It’s easy to be a doomsdayer and view the events of this year through a blinkered vision. Akul Tripathi urges us to see also the light amidst the darkest events and says nothing is beyond optimism and hope. Can we look forward to the new year with an incredible lightness of being? Many, many moons ago, when I was studying journalism, it was a diktat from the head of department to read several newspapers on a daily basis; on which would be impromptu quizzes that would count towards the final grades. After all, if I was to be a journalist,…
Author: oiop
Care of the elderly, especially of those with asthma or chronic lung disease, is a much-neglected area of medicine. There are also unnecessary taboos which further complicate their lives. Dr. Sujeet Rajan discusses the issues critical for good geriatric care and explains the urgent need for organised palliative care in India. Snehlata Chopra is 88 years old, has chronic asthma, acid-reflux, is a bit overweight, has an occasional irregular cardiac rhythm, cancer of the breast in the past, glaucoma in both eyes, and anxiety. She manages to move around her home without support, and occasionally steps out in a chauffeur-driven…
The fruit fly is a fly which feeds on fruits. It lays its eggs inside a fruit. The larvae that hatch out tunnel their way through the fruit. The most colourful fruit fly is the peacock fly, so called because of its beautiful, colourful wings. It has the habit of strutting on fruits. Scientists have found that fruit flies and humans have similar sleeping patterns. They sleep at night and are active during the day. Elderly (33 days old and more) fruit flies have erratic sleeping habits unlike the young, and a fruitfly deprived of sleep, must nap longer to…
In Europe, the Christmas meal is a huge spread in which the main dish is stuffed roast turkey, goose or duck, along with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, followed by a rich Christmas pudding. In England, mince pies are part of the feast, while in the U.S. it is pumpkin pie. In Australia, it’s the height of summer, so people prefer seafood that is light on the stomach. Filipinos prefer roasted pig and chicken instead of turkey, accompanied by plenty of rice, which is a staple food. The Christmas pudding (also called plum pudding) is of course the most eagerly…
This year saw many cases of the police force indulging in ‘moral policing’. Former Director-General of Police Julio Ribeiro decries this tendency and blames the political leaders for the sorry state of affairs. He also highlights the need to appoint honest police leaders, who can carry out the much-needed police reforms. When I was a young IPS (Indian Police Service) officer serving in the districts, farmers used to wear dhotis and young girls ghagra-cholis. Today, you see very few dhotis being worn in the villages of Maharashtra, and the young girls have shifted to salwar-kameez in a major shuffle of…
Virender Sehwag, who redefined the craft of opening Test innings in his inimitable style and Zaheer Khan, one of India’s most successful fast bowlers, recently announced their retirement from international cricket. This brings down curtains on two remarkable careers that began around the same time (Zaheer in 2000 and Sehwag in 2001), flourished in the next ten years and culminated rather unceremoniously. The duo – both 37-year-olds – were out of Team India for over a year and couldn’t get to play their swansongs to sign off in style. Sehwag’s unconventional, aggressive batting style made him the spectators’ delight. There…
Writers returning their awards in protest against the prevailing ‘intolerance’, seemingly condoned by the ruling party, has turned into a virtual avalanche with more than forty writers joining the fray. Will the message reach the powers that be? TWriters as a community are not intimidated easily. They have the courage of their convictions and the determination to fight tooth and nail while defending their right of expression guaranteed as a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. Some of them go the extra mile and take on the establishment and also wage a relentless crusade against superstitions and religious practices, which…
THE road was velvety; a narrow bitumen strip that cut through a landscape as flat and yellow as a pancake for the most part, relieved by rare patches of dirty green, where hardy xerophytic herbs had taken root and a strange creeper with fruit like small melons, crept stealthily along the sand in patches. On enquiring with the driver, I was told that camels ate this strange fruit. The landscape hardly varied and as we neared Mandawa, got even more stark, if possible. By mid-morning, even though it was winter, the sun was burning an already scorched landscape. Protected by…
If our children grow up to be achievers, but stressed and unhappy, we would have done the biggest disservice to them. Parents are increasingly transferring their own fears of the future onto their children, says Sadia Saeed Raval. The only way to mitigate this stress is to demand less and support more. Are we capable of doing that? Are urban kids on the edge today? This question has a lot of significance, at least in the psychologist’s office, where what is happening in society is reflected in real-time. Increasing behaviour difficulties in children is one such change that we are…
The Mehrauli region of Delhi is a fascinating warren of tombs, mosques, palaces, step wells and of course, the Qutb Minar. While many visit the Qutb Minar, not many are aware or are inquisitive enough to explore the rest of the monuments of Mehrauli, which take us back to a time in history when various dynasties, by turn, held sway over Delhi. These monuments are also a priceless record of the socio-political events of those times. They tell us stories of an era when valour, intrigue, passion and deceit dominated regional politics. Text and photos: Rangan Datta M ehrauli, a…