The book I recently read

I finished reading ‘The Gene’ by Siddhartha Mukherjee last month. It has been a fascinating voyage in the world of biology- genetics to be precise. As I wrote before too, it has been written with great erudition and is richly laced with metaphor and similes to make it comprehensible even for a non-biologist. It staggers my mind to think how must an ocean of research material have been mined for it, grasped, and then put to masterly use by the doctor-writer. Only a man of SM’s calibre who gave us a wonderful book on cancer ‘The emperor of all maladies’ before, could have done it. The gene book tells us in gripping detail the whole story of the gene  right from early meanderings before the Christian era by the Greek Philosophers like Pythagoras (530 BC), Anaxagoras (400 BC), Aristotle (350 BC) and many others to unravel the mystery of inheritance. (Incidentally, Anaxagoras thought that the essence of heredity was carried by the male sperm, while the female only “shaped’ male semen in the womb to produce the foetus! And Aristotle argued that hereditary information is transmitted in the form of messages.) Nothing is in fact left out by the author in this long journey of man’s search for answers to the intriguing gene puzzle: Mendel’s experiments on pea to unravel the mystery of inheritance of characters, Darwin’s great voyage, how Watson and Crick cracked the DNA code, the human genome, how the new findings have helped mankind in understanding and curing genetic disorders by gene therapy, gene edting and gene surgery and the future scenario in regard to genomics and humankind. A lot has been done but a lot more still needs to be discovered. So many tricky genetic ailments such as Haemophilia, sickle cell anaemia etc which have afflicted mankind causing huge suffering, are now being cured thanks to new insights into the subtle working of the gene. Many more are on the threshold of being tamed and treated through gene therapy. The quest is on. Needless to say, the coming decades will see man (or a geneticist) playing God with gene editing and cloning technologies in his kitty. It will be for the humankind though to see and decide where to draw the line.

What makes the book so outstanding is the interesting manner and the arresting narrative with which the whole story of the gene is laid bare before the mesmerized reader with fascinating details about the personal lives of Mendel, Darwin and all other luminaries who have been involved in their scientific endeavours in unravelling the mystery of the gene right from the beginning till date, their obsessions, devotion, dedication, foibles, failures, jealousies, the politics and so on.

Having been a zoologist myself – though not a great one! – I could strike an instant chord with the book and had it fill many gaping voids in my understanding of the gene.

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I saw Baahubali 2

A poster of Baahubali-2

Did you see Baahubali 2? I did. And wasn’t disappointed at all. Well, there is nothing so earth-shaking about the story per se. It is all about a khashatriya kingdom: its opulence, power, glory and the royal dharma, with strict adherence to its codes and ethics. It is also about the royal intrigues and rivalries, as also the 'प्राण जायें पर वचन  ना जाइ'  ethos. But what takes your breath away and keeps you glued to the screen is the stunning visuals. With the computer generated imagery and mind-blowing action scenes and stunts, the movie puts to shame perhaps even the best of Hollywood action thrillers. No wonder therefore that it has proved such a huge blockbuster even in countries like China and the USA and has already reaped more than Rs 1200 crore in earnings. Even the big film-makers of Hollywood have been amazed at its rip-roaring success. The movie sets a new trend in film-making and we should expect more of such big-budget, fantasy stuff from our own filmmakers. A movie based on our great Mahabharat on similar lines is perhaps already on the anvil. Exciting times ahead for the movie buffs!

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Quotes of the week

The drive to change the genome of a human embryo has turned into an intercontinental arms race: Siddhartha Mukherjee ('The Gene')

Even the two most extreme human variants - male and female - share 99.688 of their genes: (As above)

"Gentle, free-handed, and kindly...Flowers he loved." : A monk in the monastery about Mendel (As above) 

"Cell biologists look; geneticists count; biochemists clean.": Arthur Kornberg (As above)

Trump (is) bringing world back to horse and cart: Schwarzenegger, Hollywood star and US Republican MP

Need room for argumentative Indian; not intolerant Indian: President Pranab Mukherjee


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Random headlines

US spacecraft finds cyclones, ammonia river on Jupiter (NDTV)

Dalits asked to use soaps, scent before meeting Yogi (DH)

Humans originated in Europe, not Africa: study (DH)

Air pollution may cause DNA damage in children:study (DH)

Attractiveness not just about good looks:study (DH)

Antibody to fight cancer identified (DH)

Probiotics good for digestive system, cure depression too: study (Business Standard)

Air pollution may be the cause of poor sleep (NDTV)

Deforestation causing increase in malaria cases:study (DH)

Passengers on Tejas Express smash LCD screens, soil toilets:We clearly don't understand civic duties (Firstpost)

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Will Palampur lose its tea gardens?...Hope not

What sets apart Palampur and its neighbouring areas from rest of HP in terms of aesthetics and natural beauty? The tea gardens, no doubt. It is these charming ‘ever-green’ bush-spreads over swathes of undulating landscape - that greet and soothe a sore eye as you wander around - which make Palampur so special, so inviting. Enchanted by the mesmerising view of the tea gardens with the snow-capped Dhauladhar in the backdrop imparting it a divine touch, no tourist ever fails to stop by for a photo shoot. For, the view is surreal, picture postcard perfect.

Therefore the news items ‘Govt mulls policy to allow sale of land under tea’ and 'Changes in policy for sale of tea gardens...' in The Tribune dated 13 May and 19 May 2017 respectively (see photos), left me shocked and shaken. Will the tea gardens then go extinct, like Dodo? Will this fabulous valley become a wasteland, an ugly sprawl of concrete? A listless, grey, barren, noisy, traffic-choked, dirty, polluted township? Like, say, Shimla? An overpopulated, congested city bereft of the green of tea gardens replaced by houses, shops, mansions, malls, multiplexes and what not, with the essential civic amenities like water and power severely diminished, causing power outages and water shortages for days on end…as in Shimla?

It is a frightening, scary prospect, dear friends. Tea gardens have already been receding by and by, inch by inch, meter by meter, acre by acre. Most of you must have been witness to vast tracts of land in and around Palampur that were once a soothing carpet of verdant green of tea gardens now having become a crowded conglomerate of houses and  buldings rearing their ugly heads everywhere. Worse, with the enforcement agencies looking the other way, encroachments by the new home-wallas along the link roads have turned them into a traffic hazard. Much worse is yet to come.

I personally maintain that the tea gardens are a precious, inviolable ‘heritage feature’ of Palampur and of Kangra valley. Agreed, the tea-planters have custodial rights over them. But then haven’t they gotten away with not coming under the land ceiling act, 1972, unlike the other, general kind of landowners who had to part away with sizeable chunks of their lands that went to the tillers? No such axe fell on the tea-planters.  But this huge concession had a specific rider: the tea-planters would be the ‘custodians’ and not the ‘owners’ of tea gardens. They will neither sell, nor change the character of the land under these gardens for any reason whatsoever. However, gradually, slowly, on one pretext or the other, the tea gardens kept on being sold/used. 

And now to make matters terribly worse, the present HP government near the end of its current term, as the news goes, is mulling an amendment to facilitate sale of tea gardens and thus wipe them out once for all. This implies that they would in due course become a thing of the past. I think it would be the most brazen assault on the valley's ecology by the present government: to deprive the residents of this beautiful, priceless asset of Palampur and divesting it of its unique green cover in one fell sweep. With the tea gardens, the trees that are a part of a ‘teagarden ecosystem’ will go too. We built our homes keeping in mind the natural endowments, ecology and environs as an inseparable, integral part of Palampur. Therefore to deprive us of these natural features wholesale is just not right: morally and ethically at least. Even otherwise it is stab in the back of those who came under the Land ceiling act and the tea planters were not. One can't have the cake and eat it too, after all. Let the governmentt look at it in the right perspective and not succumb to the pressure/lobby. Let the tea-planters’ issues and problems be addressed, and let there be a robust policy by the government to save the tea gardens from the impending doom. Let Palampur stay beautiful and green.

Will posterity see the tea gardens only in pictures and albums?

Will tea gardens become a thing of the past? (This photo is courtesy, Dr RG Sud)

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When Jagrata went underway at Sughar

On Saturday (13 May) last, as Sughar prepared to retire for the night’s sleep, a Jagrata got underway. The loudspeakers came live and high-pitched cacophony of the event began hitting us with all the thunder and fury. The venue being barely about 500 meters away from our house, we found the ‘bhaints’ and ‘bhajans’ (mostly cheap adaptations of romantic filmi tunes!), the chants and the slogans, the harmonium and the dholak beats, too ear-splitting to bear.  We tried to brazen it out anyway hoping that it wouldn’t go beyond 10 or at the most 10.30 PM. But there was no let up. Then we shifted our bed and migrated to one of the rooms at the back, the doors and windows tightly shut. But still being at full blast, there was no respite from the noise and we ended up tossing, turning and shuffling in the beds waiting for the loudspeakers to stop. Now it was past 12 AM and no relief seemed in sight. Exasperated, I picked up my phone and dialled 100, not expecting any responsethough. However, happily, a half-sleepy but polite and helpful voice said: “Ji, namaskar. Police control room.” The policewalla took note of the problem and the location and assured help. Relieved, I went into a ‘waiting mode’ hoping for the end to the unrelenting noise-assault. An hour went by. I had to call 100 again. “Nothing has happened?” the same voice asked. “Ok, hold on.” Then I could hear the fellow talk to his colleague discussing the matter. A minute later, he told me that a police party has already left and would be there any time. He also gave me the name and number of the Head constable, one Mr Satish. I rang up Satish. He said that they have located the venue and are almost there. When I went out to our upper veranda, I could see the police vehicle with flashing blue and red lights. In a few minutes the loudspeakers had fallen silent.

The Jagrata then went on its course but at a low pitch and so we finally were able to have our quota of sleep, not without feeling very thankful to our police for being friendly, responsive and helpful.

In passing may I ask: Is organising night-long Jagratas the right way to propitiate our gods and goddesses? That too with jarring tunes based on cheap filmi songs? And at roof-shattering sound levels? Have the sweet soulful melodies of Meera, Tulsi, Sur Das, Rahim vanished from our consciousness? Lastly, isn’t, shouldn’t, religion be a personal and private affair rather than a noisy extravaganza to disturb the entire neighbourhood? For me it is nothing but trivialization of our grand and glorious religion.

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Quotes of the week

Would have dealt with pain of her death had she been shot. I would have taken her body in embrace one last time

           - Mother of the 23-year-old who was subjected to savage gangrape         and murdered near Rohtak (The Tribune)

Social media (is) helpig Indian classical music

            - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (DH)

Nudity is beautiful, don't make it sexual

             - Paris Jackson (DH)

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Random headlines

12-year-old girl dies as father denies money for her treatment (DH)

India ageing gradually; every 5th person to be 60+ by 2050 (DH)

About 40 per cent of food in US gets wasted: study (DH)

Human ancestors stayed in trees longer than thought (DH)

New "winged" snake species discovered in US (DH)

    

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Happy Mother's Day! But...?

On the 14th, the second Sunday of May, our motherland as also several countries the world over will celebrate ‘Mother’s Day’. And the moment you begin to think about it, the very first thoughts are of this gem of a verse scripted so beautifully by Valmiki and uttered by Lord Rama expounding on the true value of ‘mother’: जननी जन्म भूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी।   I don’t think there is any other quote as apt and stirring as this one in literature – short, simple but profound – to describe the magnificence and greatness of ‘mother’. Incidentally, Nepal has this verse inscribed on the red scroll at the base of its national emblem (see image below).

Well I am not here to pontificate on the subject. Enough will appear in the print media, on TV, Facebook and Twitter. WhatsApp will be overflowing with exchange of images, poems, couplets, videos, greetings, virtual gifts and various kinds of sentimental stuff eulogising ‘mother’. That’s all fine. But let us, this Mother’s Day, ask ourselves a question: Where does a ‘woman’ (read: ‘future mother’) stand in terms of her place in society even today?

Well, honestly, I don’t think the answer will make us feel very proud and happy. Look at the Nirbhaya case which shocked and shook the conscience of the whole nation: the case in which the death sentence to the four convicts has been confirmed by the SC just a week back. Look at the Bilkis Bano case (also in the news last week): of a pregnant woman having been gang raped and her young daughter killed right before her eyes. Look at the unending cycle of discrimination, crime, violence against women running almost on a daily basis through the length and breadth of our dear motherland. How ironical that while Kalpana Chawlas and the Phogat sisters make us hold our heads high, there are the khaps, Babas and politicians  with a medieval, caste-ridden mindset issuing farmans, fatwas and diktats against love marriages and freedom to choose one’s own soul-mate, and prescribing other silly 'do's and don'ts' to pull us backwards. Imagine the struggles and battles that many of our women like the Phogat sisters and Mary Koms had had to wage to fight the system and break the barriers of tradition and crippling restrictions in order to excel and make a mark in life.

Leave aside the fanatics, bigots and all other self-styled guardians of morality. What is most shocking is the gender bias extant even in the so-called well-educated families. I am witness to instances from highly educated, well-to-do families where the Saas-husband duo have meted out protracted harassment, dirty abuse and even thrashing to the bride  for years on end forcing her to leave, only to remarry and live happily ever afterwards! Is there any dearth of such evil-minded, beastly, double-faced hypocrites and perverts in our society? Those who present a very sophisticated, cultured, benevolent face to the world outside but are brutes to their wives at home?

No doubt things have changed a lot. Women are rightfully and proudly on the march. We see them more assertive, more aware of their rights and their power. They are elbowing out the nasty ‘man’ in all aspects of life and occupying prestigious positions in varied spheres of work. But deep down this sense of misogyny still dwells in many a male heart.

From whatever little I know from whatever little I have read, India once prided itself on having a rich, liberal sanskriti where a woman occupied an exalted position in society. She was not a jailbird fettered and shackled by male/societal bias and gender discrimination but walked free and proud. It was the influences and dogmas perpetuated by alien religion(s) subsequently that impacted and distorted our values and thus undid ‘her’ legitimate place in society;  turned her into a suppressed,  exploited, second rate, inferior citizen compared to man, meant only for menial jobs at home and outside. From a vibrant, inclusive, and progressive one, our society in centuries of foreign rule, became sickly, conservative and male-dominated.

I don’t want to sound preachy but do hold that no country, no civilization can attain the heights of glory and progress without equal participation of the nation’s women.

Let’ all resolve on this Mother’s Day to help restore the dignity and esteem of Indian woman. Let her attain her just place in society. Let more Laxmibais, Kalpana Chawlas, Phogats, Mary Koms come to full blossom and shine brightly. That would need a change of the feudal, insular mindset of many amongst us, our politicians included. That would be the best gift, the best tribute one can pay to a mother and a mother-to-be this Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s day!

                                                                   

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   AAP: What a downfall!

When Arvind Kejriwal launched AAP and won the Delhi assembly elections, the country’s expectations went sky high. Here at last was the leader and the party the nation had been eagerly, desperately waiting for, to take the country to new heights. It seemed like a fresh new dawn. A new model of open, transparent, people-friendly governance by committed, dedicated, self-less, spotlessly clean bunch of men and women under AK was going to unfold, so we all thought. Over-enthused, I even joined AAP “to be the change that you wish to see in the world”. But alas! It didn’t take long for disillusionment and disenchantment to set in. My cup of disgust was full when, out of the blue, a hard-boiled politician was air-dropped from above as the party chief of HP. Happily, I had already left the party.  Just see where it finds itself now. Both the AAP and its supremo have let us down.

Thus, a wonderful opportunity that sprouted from Anna Hazare-led agitation, to rid the country of the prevailing muck and morass of political corruption has been lost. How sad and shocking.

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Quotes of the week

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother – Abraham Lincoln

Motherhood: All love begins and ends there – Robert Browning

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers – Rudyard Kipling

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Don't take my tears as sign of my weakness
           - Charu Nigam, IPS Officer, who was allegedly heckled by Gorakhpur BJP MLA

You will never be forgotten Nirbhaya
            - Priyanka Chopra (DH)

Wanted justice not revenge
             - Rape survivor Bilkis Bano (DH)

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Random News Headlines

Oxygen level in world's oceans dipping since 1980s: study (DH)

US vows commitment to arctic climate change research (ToI)

Edible insects could help fight climate change: study (DH)

Indian origin girl in UK gets 162 IQ points, more than Einstein (DH)

'Heavily drunk' son of Gujarat Deputy CM taken off flight (NDTV)

Demonetisation by itself will not impede future black money inflows:UN (DH)

Australian Senator creates history, becomes first politician to breastfeed in parliament (Economic Times)

Writing your story post-divorce may keep heart healthy:study (DH)

Treatment to balding, greaying hair in the offing (DH)

Working at night may harm your liver:study (DH)

Novel 'smart bra' can detect breast cancer (DH)


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Off to Sherabling monastery, paragliders' landing site, Bir and back

Tibetan monasteries exude peace and spiritual calm. Tucked away as they generally are in some remote, quiet corner high up on a hill, makes them look even more charmingly divine. I had heard a lot but not been to one such monastery: the Sherabling monastery located near Bir, about 7.5 kms from Baijnath. Therefore one sun-blessed April morn, we, a batch of four, headed off to see it. After passing through the Baijnath bazaar, there is a diversion from the NH on the left, just a kilometre or so up ahead. This is the Deol-Sehal-Sansaal link road. We took this road and were soon treading our way and enjoying a beautiful view of the open countryside: terraced fields, houses new and old, and men and women going about their daily chores at an unhurried pace. The road, though narrow, is in good shape and the traffic minimal. We passed by pine-forested hill sides with refreshingly clean and fresh, balmy April air caressing us playfully. (You could take another road too, called the Bhattu road which forks out from the above mentioned link road soon after crossing a bridge over the Binwa, but we preferred the Sansaal road.) A few more bends and curves and suddenly there were those Tibetan flags strung across trees and fluttering merrily that came in view as if to announce the presence of the monastery: we had arrived!

We parked our vehicle nearby and took in the panoramic view of our beautiful Kangra valley that presented itself before us from these heights. After a little walk we were before the stupas looking resplendent against the backdrop of a thick forest canopy. It was all so serene and quiet; the enveloping calm punctured only by human voices of a few visitors.  We went around seeing some of them one by one and that done, we drove a little distance further down and were right at the monastery- the Palpung Sherabling  monastery. By the way Palpung stands for ‘glorious union of study and practice’. This monastery caters to four aspects of life: spirituality, education, health and culture. It is equipped with shrine halls, a monastic college, school, library, 250 monks’ quarters to accommodate over 500 monks, museum, exhibition hall and dispensary. It was humming with life and fervour when we entered there. The Buddhist monks could be seen busily engaged in their day’s religious practices. We entered a hall where the monks, young and old, sat in a long row immersed in prayers, the sound emanating from their musical instruments at intervals lending an aura of preternatural bliss. Then we entered the main compound and went up to the richly and ornately decorated main shrine hall. A large, golden image of the Buddha was before us to fill us with a sense of piety and reverence. Here too the monks sat in a long row on our right chanting prayers. Entranced by the overall ambience of such pure peace, we paid our obeisance, clicked pictures and stepped out.

It was indeed a hugely satisfying visit.

From here the very same road leads you to Bir/Billing through the landing site for the paragliders on the way. We pulled over at this point: the landing site. It is an open, sunny, gently sloping patch of land.  We watched several paragliders taking off from a hill top above – the take-off site at Billing - then floating in mid-air (looking like some large winged creatures from some alien lands) and landing – rather a bit sloppily - on the ground right before us.  
If you are the adventurous type, you could enjoy a short ride with a trained, license-holding paraglider there. But we stayed content with just watching and enjoying the colourful spectacle.

The area right now is largely uncluttered and clean. But commerce is fast catching up. Eating joints and other kinds of shops are making inroads to cater to the needs and demands of the tourists and visitors. We too had our chicken-daal-roti lunch at one such eatery– and were not disappointed. Then we proceeded ahead to Bir passing  through the narrow bazaar lined on both sides by shops of all kinds, hotels, restaurants and houses. After wandering around for some time at Bir from where a road snakes its way up to Billing, we wended our way back home along the same route happy, refreshed and content.

If you are a traveller having come to the Kangra valley for respite from the heat and dust of summer-scorched plains, do include a visit to Sherabling monastery-Bir-Billing in your iterinary. It will be paisa vasool, I assure you: You will return with Pine-scented, fresh air in your lungs, a sublime feeling of peace in your soul, and of course, a sense of adventure as well!

The Kangra valley

                                                     

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Quotes of the week

Humans must leave earth in 100 years to survive (climate changes, asteroid strikes and overpopulation)

               - British Physicist Stephan Hawking

Politics: a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles

                - Ambrose Bierce (Deccan Herald)

'Star Wars' isn't a movie, it's  a religion

                 - J J Abrams (Deccan Herald)

I regret cheating on my wife with Sushmita Sen

                  - Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt (HT)

Let's sail on the tide of freedom, instead of being drowned by it

                  - Game of Thrones, Season V

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Random news headlines

US politicians to meet Dali Lama in Dharamsala next  week (The IE)

20 more terror camps come up in PoK (Deccan Herald)

An FBI agent fled to Syria to marry ISIS jihadi (ToI)

There is an overall sense of shrinking liberty in India: The Hoot report onWorld Press Freedom Day (Scroll.in)

Activity resumes at North Korea nuclear test site: analysts (ToI)

New crack in one of Antarctica's biggest ice shelves (NDTV)

There is no science behind denying climate change (Forbes)

Airfare from Dharamsala to Delhi dips (The Tribune)

Higher the testosterone, more impulsive men get:study (Firstpost)

Coffee may halve prostate cancer risk (DH)

Sunscreens may cause vitamin D deficiency (DH)

Want to shed extra kilos? Try eating avocados (Business Standard)

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