EMPATHY AND PATIENT CARE

 

                                     EMPATHY AND PATIENT CARE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently,I came across an article in the health section of The New York
Times.It was headed-REFFERAL SYSTEM TURNS PATIENTS INTO COMMODITIES.The
article, candidly written by a cardiologist,takes a critical look at the
inter-referral practices amongst community practitioners and specialists in the
USA.At one point,the article reveals that a New Jersey hospital was
investigated for giving sham salaries to community doctors to increase the
number of referrals in its cardiac surgery programmes.
The above mentioned Referral System is,however,not the subject of discussion here.
.And I mentioned the cardiac surgery programmes for a reason I shall
elaborate later.

 

 

Which direction contemporary health system is heading for?One can notice - the more the advancement in
Medicine in various fields,the broader the gap
between the doctor and the patient.A patient is being looked upon more
and more as a Vehicle for a clinical anomaly.We,health care professionals,are
definitely to be accounted for this to a large extent.Our
focus,predominantly,the sole focus is on the management of the clinical anomaly
itself,as we comfortably tend to forget the fact that the Vehicle is a human
being with a sensitive mind,in a state of apprehension and uncertain
fear.Modern health care is taking this aspect of the patient farther and farther
away.

 

 

A patient with heart disease had come to me for consultation.He was a diagnosed
case of coronary artery disease with heart failure.He had been admitted in a
city hospital with sudden onset acute chest pain,breathlessness,severe
perspiration and vomitting.As I glanced through his case papers,I knew that he
had an acute myocardial infarction.He had been admitted in the ICCU,an
immediate thrombolysis had been done.Following a series of ECGs,a 2D-Echo had
revealed an ejection fraction of 15-20%.The doctors having stabilized the
cardiac failure status,had set him up for a coronary angiography.

The angiography had revealed a 3-vessel block with a 80%lesion in the RCA,and
an atherosclerotic plaque blocking the entire bore of the LAD-100%.Subsequently
a balloon angioplasty had been done with medicated stents in the RCA and the
left circumflex,the doctors having not dabbled with the plaque in the
LAD,presumably finding that the collateral circulation to the left ventricle
was satisfactory at that stage.The patient had been discharged with medications
with an advice for regular follow-ups.

 

I found an uncertain gaze of apprehension in his eyes,almost amounting to
fear.I wondered why he had not followed up with the hospital and chosen to
consult a new cardiologist.I found nothing wrong in the treatment protocol he
had been subjected to,the choice of medicines being exemplary.I asked him as
soothingly as possible about how he was feeling with his present medications.
"I had a heart attack!"he said.I nodded agreeingly,waiting for him to
disclose further.
"I have heart failure..",he blurted out immediately,and I did not
miss the change in his expression as he said that.I had just begun to tell him
that I appreciated the fact that he knew what he was suffering from,when he
interrupted me with a trembling voice,"How long shall I live?" I was
surprised by this question.His face had turned pale,and he was desperately
trying to hold back his tears.
I reached across the table and held his trembling hands,saying,"You
shouldn't be thinking of that at all..if you follow the medications properly
and have regular follow-ups.."-my attempted speech was interrupted by his
completely breaking down.He sobbed inconsolably,his shoulders jerking in
spasms.I waited facing him,puzzled,my mind trying to figure out why this man
was in such a mental state.
I am not going into the details of the dialogue that followed.But after he went
out of the door an hour later,I began to meditate upon What he had gone through
while he was in the hospital.I tried to picturise myself in his position,going
through all the experiences he had gone through and at the end of it,I almost
revolted inside.

 

After his first ECG,he was told by a cardiac resident that he was having a
Heart Attack.He was rushed to the ICCU for an immediate thrombolysis.He was
being monitored closely,being frequently visited by intensivists and nurses who
were doing their job by the book.But all along,the only fact that overpowered
his mind was that he had a Heart Attack-a term that creates in the mind of the
common man.

A 2D-Echo was performed,after which he was told that he was in Heart
Failure.Period.Again nothing was explained to him regarding what "heart
failure"means clinically.Now he knew that he'd had a heart attack and he
was in heart failure.I could well imagine what he must have had in his mind
during that agonising time he spent in the ICCU.
The coronary angiography that followed told him that he had 'severe blocks' in
his heart vessels and a PTCA was needed.He was informed in detail about how the
procedure would be done and what were the risks involved.He was told to sign a
consent form.

 

Now I could understand why he had not gone back to the hospital for a primary
follow-up.Despite being successfully treated for the myocardial infarction,the
heart failure having been well taken care of,and the angioplasty ensuring a much
improved circulation in the coronary arteries,he had walked out of the hospital
knowing three things about himself-he had a heart attack,he had heart failure
and his heart circulation had severe blocks.
And he continued live in fear till he hesitantly decided to approach another
cardiologist for reassurance.I explained to him,drawing simple pictures on a
sheet of paper,what a heart attack means,that his heart was not really failing
that it would stop pumping suddenly,and showed to him what the blocks meant.
I had a taken a little over an hour.I sensed the relief inside him looking at
his face,his eyes asking a confident question-"Is that
all?".
I told him just that-what he Needed to know-"That's all".

 

Are we really looking upon a patient as a "commodity"?I had mentioned
the New Jersey hospital episode
earlier because it was connected to cardiac surgery programmes.
I have no doubt in the hospital had not looked upon the patient as a
Commodity.Nor do I believe that there is a rat to smell in its cardiac
procedure programmes.But,ironically,I feel worse.

 

No one had tried to empathise with this patient.No one had even tried to feel
what the patient might have feeling when official data were being presented
before him at various stages of his treatment.Nobody had told him what he
Needed to know.He was just a Vehicle for clinical anomalies,and those had been
looked after well..Yet he walked out of the hospital,a frightened human being,with
a deeply traumatized mind.

 

Modern health care has got serious flaws in almost every level.Is the way
medics and paramedics are being taught and trained in their formative years,the
correct way?Able health professionals could not even Feel the mind of a patient,let
alone trying to allay his fears.Is the way treatment protocols are being
executed,the correct way?Despite a near-perfect treatment being given, a
patient went home broken,scarred and frightened to death.Is health care being
guided by the correct moral values?A patient did not recieve any empathy from
health professionals,and his psyche had to surrender in front of the treatment
protocol,to be deeply wounded.

 

 

 
The origin of the word "empathy" dates back to 1883,when Theodore
Lipps,a German psychologist coined the term "ein fuhlung",literally
meaning-"in feeling".He used this term to mean "emotional
appreciation of another's feelings".

Objectively,Empathy has been variously defined,right from "the process of
understanding a person's subjective experience by vicariously sharing that
experience while maintaining an observant stance",to "a balanced
curiosity leading to a deeper understanding of another person's experience
within that person's frame of reference".

Pin-point analysis of a simple word leads to complicated definitions which tend
to put the word in an objective frame of reference.We may Understand the
concept better,but not necessarily Feel the same.And empathy is all about
Feeling.I am specifically putting a stress here because empathy cannot be
taught.Physicians,in the contemporary infra-structure of health care,are
trained in the world of "FIND IT AND FIX IT"medicine,a world where
empathy is a mere afterthought.Empathy has been known to be a bed-side manner
considered innate and impossible to acquire.Either you have it or you don't.
But experiences like those of the patient narrated here,having heart
attack,heart failure and severe heart blocks,and the subsequent train of events
that followed have been perceived by physicians in millions,worldwide,in day
to day practice.And it Can produce remarkable results-within a little over an
hour,a man who was unsuccessfully battling a fear of death,was transformed into
a satisfied man,happily accepting the realities concerning his health,and
confident enough to confront them positively.Only after this stage,his
treatment can be qualified as Successful.

 

 

Empathy does have a role to play in treating a patient.The Approach of the
health-care model has to change.

Students of medicine and paramedicine can be taught the same
volume of information with a different approach,an approach which will instill
the 'feeling of Feeling' in a student's psyche,as he advances towards completion
of studies.Yes,Empathy cannot be taught,but it can be gradually inculcated in a
human mind.The "FIND IT AND FIX IT" can be done away with after
debatable deliberations.

Many experts have begun to agree that empathy and empathetic communication are
"learnable skills".

The PERMANENTE MEDICAL GROUP'S Terry Stein with
Richard Frankel developed a communication model-the "Four Habits
Model"(Invest in the beginning,Elicit the patient's
perspective,Demonstrate Empathy,Invest in the end).

 

The BAYER INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH CARE COMMUNICATION developed the "4 E's"model(Engage,Empathise,Educate,Enlist).

 

The AMERICAN ACADEMY ON PHYSICIAN AND PATIENT has invented the PEARLS
model(Partnership,Empathy,Apology,Respect,Legitimisation,Support).

Having mentioned the novelty and success of these models,it has to be kept in
mind that these models are training programmes which aim to drill the concept
of Empathy in a Trained Physician's mind.And a trained physician might choose
to "not to be drilled"in the first place.So shouldn't the process
begin in the formative years when a trained physician was a student?

Many medical schools have recently developed curricula with a strong focus on
the physician-patient communication and empathy.Delivery of these curricula
begins early in the students' training.This 'Beginning Early' is the most
important(and of course,debatable)aspect.

 

The UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER has taken up a curriculum known as the "Foundations of Doctoring Programme",where the teaching staff consists of senior
physicians and trainees from the CPMG(Colorado Permante Medical Group).
Making practical use of an esoteric concept requires 'division of the concept
into its simplest elements' as Carl Jung said.

But for that a health care professional does not need to be a psychiatrist or a
mental health expert,obviously! Willingness and Spontaneity can more than
suffice.The only requirement is an "awareness"(again a spontaneous
emotion)of oppurtunities for empathy during a consultation of a patient.The clue
Always comes from the patient's emotion,either directly expressed,or
implied.Clues oftenly get hidden in the fabric of discussion of a clinical
anomaly,and physicians very often tend to miss them,the "brain"
sincerely engaged in the biomedical details of management of the disease.The
"mind"should be equally involved.

 

Ideally,when a patient perceives the physician's empathetic attention,he
expresses an agreement or confirmation-"You got it,doc!" In the case
of the patient discussed in this chapter,the confirmation was in his eyes,which
had the question,"Is that it?".But it required merely an hour to
bring in this psychological change.He was openly invited to participate in the
understanding of his own problems and their solution.Simple words re-assuringly
explaining "fearful"concepts,aided by simple diagrams of lines,curves
and circles on a piece of paper did the trick.The mode of explaining may
vary,but the notable fact is the patient did Participate without any
inhibitions,when he sensed empathy.This is the reason Empathy can be an
integral part of user-driven health care,and narrative medicine.And here lies a
vast scope of improvement ahead along with Evolution of Awareness.

A recent informal survey has revealed serious
misgivings and misconceptions about empathetic communication.Physicians have
declared to "not having enough time during consultation",to be
"too busy focusing on the acute medical problem",and some have even found
it "mentally exhausting".Unfortunately,this group of physicians have
mistaken empathy for Sympathy.Unlike sympathy,empathy does not require
emotional "effort"on the part of the physician.An appropriate gesture
of empathy takes less than a second,can go huge distances ahead in building
relationships,enhancing rapport,all of which can only result in the Success of
a treatment protocol.But as I said,Evolution of Consciousness has to be in
process.

 

 

Referrances:
1.M A Stewart-A Study of interactions and outcomes.Soc Sci Med 1984.

2)P J Moore,N E Adler,P A Robertson-Medical Malpractice. West J Med,Oct 2000.

3)A L Suchman,D Roter,M Green-Collaborative Study Group of the American Academy on Physician and Patient. Med Care,Dec1993.

4)R M Frankel,T Stein-the four habits model, Perm J-Fall 1999.

5)P A Barrier,N M Jensen-Mayo Clin Prog,Feb 2003.

ABHIIMANYU

                           ABHIMANYU

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I happened to pick out the Maharbharata out of my dusty
book-shelves while my eyes were lazily gazing across the book-titles as I
sipped on my evening mug of cold coffee.I haven't read the book
actively for ages though it remains to date,one of my most favourite
books of all times.I am not a religious person at all(much to the
chagrin once displayed of my departed mother and now my wife, both of
whom though separated by a generation and a half,seem to condescend on
one point-that it is a disastrous act of blasphemy on my part for not
taking active part in prayers to The Almighty,and not for once,having
shown any interest in organising 'family tours' to sacred places of
worship.)The fact,that I keep the occassional spiritual exercises I
indulge in to myself,is another story,and it will never negate the
potentially ill effects of my acts of blasphemy,in front of the ladies
in my life.

The Mahabharata is arguably one of the best commentaries man has ever
written on himself and setting aside its universal fame as a religious
epic does not decrease its value by any means as a classic piece of
literature on sociology,politics in its embryonic stage in human
civilisation and an epic statement on morality of common man in
everyday life.

Everything happens for a reason and it took some time for me later on
to figure out why I proceeded to read the story of Abhimanyu for the
umpteenth time yesterday.

The story of Abhimanyu is classically tragic. Not because the innocent
hero died his death in the battlefield,grossly outnumbered and
unfairly under-armed as veteran warriors dealt their death blows on
the helpless prince.A closer look at and contemplation on the
battle-tactic formulated for the day he died shows that he was left to
fend for himself by his own lot. He was in a way betrayed by his own
bloodline and his sacrifice was almost 'planned' by Krishna to give a
different shape to the Epic Battle when it was not particularly going
in favour of the Pandavas.Krishna was successful for this special plan
of his.

The event-sequences of the Mahabharata keep on repeating themselves
with amazing accuracy in modern day Bharata.And the "legacy" of
Abhimanyu goes on remorselessly.

{Ramapada Chaudhury,the late famed
Bengali author,wrote a novel called 'Abhimanyu' in the late 70s where
the character of the protagonist was based on the real life
physician-scientist (-you know who-) who Should be called the Actual
Father of the Test-tube Baby and who subsequently took his own life
being cheated,defamed and left in the lurch by his own team of
co-researchers.}

We look for Scapegoats everywhere,find them out randomly and kill
them. My subconscious act of reading the story of Abhimanyu does not
originate from my recent knowledge of how a senior politician was
unceremoniously shown the door by his own league because he dared to
exercise his rights on his freedom of thought and expression in our
Great Indian Democracy. My act of perusal has got nothing to do with
politics. But it Is about Heinous Politicking in the holy field of
academics related to my own profession of practising medicine,which
was planned in the holy guardian-tower for medical education in
India,the Medical Council of India(the MCI).

The Respected MCI has never been a subject of Respect by Indian
doctors though. Known for its consistent ability to churn out
formulations of out-the-world guidelines [and policies and acts and
recommendations and amendments and inspections and infra-structures
and unrealistic quotas and sameside goals and irresponsible mishits
and unsuccessful home-runs and dishonest buffooneries and lumpen acts
of corruption -the glorious list is endless- all of which can be
collectively termed as the 40 year old repeatedly-reformed act of the
Medical Circus Institute(MCI again,naturally)],all it has effectively
done is downgrading the quality of medical education all over the
country,and degrading the quality of health care and its
infrastructure to newer depths of a dark abyss over time. The recent
chaotic saga of the MCI related to deeming and undeeming of universities and its
mysterious unwillingness to scrap the system of capitation fees
further highlight the incompetence of the bunch of jokers who occupy
the important chairs(read bunch of pathetic bums warming the
hot-seats)of administration(read gross abuse of power).
 

And what comes out of the MCI as well though-about public quotes and
declarations in the media as information for the community of Indian
doctors or as those dreaded brown envelopes privately reaching the
addresses of doctors' residences,stink of CCVD Syndrome (Cerebral
Constipation and Verbal Diarrhoea).

Ahimanyu lingered on in my subconscious after I came to know of a recent unhighlighted recent shameful,sordid state of
affairs in the MCI because a formal acquaintance of mine-a
senior,experienced health-professional who is an internationally famed
academician of impeccable integrity,a great thinker-philosopher and a
great visionary,a rare breed these days,has been victimised.I have
been personally fortunate enough to come in contact with this much
sought-after luminous source of Guidance a number of times myself at
various stages of my life.

The story : An insignificant gap of just 60 days in a stipulated
period of 5 long years in an academic post in a teaching institution
which formalises a promotion to the next higher post has almost
suddenly put a degrading question-mark regarding the ethical integrity
of the resume of this scholar after years of dedicated and fruitful
service to medical education which has produced distinguished students
now spread out all over the globe.And this deficit of 60 days,a very
minor and insignificant technical 'snag' having nothing to do with the
Ability of the person as a competent,honest academician,was the result
of a communication-lapse on part of the head of the educational
faculty of the scholar's corresponding university and not at all a
conscious act of mal-intent or dishonesty,an aspect which the
victimised scholar has kept at bay through life.
 

The underline fact is frightfully simple (and well known through the
strong hushed up whispers which frequent the corridors of our medical
academia).The institute fortunate to have the academician-philosopher
in its faculty had refused to cough up a Bribe demanded by the
inspector-pimps during its early days of development requiring
official recognition/identity.

It seems so untrue..unfortunately it is not.It looks like a
resurrected scene from the past when a brilliant Italian
scientist-astronomer from the city of Gallilee had to bow down before a
medievaly blind Catholic Church which refused to see the light of Dawn

heralding the end of the Dark Ages.

I can foresee in thr recent future,the end and burial to total oblivion,of the Medical
Council of India.The nitwits disornamenting the offices of a governing
body,so important for improved medical education and care in India and
yet so miserably ineffective should be hung high in places chosen for their
imminent permanent exile.

It's time we,individual doctors,started the process in a
disciplined,committee way, watchfully and with a Vision.Apart from
Tamiflu tablets and syrups,we need to come out with a permanent cure
for the "CCVD Syndrome".The country needs health care.Not an expensive
Circus.
 

IS THIS A JOKE?

On the 14th.of August,2009,while going through the pages of The Times
Of India in Mumbai,I was dumb-struck when I arrived at page-11(under
the heading:Times City, which presumably reported about events in the
city itself)

A write-up by a certain Joeanna Rebello Fernandes features prominently
in the middle third of the page with the heading: TWINS ARE TWICE THE
TROUBLE FOR DOCS.
The write-up is ornamented with a cartoon featuring a mother grinning
and carrying with a pair of twins who are shown to be crying,one of
them tugging at the thinning hair strands of a doctor,supposedly a
paediatrician,who is thinking,"This is too much!"
The write-up begins with the following sentence:
"The waiting room of a paediatrician's clinic is like a petting zoo
when the animals are getting their shots."
The second sentence ends with"..and the doctor has to remind himself
why he chose this discipline in the first place."

Obviously,Madam Fernandes has attempted to write something humorous
involving howling twins and the plight of the hapless paediatrician at
that point.While unwillingly trying to accept the 'unfortunate fact'
that this Joeanne CLOWN Fernandes must be possessing a sense of humour
of superlative quality,a dry humourless intelligence like that of
yours truly feels that the lady-clown has gone a bit too far with this
one.

Nobody would mind similar digs and jokes in the entertainment section
of the same newspaper,or in popular books of jokes around the medical
profession.Not even poker-faced unattractive medicos like me.But it
becomes difficult to comprehend why responsible journalism would
create an article of such a poor,distorted taste and macabre humour
and why it should find its away to be in printed expression associated
with a cartoon in page-11 of a widely-read,responsible newspaper,where
the unassuming reader is supposed to search for important news-feeds
about the city in which he lives.

Joeanna the Joker proceeds to investigate the cause behind a
'seemingly unwanted,pathological situation'(read recent increase in
the birth-rates of twins) and 'blames' recently developed fertility
programmes and use of drugs like Clomiphene Citrate for this.

I don't know if Frauline Funny Fernandes have got relatives who have
copulated to have given birth to babies,or she herself has
participated in a similar active exercise to produce off-springs and I
seriously doubt that the 'funny products' of copulatory exercises of
Fernandes have ever been taken to a paediatric clinic to be branded as
howling inmates of a zoo.

May her tribe increase,but it remains to be seen in what circus-like
novel manner Mad Madmoiselle Joeanna will react and with what funny
creatures she will compare to,if anybody from the Fernandes tribe
comes up with a pair of twins who will ultimately develop the clinic
of a paediatrician.
Joeanna has made fun of twins as terrible,howling creatures-not for a
moment pausing to think of the mother who might have responded with a
pair of twins to a fertility programme and apparently her black humour
makes her unaware about how invaluable a child is for its mother and
father,whether born singly or with another sibling,or for that matter
two,three or four.

And nothing gives this over-enthusiastic nuthead,the unholy Joeanna,
the right to confidently and publicly ponder over WHAT a doctor of any
stream and speciality thinks while approaching human lives who need
his consultation,irrespective of whether they are a member of a
quadruplet born together or a nonagerian restricted to a bed and a
wheel-chair.At least that doesn't come anywhere near the expression of
a cartooned white-coat in the middle of a news-page following and
preceding sad news of untimely deaths occuring in a panicking country
at the moment,from whose deliberation Jumping Jackflash Joeanna or her
newspaper cannot completely wash their hands off.

Dear Joeanna,the responsibility of being a senior journalist and a
social activist necessitates a little amount of dignity,while sharing
a good laugh and while reporting about children of a god which is
perhaps lesser than yours.

CULPABLE HOMICIDE?

It was shocking to learn about the death of Reeda Shaikh,the 14yr.old
girl from St.Anne's High School,Pune, who succumbed to the H1N1 virus
2 days back.

Long after a worldwide red alert has been sounded up about the
potentially lethal Swine Flu(caused by the H1N1 virus)and hundreds of
cases being diagnosed in India,it is disgusting to see how the health
authorities of Pune responded to the ailment Reeda had presented
with.It shows serious lapses of communication between different health
authorities,total incompetence to arrive at a timely diagnosis,and a
shockingly irresponsible and lackadaisical approach by the health
authorities even when Reeda had started to deteriorate.

Reportedly,Reeda had developed symptoms of 'cough and cold' on
21st.July itself.One should particularly note here the temporal
backdrop when Reeda first showed signs and symptoms of a respiratory
tract infection.By 21st.July,a lot of cases had been diagnosed and
quarantined in the city of Pune,and the adjacent Panchgani-Lonavla
area less than 30 kms. away.
It is suprising to note that in this backdrop,the physician to whom
Reeda had reported first,did not keep the differential diagnosis of
Swine Flu in mind,while treating the case.Reeda's treatment was on for
3 consecutive days till 24.th July without any success and even then
the physician hadn't contemplated a possibility of a H1N1
infection.This exposes the general quality of community health care
in a rapidly modernizing city like Pune,with all its recently acquired
glamorous(read upstart) status of the tech-savvy 'trendy
information-technology hub' centre.
When Reeda had not responded to the treatment on the 4th.day,her
relatives took her to Jehangir Hospital,a popularly dependable
hospital for some time.Here too the shocking saga continued.

From 25th. to 29th.July,the hapless adolescent was under 'responsible
treatment' with all sorts of antibiotic combinations and repeated
chest X-Rays,but not even the senior doctors fell upon the possible
differential diagnosis for once,and Reeda continued to deteriorate.A
throat swab was sent to Ruby Hall Clinic on the morning of 29th.July
for the first time,after 8 days of infection.And this first sample was
diagnosed as negative by Ruby Hall Clinic.Reeda's condition continued
to worsen and she was put on a mechanical ventilator the same
afternoon,when a second batch of throat swab samples were sent
again,this time to the National Institute of Virology.It was at this
point of Reeda's treatment that the aetiology of her infection was
formally diagnosed,but it proved to be too late.

I'm not going into the details of what happened afterwards,as it is
not my intention to sensationalize the untimely death of a young girl
which could have been prevented.But on this note,I strongly opine that
the print media should be lambasted black and blue for the way it is
putting the pandemic of Swine Flu over the last 3 weeks.While it has
taken no responsible steps to inform the general public about the
simple do's and dont's to prevent affliction by the H1N1 virus,it has
proceeded to sensationalize the 'new deadly epidemic' which has
created unprecedented panic amongst the population which has made the
methodical medical screening for H1N1 virus virtually impossible for
health care authorities.After the unfortunate death of Reeda,the panic
has touched frenzied heights with a shade of impending violence which
has even forced doctors to redirect cases to other screening centres
as the they have been left short-staffed.And this has potentially
worsened the situation.

Coming back to the treatment meted out to Reeda,we find a physician
who had first treated her for 3 days without success.
The treatment continued in a well-known and popular health
institute(reportedly having Specialists in all Specialists)where the
treatment went on for 5 days.In these 8 days,despite Reeda's
no-response to ongoing treatment,not a single clinician associated
with the treatment seem to have thought of an obvious possibility.This
is shockingly deplorable particularly when confirmed reports of cases
with throat swabs testing positive for H1N1 had alerted the medical
fraternity for over a month.
On the 8th.day,a throat swab was sent to Ruby Hall Clinic(again a
seemingly dependable health institute)which gave a negative
report.Astonishingly,the same afternoon,the 2nd.batch of throat swabs
was reported positive by The National Institute of Virology.The H1N1
test is based on genomics(simply speaking- molecular diagnostics)which
is carried out using real time Polymerase Chain
Reaction(PCR)System.Each test cycle lasts for 4 hours and the margin
of error is practically nil(statistically 0.0000000001% ).It is beyond
human cognition to figure out how an infected sample can turn out to
be a 'false negative',just as near impossible to rationalize the
missing out on a strongly positive differential diagnosis(infection by
H1N1 virus) over a period of 8 consecutive,long days and nights all
along the patient was symptomatic and had not responded to treatment
regime(s).

This episode of little Reeda has torpedoed a large gaping hole in the
seemingly secure cover which the health care systems,both private and
state-run,promise to hold out for the population of a rapidly
developing neopolis advanced of information & technology.One squirms
to comprehend the possible quality of existing health care in rural
India,and lesser developed cities.
India recently became member of the elite nations to have indigenously
programmed a space mission to reach the moon.While an Indian can
continue to afford to be proud of this achievement,he cannot bypass a
big pointer of a question - if the country can afford embark upon
specialised space missions,why does the archaic voice cry LACK OF
FUNDS,whenever quality of health care comes under special,transparent
scrutiny?

The Indian citizen demands answers and appropriate action to be
taken.Why was Reeda left undiagnosed for 8 days? Why was her first
throat swab reported negative? Despite a wholesome mass coverage by
the print and tele-media,why does the panic of an epidemic originate
and continue to exist?

Lastly,why does not India have a Pandemic Law?The only relevant legal
clause is the Epidemic Diseases Act,formulated in 1897,a time when
Swine Flu,Bird Flu and AIDS did not even exist! Our country surely
does 'moon' over its tech-savvy present.Should we use our hands to
clap to the rhythm of the Indian 'moonwalk',or use them to change a
thing or too,amongst them age old ideas and a biased conscience
feeding on stepping stones of failure?

GANDHI AND TOMORROW'S CHILD

There was a lot of hope and dreams of a happy,content and peaceful future in our eyes 60 yrs back when India became independant.The same leaders(well,most of them) which had led the final,decisive phase of India's freedom movement,had formed the first government of our maiden republic and were an intrinsic part of it.They had the entire country's faith(a situation which is nearly impossible to re-create today),when they sat down to formulate democratic principles and strategies to lead India forward.They failed us miserably.

I might be sounding audaciously brash and ungrateful if I associate our 'heroes' of the freedom movement with abject failure in their post-independance governance.But that seems to be the unfortunate truth.Not taking away a grain of the respect that they command(and deservedly so) for the valiance they overtook in leading India to independance,it would not be imprudent to observe that as administrators they failed miserably.

In fact,they failed in the final run of the pre-independance political process,when India got divided.Perhaps,in their eagerness to achieve the status of freedom,they thought they would deal with the consequences of The Partition somehow.But apparently they took into account potential future situations which were practically the short term consequences.As visionaries they failed miserably,being unable to comprehend the circumstantial ramifications in the distant future-the long term consequences-a situation which India faces today,right now.

One man could see it all.And he fought tooth and nail,in principle,the political process of The Partition.The true visionary he was,M K Gandhi almost went into political recluse when freedom was 'granted' at the cost of his dear country being chopped into two.It would be wrong to assume that he was a dejected man,deeply pained to watch helplessly millions of people leaving their own homes,their intrinsic roots to walk across the border and being bloodied by the senseless violence which had its seeds in the very act of Partition.He foresaw what would happen after decades.And he lost all hope,sensing the frailty of our independance.

It is sad that the country's patriarchs could not empathise with his dejection,and the palpable nonchalance that had engulfed him.
For him,independant India would never be the secular country that undivided India was.He could see the inevitable pseudo-secularism and minority appeasement which would poison the very roots of independant India's socio-political principles.His followers,the glorious founders of the Indian Republic,could never identify with his foresight.And the results form the reality of our present.
 

Honesty is a farcical,utopian concept in today's politics.And our leaders become shamelessly proactive when they need the people's mandate to form governments.And our country has slipped into a self-induced stupor of hypocrisy.Our conscience has changed.We seem to be happy and proud with little steps of progress,barely trying to keep pace with the rest of the developed world.We conveniently overlook what could have happened,had our glorious leaders guided the country in the right direction with foresight and commitment.

Perhaps the child who sleeps in its mother's womb today,will wake up tomorrow with a new vision,a neoconsciousness which will rediscover the glory which lies latent in India's moral foundation which has survived the test of time through the last five thousand years.

 

AT CROSSROADS WE STAND

This post should be read in continuaton with the previous post.

 

 

 

I do not think that the task of bringing about a change in Consciousness is impossible. It will be very very difficult, a truely telling process on our patience,receptivity and deeper understanding of things,and perhaps a lot of personal and social sacrifices on our part.But if the intent is there, the destination shall be reached at some stage.

Perhaps the common man thinks that as an individual he is powerless to do anything which tends to change the existing scheme of things.And we all wait for a leader like M.K.Gandhi or Nelson Mandela to arise and show us the way(in fact we publicly express ourselves to rue the fact there is no True Leader anymore as it used to be).This actually reflects the subconscious guilt of the common man that he fails to participate actively in actions or movements,individual or social,that he actually believes to be necessary for the betterment of situations. When I publicly declare,"I wish we had a leader..",I am actually washing my conscience of a necessary,broader responsibility that my membership of human society has automatically bestowed upon me. It is not an act of superhuman physical strength or superlative quotients of intelligence that is required. What is required is Honest Desire,Commitment and Patience,and an unflinching passion to keep on
Dreaming a better time in future,in the face of the worst of adversities. An average human being has all these attributes,and he uses them on a daily basis in varying degrees to survive and sustain a good-quality life.And it is a degradation and corruption of his moral commitments,that prevents him from using his natural attributes to act for a Better Cause,a Better Tomorrow and a Better Planet,for his own child.

The present stage of evolution of consciousness enwraps man in a selfish blanket of insecurity that man does not want to 'put anything at stake',which an idealogue would define as Sacrifice.It is too heavy a term,too complicated in philosophical ramifications for the average man to dabble with. We forget that all of us are making sacrifices of varying degrees in our daily lives for our own selves and our families.The difference is the degree of accountability,answerability and the responsibility to face and own up the consequences of our actions. It is Responsibility on a bigger scale and Accountability which man tries to run away from. We all display moral cowardice,and we keep on denying it because we do it collectively.

Change in consciousness has to start from here-the basic roots of morality of the individual man. We do not need mass leaders to bring about mass changes.But that's what we keep on doing oh so erroneously. If we look around us to observe the existence of radically different ideologies and the constant clash that goes on, we see A Big Mistake being committee all the time. All communities are thinking about bringing on changes through mass movements under ideologies which leaders must keep alive at any cost and drill them in from time to time.

The process to reform, must start at the individual level.Every man has to take a pause,look unto his own self and realise the fatality of his daily existence. The leader to lead the individual consciousness into an advanced 'orientation' is the individual himself. Man himself has got the power and the ability,but he must believe in his own self first.

Civilisation has reached an important landmark now.And sociologically we can no more afford to create community systems by Trial and Error(That's what we have done through History..).We should have,by now,learnt the sustainibilities and fallibilities of different models of individual morality and its execution in community guidelines. If we haven't learnt,I do not think we have become more 'civilised',in spite of having become more developed.

The facts are striking and outrageous to gulp down,but they are true. And they are lying out there,unattended. If man has gulped down the Jew Holocaust, and abominable genocides in Nagasaki and Hiroshima amongst other things, then I do not see any reason why he cannot gulp down the reality of his sociological blunders,Apologize and move ahead.

I take the first step.I do not wait for others to show me the way. It is just a matter of time that every one shall join me in The Journey-the Journey that I dream about and mentioned about in my very first post here.I know I can do it because I am Man,the Son of Nature,and my Strength is Immense.

So is Yours.

KASAB - THE FACE OF TERROR

I strongly believe that NOBODY has got the moral right to take human lives-a life which has been given to Live and flourish.It is against the 'Nature's Law'.

Kasab IS a victim of circumstances.He was not born a monster.In fact no body is.(It's a different issue that degrees of inherent violent instinct varies from man to man).Kasab has been thoroughly brainwashed by a fanatic ideology which thrives on violence,on the pervert faith that man can be killed for a cause.If I try to picturise Kasab as a child growing up with his family in the rough terrains of west Pakistan 20 years back,I find it impossible to find any interplay of sordid games of ruthlessness inside the innocent consciousness of a child who would one day grow up to kill 40 people WITHOUT any remorse.

What made that innocent child into the mass murderer he grew up to be? A consciousness which tended to co-exist,to lead a normal life of love and harmony was so deeply affected by a strong idealogue that the very roots of the consciousness changed radically.Kasab didnt take a human life at the spur of the moment,driven by a moment of distorted frenzy.For 3 long months if not more, he knew that he would kill a fellow human being,his conscience was prepared for it and throughout this period not for once did Kasab's original consciousness return to ask him questions.

We have to take that fanatic ideology on face.Why has this ideology grown?Why people of character,intelligence and leadership believe in and preach this ideology?These people do not have any guilt.They do not think that their ideologies end up provoking acts of crime. They believe in it,and seek solace from its distorted principles in times of crisis.This is what is frightening.A whole generation (or generations) exists in today's society with a set of moralities and ideals which are drastically different from ours,in the rest of the world. It's members are not criminals. They do not consciously cause thefts,robberies,murders and rapes of passion driven by an antisocial instinct. The militant revolutionaries of pre-independant India were not habitual bandits or killers.They too believe in a cause.India also believed in that cause in its days of pre-independence extremist movements. And we still do believe that they(they killed innocent British
women and children too) were heroes   and patriots who sacrificed their lives for a cause.

The first batch of men in whom the seeds of this ideology were planted, were looked upon in the same way by their own lot.That is why the ideology could thrive. The common man believed it to be morally correct and just. The ideology took its nourishment from the beliefs of the common man in it.

It's the ultimate failure of modern humanism (specially over the last 2 centuries) to create a world of Peace and Equality which pushed a segment of the normal population out of its umbrella and forced them to find a meaning in Life through a radically opposite set of moral values.If I deny this, I would be guilty of telling the greatest Lie in the history of man. Man could have given a different format to society over his existence over the last 2 centuries. Man chose inequality and marginalisation.Certain communities went on to thrive as 'developed' which sadly was synonymous with power and affluence. And THIS segment decided that it shall decide the fate of humanity-This is the most criminal blunder modern man has ever committed.Man had a chance.Because it had human history to ponder over.In history over the last 7 thousand years,we see the frailties and brittleness of community systems when man wanted to dominate man,to exist and evolve
socially,formalising social doctrines to serve as tools to create and maintain inequality.They all failed,some after decades and some after centuries. In history's pages,one can see the evolution of humankind with a corresponding tilt of social philosophy towards Equality and Democracy.And man has reached the present day where countries,societies and communities are not Ruled but Governed.The common man does not think Ruling is morally correct.

At this stage of social evolution,man made The Mistake(most probably unintentionally).It distributed ethnic pockets into a new social pattern which accommodated polarisation of power and discrimination of rights,the pattern being theorised by laws which seemingly originated from a philosophy oriented towards democracy. But it resulted in Marginalisation.

We cannot say that we did not foresee the result.The two World Wars within a single century grossly point out the fallibility of the social order humankind has adopted to proceed. Nothing changed. Man vainly wanted to hold on to same principle and the result was more warnings-the Korean War,the Cold War,the Vietnam War,the wars in Argentina,Bolivia,Nicaragua,the Seven Year War and its offshoots in the entire Middle East,the bloody strides in Cambodia,Zambia, Congo ,Somalia and the more recent Afghan and Sri Lankan wars have happened within the last 59 years,and newer and newer ones are being born,not to mention the Gulf War and the Iraq war.
The astonishing fact that 34 or more major wars have errupted all over the world in that phase of human history which symbolises the zenith of its development and advancement, reeks of an obnoxious truth we are still trying cover up in the name of 'modernization' and 'civilisation'.

Human consciousness has to change.From the basics.To start with,we must accept and apologise.Diplomatic and foreign policies have to re-written entirely.National constitutions have to be re-shaped.I think the entire concept of Sociology has to be re-defined.

It is a long and tedious job requiring Patience, Tolerance, and Sacrifice. Are we willing to do it?

WERE WE REALLY AFFECTED?

Being a resident of Mumbai,I can perceive its citizens' reactions
closely to the on-going trial of Ajmal Aamir Kasab,the lone terrorist
to be captured alive out of the ten who had precipitated the abhorrant
26/11 bloodbash in the city last year.

It's been quite a tedious process-the filing of a chargessheet against
Kasab to bring him to court for trial.At first,there was this
tug-of-war between India and Pakistan who vehemently denied any
involvement in the terror attack,despite India forwarding hard-core
proof from Kasab's in-custody confessions and the massive body of
corroborative evidence India gathered,taking the FBI's help where
concerned.

The entire world watched a three month old facade when Pakistan
officially continued to DENY all the evidence,despite voices of
eminent social and political activists,and journalists within
Pakistan,publicly agreeing that its soil had been used to breed
terrorism.There were innumerable ludicrous faux passes when Pakistani
govt.officials coming out with ill-coordinated statements on the issue
only to retract them days later.

All this is old news now.Now Pakistan officially having admitted that
the plot was hatched in Pakistan,and the executioners were trained on
its soil by organisations(blatantly terrorist,but they continue to
exist as socio-religious voluntary welfare organisations).Yet Pakistan
hasn't taken one concrete step to bring the co-conspirators to
justice.It continues to 'fight' terrorism on the Pak-Afghan border and
its own tribal dominated north-western areas,trying to show(and
failing to do so)that the state of Pakistan is not involved in any
terrorist activity.
The iron continues to get colder,as the strike continues to get
delayed consistently because of diplomatic restrictions,divided
opinions of countries on the table of the United Nations,and the
Confusion that continues to persist within India herself.

At one point of time,a decision to carry out surgical strikes in
Pakistan to smoke out the terror king-pins,was almost formalised in
response to which Pakistan created a pitch in the international forum
that India was going to war.It was baffling,comical but was successful
in warding off the possibility.Surgical strikes can never be likened
to War.Principles of Military Science convey that the motives of war
and surgical strikes are absolutely different,in
cause,strategum,principle and execution.
Let's imagine the following situation: There are two neighbouring
houses with families-'I' and 'P'. An enfante terrible of family P
continues to enter the house of I,wreaking havoc and comes back to its
own house.Family I protests against this and tells P to control and
discipline its enfante terrible. Family P says that it is incapable of
doing so. What should I do now,to prevent future intrusions by the
brats of family P?There are two options(both of which have been tried
out by states,kingdoms and republics all along history).
Option #1:To take revenge,its members can enter the house of P and
wreak havoc,more in the line of a tit for tat.This would be going into
war with P(Pakistan).For most Indians,this option is a bad one(it
is).India has never believed in this option,as it sees no sense in
destroying Pakistan's innocent citizens in its bid to destroy its
terrorist infrastructure.Whenever it has,it has been forced to do
so,being pushed into it as the backgrounds of the 1965 and 1971 wars
show.
Option 2# :It goes to P's house,tells it that " if you are not able to
control your brats,well we will ". It enters the house of P,catches
the brats,gives them a good hiding and a good smack in the rear,and
comes back.It has not destroyed the whole of Pakistan,it has only
acted against the terrorists Pakistan has harboured.This is a Surgical
Strike.If the cause of such a manuoever is well justified in front of
the international community,its execution is justified too.
This had almost happened.But Pakistan hysterically cried foul of war
pushing the Indian government,military and bureaucracy into the
backfoot.A similar thing had happened during the Kargil impasse when
Pakistan had exploited India's confused indecisiveness,and its failure
to get all the political voices rooting for a same agenda.

The in-house bickering of Indian politics continues shamelessly to the
day.And the result is we have not been able to push Pakistan back a
single inch.The iron has cooled down,and the capacity to strike has
disappeared for good.Indian political parties fight tooth and nail
with each other,seeing a potential threat eradication in the opponent
party's eyes.But we cannot simply rise above it and see a true threat
to our sovereignty as a whole,in the shameful Pakistani antics.

The trial of Kasab is turning out to be a facade too.Already with the
Western media branding Kasab as the 'gunman' and not the
'terrorist',and referring to him as 'Mr.Kasab',the Indian media has
started to present Kasab in a sympathetic overtone.The front-pages
describe Kasab's every glance,smile and expression with a hero's
attention,the resultant portrayal being of a man primarily misguided
and now in utmost repentance.The monster is slowly turning into a
helpless man needing the world's sympathy.
Do we really have to do this?Does Kasab deserve this?The entire world
had seen and had become enraged by the cruel psychosis with which
Kasab the Monster had randomly fired from his AK-47 spraying bullets
and hurling grenades at innocent Indian lives,killing scores of
them.Mumbai seems to have forgotten all these.So does India.
It raises an embarrassing question:shameful but true.Were we,outside
the near and dear ones of the 179 people killed in the 26/11 carnage
really affected?Or was it just another 'show' for us?

WHERE DO WE STAND

 

 

It was disgusting,to say the least,to see the way the electronic media portrayed/presented the recent sensational news of a young woman who was molested and stripped to nudity by a mob in the presence of a police contingent.

I dont want to go into the graphical details of what was shown in the popular news channels. I do not wish to,and that would contradict the very point which I am trying to drive home here. I can only say that certain parts of the incident where the hapless victim's modesty was outraged to the extreme were shown again and again and again, each time with Suggestive  specific commentaries on HOW the act was being done.

From here,one can proceed to elaborate on many aspects: gullibility and escapisn of the human mind(which we have discussed before),commercialisation of the electronic media(keeping in mind the negative consequences)etc.

Should an official gag be put upon the media in certain aspects?Whenever this topic has come up before,the media and the intelligentsia have always come up with CRY FREEDOM. Freedom to express,Right to know etc. are referred to specific paragraphs of the constitution,and a frenzied rhetoric is whipped upto such an embarrassing pitch that the poor voice which had pronounced the word Gag cowers down to a long and secret hibernation.
Even I am,personally,against anything which tends to curb conscious,spontaneous and healthy expression and sharing of thoughts/informations/knowledge on any platform.But if someone would propose that the above-mentioned presentation of the news qualifies to be healthy sharing of information with people who have got a right to know,I would strongly beg to disagree.

What is the effect of a gag and what purpose is served by a gag order?A literate person of average intelligence like me would say that the effect of a gag is restriction and its purpose is to restrict potential elements from influencing the society in a negative way.A good example of a gag is censoring of movies by boards which assume the role of watch-dogs.Censoring of movies is carried out mainly to minimise graphic representations of irrelevant violence including sexual violence,to exclude irrelevant dialogues and songs which are obscene,and to avoid aspects which can potentially hamper ethno-religious coexistence of the human community.Out of these,the first 2 are more specific as they target impressionable minds of children,adolescents and the volatility of the young mind rising out of despair and frustration due to social unequality.
I agree with censorship in movies in specific cases when I see that the actual purpose is being served. And I also point out that presentation of news by the electronic media in the expression and format similar to that of the Bihar incident,can affect the minds of children, adolescents (or frustrated youths) when they watch it over the electronic screen in their own homes and in presence of their own parents.(Being at home with parents adds another dimension featuring sensitive mind-games of a thinking child,as the child accepts that what is taking place on the television screen,is taking place in agreement with the parents and the security of home ).
I can imagine myself as the eight year old boy that I was,watching this news item on television, lapping up the graphic details, listenin the suggestive commentary again and again. I dont think I am feeling good.
Freedom of Press has to exist.For that the Press has to ensure officially and practically that whatever it is expressing,serves the actual purpose-Right to know and Freedom of knowledge.If it is not, then it is outside the domain of Freedom of Press, the Press should dissociate itself from such subverses.And then censorship by appropriate watch-dogs should come down heavily upon them to nullify their existence once and for all.

Of course, the feasibility of appropriate watch-dogs is another matter.

 

SCIENCE-SPIRITUALISM INTERFACE

A few days back, one of my dear friends had posted a comment on a social
internetwork site that drew a lot of healthy speculation and revealing
comments.

The subject in discussion was Randomness. My dear friend,though a
medico,has vast interest in a lot of other subjects of science,and he
had seemed to hit upon Randomness in an article from the domain of
mathematics.

The discussions were huge and varied.People from the fields of
mathematics and physics came forward with insights citing well-known
theories and mind-boggling equations.Mind-boggling for me,at least,as
I am a physician and have got pathetic knowledge in Mathematics or
Physics.

The debate spanned everything from Randomness, Chaos(as defined in
Physics) and states of Equilibrium.I proceeded to add my own thoughts
on what I think about Randomness and Equilibrium(which is dealt
extensively in the subject of Physiology,when we study Homeostasis).

Randomness is spread throughout the Universe.And it has been defined
by mathematics,theoretical physics to the best of man's ability.Man
looks at his surroundings,Nature and has got an inherent urge to
understand and explain previously unexplained occupances and
events.This urge has resulted in the evolution of scientific
knowledge,thus in the evolution of mankind itself.

It is a very debatable topic that how we look at things and explain
them is the Actual Truth or not.We have to make strong,drastic
assumptions right here in the beginning.Before man proceeds ahead to
delve into scientific subjects,he must assume one thing and follow it
wholeheartedly - that what man explains and understands through
theories and equations Is what happens actually.
We look at nature,the universe with perceptions that have developed
over thousands of years as man has advanced in his knowledge.These
perceptions have now become deep-rooted in our minds to the extent of
almost being Original Truths in our subconscious.We go ahead in
science and technology,naturally assuming to be Absolutely
True,certain aspects which our forefathers have invented or theorised.

If a modern day physicist wants to proceed,for example,in the subject
of Gravitation,he already takes into account the laws of gravitation
as theorised by Newton a few hundred ears back.The physicist does not
theorise on his own,the concepts of statics and dynamics,speed and
acceleration,actions and reactions.He proceeds assuming the facts
explained by Newton's laws to be true.
That is how man has developed scientific branches further. Equation A
has been formalised in the 18th.century,Equation B in the
19th.century,Equation C in the 20th.century.A 21st.century student of
science tries to understand a particular event through his knowledge
which comprises of all the Equations,A, B and C.He hits upon something
new which he theorises by Equation D.
At this point,Equations A,B and C are 'discarded' to make way for
Equation D.Scientific principle does not prove,however,that these
Equations were wrong. On the contrary,it acknowledges all three are
correct and that Equation D is an amalgamation of A,B and C. The new
equation D can explain a particular event much better than the
previous equations,so it is incorporated in the pages of advanced
knowledge,which no more contain the previous equations as they have
served their purpose and have become redundant now.The new student
goes ahead with Equation D as a base.He doesnt need to know A,B,C now
as it is assumed that if he has accepted Equation D,he has
automatically agreed with Equations A,B and C.This is how branches of
science become advanced and refined.

One aspect has been constant in this discussion all along.That what
Man sees and how he sees it and understand it in Nature is what
happens Actually.This means that this view-point is true regardless of
human existence.An event will always follow a specific path,whether
humankind is present to understand it or not.
An event takes place.Man studies it,analyses it and understands the
mechanism,putting forward a theory which tells us the event has taken
place in This mechanism or That. Does it have to be true?
Red is red.98% people see it as red.So Man assumes that the colour is
Really red. 2% people who are colour-blind do not see red as red.This
is because their chromo-receptors are defective in a Specific way.
What if the chromo-receptors of those 98% people with 'normal vision'
were aligned in that Specific way(which is the case in colour-blind
people)and the 2%colour-blind people had their chromo-receptors in the
alignment which is 'normal' as we actually look upon it?Then man
wouldn't seen perceived Red as red Actually is.It would have been some
other colour which the colour-blind people would only see as Red.
Nobody knows what Red actually is.We see it red because of a
specificity of our own structural anatomy.Do Nature and
Universe,existing from the beginning of Time long before man came to
exist Have to conform to specificities of man who actually occupies a
mere .00000000000001 % of schemes of things?Logic,evolved by man
himself,will say a loud NO to this question.Natural and Universal
events continue to happen completely independant of man's existence.

The basic concepts of SCIENCE are Relative,not Absolute.

Science is the way how We understand the scheme of things out there.It
is a necessity for us,not for the scheme of things.

Science itself pointed this out to Man when he entered the world of
quantum physics.In every step,man would face a contradiction which
classical physics would not conform to.The contradiction would cease
to exist in the quantum world which also follows its own
specifics.Millions of things happen predictably in the quantum
world,which classical physics cannot explain at all.Man has been
forced to accommodate both classical laws and quantum laws in applied
physics.The particle fits in as smugly in scientific knowledge as does
a wave.We have been forced to accept this Dualism of Nature.
Modern theoretical astrophysics has evolved on the basis of
dualism.And it has taken man to understand the grey zones of his
surroundings.But it wouldnt stand a chance if man stuck to the
principles of classical physics.

Man's acceptance of Dualism in the scheme of things has taken him into
the world of 'Possibilities' .If we can accept two contrasting
principles and possibilities as in dualism,we can accept an infinite
number of possibilities.There are infinite possibilities everywhere
and we proceed to choose one out of the infinite which can make us
understand and predict a specific event.We dont deny the other
possibilities.We just choose one of them to understand and comprehend.

The incorporation of Dualism and the Infinite in Science have taken
place recently,over the last century.But it has been always
there,since times infinite,in Spiritual Philosophy.Thousands of years
back,men of wisdom has dealt with and circumspected Dualism.The Vedas
and Upanishads of ancient India are prominent examples discussing the
co-existence of the Dwaita and the Adwaita,the Khanda and the
Akhanda,the Nitya and the Anitya,in man's attempt to understand the
Mind of Brahma,the Superconscious.
If one attempts to understand the principles of Life with the
knowledge of the ancient Vedas and the modern Quantum theories
together,there are startling revelations which tend to explain the
Absolute Truth rather than the Relative truths which
classical,pre-quantum science adhere to.That however will be the
subject of our next discussion.

Heading For Disaster

It is alarming to open the morning newspaper and find out another new
prediction which brings the approximate date of the Arctic Sea warming
up,the polar caps melting and inundation of the continents,closer and
closer.
Till a few years back,one could sit back and selfishly feel secure
that the potential doomsday is centuries away.
Perhaps this self-centred feeling of security has decelerated the
progress of awareness regarding eco-preservation and the potential
threat of global warming and its disastrous consequences.Man needed to
think deeper and act more strongly to stop and reverse the dynamic
ecological imbalance.
Trillions of globally dominant currency have been spent,newer
environment preservation groups have surfaced,to do something about
ozone holes,greenhouse effects and take drastic steps to stop and
reverse man-made pollution.
It has not been enough.Ecologic forecasts have set doomsday dates
centuries ahead,even millenia away.Now these dates have come so
close,with predictions of disastrous calamites in 2020 or so.This
alarms me.

It is more alarming to see the lack of desired responses.It seems we
are not taking these eco-researches and predictions.Are we in a mode
of self denial.Political oscillations,terrorism,economic
meltdowns,corporate mergers,billion currency deals,the ever-fresh dumb
charade of nuclear (non/) proliferation-it's a long list with improper
placements of priorities-dominate the thoughts of men behind
politico-economic power,of the electronic media,and (as a result)the
priorites of the average citizen.
Even the protesting voices of environmental groups have become
familiar now to the extent of being totally overlooked.
Man has developed a gross apathy.It seems to be a socio-psychological
community response.It's an apathy towards the potential threats of
destroying the planet and along with that,man's very existence.
It has been a deliberate subconscious process,resulting in a mind-set
behind which man hides and use it a tool to survive the trauma and
stress of modern life which is becoming fuller with newer complexities
and seem to be auto-generated.This seemingly auto-generation of newer
complexities encourages man to 'escape' to absolve himself of his
basic responsibiliter.Actually it represents the vicious cycle in
which man's life has been caught,spiralling towards destruction.
Man's perception has to change,and that too,very soon.If we think we
have got no control over life's ever-increasing complications and that
it is a social event which shall shall happen,then we are wrong.
If we admit for once that it is a man-made vicious cycle which has to
be cut at one place and can be rectified by man himself,half the job
is done.But one of us has to take the most important step,the very
first one.

Is anybody listenin?

FAKE PHOTOS:THE INSTINCT

After the recent tragic crash of an Air France plane,newspapers and
television channels kept on presenting newer facts each day through
desperate assumptions,and speculating wildly on the possible causes
and exact location of the plane crash.And this kept the world stuck to
the newspaper headlines and television screens when news channels went
live.It went on for weeks,long after the crash had taken place(and
possibly by then,bereaved family members and friends of the passengers
had accepted and reconciled to the reality of the disaster).
There was sensational excitement all over the world,when all of a
sudden,photos of the passengers in their last few moments were
released into the internet.Nobody could trace the source though,but
the photos were assumedly snapped by one of the passengers himself
just before the aircraft went down.Mails were frenziedly forwarded all
over the web sharing the morbid photos and people kept on gushing and
commenting on the Pictures Of Death.People wanted to see and feel
first hand,the ruthless(and ironical)reality of the last moments of
the passengers before they were lost forever.
Then came a bigger shock.It was revealed that the photos were
fake,taken from the television series LOST.People reacted angrily to
the perverseness of the idea of circulation of fake photos surrounding
a real-life disaster and there was rapid despatching of emails
conveying the shock and anger of those who had actually believed in
the photos.And this infuriated reaction seemed palpably overdone.
People had 'fed' upon the gross brutality of death and the morbid
helplessness of the people just before they died.
Man had been caught on the wrong foot.Suddenly a sadistic aspect of
human psychology was exposed to the world and,more importantly,in
front of its own self.
The frenzied anger behind the world-wide condemnation of and protest
against this perverted joke,actually reflects upon the human psyche's
embarrassment and the immediate reaction to escape,distancing itself
from this embarrassment.People suddenly perceived the naked perverted
gratification they had subconsciously derived each day,from
following,and speculating about,the helplessness of men who would die
in a few moments.Man had somehow 'enjoyed' the brutal and cruel way
death had captured the ill-fated passengers with.The same animal
instinct had once gratified citizens of Rome as they watched
gladiators drawing enslaved blood in the amphitheatre.And the same
instinct still comes to surface when men spend exorbitantly for
tickets to watch Matadors killing a helpless,entrapped bull,slowly and
gradually.They enjoy watching the bull die step by step,each lance
piercing it with cruel pain.
Man can deny it but cannot escape from this Reality-that a
violent,sadistic element still remains.Perhaps it was an instinctive
necessity of prehistoric men to survive in a dangerous,hostile
environment 15,000 years back when they Had to kill to live
themselves.
Is this morbid instinct relevant at all for human
existence?Evolutionally it should have been extinct by now.But it is
still there inside.Man has consistently and deliberately made his
environment hostile by 'creating' wars and polluting the ecosystem in
which he lives.Perhaps it is a subconscious need of man to justify his
innate animalistic sub-self,and to create windows by which he can vent
out animal self.
Man has a long way to go to reach a superior evolved level.And for
that,he has a Big Responsibility.He cannot escape.