Cont 7

4-29-2010: A lot happened since the 24th from seeing the local nationals to politics within the services. One of the pleasant experiences was dealing with a canadian soldiers who lost her ring finger while fixing her HumV. She told the physical therapy doctor that she likes to play hockey and was interested in getting a hockey glove for the job of a goalkeeper. The physical therapist came to the dental clinic and requested for a dentists services so we can possibly fabricate an impression of her hand so it could be sent to a tailor. I used alginate and made an impression of her hand and poured stone in the impression. I believe both the therapist and the patient were happy.

Another interesting experience was dealing with a 13 year old kid who was involved in a bomb blast. Again one of the doctors came and asked for our assistance to get this kid checked for sheared off teeth due to the blast. He had lacerations on the left side of his face, the lip, the cheeks and some on his neck. His limbs were intact. I was told that he belonged to a Taliban village and was taking care of his grandfathers poppy seed growing business. The blast sheared off 4 of his permanent teeth but only the canine in the mandible was still attached and was annoying if touched with his tongue. We took that tooth and 3 of the existing roots in the maxilla which were going to be a potential infection hazard for future. He cried and grabbed his head with both of his hands. The interpreter said "Khulla Khulast" and he opened and it took us about 2 hours to get those broken teeth out of his mouth. What a brave little kid but God knows how long he is going to live in this IED sprayed country. I felt bad about the young kids who had to live in this hell hole.

Politics within the different services of the Military. I learnt that there is fine line between NAVY, Air Force and the ARMY not to mention the off shoots like the Special Forces and the Marines. I guess the need to correctly use or abuse the power is always been a Man's Passion. May Waheguru give me calm mind and patience to deal with this Mess. 

Cont 6

4-24-2011: What an interesting, chaotic and difficult to understand country. 3 reasons we are here in Afghanistan: Taliban, Lithium and Threat from Iran. Today a linguist told me that everyone is a Talib here in this country. Now how can we fight every uneducated soul in this country. He also mentioned that Quran burning in US didn't help our mission of winning hearts and minds.

It is poppy growing season. Talibans are busy growing poppy so they can earn gzillions of dollars and buy their weapons to fight our Army. They grow poppy this month and collect their harvest in a couple of months. The linguist was an Afghan who grew up in england. He felt the need to mention the Afghans looting India. However, when I mentioned Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruling over Afghanistan he had no clue about it. He kind of gave me a general impressions about Afghans from outside Afghanistan to be bark dogs who like to show off like many of my fellow Sikhs brothers. He kept of mentioning Afghans as fierce warriors who are not very well trained but if trained can be lethal for human kind.

All Afghanis have seen is wars and they grew up fighting many wars. Infact thats all the kids grew up hearing in a normal household. He mentioned Talibans era to be the best because everyone was happy there were no thefts or crime. But he failed to mention the crime these people committed by not educating the kids and beating their women and being a menace for the other religious communities residing amongst them. 

5 cont

4-17-2011: I finally landed in Kandahar, the home for the resilient Talibans. The previous team here was welcoming. They were excited to see us since it was there time to leave and hand over the race to us. The young SGT gave us the tour and placed us in the MODS. I prepared my mind for a possible CSM attack but surprisingly except the looks, I was very much left alone. The dinning facility was very much enjoyed after smelling the Poo Pond everywhere we went.

4-18-2011: We were given the tour of the Role 3 and I was introduced as a new team member. All eyes were fixated on me in the room where every other doctor from the hospital was present. The role 3 is commanded by a Naval team.

My first interaction with a local as a doctor and I was asked to work with him since he spoke urdu. I surgically drilled his 3rd molar out. I hope he liked me after that meeting. Amenities are present on this base due to the presence of the NATO. I have some privacy in my room where 4 people are residing. They all seem nice and considerate.

4-19-2011: My day started off listening to the call for Muslims (Azan) to pray early in the morning. Being a Non-Muslim I have to say it was kind of soothing. Me and my roommate went to the british Dfac for some breakfast and them we headed to the clinic. One thing I noticed was the treatment process for the NATO forces. There is some give and take, I worked on a Slovak soldier and the soldier gave me a patch of his unit as a thankful gesture. The NATO gym is huge and very clean but they require everyone to bring 2 pairs of shoes so it remained clean. So on our way there I saw a lot of different kinds of folks with different backgrounds walking around with an extra pair of shoes.

Evening was interesting where the doctor before me treated some UAE soldiers and they invited him and the new doctors to their little compound for special treatment. Man, these guys have it best, they are loaded with every possible amenities. We were greated and taked to a room with bunch of Sofas. There was a tent which kind of looked like a gzebo. They had hookas and pillows settings on the ground. The doctor before me was given certificate and one too many little gifts as a nice gesture. He felt overwhelmed by the nice gesture. The food was not bad followed by some chocolate eating spree by me and my roommate. I learnt the culture and also there are 7 little united Arab provinces in UAE and trust me they are loaded. 

4 cont

Its time to move to my final destination. Finally got the say and I have few more hours till I move.

will write more when I get there...........

Cont 3

April 14th: Oh boy what a day. Hot and lots of learning. I guess it never stops. Highlight of the day was the CSM apologized and came out to be a nice individual. Everyone knows about my existence and everyone kind of leaves me alone. 2 more days of training and I go about my ways to my final destination. Its very nice to see the Army in action where everyone has their own responsibilities. In my training I was told that the locals are not that bad of people, they just dont have a choice when bad guys wants something from them.

There seems to be no value for life. Currently, I cant put 2 and 2 together as far as floating information is concerned but as time will progress I will be able to draw my personal opinion. It is very clear that we are here to relieve the innocent from bad guys cage. As soon as this happen our forces will be out of here. God Willing.   

cont 2

April 13th @ 1300: the weather is hot here but it was kind of cold last night. I was able to take a tour of the base and its huge and very dusty. Except the beautiful and mezmorizing mountains everything looks kind of chaotic. There was an email sent out to my guys informing them about my existence and people seem to take interest and accept.

stay tuned for more

From April 8th to April 12th

Oh boy what an experience

4-8-2011: take a 2 hour bus ride from CRC to the Airport. Wait at the airport for another 2 hours. Got on the flight and the flight took me to Leipzig, Germany. Waited for 2 hours in Germany

4-9-2011 to 4-12-2011: Waiting game in Kuwait Ali Al Salem for 3 days 2 nights. Sand everywhere but in the sandy conditions of this crapy country I had the pleasure of seeing MacDonalds, Subway, Green Bean Caffe, Local Bazaar where everyone spoke urdu....spooky.

4-11-2011: got a flight out of crapy kuwait city into Qatar where we had to go through customs and drag our duffle bags everywhere. Tired but still smiling a few colonels got a flight out of qatar within 5-6 hours of our stay in qatar. It was a C130 but very comfortable.

4-12-2011: I am definately in love with the sight of Hindu Kush mountains. Makes me wonder why always the most beautiful places in the world have problems. Any how, with in 2 hours of our arrivals while sitting in the chow hall a Command Seargent Major confronted me for wearing my turban. His eyes were furious with lots of anger and hatred. I told him I had the authorization of wearing my turban but that didnt cut it. Bottom line he spoiled my first day in the beautiful Parwan Province of Afghanistan.

stay tuned for the rest..................