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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…

If you want to win in elections then you can use an aerosol version of this drug and people may be incined to vote for you!

Of course they have to like you in the first place!

The drug only gently NUDGES them in your direction!

The ‘drug’ is VASOPRESSIN!

In the novel Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky the author mentions how Vasopressin can make people suggestible!

An average medico would have seen or heard Vasopressin used in the GI bleed of Varices! Our GE posting emergency duty was usually a mixture of Endoscopic banding or Vasopressin injections for the esophageal varices!

It can also be used in intensive care units as a second-line medication to elevate and maintain blood pressure in patients with septic or vasodilatory shock.

Intensivists used it as a treatment or diagnostic tool for cranial diabetes insipidus, a condition where the body does not produce enough ADH, leading to excessive thirst and urination.

Then you have the studies of SUGGESTION!

Studies show that intranasal administration of arginine vasopressin can increase suggestibility and expectancy effects, particularly related to the placebo response.

One trial found that intranasal vasopressin significantly increased expectancy-induced pain relief (placebo analgesia).
When told they were receiving an analgesic, women who received vasopressin reported significantly less pain compared to those who received saline or oxytocin.

The suggestibility-boosting effect of vasopressin is most prominent in individuals with lower baseline cortisol and lower dispositional anxiety. For those with high physiological stress, the hormone is less effective at modulating!

It has also been seen that Vasopressin is heavily involved in social bonding, emotional processing, and empathy, which likely alters how individuals interpret cues and suggestions in interpersonal or experimental settings

So you want to meet new friends or make a speech; take a shot of vasopressin! Or be nice and truthful! The latter is known to work for sure!

At least that’s what my non vasopressin affected brain thinks!

Then again you don’t need Vasopressin to know what a cool author Ruskin Bond is!

Now nudge youself towards the bed and sleep!

Subh ratri…

It has been close to three months now since I had a complex fracture of the hand; this blog is not about that!

It is about the pain as explained in the novel Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky and then some!

The immediate fall which broke my radius into four gave a sharp pain which of course was severe but still I had to be brave in front of the kids who were alone! That pain which was severe and frankly bone breaking acute pain was later followed by a throb which drove away my sleep and well everything else!

It was like you get a one time single payment or a long term EMI!

That was the A delta and the C fibers interplay!

The two primary types of nerve fibers responsible for transmitting pain (nociceptive) signals are A-delta and C fibers.

The A-Delta fibers are for the Fast, sharp, pricking, or acute pain and are responsible for the immediate “first” pain!

The C fibers transmission results in much slower signal transmission. This is a Slow, dull, aching, throbbing, or burning pain!

One interesting thing here is that the activation of one fiber can inhibit or modulate the signal of the other, but it does not completely “stop” it at the source. Instead, they interact downstream in the spinal cord through complex neural mechanisms!

So the A-Delta Fibers Can Suppress C Fibers! The fast A-delta fibers send rapid electrical signals to the spinal cord dorsal horn. which can activate spinal inhibitory interneurons, which effectively dulls or dampens the incoming, slower C-fiber signals!

You also have the Gate Control Theory of Pain in which Large, highly myelinated sensory fibers called A-beta fibers detect safe touch, pressure, and vibration.
So when you slam your finger in a door (A-delta and C fibers firing) and immediately rub it, you activate the A-beta fibers! The activation of these touch fibers stimulates inhibitory interneurons in the spinal cord, “closing the gate” and overriding the pain signals from both types of pain fibers before they reach the brain! Albeit temporarily! Which is why we massage the area and feel comfortable though it may not last long! In fact this may also be one of the reasons why a MASSAGE works!

Then you also have the Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Controls or DNIC!
This is a phenomenon known as “pain inhibits pain.” Intense, localized pain in one area transmitted by pain fibers can cause the brain to trigger a widespread release of endorphins and neurotransmitters!

This descending pathway suppresses C-fiber pain signals originating from other, distant parts of the body! Our own network of opioids which can suppress pain!

This is also why we feel a rush in pain of exercise!

Pain is good… But like everything else; within limits!

Limit less talent was the hallmark of actor like T. G. Ravindranathan!

Now best way to beat them pain? Sleep!

Shubh ratri…

How a supposed preventive measure leads to more complication can be seen by this amazingly true story which every medico knows or must know!

In the novel Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky; it has been mentioned how stress can cause so many diseases and also how it can modify or alter the course of so many diseases!

In one such context you have this amazing history of SIDS!

Now that is not a cool acronym for a video game! It was a scary phenomenon!

As the novel explained parents used to put a normal healthy baby to sleep in the night and in the morning the baby would have passed away to everyones shock and gloom!

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was thus the sudden, unexplained death of an otherwise healthy baby younger than one year, often occurring during sleep.

While the exact cause is unknown, it is likely a combination of physical vulnerability, environmental factors (like soft bedding or smoking), and developmental stressors.

SIDS is diagnosed only after a full investigation, including autopsy, confirms no other cause of death. Risk is highest between 1-4 months.

Now when you do not know the cause of a disease then you are sure to find many causes!

In the early 1900s, doctors observed that infants who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) had larger thymus glands compared to ‘other’ babies who died from malnutrition or chronic illnesses.

That was the basic problem!

Because they used malnourished infants as their baseline for “normal,” they assumed the healthy, larger thymuses were enlarged due to a disease called status thymicolymphaticus and were suffocating the babies in their sleep!

Imagine the ‘finding’! There is a gland near your trachea or the breathing pipe and it is enlarged! It may possibly choke the infant!

Sounds ‘scientific’ enough! Unfortunately it was all an ‘incidental’ finding and the most difficult issue here was you cannot simply TAKE OUT the thymus! It was a tricky surgery especially for an infant!

Then comes the RADICAL solution!

To prevent this supposed suffocation, doctors routinely prescribed radiation therapy to the necks and chests of babies to shrink their thymus glands!

Here when we think so many times to even do a simple x ray!

Of course the aftermath was not kind!

Decades later, medical studies revealed that a larger thymus in a well-nourished baby is completely normal and does not cause SIDS!

More importantly, the high-dose radiation used to shrink the thymus exposed the highly sensitive thyroid gland and nearby tissues.

As those children grew up, this historical practice led to significantly increased rates of thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and other late complications!
To add insult to the injury, the SUPPOSED shrinkage of THYMUS had no bearing on the rates of SIDS…

In an attempt to find a SOLUTION to a problem; sometimes you end up creating a BIGGER PROBLEM!

Which is why in the quest of solution you must first think! And may be listen to common sense or some great song! Maybe by Pankaj Udhas!

Now sleep without any stress on your crib…I mean bed!


Subh ratri…

In my time as a Resident while doing my post grad I was doing the Thesis work for my senior. Working all day and most nights on the tables and the studies compilation and the whole work!

One day he came and told me that he would  not be coming the next day since our boss who generally never gives any leave is giving him a day off to work on HIS thesis! Then the boss called me to say that I have to work harder since all those late nights were making me tired groggy and dull in front of the patients and in the Operation theatre!

I was left wondering and amazed how I was left doing all the job and still getting BURNT!


That experience is called  “cat’s paw” which has fit me so many times though I am a dog lover!

In the book 48 laws of power by Robert Greene the author states how to get ahead or be in power people have been using the cats paw!

The idiom “cat’s paw” refers to a person who is used by another as an unwitting tool or dupe to accomplish a risky or unpleasant task.

It usually describes someone who does another’s dirty work while taking all the risks, getting nothing in return.

The term comes from an old European fable, most famously written as “The Monkey and the Cat” by the 17th-century French author Jean de La Fontaine.

In the story, a cunning monkey wants to eat some hot chestnuts roasting in a fire but is afraid of burning his own hands. He flatters a naïve cat, tricking the feline into pulling the chestnuts out of the burning embers.

The cat bravely (but foolishly) scoops the chestnuts out one by one, burning its paw in the process. When the unsuspecting cat turns around to share the treat, it discovers the monkey has already cracked and eaten them all, leaving the cat with nothing but singed fur and a painful injury!

Of course as you grow older the more important lesson which you learn when you help someone is that; ‘Never expect anything in return!’ and also thank heavens that ‘Helping did not cause any harm!’

So next time you help someone just do it without any expectations and hopefully you will be ok! Let your heart not go dhak dhak with every cry of help though!

Which of course reminds me of the dhak dhak girl Madhuri!

Now help yourself to sleep!

Shubh ratri…

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky mentions how stress is simply transient in a Zebra since all the Zebra has to do at that point of time is to eat and escape the lion!

If the lion has recently fed; the Zebra does not even have to run!

That is not a laughing matter! But then you get to know about those creatures who are the scavengers who can even eat the most rotten food and LAUGH about it!

In the movie, the Gods Must be Crazy it has been shown how Hyenas would not attack any other animal who is bigger that it! But it is known for amazing attacking techniques!

Many hyenas would spend hours tracking and trying to get a meal! Then after a sleepless night or day when they do get the kill, it has been seen that some lazy lion would simply follow or take the kill made by the hyenas!

That is when you get the laugh of the hyena!

It is in fact a cry of anguish and anger!

So it is seen that Hyenas “laugh” not out of joy, but as a complex form of communication to express stress, frustration, or excitement.

Typically made by subordinate clan members during intense feeding frenzies, the giggles signal submission, nervousness, or competition over food.

It has also been seen that a hyena’s giggle serves several specific functions in their highly complex, matriarchal clans!

One is to show the social hierarchy where subordinate hyenas laugh when they are being chased or pushed away by a higher-ranking animal, signaling deference and backing down to prevent a physical fight.

They also produce this sound during the chaos of a kill. It expresses the frustration of trying to get a bite of food while being nipped at or pushed away by other clan members!

It has also been seen that each hyena’s laugh is slightly unique. The pitch and speed of the laugh help clan members identify who is calling, as well as their age and social rank!

So when you hear a Hyena ‘Laugh’ it is actually a CRY!

Then again, do run away! Keep your Humanity for humans!

Then again you know how there may be many Hyenas but there is only one lion!

Like the lion Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj!

Big salute to the brave king …
Shubh ratri…