AFG 2620 CM Sreedhar

Name  Calicut Muthukrishnan Sreedhar

AFG   2620

Nickname  CM, Illu (Wonder why among all the Illads in U, only I had to be called Illad/Illu

DOB   17 Apr 1965

DOA    25 Feb 1991

Address                               53, Anuj Vihar, Delhi Cantt

Email:cmsreedhar@gmail.com     

Mobile        8130417070

Spouse      Leena, Obstetrician and Gynecologist

Children               Kartik, born 1993

BE (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, BITS Pilani, Goa Campus;

Headed to Washington State University, Pullman for PhD in Physics

Kaavya, born 1996

3^rd year Medical Student at Army College of Medical Sciences

Muffin, DOB not known

Casually walked into our life and hearts in 2011

Pursuing a charmed existence

                

Hobbies Music (wish I could play the guitar better and a few more instruments), Photography (wish I had Neeta’s eqpt and motivation and BKG’s way with ‘chicks’), Travelling (wish I could take out more time for that), Gymming (wish I had started earlier and was as committed as YK), Cooking (desperately wanting to Bake), Cycling of late (wish my arse wouldn’t be so sore)

College Memories

Usually seen with

Initially Gujju and Bhalla, my room mates; Damber, Juli my floor mates

U Block brought me close to many U guys;  Namby, my neighbor and long-time friend extending to our internship at then Cochin; Damber’s continuing friendship, Nikhar’s room for music, Muttu’s room for a generally good time; Chakla Talkies; Nisheet Rawat; Amit Sharma of ‘W’ for innumerable trips to Alps and Gun Park on his Luna.

2Top3SS brought me close to my other floor mates; Surdy whose room was always the happening place, Anya, probably the most popular U guy among the girls; Shrinath Caprihan who was and remains a very dear friend, teacher of many good things including my musical skills and love for travel. Then, of course, the large gang of experimental U with whom I indulged in mental exercises, both aided and unaided!

Final Term in 6G10SS saw me getting to know some super-seniors who were generally dreaded otherwise; Vivek Sanyal, Thakur, KK Agarwal; got to know Dubeyji for the first time.

Usually seen at

Damber’s room, Capri’s room, Insti, Ammuni’s; all over Pune, mostly walking around or hitching rides since I didn’t have a two-wheeler until late in 7^th term. When I got one, there wasn’t enough money to fuel it.

Never seen at

Can’t think of any such place. But rarely at the Library and Girl’s Hostel (which I dreaded).

Tongue in cheek moment

Too many or too few depending on the perspective

Best moments

Treks to LBT, Kaneef Nath, Lonavla (with the outdoor skills of Damber); Roof top sleeping in 4^th term under the starry skies – Damber actually managed to install a Table Lamp and Mosquito net there; College Elections and Inter-Batch competitions, where the talent and genius of U came to the fore; just barely managing to pass all the Univ exams at first attempt – still remember sitting in 6GSS after the final term results were declared and thanking my stars.

Favorite teacher

All the demonstrators in our 1^st trimester. Other than that, don’t remember too many.

What I could change about myself

Be a little more driven, a little less lazy.

What I could change about AFMC

Change is a constant. Thankfully, the students coming out remain as talented, fun-loving and varied.

If I was not a doctor

If I didn’t, by a stroke of luck and chance, gain entry to AFMC, in all probability I would have been one among the multitude of TamBrams in academia and research in the West.

Journey so far

Entry into AFMC was a freak accident. I hadn’t heard about AFMC until late in the 12^th Class, didn’t have any Fauji in the entire extended family for generations, and applied for AFMC on an Application Form handed over by a fellow classmate who didn’t want it. Being 81^st on the Wait List made it even more improbable but there I was, destined to be in AFMC. Life thereafter has been a series of such freak accidents, mostly pleasant. Passing MBBS first attempt was a freak achievement given my (dis)inclination for academics. Internship at the Naval Hospital in Cochin in Army Uniform with Namby for company was a lovely initiation into the Fauj and into the real world of Medicine. I actually liked being a Doctor!

I knew that my first posting after MOBC would be either on the Glacier, in IPKF or in the Northeast and wasn’t surprised when I got posted to 328 Fd Amb – only the Bar man at AMC Centre Mess knew where it was since he had been there. It was 2 years of adventure and travel to exotic places that I cursed then but cherish now. Got serious about Studies for the first time ever in the run-up to the PG Entrance Exams and thankfully did pretty well contrary to my bleak academic credentials, much to the surprise of many of U and others. Settling for Radiology was again a freak decision guided by well-meaning friends, thank goodness for their sage counsel. Meeting my soulmate and life companion Leena was again a freak event that brought much-needed focus to life. Kartik and Kaavya brought a fresh perspective to life. A concatenation of circumstances saw me go from initial tenures as Radiologist at Secunderabad and Jammu to a series of professionally enriching tenures at Tertiary Care Hospitals starting with Kolkata through Pune, Udhampur and Chandimandir to Delhi.

It needs to be mentioned that I got to renew friendships and bond with a lot more fellow U batchers after College, thanks to the Fauj. Namby during internship; Mota, Neeta, Mandy at MOBC; PC1 and a series of U on TD like BKG, RJ, Dhillon at 328 Fd Amb; Raju, Anya, Dubeyji, Shanks, Mani and the incomparable Inji during PG; Reddy, Mota and Dubeyji again at MOJCC; Surdy my roommate at MOSCC; Shishir and Shanmu during the AFMC tenure; the Chandigarh resident trio of Mandy, Sandha and Ravjit; Dubeyji at Ranikhet; Sany, Pondy, Thary, MS, Shishir and KK at Delhi and lots of others who have flitted in and out of my life over the years. Meeting all of U over all these years convinces me that we are indeed a special lot chosen to be Batchmates forever.  It has been an enriching association, both professionally and personally. Thanks guys and girls, I would be incomplete without all of U!

My thoughts

May the world be a better place to live in and let me do my best to make it so.

Next 10 years

I have been a drifter most of my life with interesting and mostly good things happening serendipitously. So I don’t plan much for the future. What I would like to do is travel a lot, get better at cooking and music and do something for the world around to be a better place.