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This was named after poison! The two most popular things named after it can bring both the biological and physical world to a halt!

Both of them are so common and usually harmless! But when a dangerous one surfaces then rest assured, the whole world gets to know!

One is naturally seen while the other is created unnaturally by a sick individual (at least in the mind!)

Before further ado; the name which means Poison in latin is VIRUS!

The history of computer virus pretty interesting and deserves another blog! The biological one is also not far behind as it stopped the whole world during COVID!

Then again, before you get to know about its history, you must know about the Tobacco plant chiefly for educational purposes!

The tobacco plant was brought to Europe from the New World during the early sixteenth century, and by the middle of the nineteenth century, it was a major Dutch crop.

In 1879, Adolph Mayer, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station in Wageningen, Holland, undertook studies on the diseases of tobacco. He showed that a leaf-mottling disease could be transmitted by rubbing juice from diseased plants onto the leaves of healthy plants. He coined the name ‘tobacco mosaic disease’ and suggested that the etiology was bacterial, although no such agent could be cultured.

Later on Dmitry Ivanovsky, a Russian microbiologist between 1887 and 1890, investigated the mosaic disease of tobacco plants occurring in Eastern Europe. He found that the disease-causing factor passed through a porcelain filter that had pores fine enough to hold back bacteria. He thus demonstrated that the cause of tobacco disease was due to a ‘filterable virus’ – the term virus coming from the Latin meaning poison. This term is now considered obsolete and is abbreviated to simply ‘virus’.

Ivanovsky’s work was confirmed in 1895 by the Dutch botanist Willem Beijerinck, who in addition showed that the disease produced by the filtered sap could be transferred serially plant-to-plant, proving that the agent was living and self-replicating rather than being simply a chemical toxin.

Finally in the 1930s, Wendell Stanley was able to produce the tobacco mosaic virus in solid crystalline form. He was the first person to be able to crystalize a virus. In this way, he was able to show that viruses are a type of particle and not a liquid contagion, which many had previously thought.

Wendell Stanley was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1946!

So the thing which is as old as the first Cold to strike the Homo Sapien was finally seen in 1930s! Also it is such a tiny thing that we cannot see even with routine microscope! Sometimes size does not matter! What matters is the capability! Which reminds me of actor Dhanush! Some of his movies can be watched only because of him!

Now wash hands and take warm water and cover yourself nicely so that you do not get a cold and Sleep!

Shubh ratri…

Recently while having my hair trimmed at the Saloon I had a new barber tending to me. Every saloon I usually have my regular barber since I like to keep my hair short! The visit is usually every two months or so!

While talking to me he mentioned how my hair is a little bent at the ends and suggested that I do not wash it everyday!

He also mentioned how I must apply Mustard oil and leave it!

Now; most of the times I never tell anyone my profession so that I do not have to get free questions or even advice so I just nodded along!

But his confidence was so good so I thought I could give it a try!

Of course any oil on my head and I usually end up with either a bad cold or a severe case of Migraine!

And my migraine attacks are so severe that many times I need an injection! They are rare like a special occasion but when they do come, you would remember them for some time!

So I was thinking since I have not tried Mustard oil and have actually tried all other oils, maybe by trial and error, it may not give me any reaction!
He also mentioned how I should not shampoo my hair everyday! He categorically stated that Shampoo is only for women since they have longer hair!

My nodding along continued till the end of the cut! I must say he did a pretty good job since I was looking more ‘trim’!

Mentally I was thinking to at least try his advice and see!

Then as I took my wallet to pay him his fees and some tip; I had a look first time at his face and more importantly his head!

I was shocked to see his amazing clean temple with some hair on the sides! He had a partially balding head with some bent hairs trying to grip the sides and hold on! He had pulled the hair on the sides to try and cover the spot at least as much as he could!

Now him being bald or almost there was not the issue! The issue was him giving me advice on how to take care of my hair when his own head was a testimonial to the fact that his own hair strands were leaving him and more than half had already long gone!

The moral of the story is; give advice on making money only when you are rich!
Giving advice is something which anyone can give! But remember that if you want it to be respected or followed then you have to show the result of the advice in your own life!

My advice is to listen to a good song! Like the song up! Then you will realise that it’s inspired by a Hindi song by Talat Mahmood called Itna sa muzse…

Shubh ratri!

Have you heard of Durga!? Of course you would have heard of Durga Mata but this is Durga or Kanupriya Agarwal!

Search about her and no, she is not related to Kajal Agarwal!

Then you search about Subhash Mukhopadhyay!

And finally you can search about T C Anand Kumar!

Before all that you must know about the first IVF baby in the world!

The only non interesting thing (for others that is!) in all this is that it was done in the year of my birth! 1978!

So let’s start with Steptoe and Edwards!

In the year 1978 the final result of their efforts yielded result of a collaboration started in 1968.

So finally in 1977, Steptoe and Edwards successfully carried out a pioneering conception which resulted in the birth of the world’s first baby to be conceived by IVF, Louise Brown, on 25 July 1978 in Oldham General Hospital, Greater Manchester, UK!

In India the first official test tube baby was credited to T C Anand Kumar; a great soul indeed who after going through the notes and research concluded that he was not the first but the second! This was in 1986!

Remember that it takes much more confidence and guts to praise others!

The scientist in question was Subhash Mukhopadhyay!

Subhash Mukhopadhyay was an Indian scientist, physician from Hazaribagh, Bihar and Orissa Province who created the world’s second and India’s first child using in-vitro fertilisation.

Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay was harassed by the then West Bengal state government and not allowed to share his achievements with the international scientific community for unknown reasons.

So Kanupriya Agarwal (Durga), who was born in 1978 due to the work of Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay is the actual first IVF baby of India! Interestingly, she was born just 67 days after the first IVF baby in the world!

If at all you are asked to name a great doctor or a great Indian, you can tell Subhash Mukhopadhyay!

And speaking of a strong person like Durga reminds me of KPAC Lalitha who left us last year…

Read about Subhash ji and get inspired

Shubh ratri…

What if you were one of the the most beautiful creation ever but you show your talent only to a few! What if you have the ability to make nice call but you choose to make sounds which are irritating!

Finally what if you have a super power to fly but you do not like to use it!

What if you were Pavo cristatus!?

Yeah! That is the national bird of India!

So apparently these beautiful birds can make around 11 different calls and most are irritating!

They make pleasant calls in the morning and loud disturbing calls in the night! And sometimes make false alarm calls too! Clearly not a night owl!


They are popular in places such as Rajasthan where you can get many songs made on them! One of the popular one is Morni Baga main bole!
Am sure you would have heard this song but the story behind it is also pretty interesting!

In this song, the banjaran is narrating the condition of her heart that aches for one who left long ago and never returned. If one goes to Rajasthan, one would find flocks of beautiful peacocks near and around more fertile areas. As the banjaran’s party camps out at one of these areas where water is nearby, she is reminded of this every time a peacock sings at night!

Such deep renditions can only be seen in folks songs since they have been matured by the ravages of time!

Now these wonderful birds are very heavy! But then again in spite of their heavy weight they can still fly! So much so that they are the largest birds with flight capability!

Then in a karmic balance, since they do not have webbed feet they cannot swim!
So if you do not know how to swim then you can tell then you are like the Peacock! Of course you have to then explain why you cannot fly!

Or play tennis for that matter! Like Ashok Amritraj!

For now just remember that you do not have to hurt a peacock to get it’s beautiful feathers! It will shed them so many times!

Shubh Ratri!

For an average child, the moon and the sun is the same! Just that one comes in the night and the other during the day!

In fact he or she may at first think that the moon is more powerful since it gives light in the night! While the sun gives light in the day when there already is so much light!

Also when you see; practically they look the same size! Though in fact the moon gets bigger and bigger and becomes the size of the sun!

That is the issue of perception!

Size only matters when it is close to you!

Which is why even though the sun is so big, it looks the same size as the moon! This is because, even though the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, it is also also 400 times closer to Earth!

This is also why solar eclipses are so dramatic when you realise that the tiny moon completely covers the sun! This means that from Earth, the Moon and Sun appear to be roughly the same size in the sky. It is a complete coincidence!

For scientists, solar eclipses have played a crucial part in our understanding of the Universe. By shielding telescopes from the Sun’s glare, they have allowed us to explore and learn about the solar corona, a glowing ring of super-hot gas that extends millions of kilometres into outer space and causes solar winds!

Then again they also gave Validation to Einstein!


The most scientifically important solar eclipse occurred in 1919. Then, a team led by Arthur Eddington captured pictures of stars behind the Sun as darkness fell. They compared the stars’ positions to where they would be on a normal night, and made a startling discovery ­– they had moved!

This meant the Sun had bent the starlight. The only theory that could account for the amount the starlight bent came from Albert Einstein!
Eddington’s results catapulted Einstein into the limelight and started to turn scientific opinion in favour of his general theory of relativity!
Even now when it comes to Physics; Einstein is right up there with the stars or rather the moon!

The bad news is that the Moon is slowly drifting away from us! It is escaping at the rate of 2.5 cm every year! Some time in future you would look up in the sky and the moon would have escapes! It is thus a visitor who will stay for some billion years!

Of course some people will look at the moon and see only the spots! While many others see the beauty! Like the one with the scars but still beautiful like Merle Oberon…

Let’s look at the beauty and see beyond the scars…

Shubh ratri…

At first I was afraid, petrified! Then I will survive! Yes, the lyrics to one of the most popular ‘survival’ songs actually is a case study in Psycho-Cybernetics!

Before that you must know about Cybernetics!

Cybernetics which is a term loosely translated from the Greek indicates “a helmsman who steers his ship to port.” 

While Psycho-Cybernetics is a term coined by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, which means, “steering your mind to a productive, useful goal so you can reach the greatest port in the world, peace of mind.”!

In this very popular book, Maxwell who is a plastic surgeon by profession states how the strongest computer in the world that is our brain has the power within and we have to unleash it somehow! How you can bear pain without anesthesia if your mind is powerful enough! How what you feel is actually the power of your brain and nothing else! 

Although he was a plastic surgeon (I know many plastic surgeons who hate the term ‘Plastic!’; they feel it feels so artificial while in fact they like to make you feel as natural as possible!); Maxwell understood that before he could make any change to the face or any part of a patient’s body physically, he must make sure there is a mental change!

Even before the procedure there has to be a fine balance between expectations and results! If your expectation is high then no matter the outcome, you would always be disappointed! While if you have a guarded expectation, your results would be much better!

Maxwell also states how when you get exposed to any problem, then at first you get terrified or petrified! But then the constant stimulus of the same problem will make you adapt!

It it the same in animals! 

So apparently animals continuously exposed to a uniform damaging stimulus at first display the symptoms of the ‘alarm reaction’ and later pass into a resistant phase. The hypothetical measure of an individual’s capacity to resist stress according to Maxwell Maltz  is adaptation energy!

It is like a  Each person is believed to have a finite amount of adaptation energy, which is used to cope with different types of stress. Energy expended to cope with one type of stress, such as staying up late, results in less being available for other stresses, such as training. 

When adaptation energy is low, a person is more likely to suffer from stress-related diseases and conditions known as burnout and rundown! So anything which increases your adaptation energy will increase your healing power!  

Some may use medication while some others meditation! Many can listen to songs or watch a positive motivating movie! Some may read a book and or a good blog (not necessarily this one!)!

Or watch some nice feel good movie like the one directed by Sooraj Barjatya…

A quick sketch and blog on a day which went like a blur!

Shubh ratri!

Mirror mirror on the wall!

No human can ever resist the temptation of looking at the mirror! It is because they see a face he or she is so familiar with! It gives you a sense of calm and consistency! Or any other reason you can think of to stare at yourself!

But do you know about the Mirror test!?

What scientists call the mirror test is used to determine whether an animal has the ability of visual self-recognition, which is considered a marker of intelligence in animals.

The was developed by psychologist Gordon Gallup in 1970, and involves placing a visual marker — like a red spot — on an animal’s body. Scientists proceed to observe what happens when the animal is placed in front of the mirror, watching the animal’s reaction both to their reflection with and without the marker. If an animal passes the mirror test, they will usually adjust their body position in a way so they can get a better look at the marker on their body and pay more attention to that part of their body. This suggests that the animal knows something is different about their reflection.
Now every normal person when encountering a mirror would stop and at least take a glance at the mirror!

This means that the human or the animal for that matter recognises the fact that there is something different about the reflection or the fact that it is a ‘reflection’!

You would assume that all humans and most animals would pass this test! Well, humans do pass it after the age of 18 months or so and only a few animals pass it! At least in studies since we of course cannot ask them!

Like cats and dogs do not usually pass the test (at least not officially!)

Most primates like your distant cousins…I mean the homo sapien’s distant cousin like the Chimps and Baboons pass it in most studies!

The interesting thing is that even Dolphins pass the test since it is anyway a Mammal!

Then again there is another proper fish which in 2019, the cleaner wrasses — which are tiny tropical reef fish — were the first fish to pass the mirror test!

Moreover in 2008, Eurasian magpies were the first non-mammals to pass the mirror test!

Another interesting observation was when ants were found to pass the test!
It is not very surprising since ants are an incredibly social group of insects and have displayed impressive teamwork abilities, such as relocating their entire colony!

So a study found that three species, Myrmica rubra, Myrmica ruginodis, and Myrmica sabuleti have shown potential for self-recognition!
When exposed to a mirror, ants of all three species marked with a blue dot would attempt to clean themselves by touching the mark. Similar results were not exhibited when ants were marked with a brown dot, which is the same color as their body. It appears that the ants used their mirror reflection to see the unusual blue dot and attempt to clean it! Now maybe it was because the dots were blue and not red! In any case it does make them Mirror worthy!

Of course I have always mentioned how at the end of the day you are answerable to the man or woman in the mirror and be proud of him or her!

Of course if you are Shivaji Maharaj then even the mirror would be proud!

Har har Mahadev!

Shubh ratri
Jai hind!

The best drink in the world from the dawn of life to the end of universe would always be water!

As a child on a sunny day when you run and play and come home, the first thing you ask for is water!

Sometimes you drink so fast that you cough! You just can’t wait to quench that thirst! At that time it is the sweetest thing in the world and the most satisfying feeling after you drink this nectar!

Did you ever stop to think that the water you drink right now in one part of the world would one day become rain in a different part! The water in the glass right now may be trapped but it is a patient prisoner since it can wait! It will anyway outlive you and then it will be free to flow!

It can take any shape and colour and taste! And finally it can roam the skies as a cloud and get sweet in a flowing river or salty in the mighty ocean or sea!

Did you ever stop to think that the expiry date on the bottle is not of the water but of the bottle! Water does not have an expiry date!

Finally did you ever stop to think how the amount of water in the Earth is always constant! It just changes shape and state but the final amount remains the same!

Ever since you have life on Earth, the one thing which has always been constant is the amount of water!

Have you also wondered how the thirst only gets quenched for that time! Your thirst is controlled! It’s never cured! It’s because the water you drink again gets out of your system one way or the other and finally you get the thirst back!

Now it is seen that normally when we get dehydrated (as measured by an increasing concentration of solutes in our blood) thirst kicks in to make us drink water to dilute our blood back down to an acceptable level. But, once we start drinking, this sensation generally subsides within a minute or less, even if we were really thirsty!

But actually the hydration actually takes time! The feeling of satiety is so that we do not overload the body with water! Yes! Even drinking more water is not good!

So the body even has a protective mechanism against the nectar of Gods! Water! It has been suggested that receptors in the throat – and the thirst centre in the brain that’s connected to them – are able to reliably identify the action of swallowing fluid (as opposed to swallowing food) and have the ability to ‘switch thirst off’ long before the fluids have been absorbed properly. It’s like the receptors send an advance signal that says “don’t worry brain, water is on the way, you can stop being thirsty now”!

It may not be as effective when it comes to food though! But still it depends on your brain! You actually need only a couple of Puris to solve your hunger! Anything more than that would actually become your fat friend!
Now lets not digress! Quenching thirst is the matter for now!

Our whole life, day in and out we spend in quenching this never ending thirst!

You cannot have a drink of water which can make your thirst to end forever!

Also imagine that the drink of water you are drinking right now is older than not only you but also any living thing on Earth right now! So next time you drink water, just respect that for an instant!

Respect also was what Swamy Vivekananda had for Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

We can respect everyone also!

Shubh ratri!

I still remember that ad in TV where people were urged to simply give water mixed with sugar and salt to children with vomiting or diarrhea.

Our Peds posting in one such ward was spent only in advising that and the great solution which is a life saver! The ORS!

Did you know that the use of ORS was pioneered by an Indian!?

So in 1971, Dr Dilip Mahalanabis was called to serve at a refugee camp in West Bengal where the death toll due to cholera was rising day by day.

At that time though the only solution was to put a drip (IV or intravenous line) to rehydrate the severely dehydrated people who were at a high risk of dying. However, only two healthcare workers among his staff were trained in putting an IV line. An alternative had to be found to help the endless number of people who kept coming in with diarrhoea. In such dire circumstances, when he realized that they were losing the battle, Dr Dilip allowed people to give the rehydration therapy orally!

Despite continuous criticism and resistance from clinicians, Dr Dilip believed that oral rehydration therapy could be given by even untrained relatives of the patients. He kept several drums of the oral rehydration solution (ORS) by his side and asked the family and relatives to keep giving the solution to the patient. The medical fraternity witnessed the miracle of ORS when the death toll among cholera patients dropped from 30 percent to less than 4 percent! Patients were getting better soon and returning home!

This doctor had begun researching oral rehydration therapy in 1966 as a research investigator for the Johns Hopkins University International Center for Medical Research and Training in Calcutta, India. During the Bangladeshi war for independence, he led the effort by the Johns Hopkins Center that demonstrated the dramatic life-saving effectiveness of oral rehydration therapy!

The simple, inexpensive Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) gained acceptance, and was later hailed as one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century! Even now when anyone is tired or simply sick, a glass of ORS is a life saver! It not only takes care of the sugar and salt but also levels up vital electrolytes and minerals!

Thousands of children who recovered owe their life to Dr Dilip!
Another great doctor and human was Bhakti Yadav aka Doctor dadi!
Read about her!

It’s inspiring!

Shubh ratri!

It has been said that moments after the first artist was born, the first critic was born!

The moment success comes to anyone, pride and envy comes to another!
Pride and envy has caused much more problems to the Human society even more than disease and poverty!

Like it has always been said, there is no actual treatment for both Alopecia and Jealousy! Though Alopecia can still be managed!

Did you know that there was a great Indian scientist who not only made such great strides in the field of Biochemistry but has given us such valuable products which we use even to this day!

This great scientist subsequently discovered folic acid as a cure for tropical sprue! He discovered methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug still used today and also used for rheumatoid arthritis, and diethylcarbamazine (DEC), the only effective drug for treating filariasis. He is also credited with the first synthesis of the chemical compounds folic acid and methotrexate! Imagine that!

He would have and most probably had in fact discovered many more chemicals but the green eye of envy stuck hard! A contemporary Cyrus H. Fiske, suppressed and destroyed many of his important works out of envy! 

In fact he was so talented and gifted and inspiring that under him, Benjamin Duggar made his discovery of the world’s first tetracycline antibiotic, chlortetracycline, in 1945!

Duggar identified the antibiotic as the product of an actinomycete he cultured from a soil sample collected from Sanborn Field at the University of Missouri! Yes! The same one which is in our own Bharat!

And yes! Even the scientist of such great talent was Indian!

This great scientist was Yellapragada Subba Rao; a pioneering but forgotten Indian biochemist. Many don’t even know his name; he deserved much more respect from this world! When the world speaks about Newton and Einstein; do put in a couple of words for forgotten scientists like Subba Rao!

Another great personality who is not that known is Anuraadha Koirala! A Padma award winner and a legend!

Do read about her!

Shubh ratri!