Devdeep Ahuja – The most trusted stranger online

 

Devdeep Ahuja is a blessing to many physiotherapy communities on orkut, because of Devdeep’s helping and friendly nature; he comes under some most trusted strangers online. That’s the best use of Social networking one can do. Mr. Ahuja also has a website dedicated to physiotherapy. Being in UK, practicing since couple of years Devdeep is also very close to his mother land India.

I am glad to invite Mr. Ahuja on Orkut’s Hall of Fame for his outstanding work on orkut. I will try to dig more from Devdeep Ahuja’s life and profession.

Thank you for accepting my invitation Devdeep, you are heartily welcome on Hall of Fame.

Dear Zazo

Thanks a lot for making a hero out of a common man like me. I truly feel that your concept is really inspiring and will motivate more and more people to good deeds which can benefit the society as a whole.

Thank you for the appreciation Devdeep. It’s all because of people like you that social networking is still a safe and useful place.

To start up the interview, I would like to know about your life, can you write down your small biography?

Well, Biography of me…… and small…….. These things do not match at all……. I like to live every single moment of the life as if there is no tomorrow and that’s why I feel that I have so many moments of my life to put in any description……

Anyways, I was born in Abohar, a small town in Punjab. My initial schooling was in St Joseph’s Convent School, Ferozepur. My childhood was just a normal childhood, running away from studies and home work…….. Always looking of ways to reach the cricket ground…….

Then I did my Bachelor’s in Physiotherapy from DAV Institute of Physiotherapy, Jalandhar. It was here that I changed from an introvert shy guy to an outgoing person who was willing to take risk and speak for my rights……. In a way, it was the stint in DAV which shaped my destiny.

I graduated in 2005 and joined Christian Medical College, Ludhiana as a Clinical Physiotherapist. My passion for physiotherapy and my interest in professional growth actually started here. It was through working with dedicated professionals like Dr Bobby John, HOD, Orthopedic Dept. CMC & H that my mind was made up to rise high and work hard in my profession.

I became the Punjab Coordinator of the Manual Therapy Foundation of India in 2006 and strove to continually upgrade myself through continuing education workshops and helping other physios do the same in Punjab.

Another high point in my career was being appointed as the Joint Organizing Secretary for the World Congress of Manual Therapy, held in Mangalore in July 2007.

Research in Physiotherapy was another aspect which was promoted by my association with CMC. This continued to rise when I joined the MSc Advanced Physiotherapy (Musculoskeletal) at Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK. In Dec 2007, I joined Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group, Canada as a review author and manuscript reviewer. I am working on two Cochrane Reviews at present.

Apologies for having to continue on the next column….

I have been appointed as the Chairman of the International Representative Committee of the Indian Physical Therapy Association (IPTA) for 2008-09.

I joined Orkut in 2006 and have since then been quite active as I felt that it was a great place to learn and share knowledge. I have had great success in establishing professional relationships with many knowledgeable and active professionals in India through Orkut. Many of my friends say that I keep wasting my time on Orkut rather than doing some thing constructive, my answer to them is – I enjoy learning by interaction with professionals working in diverse environments. If you think, there is a better way of doing the things; I am always up for it.

I think I should stop now and leave some thing for you to ask as well………..

Devdeep why you chose only Physiotherapy why not any other medical branch? May I know what so special about it?

Well, I will be perfectly frank about it, I also wanted to join MBBS like any other person who takes up medical and then becomes either a physician or a surgeon. I wanted to be a cardiac surgeon. But I did not score really well in the Pre Medical entrance exam… So I had two options – either to drop a year and prepare again or to join physiotherapy.
At that point in time, I did not know much about PT, so I asked my teachers and they were very optimistic about it.

That’s it…. I was training to be a physio and for the first two days, I did not even know what physiotherapy is all about except for knowing that it involves being with the cricket team.

Then slowly the great science of PT unfolded before me. And I have to emphasize that I have never for once regretted my decision. It’s a field that puts you into maximum contact with the patient and if you are good, you can do wonders to your patients…….

What physio does is to help rehabilitate the patients into their functional daily routine activities. A surgeon saves lives, but we make those lives worth living……. that’s how I see it.

Imagine a patient who suffers from stroke, a neurologist saves his life but then the recovery and rehab. Which often goes into months is the duty of PT. and what better joy than to see a patient who had been bed ridden for a long time, walk again.

The best part about PT is that it has a role in every aspect of medical care – whether it is to prevent injury, help in its healing or to make the patient active after healing. It is an important aspect of management of musculoskeletal, neuro, cardio, sports, gynaec, geriatric, and pediatric cases.

I could write a treatise about PT here and its importance in any healthcare system. But it’s sad, that in India, it’s still in growing stages where its importance has not been grasped by the medical fraternity let alone common people.

From Punjab to United Kingdom, how was the whole experience? What differences you noticed from professional point of view?

In Punjab, every single person wants to go abroad, either USA, UK, Canada or Australia. We are all desperate to be NRI’s and I was no different. The only difference was I wanted to go for a good course which would be a part of my continuous process of up gradation and accumulation of knowledge. I decided on this course in Sept 2005 but it needed 2 years of clinical experience, so I decided to wait and get the experience, rather than take up a course which does not fit into my plans.

Quite a few people are just desperate to reach foreign countries that they choose courses which are not really up to their standard and then they have to struggle here. As life here is not a bed of roses as it seems from India. Everyone dreams of distant lands and the expectations are sky high, but when you reach here, it is totally opposite. All the dreams fall to ground when u struggle to keep up between your studies (which seem tough initially as you are not used to their system of assessment) and part time work (which is needed just to sustain yourself due to the high costs of living). So it is important that when some one comes here, he is very clear of what he want to achieve. Its hard toil though.

Professionally, there is a lot of difference. The first difference is the use of research evidence to guide your practice. There are clinical guidelines for everything that has to be done, which need to be followed as you are answerable to the health managers, the patients, the insurance companies and to yourself. While in India, there are no restrictions and no questions asked. You can keep doing what ever you want to do to your patient as they feel that you can never be wrong. So the accountability is great here in UK.

Another aspect which is really good here is that the patients also want to take responsibility of their own health condition and work out. They do the exercises which are taught to them. Thus ,rather than being seen everyday as in India, the visits are maybe once a week or some time even once a month depending on the condition of the patient.

But then the health care system in UK has its own weaknesses. The waiting lists are killing. For e.g. if some one develops back pain, in India, you can immediately go and see a physiotherapist or you can go and see an orthopedic surgeon. But here, the channel is fixed, you need to see your GP first who has a waiting time of maybe a day or two. Then they will put you on a trial of pain killers for about 2-3 weeks and if it still doesn’t improve, then you are referred for physiotherapy where the waiting list is about 3-4 weeks and some times even longer. Then the PT would manage you and still if it doesn’t resolve, you are able to be referred to a consultant, the waiting times again being 1-2 months. Thus it is about 6 months before you can think of seeing a specialist, which in a way is a lacuna of the health care system in UK. If you want, you can go to private consultants but you would not be able to afford the hefty fees of the health professionals here……..

Is it a first time you went anywhere outside India? If yes, than can you tell us…How it feels when you entered in a different culture, different soil and different environment? How much you miss India? Any plans to come back?

When we are in India, UK seems like a fairyland to us, where we will go and all our worries, tensions and struggles will be over. I was so very excited when me and my friend were about to board the plane. It was my first air travel and first time away from the bosom of India.

We had been told to expect a culture shock, but what came was not what we could even dream of. The first thing I noticed was the cleanliness and greenery. The next major thing was the politeness of people, thanks and sorry are the two most common words… people are really courteous here… greetings and smiles even to strangers on road…So far so good..These are the real good aspects of life here….its fun…

But the whole city shuts offices and shops at 4.00 in the evening…….. The markets are deserted…… nothing is open on Sundays……. clubbing on Friday and Saturdays… the freedom of expression, clothes, life…….. That’s something we as Indians can never adjust to. We thought that there is lots of drugs and alcohol in Punjab….. But here, every week end you see people barely in their senses….. Guys and gals. No difference at all……

Overall, life in India is much better than in UK. I felt homesick immediately and in 5 months, I was back home for a holiday…… spent a month with my family and friends and some sanity restored to my mind………..

I have lots of friends here so it is not very difficult as we cook together, can share each other’s thoughts…. so can handle the pressure…..

But it has been a great learning experience…. teaches you the value of time and money……. every single minute counts and every single penny counts…….

Plans to come back to India – Well i wanted to come for a holiday for a month in Feb. but due to some family thing, I need to come in May……. am dying to be in India, to meet my family, meet my friends…. and see my Life again…….

As you said most of the educated youth dreams to work abroad. I always ask them that, isn’t it selfish to leave our own country for making own better future and ignoring country’s future and progress? Because the growth and development of our country is too much depended on young and educated people like you. What is the problem according to you? Is it that weak infrastructure or lack of opportunities which makes India the last choice to work?

An MBBS doctor, BPT physiotherapist or a BDS dentist is paid about 5000-8000/- as a starting salary in India, that too, if they are lucky to be in a good place…… just imagine spending 5 years of your life, so much effort and so much money to be able to earn just that much???

Isn’t that a reason strong enough for the pull of foreign countries to be so strong?

Just consider, why there is reverse brain drain of engineering and software pros? It’s because they are being paid great salaries here in India itself, so the pull weakens……

Of course, other factors like the infrastructure, scope for future growth and the potential to make it big, they make a massive difference….

It is a responsibility of us youth to realize that India can grow only with us. We have to contribute to its future. It would seem like a paradox, coming from a person who himself left India precisely for the same reasons, but that’s what the truth is. A person like me has realized this, after coming here, being away from India, that what all we lacked in India.. but rather than moaning about that, I feel if I can contribute a little something which might not make a massive difference, but change something, some where, I have played my part.

I feel every Indian who stays away from home, feels that they were much happy when in India…. and everyone wants to come back……. but then rarely anyone does…. its that you get so used to the system here that u cant imagine being in the Indian system again………

You are well respected among many physios, students and professionals on orkut. What are your main activities on orkut and which communities you are active on?

Respected….. Well that would not be the word I would use for my relationship with people on orkut…….. its more of Friendly……

Well, I am a member of about 100 communities dedicated to physiotherapy and various different concepts of this vast science….. Of course, not all are very active…… But I am the owner/ co owner/ moderator of 22 communities……. wherein I try to be as active as possible……

My main aim in being a part of all these is to be able to explore myself, different concepts, thoughts and practice of physiotherapy. I am a student myself and I feel will remain all my life, learning from the way others practice………

But as more and more physios joined the communities, I felt that I had the experience and knowledge to be able to answer their queries and to support their learning or their doubts about career options, admissions to foreign universities and other host of doubts…..

As I kept answering, more and more physios have been able to discuss their issues with me and I feel that with each question, I learn some thing new as well…. I feel all the queries that I once had and no to turn to……. now all coming to me….. I try my best to answer each of them……… but then comes something which is beyond me and I am happy to refer them to some more accurate source of knowledge……. as I must admit, I am not a genius.. I am just a common physio who has the passion to just help my friends as much as possible……..

Apart from that, I try and join communities which may try to change something for the future of India but I am mostly disappointed… and then have to leave the community as nothing constructive comes out…….. people are mostly playing games there which are good for socializing but then nothing fruitful comes out of it…..

Devdeep, what are your other passions or I can say hobbies? Is your lifestyle is same as it was in India or it is changed according to the circumstances?

My favorite hobby is reading, I like reading fiction, mystery stories and my all time favorite is Sherlock Holmes by Sir AC Doyle.

Apart from fiction, I like reading books on musculoskeletal PT, which of course is my area of choice in PT.

I love watching cricket like any other crazy Indian and also like playing football and cricket.

Apart from that, I feel Orkutting is also now one of the most important hobbies that I have. It is a means of feeling a part of India as you continue to interact with all your friends who were once a very important part of your whole life.

Life style – well, I think that I am a true Punjabi and Indian at heart and that will never change……. Of course my English has changed a bit……. put on a bit of Yorkshire accent ……. but beyond that I feel my thinking, my way of living has not changed much……..

My favorite food still remains saag and makki di roti or aalo de paranthe……. only thing is that I cook myself nowadays, rather than just asking my mom to do it for me……

My attire and my personality has not changed much except that I have realized more that I am an Indian first and anything else after that.

I do have some English friends and do go out with them, partying, clubbing and all as I feel that we should see the culture and lifestyle of these people as well. The one thing great about them is that they won’t lie, they will tell what ever they want on your face. No two ways about it. That’s one thing which I have learnt from here.

Now, this is one of my most favorite and also a common question I ask to most of my guest on Hall of Fame. Where do you see yourself in next 5 years? Do we expect your come back to India?

5 Years…….. It’s a long time and then a very short span for career…….

I would like to come back to India, set up my own clinical and training institute either in Ludhiana or Delhi……. which will be one of its kind……… using the techniques and concepts which I have learn t here…….

Apart from that, I would at some point of time, would also like to do PhD which might be from UK or US….. this should also be completed within next 5 yrs.

On a personal front, I hope to be married by then and have a kid or two……… Also would love to travel and see the world. Should have seen Europe and US within next 5 years and hopefully Australia as well, which is one of the dream destinations for me……..

Another thing which I want to achieve is to be able to make a difference to the current scenario of PT in India. Hopefully, by then we will have our own council and the problems being faced by the Indian PTs and the continuous migration of Indian PTs to US and UK would stop……..

It was pleasure talking to you Devdeep, I hope readers will learn a lot from this interview. Thank you for giving your precious time.

Wish you all the best for your future!

The pleasure has been all mine….. And best wishes to you as well…….. For all the work that you are undertaking now and in the times to come……. once again thanks for inviting me…….

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