By M H Ahssan
We in India are so happy with the India-US civil nuclear deal and the active role played by president George W Bush in pushing it through -- we are still to live down the embarrassing effusion of sentiment of prime minister Manmohan Singh when he told Bush that Indians love him -- that we may not like to believe anything bad about his presidency even when the facts stare us in the face. So, it should not come as a surprise that many of us would not like to pay attention to the CIA memos about torture methods used in Guantanamo, which president Barack Obama had released into the public domain.
There are two things about the Guantanamo torture practices and the secret prisons that the US' CIA maintained all over Europe which should concern people in India as well as elsewhere in the world. First, that abuse of power and the brutal use of force against prisoners are not confined to Asian, African and Latin American countries. The savagery is to be found in the most democratic and developed countries as well. Even as the US and Europe point to human rights violations in the rest of the world, it is necessary on our part to keep a watch over violations in other countries. This is not for settling scores but as a genuine concern for human dignity anywhere in the world. If you protest against rights violations in other countries, then you will also protest against violations in your own country.
It is here we enter troubled waters. It is a fact observed by the few civil rights organisations which function that every day in every police station in this country torture in the sense of physical abuse is a daily routine. The majority of the victims are poor, innocent people, petty criminals, Naxalites, in that order. In the last few years, it has been the turn of terror suspects. Of course, in the majority of cases, the torture victims happen to be poor and innocent.
This should not be taken to mean that proven criminals, Naxalites and terrorists can be tortured. The general principle has to be laid down in stone that torture under any circumstances is not acceptable in a civilised society. It is this assumption about human dignity that is missing in our political consciousness. That is why there is not a vocal and high profile anti-torture lobby in this country. The real test of democratic culture is the manner in which we treat the most heinous enemy. And that is the test India fails miserably.
The only cases of rights violations that are highlighted by activists are that of the torture of Naxalites. They do not care about the plight of the innocent and the petty criminal.
Right-wing parties like the BJP would justify torture of jihadi terrorists, left-wing and secular parties would want Hindu terrorists to be put on the rack, and the police force would want to torture anyone who is in their custody. Of course, all of them would vehemently deny that they believe in torture of people whom they consider to be enemies of state and society.
The most cultured and civilised police officers are in total denial about torture being a routine practice in police stations. Most of them show a false sense of esprit d'corps and try to protect the good name of the police and the hard work they do. It is true that Indian police force, especially among the ranks, is both underpaid and overworked. The issues of the conditions of service need to be addressed. But that should not take attention away from the question of torture.
A civilised police force is not necessarily a weak and effete force. It is assumed that it is so. That is why the police in India are not civilised while in uniform. That is the sad truth. That is why Guantanamo is an everyday nightmare in India. The most shameful thing is that we as a chest-thumping democratic society are not outraged by it. It is time to get angry over this fundamental issue.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The 'Right' Time to do MBA is 'Anytime'
By M H Ahssan
Let’s face the reality! The times are rough right now, and the hiring mood is not very upbeat. For students across professional streams, these times can be really confusing. Even for professionals looking to pursue MBA, the big question is: ‘Should I or shouldn’t I?’
Too often, we question whether it’s the right time to pursue an MBA by considering job prospects and economic opportunities. However, a volatile economy in rough times is perhaps the best time to study macro-economics, strategy, change management, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and other core MBA courses. While external instability in the financial markets and global economic uncertainty make us uneasy and insecure, they also turn the world into a great classroom laboratory, and give genuine meaning to problem-based readings. In the end, these patterns are cyclical, or at least repetitive, to some extent.
There is no ‘market timing’ for pursuing an MBA degree. Given applicants’ personal situation and goals, they need to determine for themselves ‘which type of MBA programme’ is best suited to their needs rather than ‘when to do MBA.’ However, while pursuing MBA, the students have to keep in mind some considerations such as where they currently are in terms of their career, what their goals are in getting an MBA, etc. Dipak Jain, Dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a visiting professor at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, says, “The right time to do an MBA is when you are mentally prepared to start the journey. External market conditions need to be factored into your decision, but they should not be the driving decision. Conditions come and go, but the MBA degree will continue to be of enduring value. We believe that intellectual curiosity and learning should be your guide in the journey ahead.”
The best time to sharpen your skills is ‘now.’ Upgrade your skill-sets and make yourself more relevant and attractive to the job market. MBA should not merely be done to kill time. While looking to do an MBA, the intention of the aspirant should mainly be to increase his/her skills and to get ready to explore other career options. You have to develop a serious attitude towards the MBA degree to derive anything out of it.
It is important to set your expectations from MBA education in the right place. You should remain confident that the MBA programme will definitely provide a net value-addition to your profile, and make you more attractive to employers in the next two years. The MBA is a very comprehensive programme that exposes students to diverse aspects of management such as general management, marketing, human resources, leadership, entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, finance, etc. MBA education focuses on creating a structure for unstructured business problems.
Acquiring additional skills will enable your return to a better salary and job-designation level than you were at before the slowdown. Management education acts as a balance between theory (i.e. academic rigour) and practice (i.e. business relevance). MBA students are exposed to the state-of-the-art research and innovative practices by engaging them in experiential learning through real-world projects with global corporations. Such comprehensive training will only enhance the chances of students in achieving their desired career goals and opportunities – regardless of economic conditions globally. Given the growing demand for efficient managers around the world, an MBA is an education as well as a qualification. Remember that the recession is not permanent, and whenever the situation improves, your newly acquired skills will become a trump card for you in the job market. For instance, those who are in sales could pursue an MBA in finance and strategy, and thus become employable for bigger and challenging roles in the future.
Therefore, an MBA degree is very important for anyone, and more so, for entrepreneurs, because it helps them in acquiring both analytical and people skills that they can apply to future ventures.
In case, you are a student whose offer letter was recalled due to the slowdown, you could still go for an MBA. Since it will be difficult to get job-experience before the MBA, one could look at pursuing a part-time job in an industry of choice, while pursuing a part-time MBA. There are many good B-schools that offer part-time executive courses and other MBA courses. You can choose the one that suits you the best.
If you are already employed, it may be a good idea to convince your employer to sponsor you for an MBA. If you are a valuable resource, and the organization wants to retain you, they will help you develop yourself. This way, you would not have to dent your financial pocket to go for the MBA. Otherwise, you can always avail educational loans that are readily available, and would need to be repaid only after you have secured a job.
If you are convinced you want to work in a particular sector, then a specialist degree would be the best way to guarantee that. But, if you are not sure, then an MBA gives you the opportunity to explore your options. There is still a strong demand for MBA graduates because of the increasingly complex business problems faced today by managers across the world.
There are different reasons for getting an MBA. An MBA prepares you for life, equips you with the necessary managerial skills, gives you the credibility and global alumni network that is invaluable, whether you choose to work for someone or establish your own business. The research surveys done in the past show that even those MBAs who graduate in very difficult years eventually get very good jobs. Substantiating this view, Della Bradshaw, Business Education Editor of Financial Times, says, “The class that graduated in 2002, for example, often ended up taking jobs on graduation that paid lower salaries than the jobs they had quit before doing the programme. But three years after graduation – when we surveyed them for our rankings – they were earning salaries comparable to those reported by their peers in previous years.”
Due to globalization, the demand for talent has increased significantly. The MBA is becoming more and more relevant in an ever-changing global market. Irrespective of economic conditions, the market is always looking for top talent. Even during the economic downturn in the wake of September 11, 2001, more than 90 percent of MBA graduates found a job. Therefore, students should focus on learning both in the classroom and through collaborative teamwork. This will help them in developing critical and relevant business and leadership skills that will set them apart, and make them valuable for corporations seeking talent.
Banks and financial institutions still seem to be interviewing MBA graduates for financial positions and for internships. Following the 2001 recession, many of the banks and consultancies understood that not bringing any new blood into the organization piled up problems for the future. This year, there seems to be a far wider range of financial institutions looking for MBAs – it is no longer just the investment banks.
An MBA degree is definitely growing in relevance in today’s world, and employers would look for more MBA graduates to cater to the increasing need for higher-level skill-set in performing highly complex businesses today. An MBA degree enables you to encounter new opportunities otherwise beyond your reach (i.e. working overseas, catapulting your career, etc.). Increasing number of people are pursuing higher studies today. Thus, to stay competitive in the job market, it is almost ”necessary” to get an MBA.
Emphasizing the need to get an MBA degree, Dipak Jain, says, “The MBA degree is relevant now more than ever. Globalization today is almost like a force of gravity, and it’s essential that managers are equipped with the right tools and foundations of managerial skills to lead in an ever-changing and challenging business environment.” Professor Richard Painter, the Dean of the business school at Staffordshire University (UK), agrees: "In an economic slowdown, applicants need an edge over their competitors. So the slowdown, in a sense, increases the importance of a significant postgraduate qualification in business."
MBA education is an investment for a career spanning more than 30 years. It is important to secure an education that is of the highest quality in a world-class school. The benefits of such an education would easily compensate for the cost. With the MBA, you will be adequately armed, and your chances will improve amidst the strong competition that you would face in the job market. Also, the knowledge that you acquire during the course will help you become a better professional in terms of crisis-handling, decision-taking, problem-solving, creative-thinking, and in overcoming many other business challenges that form part of the MBA curriculum. Thus, your chances of succeeding in your career would also increase manifold.
Let’s face the reality! The times are rough right now, and the hiring mood is not very upbeat. For students across professional streams, these times can be really confusing. Even for professionals looking to pursue MBA, the big question is: ‘Should I or shouldn’t I?’
Too often, we question whether it’s the right time to pursue an MBA by considering job prospects and economic opportunities. However, a volatile economy in rough times is perhaps the best time to study macro-economics, strategy, change management, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and other core MBA courses. While external instability in the financial markets and global economic uncertainty make us uneasy and insecure, they also turn the world into a great classroom laboratory, and give genuine meaning to problem-based readings. In the end, these patterns are cyclical, or at least repetitive, to some extent.
There is no ‘market timing’ for pursuing an MBA degree. Given applicants’ personal situation and goals, they need to determine for themselves ‘which type of MBA programme’ is best suited to their needs rather than ‘when to do MBA.’ However, while pursuing MBA, the students have to keep in mind some considerations such as where they currently are in terms of their career, what their goals are in getting an MBA, etc. Dipak Jain, Dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a visiting professor at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, says, “The right time to do an MBA is when you are mentally prepared to start the journey. External market conditions need to be factored into your decision, but they should not be the driving decision. Conditions come and go, but the MBA degree will continue to be of enduring value. We believe that intellectual curiosity and learning should be your guide in the journey ahead.”
The best time to sharpen your skills is ‘now.’ Upgrade your skill-sets and make yourself more relevant and attractive to the job market. MBA should not merely be done to kill time. While looking to do an MBA, the intention of the aspirant should mainly be to increase his/her skills and to get ready to explore other career options. You have to develop a serious attitude towards the MBA degree to derive anything out of it.
It is important to set your expectations from MBA education in the right place. You should remain confident that the MBA programme will definitely provide a net value-addition to your profile, and make you more attractive to employers in the next two years. The MBA is a very comprehensive programme that exposes students to diverse aspects of management such as general management, marketing, human resources, leadership, entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, finance, etc. MBA education focuses on creating a structure for unstructured business problems.
Acquiring additional skills will enable your return to a better salary and job-designation level than you were at before the slowdown. Management education acts as a balance between theory (i.e. academic rigour) and practice (i.e. business relevance). MBA students are exposed to the state-of-the-art research and innovative practices by engaging them in experiential learning through real-world projects with global corporations. Such comprehensive training will only enhance the chances of students in achieving their desired career goals and opportunities – regardless of economic conditions globally. Given the growing demand for efficient managers around the world, an MBA is an education as well as a qualification. Remember that the recession is not permanent, and whenever the situation improves, your newly acquired skills will become a trump card for you in the job market. For instance, those who are in sales could pursue an MBA in finance and strategy, and thus become employable for bigger and challenging roles in the future.
Therefore, an MBA degree is very important for anyone, and more so, for entrepreneurs, because it helps them in acquiring both analytical and people skills that they can apply to future ventures.
In case, you are a student whose offer letter was recalled due to the slowdown, you could still go for an MBA. Since it will be difficult to get job-experience before the MBA, one could look at pursuing a part-time job in an industry of choice, while pursuing a part-time MBA. There are many good B-schools that offer part-time executive courses and other MBA courses. You can choose the one that suits you the best.
If you are already employed, it may be a good idea to convince your employer to sponsor you for an MBA. If you are a valuable resource, and the organization wants to retain you, they will help you develop yourself. This way, you would not have to dent your financial pocket to go for the MBA. Otherwise, you can always avail educational loans that are readily available, and would need to be repaid only after you have secured a job.
If you are convinced you want to work in a particular sector, then a specialist degree would be the best way to guarantee that. But, if you are not sure, then an MBA gives you the opportunity to explore your options. There is still a strong demand for MBA graduates because of the increasingly complex business problems faced today by managers across the world.
There are different reasons for getting an MBA. An MBA prepares you for life, equips you with the necessary managerial skills, gives you the credibility and global alumni network that is invaluable, whether you choose to work for someone or establish your own business. The research surveys done in the past show that even those MBAs who graduate in very difficult years eventually get very good jobs. Substantiating this view, Della Bradshaw, Business Education Editor of Financial Times, says, “The class that graduated in 2002, for example, often ended up taking jobs on graduation that paid lower salaries than the jobs they had quit before doing the programme. But three years after graduation – when we surveyed them for our rankings – they were earning salaries comparable to those reported by their peers in previous years.”
Due to globalization, the demand for talent has increased significantly. The MBA is becoming more and more relevant in an ever-changing global market. Irrespective of economic conditions, the market is always looking for top talent. Even during the economic downturn in the wake of September 11, 2001, more than 90 percent of MBA graduates found a job. Therefore, students should focus on learning both in the classroom and through collaborative teamwork. This will help them in developing critical and relevant business and leadership skills that will set them apart, and make them valuable for corporations seeking talent.
Banks and financial institutions still seem to be interviewing MBA graduates for financial positions and for internships. Following the 2001 recession, many of the banks and consultancies understood that not bringing any new blood into the organization piled up problems for the future. This year, there seems to be a far wider range of financial institutions looking for MBAs – it is no longer just the investment banks.
An MBA degree is definitely growing in relevance in today’s world, and employers would look for more MBA graduates to cater to the increasing need for higher-level skill-set in performing highly complex businesses today. An MBA degree enables you to encounter new opportunities otherwise beyond your reach (i.e. working overseas, catapulting your career, etc.). Increasing number of people are pursuing higher studies today. Thus, to stay competitive in the job market, it is almost ”necessary” to get an MBA.
Emphasizing the need to get an MBA degree, Dipak Jain, says, “The MBA degree is relevant now more than ever. Globalization today is almost like a force of gravity, and it’s essential that managers are equipped with the right tools and foundations of managerial skills to lead in an ever-changing and challenging business environment.” Professor Richard Painter, the Dean of the business school at Staffordshire University (UK), agrees: "In an economic slowdown, applicants need an edge over their competitors. So the slowdown, in a sense, increases the importance of a significant postgraduate qualification in business."
MBA education is an investment for a career spanning more than 30 years. It is important to secure an education that is of the highest quality in a world-class school. The benefits of such an education would easily compensate for the cost. With the MBA, you will be adequately armed, and your chances will improve amidst the strong competition that you would face in the job market. Also, the knowledge that you acquire during the course will help you become a better professional in terms of crisis-handling, decision-taking, problem-solving, creative-thinking, and in overcoming many other business challenges that form part of the MBA curriculum. Thus, your chances of succeeding in your career would also increase manifold.
Wanted: A House for a Positive Future
By Shwetha E. George
Does he know? His mother is not sure, but her 13-year-old son has stopped eating from his father's plate. Sharing a plate used to be a ritual between father and son at every meal. He also doesn't ask about the nature of the disease his 37-year-old father is suffering from these days. Alice and Shaji keep asking themselves: Does their son know his father is HIV Positive? And how much more will he change when he knows his mother is suffering from the condition too?
According to the Kerala State Aids Control Society (KSACS), the estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the state is 55,167 (2009). But if one were to count the teeming numbers that take treatment at Kerala's various ART (antiretroviral treatment) centres, the unofficial figure would be way above 100,000. At one of the ART centres, sources say that around 450 infected persons come for treatment every month, with 30 new cases among them. Meaning, on a yearly average, there is one new case of an infected person every day. In the districts of Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki alone, 1,485 infected adults can be found, according to social workers with the Athmatha Kendra, an NGO run by the Catholic Diocese. The Kendra has three centres in Changanasserry, Kottayam and Alappuzha that assist 435 HIV-infected persons.
Hundreds of others from these places also have been infected but they cannot be surveyed because their CD-4 count (Cluster Declaration of White Blood Cells) is not less than 200 yet and so they do not require treatment.
At the Cancer Aids Shelter Society (CASS), a one-of-its-kind charity organization based in Kudamalloor, Kottayam, and promoted by a group of local women, 70 stakeholders regularly attend Patients Day, scheduled every second Monday of the month. Alice Shaji, 37, is one of them. And with her is Cicily Varghese, 38, a widow whose husband was infected in Mumbai where he had worked before their marriage. In 2005, he was admitted to the local hospital to be treated for TB. It was then that he realized he had AIDS. Cicily was kept in the dark. "Three months later, he got admitted again and this time the doctor revealed my husband's condition to me," she says. Cicily took the test and the result was negative. Today, she is back in CASS after three months to discuss the symptoms of her five-year-old son with the government lady doctor. Has she got him tested? "I cannot face the truth," she says, "It'll kill me."
Cicily wants to find a house first and move out from her brother's home. "The only reason my family still doesn't know what caused my husband's death is because they were estranged from me after my marriage," she says. Her family did not even come to her husband's funeral. That, she says, was a blessing in disguise.
Thresiamma, who lost both her daughter and son-in-law to AIDS, is now single-handedly raising her two granddaughters, aged 10 and 12, in Mundakkayam, Idukki district. "But I'm old and I dread to think what will happen to these girls after my death," she says with tears in her eyes. Her only solace is that the girls have both tested negative. It was the only reason her son allowed her to bring them home, albeit temporarily.
Sally, 36, and her husband, Biju, 38, who is a first-timer to CASS, are both HIV Positive. But their two daughters are not. The family lives under the staircase of a two-storey building in which they own a small vending shop. They are already members of Prathyasha, the KSACS-run counseling centre (one in each district), where they get a free meal and travel allowance. But today they have come to CASS to get the monthly ration of 10 kilos of rice, nutritional powder for children, welfare money of Rs 300 (US$1=Rs 50) each, and a free medical check-up. "My husband is always drowsy and sleeps off even while standing in the shop," says Sally. What tops the couple's priority list is to get a free house or land by applying to different government schemes for the poor.
This is a concern common to most people living with HIV/AIDS: They all want a home from which their children can never be evicted.
Says Sheeba Sreekumar, 42, a social worker with Athmatha Kendra, "I am one of the most sought-after speakers on Positive Speak but my own biggest fear is that I will be thrown out of the house." Positive Speak is a regular class taken by the NGO counsellors to help the HIV infected overcome tendencies to commit suicide, using their own life as an example. Sheeba is a counsellor employed by Athmatha Kendra and she, like all her colleagues, is infected.
Sheeba was a successful nurse practicing in the Middle East. After her marriage, she took a break of two years. When a fantastic job offer came from Saudi Arabia, she applied for a visa but was found to be HIV Positive in the medical test. Her husband died in 2005. She does not have children and is remarried to another HIV Positive man. "We pay a rent of Rs 1,500. It is eating into our income. And the only reason why we live here is because the landlord doesn't know about our condition. If you owned the house you live in, no one can throw you out. Even if your parents are ready to accept you back into their house, they live in the constant fear of contracting the virus," says Sheeba. No amount of counseling can completely erase the misconception that the virus is not as contagious as the common cold. Even among the educated, such awareness is rare.
Sheeba recalls the reaction of a doctor, a General Practitioner, when he realized he was dealing with a HIV Positive person. "He wrote BIO-HAZARD on the medical chart and circled it. He whispered something to the nurse and then wore one more pair of gloves."
In the initial stages, the greatest challenge in counseling the HIV Positive is to prevent them from committing suicide. Once they begin to accept their disease as part of their everyday life, the next priority is to get them to lead lives as normal as possible. Interaction with other infected persons, participation in AIDS-related campaigns and seminars can boost the confidence of a HIV Positive victim.
These women do not contemplate suicide any more. Even though they are reminded every day that they are suffering for no fault of theirs and suffer stress, they realize that if they kill themselves, their children - infected or otherwise - will be treated as less than human by their own kin. This is a powerful deterrent against any hasty action. They have learnt to take life one day at a time.
Does he know? His mother is not sure, but her 13-year-old son has stopped eating from his father's plate. Sharing a plate used to be a ritual between father and son at every meal. He also doesn't ask about the nature of the disease his 37-year-old father is suffering from these days. Alice and Shaji keep asking themselves: Does their son know his father is HIV Positive? And how much more will he change when he knows his mother is suffering from the condition too?
According to the Kerala State Aids Control Society (KSACS), the estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the state is 55,167 (2009). But if one were to count the teeming numbers that take treatment at Kerala's various ART (antiretroviral treatment) centres, the unofficial figure would be way above 100,000. At one of the ART centres, sources say that around 450 infected persons come for treatment every month, with 30 new cases among them. Meaning, on a yearly average, there is one new case of an infected person every day. In the districts of Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki alone, 1,485 infected adults can be found, according to social workers with the Athmatha Kendra, an NGO run by the Catholic Diocese. The Kendra has three centres in Changanasserry, Kottayam and Alappuzha that assist 435 HIV-infected persons.
Hundreds of others from these places also have been infected but they cannot be surveyed because their CD-4 count (Cluster Declaration of White Blood Cells) is not less than 200 yet and so they do not require treatment.
At the Cancer Aids Shelter Society (CASS), a one-of-its-kind charity organization based in Kudamalloor, Kottayam, and promoted by a group of local women, 70 stakeholders regularly attend Patients Day, scheduled every second Monday of the month. Alice Shaji, 37, is one of them. And with her is Cicily Varghese, 38, a widow whose husband was infected in Mumbai where he had worked before their marriage. In 2005, he was admitted to the local hospital to be treated for TB. It was then that he realized he had AIDS. Cicily was kept in the dark. "Three months later, he got admitted again and this time the doctor revealed my husband's condition to me," she says. Cicily took the test and the result was negative. Today, she is back in CASS after three months to discuss the symptoms of her five-year-old son with the government lady doctor. Has she got him tested? "I cannot face the truth," she says, "It'll kill me."
Cicily wants to find a house first and move out from her brother's home. "The only reason my family still doesn't know what caused my husband's death is because they were estranged from me after my marriage," she says. Her family did not even come to her husband's funeral. That, she says, was a blessing in disguise.
Thresiamma, who lost both her daughter and son-in-law to AIDS, is now single-handedly raising her two granddaughters, aged 10 and 12, in Mundakkayam, Idukki district. "But I'm old and I dread to think what will happen to these girls after my death," she says with tears in her eyes. Her only solace is that the girls have both tested negative. It was the only reason her son allowed her to bring them home, albeit temporarily.
Sally, 36, and her husband, Biju, 38, who is a first-timer to CASS, are both HIV Positive. But their two daughters are not. The family lives under the staircase of a two-storey building in which they own a small vending shop. They are already members of Prathyasha, the KSACS-run counseling centre (one in each district), where they get a free meal and travel allowance. But today they have come to CASS to get the monthly ration of 10 kilos of rice, nutritional powder for children, welfare money of Rs 300 (US$1=Rs 50) each, and a free medical check-up. "My husband is always drowsy and sleeps off even while standing in the shop," says Sally. What tops the couple's priority list is to get a free house or land by applying to different government schemes for the poor.
This is a concern common to most people living with HIV/AIDS: They all want a home from which their children can never be evicted.
Says Sheeba Sreekumar, 42, a social worker with Athmatha Kendra, "I am one of the most sought-after speakers on Positive Speak but my own biggest fear is that I will be thrown out of the house." Positive Speak is a regular class taken by the NGO counsellors to help the HIV infected overcome tendencies to commit suicide, using their own life as an example. Sheeba is a counsellor employed by Athmatha Kendra and she, like all her colleagues, is infected.
Sheeba was a successful nurse practicing in the Middle East. After her marriage, she took a break of two years. When a fantastic job offer came from Saudi Arabia, she applied for a visa but was found to be HIV Positive in the medical test. Her husband died in 2005. She does not have children and is remarried to another HIV Positive man. "We pay a rent of Rs 1,500. It is eating into our income. And the only reason why we live here is because the landlord doesn't know about our condition. If you owned the house you live in, no one can throw you out. Even if your parents are ready to accept you back into their house, they live in the constant fear of contracting the virus," says Sheeba. No amount of counseling can completely erase the misconception that the virus is not as contagious as the common cold. Even among the educated, such awareness is rare.
Sheeba recalls the reaction of a doctor, a General Practitioner, when he realized he was dealing with a HIV Positive person. "He wrote BIO-HAZARD on the medical chart and circled it. He whispered something to the nurse and then wore one more pair of gloves."
In the initial stages, the greatest challenge in counseling the HIV Positive is to prevent them from committing suicide. Once they begin to accept their disease as part of their everyday life, the next priority is to get them to lead lives as normal as possible. Interaction with other infected persons, participation in AIDS-related campaigns and seminars can boost the confidence of a HIV Positive victim.
These women do not contemplate suicide any more. Even though they are reminded every day that they are suffering for no fault of theirs and suffer stress, they realize that if they kill themselves, their children - infected or otherwise - will be treated as less than human by their own kin. This is a powerful deterrent against any hasty action. They have learnt to take life one day at a time.
A Sensational Affair of Wedding
By M H Ahssan
Last night, there was a veritable burst of public outrage on a news channel. The outrage came from viewers as well players in the drama which unfolded in Bhopal where a young bride chose the Varmala ritual in the wedding proceedings to take a stand. Bypassing her waiting groom, the young lady placed her garland around the neck of her boyfriend who had been invited to the wedding.
The groom’s side and practically all the male viewers who phoned in were almost apoplectic over the bride’s perfidy in handing out such an insult to the groom, his baraat and Bharatiya sanskriti which demands strict obedience of parental orders by girls.
There was a very high sense of outrage over the bride’s INSULT to the groom and his baraat and her attack on Hindu sanskriti.
What was that all about?
Our hoary traditions prescribe a Swyambhar wherein the bride selects her groom in an open assembly by placing a garland around his neck. Over the centuries the demands of patriarchy have transformed this Lady’s Choice into a Varmala ceremony wherein the bride is usually compelled to place the garland around a groom of her parents’ choice.
How much of the outrage last night was male ire at the Bhopal lass who had reinstated the original Swyambhar concept, obviously in the face of parental pressure to drop her boyfriend and marry the groom of their choice.
The very stridency of the male outrage over the terrible loss to the groom’s family, not of his bride, but of the prospective expenses on the wedding dinner they had planned on the return back home sounded obnoxious.
The groom’s family had apparently already given their caterer a down payment for the five hundred odd guests they were expecting.
The obvious question: all this concern over the waste of expenses of the groom’s side? The world and his wife knows that the major expenses in an Indian wedding are on the bride’s side, from trousseau and gifts to all and sundry, to dowry and staging the actual wedding with all its peripheral pre and post events, all expensive affairs with lavish settings, sumptuous food and gifts galore. Would the bride’s family not suffer much more losses? Why did no one think or comment on that?
And what pray of all those thousands of weddings over the years, in which the groom’s party had wrecked trauma, havoc, ruin and even death by walking away from the mandap over dowry issues or even just how well they were or were not received and looked after by the bride’s family! One wonders whether any of the male viewers who were phoning in with such vehemence, even dwell on that aspect even subconsciously.
Considering the dramatic sequence of events as it unfolded, obviously the bride had failed to move her parents on her choice and had been willy nilly railroaded into the wedding, with perhaps little help from the young man of her choice; she had apparently had to practically order him when she rang up to invite him for the wedding. Was that perhaps why the last minute mustering up of courage to place the garland on the correct neck, leaving him as much surprised as her family and baraat was aghast?
Yes, one would definitely have wished that the bride had been more discreet and not made her preference known so publicly; but perhaps that is the point: that when she told her parents in private, they were not moved. Hence a public show to force their hands?
One other major point I noted while listening to the affair on TV was the preponderance of male viewers who called in breathing fire and brimstone against the errant bride. There were only two rather subdued female call-ins.
Was this because most of the female viewers in most of the middle class homes who may have sympathized with the brave bride, were reluctant to express their solidarity; mainly because the telecast took place at eventide when they would have to do with their Papajis and Bhaijans breathing disapprovingly over their shoulder, as menfolk are wont to do when their womenfolk are on the phone?
For all the copious tears being shed for the Girl Child and her disappearing act from our social statistics, it is obviously that the actual sympathies are quite contrary. Had the Powers-that-be been actually concerned about the Girl Child, would they be allowing the raising of the ante against her?
Dowry is an ancient tradition which is spreading its evil tentacles even in those communities which never knew it before; this serves to load the dice against the arrival of the girl child in any family. Instead of stemming the tide in any way, all the leaders, social and political, lead by setting a bad example with lavish weddings for their offspring.
Now commerce has taken over where tradition stopped. All the TV channels and magazines are replete with ad campaigns and coverage of lavish spreads of jewelry, designer clothes and accessories, marriage melas and fairs, bank loans to fund all that razzmatazz etc. The icing on that cake is of course, all those weepy saas bahu soaps.
Is it any wonder that young women baulk at producing daughters and are not too askance on shedding a female fetus, rather that bring a daughter into the world who is going to suffer at the hands of patriarchy as well become a burden to her parents twenty years down the line.
Also Read: Lavish Muslim Weddings and Impact on society
Last night, there was a veritable burst of public outrage on a news channel. The outrage came from viewers as well players in the drama which unfolded in Bhopal where a young bride chose the Varmala ritual in the wedding proceedings to take a stand. Bypassing her waiting groom, the young lady placed her garland around the neck of her boyfriend who had been invited to the wedding.
The groom’s side and practically all the male viewers who phoned in were almost apoplectic over the bride’s perfidy in handing out such an insult to the groom, his baraat and Bharatiya sanskriti which demands strict obedience of parental orders by girls.
There was a very high sense of outrage over the bride’s INSULT to the groom and his baraat and her attack on Hindu sanskriti.
What was that all about?
Our hoary traditions prescribe a Swyambhar wherein the bride selects her groom in an open assembly by placing a garland around his neck. Over the centuries the demands of patriarchy have transformed this Lady’s Choice into a Varmala ceremony wherein the bride is usually compelled to place the garland around a groom of her parents’ choice.
How much of the outrage last night was male ire at the Bhopal lass who had reinstated the original Swyambhar concept, obviously in the face of parental pressure to drop her boyfriend and marry the groom of their choice.
The very stridency of the male outrage over the terrible loss to the groom’s family, not of his bride, but of the prospective expenses on the wedding dinner they had planned on the return back home sounded obnoxious.
The groom’s family had apparently already given their caterer a down payment for the five hundred odd guests they were expecting.
The obvious question: all this concern over the waste of expenses of the groom’s side? The world and his wife knows that the major expenses in an Indian wedding are on the bride’s side, from trousseau and gifts to all and sundry, to dowry and staging the actual wedding with all its peripheral pre and post events, all expensive affairs with lavish settings, sumptuous food and gifts galore. Would the bride’s family not suffer much more losses? Why did no one think or comment on that?
And what pray of all those thousands of weddings over the years, in which the groom’s party had wrecked trauma, havoc, ruin and even death by walking away from the mandap over dowry issues or even just how well they were or were not received and looked after by the bride’s family! One wonders whether any of the male viewers who were phoning in with such vehemence, even dwell on that aspect even subconsciously.
Considering the dramatic sequence of events as it unfolded, obviously the bride had failed to move her parents on her choice and had been willy nilly railroaded into the wedding, with perhaps little help from the young man of her choice; she had apparently had to practically order him when she rang up to invite him for the wedding. Was that perhaps why the last minute mustering up of courage to place the garland on the correct neck, leaving him as much surprised as her family and baraat was aghast?
Yes, one would definitely have wished that the bride had been more discreet and not made her preference known so publicly; but perhaps that is the point: that when she told her parents in private, they were not moved. Hence a public show to force their hands?
One other major point I noted while listening to the affair on TV was the preponderance of male viewers who called in breathing fire and brimstone against the errant bride. There were only two rather subdued female call-ins.
Was this because most of the female viewers in most of the middle class homes who may have sympathized with the brave bride, were reluctant to express their solidarity; mainly because the telecast took place at eventide when they would have to do with their Papajis and Bhaijans breathing disapprovingly over their shoulder, as menfolk are wont to do when their womenfolk are on the phone?
For all the copious tears being shed for the Girl Child and her disappearing act from our social statistics, it is obviously that the actual sympathies are quite contrary. Had the Powers-that-be been actually concerned about the Girl Child, would they be allowing the raising of the ante against her?
Dowry is an ancient tradition which is spreading its evil tentacles even in those communities which never knew it before; this serves to load the dice against the arrival of the girl child in any family. Instead of stemming the tide in any way, all the leaders, social and political, lead by setting a bad example with lavish weddings for their offspring.
Now commerce has taken over where tradition stopped. All the TV channels and magazines are replete with ad campaigns and coverage of lavish spreads of jewelry, designer clothes and accessories, marriage melas and fairs, bank loans to fund all that razzmatazz etc. The icing on that cake is of course, all those weepy saas bahu soaps.
Is it any wonder that young women baulk at producing daughters and are not too askance on shedding a female fetus, rather that bring a daughter into the world who is going to suffer at the hands of patriarchy as well become a burden to her parents twenty years down the line.
Also Read: Lavish Muslim Weddings and Impact on society
Creativity: A Key Component in Music
By M H Ahssan
Creativity is an important element of human efforts for better existence; for efficiency at work; for luxury and recreation at leisure; for diversification; to fulfill a natural instinct or curious element of human behavior. Creativity is a challenge to the mind. It speaks all about unlimited and striking potential. Creativity is the sole reason that human beings are distinguished from other species and it is the nucleus behind the development and rise of human race. Be it technological areas or social arenas, all the progress has been possible because of multidimensional creative pursuits of people. Technology, economy and society all are interlinked through artistic creativity.
It is clear that creativity as a concept is not confined just to a particular field, especially art with which people commonly associate it. Like talent in any person, can be of distinct capacity and also in different fields. Making or inventing a product of fine engineering is also creativity of an engineer mind, innovating in soft wares or hard wares is also creativity. Experiments and inventions in food business, fashion designing, architectures, computer games, film industry etc. are all part of creativity and creative business in a wider sense.
Creativity is a wide phenomenon. As a self-expressive activity it is a vivid source and is related to each field of work and study. Here, in particular we are talking of arts, to be precise, music. All are aware of the fact that music is a subject of experiential learning. If an artist is exposed to the maximum creative environment, his imagination and creativity will be constructive. This all depends upon the multi-dimensional experience of an artist's life. Firstly, creativity begins at home in the upbringing of a child, when the parents try to establish certain experiences in teaching the child to walk, talk, listen, discuss and perceive. The child adopts certain norms of living; certain ways of learning; certain sets of behavior and so on. While a child grows up he learns what all is around, what is good or bad, how to deal with adversities and to treat with the society around etc. This is how creativity develops when one tries to construct ideas in mind and develop them further with his own perception and creativity which would further define his own identity.
Creativity is what helps the artist to reestablish his/her identity in the society each time he/she creates. One who has a creative mind, i.e., a composer, has the lust to imagine what has never been envisaged or felt before; to create what has not been created; to see the unseen; to create a distinct identity with original and novel thoughts.
Without creativity or exploration the art seems lifeless and pretentious. It loses the sense of wonder, aesthetics and enjoyment.
"Art is what people accomplish when they don't quite know what to do, when the lines on the road map are faint, when the formulae is vague, when the product of their labor is new and unique"
Philip Alperson in his essay “Creativity in Art” discusses three things associated to creativity. Firstly he says that creative as a term always displays a ‘positive appraisal in an appropriate cultural context’. Secondly, ‘true creation is taken to be a rare achievement’. Thirdly it is associated with originality as a matter of achievement ‘that is in some significant sense new and unique’. He expresses, that creativity in arts gives something of interest to the world which distinguishes creativity in art from ‘the routine, the pedestrian, the derivative and the merely normal’.
The most interesting and significant thing in creativity is that it has no specific time or minute to flash in the mind. A creative person feels a knock in the mind and at times he/she creates wonders. If we try and analyze the process, we notice that ideas pop up in the mind while it is in the process of creation. It is difficult and rather vague to define the working process of mind at the moments of creativity. In the natural process of creation, for instance in music sometimes the poetry or lyrics (through their meaning) naturally explains the composition to a musician and at times the tune comes to the mind first that is independent of words. In a deliberate effort of composing music on a definite lyric the mind works on its meaning, assigns specific notes to express its meaning through its bhava and rasa (expressions), and further with the aid of rhythm and ornamentations, elaborates and improvises it to the composer’s satisfaction.
Creativity highly rests upon the psychology of the artist, importantly the psychology of the mind at the moments of creation. Beardsleys observation suggests about the process of alternative phases that the mind goes through during creation,
“the inventive phase, traditionally called inspiration, in which new ideas are formed in the preconscious and appear in the conscious…(and) the selective phase, which is nothing more than criticism, in which the conscious chooses or rejects new idea after perceiving its relationship to what has already tentatively been adopted”.
In one of their observations, *Graham Wallas and Catherine Patrick recognize four stages of creative process viz. preparation, incubation, inspiration and elaboration. During these, a creative mind becomes aware of the problem, strives hard to solve it and come to a conclusion, gets to discover in a moment of insight and then develops and works on the creative idea.
Creativity allows the artists to open up his own new discourse that in turn helps them to express themselves and to prove their endeavors at all levels outlining their nation as well as in global context. There are innumerable Indian artists who have carved a distinct niche for being creative exclusively. In the pantheon of musicians right from the unparalleled classical music artists like Ravi Shankar, L. Subbramanium, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan, M. Subbalakshmi, Brij Bhushan Kabra, Vishvamohan Bhatt, Shrinivas, Kesarbai Kerkar, Kishori Amonkar, Shobha Gurtu, Parveen Sultana, etc all have uniquely contributed to the nation as well as abroad with their unique artistic creativity.
Another important aspect of creativity is that it initiates competitiveness in the field among artists. Through creativity novel ideas, new inventions, new discoveries and new understanding and knowledge are accomplished. Creativity is developing and changing the scenario in large measures. In Indian Classical music there have been tremendous fruitful experiments and collaborations with the artists and music of the world. The trend is still being carried out by several contemporary artists, but with a distinct approach. The present generation of artist is active with experiments in music. The contemporary sound of fusion music has captured most of the young classical artist that has given classical music a wide and different approach. The artist who experiment with Indian music and are most popular for their creative endeavors in fusion and world music are Karunesh, Prem Joshua, Maneesh De Moor, Karsh Kaley, Abhijeet Pohankar, Habib Khan, etc.
Rennie writes that the older creation is always innovated in some or the other way by the young generation of artists. Every time a new creative mind joins in, there emerge several novel ideas. Even the perception to the old things by new people is different. This view supports a lot of experimentation that is involved in creative maneuvers, Ellie Rennie writes in "Creative World" about creativity that,
"Creativity is about repurposing subverting and improving what is already there".
Creativity grows with space and diverse participation. Artistic creativity requires an environment and settles only where it feels it ought to stay. Florida expresses, that people with creative minds can only sustain in this fast growing world.
“Creativity also requires a social and economic environment that can nurture its many forms.”
Creativity needs space. According to David Bollier creative endeavors require a “white space” to progress with new experiments and constructions. Further he says,
"There must be the freedom to try new things and an unregimented workspace in which to imagine, tinker and execute new ideas."
Further he says that when the commercial regimes and bodies of bureaucrats control the white space, the creativity narrows and doesn't find the paths to grow. There comes a block in the room for one's own ideas and discoveries.
The creativity largely depends on the local culture and communities and the way they treat and preserve art. Charles Landry in "London as a Creative City" raises a major issue and that is for a city to provide such conditions for the creativity to flourish. In this information age creativity is a driving factor for the social and economic force of the country, and so it must be taken care of by the officials, innovators and citizens for the nation's growth.
In India, culture is largely respected and preserved by her people. Other than this, there are several Government and Non-Government organizations who help preserve and nurture our traditions.
Florida asserts of a new class of the society that has emerged through creativity. Talking of emerging creative class, firstly Florida defines class as a cluster of people sharing common interests and who feel, think and behave similarly that is fundamentally determined by their work. Further he says,
“The economic need for creativity has registered itself in the rise of a new class, that I call the creative class.”
Richard Florida mentions that the artists and musicians were never included in working class though they were not seen without work. Further describing their working conditions he says that, they work in stimulating environment and in casual clothes as they are comfortable in. Their way of working has got a boost into the economic mainstream. He has mentioned the emergence of a new economic class i.e. the ‘Creative class’.
On the question of the importance of creativity John Tusa explains its significance for any society to renew and add to its stock of imagining. He says scientific researches are vital to prevent intellectual stagnation in the same manner,
“creative innovation is vital to the process of understanding ourselves, of seeing the world differently as it presents itself anew, of presenting novel propositions about the way we see, hear, look and conceptualize.”
Any creative endeavor in art is generally individual and it can never be arranged or organized knowingly in a planned manner. All this makes the work and imagination solely special and the artist exemplary.
Music is an art of freedom; an art that requires freedom. Vocal music is such that it need not rest on any external physical medium. It is a special natural divine gift. Our throat is an autonomous storehouse of creative sounds. It naturally expounds musical notes as well as rhythms; it has the power to imitate any sound heard. The sound of nature has been used extensively in the folk music of so many countries all through the globe. These natural sounds, through the creative efforts of peers were further nurtured, rectified, amended, reformed and rehearsed, that paved a way for the much purified classical form of music.
Creativity in Classical music flowers significantly with improvisation which is a basic traditional element of Indian Classical music. The freedom in classical music is limited to the improvisations done with strict compliance with the rules of the ragas. Improvisation finds maximum freedom in other genres of light music including bhajan, ghazals and songs/geet etc. In such genres the artist constructs the creative musical piece with free access to the desirable notes.
Alperson expresses that what interests the listeners in the process of listening to the improvisation is “a particular sort of action: the action of creating a musical work as it is being performed.” In the West, Jazz is such a music that is improvisational in style and form. Saxophone is the major instrument of this form. Artists such as Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, Mose Allison and others are major such names that have brought Jazz style to recognition. The various genres in Jazz are bebop and blues with layers of harmonic styles.
The urge for media coverage and populism has encouraged professionalism among the present generation of artists that has paved way for creativity in the form of experimentation and innovation in classical music. The growing professionalism is also seen among the stalwarts of Indian classical music, as the artists are involved in the race of money making and pine for professional tours to seek more and more money. Moreover the increase in the number of students, who are admitted without any audition or entrance test for studies in music, naturally decreases the quality element that the ancestors stressed so much upon as they imparted their knowledge only to those who devoted their life to music.
The artist and innovators or the creators today, try to push towards diversification and experimentation to get greater artistic accomplishment. Therefore they think more for the upcoming generation as technicians and also as artists.
Performing artists have also left a vivid effect globally be it popular music artist or Indian classical artists. Few artists have more influence on the listeners of far-off countries, as a result their music albums or songs do more business in foreign countries. Not just celebrities of music world but also the film stars play a significant role for the promotion of music albums.
As a part of promotion of their music, foreign artists such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Shakira, and many more went around the world for their musical tours. These artists are exposed to different sounds of music and thus they expand their vision and area of creativity. In this manner an artist gets maximum exposure and also tries to create a hybrid of his musical attributes with varied cultures.
Present time has changed guru shishya parampara or relation to a teacher student relation. In contemporary fast pace of life the guru and student both have less time to spare upon the long old process of music teaching, practice and learning. In a short span of time students desire to learn and also perform on the stage as also said by Pt. Ravi Shankar. Though even today most of the peers carry a pedantic approach towards classical music, the number of such musician has declined.
Most of the purists believe in traditionally accepted norms and do not agree with the concept of fusion or experiments with classical music. They view fusion as a fiend or a threat to our culture. Today with the artists growing wide and experimenting with music, the modernized image of a classical vocal artist or an instrumentalist has overshadowed the conservative and orthodox image of the gurus of the past. Modern artist tries to polish and subvert the old with their creativity to suit the mainstream tastes. An appreciation of the new sound of fusion music requires a deep understanding of myriad social and historical contexts in which such performances and endeavors take shape. An artist of present is evangelizing a movement to move out of his deep rooted cultural status and in turn forming a new niche for himself through new age creativity.
Creativity is an important element of human efforts for better existence; for efficiency at work; for luxury and recreation at leisure; for diversification; to fulfill a natural instinct or curious element of human behavior. Creativity is a challenge to the mind. It speaks all about unlimited and striking potential. Creativity is the sole reason that human beings are distinguished from other species and it is the nucleus behind the development and rise of human race. Be it technological areas or social arenas, all the progress has been possible because of multidimensional creative pursuits of people. Technology, economy and society all are interlinked through artistic creativity.
It is clear that creativity as a concept is not confined just to a particular field, especially art with which people commonly associate it. Like talent in any person, can be of distinct capacity and also in different fields. Making or inventing a product of fine engineering is also creativity of an engineer mind, innovating in soft wares or hard wares is also creativity. Experiments and inventions in food business, fashion designing, architectures, computer games, film industry etc. are all part of creativity and creative business in a wider sense.
Creativity is a wide phenomenon. As a self-expressive activity it is a vivid source and is related to each field of work and study. Here, in particular we are talking of arts, to be precise, music. All are aware of the fact that music is a subject of experiential learning. If an artist is exposed to the maximum creative environment, his imagination and creativity will be constructive. This all depends upon the multi-dimensional experience of an artist's life. Firstly, creativity begins at home in the upbringing of a child, when the parents try to establish certain experiences in teaching the child to walk, talk, listen, discuss and perceive. The child adopts certain norms of living; certain ways of learning; certain sets of behavior and so on. While a child grows up he learns what all is around, what is good or bad, how to deal with adversities and to treat with the society around etc. This is how creativity develops when one tries to construct ideas in mind and develop them further with his own perception and creativity which would further define his own identity.
Creativity is what helps the artist to reestablish his/her identity in the society each time he/she creates. One who has a creative mind, i.e., a composer, has the lust to imagine what has never been envisaged or felt before; to create what has not been created; to see the unseen; to create a distinct identity with original and novel thoughts.
Without creativity or exploration the art seems lifeless and pretentious. It loses the sense of wonder, aesthetics and enjoyment.
"Art is what people accomplish when they don't quite know what to do, when the lines on the road map are faint, when the formulae is vague, when the product of their labor is new and unique"
Philip Alperson in his essay “Creativity in Art” discusses three things associated to creativity. Firstly he says that creative as a term always displays a ‘positive appraisal in an appropriate cultural context’. Secondly, ‘true creation is taken to be a rare achievement’. Thirdly it is associated with originality as a matter of achievement ‘that is in some significant sense new and unique’. He expresses, that creativity in arts gives something of interest to the world which distinguishes creativity in art from ‘the routine, the pedestrian, the derivative and the merely normal’.
The most interesting and significant thing in creativity is that it has no specific time or minute to flash in the mind. A creative person feels a knock in the mind and at times he/she creates wonders. If we try and analyze the process, we notice that ideas pop up in the mind while it is in the process of creation. It is difficult and rather vague to define the working process of mind at the moments of creativity. In the natural process of creation, for instance in music sometimes the poetry or lyrics (through their meaning) naturally explains the composition to a musician and at times the tune comes to the mind first that is independent of words. In a deliberate effort of composing music on a definite lyric the mind works on its meaning, assigns specific notes to express its meaning through its bhava and rasa (expressions), and further with the aid of rhythm and ornamentations, elaborates and improvises it to the composer’s satisfaction.
Creativity highly rests upon the psychology of the artist, importantly the psychology of the mind at the moments of creation. Beardsleys observation suggests about the process of alternative phases that the mind goes through during creation,
“the inventive phase, traditionally called inspiration, in which new ideas are formed in the preconscious and appear in the conscious…(and) the selective phase, which is nothing more than criticism, in which the conscious chooses or rejects new idea after perceiving its relationship to what has already tentatively been adopted”.
In one of their observations, *Graham Wallas and Catherine Patrick recognize four stages of creative process viz. preparation, incubation, inspiration and elaboration. During these, a creative mind becomes aware of the problem, strives hard to solve it and come to a conclusion, gets to discover in a moment of insight and then develops and works on the creative idea.
Creativity allows the artists to open up his own new discourse that in turn helps them to express themselves and to prove their endeavors at all levels outlining their nation as well as in global context. There are innumerable Indian artists who have carved a distinct niche for being creative exclusively. In the pantheon of musicians right from the unparalleled classical music artists like Ravi Shankar, L. Subbramanium, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan, M. Subbalakshmi, Brij Bhushan Kabra, Vishvamohan Bhatt, Shrinivas, Kesarbai Kerkar, Kishori Amonkar, Shobha Gurtu, Parveen Sultana, etc all have uniquely contributed to the nation as well as abroad with their unique artistic creativity.
Another important aspect of creativity is that it initiates competitiveness in the field among artists. Through creativity novel ideas, new inventions, new discoveries and new understanding and knowledge are accomplished. Creativity is developing and changing the scenario in large measures. In Indian Classical music there have been tremendous fruitful experiments and collaborations with the artists and music of the world. The trend is still being carried out by several contemporary artists, but with a distinct approach. The present generation of artist is active with experiments in music. The contemporary sound of fusion music has captured most of the young classical artist that has given classical music a wide and different approach. The artist who experiment with Indian music and are most popular for their creative endeavors in fusion and world music are Karunesh, Prem Joshua, Maneesh De Moor, Karsh Kaley, Abhijeet Pohankar, Habib Khan, etc.
Rennie writes that the older creation is always innovated in some or the other way by the young generation of artists. Every time a new creative mind joins in, there emerge several novel ideas. Even the perception to the old things by new people is different. This view supports a lot of experimentation that is involved in creative maneuvers, Ellie Rennie writes in "Creative World" about creativity that,
"Creativity is about repurposing subverting and improving what is already there".
Creativity grows with space and diverse participation. Artistic creativity requires an environment and settles only where it feels it ought to stay. Florida expresses, that people with creative minds can only sustain in this fast growing world.
“Creativity also requires a social and economic environment that can nurture its many forms.”
Creativity needs space. According to David Bollier creative endeavors require a “white space” to progress with new experiments and constructions. Further he says,
"There must be the freedom to try new things and an unregimented workspace in which to imagine, tinker and execute new ideas."
Further he says that when the commercial regimes and bodies of bureaucrats control the white space, the creativity narrows and doesn't find the paths to grow. There comes a block in the room for one's own ideas and discoveries.
The creativity largely depends on the local culture and communities and the way they treat and preserve art. Charles Landry in "London as a Creative City" raises a major issue and that is for a city to provide such conditions for the creativity to flourish. In this information age creativity is a driving factor for the social and economic force of the country, and so it must be taken care of by the officials, innovators and citizens for the nation's growth.
In India, culture is largely respected and preserved by her people. Other than this, there are several Government and Non-Government organizations who help preserve and nurture our traditions.
Florida asserts of a new class of the society that has emerged through creativity. Talking of emerging creative class, firstly Florida defines class as a cluster of people sharing common interests and who feel, think and behave similarly that is fundamentally determined by their work. Further he says,
“The economic need for creativity has registered itself in the rise of a new class, that I call the creative class.”
Richard Florida mentions that the artists and musicians were never included in working class though they were not seen without work. Further describing their working conditions he says that, they work in stimulating environment and in casual clothes as they are comfortable in. Their way of working has got a boost into the economic mainstream. He has mentioned the emergence of a new economic class i.e. the ‘Creative class’.
On the question of the importance of creativity John Tusa explains its significance for any society to renew and add to its stock of imagining. He says scientific researches are vital to prevent intellectual stagnation in the same manner,
“creative innovation is vital to the process of understanding ourselves, of seeing the world differently as it presents itself anew, of presenting novel propositions about the way we see, hear, look and conceptualize.”
Any creative endeavor in art is generally individual and it can never be arranged or organized knowingly in a planned manner. All this makes the work and imagination solely special and the artist exemplary.
Music is an art of freedom; an art that requires freedom. Vocal music is such that it need not rest on any external physical medium. It is a special natural divine gift. Our throat is an autonomous storehouse of creative sounds. It naturally expounds musical notes as well as rhythms; it has the power to imitate any sound heard. The sound of nature has been used extensively in the folk music of so many countries all through the globe. These natural sounds, through the creative efforts of peers were further nurtured, rectified, amended, reformed and rehearsed, that paved a way for the much purified classical form of music.
Creativity in Classical music flowers significantly with improvisation which is a basic traditional element of Indian Classical music. The freedom in classical music is limited to the improvisations done with strict compliance with the rules of the ragas. Improvisation finds maximum freedom in other genres of light music including bhajan, ghazals and songs/geet etc. In such genres the artist constructs the creative musical piece with free access to the desirable notes.
Alperson expresses that what interests the listeners in the process of listening to the improvisation is “a particular sort of action: the action of creating a musical work as it is being performed.” In the West, Jazz is such a music that is improvisational in style and form. Saxophone is the major instrument of this form. Artists such as Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, Mose Allison and others are major such names that have brought Jazz style to recognition. The various genres in Jazz are bebop and blues with layers of harmonic styles.
The urge for media coverage and populism has encouraged professionalism among the present generation of artists that has paved way for creativity in the form of experimentation and innovation in classical music. The growing professionalism is also seen among the stalwarts of Indian classical music, as the artists are involved in the race of money making and pine for professional tours to seek more and more money. Moreover the increase in the number of students, who are admitted without any audition or entrance test for studies in music, naturally decreases the quality element that the ancestors stressed so much upon as they imparted their knowledge only to those who devoted their life to music.
The artist and innovators or the creators today, try to push towards diversification and experimentation to get greater artistic accomplishment. Therefore they think more for the upcoming generation as technicians and also as artists.
Performing artists have also left a vivid effect globally be it popular music artist or Indian classical artists. Few artists have more influence on the listeners of far-off countries, as a result their music albums or songs do more business in foreign countries. Not just celebrities of music world but also the film stars play a significant role for the promotion of music albums.
As a part of promotion of their music, foreign artists such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Shakira, and many more went around the world for their musical tours. These artists are exposed to different sounds of music and thus they expand their vision and area of creativity. In this manner an artist gets maximum exposure and also tries to create a hybrid of his musical attributes with varied cultures.
Present time has changed guru shishya parampara or relation to a teacher student relation. In contemporary fast pace of life the guru and student both have less time to spare upon the long old process of music teaching, practice and learning. In a short span of time students desire to learn and also perform on the stage as also said by Pt. Ravi Shankar. Though even today most of the peers carry a pedantic approach towards classical music, the number of such musician has declined.
Most of the purists believe in traditionally accepted norms and do not agree with the concept of fusion or experiments with classical music. They view fusion as a fiend or a threat to our culture. Today with the artists growing wide and experimenting with music, the modernized image of a classical vocal artist or an instrumentalist has overshadowed the conservative and orthodox image of the gurus of the past. Modern artist tries to polish and subvert the old with their creativity to suit the mainstream tastes. An appreciation of the new sound of fusion music requires a deep understanding of myriad social and historical contexts in which such performances and endeavors take shape. An artist of present is evangelizing a movement to move out of his deep rooted cultural status and in turn forming a new niche for himself through new age creativity.
A Date with Godavari River
By M H Ahssan
Since we bought our sweet swift hatchback, we were dying for a long drive. After many a missed opportunities, we i.e., me, Debjani, my counterpart, and Tvisha, our little old lady, could merge our weekends to give it a go. Mithu, Debjani’s cousin sis and Tarun, her husband and my colleague cum friend were always there just for a call. On a pleasant, sunny morning of January, we set out from our Township at Visakhapatnam, to explore Konaseema, the emerald Andhra, and me, for a date with Godavari, the boundless beauty.
We got onto the National Highway 5 and sped past Anakapalle, Elamanchili and Tuni to halt after 100 km at Annavaram, the abode of Lord Vishnu. We took breakfast and an impromptu decision to visit the hill temple. On the way we stopped beside the Pampa River, formed into a reservoir. Tarun wielded his high end digicam, his new prized possession and I took out my camcorder. We went up the Ratnagiri hill and visited the temple of Sree Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy Varu. The temple was hum drumming with religious activities.
We came down and took a small road via Annavaram Rail Station for a short distance of 11km to get on to a wider road which will take us straight to Kakinada, the gateway to Konaseema, the Godavari basin. This is a less travelled road, but a more exotic one. From Uppada, as we caught the Bay of Bengal on our left, the drive was fantastic. We stopped to take some spectacular snaps of the green paddy fields with contrasting silvery sea dotted with fishing boats with their blue sails unfurled. We reached Kakinada in no time and got down at the Kakinada beach to sip a cup of coffee. The Kakinada port bound ships were foggily visible on the horizon. Some more shots for Tarun amidst the Casuarina trees, some more ‘Cheese’ for us.
We took the port road from the Lighthouse to bypass the town and rode on to the Yanam road straightaway. We reached Yanam, 24 km from Kakinada, with the sun over our head. Entering into Yanam through a graceful thoranam, we found little trouble to find the Govt. Guest House. Checked in to two A/c suites, equipped with all amenities but poor maintained. Dropped our baggage and while others were getting refreshed I and Tarun went out for finding a place to lunch.
While looking for a good restaurant, we tried to discover Yanam, a former French Colony, now a part of Puducherry, a bit. It is a tiny town with a character of its own - roads are narrow but clean, a number of statues adorning both sides of the road. A Catholic Church stands just opposite our Guest House. But we couldn’t find any French flavor as such.
After a heavy lunch, we proceeded to Draksharamam, 16 km from Yanam. First time we had to negotiate a bad stretch of road. The Drakhsaramam temple is predominantly a Shiva Temple, one of the five arama kshetras of Lord Shiva in Andhra, but at the same time it is also revered as one of the Saktipeethas, the twelfth one to be precise. It houses one of the three Jyotirlingas along with Sree Sailam and Sree Kalahasti which gave the ancient name of Andhra, Trilinga Desha. The priest told us that the linga here is 14 ft tall. We also came to know from him that the temple was built by King Vengi-Bhima of Eastern Chalukya dynasty in 9th century. Shiva is worshipped here as Bheemeswara and his consort is known as Sri Manikyamba.
We drove back to Yanam and went straight to its most prominent landmark on the bank of Godavari, a huge sculpture depicting two elephants showering water on a huge Shivalinga.
Tvisha loved it, and immediately got drenched in the shower. It was twilight. The sun was about to set and Godavari was at its best under the thrilling light of the setting sun. We embarked on a boat and sailed on Godavari. It was an experience of a life time. The panorama was picture perfect. On one side the rising moon was on the sky, on the other the scarlet sun was melting slowly into the river. The wavelets were as if gleaning the last rays of the sun and playing gleefully with them. It was pure magic.
We spent the evening on the bank of Godavari, sitting on the tastefully developed stretch on the riverside. It was addictive. The gentle breeze, the shimmering moon and Godavari…
We found a tough time to find chai to accompany the easily available hot chats. There are more liquor shops than tea shops in this part of the world. We came back to the Guest House. Switched on TV and found India thrashed Australia in the Perth cricket test. We travelled 240 km today.
Next morning, I got up early with an azan, got ready and went out for a stroll. The huge tree in the Guest house premises which was sheltering hundreds of cranes last night was bustling with the sound of the wings as the herons were preparing to take off for the day out. I passed by the church and went up to the crossing near by and brought piping hot tea for all of us.
We checked out from the Guest House early and crossed Godavari, the Gautami, for the first time over the newly built Balayogi Varadhi and we entered into the coconut country. It was coconut trees all the way standing gracefully tall right from the edge of the road on both the sides. We drove via Amalapuram, refueled car after spending some nervous moments as the fuel indicator was pessimistic enough and no Petrol Bunk was coming on the way after Amalapuram, crossed Godavari, the Vainateya, for the second time at Gannavaram and stopped at Razolu, 48 km from Yanam, for breakfast and direction. Our next destination is Dindi, the unknown haven for the nature lover.
8 km from Razolu, we left the main road and crept on to a mud road to suddenly discover the Coconut Country Resort standing in front of us with all its splendor. It is the latest jewel in the crown of AP Tourism and waiting for formal inauguration. On completion it promises to have multi-facilities including a banquet hall, a swimming pool, an ayurvedic and massage center and even a meditation center. Just on the other side of the resort is Godavari, pulled out from the canvas of a master artist, languidly flowing towards the bay - a perfect idyllic setting for a laid back weekend. Tarun and Mithu immediately got on to their act for a photo session.
The tourism offers river cruise on fully furnished houseboats for a rather prohibiting tariff. We went on board of a houseboat, sat on the deck, spent an indolent hour, filled our eyes with the pristine beauty of the sun kissed river bordered with endless coconut groves, and recharged our lungs and souls. We crossed Godavari, the Vashishtha, for the third time to and fro over the Chinchinada Bridge and went on to Antarvedi where Godavari finds solace in the Bay.
We lost direction a bit and chartered into interior Andhra. It was lush green paddy fields below, topped with platoon of coconut trees, a breathtaking view, truly emerald. We were bound to stop for posing and clicking some more.
We found our way to reach Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Antarvedi, 22 km from Dindi. A big wooden chariot was waiting outside probably for the ensuing festival. The pulling ropes were awe inspiring. The Godavari could be seen at a distance from the terrace of the temple. This temple is famous as a Mukti Kshetra. A number of myths flow around the temple. One such myth says that Kesavadas, a cowherd, while grazing his cows found the remains of the old temple amidst a jungle, originally erected by Sage Vashishtha. The villagers built the temple which was ruined after some time. It was re-built by Sri Narendra Laxmi Narasimha Rao, a generous gentleman, only to be ruined again later. The present temple was re-constructed in 1923 by Adinarayana, a merchant, and his sons which is historically evident from a stone inscription.
Our last stopover was the Antarvedi beach with a lonely lighthouse. And at a little distance, Godavari, after a thousand and a half kilometers of nurturing and sustaining thousands of thousands of lives for thousands of years, ends her journey and confluences with the all powerful. We too ended our journey ahead to start a swift 300 km trip back home. Thus was my delightful date with Godavari.
Since we bought our sweet swift hatchback, we were dying for a long drive. After many a missed opportunities, we i.e., me, Debjani, my counterpart, and Tvisha, our little old lady, could merge our weekends to give it a go. Mithu, Debjani’s cousin sis and Tarun, her husband and my colleague cum friend were always there just for a call. On a pleasant, sunny morning of January, we set out from our Township at Visakhapatnam, to explore Konaseema, the emerald Andhra, and me, for a date with Godavari, the boundless beauty.
We got onto the National Highway 5 and sped past Anakapalle, Elamanchili and Tuni to halt after 100 km at Annavaram, the abode of Lord Vishnu. We took breakfast and an impromptu decision to visit the hill temple. On the way we stopped beside the Pampa River, formed into a reservoir. Tarun wielded his high end digicam, his new prized possession and I took out my camcorder. We went up the Ratnagiri hill and visited the temple of Sree Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy Varu. The temple was hum drumming with religious activities.
We came down and took a small road via Annavaram Rail Station for a short distance of 11km to get on to a wider road which will take us straight to Kakinada, the gateway to Konaseema, the Godavari basin. This is a less travelled road, but a more exotic one. From Uppada, as we caught the Bay of Bengal on our left, the drive was fantastic. We stopped to take some spectacular snaps of the green paddy fields with contrasting silvery sea dotted with fishing boats with their blue sails unfurled. We reached Kakinada in no time and got down at the Kakinada beach to sip a cup of coffee. The Kakinada port bound ships were foggily visible on the horizon. Some more shots for Tarun amidst the Casuarina trees, some more ‘Cheese’ for us.
We took the port road from the Lighthouse to bypass the town and rode on to the Yanam road straightaway. We reached Yanam, 24 km from Kakinada, with the sun over our head. Entering into Yanam through a graceful thoranam, we found little trouble to find the Govt. Guest House. Checked in to two A/c suites, equipped with all amenities but poor maintained. Dropped our baggage and while others were getting refreshed I and Tarun went out for finding a place to lunch.
While looking for a good restaurant, we tried to discover Yanam, a former French Colony, now a part of Puducherry, a bit. It is a tiny town with a character of its own - roads are narrow but clean, a number of statues adorning both sides of the road. A Catholic Church stands just opposite our Guest House. But we couldn’t find any French flavor as such.
After a heavy lunch, we proceeded to Draksharamam, 16 km from Yanam. First time we had to negotiate a bad stretch of road. The Drakhsaramam temple is predominantly a Shiva Temple, one of the five arama kshetras of Lord Shiva in Andhra, but at the same time it is also revered as one of the Saktipeethas, the twelfth one to be precise. It houses one of the three Jyotirlingas along with Sree Sailam and Sree Kalahasti which gave the ancient name of Andhra, Trilinga Desha. The priest told us that the linga here is 14 ft tall. We also came to know from him that the temple was built by King Vengi-Bhima of Eastern Chalukya dynasty in 9th century. Shiva is worshipped here as Bheemeswara and his consort is known as Sri Manikyamba.
We drove back to Yanam and went straight to its most prominent landmark on the bank of Godavari, a huge sculpture depicting two elephants showering water on a huge Shivalinga.
Tvisha loved it, and immediately got drenched in the shower. It was twilight. The sun was about to set and Godavari was at its best under the thrilling light of the setting sun. We embarked on a boat and sailed on Godavari. It was an experience of a life time. The panorama was picture perfect. On one side the rising moon was on the sky, on the other the scarlet sun was melting slowly into the river. The wavelets were as if gleaning the last rays of the sun and playing gleefully with them. It was pure magic.
We spent the evening on the bank of Godavari, sitting on the tastefully developed stretch on the riverside. It was addictive. The gentle breeze, the shimmering moon and Godavari…
We found a tough time to find chai to accompany the easily available hot chats. There are more liquor shops than tea shops in this part of the world. We came back to the Guest House. Switched on TV and found India thrashed Australia in the Perth cricket test. We travelled 240 km today.
Next morning, I got up early with an azan, got ready and went out for a stroll. The huge tree in the Guest house premises which was sheltering hundreds of cranes last night was bustling with the sound of the wings as the herons were preparing to take off for the day out. I passed by the church and went up to the crossing near by and brought piping hot tea for all of us.
We checked out from the Guest House early and crossed Godavari, the Gautami, for the first time over the newly built Balayogi Varadhi and we entered into the coconut country. It was coconut trees all the way standing gracefully tall right from the edge of the road on both the sides. We drove via Amalapuram, refueled car after spending some nervous moments as the fuel indicator was pessimistic enough and no Petrol Bunk was coming on the way after Amalapuram, crossed Godavari, the Vainateya, for the second time at Gannavaram and stopped at Razolu, 48 km from Yanam, for breakfast and direction. Our next destination is Dindi, the unknown haven for the nature lover.
8 km from Razolu, we left the main road and crept on to a mud road to suddenly discover the Coconut Country Resort standing in front of us with all its splendor. It is the latest jewel in the crown of AP Tourism and waiting for formal inauguration. On completion it promises to have multi-facilities including a banquet hall, a swimming pool, an ayurvedic and massage center and even a meditation center. Just on the other side of the resort is Godavari, pulled out from the canvas of a master artist, languidly flowing towards the bay - a perfect idyllic setting for a laid back weekend. Tarun and Mithu immediately got on to their act for a photo session.
The tourism offers river cruise on fully furnished houseboats for a rather prohibiting tariff. We went on board of a houseboat, sat on the deck, spent an indolent hour, filled our eyes with the pristine beauty of the sun kissed river bordered with endless coconut groves, and recharged our lungs and souls. We crossed Godavari, the Vashishtha, for the third time to and fro over the Chinchinada Bridge and went on to Antarvedi where Godavari finds solace in the Bay.
We lost direction a bit and chartered into interior Andhra. It was lush green paddy fields below, topped with platoon of coconut trees, a breathtaking view, truly emerald. We were bound to stop for posing and clicking some more.
We found our way to reach Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Temple at Antarvedi, 22 km from Dindi. A big wooden chariot was waiting outside probably for the ensuing festival. The pulling ropes were awe inspiring. The Godavari could be seen at a distance from the terrace of the temple. This temple is famous as a Mukti Kshetra. A number of myths flow around the temple. One such myth says that Kesavadas, a cowherd, while grazing his cows found the remains of the old temple amidst a jungle, originally erected by Sage Vashishtha. The villagers built the temple which was ruined after some time. It was re-built by Sri Narendra Laxmi Narasimha Rao, a generous gentleman, only to be ruined again later. The present temple was re-constructed in 1923 by Adinarayana, a merchant, and his sons which is historically evident from a stone inscription.
Our last stopover was the Antarvedi beach with a lonely lighthouse. And at a little distance, Godavari, after a thousand and a half kilometers of nurturing and sustaining thousands of thousands of lives for thousands of years, ends her journey and confluences with the all powerful. We too ended our journey ahead to start a swift 300 km trip back home. Thus was my delightful date with Godavari.
Foot Asleep? Wake up to Diabetes!
Dr.Himesh Acharya
If your foot often falls asleep and there are cuts or bruises on them that cause no sensation, brace yourself - it may be a case of diabetic foot.
Experts have a word of advice. Leading a life of discipline and being cautious with one's feet is the key to living with diabetes and dealing with the potential risk of gangrenous infection is simple, they say.
"Diabetic patients are often lazy about basic instructions - following a disciplined routine of taking medicines and regular exercises as prescribed. These are essential to keeping the circulation of blood and sugar levels in check," said Ashok Jhingan, diabetologist and chairman, Delhi Diabetes Research Centre, told HNN.
Diabetes is a growing problem on the Indian subcontinent and in the Middle East.
According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), there were an estimated 40 million people with diabetes in India in 2007 and this number is predicted to rise to almost 70 million people by 2025.
"When a normal person wakes up in the morning, he goes to the mirror to look at his face. But a diabetic needs to look at his feet with the same care," Jhingan said.
This is because the symptoms and signs of a diabetic foot include numbness or tingling in the feet, persistent sensation of cold feet, ulcerations on the foot or the toes.
"One must also be wary of small cuts or burns that can develop into gangrene or deformities on the toes and the foot," Jhingan explained.
A recent study compiled by Kushagra Katariya, CEO Artemis Health Sciences and cardio thoracic surgeon, ahead of World Diabetes Day on Nov 14, found that approximately 5 percent of diabetics develop foot ulcers and 12 percent develop poor leg and foot circulation and every 30 seconds a lower limb is lost to diabetes.
"Unfortunately as a result of these problems, a diabetic is 15 times more likely to have an amputation of the leg than a non-diabetic," Katariya said.
Diabetic foot problems can occur at any age and after any amount of time following someone being diagnosed as a diabetic.
"However, most patients with diabetic foot problems are older, as circulation gets poor with advancing age," he added.
It is important for diabetics to get their feet regularly checked by a healthcare professional that specializes in this field, feel doctors.
"If there is a small infection, it can be controlled before it develops into a gangrene-like threat - the dead skin can be scraped, aspirin like drugs for speeding circulation to wounded areas can be prescribed, but first the diabetic must check his feet and be careful," Jhingan observed.
In some cases, the blood circulation in diabetes patients is so bad that it can cause vascular blockages. These can be removed surgically but also through an angioplasty or laser.
"The doctor may order simple tests such as a vascular ultrasound to check the circulation in the legs. More advanced tests may include a CT-Angio or an MRA to look at the vascular supply," said Katariya.
Many diabetic foot problems can be nipped in the bud by raising patient awareness to potential problems - watch your weight, keep blood sugar levels in control and get regular checkups.
"Diabetics should always buy footwear in the evenings," Jhingan quipped, "not in the mornings as poor blood circulation causes the foot to swell in evenings - the shoes should not be tight or smaller. Comfortable soft soled footwear should be worn."
In winters, the diabetic foot is often likely to be regarded as a chill bite.
"In which case the patient should be doubly cautious - keep warm but avoid prolonged exposure to hot water - this can cause bacterial infections and non-healing ulcers in diabetic patients, as their wounds take longer to heal. Due to loss of sensation in their feet, diabetics often don't come to know about such injury early enough," Jhingan averred.
In India almost 40,000 legs are amputated every year due to diabetes alone.
"Due to a gradual decrease in vision, diabetic patients tend to wound themselves. And due to a simultaneous loss of sensation in the feet, they do not feel the pain and hence the wound is ignored, causing prolonged infection - the limb then has to be amputated," Jhingan said.
If your foot often falls asleep and there are cuts or bruises on them that cause no sensation, brace yourself - it may be a case of diabetic foot.
Experts have a word of advice. Leading a life of discipline and being cautious with one's feet is the key to living with diabetes and dealing with the potential risk of gangrenous infection is simple, they say.
"Diabetic patients are often lazy about basic instructions - following a disciplined routine of taking medicines and regular exercises as prescribed. These are essential to keeping the circulation of blood and sugar levels in check," said Ashok Jhingan, diabetologist and chairman, Delhi Diabetes Research Centre, told HNN.
Diabetes is a growing problem on the Indian subcontinent and in the Middle East.
According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), there were an estimated 40 million people with diabetes in India in 2007 and this number is predicted to rise to almost 70 million people by 2025.
"When a normal person wakes up in the morning, he goes to the mirror to look at his face. But a diabetic needs to look at his feet with the same care," Jhingan said.
This is because the symptoms and signs of a diabetic foot include numbness or tingling in the feet, persistent sensation of cold feet, ulcerations on the foot or the toes.
"One must also be wary of small cuts or burns that can develop into gangrene or deformities on the toes and the foot," Jhingan explained.
A recent study compiled by Kushagra Katariya, CEO Artemis Health Sciences and cardio thoracic surgeon, ahead of World Diabetes Day on Nov 14, found that approximately 5 percent of diabetics develop foot ulcers and 12 percent develop poor leg and foot circulation and every 30 seconds a lower limb is lost to diabetes.
"Unfortunately as a result of these problems, a diabetic is 15 times more likely to have an amputation of the leg than a non-diabetic," Katariya said.
Diabetic foot problems can occur at any age and after any amount of time following someone being diagnosed as a diabetic.
"However, most patients with diabetic foot problems are older, as circulation gets poor with advancing age," he added.
It is important for diabetics to get their feet regularly checked by a healthcare professional that specializes in this field, feel doctors.
"If there is a small infection, it can be controlled before it develops into a gangrene-like threat - the dead skin can be scraped, aspirin like drugs for speeding circulation to wounded areas can be prescribed, but first the diabetic must check his feet and be careful," Jhingan observed.
In some cases, the blood circulation in diabetes patients is so bad that it can cause vascular blockages. These can be removed surgically but also through an angioplasty or laser.
"The doctor may order simple tests such as a vascular ultrasound to check the circulation in the legs. More advanced tests may include a CT-Angio or an MRA to look at the vascular supply," said Katariya.
Many diabetic foot problems can be nipped in the bud by raising patient awareness to potential problems - watch your weight, keep blood sugar levels in control and get regular checkups.
"Diabetics should always buy footwear in the evenings," Jhingan quipped, "not in the mornings as poor blood circulation causes the foot to swell in evenings - the shoes should not be tight or smaller. Comfortable soft soled footwear should be worn."
In winters, the diabetic foot is often likely to be regarded as a chill bite.
"In which case the patient should be doubly cautious - keep warm but avoid prolonged exposure to hot water - this can cause bacterial infections and non-healing ulcers in diabetic patients, as their wounds take longer to heal. Due to loss of sensation in their feet, diabetics often don't come to know about such injury early enough," Jhingan averred.
In India almost 40,000 legs are amputated every year due to diabetes alone.
"Due to a gradual decrease in vision, diabetic patients tend to wound themselves. And due to a simultaneous loss of sensation in the feet, they do not feel the pain and hence the wound is ignored, causing prolonged infection - the limb then has to be amputated," Jhingan said.
Naxal Terror: India’s Forgotten War
By M H Ahssan
Damanjodi is a remote corner of Southern Orissa in India. A few days back an intense battle in India’s forgotten war against Naxalism was fought there by a few ill trained, poorly equipped but brave and stout hearted policemen who rescued the lives of over 150 miners. This frontline came into the limelight when 200 Naxals struck on 9 April a week before general elections in the country targeting the largest bauxite mines in Asia. Beyond the glare of television cameras, valiant policemen of the Central Industrial Security Force fought a long battle to ward off the Naxals who had come looking for a truck full of explosives.
They lost 10 of the bravest comrades, but were ignored by national and international media and received none of the accolades reserved for the National Security Guards post Mumbai 26/11. While in no way detracting from the valuable contribution made by the National Security Guards, India’s leaders, civil society and the media need to question their conscience for virtually ignoring this attack on the state by the Naxals.
Damanjodi is the very anti thesis of the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel where Pakistan borne terrorists struck on 26 November 2008. But the bauxite mines are very much Indian Territory so were over 150 mine workers held hostage by the Naxals, yet the Indian state failed to respond equitably.
Political parties busy in inane dialogues of “jhappi and papi”, weak and strong Prime Ministers, choose to ignore this assault while the citizens were looking forward to television sojourns for the forthcoming Indian Premier League cricket series, ironically being held in South Africa. The media chose to overlook Damanjodi as if it was happening somewhere remote in Antarctica. There was no television coverage of the event, no photographs in front page of newspapers not even obituaries to our brave policemen.
Naxals were quick to notice this public disinterest. Thus they stuck on the polling day on 16 April. There were over 20 deaths in the violence that followed and despite the heavy polling appeared to be out of sync with the overall smooth conduct of Phase 1 of general elections in the country. Naxal affected states had a polling average varying from 40 to 60 percent despite the violence, this led to commentators touting it as a successful conduct forgetting that there were so many lives lost in the bargain, which sadly, the Indian public and the media does not seem to care.
The Naxals thus succeeded in disturbing if not disrupting the election process in Central India, which also highlights amateurish security management with elections in all Naxal affected states planned in one go which had led to thinning out of security forces. Surprisingly the Election Commission members continued to defend this decision, possibly none of them have been to Dantewada, Bastar, Bijapur or Latehar all Naxal strongholds.
Clearly there was a case for multi phased elections as in Kashmir and the North East, but the Election Commission mandarins failed to appreciate the signals coming from the Naxal heartland. The key shortfall there is of well trained troops who can challenge rebels of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).
On the other hand the security in the North East which went for elections was good because these are being held in two phases, thus in the first phase the critical areas other than the Brahmaputra Valley went to polls while the Valley which also has the state of Assam from where the Prime Minister of the country, Mr Manmohan Singh is a member of the Upper House the Rajya Sabha will vote in the second phase, which led to strengthening of the security grid.
The Naxals clearly took the police and para military forces in India by surprise. Their continued fight in the most under developed and remote parts of the country as Abujmadh has gone unnoticed apart from the occasional sympathy for loss of innocent lives of locals and policemen alike.
Even the large number of casualties caused during elections received scant attention thus highlighting lack of public support to the anti Naxal forces police and para military. There is a need to completely change this approach. Greater public concern would provide for the police and the paramilitary fighting the Naxals required wherewithal for combating the ills of militancy. While this has received financial approval its implementation has been tardy leading to large money allotted for modernization unspent.
The best government talent in the country is in the civil services including the police, the Indian Police Service. Yet the fate of the counter Naxal forces remains that of peripheral fighters. It is time they are given the centre stage for the war against Naxalism is as much our fight as theirs.
Damanjodi is a remote corner of Southern Orissa in India. A few days back an intense battle in India’s forgotten war against Naxalism was fought there by a few ill trained, poorly equipped but brave and stout hearted policemen who rescued the lives of over 150 miners. This frontline came into the limelight when 200 Naxals struck on 9 April a week before general elections in the country targeting the largest bauxite mines in Asia. Beyond the glare of television cameras, valiant policemen of the Central Industrial Security Force fought a long battle to ward off the Naxals who had come looking for a truck full of explosives.
They lost 10 of the bravest comrades, but were ignored by national and international media and received none of the accolades reserved for the National Security Guards post Mumbai 26/11. While in no way detracting from the valuable contribution made by the National Security Guards, India’s leaders, civil society and the media need to question their conscience for virtually ignoring this attack on the state by the Naxals.
Damanjodi is the very anti thesis of the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel where Pakistan borne terrorists struck on 26 November 2008. But the bauxite mines are very much Indian Territory so were over 150 mine workers held hostage by the Naxals, yet the Indian state failed to respond equitably.
Political parties busy in inane dialogues of “jhappi and papi”, weak and strong Prime Ministers, choose to ignore this assault while the citizens were looking forward to television sojourns for the forthcoming Indian Premier League cricket series, ironically being held in South Africa. The media chose to overlook Damanjodi as if it was happening somewhere remote in Antarctica. There was no television coverage of the event, no photographs in front page of newspapers not even obituaries to our brave policemen.
Naxals were quick to notice this public disinterest. Thus they stuck on the polling day on 16 April. There were over 20 deaths in the violence that followed and despite the heavy polling appeared to be out of sync with the overall smooth conduct of Phase 1 of general elections in the country. Naxal affected states had a polling average varying from 40 to 60 percent despite the violence, this led to commentators touting it as a successful conduct forgetting that there were so many lives lost in the bargain, which sadly, the Indian public and the media does not seem to care.
The Naxals thus succeeded in disturbing if not disrupting the election process in Central India, which also highlights amateurish security management with elections in all Naxal affected states planned in one go which had led to thinning out of security forces. Surprisingly the Election Commission members continued to defend this decision, possibly none of them have been to Dantewada, Bastar, Bijapur or Latehar all Naxal strongholds.
Clearly there was a case for multi phased elections as in Kashmir and the North East, but the Election Commission mandarins failed to appreciate the signals coming from the Naxal heartland. The key shortfall there is of well trained troops who can challenge rebels of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA).
On the other hand the security in the North East which went for elections was good because these are being held in two phases, thus in the first phase the critical areas other than the Brahmaputra Valley went to polls while the Valley which also has the state of Assam from where the Prime Minister of the country, Mr Manmohan Singh is a member of the Upper House the Rajya Sabha will vote in the second phase, which led to strengthening of the security grid.
The Naxals clearly took the police and para military forces in India by surprise. Their continued fight in the most under developed and remote parts of the country as Abujmadh has gone unnoticed apart from the occasional sympathy for loss of innocent lives of locals and policemen alike.
Even the large number of casualties caused during elections received scant attention thus highlighting lack of public support to the anti Naxal forces police and para military. There is a need to completely change this approach. Greater public concern would provide for the police and the paramilitary fighting the Naxals required wherewithal for combating the ills of militancy. While this has received financial approval its implementation has been tardy leading to large money allotted for modernization unspent.
The best government talent in the country is in the civil services including the police, the Indian Police Service. Yet the fate of the counter Naxal forces remains that of peripheral fighters. It is time they are given the centre stage for the war against Naxalism is as much our fight as theirs.
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