Parvathy Gopalakrishnan

parvathy8288@gmail.com

PHILOSOPHER, IMPOSTOR AND GREAT TEACHER

“I am an imposter. I don’t know what journalism is. I want to learn something. 40 years of ignorance has to end somewhere”, said Jug Suraiya, the inimitable humorist and Associate Editor of The Times of India. He was talking to journalism students at TSJ on Thursday.

The session began with an enquiry of what we had learnt so far. In response to several answers, he affirmed, “One of the best ways to recognize whether you have learnt something is to teach someone.”

He raised some very significant questions: “Are journalists disembodied spirits or are they a part of the community? Are they split personalities? Is journalism cramming opinion down the throats of people?” The answer according to him was, “Journos are like triangles with four angles.”

“Everyone looks at things through the prism of their own experiences, prides and prejudices.” Therefore a certain amount of subjectivity is bound to exist even in the most objective and unbiased reports.

Speaking about the freedom of press he said, “There can never be such a thing called freedom of expression. The journalist’s freedom is circumscribed by the establishment he or she works with.”

“A journalist is first and foremost a reader, listener and viewer. These are the ingredients of a good journalist.”

And his parting shot: "I have to go back and pretend to be a journalist."

Karthik H

karthik.h.krishnan@gmail.com

A TONGUE OF THE SLIP!

It was a Freudian slip. Our netas consider people as cattle – the milich cow to be milked during polls and slaughtered thereafter. A fast learner, Shashi Tharoor understood the game right at the outset. Gandhi cap and Gandhian austerity is not his cup of tea. Champaign and sherry, whiskey and vodka keep the spirit of a diplomat high. And a politician can tighten anybody’s belt but his own. After all, the diplomat-turned-politician has fought and won the election with a convincing majority. It would be an irony if the nation has to spend a fortune to keep Shashi Tharoor poor.

If you're looking for trouble, then politics is the right place. As Shashi Tharoor has seen these past few days, his sense of humour is not in the same level as that of the country or of his party. In politics, absurdity is not a handicap. Absurdity gets a new meaning when certain politicians spend crores of rupees on statues of themselves and elephants. India is a land of faulty subsidies and useless politicians who extend sops and rice for One rupee a kilo, That's governmental economics. It's unfortunate that people like Narayanamoorthy, Amartya Sen and Madhavan Nair are not MPs. Presumably because of the axiom, I think, therefore I am not a MP.

Dipika Rathi

rathi.dipika@gmail.com

PREVENTION BETTER THAN H1N1

The Magsaysay Award-winner, Dr Alan Alappat, spoke to Creative Thinker on the pandemic:
In times of pandemic, I see around 200 patients on a single day at OPD. Of course, I wear a mask and continue my daily routine. It is important to keep the patients correctly informed.The symptoms of H1N1 are:

• Running nose, cough, headache, fatigue and fever
  
• Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in some patients
• Pneumonia and seizures in severe cases( mortality reported at 6%)
  

The best preventive is vaccination, which unfortunately is not yet available. But a few preventive measures can help stall the spread of the epidemic:

Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, with a tissue or a handkerchief. If one doesn't have a tissue, cough into your upper sleeve and not into your hands. Dispose oFf the used tissues in a trash.
Wash your hands after you cough or sneeze, with soap and water, and often, if possible, with an alcohol- based hand cleaner. Avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes.

If you get sick, remain off from work/ school and stay at home. Avoid mixing with others, especially a crowd, at least for 24 hours. After the fever comes down, you can reduce the medication.
Face masks and surgical masks do prevent infection from spreading.
Clarification: Respirator refers to N95 or high filtering facepiece / mask device.Close contact is defined as 6 feet distance.
You cannot get swine flu from pork or pork products.If you suspect influenza, consult your doctor and take Tamiflu or Relenza as a preventive measure or even as treatment. If you have contacted H1N1 patients, or health workers who are susceptible, within 48 hours you can stall or prevent morbidity.

Sandeep Shrivastwa

sandeep.andes@gmail.com

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DR ALAN

He wakes up around six. A small prayer of thanks giving, sitting in the bed. Thanking God for everything in life, till that moment. Asking God for continued help. And asking Him to heal his patients.
Some 10 minutes of exercise. At the clinic at Orlem, Malad East, Mumbai, around 7.45 a.m. See patients till 1.30 in the afternoon. But during pandemic, till 3 p.m. After lunch, writing letters, sending e-mails, phone calls. Back at the clinic around 5 p.m. and work till 11p.m. But during pandemic, do not leave before midnight.
Every alternate Sunday, get up at five and leave at six for the Adivasi Service Project Free Clinic, 125 km. away from Mumbai. At the clinic from 9 a.m. to 12 pm, and return by 4 p.m. for the evening church service. Usually sleeps 4 to 5 hours a day.

‘‘My aim as a doctor is to help as many sick people as possible, relieve them of their pain and anguish. I enjoy helping the poor, though there is little money. I would go out of my way to help a poor patient than a rich patient who can afford the best of medical treatment. I enjoy working in the Adivasi free clinic in Talwada, and the Free Prayatna Clinic in our church every Thursday afternoon.
‘‘The greatest achievement of my life is that I could execute my service projects without break. Help from friends, old and new, has been overwhelming.
‘‘My role model is Jesus Christ whose immense humility, suffering, hard work and selflessness in healing the sick, poor and suffering has motivated me to follow His footsteps.

‘‘My LORD has said: ‘Whatever you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done unto me’. ‘‘My life has been fruitful by God's grace. At 60, I enjoy good health but swallow 25mgs. of Losartan every day to prevent my B.P. going up. I walk from Mumbai to Shirdi every year, covering some 280 km. And I have been doing it for the last 18 years. The six days of climbing the Kasara ghats on the way is a blessing in disguise. My Mom is 83 years old, and does not touch medicine; she goes to church on her own every day. ‘‘My wife Dr Shobha, and our son Dr. Dennis and daughter-in-law Sumi help me. Our grandchildren Jasmine (6) and Alisha (2 months) are a blessing. My daughter Dr. Lisa and son-in-law Vinod with their son Aryan (2) are settled in Kansas, USA. WHAT MORE DO I WANT FROM GOD!’’

Tista Sengupta

tista.ju@gmail.com

MONSTER THAT DEVOURS CHILDREN

Twelve-year-old Abishek is tormented by fever, cough, diarrhea and acute pain. He is not alone. Two-year-old Ramesh and four-year-old Akash and six-year-old John are tormented, too. All have one thing in common AIDS. They are among the hundred children living in Mukta Jeevan (Veloli, Asangaon) on the Mumbai- Nasik Road, and Ish Krupa (Naya Jeevan) on the highway immediately after Shahapur crossing.

These flowering children, with twinkling eyes and singing and smiling whenever they can, greet visitors. When they hear ‘Doctor Uncle is coming,’ they ran to meet him. “I wish I had more than 10 fingers,’’ says Dr Alan Alappat, who visits them at least twice a year. ‘‘My heart goes out to those children who are unable to come to me because they are bed-ridden with high fever or diarrhea. I try my best to cheer them up.

‘‘They are fond of talking about the movies they watch on TV; John complaining Akash fights with him all the time, Sunita coaxing me to scold Ramesh for being naughty. I love their beaming smiles, each one trying to push the other to come to me.

‘‘The parents of these children died of AIDS, a few in their last stages. Sister Jayshree is their
mother, bathing them, clothing them and serving food to them. These children need extra care
since they have no resistance. That is why HIV/AIDS positive persons are vulnerable to any
disease.

‘‘Last June, I got a call from the Sister saying the children wanted to play in the rain. I bought 25 umbrellas and raincoats and sent them to Mukta Jeevan. Soon we got the message: “The children are dancing and playing in the rain”.

‘‘We cannot cure these children; they will soon die! We cannot give them a golden tomorrow. But at least, we can give them a dignified life today.

‘‘The 13-year- old Lakhan spoke on the World AIDS Day: “ Please don’t make the mistake my parents made! This message is for society at large: Do not indulge in premarital, extra- marital and clandestine sex.

‘‘I thank God for giving me good friends who support me in this endeavour.’’

Dr. Alan Alappat
28405117 28072966

TIPS ABOUT AIDS

Aquired means not inborn but passed from one person to another; it could be from mother to child.
Immune means relating to body’s immune system which provides protection from disease causing germs.
Deficiency means lack of response by the immune system to germs.
Syndrome means signs and symptoms of one or more diseases.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which attacks and, overtime, destroys the body’s immune system that leads to AIDS.

Symptoms of HIV infection are severe unexplained loss of weight; common diseases like long standing cough, fevers, loose motions, swollen glands not being cured and relieved with medications.

Aids brings in severe and oftener attacks of Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Herpes, Types of Cancer.
AIDS virus is found in body fluids e.g. semen, vaginal secretion, blood and breast milk of infected persons.

Window period is the time that the body takes to produce measurable amounts of antibodies after getting infection of HIV, this period varies from 2 to 12 weeks or may be longer.
Period between infection with HIV and the beginning of signs and symptoms related to AIDS varies from 6 months to 8 years or more.

Period between full blown AIDS and death may be as short as 6 months to as long as 2 years or more.

HIV is transmitted in 4 common ways:
(1)Unprotected heterosexual or homosexual intercourse with an HIV infected person.
(2) HIV infected blood transfusion.
(3)Sharing of needles, syringes, shaving razors, toothbrushes or any skin piercing instruments or equipment used by HIV infected person which could have been contaminated with infecting body fluids.
(4)HIV infected mother to infant, during pregnancy, delivery and breast milk.

Blood tests: Elisa Test (primary confirmation) …Western Blot Test (final confirmation)
HIV is not transmitted by air, water, foods, toilets, urinals, swimming pools, cutlery, glasses, cups, coughing, sneezing, sitting together, touching, shaking hands, pets, mosquitoes and other insects.

There are no drugs to cure AIDS, but anti-retroviral drugs to delay effects of AIDS virus and thus give sizeable protection to AIDS patients. Many of the diseases associated with AIDS can be treated successfully.

Sandeep Shrivastwa sandeep.andes@gmail.com

Shaily Bhusri shailybhusri@gmail.com

LEADER EXTRAORDINARY!

In politics, victory is history and defeat shattering. The architect of BJP’s defeat,L K Advani, has all the qualities of a leader by their conspicuous absence. A sense of time, a grand vision, decisiveness, the ability to inspire and command respect, the ability to win trust and, above all, the ability to unite are qualities you find in any leader, be it Churchill, Lenin, Napoleon, Kennedy or Nehru, whom the part ideologues never grow tired of berating.

All Advani’s troubles stem from not quitting at the critical moment and not being decisive but dithering. In all his political career, or more precisely before, during or after the general election, he had no grand vision to offer. Instead of rising to Himalayan heights during the campaigning, he went on sniping at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was doing a reasonably good job under great constrains. His credibility was strained more than once challenged by his own party men. His machinations won him enemies in his party, sowing seeds of mistrust. Advani is truly a leader half a century out of date. In a fast changing world, he refused to change and found himself hanging on to a cliffhanger. So much for Advani but Rajnath Singh does not merit our time and space except to remind ourselves that he was in charge of UP assembly elections that ensured the emergence of Mayawati and the decimation of BJP. With the same precision, Singh ensured Sonia Gandhi’s victory and the decimation of his own party at the general election. Greater service, no man can do to his party.

During this crisis time, one lady kept her silence. A leader is one who knows when to speak and when to be silent. Her silence was golden. And Sushma Swaraj reaped a rich harvest for her silence. But Arun Jaitley cannot keep his mouth shut that long. The media savvy urbane glamour boy has a penchant and style that belong to the 21st century. He has no political roots or mass base like Narendra Modi but he can articulate and give a sense of direction to the party that needs leadership. Just imagine, one book triggered the crisis – that too, not on Godse but on Jinnah!