Wednesday 30 September 2015

HEAD TRANSPLANT

An Italian surgeon has dreamt about it and a Russian is ready to be the first patient. The plan is to perform the operation in 2017, in a procedure that is estimated to take 36 hours, and will require a staff of 150 doctors and nurses.

The procedure involves cooling down both donor body and patient’s head, then do the transplant and use a special chemical that will cause both ends of the spinal cord to fuse together. The patient will then be kept in a comatose state and his body will be prepared for waking up by electrically stimulating the spinal cord. The procedure is called Head Anastomosis Venture or “HEAVEN” for short and available details so far are very sketchy.

The point of the operation is to give people with degenerated muscles and nerves or cancer-permeated organs a second chance at life. In the 20th-century, such attempts were made using dogs and monkeys, but the recipients did not survive for more than a few days. A recent test using mice was successful, fueling further research that led to the current plans.

Now, a Russian man by the name Valery Spiridonov has agreed to be the first person to have their head removed and transplanted onto a new host body. 30-year-old Valery is suffering from a genetic disordered called “Werding-Hoffman muscle wasting disease,” which is slowly killing him, and the procedure may be his last chance at life.


Can you close your eyes and imagine how far science has progressed in our lifetime? It is a pity that people still die of starvation and infections which are totally preventable and yet every day somewhere in the world we are doing wonders in the field of medicine! Why does the unknown challenge fascinate us and the known still overwhelms humankind?

TOBACCO LOBBY AND POLITICIANS – COZY BEDFELLOWS

There are 18 doctors in the parliament this time and yet when they had to constitute a committee to finalize whether some more stringent measures are needed against the tobacco industry, there were two tobacco/biri barons in this committee, which ended up concluding that there were no conclusive evidences linking tobacco to cancer! Had it not been for the rude slap of the Prime Minister, they would have once again got their way.

The tobacco industries have offered millions of dollars to research personnel exploring various issues like genetic differences between smokers and non-smokers, personality traits of smokers, immunologic factor in cancer, general studies on heart diseases, lung defense mechanisms and on smoking and other behavioral factors in heart diseases with the sole intention of blaming the victim and his genes for the resultant disease and keep the blame as far away from tobacco as possible. These sponsored researches try to prove that tobacco is not the problem but the weak immune status of the victim is the cause of the diseases.

Whenever taken to the court by the tobacco victim, the industry has fallen back on two invaluable laws: 
Volenti non fit injuria: or "to a willing person, no injury is done", there is no damage to someone who willingly places themselves in a position where they are negatively affected by tobacco consumption.
Contributory negligence: The victim himself that has contributed to his own injury as he has prior knowledge of the harm associated with tobacco smoking.

As well as countering the genuine negative reports, the tobacco industry has always acted to present the positive issues - the benefits offered by the industry to the social and cultural environment. Tobacco is presented as a good force in the environment. The industry never fails to emphasize how much money is raised by taxing the tobacco product, how many jobs are held by those in the tobacco industry, and the 'trickle down' effect of taxes and jobs. What they conveniently forget to tell is how much of revenue is spent in treating tobacco related diseases and how many man hours are lost in fields, factories and industries. The tobacco industry gives out scholarships to students, engages actively in sponsorship of art exhibits, sporting events, fine music, as well as rock music concerts. This offers the possibility of gaining an "aura of legitimacy and style". Taking this con game a step ahead the industry has now invaded the movie and the most appalling one being the twenty-four mentions of Marlboro in the movie Superman II. The benefit here is one of gaining advertising without officially advertising. A cigarette company cannot buy commercial time on television, but Superman II can air on prime-time with images of Marlboro cigarettes in numerous scenes.

The truth is that tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart, liver and lungs. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (including emphysema and chronic bronchitis), and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension. The effects depend on the number of years that a person smokes and on how much the person smokes. Starting smoking earlier in life and smoking cigarettes higher in tar increases the risk of these diseases. Also, environmental tobacco smoke, or secondhand smoke, has been shown to cause adverse health effects in people of all ages. Cigarettes sold in underdeveloped countries tend to have higher tar content, and are less likely to be filtered, potentially increasing vulnerability to tobacco smoking related disease in these regions. Chewed tobacco, gutkas and paan masalas are available in fancy pouches and are mercilessly destroying the third generation of its victims today.


So why has availability and use of tobacco continued in spite the medical evidence that it is a health risk? I see four reasons:
1. People love to smoke / chew / sniff tobacco due to the stimulant received, the intoxication and the addictive property of nicotine.
2. Smoking was in-style and fashionable at several periods in time and from Humphrey Bogart to Rajnikant all style icons had cigarette as their style accessory.
3. People believe that smoking could protect them from illness and was an answer to every ailment from constipation to mental tension
4. Finally, nations have become 'addicted' to the revenues produced by taxes placed upon tobacco products.

The Prime Minister’s swift move to put an end to the stupid diatribe about no conclusive evidence of the risk of tobacco is a bold and welcome move. Let us now make the next move.

Tuesday 29 September 2015

TALIBAN BANS………DEMOCRACIES DON’T!


Why are we in a hurry to ban things at the slightest pretext? Has banning alcohol done any good to any part of our country? Bootlegging and illicit liquor industry gets a boost, black market for alcoholic beverages proliferate, cough syrups with high alcohol contents fly off the shelf and hooch tragedies occur one after the other! Instead of earning excise revenue from healthy sales practices from licensed and well located stores with a quality control in place and keeping minors off limit……..we go ahead and ban alcohol! Why? We do so because that is the easier option. It is harder to govern, it is easier to ban.

We as a society have a very short fuse for anything that irritates our sensibilities. Then whether it is a book like Satanic Verses, Understanding Islam through Hadis, The true Furqan, or a film like Andhi, Garam Hawa, Kissa Kursi Ka, Fire, Black Friday, Fifty Shades of Grey or a theatre, a painting, beef, smoking and obscene words in films or even a porn site, at the drop of a hat we go ahead and ban it. Leslee Udwin's documentary "India's Daughter" which features the mindset of the Delhi gang rape accused Mukesh Singh has been banned. Central Board of Film Certification beeped out the word “Bombay” from the lyrics of Mihir Joshi’s song from the album ‘Mumbai Blues’! What is going on?

We may, by doing so, appease a handful of extra-sensitive people, but if we are under the impression that such bans would uplift the morality of the younger generation then I am sorry to say that we are not only insulting the intelligence of the next generation but residing in an illusion world of our dreams. Stupendous success of banned books and films are a testimony to the fact that bans increase curiosity for the banned object and it has done so since the days of apple ban for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden!

By banning 900 off porn sites if the government felt that those who are sick and distorted in their mind would start respecting women and children and incidence of rape and brutality against them will nose dive and plummet down to minuscule proportions, they were residing in fool’s paradise. Better senses prevailed and they lifted the ban. Instead of bans we should make the justice delivery system swift and efficient with absolute zero tolerance towards these goons. Banning is a function of the regressive mind set of the Taliban. Democracies take pride in their freedom of speech, expression and actions.

The Germans have not banned the ultra-Nazi sites, the Americans have not banned the Klu-Klux Klan sites, instead they have encouraged thousands of sites viciously attacking the doctrines propagated by these evil sites. The moderates in their society have understood their responsibility and taken up the challenge to annihilate and dismember these wicked propaganda and doctrines piece by piece. It is for the moderates of our society to take up the propaganda challenge of the Osamas, Mulla Omars and ISIS and give a befitting reply. Why ban their sites………take the battle to their turf. We have the numbers, we will surely win. Let the Taliban ban us but let it be known to them that we are the hunters on the prowl and we will eventually have our kill.

GEORGIAN RAGA - a book review


We, the alumni of King George’s Medical College in Lucknow, India are called ‘Georgians”. This is a book about us but written so well that it is a treat for everyone. It is in Hindi and so fails to have a wider reach, but someday someone will surely translate it. I do not know how many of you have read this book but if you have not, you must……and have your own personal copy. I am presenting to you a review of this book.

How can one document the history of an Institution that is 100 years old, and that may have different interpretations and connotations for different people! Obviously one looks for all that is common in them, all that identifies them, all that is a tradition. Raag Georgian is that history which has been transcripted directly from the hearts of the Georgians into the most interesting 318 pages that I have read in recent times. The glorious history of King George’s Medical College is like a fathomless ocean and this book has succeeded in bringing out just a few pearls and riches from its bed for all of us to see, marvel and wonder.

The agenda was simple, the author Mr. Rajive Saran would be introduced by Prof. Sandeep Kumar to a Georgian and then Rajive would ask him/her about his/her days in King George’s Medical College, the thrill of ragging, the tension of professional examinations, the competition for marks, recognition and success, the Gurus, the ward rounds, the clinical teachings, the mischief, the mantras, all in all the memories of the days gone by. Once armed with all these information the author would pen a chapter, and promptly seek appointment with another Georgian! While we all know how difficult it is to take time out of the busy schedule of a doctor, doing it with 32 doctors, and with interviews spilling into 2 or 3 sittings is simply mind boggling! Some Georgians like Prof. Abdul Halim, Prof. S.N. Pandiya, Prof. T.C. Goel and Prof. Anup Wahal turned out to be better story tellers than others but the effort put in by the author to curette out all the riches from the sulci and gyri of their cerebrum is truly astounding!

What comes out most brightly in these pages in the sheer pride the Georgians take in their Institution, their culture and their blue-blood line. An emphasis on inculcation of human values, absolute dedication and surrender to the wishes of the teachers, and the pride the teachers take in boasting the achievements of their students can be uniformly seen in all these pages. Every Georgian comes out as immaculately dressed individual, extremely efficient in work, a go-getter in attitude, a strict disciplinarian in the campus and an ardent and devout Indian at home. It comes as no surprise when we find Prof. Mansoor Hassan insisting that instead of being identified by certain caste, creed or religion, we should be identified as good human beings and to emphasize his point he quotes most eloquently both Jagatguru Shankaracharya and Jigar Moradabadi with effortless ease! It is heart rendering to listen to Prof Mehendi Hassan when he says that he himself is a living example of national integration of the highest kind as for his cardiac surgery, which was performed by his own student Dr. Naresh Trehan, B – negative blood was donated by all his students who were Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian and from all corners of our great country! It also is not at all surprising when we hear from the erstwhile Mayor of Lucknow and an outstanding surgeon of our times Dr. S.C. Rai that every time he finds himself in a surgical minefield he quietly recites the Gayatri mantra and he believes that God guides him out trouble! Prof. Mehendi Hassan speaks for all Georgians when he says that when students tell him how indebted they are to him for guiding their destiny, he can only close his eyes in humility and think would he ever have received this reverence, love and respect had it not been for his Gurus. He is only passing on the family jewels to the next generation! Had all these stories not been documented, they would have, for a few generations, been told and re-told but would have eventually surely been lost into oblivion.


This book is a story of human relations, between the human being inside the white coat and the human being lying under the red kambal. It is a story from the heart of 32 Georgians and is aimed at the heart of all the other Georgians. It is a story of Guru-Shishya Parampara, and a legend of Doctor – Patient relationship. It is also an account of how from the high and mighty Principals and Heads of the Departments to the most modest O.T. technicians and Safai Karamcharis all contribute in their unique way in the making of a Georgian! Not only Prof. S.C. Misra and Prof. P.C. Dubey but also technician Chotey Lal and sweeper Amiray had something to teach, only if we were alert enough to listen!

The aura and reputation of the Institute has certainly taken a few shocks in the last few years, as the value systems in the society have changed to more materialistic ones, but one has to only to ask the 1, 50,000 students who appear ever year in the combined entrance examinations for admission, or more than 5, 00,000 patients who seek treatment every year, which is their first choice Institution, to know where we stand today. And needless to say, we stand tall today because we are standing on the shoulders of giants!

Very rightly Prof. S.N. Pandiya has cautioned that a Guru should have gurutwakarshan otherwise he has no business to expect reverence. By his acts and deeds he should be able to demand the devotion of his disciple. Again by reminding Prof. Dalela that there were three pairs of eyes always watching him, those of his patients, his juniors and his teachers, Prof. R.P. Sahi in his own inimitable way was trying to mould an exemplary Georgian specimen.

An interview with Mr. Raj Kumar Sngh, the grandson of Rai Bahadur Bihari Lal, the Contractor and Municipal Commissioner of Lucknow, who was responsible for constructing the fabulous Administrative Block, was indeed an eye-opener. The foundation stone was laid in 1905 and the classes started in 1911. It is the 4th oldest medical institute in India. A building can be made of brick and cement but an Institution surely cannot. It is the people who work in it who form the heart and soul of an Institute. While every Georgian feels that his/her time was the golden period of this Institute, but history would suggest that from 1950 to 1985 this Institute surely was at its pinnacle with its graduates and post-graduates heading all the medical institutions of India, the Army, the Railways and the Provincial Medical Services of most States in North India. The book also contains a pictorial record of the history of our great Institution and photographs of all the Principals, Georgians who are Padma Awardees, Eminent research awardees, B.C. Roy Awardees and Hewett medalists.

The Georgian culture cannot be insulated from the culture of Lucknow, and so the skill of playing with words, the eloquence and delicate maneuvering of the Hindi and Urdu language, the Nazakat, the Nafasat, the Tehzeeb and the Tameez are all in abundance in this book. The flavor of Lucknow, the smell of shaam-e-awadh, the kisse, the kahaniyan, all make this book immensely readable! By reproducing the thoughts of the Georgians word by word, in their own language and style, the authors have succeeded in recreating a true Georgian atmosphere and this undoubtedly is the hallmark of this book. So when you read ‘lallo garhi choot gai’ you are at once reminded of that winter morning when you literally ran from Pharmacology lecture theatre to NSB only to find that it was 1 minute past 9.00 AM and Prof. T.C. Goel had finished with the attendance!


The book is hard bound, is published by Bharat Book Centre, 17 Ashok Marg, Lucknow 226001 and is priced Rs. 400.00. The lokarpan of the book was done in a glittering ceremony on March 17, 2007, which was attended by the Vice Chancellors of both KGMU and KGDU, office bearers of Alumni Association and many alumni. Prof. Sandeep Kumar who conceptualized the idea and Mr. Rajive Saran, who gave the idea its present form and shape, have performed a unique jugalbandi of Raag Georgian, which will remain in our memories for a long long time.

Monday 28 September 2015

THE DA VINCI MYSTIQUE



Greatness is a quality which lasts well beyond a lifetime. Appreciating the challenges of the day and finding solutions for them is most certainly an achievement worth reckoning, but what would you call one who could look into the future, appreciate the would be challenges and leave behind a road map for the future generation, so that they can benefit in days to come. Leonardo Da Vinci was one such person and when I try to make an unbiased opinion, disregarding my patriotic genes and nationalistic instincts, I find him easily the greatest mind that ever walked on the face of this earth. When you hear the name Leonardo Da Vinci, you tend to associate him with the incredible works of art, such as “The Mona Lisa” or “The Last Supper”. Da Vinci, however, was a man of many talents and not just a mere painter – he was also a prolific inventor who came up with concepts that were so advanced, they could only have been realized in our modern times.

Da Vinci used to write down his ideas and sketch designs in his notebook; most of them were preserved after his death in 1519. There isn’t any evidence that most of Da Vinci’s inventions were constructed during his lifetime, but today when we look back we find a man who was most definitely centuries ahead of his time. He would say “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do

From his notes and sketches we can see him offering a wide variety of scientific inventions. Let me enumerate a few and you will appreciate the width of the canvas he used to paint:

Military hardware:
He had rudimentary designs for a Tank in the late 1400s – not seen even in the battlefields of World War 1 in the early 1900s. He was heavily involved in military technologies, and one of his greatest patrons, Ludovico Sforza, the duke of Milan was the man entrusted with defending Italy from the invading French army. To receive Sforza’s financial patronage, Da Vinci designed a variety of military contraption, an armored tank being one of them. The invention included a human-powered carriage, covered in sheets of metal with slits that would allow Italian soldiers to fire their rifles safely.
He designed an ingenious machine gun, which has some resemblance to modern-day weapons. The design was for typical cannon, but with 12 barrels. The device could shoot one cannonball, then quickly be moved to the next loaded barrel and show again, as the used barrel is being loaded. This design was also never constructed during Da Vinci’s lifetime, as the first modern machinegun appeared on the battlefield in 1862, during the American Civil War and had unmistakable resemblance with his sketches.
His designed portable bridges are still used by the military


Aviation: Planes and helicopters were invented almost four centuries later but he had sketched designs which looked very much like these objects and based on of the body structure of birds and bats.
Da Vinci;s flying machine design included a set of very large wings, attached to a wooden frame where the pilot is meant to lie down on his stomach and control the device with some levers. This was his idea, not very different to a hang glider of today.
His drawing for the Helicopter is said to have inspired Igor Sigorsky to invent the modern Helicopter and is also said to have inspired the invention of the screw propeller found on almost all boats.
Leonardo’s parachute was drawn 300 years before the first parachute was ever used,

Medicine: From his notebooks we can gather anatomical discoveries that could have saved millions of lives as well as ideas and concepts that would have leapfrogged humanity well into the future –
Leonardo discovered arteriosclerosis (plaque deposits on the walls of vessels in the human body). This would be rediscovered in the middle of the 20th century – almost 400 years later.
He created the first full anatomical drawing of the human body, from the vascular system to the muscular system and the nervous system. Although some of the conclusions he came to were wrong about the human body, his mastery of artwork meant that his drawings would remain to be the most accurate anatomical drawings for well over 200 years.
Charles Darwin is generally accredited to having discovered the theory of evolution, however, due to his vast understanding of human and animal anatomy, Leonardo da Vinci did not think that this was even required to debate, 350 years before Charles Darwin, he simply wrote   – “Man. The description of man, which includes that of such creatures as are almost of the same species, as Apes, Monkeys and the like, which are many”

Mechanical Engineering
He invented the ball bearing, roller bearing and needle bearing, 3 miniature machines upon which our modern society operates.
He drew the first exploded view of a machine – this is crucial to modern engineering practices as it would be almost impossible to visualize a modern machine without this visual aid.
He designed the first continuously variable transmission system and the rack and pinion gear system – this is still used in almost every car ever built. This system converts the rotary motion of the steering wheel to turn the cars wheels left and right

Geology: He hinted at an understanding of Plate Tectonics. After finding sea shells high above sea level on a mountainside he wrote – “And from time to time the bottom of the sea was raised, depositing these shells in layers, as may be seen in the cutting at Colle Gonzoli” – Plate Tectonics would be accepted as a valid scientific theory in the middle of the twentieth century.

Adventure sports: He sketched Scuba Diving gear was to be made almost entirely of leather and included a full body combination of a jacket, pants and a helmet with tiny glass windows. Air was to be kept in the front bulge of the jacket with tubes attached to the mask to allow the diver to breath. The suit even had a small compartment for urine collection and special pockets for various tools were also designed into the suit, including a knife, and even a horn he can blow to signal he needs to surface. It was not until Jacque Cousteau invented the “water lung” in the middle of the 20th-cetury that diving suits became common.

Robotics: Da Vinci invented a “Mechanical Knight” for wealthy patrons, which was supposedly capable of moving its arms, neck and even open and close its “mouth”. This strange mechanical doll was controlled via external cables that were attached to sets of pulleys inside the robot’s body. One such machine could be classed as the first mechanically powered vehicle as well as being the first remotely operated vehicle.

Town planning: During the 15th-century, Europe was still recovering from the black plague, which annihilated more than a third of Europe’s population. Da Vinci noticed that cities were more vulnerable to the plague in comparison with villages and hypothesized that the cause if how cities were constructed, making them more vulnerable.
The solution was a whole new futuristic city, full designed from top to bottom to provide the best sanitary conditions to the inhabitants. Da Vinci’s City of the Future was divided to several “layers”. Anything that was considered to be unhygienic would be located at the bottom layer, to be evacuated via canals. Each part of the city would enjoy running water thanks to an intricate hydraulic system that also served as the basis of modern plumbing. The result was a marvel of city planning, but its construction was beyond Da Vinci’s means, and he couldn’t find a patron that would support his endeavors.

There are many Leonardo da Vinci Inventions still used today. The his mirror grinding machine – still used by amateur telescope makers The  bucket-wheel excavator – still used in coal mines all over the world. The mitre lock used in canals, the odometer to measure distance, the anemometer used by meteorologists and many others for measuring wind speeds and a pair of scissors we use every dayowe their birth to this great inventor.

Unfortunately a vast majority of Leonardo’s inventions passed through history unknown, and had to be re-invented by someone else, the reason for this is because Leonardo never published many of his notes and they remained unseen for several hundred years. He had always planned to compile a large book containing all of his notes, observations and inventions. However, he died before this was completed. When he died in France in 1519 he left his notes to his student Francesco Melzi. Melzi looked after the notes for quite a while but soon found he could make some handsome money by selling the old masters notes and notebooks!

For a lifetime of obsessive study, work, observation and documentation Leonardo da Vinci deserves to be called the greatest inventor of all times. As only he could summarize “Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation… even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind”. All that he managed to achieve in one lifetime is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals!

Sunday 27 September 2015

COMPETITIVE VICTIMHOOD

COMPETITIVE VICTIMHOOD

A few weeks back we were in the midst of a couple of events, which came one after the other and what followed was both sad and strange. We lost our most beloved President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and we sentenced a proven terrorist to death. While the Nation was united in grieving for the former, a section of the media and a fragment of the populace felt very offended and aggrieved by the hanging of the latter. So much so that even before the funeral of the former President, his news was reduced to 2 half columns of the front page of our leading news daily, and the rest of the page was offered to the terrorist! A few 24x7 news channels ran a well organized campaign against the decision of the President and the Supreme Court of India! Some pious intellectuals with a heart of gold hopped from channel to channel whipping up passion against the Union of India and crying hoarse about the human rights of the terrorist, and no one even bothered to think about his victims. So obvious was their effort that it smelled of being sponsored by big money, and not black money but far worse ……red money!

They successfully divided the Nation by what I call ‘competitive victimhood’. When you would think that a terrorist is the enemy of the entire nation, this effort ensured that more than 10,000 people attended the terrorist’s burial. If this is ‘freedom of speech’ I am proud to be an Indian, but a very concerned one.

We in India are not the only sufferers of this competitive victimhood, whether it is demolition of Babri Masjid or Mumbai blasts. In most intractable conflicts, throughout the world both of the parties involved suffer severe physical and psychological trauma. However, people often assess the impact of the conflict subjectively, perceiving their own group to be the only legitimate victim, and their rivals as illegitimate perpetrators of unjust and immoral misdeeds. How can members of different groups live together after decades of mutual violence, humiliation and abuse? Is it possible for them to coexist peacefully? Addressing these questions is perhaps one of the most challenging but urgent tasks for social scientists in general, and social psychologists in particular. Over the last few decades, the world has indeed been marked by deep-rooted conflicts, not just across national borders, but also between ethnic and religious groups within the same territory, as we have seen this time in our country. The Arab-Israel conflict, Apartheid in South Africa, genocide in Rwanda, violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and civil wars in the former Yugoslavia are just a few other examples, and these should send a chill down our spine because we don’t want to go that way.

In this arena of competitive victimhood parties involved in a conflict or their golden heart representatives makes great efforts to persuade themselves, rivals, and third parties that their suffering has been greatest. There is however a detrimental consequence of competitive victimhood in reconciliation processes, and our wise television debaters conveniently forget this simple issue. All they have to do is look at Northern Ireland, competitive victimhood decreases the Protestants' and Catholics' inclination to forgive each other and, at the same time, reduces the willingness to accept responsibility for each group's past misdeeds. Similarly, in Chile, competitive victimhood has been empirically demonstrated to be a great obstacle to the reconciliation between pro-Pinochet and anti-Pinochet groups.

As against all these why did Germany succeed in their effort of reunification after the fall of the Berlin wall? What did they do differently? They just did three things – develop, educate and absorb the best of both the worlds, A heterogeneous kaleidoscopic society like India can only follow this model. Hindus and Muslims in India cannot go the Israel Palestine way because that can only lead to doom and hell. And messengers of hell who run our 24x7 news channels and their golden heart commentators must learn to keep the welfare of the Nation as their top most priority. They have miserably failed this time around.

Friday 25 September 2015

FROM CHIMP TO HUMAN TO ROBOT, the journey goes on!

Changes in our hands and fingers were a side-effect of changes in the shape of our feet and bipedalism freed the hand to evolve for other purposes. Our ancestors did not have to use our forelimbs for locomotion any more and a group of chimpanzee-like apes began to throw rocks and swing clubs at adversaries, and this behaviour yielded reproductive advantages for millions of years, driving natural selection for improved throwing and clubbing prowess. The two fundamental human handgrips, first identified by J. R. Napier, and named by him the ‘precision grip’ and ‘power grip’, represent a throwing grip and a clubbing grip, thereby providing an evolutionary explanation for the two unique grips, and the extensive anatomical remodelling of the hand that made them possible[1].

The fingers, metacarpal and carpal bones of the chimpanzee hand are elongated, but in typical primate fashion the thumb is small, weak and relatively immobile The third and fourth metacarpals, which absorb the highest compression during knuckle-walking, are especially robust [2]. Both proximal and middle phalanges are curved toward the palm to withstand stress from gripping limbs during arboreal locomotion. The finger tips are cone-shaped, and lack broad apical tufts [2,3]. Thumb phalanges and metacarpals are slender and short and the intrinsic muscles of the thumb, underlying the thenar region of the palm, are small [4]. With this hand the chimpanzee’s grip is designed to hang from trees – a hook grip. Because the thumb is weak and short, its distal phalanx is relatively immobile and its distal pad cannot be opposed to those of the fingers and it cannot generate a firm pinch or squeeze.

The human thumb in contrast is longer and stronger, the palm and fingers are shorter, and the fingers have lost their curvature. The distal phalanges have gained large apical tufts which support broad, palmar, fibrofatty pads that distribute pressure during forceful grasping and whose deformation accommodates the pads to uneven surfaces [2,3]. Apart from thickening of the fifth metacarpal and enlargement of its base, the balance of strength and robustness has shifted radially, to the thumb, second and third fingers [2,5]. The thumb metacarpal articulates with the carpals in a saddle joint which in combination with remodelling in the metacarpal–phalangeal joint allows its distal pad to be placed against those of the other fingers, providing full opposability [6]. The intrinsic thumb muscles are larger and three new muscles have evolved in humans to add strength and control to thumb movements. The flexor pollicis longus muscle, absent in chimpanzees, is the most powerful thumb muscle in humans. It flexes the distal phalanx of the thumb and maintains the orientation of its pad toward the fingers against pressure. Also new are the deep head of the flexor pollicis brevis and the first volar interosseous muscle [7]. Another unique attribute of the human hand is finger rotation. When the fingers are flexed, they rotate towards the central axis so that the fingertips can meet the tip of the thumb. The metacarpal–hamate articulation permits supination of the fourth and fifth metacarpals, whereas the heads of the second and third metacarpals allow pronation of the proximal phalanges [2]. These modifications have given the human hand the two new grips – the precision grip and the power grip.

Taking this concept of evolution a step further let us see how we are designing a robotic hand. HANDLE (Developmental pathway towards autonomy and dexterity in robot in-hand manipulation) is a Large Scale "Integrated Project" funded by the European Union within The Seventh Framework Programme FP7, in which nine European institutions, coordinated by the Pierre and Marie Curie University of Paris (France), participate to build a robotic arm and hand. . The objective of the project is to create a robotic hand that can reproduce the abilities and movements of a human hand in order to achieve the optimal manipulation of objects. The research carried out by the HANDLE project's partners are in the area of visual perception, motion planning, new sensors, acquisition of motor skills using artificial intelligence techniques, etc.[8]

When trying to recreate the movements of a human hand with a robotic system, there are several complex problems that must be resolved. In the first place, there is a lack of space, the human hand is incredibly complete, which makes it a challenge to try to put all of the necessary pieces into the robotic hand and to integrate all of the actuators that allow for mobility similar to that of a human hand. Again there are currently no sensors in the market that are small enough to be integrated into the device so that it can have sensitivity similar to that of a human hand and, thus, be able to make precise movements.

Shadow Robot Compny’s Shadow Hand is perhaps the closest robot Hand to the human hand[9]. It provides 24 movements, allowing a direct mapping from a human to the robot. The hand contains an integrated bank of 40 Air Muscles which make it move and produce precision grip and power grip. The Air Muscle is a simple yet powerful device for providing a pulling force. It behaves in a very similar way to a biological muscle. When actuated with a supply of compressed air, they contract by up to 40% of its original length. The air muscles are compliant, which allows the Hand to be used around soft or fragile objects. This hand can be fitted with touch sensing on the fingertips, offering sensitivity sufficient to detect a single small coin or manipulate delicate objects such as fruit and eggs.

Finally, although the researchers may manage to make a perfect robot from the mechanical and sensorial point of view, without intelligence elements the device will not be able to function autonomously nor adapt its movements and control to the characteristics of the objects, such as their geometry, texture, weight or use.

So this only goes to suggest that evolution of the hand alone did not help the human species. The associated development of the human brain was invaluable.



References:


  1. Young RW. Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing. J Anat. 2003 January; 202(1): 165–174.
  2. Susman RL. Comparative and functional morphology of hominoid fingers. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 1979;50:215–236. [PubMed]
  3. Napier JR. Studies of the hands of living primates. Proc. Zool. Soc. London. 1960;134:647–657.
  4. Marzke MW. Evolution of the hand and bipedality. In: Lock A, Peters A, editors. Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1992a. pp. 126–154.
  5. Marzke MW, Shackley MS. Hominid hand use in the Pliocene and Pleistocene: evidence from experimental archaeology and comparative morphology. J. Human Evol. 1986;15:439–460.
  6. Napier JR. The form and function of the carpo-metacarpal joint of the thumb. J. Anat. 1955;89:362–369. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
  7.  Susman RL. Fossil evidence for early hominid tool use. Science. 1994;265:1570–1573. [PubMed]
  8. http://www.handle-project.eu/
  9. http:/www.shadowrobot.com

AN ENDLESS WAR WITH SENSELESS VOILENCE AND COUNTLESS SACRIFICES

Why is it that the large belt of landmass from Algeria in the west to Indonesia in the east is in a state of constant turmoil and foreign intervention of any hue and colour has failed in the past and bound to fail in the future? This is because the religious fault lines are deep and impossible to fathom by the secular west.  This is a strange region where state boundaries, drawn in sand are always shifting, religion is government, scripture is law and past defines the future!

So what is this past which this region cannot forget?  In the year 632, soon after the Prophet Mohammed who founded Islam died, there was a dispute over who should succeed him in ruling the vast Caliphate he'd established. Some wanted to elect a successor, while some argued power should go by divine birthright to Mohammed's son-in-law, Ali. The dispute became a civil war, the divide of which began today's Shia (the Partisans of Ali, or Shi'atu Ali, hence Shia) and Sunni. Ali was killed in the city of Kufa, in present-day Iraq. 20 years later, his followers traveled with Ali's son Hussein from Islam's center in Mecca up to Karbala, which is in present-day Iraq, where they were killed in battle and the war ended. This made Kufa and Karbala, and other locations in southern Iraq, the heartland of Shia Islam. Now you know why the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has no intentions of overthrowing the government in Baghdad but subjugate, desecrate and destroy Najaf and Karbala, the holy land of the Shi’ites!

The two sides agreed on the Quran but had different views on hadith, the traditions recorded by Mohamed's followers about what he had said and done in his life. Diverging traditions of ritual, law and practice soon emerged. A clerical hierarchy, topped by imams and ayatollahs, became crucial in Shi'ism. By contrast, Sunni Muslims felt no need of intermediaries in their relationship with God - an approach which has abetted the rise of extremist zealots like al-Qa'ida. The Sunnis became happy to depend upon the state, which their adherents mostly controlled.

The Sunnis are the overwhelming majority forming almost 90% of 1.6 billion Muslims all over the world but Shi’ites enjoy disproportionate power, with their control of Iran and their concentration around oil rich areas. While strong governments in this region have in the past like the Ottoman Empire and the western colonizers, the dictators and the Kings succeeded in putting the gene of this religious chiasm in an always tense bottle, every time their authority got eroded, the gene promptly raised its ugly head. Vacuums of power, such as those that occurred during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) and in post-war Iraq, have forced believers to retreat into their respective ethnic, sectarian, tribal and political camps. It is exactly during times of crisis that regional leaders can exploit sectarian identities and force civil strife upon an entire country. Today, with the rise of a pro-Iranian government in Iraq, the Middle East finds itself once again in the midst of a regional power struggle: one between Iranian-allied Shias and the Sunni-Arab governments that oppose them. The fact that the Sunni ISIS is no friend of the Saudi kingdom does not matter because the latter views Shia dominant Iran as a greater evil. It only by understanding the political dynamics of this sectarian conflict that the international community will have a chance to help Iraq and Syria achieve a lasting peace. Rehabilitating refugees is not a cure to this malady, the war needs to stop.

Iran's behavior totally fits with the history of the battle between Shi'a and Sunni: the Iranian, Shi'ite Ayatollahs' sweetest dream is to control Mecca and Medina, so that they can throw the Sunni Wahhabis out of these Islamic holy places, and restore the Shi'ites, the descendants of Ali, the fourth caliph, to power. This is the basis for the great hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the sense of a great and real threat that Saudi Arabia feels these days because of the Iranian military nuclear project.

Shi'ites have a genuine grievance that they are persecuted in every Islamic country where they do not rule – Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and in Sunni Saddam’s Iraq. The members of these groups are considered to be unclean and Shi'ite mosques in these countries are a regular target for terror attacks by radical Sunnis, especially members of al-Qaeda. The only country in the world where the Shi’ites do not rule and yet are and will always remain safe is India.

What is al-Qaida's goal? Ignite Sunni-Shia wars and Muslim-Christian clashes in Arab states. Draw in the Americans to smash Iran. And when the Sunni are ascendant, expel the Americans and Christians, isolate Israel and set about creating the caliphate of Osama bin Laden's dream.  And when you chase a dream of this magnitude sacrificing humans, nations, values and by all means religion is all acceptable for the extremist mindset! And what is most astonishing is that they have been perpetrating this violence, over the centuries, in the name of God! Now you know why ignorance and extremism go hand in hand.
 This senseless violence has not only divided people but also divided nations – Ethiopia and Sudan have split, Mali, Nigeria, Egypt, Syria and Iraq are all on the verge of fragmentation, if they at all exist as a country today. Is this the end result envisaged by those who initiated the Arab Spring? Ali and Muawiya, the fourth and fifth caliphs from the middle of the seventh century, have been in their graves for some time, but the struggle between them for the rule of Islam continues to claim casualties among their supporters and adherents, who are all, every single one, Muslims. The Prophet preached peace, tolerance and benevolence and that is exactly what is missing today. 

Thursday 24 September 2015

RESERVATION FOR ME TOO - MY ANSWER TO HARDIKISM

It was Jat reservation last time and it is Patel reservation this time, and believe me – you haven’t seen the last of these rallies. According to our constitution reservations are a way to compensate for lack of opportunities. Unlike the developed countries, where the access and quality of schooling, basic literacy and knowledge is fairly uniform, these factors are at the opposite end of the spectrum in India. Dalits and backward classes bear this brunt, because they are majority where these problems exist, irrespective of their economic status. Reservations are for protection of backward classes against caste discrimination, they are not punishment for upper-castes.
But this is where the problem starts.

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down reservations for the Jat community by inclusion in the central list of Other Backward Classes, on the eve of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections lays bare the deplorable vote bank politics that successive governments have indulged in. Describing the policy as a reflection of negative and retrograde governance, the Supreme Court has asserted that caste alone can’t be the criterion for determining backwardness. The majority NDA government in the centre should have taken the hint.

Affirmative action cannot be blind to present-day realities. Though in many cases caste overlaps with social backwardness, there’s a need to invert today’s approach and consider factors such as economic backwardness. This will automatically factor in caste disadvantages, as the poorest tend to belong to lower castes, while also keeping out the creamy layer. And this will also include the poor of the upper caste. Are we trying to fool ourselves and presuming that all upper caste people are rich zamindars and nawabs?

Instead of the extensive slicing and dicing of the electorate cake to serve political interests at the cost of sparking caste antagonisms and entrenching the caste system, as has been the tendency of the politicians so far, a neat and elegant solution is to make economic backwardness one of the primary criterion for affirmative action. This should open gates only to permit entry of the most distressed. Any other inclusion would be a serious abdication of the constitutional duty of the state.

No, I am not a rabid anti-reservationist. I am aware of the practice of untouchability, socio-economic-educational exclusion is prevalent in most parts of India - leading to downward spiral of which poverty is a symptom - not a cause. Caste discrimination to me is the worst form of racism. Discrimination by last name is rampant in urban areas and private sector. With all the caste based disadvantages, under privileged children expected to compete with privately schooled, internet enabled, exam coached, city dwelling privileged children need reservation, but do their rich cousins who have stayed in the creamy layer also deserve the same openings? Are they not availing the opportunities which should legitimately go to the less fortunate? When they have taken one or two bites of the cake why are they not passing it to their starving brothers and sisters? Why are they being greedy?

Out of the total population 22 percent consists of SC/ST with 59 sub-castes which do not equally gain the benefits of reservation and they continue to be socially and economically backward and in poverty. Only upper caste within this sub-castes have been enjoying this benefits. This is what people like Hardik do not like and they feel that now they deserve a bite of that cake. But Hardik bhai, reservation is not all about money and opportunities. No it is not. Even if you have money, if the social system does not allow you to do certain things, you are still disadvantaged. If you are asked to clean the school toilet, sit separately during mid-day meals, and denied job because you are ‘bhangi’ what will money do? It will not buy you social status. Only power and position will, and that is why the constitution provides reservation to them. Jats and Patels have that social status, poor and impoverished Brahmins, Rajputs, Khatriyas don’t because of their poverty. So if anybody deserves reservation now, it has to be the ‘daridra narayan’. Did the Prime Minister not say that ‘ye garibon ki sarkar hai’? The government must devise new methods and yardsticks to determine backwardness of a community and besides caste, economic backwardness should also be a factor.

Wednesday 23 September 2015

THE FADING ART OF READING




I’m an endangered species – a guy who reads books. Not a casual reader who picks up the occasional book but someone who always has a book or two going. I’ve been one since I was a kid and my parents were responsible. I saw them read newspapers, magazines, novels and books in English, Hindi and Bangla. Books were the only birthday gifts I ever received from them, and if grandparents ever lovingly gifted money, that too was converted into books as a religious routine. I grew up with the idea that reading is a way of life. My sons however are very different. While I learned to read everything from poetry to pornography and developed a database in my cerebral circuits from where I can recall what I need to, or at least I know which book will give me the required information, my sons simply google the key words and get the information from the computer! The information derived from the television, the National Geographic and the Discovery Channel programmes constitute their fragile database and google simply adds meat to their skeletal knowledge. But what is worst is that they are perfectly happy about it! Who has the time to read books aimlessly, is what they ask. Their thirst for information is limitless but their attention span is so less that it poses a serious challenge to a goldfish! Just because a new medium arrives doesn’t mean an old medium dies out. I hope and pray that the two merge and their offspring i.e. e-books have a bright future. Kindle is getting more and more popular and I hope the younger generation rediscovers the wonders of the printed pages.

W. Somerset Maugham said, “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all miseries of life.” But today, in an age when browsing the net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMS seem to be the order of the day, the reading habit is the worst sufferer. The internet boom, interactive medium of images, TV and the silver screen is filling the minds of the modern youth and taking majority of their free time.  Social media is the new fad with What’s App, Instagram and Orkut having almost replaced the television, almost the same way the latter had replaced the books. While technology is taking control steadily over individual lives, the reading habit is fast vanishing into thin air. The city libraries are either bearing a deserted look or are fast disappearing and I still miss the British Council Library of my younger days. Many homes today still have libraries but those books are just part of the homes décor. "Books are man's best friends"- the old saying is losing its relevance these days as in the age of technology and “Smart phones are now man’s best friend”!

My generation was spell bound by Perry Mason stories, mesmerized by Arthur Hailey, thrilled by James Hadley Chase, inspired by Ayn Rand, and shown the marvels of the English language by P.G. Woodhouse!  Will the smart phone do all this for the present generation?  The girls were crazy about were crazy about Mills 'n' Boons love stories. Are today’s school girls still reading them? Yes, despite all odds we have had bestsellers like Harry Potter, Five Point Someone and Two States and I salute their authors for beating the odds. Hindi literature has suffered even more. We read Munshi Premchand, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Gulshan Nanda, Colonel Ranjeet…..across the spectrum from the sublime to the ridiculous, but are there name even remotely familiar to the youth today?

Reading is an essential tool for lifelong learning. Reading adds quality to life and provides access to culture and heritage. It empowers and emancipates citizens and brings people together and is a priceless instrument for everyone. It is one of the most important activities of life through which we enter into the life and experiences of others and extend our knowledge, scope of experience and enjoyment. It has critical role to play in the overall development of an individual and the nation at large. At a time when a wide range of books is available in bookstores and children and teenagers have to choose from comics to fairy tales and adventure books, it is sad to see that with the children remaining glued to the Cartoon Network on TV and internet, the reading habit is on the wane right from childhood. Gone are the days when they used to rush to their library to get their favorite books of adventure and fairy tales. They used to devour books like the Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe. Their heroes were Robin Hood and Tom Sawyer. In more recent years books written by Enid Blyton had caught their fancy. Recently there was a lot of hype on J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter series but I wonder how many children actually read the novels from cover to cover. Perhaps, there were more viewers of the films than readers of the books.

It was way back in 1967 Anant Pai understood this problem of a declining reading habit. He was convinced that books on Indian cultural heritage have to be made more colourful and interesting to make them acceptable to the children. He then started Ama Chitra Katha, a series of comic books depicting the life and time of the heroes and heroines of yesteryears. With more than 400 titles  that retell stories from the great Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables this was an extremely popular effort.  Amar Chitra Katha has evolved over times. It has forayed into the digital world by launching its official digital store app across platforms — Windows 8, iOS and Android. Dubbed as ACK Comics, the store offers more than 300 titles. The colourful photography and the lively animation makes the reading experience more interesting.

Actually, the time we spent on reading books has been snatched by the idiot box, which in turn is losing out to the social media. I am not against these powerful mediums of communication but I am vexed to see how a very healthful food has been replaced by fast food and junk food! What is worse is Indian parents think that reading books will divert the attention of their children from their serious tasks and goals of achieving high marks in examinations. So much for parenthood! Reading stories about Subhash Bose, Khudiram, Bhagat Singh, Rani Lakshmi Bai and Chandra Shekhar Azad to the impressionable young minds is the duty of every parent, and if they do not want to pick up an old fashioned book let them do so with an e-book!

Although people are not reading books as they used to, their thirst for information seems to be limitless. The habit of reading will come back again after sometime. “Media is not a zero sum game,” says Paul Saffo, a director of the Institute For Future in Menlo Park, California, “Just because a new medium arrives doesn’t mean an old medium dies out.” He hopes, as I do, for a resurrection of the wonderful habit of reading books!


GOOD TEACHERS ARE NATIONAL ASSETS - TREASURE THEM

Why is it that we remember certain teachers vividly and are unable to remember most of others? Was it their fund of knowledge? Was it their communication skills? Was it their sense of humour? Or was it all this and much more? Yes, while I cannot put my finger on that one quality I admired most in my favorite teachers what I know for certain is they all had one thing in common – they were able to ignite the fire of ‘outrageous ambition’ in me. I have long forgotten the subject matter they painstakingly taught, I do not even remember whether I was their favourite student and how many marks they gave me in their subject, but what I do remember is their single minded dedication to make me a better man.

I remember an incident which happened 51 years ago when my father took me to a prestigious College in Lucknow for admission. While conducting an informal interview with trivial queries which one can expect a 6 year old to respond to, the Principal, Mr. H.N. Kashyap suddenly asked me “so son what is your father?” I don’t think I understood the question very well and so I replied, “Sir, he is a man.” Mr. Kashyap exclaimed “Good! And that is exactly what we intend to make one out of you, a good honest and sincere man” then turning to my father he said “Sir, Colvin does not guarantee you an outstanding scholar or a batch topper but it certainly promises you an outstanding human being who will bring pride and joy to his parents, his friends and relatives, his teachers, his Institution and his Nation.” My expectation from an educational institution and its teachers has never ever been less than that.

The teaching profession is dynamic and constantly evolving, it involves continuous learning and re-learning, thereby placing demand on teachers to upgrade themselves or else they would face the risk of becoming irrelevant. In the era of globalization, the challenges for teachers to upgrade their skills were demanding especially with the evolution in teaching methods and academic content brought about by information and communication technology.

I am of the firm opinion that Teachers are Nation Builders. Good teachers are the bearers of social genes, for they pass on to hundreds of pupils the knowledge, skills, beliefs and values that societies have accumulated over thousands of years. So a Nation can be just as good as its teachers. This is not simply a profession to earn a living; this is a life time commitment towards building the core strength of a Nation. Just like professional colleges to train doctors, engineers and now lawyers, there should be professional 5 years integrated course to produce high quality teachers. Their placements should be apolitical, preferably campus selections by various colleges and universities and their pay structures should be at par with the administrative officers of the government they serve. If the Prime Minister dreams of exporting teachers to the world, their quality will have to improve and the society will have to learn to respect them. If they have to grease palms and bribe officials to get jobs how can you expect them to be role models for our children? And if the society fails to understand their importance and pays them peanuts, then peanuts only attract monkeys!

OUR OBSESSION WITH FAIR COMPLEXION - IS THIS NOT A VEILED APARTHEID!

I have often wondered why skin bleaching agents, which promise to turn our Indian skin a few shades fairer are so much in demand. Why is it that fair is lovely and dark is not? Are Naomi Campbell, Serena Williams, Halle Berry, Whitney Houston, Rekha, Kajal and Nandita Sen not lovely? How can the multinational and home grown cosmetic companies sell trash in tons to our ignorant consumers with the promise to turn them into fair stars and dazzling celebrities? Why are we Indians so obsessed with the colour of our skin?

Theaters and cinemas invariably have a fair complexion heroine, and if she is not she is metamorphosed into one. If anybody is dark, he/she is usually representing the evil. Is this not propagating a false notion that dark is evil and fair is noble? Articles written about a legend like Rekha invariably describe her as dusky-skinned. Is this fair? Are we not categorizing her according to something she was naturally born into and has no personal control over? If that is what happens to a celebrity and talented icon like Rekha, imagine what is happening to all the not so fair complexioned girls out there – in academics, in profession and in relationships! Is this not a veiled apartheid?

Advertizers are the worst culprit in this business. In all its advertisements it is a dark girl who is dejected and who dreams of becoming fair. The advertisers have the audacity of proclaiming “cure for dark skin” as if darkness is a disease! Such advertisements have always disempowered women because they have encouraged the notion that women have to be fair and pretty to get noticed, get good jobs and be eligible for marriage. And the matrimonial advertisements asking for fair-skinned brides confirms my belief about our skewed mind set.

Historically we were not the worshippers of the white complexion. While Parwati, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kartik were all beautiful / handsome and fair complexioned, the epitome of male beauty in the Hindu tradition is Lord Krishna who is clearly dark skinned. His name means “The Dark One”. Lord Rama was also dark skinned and considered very handsome. The gorgeous Draupadi, described as extraordinarily beautiful who could not be surpassed by any other woman during her time in terms of beauty, is also depicted as being very dark.

The fondness for dark skin traveled from ancient to the medieval period as well. This fact is well documented by Marco Polo who mentions in his travelogue, The Travel (Translated by R Latham and published by Penguin in 1958) – “For I assure you that the darkest man is here the most highly esteemed and considered better than others who are not so dark. Let me add that in very truth these people portray and depict their gods and their idols black and their devils white as snow.”

Indian obsession with fair skin can be traced back to the caste system where dalits or 'untouchables' often had much darker skin to the higher castes. It worsened during the colonization period when the Portuguese, French, Dutch and British invaded India. Most of these people were racists with shallow perception about the dark skinned people and considered them ugly. As the oppressed Indians sought acceptability from the rulers the dark skin became a liability rather than an asset. British and European missionary schools did not teach them that lack of melanocytes made their rulers more susceptible to sun burns and skin cancers! The young Indians started admiring the fair skin colonizers and were taught to be ashamed of their “primitive” and superstition based culture and the colour of their skin. Interactions with the colonizers filled their hearts with inferiority complex about their own glorious civilization, languages, religion, eating-dressing habits and their body complexion too! So today's obsession about fairness is certainly indication of same century old enslaved mindset, which we Indians haven't yet got rid of despite 67 years of Independence.

If things continue to move the way they are now, soon the white dominance over the world will be supplanted by (ostensibly) the Chinese and the Indian; so is the time coming for the dark and the yellow skin? On a more serious note, we have to put more value on talent, academics and core competence and have to get over this obsession for “fair skin”. This, to me, remains the last bastion of discrimination, and should be shattered at the earliest.

THE CHARITABLE FACE OF SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS

The medical and surgical associations like the Association of Surgeons of India, Association of Physicians of India and numerous others that are cropping up like mushrooms need to have a social relevance. When I see the old associations like the Indian Orthopaedic Association producing as many as 12 baby associations one each serving the spine, hand, foot, knee, hip, wrist……you name it, they have indeed served their purpose well because today if I know more about Brachial Plexus, Burns, Aesthetic Surgery and AO fixation, it is because of these fraction associations. But should this academic pursuit be the only objective of scientific organizations? Most of my contemporaries are now heading these associations and here is some food for thought.

Most of the now a very old and established medical organization have till date only served themselves and their members. An organization of elite surgeons, the best that is available in the State or the country should do much more than that. It is time to ask ourselves have we done anything selflessly for the society and for the poorest of the poor. Societies and Associations are considered big not because of their numerical strength but their core values and principles for which they stand. It is time we acquire a humanitarian face which we can proudly show to the world. Every worthy medical organization in the Western World has a wing which does some social service. This serves not only to boost their image but also get donations tax free and most importantly; it helps the poor and the needy. 

We need to take a leaf out of their book and make us more relevant to the society we live in. Let us identify one surgical / medical health problem and concentrate all our energy and resources to improve its quality care in our country for the poorest of the poor. The organization should have a clear mission statement. Even the goal to provide medical aid to a district with a low socio-economic status is too vague and broad and will not be properly implemented. The leaders of the group must pinpoint the exact responsibilities, whether it will be a childhood immunization campaign or burn care for the poor, or assisting patients of Japanese Encephalitis, or finding a hospital for poor trauma victims, or sending a medical team to promote women’s health, or arranging for school health programme for the under-privileged schools or assisting civic authorities to fight vector borne diseases like malaria or dengue.

One of the main problems in most Indian societies at both the individual and the organizational level is that we often try to carry 10 watermelons in only two hands. Of course, they all fall down so we end up with nothing. When time, energy, and resources are scattered into several different directions, failure is almost always the outcome and very little is accomplished. My advice to these Associations will be to concentrate on one specific segment of charity work and channel all their efforts toward that one goal in a systematic and organized way. If too many aims are chased then these helping hands will fall short in one or all of its endeavors and the quality of the services offered will suffer. Preferably, the organization should pick just one goal, focus on it, and improve its work year after year.

Another advice would be - avoid re-inventing the wheel. If there are already 30 different charity organizations that distribute free medicines and they are doing a good job, what contribution will we add to the society by opening a 31st organization of the exact same sort? We should either join one of these groups to support them and help them grow and expand, or you should serve the community from another angle. Competition between volunteer organizations breeds greed, mistrust and confusion, and fighting for taking credit is not noble.

Imagination and having a vision is sometimes more important than knowledge. Being creative, taking a helicopter look, and expanding our horizons will produce great results. When we raise our ceiling and have higher expectations from ourselves, amazing accomplishments will be made. Medical associations have the moral authority to advice the government regarding health issues and with a track record of service to the society, ignoring their opinion will be both unpopular and hazardous for democratically elected governments. Imagine if the Association of Preventive & Social Medicine of India would have taken the initiative of running the Swach Bharat Abhiyan!

I would like to see some big medical associations like those of Physicians or Obstetricians & Gynaecologists adopt a village in each State and be a part of the Government’s Adarsh Gram Yojna. Smaller organizations can fund a school as this will have long term benefits for the neighborhood. Thorough research, studying the logistics and costs, determining the exact needs of our target, and collecting information and data will definitely boost the productivity of our chosen charity project. A strong leader with excellent management and administrative skills can make this project fly and no medical association is short of them.

Look at what some celebrities in Maharashtra have done – cinema actors, producers, cricketers have pooled their resources and have gone out in drought hit Marathwada to distribute money to the helpless farmers and be seen by their side in their hour of need. This small gesture may be the difference between life and suicide for the unfortunate farmers! If nothing else, it shows to them that the group cares for them. This is what the country should think about the medical and surgical associations.

I am not a believer of silent help because I feel seeing us help will stimulate others to come forward. We should design what advertisers call an “elevator pitch.” In less than one minute, we should be able to explain the chosen mission of our association and what makes it exceptional. A short, concise, and catchy statement can get the message across, and spread our association’s popularity to increase the society’s participation. The success of the Smile Train project is a case in point. Today Plastic Surgeons are seen not just as cosmetic surgeons but as surgeons who can transform a cleft face of shame, hopelessness and despair into a smiling and confident face ready to face the world…….and that too absolutely free of cost!