -2020

Wishing all my valued colleagues and their spouses and families a very happy new year.

You would have noted my opening statement:- 

“I am dedicated to humanism and refuse to judge people according to labels they are born with. Their actions and behaviour shall be my yardsticks, always cognizant of the challenges they faced in life”.

In case readers wonder why I included the words-"always cognizant of the challenges they faced in life”, it is a recognition of the fact that in many ways, we don't really have a "free will" because, in the same situation, two people can make contrary decisions because of traumatic experiences (challenges) they faced in life which subconsciously affect their judgement. A young man brought up in an inner-city ghetto with abusive parents compared to a man brought up in a stable environment with loving parents for example. That is why we must be very careful in passing judgment on actions performed by people. Knowing the background is crucial. This type of thinking also leads to reforming a criminal rather than punishing him. I would be very interested in your feedback.

This brings me neatly to why I value our 1962 ColomboMedgrads blog and commend it to all of my Medical friends.

There are several major influencing factors in our lives.

1.  Our genes. This is probabilistic and not necessarily deterministic. If you have good genes, consider yourself lucky! Bad genes are not an excuse either!

2.    Your parents and your family and how they influenced you.

3.    Your schooling and especially your teachers

4.    The moral values you were subjected to - role models, religious precepts etc.

5.    Key Formative years, and in our case, includes our Medical undergraduate days.

The list is not exhaustive. The final factor I mentioned is of great significance to me. I changed from a wide eyed innocent boy to a mature adult. My teachers and my fellow undergraduates are and shall remain a key part of my life- not necessarily as a daily conscious thought requiring reminiscence and introspection, but certainly a key part of what makes me what I am.

I am reminded of a few worthy quotes.

(1) "True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable." David Tyson Gentry

(2) "Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." Muhammad Ali“

(3) "The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship." Ralph Waldo Emerson 

(4) "Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that." Ally Condie

To all my colleagues I say, “Thank you very much and let us always be friends, however far apart we are!”

Mahendra “Speedy”  Gonsalkorale