WHY DO PEOPLE LIE?

Have you wondered why people lie? They may do so once in a while, when it suits them or they can be compulsive liars. Solicitors and politicians often find it a useful survival tool but when it comes to lying no profession can claim to be holier than thou and even Bishops and Cardinals kept on lying about their sexual abuse sagas till very recently. The Australian cricket was recently hit by the ball tampering lie which saw two stars of the game fall from grace and politicians have lied to us so often that an honest politician is truly an oxymoron!

Sometimes people lie to inflate their image—a motivation that might best explain President Donald Trump’s demonstrably false assertion that his Inauguration crowd was bigger than President Barack Obama’s first one. People lie to cover up bad behavior, as American swimmer Ryan Lochte did during the 2016 Summer Olympics by claiming to have been robbed at gunpoint at a gas station when, in fact, he and his teammates, drunk after a party, had been confronted by armed security guards after damaging property. Even academic science—a world largely inhabited by people devoted to the pursuit of truth—has been shown to contain a rogues’ gallery of deceivers, such as physicist Jan Hendrik Schön, whose purported breakthroughs in molecular semiconductor research proved to be fraudulent and Japanese researcher Haruko Obokata whose research on turning simple cells into stem cells turned out to be a hoax.

So I am back to my original question – why do people lie? As I can see it there are quite a few reasons:

1. The lie does matter ... to them. The number one reason people lie when it just doesn’t matter to others at all is because they actually do think it matters. While everyone around them thinks it’s an inconsequential issue, the liar believes it is critically important. Where he went for dinner may be none of our concern but the liar feels obliged to drop the name of a fancy restaurant or an expensive hotel to make him/her look important.

2. Telling the truth feels like giving up control. Often, people tell lies because they are trying to control a situation and exert influence toward getting the decisions or reactions they want. The truth can be “inconvenient” because it might not conform to their narrative. A dishonest patient of diabetes may never agree that he is skipping his insulin shots and a rogue wrestler will never admit to the use of performance enhancing drugs!

3. They don’t want to disappoint you. It may not feel like it to you, but people who tell lie after lie are often worried about losing the respect of those around them. They want you to like them, be impressed, and value them. And they’re worried that the truth might lead you to reject or shame them.

4. White Lies - they want to please you. These are social lies – “you are looking great”, “this dress is looking gorgeous on you” are harmless lies that we have adopted in our everyday life! People lie in society to look agreeable, to maintain good relations and to avoid disagreement with others. These lies are known as 'white lies'. People lie in order to protect privacy about oneself as well as others and also to maintain self-worth and self-esteem. Lying is not considered harmful and deceptive if someone lies to refrain from hurting others' feelings.

5. It’s not a lie to them. When we are under pressure, our thinking about the big picture can be challenged. Often, repetitive liars feel so much pressure in the moment that their memory becomes simply unreliable. When they say something, they genuinely believe, at that moment, that it is the truth. Their memory has been overwhelmed by stress, current events, and their desire to find a way to make this situation work. They succeed in creating a complete alternate world in their head, one that conforms to their moment-by-moment beliefs and needs.

6. To avoid punitive action - When a person is aware that he/she will be punished for his/her deed, they tend to lie. It is a natural reflexive human reaction to distance oneself from wrongdoings or faults. This is commonly found in children in order to get out of trouble.

7. Jocose lie, gossiping and fabrication - Telling a lie as a joke or to fool someone is a harmless type of lie, also known as a jocose lie. Passing on information without complete knowledge is known as gossiping; but, it is also a form of lying. Sometimes, people do not want to accept the fact that they do not know the truth, and hence, they lie. This is known as 'fabrication'.

8. It may be a disease - Some people also suffer from a disorder known as compulsive lying. These people, known as chronic liars, acquire a habit of lying and tend to lie in any and every situation. Lying comes naturally to them and they find it almost difficult to tell the truth. Compulsive lying is a disorder that develops from early adolescence and needs medical attention.

What can parents and teachers do?

We often learn to lie in childhood and this habit can persist. So parents have a very vital role to play and in order to prevent lies from becoming routine, it is important to nip them in the bud at a young age. An easy way to go about it is:

1. Don’t create embarrassing situations that force them to lie

If parents know that the child has not done his/her homework then asking "did you do your homework?" will only mean they want to "squeeze" the information out of your children and put them in an embarrassing situation, as in most cases this will lead to the creation of lies. Instead, ask them questions that will guide them to action, such as "What do you plan to do about your homework?" - so that children don’t feel forced to lie, and are able to focus on carrying out a task that has not yet been completed instead of making up stories about it.

2. Don’t tell "white lies" near your children. We as adults know how to distinguish between lies that are supposed to be good and lies that hurt people, but children can’t yet make this distinction. Consequently, when white lies are told around them, they think that it is okay to lie in any situation and will certainly apply this insight. The worst thing we can do is show them that lying is part of normal life and routine.

3. Set your expectations about telling the truth by making a clear rule – honesty is non-negotiable. This will instill in them the importance of sincerity in the ages in which they learn how to conduct themselves in the world, and will definitely serve them as adults later on.

4. Parents should be patient and accommodating when children lie and try to understand the reasons which forced them to lie. Often children feel the need to lie because they fear their parent’s excessive reaction based on their experience of shouting and scolding. If parents are supportive instead, children will not feel the need to lie, and feel comfortable approaching parents with different problems they might be experiencing.

5. Children need to be explained that when they lie, they break our trust.

6. Don’t make your children feel bad when they make mistakes. This will surely prevent them from lying and covering up their mistakes. Teach them that mistakes are natural and make it clear to them that when they do something wrong and without meaning to, it is an opportunity for them to learn in the future and improve in the future.

7. Give your children positive reinforcement when they tell the truth – Words like "I'm glad you told me the truth ... I know it wasn’t easy, and I'm proud of you". Children will feel that honesty is always the best option, which will reduce their need to lie.

8. Give them a warning when you catch them in a lie and allow them to come clean without any feeling of guilt. "I'll give you one more chance to tell me the truth" often works and if it doesn’t, don’t hesitate to punish them.

Lying and sincerity can never go hand in hand. In order to be taken seriously by the world we have to be honest and truthful. I know it sounds old world but believe me if any one principle has stood the test of time it is this one.

WHAT A DEAL!

The Singapore deal between US and North Korea was all optics and very doubtful substance. It has now become a fashion in the White House for every U.S. President to choose a photo opportunity for the Nobel Prize and Trump had his own manufactured limelight in Singapore. But whether they were able to negotiate their way to removing a nuclear risk from the Asia-Pacific remains all shrouded in mystery.

But we, the rest of the world, have to ask a hard question. When two rogues meet, what's the worth of any agreement they may strike? An agreement is possible depending on the political will of the two sides. We know that because North Korea has agreed to rid itself of nuclear weapons four times already. In 1994, 1998, 2005 and 2008 there were negotiations with North Korea, which they failed to keep. So what has changed and why will they be sincere this fifth time. Yes, the last four times it was Kim Jong-un’s father, but this guy from Pyongyang is no saint. He rules mercilessly and he has no scruples. In consolidating power, he didn't just have his uncle arrested but stripped naked and fed to 120 dogs as hundreds of officials looked on. All his immediate family were killed as well. Kim Jong-un notoriously had his half-brother Kim Jong-nam assassinated by having VX nerve agent rubbed into his face in Kuala Lumpur airport. He had his defence chief and other top officials killed at a firing range. Not content to have them shot with rifles, he had them blasted apart with anti-aircraft guns. So he respects no rules. The nuclear and ballistic missile programs that he inherited were ruled illegal again and again by the UN Security Council. He didn't step back; he actually accelerated both programs and brought them to fruition.

And Kim is not the only rogue leader at the Singapore summit. Donald Trump has gone rogue as he breaks solemn undertakings of the US. Trump has withdrawn the US from the six-party nuclear agreement with Iran, a commitment enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution, although even his own top officials testified that Iran was honouring the deal. He has irresponsibly backed out of the Paris Climate accord, he took the US out of the TPP trade agreement, and he's seeking to renegotiate the NAFTA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. He has unilaterally succeeded in torpedoing the G-7 summit and when his trade adviser Peter Navarro took it into the surreal by saying that "there is a special place in hell" for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for daring to disagree with the US President, he has succeeded in putting the last nail in the coffin of international relations.

So, even if Kim and Trump strike an agreement, there can be no confidence that the two leaders - or even one of them - will respect it. They are simply not trustworthy; they are scheming, slimy rogue politicians and not statesmen. The rest of the world can afford to take them seriously at their own peril.

IS TECHNOLOGY MAKING DEATH OPTIONAL?

The inevitability of aging may be no more than yet another biological theory that scientific advances will retire in the near future. Some scientists today say that longevity is a societal concept that we may no longer need to uphold as a static law of nature, but instead, as one that can be rewritten to our benefit.

Immortality is not exactly a myth that it is made out to be. Immortal organisms already exist. Turritopsis dohrnii is a jellyfish of Cnidarians family and like all members of this family it can regenerate. Not only can they recover from injuries but these jellyfish can carry out something impressive called transdifferentiation. In a nutshell, they can reprogram any of their cells to become a different type of cell, carrying out a different task than before. Some species of jellyfish have the ability to cycle back and forth from an adult stage into a youthful one(polyp), essentially becoming immortal. These processes are being closely studied and are believed to be the future of Regenerative medicine.

Hydras do not undergo senescence, which is another name for biological ageing. There are other organisms that seem to be able to regenerate indefinitely thanks to their adult stem cells, such as some species of flatworm. The salamander and the lizards can regenerate their lost tails and a snail if divided into two can regenerate into two snails! All these observations are of extreme interest to the researchers of Regenerative medicine and are paving our path to immortality!

Being biologically immortal isn’t very useful if there is still stuff that can kill you or injure you beyond repair. But that’s where extremophiles come in. They are organisms that can thrive in extreme conditions that would be detrimental to other life forms on Earth. Tardigrades, known as space bears are one such phylum. Studying some of them could also help us resist these conditions one day. There are uncountable examples and many different types. Some can resist extreme temperatures, lethal doses of radiation, living in acidic environments, unimaginable pressures, total drought or even the vacuum of space!

There are various factors that cause aging, namely telomere shortening, chronological aging, oxidative stress, and glycation. These factors need to be reduced, stopped or eliminated completely if we’re ever to live forever. Here are 11 potential technologies that could allow us to achieve immortality:

1. Regenerative blood transfusions

Scientists have identified a protein in young mice called GDF11. Although it’s very common in their blood, it’s much scarcer in older mice. The GDF11 protein has been shown to increase skeletal muscle and heart strength. As a result, scientists are now trying to figure out if the protein can be replicated and combined with synthesized blood in order for it to be used in regenerative blood transfusions that could potentially increase lifespan by 10 or 20 years.

2. Longevity pills

Work is ongoing on a pill that triggers an anti-aging enzyme in the human body named Sirtuin 1, which could extend human lifespan by up to 15%. A company named Elysium has already developed such a pill, which is thought to slow down the aging process. It represents the culmination of 25 years of research and now has now entered the human trials phase. It might be on pharmacists’ shelves sooner than anyone imagined.

3. Nanotechnology to fight cancer and repair damaged cells

Nanotech (i.e., microscopic machines and materials that can build and fix stuff) is quickly becoming to our culture what atomic energy was to the 1950s - a world-changing technology that, in science fiction stories, always creates monsters. It's easy to get carried away with what nanotechnology will be capable of. There will be limitations, just as there are with any technology. But it's also hard not to get excited.

Scientists have successfully used nanotech to repair optic nerves in blind hamsters by building a custom synthetic molecule that, when injected, arranges itself into a nanofiber to repair the nerve. They are working on nanorobots that would target and kill cancer cells like tiny hunter-killers.

Nanotechnology is an incredible field of research that has the potential to revolutionize the medical industry, among many others. Self-replicating nanorobots (or nanobots) have the potential to attack cancers cells in order to destroy them and perform repairs to the human body at the cellular level. The concept is sound; it's simply a more advanced, less invasive form of medicine that could someday detect and repair body disease and trauma at a cellular level. It would make today's surgeons look like clumsy cavemen.

4. Longevity gene identification and introduction

A centenarian study comprising two groups of centenarians, one containing 152 Spaniards and another containing 742 Japanese, managed to definitively identify several gene variations that were common to both groups. The effect of longevity genes has also been observed in gene therapy studies on yeast, which showed that it might be possible to increase lifespan by 25% using this technique.

5. Immortality through gene therapy

Telomerase is basically a ribonucleoprotein that allows DNA to continue to express itself in the human body in spite of the aging process. Gene therapy studies have shown that it’s possible to induce human cells to express telomerase, thus slowing down the biological clock. One such study, which is considered to be the “proof of principle” study for life extension through gene therapy, showed that it was possible to extend the lifespans of mice by as much as 25%.

6. Metamaterial bionics

Metamaterial is artificially-engineered material that has properties not usually seen in nature. Such material can be used to create artificial organs and augment existing ones to make people stronger and live longer than ever before. In fact, research into using these materials to replace defective human cochleas is already underway.

7. Robotic avatars for cybernetic immortality

There’s a growing consensus in the scientific community that it will be possible to save and upload copies of ourselves to be stored online in the near future. These virtual copies could then be installed into robotic bodies, or avatars, thus enabling us to live forever. 

8. Molecular manipulation

Researchers managed to extend the lifespan of some worms by manipulating molecules that affect insulin and other nutrient signals. Should this be replicated in humans, it might just be possible to extend human lifespan up to 500 years.

9. Suspended animation

A staple of science fiction films for many years, suspended animation could be a viable way of extending human life in the future. The process is actually called induced hypothermia, and it’s essentially the ability to freeze and revive people. As you can imagine, this process still needs to be perfect, because it can actually kill someone if the timing isn’t done correctly. Perfecting suspended animation could mean that humans could be put into hibernation forever.

10. 3D printing of organs

There’s no denying that 3D printing is developing incredibly fast, to the point where it will soon become viable to print replacement organs and body parts. A UK team, for instance, has successfully printed replacement corneas. It now remains to be seen whether 3D printing could be extended to fat and collagen so that human hearts can be made.

With artificial hearts, replacement limbs and artificial nerves, we are already rebuilding humans, albeit piecemeal, into cyborgs. Many of the limitations of these technologies like weight and durability of the materials and energy efficiency will go away with advances in technologies such as carbon nanotubes and metamaterials. Just as we built cars that can transport us faster than our legs, we will have replacement body parts that not only outperform our crappy natural organs but will be nigh invulnerable as well.

11. Organ cloning

There are two ideas at work here. The first is the prospect of manufacturing new, healthy, completely "you" organs to replace the crappy old parts you were born with, or even that next-generation organ you put in 30 years ago, whenever they start to get old. Obviously, most people die because a specific organ fails like the heart ir the kidneys.  So being able to replace parts like you would swap out transmissions on a car could extend life indefinitely, even if nothing else on this list comes to fruition. And organ-farming is the less morally ambiguous cloning method, since it simply requires cloning individual body parts.

The other method can pretty much count on the government giving us a green flag, because it would use a fully grown cloned body as the receptacle for the brain of an aging person so that person could effectively go from 70 to 20 with a single operation. As you might imagine, this has led to a certain level of squeamishness, since it would mean either effectively killing a cloned person for his body or raising a fully functioning body that was brain-dead from birth. All of this means that while it is certainly plausible, it is unlikely in the Western world. In the Eastern world, however, it may become a reality. Singapore and China seem to be less worried about the problems with human cloning, and are already working toward therapeutic human cloning.

So friends, immortality is not far away. It may be well within your reach!

WHY ARE YOU GETTING FAT?

Appearance today remains the last bastion of discrimination and the fat guys and girls are finding it difficult to compete both socially and physically, with those having a naturally thin built. Yes, fat people look happy and contended, but let’s face it, they also look somewhere in a scale ranging from not very attractive to outright sick.

There are numerous hormones in the human body that can contribute to weight gain if their levels are out of balance. Gaining weight is easy, and is influenced by factors such as stress, age, genetics and poor lifestyle choices. Sadly, losing weight is not so easy. Having any of these 9 hormones out of balance can lead to weight gain.

1. Thyroid hormones 

Located in the neck, straddling our windpipe, the thyroid gland produces T3 and T4 hormones together with calcitonin, which are responsible for maintaining the body’s metabolism. Underproduction of these hormones leads to hypothyroidism, which can lead to water-retention and weight gain.

Remedy:

•   Consume iodized salt.
•   Eat well-cooked food and avoid raw vegetables.
•   Take vitamin D supplements.
•   Consume food rich in Zinc content such as oysters and pumpkin seeds.

2. Insulin 

Insulin is a hormone that’s produced in the pancreas and helps to carry glucose into the body’s cells, which are in turn used as energy or stored as fat. This is how the body maintains glucose levels in the blood. Insulin production can be affected by genetics, overconsumption of processed food, unhealthy snacks, alcohol or artificially sweetened drinks.

The body develops a resistance to insulin, which means that glucose stays in the bloodstream rather than being absorbed by muscle cells. In turn, this causes a spike in blood sugar levels, leading to weight gain and Type 2 diabetes.

Remedy:

·         Consume green leafy vegetables, seasonal fruits, and seasonal vegetables.

·         To improve your omega-3-fatty acid levels, consume fatty fish, nuts, olive oil, flaxseeds.

·         Drink at least 4 liters of water every day.

·         Morning walk 4 kilometers in 40 minutes daily.

·         Avoid alcohol, late night snacks, aerated and artificially sweetened drinks.

·         If a known diabetic then keep the fasting and post-prandial sugar levels in check

3. Cortisol  

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It is mainly secreted when we are stressed, depressed, anxious, nervous, angry, physically injured, etc. The two primary functions of cortisol are energy regulation and energy mobilization. Cortisol regulates energy by deciding which type of energy (carb, protein, or fat) is required by the body to do a certain function. Cortisol helps to mobilize energy by transporting fats from fat reserves to the “hungry cells” or working muscles. Basically, cortisol is needed to handle short-term stress (mental, physical, real, or imagined) response. But due to poor lifestyle choices and bad eating habits, the body can be in a constant state of stress. This leads to an increased secretion of cortisol that makes the body hyperinsulinemic, increases visceral fat deposition, and stimulates the maturation of fat cells

Remedy:

·         Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

·         Avoid processed food, deep fried food, and alcohol.

·         Practice deep breathing, yoga, and meditation for at least one hour every day. It helps in reducing stress levels.

·         Spend time with your family and close friends. There is no better way to unwind!

·         Make a to-do list and tick the ones that you complete. This will not only be a reminder to complete those tasks but also make you feel good about yourself.

·         The best way to reduce stress levels is to take out time for yourself. Take up a hobby that you always wanted to, learn new skills, read books, watch movies that interest you etc.

·         Stop worrying about what people think of you.

4. Testosterone 

Although testosterone is usually associated with men, it’s also secreted by females. Its function in the body is to boost fat, strengthen bones and improve libido, but its production can be affected significantly by factors such as age and high-stress levels. In women, this leads to the loss of bone density, muscle mass, and obesity. Women also create lower levels of testosterone (15 – 70 ng/dL). Testosterone helps to burn fat, strengthens bones and muscles, and improves libido. In women, testosterone is produced in the ovary. Age and stress can significantly reduce the testosterone levels in women. And a lower level of testosterone is associated with loss of bone density, loss of muscle mass, obesity, and cause depression.This can increase stress and inflammation leading to more fat accumulation.

Remedy:

·         Workout regularly. It helps improve testosterone levels.

·         Consume protein supplements.

·         Include fiber-rich food like whole grains, pumpkin seeds, and flaxseed in your diet.
 Take vitamin C, probiotics, and magnesium supplements to prevent constipation.

·         Avoid consuming alcohol as it can potentially damage the liver and kidney.

·         Take zinc and protein supplements to improve testosterone levels.

5. Progesterone

Progesterone is a steroid hormone that’s secreted by the corpus luteum to stimulate a woman’s uterus in preparation for pregnancy. It’s important for levels of this hormone to remain balanced in order for the body to function properly because it can cause weight gain and depression when levels drop. Progesterone levels are affected by things such as the use of contraceptive pills and the onset of menopause. Progesterone is known to:

1.      Helps use fat for energy

2.      Natural diuretic

3.      Natural antidepressant

4.      Facilitates thyroid hormone action

5.      Normalizes blood sugar levels

6.      Restores sex drive

Remedy:

•   Exercise regularly.
•   Try meditation.
•   Avoid stress.

6. Estrogen 

Levels of the primary female sex hormone need to remain as balanced as possible in the body, and this is because high estrogen levels can lead to weight gain and the cells that produce insulin in the body becoming stressed. High estrogen levels arise as a result of natural overproduction in the body, or due to consuming a diet that’s rich in estrogen.

In contrast, low estrogen levels tend to arise in premenopausal women. Seeing as the body goes in search of other estrogen sources when levels are low, the body starts converting all available sources of energy to fat, which can lead to weight gain. Estrogen is known to:

1.      Increases body fat

2.      Salt and fluid retention

3.      Depression and headaches

4.      Interferes with thyroid hormone

5.      Impairs blood sugar control

6.      Decreases sex drive

Remedy:

•   Consume whole grains, fresh vegetables, and fruits.
•   Avoid alcohol.
•   Exercise regularly.
•   Avoid processed meat.

7. Leptin 

Leptin is the body’s “energy expenditure” hormone, which regulates energy balances and inhibits feelings of hunger. Under normal conditions, the hormone leptin signals that you are full and should stop eating. But due to overconsumption of foods that are high in sugar content such as candies, chocolates, fruits (that are modified to contain a lot more fructose), and processed foods, the oversupply of fructose is converted to fat that gets deposited in liver, belly and other regions of the body. Now, fat cells secrete leptin. As we keep consuming more fructose-containing foods, more fat gets accumulated, and more leptin is secreted. This, in turn, desensitizes the body to leptin and the brain stops receiving the signal to stop eating. This ultimately leads to weight gain.

Research shows that sleep deprivation can cause the leptin levels to fall and therefore the brain misses the signal to stop consuming food. So, make sure you sleep at least 7-8 hours a day.

Remedy:

·         Avoid food rich in sugar content. Consume no more than 3 servings of fruit per day.

·         Consume dark green leafy veggies.

·         Avoid processed food.

·         Get proper sleep. 7-8 hours of daily sleep is recommended.

·         Keep yourself hydrated as dehydration can also make you feel hungry!

8. Ghrelin

Ghrelin, the hunger hormone, stimulates appetite and increases fat deposition. People experience elevated levels of ghrelin when they’re on a strict diet or while fasting. Popularly known as the “hunger hormone”, ghrelin helps stimulate appetite and increases fat deposition. It is secreted by the stomach mainly. A small amount of ghrelin is also secreted by the small intestine, brain, and pancreas. Higher levels of ghrelin in the bloodstream may lead to weight gain, and obese people are more sensitive to this hormone. In fact, Ghrelin levels are also high when people are on a strict diet or while fasting.

Remedy:

·         Workout regularly.

·         Eat every 2-3 hours.

·         Have 6 meals a day.

·         Eat fresh fruits, vegetables, protein source, dietary fiber, and healthy fats.

·         Drink 1 ½ cup water 20 minutes before a meal.

·         Keep yourself active.

. 

9. Melatonin

Melatonin regulates sleep and wakefulness and is released while we sleep to help the body heal, improve body composition and build lean muscle. However, this process is disrupted if we don’t get enough sleep, and ultimately could lead to inflammation-induced weight gain.

Remedy:

•   Do not eat late at night or just before going to bed.
•   Get sufficient sleep.
•   Sleep in a dark and cold room.
•   Turn off all gadgets before sleeping.

So weight gain has to do with our life style and our diet. Though genetics has a role to play, it is mostly our hormones which are orchestrating our fat gain and fat deposition. The good news is that these hormones are not autonomous, we can control them and feel good and look better!

MY CONCEPT OF CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

While we are gearing up for the centenary celebrations of our Alma-mater, King George's Medical College, Lucknow in December 2011, have we clearly understood the significance of the occasion, or are we, in the midst of all the busy meetings and detailed planning sessions, forgotten that this is an occasion which has come after hundred years, and none of us would be around in this world to see the next one!

Whenever a really big occasion beckons us, we have a tendency to get lost in its magnum opus and forget a simple thing….how will the future remember this occasion and gauge us? Will they consider our effort as a really worthy one, or will the say that we fizzled away the glorious opportunity? Yes, we need a big party, a 3 day cultural and academic extravaganza, but is that all we need to do to celebrate 100 years of existence of our Alma-mater?

Think about it! Should we not leave behind a legacy, so that our successors look back and feel proud of us? Every monumental occasion needs a legacy planning and I am not sure we have one so far.

What is legacy?

Legacy is ensuring that as many sustainable benefits as possible are generated by the event for the institution, the city, the region and the country

Legacy is delivering these benefits well before, during and long after the event for all stakeholders and communities

Having a legacy vision and plan to leverage every possible opportunity is the hallmark of a good organizing committee. Merely gloating that we are a breed apart and the very best of the best is not and will not be good enough.

Celebrations without a social cause looks very selfish and self centred. We must think that on the occasion of the Centenary of our Alma-mater what we are offering to the city of Lucknow, the state of Uttar Pradesh and to India.

A. To the city:

1. The city lacks a trauma pick up system and we could arrange for a fleet of ambulances fully equipped with life saving devices to pick up trauma victims from anywhere within a radius of 50 Km from our Trauma Centre.

2. We could start a Centenary School Health Education Programme in which we could adopt certain Government and Non Government schools and arrange for some useful and interesting interactions with students on various health related topics like sanitation, safe drinking water, nutritious diet, tobacco usage, safe driving, breast self examination etc.

3. We could adopt the poorest village in our district and cater to all its health needs

B. To the State:

1. The most burning health issue of the State is the Japanese Encephalitis endemic. We can start a JE eradication programme, complete with research and clinical wings so that we can be of best use to the State.

2. We can initiate a Centenary Polio and Cerebral Palsy rehabilitation programme with the dual aim to make the State polio free and to make every disabled person live a respectable and dignified life

3. We can initiate a Centenary Stroke Station which will pick up patients from home, treat them, rehabilitate them and reintegrate them in the society

4. We can initiate a Centenary Beating Heart programme to educate the masses, detect risk factors early, inculcate the concept of cardiac safety in the people of the state and offer world class treatment for one and all.

C. To the country:

1. If one KGMC / CSMMU could teach so many students in the last 100 years imagine how much we can contribute to the developing world by starting our satellite institutions in Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. If IIMs less than 50 years old can open newer campuses in Colombo and Dhaka, if Apollo group can open hospitals in Colombo and Dhaka, why can we not do the same? Have we put forward this idea to the State Government? I do not think they will be terribly disinterested in opening institutions of excellence overseas, if they bear their chosen iconic names and statues.

2. The country needs to earn revenue from the competitive medical tourism market. Let us help this process by standardizing our various departments so that we turn out to be the number one destination of medical tourism in our country by opening wards exclusively for this purpose in the target departments.

3. Research is always a long term investment and areas of future successes like stem cell research and nano-technology need to be identified and on the occasion of the centenary we should be able to initiate work towards achieving these research goals.

D. To the Institution:

Centenary global integration programme: If we are the premier medical institution that we claim to be, and we are 100 years old, then what should we be looking like? Hundred year old institutions look like Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, so why are we not in that same league? We are not because we have chosen to stay in isolation and not integrated with the world. And in today’s world of globalization, isolationism is a curse. We have to integrate with other medical institutions, both public and private and, both within our country and overseas. No department in itself can be considered complete but when post graduates from one unit go to another one, they are exposed to newer ideas, newer gadgets and newer way of doing things. This cross-pollination of ideas is vital for the development of any individual or institution. Inbreeding can only weaken the progeny. Not only at student level, but even at the faculty level this cross-pollination must be allowed. If Team India can have coaches from South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe, why can we not have teachers from overseas? Our own alumni will help the Institution to arrange for the best teachers.

As a responsible organization, we must ensure that the city, the state and their residents are left with the most positive legacy in terms of services, infrastructure, expertise and experience from our Centenary celebrations!