THE GOD WE KNOW AND THE GOD WE DON’T

Hindus believe that God exists in three forms simultaneously – Nirakar or Cosmic Spirit or Paramatma or Parabrahma, Celestial – Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti and Avatar – Ram and Krishna. God in Hinduism exists at three different levels of reality simultaneously. All Hindus worship one Supreme Being, though by different names. This is because the peoples of India with different languages and cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way. Regional and family traditions have played a large part in influencing this choice.

There are mainly four denominations in Hinduism. They are: -

1. Vaishnavism- Lord Vishnu is considered as Supreme Brahman. Followers of Vaishnavism worship Vishnu and his ten incarnations. Two most-worshiped incarnations of Vishnu are Krishna & Rama.
2. Shaivism - Shaivas or Shaivites are those who primarily worship Shiva as the Supreme Brahman, both immanent and transcendent
3. Shaktism - Shaktas worship goddess as Mother Shakti. Mother Shakti is considered as Supreme Brahman as well as Prakriti (Maya/ illusive energy) of Brahman which is not separate from Brahman itself. In Shaktism, the goddess is presented as both the Brahman & Prakriti. These forms may include Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati.
4. Smartism - Smartas treat all deities as same, & their temples include five deities (Pancopasana) or Panchadevata. It is nonsectarian as it encourages the worship of any personal God along with others such as Ganesha, Shiva, Devi (Shakti), Vishnu, Surya.

There is no such concept like 330 million Gods. There are only 33 Koti/types (Literal meaning of Koti is a type) of Gods/Devas whose function is to sustain the world. The 33 Devas according to Rig Veda are 12 Adityas, 11 Rudras, 8 Vasus and two Ashvins.

So, God’s ultimate form/nature is formless pure consciousness (Nirakar Nirguna/without form/Impersonal) but God can manifests into divine form (Sakar Saugna/with form/personal). God has the ability to manifest into any kind of form and shape. Brahman is analogues to the infinite source of energy and it resides in Prakriti.  Prakriti is material energy of Supreme God e.g. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, five senses, mind, & intelligence.

Hinduism is an open-minded discipline. It is a discipline that does not use force on its follower. That is, it does not dictate the follower to act by one step by step recipe it gives, condemning all other recipes. Hinduism describes everything as divine and sacred because God is everywhere and in everyone. Each living being consist of the fraction of Devas. The atma or soul in every living being is a part of the Paramatma or Divine Soul, or Supreme God and will return to Him after we die.

Even in our greeting ‘Namaskar’ we are saying much more than ‘Hi! How are you?’ It truly means “My soul honours your soul and I bow to the divinity that resides within you. I honour the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honour the light, love, truth, beauty and peace within you because it is also within me. When you are in the place within you and I am in the place within me, we are one. In sharing these values we are the same, we are one!”

Hinduism has a unique concept of God and God is considered to be residing in heart of each living being in the form of soul. That’s why Hindus bow down in front of Cows and saints not because they are God but because they have the presence of essence and divinity as Supreme God Brahman. Abrahamic religions usually try to find God elsewhere or in the sky while in Hinduism God is seen in all living beings and each one is treated equally.

When a mother suffers pains to give birth to her child, it is God, the creator in her whom we revere. When a father toils hard to nurture his family, it is God, the nurturer in him, whom we respect. When sons and daughters look after their fragile and ailing parents, it is again the God in their deeds, whom we admire. When a Guru imparts knowledge, a physician treats the sick, when a friend helps a friend it is the God in them that expresses His presence to us! All these acts of Godliness have no form or structure and so are Nirakar. We appreciate them, we admire them, we often want to emulate them, but we find it difficult to worship them as instead of the act of Godliness we see the picture of the person doing the act! And as worshiping the Nirakar Godliness without worshiping the doer, who is in physical form, is difficult, we have resorted to idol worship.

An idol is a statue of inspiration, spirituality and true faith. We need idols just like words, symbols, stories, rituals for the sake of communication. However when the vehicle becomes more important than the content, when the form becomes more important than the idea, idolatry starts. When the vehicle is taken seriously at the cost of the content, the civilization crumbles. In every religion those who take the vehicle literally are called fundamentalists. The idol is not God; it is simply the concrete expression of the idea of God. Whether it is praying to the idol of Durga or bowing to the image of Jesus, or going round the Kaba in Mecca or singing before the menorah, or carrying the Guru Granth Sahib in a palanquin or dancing to the drum beats of tribal rituals in a forest, these are all vehicles to reach God.....that God who is Nirakar, formless and faceless.

Abrahamic faiths are uncomfortable with idols and images. Catholic faith is the only exception, where God is visualized as an old man and there is much art to show heaven, hell, prophets, angels and demons. The Protestants shunned art. The Muslims are forbidden to show images of the Prophet, though some artists in medieval Persia tried (keeping him veiled though). But the human desire to express divinity through art has not been crushed. Instead of human forms, Islamic artists used calligraphy and architecture to express the divine spirit. Others have used music to give the formless form. Hinduism has kept no restriction – divinity is expressed through nature, through artifacts, through trees and animals and humans and fantastic creatures like Narsimha and Ganesha.

Hinduism celebrates human imagination. Abrahamic religions fear human imagination and tend to restrict it using rules and norms and prohibitions against art. This tendency to control human imagination and expression of the divine is slowly creeping into Hinduism, with fundamentalism and attacks on artists. Everyone who seeks to control expressions of divinity seeks to contain divinity. But the wise Hindu sages knew that the divine is infinite potential and has infinite expressions. 

A DOSE OF OESTROGEN MAY BE GOOD

In a sharply outspoken critique of the Supreme Court’s recent judgement on women in the army and Justice Chandrachud’s dismissal of the arguments presented by the army against giving women officers command positions, former Deputy Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Raj Kadyan, has said: “The Supreme Court order on women officers treats the army like a laboratory for social experimentation”. The Lt. Genl. argued that “women commanding officers will not be acceptable to our jawans”, who come from conservative rural backgrounds where their women folk are treated very differently.

He doubted whether women can ever be as fit as men and lift the Bofors gun shell which weighs 46 kgs! He also wondered that when soldiers, both officers and jawans, in combat units frequently end up in hand-to-hand combat during war and an Indian woman officer would be at a terrible disadvantage against a Pakistani male soldier. He also feared how they would be treated by the enemy if captured. He specifically cited the example of Lt. Kalia and asked are we ready for similar treatment of our women in combat units by the Pakistanis?

Lt. Gen. Kadyan also said that in war time male officers and jawans sleep together under tanks and armoured cars or huddle together in trenches. If a commanding officer is a woman this could cause serious problems for jawans. Jawans share barracks and, within that, bathroom and other facilities. It would be very difficult for women and men to share these together as jawans. So just because Israel, Germany and Australia have given combat roles to women, both as officers and soldiers, does not mean that India should follow suit. 

So now here is my humble two bits about this issue:

This is patriarchy at it's best. The respected Lt.Genl. is simply refusing to leave his prejudices and his past and look into the crystal ball. Hand to hand combats were the only mode of combat when Alexander and Md. Ghori invaded India. It was also the predominant modality of war when the Kabeelais invaded Kashmir. But in later wars this became less and less and in future Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deterrent war sciences will make physical presence of the soldiers face to face with their adversaries rare, if not absolutely redundant. 

The Supreme Court has shown exemplary sagacity and is preparing the Army for the future. We need a lean and mean fighting machine which can function synchronously in land, air, sea and cyberspace. We need the best talent available to us and if we choose not to consider 50% of our human resource fit for this job we are not failing to plan but planning to fail. Indian Women are prepared for the Army, it is time the Army gets prepared for them.

Not only in the Army, business too looks like a boys only club. The European Central Bank Bank President Christine Lagarde has on many occasions lamented that had it been Lehman Sisters instead of Lehman Brothers the world might look a lot different today. Male dominance in the banking sector led to reckless risk taking and decision making groupthink.   The combination of male nature and nurture in a group tends to think in the same macho way. A dose of oestrogen in the decision making can be a perfect counter for the testosterone linked aggressiveness. Mard ko dard nahin hota, Boys don't cry attitude often clouds decision making. The wars in future will be won or lost by decision makers and we cannot afford to ignore 50% of our available talent and still hope to win.

Come on Genl.saab, when Rani Laxmibai, Razia Sultana, Chenamma, Padmini and Ahalyabai Holker commanded their armies did they shy away from hand to hand combat? I am sure their army made logistical arrangements for them and they contributed extra ordinarily in return. The nature of war is changing and even before putting a single foot soldier on the ground the U.S. Army had pulverized Iraq. Were they all men in action? Train them exactly as gentlemen cadets, give no concessions, but put no glass ceiling on their career progression.

PROFIT WITH A PURPOSE

Post independence we were cast in a socialist mould and so 'profit' became a taboo word. We failed to realize that profit in a business should not be condemned as greed but applauded as development. If companies do not make profit then how will they reinvest and grow and thereby create jobs for the society and prosperity for the country? This realization is gradually sinking in with globalization. 

As the World Economic Forum in Davos completes a golden jubilee we are now understanding a very vital point - companies do not do well because they make a profit, they make a profit because they do the right things. They don't work for only their shareholders but for all stakeholders including the employees, suppliers, communities, environment and of course the consumers. Successful businesses are not just patronized by consumers but are loved by the communities and are an object of pride for the nation.

How many times has your driver or your maid complained that it is becoming exceedingly difficult to make both end meet and they will have to pull their children out of school? And how many times have you interjected and reassured them that they need not do anything so stupid and you will take care of the schooling of their children? This is individual social responsibility. No, you are not doing it because of milk of human kindness but because you realize that if your employees are not satisfied your work will suffer. Your comfort and your growth is simply not sustainable otherwise.

Companies which are smart also think along similar lines, justifiably at a higher scale. Starbucks takes care of the health benefits and college tuition funding of its employees. Apple has a larger goal, it is committed to environmental protection.  Unilever has adopted a Sustainable Living Plan for developing countries. Tata has invested heavily into fundamental research and cancer care. They have all realized that profit should come with a higher purpose than just boosting the bottom line. 

Capitalism has resulted in 26 richest people of the world acquiring as much wealth as 3.8 billion of the poorest and so quite naturally it has fallen into disrepute. Add to this the carbon insult to the environment and capitalism appears even more villainous. This is neither fair nor equal and certainly not sustainable. And that is why their focus should change from shareholders to all stakeholders. 

Will having a purpose beyond the profit hurt the bottom line? This is what mediocrity teaches us and keeps us in a cesspool. Companies that embrace a broader mission and integrate that purpose into their corporate culture invariably outperform and punch above their weight. To them there is no difference between doing well and doing good. Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum has very aptly stated that 'A public listed corporation is not just a profit seeking entity but also a social organism'. Profit with a purpose is the new mantra of capitalism.

‘WIN AT ALL COST’ – A DEFECTIVE MENTALITY

During my medical college days I was repeatedly told by my seniors that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. We all made it to a premier medical institution and so the competition was understandably fierce.........but always healthy. We knew we had to excel but we enjoyed each other’s success and we knew that if we remain committed our time will come. And surely it did come. We as a group succeeded, some as physicians, some as surgeons, and still some as radiologists, pathologists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists, gynaecologists and so on. It was a game played fiercely but fairly and we all won.

But when I look at the society today I find that there is a stark difference. Whether it is politics or sports, education or employment, the competition is still fierce but the means to achieve success has become irrelevant and achieving success at any cost is now the new theme. Winning is absolutely good, but the true essence of sportsmanship is something more than merely getting the most runs on the scoreboard or most wins under one’s belt. Getting good grades is important but not if it requires cheating. Getting a promotion is good but not if you do so at the expense of another person. Having a publication in a prestigious journal is important but not at the cost of plagiarizing. Winning an election is important, but not if you have to demonize the opposition. Winning in Olympics is important, but not with the help of performance enhancing drugs. Winning a test match is important but not if you have to sandpaper the cricket ball.

How many people do you respect that whine their way to victory? How many people do you truly admire who have cut corners or won on some technicality or by some treachery? So if you are of the opinion that ‘winning is the highest value’ then I have news for you; it runs counter to most usual definitions of heroism, decency and good character. Our attitudes and our beliefs affect our behaviour and our conduct and the way we play the game can be dictated by who we are, what our values are and what we intend to become in life. Think about: Atticus Finch is the hero of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ even though he loses. Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero but his true victory, while living, was in the valiant attempt he made against oppression. Ned Stark in Game of Thrones is a hero even though he gets his head chopped off! And then again the legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong, a multiple time world champion once, is nowhere in the record books today!! 

So let’s discuss the ‘how we play’ part. And, yes, this is a discussion because it is not as simple as playing by the rules versus cheating — surprisingly there is a lot of room in-between those lines. When people cheat in any arena, they diminish themselves – they threaten their own self-esteem and their relationships with others by undermining the trust they have in their ability to succeed and in their ability to be true.

How you win matters. And changing the rules simply to ‘win’ loses sight of what is really important – not the win itself but the principled effort you took to gain the win. It’s no secret that at the highest levels of sport, some athletes, trainers, coaches and administrators will side-step the rules and do whatever it takes to win. But in an era where that culture has trickled-down from our television screens to our local sports leagues, and sometimes even in to our own back yards, I think it’s fair time we ask the question: Is the win-at-all-costs mindset ruining our youth? What lessons are we really teaching our children? That cheating to win is okay? That if you’re willing to break the rules, you can get what you want? Are these the values we want to instil in our youth?

The atmosphere in our schools and colleges should be such that kids can develop skills, have fun and learn how to win and lose with humility. A blank canvass on which the next generation can begin to harness the benefits of teamwork, camaraderie, perseverance and other invaluable lessons which help them mature into better versions of themselves. Yet across today’s academic and sporting landscape, you don’t have to look too far to see that those values are being corrupted. Local newspaper headlines are flush with stories of hyper-competitive parenting, performance-enhancing drugs, address and birth certificate manipulation, safety concerns, unethical recruiting practices and a whole host of other indiscretions that continue to chip away at the very essence of what schools are meant to be. It’s as though some of most treasured values, like integrity, respect and the preservation of a level playing field are being discarded, and thrown to the wayside in the name of ambition and hollow victory. The Russian gymnastic team is a perfect example of the ‘win at all cost’ principle gone wrong. A shameful official en-mass doping of its athletes has seen the country out of summer Olympics!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that everyone should get a trophy. I believe there is huge value in teaching our youth to win. In fact, it’s that competitive fire and hunger to be the best that ignites passion and drives our society forward. It’s also an inextricable part of what makes many of our local communities so remarkable. But on the youth level, that appetite for victory cannot, and must not, be allowed to trample on the fundamental principles of fair play. The future of academics, business and sport depends on it.

When you set out to win and don't count the costs, you end up paying far more than you expected. We all have rules to follow. Sports have rules, enforced by referees and umpires who shouldn't fear assault for getting a call wrong. Business and politics have rules, too, normally in the form of regulations and laws that need to be followed, whether we agree with them or not. These constraints are all healthy, as they set boundaries and parameters through which leaders, need to set strategy and build a sustainable path to success. Leaders need to respect the constraints of society and then foster their teams to act ethically and legally within these confines. Only then can they succeed. If you abuse your opposition, label them as ‘thieves’ or ‘traitors’, castigate any news of your failures as ‘fake news’ you may surely win elections and become Presidents but you may never win respect!

Even in business winning isn’t everything. Integrity matters. Integrity matters in business because every sane business leader knows you cannot win every time but when your chips are down it is your reputation in the market that keeps you floating and ready to fight and succeed on the next opportune moment. Rather than put in the hard work to improve the product or sharpen the skills to win if businesses stated thinking ‘do whatever it takes’ or use ‘whatever serves the purpose’ to win then they only succeed in ‘parking’ their ethical reasoning somewhere and focus solely on ‘the win.’ This may work in the short term but is surely a disaster in the long run.

Both in business and in politics when people look at conflict as a contest – a zero sum game where someone wins and someone loses – it becomes difficult to work collaboratively to develop solutions that improve outcomes for all. When we try to win at all costs we are essentially taking another approach – one that substitutes competition for collaboration.

Cheating in sports, in business, in politics and in life is the easy way out, and true leadership demands a more difficult, yet more fulfilling, path. Giving in to animalistic fury, flouting conventions and rules and having a myopic view of your goal never makes you win. Rather, it guarantees you will always be a loser.

BIRYANI – THE FANTASY DISH FOR ALL PALATES

When Lord Viswahkarma sat down to create the ultimate apsara or celestial nymph of all times he gathered all the beautiful bits of all beauties that ever belonged to the earth, the heaven and the hell (paatal) and created Tilottama. Sad you were not there to witness her but what Tillotama is to beauty Biryani is to cuisine and you can always taste it anywhere in the world. Adorned with all the subtleties and intensity of all the heavenly spices, the richness of ghee and the elegance of Basmati rice and the meat, and a true passion for excellence in cooking this dish is the Tilottama of the food world; a dish that you are bound to fall in love with, devour to your heart’s content, yearn for more even when your stomach says no and carry home with you the lingering aroma which will surely bring you back to her!

The word “biryani” comes from the Persian word “birian” which means “fried before cooking.” The name could have been derived from the Persian word ‘birinj’ which means rice or ‘beryan’ which means fried. Based on the name, and cooking style (Dum), one can conclude that the dish originated in Persia (Iran) and/or Arabia. It could have come from Persia via Afghanistan to North India. It could have also been brought by the Arab traders via Arabian Sea to Calicut.

What is perhaps least doubtful is that biryani was a historical invention by the Turk soldiers of invading armies in 10–11th century A.D. There armies comprised of numerous tribes, living in western and central Asia - the Uzbeks, Turks, Afghans and the Uyghurs.  Being always in the move and due to the shortage of time and options they used to make a hotch-potch of rice and meat which they slowly cooked in an earthen pot. We are not sure what spices they used to add into this hotch-potch, so much so that we don’t know whether they would add salt to their dish!

In the 16^th century however the Safavid dynasty prepared biryani with mutton or chicken marinated overnight with yoghurt and spices and herbs, garnished with fruits like pomegranate seeds, prunes and it was served with chelo or steamed rice.

Biryani is popularly associated with the Moguls but there is some historical evidence to show that there were other, similar rice dishes prior to the Mogul invasion. There is mention about a rice dish known as “Oon Soru” in Tamil as early as the year 2 A.D. Oon Soru was composed of rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and bay leaf, and was used to feed military warriors. The famous traveler and historian Al-Biruni has precise descriptions of meals at the courts of Sultans who ruled parts of India prior to the Moguls. These also contain mentions of rice dishes similar to the Mogul biryani. However, there is no doubt that Islamic Persians inspired and popularized the dish.

Another legend states that Biryani was brought to India by the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Taimur, in the year 1398 from Kazakhstan via Afghanistan to Northern India. Another interesting story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal(1593-1631), Shah Jahan’s queen who inspired the Taj Mahal. It is said that she once visited army barracks and found the army personnel under-nourished. She asked the chef to prepare a special dish which provided balanced nutrition, and thus the biryani was created.

Yet another reference in history suggests that during the construction of “Red fort”, thousands of workers were brought from all parts of India and other countries Persia, Arabia, Afghanistan and Iraq. All of them were having different culture and food habits. It was difficult to cook large amount of food for such a diverse group which would be both nutritious and tasty and could be cooked easily and also be widely accepted by all labourers with different food habits. To make thousands of ‘rotis’, ‘subji’ and rice for all hungry labourers twice a day was a tedious task. One day The Mogul “Khansama ( Chief Chef)” was on leave . So he left the responsibility on his new assistant, his brother in law. The Khansama instructed him to make rice, subji, and roti. The assistant listened to all instructions but forgot most of it. He was young, inexperienced and too lazy. He cooked meat and rice in a earthen pot , added all the ingredients whatever he could remember like ghee , nutmeg, mace, pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, mint leaves, ginger, onions, tomatoes, green chilies and garlic. At the end he made this novel dish which fortunately everyone loved. It was delicious and very nutritive. The fame of ‘food for labourers’ , ‘biryani’ reached the Moghul emperor . He wished to eat this new recipe. The Khansama then made it ‘Royal Biryani’ by adding ‘Kesar (saffron)’ to it. And till today the fragrance of Biryani is still travelling through ages all over the world.

We know the history little better during 1800 to 1900. During Mogul empire, Lucknow was known as Awadh, giving rise to Awadhi Biryani. In 1856, British deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in Calcutta, 
and so was the introduction of Calcutta Biryani. Aurangzeb installed Nizam-ul-mulk as the Asfa Jahi ruler of Hyderabad, as well as a 'Nawab of Arcot' to oversee Aaru Kaadu region (Six Forests) south of Hyderabad. These moves gave rise to Hyderabadi Biryani and Arcot Biryani. The Biryani then spread to Mysore by Tipu Sultan of Carnatic. Needless to say it was a royal dish for Nawabs and Nizams. They hired vegetarian Hindus as bookkeepers leading to the development of Tahiri Biryani, which can be the predecessor of today’s vegetable biryani.

Roll the clock to our present days and today biryani is the most searched Indian food item all over the world. Market analysis of companies like Zomato, Swiggy and their likes show this to be the most popular food item in the ‘take away’ category. It dons different local garbs to tickle different regional palates. There is the Lucknavi or Awadhi biryani and its Bengali cousin with its interloper spud. Then there is Malabar biryani with prawn and fish and the Hyderabadi biryani which comes with its unique aroma and taste. The Bohri biryani is mild and the Dindigul biryani has tartness of curd and lemon. Then there are the Bhopal biryani, Moradabadi, Ambur, Bhatkali, Kashmiri and quite a few more served from Peshawar to Yangon and Srinagar to Ernakulum and loved by all without exception. Whether cooked in roadside stalls or 5 star hotels, in homes or in royal kitchens a biryani is a celebration of our food habit.

Though the vegetarians insist on calling their biryani ‘veg-biriyani’, the purists are absolutely against the very existence of this dish. There can be no biryani without meat they cry! You can call it ‘pulao’ . The three major differences between a biryani and pulao are

1. Technique - For a Pulao to be made, the vegetables and rice are sautéed together and cooked in a common vessel whereas for a Biryani, the spices and vegetables are cooked separately from the rice in two different vessels. The rice is semi cooked and then layered with the spices in a different vessel and left covered on a low flame to get the ‘dum’. Because of the layering, you get some spoons loaded with spices and some with plain white rice.
2. Spice strength - Biryani has significantly higher amount of spices and aromatics incorporated with a lot of patience and love. Pulao on the other hand has very less spices.
3. Presentation and time - Those cashew nuts, fried onions, and freshly chopped coriander used to decorate that sinful plate takes a lot of time and patience, and the layered cooking further adds to it.

A biryani without meat is like Vatican without the Pope. It is inconceivable and so though we sympathize with the vegetarians and the vegans, the divine aromatic culinary perfection which biryani is, will elude them in this lifetime.

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY AND LIVING MACHINES

“Synthetic biology” is the design and construction of new biological entities that do not exist in the natural world. Imagine a future where synthetic jellyfish roam waterways looking for toxins to destroy, where eco-friendly plastics and fuels are harvested from vats of yeast, where viruses are programmed to be cancer killers, and electronic gadgets repair themselves like living organisms. Welcome to the world of synthetic biology, or ‘synbio’, where possibilities are limited only by the imagination. Its practitioners don’t view life as a mystery but as a machine – one that can be designed to solve a slew of pressing global health, energy and environmental problems.

When we think of robots the picture that comes in our mind is of a moving gadget made of steel, metal, silicone, plastic or other non-biodegradable synthetic materials. But robots today are both living and bio-degradable and are called xenobots. Scientists in the University of Vermont and Tufts have succeeded in building these living robots from stem cells of frog embryo which can join hands and work together much like super-computers and can perish after achieving their task once their pre-loaded nutrients get used up. The Xenobots are named after the species of African frog – Xenopus laevis whose embryonic cells or stem cells were used by researchers. These cells were incubated and joined under microscope by tiny electrodes. The joined cells came together into body forms never seen in nature!

The possibilities of using these xenobots are immense. They can detect toxic contamination in environment, disintegrate polythene and plastic in the oceans and then gather the micro-plastic from ocean and save our marine life. As they are bio-degradable they will disintegrate without a trace without polluting the oceans. They can also be injected in our blood and targeted towards the blocks in our arteries. They can disintegrate these blocks thus reopening our blocked arteries and then disappear as and when programmed to do so by Artificial Intelligence!

These xenobots can be programmed to pick up payload such as a cancer medicine that is to be carried to a specific organ in the body, kill the cancer cells and then get self disintegrated. To target the tumor cells, peptides that can specifically recognize a tumor were expressed on the surfaces of a vector bacteria. So the chemotherapy is targeted to the desired target and normal body cells are spared of its side effects; needless to say, a much lesser dose of the drug is being used.

The immune system plays an important role in cancer and can be harnessed to attack cancer cells. Cell-based therapies focus on immunotherapies, mostly by engineering T cells. T cell receptors are engineered and ‘trained’ to detect cancer epitopes. Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are composed of a fragment of an antibody fused to intracellular T cell signaling domains that can activate and trigger proliferation of the cell. A second generation CAR-based therapy is already approved by FDA

Scientists in UC San Diego have genetically engineered mosquitoes and made them resistant to all strains of dengue virus. They designed the antibody “cargo” to be synthetically expressed in female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which are responsible for spreading dengue. Once this female sucks in blood the antibody is activated and expressed and starts hindering the replication of virus in the mosquito, thus preventing its transmission to humans even if it bites. On pairing with other infected mosquitoes the antibody is spread throughout the mosquito population thus offering them immunity against the virus thereby stopping the spread of dengue!

The rubber industry is all geared up to reduce its carbon footprints. Natural rubber from the sap of rubber trees cannot meet the world’s demands. Currently, synthetic rubber is derived entirely from petrochemical sources. DuPont, together with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, is currently working on the development of a reliable, high-efficiency fermentation-based process for the BioIsoprene™ monomer, and synthetic biology has played an important role in making this undertaking a reality.

Waste management is a big headache in the agriculture sector. The hull is the woody case that protects the soybeans, and it cannot be digested by humans or other monogastric animals, such as pigs. Surfactants are one of the most useful and widely sold classes of chemicals, because they enable the stable blending of chemicals that do not usually remain associated (like oil and water). Today, nearly all surfactants are manufactured from petrochemicals and worldwide production of surfactants from petrochemicals annually emits atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalent to combustion of 3.6 billion gallons of gasoline. To address this problem microorganisms have been developed in the laboratory that convert agricultural waste like soyabean hulls into useful new surfactants that can be of use in personal care products and other formulations. Similarly Yeast is being engineered to produce rose oil as an eco-friendly and sustainable substitute for real roses that perfumers use to make luxury scents.

In some ways, synthetic biology is similar to another approach called "genome editing" because both involve changing an organism's genetic code; however, some people draw a distinction between these two approaches based on how that change is made. In synthetic biology, scientists typically stitch together long stretches of DNA and insert them into an organism's genome. These synthesized pieces of DNA could be genes that are found in other organisms or they could be entirely novel. A microbe could be genetically engineered in the laboratory to detect a particular pathogen and kill it once it is delivered inside the human or animal body. They have tamed the typhoid causing Salmonella, engineered it to retain its ability to enter the body’s immune cells but also to prevent it from causing diseases. Thus they can use the bacteria to deliver a vaccine orally. It enters through the gut lining, is engulfed by immune cells, and then it starts making vaccine.....much like a bioreactor inside the animal/human body. Alongside stemcell research and genome editing Synthetic Biology could offer new insight into synthesizing body parts and repairing dead tissues and organs!

This harnessing of living cells has however raised several ethical questions. What if these xenobots go out of control? Manipulating complex biological systems may be risky and scientists may end up with a Frankenstein. That AI designed these xenobots adds another layer of risk, the possibility of programming them as biological weapons. Iron clad regulations are necessary to keep the individual egos of rogue scientists and ambition of world domination of rogue nations in check.

The ultimate scope of clinical applications for synthetic biology remains to be seen. Today’s application in diagnostics, drug discovery, and tissue engineering should soon grow more extensive and spawn opportunities that are currently unimaginable. Indeed, synthetic biology has the potential to radically change the way clinicians manage disease and to help us live, longer, healthier lives.

TRAVEL TEACHES YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE

Travel is the best teacher. When you load up your suitcase and head out on your next trip, you never know what unexpected events might lay ahead of you. Different travel experiences have a way of pushing you outside of your normal routine. Exploring new destinations can be compared to being handed a key to a door, it’s up to you to see what’s on the others side. Travel then becomes a learning experience. It teaches you about different people, different places, their history and their culture. Travel takes us close to nature, gives us a sense of independence and imparts many important social skills. It teaches us to be compassionate, to accept those who are not like us in looks, race, language skills and religious beliefs and it broadens our horizon. But what is most important perhaps is traveling gives us confidence to face the world and we end up learning more about ourselves, the potentials that we have and the talents that we either possess or acquire or even excel in.

Travel teaches you so many things – in particular, skills you never realized were even necessary. These are not the sort of abilities you would put on your CV. They're little things, niche skills you've never needed before but which become vital when you move through various parts of the world.

If you know how to do any of the following, chances are you're a traveller.

Haggle

I'm still a pretty terrible haggler, but better than I was. This is a basic survival skill for many travellers, a way to interact with local people in the way they expect you to, and a way to avoid paying far too much for certain things. The trick is not to take haggling too seriously, and not to find yourself going hard at it over the equivalent of a few rupees. We must respect that the other guy is also trying to make a living, but we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be ripped off either!

Hand-wash clothes

My mother made me scrub my own cricket whites when I was in high school as there were no washing machines back then; so this is a talent I already possess. But I'd never had to hand-wash anything in a tiny hotel sink with a shard of old soap and a piece of twine to hang it on. Travel for any decent length of time, however, and you figure out how to do this. You can call me stingy but I cannot pay the hotel laundry to wash my under-garments and charge me more than they cost.

Fit your world in your suitcase

Travel teaches you to live comfortably with minimal clothes and accessories. One formal wear and a couple of informal and comfortable clothing and lots of inner wears, a wind-cheater, a pee cap, sun-screen and toiletries and your camera and you are ready to go. You will invariably choose the smallest possible stroller and keep your luggage light for both your comfort and your pocket….only idiots pay for extra baggage.  

Use a squat toilet

We had squat toilets at home when we were young but our children are only comfortable with the western ones. At first those new to them find squat toilets just frightening, and then they're awkward, and then eventually they become normal. It's all about knowing what to do with your clothes, and your hands, and the hose thingy, and getting the hang of balancing in a certain position. Once you've got that down, you're all set.

A sense of direction

Travel teaches you awareness of direction otherwise you're going to end up lost pretty much every day of your travelling life. When you travel you become aware of landmarks, of street signs, of where the sun is and how it relates to the points of the compass, which you now have on your phone. You will invariably become an expert on reading Google maps and use it for pretty much everything  from searching landmark heritage sites to eateries. You keep a rough idea in your head of where you came from, and how you're going to get back there.

Communicate without language

Sign language is a beautiful thing. Pointing, gesticulating, miming all your hidden talents get exposed to the world. You do what you have to in foreign countries to make yourself understood. You figure out, too, what others are saying via non-verbal cues. Vegetarians need to specify their dietary choices as do selective non-vegetarians who would like to avoid beef or pork. So in a food joint in Santiago or Brasilia you will be understood at once if you cry out Cookroo Co!  Many language translation software are now available and soon you realize that the language barrier is really no barrier at all.

Find a place to sleep

Here's a handy skill that you'll never need outside of the travel sphere. I can walk into any airport in the world and figure out pretty quickly where the best place will be to lie down and try to have a snooze. It's usually at an unused gate or in some far-flung corner where people tend not to venture. Sometimes you'll find actual sleep facilities (Delhi, KL, Changi, Munich), but if not, there are always options.

Spot a scammer

Here's a skill that probably does translate to real life every now and then: spotting scammers. You get to know the lines. You can spot the approaches. You know the art sellers and the English practicers and the tea drinkers and you just smile at them and move on. If need help and you are a Bong like me then here is a catch – look for the newsstand hawkers or the street peddlers and ask them to help in Bengali. They are usually refugees from Bangladesh trying to make a decent living. Be respectful and friendly to them and they will always help you.

Order sandwiches in seven different languages

The heading is a reference to the Paul Kelly lyric, but you get the idea. Spend a few years travelling and you end up with all sorts of useless snippets of foreign tongues: how to order beer, or sandwiches, or ask which way to the bus station in Italian and Thai and Swahili. It makes a nice party trick if nothing else.

Eat or drink just about anything and smile through it

You have to be polite. If people are going to share their culture with you – and share their food with you – it's the very least you can do to smile and be grateful and look as if you enjoyed it. Doesn't matter if you're drinking fermented mares' milk in Mongolia, eating horse pasta in Kazakhstan, trying grasshoppers in China or skolling snake wine in Vietnam, you learn to grin and bear it. If you invite me to lunch and I refuse to accept your home made pickle which your mother has painstakingly made how will you feel? So, the other guy too has feelings……respect  them.

Make better decisions

The only way to survive as a traveller is to start making better decisions. The people you hang out with, the places you go, the ways you get there: every little decision on the road can have major consequences. That has to translate to the rest of your life. Good home-work on the internet and reliable local contact always helps to improve your decision making.

Sleep sitting up

Plenty of people will say that they can't sleep sitting up, but it's all practice. It's also a necessity. If you're going to spend long periods on a plane or travel a decent distance on a train or bus, you need to be able to sleep. Maybe it's uncomfortable and maybe it's unnatural. But you can do this. I can sleep through any sort of travel – road, rail, air or water but I will never do it at the cost of missing the local scenery…….but you can’t keep on staring out blankly from an airplane window 35,000 feet above sea level for hours together, can you?

Eat with chopsticks

We in India eat with our hands. This is the simplest, most basic way to eat, a true connection with your food that's far more significant than when using a knife and fork which I have eventually mastered. But chopsticks, now this has always been challenging to me. My lumbricals and interossei muscles simply refuse to listen to my brain and I keep on dropping food before it reaches my mouth. But I am not giving up, it will take some more learning, but it's a beautiful thing.

Stick to a budget

When you travel, you stick to a budget, or you go home. Those are some dire consequences for someone who's overseas and having the time of their lives. You learn to balance the books pretty quickly.

Put things into perspective

The "starving kids in Africa" cliché that you're warned about as a child becomes very real when you begin to travel the world, but because we live in India poverty lives next door and we are petty familiar. But still when you see all of the different ways people live, when it dawns on you bit by bit that you've been unreasonably fortunate to be born into a life of relative privilege and luxury. Travel teaches you perspective. It teaches you about how lucky you've been, and how trivial some of your problems are compared to the rest of the world's. That has to be a good thing.

Travelling surely makes you a better person and every travel experience brings out a better version of your own self.

THE VALUE OF SOLITUDE

Solitude is the art of being alone without being lonely. It is about being  disconnected from worldly distractions, rebooting the brain and discovering oneself and finding one’s inner voice. It undoubtedly improves concentration and increases productivity but how listening to the winds in the trees, watching butterflies, enjoying silence can do such wonders, you have to practice to experience it.

As a society, we are conditioned to value socializing. Having friends and spending time with them is a sign you’re someone… well, worth having as a friend. I, most certainly, don’t mean to take away the value of friendships, what I am emphasizing is that wanting to spend time by yourself is perfectly normal and even necessary. Spending time alone gives us a better understanding of who we are and what we desire in life. It also enables us to make better choices about who we want to be around. We also tend to become more appreciative of the relationships that we do have, and surely enhance their quality.

Humans have long stigmatized solitude. It has been considered an inconvenience, something to avoid, a punishment, or a realm of loners. Science has often aligned it with negative outcomes. Freud, who linked solitude with anxiety, noted that, “in children the first phobias relating to situations are those of darkness and solitude.” But, there is a stark difference between being lonely and being alone. Loneliness is a negative feeling of isolation, sadness, and overall lack of wellbeing. But being alone does not have to be lonely- on the contrary! Alone time can be cultivated and made enjoyable and peaceful. We can turn the hours spent on our own into a time of recharge and growth.

 There is a catch to all of this: For solitude to be beneficial, certain preconditions must be met. Solitude can be productive only: if it is voluntary, if one can regulate one’s emotions “effectively,” if one can join a social group when desired, and if one can maintain positive relationships outside of it. When such conditions aren’t met, yes, solitude can be harmful. The difference between solitude as rejuvenation and solitude as suffering is the quality of self-reflection that one can generate while in it, and the ability to come back to social groups when one wants to. If you are spending time alone because you lack friends, don’t like people, or have social anxiety, then solitude is less of a choice and it can have damaging effects leading to loneliness and depression. However, those who seek solitude for positive reasons such as self-reflection, a desire for peace and quiet, or to pursue personal interests (like creative hobbies) benefit much more from spending time alone.

Solitude gives you time to think deeply. Everyday chores, responsibilities, as well as stress and worries, can often get the better of us. In the era of hyper-connectivity the social media – WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram are also eating into our time. This constant motion, of feeling as though we continually have something to do or to think about, prevents us from engaging in deep thought and reflection. But not taking the time to reflect on our life can often inhibit creativity and lessen productivity. Spending time alone, however, with no distractions, is one of the best ways to clear the mind. It enables us to focus, to think more clearly and it also gives us the opportunity to revitalize, not only our mind but our body too.

So how to find that elusive “me time” in your busy schedule? Here are my tips:

1. Add it to your daily agenda: Give your alone time a place of importance, and it is not just a filler between events. It is a conscious choice you are making for your own wellbeing. 
2. Disconnect from social media: Seeing what others are up to or checking emails might interrupt your peace of mind. If you have already made the time to enjoy your own company, you would do yourself a favor by putting your phone aside for a bit.
3. Become creative: Give your thoughts and ideas an outlet by practicing your creative field of choice. It might be writing, painting, cooking, playing an instrument, or even small house repairs. Being creative is one of the most satisfying feelings there is.
4. Make future plans: Reflecting can often lead to thoughts about the future and help you to plan your day, week or year. Maybe even your next trip. Figure out what your personal goals are and how you would go about attaining them. Take care of short-term goals first, and then make sure you’re on the right track for long term ones.
5. Just observe: If you have decided to go out and grab a coffee, or any other ‘outside’ activity, don’t take out your phone or tablet and pretend to be busy. Look around you; watch the people around, look at the sky and the street. You’ll be amazed at the things you’ll notice, all the stuff that you have glanced over but never really observed.
6. Choose your outdoor activities: There is something very liberating and special about doing something you would normally do with others, by yourself. Go to the movies, go out to dinner, or visit a museum. No one will ask for ‘a bit’ of your fries, or argue on what film to watch. You are the boss.
7. Pick up a new hobby: Avoid spending all your time alone in idleness. Always wanted to learn a language or how to play an instrument? There is no better time to start! Using your alone time to learn a new skill is fulfilling and important for your inner growth.
8. Do the silly stuff: Do all of the things that you probably wouldn’t do with someone around. Sing, dance, read loudly, recite a poem, try Yoga poses or smell the grass and the flowers. The best thing about living alone, or at least spending an evening alone, is having that freedom. 
9. Appreciate that you are self sufficient: One of the biggest upsides to getting comfortable with your own company is that it makes you more attractive to others! Learning how to rely on yourself leads to a feeling of independence and confidence. There is nothing wrong with relying on your loved ones when you need to, but relying on yourself is an invaluable skill.

While humans are a social species who naturally crave relationships and social interaction, solitude can often be a necessary counter-balance to our busy and hectic social world. If you find yourself daydreaming about being alone on a deserted island, I’m going bet you aren’t incorporating enough alone time or “me time” into your life. Set aside a few minutes each day to be alone with your thoughts — just 10 minutes a day can help. Silence your electronics and allow yourself to think for a few minutes. If you aren’t used to solitude, it can feel uncomfortable at first. But creating that quiet time for yourself could be key to becoming the best version of yourself.