Category Archives: Inspiration / Positive News and Features

J.B.S. Haldane: Iconoclast, adventurer and a man of science

Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

The book aptly presents the socio-economic background of Haldane, particularly his father role in shaping his young, curious and socially sensitive mind

J.B.S. Haldane / [Wikimedia Commons]

Samanth Subramanian’s book reveals a lot about the man who is its subject. It succeeds in conveying the multifaceted character of the protagonist, his dislike for conventional wisdom, his participation in World War I and the Spanish Civil War as well as his involvement in the British war effort during World War II and, of course, his pioneering contributions to the formative works of evolutionary genetics. Subramanian correctly points out that J.B.S. Haldane was a creative man full of new ideas who wrote many papers in reputed scientific journals. When he was not doing active science, he was busy writing about science for common people. The author also gives a lot of emphasis on the political work of Haldane which makes the book fascinating to read. It is rare to find such a vocal and politically active communist scientist in the history of science.

The book aptly presents the socio-economic background of Haldane, particularly the role played by his father in shaping the mind of the young, curious and socially sensitive Haldane.

Subramanian also succeeds in conveying the scientific nature of Haldane’s work which makes this book not only relevant to the general reader but also valuable for those interested in understanding the history of evolutionary genetics and biological sciences. This book is a good example of popular science writing and can be appreciated truly if the reader has an interest in the biological sciences.

To convey Haldane’s iconoclastic disposition, the author, at times, becomes a bit too harsh in his portrayal of the scientist’s idiosyncrasies and apparent lack of diplomatic skills. Creative minds often have their own set of idiosyncrasies and find social interactions difficult which reflects their complex thought processes.

A Dominant Character: The Radical Science and Restless Politics of J.B.S. Haldane by Samanth Subramanian, Simon & Schuster, Rs 799Amazon

Haldane had a special relationship with India. At sixty-four, he preferred to leave England and settle down in India, a fact that is difficult to believe as sixty-four years is rarely perceived to be an age when someone chooses to start afresh in a different country with a completely different set of languages. He spent the last part of his life (1956-1964) with his wife in India. He became an Indian citizen and worked in the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta and later settled in Bhubaneswar. He left England at the height of the Suez crisis in 1956 because he thought his country was on the wrong side of history. For Haldane, India was a new dream, a dream of Nehruvian socialist nation-building, where he could chip in with his scientific knowledge to help the country produce good biologists. This part of Haldane’s life is well-documented in the book.

Subramanian has tried his best to convey the main scientific beliefs of Haldane by pointing out that he was one of the pioneers who tried to implement the ideas of heredity as propounded by Gregor Mendel in the study of natural evolution. The relationship between genetics and evolution became clearer in the works of Haldane and his contemporaries.

In describing the character of Haldane, Subramanian also conveys his feelings about the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is a recurring theme in this book as the protagonist was associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain for a long time and had played a role in the Lysenko affair. Subramanian describes the communist Haldane elegantly but fails to find anything positive in the Soviet Union. This is a bit strange. In this otherwise splendid book, Subramanian perhaps missed out the fact that if revolutionary Soviet Union, with all its faults, had not existed, then iconoclastic and adventurous scientists of the nature of Haldane, who fought for science and the liberation of the proletariat, may not even have existed on earth.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / by Kaushik Bhattacharya / April 10th, 2020

Indian-origin doctor, who won Miss England 2019 title, hangs up crown to fight COVID-19

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Records, All, Uncategorized, World Opinion

Basha Mukherjee is self-isolating for one to two weeks until she can return to work as a doctor to help in coronavirus pandemic. “There’s no better time for me to be Miss England and helping England at a time of need,” she told CNN.

Bhasha Mukherjee, who shifted from Kolkata at the age of 8, specializes in respiratory medicine. (Source: Instagram/Bhasha Mukherjee)

Indian-origin doctor Bhasha Mukherjee, who was crowned Miss England in 2019, has returned to the United Kingdom to help out on the frontlines in the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

The beauty queen, who took a break from the medical profession to focus on charity work abroad after competing in the Miss World competition last year, told CNN on Monday that she has returned to the United Kingdom to aid the medical professionals. She told that it felt wrong to be wearing her Miss England crown, even for humanitarian work, while people around the world were dying from coronavirus and her colleagues were working so hard.

As the COVID-19 situation worsened in the UK, Mukherjee was getting messages from former colleagues telling her how hard the situation was for them. “When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you’re still expected to put the crown on, get ready… look pretty.” But, she added: “I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work.”

She is now back and is self-isolating for one to two weeks until she can return to work as a doctor at the Pilgrim Hospital. “There’s no better time for me to be Miss England and helping England at a time of need,” she told CNN.

Mukherjee, who shifted from Kolkata at the age of 8, specializes in respiratory medicine. Invited to be an ambassador for several charities, she had taken a break from her medical career briefly. She was in India at the beginning of March for a community charity. She also visited Africa, Turkey, Pakistan, and other Asian countries.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Coronavirus Outbreak / by Express Web Desk / New Delhi / April 07th, 2020

Anandibai Joshi: All about the first Indian female doctor with a degree in western medicine

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Anandibai Joshi, who was the first female physician in India, was the first Indian women to complete her studies in western medicine from United States.

Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, Gopalrao, the first Indian female physician, medicine in India, anandibai joshi biography, anandibai joshi life journey, women in medicine
Anandibai Joshi was the first female physician in India

Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first female Indian physician. She was also the first woman in India to complete her studies in western medicine from the United States. Anandibai has a rich legacy and inspired many women to pursue the field of of medicine in India and in the United States.

Anandibai also became the first woman from Bombay presidency of India to study and graduate with a two-year degree in western medicine from a foreign country.

Anandibai’s inspiration to pursue medicine

Anandibai was born with the name ‘Yamuna’ but was later given the name anandi by her husband Gopalrao Joshi. She was born in a family of landlords and due to parental pressure, she got married at the young age of nine.

Anandibai bore her first child at the age of 14 but due to lack of medical care, the child passed away after ten days. This incident was a turning point in Anandibai’s life and she chose to pursue medicine, with the support of her husband.

Gopalrao, who was a progressive thinker and supported education for women, enrolled her in a missionary school, and later moved to Calcutta with her, where she learnt how to speak Sanskrit and English.

Gopalrao’s support for Anandibai’s education

In the 1800’s, it was very unusual for husbands to focus on their wives’ education. Gopalrao was obsessed with the idea of Anandibai’s education and wanted her to learn medicine and create her own identity in the world.

One day, Gopalrao walked into the kitchen and threw a fit of rage when he saw Anandibai cooking instead of studying. This made her even more focussed on her education.

Gopalrao took the decision of sending Anandibai to America to study medicine in utmost detail with a missionary from Philadelphia named Mrs. Carpenter.

(Source: Wikipedia)

I volunteer myself a women doctor: Anandibai Joshi

Before she went to United States, Anandibai addressed a public hall in 1883, where she expressed her dissapointment for the lack of women doctors in India. She said,”I volunteer myself as one”, in the gathering.

She had also expressed her views on how midwifery was not sufficient in any case of medical emergency and how the instructors who taught women had conservative views.

Anandibai’s journey in America

After her motivating speech in the public gathering, she expressed her views on studying medicine in America. She also stressed the need of female doctors in India and stated that Hindu women can be better doctors for other Hindu women.

Anandibai’s health had started to decline but Gopalrao had urged her to go to America so that she can set an example for other women in the country.

Anandibai was urged to apply to the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania but learning about her plan to pursue higher education, the Hindu society of India decided to censure her very strongly.

Anandibai was enrolled in the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed her two-year course in medicine at the age of 19. She graduated with an MD in 1886 with the topic of her thesis being ‘Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindoos’.

In her thesis, she covered information form Ayurvedic texts and American textbooks. On her graduation, Queen Victoria sent her a message, expressing her delight.

Confusion between Anandibai Joshi and Kadambini Ganguly

There is a major confusion between Anandibai Joshi and Kadambini Ganguly, with regards to who was the first female doctor of India. Anandibai got her degree in western medicine from Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania while Kadambini completed her education in India.

Kadambini Ganguly

Tragically, Anandibai passed away due to tubercolosis at the age of 22, before she got a chance to practice medicine.

Thus, Kadambini Ganguly was the first female doctor to practice medicine while Anandibai Joshi was the first female doctor who got her degree in western medicine from the United States.

Anandibai Joshi’s legacy in the world of medicine

Anandibai passed away due to tubercolosis at the age of 21, on February 26, 1887. Even after her death, several writers and researchers continued to write about her to raise awareness about the importance of educating women in India.

Doordarshan also based a television series on her life and American feminist writer Caroline Wells Healey Dall penned down her biography in 1888.

The Institute of Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), Lucknow has been awarding the Anandibai Joshi Award in Medicine in honour of her contributions towards the advancements of medical sciences in India.

Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi has been an inspiration to millions of Indian women who found the motivation of stepping into the field of medicine. She created history by making huge strides so ealry in her life, in a field which required precision and extensive education.

source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Education Today> GK & Current Affairs> Personalities / by India Today Web Desk / New Delhi / March 04th, 2020

Mamata Banerjee’s Turnabout Moment as She Leads From the Front in the Battle Against COVID-19

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee covers her mouth with a piece of cloth during a press conference in Kolkata, March 20, 2020. Photo: PTI

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has come a long way on the registers of political and administrative maturity. In recent months, she led popular agitations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) from the front. And now, she is leading her state in attempting to contain the coronavirus pandemic. In this process, she is reinforcing the goodwill of her admirers and receiving praise from her detractors – remarkably even among supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].

This could well turn out to be a critical juncture for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief.

Of course, Mamata is not the only chief minister providing such leadership in the present crisis. The chief ministers of Kerala, Orissa and Delhi too have admirably risen to the occasion. Still, what lends special interest to Mamata’s leadership is her transformed personality in a leadership role. The interest lies in her evolution from an opposition firebrand, a street fighter, and a somewhat unpredictable head of state, to a mature political and administrative leader. The kind of maturity that many, till recently, did not credit Mamata Banerjee with.

Last year, critics predicted an irreversible slide in the chief minister’s popularity at a time when matters did indeed look grim. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the TMC’s main adversary, won an impressive 18 of the state’s 42 seats during the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal. The Trinamool Congress’s tally slipped from 34 to 22. Public conversation increasingly veered towards the BJP stealing a march over the TMC in Bengal’s 2021 assembly elections.

Not surprisingly, the BJP’s new-found aggression rattled Mamata. The TMC chief made no bones about showing her displeasure at the sudden political inclemency coming her way. She showed her frustration in ways that, since her decades in opposition, had easily come to be recognised as part and parcel of Mamata’s temperamental persona.

Two days after the Lok Sabha results were declared, Mamata claimed 200 TMC party offices were “captured” by the BJP. By the following Monday, her party would “recover” them , the chief minister declared. In the days to follow, an enraged Mamata was caught on camera getting out of her car and hollering at men shouting Jai Shri Ram. A month on, the TMC leader ran into a fresh storm when she issued an ultimatum to Kolkata’s striking doctors, protesting an attack on one of their colleagues. Call the agitation off or leave your hostels, Mamata flatly told the agitating doctors. As she courted controversy after controversy, the BJP further dug its heels in Bengal, and the future of politics in the state looks increasingly uncertain.

The situation, however, turned as Mamata changed her style of doing politics. For one, she stopped reacting to every irritant thrown in her direction, stripping the BJP off the opportunity to attack her for her volatile temperament and erratic behaviour. Those who watch Mamata’s politics closely, attributed the behavioural and functional transformation – her measured tone, her not shunning meetings with top BJP ministers, including with the Prime Minister – to Prashant Kishor, the political strategist advising her. Her widely publicised Didi ke bolo (Tell Didi) initiative encouraged citizens across Bengal to share with their grievance about her party and government with the chief minister. As the BJP shored up a campaign against the ruling party’s corruption and ‘tolabaji’ culture, Mamata underwent a personality makeover.

The ‘new’ Mamata Banerjee seems quieter and more circumspect. This behavioural change, however, has not diluted her politics, focused on challenging the BJP government and its communal agenda. She recently called the Narendra Modi government out for its collusion in the violence in northeast Delhi. Describing the killings and arson as a pogrom, Mamata said: “The BJP government is trying to replicate its Gujarat model of riots across India, including in West Bengal.”

Over the course of 10 months, from May 2019 and March 2020, Banerjee has faced two serious challenges, one political, and the other medical. The serious challenge arising from the BJP-sponsored CAA-NRC-National Population Register (NPR) agenda drove the chief minister out of Nabanna, her administrative headquarters. She led huge marches in the streets, walking a tightrope between her responsibilities as head of state, and her opposition to the Narendra Modi government.

PM Narendra Modi and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Photo: PTI

After meeting the prime minister at Raj Bhavan, which Mamata described as part of her “Constitutional responsibility”, she joined anti-CAA protesters who were sitting outside in a dharna. She stayed away from the anti-CAA protests at Park Circus, while ensuring facilities like drinking water were provided by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation at the site.

That was two months ago.

Since then, like every other chief minister in the country, Mamata has been thrown into the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. As in the anti-CAA agitations, she is leading this battle from the front as well. The state government has adopted a string of decisive measures , ranging from enforcing quarantine and lockdown to delivering financial help to the underprivileged. Mamata did not mince words when faced with the case of the teenage son of a bureaucrat in Nabanna who initially dodged testing, and was later found to be coronavirus positive. “You can’t claim VIP status and avoid COVID-19 tests,” she sternly said .

When a second person tested positive for coronavirus in Kolkata earlier this month, the Bengal government issued a strict warning that all persons returning from abroad in recent days should quarantine themselves for a fortnight. “Persons who do not follow the advice will be liable for action, including forcible quarantining… under the West Bengal Epidemic Disease Covid-19 Regulation 2020,”  according to the police advisory.

Unlike the abstract tone and tenor of the prime minister’s two national addresses on the epidemic, Mamata explained what quarantine would mean for people. Quarantine is not jail, she emphasized. Whether or not people find comfort in that explanation is a different matter. But that, as chief minister, Mamata finds herself obligated to reassure and comfort citizens on her watch, has struck a chord among the people of Bengal.

“Remember, quarantine does not mean jail. Quarantine simply means to keep oneself healthy, staying in a separate space, where many people don’t have access. Those there, other than them, no outsiders,” she said . Given the appalling state of quarantine facilities that have come to light across the country, Mamata assured people that facilities at the “brand new building” in New Town would meet the acceptable standards: “Bathrooms, beds, food … just like home. That is quarantine, like your own home. Not a jail, [you] must remember this.”

The coronavirus awareness campaign she initiated has reached villages as well. Block and district officials have been instructed to ensure that outsiders entering villages should quarantine themselves for the requisite amount of time.

Alongside these measures, the government has decided to distribute foodgrains for free for six months among 7.85 crore people eligible for subsidised grain through the public distribution system. Government employees now giving up their leave will be entitled to special leave around Durga Puja, while at least 50% of government employees will work from home on a rotational basis.

Additionally, Mamata has urged the Centre to send required medical kits to the state, arguing : “We have been repeatedly asking for testing kits. We have now 40 kits. I know ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) is saying that there is no dearth of kits, but that supply must reach us.” In an innovative move, the chief minister also identified the Calcutta Medical College  as a facility for exclusively treating coronavirus patients. The state government is preparing a 3000-bed isolation ward in the hospital.

In the short-term, such moves by the Bengal chief minister and her counterparts in other states bodes well for those who are put most at risk by the pandemic. In the long-term, one has to wonder whether nuanced policies like these might also help Mamata Banerjee regain lost ground and stem the onslaught of Hindutva, that other viral force in Bengal’s contemporary political culture.

source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Opinion> Politics / by Monobina Gupta / March 26th, 2020

Jamsetjee Framjee Madon — a pioneer of Indian cinema and champion of Calcutta’s poor Parsis

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

In Pioneering Parsis of Calcutta, Prochy N. Mehta chronicles the little-known lives of the first Parsis who came to the city during British rule.

Jamsetjee Framjee Madon | Niyogi Books | Prochy N. Mehta


Jamsetjee Framjee Madon was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema. He owned over 120 cinema halls at one time. Jamsetjee was very modern in his outlook and a reformist in his religious views. He was one of the first trustees of the Late Ervad D.B. Mehta’s Zoroastrian Anjuman Atash Adaran and was a supporter of the young Bella, to whom he left Rs 5,000 in his will to help her in her legal case. 

Jamsetjee Framjee Madon was born on 27 April 1856 in a very poor family in Bombay. The family being truly indigent, he had to seek employment at the tender age of twelve as a scene-shifter in the dramatic company of Cooverji Ratanji Nazir, at a salary of Rs 4 per month. The young lad got enamoured of the stage, copying the roles of the heroes and heroines of the plays and later playing small roles on stage. Since he had a good voice, he could act the part of a courtesan and became quite popular. 

He then joined Elphinstone Natak Company which toured the country and in 1875, on an auspicious day, he came to Calcutta with this touring company. Some time later he took over this company in partnership with a few others. This company prospered, thanks to his experience, far-sightedness and hard work, and made Calcutta its permanent home. Simultaneously he started dealing in auctioned goods and in 1885 started another business as wines and provision merchant at 5, Dharamtalla Street. His honesty, perseverance and gentle nature soon attracted important Indian customers and the shop became extremely popular among government officers and Englishmen. There were seven branches of this store including those at Calcutta, Darjeeling, Lucknow and Delhi. 

In 1903, at the time of the British invasion of Tibet, Jamsetjee opened food and provision stores all the way from Siliguri to Chumbi and assisted the armed forces in supplying food and provision to soldiers even at great personal risk. The British officers greatly appreciated Madon’s fortitude and bravery as a result of which Jamsetjee was given a large contract of supplying the army during the wars in Kabul. He carried out his work at great risk and in significantly difficult circumstances, to the utmost satisfaction of the military officers. In appreciation of these services, the British Government awarded him the Order of the British Empire in 1918.

On 30 March 1919, the Calcutta Parsis felicitated Jamsetjee at a function under the chairmanship of the trustee of the Anjuman, Seth Edulji Pestonji Guzdar. Madon Seth was congratulated on obtaining the Order of the British Empire and praised for his simple life, gentle nature, honesty and kindness and for his munificence towards the poor. 

Seth Jamsetjee, like the other Parsi elders of the community, had a generous nature and was always anxious to assist the needy. Having grown up in poverty he felt for the poor and gave employment to many poor Parsi youngsters in his cinemas and shops. He was thus responsible for the livelihood of a large number of Parsi families. Many of his charities were done secretly and it can be truly said of him that his left hand was not aware of what his right hand gave away. It was estimated that such secret handouts averaged Rs 5,000 every month. This help was not restricted to Parsis exclusively; all the needy benefitted from his charity, irrespective of caste or creed. Many institutions of public welfare owed their existence and prosperity to him. 

In 1907 Seth Jamsetjee took up the mission of building a second Tower of Silence in Calcutta. Starting a subscription list with his personal donation of Rs 5,000, he went from house to house and managed to collect a lakh of rupees from the Calcutta Parsis. It was due to his influence that the municipality gave a grant of Rs 27,000 towards the purchase of land for this second Tower of Silence, and he personally bore the expenses of Rs 20,000 towards building it. Seth Madon’s efforts and far-sightedness resulted in bringing together the priests of the Kadimi and Shahanshai sections for the first time in Calcutta. The Kadimi priests performed the religious rites at the time of the foundation and the Shahanshai priests performed the consecration rites. 

In 1912, at the time of the building of the Mehta fire temple, Seth Jamsetjee provided his devoted services. The building attached to the fire temple used as a residence for the priests was built and donated by him and his family to the Atash Adaran. He presented several chandeliers, lamps and carpets for the main prayer hall and also many tables, chairs, large cooking utensils for general use. This generous-hearted Parsi also had the foresight to start funds with initial personal donations to take care of the future maintenance of the Atash Adaran.

Seth Jamsetjee was deeply sympathetic towards the poor Parsi families in Calcutta. In Dharamtalla Street he built Khorshed Madan Mansion at an expense of Rs 1,10,176 in memory of his beloved daughter, Mrs Khorshed Rustomji Maneckji Mehta, who had died on 14 January 1920 during the lifetime of her parents. Seth Jamsetjee donated this house to the Anjuman on the understanding that the flats be rented out to the poor and middle-class Parsi families of Calcutta at a low rent. Further he set aside a sizeable fund for the maintenance of this building. 

He also secured the land for the ‘aramgah’ for the Parsis in Darjeeling and donated funds towards its maintenance. On several occasions he gave donations to the Anjuman on behalf of his friends and relations. Seth Jamsetjee organised several ‘benefit nights’ in many of his cinema houses to collect funds for charities for Parsis as well as other communities. 

In 1923, the British Government honoured him with the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his many cosmopolitan charities. 

About twenty years prior to the advent of cinema on a commercial basis in India, Seth Jamsetjee experimented with this new media and perfected it for public viewing. He was truly a pioneer of the cinema industry in India. 

The young lad of twelve, who started his career as a scene-shifter at a salary of Rs 4 per month, aided by some lucky turn of events and greatly due to his own inherent ability, perseverance and hard labour, became, in the evening of his life, the owner of a hundred cinema houses in India. Seth Jamsetjee’s life is a shining example of Parsi adventure and philanthropy. Upon his death which took place in Calcutta on roz 22 Govad, Mah 10 Dae, Year 1292 y.z., corresponding to 28 June 1923, Calcutta lost a true benefactor of the poor. 

This excerpt from Pioneering Parsis of Calcutta by Prochy N. Mehta has been published with permission from Niyogi Books.

source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Page Turner> Book Excerpts / by Prochy N. Mehta / April 04th, 2020

Kolkata-born Miss England helps raise funds for city’s children in UK

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The Hope Foundation was founded in 1999 by Irish humanitarian Maureen Forrest to provide protection and safety to 14 young girls in Kolkata who were forced to survive on the streets.

Miss England 2019 Bhasha Mukherjee (Photo | Instagram)

World :

Indian-origin Miss England 2019 Bhasha Mukherjee helped raise funds for a UK charity working with street-connected and slum children in Kolkata as part of her beauty with a purpose mission.

Mukherjee, a doctor by profession who spent her childhood in Kolkata, took time out from preparations for the Miss World contest next month to join the Hope Foundation’s annual fundraiser in London on Friday night.

The evening raised over 20,000 pounds for the charity through ticket and auction sales and also received several pledges to sponsor children in India.

“I think it’s destiny that brings people together. I am from Kolkata, so Hope Foundation is very special to me,” said the 23-year-old, who moved to UK as a nine-year-old and is currently employed as a junior doctor in Lincolnshire, eastern England.

“Hope isn’t just about the children of Kolkata, it’s about children all over the world as well. And, my beauty with a purpose project is health education, which I am very passionate about as a doctor.

“I want to take this platform of Miss England and empower people to take control of their own health and stay well in the community,” she said.

The Hope Foundation was founded in 1999 by Irish humanitarian Maureen Forrest to provide protection and safety to 14 young girls in Kolkata who were forced to survive on the streets.

It has since grown from just one protection home to 12 homes and also operates a range of other outreach work, which has impacted the lives of millions who reside in Kolkata’s slums and on the city’s streets.

“I suppose it was my dream, and is my dream, to live in a world where it would never hurt to be a child.

“Our legacy will not be the buildings we have left there (Kolkata), but the thousands of children that we have introduced to education, these children are in turn breaking the cycle of poverty,” said Forrest, honorary director of the foundation.

The fundraiser, which was backed by historic India-connected tea brand Britannia and UK fitness retailer DW Sports, raised nearly 9,000 pounds through an auction of lots including a holiday to India and signed sports memorabilia.

The rest of the profits raised are also intended to go towards implementing the work of the foundation, which has offices in the UK, Ireland, US as well as India.

“This evening is not just about celebrating the great part that Hope (Foundation) plays in the lives of these street-connected children.

“It’s also about the inspiration that these children provide us so that we can endeavour to make changes to their lives, said Reza Beyad, London-based entrepreneur and the foundation’s UK ambassador.

“Hope offers, through its various programmes, opportunities for these kids to step out of the social bubble created for them by injustices in society,” he said.

source : http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> World / by Press Trust of India / October 06th, 2019

Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee to come home to Kolkata on October 22

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, NRI's / PIO's, Records, All, World Opinion

Abhijit Banerjee’s mother Nirmala said that she is personally preparing the room where her elder son will stay at their home in an apartment.

Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee won the 2019 Nobel for Economics. (Photo | Twitter)

Kolkata :

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee will come to his paternal home in the city on Tuesday to visit his 83-year-old mother after winning the global award.

Banerjee will be in the city for two days and his mother Nirmala Banerjee, an economist in her own right, is busy overseeing the last minute preparations to welcome him.

She said she is personally preparing the room where her elder son will stay at their home in an apartment.

Banerjee, who was declared to be winner of the Nobel Prize on October 14, is now in New Delhi.

He will be at his home on October 23 and leave for the US early next morning, a family member said.

Nirmala Banerjee told reporters that she would be preparing fish items for food to welcome her Nobel laureate son.

“He loves fish and eats fish items whenever he is in Kolkata. I will prepare Katla fish curry and other fish items and some sweet dish,” she said.

The family and his friends have decided not to make it a gala affair this time as he will be on a tight schedule.

“He will be in the city in December-January and we are planning some big celebrations then,” Banerjee’s childhood friend Bappa Sen said.

“For now some of us who are his friends have decided to meet him and congratulate him in person,” he said.

Banerjee, an Indian-born American professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has won the Nobel in economics for 2019, jointly with French-American Esther Duflo, his wife and Michael Kremer of Harvard University for “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.

Banerjee did his schooling at South Point School and had graduated in economics from the famed Presidency College (now University) in the city.

On Saturday he had visited his alma mater Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where he completed had completed his Masters.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by Press Trust of India / October 22nd, 2019

50 years of NSS at Xavier’s

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At St Xavier’s College, every student is a NSS volunteer and the social outreach activity is mandatory for all students

“At least six of the 23 teams spoke on the need for mental wellness and the role students of St Xavier’s could play in helping those suffering from low mental well-being,” Sheryl Francis, the director of NSS and the college’s social work department.https://www.sxccal.edu

St Xavier’s College students on Tuesday marked 50 years of the institute’s National Service Scheme (NSS) by pledging to reach out to poor students and ensure their mental wellness and fight plastic pollution.

At least 230 students, divided into 23 teams, discussed education, health, environment and the need for mental wellness of young students.

At the end of the sessions, the teams concluded mental wellness and plastic pollution were two major problems and their “active participation” was needed to resolve them.

The NSS — sponsored by the youth affairs and sports ministry — was started at St Xavier’s on September 24, 1969, the day it was launched in the country for college and university students.

At St Xavier’s College, every student is a NSS volunteer and the social outreach activity is mandatory for all students. “The primary objective of the event was to encourage students to work together for social causes,” Father Dominic Savio, principal, said.

A seminar on “Social Responsibility of College Students — Its Need and Relevance Today” was held on the campus to mark the occasion. NSS volunteers of the college regularly visit 12 villages of South 24-Parganas where they are involved in welfare activities for poor students.

“At least six of the 23 teams spoke on the need for mental wellness and the role students of St Xavier’s could play in helping those suffering from low mental well-being,” Sheryl Francis, the director of NSS and the college’s social work department, said.

The teams had been asked to come up with suggestions on how the problems could be resolved. A team suggested that the process start on the campus. The experience could be used to help poor students.

For example, someone in a class may be going through a crisis at home. “There could be someone showing signs of low mental well-being. He/she may be silent…. We can start an exercise to identify our friends who show such signs. We can provide them with a platform to address their problems,” according to a suggestion from one of the teams.

Arranging regular adda where students get to share their day’s happy and sad moments was another suggestion. The same process could be followed to help poor students outside the campus.

Almost all the students said they were “concerned” about plastic pollution. The students decided to ban the use of plastic on the campus.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> West Bengal / by Mita Mukherjee in Calcutta / September 27th, 2019

Chandrima Shaha, first woman set to head science academy, was also a cricketer, commentator

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Chandrima Shaha, the president-elect of the Indian National Science Academy, says she will take initiatives to combat pseudoscience.

Chandrima Shaha | @PrinSciAdvGoI | Twitter

New Delhi: 

As a young scientist, Chandrima Shaha often “felt invisible” when she sat among her male colleagues. Only a few acknowledged her presence. But little did it deter this feisty woman from fighting her way through gender biases and achieve heights that only some dare to reach.

From being a vice-captain of West Bengal’s first women’s cricket team to becoming the first woman cricket commentator for All India Radio, Shaha has added another first to her illustrious career. The president-elect of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) will be the first woman to hold the post. Her appointment was announced last week.

“Women have to first believe in themselves in order to take over leadership positions. I have been elected by a council consisting of mostly male members,” Shaha tells ThePrint.

With a scientific career spanning more than three decades, Shaha, 66, now looks forward to becoming the face of Indian science.

Along with the newly-elected council of 30 other members, Shaha will assume her new office from 1 January, 2020. During her stint at the INSA, she wants to encourage collaborations between scientists of different fields so that problems can be solved using a multi-disciplinary approach.

To get people more interested in science, Shaha wants to increase the outreach of scientific communities. She pointed out how various government initiatives have given a push towards innovations but the learning system is not designed to encourage research.

Also on her agenda is a push to combating pseudoscience.

Love for adventure

Born on 14 October, 1952 to a photographer father and an artist mother, Shaha credits her parents for inculcating in her a scientific temperament and “streak for adventure” from a very young age.

Her father, Shambhu Shaha, was especially known for the photographs he took of Rabindranath Tagore in the last years of the Nobel laureate’s life.

“My father could not pursue a career in science but he always wanted me to do it. He would bring books from the British Council office and also talk to me about the universe,” Shaha recalls.

She fondly remembers her father gifting her a simple telescope one day. “I kept looking at the stars. At times, I felt very strange thinking how vast the universe was. I thought I was going to be an astronomer,” says Shaha.

But it was an antique microscope that eventually helped Shaha find her calling. She used to collect water from different sources near her house and observed these samples under the microscope. “That really made me transform into a biologist,” she says.

“My mother, Karuna Shaha, was a painter and probably a feminist even before the concept was even born,” Shaha adds.

Karuna was one of the first women students at the Government College of Art and Crafts in Calcutta and also among the first women artists who insisted on claiming professional space in their own right.

Karuna’s biography In Her Own Right: Remembering the Artist Karuna Shaha, written by Tapati Guha-Thakurta, says the artist is best known for her studies of the female nude. For Karuna, it became the prime symbol of artistic freedom and a shedding of inhibitions.

“My mother went to jail during for pulling down the British flag. She was very adventurous. I probably got this zeal for adventure from her,” said Shaha.

To understand cells

Shaha graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Calcutta and completed her doctoral research in 1980 from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology.

For her post doctoral work, she went to the University of Kansas Medical Centre (1980-1982). From 1983-1984, she was at the Population Council, New York City. Shaha joined the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi in 1984 as a scientist.

The main focus of Shaha’s research is understanding the mechanisms that cause cell death. “Cell death is something very fundamental to our bodies. If you can identify the mechanism behind cell death you can also develop drugs to counter various diseases. Cell death pathways have been used very successfully to make cancer drugs,” she explains.

Shaha has extensively worked with ‘Leishmania’ parasite — which causes Kala Azar — and has authored over 80 research papers.

“The excitement of looking at the core of your life — cell — was clearly something that inspired me. I used to sit with the microscope for hours, staring at cells. It was that sheer excitement of looking at life that inspired me,” she says.

Passion for photography

Growing up, Shaha did not let any stereotypical expectations stop her from reaching places she always wanted to go. During her time at the Calcutta University, Bengal was in the middle of the historic Naxal movement. The unrest in the early 1970s meant colleges were frequently closed. It took two extra years for her to complete her under-graduation.

“I got interested in photography because of my father. I took the camera and went to different kinds of places where women wouldn’t usually go. I just hopped on to buses and went to different villages to photograph,” she said.

Shaha had also been the vice-captain of West Bengal’s first women’s cricket team for three years.

Fight against gender bias

“Initially, when we started our careers, nobody would shake hands with women scientists,” Shaha recalls, adding they would be completely “ignored” by her male colleagues.

Even scientists married to career women would greet everyone else but not their female colleagues, she says.

Shaha, however, never thought of giving up her career. “I was internally driven. I knew this (gender bias) wouldn’t stop anywhere. I always thought that I have to keep going forward. I am doing that even now.”

She, however, thinks “attitudes” are changing and the society is on a “self correcting mode”. “I think diversity in science is very important — both men and women need to participate in research. Women, by nature, are more sincere and particular about things. They must participate in a larger way towards the country’s scientific endeavour.”

Plans for INSA

Shaha believes the country’s scientific community is extremely talented. Given the limited amount of funding that is available, Indian researchers have made remarkable achievements, she says.

She also thinks scientists need to reach out to the people in local languages for better understanding of issues.

When Shaha became the director of the National Institute of Immunology (NII) in 2012, she initiated a programme called ‘Science Setu’, as part of which scientists would go and teach undergraduates. The students were also invited to visit the NII laboratories.

As the president-elect of INSA, Shaha now hopes to take similar initiatives at a much larger scale to effectively combat pseudoscience.

“What needs to be inculcated in schools and among public too is the fact that while ancient texts can tell us about cures to various things, in science — where things have to be proven via experiments — we have to provide evidence,” she says.

source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Science / by Mohana Basu / August 10th, 2019

Put your feet up and let ‘Dr Sil’ take charge

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Many doctors recommend a visit to Sil over surgery

Subhendu Sil attends to a client. / Picture by Subhendu Chaki

As I settle into the client’s chair in Subhendu Sil’s little chamber, I feel a bit like a distraught visitor entering 221B Baker Street. A sudden revelation about a part of me that I had not even noticed throws me off my guard.

“Do you wear hawai chappals with plastic straps that pinch you near your toes?” is the first thing Sil asks, with the sharp precision of a detective. Yes, I do. The hard plastic, which does not stretch, has bitten into the flesh and has calloused my feet, at a spot near the heels. I need to give up on the chappals immediately, says Sil briskly, his alert eyes scrutinising my feet, but his face, unlike Holmes’s, betrays a gentleness and a serenity that are striking.

Sil, 48, has been looking at people’s feet in this room for 20 years. A Bata employee, he is a chiropodist. He treats various foot problems, some of them extremely serious. His healing touch is so well-known that people queue up to meet him; sometimes they have to wait for a month for an appointment.

His chamber is located at the Hindustan Park branch of Bata on Rashbehari Avenue. It is a small, slightly cramped square room, measuring 49 sqft, and is tucked away behind stacks of shoes at the back of the store. It has a wall-to-wall mirror on one side to make him examine his clients’ feet better, two unassuming chairs, a generous porcelain basin with taps for soaking the feet in, a shelf for the toolkit and a wooden stool covered in red for Sil to sit on.

Two slender shelves with shoes border the mirror on the two sides. The only decoration in the room — some plastic flowers.

In this room Sil is to be found almost always, bent over his clients’ feet, almost as if over a musical instrument, but working with his toolbox, patiently removing layer after layer of dead skin to relieve his clients of deep-rooted corns or calloused feet. A resident of Sonarpur, he starts his work at 10.30am every day, and works till late evening, with a small lunch break in between.

Corns, particularly, can cause immense pain and immobility. A visit to Sil can take time, but the intervention is minimal. When he is done, his client’s relief is enormous. Many of them leave the room blessing him. And keep recommending him to everyone.

Corns are the most common problem. People also come to him for treatment of in-growing toenails, calloused skin removal and hard skin removal.

Diabetic feet need special care. Any procedure becomes more complicated with the possibility of bleeding. Many diabetes patients come to him for foot care. “Warts are also an increasing problem,” he says. Though most of his clients are over 50, many children visit him too.

Sil is reluctant to talk about the effects of his work, but he does mention two or three instances when he felt particularly rewarded. “One client, who had 12 to 14 corns in her two feet, told me that after coming here, she could visit her mother’s house after 15 years.”

Many doctors recommend a visit to Sil over surgery.

After joining Bata in 1990 as a salesman, Sil was chosen to work as a chiropodist in 1999. Bata was reputed for this specialised work. Both Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi would be attended by Bata chiropodists.

“It is really a service that the organisation offers,” says Sil. It is a paid service, but it does not burn holes into pockets.

To those without a specific problem, Sil offers a pedicure. It is quite unlike a beauty parlour treatment; again, layers of dead skin are peeled off, and a great peace seems to descend on earth. “You will sleep well tonight,” says Sil, after my pedicure is done.

How many people has he seen in this room since he started?

Sil smiles. “Let me see. I see about seven to eight persons a day. In a month about 200 people.” He calculates quickly. “That would make about 48,000 people in 20 years.”

That is a substantial population.

Currently he is the only Bata chiropodist working in Calcutta, but others are being trained.

He joined Bata in 1990 when he was still in college and was chosen to be a chiropodist nine years later from five candidates, he was told later, because of his patience. He was trained by the organisation.

But patience is only one of his virtues.

The foot presents many challenges. Touching it can be an act of intimacy. At the same time, given our social and historical contexts, touching the feet also means an act of obeisance, or worship, or even abjection, as attested by so much of Hindu iconography, or Indian literatures, art or cinema. Tagore’s works are full of feet being touched.

Padasheba (foot care — pedicure) is a great tradition, and an intensely personal one.

Sil negotiates this complexity well. He is completely engaged when he looks at a pair of feet, but is discreet, and distant, in a most friendly way.

He says his greatest reward is the relief he brings to his clients. Since he sits for so long every day — he has one full day and one half day off every week — he has to exercise regularly, twice every day.

After seeing thousands of feet, has he gained any special insight into human nature? If the face is the mirror of the mind, does the foot say anything?

“No, the feet are just feet,” he says emphatically. Then adds, as an afterthought: “Even the face may not say anything about a person. How can you know anything from a pair of feet?”

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> West Bengal / by Chandrima S. Bhatacharya in Calcutta / August 19th, 2019