Health and House search

I went through the final review on Friday for the femur fracture and the x-ray shows quite healed but left with the message of weak bones, for which I have to continue on medicine for few more weeks. Doctor has also advised to be very cautious with the leg being weak bones, I can’t think of getting up or standing very soon… my knee wasn’t steady yet to support standing on my feet. Pain has reduced much now, except for the little more stiffness on knee to bend normal to keep my foot on the wheelchair footrest and I am almost sitting on the wheelchair for the whole day to only lie at night, life has been nearly back to normal. I stepped out of the home after quite three months in rest and tried climbing into the car and went a round around the neighborhood.  

First I went to the beach nearby, since moved very close to beach in Palavakkam I couldn’t make visit to it frequently unlike being little away from the beach, it was quite surprise to see it pretty clean in my life. Can’t even see a bit of litter anywhere and the newly laid road leading to the beach was inviting with road studs neatly placed on both sides. Next we drive to Elliot’s beach in Besant Nagar and find the Schmidt Memorial taking a new leash of life in pretty white… glad at last the authorities are taking action before it become apart. While returning we checked few house for rent at Besant Nagar and Adyar, as we suppose to shift house this month we are in serious search of house.

We checked an independence house in Kalakshetra colony and it was very pretty and modern facade  with enough space around the home, but it seems they are suppose to rent it only for a year and that too to IT salaried. Another house near Besant Nagar bus stand was spacious inside and also quiet in environment but the owner is said to not allow pets and we are expecting to talk with him to convince. My parents checked many apartment flats, but most of them deny allowing pet and the houses that doesn't have issue with pet aren't convenient. The house searching has become quite irritating these days and the brokers we approach were also taking us to the houses the other one showed and in real not many knows the detail about the houses they show! In between we are also looking forward to extend our stay with the current house to search for a better one without much hurry, because we are already paying for being hurry at deciding the house with just outlook, this time we’re careful not to repeat the mistake. 

Pumped storage power plant and my blog

Professor of SASTRA University Thanjavur, Muralisachithanadam, wrote to me about his lecture on Pumped storage power plant posted in YouTube... on the notes taken from my blog. I was really happy when he mailed me more than couple of emails to let me watch the lecture… I was quite out of idea when I wrote about the Pumped storage power plant? But it seems I have been writing about it indirectly through my post on Kadamparai Dam in Valparai.

The professor narrates the subject simply to understand anyone in Tamil and I am so grateful for his note of thanks and picture on me at the end of his lecture (video below). Kadamparai power project is an engineering marvel and manmade wonder! The unique about this hydro power project was the power plant is situated deep inside the hill, travelling 6km into a tunnel that cut through a single mountain rock. I have nothing to say rather feeling wonder, how incredible our engineers are to make successful a project design that borrowed from Germany which failed at the level of execution and operation there.

 I visited the Kadamparai site in 2008, but we couldn’t get permission to go inside the tunnel to visit the power house which is 7 storeys inside the tunnel! I was happy at least getting chance to make visit to the site and learning its amazing process. The power generated here were in two modes: In the generation mode, the machines will be operated to cater the peak hour demand for full load, depending on the storage level of Kadamparai Dam and the Upper Aliyar Dam. In the Pump Mode, the machines will pump the water from Upper Aliyar Dam to Kadamparai Dam during night hours on grid frequency above 49.4 Hz and heavy under drawl of UI from central pool.

I really thank the professor for making an impression among students about the Pumped storage power plant and encouraging them to take notes from my blog. The Kadamparai pumped storage power plant is a marvelous project that not many know about its efficiency (even not many engineers aware of it) which is first of its kind in India. It is also one of the highly protected sites, surrounded by wildlife activities and tribal settlement and getting permission is toughest… even if not visited, leaning about this project is must.

Check the professor’s interview on Pumped storage power plant below in Tamil :

மண் வாசனை

பறந்து விரிந்த பச்சை வயல்வெளிகள்

காரில் கடந்து போகையில், காற்றில் மண் வாசனை

மாடு கன்றுகள் குறைந்து இயந்திரம் கொண்டு உழுகிறோம்.

மண் வாசிக்கும் விவசாயம், சரியான விலையில்லை

விவசாயிகள் வசம், ஏர் விழுதல் நாற்று நடுதல்

நம் நாட்டின் நாடி அல்லவா இவர்கள்?

வாழ்க்கையில் பல சுமை, இவர்கள் அளிப்பதோ சுவை

சேற்றில் வளரும் கரும்பு, இனிப்பு தரும்

பயிரில் வந்த நெல், பல்ஆயிரம் உயிரை காக்கும் .

கடந்து சென்ற பாதையில், பல புதுமை காண்கையில்

கனத்த இதயம் சிறிது லேசானது போல்,

இனிய பொங்கலை நோக்கி நெல் பயிர்கள்.

இனிய பொங்கல் திருநாள் நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்

Happy Pongal

Reflection 2013

Picture by Jeevan

The year 2013 wasn’t great for me, unlike the beginning of the year that wake up to cheerful cake-cutting and get-together with cousins and following trip to Javadu Hills… the house shifting, father’s bike accident and my femur fracture are greater setback of the previous year. I never thought that we will shift to an individual house, but things happened all of sudden and we shifted house in about a week of time going through it. The spacious rooms and corridor, garden space and silent environment, large windows and natural light attracted me to this home but we only find the hidden dragons almost settled! Lol 

We experienced extreme heat during the summer season, which we chosen for shifting house has been a great mistake and also deciding the house just with the look of it is another error we had done this year. In the monsoon and winter, ever like before we exposed to mosquitoes bite… day or night they are always around us, even in extreme hot condition they survives quite. The initial strike of the latter year happened when dad skid off the bike and got severe wound in ankle along with hair crack, has dropped away the cheer of 2013. With no help from any other, mom had to take care of all things single handedly and cooking isn’t a tough job for her but taking care of me as a single woman has no words to describe.

Just like that that where there is an end, there is a beginning… when thinking that everything was back to normal - dad almost recovered - my fracture on femur drawback to extreme level. Still unable to believe that I got fracture, because I haven’t actually fall dawn but while shifting from a stool to wheelchair, the chair moved and I was seated on the floor in my knee, bending fully. Normally my knee won’t bend after certain level but that day my entire body weight has bear on the bended knee, which causes fracture above the knee on the femur bone. Doctor says it’s not a bone that breaks easily, but the reality was, my bones are so weak and being a muscular dystrophy patent it seems like a normal thing. Only now we have come to know about it… so therefore we need more attention towards it also.

I have planned to do certain things in 2013, but dad’s injury and my fracture had pushed away… but the things aren’t that impossible to achieve and I hope they could wait for their time to come. The most favorite thing for me was traveling. I could think they are the best part of my life, because traveling is not that easy for a wheelchair rider and however it was difficult I love to do so. And not to forget, nothing is possible without my parents, and it’s their strength and affection that make my dreams come true. Vacations are the happier time for anyone of us, and in latter year too I had a wonderful one and also exploring new places were another delight.

For the last six months I haven’t travelled out of the city and in that, the last three months were like hell shut inside the home. Watching television and music where the only entertainment and I couldn’t sit back longer to read something and touched extreme level on boring while lying and staring at TV. It was never like before I was forced to take bed rests, except night times I generally won’t lie for any reason unless fall ill. Words can’t describe how terrible I felt and still feeling the pain on the progress of knee bending, which still holds 20% stiffness that resist me keeping my feet on the wheelchair’s footrest quite.

What really worry me now was, could I able to regain my standing ability which helped me then for shifting my seat from one another. Actually I used to stand on my left leg and right one just support for balance, though there won’t be much difficult since the fracture happened only on the right one, but I still worry about. I still haven’t tried climbing into a car; I’m waiting for my last review on fracture to confirm quite recovery. In-between we are looking for another house shifting this month, without much hurry and with the latter experience we make sure that we don’t repeat the mistakes choosing the house.

This is also the longest break I have taken in blogging, unless I am ill I could not avoid blogging, because it is the only source of sharing which makes me feel quite. Even I find Facebook and Flickr as other sharing option, blogging could never replace, at least at this moment… I missed this place a lot. I am back, but not quite… but I decided to make a slow entry and don’t mistake me, if I haven’t check yours. I will slowly catch up with everyone. Btw. Thank you all so much for the well wish and I also hope it was a wonderful beginning for you all this year. Take care and have a great year ahead.

Hi friends

My fracture in femur (above knee) has healed well, but the real painful thing was only here now… and I am experiencing extreme pain when trying to bend my knee which got stiff after being in cast for 42 days. It seems like a normal thing for those in cast for long time, the joints to get stiff and taking some time to regain normality after doing some exercise.  Being regular with physiotherapy exercise in general, I am going through some tough time bending my knee but I feel the improvement at slow pace and also with weak bones… doctor has advised to go for slow mobilization. Being a muscular dystrophy patient it could take much time flexing the knee quite back to normal but I wish it happens soon. Right now I could able to bend my knee 30% and trying to sit on my wheelchair though I spent more than an hour on laptop these days. Hope I could spend more time at blogging in the upcoming year and I wish you all a very happy New Year and Merry Christmas! Cheers :)