Is it right?

The other day, someone I know and I were talking about being sensitive to other people, i.e. being able to guess whether what you say will hurt him or her emotionally.

It started out with me saying that we, people that is, are all here to learn. The quest for knowledge and the pursuit of excellence is the purpose of life. That and the betterment of Humanity. And we should do what it takes to fulfill our destinies. My friends might have heard me say this on several occasions: The purpose of life is to get better and better at everything!

His point was that in our quest, we cannot afford to hurt people along the way. I have maintained for quite some time now that when we debate or argue, we express our views, learn the other person's point of view and are more knowledgeable as a result. However, it is my observation that most people are incapable of (or choose not to?) engaging in a purely intellectual debate, with no emotional overtones. Ergo, most people tend to get steadily more agitated/aggressive/upset as the debate progresses.

Now we come to the crux of this blog post. Is it OK to neglect other people's emotions in our (my) quest for knowledge and excellence? Or should we purposefully refrain and miss out on knowledge that might potentially better the world, in the interest of 'protecting other people's feelings'?

Please forgive me for saying what I say next. My intention is not to hurt anyone's emotions. If that does happen, I'm sorry about that. I'm just expressing a thought that came to my mind.

If we look back in History, we see that most of the 'good' things that happened would not have happened if we were afraid of hurting people's feelings. By these 'people' in some instances, I mean the Church, in some society in general and in some, some specific people.

Copernicus and Galileo, even Sir Isaac Newton for that matter, would never have published anything for fear of 'hurting the Church's feelings'. Women today all over the world would still live in ignorance, frustration and oppression if they hadn't fought for their right to education and equal status in society. If they had thought it would 'hurt their husbands'/fathers'/brothers' or even society's feelings' do you think they'd have taken the stand they did?

In hind sight, it might seem that all these acts were for the betterment of everyone. But I believe that everything starts with wanting more for oneself. The desire to succeed, the desire to excel, the desire to be free. That is what, I think, led to these social reforms.

Now I know there'll be people who say that I'm comparing apples and oranges here. To those people, I urge you to imagine BEING there at that time... in a time before all these reforms, a time where the norm was different, when everyone believed that things should be the way they are. At a time like that, people wanted to bring about a change. A change that other people didn't want. Then, hopefully, you'll see it as I do. I'm not saying what happened should not have happened. I too am glad that these reforms took place. All I'm saying is that they wouldn't have taken place if people had worried about 'hurting other people's feelings'.

And that brings us back to our original question: Is it OK to hurt other people's emotions (even though that's not the objective, just a side effect) in our quest for knowledge and excellence?

I hope at this point that some of you start re-evaluating some of our social practices and thinking about the implications thereof. I look forward to hearing your views on this topic. Again, my apologies if anyone feels hurt by this post. Like I said, that wasn't my intention. I'm merely questioning some conventions, shall we say, because I see a great deal of time and energy being mis-spent in worrying about things that potentially inhibit our intellectual growth.

Live long and prosper!

The Doberman and the Daboia!

Sad news people. Remember the Doberman from my previous post, my neighbour's dog? He died. It was, in my opinion, one of the worst ways to go. And what scares me most of all is, it very easily could have been my dad.

On 11^th November, 2009 at around 20:00, my neighbour's dog, Suryaa, started barking... a lot more than usual. Those of you who live near a house that has a Doberman know how noisy they are. Now imagine them being even noisier. He was barking continuously for at least a half hour. My dad went out to investigate, armed with nothing but a 'kathi'.

What he found was that a snake had entered their compound!

The colony security guards and my neighbour's driver were at a loss. Against his better judgement my dad did the unthinkable. HE PINNED THE SNAKE'S HEAD DOWN AND PICKED IT UP BY IT'S NECK! It was 4 ½ feet long and nearly 2 inches in diameter. He then proceeded to put the snake in a plastic carrybag and handed it over to the security guards for them to dispose of it.

Now, as most of you know I would have done, he came home and Googled the type of snake. He identified it as a Russel's Viper (Vipera russellii/Daboia russelii) aka दाबोइया (Hindi) and घोणस (Marathi).

Having identified the snake, he realized the seriousness of keeping it alive. So, they built a bonfire and burnt the snake in it. I'm told, that's the safest way to dispose of it. Later they noticed that Suryaa was frothing at the mouth, indicating that the dog had been bitten.

For the faint hearted, please read no further. Suffice to know that the dog didn't make it. For those more interested in the effects of the venom of a Russel's Viper, read further.

The dog was also bleeding from some orifices. They found two puncture marks under his right cheek. The site showed swelling, bleeding and Consumptive coagulopathy.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), aka consumptive coagulopathy leads to the formation of small blood clots inside every vein and artery throughout the body which in turn causes uncontrolled bleeding from other places since all the platelets are used up!

The dog sank slowly through the night, excreting a lot of black digested blood. In eleven hours Suryaa was dead, in a ferocious bout of blood diarrhoea and blood vomiting, with massive general internal haemorrhage. 

Now the most disturbing fact:

Polyvalent Snake Antivenin Serum for Russell's viper is supposedly a carefully controlled substance. You can get it only from Haffkine Institute, Parel, Mumbai. But apparently not at night.

So what is one to do if one is bitten by Russel's Viper at night? And my dad actually handled the damn thing. Russel's Vipers are know to bite through their lower lip and into a handler's hand! It is a member of the big four venomous snakes in India, which are together responsible for nearly all Indian snakebite fatalities. It was so easy for him to have been bitten. And the one place which had the antivenin wouldn't deliver it at night!

The antivenin is designed to negate the effects of above mentioned big four venomous snakes viz. the Indian Cobra (Naja Naja), the Russel's Viper (Daboia russelii), the Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) and the Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus). And yet, it's so difficult to obtain! Little wonder then that there are so many deaths because of these snakes.

Never Cross a Doberman!

The date: 9-May-2009
The time: 19:15

As good neighbours often do, my mom occassionally  sends some food preparation to our next door neighbour. The maid who works with us plays the courier. My neighbour has a one-and-a-half-year-old Doberman. He's not fully grown yet, but by God is he strong! Put the above facts together and the following tale ensues.

I was at home, watching television, unaware of what was going on a few feet from my residence. I heard a scream and went out to see what the matter was. I saw this:
our maid was struggling with our neighbour's Doberman (Surya) on her, in my neighbour's compound. 

I came back in, put on my floaters and, as my mom had requested, went out to ascertain the severity of the situation. Little did I know what would be expected of me.

When I went to my neighbour's gate, he asked me to help. He was alone at home, save his mother, and had a broken shoulder. At this point, I should tell you that Uncle is around 50 years old and his mother is, well, you get the picture. The both of them being incapable of subduing Surya, he asked me to help and I, against my better judgement, jumped right in. With something of a war cry, the likes of which I had never heard escape my lips before, I went for Surya. The dog had his forelimbs on our maid's shoulders and she was screaming, panicked.

Uncle told me to grab him by the chain around his neck. So, I did and pulled him off her. I told her to exit the compound and tried to hold the dog down. But he wasn't one to sit quietly. He tried to turn around and grab my arm and get loose. 
Initially, I thought of forcing his head to the ground. But logic told me that this would tilt his head, putting it in the perfect position from which to close his jaws around my wrist (should he have chosen to do so). So, I gave up the idea. I just tried to hold him with one hand on his haunch and the other on the chain around his neck. Thankfully, it worked.....for a while.
I held him as long as I could but, eventually, he got free. I expected him to then come after me. But, for reasons no-one will ever know, he didn't. I yelled a defiant cry at him as though to say, “Shut up and stay there!” and walked out, trying my best not to let any fear enter my mind. I exited the compound and that was the end of that. 
At some point the maid did get out, but I don't know when.

I know the dog wasn't really trying to attack anyone. I know this because if he was, I'm sure there's nothing anyone could have done. But even with him not in attack mode, he was easily much more than two handfuls.

I escaped unscathed. The maid got a light tooth inflicted scratch which we will have looked at. The dog has had all his vaccines and is presumed safe. But, I still believe she should take some shots - at least a Tetanus shot.

The dog is still an adolescent and even then, he was able to get loose from me with, I believe, great ease. If he had tried to attack me full on, I think I'd have been in big trouble.

This incident has given me an all new respect for the strength and awesome power of a Doberman. I shudder to think what a Great Dane or St. Bernard would've been capable of. My advice to everyone, "NEVER CROSS A DOBERMAN!"

Later, when I asked my maid why she'd even entered the compound, I learnt that Uncle had told her to come in, assuring her that the dog wouldn't attack. Evidently, his assumption was inaccurate. 

My second piece of advice: DON'T LET PEOPLE LEAD YOU INTO BELIEVINGA DOBERMAN, NO MATTER HOW WELL TRAINED HE/SHE MAY BE, WILL JUST LET YOU BE.

P.S.: My apologies if this post sounds dramatic. It's just as accurate a description of what happened and my thoughts and feelings at the time, as I have been able to manage.

ONE

Republic Day has come and gone, leaving me with mixed emotions...as always...but with a little more intensity than before.

When I look around, I see a world of extremities, a world in which some multi-national companies have died while others have gone on to buy 400 crore yachts. I'm not condemning anyone for anything. But one cannot prevent from entering one's mind the thought that the money could (should?) have been better spent.

I see optimism in my father's eyes about India's economic future and I find myself wanting to join him in his optimism... but I can't. I find myself UNABLE to do so. The reason:
No country is independent of the others.

Well documented world history dates back to at least the 17th century. Which means that we've had at least 400 years of civilized society. And yet, the world has not become one, we're not yet ONE people. We still fight each other instead of working together toward a better future for everyone, EVERYONE!

Till date, India has been 'attacked' by no less than 3 'outsiders' viz. Alexander the Great, the Mughals and the British. History tells us that whenever India has been divided, it was united by an outsider. Then the people rebelled and overthrew the alien ruler only to go back to fighting each other and again being divided till a new 'alien ruler' arrived and united the people, albeit against themselves.

Why should it take us 4 centuries and more to accept what we so clearly see? Are the people really incapable of living and working with each other instead of against each other?

But let's come back to that a little later.
Let's look a little further, shall we?
India has taught us that the people united against an external threat.
Will it take an external threat to unite the world? Human beings are supposed to be the wisest of God's creations. Why then do we do we insist on being so primitive?

Why is it that apathy has become the universal emotion? Why are people out to cheat, steal from, KILL other people?

The world is progressing in fields like medicine, astronomy, nuclear physics, art, politics, economics, every possible field.

Medicine teaches us how to save lives and protect each other. Nuclear physics teaches us that we are all basically the same, made of the same basic components. Astronomy teaches us that we are all together on this beautiful little planet called Earth, a planet we all call home, a planet that is one among so many that if each person on earth were named after one, we'd fall horribly short. Politics teaches us how to live with each other, how to effectively work together as a whole. Economics teaches us that we are all connected to each other in more intricate ways, in more intimate ways than we ever thought before. Why then, do we refuse to share and play together?

There are those among us who DO share and play fair. They're the one's who are responsible for whatever we, as a species, have accomplished. It is these people whose example we all must follow.

I do not say that competition is bad. Competition keeps us from going soft, it prevents stagnation and it pushes us to be more and better each day. But it the heat of competition, we mustn't lose sight of our REAL objective - the betterment of all humanity. 

I'm also not saying that fighting is bad. Fighting keeps us alert and ready to counter an external threat. But WE are not that external threat. An external threat may come from another planet in the form of a people we do not know. But today, people from another country are NOT these 'people we do not know'. They are humans, people just like us. That is what globalization has done to the world today. It has allowed friendships between people from all parts of the world. Ergo, the time has come today to put aside past rivalries, grudges, enmities and move forward, together, for the greater good.

Let us this day, vow to work together, as ONE people, as a WHOLE, toward a better tomorrow for all Indians, for all Asians, for all HUMANITY!