Category: Medicine Hat News

Posted on

Bharwani to Share Experiences

Bharwani to share experiences (Medicine Hat News)
By Courtney Gillies

Photo of Noorali holding his book, A Doctor's Journey.

Dr. Noorali Bharwani wants to say thank you, celebrate the completion
of his first book and support a local charity all at the same time.

A Doctor’s Journey: An emotional and humourous look at life through the eyes of a doctor, is Bharwani’s first book and was released two weeks ago. On Thursday, Bharwani is hosting a book party at the Medicine Hat College courtyard from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The evening will include a book signing and refreshments.

Twenty-five per cent of the proceeds from the book sale that evening will be donated to the Medicine Hat News Santa Claus Fund.

“I want to say thank you to lots of friends who have helped me. The people of Medicine Hat have been wonderful and without their support for my column and for me in town here for 21 years nothing would have happened.”

Bharwani has been writing a medical column for The News for approximately nine years. The book includes several of Bharwani’s newspaper columns, however many of them have been updated or revised, he noted. The self-published book includes 28 chapters on various subjects, such as his childhood and writing for The News.

One of Bharwani’s favourite chapters is the one where he talks about his mother and father.

Bharwani said the response to his book since its release has been good.

“I get lots of comments. Those who haven’t bought it are thinking of buying it,” said Bharwani. “I think the momentum is building and I’m happy with the response I’ve had from people.”

Bharwani has plans to start on his second book after Christmas once he has finish promoting A Doctor’s Journey.

“I’ve got to sell this one first. I’ve got to make room in my office,” said Bharwani. “I have a couple of ideas, but I haven’t looked into a crystal ball and said which one would be the best one yet.”

A Doctor’s Journey is $18 and can be purchased at various locations around the city, including the Medicine Hat News office on Dunmore Road.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

Posted on

Writing a Book

Noorali and his mother, reading his book, A Doctor's Journey.

Noorali showing his book (A Doctor’s Journey) to his 87-year-old mother Sikina Bharwani in Calgary.

“Congratulations! You have done what many have talked about and never accomplished. I look forward to reading your book,” wrote my friend Kathy when I told her about my book, A Doctor’s Journey.

I am lucky to have accomplished this feat. Nine months ago, I was sitting in the intensive care unit of the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital worried about my health. But in the last couple of months I have been feeling pretty high and excited. That’s how life is. We all have our highs and lows. We just hope we have more highs than lows.

In August, I finished eight years as a columnist for the Medicine Hat News. In the next couple of weeks I will be writing my 300th “What’s up doc?” column. This would not have been possible without the help and encouragement from the present and former editors of the News and the readers of my column.

Writing a column on health, wellness and happiness has been a very healthy exercise and a source of joy. It also gave me enough confidence and material to write a book.

I believe that anything happening within and around our body directly or indirectly affects our feelings and hence our health. So the topics I choose for my columns vary a lot – from a purely medical to personal and family stories. It also depends on what sort of questions I get from the readers.

I love sharing my stories with the readers of my column. The stories are sometimes happy ones sometimes sad ones. But people relate to these stories as most people go through the same emotional ups and downs as I do.

I have written quite a bit about myself, my parents and other family members. Recently, I wrote about my nephew’s wedding. That story had many angles but it was also about happiness, choosing a good partner in life and dreaming about the future. All part of being healthy and well. People in happy relationships live longer and have better lifestyle.

My travel stories have similar message of happiness, friendship and how to stay healthy by taking time off from our stressful lives. This allows us time to spend with our friends and families. There is some thing to learn when we share our experience with others. That is part of being healthy and happy.

Writing A Doctor’s Journey was an exercise in patience and an exercise in happiness and satisfaction. I am thankful to so many people who helped me achieve my goal. They have been acknowledged in the book. The book costs $18 and is available at the Medicine Hat News, Shopper’s Drug Mart, Medicine Hat Regional Hospital Gift Shop, Damon Lanes Tea Room, Hair Palace, Alberta Massage and Spa, MacKenzie Eye Care Centre and my office.

On Thursday, September 28th, you are invited to come and celebrate with me the release of my first book at the Courtyard room, Medicine Hat College from 6 PM to 9 PM. There will be signing of the book and refreshment will be served. Part of the proceeds (25 per cent) from the sale of the books that evening will be donated to Medicine Hat News Santa Fund. I hope you can come.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

Posted on

Enchanting New York and Meaning of Friendship

Noorali Bharwani and Family at the Empire State Building

August 2006 picture shows Noorali, Alia, Sabiya and Hussein Bharwani in front of the Empire State Building, New York City on a cloudy and rainy day.

I never thought New York City would be a place where I would feel at home, be happy and feel healthy, especially after the events of September 11, 2001. I had booked my holidays with some trepidation. Now I can say I have no regrets.

In New York City, besides sightseeing and some shopping I was hopping to see my friend, Bhagwan. We were in college together 42 years ago. We went to different medical schools and lost touch. Couple of years ago, I Googled his name and discovered that he was a general surgeon like me working in New York City. I phoned him and we decided to meet sometime in the future. So I thought I will meet him and his family briefly for coffee, talk about old times and then do my own stuff.

I discovered the true meaning of friendship and New York City hospitality when Bhagwan and his lovely wife showed up at JFK airport to receive us. From then on Bhagwan, his wife and their wonderful three children took care of us and made this a real memorable holiday. The people of New York City are extremely nice and friendly. I felt totally safe and at home.

Few months before our departure from Medicine Hat , I had been in touch with the New York City’s official tourism office through their website (www.nycvisit.com). They were very helpful and supplied me with a press pass and information which helped me plan my stay in the Big Apple.

Our hotel was close to the Grand Central Station. We were within walking distance to the United Nations building, 5th Avenue, Times Square, Broadway and Empire State Building. So we walked a lot. We used the subway to take a ferry trip to see the Statue of Liberty. We used hop-on and hop-off tour bus to visit other tourist areas including the Central Park and Ground Zero, the site of World Trade Centre.

We were scared to go to Harlem but Bhagwan took us there to see the historic Capitol Theatre. Thanks to Bhagwan and his family we saw more than what we had planned. It was wonderful to walk around the Broadway and Times Square at midnight after a show and see streets full of happy people. No wonder New York City has been praised for courage and fortitude. In spite of the tragedy of 9/11, people are extremely nice and helpful.

Ethel Barrymore said, “The best time to make friends is before you need them.” To have good health one has to have good friends and a good social circle. I can say I have been very lucky to have friends like Bhagwan (which means God) and his family. That makes me very happy. And New York City has a new friend, me!

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

Posted on

Dr. B Goes to Washington

Noorali in front of the White House
Noorali in front of the White House

Alia, Hussein, Sabiya, and Noorali at Lincoln Memorial
Alia, Hussein, Sabiya and Noorali at Lincoln Memorial

I am back.

I feel good and refreshed after two weeks of a healthy holiday in Washington, DC, New York City, New York and Calgary, Alberta.

So what is so healthy about taking a holiday especially in those three busy cities? Isn’t traveling itself stressful these days?

Regular readers of my column may recall Leonardo da Vinci’s (1452-1519) quote which I often use in my holiday articles. It says, “Every now and then go away, have little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgement will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgement.”

We all have a busy lifestyle. We forget that we need time off for ourselves and for our families. As the Eddie Bauer ad says: Never confuse having a career with having a life. I always come back from holidays tired but relaxed, richer in experience and ready to go back to work with a fresh mind and a healthy attitude.

Traveling these days is stressful. But the price is worth paying for security and peace of mind. Only one segment of our trip was stressful. There is no direct flight from Calgary to Washington, DC. We flew by Air Canada to Toronto where we had to take another Air Canada connecting flight. We had to change planes, terminals and go through US immigration, customs and several security checks within one hour and 10 minutes.

We were lucky the plane did not leave without us. It took off several minutes late so we did not miss the connection. But our luggage did not make it. It arrived the next day. We felt very rushed, stressed and tired during the change over time.

Rest of the time in Washington was wonderful. The weather was nice and hot like Medicine Hat. People are very nice and friendly. We extensively used the Metro subway system and walked a lot. We do lot of walking on our holidays more than what we do in Medicine Hat. Our hotel was located in the Foggy Bottom Metro station area close to Georgetown and George Washington University.

There are several ways to see Washington. We used three methods: walking, Metro subway system and Tourmobile Sightseeing’s shuttle system (hop-on and hop-off). We had done some home work before leaving Medicine Hat. We had received maps and suggestion for three days/two nights ‘what to see’ itinerary from Washington, DC Convention and Tourism Corporation (www.washington.org).

The city is well organized and we were able to see a lot. We made stops at the White House, US Capitol, Union Station, Arlington National Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial (my favourite) and International Spy Museum. Smithsonian Institution has 15 fascinating museums. They are all free! We had time to see only two. There isn’t enough room to mention all the places we visited and every thing we did. But I was happy to visit Washington, DC and would like to go there and spend more time. I would not have said this a month ago.

Happiness is good for health and next week I will tell you about the enchanting New York City and the meaning of friendship which brought me so much happiness. Ciao.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!