World No Tobacco Day- Masina Hospital

I’m Head of the Department of Dentistry, at the Masina Hospital, Byculla.
It’s really so much more than a hospital, though. It’s an oasis of greenery and tranquility in the middle of the hustle bustle of a market place, next to a train station.

This hospital recently celebrated World No Tobacco Day, on 31st March.

Here is an installation, the ‘selfie point’, which spells out Q-U-I-T in big life sized letters. This was courtesy of Mr. Thanewalla, from “Voice Against Tobacco”, an NGO.

We had support from Mr. Dara Patel, and Ms. Armaity Cooper, of the Lion’s Club International, and Mr. S. Ahuja of the Anti Terrorist Front. Seen here with the dignitaries.

International Congress of Oral Pathology & Medicine

I have also been traveling a lot in and outside India in the last three years.

I presented a poster at the International Congress on Oral Pathology and Medicine in Turkey, at the Harbiye Military Museum, Istanbul. It was a case report on a rare tumor of the parotid gland.

There was also a joint meeting of the British Association of Oral Pathologists, and there was a lot of brainstorming on the latest advances in Oral Pathology and Medicine, with presentations by leading clinicians and academicians from all over the world.

It was an extremely well organized conference, with cultural events featuring the Whirling Dervishes, and a very attractive belly dancer at the banquet on the Bosphorus Strait.

Turkey has great Shawarma. Shawarma is, apparently, not what the guys on the road here make. It’s so much more. It’s “tavuk” (chicken) in its purest, best avatar.

We took a cruise down the Bosphorus, and saw what makes Istanbul so very special- the two continents on either side. Istanbul is the only capital that is in two continents- Asia, and Europe, with the Bosphorus separating the two parts. It’s a tremendous, overwhelming experience to sail between two continents like that.

And the Turkish do it every.single.day.

The Blue Mosque has to be seen to be believed! It has six minarets, and it’s so huge you can’t fit them all in one photo. The interiors and exterior are beautiful, and you feel reverent there, truly.

Of course, for my kids, Istiklal Caddessi (street) was the highlight of the trip. They went down there every single evening! One day they came back with Baklava, one day they came back with clothes they bought at a bargain.

Cheers to Turkey, you beautiful place.

It’s Raining Recognitions

Recently, The Indian Dental Association (IDA) conferred an Award “For Valuable Contribution to Dentistry” on me at the IDA National Conference in New Delhi.

The D. D. Mehta Foundation bestowed the Award for “Excellence in the field of Medicine/ Dentistry”.

I also received the “Outstanding Zarthusti Professional of the Year Award”, which is an International Award for excellence conferred by the World Zarthusti Chamber of Commerce. Zarthustis or Zoroastrians are a small community of people who originally hail from Ancient Persia, and now have settled all over the world. They follow the teachings of Zarathustra, who was one of the oldest Prophets. I’m a Zoroastrian. We love dhansak, patra ni macchi, and malido. Those are our special community dishes. We also love jokes. We also love an occasional peg. Clearly, we love life!

 

New York, New York!

I’d recently visited the United Nations as a Nominee of the International Association of Medical Women from India. It was the celebrations of International Women’s Day, and boy, did I meet some amazing women from all over the world!

Here, with the representatives from all over the world who were invited for a session on Women Empowerment and Education at the Bahai Centre, NY.

Baha’i Seminar

With Ruchira Gupta at United Nations..she w.is the recipient of Outstand Award. Woman of the year Award.

With Ruchira Gupta at United Nations- she is the recipient of the outstanding, Woman of the year Award. She has been working with sex workers, has made a film on their lives and also established an NGO 

New York was awesome. I, as an Indian, am foreign to the concept of snow, honestly. Or fashionable long coats. Which was why the first thing I thought when I got off was, “Hell, it’s cold here.”

And the first thing I did was get a nice long warm coat from Macy’s.

The excitement in the air is electrifying in the UN Building. There were people from all walks of life, all ages, all organizations. All these amazing women who came together to run parallel sessions, awards functions, and banquets, all around the central theme of Women Empowerment.

I attended a parallel session by the Women’s Medical Association of Nigeria, and it was a real eye opener to see the kind of work they were doing for women’s health.

I was also invited to attend a session by FEZANA, that’s the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, that discussed the role of education in empowering women.

We even marched from Dag Hammerksjold Plaza to Times Square. That was an unforgettable experience!

All in all, it was an amazing experience. It felt proud to be a woman.

To us, the fairer of the sexes.

 

Representative of Association of Medical Women International at the 59 Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.

I was chosen to represent the ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL WOMEN INTERNATIONAL AT THE 59TH COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN AT THE UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, in New York this MARCH.

There were more than 9000 registrations from womens organisations world-wide.

It was a unique, unforgettable experience, interacting with women from different types of backgrounds, all committed to the upliftment and empowerment of women.

at the united nations h.q.
and with ruchira gupta, who received the “woman of distinction” award

Baha’i Seminar

Anterior Teeth Redone, and A Brand New Smile Given!

This pretty young girl wouldn’t smile at me when she entered. She had a handkerchief in front of her mouth, and had to be coaxed to let me examine her. She had fallen down when she was very young, before her permanent teeth erupted.

And then, they never came into her mouth.

She was 13 when she came to me. The upper front teeth, incisors, generally come by 10 years of age, latest.

She had serious psychological issues- lack of confidence, introversion- and avoided social contact. Her mother was very worried about her, and gave a history of seeing multiple practitioners, who had advised a plethora of treatments including surgery and orthodontic treatment, which would have added up to a heavy financial cost and prolonged treatment.

Here she is, before treatment, as she came to me.

I suggested a very simple and quick solution- giving her a temporary partial denture till she was of an age to go for more complicated treatments. This was to restore her normal appearance and her confidence.

It was amazing how it worked! Here she is, 15 days after treatment. She was all smiles, and her self confidence had already increased!

 

at the indian prosthodontic conference

At Gujarat University Convention Centre, Ahmedabad

I was invited to this event and presented a paper on “Interdependence of Oral Anatomy and Prosthodontics”.