Tuesday 31 July 2018

WE ARE PEAS OF THE SAME POD



Human migration - routes and dates



According to palaeontology our species is an African one: Africa is where we first evolved, and this is because the earliest fossils of recognizably modern Homo sapiens appear in the fossil record at Omo Kibish in Ethiopia, around 200,000 years ago. Although earlier fossils may be found over the coming years, this is our best understanding of when and approximately where we originated.

According to the genetic and paleontological record, we only started to leave Africa between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago. What set this in motion is uncertain, but we think it has something to do with major climatic shifts that were happening around that time—a sudden cooling in the Earth’s climate driven by the onset of one of the worst parts of the last Ice Age. This cold snap would have made life difficult for our African ancestors and the genetic evidence points to a sharp reduction in population size around this time. In fact, the human population likely dropped to fewer than 10,000. We were holding on by a thread.

Once the climate started to improve, after 70,000 years ago, we came back from this near-extinction event. The population expanded, and some intrepid explorers ventured beyond Africa. The earliest people to colonize the Eurasian landmass likely did so across the Bab-al-Mandab Strait separating present-day Yemen from Djibouti. These early beachcombers expanded rapidly along the coast to India, and reached Southeast Asia and Australia by 50,000 years ago. The first great foray of our species beyond Africa had led us all the way across the globe.

Slightly later, a little after 50,000 years ago, a second group appears to have set out on an inland trek, leaving behind the certainties of life in the tropics to head out into the Middle East and southern Central Asia. From these base camps, they were poised to colonize the northern latitudes of Asia, Europe, and beyond.

Around 20,000 years ago a small group of these Asian hunters headed into the face of the storm, entering the East Asian Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum. At this time the great ice sheets covering the far north had literally sucked up much of the Earth’s moisture in their vast expanses of white wasteland, dropping sea levels by more than 300 feet. This exposed a land bridge that connected the Old World to the New, joining Asia to the Americas. In crossing it, the hunters had made the final great leap of the human journey. By 15,000 years ago they had penetrated the land south of the ice, and within 1,000 years they had made it all the way to the tip of South America. Some may have even made the journey by sea.

In paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans, also called the "Out of Africatheory (OOA), recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH), replacement hypothesis, or recent African origin model (RAO). When humans first ventured out of Africa some 60,000 years ago, they left genetic footprints still visible today. By mapping the appearance and frequency of genetic markers in modern peoples, we create a picture of when and where ancient humans moved around the world. These great migrations eventually led the descendants of a small group of Africans to occupy even the farthest reaches of the Earth.

The Out of Africa theory is not unfounded and anecdotal. Evidence supporting the Out of Africa model are:
·         the oldest known fossils of Homo sapiens are African
·         fossil evidence indicates that modern humans quickly replaced earlier humans in Europe and western Asia.
·         all living people show little genetic diversity. This is interpreted as being the result of a relatively recent replacement of earlier, more diverse populations.
·         a variety of different DNA studies on modern humans all suggest a recent common ancestry from a small gene pool. Most of these point to Africa as the origin of this population
·         DNA from contemporary humans can be used to produce maps of human movement throughout the world and show how long an indigenous population has lived in an area. These indicate modern human origins in Africa.
·         analysis of the Neanderthal genome and comparisons with modern humans does support the view that the vast majority of genes of non-Africans came with the spread of modern humans that originated in Africa and then spread throughout the world.

The India story

From what is Ethiopia today the initial migrants traveled north and crossed into the Arabian Peninsula. Early archeological evidence of H. sapiens fossils outside Africa was discovered in the prehistoric caves of Qafzeh and Skhul, in present-day Israel. New mass-spectrometric techniques have dated these fossils to ~80–106 kya (kya is 1000 years ago – a unit of time in Astronomy, Geology and Paleontology). Some traveled further north into central Asia, which became the staging ground for migrations into Serbia and Europe.

The Indian subcontinent-comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar–became one of the first geographical regions of the world to be populated by H. sapiens . One group from the Arabian Peninsula took the coastal route through India, Myanmar, and Malaysia to Australia. Studies conducted by the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project in 2007 and 2013 found that people living in a village near Madurai in South India carried the same rare genetic markers as some Australian aborigines and people living in Africa . The findings showed a link between the three continents and confirmed that the people in Australia and India with this genetic marker were likely descendants of the original coastal migrants from Africa.

The migration through India was interrupted about 75 kya by the eruption of Mount Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, which is recorded as one of the largest volcanic eruptions in this planet's history, resulting in an extended nuclear winter and ice age. Michael Petraglia and his team of archeologists discovered stone tools at Jwalapuram in Andhra Pradesh, South India, above and below a thick layer of ash from the Toba eruption. These tools match those used in Africa from the same period and suggested the presence of modern humans in India at the time of the Toba event. These were the ancestors of our Adivasis perhaps.  After warming of the climate, new migrations out of Africa from ~50 kya populated India with large numbers of humans who later became known as Dravidians.

The Aryans arrived in north India somewhere from Iran and southern Russia at around 1500 BC. Some people believe India’s earliest inhabitants were the Dravidians of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. According to the Aryan Invasion Theory promoted by the erstwhile British rulers of India, these Dravidians were driven away South by the mighty Aryans who migrated from Central Asia during the 2nd millennium BCE. Several school students all over India still continue to learn about the Aryan Invasion Theory, but now we know that what they’re learning is not actually be true. Had the Aryans migrated into India, we would expect some evidence of different tools, weapons, objects of daily use, pottery style and art forms, but that’s not the case.

There is evidence that strongly suggests that the Aryan invasion never happened. However, there is no evidence to support this 19th century theory which was propagated by Indologists like Max Muller. The theory was deliberately misused by colonial powers to divide the North and South, and upper and lower castes. Swami Vivekananda also questioned the myth of the Aryan invasion. “There is not one word in our scriptures, not one to prove that the Aryans ever came from anywhere outside India … the whole of India is Aryan, nothing else,” Swamiji had said.


So today when we designate some people as immigrants we are simply showing our ignorance of the history of our human race. Our appearance, culture, traditions, language, food, drink, dress and behaviour might differ, we may belong to different nations, religions, caste and creed, our slant of the eyes, sharpness of the nose and colour of the skin may differ, our Gods whom we worship may differ but genetically it is absolutely beyond doubt that we are cut from the same cloth. This may be a very disturbing to those who believe in their self declared supremacy but only this is fact and all the rest is fiction.

Sunday 22 July 2018

STRETCH MARKS – OFTEN THE PRICE OF HAPPINESS






Stretch marks are often the price the mother ends up paying for her bundle of joy and so I refuse to refer to them as unsightly, but they are a common and often temporary problem. They pose no long-term health risks, and treatment is normally intended to improve the self-image of the mother who has her hands full anyway!

These white and purple scars, known as stretch marks, affect almost 90% of women after pregnancy. The greater degrees of skin stretching in obese women with larger babies like the diabetic mothers make them more prone to stretch marks. Age-related changes in skin collagen and connective tissue that affect the likelihood of tearing make the elderly mothers more prone to these marks.
But pregnancy is not the only reason of stretch marks, abdomen is not the only place which has these blemishes and females are not the only sex that is having them! They can also occur in men and teenagers who rapidly lose weight. 

Why do stretch marks appear?
Stretch marks develop when the top layer of the skin expands or contracts faster than the layer beneath. These changes cause the connective tissues, such as collagen and elastin fibers, to break and leave the dermis scarred. As the body grows, the connecting fibers in the dermis slowly stretch to accommodate slow growth. However, rapid growth leads to sudden stretching. This causes the dermis to tear, allowing deeper layers of skin to show through.
They are more likely to develop and become more severe where there are high levels of circulating cortisone, or when cortisone is applied to the skin. Cortisol, the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands, is converted into cortisone. This weakens elastic fibers in the skin.
Stretch marks on an athlete
Stretch marks are seen not only women after pregnancy but also:
- Teenagers that grew suddenly
- Athletes who are very physically active
- Bodybuilders who gain and lose weight
- People on steroids
- People who have lost weight rapidly
- People who have put on weight rapidly
- Women who have had breast enlargement surgery
- Individuals with thick skin
- People with hormonal failure
- People suffering from Cushing's disease or Marfan syndrome. 

 Types of stretch marks:
Most stretch marks have a veiny or branched pattern, exposing the areas where the skin has thinned, and tissues have been damaged. Before stretch marks begin to emerge, the skin can appear thin and pink. It may also feel irritated or itchy. The marks initially develop as wrinkly, raised streaks that can be red, purple, pink, reddish-brown or dark brown, depending on skin color. These are called Striae rubra. The streaks eventually fade and flatten and tend to change to a silvery color over time and settle as thin, white scars called striae alba. Stretch marks may gradually become less noticeable, but this can often take years.
Stretch marks associated with pregnancy are called striae gravidarum.
Stretch marks at sites other than abdomen are also called striae, striae distensae (SD), or striae atrophicans

Where do we see stretch marks?
While mostly it is the striae gravidarum that are commonly encountered but stretch marks are also seen on the breast, hips, flanks, buttocks and thighs. The skin covering the breasts is thinner than it is in many other parts of the body, making it more vulnerable to fine tears. Hormonal events, including pregnancy and puberty, cause the breast tissues to expand quickly. Breast surgeries often change the shape of the breast suddenly, forcing the skin to adjust quickly and increasing the risk of new scaring. Hips, flanks and thighs show striae usually after massive weight loss.

Treatment:
Creams, gels, lotions, and cosmetic surgery have all been proposed as treatments for stretch marks, although there is little medical evidence to support the effectiveness of such treatments. So far current treatments are particularly limited in their ability to deliver long-lasting improvements for all skin types.
Stretch marks often fade over time and become unnoticeable. For women who develop stretch marks in pregnancy, these usually become less noticeable around 6 to 12 months after giving birth. Makeup can be used to conceal stretch marks on more exposed areas of the body while they are more pronounced.
Many popular products that claim to get rid of stretch marks are just a marketing trick or myth. If you want to prevent stretch marks, these products do work well, but they do not help get rid of already existing scars. Some tips to bear in mind:
- Special creams and lotions are just moisturizing creams and lotions, which cannot eliminate stretch marks from the skin.
- Cosmetic products containing tretinoin (vitamin A that works against pimples), collagen and hyaluronic acid won't help you get rid of stretch marks despite their properties of active substances.
- Oils like coconut, almond, olive and those with vitamin E, shea oil, and others, won't erase stretch marks even if you massage the skin regularly.
- Medicinal herbs like aloe can't remove scars, even if the wisest representatives of traditional medicine promise it will. Ingredients like coffee, honey, and sugar body scrubs or peels can help simply because these products are scrubs. They remove the upper layer of scars and slowly make your stretch marks look more like healthy skin so that they become less visible.

Reliable professional methods:
The fight against stretch marks using modern technology too has not met with perfect satisfaction. Below are some recommendations: 
Peeling: Scrubs are made of smooth natural components; peeling procedures imply the effect of aggressive chemical substances. Local anesthesia is usually used. 
Microdermabrasion: This is a rather painful procedure as it removes several layers of the epidermis with the help of aluminum oxide crystals. This method is supposed to force newer and younger skin to grow faster.
Laser: Laser therapy is a new and effective method against stretch marks. As well as microdermabrasion devices, it removes skin and affects deeper layers too. There are instances when laser is performed under general anesthesia. One of the advantages of laser therapy is that it is not all that expensive and there's a low chance of having any adverse reactions. 
Plastic surgery: Sometimes people turn to this method of removing the damaged skin by a tummy tuck or abdominoplasty. This reduces the area of skin afflicted with stretch marks ant stretches out the remaining abdominal skin to make it look smoother. 
Mesotherapy: A number of useful substances such as hyaluronic acid and vitamins are included in the mesotherapy injections. It's especially suitable to prevent stretch marks and it's more effective than creams and lotions containing the same substances. 

A creative solution: Today you can cover your scars with tattoos. But the success rate will depend on your skin, the ink and the tattoo artist's experience and style.  Think twice before doing so if stretch marks are new and still purple. In this case, it is better to wait as your tattoo can get damaged or ink can fall out. Women should also not get a tattoo while breastfeeding. For tattooing it is recommended to wait at least 1 year and only when the family is complete. 

Tuesday 3 July 2018

MONSOON TRAVEL PLANS - LOVE THEM






I am of the firm opinion that when it comes to travelling, there is no such thing as bad weather, only a bad choice of clothing and bad attitude. If you love walking in the rain monsoon is a great time for travelling. Otherwise why would you gleefully accept the notoriously unpredictable London rains but frown when it pours in Kolkata?  Cold rains and heavy winds in Vancouver, Melbourne, Chicago and Wellington send chills right down to the bones of my tropically tuned body. Mumbai, Shillong, Chennai, Nainital and Mount Abu are any day more friendly……….only if we take care of a couple of things. It’s all about setting the right expectations and making the best of the situation.


The Indian monsoon has disadvantages of a paucity of infrastructure, which is still developing, but it also many benefits: the lush greenery, less tourist crowds and much lower prices for accommodation and other services, to name a few. However, we can’t predict the weather and every monsoon is different. One year it could rain cats and dogs and in the next year India suffers from droughts. So do embrace whatever may come and make the best of it in India.



Travelling during the monsoon is a very exotic concept to those travelers coming from more moderate climate zones. It can come in any form – from constant drizzle to short but heavy rainfalls to tropical storms and gales to a heavy deluge. But India is a big country with multiple climate zones and therefore the monsoon can develop differently in various regions. At places like Lucknow there is usually a drizzle or the one shower for a couple of minutes as you get in South-East Asia. But it often rains for days and it rains heavily in the tropical areas of the west coast and in the north of India. The cities have an almost non-existent drainage system and the streets flood quickly. And on top of it there is the humidity, your constant travel companion. Clothes don’t dry for hours to days and the heat feels more discomforting. But if you are travelling to a hot country were you not expecting this? It’s all about the attitude when you travel during the Indian monsoon. 

In the mountains landslides aren’t uncommon. Transport, especially buses and trains can be delayed due to heavy fog and rains even air traffic can be disturbed. Almost all national parks in India are shut from June to beginning of October and tiger and other safaris won’t be possible. But Mother Nature is most generous and is dressed in her best outfit. The tree tops are all lost in the clouds and the mountain tops far away are still shining in glorious sunlight! The nature comes to life, dry brown grasslands and forests become lush and green, the farmers welcome the season with full productivity and lakes and rivers as well as waterfalls fill up and become stronger than ever.

 During monsoons it’s a great pleasure to walk through the lush hills and pass the freshly filled lakes and rivers and enjoy what makes the tropics so interesting and unique. Wayanad, Munnar and Thekkady are such places but also the Dudhsagar Waterfall Hike in Goa. Ooty in Tamil Nadu is very popular amongst domestic tourists to flee the heat of the cities.


Even the run of the mill metro cities look surprisingly different and if you have spent some time negotiating the Mumbai traffic during the monsoons you will at once understanding what I am hinting at. Forget the flooded roads and the occasional potholes if you can and look at the classical architectural marvel the city has to offer, all washed clean and shining after a good downpour. Look at their amazing reflections on the flooded roads and get ready to capture the best of the city in your camera for memories!

 Many tourists avoid India in the monsoon which means that you have a lot of sights to yourself. That makes it easier to connect to locals and experience more authenticity. The typical tourist scams appear at a minimum and all together you just don’t feel like one in a thousand travelers while you stroll the lanes and monuments of ancient India.



Furthermore, it is the best time for budget-conscious backpackers who like to keep their expenses to a minimum but don’t want to miss out on some comfort. Many hotels offer their rooms for much less, often even for half the costs than in the main season. You can stay at boutique hotels or luxury resorts for low prices. A good accommodation is a must in the Indian monsoon time as you might spend some time indoors when a particular strong downpour hits the city.


But in order to be a monsoon tourist you have to prepare yourself beforehand. These are a few useful tips.
1.      Always carry an umbrella with firm stretchers--otherwise you'll find yourself clinging to an upturned umbrella when the torrential showers hit. Better would be a raincoat with a cap. A thin rain jacket with breathable material is essential as well as thin light clothes that dry quickly. Pack clothes that cover your skin entirely as the sun can be quite harsh when she shines through the clouds. Sometimes a rain jacket might feel to warm so also pack an umbrella.

2.    Though plastic is banned in many Indian cities but during rains they are invaluable to protect your phones, laptops, watches, or anything that is dear to you.

3.    Footwear should be water-proof and so sturdy sneakers, rain boots, or shoes that come with rubber soles are advisable. Flip Flops aren’t the best option as you just flip the dirt against your legs while walking. But any sandals made of lasting rubber and with a back strap to hold the shoes to your feet are a good idea. Not only will that decrease your chances of falling and breaking your teeth, it will also save your expensive footwear from being ruined in the rain and mud.

4.      Keep a change in a plastic or water-proof bag. There will be many occasions when even the best of the umbrellas and rain-coats will not be able to keep you from the windy rain; it is wiser to keep a change of clothes handy. Also, don't forget a pair of dry socks!

5.      Be careful with your choice of food. Avoid the street food and go for the freshly cooked hotel or restaurant food and stick to fruits in between meals. Chai and pakoras are popular rain snacks but if not straight from the stove, they may be difficult to digest.

6.      Beware of potholes and open manholes and don’t ask me how! These hell-holes become twice as dangerous in the pouring rain and you cannot see them. So follow the local guy who is walking in front of you and pray that he knows where the potholes are, but be ready to pull him out if he starts disappearing in front of you. This is Monsoon Symbiosis!

7.      Be very careful while driving. Long drives along the Marine Drive and along Shaheed Path undoubtedly top the things-to-do-during-Mumbai and Lucknow monsoon list. But with water all over the place and rain hitting down on your windshield relentlessly, you've got to be a tad more careful behind the wheel, or on your bike. The overflowing gutters and dirt mixed with rainwater create risks of skidding for drivers here. Keeping your vehicles well-maintained is one away to get around it, apart from putting the wipers and headlights to their utmost use.

8.      Carry some medicines – Ciprofloxacin, Metronidazole and Paracetamol for some stomach upset and flu. Drink safe water either from your hotel or securely bottled ones.

So do not let the monsoon dampen your travel plans. When you were a child did you not enjoy the rainy days? So, it is not the rain but the attitude! Some walk in the rain and enjoy and some get wet and frown. Make the best use of this lean tourist season from June to September. After a hot summer the monsoon rains inject an amazing amount of vigor into the local people, and it's common to see children running about, dancing in the rain, and playing games. Even the adults join in because it's so refreshing. Be like the locals – hope for the best and be prepared for the worst!