Where are they now?

 

Source : Google photo

Note : You can hear the narration of this blog or any other blog by clicking on the A button in your browser if your browser is Microsoft Edge. 

Synopsis: We all have the tendency to remember good people who are our friends or mentored us when we needed them but we tend to forget those who were only acquaintances and never our friends. A real friend who remains steadfast and loyal is hard to find so they must be cherished. 

When I was seven or eight years old, I used to go to the park nearby where I played with a few youngsters like myself who gathered there to play. We were not supervised by our parents or elders like in some countries so we were free to do whatever we wanted like climbing trees to pluck a few forbidden fruits or jump over the neatly cut hedges only to fall flat on the flower beds.

There were girls of our age also but mostly they were not a part of our group because we at that age were not really interested in girls in ways boys look at girls or vice versa because our hormones had not started to kick in because we were just children. We did what other children did that mostly included having fun without having to pay for it. We did not have pocket money or fancy toys to play with so we improvised a lot that included many types of mischief making like grabbing nasty hornets to attach a string in it and make it fly like a kite. There were other mischiefs that I will not write about here because the list is long.

In the process of growing up, I got to know some kids better than others like Nantu who never told me his real name nor did I to him because everyone had a nick name like Nantu. The formal introduction was not needed. Nantu came from a prosperous family of 2 more brothers older than him but his father was a well-known doctor who was also a very religious man so his three sons were also given good training at home to be religious.

How religious they were was hard to tell but Nantu often was required to do the evening Lakhsmi Pooja at home that he did well. He memorized all the chants and hymns and knew all the rituals by heart while I waited patiently for him to finish so that we could go to the park to play.

Nantu went to an expensive English medium school like his brothers and proudly showed off his dark blue shorts and light blue shirt uniform while I went to a poor school with leaking class rooms and worn out desks and stools so there was a big gap between us but it did not stop us to become friends. Our parents knew his parents and we went to their house on special occasions like Durga Pooja.

Nantu and I were inseparable. We talked of many things children talk about and we played together. At that age we did not have big dreams and a solid plan for our future but we did make plans to steal a few fruits from the garden and risked the wrath of the gardeners who were always on the lookout for the naughty kids like us. Sometimes we quarreled over petty things but were also quick to make up and be friends again. 

We exchanged small gifts like marbles or a colored glass bead so it was simple. I often kept the nasty hornets in a match box in my pocket that too served as a prize gift Nantu loved. I made many kites land on our roof with the help of a stone attached to a string so that too I shared with Nantu and taught him how to bring down a kite while the kite fliers never guessed who the kids were and where.

Thus a few more years passed and we started to grow up and move up to the next level in our school where eventually we reached 10th grade that meant taking the Board exam. But by this time we had moved into our new home quite far from the neighborhood where we had lived so I did not see Nantu again until one day many years later when he suddenly showed up. He had grown taller and more handsome but essentially the same old childish Nantu I had known so long ago.

I was delighted to see him again and asked him what he was doing all these years. He said that he had run away from his home and joined the Army by faking his real age and slowly rose in ranks to become a captain in the signal corps. While we were thus talking, a postman came to deliver a brown envelop to me that contained my passport. Nantu was excited and asked me why I needed a passport and where I was going. He showed great delight to know that I was going to Vietnam so he said that it needed a celebration of sorts. We spent the rest of the day eating and talking together.

Then Nantu said goodbye and disappeared from my life forever leaving a void that only a dear friend like him could. Nantu took his life one day but I will not get into the why and how but I do miss him and cherish all the time we spent together as children.

In our life we meet many people while growing up, later in school and college. After graduation we get a job somewhere so we meet new people in our work place. We settle down at a certain age with a wife and have children so we get to meet new people in our new community so in each phase of our life we get to meet new people who may or may not become our friends.

I too knew many people but they did not become my friends like my classmate in high school who was my seatmate for 7 years and I often played with him in his house but when I met him again after some 20 years , he simply said Hi and then disappeared claiming that he had an appointment to keep somewhere. Many of my playmates of yesteryears are aloof and do not even ask what am I doing or where in the world I live. I could have told them many things but they showed no interest except superficiality. One guy showed fake excitement and promised to come to our house later for a longer talk but he never showed up.

Another fellow who was passing by our gate showed no emotions on seeing me some 30 years later and disappeared saying that he was in a hurry. This was the same fellow who I used to walk with every evening and who went to the airport to see me off when I was leaving for Vietnam but now he had no time.

So in life we get to meet all sorts of people. It starts from our childhood and continues until we die but how many of them we consider our friends? I can now say that most people we get to meet and know fall into the category of mere acquaintances because they remain aloof and show no interest in you as a person unless they want something from you.

Many of them said that I should bring them a camera or something from abroad. One even asked me to buy French perfume for his wife but backed off when I said that a small vial of Poison can cost over 60 dollars. Poison is a very famous and expensive perfume.

So when a friendship solely depends on what gifts you can bring for them then a true friendship does not develop. One of my classmates in college who now lives in Delhi said to me that I must bring him a bottle of Blue label Johnny Walker whiskey the next time and derided the Red label Johnny Walker I gifted him. We used to study whole night together to prepare for our final year exams and he was supposed to be my friend  but he let me down big time when he promised to do something very important but failed to do so and gave the job to someone who ran away with my money. It had to do with the renewal of my wife’s passport. All he had to do was to deposit the money at the Embassy,

My sweet wife often says that friends are for a reason and a season. When the reasons and seasons pass, they too disappear leaving no trace. A fake friendship falls apart quickly when jealousy is involved as it happened in my case. My classmate in high school got less marks than me in our Sanskrit class so he got very jealous of me because I got distinction in the Board exam. I never saw him again which was good.

This sort of thing can and does happen in schools, colleges and in work places where your school mates, college mates or your work mates may get jealous of you if you excel in what you do and get the attention of your teacher or your boss who may promote you to a higher level position because they notice your intelligence and better creative abilities.

I had to contend with classmate jealousy because our professors always singled me out for any assignment because I did it well and always asked me questions in the class that I was usually well prepared to answer. I did my homework well.

This feeling of jealousy starts early in high school and may continue in college so a smart girl is often bullied by those girls who are not smart but villainous in nature because of arrogance of rich parents, fine clothes or latest gadgets they bring to the school. They do not even try to understand the qualities of a smart girl or a boy so who do you think ends up being a top scientist or a doctor or a great engineer later in life? Vain and jealous people do not become friends to anyone because they think that they are superior to others so they cannot accept someone better than them.

Basically a friendship starts because of shared values, shared ideas, shared toys or books. When we do things together like playing, it brings others closer to you but not all of them become your friends no matter how many years you have played with them. So what brings two persons together who become friends like Nantu and I and why others have disappeared?

I think true friendship develops like a sapling at first that later can grow into a tree given a chance. So a friendship must be nurtured like a frail sapling at first and maintained until well established. I still wonder what great length Nantu and I would have gone to maintain and grow our friendship given half a chance. Sadly I was not given that chance so I still miss my childhood friend who was so innocent and loyal.

There are a few who have left an impression on me whom I miss today because I know that I will never get to see them again. There are those whom I never wish to see again because they were not my friends so have disappeared from my memory. My brain thankfully deletes their memories and keeps only the memory of those who were my friends and who left an impression on me.

You are lucky if you just have one true friend you can count on. Most people are not so lucky so in their old age they become alone. The email, facebook or numerous social media can bring you in contact with a lot of people but only very superficially. They tend to disappear just like a photo or a message at the press of a button so remember that people become friends for a reason or for a season.

I remember some very good people like Eberhard from Hamburg, Monique from Domremy aux bois, Marie Françoise from Compiegne, Pierre, Catherine Leguier of Paris, Mechell and Russell, my mentors like Drs.Ghosh and De Datta, my friend and mentor Dr.Kennedy, my professor Mr.Dey, Prof. Leighty, my friend and librarian Miss Thomas. Many are dead while others have disappeared leaving no trace.

I often wonder where they are now who are still living. Do they still have a tiny space in their heart for me? Do they still remember me as much as I remember them and miss them? I guess I will never know.

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. 

Mes blogs en français. 

Mis blogs en espagnol 

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch 

Blogs in Japanese 

My blogs at Wix site 

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com

Medium.com 

Anil’s biography in English.

Biographie d'Anil en français

La biografía de anil en español. 

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch 

Anil’s biography in Japanese 

Биография Анила по-русскиu 

The idea of Indian union

 

Source: Google photo of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia

Note : You can hear the narration of this blog or any other blog by clicking on the A button in your browser if your browser is Microsoft Edge.  

Synopsis: The idea of an Indian Union just like the EU does not seem too far-fetched but it has many hurdles to overcome. Great visionaries like Dr.Ram Manohar Lohia and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay put forth this idea long ago but said that it could be more of a union of shared cultural values and traditions making physical and political boundaries less important between nations. The blog looks at the benefits of such Union.

 

I am not a political person so normally I do not like to write about the politics of any country nor do I support any political party or its agenda but I watched a video where a gentleman was talking about how an Indian Union could be created that would be similar to the European Union. It made me think about the idea so I wanted to explain this idea to you in plain words because the author of the video was speaking in Hindi that you may not understand.

It was not his original idea. He was simply explaining it on behalf of the persons who wrote about it, talked about it and encouraged everyone to promulgate it so that one day in the future their ideas could turn into a reality for the benefit of the human kind that is hell bent on harming each other in the name of ideology, religion and hard core fundamentalism that has taken millions of lives and continues to divide the people in the Indian sub-continent.

These visionary men are no longer alive but they have left the seed in the minds of progressive people who think about the idea of an Indian Union that does not seem so far-fetched. They were some of the most fertile minds in the recent Indian history who left their huge footprints that no one seems to measure up to.

Such a man was Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia who openly challenged the so called visionary Prime Minister Nehru in the Parliament on his faulty policies that Nehru could not counter and kept mum. Lohia was a firebrand politician and a member of the parliament who never hesitated to speak his mind openly but he was respected and listened to.

Another leader and a man of great wisdom was Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay who became the national secretary of the BJP that is the party in power in India now. Sadly he was murdered by the opposition political party people who saw him as a threat to their existence.

There was a time long ago when India stretched from Afghanistan to Burma that included Afghanistan, Pakistan, present India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ruled by Hindu Kings before the advent of Islam in the sub-continent called South Asia. Later the Buddhist religion spread to many part of this empire including Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Much later the Moslems spread to all the countries where they tried to suppress the Hindus and people of other faith like in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sadly this process still continues. We all know how Buddhism was eliminated in Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to declare Islamic Republics so Buddhist and Hindu statues and relics were systematically destroyed like in Bamiyan.

Many Indians today think of the Greater India as it used to be so the idea of something similar to European Union mentioned by Dr.Lohia and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay long ago is again seriously discussed.  

Here I would like to first mention how the European Union came into being and how many treaties were signed, where and how many countries in Europe joined so I will quote this paragraph from Wikipedia that explains it better than I.

"The European Union is a geo-political entity covering a large portion of the European continent. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions and secessions that have taken it from 6 member states to 27, a majority of the states in Europe.

Apart from the ideas of federation, confederation, or customs union such as Winston Churchill's 1946 call for a "United States of Europe", the original development of the European Union was based on a supranational foundation that would "make war unthinkable and materially impossible"[1][2] and reinforce democracy amongst its members[3] as laid out by Robert Schuman and other leaders in the Schuman Declaration (1950) and the Europe Declaration (1951). This principle was at the heart of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (1951), the Treaty of Paris (1951), and later the Treaty of Rome (1958) which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). The ECSC expired in 2002, while the EAEC maintains a distinct legal identity despite sharing members and institutions.

The Maastricht Treaty (1992) created the European Union with its pillars system, including foreign and home affairs alongside the European Community. This in turn led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro (launched 1999). The Maastricht Treaty has been amended by the treaties of Amsterdam (1997), Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007).   ( Source : Wikipedia )"

Now 27 countries in Europe have become part of the European Union making it the single most important economic block where all members retain their sovereignty, their cultural identities, their religions, their integrity of their national territories, their food, their distinct languages etc. yet they have all become a part of the European Union.

All their national currencies have disappeared that have been replaced by a single currency called Euro so you can travel anywhere in Europe and use the same Euro. Their national borders remain but now all members can freely travel to any country in Europe without visas or other restrictions, can choose to stay and work in another country without any problem and even buy properties. They can marry in another country and their children can go to a school there.

The trade rules within the Union have been simplified so a farmer can sell his products anywhere in Europe easily. The manufactured goods are traded freely without any fuss within the Union. So you can imagine the benefits of such a Union.

Perhaps the Indian visionaries like Dr. Lohia and Pandit Upadhyay could be called the fathers of the idea long before the EU came into being and thought that it could be possible to create an Indian Union just like EU. I will explain now why there are some people who do not like this idea so they oppose vehemently. Dr. Lohia died in 1967 and Pandit Upadhyay died in 1968. India misses these two great men and their profound wisdom.

To understand their disagreement one has to understand the bloody history of the past 75 years when India fought 4 wars with its neighbor Pakistan and beat them each time but they are preparing for a 5th war over Kashmir with the threat of using their atomic weapons. India counters by saying that its nuclear arsenals are not just for show and deploys S 400 missile system near the border with Pakistan and China that gives India a complete air superiority over the enemy weaponry.

Both India and Pakistan spend huge amount of money on defensive and offensive weapons and maintain huge army, navy and air force that keep an eye on the enemies all the time to take appropriate measures when necessary. India is a rich country of multi trillion dollar economy so it has a huge budget and a very large defense industry that manufactures most of what the country needs for its defense but Pakistan is not in the same league so it carries a heavy burden of its defense expenses with difficulties.

Bangladesh became free after the 1971 war with Pakistan and has made progress in developing its economy by improving its agriculture and industries that earns them revenue from its exports of manufactured goods. But it too suffers like Pakistan from poverty, malnutrition and communal violence from time to time instigated by the hard core fundamentalists who are intolerant of those who are not like them.

Afghanistan is another failed state that has seen nothing but war that has lasted over 40 years and has practically decimated the country, its economy and its infrastructure so people starve, beg on the streets and live in a state of hopelessness. There is a high rate of drug addiction among them because they see the bleak future so take to drugs  while their government earns money from the export of illegal drugs like opium, cocaine and hashish to many countries. The fundamentalists who are in power there insist on archaic Stone Age rules to govern their country that brings more misery to the people there.

Now Sri Lanka finds itself in dire straits because the country is bankrupt and cannot pay back its huge external debt to China. People are fighting for a loaf of bread in the streets so the army is trying to maintain peace and order. India has sent them thousands of tons of wheat and millions of liters of gasoline but it can only go so far. They also suffer from communal violence because of the fundamentalism that divides the people there.

Now let us just think for a minute what could happen if an Indian Union just like the European Union could be created bringing all these desperate countries into one Union under the same rules like in EU.

There could be just one currency, easy trade between them, easy travel without visa, no customs or heavy import tariffs, no restrictions on buying properties or on investment. There would be no war between them because there will be no reason for it so they could all unite to fight a common enemy like China that has aggressive policy of grabbing land outside its borders. Instead of spending a huge amount of money on their defense, they could spend it on development of agriculture and industries. They could make education for everyone possible and give everyone good medical care.

The benefits are easy to see but the hard core fundamentalists will find such an idea very hard to digest given their history of intolerance of India and the 75 year old animosity that does not seem to die down.

The idea of bringing together Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India under one Union can work if people of these countries want it and give their full support to the idea through plebiscite but it is not easy because people are afraid of losing their cultural, religious or ethnic identity.

But this fear is not based on hard reality on the ground that suggests such a union but on emotions that are stirred up by those who oppose modernization, progress through development, education and healthcare for all. In fact there are more things that can unite them than divide them if they are willing. To live in a failed state in dire poverty and uncertain future with the constant fear of war with neighbors makes people lose their hopes and aspirations.

When two countries that have common culture, language and the same ethnicity are separated by force then a time will come when they will reunite. It has happened when East and West Germany reunited but North and South Korea remain separated and wait for the day when they too will be reunited like Germany. Similarly Burundi and Rwanda are separated by politics but they have more in common than their differences.

What Dr. Lohia and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay were talking about was not just a physical union of various countries under one umbrella but rather the cultural union of them because after all they all have something in common that can bring them together. All Moslems were Hindus who were forcefully converted but they still share a common heritage and culture with their neighbors and still carry Hindu family names. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains all share a common heritage and culture. They have the same DNA no matter what their religion says.

No country in Europe that is a member of the EU has lost its identity, culture, language, food or traditions, its ethnicity or religious values. They remain sovereign within the Union that has given them a freedom they never had before like the freedom of movement, the freedom of trade, owning property or marriage etc. It has given them choices they never had because all Europeans remember the horror of the past wars and the enormity of their sufferings.

What such a Union gives them all is better governance under the democratically elected governments using free and fair election but working together with other countries under one umbrella of a Union that drastically reduces the possibility of war between them through dialogue and arbitration. Thus disputes between the countries can be amicably and justly resolved. One currency for all strengthens the Central Bank that can loan huge amount of money to member states for development. 

Now imagine how much prosperity can be brought to the poor people in such a Union? Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay believed it could.

Source : Google photo of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay

I am a diehard optimist so I too believe that Lohia and Pandit Upadhyay were both right but only the time will tell if their vision will someday become a reality. Their souls will be appeased.

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. 

Mes blogs en français. 

Mis blogs en espagnol 

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch 

Blogs in Japanese 

My blogs at Wix site 

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com

Medium.com 

Anil’s biography in English.

Biographie d'Anil en français

La biografía de anil en español. 

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch 

Anil’s biography in Japanese 

Биография Анила по-русскиu 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Telangana rises like phoenix

 

Source : Google photo of Char Minar in Hyderabad, India

Note : You can hear the narration of this blog or any other blog by clicking on the A button in your browser if your browser is Microsoft Edge. 

Synopsis : How an honest leader who is fierce in his determination and resolve to bring development to his people succeeds through hard work gives an example to the whole nation to follow and gives inspiration to others as is evident in Telangana in India. 

How many of you have even heard of Telangana outside India? This blog is about a state in India that came into being only in 2014 after dividing the state of Andhra Pradesh but rose like phoenix in just 8 years to become a prosperous state that has set itself up as the model of development to inspire the whole country.

It is true that India is fast rising as the country of surplus food, rapid infrastructure development and high level of investment in practically all sectors of the economy that grows year after year at a rate that other developed nations look at with envy. But today you will watch a video here on Telangana that will show you what a leader with vision, determination and hard work achieved just short 8 years that will surprise you and completely change your view of India from negative to highly positive.

It is also true that what is happening in Telangana is also happening elsewhere in India although may not be at the same scale that is transforming the whole nation of over 1.4 billion people.

  https://youtu.be/_7QdV0ctqNI 

Source : U tube video on Telangana state in India 

Source : Google photo of the Chief Minister of Telangana KCR

All of it happened due to its Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao popularly known as KCR who was born Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (born 17 February 1954), often referred to by his initials KCR, is an Indian politician serving as the first and current Chief Minister of Telangana since 2 June 2014. He is the founder and leader of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a regional party in Telangana, India.[3] He is known for leading the Telangana movement to achieve statehood for Telangana. Previously, he served as the Union Minister of Labour and Employment from 2004 to 2006. He represents Gajwel constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Telangana. Rao took oath as the first Chief Minister of Telangana in 2014 and was re-elected for the second term in 2018.[4]

Telangana as a state is a relatively new state of India that broke away from the State of Andhra Pradesh only in 2014 but grows rapidly to bring growth and development to all its citizens living in rural and its urban centers at a speed that boggles the mind.

Source: Google map of India showing Telangana

It broke away from Andhra Pradesh that was ruled by the Nizam who being one of the richest persons in the world lived in opulent palaces and ate from pure gold plates while his subject mired in poverty, unemployment and misery lived in destitution showing the contrast between its past and the present. Farmers committed suicide who could not pay their debts and the young people left the state in large numbers to try their luck elsewhere in India and abroad. The sick and old people had nowhere to seek help while children died of malnutrition.

Their education and their future was neglected by the narcissistic Nizam who dreamed of joining Pakistan in 1947 being a Fundamentalist Moslem. But Sardar Patel, the Home Minister of the newly independent India in 1947 foiled the dream of Nizam when he ordered the state to be surrounded by the army to make Nizam capitulate and join the Indian Union. ( Read my blog here called A man of steel here )

KCR was a leader who struggled very hard to achieve the separate state called Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital. Hyderabad International airport is believed to be the most modern and beautiful not only in India but also abroad.

He did not neglect any aspect of the development in his state but he gave special emphasis on the rural development to bring free electricity and water to all farmers and built the infrastructure to support them so the villages look modern and with all amenities that one finds in urban areas.

He forgave the loans of farmers and encouraged modern ways of farming with massive help from the agriculture scientists and experts, subsidies from the government and made it easier for them to sell their farm products because of newly developed farm to market roads all over the state.

Millions of hectares of dry and parched land was brought under cultivation through massive lift irrigation projects that brought water for the first time to the dry areas that are now lush with all kinds of crops. The scale of the irrigation project in Telangana is astounding .The speed at which such big projects were completed is a record.

Poor people in Telangana state are given free 2 bed room housing, free education for the young including uniform, school supplies and food, free water and electricity, free ambulance service 24 hours a day, free health and medical care, free pre and post-natal care and nutrition for women among numerous such gifts from their government. It is in sharp contrast to the Capitalist system in some countries where a poor woman has to give birth in the parking lot of the hospital because she cannot afford the medical insurance.

While India is undergoing a development in all sectors, different states of the country are ruled by different Chief Ministers who may belong to different political parties who may have their own agenda like in Telangana so their success depends upon the will, honesty and integrity of their leaders. The success of the Telangana state is linked directly to its popular Chief Minister KCR who is known for his honesty and integrity and his hands on approach while many other states are ruled by corrupt ministers who only enrich themselves while people suffer.

If true leaders like KCR emerge in all the states, the whole country will shine like Telangana but the political parties are corrupt, their elected leaders are corrupt in many parts so the development in their states are patchy except where the Central Government in Delhi plans and executes big projects like national roads, rail and power networks.

 

  https://youtu.be/CSjBYdnlUUY  Source : U Tube video on Telangana

https://youtu.be/UPRKkSU5_40  Source : U Tube video on Hyderabad

When you watch these two videos on Hyderabad, you will see why people are talking about Hyderabad with such excitement.

https://youtu.be/qnOIv4tjEU0  Source : U Tube video on airport 

 When you visit India and land in Hyderabad, you will be landing in the most beautiful and modern airport in India but you will be constantly surprised at the development of not only in Hyderabad but the entire state of Telangana that will take your breath away. The twin city of Secunderabad will impress you with its modernity, elegance and beauty and you will think that you are in Switzerland but you will later know that Hyderabad and Secunderabad have more world heritage sites than other countries. Sardar Patel would have been impressed but he died soon after independence. His legacy is preserved in his statue in Gujarat that is the tallest in the world but it should have been placed in Hyderabad if you ask me.

Source : Google photo of the Husain Sagar lake with Buddha statue in Secunderabad , the twin city of Hyderabad, India.

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. 

Mes blogs en français. 

Mis blogs en espagnol 

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch 

Blogs in Japanese 

My blogs at Wix site 

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com

 Medium.com 

Anil’s biography in English.

 Biographie d’Anil en français 

La biografía de anil en español. 

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch 

Anil’s biography in Japanese 

Биография Анила по-русскиu 

Mental acuity

Source : Google photo of a thinking man  

Note : You can hear the narration of this blog or any other blog by clicking on the A button in your browser if your browser is Microsoft Edge. 

Synopsis: Old age does not mean that a person loses his mental acuity. It remains intact in many people but they do deserve to be recognized, loved and cared for.

As we age, we notice that we lose some of our mental acuity in the process of ageing. We forget what day it is, what time of the day it is or whether or not we took our prescribed medicine for the day. We forget the names of people we had known in the past or the dates of important events in our life.

This happens to most people if not all that is a natural process that makes people lose their mental acuity that is supposed to keep our brain sharp all the time. While it affects most people, there are many old people who retain this acuity until they die so how do they do it?

Some old people have done their best work at an age when others start babbling like children because they never lost their mental acuity. Their brain remain as sharp as the edge of a razor blade. They instantly recall scientific details of the papers they had written and published long ago. They remember complicated mathematical formulae or complex details of chemistry. They put forth new scientific ideas at an age when they are supposed to be old and senile but they prove that they are far from senile.

Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace at an age when most old people cannot think beyond their present medical needs or the morning cup of tea. Pablo Picasso made his masterpieces of painting that sold for millions when he was very old not to mention a virile old man. Once he was having dinner with his friends in a restaurant where he was served a delicious fish that he ate with relish and kept the fish bones intact and clean so his friends wondered what he will do with it. He then got some molding clay that he pasted on the side of his plate and made a deep impression of the fish bones on it.His artistic mind had no limits to its imaginative power. His mental acuity was at its peak even then that made him create a piece of art just with his fish bones. 

Some of the greatest scientists, artists, writers, film makers, philosophers, teachers, sculptors, violin makers, performing artists, singers, mathematicians and others did their best work when they were old because they reached their pinnacle using all the knowledge they had acquired in their life time and put it to create their masterpieces.

The loss of mental acuity is a process where the brain gradually starts to lose the ability to remember with the age in most people that leads to forgetfulness. Most governments have a mandatory age of retirement of 65 in most countries because they think that such people are no longer able to fulfill their duties or obligations in the most efficient way so they recruit young people to replace them. But many old people after their retirement do remain alert and are able to function well so now the Japanese companies value them and their life long experience so their employment is extended.

Similarly many retired medical doctors remain very good doctors and treat their patients with their rich experience of a life time as doctor and are known for their excellent diagnostic skills that can only come from experience. Compare them with young doctors who have no diagnostic skills so they search in google the remedies for illnesses or say that they have no knowledge of the disease of their patients so order numerous laboratory tests to find out what is wrong.

One doctor in the United States refused the medicine to his patient who had malaria and told his doctor that it is quinine that he needed to get well but his doctor did not know what malaria was and did not believe that his patient knew better than him. The result was tragic when the patient died of a curable disease just because the doctor was ignorant but self-righteous.I would call such doctors idiots.

The degeneration of the mental process that turns a human being into a vegetable state starts when the neurons in the brain do not connect to other neurons anymore or fail to make new connections but it is proven that such decline can be stopped or slowed down if the person keeps alert and uses his brain to read, absorb, analyze and draw conclusions from it that are valid. I can understand that some old people cannot read as much because of their poor eyesight but now there are computer programs that can read for you in any language.

Now using the computer anyone can connect with his colleagues, friends or associates anywhere in the world to exchange ideas or discuss issues that are important to them. There are very senior doctors who can see on line a surgery being performed on a patient in another part of the world and notice if the procedure is correct or not and give valuable advice to save the life of a patient such is the power of the technology now.

But millions of people who are over 70 and retired have no access to fancy computer technology or smart phones because of poverty. Many old people have never learned to type so one can understand their difficulties in using a keyboard or in understanding how a computer works. So how can they retain their mental acuity? They may have difficulty in reading due to their poor eye sights. So some people play chess or do crossword puzzles. Others who can still read depend on reading the scriptures that give them mental peace.

Source : Google photo of Stephen Hawking who was severely disabled but was brilliant

A severely physically disabled scientist like Stephen Hawking wrote his scientific treaties using the computer technology that won him worldwide acclaim before he died in England. He could not speak or move his limbs but his brain remained at the peak of its efficiency because his mental acuity remained intact.

So I think that more you use your brain, the sharper it becomes like honing a rusty blade. The use of the brain helps remove the rust so the brain starts to wake up to its former glory but it is not as easy as it sounds. A renowned scientist like Stephen Hawking had all the technology at his disposal. People who recognized the quality of his thinking process made sure that he had the latest technology to write what he was thinking. Not all old people are so lucky. They may still have a lot to offer the world but their ability must be recognized and honored.

They become dependent on their relatives at a certain age who do not provide them with facilities to keep them active. The physical exercise helps a person stay fit but keeping mental acuity strong requires help as well. They need the love and care they deserve from the people around them. Chess players are known for their tremendous mental acuity at any age because they remember the moves, the strategy and their mistakes to improve their games. Serious thinking helps rejuvenate the brain by pumping new energy into it. I was told that meditation can help you focus sharply on a subject in your mind that can make you remember.

I used to draw and paint when I was young in Algeria a long time ago. When my lovely daughter saw the photos of my paintings, she sent me a very expensive water color set, brushes and high quality art paper from Australia so that I could start painting again.  She sent me a Kindle where I can download any book I want from Amazon to read so I read Mein Kamph by Hitler that I could not afford to buy from a book store.

Nicola Tesla was a genius but all his hand written notes, sketches and drawings that could change the world was taken away and secretly stashed away by the US government because his scientific ideas were so revolutionary that the Capitalists got scared. He deserved 10 Nobel Prize but he died in a derelict New York hotel room in dire poverty with no one near him.

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Source : Google photo of Nicola tesla

His brain remained as sharp as ever but he was neglected and was not given the honor and acclaim he richly deserved because of the politics of capitalism.

Source : Google photo of Rudolf Diesel

In 1892 Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) patented a design for a new type of internal combustion engine. In 1897 he produced a 25 horsepower, four-stroke, single vertical cylinder compression engine, the high efficiency of which, together with its comparative simplicity of design, made it an immediate commercial success. Subsequent royalty fees brought great wealth to its inventor. He was lost overboard from the mail steamer 'Dresden' during a trip to London in 1913 and was assumed to have drowned. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Rudolf Diesel was another genius who invented the engine that drives the whole world but he was not taken seriously by others until he proved them wrong later.There are many such examples.

I strongly feel for the people who are old but still have a lot to offer the world but are ignored just because they are old. No one understands their frustrations in not being recognized for their brilliance anymore so they become introverts and shy away from people to retain their dignity. Many smart people like Nicola Tesla and Rudolf Diesel were sidelined by those who saw them as threats to their politico economic systems. Diesel proved them wrong but did not live to enjoy his success.

Many smart people are not promoted in their careers by those who are afraid of their brilliance that could outshine them. We have all heard of the professional jealousies among the scientists and professional career men and women who try to suppress people smarter than them. You all have seen this jealousy in college or in high school where a smart student is mocked by those who are not so smart out of jealousy. It stays with them even in their old age. Women are known to be vicious and nasty to others who are prettier and smarter than them but a smart person always shines. A diamond always glitters even when mixed with ordinary pebbles.

So pay respect to old people who are still brilliant and who can teach you a lot of things in life. Show them that you value their tremendous experience and knowledge and make an effort to let others know about them. Nothing is worse than letting the old people leave this world with all their knowledge and rich experience that none knew about or failed to share with others. If Nicola Tesla had lived in any other country where people valued his genius, we would be living in a very different world enriched by his knowledge.

One day you will be old and feel the same way they feel when they are neglected. In the meantime try to keep your brain sharp through readings and discussions, through writings and engaging in productive works.

So if you have old parents or grandparents, share your love with them and talk to them because you will never know how great they were when young and how much they have achieved in their lifetime because such people are naturally self-effacing. They will share their rich experience in life only if you ask them and value them. Ask them to write it all down in a biography that you can help write, print and keep it safe for the next generation.

Remember that just because people get old, it does not mean that they become useless. They just need your love, care and support. I do not mean supporting them with money or gifts but just showing that you care for them and love them will bring back the glint in their old eyes again.

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. 

Mes blogs en français. 

Mis blogs en espagnol 

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch 

Blogs in Japanese 

My blogs at Wix site 

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com

 Medium.com 

Anil’s biography in English.

 Biographie d’Anil en français 

La biografía de anil en español. 

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch 

Anil’s biography in Japanese 

Биография Анила по-русскиu 

 

Appalling inhumanity

 

Source : Google photo of high cost ICU care

Note : You can hear the narration of this blog or any other blog by clicking on the A button in your browser if your browser is Microsoft Edge. 

Synopsis : It is heart wrenching to watch poor people taken advantage of by the doctors and hospitals that demand a high cost for the medical care they provide and often do not accept government sponsored insurance program so demand cash. Their inhumanity in insisting on monetary gains over care and concern for their patients shows the degeneration of our basic humanistic values.

 

I was walking with my wife in the neighborhood yesterday when we heard a horrible scream coming from a house nearby. It did not stop for a long time making us very nervous because we know them and wondered why there was such a commotion. Only this morning we came to know that their youngest and the prettiest daughter hung herself and was pronounced dead in the hospital. The shylocks in the hospital charged the grieving parents one hundred dollars just to give a death certificate which was so appalling that made me write this blog. Their sheer inhumanity boggles the mind but that is how they make money at the expense of the misery of others and feel no shame doing it.  

Hospitals especially the private ones are known for their greed and lack of compassion for their patients where they employ guards with strict orders not to let any patient check out unless their bills are fully paid dead or alive. It is the same hospital I had the misfortune to go to for some minor ailment and where I saw the filth and smelled the stink of cockroaches in the room but they charged me a huge amount for some Buscopan tablets that cost pennies outside.

The food they served me was a bowl of yellow water called soup and a 5 inch long boney fish with a bowl of poor quality rice I could not eat. The bill for this poor quality food was extraordinary but that is how they make money. The nurse counted and billed even a q tip that she used. My wife was allowed to sleep in the room but they only provided her with a very narrow hard wooden bench less than two feet wide with no mattress or a pillow so she had to suffer a sleepless night as well.

This sort of poor quality hospital service is widespread here where they refuse the government insurance and say that they accept only cash that a patient must deposit before they let him stay there. Then a horde of doctors start coming to check the patient and suggest numerous lab tests that the patient must pay for plus the fee for all the doctors who make use of the opportunity to make a lot of money quickly. They do not give the patient the right to choose his own doctor or the laboratory tests he wants. These doctors treat the patient as moron who must obey what he is told and just pay the cost.

I was so angry at their greed and poor service that I checked out after just one day but the nurse asked me to sign a form letter saying that the doctors are not responsible if anything happens to me later as if they really cared. I promised myself that I will never visit that hospital again even if I am very sick but all the hospitals here behave the same way. Before a patient is checked into a hospital, he is asked to sign a form that states that the doctors cannot be sued for malpractices.

In Haiti that is one of the poorest countries in the world, a doctor was found to be careless in operating on a patient leading to the death of the patient. So the enraged relatives came to kill the doctor who fled the town immediately and hid somewhere. This hospital was near my home and the careless nurse was my landlady who was also a very scandalous woman who stole all my kitchenware when I was leaving. May be the Haitians are right in taking the matter into their own hands. It certainly put fear into that doctor who botched up his operation so he fled with his tail between his legs.

I went to another hospital where an American woman was admitted but she was given a very dirty room with a stinky mattress and a filthy bed sheet on it so she sent me a message to rescue her. I brought her home and took care of her and her Haitian boyfriend who had a jeep accident. I then called their employer in Port au Prince to bring them to a better facility somewhere and brought them to a missionary run facility for x ray and other help. The hospitals in Haiti are dirty and not worth going to just like here because of poverty and lack of resources. It is hard to tell how well trained the doctors and nurses are there.

When my wife needed a surgery to remove her tumors, I had to bring her to a government hospital in Manila some 66 kms away where the doctor said that her fee must be paid in cash because she does not trust the hospital to pay her and she does not accept the government insurance program. At the time of leaving after her recovery, the anesthesiologist, the laboratory technician and even the guard stood in line to be paid in cash for their services that created a very bad impression in my mind about the hospitals here although the surgeon did her job and my wife recovered well later. It was good that our sweet daughter flew in from Australia to stay with her mother in her room and took care of all her needs. She is a jewel.

Recently a news came from India where a hospital charged a huge amount to the father of a small boy who had a minor accident on the road that needed a simple first aid in the outpatient clinic but hospital doctors performed a major and needless surgery on the poor boy that led to the death of the child on the operation table. Then they refused to let the grieving and heartbroken father have the body of his child on whom the greedy doctors had performed a totally unnecessary surgery and did not accept the responsibility for his death but insisted that the hospital had to be paid in full. They were so heartless that it is shocking.

They also refused to accept the government health Insurance program just like here so the poor father who had no money to pay the huge bill reported the matter to the government authorities who then started the investigation that led to the arrest of the doctors and the owner of the 14 story luxury hospital who had built the hospital illegally without permit and on land forcibly taken from the owner without any compensation.

His wife was also arrested on charges of massive fraud, graft and corruption that made the couple very rich but India is cracking down hard on criminals by arresting them. Other countries should follow the Indian example because the inhumanity of doctors in greedy hospitals worldwide is more common than one is led to believe.

We have all heard about the monster doctor who made his patient unconscious and removed illegally his kidney to sell to patients in the United States and other countries who paid thousands of dollars for it. He was eventually caught in India and prosecuted for his crime but how many more such doctors are operating elsewhere?

In the United States, a pregnant woman was refused admission in a hospital because she did not have an insurance so the poor woman suffering great pain and distress gave birth to her baby in the parking lot. Even then no hospital worker came out to help her. The war veterans stay in the filthy cockroach infested hospital rooms in government hospitals where they wait for days before a doctor or nurse comes.    

Only in Mexico City, I found a world class, neat and clean hospital where the doctors were excellent and full of concern for their patients. When our son fell from a swing one day in a Park, a social worker came immediately and called the ambulance that came soon to bring him to a hospital. We did not know anything or where to go so we took a taxi to the Cruz Roja Hospital that was suggested by the social worker where a doctor attended to our son immediately and took him to the operation theater to fix his broken bone.  

They fixed his elbow accurately and very professionally and put it in a cast that was removed a month later in Haiti. The best part was the hospital did not charge anything at all for their excellent services but we gave some donation nevertheless. The fact that my employer did not reimburse me for the expenses was another matter not worth writing about.

It fills me with great disappointment when I see the greed of people who are supposed to look after their patients to the best of their ability in any hospital but find them unfit for their job. They cannot recite the doctor’s oath if you ask them so perhaps do not take the Hippocratic oath seriously. 

Source :  Google photo of doctors and nurses taking Hippocratic oath

We do get sick once in while or may have an accident somewhere so we need immediate medical assistance. This misfortune then becomes a nightmare when you find out how bad the hospitals really are and how inhuman the doctors are so it is just the shame no matter where you live because you are forced to endure their inhumanity on top of your own medical issues.

Once I was doing some gardening when I felt something bit my hand. Soon it swelled up and became very itchy so I knew that it was a worm that had bit into my palm and had burrowed itself under the skin. A day later the itching became more intense and the worm could be seen under the skin getting longer and spreading a toxin that made my palm dark so I went to a hospital to seek help.

The emergency room staff refused to even look at my hand by saying that it happened yesterday so it is not an emergency. I must check into the hospital at a great cost but I refused because I knew that it was an outpatient issue. It had happened to me in Africa before. Another doctor also refused to treat the issue because she admitted that she did not know what the problem was so asked me to go another hospital 35 kms away. There a doctor also refused and referred me to a skin specialist who was not available while the worm was getting to be more of a nuisance.

Finally I searched Google to find the right medication and was told that a simple worm killing tablet called Mintezol that is widely available over the counter in any pharmacy should do the trick but the pharmacist was in cahoots with the doctors so wanted a prescription that one has to pay for and wait for several hours for the inconsiderate doctor who always arrives late and demands a lot of lab tests and a second visit to write you the prescription that was not needed in the first place. By this time he has made you pay several thousands of Pesos and wasted your time.

So at this time my wife came to my aid and gave the pharmacist a tongue lashing by saying that Mintezol is an over the counter medicine that costs only 5 cents and given freely to children in most countries so the pharmacist reluctantly produced the tablet and charged a dollar apiece. We had also threatened to report to the Department of Health for them to know how the pharmacists are working in cahoots with the doctors to make money from you by asking you to produce prescription for over the counter medicines.

This is a serious problem worldwide. In some European countries and in Cuba, health care is funded by the government using tax money so you do not have to pay anything no matter what the cost but in other capitalistic countries they require a medical insurance from you that may cost you 5000 US dollars per person per year whether you are sick or not. It works in favor of Insurance companies if you are young and healthy because they like your money but do not like to pay out if you are sick so they do not like to insure old people who are sick and need medical help.

I know Cuba is one of the very few countries where they have free universal healthcare where no one needs to pay for it but gets excellent care. India is another country where poor people are given free medical insurance by the government that covers up to 500000 Rupees in expenses but those who are not poor must pay a lot of money to get well. The problem is that most people in this world are not rich so what happens to them when they get sick and cannot pay the high cost of hospitalization and medicine? This is an open question that begs an answer.

I know that we are not rich so maybe we will not get the medical help we may need someday when we are sick. May be staying home and dying in our bed with our dignity intact is the answer. I cannot imagine leaving a huge hospital bill for my wife to pay when I croak and put her financial health at risk. I just cannot do that because I love her.

Source : Google photo of death machine approved in Switzerland

I know that Switzerland allows euthanasia under certain circumstances when a patient decides to end his life for whatever reason but in most countries it is illegal to do so because they protect the healthcare industry run by very rich and heartless business people. They hate cheaper generic drugs because they want you to pay for their super expensive drugs so they do not allow the hospitals to buy generics. Death machine is a morbid and depressing topic I would rather not write about.

India is a leader in the manufacturing of generic drugs that are far cheaper so anyone can afford and get well. It also exports such drugs to other countries that want them mainly in Africa but also in developed countries where people ask for generics. But cheaper drugs or not, healthcare remains a serious issue in most countries where people struggle to pay for it and get into huge debt.

I have written about the wonderful Islamic hakims who treat their patients at low cost and with compassion because taking advantage of poor people and treating them at a high cost is unlawful in their religion but they are slowly disappearing under the onslaught of more organized money making and greedy hospitals and doctors. I was treated by a kind hakim when I had a cut in my ankle that got badly infected. He cleaned my wound by cutting off the dead flesh and washing the wound with disinfectant soap that he made himself and then put an ointment he prepared. The ointment worked like magic and it healed soon leaving no trace. My father paid the hakim a dollar for it. (Read my blog here called Where are the Hakims ? )

These doctors influence the governments to ban doctors and healers who use traditional medicines because it hurts their money making business. They do not allow anyone to import certain medical equipment like mobile lithotripsy vans because they have a monopoly so that they can charge any rate they want. We have been a victim of such greedy doctors here when my wife needed her kidney stones removed. In India the same procedure costs only 10 % of what we paid here.

The Moslems do not spend a great deal of money to bury their dead in simple grave because even the rich are buried wrapped in plain linen in a simple shallow grave with a hand written epitaph but the burial and cremation are a huge and expensive industry elsewhere.

Do you ever wonder how come the funeral parlor people show up so quickly to grab a dead body from a hospital? It is because the hospitals make a great deal of money from them so they notify them as soon as a dead body is available for cremation or burial.

I am really sorry that a very young and beautiful child lost her life yesterday but I am disappointed that the hospital did not show any care or concern and charged one hundred dollars for just a signature on a printed form to declare that she was dead. It was like heaping salt on the raw wound of her parents who are in shock. The Shylocks of the funeral parlors are already salivating at the prospect of another business opportunity.

What has happened to the humanity and how people have become so inhuman that they stopped caring for others and counted only money? There used to be a time when people cared for each other and shared their grief together by coming together to carry the bier, collect money to pay for some expenses and console the grieving relatives. How people have become so uncaring, un sharing and inhuman?

This is the sign that we as human beings are losing our basic values in the race for money and false status in our community although I should not use the word community here because a real friendly community does not exist anywhere anymore except perhaps in Kalahari. May be we should learn from the Bushmen there how to live in tune with the nature and share food and water with everyone and enjoy doing it.

Source : Google photo of bushmen of Kalahai sharing food and water happily

Note : My blogs are also available in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social media. 

Mes blogs en français. 

Mis blogs en espagnol 

Blogs von Anil in Deutsch 

Blogs in Japanese 

My blogs at Wix site 

tumblr posts    

Blogger.com Medium.com 

Anil’s biography in English.

 Biographie d’Anil en français 

La biografía de anil en español. 

Anil’s Biografie auf Deutsch 

Anil’s biography in Japanese 

Биография Анила по-русскиu