Publicity at the cost of privacy

There is nothing wrong in aspiring for publicity and become popular. In fact, fame is one of the main driving force of human psyche. People adopt various ways and means to gain publicity and become famous. Popularity may come through positive or negative means. Becoming popular through good deeds and acts is what one should normally aspire for. There is a difference between becoming popular for wrong reasons and becoming notorious.  One may become popular by being the butt of a joke all the time or getting wrongly caught for things that the individual never did. But notoriety is negative popularity by being wicked or egregious. These days, thanks to the proliferation of visual media a totally different type of popularity is being attempted by poor and middle class whose thirst for fame and popularity is quenched by appearance in electronic media. Either they directly participate or force their wards to participate in the innumerable reality shows and competitions happening in every television channel. These channels compete with one another in outbeating the other through improvement in TRP rating which is essential to attract advertisements, that is their bread and butter. Surprisingly, the basic concepts and themes happen to be identical in all channels of all languages. There are shows with dance, singing and game competitions for various categories of people and ages. In some channels, because of their reputation, the competitions assume very serious dimensions. Often in shows involving kids, the parental and peer pressure is so high that kids go crazy. Some reality shows intrude too much into the privacy of people. The gullible public with the sole intention of getting popular by appearance on TV screens, do not mind exposing their personal information beyond reasonable levels and some pathetic people believe in solutions offered to them by unqualified anchors. In one show of a popular Tamil channel, topics used to be so chosen often on flimsy pedestrian grounds and two groups of opposite opinion are brought together and involved in a discussion that is often endless. The anchor used to put intrusive personal questions and the ignorant people would get exposed. Protected privacy seems reserved only for some who care. Popularity at the cost of privacy is the order of the day for majority of middle and lower echelons of society.

Why simplify when it's so simple to complicate?

I don't know how many would agree with me when I say that we are unnecessarily complicating simple things all through our lives and in all aspects of our life. I feel, developed countries complicate much more than undeveloped ones, as do learned people against illiterates. If you look at a simple tribal community, the complications are minimal but there, the community leaders and chieftains try to introduce a certain amount of complication by pronouncing regulations and customs. All festivities are part of this complication. The basic idea or motive of most complications I believe, is an attempt just to distinguish and standout. It may be between animals and themselves for primitive folks and between primitives and them for more civilized. After all the fundamentals of life for all living creatures is : birth; growth; finding food; reproduction; rearing the next generation and death. From these basics,  step by step complications are introduced, as societies evolved and advanced. These complications are in each and every aspect of life. If you start thinking carefully and step by step, you will realize that most complications are anthropocentric and entirely for the welfare of a single species "Homo sapiens". However, some of the complications are simply meant to be different or difficult. Fashion is a typical example of this category. The efforts made in the direction of healthcare and longevity is also a complication that has resulted in a surge in the numbers of this species by bringing down death rate. I can't comprehend the complications in dressing; makeup etc., which typically is the result of the philosophy "why simplify when it is so simple to complicate". Anthropocentrism, has created an irreversible imbalance in nature and the human species has increased in numbers disproportionate to its level in the ecosystem affecting homeostasis. Gigantism is believed to have led to the extinction of creatures like Dinosaurs. Likewise, increase in number out of proportion in an ecosystem could also lead to ultimate extinction. Stability and simplicity would  go together just as complexity and instability would. Don't you feel I am just trying to complicate simple things. This is what most philosophers do in my opinion. Philosophy and religion like fashion are typically the result of restless human mind that is full of imagination and for not knowing what to do has engaged itself in doing this. Well,then, how to find out what is complication? If you don't do that or do it differently, is it affecting you? If it does, it is not complication. If it doesn't, it's complication. I think I have simplified complication enough. To put it differently, can I say, doing something for the sake of doing is complication. But I have to admit that it's one's fundamental right to complicate but it is not right to force it on those wanting to be simple.

Olympic games - some thoughts.

In the year 2020, the Olympics(Summer Olympics for some) is scheduled to be held at Tokyo, Japan. Hosting Olympics once in four years has become a prestige issue and not all countries can get the opportunity and many cannot afford to host even if offered. There are 196 or 195 countries(depending on Taiwan's status), of which less than a dozen countries alone have had the opportunity to host Olympics. Seven cities in the world have hosted more than once. The reason for several countries not offering to host, is the volume of financial burden( around at least six billion dollars at present), the infrastructure and human resources required. From 1896 till 2016, the category and number of games and sports events have also been increasing. However, several events appeared and also disappeared in various Olympics over the years. There were only nine types of events in the first modern Olympics in 1896 which rose to 28  in London Olympics in 2012 and continued till Rio Olympics in 2016. There are totally 306 events in these 28 types of games and sports. In addition, inaugural and valedictory functions have to be also held. Hence, Organizing Olympics is nightmarish even for governments of several countries. I believe Olympics is the biggest global event happening once in four years with the participation of maximum number of countries. It is a Herculean task to successfully organize this event for any country however big or small it maybe. Apart from all routine problems you may visualize in organizing such an event, the last to be added was in 1972 in Munich, Germany . This problem is the protection from terrorism. Hats off to all the countries who have been organizing this Magnum opus and Brazil in particular, as this is the latest successfully completed. It is easy to find fault in any event,however well it would have been organised. Fault finders are invariably incapable of doing anything good.
Until now, I don't think there is any major or significant opposition to the conduct of this event. Still, I feel that this should not remain an event for the few endowed and empowered countries only. At present It is so, because of the magnitude of the event and almost total participation globally. Demand for inclusion as event and willingness to host are much more than what could be met. Why not resize Olympics and make it smaller and manageable for many countries to host by sorting it as water sports; field games; athletics; gymnastics etc. and hold it either simultaneously or one after another in a sequence and with required time intervals in different countries and different continents. This could ensure greater participation in organizing as well as competing. More opportunities thrown world wide for business and other development oriented improvements even in less privileged countries and populations. I don't think that what I suggest is immediately feasible or acceptable to many. But the purpose is to generate an alternative thinking and healthy critical discussion leading to new and exciting changes. Several changes happening today might have been outright rejected those days. But I hope and wish that a new thought process is initiated in the right direction. Initial acceptance can be limited and it does not affect the final emergence.

Is future so scary?

Many old fashioned thinkers as well as environmentalists always scare you with predictions of future by sheer extrapolation of small time happenings. This could be because they really feel that way or they think these type of predictions would caution people to desist from their destructive attitude and activities. Extrapolation seldom works perfectly even in science. From time immemorial, these people have been saying the same, but data appears to contradict the doomsday approach. Life has neither been shortened over time, nor has become miserable, compared to the past.
In fact, according to a 2011 estimate, the global birth rate is 15000 per hour but the death rate is just 6316 per hour indicating a doubling of the population much faster than we have thought. In 1960s it took 33 years for an addition of one billion to our population where as by the end of the last century(1999) it reduced to twelve years and now it's much faster. Remember that this increase in population is happening inspite of voluntary and forced birth control as well as increasing infertility. Among several reasons, considerable reduction in foetal mortality and the significant decline in general death rate, are two important reasons, thanks to advances in medical sciences. Even in such a short period as five years from 2009 to 2014, the death rate has reduced from 8.37 to 7.89 per thousand. This is inspite of the dreaded increase in pollution levels and all negative and fearful attributes to the modern world such as new devastating diseases like HIV. More than fifty years ago, tuberculosis, and epidemics of plague, cholera, small pox, malaria etc were believed to be ringing the death knell for humanity. Recently, HIV and Cancer were predicted to wipe out considerable populations in at least a few countries. But we are on the verge of breakthroughs in treating them and have already succeeded to the extent of lengthening lives. Global warming and melting polar caps are now projected as beginnings of doom for life on earth. In many populous tropical countries, famine like conditions due to shortage of food brought about by monsoon failures and rapid use of arable lands for housing as well as aridity and desertification due to rapid dwindling of fresh water are predicted to take them close to the end. In reality, the standard of living has been considerably and consistently on the increase in such countries. Improved agriculture produces several times increase in food. As more and more problems arise due to anthropogenic activities, newer and newer solutions are discovered. Whenever you think a dead end has been reached, a door always opens up. Some decades ago, a scare was created suggesting a global energy crisis as nonrenewable energy sources were understood to be rapidly depleting. People could not believe that renewable sources would be developed to replace them. Even now some people are skeptic and unconvinced of the non conventional energy sources. I am reminded of the " Theory of compensation" which me and my friend (who is no more), proposed after years of extensive and intensive discussions. We are convinced that everything positive is always accompanied by a negative and everything negative has always a positive accompaniment often not readily visible. It is the incapacity of our brains that does not allow us to visualize the two together. The optimists always try to see the positives and the pessimists the negatives.
If you are unbiased, you will find both positives and negatives in things happening around us. Painting a scary picture of the future or predicting the approach of Doomsday, are really overdoing caution and uncalled for.For some, future has always been, is and would be scary. From the days of civilization, elders have been painting a gloomy picture of the future and praising the past. Young people have been optimistically going ahead and succeeding. This is going to happen all along.

Is honesty genetic?

Importance of bringing up children has always been emphasized in developing good and capable citizens in any country. But the concept of child rearing has not been understood properly by most parents especially in populous, developing countries. Bringing up children the right way, has assumed importance and a high priority these days, as life is becoming increasingly difficult with increasing competition and there is a need for exceptional skills to achieve things and even to survive. Conditions have changed so much and the children have much higher IQs and excellent exposure, old methods of strict and authoritarian regimentation will not only not work but could also become counterproductive. I am addressing this problem especially for people in the third world countries. It has been established that right from foetus stage, learning process starts. In the name of tradition and culture, several unnecessary restrictions and superstitions are imposed and children are not respected and often ill treated or abused . Many in the name of discipline refuse to discuss and explain to children, why they make children do something the way the children don't want or like. Some assume that children cannot understand. It is essential to basically believe that children can understand almost every thing and try to tell them. If they fail to understand,it only means that you don't want them to understand. Good creative thinking can be promoted in children only by treating them equal and discussing with them. They must also be encouraged to discuss their issues with us. We are often tempted to think that good bringing up is just giving the best clothes; best play materials; good school and all expensive facilities. A good upbringing need not have to be expensive at all. How much you care for your children especially mentally, while deciding on things in which they are involved or relevant to them. Same way, in giving them freedom to do what they want except guiding them on what is right and wrong and educating them on the consequences of their actions. At least in India, I can authentically say that parents and elders force children to do only what they want, right from what they buy, dress, eat, and study. In some cases they also decide the persons with whom their child can move or become friendly. It's all due to unwanted fear of their child getting cheated. Whether controlled or given freedom, the child getting cheated is essentially based on its upbringing and circumstances. Many think that obedience is doing everything the way they want by asking them. Obedience is not asking your permission and doing things. Obedience is following right ways and doing right things so that no disrepute is brought either to you or to themselves. The worst aspect of upbringing is the fear of punishment and unwillingness to accept mistakes. I often use to wonder as to what causes children to tell lies and refuse to accept mistakes. The answer I could arrive at was upbringing and environment. The children watch with intent,their parents, other elders and peers especially for their honesty. Sometimes parents force children to tell lies on their behalf, to save them from embarrassment or punishment. This trains them. Further, if a child is honest and accepts its mistake, it is punished often heavily. It is the fear of punishment plus the observation of others' when they commit mistakes that prompts it to tell a lie to escape. When it successfully escaped punishment with a lie, there is a reinforcement on the benefit of dishonesty and continues with it sometimes quite unnecessarily. I am convinced that if honesty is appreciated and either no punishment or minimum punishment such as a warning depending on the mistake, is given children would be encouraged to be honest.Parents need to be extra careful and should not be dishonest when children are watching let alone using them for it. I do agree that it is not easy in a society so far away from honesty in personal, professional and political life to suddenly switch over. It's a pity that although no child is born without honesty by the time it grows the first thing learnt is to tell lies and be dishonest. Criminality could be genetic but not honesty. It's just the training and upbringing.

Would it just be a day dream?

At least to me the reasons attributed to Brexit and the subsequent success of the idea in a referendum are neither convincing nor acceptable. It is a negative decision indicating the impact of the negative and parochial attitude of a group of cynical politicians drawing majority support. In referendums of this type unanimity and not majority should be the deciding factor.The establishment of EU was such a great achievement for humanity just on the heels of merger of East and West Germany inducing people to anticipate a similar happening in Korea which is presently not feasible. I am sure well meaning people around the civilized world would feel sad over any disaggregation or disintegration, be it EU or Srilanka or any part of the world. Separation is several times easier than unification because it is more instinctive, primitive and retrograde. It is like entropy. Evolution and civilization should teach us, more understanding, tolerance and consideration not only for fellow human beings but even for fellow living beings and differentiate us maximum from the early Neanderthal humans.
A country like Britain with all its hegemony of the past should not become parochial and try to split away for selfish reasons. If you resort to referendum mode, no country can function. Fellows in government in Democratic countries should act as knowledgeable representatives of the people and take positive decisions.They should not go to people with a referendum for every decision. Maybe they take this as a plank in fighting the next election. Election should act as a referendum where more than one individual from a party with a choice of plans/ ideas contest and whoever wins finally implement the changes. Divisive and negative forces are more powerful and influential with the masses. Forces of unity; understanding; appreciation and concern have to fight a long battle but need to succeed. When people don't want territories of a country like Ireland/ Scotland to separate from U.K.why they want UK to separate from EU. The noble and far-reaching concept of one world, one people and one government seems just a day dream and next to impossible with even a vestige of the existing generation. Compassion should be the only religion to unite us all.

FROM SURREALITY TO REALITY

    Most of you won't agree to what I feel. Still I would like to bring out my feelings. As times change, fashions change; attitudes change; vocations and avocations change. But certain hackneyed beliefs and unwanted emotions once useful do not change but continue to haunt us. It's time we initiate a change in common thinking.
Countries and border limitations should at present be only for administrative and management purposes. In course of time, restricted movement of people and materials should vanish. No one should have a right to stop someone from entering or leaving a place in any part of the world. Freedom should be real. Most restrictions and limitations are essentially the result of negative thinking that is very difficult to eliminate with most people. This does not amount to a claim to do away totally all rules, regulations and laws. People often do not remember that any regulation or law is in place only to facilitate humanity and not to trouble. Many forget that rules are for us and we are not for rules.  In many places in the world, when any new rule or regulation is thought of, people worry more about misuse than use and put in clauses and restrictions to effectively prevent misuse. Although, in terms of numbers the mis or abusers will be small, negative attitude makes us think only of them than those who would use and be benefited. Negativity is essentially the result of the atmosphere and outlook with which we are brought up from childhood for generations. It's not easy to change to a total positive outlook easily or suddenly.
Though much is talked about globalization, it remains much within the realm of economics and business. No one is serious about globalization in the real sense. Some one being an Indian or American or Australian is merely an accident mostly by birth. Although, legally even by domicile you can, but will still be referred to by birth/ origin. What does it matter whether I am an Indian or American or Indian American or American Indian? What does it matter if my skin color is black or brown or pale? All feel hungry and eat; all feel tired and sleep; all think, feel and react.I am always upset about people talking nationalism and culture. Which nation is bad? Which culture is worthless? Why should I feel proud of my culture being antique? What advantage do I get? Parochialism is the easiest way to fool people especially an important tool in the hands of politicians to meet their needs. I'm at a loss to find even literate people falling an easy prey to such frivolous claims on national spirit; antique culture; richness of language etc., I can not appreciate taking credit or feeling proud of something that doesn't involve any input from me. Apart from living here what is my input for the nation or culture ? Why should I consider my country,my religion, my culture and my language to be superior to others when everyone in this world equally has a right to do so ? I look forward to a future where everyone considers everyone else in the world as equal in every sense and do not discriminate on the basis of region; religion; language or skin color. Let us mutually respect others in entirety. Pride talk about culture, language and land could have been useful those days to unite groups of people and to take them forward evolutionarily . We have now reached a stage of probing possibilities with people willing to immigrate to other planets. To continue with outdated concepts of self pride based on anything and that too with things for which you are least responsible such as culture, language etc is retrograde. Only those who suffer from inferiority complex need to take refuge by claiming superiority in something or the other. Let us move from surreality to reality.

Resistance to change

In India and probably many other poorer countries, often there is a resistance to change and unwillingness to take risks. It could be due to a certain uncertainty and fear for new things. This is called neophobia. For instance when gas stove and cooking gas were introduced, people were scared of accepting it for quite sometime. This is true of everything new in the market. Even tubeless tyres took quite a long time to be accepted. I can go on with innumerable examples. But the point is, people in general are unwilling to experiment with new things until the usefulness is proved, for fear of wasting money. It's not mere poverty but often due to the concept of prudence and frugality inculcated from childhood. Some could even have neophobia.
When people resist change even in things they use, how can we expect them to accept major changes in policy governance etc. This is probably the reason for some politicians who offered"change" as the main plank in their campaigns during the bygone election in Tamil Nadu to have failed miserably. Faith, reassurance, confidence and proven virtues in the electorate's favor decide electoral victory. Elitist opinion is pessimistic, as according to them the claimants lack all the above virtues and choosing one or the other would be a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea or jumping from frying pan into the fire. The entire system of governance needs radical changes and the process of elections too has to change. Since political parties and the elected positions have become regular professions by themselves instead of being an avocation for people, why not make every one desirous of entering politics and contesting election to undergo special training program designed for the specific needs of politics? It's not enough to set up ombudsman bodies like"Lok Ayukta" . In the past in India, several commissions to enquire into alleged corruption and nepotism were appointed but nothing tangible resulted. Even when a court of law convicts some one, either the person escapes through managed appeal judgement or undergoes a notional punishment after which he/she  enjoys the ill-gotten wealth. Why can't the ill-gotten wealth be confiscated? There are some very influential and powerful people who have practiced scientific corruption and earned wealth that can take care of several generations of their families. Yet they are regarded next to God by the vulnerable sections of society who are happy with the few pieces of bones thrown to them,not from their pockets but out of taxpayers money when they ruled. How to change the politics, politicians and political system of this country which is chronically sick due to indiscipline; dishonesty and extreme selfishness. A miracle has to occur or we have to wait for the future generations to rise in revolt against the misdeeds of the earlier generations. Till then we have Hobson's choice during elections and change for the better would have to remain a dream.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Politicians particularly in India survive only due to the extremely short lived memory of people. Proliferation of political parties in this country is rivalled only by bacteria. Most if not all the parties are personality based and not on any policy or principle. In India, the number of political parties is more than the number of castes and communities, because each community or caste or religion is represented by as many people with some influence in their group. Each emerged as a leader in the locality and initially attaches to a political party especially the one in power, to start wielding influence over the local government officials, police etc. Based on popularity, the political party gives them position and makes them contest elections. The moment one feels that he/ she has a following, demands are made to the parent party. If the parent party is unable to oblige, a new party with a name and flag similar to the parent organization is formed and starts functioning as a letter head unit most of the time while trying to make feeble noises when possible. All this is to demand a price for the ensuing election.   If only one could recall what all a leader said or wrote over a period of time and what he/she does today, nothing could be more shocking. Politicians seem to have developed a philosophy of their own, in which nothing is wrong as long as it serves their purpose. Alignment during election has no basis other than winning some seats. Promises made through manifesto and also during campaign need to be forgotten once election results are announced. During campaign, they appear to be bundles of virtues while their opponents are evil personified.
It is time that democracy is meaningfully functional and not ludicrously functional. In India, we tend to abuse freedom and make a mockery of democracy by allowing literally hundreds of parties without any policy or principle different from others and making criminals contest elections and become so called leaders. They use all foul means including bribing voters. The political parties vie with each other in announcing freebies if they come to power, out of exchequer and not from their pockets. They print their pictures and give their names for what rolls out of the taxpayers coffers. They do not want to empower the people by giving them jobs and earning for their needs. They want to retain them as beggars so that they will always be dependent and be their slaves. Since all laws of the land have to be made by such people we have no redemption. The only ray of hope is the activism of the election commission and judiciary who even if it is out of their way, take laws into their hands in the interest of the country and its gullible public to set things right to the extent feasible. I really don't know whether there is light at the end of the tunnel or the smart political class will effectively prevent activism of the autonomous election commission and the judiciary.
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Familiarity breeds contempt

Anything common, anything frequent and anything abundant looses its interest, it's attraction and it's value. If something has to retain its interest, value and glamour it has to be somewhat rare and infrequent. Take typically the case of aluminum and gold. Why gold is so valuable than aluminum? Simply the question of abundance. Aluminum is twice as abundant as iron. But you may not be aware that it was more precious than gold and silver in the 19th century because it was so hard to obtain then. It is said tat Napoleon III reserved a prized set of aluminum cutlery for very special guests at banquets while less favored guests used gold knives and forks. In 1884, USA just to show off its industrial prowess, capped the Washington monument with a six pound pyramid of Aluminium. But things changed as its availability increased.
Emperors, Kings and for that matter popular actors and important people should appear in public less frequently, to retain their importance and value. If they are seen all the time everywhere, people loose interest to even look at them. This is applicable to many things. If everyone walks naked, there would be no interest in life. It's true for blogs and other posts as well. That's why, I decided to write less frequently. In fact, a friend of mine used to forward jokes, interesting information, pictures and videos which I used to immediately see, respond and even forward to others, but as it started coming more frequently and every day, I slowly stopped opening and lost interest. This is what is understood by saying " familiarity breeds contempt ". Now a days, you need to be always and in everything short and sweet. If you write voluminously in the name of blogs, no one would like to read. So let me stop here.

Why modern medicine?

Health care was born when humans evolved. It has also evolved with human evolution. Many of us do not realize that we are evolving day by day and as the process is so slow and subtle it is difficult for us to realize. But evolution of health care is visible. Some ancient systems are still in vogue with limited utility as modern system happens to be inadequate for certain diseases and disorders. Some of the ancient Indian systems like Ayurveda are useful to fill the gaps for the time being because they have developed through trial and error and we don't have treatment in modern medicine. The major problem in these is that they use extractions/ decoction /concoctions of one or more plants and other substances. These or so complex that you cannot elucidate the individual chemical components . We cannot understand the nature of the active compound and we don't even know whether it is one or more chemical that brings the desired result. Sometimes, it's believed to be a synergistic effect. But the problem is, if something goes wrong or there is some allergic or unwanted reaction, we would not know the antidote. After all, allergy is very specific and personal to an individual. Further, we need to establish the scientific basis and through specific and valid clinical trials prove the efficacy of the treatment for universal application and acceptance. Some treatment systems use heavy metals and toxic components which they claim safety out of faith in the past. We don't know whether different methods of toxicity testing including long term bioaccumulation using preclinical trials were established. Among the so called alternate systems the most puzzling is Homeopathy. The very basis or foundation of this is unscientific and unacceptable to me. I fail to get convinced with the concept that greater the dilution more will be the potency or efficacy. People with faith in this system fail to realize that it is their faith that cures them and others like them and not the substance in their "medicine". For people of this type, I would like to give some personal examples. When I was in school, one day the younger brother of my classmate who was three years old, had swallowed the entire contents of a small cylindrical bottle in which the round small sugar balls ( containing homeopathy medicine of high potency) meant for his father was kept. The family upon realization of this, got panicked and rushed him to the clinic of the reputed Homeopathy doctor in my town those days, who coolly told the scared parents, that no problem, no harm would be done as the medicine will not affect those who don't have the complaint and would act only on those who suffer. Are you not stunned by this statement? This resulted in my stand that the cure claimed by so many including my wife with homeopathic treatment, is nothing but placebo effect or faith cure. Another proof  for my belief in faith cure was again my experience with my last son when he was a child about thirty years ago. He used frequently get sick with fever. I used to give him some medicines and he will not recover. Then I used to take him to our family doctor and he will prescribe the very same medicine after discussing with me. He will get cured immediately. Further, it has been proved that many of the illnesses are psychosomatic in nature. Except Infectious, genetic and some physiological diseases, most of the physiological problems are psychosomatic. We normally think that only depression and the consequent illnesses are psychosomatic. But several others are also psychosomatic and I have several instances personally known to me. You should not misunderstand that such illnesses are imaginary and not real. The illnesses are real but only the cause is psychological. For example, long back, it was established by a scientific study that if you hypnotize a person and tell the person is having food and depending on the type of food the person is told, the stomach started secreting acid and all other enzymes needed to digest the food are released in the gastrointestinal tract. So, psychosomatic origin of the illness and placebo effect are difficult to discover and make people to accept. My view is that there should be a serious effort to create as much scientific evidence as possible for effective and proven treatments in traditional medicine by following established procedures in modern medicine.

Is there a right to kill ?

I am tempted to again get into the confusing and controversial concept of rights. The right to live does not automatically confer the right to die because birth and death are not part of one's rights. You cannot be born when, how and where you wish and this should be applied equally to death as well. But, the stretch between birth and death namely life that is, the way of living is somehow considered your right. You cannot be dictated as to how you should live. Therefore, the right to live with dignity or otherwise cannot be stretched to include a right to live or die. I am also of the opinion that a “living will" which is quite legal for your property, is not acceptable for euthanasia. Writing a will is legal for the wealth acquired by you but not to end your life which is not acquired by you and hence not your right! That is why suicide is not legal. . When suicide for a specific reason by an individual is not permitted how can we have death penalty? A judge is also a human and is therefore likely to err in judgement. How can the judgement of a death sentence be accepted which cannot be reverted after execution? Any punishment is often said to deter the punished from repeating the crime. If he is hanged to death how can it be a deterrent to him? I have never heard of a death sentence deterring others from committing that crime. Even accidents which kill people, fail in a country like India to deter people from driving without obeying rules. A harsh life imprisonment if fully implemented may deter some people. Same arguments of right to death have been raised for euthanasia and it has so far not been permitted in many countries including those which punish criminals with death sentences. But those who have seen the sufferings of terminally ill patients, who have no chance of recovery, will definitely agree to euthanasia.  If at all, a law for euthanasia is to be enacted, the most important class should be that the individual to be euthanized is above the prevalent maximum age of over 10% of the population. It may vary. Now, it can be fixed as eighty years in countries like India. Just as the government fixed frequently the prevailing market value of several things like land, an expert committee could decide on this from time to time and passive euthanasia may be permissible for those above this age subject to conditions. Let us not pass a law for euthanasia without thorough analysis on different counts. I ventured writing this because recently I read about this in the editorial column of a reputed Indian Newspaper.

The forgotten organ and the mighty midgets

The term bacteria or microbes has become very common but often induces in layman's mind a sort fear as if they are the only cause of diseases and that we should keep away from them. First, I would clarify this before proceeding further. It's true that some microbes ( viruses, bacteria and microfungi) do cause some diseases referred as Infectious diseases some of which can be contagious as they spread by contact. We have a number of antimicrobial drugs to treat such diseases. But there are other types of diseases termed physiological and genetic diseases which are not caused by microbes and are often more difficult to treat such as Cancer.
We need to be ever grateful to these mighty midgets or microbes, as we cannot survive in this world without them, while they can without us. Apart from varied uses of microbes in the production of several goods and services, the very space where we live is available to us only because of them, as they keep constantly removing the dead biota (organic matter) from our environment. If only we sterilize our environment, the space available would soon be filled with dead ones.
At this juncture, I would like to point out to some of you that not only we can't afford to keep our environment complete sterile but can not afford to keep any part of our body either outside or inside totally sterile. Every part of our body from head to foot both outside and inside is inhabited by specific populations of microbes which are irreplaceable as they perform specific roles needed for our survival. These are called "Microbiomes" and dependant on the place of occurrence they are variously labelled as Gut Microbiome, Skin Microbiome and so on. In fact, on a healthy, normal human body the number of natural resident microbes far out number the number of cells in the body. The microbial inhabitants of the human organs such as the gut is often referred as the forgotten organ because they perform and are responsible for a variety of essential functions. The microbial signature is often specific helping us to characterize an individual for example the gut Microbiome will tell us about your food habit. At this juncture, it would not be out of place to say that the cattle which eat and digest hay ( dry straw) are able to do so only because of their gut microbiota and not because of their ability to produce the enzymes required for straw digestion.
When I start talking or writing on this topic, I am likely to forget myself and over step the limit of general knowledge and get into technical details. So I force conclude this topic and express my willingness to answer specific queries if any from any of you.

A profession if you can't fit elsewhere.

Let me confess in the beginning itself that my knowledge of the ensuing subject is limited to my country and may seem bizarre to some of you who are not from India. What I am going to say pertains to India and countries alike.
These days, especially in rural and suburban areas, people are not unduly bothered if their offspring or siblings are not interested in studies and are more concerned about their physical development than mental development. They may even tend to be rough and start indulging in unethical practices. Surprisingly,their parents (especially if not quite literate) , rejoice and encourage them as they see a potential in them to become political leaders.
In preindependent India, people were willing to sacrifice what they had, for their commitment and/ or for the love of their leader/ land. They stepped into politics oblivious of consequences and without expectations. I have known quite a few fairly rich business men and landlords who lost everything they had during the Independence struggle. Subsequently, I have seen quite a few political leaders who had held high offices such as Home Minister in the state cabinet for over a decade but were penniless on retirement traveling by public transport and dying in government hospitals. But the moment some people discovered that politics is after all a potential gold mine that could be exploited without any qualification including education or virtues, with just muscle and/ or word power, everything changed. A new profession out of a pastime was carved out and all those with oratorical skills and totally care free attitude in life were attracted to this  like iron filings to a magnet. They became mass leaders and started creating groups of devout denizens arousing and nurturing parochial thoughts. This is paying off till now and those indulging are nonchalant because they are confident of buying anything including justice with money. Once moneyed people for the sake of name and fame joined politics and served the society. Their money was spent. Now, people make easy money with this profession. The saddest part of the story is that initially, when a new breed of corrupt politicians were emerging the officialdom was strict and conscious of values. But gradually, the dexterous, ingenious and cunning political class hit at the weakest nerve of the official machinery and brought it down to their feet. The reason why India is on the wrong side of corrupt countries' list is not only due to the perfect nexus between the two pillars of governance but the casual attitude of the hapless citizens who have started taking things on their strides. I believe we've almost reached a point of no return. Still as a staunch optimist, I expect a miracle.
Some may say corruption is not new and it was prevalent from time immemorial. They say that it existed during British rule. I am sure that only those who are unaware of the type and extent of corruption in existence now would say so. In earlier days it was like the tips that you give in hotels and restaurants that is prevalent with lower rungs in the ladder.

....and each generation plays the same.

Glorifying the past, condemning the present and doubting the future is the name of the game and each generation plays the same. This is true from time immemorial. Youngsters are always scared of picking up a conversation with oldies as they preconceive the trend of conversation. Invariably, elders of each generation think that they inherit a glory from the past and tell that they struggled and worked hard to reach their status and place. The younger generation according to them is ambitious and wants everything with little or no effort. I am amazed that this fits all periods and generations till the present. Is this part of the generation gap?
Deep rooted psychology is behind. Probably, the reason is the reluctance towards change and fear of the future. Possessiveness (often innate and unperceived) resists differences in attitude and behavior. It finds different expressions. One such is shilly-shallying about the ability of the next generation. In fact, the exposure and consequent improvement in intelligence quotient of each subsequent generation makes them more competent to face the new realities of modern world and life.
In the past, ignorance about nutrition was the reason for the stunted nature of some populations and not simply poverty. But when knowledge was gained, the full genetic potential was expressed and even the so called dwarf populations are no more dwarf. In this instance, how can the past be glorified? But, this need not be taken to decry the past,  praise the present and reassure the future. It would be wise not to compare the past and present, only on issues of our interest, because anything to be compared will have to be similar/identical in aspects other than those compared. The conflict arises out of inappropriate comparisons.
Let us sing in chorus " Fair play is the name of the game and each generation plays the same at least in future ".

Attitude is important

Many of us are so negatively tuned from birth and are surrounded by such people all around that even unconsciously we tend to be negative. When you have to head some group and lay down rules and regulations, the temptation is always to think how and how many would misuse than thinking of the number of people who would use them. Right from rearing children we commit mistakes. We start teaching children what they should not do than what they should do. "Don't do this, don't do that , don't go there, don't look at that" is what I have heard as a kid. It is the implant of negativity in a child.
I personally use to feel that my inability to achieve early in life was due to the diffidence created by negative upbringing. Lack of self confidence is the result of this negative thinking. Right from birth we need to be provided confidence and positive attitude in everything. Thrusting ones ideas and attitudes on others particularly on children is very undesirable. This is precisely what has been done in our society so far. People use to  thrust their ideas, thinking and wishes on their children so far in this country.  We used to decide right from dress, food and courses of study of our children without bothering about their views. There are those who even think that the children don't have the right to have their own ideas. I distinctly remember my childhood. We were told to obey elders implicitly without questioning. That is the reason why normally our students do not ask questions during, lectures, seminars etc., Luckily, of late this seems to be changing at least with some people. Gradually more and more would fall in line.
I wish at least in this 21st century, let us resolve, to develop positive outlook and attitude in everything and foster original thinking and interests in youngsters and children. Our experience in life should be useful to them as guidance especially if they go wrong and should not be thrust on them. Shooting down ideas and suggestions without providing sufficient reasons is nothing but negative attitude. Let us encourage outside the box ideas and thoughts and promote originality and creativity among young and old alike.

New Year resolution

At the start of each New Year, new thoughts come to many and new resolutions are invariably taken. Many even attempt to follow the resolution seriously and sincerely , for a period,  the length of which depends on the tenacity of the individual. I am aware of cases of very short lived, say a couple of minutes, to very long time even up to their entire life time, keeping up their resolve. The duration depends on the quality of resolution also. What I mean quality is a sum of many aspects such as importance of the issue; frequency or duration of occurrence; addiction or habitual; the urgency of the issue etc., This is some what akin to Diary writing. Many people decide to maintain diaries the moment they are in possession of a good looking Diary. I have tried umpteen times to keep writing Diary and it didn't last for even for few weeks at a time. There are at least few who manage to do this but not keeping up New Year resolutions.
Thanks to modern technology my telephone serves the functions of Calendar and Diary. So some technology is needed to keep up the New Year resolutions also. Till then, the best would be to take the resolution I took this New Year. That is " not to take any resolution hereafter". Many people don't wish to disclose their resolution for fear that people may laugh at them when they don't keep. But by telling openly, you increase the chances of keeping up to the resolution, at least to avoid being shamed. This is my way of making myself do certain things which otherwise I may not.