Santhosh's ramblings

It was early 70s. A batch of young boys grew up together over 6 years. A complex group of young boys who soon are together to be young men. People from various religion, life backgrounds, thought processes and desires and plan. Differences aside we grew together agreeing to disagree but agreeably. Moving away from each other in 1976, to pursue their dreams for life. The batch of 76.  47 years down the line, the batch still the remains the batch of 76. We have grown in girth and BMIs. More knowledgeable and probably wise too. Many have made it well in life. Some may not feel that about themselves but have contributed much to the society.  We remain the batch of 76, with many differences between us. Some frantically political, some apolitical, some deeply religious, others agnostic, some retired and enjoying retired like others still busy in their business of life. Some need spirits to keep the machines running, others prefer a spiritless life. Some with BP’s (Literally) others ...

In my home state, there is a morning ritual in every house. Open the obituary page and see who has passed on the previous day. This page is specific for each region of the state and updated each day. During my younger days, this covered only half a page. Now it goes over into almost two pages. I am not sure if this is an indication of increasing morality rates since this state has the highest life expectancy or that more people are using these services. A friend reminded me - this whole state is an old age home. I was talking to a 98 year old uncle who is physically and mentally very stable. His only regret is that he can’t read this page due to decreasing eye sight.   This brought a realisation. In such connected communities reminders of death and mortality are always there if you open up news papers.  I was reminded of a book written by L S Dugdale published during covid season on “the lost art of dying”. She talks about how our culture has overly medicalized death and how d...

It was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote this is  The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 .  “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained”  A man who experienced evil at hand of the powers of his nation.  And C S Lewis wrote “We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it…. Elsewhere he wrote - “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the lo...

IDPs (Internally Displaced People) - a technical term to give some “respect” to displaced people. Such technical terms give some legitimacy to the common man for ignoring these numbers. Intentionally or by ignorance. Things that are too technical are not worth spending too much of time thinking about.    But if you really look at these IDPs, a large percentage of these are “Intentionally Displaced People” by the powers that be for larger agenda’s which we will never come to know in our generation. History and media being in the hands of the powers that be, we in our generation might only hear what the powers want us to hear. The truth might never reach our ears.   If you talk to some of these displaced people, internally or intentionally, whatever way you want to see it, they are “homeless”. But we would never include them in homeless because that will skew our data and statistics!    Humanity and leadership have developed ways of technicalizing these terms and ...

A communication from a friend requesting for prayer this week. I have cut and pasted as it is….   “Please pray for a 12-year-old girl R who was admitted with us a week back with alleged hanging. She was very sick, and she almost died. Now she is better by God's grace. Yesterday she told us that she has been forcefully tied down and sexually abused multiple times by someone in the village. Later that man told her to hang herself. We are trying to file a POSCO case, but the parents are not at all interested. They just want to take her home.”   “The police came and interviewed the girl. The parents are refusing to stand by her. Her mother even told the police that the girl is a fool, and she keeps saying things like this. As these things happened 2 weeks ago there are no marks of abuse on her body. So, we don't know how the police will take it forward without any evidence.”   “This is apparently a common occurrence in B. Parents of the abused girl rarely support the girl. Th...

The season is changing. The winter is officially setting in. Not yet but. It is that interim season - where nights are chilly and days are warm and at times hot too. The west calls it fall but what we have is a short transition season.  When it is too hot we are waiting for winter. When it is too cold, we are waiting for the early summer months but of course dreading the height of summer. But then with climate change and planetary health changing there has been climatory havoc. The  expected dry summer full of rain, the rainy season with no rain but dry heat, winters either too cold or not cold at all, confusing seasons of havoc. But in the midst of all this havoc, we do know that there will be change soon. Through transitory seasons for another season to emerge. Has this not been true for life too, these last few years of even a decade or so. A season of havoc for many.  Last weekend I heard about a friend being diagnosed with cancer and struggling through this season. I...

Yesterday was a mortality audit. Sitting through discussions on why the patient died. A pregnant patient who was kept in a government hospital for hours with seizures and then at last minute referred to higher centres for care. Being brought unconscious, baby In the womb about to die, mother too in the last stages, with extensive pneumonia and sepsis, the team had to decide between life of the baby or mother. Taking risk a healthy baby was delivered and the mother pulled through fine too. But over next 24 hours mother succumbed to the extensive pneumonia and sepsis that had set her on a downward course, due to delays in reaching the hospital.  A not so uncommon event in rural India or the invisible Bharat, though these are not part of the visible India or Bharat. Many questions were asked and reflected on. What could have been done, was there anything more that we could have done, despite the delay in reaching the institution etc.  As I was listening to these conversations, a ...