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When you have a big brother or an elder sister then you know that you will be a little safe! You will be protected or at least guided!

You would know what to do and more importantly what not to do!

The expectations would be lesser and the stress too!

Do you know that even the Mighty Earth has a big brother or sister who protects it and has been doing it for millions of years!?

This mega or giant planet is Jupiter which revolves the Sun once in twelve years which is maybe why the Maha Khumbh Mela is celebrated once in twelve years!

In Carl Sagan’s Cosmos it has been said that Jupiter is a failed star because it is made of the same elements (hydrogen and helium) as is the Sun, but it is not massive enough to have the internal pressure and temperature necessary to cause hydrogen to fuse to helium, the energy source that powers the sun and most other stars.

However, Jupiter has only about 0.1 percent the mass of the sun, and as it is definitely not a star, we can’t really call the solar system a double star.
If Jupiter had tried little more then we would be a two star system! And the day would be 24 hours! No nights at all! But then I love the night since it makes me appreciate the day more! And of course normal people sleep in the night! So what if Jupiter is not a star! It is a star planet!

And more importantly it is the big brother or sister protector of the Earth!

Some astronomers believe that one reason Earth is habitable is that the gravity of Jupiter does help protect us from some comets. Long-period comets, in particular, enter the solar system from its outer reaches.
Jupiter’s gravity is thought to sling most of these fast-moving ice balls out of the solar system before they can get close to Earth.
So long-period comets are thought to strike Earth only on very long timescales of millions or tens of millions of years.

Without Jupiter nearby, long-period comets would collide with our planet much more frequently. But Jupiter creates both good and bad conditions for earthly life just like any elder brother or sister gives you challenges in life to make you stronger!

Consider that its powerful gravity prevented space rocks orbiting near it from coalescing into a planet, and that’s why our solar system today has an asteroid belt, consisting of hundreds of thousands of small flying chunks of debris! If you are planning to go beyond the realms of the solar system then apart from the basic issues of space flight; you must cross this obstacle course to succeed!

You of course can succeed only by training and asking questions! Reminding me of the one who always has a question ready! Arnab Ranjan Goswami!

Now if the answer to the question, ‘Are you sleepy?’ in affirmative then please sleep!

Shubh ratri!

The best (or the worst!) thing about morals and sayings is that almost every moral or saying will have an equally popular but opposite moral or saying! There are so many examples of that!

One person may say “All good things come to those who wait ” while another will say
“Time and tide wait for no man” These patterns are called Opposite proverbs!
Here are a few! Wise men think alike is more of less opposite to Fools seldom differ!
One of the most popular adage is, ‘The best things in life are free’ which is opposed by another famous proverb, ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch!’
One of the most famous is, ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ which is antagonized by ‘Time waits for no man’!

The only thing which I have been able to decipher is that life is not just a single proverb or principle! It is a balance of the opposites! Unless you have a proper balance, it will not work! Like the Deva and Asura (or more accurately Sura and Asura)!

One of the constant advice given by elders and your teacher or boss is usually to finish your work in time and not to procrastinate!

Now everyone knows Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so. It is often perceived as a negative trait due to its hindering effect on one’s productivity, associated with depression, low self-esteem, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy.
But there is a catch here! It can also be considered a wise response to certain demands that could present risky or negative outcomes or require waiting for new information to come!

In fact there is a new term which is almost as bad as Procrastinate which is in fact almost the opposite meaning!
So this is the act of completing tasks as soon as possible even if it costs extra effort or the quality of the outcome deteriorates!
Some people may use this approach in order to avoid the anxiety and stress of last-minute work!
In some areas this faster but inefficient completion of work is actually considered an unhealthy behavior pattern and is accompanied by symptoms such as conscientiousness, eagerness to please, and high energy!

It has been observed that people who do this may try to find shortcuts to be more efficient and productive, but it may result in outcome which is inferior or
undesirable! The action is impulsive and close to reckless!

The term which describes such a feature is now known as Precrastination!
So if your boss or teacher or parent is telling you to hurry up or Precrastinate! Tell them that it is not advisable! Of course do not procrastinate also for too long! Go for the balance! I have recommending a new term for that balance! Crastinate!

Balanced or crastinated (not a real word but it fits! So I am thinking that if it used regularly then it will be accepted in the ever expanding English vocabulary!) performance also was of birthday celebrity Makarand Deshpande! You may not know him by name if you procrastinate and not search in Google but if you Precrastinate, you will instantly ‘crastinate’ and recognize him!

Now if you want crastination in your life then sleep on time! Neither pre nor pro!
Shubh Ratri!

One of the biggest fears nowadays is the fear of death! Not of the human but of the mobile battery!

The greatest disappointment is also when you plug in the phone to get charged and the plug is not turned on!

You come back to see that the phone not only did not get charged but it has drained further!

The days of charging your phone once in a week or even a month is long gone! Now they feed on the charge at least once and sometimes more than that!

The future is not complete till you have a battery which can last long! ONe charge and it will stay juiced up for days or even months and a true miracle; even years!

I still remember how the poor remote of the TV used to start acting up when the battery was low! We used to kick and push and warm up the cell like giving CPR on the battery! Most of the times it used to work though!

Like the toothpaste which would be used till the last drop, the battery would be used till the last remaining electron!

Of course their history is also interesting!

Batteries have played an invaluable role in the history of physics, chemistry,
and industry.

Around 1780, physiologist Luigi Galvani experimented with frogs’ legs
that he could cause to jerk when in contact with metal. The spectacle of that
chorus line of flexing frog legs guaranteed Galvani sell-out crowds in
auditoriums the world over.

Galvani ascribed the leg movement to “animal electricity.”

However, Italian physicist and friend Alessandro Volta believed
that the phenomenon had more to do with the different metals Galvani
employed, which were joined by a moist connecting substance!

In 1800, Volta invented the first true battery, storing and releasing a charge through a chemical reaction instead of physically, which came to be known as the voltaic pile. The voltaic pile consisted of pairs of copper and zinc discs piled on top of each other, separated by a layer of cloth or cardboard soaked in brine (i.e., the electrolyte). He experimented with various metals and found that zinc and silver gave the best results

Of course these were ‘wet’ cells which were unpractical and cumbersome! Necessity lead to the development of the dry cell which was finally developed in 1886 by the German scientist Carl Gassner.

Now of course we have the leak proof batteries and cells but still sometime it does leak! Old remotes and other smaller devices which used to run on these older batteries used to show the leaks in forms of rust and disfigurement as a testament to the association!

Finally now you have the cool dry Lithium batteries which can be recharged and used for so long! The only issue is the drain! Then again an average phone now has drainage dependent stuff going on constantly! Be it the wireless or the location or the bluetooth or even the cellular service! Not to mention the apps running in the background! No wonder the poor phone is always power starved!

Power starved also was the character Bijjaladeva played by Nassar! But still pretty solid!

Now put your phone to charge and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

As you grow older you realise that one plus one is not two!

Our textbooks are full of facts which can be questioned! They are full of great people with questionable characters and finally there are actually just an iota of actual truth or fact between a veritable mountain of exaggeration!

Talking about Mountains; everyone knows about the tallest one in the world! Mount Everest stands tall! But if you measure the height from the floor to the top then there are two contenders!

Mount  Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth (at least on land!) stands just 5.5 miles high! But the actual tallest mountain when measured from base to peak, is Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, which originates at the bottom of the ocean, is far taller than Everest, at about 33,500 feet (10,210 meters).

Of course measured from sea level, Mauna Kea reaches only about 13,800 feet (4,200 meters)!

Just when Mauna was rejoicing, comes the actual tallest mountain in the Solar System!

The highest mountain and volcano in the Solar System is on the planet Mars.!

It is called Olympus Mons and is 16 miles (24 kilometers) high which makes it about three times higher than Mt. Everest! Imagine that!

In addition to being very tall, it is also very wide (340 miles or 550 kilometers) and covers an area larger than the entire chain of Hawaiian islands. Olympus Mons is a very flat mountain which slopes by only 2 to 5 degrees. It is a shield volcano built up by eruptions of lava.

As described in this Novel by Ellis Silver, apparently Mars once had several active volcanoes, but they’re all extinct now!

The crust and mantle have become too thick for molten rock to break through from the core.  And this causes them to swell up and reach such heights!

So when even Everest is not the tallest then what’s the fate of the other smaller mountains!

Well, forget Everest (even the name was not its original!); in fact in Nepal it is known as Sagarmatha! Now whatever you call it or whatever be its height or whether it is the tallest in the world or in the universe; it makes no difference to the mountain!

It just stands tall touching the skies or at least reaching for it! Just how Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata did and how!

Now of course it is the time to Sutnu! Which is sleep in Nepali!

Shubh Ratri!

It has often been said that the most precious things are protected by the strongest stuff or Armour!


Like the Pearl or even the brain!

Even within the skull, the toughest bone in the human body is given the job of protecting this organ system which can show how important it is!

Of course there is a bias here but then you cannot ignore the fact that the cochlea is located in the inner ear and it is so important that the toughest bone in the human body (the petrosal bone)!

The cochlea is a Greek name that means snail. Which is very fitting, considering the cochlea looks just like a snail shell!
And the turn of the Cochlea has to be exact! It is generally 2 3/4! That is the exact shape and turn of over 99 percent of the Homo Sapien which makes him or her listen to you!

Of course only the shape is just a small component of the complex physiology of hearing!

Approximately 24,000 hair fibers can be found within the cochlea. These hair cells are necessary for hearing.

If you still do not feel that hearing is important then just know that the cochlea is the first organ to develop completely and is formed 4 ½ months into a pregnancy so you can ideally start listening as early as 4 month in utero!

So when Arjuna tells about Chakravyuh and Abhimanyu ‘hears’ then you can accept it!

Even otherwise the ear is so important since you are supposed to ‘listen’ more! Not simply hear!

Also remember that just because you have said something does not mean that the other person has heard or even listened!

Another reason why this organ is so safely tucked inside is that what you hear is precious and what you comprehend is priceless! Which is why we have two ears!

All this on the world hearing day! Now listen to something pleasant like  Maa by Shankar Mahadevan and sleep!

Shubh Ratri!

This was the first behemoth every medical student learns or tries to learn! The enthusiasm of the average med student is soon broken when he tries to finish one chapter and then realises that he or she does not remember much or even understood it in the first place!

Though we all start with this, we finally stick to the Indian book! And finally to our own or class notes!

I am telling about the Gray’s anatomy textbook! Of course for most non medicos it may refer to the famous TV series (that was spelled GREY’s anatomy!) which was just watchable till they killed of Derek; it was just downhill from that with no recovery whatsoever! Luckily the more recent versions of the BOOK is much better that the show!

The version which finally reached our shores was this gigantic book with tiny fonts and amazing paper! Just to buy and hold it and walk around with it required strength, lots of money and a ton of confidence!

There are a couple of interesting stories even in this book! Not in the book per say but in the writing and making of the book! If it is stories you seek then you would not find any in the pages of the Gray’s anatomy!

Apart from the text and the amazing details in this big book, the best thing about it were the images and more importantly the hand drawn sketches!

Even when the theory or the text was something you could not remember or read in the first place, the sketches were a visual treat!

Now the most amazing history of these sketches were that not only were they of great detail, they were in fact originally drawn in reverse!

Imagine the artistry of the artist who could do that!

That was Henry Vandyke Carter who was the great who Sketched this masterpiece! 

Coming to the vain and envious Gray! Yes! He was not so high and mighty!

When he saw the images, he understood that they would be remembered more and appreciated more! Moreover, images may not change much but later on after more research, the anatomy would have some modifications in that the text written by Gray would change but the images sketched by Carter would stand the test of time!

So he did what you would expect a jealous vain person to do! Sabotage!

The vain Gray made sure that Carter’s name was in smaller font and he did not receive any royalty or much payment for his works! 

But the Karmic eyes sees all! 

Many times all you need to do is wait for your enemy or envy to gets its due!

Gray passed away soon after the printing of his book and never got to know the legend it would become while Carter had an amazing teaching life going on to become the principal of Grant Medical College! 

Real talent would shine like the diamond or Gold! While the covering would fade away without polish!

Just like Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan! Have sketched him a couple of times before but this one was simply effortless. 

SHubh Ratri!

Oh yeah! If you wanted to sleep as a medical student then you MUST read the Grays Anatomy!

You love the rose but the thorns are fatal!

It was true ages back when a simple prick from a thorn would have been fatal!
Injuries from a great war or fight or even a simple act of gardening would have killed you more than the wound!

Did you know that the treatment of TB without antibiotics was, well fresh air!

If you were lucky you would survive.

If you had any of the other bacterial infection like the Syphilis then it was a death sentence for sure! It would not only take you but also make sure you get disfigured and suffer till the last.

Then as described in a book by Bill Bryson called the Body he describes how a person who got infected with the prick of a thorn was treated first time with Penicillin! Unfortunately the dose was not sufficient and even though he improved a little, it was not enough.

Of course when proper production began, Penicillin turned out to be one of the most important inventions of the modern medicine ever! Even now antibiotics are a major share of the prescription of any medical practitioner!

Then again with every rose, come the thorns!

Unfortunately though the rampant and unnecessary use of antibiotics has lead to multidrug resistant bacteria!

Remember that they were here before us and they don’t need us, we need them! In the absence of many bacterium we will not survive! And the antibiotics in our food and other products will kill them also!
There are also some good gut bacterias which have been eliminated which used to protect us!

Though most antibiotics are still effective and given only when required but many times when it is taken without recommendation or prescription  or even by those who do not realise the problems it would cause, it is a great crime!

That day is not far that we will come a full circle and a prick from a thorn will definitely be fatal again!

So don’t be a hero (or lead actress for that matter!) and self medicate! Speaking of hero reminds me of the first super star of Tamil cinema! You might not have heard of him though!

Thyagaraja Bhagavathar!

Shubh ratri!

Although this is one of the smallest bone in the body, it was once making you eat!

One of the most complex mechanisms of hearing is the fact that there are three tiny bones inside your ear which amplify the sound coming to the ear and generate a signal which is then send to the brain for perception!

If these were not available then you do have hearing loss which is really severe. Of course there are some surgeries whose only aim is to either correct the issues of the bone or even the drum to which the bones are attached!

It is almost magical to see how a surgery on this small bone gets the hearing back!

But (now that was seen a mile away!); did you know that this amplification is actually only a recent or latest modification!?

Apparently over the course of the evolution of mammals, one bone from the lower and one from the upper jaw (the articular and quadrate bones) lost their purpose in the jaw joint and migrated to the middle ear.

The shortened columella connected to these bones within the middle ear to form a chain of three bones, the ossicles, which serve to effectively transmit air-based vibrations and facilitate more acute hearing!

In simple terms, the bones which help you in hearing now were in the past used for biting!

Now is that why listening to some words, your actual jaws start to grind! Possible!

Then again by evolution it has been understood that you must eat less and listen more!

Also see more! Then you will realise that the funny guy from Arya is the serious dude of Pushpa! Indukuri Sunil Varma or Sunil!

Shubh ratri!

Necessity is the mother of many inventions is so true for this one! Although named as a safety device, it has been a bane for Surgeons all over the world who have removed it from lungs, throat and stomach!

When in need though it is so useful!

A simple cost effective device which every mother used to have hanging from her chain! Or in her purse!

Button is broken!? or you want to clip something together albeit temporarily!? You can use this!

To think that this was invented only to settle a small debt and though it went on to earn millions, the inventor was happy with some!

The design is so perfect that it has not undergone much modification for more than two hundred years!

This when even the mobile phone you bought yesterday is already outdated today!

This device is the humble but useful SAFETY PIN!

It also comes with an interesting story!

Born on July 29, 1796, in Martinsburg, New York, Walter Hunt achieved moderate success in life and invented many items, including a repeating rifle, a flax spinner, a fountain pen, a knife sharpener, an ice plough and one of the world’s first sewing machines with an eye-pointed needle!

But he is best known as the official inventor of Safety pin! Official since he filed the patent and since similar device was used before by jewelers! 

Hunt came up with the idea when he owed someone a $15 debt, and he scrambled to invent something that would earn him some money!

He twisted a piece of metal wire and turned it into what he called a “dress pin,” which had a spring at one end that forced the other end into a clasp. Now as mentioned above Hunt’s invention wasn’t completely new, as ancient Romans used something similar for jewelry; his was though a big improvement!

After being issued U.S. patent #6,281 on April 10, 1849, Hunt sold the patent to W.R. Grace and Company for $400 (roughly $15,000 in 2024 dollars! Which is still a good amount!). 

Using that money, Hunt then paid the $15 owed to a friend and kept the remaining amount of $385 for himself. 

In the years to follow, W.R. Grace and Company would make millions of dollars in profits from his invention!

His safety pin remains one of the simplest yet most enduring inventions in everyday use.

Of course if used properly it was a safe device but still when open it was a dangerous one! 

The laryngologist Dr. Chevalier Jackson devised special instruments for removing swallowed safety pins. Because small children often swallowed them and open pins could be lodged dangerously in their throats, Jackson called them “danger pins” and sometimes displayed arrangements of those he had extracted! Every otolaryngologist including the writer of this blog has a safety pin story! Of course it is scary only if the pin is open! We have often tried to either close the pin or turn it upside down so that the removal is less traumatic.

Still, to stand the test of time and come shining is a testimonial to Safety pin!

Just use them safely like water or jal!

Which reminds me of ganga jal!

Which reminds me of Prakash Jha!

In the novel technology of the Gods by David Hatcher Childress; he tells (tells because it is an audiobook!) about this amazing structure in India which is one of the biggest astrobleme in the world! And it may be related to the K-Pg extinction event!

Yes; you questioning is right!?

What is an astrobleme? also what is K-Pg extinction!?

Well the former is an eroded remnant of a large crater made by the impact of a meteorite or comet!

We will come to the latter later!

The astrobleme or crater in question is called the Shiva Crater!

The Shiva Crater is thus an impact crater (astrobleme), located in the Indian Ocean west of India, near Mumbai.

It has been suggested that it formed around 65 million years ago, the same time as a number of other impacts that are recorded in the K-T boundary. Although it has shifted since its formation because of sea floor spreading, when pieced together it would be about 600 km by 450 km across and 12 km deep (and may be just part of a larger crater). It is estimated to have been made by a bolide (an asteroid or meteoroid) 40 km in diameter.

Unlike typical known extraterrestrial impact structures, Shiva is teardrop shaped, roughly 600 km × 400 km. It is also unusually rectangular.

The Deccan Traps are closely associated with the crater, lending support to the idea that the traps were created by an impact event. At the time of the K-T extinction, India was located over the Réunion hotspot of the Indian ocean.

Hot material rising from the mantle flooded portions of India with a vast amount of lava, the Deccan Traps, beginning a few million years before the K-T extinction and becoming very abundant about 65 million years ago. The vast magma plume finally breaking out at the surface could have been accelerated by an impact event is the hypothesis!

So then what is the K-Pg extinction event!?

Well if you had seen the ending of the Ice Age movies you would know! For those who have not then we can wait for you!

Anyway the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the K–T extinction, was the mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth approximately 66 million years ago!

The event caused the extinction of all known non-avian dinosaurs. Most other tetrapods weighing more than 25 kg (55 lb) also became extinct, with the exception of some ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians!

So the crater, the crocodiles and the sea turtles are all testimonials to the massive destruction which happened but they still lived to tell us the tale!

The Shiva crater was named by the paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee for Shiva, the Sanatana god of destruction!

Destruction leads to regeneration and that’s life…

Celebrating the Bholenath on this auspicious day!

Har har Mahadev!

Om namah shivaya!

Shubh Ratri!