SATTVA

Paediatricians in Bangalore

privj — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 07:19:28 +0000

I thought of penning some information on paediatricians around Tippasandra, Old Airport Road and Indira Nagar area. There are different types of paediatricians

1. Consultant Paediatrician – these are the doctors whom we consult when a child has any basic illness say it cold, fever, cough, or we wanna get the child vaccinated.

2. Developmental Paediatrician – these are doctors who specialise on the child’s developmental area who help parents to address child’s developmental delay/milestones and refer to various therapies as required

3. Paediatric Neurologist- these doctors are different from the adult neurologist and specialise in paediatric neurological issues like seizures/convulsions, problems arising due to children deformities, genetic issues etc

Dr. Santhosh Kumar – Consultant Paediatrician

He is quite an experienced man with a good heart who doesn’t concentrate only on the time is money concept unlike other doctors. He takes his time to understand and hear from the parents and guides perfectly well. I give him thumbs up! I rate him 4 on 5. He consults in

Amar Jyothi Nursing Home,
491C, Sripadmavathi, 1st Stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore – 560 038
Ph: 41254975, 25280805

Dr. Praveen Baliga – Consultant Paediatrician

He was our paediatric consultant for my older daughter and he is known to be one of the good doctors around Tippasandra. As we consulted him for our older daughter we continued consulting him for our younger one as well, but somehow being a paediatrician he failed to identify her spasms and his knowledge with respect to seizures and developmental delay seemed to be low. Though he was not able to identify and help us snap out with our daughter’s problem he at least had the presence of mind to refer us to a developmental paediatrician. Good for basics like cough, cold, vaccinations etc. I rate him 2 on 5. He owns a clinic

Children’s Clinic
#253, 4th Main, 4th Cross, HAL III Stage, Bangalore – 560 075.
Ph: 25272430

Dr.Mahadeviah – Developmental Paediatrician

He is a developmental paediatrician who looks into the achievement of the developmental milestones of a child and probably guides the parent. These doctors look if a child has any physical problem say tone (hypo tone / hyper tone (spastic) etc) or birth problem like Cerebral Palsy or any developmental disorder and recommend for appropriate therapies. What in general I felt from these doctors is everyone wants to stick to time is money concept and doesn’t want to educate the parent/give them more information. If there is a delay in a child then there is positively 90% a reason associated with it. The significance of how this delay would affect the child’s development isn’t explained or brought to the parent’s knowledge – that’s just insane. I rate him a 1 on 5. He consults in

Specialist Clinic,
No. 37, SBI Road, (Behind St.Mark’s Rd, India garage), Bangalore – 560 001
Ph: 25599191/64564408

Dr. Nandini Mundkur – Developmental Paediatrician

I havent met her, but she was given as a reference and heard she is very good. She consults in

Centre for Child Development, Chitrapura Bhavan
8th Main, 15th Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore -560003

Dr. Taranath Shetty – Paediatric Neurologist

He is an experienced elderly man with way good knowledge and experience. He is one of the leading paediatric neurologists in India; I feel he is one of the best. But wherever we go the more we ask the more we are informed and clarified; so I suggest better do their homework on internet to learn the basics of the problem which the child has and try to clarify with the doctor to understand their conditions better. I rate him 4 on 5. He consults in

Manipal Hospital,
98, HAL Airport Road, Bangalore – 560 017
Ph: 91 80 2502 4444/3344

In European/western countries doctors should in detail explain the parents/caregivers the patient’s scenario and discuss the medicines and its side effects and then proceed. Wish the scenario in India as well improves and doctors as well give more information and enlighten the patient community.

Significance of Development Delay in Children

privj — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:45:52 +0000

I was wondering how many of us really understand Development Delay in children. I had had an understanding of developmental delay as say an infant who doesn’t hold her head at 3 months would hold at 6/7 months or a child who is 1yr but isn’t walking would walk at 1.3yrs/1.5yrs. But when it really came to me is when I learned the real meaning of developmental delay and how important it is in a child’s growth and development.

My little daughter was born and the anxious mother in me waiting for my little baby to smile back at me; I guess that would be the best of the moments any mom would cherish and yearn for; it was past 3 months…..past 4 months but my baby never smiled back at me but always tried to avoid eye contact whenever I tried connecting to her.

I kept checking with my friend’s who were convincing me saying “atleast give the baby 6 months to get used to and respond back”
I tried surfing the net “Why infants avoid eye contact”, but couldn’t find a fruitful result to zero down on something
I kept consulting my paediatrician who did ask me to wait for another month….

Then one day it occurred to my baby when she was 4 months old, she had a blank stare for few seconds and choked back for breath in seconds; it had occurred couple of times and we rushed her to the hospital. The doctors identified the blank stare as convulsions/seizures and that there is developmental delay in the baby as she was not able to identify her mom or hold her head and didn’t really reach the milestones of a 4 month old baby. I was devastated when I heard convulsions, the term which was completely new to me. Developmental delay really didn’t bother me much as I thought my baby would cope at a later time, what big deal? I realised later that how wrong I had been!

Had someone helped me, including my paediatrician in identifying the delay in my child, it could have done wonders to my baby by now. I felt the lack of knowledge and how caregivers aren’t informed by doctors about the importance of developmental delays/ medical conditions and what could be the after effect. I write this with a heavy heart and with the intention that this article should be of help to parents in identifying any delay in their child’s development and should understand how important is developmental milestones in children and monitor them against the milestone chart.

Developmental delays can also be normal for a child, and she may catch up with her peers without the need for further intervention. But if at all there is a delay it could be associated with any specific cause,

Caregivers should give primary importance in such cases and never be careless in following developmental milestones
It should be zeroed down clinically that there is no bounded cause to be at peace
Early intervention is very important in cases of delay and caregivers should consult a developmental paediatrician
Early intervention could be by means of infant stimulation programs, occupational therapy, Sensory integration programs etc; a developmental paediatrician would be able to guide appropriately

Enlightening links : Infant Milestone Charts; Recognizing Developmental Delays in children

Donate your organs – You can gift a life!

privj — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:06:01 +0000

I attended the ‘Multi Organ Donation Awareness Camp’ which was about donating organs to the needy recipients. Multi Organ donation can be done only in the ‘Brain Death’ condition, which in medical terms called ‘Cadaver State’. In layman terms, the brain stops working as there is no blood supply to the brain but blood is being circulated to the other parts of the body mechanically using medical equipments. Only in such conditions organs can be donated; Brain Deaths in most of the cases happen due to road accidents.

‘Transplantation of Human Organ (THO) Act’ in 1994, of the Indian Legislation; states a declaration procedure, which requires the involvement of four doctors, two from the hospital and two from the government to follow multiple clinical procedures to declare a patient Brain Dead. Astoundingly organs which could be donated are Eyes, Skin, Heart, Lungs, Pancreas, Kidney, Bones, Liver etc; multiple needy patients could be benefited by one Cadaver state patient’s multi organ donation. More information on ‘Cadaver Organ Donation and Transplantation in India’. Institutions like MOHAN – (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) Foundation, Chennai, are actively involved in spreading this message to the public. Every state in India has an institution which is actively involved in inculcating the organ donation epidemic and facilitating the needy. MOHAN is a NGO which covers the state of Tamil Nadu; ZCCK is a government initiative for the state of Karnataka. If you would like to check your knowledge on Multi Organ Donation; participate in this online survey.

Gift a life – its good to know that a part of our loved one is still alive somewhere in someone!

Our turn to go School Hunting

privj — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:05:19 +0000

Our daughter was growing fast and was past two years; she visibly seemed bored at home. We desperately wanted to send her to a playschool to match her energy and enthusiasm. But by the time we returned from Germany it was late December and all the big schools in Bangalore had closed admissions by Nov-Dec for the forthcoming academic June. We did try our best but had no choice left but to hunt for a good Montessori to spend her initial three years.

First thing we decided was on the education methodology – Montessori Education system than the traditional nursery. I read and heard from my friends about the benefits of a Montessori system and was more impressed when I personally visited such schools and witnessed how Montessori materials trigger practical learning against the traditional bookish learning.

We did quite a lot of research with respect to various criteria like Education Method, Commuting Distance, School ambience, and ofcourse not ignoring the quality and reputation of the school. We visited more than 10 schools in and around our area and it took more than 3 weeks to decide on a playschool; just to remind you my daughter is not even in the age of entering pre-nursery. Few schools call themselves Montessori but follow the traditional system. I always made sure to talk to parents whose kids were already studying in the school; the major factor to my decision making.

Here’s my opinion on few of the schools I visited; hope it would be of some help to the school hunting parents.

Akshara Montessori School, Ulsoor, Bangalore : Though I was shocked at first on its location on the traffic prone main road; the ambience inside was cool and cosy; I liked it very much and even the reputation is good, but distance was a hurdling stone.

Geetanjali Montessori, Kagadasapura, Bangalore: New school premises at Kagadasapura is good and even the parent’s opinion was good compared to its branch in Jeevanbhima nagar. I personally liked it, but again distance was a hurdle.

SSB International School, IndiraNagar, Bangalore: I was not impressed about the school ambience and the Montessori campus of theirs was pathetic.

Little Feat Montessori, Koramangala and Kuddle Kids, HAL 3rd Stage have my positive ratings.

Finally coming to the point on where I decided to put my daughter was into Casa Maria, Montessori House of Children, Airport Road; a small but cosy place to opt. My daughter seems to enjoy her time at school, a sigh of relief for couple of years before we start school hunting again.

Here’s a useful website which has information and reviews on Bangalore Schools http://www.bangaloreschools.net

Hindi ain’t the Indian National Language?

privj — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:07:48 +0000

I happened to stumble on Nita’s blog which titled a post ‘South India is better developed than North India says CNN IBN‘. Being a South Indian and the natural inquisitive human nature curiosity demanded me to read it; was engrossed with the post and the discussions for hours together. Mind boggling discussion I should say which unfolds a treasure of knowledge about India; I was taken back by surprise when i learnt ‘Hindi is not the national language of India but one of the official languages’.

The Official Languages Act, 1963 illustrates the usage of languages for the official purposes and Compilation of orders regarding the use of Hindi/NiyamPustakeng details the constitutional provisions regarding official languages; officially published in http://www.rajbhasha.nic.in/ the website of Department of Official Language – Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.

How ignorant had I been assuming Hindi to be the National Language or should i say my teachers/my environment ignorant and propagating the myth? By the way am not against Hindi and i personally love speaking and hearing it for its own style or any other language which grabs my interest.

My motive of highlighting this information (1) Let other fellow Indians know this fact, who ‘re ignorant like me (2) Hindi is one of the official languages of India; which means all the other Indian languages hold due respect and importance 3) Especially to those people living on the upper part of India speaking Hindi as their mother tongue try to bring down the arrogance and learn to respect other language speaking Indians; without denying the fact that Hindi is being spoken by a majority of Indians statistically.

SATTVA

privj — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:12:53 +0000

‘Sattva’ - the Sanskrit word; the first of the three gunas (characteristic) of prakriti (matter/material nature). Sometimes translated as goodness, the phase of sattva is characterized by truth, existence, peace, knowledge, reality, essence, spirit, etc.

Prakriti is comprised of eight elements : earth, air, water, fire, space, mind, intellect and ego. It is charecterized by the three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas. I intend to share my ‘Moments of truth with prakriti’ through Sattva.