Dr Gagandeep Kang, FRS, an Extraordinary Women in Science

February 28, when Sir CV Raman made public announcement of his discovery of the scattering of light - a scientific phenomenon which is now named after him and called the Raman Effect - in 1928, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, thus making him the  first Asian to be conferred with this prestigious prize for sciences, has been rightfully declared as the National Science Day (NSD). The celebrations of NSD started from 1987, the birth centenary of Sir CV Raman. Ever since this day is celebrated all across the nation with much fanfare. Unfortunately until very recently, this day coincided with the announcement of the annual budget, and therefore the NSD was completely eclipsed by the media who used to cover only the budget news and this important day remained at most on the foot notes of most media. Fortunately ever since the change in the budget announcement day and time to 1st of February, 11 AM, the NSD has been getting some attention in the media as well. With this expectation I tried browsing the printed editions of the Times of India and Economic Times that I subscribe, and was painfully saddened to see that not even a cursory reference to the NSD was covered, notwithstanding the fact that the first citizen of India, the Honourable President of India presided over the NSD function at the Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi and internationally acclaimed Dr Gagandeep Kang delivered a lecture. It is therefore no wonder that the percentage of women in science, which incidentally was the theme for this years NSD, is as low as 15% less than half the world average of 30%. While it is the prerogative of the media what to cover and what not to, but then the neglect of science news is so very visible that it is no wonder that science does not appeal to young students. Hope the media introspects. Every one of us reap the benefits of science that accrue to us from the unending applications that science provides us as technology, which has led us to the present era of knowledge society, yet when it comes to coverage of science in media there is lot that is expected from the media. 

On the occasion of the NSD, theme-based science communication activities are carried out all over the country, particularly in science centres across India and also in scientific institutions. Most of these research institutions throw open their doors to the public to see the research that they do in their labs, which were mostly considered as ivory towers.  We at the Nehru Science Centre have been celebrating the NSD event annually and of all the events that we organise on this occasion, the prime attraction is the Raman Memorial Lecture, which is organised on this day. The Raman Memorial Lectures have been delivered by some of topmost Scientist’s of our country, which include among others Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Prof CNR Rao, and so also other equally distinguished scientists ; namely Prof MM Sharma, Prof Mashelkar, Prof Narlikar, Dr Kakodkar and others. This year the Raman Memorial lecture was delivered by a nonagenarian and one of the prime movers of nuclear energy programs in India, Padma Vibhushan Dr MR Srinivasan. Even at his advance age of 90 plus he enthralled the audience with his lecture that highlighted the success of Indian nuclear research besides covering general science subjects. He side stepped our request asking him to deliver his lecture seated on the chair, by standing near the podium to deliver his lecture for almost an hour until taking his seat for answering several audience questions. The entire family of Dr MR Srinivasan, his wife, daughter and son joined us for the lecture to make it a memorable event.  The auditorium was jam packed and we had several students who were squatting on the floor. Dr Srinivasan, notwithstanding his tiredness was so overwhelmingly accommodative of requests from several students and teachers for a selfie. 

The main celebrations of the NSD however happens at the National capital. This year, the National Science Day was celebrated in Delhi under the theme ‘Women in Science’ at the Vigyan Bhawan. The Honourable President, Ram Nath Kovind ji presented several awards for science communication and popularization as well as for women scientists. In all the Honourable President gave 21 awards under the categories, National Science and Technology and Communication Awards, Augmenting Writing Skills For Articulating Research (AWSAR) awards, SERB Women Excellence Awards and  National Award For Young Woman Showing Excellence Through Application Of Technology For Societal Benefits. Other dignitaries present on the occasion included Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology and Smriti Irani, Minister for Women and Child Development. The program also included a special NSD lecture, which was delivered by renowned women scientist of India, Prof Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad. Dr Kang was recently elected as the first women FRS of India. It was an apt choice of the speaker, specially considering the theme for this years NSD - Women in science - which has been chosen for the purpose of increasing public appreciation of the scientific issues involved and motivating young girls to peruse science as their career. Dr Kang spoke on the pandemic of infectious diseases particularly highlighting the current Corona Virus outbreak and spoke on a new phenomenon which she described the ‘, Infodemic’, which is a fake information that becomes viral on the social media on matters pertaining to the diseases like the Corona Virus. She said that fake or false information on medical issues are as bad as the pandemic itself and appealed to the people to be circumspect while dealing with microbial pandemics. 

Prof. Gagandeep Kang has become the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious fellowship of the Royal Society and in the process she has joined the illustrious company of the greatest of scientists who have been conferred with this honour and that include among others, Isaac Newton (1672), Charles Darwin (1839), Michael Faraday (1824), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Albert Einstein (1921), Francis Crick (1959), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), J C Bose (1920), C V Raman (1924), M N Saha (1927), H J Bhabha (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944) S N Bose (1958) etc. The first Indian to be conferred with this honour, however is Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia.

The Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence, is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists. Founded on the 28th, November 1660, the Royal Society was created on the 15th July, 1662 and it now boasts of some 1700 plus fellows - including the latest entrant Dr Gagandeep Kang, who has been conferred with the honour recently and will be allowed to use the post nominal title FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society). True to the spirit of this prestigious scientific body and central to its philosophy, the motto of this institution is ‘Nullius in verba’ meaning ‘Take nobody’s word for it’. Announcing the new members to its August body the current President of the Royal Society, Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan said “It is our Fellowship that has remained a constant thread and the substance from which our purpose has been realised: to use science for the benefit of humanity”.

Prof. Kang has not been new to extraordinary acclaim that she has been receiving in the recent past for her groundbreaking work. Some of the awards that Dr. Kang has been conferred with recently include; Woman Bioscientist of the Year, from the Government of India (2006); election to Fellowship of the American Academy of Microbiology (2010), the Indian Academy of Sciences (2011), National Academy of Sciences (2013), Ranbaxy Research Award (2014), the Faculty of Public Health in the UK and Dr. SC Parija Oration Award, Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (2015), and the Fellow of Indian National Science Academy and the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences (2016). The latest addition, the FRS, is another befitting honour for Dr Kang.

Prof. Gagandeep Kang is a physician scientist, who for many years worked as a Professor of Microbiology and Head of the Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences and the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. Prof. Kang has made pivotal contributions to understanding the natural history of rotavirus infections as well as other enteric infections, which are important causes of mortality and morbidity in India. Dr. Kang is known for her interdisciplinary research of enteric infections among children. She has played a significant role in developing indigenous vaccines against typhoid and rotavirus in India.

Rotavirus is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, with India being one of the hardest hit countries. It is estimated that the rotavirus kills approximately 453,000 children under five years of age worldwide every year, which includes an estimated 98,000 from India. The WHO describes rotavirus as a major threat to the health of children across Southeast Asia. It is for this reason that India has launched the rotavirus vaccine as part of the national immunisation programme, inspired by the works of Dr Kang.

Dr Kang’s fellowship is pathbreaking in many ways, particularly because women in science, a domain that has largely remained patriarchal, is something which is hard to come by. This recognition for Dr Kang is sure to motivate women scientists to dedicate their lives to research and be instrumental in changing our lives, for the better. It is also hoped that the NSD with the theme Women in Science, and the celebrations that happened across the country including the lecture by Dr Kang will immensely benefit young girls to peruse science as a career. 

Prof. Kang is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Translational Health Service and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

Jai Hind Jai Vigyan.

Delhi Riots : Time to remind ourselves of unity in diversity

Delhi Riots: Time to remind ourselves of irreparable damage that riots can cause and to re-emphasise on multitudes of our diversity amidst which united we must stand. 

The communal flare up, which spread like wild fire in north east Delhi starting with the clashes between pro and anti CAA protestors in Maujour and Jaffrabad has claimed 22 innocent lives and injured more than 200 people. Better sense must prevail among the citizens of Delhi, particularly political parties - leaders included, who must unitedly stand together, momentarily setting aside their political differences, to appeal for unity and peace. If not, it may not be unfair to remind ourselves of what the consequences could be by remembering the dark days of the partition and the communal flare up that followed. The Jaffrabad incident, coming as it did on the backdrop of the much publicised visit of President Trump to India, has  now spread to other areas of north east Delhi and has resulted in petrol pumps being torched, number of houses, shops and large number of vehicles burnt and damaged leading to loss of tens of crores of rupees, besides the immeasurable loss of human lives. Expectedly this incident was raised by national and international media during the press interaction with President Trump,  who showed his statesmanship in not stigmatising India, while handling some of the highly opinionated questions from some of the international media. 

‘At the stroke of the mid night hour’ when India attained independence - on the 15th of August, 1947 - the Britishers, the colonial rulers who ruled us unjustly for nearly three hundred years and left us high and dry in every aspect of our lives, finally deserted the subcontinent. But then before leaving, true to their character and nature, which was impregnated in their DNA to divide and rule, they engineered the partitioning of the country into two independent nation states - Hindu majority India and Muslim majority Pakistan. The result was the biggest ever human migration in the annals of human history. Nearly fifteen million people, who were displaced from their land on either side of the boarder, moved from one side to the other segregated purely on religious lines and in the process  more than a million people were killed in the deadliest of communal violence that erupted and several more were maimed for life. The Indian partition perhaps is one of the worst instance of human casualties, which was man made based on religious identities and therefore what we are now witnessing in Delhi communal riots is some thing that India  should never ever tolerate and everyone involved in this heinous crime, irrespective of their identity must be identified and exemplarily punished, named and shamed in public. 

India has moved on from those darks days of communal riots engineered by partition on religious lines and is now the largest thriving democracy in the world, where nearly 1.3 billion people with widest of diversity in religion, language and what not, live happily together as one single nation. Notwithstanding some of the aberration few communal riots that the country has very tragically witnessed post our independence including the current Delhi communal rights - India continues to be globally recognised for its democratic traditions and secular credentials, unlike our twin brother Pakistan. A closer look at the religious demographics and census in both the countries, and its comparison with what it was when we attained our independence, exemplifies our true secular democratic traditions. The percentage of the population of minorities in India has not adversely changed  rather it has increased.  On the other hand the Muslim-majority Pakistan is now a theocratic state and is constantly tagged with the terror networks by the international community, which is borne out from the fact that Pakistan continues to be in the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti terror funding watch dog, for the insufficient steps taken by Pakistan to curb terror funding. The percentage of the minorities living in Pakistan has shrunk at alarming levels.

 India, continues to be a thriving democracy, which over the past 7 decades has become, kind of a role model to several nations for its democratic traditions.  Notwithstanding the debate that rages on in the country on the current status and definition of a secular state, depending on which side of the ideological divide people are, remarkably our credentials as a truly secular state is unparalleled and diversity is one constant, in all its variety, which thrives in India. Therefore what has transpired in Delhi for the past four days is something which all of us should be ashamed of. It is not the time to for us to continue politicking and scoring brownie points, rather it is time for all of us, the citizens of this great nation of ours, to put our individual likes and dislikes and our predisposition to ideologies and political affiliations aside and follow one dictum - nation and its people first. This makes it mandatory for all of us, particularly the people of Delhi, to join hands with the security forces who are tasked to maintain the law and order and ensure that we don’t fall prey to rumour mongering and spread messages, which might incite people and create hatred for one group against the other. Let us trust our judiciary to bring to justice the fall guys whose mischief led to this communal clash. 

Let us remind ourselves of how tolerant,  law abiding, secular and democratic society we are by remembering how the entire Indian society reacted so peacefully to the recent apex court judgment, which laid to rest the two warring communities - Hindus and Muslims on their respective claims to the disputed Babri Masjid. The landmark 1045 page judgement by the bench, which was unanimously delivered by the Supreme Court on the 9th November 2019 comprised of the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi and his brother judges, justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer, resolved once and for all the centuries old dispute between the Hindus and Muslims. Similarly we may have difference on most issues including the CAA, which should and must be settled using the democratic means and not resorting to violence. 

The CAA and most other so called contentious issues will have to stand the test of judicial scrutiny and therefore it is not fair that there should be agitations either for or against, which may inconvenience others and lead to the kind of situation that is witnessed in Delhi. It is the bounden duty of all Indians to resolve our disputes, if any, through democratic traditions and in the most peaceful manner. And  all such differences which cannot be resolved amicably can be taken to the judiciary for adjudication. The judgments, irrespective of each of our prejudices, likes and dislikes must be honoured and respected to uphold the rule of law, which must bring finality to the divisive litigations. What was most heartening to see was that post the Babri Masjid judgment barring a few aberrations, the whole of India showed poise and maturity and an outstandingly nation first stand was taken by the people to avoid any communal or other disturbances. What was more pleasing was the fact that all the leading political parties and their leaders and so also other leaders and influencers of Indian society, the litigants, media etc accepted the Supreme Court Judgement, and more or less collectively took a stand to respect the decision of the Supreme Court and appealed to their followers to maintain unity and harmony in the country. It is time for all of us to look beyond the religious prismatic view and strive that much harder to exemplify the ‘Unity in Diversity’ for which this great nation of ours is known for thousands of years. The plurality of Indian democracy lies not just in the multi-religiosity that is integral to this nation, but so also the diversity that is seen in language, traditions, food, culture etc., which is what India is made of.

Central to the beauty and vibrancy of the Indian democracy are the diversity of the people of India -  Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, religious and non religious, the rich and mighty, the powerful and powerless, the poor and the insignificant, the lettered and unlettered, sheltered and unsheltered, the males, females and the transgender’s, the believers and non believers, young, middle aged, old and the very old - who cohabit  this nation and stand as equal citizens. This vibrancy of our democracy and the unity in diversity gets played out during the dance of democracy- the elections.  The Indianness of our people and our unity in diversity is an age old tradition, which was best exemplified in the Cricket team that represented India, when it made its debut in the international test cricket in 1932.  The Indian team was a team of contrast with diversity in socio, religious and cultural practices. The 18 players, who were selected to represent India, spoke eight to ten different languages among them,  and belonged to four or five different castes. The team was truly multi-religious and consisted of six Hindus, five Muslims, four Parsees and two Sikhs. The players also had their own contrasting beliefs and cultural traditions and practices. 

The extraordinary unity in diversity, which was witnessed among the Cricket players who were divided by religion, culture, traditions and language is what must become a beacon for the whole of India today.  In the context of the narratives that may get played out by some divisive forces, in the days and months to come that may try and divide us on religious lines and create violence, it is hoped that the extraordinary unity in diversity spirit that team India exhibited in 1932,  repeats all across the country, particularly in Delhi.

Jai Hind 

Long love our diversity. 

POTUS visit to India : Buzz in Social and Digital media and its impact on climate change - A Disruptive thought.

POTUS visit to India : Buzz in Social and Digital media and its impact on climate change - A Disruptive Thought

                                  Image Credits : Timothy Greenfield - Sanders/Corbin/Getty

Ever since the announcement of the 2 days schedule of POTUS (President Of The United Staes, Donald Trump), FLOTUS (First Lady Of The United States, Melania Trump) and PDOTUS - (President’s Daughter Of The United States, Ivanka Trump) visit to India (Ahmedabad, Agra and Delhi),  googolplex amount of data (energy guzzling medium) is being created, generated and consumed by the Oceanic amount of space that is finding it’s place in various print, electronic and social media, which is getting finally stored in those unending farms of energy guzzling data centres across the world. There will be scores of articles, analysis, discussions and debates by experts and policy makers, which will span the print and electronic media that will analyse what the benefits and pitfalls, if any, of the visit of Trump will be for India. I am no expert in the diplomatic relations between the two of our countries to comment on this issue, therefore, this post of mine will be on what we data consumers can  responsibly do in the current era of energy guzzling data consuming society.

Dime a dozen amount of forwards - some with heavy images videos and data - are getting circulated in the social media and we Indians are majorly present on these digital platforms. Latest data reveals that there are an estimated 400 plus million users of WhatsApp and another 350 million users of FB in India and add to this other platforms like Instagram, you tube, twitter etc. we can imagine how massive is the Indian data consumption. The exponential growth  of internet and the anti inflationary pricing for consumption of data that most cellular operators provide for the users, and the resultant rapid increase in data consumption by Indians, augurs well for bridging the gap of the digital divide that exists between us and the developed economies. But then  what does it do to the already stressed planet earth? As a growing number of organisations seek to become major players in today’s data-driven economy, the business of data centres have become one of the most important pieces of modern digital infrastructure growth. However, as we continue to face the fear of the the ice caps melting at an alarming rate due to an alleged climate change, is it really possible to sustain energy-guzzling data centres whilst trying to save the planet?

One can majorly observe the role  played by most climate change activist, which are primarily focused on limiting emissions from industries that include automotive, aviation and energy sectors. But then we rarely come across activists proactively speaking on what the communications industry and we - the users of this Industry, are contributing, directly or indirectly,  in generating more carbon emissions like most other sectors. Let me explain what I mean by this. Every day an estimated 400 plus millions of us in India are consuming huge amount of data most of it is for gossip mongering and lighthearted jokes and such other things and not really meant for education and empowerment. All of us partake in those ritualistic social media forwards of unending amount of data (videos and images)transmission and reception and generation, which have no education value whatsoever but get stored in those energy guzzling data centres.

A recent report published in 2016, has stated that the Worlds data centres use huge amount of energy - 416.2 terawatts, which was significantly higher than an estimated 300 terawatt hours of energy that United Kingdom consumes. The data centres are believed to be consuming about three percent of the global electricity supply and are accounting for about two percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. It is said that the data centres have the same carbon footprint emissions (about 3%)as that of the aviation industry. By 2040, storing digital data is set to create 14 percent of the world’s emissions, around the same proportion as the US does today. This is the scenario under the current situation when only about half of the world’s population is connected to the internet. Imagine what happens to the data deluge when this number increases, which of course is mandated for an equitable and just growth of human society. This means the need for data centres and server farms is only going to increase as time passes and more people join the internet. This, in addition to the fact that the amount of data that each person creates is expanding exponentially, means that the pressure for data centres will increase by manifold as this industry keeps growing. The launch of 5G, the new wave of IoT devices, and a thriving use of mobile devices for almost all uses will only compound the problem. As more devices become connected more data will be needed to be processed than ever before.

We can all contribute incrementally to this cause, by avoiding generating those unnecessary data, including the ones each one of us are ritualistically and routinely sending and receding on Trumps forthcoming visit. And it is these small -delta- measures which can work like the proverbial song in the famous Kannada film Bangarada Manushya which says ‘:  ಹನಿ ಹನಿ ಗೂಡ್ದ್ರೆ ಹಳ್ಳ, ತೆನೆ ತೆನೆ ಗೂಡ್ದ್ರೆ ಬಳ್ಳ’, that will help in reducing our individual carbon foot prints, which will collective help in reducing the burden on our Mother Earth.

Long live planet Earth

Sainik School Bijapur: Nostalgic memories of yesteryears.

Sainik School Bijapur: Nostalgic memories of yesteryears.

I am blessed to be among those very few privileged alumni from one of the prestigious chain of residential schools in the country - the Sainik School Bijapur. Very recently I joined the  ‘All India Sainik School Alumni Association (AISSAA)’ group, which has motivated me to write this post to introduce the Sainik Schools in general and the Sainik School Bijapur (SSBJ) in particular with special emphasis to our batch (1970-77) to other members of the AISSAA and to all others, through this blogpost.

The Sainik School scheme was launched by the government of India (Ministry of Defence) in 1961 to bridge the gap that existed in the rank of the military officers from  certain sections of the Indian society.  The scheme was conceived by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, with an aim to rectify the imbalance caused by religion, class, and creed among the Officer cadre of the Indian Military and to prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA). This scheme was a god sent scheme to most of the lower and middle class parents, who aspired for giving the best of education to their wards at almost no cost. I am one of the beneficiaries of the vision of Krishna Menon. My father, a primary school teacher, with a large family (seven children), could not have afforded education in such schools had it not been for the free scholarship, which covered all our expenses. During my time, when I joined the Sainik School Bijapur in class 5, in the year 1970, at an young age of 9 years, our education was completely free and we had a scholarship of ₹ 2400/- per annum, which was quite substantial, later it was enhanced to ₹ 4800.  Most of the Sainik Schools, during our time, provided 100% scholarship to the students who were selected through entrance exam. These residential schools were meant primarily for boys and aimed at imparting quality education with majorly military bias. 

Every Sainik School was affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi and had a common curriculum, system of selections and examinations. The primary aim of the Sainik School was to prepare boys academically, physically and mentally for entry into the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla (Pune) and also to be the leaders in other walks of life. Currently there are 31 Sainik schools in India where an estimated 3000 students join every year. Currently the entry into the Sainik Schools is through competitive entrance exams for admission to 6th class and few for 9th class. Every year, entrance tests are conducted all over India for entry into any one of the 31 Sainik Schools and over 8-10 Lakhs of children from across India appear for the Sainik School Entrance Exams. The premiership of the Sainik schools can best be seen when compared to the internationally acclaimed Indian Institute of Technologies - the IITs - in India. There are a total of 23 IITs and for the session 2019, they offered 11289 seats. The number of students who appeared in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for the entrance test for the IITs is around 10 lacs each year. 

It is almost 43 years since most of my batch mates (Ajeets of 1970-77) and I passed out from our beloved alma mater - the Sainik School, Bijapur ( SSBJ) - yet the bonding that exists between each of us, our school and fellow Ajeets, is so very alive, full of life - burning eternally bright like the अमर जवान ज्योति at the India Gate, Delhi. The  four plus decades of bygone years has never faded my memory of those seven eventful years that we spent together in Sainik School Bijapur as cadets. We - all Ajeets - experience this feeling of cadet comradeship each day every day and for eternity. Ever since my passing out of the school and settling down with my chosen career as a science communicator, I always wished to experience those nostalgic feelings at our school, house, barracks and every other place, which was integral to us for all of seven long years in school, from age 9 to 16. All of us joined the school at age 9 or 10, as innocent boys to be shaped and reshaped, polished to shine like the quintessential diamond that gets shaped, from the hard cuts and rough and tough polishing that the original charcoal receives before getting reshaped as diamond. The roll number that each of us, including yours truly, was assigned and so also the house to which we were admitted, when we first joined the school, gets etched for life and in my case the number 505 and Vijayanagar house, remains my Ajeet DNA code and identity when connecting with fellow Sainik School friends and so also with other Sainik school alumni across the country. Each of our batch mates are  in contact with each other and through this blogpost I am making an attempt to write reminiscence of the batch.

Just the feeling of writing a reminiscence of our batch takes me four plus decades to experience those nostalgic feeling filled with emotions, brotherhood, triumphs and tribulations cut across the vast canvass, as if our togetherness has never ended. Courtesy the technology platforms like the WhatsApp, the group is continuing to be well knit even today sharing and multiplying our joys and dividing our sorrows in the very essence of brotherhood, which the school has imbibed in us. That is what the spirit of Sainik School has always been and will continue to be so and it is this feeling of oneness that separates all of us - the alumni of the Sainik Schools - from many other equally reputed schools.

There will be stories that every batch from Sainik schools will have to narrate about their stay in school and so also their achievements  in their respective batches and our batch is no different. However, there are two unique things, which we feel separates our batch from the rest. The first of course is our batch mate Pradeep Bhat (roll number 500) who went on to break academic records wherever he went, be it in our school, the NDA or the IMA and subsequently in the military and so also while he worked with IBM. He is known to every Ajeet (all SSBJ students are referred to as Ajeets) and it is our privilege that we are from his batch and it becomes easy for our batch to identify itself with the batch of Pradeep, when connecting with other Ajit’s. While Bhat himself was an institution all by himself specially in academics, but then there are some interesting anecdotes, which Pradeep too must have felt embarrassed about. Although, he came first in all academics, most often the house that he belonged to (Chalukya) was infamously known for coming last in almost every event including academics, and every one of us - the  70-77 Ajeets - vividly remember the infamous announcement  “Chalukya House Fifth”, which used to be called out by our head master after each of the competitions.

The second uniqueness (infamous) about our batch, was that we were reduced from a strength of 96 strong, when we joined in 1970, to just about 50 when we passed out in 1977. Our batch, when it came to mischief and naughtiness, was no different than others but then what separates us from others is that even in the last days in school, notwithstanding the NDA preparation time or the HSC exam preparation, the mischief remained unabated with some unprecedented mischief played out in class X with catastrophic consequences. While the mischievous act in itself may have raised the bar of mischief to an unprecedented level, its consequences on the batch are best left to history. But then as they say in military “when the going gets tough, tough gets going” and so has it been for most us who are now very well placed and contributing in our own little ways not just to the school but also to the society.

There is another incident that needs to be mentioned for it evidences an indefatigable approach of the cadets - students of Sainik Schools. Almost every batch had the honour to partake in two NCC camps during our stay in school, outside the state and so was it for our batch. We too participated in the two NCC camps, one at Jagannath Puri and the other at Ramgarh Cantt. The former camp is something which will remain etched in the memory of some of us and this also shows the grit and presence of mind that the school teaches the young cadets to cope up with, when facing adverse situations. One designated railway coach was hired and was earmarked for all of us - including the teachers - for travelling from Bijapur to Puri and Back. We completed our NCC camp in  Puri (1974) and were to return back to school. We left Jagannath Puri along with our teacher, Mr G D Kale and our special coach was attached to a train that took us to Khurdha Road Junction from Puri. The coach got detached from the train in Khurdha Road and we were to travel to Hyderabad by another train to which our coach was to be attached in Khurdha Road Junction. We had couple of hours to spend at Khurdha Road by when our connecting train, which I now know was the “East Coast Express”, would arrive and our coach was to be attached to this train to take us to Hyderabad for onward journey to Bijapur via Solapur. All of us were informed by Mr Kale that we can roam the outskirts of the station and be back in 2 hours for taking the next train. But then mischievous that some of our batch mates were, they  did not abide by the instruction ( I was one of them). All but 3 students returned back in time and most unfortunately, our teacher forgot the count and the East Coast Express train departed from Khurdha Road for Hyderabad, leaving back the three of us. Lo and Behold, when  the three of us came to the platform, we could find neither our friends nor our bogey and we learnt that our friends have already left. We were all at sea and were left with just the uncouth NCC clothes,  which we were wearing (with the NCC and SSBJ Tag) and no money with any of us.  But then the rigours the Sainik school teaches to confront adverse conditions, came in handy and the three of went and met  the Station Master and narrated the entire story and requested him to help.

Looking at the demeanour of the three crestfallen young students and listening to their impeccable English the Station Master took pity and assured help. He decided to put the three of us in a train, which was to go to Madras (now Chennai) and that this train was to reach the Waltair Junction before the scheduled arrival of the East Coast train, by which our friends had all gone.  The station master had advised us that we should ask the TC and get down at Waltair station. He also had informed that our train will reach Waltair before the East Coast Express so we should wait for the East Coast train on the platform on which it would arrive. The Station Master personally waited for the “Coramondal” express to arrive and put the three of us in a reserved coach by connecting us to the TC. The East Coast Express by which our friends had departed for Hyderabad was a fast train but then the Coramondal express by which we were travelling was a super fast train travelling from Howrah to Madras. Our train as scheduled reached Waltair Junction (Vishakhapatnam), one full hour before the East Coast express. The three of us were waiting on the platform, where the East Coast arrived, and our overwhelming joy of reaching before our friends  was too short lived. As soon as the East Coast express stopped at the platform Mr. Kale came dashing with the NCC cane and spared no time in beating the three of us left right and centre, in front of all the on lookers. This is one scene which will remain etched in our memory. The lesson though was the rigours of school lets you overcome any hurdle. This positive attitude serves all Sainik School students very well in their career all through their lives.

The batch of 1970-77 was perhaps the largest at the time of joining (around 96), roll numbers beginning from 491 to 587. The batch consisted people from most parts of Karnataka, including few from neighbouring state of Maharashtra and a handful from North India as well. Our school was spread across a massive 500 acres and ours was the first batch to join the fifth house in school - the Wodeyar house. The other four houses included the Chalukya, Hoysala, Adilshahi  and Vijaynagar. Our school was witnessing widespread construction when we joined and most of the buildings were on the verge of completion, which included the Wodeyar house, swimming pool, auditorium, Gymnasium and the horse stable. Our batch was lucky that most of these facilities were completed and thrown open for use by the cadets within one year of our joining, enabling us to enjoy every single of these facilities from almost the very start of our school days. Our batch also had the highest number of sons/wards of the school staff, but not all of them were day scholars. Pradeep Bhat (Colonel, who is now settled in Delhi) Prahlad Subbannnachar, TV Rajashekaran, Milind Deshpande, Luke Lobo and Christopher Mathias.

While Pradeep Bhat is known to many for his brilliance, our batch also had couple of other geniuses who were unfortunately partially eclipsed by the brilliance of Bhat. They included Anirudh Gudi (Colonel who did his Masters in Engineering from IISc, Bangalore) late Lt. Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, (Martyred in action) and Vice Admiral Shrikant from the defence, and Sudhir Phadnis, Manjunath Tambakad IFS, Late. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar among the civilians. Our batch also had a unique distinction that two of our class mates were directly selected for the most sought after, coveted bachelors engineering degree in the IITs. Sudhir Phadnis joined the BHU (Varanasi) and Bilagi joined IIT Chennai. Our batch had entertainers, dramatists and singers that included the great Madan Kulkarni (now in USA) who is now a big name for organising the best of shows in the field of art, culture and music in USA. Others include Promod Deshpande (Wg Cdr.), Krishna Mardur whose voice regaled many and reminded of Kishore da, Satish Kavishetti, a master theatre boy, and quite a lot of story tellers that included Neeraj Roy (Colonel) who continues to practise it even today, Upendra Katti, Dr. Narasimha Prasad and RG Kulkarni. RG-510, was also a typical “Rancho” of “Three Idiots” fame from our batch who always loved science and experimentation. He is now a highly successful serial entrepreneur. We also had our own bunking heroes who mastered the art of bunking to see films and several of them succeeded many a times without getting caught and their leaders included Shirish Patil, Arjun Misale, Dr. B.C.Koti, Satish Kavishetty, Srishail Deginal, Chandrakant, Upendra Katti among others. There were pitfalls too in this misadventure and 10 of us got caught for bunking to see “Kalla-Kulla” and the rest was history with punishments that followed, which included among others shaven heads, no movies and rifle drills.

The batch had its share of excellent sports persons, (whose records, we understand, are yet to be broken in School) like Kalyani Biradar a truly masterclass sportsman, who continues to excel even today in athletics. Mulgund was another achiever in sports and he had the company of Ramdas Ghadge, who too excelled in sports often at the cost of studies. Then there were the naughty and mischievous types like Chandrakant, Pradeep Talikoti, Upendra Katti and Rajeskhar Gabbur. Achyut Tiwari, was a terror for juniors. We had two Prasad’s Narasimha Prasad and yours truly - Shivaprasad - the former is now in academics and doing exceedingly well and the latter, works for the Science Museums. We also had innocent guys like Milind, Masgi, Badami and others. The results of class X were one of the worst experiences for our batch with quite a few of our batch having to leave the school, as they could not make the academic cut to the 11th Standard. Rachappa Talikoti, one of those who left school at this stage is now a respected District Judge of high reverence, and Milind Kulkarni, rubs shoulders with the best of CEOs and is more in Germany and Europe than in India, to promote make in India. Basavraj Nagur, is with a gas company in Abu Dhabi. There are two Chartered Accountants, Mukesh who is now the CFO of a prestigious multinational company and Pradeep Talikoti, who is in to stocks and brokerage. I may have missed out listing the achievements of some of the friends but one thing is certain every one of them are fairly well settled, in the true objectives of the Sainik Schools. 

We had some excellent teachers Mr. PC Thomas (fondly nicknamed by us as Pinching Commander Thomas), Mr. Kesnur, Mr. Krishnaji Rao, Mr. Velu, Mr. Bhat, Mr. KS Rao, Mr. Shukla, Mr C V S Rao, Mr. Hiremath, Mr. Pathak, Mr. Nambiar, Mr. Balbir Singh and Mr.Pawar and D.P. Pushkarna, who taught us Hindi. The matrons also deserve a mention. Our batch has faced the worst of bereavements with our classmates Lt.Col Ajeet Bhandarkar, who made the supreme sacrifice for the country, Lt. Dileep, who too made the supreme sacrifice while on duty that too at a very young age of just 24, VG Nazare, MC Ravi, Sanjeevkmar Patil, NS Dhawalgi, Ramdas Ghatge and Basappa Sulibhavi abandoning us enroute their heavenly abode. We all miss them a lot.

In the true spirit of the SSBJ, our batch too has almost 20% of the Ajeets, who have served/serving in the armed forces in different capacities which include among others, Vice Adm. Srikant, Pradeep, Gudi, BJ Hiremath, Prahlad, Ajeet Bhandarkar, Kalyani Biradar, Mulgund, Chand Nadaf, Pramod Deshpande, Deginal, Ishwar Pavate, Rajesh Malhotra, Neeraj Roy, Raju Nadaf, among others. Quite a few of our friends are engineers and some in teaching, some have their own business, couple of the are working with major corporate houses, in legal profession, banking and so also in government service. Five of our classmates have settled in US and one has come back from US, after a very successful career. Like most of the Sainik school students, who are very successful in their career, our batch too  has been very successful and true to the objectives of the school they have turned out to be good citizens of this country serving the nation very well in some or the other capacities. 

As a mark of our remembrance our batch came together to construct a separate entrance dwar, the Ajit Dwar, in memory of our classmate Lt Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, Shaurya Chakra, who was martyred in service while fighting the terrorists in Kashmir. We were expecting our classmate Vice Admiral Srikant to scale the pinnacle to become the. His for the Navy but unfortunately that was not to be. He however went on to become the Commandant of the prestigious National Defence College in Delhi. 

 On behalf of all my batchmates I take this opportunity to place on record our profound respect to all our teachers and other stakeholders of the Sainik School Bijapur who have been responsible in shaping our careers and ensuring that all of us succeed in life. Long live SSSB and all other Sainik Schools and continue to shape men out of boys who can contribute to nation building.

AJEET HAIN ABHEET HAIN

Exams Around the Corner : Can we prepare our youngsters to face Failures?

Every year, during this period - exam period (March - May) - we witness a growing problem of students who are more stressed than ever.  Students expectations and anxiety to perform well in their exams and to cope up with the unending demands from their parents and society, takes its toll, during exam time. Therefore it is no wonder that every one, including the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, have tried to address young students and advised them not to be overly stressed. Despite all efforts, most unfortunately, we are seeing tragic incidents of students resorting to extreme steps and taking away their lives due to failures or  perceived fear of failures. India, unfortunately has one of the highest rates of suicide among people aged between 15 and 29. Although the reasons are myriad but fear of failure is one primary reason, which is a major cause for many young students taking away their lives. The pressure from parents for their child to do well in class XII board exams is intense and so is it for most other competitive exams. There have been many incidents in the past where students have committed suicide during exams and on the result day, yet we are unable to destress our students. Why are failures or fear of failure so extreme that students decide to end their lives?  Psychologists suggest that students suffer from anxiety and traumatic disorders relating to fear of failure in examination. The fear factor is the reason why students suffer from anxiety, depression, and the followed consequences. This fear arises from the societal pressure, school and parents, which go to extreme levels in pushing children to get better and better grades, and fear of failure to do so, lead to detrimental consequences. Most unfortunately the best time of the student's lives - school and college education -  which they should be enjoying and cherishing, has now turned out to be a time, which becomes unbearably stressful for many.

Failures are inextricably linked to ones life as much as success, and this is one constant for which there are no aberrations. But then it is a different matter as to how well we are trained to handle failures in comparison with success. With an ever increasing aspirations of young students, egged by an unending demand from the school authorities, peers and parents to excel in exams and to perform exceedingly well, our students are stressed  out completely and for them success has now been so very narrowly defined. It means nothing other than scoring those magical numbers all in excess of 90% and higher or getting through those highly competitive entrance exams to fetch a coveted seat in the elite educational institutions.  Any thing less is considered a failure, a word which most unfortunately does not find a place in any of the lexicons meant for the students, their teachers, schools, peers, parents and everyone else. It is therefore but natural that we read about those most horrific cases of students choosing to end their life due to failures or fear of failure. The parental pressure and an Himalayan expectations that their wards unrealistically expect from them, lead to stressful atmosphere for the students. Most of us know and learn how to handle  our success - by celebrations and what not, but then our modern education system does not in any way prepare our students to face challenges, which would necessarily and mandatorily include failures. Can we not start teaching our youngsters to cope with failures, which are as integral to our lives as successes are? Sooner we start teaching our students to cope with failures better it is  for the nation and more young and productive lives will be saved.

How ill  prepared we are when it comes to handling failures, was evidenced when most print and electronics media went all out to cover  the suicide case, leading to the tragic death of V G Siddharth, the entrepreneur of Cafe Coffee Day fame, who took the extreme step and committed suicide. He was one of those who was not prepared to face, effectively,  failure. “I have failed” and “I gave up”, with these dreaded words in a signed, kind of a suicide letter, Siddhartha took the extreme step of jumping into the Netravati River and his body was fished out of the river on July 31st, last year. When a fairly successful businessman like Siddharth  could not cope with failures, one can imagine what stress levels are for our young students on whom there is so much of a prenatal and societal pressure to perform well in exams, particularly the board exam and competitive entrance exams in a highly skewed demand vs supply situation in the elite schools, like the IITs in India.

Everybody fails and there are no exceptions to this cardinal dictum and Siddharth was no different and so will it be for the rest of us with. I exceptions. The difference lies in how one faces failures; what one person sees as a debilitating disappointment, another may turn it into an opportunity. Unfortunately in the case of Siddharth, unrelenting pressure from investors and creditors, as well as alleged harassment from tax authorities  resulted in his extreme form of disappointment leading destiny to play its unscheduled role, which was aided by the inability of Siddharth to handle failures. The lesson that we all must learn, from this tragic incident and so also from innumerable other suicide cases of students that are reported every year, is to devise a mechanism at the school level to prepare our young students, particularly those who are appearing for their board exams, to prepare themselves to face failures as much as they are prepared for handling successes. We must cement a thought to learn to appreciate that failure is integral to ones life and just as we celebrate successes, we must learn to handle failures in life, which are faced even by the so called high and mighty.

History is abound with failures and some of the most brilliant minds have failed. The best example of which can be seen in Thomas Edison, by far one of the most famous inventors in history. He holds more than one thousand patents and is a name one grows up listening to when it comes to inventions. However, legend has it that while attempting to invent a commercially-viable electric lightbulb, Edison failed more than 10,000 times. When asked how it felt to fail so many times, he merely stated, “I have not failed that many times, rather I have not failed even once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways the system will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that the electric bulb will not work, I am certain that I will certainly find the way that it will work.” A profound way to look at failures and be prepared to learn from failures, which can be a stepping stone for our successes. In one of the most discouraging statement on failures and worst teaching practice of all time, Thomas Edison was told by his teachers, he was ‘too stupid to learn anything’. 

In his best selling book Brilliant Blunders, Mario Livio, unfolds a fascinating story of blunders committed by the best of minds in the world of science. The author in his scholarly insightful work on the lives of five great scientists, Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin, Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein, speaks of the colossal mistakes committed by these great scientists, who made ground breaking contributions, which changed our understanding of the life and our universe. While it is fashionable to bask in the glory of success and advocate books and articles that speak of success, it may be equally important to ask our students to read books on failures and prepare them to face failures as much as successes, which will be the best way forward to prepare our youngsters to face challenges of modern life.

Modern world is full of challenges and in order to face today’s extremely complex and multifaceted challenges, we need an overall new attitude towards failure. This is an important issue which needs to be promoted in our society. This must start very early and right at the school education system itself. We need to openly recognize and promote the overall lack of predictability that comes with most real life challenges in the modern world and fundamentally alter the way in which we view and approach failure. We must prepare our youngsters to be better equipped to engineering the fail, which will allow them to master the inextricable linkage of failures in life and prepare them to face challenges of failures.

We must inform and educate our youngsters that even the best of minds have failed. Take for example Srinivas Ramanujan, the naturally gifted, untraditional mathematician ( 1887-1920), who too faced several failures in life not withstanding the fact that he was befittingly hailed as an all-time great mathematician and is famously clubbed with the other international greats like Euler, by his discoverer G H Hardy. Srinivas Ramanujan, was born to a poor orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on the 22nd of December, 1887 in Erode, Tamilnadu. His father worked as a clerk in a cloth merchants shop in Kumbakonam. When he was just 2 years old, Ramanujan contracted smallpox. Ramanujan confronted a life of extreme poverty during his younger days. The major turning point in the life of Ramanujan came when he came across a mathematics book by G S Carr called ‘Synopsis of elementary results in pure mathematics’. Although this book changed the course of his life, yet this very book was responsible for his failures in all but mathematics subject in his college days. Ramanujan became exceedingly interested in maths at the cost of other subjects. The result was expected. He failed in all the subjects in college except excelling in maths. The failure did not help his cause and he had to loose the much need scholarship that he had managed to get while joining the college. Failure played on his mind and he ran away from home only to return back to get enrolled at Pachaiyappa’s college in Chennai. Here, too, he engaged himself mostly in maths and couldn’t comprehend subjects like physiology and once again failed in the BA Fine Arts exam. He had no way but to leave his college, without attaining a degree but he continued his independent Mathematics research. Rest we all know is now history and Ramanujan is now classified as one of the all time great mathematician of all time. 

There are several other examples of people who have failed but were not deterred in their goal to succeed. Steven Spielberg, maker of Jurassic Park and such other extraordinarily successful films and winner of several Academy Awards, was rejected by the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. In one of the most profound statements on failures, J K Rowling - writer says “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.” Micheal Jordon, one of the all time best basket ball players, is another classic example who overcame failures. He says ‘I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.’ Amitabh Bachchan, arguably the the biggest superstar India has ever produced, moved to Mumbai, where he tried his luck in film industry, but due to his unconventional look and great height he was rejected by many, He also tried to become a Radio jockey but due to his ‘heavy voice’ he was rejected by the All India Radio. He was undeterred, and after a lot of hard work and patience Amitabh Bachchan went on to become what he now is the super star. 

Failure is the other side of the coin, which has success on one side and it is as integral to everyone’s life as success. So don’t just waste your time in worrying about failures be prepared to face it head on as did so many others a few of whose examples I have quoted in this article. Wishing all youngsters all the very best for their exams.

Florence Nightingale : An Epitome of Nursing and the Creator of Medical Data Visualisation Tools.

Tribute to Florence Nightingale : An Epitome of Nursing and the Creator of Medical Data Visualisation Tools.

The Corona Virus epidemic has once again brought to focus some extraordinary tales of health workers, who continue to selflessly serve patients and victims of the virus attack in the very areas where angels fear to tread, risking their lives in service of larger interest of the patients they serve and so also the society they wish to protect and insulate from the deadly virus. It is only when such massive health calamities occur that we tend to cursorily - like a foot note reference - remember health workers like Dr Li Wenliang who died at a very young age of 34, affected by the very virus against which he had raised the warning bell for protecting his fellow Doctors. Visuals of Doctors, paramedics, nurses (sisters) and others serving the virus affected patients in adverse health hazard conditions, speak volumes for their extraordinary service, true to the traditions of the Hippocrates oath that the doctors take to serve the sick. This reminds me of Florence Nightingale - a Lady with a lamp - who symbolises, in true sense, what nursing is all about - selfless service to the sick and wounded. As the saga of the Corona virus continues to live on, I wish to take this opportunity to write my reverential blogpost to Florence Nightingale and dedicate this post to all those unsung health workers all across the world, particularly those in the city of Wuhan, who are serving to nurse back the sick to normalcy and prevent the spread of the virus from those affected, isolated and quarantined. A million salutations to all of you.

Incidentally this year 2020, also happens to be the 200th birth anniversary of Nightingale. On the occasion of the bicentennial  of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the year 2020  has been befittingly declared as the ‘International Year of the Nurse and Midwife’ by the World Health Organisation. This is all the more poignant considering the novel Corona virus outbreak, which is plaguing our society, particularly China. There will be scores of  articles and media coverage paying tributes to the extraordinary service of Florence Nightingale as the Nurse, my article on Medium, whose link is appended, will however also highlight her often neglected contribution as a great data visualiser and statistician.  Please spare some time to read.

I have already written about the Corona Virus, Dr Li Wenliang and the Superbugs, in which reference has been made to the extraordinary services of health workers who, with support from different stakeholders, can collectively help combat global health menace. History reveals that nurses contribution to health management is incomplete without reference to the legendary nurse the quintessential famous lady with the lamp - Florence Nightingale. Nightingale made profound contributions in the Crimean war, not just as a nurse but also as a mathematician, whose reports, containing mathematical diagrams (modern equivalent of Pi charts) of the causes of mortality, brought about revolutionary change in health management, saving many lives. Most unfortunately Florence Nightingale has not be given the credit that is due to her for her role as a mathematician and for the importance that statistics and Pi like charts play in health management. In this blogpost, I am making an attempt to highlight the contributions of Florence Nightingale not just as a nurse, for which she is remembered globally, but also as a statistician. I first learnt of the Crimean war and Florence Nightingale during my school days in Sainik School Bijapur.

Sainik School Bijapur, my Alma Mater, where I spent seven years (age 9 to 16) of my most memorable life, prepared us primarily for service in the armed forces. Unfortunately, I am one of those unlucky few who could not join the military, because of my ‘heart murmur’, which rendered me unfit for the military. Our school teachers often narrated stories of valiant soldiers and freedom fighters, to motivate us to join the armed forces (National Defence Academy). One such story, which has remained etched in my memory, is a poem, by Lord Alfred Tennyson, that portrays the valiant fight of 600 soldiers of the Light Brigade, who ‘rode in to the valley of death’. The hair raising poem recounts an extraordinary assault by 600 soldiers (Brigade) of the British cavalry. The charge of light Brigade is regarded as one of the most heroic, yet futile assaults in British military history that took place at the Battle of Balaclava, during Britain’s war with Russia in Crimea in the mid 19th century. It is during this epic battle that Florence Nightingale made profound contributions, both as a nurse and also as a statistician, to save many precious lives of war wounded soldiers, which ultimately led to the change the in future course of health management across the world. 

The historic Crimean war is inextricably linked with Florence Nightingale, who epitomised nursing. Day in and and day out, each day every day, she, equipped with that historic image of a lamp in hand, moved from bed to bed and barrack to barrack nursing the injured with her extraordinary compassion. Her efforts of visiting the wards alone every night, to comfort the men  inspired noted author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to create a poem, Santa Filomena, which depicts the hospital scene that has cemented Florence Nightingale’s image as “the lady with the lamp”. Part of this poem goes like this;

A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room

On England’s annals through the long
Hereafter of her speech and song
That lights its rays shall cast
From portals of the past

A Lady with a Lamp shall stand
In the great history of the land,
A noble type of good
Heroic womanhood....

The bloody Crimean battle, which created that enduring image of Nightingale as a lady with the lamp, killed over 350000 young men. Unfortunately, 90% of these soldiers, who died in this battle, was not because of their battle wounds but due  to other illnesses like dysentery and other opportunistic infections, which they cultivated while admitted at the completely ill equipped hospitals. It was here that Nightingale played a pivotal role as a compassionate nurse and an extraordinary statistician with mathematics knowledge. She applied her talent in mathematics to innovate and use statistics of battle wounded soldiers and their plight, which she compiled as scientific data, and these reports helped in bringing to light the adverse conditions of the so called hospitals where the wounded soldiers were being treated. This compelled the authorities to improve the conditions of hospitals, which helped  in reducing mortality rates. While Nightingale’s contributions as a nurse has been etched in the annals of human history, her contributions as a statistician has remained one of her enduring forgotten contributions. Most of us, at least my generation people, will remember Florence Nightingale as a tireless nurse with a lamp in hand, who was an embodiment of compassion and service.

The legend of Florence Nightingale was undoubtedly born in the misery of Crimea’s hospitals, that received hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers. Diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and dysentery were rife in the army hospitals, where these soldiers were admitted. Many more soldiers were dying from diseases than from wounds received in the battlefield. Seeing the misery in which the British soldiers were made to lie in unhygienic conditions and in the crowded military hospitals, Nightingale developed burning desire to bring about a major social change, beginning with the medical treatment of the soldiers and keeping medical records that would invite the attention of the authorities that be. She used these medical records and statistics to prepare Pi like charts to impress upon the authorities of the dying need for the improvement in living conditions of the patients in the military hospitals particularly with regard to sanitation and nutrition. Nightingale and her colleague nurses dramatically raised standards of patient care, including sanitation and nutrition.

It is said that Nightingale saved more lives with her grasp of numbers (data visualisation) than she did with her gift for nursing. Today, data visualizations are everywhere and they are inextricably linked to every bit of planning, be it health management, business, commerce or economics. Florence Nightingale was one of the pioneers in data visualisation, which inspired massive social changes particularly in health management issues. Unfortunately Nightingale’s role as a fierce data journalist, feminist, and war nurse has been mostly obscured by the enduring image of the Lady with the Lamp. Nightingale’s contribution in preparing data visualisation tools of recording patient details are praiseworthy considering the fact that there was very little recorded information about disease and mortality in the 1800’s. The concept of public records had just taken shape and they were yet to be introduced in documenting disease, mortality and other medical records. The idea that medical data could be used as social facts, which  could be measured and analysed was very novel at that point of time. Nightingale who had learnt mathematics was a keen observer and took active interest in social reforms and believed that data visualisation could benefit society. She frequently attended scientific meetings and it was in these meetings that she realised that her mathematics skills could be used to supplement her idea that informative graphics could make her case for better hygiene more convincing to the authorities.

Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, to a wealthy British parents in the city of Florence, Italy, while her parents were travelling in Italy. They named her after the city in which she was born - Florence. Her elder sister Parthenope too was named Parthenope Nightingale after name of the Italian city where she was born. Her parents returned to England in 1821. The Nightingales were among the economically and socially advantaged segment of society that ruled England. Both Florence and her sister Parthenope were home schooled by their governess and became proficient in reading and writing.  At seven years of age Florence was already a prolific and keenly observant letter-writer and by age ten she had written her own autobiography, in French. She was also noted in her family for compiling very detailed lists of nearly everything around her, many of which appeared in her journals and letters. Subsequently from age 12 onwards, Florence was educated by her father William Nightingale.  In an age when girls were rarely educated, Florence was lucky to have had a father who believed that everyone had a right to an education. Her early learning consisted of a wide range of subjects— chemistry, geography,physics, history, languages (classical and modern)—but only very basic mathematics. This changed when she managed to get hold of a copy of Euclid’s Elements. It was her aunt Mai, who had a major influence in Florence’s life, who urged her sister - Florence’s mother - to hire a mathematics tutor for her daughter. Florence learned algebra, geometry and arithmetic, which she in turn taught to several children. Florence also engaged herself in a self-guided study in social and health statistics. By then the first public register of births, deaths and marriages was created by the General Registry Office, which had made social statistics a popular topic for conversation and these records were of great interest to Florence. She also studied hospital ‘blue books’ and any other data she could obtain. One of her most ambitious projects, done in 1853, was to gather her own data by sending questionnaires to hospitals regarding health administration, which she then laboriously analysed. 

Florence’s fascination with statistics and her desire to nurse were both present from her childhood. In Crimea she found the opportunity to meld her two passions into a single pursuit. One of her first acts was to institute uniform statistical recordkeeping to replace haphazard and contradictory military journals. These data would form the foundation of her later work when she returned home. The Royal Commission, charged with formalizing Florence’s reforms, would come to rely heavily on her statistical analyses, and it had as one of its goals the establishment of a “statistical department for the army”

Florence used her knowledge in mathematics and became an innovator in standardized data collection, tabulation and graphical displays. She was convinced that analysed data which could be transformed into charts served as effective visual communication. She said it was necessary to understand the real meaning of data: “the diagram which is to affect thro’ the Eyes what we may fail to convey to the brains of the public through their word-proof ears”. She worked very closely with William Farr, her associate and collaborator for twenty years, who was a medical statistician. She was also influenced by the Belgian statistician Adolphe Quetelet, considered to be the founder of social statistics.

Florence prepared many diagrams, which  represented yearly data about military deaths due to disease, wounds and other causes and these diagrams used mathematical formulae including 36 square roots, three for each month. Her diagrams and charts were drawn by hand with rulers and curved templates.  She used these diagrams in the reports which she prepared and published under the title “Mortality of the British Army.” Nightingale wanted to present the “loss of an army” in a way that could be immediately understood by the visual,look at her diagrams. She compiled tables of statistics that tracked where people had died, and why. She found that even during peacetime, soldiers were dying young far more frequently than the civilian population. Nightingale needed to convey this information in a way that it would be understood immediately and therefore she prepared her reports with bar graphs and created a brand new chart, the coxcomb, to show numbers of deaths by month along with their causes. The reports were so very easily comprehendible that at  a glance anyone  oils see how blue, representing totally preventable deaths from disease, dominated the space. These reports which helped authorities to visually understand data led to several reforms in British army hospitals and civilian hospitals.

The contributions of Florence Nightingale were recognised and she became the first woman to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. She was also made an honorary member of the American Statistical Association. She received the St. George’s Cross from Queen Victoria for her Notes on Matters Affecting Health, Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of the British Army, one of the first published documents that made use of her statistical data and charts. After serving the sick and wounded for more than half a century, Florence Nightingale breathed her last in her home in London at the age of 90 years, on 13th August 1910. 

More than hundred years after her death, the nursing legacy of Florence Nightingale continues even today and nursing and care are inextricably linked to Florence Nightingale. At a time when Covid has began to impact not just China but has spread its tentacles beyond the borders of China and appears to become a global pandemic, let us all remember those unsung health workers who are tirelessly working to treat the affected patients notwithstanding the high risk they face of contracting the Corona virus, which may be fatal. 

Long live the medical fraternity, who serve humanity and may the legacy of the likes of Florence Nightingale be eternal.