Life and Beyond

 Call it a calculated conspiracy of algorithms but over the last week I watched two 'recommended' TED videos, each dealing with with dimensions of life and death.

The first one was by Isabel Stenzel Byrnes titled the "The Art of Saying Goodbye", and the second one by Nancy Trivellato on Out-of-Body Experiences (OBE).

Isabel describes her own harrowing experiences with Cystic Fibrosis, numerous encounters with the death, end-of-life issues, and organ donation. She also talks about her realisation that there is no right or wrong way to say goodbye to a loved one, and that grief is an art, a deeply intellectual and spiritual process of making sense of loss.

I was particularly touched by this description of grief by Isabel's friend, Christine:

"If you were to ask me what stage of grief I'm in, I would say denial, anger, fear, profound sadness...sequentially, and then all at once, and sometimes not at all."

The second TED video by Nancy Trivellato, a researcher from Brazil, begins with a question that has long been familiar to ancient Indian philosophers - "Is the reality we live in the actual reality?". The point being made here was that the 'reality' being presented to us by our sense organs give us, at best, only a small fraction of the many realities that exist in parallel. Nancy makes this point by presenting a set of photographs of the cosmos, each showing how instruments that detect different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum see the same slice of the night sky so differently.

However Nancy's talk is not about the EM spectrum or the cosmos but something more subtle. She describes how as a child she had an out-of-body experience of 'seeing' a beloved uncle on a hospital bed in Sao Paolo. He and his wife had gone there for a gall bladder operation without informing anybody and were quite astounded to hear the little girl describe his hospital room.

The common thread that runs through both these videos is that there is more to life and death, and dimensions of consciousness that needs our attention with tools that are beyond the reach of existing scientific instruments and conceptual frameworks. 

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* TED Video - "The Art of Saying Goodbye" (Isabel Byrnes) - https://youtu.be/Dkffpibi-Dc

* TED - Nancy Trivellato on OBE - https://youtu.be/NMBNZspmn7I

* The Power of Two - A Twin Triumph Over Cystic Fibrosis - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Two-Triumph-Cystic-Fibrosis/dp/0826217540 

A Tragedy Live-Streamed

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"--Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

What has been happening at Kabul's HKIA airport from 15 August 2021 onwards has been surreal, incredulous and depressing all at the same time.

Having been through this airport many times, and seen the many layers of its heavily armed perimeter,  it was amazing to see how thousands of people managed to get past its gates, all the way to military aircraft on the runway. It has been a week now and thousands of people continue to remain there all day, blocking the approach roads, clambering atop aircrafts, sitting inside jet-engine air-vents, getting shot at by security guards, and getting killed in the resulting stampede.

Much has already been said about the levels of desperation and panic in parts of Kabul. What has come as a big surprise to me is that for a city that has been under blanket electronic and police surveillance for decades, mobile networks continue to function normally, streaming live video from people all over the place. 

One particular video clip stands out.  This is a C-17 US military plane attempting to take off from Kabul airport. It is a monster of an aircraft - over 50m long, and capable of carrying over 275 tonnes, but here, as it lumbers on the runway, we see thousands of men were running alongside; some are waving cheerfully at the cameras, a few perched on the wheel carriages or flaps. Among them was one man in a dark Pathan suit, sitting precariously over on a winglet, looking intently looking into his mobile phone!

Incredibly, there is also a clip titled "Last video from the plane" in which we have a man in the same group recording the almost festive spirit of the group perched precariously there. Even as the jet engines rev up into a roar, he is talking a selfie shot, smiling into the camera, panning it around to show his companions waving cheerfully at his friends. Apache helicopters can be seen flying alongside, trying in vain to disperse the crowds. One can almost feel the wind lashing on on those faces, the roar jet engines drowning out the crowds. 

Then another phone records the C-17 taking off. As it climbs up sharply a few men can be seen slipping off and falling to their deaths. One was seen tangles in the concertina wires of a boundary wall, another spattered on a rooftop, and in yet another mobile, recording from inside the aircraft, the body of a man can be seen flailing in the winds, like a rag-doll stuck on a dumpster.

Not one of them would have survived. One can only imagine the levels of desperation and ignorance that led these men to their deaths. One wonders how the "last video" managed to reach FB and Twitter, and how many of them really thought they could get away sitting out there?

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LINKS

*  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/17/human-remains-found-c-17-wheel-well-after-takeoff-kabul/8170724002/

Frankl's Search for Meaning

A random quote on social media leads you to a book, and then some thoughts in the book hit you deep inside. This happens to me quite often - the latest example comes from the book, "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl.

The Frankl quote in this case came from a TEDxGenoa video - "Everything can be taken from man but one thing. The last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.". 

Much of the book is focused on the author's experiences in Nazi Concentration Camps while describing his psychotherapeutic method (Logotherapy, where logo = meaning ), of identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about, which then helps you survive the most difficult trails of life.

Towards the end of the book, while describing the various ways in which prisoners tried to keep up their hope through the months and years of being subjected to starvation, beatings, and torture amidst those who who were being taken away to the gas-chambers, he tells of a comrade who - 

"...on his arrival in the camp had tried to make a pact with Heaven that his suffering and death should save the human being he loved from a painful end. For this man, suffering and death were meaningful; his life was a sacrifice of the deepest significance"

This set me thinking about my father and my grandparents, who suffered prolonged confinements at hospitals before dying. It brought back memories of confusion, helplessness and despair; of constantly wondering why people who lead such gentle lives in the service of others, had to suffer so much in the end.

This book has many helpful pointers - 

"What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life...it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us...Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct."

Where have I read this before..?  - The Gita? Teachings of the Buddha?

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Links and References:

* TEDx - Own Your Behaviours (Louise Evans) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZuWrdC-9Q&list=PLJZfFMDhIj8x6c-zuDsF6Y6y2bx0geOal&index=60&t=0s

* Frankl, Viktor (1946): Man's Search for Meaning -  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

Meeting the Snakeman

About 16 years ago, while rummaging through the second-hand book market at Daryaganj, Delhi, I had picked up a biography simply out of curiosity - "Snakeman: The Story of a Naturalist". It was the fascinating story of Romulus Whitaker, the American-born Indian herpetologist who has done more for building awareness - and respect - for snakes and reptiles in India than anybody else.

It is truly the 'power of one'; of what a single committed, determined individual can achieve, despite all odds. Despite the cynicism and active discouragement of numerous people, he mobilized the Irula tribesmen into a cooperative that helps manufacture precious anti-venom serum which saves thousands of lives in India every year. It also provides valuable alternate employment to the Irulas who had been reduced to a life of poverty and destitution after a ban was imposed on their main livelihood - the export of snake-hides (Wildlife Protection Act 1972).

Last week, I had a chance to meet the great man himself, at an event organised by the Indian Express in New Delhi. 

There were so many things I did not know. I was surprised to learn (or be reminded, if that's a better word), that not all snakes lay eggs. Vipers give birth to live babies, and it is for this very reason that they get their name (vivus = 'alive' + pario = 'bring forth'); The deadliest snake in India is not the Cobra but the Russel's Viper; Biochemistry of snake-venom is still not clearly understood - the anti-venon-serum for vipers in Tamil Nadu is not quite effective for the larger vipers found in Rajasthan. I also did not know that the bite of a Krait is so painless that most people do not know that they have been bitten - until it is too late!

Here is a collection of three videos Rom Whitaker has made recently, to raise awareness on deadly snakes, snake-bites and rescue. Not many people seem to know about these educational videos, so here are the links:

* FOUR DEADLIEST SNAKES OF INDIA


* SNAKEBITE


* SNAKE RESCUE - THE EXPERT WAY


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LINKS:

* WIldlife Protection Act, 1972 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_Protection_Act,_1972
* Irula Snake-Venom Cooperative - http://tcdc2.undp.org/GSSDAcademy/SIE/Docs/Vol3/Snake_Venom.pdf
* Chennai Snake Park - http://www.chennaisnakepark.org/

Being Mortal in India

A peaceful, painless death is one of life's greatest blessings.

Atul Gawande's latest book is born out of experiences with those who, for most part, did not have this blessing. It discusses the way in which medical technology and social norms tend to mislead, dictate or overrule the options available to those who are terminally ill.

The book also brought back deeply disturbing memories of my father's last days at a hospital in Kerala. Much like a patient described in the book, he to was shuttling between hospitals and diagnostic labs, with an irreversible nervous system failure. Towards the end it was appalling to see somebody who stayed away from hospitals "drugged into oblivion and tubed in most natural orifices as well as a few artificial ones".

Gawande, with his focus on the prevailing healthcare system in USA, misses on some of the more disturbing aspects of what the urban elderly face in India. The fact that my father retired from the central government service prolonged his suffering in more ways than one. The first question they asked you at hospitals was - "He is fully insured under CGHS, isn't he?".

A comprehensive health insurance package seems to have prompted private hospital docs to prescribe drugs, diagnostics and procedures that were completely unnecessary. Towards the end, all the family members had to give a signed undertaking to get him out of the ICU, back into the pay-wards.

The priorities of the elderly, and the terminally ill in India may be the same as those in other countries -- to avoid suffering, strengthening relationships with family and friends, being mentally aware, not being a burden on others,

The challenge is trying to ensure that these priorities take precedence over those of the doctors, the healthcare service providers, pharma & diagnostic companies, as well as 'loving' family and friends.


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LINKS

Homepage - http://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal/

Death, Sorrow & Self-Pity

In one of my favorite passages in the Mahabharata, the great sage Brihadaswa stops by to visit the hermitage of the Pandavas, within a few months of their being cheated of their kingdom and exiled to the forests. The Pandava princes are full of self-pity and they keep brooding about their lost riches.

Sage Brihadaswa's response is rather interesting. He says, "You say that there is no one in the world who is as unfortunate as you. Now that is not true, though everyone, tried by adversity is inclined to claim pre-eminence in sorrow, because things directly experienced are more than things heard or seen..."

Later, in the Aaranyakanda chapter , a forest spirit demands from Yudhistira, answers to a few questions as the price for reviving his siblings who have died of thirst and poisoning. One of them is:

'What is the greatest wonder in the world?'

Asareearvanini - asked Yudhishtira what is the strangest thing in life. His reply - "People die everyday and those who are alive go on as though they will live for ever!"


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Kanda, Mohan (2012): A VOICE OF WISDOM LOST - Obituary to S.K. Rau, Indian Express, 28 Nov 2012

India's Middle Class: Beyond Self-Interest

"How do you engage the middle class on broader issues of society, issues that do beyond its own self interests?"

This is a question Sandhya Venkateshwaran articulated in a recent op-ed. She framed this question in the context of two recent events:

In December 2012, when a middle-class student was brutally gang-raped in New Delhi, the city witnessed spontaneous protests and angry demands for accountability. In sharp contrast, when over 20 school-children died after consuming a government-sponsored mid-day meal in rural Bihar, the incident was "greeted by an eerie silence".

So her question is -- - how often has India witnessed middle class protests against the death of poor children or for their right to education; how often have the middle classes raised their voice against the displacement of the tribal community or slum dwellers due to the construction of factories and malls; how often do they protest against the lack of accountability and quality in the public health system?

These questions, somehow, seem like a case of barking up the wrong tree. There have been numerous cases where individuals from the middle classes have given voice, and provided leadership to the poor, who had neither. Yet, have there been instances - anywhere in the world -  where affluent classes have risen in mass protests against inequality and injustices in their own society? I doubt it.

Surat, a city of diamond merchants, was hit by the plague in 1994. Even then, the middle class continued to see the filth and squalor of the city as somebody else's problem - until business came to a standstill, and many of them got quarantined in airports across the world. Once the problems of those outside their gated communities intruded into their homes, change followed.

A bureaucrat named S.R Rao was then able to push through reforms (1995-2002) that increased sanitation coverage to 97% of the city; extended drinking water supply from 60% to 95%;and increased daily garbage clearance from 40% to 98%. So it was hardly surprising when Malaria cases plummeted from 22,000 in 1994 to 496 in 1997, and to zero by 2002.

Public protests may provide good fodder for TV debates and newspaper bylines. They may even lead to enactment of new laws (which nobody implements anyway). But the middle class is unlikely to go beyond tokenism until their comfort zones are clearly encroached.

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LINKS

Venkateshwaran, Sandhya (2013): SILENCE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS, IE, 1Aug13 --- http://www.indianexpress.com/news/silence-of-the-middle-class/1149418/0

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/midday-meal-tragedy-bihar-to-issue-stringent-instructions/article4927726.ece

Pallliparambil, Godshen R (): THE SURAT PLAGUE AND ITS AFTERMATH -- http://entomology.montana.edu/historybug/YersiniaEssays/Godshen.htm