Friday, October 25, 2013

A Wedding Day Memory

The morning fog was not evident due to the rainfall last night. The rain drops usurped the place of dew drops on the leaves. Birds did not chirp, perhaps they laid frozen due to the morning chillness. The stray dogs abandoned their regular spots on the roadside. The sky had an extraordinary gloomy appeal. To that silent morning, I woke up. The day was not mine. It was that of my sister’s. It was the day her wedding bell has to ring. She woke up at her usual time, went ahead with her routines. The rest four members in the house were already ready by then.

She took a longer time to bath. Everybody was anxiously waiting outside. She came out fresh, with no specific reaction on her face. The gathered ones around could not read what is in her mind. She walked silently into the room. She changed her wet clothing into the recently purchased black and white kurthi. She brushed her hair for a longer time. She could not tie it as she usually does, because her long hair refused to dry soon. She just took a hand kerchief and her mobile phone from the shelf.

She walked out, with her regular smile. I was standing near the door, waiting for her. A few members from the neighborhood came to take a glance. Somebody suggested getting blessings before stepping out. Everything was silent. There were no murmurs, nor any laughs. Somebody reminded to take snaps. I ran inside to take the phone. It was kept switched off to get its battery charged faster. It took time to get it switched on. She stood facing north to the rising sun, in front of the lamp. The elders came to her one by one. She touched their feet and they blessed. The phone got switched on slower and obviously, I missed few snaps.

Now it is time to go. She stepped outside and walked towards the staircase. Those steps were not just few blocks of cement to her. They had welcomed her all these years, let her sit on their laps when she is sad and wished her good bye every time she went to office. No idea if she bid them good bye within her heart. But, I felt they blessed her.
We walked towards the car parked near the gate. Stranger the day that we did not look back to wave hands to the people outside. She sat inside silently. I sat beside, with the an empty mind. I did not know what to tell her. I just told the driver the place to go.

We stopped in front of the temple. No poojas were done, but the priest asked us what the purpose of visit when we kept Rs. 50 as dakshina. We had to tell him it was her d-day. He went inside, took a bottle of payasam and gave us. He asked us to visit the temple together again. For the first time in the day, I felt happy and peaceful. Perhaps, I took it as a sign of blessing from God.

We headed straight to the beauty parlor. The parlor was empty, except for two kids and the beautician herself. Beautician looked angry, may because we were late. She silently stood for dressing. Being a tomboy myself, I had no role to play. I stood beside them and watched silently as she was adorned in her wedding sari. She looked gorgeous. I could see her happy and smiling. She did not seem to miss the hurried noisy atmosphere of a marriage make up do. One hour of dressing, she was all set for the marriage.

The groom’s party dropped in late. They had nothing to do, except to take her to their vehicle. I silently walked down alone to the car. I did not know, if I told the driver to go back to home. He began driving. For me, more than the physical, it was a journey of thoughts. Was this the way a girl enters into her dream day? I do not know. But, I knew one thing – today was my sister’s marriage and it was not a fiction.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

An Object Drawing

This was another trial in charcoal pencil. Although the picture dates back to 2009, re-winding the memories remind me of the level of patience I had before. Now I cannot sit at a place longer than an hour (Perhaps, I sit for long hours before Facebook) and I cannot remember a time I hold pencil. I agree, smartphones and social networking websites have definitely eased our life. But, it as also taken few valuable things away from us. Wish to trace back the roads!


Monday, October 14, 2013

A Walk to Bus Station

In the midst of the trees that droops the morning dew drops, I walked fast, though not quickly enough to prevent the swirl of winds from lashing my neatly combed hair. I am on my way to office, waking up earliest ever in my life, at 6am in the morning. The road was lonely, but less scary due to the presence of buildings on either side. Although lifeless, those buildings silently reinforced me that I am walking through a township. The atmosphere was cold and it was less predictable that the morning was one in summer.

The smell of freshness filled the air, spreading divinity around. I could hear an unknown proclamation from the depth of the sky that the day is going to be sacred and peaceful. Cheerfully, I took the turn on the main road to the bus station. There were few vegetable vendors, transferring goods from the carrier. The busy work was not a hurdle for them to turn their heads to me. The archetypical staring of men when they see an object called “woman” untimely on road was apparent on their faces. There was more of a challenge, because this object was wearing a jeans pant that clearly displayed the size of her thighs. In addition, this object even accommodated a shirt that was not long enough to cover her buttocks.

I had no time to argue about the morality codes or freedom of women in society. Rather, I continued to step forward sternly, with my head high. Unconsciously, my body exemplified my thought, “I am dignified lady, who possess an equal right to walk on road as you”.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Craze for Fancy Numbers: An Inexplicable Love

“Height of fancy number craze: Rs. 13L for 8 Zeros” – Today’s The New Indian Express published a news about an NRI industrialist and hotelier who spent Rs. 13 lakhs, to get a mobile number ending in eight consecutive zeros in an auction conducted by BSNL. The report went on to say that the number of people who come to get fancy numbers from BSNL shows a steep rise in Kerala. Some other reports quote that the people who buy luxury cars and fancy numbers for the vehicles too are on rise in the State. The trend is a sign of increase of affluent class in the State.

While writing this, the picture that runs through my mind is that of a Keralite dressed in his traditional dhoti (the loving ‘mundu’ for us), with heavy gold chains wrapped around the neck and wrist, standing beneath the board of a 50% discount announcement bill in a super market. He would even search for the freebies on the rack. The willingness to spend lakhs for a fancy mobile number and the unwillingness to pay the MRP rate for household things are two contrasting faces of a Malayali. It sounds funny, yet true!

Now the question raised is how do you reason the trend of spending lakhs to buy a fancy mobile number? One cannot state a definite reason to support this craze. I would state it useless, as it seems like a mere waste of money to flaunt for no reasons. The occupancy of a costly, fancy mobile number will not be evident even to the person sitting beside. The luxury car, to the least, is a material to flaunt. But, as the media do not even reveal the name of the person who purchase this fancy number, the ‘affluent’ and his ‘fancy number’ stays hidden forever.

The trend is partly comparable to that of ‘fanship’ in some ways. The fanship too is an endless craze, which has no cure or meaning. However, the craze to film stars can be justified in some aspects. The characters in the film unleash the piled up the emotion of the people, which cannot be released otherwise. The stars inspire the mass, establish an unseen subconscious link with them and create a sort of relationship, which in turn becomes admiration in later stages. Such an explanation cannot be given for the craze for fancy numbers.

Perhaps, it is like buying shirts of your favorite color even if it is of the same design and pattern. Ridiculous, but hard to control!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Tranquility...

A beautiful Sunday, relaxing at home after tedious office works for weeks is a perfect time to dig old files. And, such a dig gave me the below drawing. I think I drawn this during my under graduation. It was my first trial with charcoal pencil. Trust me, I fell in love with the medium that I drew several pencil drawings after this.Don't remember the source of the original picture.



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

From the Bottom of Heart

Another heart day is here to celebrate, evaluate, comprehend, apprehend, explore and innovate. On the occasion, Color Doppler talks to Dr. Murali P Vettath, who has created many firsts in the world of cardiology, in a bid to explore new horizons of cardiac inventions




 Dr. Murali P Vettath
Director, International Centre of Excellence in OPCAB Surgery,
Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences
 

Ria Lakshman. V, cd news

For many, he is God, who redeems their life. For the people, whose lives are exacerbated with severe pains of cardiovascular diseases, this man prophesies as savior and masters his art of recreating the realms of human heart on them. For many others, he is a mentor, philosopher and friend, who explores roads that are less taken. It is the story of Dr. Murali P. Vettath, the Director of International Centre of Excellence in OPCAB Surgery, Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences, Kozhikode, who has created many ‘firsts’ in the field of cardiac surgery.

The evidence of Dr. Vettath’s quest for innovation and his unwavering dedication to medical field is seen everywhere. In the journey that has taken him across the length and breadth of cardiovascular segment, he has performed more than 6000 open heart surgeries, with more than 3500 bypass surgeries performed on beating heart. His voyage began from Coimbatore Medical College in 1983 and carried on to take a DNB in General Surgery in 1987, followed by an MCh in Cardiothoracic and vascular surgery in 1991 from Government Medical College, Trivandrum.

With his specialized training from Australia in coronary bypass surgery for five years, Dr. Murali P Vettath established two cardiac centers under the Z H Sikder Cardiac Care & Research Centre, at the Z H Sikder Women’s Medical College and Hospital Pvt. Ltd., in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Besides giving training to numerous cardiac surgeons in Bangladesh, he performed the first beating heart surgery in the country in 1999. In 2002, with an intention to serve the people of his home town, Dr. Vettath relocated to Calicut and became the fortitude of Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS).

Today, Dr. Murali P Vettath is one of the few surgeons worldwide performing 100 percent of all the Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) on beating heart. He has authored numerous publications and research studies and invented surgical devices. His works are the bibles of cardiac surgery that he is now the mentor of many surgeons from all over the world. On the occasion of another World Heart Day, here, Dr. Vettath talks to Color Doppler.

You are the person who performed the first beating heart surgery in Bangladesh and you are still one of a few who continue to perform it. What was your motivation to begin?

Off Pump Coronary Artery Bypass (OPCAB) was a technique started by Buffalo and Bennetti in 1985. There was an enthusiasm among the surgeons in 1990s to begin OPCAB, which slowly reduced towards 2000, as many surgeons failed to find their comfort zone in OPCAB. The success of OPCAB lies in minor modifications in the techniques of anesthesia, surgery, viz; stabilizing and positioning of heart. This has to be mastered and in an experienced hand, the results obtained are worth the effort. In fact, we analyzed our 3000 patients who underwent off-pump over the past ten years, and found that results were worth the struggle.

It was probably the idea of mini-invasive direct coronary artery bypass graft (MIDCABG) introduced by Benetti in 1990s that explored the possibilities of not using CPB (cardiopulmonary bypass). The introduction of LIMA stitch was the next revolutionary step in development of OPCAB. This stitch allowed the grafting of posterior branches of the coronary arteries. Stabilizers further enhanced the process. But circumflex territory was still a danger zone. It was that time that the role of positioners became more important. So the process became even more seamless.

When you perform CABG on-pump with the help of heart lung machine, the heart is motionless or practically dead for the time. Instead, the heart lung machine performs the function of the heart. Beyond a time period, this is bad and it has a 2 percent inherent mortality in it. There is also a 2 percent stroke risk. This thought provoked me to change the technique to off-pump or performing surgery on beating heart.

In 10 years of OPCAB experience, where more than 3000 OPCABs were performed, we noticed that in the last 2000 OPCABs, we had only one conversion to the heart lung machine. The mortality rate has been drastically reduced CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting) surgery has come a long way - from Off pump in the 50s, CABG moved to On-pump after the heart lung machine was invented, and it is now back to Off-pump. It has come a long way. We had to re-engineer the OPCAB, because this procedure was not reproducible by lesser mortals like us.

Whatsoever, the ultimate aim of a surgeon is to deliver good results. The mindset of the team and their consistency is important to deliver this. Very few cardiac surgeons in the world actually do 100 percent off-pump surgeries. Surgeons try and perform OPCAB to a certain extent, but when it becomes risky then they change it to on-pump.

You are a researcher. There are innumerable inventions and publications in your name. Can you give an insight into your inventions that revolutionized cardiology?

When we sight a problem during surgery, they we try to find a solution to it. That is how inventions happen. To take the case of Vettath’s Anastamotic Obturator (VAO), I found a problem with the side clamp on the aorta, especially when a surgeons need to avoid it when a no-touch technique is required in case of diseased aorta. In patients with plaquey aortas, a saphenous vein top end needs to be connected. VAO can be used to make an anastomosis on a non plaque zone in aorta. The technique is to identify a soft spot on the aorta, and make two purse string sutures around the intended zone of anastamosis. A stab wound is made and an aortic punch is used to make a punch hole on the aorta. The VAO is then inserted into the hole and one of the purse strings is used to snare the bleeding around the VAO, if bleeding persists. The advantage is that this allows the surgeon to perform a hand sewn anastomosis on the vein graft. The instrument can be reused and could help in avoiding stroke in elderly patients. It is also a good tool to be used in redo CABG.

Similar is the technique of long mammary patch. This technique was devised to perform OPCAB for patients with diffusely diseased coronary arteries. In this technique, the distal perfusion tips of aortocoronary shunts are cut and inserted into the coronary artery. The bulb is inserted into the end from where the blood flows. The advantage of this technique is that the intima is left intact and no injury is made on it. We do not add any other medications than those used for the normal CABG patients. Also, the patient will remain stable during the surgery.

We also re-engineered the use of Intraaortic Balloon Pump (IABP) in OPCAB. Every patient undergoing OPCAB gets a femoral arterial line and this is used for monitoring, along with the radial arterial line. In this technique, the femoral arterial line is removed and a shealthless IABP is inserted. The IABP is maintained till the end and is removed only when the patient remains stable. It is very useful in avoiding conversions. With this, the conversion rates to heart lung machines have sharply declined. Then, once the grafting is complete, the IABP could be removed in the theatre itself. These are few of the modifications we did over years. By re-engineering the techniques, we are now able to perform OPCAB in any patient who needs CABG.

What do you predict are the future developments in cardiology?

Over the years, I have noticed that the life span of an Indian male or female has increased. And, the incidences of cardiovascular diseases too have gone up despite all the medicines, innovations and awareness that have increased. Especially, in Kerala, rate of awareness is high. If anything is announced in radio, television or internet, they immediately come to us. Coronary artery disease is mostly a sign of aging. We cannot stop aging. By performing CABG, all we do is, connect another pipe to bypass the block in the artery. But the disease process still goes on, we can only try and postpone the inevitable. It can be stopped only to an extent. I always say, what I do is a glorified plumping job. But, still we try to keep a man alive by doing this plumbing job on a beating heart.

What happens is over time, people develop diseases of the blood vessels, like diabetes, which affects kidneys, heart, eyes and every other organ. Nowadays, patients come with a lot of co-morbidities like renal problems, where they are on renal dialysis and also who need renal transplantation. In early days, people with all these never survive. Now they get dialysis, get a bypass surgery, and then they go and get transplant done. I have seen lot of patients who come here from Cochin to Kannur and different parts of the country, who are planning for a renal transplant. They come here, get the grafting done and go back for their renal transplants.

When I went to Tokyo, I visited a hospital where there was a floor of patients over 90 to 100 years of age. These are the patients, whose aortas are replaced. Aortic surgeries are done on the patients at 90 and 100 years of age. And, most of them are walking freely around. They have gone beyond what we are even thinking about. Here, over 80, we don’t want to do aortic surgery because we think that this fellow won’t survive. Do we really need that? It is very interesting. So with all these developments of heart disease surgery, renal surgery everything, what we are now looking at is Aortic surgeries.

Cardiac Transplantation will now remain the next procedure, Cardiac surgeons in our state are going to focus on, as the left ventricular assist devices in the market are prohibitively expensive and there are a huge number of heart failure patients waiting. Next would be the increase in number of Aortic stents that has come up. This is a procedure done in the catheterization lab. Its performed like an angioplasty, by make an opening in the femoral artery in the groin, through which he puts the stent into the aorta, opens the blocks or even narrows a section of the dilated aorta, in case of aortic aneurysm. These are done without doing surgery and I think there is a lot of future in that.

Over the last 10 years, which I noticed that, the most important thing that has happened in cardiac science is the treatment for acute MI or Acute Myocardial Infarction. This is called a Primary Angioplasty. That is, when one has severe chest pain or a heart attack, and if you reach the cath lab within the three hours. Then you can open up the block. These three hours is a golden period. You open up the block; perfusion of the artery is so good, that there is not much of damage happened to the heart. One could reach a cath lab within three hours (Golden hour) then the chances of recovery of that damaged myocardium or heart muscle is very high. That is the best thing that has happened.

Coronary artery or its branch gets blocked completely by a blood clot, then that area of muscle supplied by that artery suffers from loss of blood supply. But, since there are blood circulations coming from the other side, the area of damage gets smaller. If that block remains there for a long time, then he might succumb to it. The block happens when there is a sudden rupture from an inner layer of coronary artery (endothelium). Then, like volcano, some secretions come out. The blood will suddenly clot inside in that region. This formation is called a heart attack and this is called a Myocardial Infarction. Like the stroke in the brain, heart attack is the block in the coronary artery. So, there is no blood circulation in the area. So with Primary Angioplasty Interventional Cardiologist open the blocked artery and stent it, thereby saving the myocardial damage and saving precious lives.

Earlier what we do is to give injection that thins the blood. This does work in 75 percent of block and the 25 percent it does not. So still the block is there. So if you open it up, the block goes. We have performed more than 1500 Primary Angioplasties over the last 10 years. But for this we need a big cardiology team. Everyday there are more number of people coming up with this problem.

You were telling, Australia is still doing 99 percent surgeries on pump. So as of now, how do you evaluate the cardiovascular treatments in India?

We are in par with the best coronary surgery center in the world, in terms of quantity and quality performed by a single surgeon. In India, there are only a few Cardiac surgeons who perform OPCAB on all their CABGs. When I came from Australia, I found that equipment wise and manpower wise, we are better than or in par with the Australian centers in terms of Coronary surgery.

What are the new researches coming up in cardiology?

In stents, there are new biodegradable stents. In the usual drug eluting stents, the metal bit will remain and a covering comes over it. In this, after six months, the stent melts. It is already there in the market and there are companies that promote it. That will be the future of cardiology. In cardiac surgery, newer surgeries are coming up. One is Coronary bypass surgeries with robotics. The only thing is that it is time consuming and is costly. It is already there, in Delhi they do, and all over the world, like US, Germany, they have robotic surgeries. In India, surgery developments are low because the treatments are not insurance based. People need to spend their own money to do surgery. Only 25 percent of the patients in the country are insured. So, if the insurance becomes mandatory, more and more surgical developments would come to our place as well.

In India, do you see an increase in the number of people who come with cardiovascular diseases or is the number decreasing?

Oh. Yes! It is increasing. The awareness is high. But, the number is also going up. So the number of centers has also gone up. In fact, when we started here in MIMS, 10 years ago, there were only three or four, less than 10 cath labs in Kerala. Today, there are 70 odd cath labs in Kerala. There are 100 cardiac surgeons and 300 cardiologists in the State, which is a very big number. Japan has the highest number of cardiac surgeons — 3000 cardiac surgeons and 500 cardiac centers in such a small country. On an average, there a surgeon does only about 30 or 40 cases a year, whereas surgeons like us, do 400 surgeries a year.

You have made many inventions. How does it benefit the cardiac treatment in the country?

All my inventions are to supplement the surgeries. It is not made for commercial value. It is for the surgeons to have these devices as lifesaving equipment in their surgical set. I have patented many of these techniques. I patented because I feel good about it. You don’t make money out of it. The device what I have made will costs Rs. 500, whereas the device that comes from US and all costs 500 US dollars for one shot, which we can’t afford. That is why I made this. And, this is for life time. I have showed the device and anyone can make it. Most of the things what I have done is to help a surgeon to improve the technique of surgery and hence, to make the surgery successful.

CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting) surgery has come a long way from Off pump in the 50s, CABG moved to On-pump after the heart lung machine was invented and it is now back to Off-pump. It has come a long way. We had to re-engineer the OPCAB, because this procedure was not reproducible by lesser mortals like us.

What is your message for your colleagues or the other doctors in India?

Off Pump is a very good technique to do, but until you master it, there is a steep learning curve. Also, you have to do only what you can do. Don’t try to mimic something because somebody has done this. That is what I always say. I have videos and other things on net. But, unless you come and see me doing it, you can’t do it. Some come here, see it and go back. But they are not able to do it. Recently, a surgeon from Singapore came here. He was here for three months. He was assisting, he was so observant. He went back and after six weeks, he did his first Off pump. He mailed me only after he successfully did it. He was a professor in National University Hospital, Singapore. Beating heart surgery was not very successful there. His Boss was telling me that “This man will drive it forward.” I think there are still few more modifications to do. I am learning and I am changing. Change is the constant in Cardiac surgery too. I cannot say this is the ultimate thing. I don’t do things what I did 10 years ago.

In science, this change is very important. We have to move and change according to how it goes. And, prove on whatever we do. I am not even happy with this 0.4 percent mortality rate in OPCAB. Unless the physicians have an aim in life, he cannot grow. Otherwise, it is like a bank job. You sit there and do same things systematically forever.

This interview was taken for Color Doppler magazine, September 2013 issue - http://colordoppleronline.com/heart-day-special.html

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Touch Therapy for Stroke Treatment

Extol the smartphones! They are capable to introduce cost-effective and timely care in stroke evaluation, thus enabling physicians to save the lives of millions, say studies from America and Japan

Ria Lakshman V | cd news

Recent clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of telecommunication in the treatment of diseases. It enables the sophisticated satellite technology to broadcast consultations between a healthcare professional and patient through videoconferencing equipment. Although the technology fastens the treatments, several studies highlight its defects such as the lack of reliable connections, high cost factor and the fear of malpractices. However, for diseases like stroke where time plays a significant role in treatment, telecommunication outweighs its demerits.

Stroke is a disease that kills six million people worldwide, according to the World Heart Foundation. It disables another five million every year. Therefore, a rapid, available-at-any-time consultation between the patient and the stroke specialist is of great importance in deciding optimal treatment. The more neurons die, the chances of death is higher. 

 Recently, the usage of telemedicine in treatment of stroke, dubbed as ‘telestroke’ is gaining popularity among the physicians, especially in Europe and United States. American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association guidelines already permit the usage of high-quality video conferencing for telestroke consultation by a remote stroke specialist when the in-person stroke specialist is not available in the hospital. The method is efficient, but several barriers hinder the treatment. Firstly, it is time-consuming to set up and establish a video conferencing device. Secondly, hospitals require heavy cost for acquiring, installing and maintaining telemedicine communication systems. Finally, the neurologist or the stroke care specialist who is oceans apart require a desktop or laptop computer to access the images, which further delays the treatment.

Smartphone for stroke evaluation

Dr. Bart Demaerschalk MD, the director of Mayo Clinic and Telestroke program and his team of doctors have now cropped up a more feasible solution to the troubles – the usage of smartphones for the telestroke evaluation. The smartphones are the most widely carried portable communication device of the day and most of the physicians use them too. They offer a wide range of possibilities in employing for treatments, especially when coupled with prevalent healthcare applications. The app stores have a plethora of video conferencing and teleradiology applications available to facilitate telestroke consultation. The use of videophones cut the costs for establishing video conferencing devices of telestroke evaluation by an order of magnitude. It also expedites the time taken to set up and consult the patient.

In the study 'Smartphone teleradiology application is successfully incorporated into a Telestroke network environment' conducted by Dr. Demaerschalk explored the possibilities of the smartphones (specifically Apple iPhone 4) by developing a Resolution MD (ResMD) mobile application. This application provides a complete telemedicine solution to the mobile devices, providing instant access to 2D and 3D image visualization of scans on smartphones. The neurologists found that the CT brain scans of the patients on iOS device were accurate to 100 percent in detecting intraparenchymal hemorrhage and it also showed 98-99 percent accuracy in detecting early acute parenchymal ischemic change.

The study, which was published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, the AHA journal evaluated 53 patients presented at Yuma Regional Medical Centre with acute stroke. The scan results were simultaneously reviewed by radiologists and telestroke specialists with smartphones, followed by an independent adjudication panel of stroke neurologists. The results were remarkably good that it showed smartphones can be used anytime and anywhere, particularly in rural hospitals where there is no immediate access to neurological care.As a progression, Dr. Demaerschalk and his team also analyzed the satisfaction of physicians on high quality video conferencing using FaceTime application of Apple iPhone 4 in another study titled 'Reliability of Real-Time Video Smartphone for Assessing National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Scores in Acute Stroke Patients'. The results demonstrated iPhone 4 as a reliable tool for stroke telemedicine, rating higher acceptance and satisfaction among the physicians. Being a first-of-its-kind study in the sector, both the studies are revolutionary and explored an untapped segment in the medical device sector.

First-class Image App
In addition to Mr. Demaerschalk’s researches, there are studies from Japan that developed systems to exchange diagnostic images and clinical management information. The study “A New Support System Using a Mobile Device (Smartphone) for Diagnostic Image Display and Treatment of Stroke” by Hiroyuki Takao, MD, an instructor of Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo and his colleagues developed a system to efficiently manage stroke diagnosis and the subsequent treatment, thereby reducing extra work hours, making physicians efficient even when away from hospitals. Designated as iStroke, the system comprises of a transmitting server and a receiver phone. iStroke comes with several useful functions in stroke management system.

The system facilitates stroke call function or the facility to alert the medical staffs about an expected admission of an acute stroke case. Incorporated with a time-bar function for monitoring patient, the system allows physicians to view both static and video images in real-time. Tweeting facility to fellow specialists to exchange opinions further enhances the system. On the whole, i-Stroke offers a complete solution to acute stroke management by encouraging swift reaction in treatment of stroke.

Limitations of the system

Perhaps, the system of videophones may limit the autonomy of the vascular neurologists. Under the system, it is the medical assistant who captures the images and sometimes, it could be challenging for the assistant to simultaneously conduct and record an examination. Also, the procedure demands a photographic talent for the assistant who captures the images, the knowledge of the angles, lighting, acoustics and background. Another possible disadvantage is psychological, the deterioration of the physician-patient relationship and rapport, especially because the patient interacts only with the medical aide and not with the neurologist directly.

However, on comparison with the parameters such as accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, cost-effectiveness, installation cost, accurate decision-making, time efficiency, rate of technical complications, patient privacy and security features, the above said limitations can be ruled out to certain extent.

Conclusion

When the studies in the field of telestroke evaluation are coupled together, the real-time smartphone neurological examinations and teleradiology assessments appear to be promising for the vascular neurologists. A single mobile health tool will enable them to actively conduct full telestroke and teleradiology assessments necessary for a complete virtual stroke consultation in a remote environment. Besides offering a real-time treatment for the patients, the introduction of smartphone and tablets to telemedicine may significantly overcome the cost barrier that prevents the hospitals from expansion of telestroke network.

This article was written for Color Doppler magazine, September 2013 issue - http://colordoppleronline.com/touch-therapy-for-stroke-treatment.html

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

When strikes cause strokes…

Kerala has doomed to a state when one day in a week is a strike. Are the organizers conduct strikes to safeguard the citizens’ rights or to deny them? Aren’t the leftists and rightists of this land equally deny the rights of people? A thought on the issue

Rather than calling my land as God’s own country, I would call it as a Land of strikes. Each day in Kerala dawns with a news of strike or with a possibility of a strike in the nearby days. The method of organizing strikes to get ones state-defined, judicial rights is definitely good and appreciative, as this attracts attention from the authorities and forces them to take a course of action at the earliest. But, Kerala degrades its value by calling for strikes every now and then. Currently, Kerala organizes strikes for things we cannot call rightful.

Today, private bus association had called for an indefinite strike, which means nobody knows when it will end. This was to protest against Motor Vehicle Department’s (MVD) direction to install speed governors on heavy vehicles (especially on private buses). When there are frequent accidents (two days before, an accident in Malappuram district in Kerala claimed the lives of 13 children) and complaints of over speeding, there is no harm or injustice in MVD’s direction to install speed governors. This is one possible solution to bring safety to the lives of citizens in Kerala, which include the lives of private bus employees too. MVD has launched extensive checking of buses and have cancelled the permits of 300 vehicles, which were illegally on road. Nobody can blame MVD for taking action against vehicles which did not oblige law.

The purpose of law is to bring stability in the society, by punishing the wrong doers and guiding them to the right path. Laws are meant for the well-being of human beings. Why do the people in Kerala or more precisely, the strike organizers in Kerala refuse to understand this simple fact? Perhaps, through organizing strikes, people think that they are executing their ‘right’. It is true, but your rights should not restrict or create hindrance to the lives of others. What is being forgotten here is that every person in this land has an equal right.

As a citizen, a person has the right to travel and voice his opinion on issues. He may not support the strike because that goes against his social policy. The strike organisers have no rights to hurt him by pelting stones or by stopping him from going to work. To say, the strike against MVDs on the issue of speed governor installation is a matter that was hardly supported by any person in Kerala. The people do not wanted to sit at home to support the strike and this was evident when the roads were busier than the usual days. A strike can be only called successful when it receives the support of the masses. It is a method of protest to raise the voice of all, not of one or two.

In fact, the matter what Kerala witness now is a form of ‘left approach’ that projects a rights-based approach. Rights-based approach is one of the best moves to the development. It can stop the bourgeois attitude of power and dominance, as well as stop the means-based approach. But, when this left approach becomes extreme, it harms the society by slowly stooping down to the power and dominance.

To elaborate, Kerala believes in the fad of union formations. This unions or associations are believed to give unlimited power to the people. It is true that the unions prevent the weak in the society from getting exploited. But, what if the strengths of unions are ever increasing? It definitely creates another hierarchy and affects the stability. Kerala is an example of this scenario. ‘Unity gives strength’, but too much of strength creates a greed of power. This greed generates the attitude of dominance over the weak. This dominance are regularly seen when a group of small people called “strike organisers” stops the vehicles from passing by or prevents the shops from opening on a strike day.

Hence, Kerala depicts an interesting picture where the leftists and rightists get narrowed to the same path at one point. The latter already supports a means based approach, by forgetting the rights of people. In turn, the former opposes the latter through union formation and various protests to safeguard the rights. Slowly and steadily, leftists too gain power and they began regulating people, denying the rights of the people. Overall, be it the rightists or the leftists, both deny the rights of the people living peacefully.

Kerala is an exemplification to every land who wishes they had a left approach of development. The land not just shows the benefits of the left approach, but it also shows what happens when the left approach crosses the extreme.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

We are educated, but useless as well!!!

This was a blog post I wrote towards the end of my post graduation. I re-post this now because I feel the matter is still relevant to ponder (Perhaps this reflects me!!!).

I am nearing the finishing point to acquire another educational degree. By all means, the post graduation is considered to be well-educated in Indian context. So I am well-educated, but ain't I  ignorant when it comes to basic skills of life? I began thinking this, only when my beloved mother started screaming at me for being stupid when it comes to households like ironing clothes or keeping room clean. Look back to your life during college, I am sure you too must have survived few minor burns when boiling water for tea or burned your clothes while trying to iron (many of us avoid this by drinking tea from canteen and giving clothes for laundry!).

The matter sounds trivial, yet it is something to ponder. We earned gold medals and distinctions in our academic records, but when it comes to simple things like fixing a button on a shirt or drilling a hole on the wall, we run to call help from professionals. Our savior, the internet is there to teach us everything, yet it hasn’t seems to be of much use when it comes to these silly, yet necessary matters.

Unable to create anything by ourselves, we adhere to the practice of buying things. We mastered ‘consumption’ and literally wait for things to happen for us. You can raise the question “So what?” to me for writing this. It may not prove harmful as long as there are things to ‘consume’ and people to ‘help’. Yet, we forget one thing that we are being dependent on one thing or the other that truly make us slaves.

The educational system should be blamed for this. Instead of numbing children down with mathematics, science and history, the educational system can think of making an interactive learning environment, where craftsmanship and problem-solving abilities are valued. The motto of learning should not be restricted ‘to think’ for oneself, it should also include ‘to act’ for oneself.

Friday, August 30, 2013

A humble note to my fellow beings

“The primary source of Evil is human greed. It is our greed to extract more and more from Good that turns into Evil.”

I am reading the final book of the Shiva trilogy ‘The Oath of the Vayuputras’ by Amish and the above lines are essentially what I got from it.  A mere merge of it in the context of present situations in my country proves it is aptly said. Sixty six years after independence, we still are not free. Our lives are crippled by the shackles of religion, greed, poverty and discrimination. We blame politicians, we blame system. And, we refuse to believe that the actual trouble makers are us. 

In the process of gaining luxury to lead our life, we forget the ill deeds we do to others and environment. To accommodate the dream of having a luxurious bungalow, we snatch the neighbor’s land or violate the building codes of the place. To make money, we evade from the responsibility of paying taxes. To build a swimming pool, you drain the water in the nearby place, which is supposed to be the drinking water for many. We explored earth, extract the maximum from it and now we need to explore universe. To meet our ego of social class, we create discrimination between rich and poor. We discriminate people based on religion, create political parties based on religion and to picture our community high, we degrade others. The environment is dying, the society is diminishing and the life is turning miserable in the country. 

The time has arrived that you need to answer yourself the question, “When will you be satisfied?” There should arise a moment we realize that the land is not just ours, but it also belongs to every other living thing around. Any problem can be solved with mere sensitivity to the fellow beings. No Shiva will emerge as savior and begin a war to end the greed of human race. It is just the Shiva from within us that would end the agonies.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

A dialogue with the dark....

“Switch off your sight
Switch on your insight
And see a brighter world.”*


I did, when I recently visited Hyderabad. The trip to Hyderabad was a journey of surprises with new experiences and exposures. It was a journey where I found traveling with 105 degree of body temperature is not easy. It was a journey that introduced me to the word “ghost writer”. It was a journey I met 300 plus IAS aspirants. It was a journey where I had a dialogue with the dark. The last one I said is what made me to write this blog. 

Copyright - Dialogue in the dark
The dialogue with the dark happened from a place called “Dialogue in the Dark”. This sentence sounds funny, perhaps ridiculous. But I should tell you that it is exactly what I meant. Dialogue in the Dark is a place located in the Inorbit mall of Hyderabad. This place puts you into everyday situation – walking through road, visiting cafes, touching water, feeling objects – but all in complete darkness.

After three tiresome work days in Hyderabad, I decided to meet my friends. Suman Sopori, who was my classmate in Manipal, was the one who introduced me to the place “Dialogue in the Dark”. It was around 4pm that I met her. We took tickets and waited for our turn to enter the exhibition hall. The wait got little longer that we slipped into our gossips and soon forgot about the purpose of visit. In between, we had a talk with the receptionist there and he explained us (perhaps only “me”) about the place. But nothing much interested me. I was happier in seeing my friend after a long time and paid little attention to the place. From the little I noted, the place had the ambience of a modern coffee shop or a pastry shop, with colored walls and modern interiors.

A lady passed by and I just glanced her. Only when she returned, I noticed that she was blind. She made me silent for few minutes because I have never seen a blind lady walking so swiftly across. Seeing my expression, Suman exclaimed, “They are used with their blindness.” But that did not console me. The thought kept peeping into me of how could she walk so easily without eyes. 

Copyright - Dialogue in the Dark
 The moments passed soon and we were called inside. Along with us, four more people from Delhi joined us. They were more in a holiday mood, making noises around. A service girl made us stand in queue, handing us the sticks to hold. She gave us few instructions like ‘walk to the left side of the wall’, ‘sticks not to be stretched beyond a limit to avoid hurting others’ etc. Our bags, mobiles and everything in hand were asked to hand over to them (they allowed us to take money with us). I was pretty bored by then and was thinking “what a bad way to pass time.”

The girl who guided us brought us into complete darkness and introduced to a guy with a soothing voice – Irfan. In the complete darkness, we could not see his face, but his voice made me imagine him like a handsome boy of 24 years old.

The journey began. We were asked to walk with the help of our senses except vision. We listened to sounds, recognized objects, touched them, played cricket, bought things in a cafe, traveled in boat, walked through hanging bridge – all in complete darkness. As it progressed, my boredom was not to be seen, rather I was busy being attentive and involved with the darkness around. The journey was initially slow, later turned fast because we got the grip and confidence to walk smoothly in darkness. Irfan helped us when we were about to scatter.

After one and half hours of journey, we were guided outside and Irfan too came out of darkness to reveal himself. He was a blind boy of 20 years old and is a meritorious national judo player. I wasn’t surprised of how he lives because I myself lived in darkness easily for one and half hours. I also lost the thought of how could the blind lady walk so smoothly. I no longer felt sympathized to them. They are just like any of us.

I cannot end this blog without saying a BIG THANK YOU to two people – 1) my friend Suman Sopori for introducing me to Dialogue in the Dark and 2) Dr. Andreas Heinecke, founder of Dialogue in the Dark. The place not just sensitized me towards blindness, but also let me explore the strength of my other senses.

(For those of you who wish to visit the place, http://www.dialogueinthedarkindia.com/, http://www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com/venues-worldwide/india-hyderabad)
*tagline of Dialogue in the Dark

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Telangana: Issues to ponder

More than four decades battle for a separate Telangana state is nearing to its closure. The recent political developments confirmed the formation of 29th state in India. On a positive note, the years of bloodshed happened for this reason is finally proving worthy. But for people like me, who look from outside, the situation raises few concerns.

Firstly, the success of Telangana could heavily promote other sectarians in the nation. There could be more wars demanding their own states (Already voices are being raised for a separate Rayalaseema state*). This purely questions our own Constitution that calls for unity. The political parties totally ignored the nation’s priority of ‘Fraternity’ and argued for a divided state. The ‘separate Telangana’ surely wouldn't have been a loud shibboleth if they did not support the movement.

The political gains parties get out the issue are the much hyped topic of today. Discussions are held on whether Congress made a right move by forming a separate Telangana. In fact, are these talks necessary? Citizens’ would soon declare their opinion in the 2014 general election.

Future of Telangana
Rather, it is crucial to talk about the betterment of the lives of people residing in Telangana. There are communities, especially the tribal sector in Telangana who are constantly neglected and deprived off their rights. Their exploitation of other classes of people is an often raised issue of the region. Will the formation of Telangana resolve this? Will the region sees a development in its education and healthcare aspects? An immediate emphasis should be given to such can of worms.

Telangana is a region that showed GDP growth rate better than Andhra Pradesh in yesteryears. Moneycontrol.com* says that during the years 2001 to 2008, Telangana excluding Hyderabad showed a GDP growth rate of 60% (including Hyderabad the growth rate was 63%). On contrary, Andhra Pradesh showed a growth rate of 58% during the same tenure.

The data highlights two things – a) Telangana is a region that can stand by its own and b) Economic backwardness is not the reason for the demand of separate state. Whatsoever, let us hope that the development may not be a problem in that sense.

Hyderabad as a joint capital
Hyderabad, the princely state of Andhra Pradesh is now destined to serve as a joint capital for Telangana for the next ten years. Hyderabad is a region of utmost importance for Andhra Pradesh. Most of the revenue outcomes of Andhra Pradesh owe to this place. Currently, Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana equally needs Hyderabad for their development. Under this scenario, will there be another fight between them for sharing Hyderabad? Chances cannot be ignored. Minor issues on sharing taxes or transport can activate another scuffle.

In order to avoid further bloodshed, people must be cautious about their political positions. Through the time, energy and amount wasted on war, it is their lives that are becoming poignant. Political parties can play their regular scoop games in the region, but it may provide another social stagnation.

On an overall note, let us hope that the formation of a separate Telangana state is beneficial. New government can come up with strategies that can erase the alienation existing in the place. But for this to happen, the agendas designed should focus on the people residing in the region rather than for power and money gains. 

*Link to Moneycontrol.com article - http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/with-new-statehoodhyderabad-will-telangana-grow-faster_930052.html
* After Telangana, demands for Rayalaseema state get louder - http://www.firstpost.com/politics/after-telangana-demands-for-rayalaseema-state-get-louder-1004815.html

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The other world…







“People were created to be loved.
Things were created to be used.
The reason this world is in chaos is because things are being loved.”
(Anonymous)


Engrossed with the technology, people forget what happens around them. They delve deep into the world of ‘virtual reality’ that they go cataleptic about the dangers before them. This growing insensitivity is an upshot of technological advancement. The scenario is represented through the five photographs of the girl, who is transfixed on the gadget in her hand. 

Note: This photo essay was done as a part of my post graduation assignment. I owe only the credit of the concept and the text written, not the idea. The photo credit goes to my ever dearest friend Poonam Janice Rodrigues.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

A Sunday walk…

It is another Sunday. Usually, this day is meant to sleep as per the alleged student rules of India. But I am up early, to enjoy the wetness of my land, to see the sun flirting with the flowers in the garden, to touch the bubbles on the leaves and to crawl with the ugly snail in the grass. I pulled up the socks and tightened the shoe lace. I know it is freezing cold outside.

The pathways are filled with water and there are some tiny creatures jumping within. But I do not care because I decided to walk.

It is drizzling and the rain drops wet my jacket. These are the flowers from the unseen heaven, showered upon me from the Almighty. I splashed the water as I moved. Each twinkling drops are smiling at me. I could sense the air of happiness around. The sun brightens more, spreading warmth in that coldness.

People are out for their morning walks, panting and sweating as they move. Their bobbing bellies made me giggle. “Good morning,” said an uncle, with a pleasant grin on his face. I haven’t seen him before.  But he looked familiar. I returned the wish and continued walking. There is happiness in every face I meet. Live they walk, as if they do not own any problems.

The drizzling got stopped and the sun has brightened. I reached the park next to the church. It is a poorly maintained park, with weeds grown high and trash spread around. A few elders are resting on the benches, chatting and reading newspapers. I walked through the lanes between. There is a man sitting under a tree. He seems to have no leg. There is a banana leaf in front of him, with idlis in it.

The sunlight glowed his dark skin. I observed the man for few minutes. He would have been handsome during his youth. Now the age has spread wrinkles on his face and rendered him weary. There are signs of hard work on his hands, with veins protruding out of the skin. He is enjoying his food, dipping every piece deep within the curry and munching them slowly. He is almost done with his breakfast and is wrapping the leaf.

There is a wooden board with wheels beneath him. He scrawled with it through the ground. He is moving somewhere with the leaf. I noticed there is a dustbin far ahead. He tried to raise his hands to reach the dustbin, but it was too high for him. “Can you help me to put this inside?” he asked a little boy who came to take the ball nearby. The boy stared at him and ran with the ball. He looked around and saw nobody is watching him. He turned back, lifted the crushed leaf and threw it high. The aim was sharp and it fell right into the dustbin.

The man is scrawling back to the tree, through the innumerable papers and plastics lying on the grass. He seems to be careless about the world around. He is nearing the tree. Without retracting the vision from him, I slowly bent down to take the paper I just threw down.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

One man’s trash is another man’s inspiration

A coffee-tasted toffee in the evening is not my thing. Perhaps, it is because I am a coffee lover and I would definitely prefer a hot cup of coffee over a small toffee. But after a long day of fasting, my friend Ahmed wanted a toffee to break his sacred Ramzhan fasting. He bought a couple of ones from our dear Gopalan, who always greeted us with pleasant talks whenever we crossed his shop.

As per the general courtesy to share eatables with near ones, Ahamed offered me one sweet. I reluctantly took one, but gulped it fast because I had no pockets in my newly stitched pant to store it for later consumption. The busy gossip session prevented me from enjoying the taste of it. Only the sweetness of the toffee and the wrapper stayed back with me after a while.

Why should I carry a useless toffee wrapper? The thought popped up in my mind. And, yes, immediately the action followed. Being an iconic Indian, I repeated my urge to throw the wrapper on the road. It was floating in water in one of the million potholes of the highway road. We continued our walk to the nearby bus stop to catch the next bus to town.

“Oh! I think I lost my ten rupees,” screamed Shanu, who was walking with us, sharing her insights on office gossips. She seemed to have slipped a ten rupee note on the road while walking. A ten rupee is worth searching and we walked back through the same road gazing on the road.

Everybody was busy searching, when my attention caught on a little girl dancing around with a cute plastic flower in her hand. She was overjoyed by the sight of the little thing in her hand and was jumping around with it proudly.

I walked towards the little girl (obviously lost the thought of the fallen ten rupee note) and gazed at it for a moment. In its brown and golden exterior, the flower was truly adorable. Seeing me staring at it, the little girl brought it closer to my face. “I made this”, she flaunted.

I could recognize it somewhere. It looked familiar. My mind made a fast recap of the things in brown colour I saw recently. “Yes. This was the same wrapper I threw into the pothole on the road”, my mind made a louder confession. It was just a wrapper a moment ago and now it is a flower worth admiring.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Pepper and his Naimi

Source: Internet
“Wow! Isn’t that Naimi, the cute little princess with blue eyes?”, Pepper’s eyes got brightened seeing the lovely little girl in yellow frock on the street. Pepper always loved her and waited for her to come to the street. He was never allowed to go inside her house because he is a dirty, ugly street dog. People in the colony blame his presence to be a disturbance. Naimi was the only girl in the colony who showed care and affection to him. But she gets beaten by her father for playing with a street dog.

“No, poor Naimi would get hit from her parents. Let her go”, Pepper was reluctant to run to her, but after a while he could not stop himself. “She is alone. After all, what is wrong in seeing her? Let me go and see”. Pepper ran towards the girl who was walking slowly, pushing her cycle with the hand. He was careful not to touch her from behind as that could scare her. He couldn’t bear Naimi crying even for a silly reason. Pepper ran through the other side of the road and went ahead of her, so that she could see him.

“Pepper…!!” Naimi saw him and crossed the road to the dog. Pepper wailed lovingly, indicating that he missed her badly. “Where were you?”, Naimi asked him as she parked her cycle nearby. Naimi sat on ground and caressed through the soft hairs of Pepper. Pepper was feeling so happy that he started jumping around and licking all over her hands. Naimi took out few candies from her pocket and fed Pepper. Pepper wanted to be with Naimi all the time.

“Naimi…”, a male voice echoed in the street. “Oh, Dad is here. Run Pepper, Run!”, Naimi stood up and ran to her gate. Pepper felt sad, but he knew he has to go. Pepper gulped the candies and ran into the nearby bushes.
                                 ************************************************
Pepper began his days by peeping into Naimi’s gate. He wanted to get a glimpse of her. But, he hardly saw her. It has been few days that Naimi was not seen around. Pepper doesn’t know what happened. He kept peeping and waited outside her gate. Every time, someone came and pushed Pepper away from the gate.

Days passed. Pepper became gloomy. He lost interest in the games he plays or in the food he eats. His fellow dogs started scolding him and sometimes even mocked him for being stupid. “We are street dogs - not meant to be loved”, they reminded him. But Pepper trusted Naimi. He believed she would come back for him.

It was a sunny evening. Pepper was simply walking through the streets. Today he took a new road. Unlike his regular road, it was busy. People were out for their evening walks and many walked with royal, glossy dogs tied in chains. Pepper was least bothered about them. He kept walking uninterestingly, without even passing a glance at them. But they seemed to be too bothered about the presence of a street dog in their area. The dogs kept barking at Pepper.

Their owners had a tough time making them quite. “Where does this stupid dog come from?” A lady asked pointing at Pepper. She was not blaming her own dog for the lack of manners, instead was blaming Pepper for invading into their territory. “You whore! Teach your dog to behave properly!”, thought Pepper. He wanted to say that loudly to her, but unfortunately he doesn’t know her language.

Pepper angrily walked faster. His eyes were looking straight and his head was held high. Suddenly, he saw a little girl at distance. He slowed down. “Yes, she looks familiar.” Pepper ran to the girl. She too carried a white Pomeranian dog in her hand. She has maintained it well that the dog looked like a white cotton ball altogether. 

Pepper recognized her. “Yes, that is Naimi!” He doesn’t want anything else in this world. His Naimi is back. She is there, just few steps ahead. Pepper ran to her in no time. He wailed a little louder that he couldn’t control himself. He ran to her legs, started licking her, moving his tail to and fro at the fastest pace.

“Hey, Go away!”, She kicked Pepper with her little boots. Pepper cried louder, more with the shock of getting kicked by his favorite Naimi than due to the pain of kick. “Has she forgotten me?”, Pepper thought for a moment while he stood up and shook his body.

Pepper looked around. Naimi already walked fast. She is too far now. Pepper could see her caressing the small Pomeranian dog she carried. Pepper couldn’t control himself. “How could she not care me?”. Pepper ran to her and gave a bite on her ankles. He could taste blood in his mouth. “Ooouuucchhh!!!..” Naimi started crying loud. People rushed to her and someone carried her away. A few of them threw stones at Pepper. He could hear them cursing him.
                                 ************************************************
Pepper was locked inside some weird iron bars. Few people wearing hats came and caught him with a net while he was lying between bushes. Pepper was not sad at being caught. He was not bothered where he was being taken. He felt guilty that he bit Naimi. He felt sad that she did not care him.

“Why should Naimi avoid me? I bit her in anger. Shouldn’t I have the right to fight with the people I love? After all, she was the only one I cared for. She knew it as well…..” Hundreds of thoughts passed through Pepper’s mind. He couldn’t get an answer. May be my friends were right, that “I wasn’t meant to be loved.”

                               ***********************END***********************

Friday, February 8, 2013

Free speech: Why Indian society unable to handle diverse and complex thoughts?

2013 seems to be a year of controversies involving ‘freedom of expression’. We have Ashis Nandy’s reference to Scheduled castes in context of corruption, Kamal Hasan’s Viswaroopam and Shah Rukh Khan’s take on being a Muslim in India becoming the hearsay. The three issues reveal the inability of media and citizens to handle complex thoughts.

For instance, the moment Ashis Nandy made his remark at Jaipur Literature festival, the news services across the country ran the headlines “SC/ST/OBCs most corrupt: Ashis Nandy.” The news was too simple to explain the context in which Nandy came up with such a remark. Also, it was misguiding enough to provoke the anger and offense across multitudes. Similar was the issue of Vishwaroopam. The media reported the movie as anti-Muslim. Without even a preview being shown, how the media analyzed the movie as anti-Muslim is not known. Whatsoever, diverse comments from functionaries and political leaders emerged. And finally, the movie was sacked. Shah Rukh Khan’s remark of being a Muslim in India in an article published by US based Outlook magazine too brought out a related, but not so huge uproar.

What lies behind this trend of being hyperactive? Is it the inability of the media to handle complex thoughts that led to this? Or is it the ‘murdochisation’ of news that makes the news less serious? If keenly observed, both the factors have contributed to this scenario. The ‘murdochisation’ has made the news too sensationalized and turned it into a form of entertainment. It has also encouraged the simplification of news, that any complex thoughts are disintegrated into meanings that contradict the original one. Besides misguiding the public, this has trained the citizens to think simple.

When the idea of complexity vanishes from the society, it becomes difficult for the people to present their opinions. Every divergent opinion is considered as an attack on some community. What is the need for a community to feel insecure when a movie is made or a comment is said? There is no definite answer for this.

In fact, it is only a matter of engaging with different viewpoints and being sensitive to each other. Also, the citizens need to comprehend an issue before they respond to it. Without these two being done, India will see more number of baseless attacks and arguments in the upcoming months.