STEPHEN HAWKINS – TRIUMPH OF MIND OVER BODY

Prof. Stephen Hawkins is no more. He was one of the most beloved scientists in this generation not only for his intellect, but for his wit and humour. He was a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. He was 76 and he suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The crippling disease confined him to an electric wheelchair for much of his adult life. Diagnosed at age 21, he was one of the world’s longest survivors of ALS.

His life was an example of the triumph of mind over body. “My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus” he would say. He had so much to achieve in life that he postponed his death almost willingly. He once said “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.” At an Oxford University Union speech in 2016 he revealed his mantra of life "However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up." "I have always tried to overcome the limitations of my condition and lead as full a life as possible. I have traveled the world, from the Antarctic to zero gravity. Perhaps one day I will go into space."

Hawking was born on January 8th, 1942 in Oxford, the United Kingdom to two Oxford University graduates, Frank and Isobel. He had two younger sisters, Philippa and Mary, as well as an adopted brother named Edward. The family moved to St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire, where they were considered to be both highly intelligent and somewhat eccentric by the locals. They lived frugally in a large, messy house and got around in a converted London taxi cab.

Following his primary and secondary school education, Hawking began his university education as an undergraduate at University College, Oxford in 1959 at the age of 17. Although the world only pictures him as a man confined to a wheelchair due to debilitating motor neuron disease that he was diagnosed with aged just 21, Hawking actually gained a reputation as being something of a daredevil during his university years. He was the coxswain of a rowing crew at the University College Boat Club, and became notorious for steering his crew on risky courses, inevitably leading to a string of damaged rowing boats. He left University College with a Bachelor of Arts in natural science in 1962 prior to starting to work on his doctorate.

He was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neuron disease around that time, and this led him to become deeply depressed. Nevertheless, he was encouraged to continue his studies by his supervisor, Dennis William Sciama, and was eventually able to demonstrate that Einstein’s general theory of relativity implies space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and end in black holes. He completed his doctorate on the origins of the universe, became a research fellow at Caius College.

Despite beginning to use crutches in the early 1960s, he long fought off having to use a wheelchair, but when he finally couldn’t do so any longer, he gained notoriety for wild driving on the streets of Cambridge. He also used to run over students’ toes intentionally and would even spin himself on the dance floor at college parties.

During his graduate years at Cambridge, Hawking fell in love with his first wife, Jane Wilde, whom he married in 1965 and they had three children. The marriage would end some 30 years later after the marriage succumbed to the pressures of Prof. Hawking’s fame, ideological differences and the difficulties surrounding caring for him in light of his disability. He remarried in mid 1990s.

As Prof. Hawking’s fame increased his health worsened. After his degenerative muscle disorder was diagnosed, he defied medical opinion by living five decades longer than expected. He communicated his ideas through an American-accented speech synthesizer after a life-saving tracheotomy in 1985 took away his ability to speak. To the layman, the robot-like voice only seemed to give his words added authority.

Together with Roger Penrose, Prof. Hawking had his first major breakthrough in 1970. They were able to use mathematics to show that a singularity, a region of infinite curvature in space-time, was the point from which the big bang emanated. Prof. Hawking realized the mathematical approaches he developed with mathematician Roger Penrose could be applied to black holes, a term coined by physicist John Wheeler. Prof. Hawking worked for the next four years on black holes, discovering they weren't totally black, but leaked radiation, now known as "Hawking radiation". Later he realized that he was wrong in his argument about black holes being able to radiate and boldly accepted it. Prof. Hawking was in a Cambridge pub with his students when he suddenly turned up his voice synthesizer to full volume and bellowed that he was conceding defeat. Anyone who studied under his tuition or knew him personally knew him for his wicked sense of humor.

Prof. Hawking was elected to the Royal Society in 1974 aged just 32 after the series of radical discoveries he made during his early career, and would become the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge for the next 30 years. The latter position is often thought as the UK’s most distinguished academic chair and was once held by Isaac Newton.

His 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, catapulted Hawking to international stardom. It sold over 10 million copies and was translated into no less than 40 different languages. His other popular books included The Universe in a Nutshell (2001), On the Shoulders of Giants (2002) and The Grand Design (2010). “For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn’t have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.”

Then US president Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hawking in 2009, the year of his retirement. During his lifetime, he won the Albert Einstein Award, the Wolf Prize, the Copley Medal and the Fundamental Physics Prize, however, the Nobel Prize for Physics eluded him.

Perhaps it’s not surprising to know that Prof. Hawking was not a religious man, and dismissed the comforts of religious belief. He once said "God may exist, but science can explain the universe without the need for a creator." He was of the opinion that "The scientific account is complete. Theology is unnecessary." Mocking at those who believe in destiny and karma he said “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.”

His life has also been immortalized on screen and in 2015, Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for his portrayal of Hawking in ‘The Theory of Everything’, a film about the scientist's life. Not to miss out on the opportunity to crack a joke he famously said "Unfortunately, Eddie [Redmayne] did not inherit my good looks."

The great cosmologist is survived by his three children from his first marriage, together with his three grandchildren. "It would not be much of a universe, if it wasn't home to the people you love" he once said. They will miss him and so will the world!

May his soul rest in peace. We will miss him forever.

BUDGET AIRLINES……ARE THEY ANY GOOD?

Free meals and drinks, expansive and comfortable seats, personal attention from flight attendants and other amenities kept the price of plane tickets relatively high. Airline deregulation and the changing economics of the airline industry in the 1970s and '80s lead to a new type of airline category - the budget airline. Our Prime Minister intends to make air travel so affordable that people who wear flip flop slippers can travel on an aeroplane, and it is happening today. Our airports have started looking like bus stations with long lines in front of the gates.

But flying airplanes is a costly business. Buying expensive planes worth 50 to 300 million USD, hiring pilots who don’t come cheap, buying expensive aviation fuel, countless other expenses like maintenance costs, fees paid to airports, fees paid to the government, the cost of food served to passengers, the cost of running computer systems to track bookings all weigh down an airline's bottom line. Fees and percentages paid to travel agents and Web sites, pilot training, and other incidental costs all add to operating expenses. Empty seats represent an additional cost.

So how can budget airlines offer tickets almost matching the cost of AC First Class train ticket? They manage this by cutting their own operating costs. How do they cut costs? There are many ways an airline can trim operating expenses, but budget airlines are most well-known for cutting back on passenger luxuries, or making passengers pay for luxuries à la carte.

If you've ever purchased a ticket for a Low-Cost flight, you've probably noticed that almost every upgrade and service you want - whether it's luggage, plane meals, seat selections, etc. - will cost you a lot of extra money, and sometimes lead to high fines, to the point where the cheap and seductive price offered by these airlines will already become quite expensive when compared to a regular flight. But that is not all they are saving in and so it is important to know their entire game plan so that you do not feel cheated.

1.      Ticket purchase:  Some budget airlines use the age-old cost-cutting practice of "cutti­ng out the middleman," and not allowing their tickets to be sold through these third party outlets. Instead, they only sell tickets through their own Web site or at the ticket counter. Low-cost flights are supposed to be significantly cheaper than regular flights or charter flights, but note that if this is a high demand period such as holidays or concentrated vacations, the cost of these flights may be the same as regular priced flights, or negligibly cheaper, so it is best to compare prices especially during these times.

2.      Seat selection: Some of the Low-Cost companies charge for seat selection - and each seat is prioritized: for example, a seat next to an emergency exit with a lot of leg room will cost more than a "regular" seat. Then again when you are flying with family, particularly children if you don’t book seats in advance (either at a surcharge or at the ticket price) the airline may seat you separately.

3.      Food: Most of the Low-Cost airlines don’t include a meal in the price of the flight ticket and therefore you’ll need to purchase the meal separately. However, even if you don't do so in advance while booking, you probably will be charged much more in flight. Then again if you have pre booked meals you will be served before those who purchase meals in flight. Always have cash ready to pay as many types of credit cards may not be respected by the airline. Please note that using a credit card outside the country involves high fees.

4.      Luggage: Before you arrive at the airport, weigh your luggage at home, after checking the airline's website about the weight and size allowance of carry-ons, and stow away luggage. If you arrived at the airport with a large suitcase weighing much more than the permissible limit or if you exceeded the weight of your carry-on, note that this excess weight will cost you quite a bit of time and money when going through check-in and boarding. Also, note that many companies won’t let you be clever and move things around from one bag to another. In budget airlines it is wise to travel light.

5.      Check in: The check-in process opens between one month and 48 hours prior to the flight-depending on the airline and its policy, and closes two to three hours before departure. The process is free, as long as it is done in advance on the company's website, and sometimes requires printing and presenting the boarding pass, which will be provided to you by the company website. Some companies allow you to check in on their mobile app but in all Indian airports you will need a printed boarding pass either generated from your home/office computer or from the airline’s kiosks or from the booking desk. As this document needs to be stamped you can’t have in your phone. Some overseas budget airlines are known to cancel your ticket and not offer any refund if you do not do web check-in.

6.      Cancellations: Most tickets on budget airlines are non-refundable. Even if it is refundable if you are forced to cancel or change the time of your flight, this will usually result in a charge set by the airline. The best way to get information about this subject is to be informed in advance via your airline’s website. If you change your flight to another time that is more expensive, you‘ll probably be asked to pay the difference, and it's not definite that you’ll get a refund if the alternative flight is cheaper. An important tip to consider is that if you cancel or change a flight as a result of an illness, injury, or, God forbid, the death of a relative, and you have already purchased travel insurance, you may be reimbursed by the insurance company.

7.      Destination airport: Low-cost flights often land in secondary and remote airports from city centers, because airport taxes are higher at central airports - take this into consideration and be prepared for the time and expense of arriving from a remote airport to the city center or to your hotel. Indigo, GoAir and Spicejet land in Terminal 1 whereas the full fare airlines land in the much swankier Terminal 3 in Delhi. A major airport, like Chicago O'Hare, is in high demand from airlines. The airport commands higher fees because so many airlines want to use it. Chicago's Midway Airport is less popular, though it serves the same basic function - allowing planes to take off and land near the Chicago metropolitan area and budget airlines go for it. The airports in Washington, D.C. are very expensive for airlines and passengers. The airport in nearby Baltimore, Md., is cheaper, and though it requires a train ride or a drive to get into D.C. it is still preferred by budget airlines.

8.      Inconvenient flight schedules: Some Low-Cost flights offer flight times in hours that may bring you to your desired destination in the middle of the night and bring you back home early in the morning – meaning you’ll lose a day of your vacation or work. If you’ve purchased an intercontinental low-cost flight that includes a "connecting" flight, it is possible that the cheap and cost-effective price will be paid in full through very long waiting hours between flights.

Before Low-Cost flights start charging for restroom use, what seems to be likely in the future, and before you book your tickets for your next vacation abroad with one of these airlines be aware of the realities of budget airlines. Try to extract from their website as many details as possible about company policies such as check-in, seat selection, baggage included in the payment, etc., to make an informed decision as to whether the price of the flight will indeed pay off after all the additions.

THE WINDOW SEAT

Himalayas

When it comes to air travel I am a window addict. While doing web check in I go first for the window away from the wings for a better and uninterrupted view during takeoff and landing and if I fail to do so I try my level best to plead, charm and coax the airlines booking agent to give me a good window seat. The thrill of taking off from the ground to a Google map view and to see the known landmarks of the source and destination cities from the air as the birds only see is a treat I would never like to miss. Seeing the world from above gives you a different perspective on the world. Patterns emerge, nature shines and cities feel colossal. 

The tea gardens of Kerala

The fabulous landscapes of farmland or forested areas are certainly a view you can’t see from the ground. Farm fields take on the appearance of a scattered checker board with circles of wheat and alfalfa, while shadows cast from surrounding hills create a view that is unmatched. Countless people would like to a climb mountain to see the summit. If you don’t have the time or the expertise to climb a mountain, why not take a plane and enjoy the view of beautiful mountain tops from a window seat? You can enjoy the view of numerous peaks and valleys at the same time.

The city lights of Dubai

I live in Lucknow and if I take an early morning flight to Delhi then from the right windows I can see the sun rising from the Himalayas, which in turn goes to the left side if I am flying towards Kolkata in the east. Sunsets are beautiful and are enjoyed by many people on beaches or even against the skyline of a bustling city, but there is nothing like a sunset seen from an airplane.  Only from an airplane does a sunset act as a backdrop to the clouds and a dimming blue sky, making the horizon seem only an arm’s reach away. While it can sometimes be tiring to wait at the airport late at night, nighttime flights allow you to enjoy the remarkable view of city lights at night. These amazing views are really breathtaking as the entire landscape seems to come to life with the intricate patterns of bright lights that define communities across the country.

Another breathtaking sight to see from an airplane is a series of beautiful islands against the backdrop of the vast ocean. Seeing spots of white and green against the blue hue of the sea certainly makes for a marvelous sight – one you really won’t ever see unless you are in an airplane.  The Great Barrier Reef tops my list in this category and a flight from Brisbane to Cairns with a right window seat is simply divine!

Dubai - crisscross motorways

While you may be tired of seeing advertisements on television or while browsing the internet, you may be surprised to see advertisements on the roof of a building as you start your descent.

Cityscapes are absolutely stunning and when while landing in Sydney you are flying over the beautiful Sydney harbour, identifying the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from high above brings the same shivers in my body as it did the first time I saw them from far above. Similarly the Wankhede Stadium and the Marine Drive in Mumbai the Howrah Bridge, Vivekananda Setu and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Big Ben, the Westminster and the London Eye in London also give me the same joy which I used to experience as a child. While approaching JFK International the view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Island is stunning on a clear day the city lights of Dubai and Paris are no less spectacular. Los Angeles, Beijing and Delhi are often engulfed in smog and are very disappointing. On a clear day in LA if you are landing from the east you can see the downtown, and Hollywood if you know where to look, even the hillside Hollywood sign!

Sydney harbour

Some landings are simply spectacular. Wellington’s Beehive parliament is an identifiable landmark as we circle the airstrip but as we approach it from sea side rock fangs lashed by waves and brooding hills give way to one of the world's remarkable runways which seems as if someone had simply widened an urban street and decided to land jets on it. Suddenly, cramped wooden houses whip past, so startlingly close that you can almost peep into their living rooms. I couldn't help but wonder what it was like to live in what I discovered later was Bridge Street in the suburb of Rongotai. As planes land, its inhabitants must endure a regular roaring cataclysm, enough to rattle porcelain on the sideboard and the teeth in grandma's head. A mechanical wind must rip washing from their garden lines and toss it into stunted trees. It seems amazing that they just get on with their everyday business while I'm hurtling at 250km/h in an aluminium tube towards a close encounter with concrete.

Over Tames River, London

Land by day in LA and you see an urban nightmare. By night, it's the great American dream, a fantasy cobweb strung with lights and Californian promise. Fly from the south into New York's LaGuardia airport and the plane usually tracks up the East River with the whole Manhattan skyline out the left window. If you approach from the other direction, you'll have to settle for the New York Mets baseball park and Flushing Meadows' tennis courts. While flying into Washington DC's Ronald Reagan airport insist on getting the left window. You come in fairly steeply over the Potomac River and as the plane banks you see the whole of the National Mall from Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Hill, just like the opening of a political-thriller movie.

The cricket stadium and the beach

For me, though, there are few aircraft views to beat flying from Jammu to Srinagar. Just get a window seat, right or left and enjoy the Himalayas. Another heaven is Queenstown in New Zealand. You go there to trek the Milford Sound but from the airplane window you have the whole of the New Zealand Alps as a frozen pavlova below you, cut through by glacial lakes and dark valleys. As your plane descends, the peaks get closer, like a shark's mouth opening to swallow you up. You skim over a snowy ridge and straight up Lake Wakatipu with mountains on either side of the wingtips.

Approaching Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Lots of airports provide the great alpine views you'd imagine: Aspen in Colorado, Lukla airport in Nepal, Innsbruck in Austria, Geneva in Switzerland but Srinagar in Kashmir is matchless. Any short ride across the Alps is splendid: Geneva-Venice, Zurich-Milan, Munich-Zagreb. For the Rockies, try Vancouver-Calgary, Vancouver-Whitehorse, Las Vegas-Denver, or any route that crosses Colorado. In the Andes, you can't beat flying from La Paz either to Lima or Santiago. Onwards from there, directly south to Punta Arenas unite mountains and fjords in a spectacle to make the soul sing.

The world's best landing is sadly no more. When I first flew into Hong Kong from the right-hand side of the aircraft, the landing at old Kai Tak airport was beyond thrilling. The plane's wheels practically twanged the antennae atop apartment blocks and blew the toupees of plane-spotters on a car park roof. You could see the wrinkles on the faces of Chinese grannies on their balconies, and drying laundry, and peer into flats where televisions flickered.Pilots had to rely on their nerves and stick-and-rudder skills to navigate what they called the "Kai Tak heart attack". Pilots flew across one of the world's most densely populated harbours and had to veer sharply at low altitude, on spotting an infamous orange-and-white checkerboard, in order to line up with the runway. In the typhoon season, winds and poor visibility added to the drama. For passengers agog at windows, it was however a tilting world of close urban encounters.

Bosphorus Strait, Istambul

The world is really a beautiful place that can be enjoyed more fully from 30,000 feet. The amazing views from the airplane window will give you a new appreciation for Mother Earth. The next time you fly for business or a vacation, take a moment to appreciate these spectacular views and make your trip all the more enjoyable.

COMMON COLD – COMMON AND UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE

 The common cold is something that afflicts many of us almost every winter.  Typical symptoms associated with common cold are well known to both doctors and patients but there are tons of things we don’t actually know about it. Over half of patients start by developing a sore throat followed by congestion in the sinuses and the nose, sneezing and a runny nose. These symptoms are usually accompanied by fever, cough, and hoarseness which may outlast them sometimes by a few weeks. High fevers, are however, rare from common cold alone.

Other less common symptoms of common cold include headache, decreased appetite, muscle aches, sore throat and post-nasal drip that cause cough on lying on the back. Patients are at their most infectious during the first 24 hours but they continue to remain infectious for the duration of the symptoms. As the cold progresses, the discharge from your nose will initially be runnier but will thicken and may even turn yellow. However, this is quite normal and there is rarely any need for antibiotics.

In most cases, the common cold goes away within five to ten days although a few symptoms can last for as long as three weeks among certain individuals.

Spread:

Due to the ease with which the common cold virus gets transmitted from the mouth, nose or sneezed or coughed as droplets by an infected individual or from the hand of one individual to another’s hand can also result in transmission if the second person proceed to rub or touch his/her nose or eyes, a new infection takes root. That is the reason why nearly half the family members, flatmates or roommates also end up getting infected. There is also a high rate of transmission of colds in day care facilities and schools.

Prevention:

To lower your chances of getting infected:

·         Hand washing: Adults and children should wash their hands after nose wiping, using the bathroom, preparing food, eating, etc.
·         Keep your environment sterile – your priority should be to disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as door knobs, sink handles, sleeping matters, etc with an EPA approved disinfectant.
·         Stop the spread of germs by using instant had sanitizers.
·         Replace cloth towels with paper towels when using public facilities.
·         Drink plenty of fluid to keep your immune system working at the optimal level.
·         Consume a healthy diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals to optimize your immune health.
·         Avoid using antibiotics unless they are really needed.
·         Eat yogurts containing “active cultures” as they may help prevent the common cold.

Here are 10 interesting things about Common Cold

1. Its name is a misnomer

The thing about the common cold is that there’s nothing common about it, because it’s actually a collective term for more than 200 viruses that each have their own way of getting around the human body’s defenses. Since common cold symptoms can be caused by so many viruses, it has not been possible to develop a simple cure for the infection.

The common cold should not be mistaken for influenza, which can make you ill for much longer, has more severe symptoms, and can result in hospitalization or lead to serious health problems including pneumonia.

2. The “cold” part is a bit complicated

Scientists aren’t certain sure whether lower temperatures affect a virus’ pathogenicity, but they do know that the common cold spreads more easily in winter because we tend to spend more time indoors in closed quarters.

3. Colds dry out protective barriers

During wintertime, air tends to be drier, and this can lead to the protective mucus in our nasal cavities drying up when we breathe in. As a result, the body cannot do its job of catching potentially dangerous microbes before they reach our respiratory system. When you get a runny nose from a cold, it’s because your body is fighting back and trying to compensate for the dried up mucus.

4. Common colds are more common than we realize

While adults suffer an average of two to three colds per year, children can experience up to eight or perhaps even more. A survey conducted in the US in 2012 found that colds decreased productivity by 26%. Yet another survey found that colds cost the US economy some $25 billion per year. We do not have such authentic statistics from India so far.

5. Rest is the best cold medicine

Our bodies go into overdrive when we’re sick, doing their best to try and cure whichever ailment we may be suffering from. This means that just going about your daily routine as usual can have a negative impact on your health, and your brain. A study published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that those with colds experienced poorer alertness, a negative mood, and psychomotor slowing. In other words, they experienced muddied thought processes and slower reaction times.

6. Don’t lie flat on your back when resting

Gravity can actually cause further congestion in your nasal passages, leading to it dripping down your throat, making it sore and causing you to cough. The best position to rest in when you have a cold is to prop yourself upright with pillows to reduce the cough receptor irritation by constant post nasal drip in the back of your throat.

7. A cost-free way of getting better quicker is…

A study conducted back in 2009 found that patients who had more empathetic doctors were sick one day less on average than those who did not. Patients with empathetic doctors were found to have double the levels of IL-8, which is a protein molecule that the body releases to fight colds.

8. Light exercise won’t go amiss

You obviously need to rest when you’re ill, but doing some light exercise can also help to boost your immune system. Regular exercise can help your body to fight back against germs. An explanation for this, according to the US National Library of Medicine, is that exercise helps to flush out germs from the lung and airways.

9. Vitamin C isn’t as effective at treating common colds as we think

Back in 2013, some 29 separate trials regarding vitamin C supplements failed to reduce incidences of colds. Huge doses did have small effects, but they were almost negligible.

10. Gargling a lot is good

A Japanese study found that participants who gargled regularly with water exhibited an almost 40% decrease in colds when compared to the control group. Try gargling with a quarter-teaspoon of salt mixed in with eight ounces of warm water.

So how should we treat Common Cold?

Although it is possible for you to improve the symptoms of common cold using a variety of medical therapies, they do not cure, shorten or prevent the illness. It is advised to try and keep onerself comfortable by get as much rest as possibly, drink lots of fluids and treat the symptoms. Some of the common ways to treat the symptoms of cold are:-

·         Gargle warm salt water to soothe sore throat
·         Inhaling steam with or without essential oils and herbal aromas can temporarily relieve nasal congestion
·         OTC remedies containing decongestants help relive congestion and stop secretions. They can also be used to stop cough if I is triggered by mucus in the throat.
·         Antihistamines are used to relive symptoms of watery eyes and runny nose.
·         According to some studies, zinc lozenges can shorten the duration of common cold symptoms.
·         Antibiotics should not be used to treat common cold and its symptoms.

Ayurveic Options:

·         The Clove Bud, nature’s cough drop
·         Tulsi (Basil), Turmeric and Ginger Tea for fever,
·         Ginger-Baking Soda Bath for body aches, chills, and fever
·         Ginger Juice for nausea
·         Turmeric, Salt and Cayenne Gargle for sore throat 

Diet:

Healthy options include oatmeal, kitchari, homemade chicken soup, basmati rice, and chicken broth, etc. Avoid dairy, meat (broth is better!), all sugar except small amounts of honey, raw or cold foods, cold beverages, and all processed foods.

A GLORIOUS CENTURY

Today is my mother in law’s 100^th birthday! It isn't every day somebody turns a century old. I'm so glad she is one of the lucky few. It's such a blessing to have her in our life. Happy 100th birthday! It is a great occasion for the family and all her children and grand children and great grand children will be around this weekend to celebrate this momentous family occasion. Her family has started arriving in the city from all parts of the country and the world and we are looking forward to a joyous family reunion, an occasion God has most gracefully bestowed upon us! Lucknow is still very cold for an outdoor celebration for a 100 years young lady so the family has decided to postpone the big party for a far gentler spring day in future but this weekend will be an all family affair, at her abode.

I was just wondering what it means to be 100 years old and though life expectancies worldwide are increasing but in 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarians worldwide, but in India there are only 27,000! Japan currently has the greatest number of known centenarians of any nation with 67,824 according to their 2017 census!

She was born in 1917, so what was India like in 1917? We were still 30 years from being an independent nation, one large British colony which was considered the jewel in their crown. In 1917 the Champaran Satyagrah was started in the Champaran district of Bihar against the British Raj. Under Colonial era laws, many tenant farmers were forced to grow some indigo on a portion of their land as a condition of their tenancy. This indigo was used to make dye. The Germans had invented a cheaper artificial dye so the demand for indigo fell. Some tenants paid more rent in return for being let off having to grow indigo. However, during the First World War the German dye ceased to be available and so indigo became profitable again. Thus many tenants were once again forced to grow it on a portion of their land- as was required by their lease. Naturally, this created much anger and resentment and hence the Satyagrah. Gandhi had already been back in India for two years, and two leading statesmen who had guided Gandhi’s politics in his South African life, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Dadabhai Naroji recently passed away.

It was the era of silent movies with Jamshedji Framji Madan producing Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra, a remake of Phalke's Raja Harishchandra (1913). So, they were making remakes even then! Transportation was by walking, palanquins, bullock carts and horse carriages and ricshaws came after two decades in 1940! Trains were pulled by steam engines and diesel or electric engines came in 1925, though in 1920, electric lighting of signals was introduced between Dadar and Currey Road in Bombay. The trams in Calcutta, Bombay and Chennai were horse drawn but getting electrified and there were trams in Delhi, Kanpur, Nashik, Bhavnagar, Patna and Cochin as well.

And what do you think was happening in the rest of the world in 1917? By this time the Russian Revolution took place in 1917 led by the indomitable Vladamir Ilich Lenin. Many countries were involved in the First World War for three years by then and the same would continue for one more year. But there was a silver lining for the women of the world. They entered the workforce. Many were skeptical about letting women take on roles that traditionally belonged to men, as women were seen fit only to take care of their homes and children. When the men went off to war, the women at home undertook their jobs in addition to running their homes and caring for their children. In this way, the women supported the war effort in numerous ways — and their expectations for themselves shifted as well.

By 1917, there were more than 100 day nurseries across England to provide childcare for those women who had to go off to work. Towards the end of 1917, there were more than 250,000 British women working as farm laborers, working the land, and doing chores, such as milking cows and picking fruit. So with women doing men’s jobs at the same time that they held things together at home, they were no longer considered inferior to men. This started the Suffragist movement, the demand by the women for extension of the "franchise", or the right to vote in public elections. In America too WWI proved beneficial to the women’s suffrage movement, advancing the suffragettes’ cause. Suffragist demonstrations outside Woodrow Wilson’s White House culminated in the “Night of Terror” in November 1917, where many women were arrested for picketing in support of a federal amendment granting women the right to vote. All this did not go in vain as women in Britain over the age of 30, meeting certain property qualifications, were given the right to vote in 1918, and in 1928 suffrage was extended to all women over the age of 21.

Clothings and fashion too saw a sea change in 1917. As more women joined the workforce, however, they needed appropriate clothing. Shirtwaists and tailored suits appeared, and women ditched their cumbersome underskirts.

And do you know who else was born in 1917 and whom Amma has outlived – former Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi (died in 1984), Mr. M.G. Ramachandran, actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (died in 1987), Mr. T. Nagi Reddy, communist politician (died in 1976), and the legendary director of television serial ‘Ramayan’, Mr. Ramanand Sagar (died in 2005)!

Thomas T. Perls, the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University feels that Centenarians will often have many friends, strong ties to relatives and high self-esteem. My mother in law fits this description perfectly! In addition, some research suggests that the offspring of centenarians are more likely to age in better cardiovascular health than their peers. So there is good news for my wife Neeta and her siblings as well!!

So Happy Birthday Amma! We all wish you many happy returns of the day! We hope and pray that you live a happy and healthy life to be a supercentenerian, as that is a landmak just a decade away!

SHOULD THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY NOT CHANGE ITS PRIORITIES?

If you were of the opinion that drugs cost a hell of a lot in India than they should do and the pharma companies and implant manufacturers are financing dubious "educational activities" of doctors and passing on the cost to the helpless patients, then you will be surprised to know that this is a world wide phenomenon. At its peak, in 2007, the American pharmaceutical industry employed 102,000 sales reps, making constant visits to the country’s approximately 661,400 doctors. Free drug samples were only part of the formula used by the pharmaceutical companies to influence doctors’ medical biases and prescription-writing habits.

In the U.S, away from the office, a sales representative for a major drug company was expected to entertain doctors, often by buying them tickets to expensive sporting events and treating them to dinners at five-star restaurants. In fact, gifts ranged from the mundane – pens and coffee mugs embossed with a new drug’s name, stuffed animals embroidered with a company logo and personalized stethoscopes – to the exotic: tropical vacations disguised as educational seminars. In Australia alone thirty-three drug companies spent $8.6 million dollars sponsoring events for healthcare professionals between November 2016 and April 2017. Slowly these habits reached the developing world.

But the same money can be used and has been put to good use in the U.S when the pharma industry has invested heavily in medical research and education. The U.S.-based pharmaceutical industry maintains its world leadership, principally because of the industry's willingness to invest huge sums of money in research and development (R&D). In India too this is essential, we must cite a favorable public policy environment; a spirit of cooperation; and a collaborative relationship among industry, government, and academia on research projects.

Now, unfortunately, the environment threatens to change—in part, at least, because of a sincere concern for rising health care costs but also because of a poor understanding and simplistic analyses of the economics of the drug development process. As a nation, we must reach a better understanding of the case for public policies that encourage medical research and innovation, which will result in dramatic improvements in health, quality of life, and the economic well-being of our country. This nation can ill afford policies that discourage innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. In fact this can be an invaluable part of our 'Make in India' programme.

The fact of the matter is that the best way to reduce the price of treating a disease is to discover a cure for it. Cancer, stroke, cirrhosis of liver, renal failure, viral diseases are all draining our resources because we do not have a cure for them today, whereas small pox does not cost a paisa today because it's cure has been discovered and it has been eradicated. So drug companies must continue to invest in medical education and medical research along with the government and they should come to an open understanding of each other's role and contribution and not be suspicious of each other. Capping prices of drugs, stents and orthopaedic implants are good for PR but unavailability of the best quality because of knee jerk bans will surely take us back to the dark ages.

At 0.83% of gross domestic product (GDP), India is among the countries with the lowest investment in scientific research and that is the reason we are still a developing country, despite being the fastest growing economy. FDIs do not like to invest in Indian pharma sector because of weak intellectual property protection, lack of data protection for biologics, low investment in R&D and price regulations, all of which contribute to reduced revenue and therefore reduced future investment in biopharmaceuticals.

Without building a robust innovation and research platform, a top-notch educational and learning environment, and state-of-the-art research facilities, price control on medicines and devices could lead to serious concerns like delayed or absent access to innovative technology, continued rise in the cost of therapies and quality concerns across the spectrum of healthcare. So government, pharma companies and doctors all three should get their act together!

A DEARTH OF POSTGRADUATE TEACHERS IN MEDICAL COLLEGES

It is a fact that it is not very easy to find quality teachers for post doctoral courses in particular, and even for postgraduate teaching in Medical Colleges. Good physicians and surgeons, after their M.Ch and DM are gobbled up by corporate hospitals leaving very few for teaching hospitals. There can be many reasons for this scarcity – poor remunerations, strange accountabilities, and fanciful rules of perks and promotions! But students are not to be blamed for that. So how do we maintain a high standard of education? What are the solutions?

I am sure that if you apply your mind you can substantially add on to my list, which is as follows:

1. Affiliate good corporate hospitals to teaching institutions. This will be a very bold step, but a very useful one. Not only M Ch and DM students but even MD and MS students can be benefited because the corporate hospitals are better equipped with both facilities and manpower. Why should a candidate going for MD Radiodiagnosis continue working in a teaching hospital which does not have a MRI unit? Why should he/she not be allowed rotation in a private/corporate hospital which has one?

2. Allow senior consultants in private sector to be part time teachers. This is a contentious issue as these guys will not be automatically welcomed by the full time teachers as they would say that the private guys will be enjoying the best of both the worlds. Yes, they will, but they will be invaluable in filling the void in the teaching staff.

3. At some stage E-medicine has to take a firm hold in medical education. Didactic lectures, case presentations, ward rounds and planning sessions can be arranged at a fixed time in each hospital and it can be beamed to hand held devices of MD, MS, DM, DNB and MCh students. Seminars and Journal clubs can similarly be organized every day by one hospital or the other and beamed to all students.

4. Each department has a MCI approved syllabus. Text books are there to assist but students do not know how to utilize the knowledge resource and how to apply this knowledge in clinical practice. This is what a medical teacher is supposed to do - help the students in achieving this goal. If departments cannot employ teachers in flesh and blood then they should at least have a list of E-teachers with whom the students can interact by software like Skype and discuss their subject or their patients. The students can also send a feedback about the quality of their interaction to the department / institution head so that the list and the hierarchy of the E-teachers can keep on changing continuously.

5. In surgical specialties every department cannot perform every type of surgery.  In Plastic Surgery today we are expected to teach Paediatric Plastic Surgery, Reconstructive Surgery, Burns, Hand Surgery, Micro-vascular Surgery, Cranio-maxillofacial Surgery, Uro-plastic Surgery, Onco-plastic Surgery, Aesthetic Surgery and Regenerative Surgery. No department can have specialist of each discipline. So it would be prudent to let the trainee do a rotation in different Plastic Surgery units and pick up the pearls of wisdom from multiple sources. No amount of newer faculty appointment can match this simple modification of the training programme.

6. If good people have to be attracted to teaching jobs, these jobs will have to be made more attractive. Research facilities will have to be added to clinical departments and research should be liberally funded. Research should be meticulously monitored, carelessness reprimanded and outstanding contributions applauded. Publication, citations and patents should be duly rewarded. Podium and poster presentations in state, national and international conferences should be valued and encouraged and these should be the factors in deciding future perks and promotions. Remember, if you pay peanuts.....you will only attract monkeys!

7. Today retirement is linked with age and a few state governments, when they failed to find teachers to fill the vacant positions increased the retirement age to 65 years and some private medical colleges went a step ahead and took it up to 70! Now retirement cannot be linked to age alone. Physical fitness, mental agility, surgical skills and up to date knowledge of the subject are all required to deem someone fit to continue in high and responsible positions. Some of the older teachers are priceless and invaluable and should be requested to continue but by law allowing everybody to be around is mindless. New talent brings new ideas and retaining deadwood stops the flow of the stream of knowledge.