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The next time someone challenges you then you can challenge him or her to do this thing which no one can ever do!

But you can do to him or her!

Most of the times that is!

Robert Sapolsky in a series of lectures about the human and other private behaviour tells about this one thing which no one can do to oneself!

But he or she can do it do others and get done by others!

All right; will not tease or tickle you for long!

Yes! It is tickling!

You can never TICKLE yourself!

We are of course assuming that your brain and mental status is good when you read or assess or think about my blog so if you see a monkey tickling itself and laughing then that is not an exception!

For the rest of the HUMANS; you simply cannot tickle yourself!

Primarily this is because your brain anticipates your own movements.

When you initiate a tickle, the cerebellum predicts the exact sensation, sending signals that cancel out the ticklish feeling before it registers. This built-in “sensory prediction” prevents your nervous system from reacting to your own touch.

Tickling is highly dependent on surprise and the feeling of vulnerability!

Every time you decide to move, a part of your brain (the cerebellum) sends out a motor command. Alongside this, it sends a preemptive message to the rest of the brain detailing exactly where and how you will touch yourself.

Because your brain already knows the touch is coming, it “dials down” your sensory response. This process, known as sensory attenuation, is why you don’t jump when you accidentally brush against your own arm, but you would if someone else touched you! Particulalry if it is that SPECIAL someone!

So when someone else tickles you, your brain cannot anticipate the movement or the exact location of their touch. This unexpected contact triggers the tickle reflex and makes you laugh!

Of course the degree of being able to be tickled by others is variable from person to person! Some are very tickish while many have a thick skin!

Now do not try to tickle yourself! You are not a monkey! If you want to smile or laugh instead you can catch up a
Robin McLaurin Williams movie!

Now tickle your itching nose and sleep!

Subh ratri…

8,295,623,810…

As of 28th May 830 PM KST that is the population of the world!

Even then you will find somebody who is all alone and well, more accurately Lonely. Then again even amongst them you will find those who have reached at such a level of stress in their life that even when they know what to do; they simply do not do anything!

The technical term is called Learned Helplessness…

If you listen to the talk by Robert Sapolsky about Learned Helplessness then you will get the medical version!

Stanford neurobiologist Dr. Robert Sapolsky utilizes the psychological framework of learned helplessness to bridge the gap between chronic environmental stress and the neurological mechanics of major clinical depression!

Sapolsky focuses heavily on the underlying biology and explains how a lack of control and predictability over stressful events fundamentally rewires the brain, destroying motivation and the capacity for joy!

Learned helplessness occurs when an organism is subjected to repeated, uncontrollable stressors.

The subject transitions from trying to cope to realizing that nothing they do alters the outcome! They become so frustrated with a small failure after failure than they simply stop trying!

It becomes a point when the mantra or in this case, the curse becomes’ “What is the point?”

In the novel ‘Why Zebra don’t get ulcers’ Sapolsky translates this psychological state into cellular neuroscience, specifically highlighting how chronic stress damages brain architecture!

Uncontrollable stress causes a massive, sustained release of cortisol (and other glucocorticoids). High levels of these hormones over long periods are toxic to neural structures especially the hippocampus which is responsible for learning and memory.

Prolonged exposure physically atrophies dendrites here. This impairs an individual’s ability to cognitively process new contexts, anchoring them to past helplessness!

You also have Dopamine Depletion and also in a state of learned helpless
ness, the brain depletes its norepinephrine reserves, leading to psychomotor retardation! This is the term where simple physical and cognitive tasks require immense effort!

Sapolsky views major depression as the ultimate pathological extension of learned helplessness. He argues it is a profoundly biological disorder—comparable to juvenile diabetes—rather than a failure of personal willpower!

Now tackling this head on is a complex problem which needs proper and ‘EXPERT’ measure but like how simple small steps can cause it to develop; simple small successes consistently done over a period of time can actually reverse the process!

Robert suggests many methods including exercise and meditation! Even a silent prayer can work wonders!

Or simply watch an old movie! I would recommend Maya Bazaar! Do check out who plays Shri Krishna in the movie!

SHubh ratri…remember as Michael says; “You are not ALONE!”…

Jatinga is a small village in Dima Hasao District of Assam. Like other hill stations it is blessed by nature and scenes which can adorn any photograph or painting! 


However, what differentiates Jatinga from any other normal travel getaway in India is the bird suicide mystery!

Now I know many places in Assam like Missamari or Rangapara which many would not have heard of but this was one place which was new even for me!

The Jatinga Bird Suicide mystery is a click bait since according to this story, it is believed that birds from several geographical locations come here not to mate, migrate or do something else but to commit suicide.

This strange phenomenon has caught the interest of scientists and ornithologists alike!

Interestingly this happens in a narrow area between August and November, where hundreds of local and migratory birds tragically plummet to their deaths at night!


Now of course research has shed some LIGHT on the real cause of this phenomenon.

This mass mortality happens when dense fog and reverse winds disorient the birds, causing them to crash into artificial lights and trees, where villagers previously struck them down.

The phenomenon occurs along a narrow 1.5-km strip in Jatinga, a village in the Dima Hasao district of Assam, India.

It predominantly happens on foggy, moonless nights between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM, usually when air currents and monsoon rains reverse.

Nocturnal and diurnal species, particularly juveniles, become disoriented by strong winds and the village’s bright lights, causing them to plummet toward the glow!

Extreme weather and sudden changes in barometric pressure disrupt the birds’ natural navigational and biological rhythms. The artificial lights also add to the confusion! Drawn to the lights of the village as a refuge, the birds fly low and become dazed.

Historically, locals mistook these nighttime avian drops for evil spirits, prompting them to knock the disoriented birds out of the sky with bamboo poles!

Finally wildlife officials, ornithologists, and conservation groups have actively educated the villagers.

Superstitions have largely been dispelled, and mass killings have significantly dropped. Today, authorities encourage observing and studying this fascinating natural occurrence rather than harming the wildlife!

Knowledge has literally given a new light to the amazing phenomenon! Behind any such ‘magic’ is the knowledge which is just waiting to be gained!


Magic also was the acting prowess of Gopishantha aka Manorama!

Hope you learnt something today!

Shubh ratri…

One of the most important factors to be healthy is your economic status! That is the most blunt way of putting it but that is the raw truth!

Some papers have even found that first responders from ‘POOR’ areas do not even try to resuscitate or try HARDER to revive emergency calls! Sounds sad and cruel but that is the reality!

As Robert Sapolsky mentioned in one of his lectures; even in countries with SOCIALISED medicine; there have been been a difference of care and health between the poor and the rich!

The famous adage WHEN EVERYONE IS POOR; NO ONE IS! Is actually never a reality! You will always find a gradation! There will be a one eyed person among the blind!

Then again this blog is not about that!

This blog is about a condition in which it was detrimental if you are RICH!

This was a situation in which if you are rich and can afford a good private hospital then your child is more likely to have a one way trip!

The term was called hospitalism!

There are two distinct meaning as far as the history goes and in both cases they are not good for the patients!

Originally coined in the 1860s, it referred to the spread of fatal infections within hospitals! By the 1930s, it evolved into a pediatric term describing severe physical and psychological deterioration in institutionalized infants deprived of maternal care!

Initially used in Britain, “hospitalism” described the unsanitary environment of early hospitals, which were believed to absorb and circulate infections, causing high mortality rates!

As far as the blog is concerned the latter meaning is the one which used to affect the RICH!

Pediatricians began using the term specifically to describe infants in orphanages and foundling homes who wasted away despite receiving adequate nutrition.

Psychoanalyst René Spitz popularized the term. Through landmark studies in 1945, he documented how babies in institutions who lacked human contact and “maternal love” suffered from stunted growth, developmental delays, and high mortality—a condition later linked to anaclitic depression!

Spitz’s research directly influenced modern healthcare. It spurred a global shift away from long-term institutionalized orphanages and changed hospital visitation policies, eventually leading medical professionals to prioritize parental presence and emotional bonding in pediatric care!

In simple terms, the rich did not have love to give which the POOR had plenty to give! Most of the times all you NEED IS LOVE! The warmth of a human touch especially a mother’s touch can give better results than the latest and priciest medications!

So you must only be that rich that you know people love you for you and not your money!


Hope that makes you laugh like jetha bhai!

Shubh ratri…

Inception is probably one of the best movies when it comes to sleep! With Nolan leading the way with the research you knew that you are in for a sleepy ride!

In a series of lectures by Robert Sapolsky about sleep you get try to understand why we sleep and fail! Then you try to understand why we dream and why our dreams do not have any limits!

Now how do you know it is dream or real life?

According to the movie you have some clues!

The movie relies on several concrete rules and clues to differentiate dreams from reality:
Dreamers use items called Totems! A totem’s weight or balance is meant to feel normal only in the real world. If the physical properties feel altered, the character knows they are dreaming!

Then the most important clue is “How did we end up here?”
In real life, people are conscious of how they arrive in a location, but dreams typically start abruptly in the middle of the action!

In real life though what you can do in a dream is only what you can DREAM of in real life!

If you have walked up to this person or even your boss with confidence and told him or her off! Of you have done a sky diving from a chopper! Or you are driving a Chopper! Or going simple; you speak exactly what is there in your mind!

Then you are in a dream!

Do you know what keeps us doing all these things in real life!?

The BRAKE of your brain! The part of the brain which is most developed! The part of the brain which is still to be developed in Teens (which to a certain extent can explain why they ACT without thinking!)! The most complex part of your brain!

The FRONTAL CORTEX!

Now we do now know why we sleep! But one finding is that the frontal cortex is surprisingly inactive during sleep! It is like a class where the teacher has gone out or is sleeping! Which is probably why without the limit or class monitor FRONTAL CORTEX telling you NO or NOT to do the nonsense which you are planning to do; you simply let it GO!

In one novel by Ashwin Sanghi; it was told that you are one half of another person living in some other part of the world! So what you are doing in your dream is what the other person is actually doing in his or her real life in some other part of the world! Now that is the creative FRONTAL CORTEX again!

All said and done; the next time you see your boss and DO NOT slap him or her; do remember to thank your FRONTAL CORTEX, before you sleep!


Of course some have amazing frontal cortex like revolutionaries like Rashbehari Bose! The reason why I sketched him apart from being his birthday is that my Mom used to Live in Rashbehari avenue in Kolkata and when I went I shared some fond memories through her!

Her old house and the street shops!
A nostalgic memory…

Shubh ratri…

This was possibly one of the simplest and yet complicated gift you could ever gift to someone!

In fact it is the now the best-selling toy in history!

One of the longest train journey is the Bangalore Howrah express! It was close to five days and used to go via cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Orissa and finally Calcutta! Now there is another train which is longer which goes from Kanyakumari to Dibrugarh! Anyway the blog is not about the train!

During one such train journey while we were munching Mom’s Chapati with the Stuffed Karela and a little Baingan Bartha we saw this guy playing a cube like toy and trying to solve the sides!

The RUBIK’S CUBE!

Years later we had the toy and in fact every home had one but most used to be left unsolved! The difference here was that the Guy had solved all the sides!

In the pre internet and social media days ; solving a Rubik’s cube was a rarity!

I had a cube which was left unsolved for decades! I could solve one side pretty easily but could not solve more than that! Then one fine day some seven years back I had this strange itch to solve it!

Now once I get it in my head or in my LIST; the thing to DO is hard to let go!

Luckily I had the help of the net! After many videos and trials I finally solved the cube! It was a moment of thrill and felt like a personal achievement!

Of course to solve it again took another couple of weeks and to solve it without looking at the code took another month!

Yes! You have codes and algorithms to solve it and though seeing a fully solved cube was a rare occurrence those days; now it is not only a NORMAL thing but also an extremely competitive sport!

The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik. Originally called the “Magic Cube” (Bűvös kocka) and designed to teach 3D geometry, it became an international sensation after being licensed to Ideal Toy Corp in 1980!

Now of course the Rubik’s cube is a phenomenon and you would be surprised to know that the fastest cubes now have magnets and each GOOD cube comes with a set of tools for tightening and making it properly mobile!

Speedcubing” and the Modern EraAs solvers around the world figured out the mathematical solutions (there are 4.3 times 10^{19} possible combinations!

Players began competing to see who could solve it the fastest and the World Cube Association (WCA) has been established to regulate international competitions and maintain records.

Modern “speed cubes” have evolved far past the stiff, noisy mechanics of the 1980s, allowing top competitors to solve the puzzle in under 3 seconds!

The franchise surpassed 500 million units sold worldwide!

So if you can solve the Rubik’s cube now you can be proud of yourself! If you can do it under a minute like me (pre hand fracture days!) then you are good! But do settle down!

Regular Cubers like my son and his brother have amazing solve timings which we cannot even imagine! This when I was the one who literally taught and ‘inspired’ them respectively to cube in the first place!

Now both of them beat me so easily!

Then again even they are rooted to the ground since the world record is an under 3 second solve of 2.76 seconds! Yes! Let that sink in!

Still think it is just a game!?

By the way solving a Rubik’s Cube is now much more than just a party trick; it is an excellent mental workout!

Regularly solving the puzzle improves spatial reasoning, boosts memory, and enhances problem-solving skills. It is also a fantastic way to relieve stress by promoting mindfulness and intense, focused concentration!

Just do not look at the timer or compare with the champs though!

Champ when it comes to music though is Rajesh Roshan!

Now if you want to learn to solve the Rubik’s cube in a simple way you can check out my video!

It will take time to master though so do not lose your sleep over it!

Shubh ratri!

https://youtu.be/PBIxdGcnkuo?si=gnU1UADZPiBMz1hk&sfnsn=wa

Everyone has stress but (see a blog without a BUT is very stressful!); it is not the problem which causes stress but the fact that we do not have any control over it!

Robert mentioned this in Why Zebras do not get ulcers!

Now imagine this situation;

You are placed in a room and presented with a sound at a particular loudness which is supposed to induce stress!

By default it would induce stress!

Then you are given a Lever or a shown a button and informed that you can press the button and the sound will get better or less loud!

As expected the presence of the button reduced the stress levels!

The more interesting thing here is what is revealed next!

The button does nothing!

Even if the button does nothing; the mere thought that you have some control over your stress is ENOUGH to reduce your stress!

That is the crux of the matter!

We get stressed on things which we do not have control on or cannot control! But the moment we believe that we can control the situation; the stress reduces or goes away!

There has been similar experiments on rodents with similar results!

This reminds me of the famous flow chart of stress or problem where it was advised that if you CANNOT do anything about it then just let it go and STOP worrying about it!

Robert Sapolsky argues that the core driver of psychological stress is not the stressor itself, but the loss of control!

When we face difficult circumstances, the lack of predictability, outlets for frustration, and social support turns acute biological reactions into chronic, health-damaging stress.

Of course the most easiest non stressful job is to give advice to others! While the most difficult stressful task is to follow your own advice!

It is all in the control!


Then again even if you are a queen you cannot have full control! Unless of course you are Maharani Gayatri Devi who was a symbol of women empowerment and grace!

Now you do not have any control of the time but you can control when you sleep (or at least lie down!)!

Shubh ratri…

Robert Sapolsky in a series of lectures tells us about how there are so many Neuroscientists in the world who do some very interesting work but apparently even the smallest parasites in the world have got more intelligence on how to survive!



Which brings us to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii! This is an amazing parasite in that the amount of planning it does to be active as long as possible is simply mind blowing!

The most common infected animal is usually the common rat!

Now you know how most rats are terrified of cats! You do not need to see the toon Tom and Jerry to know that!

But the issue which Toxoplasma gondii has is that the chief place in which it can reproduce is in the gut of the cat!

So how does Toxoplasma gondii ensure that the rat ends up in the cat’s stomach!?

By losing all fear of the cat!

What is most remarkable is that all rats have this inbuilt fear of light or cat and other fear which they do not have to LEARN! But when a rat is infected with Toxoplasma gondii; it simply stops fearing the cat!

What is more interesting is that the fear is then replaced with an almost obsession of stalker level! The infected rat seeks out a cat! This is like mind control of the HIGHEST or in this case MICROSCOPIC!

Another amazing thing is that the Rat still fears light and other predators! Only the fear of the cat is lost!

It has been suggested that Toxoplasma gondii may infect or change certain very specific areas of the brain like the Hippocampus or Amygdala and changes only those parts which makes the rat run away form the cat!

So if you ever see a Rat in LOVE with a cat and it is not on the TV; RUN!

Also if you suddenly start liking or even loving your enemy; it is good for humanity or maybe it is time for a brain scan!

It’s normal though to like some actors like Kesavan Venugopal, better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu though! No Tox Gondi there!

Now give rest to your brain!

Shubh ratri…

The extreme nature of the MAN is that he or she can make another person STARVE even when there is plenty of food for everyone!

This is the short summary of the Dutch Hunger Winter!

Of course every tragedy is a learning experience and this was a goldmine for researchers! This blog is what happened the children of starving pregnant women!


Robert Sapolsky in one of his books talks about the Dutch Hunger Winter as a classic teaching example for the field of epigenetics and the developmental origins of health and disease.

For those who did not know about the The Dutch Hunger Winter or Dutch famine of 1944–1945. This was an acute, MAN-made famine that took place in the Nazi-occupied western region of the Netherlands during the final months of World War II. Lasting from November 1944 until the country’s liberation in May 1945, the crisis claimed the lives of approximately 20,000 people and severely impacted over 4.5 million citizens!

During this time pregnant Dutch women were severely deprived of calories. Sapolsky explains that the developing fetuses in their wombs underwent biological “programming” to survive.

Their metabolisms permanently altered to become highly “thrifty”—learning to hold onto every single calorie and nutrient available!

The babies and fetuses became a SPONGE for nutrients! But every thing has a price to pay!

So while this thrifty metabolism was beneficial for surviving the famine, it backfired in the modern, calorie-abundant world.

Sapolsky highlights how these individuals later faced significantly higher rates of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease!

Furthermore, because epigenetic tags were placed on their DNA, the children of these individuals (the second generation) also demonstrated altered metabolic profiles and a heightened sensitivity to stress, even when gestated in an environment with perfectly adequate nutrition!

Sapolsky states that this historical tragedy illustrate several profound biological principles such as fetal programming in that the environment in the womb can permanently alter gene expression and organ function!

Also this leads to transgenerational epigenetics where environmental stressors experienced by a grandmother can biologically influence the grandchildren without altering the underlying DNA sequence!

Finally it makes sense being a SPONGE when the nutrients are less but being so in plenty can cause Mismatch! So the traits that promote survival in times of extreme adversity become detrimental when the environment abruptly changes to one of caloric excess!

Excess as far as talent is concerned is Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair or Laletan!

Now watch some old Laletan movie and sleep!

SHubh Ratri…

Everyone likes Junk Food! But do you know what happens when Monkeys get access to Junk food!?

They become the JUNK FOOD MONKEYS!

This is a popular essay by by Stanford biologist and neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky.


Sapolsky has spent over 25 years studying the behaviors and stress levels of wild baboons in East Africa.

During his fieldwork, a neighboring troop discovered a garbage pit at a tourist safari lodge! So far so good!

But when you stop working and just get fed; you become, well lazy and a couch potato!

The baboons stopped foraging for normal vegetation and insects, choosing instead to eat discarded Westernized human food like fried food, meat, sweets, and processed leftovers!

Within a few years, these “junk food monkeys” began exhibiting metabolic diseases rarely seen in wild primates, including soaring cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, early signs of cardiovascular complications, and obesity!

There is more bad news!

The experiment came to a devastating end when the troop contracted bovine tuberculosis from consuming spoiled meat from tubercular cows in the dump.

Because they ate in close proximity, the disease spread rapidly, killing off the most aggressive, top-ranking males who guarded the garbage dump!

Now comes the final shift when the so called aggressive ALPHA MALES are gone!

The most profound discovery from this tragedy was not biological, but behavioral!

The whole troop now without any ORANGE COLORED ALPHA male shouting and screaming and being; well a Baboon, became an epitome of peace!

With the highly aggressive alpha males dead, the remaining troop was left with a higher ratio of females and less-aggressive, subordinate males.

The troop’s culture transformed into a uniquely peaceful society characterized by low aggression, high rates of social grooming, and cooperative behaviors!

Even when new, aggressive outsider males joined the troop later on, they were socialized into this unusually relaxed culture within a few months!

The baboons in this newly peaceful troop showed significantly lower levels of stress hormones (cortisol) and better overall physiological health metric!

This details how human biology, stress responses, and social hierarchies are deeply intertwined with our modern, artificial environments.

He demonstrates that while modern comforts (and processed foods) cause severe chronic stress and metabolic illnesses, our social structures and behavioral choices remain highly malleable!

So you want Baboon world peace!? Put the women in charge! And also STOP EATING JUNK FOOD!

Have healthy habits and watch good movies like RRR starring Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao!

Not now of course!

Shubh ratri…