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.

Li Wenliang, Corona virus patient is dead. Long live, Li Wenling, the medical doctor and whistle blower of the Corona Virus.

Li Wenliang, Corona virus patient is dead. Long live, Li Wenling, the medical doctor and whistle blower of the Corona Virus.

What a travesty of justice it is that Dr Li Wenliang, who is primarily responsible for raising an alarm against a possible outbreak of a new virus, whose symptoms ‘resembled the deadly SARS virus pandemic of 2003’ in the Wuhan region, succumbed to the very disease, on the 6th of February. His mortal remains may have been buried but his contributions in raising an alarm against the Corona virus will remain eternally etched in the annals of history and the global health community will remain grateful to Dr Li for his exemplary services in combating the Corona virus outbreak.

Li Wenliang, aged 34, the Corona virus whistle blower doctor, was among the first to raise concerns - on December 30 - about the possible spread of a new virus, in the city of Wuhan. An ophthalmologist by profession, Dr Li had posted a social message in a chat group for his fellow Doctors about his experience of attending to a series of patients with flu-like symptoms that resembled SARS at his hospital. He had  urged his group members (mostly doctors) to wear protective clothing, while at work, to protect themselves from a possible virus attack. As luck would have it Dr Li’s message went viral. He thus became the whistleblower in the case of reporting the virus epidemic, which later came to be known as the  novel Corona virus (nCoV), which the world is now talking about. Until then the Chinese authorities had concealed the spread of this virus in Wuhan, from the public and also from the international community.

On 30 December, much before the world came to know of the Corona virus, Dr Li sent a message to his fellow doctors, in their social chat group, warning them to wear protective clothing to avoid SARS like infection, which he suspected had struck the city of Wuhan. Fortunately for the world and unfortunately for Doctor Li, his message became viral and just four days later, Dr Li was summoned by the Chinese authorities - who had hidden the news of patients reporting in various hospitals in Wuhan with flu like symptoms to the Public - and was asked to sign a letter in which he admitted to “making false comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order". He was one of eight people who the Chinese police  accused for "spreading rumours". Fortunately the Supreme Court of China intervened and the Chinese health officials realised the seriousness of the issue and very soon admitted to the presence of nCoV epidemic in the city of Wuhan. The local authorities, later, apologised to Dr Li for accusing him of making false comments, rumour mongering and for disturbing the social order in the city and for the unwanted treatment meted out to him. 

Subsequently, Dr Li while operating a woman with glaucoma, without realising that she too was a coronavirus victim, appears to have been infected by the Corona virus. In his Weibo post, Dr Li  described how on 10 January, 2020, he started exhibiting symptoms like coughing and fever which are indicative of the Corona virus. Dr Li was admitted in hospital on the 13th January and was officially diagnosed with the coronavirus on 30 January and within the next week, that is on 6 February, Dr Li was declared dead by the local hospital authorities in Wuhan. Thus ending a bright future of an young Doctor who was the first to publicly post about the attack of this virus in the city of Wuhan.

Scientists and health authorities around the world are now racing to arrest and halt the spread of the Corona Virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan some time in December 2019 and has now become a global epidemic. The virus, known as 2019 novel Corona Virus (nCoV), about which I had written earlier in my blog on the 24th of January, causes serious respiratory illness and has so far infected more than 28000 people in China and has taken away the lives of nearly 600 people including most unfortunately Dr Li Wenling the whistle blower of this virus. In the modern connected world in which hundreds of thousands of passengers travel every day from one city to another and from one country to another, including the epicentre - Wuhan - in thousands of airlines, it is no wonder that the nCoV has spread so rapidly, more so since there appeared to be some delay on the part of the Chinese authorities in reporting it in time. The virus has now spread to other countries making the calamity a global epidemic. WHO and international community have joined hands with China in the endeavour to stop the Corona virus menace as early as possible. As things stand today the virus has spread its tentacles beyond the borders of China to 29 other countries including India where three cases have already been confirmed and some more cases have been screened and few people have been isolated/quarantined for further assessment. 

The nCoV originated in a food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan consequently the city was locked down with travel into and out of the city restricted ever since January 23. The Chinese authorities have shown remarkable importance to this issue and are making all possible efforts, including building new hospitals in unbelievable record time, to contain this deadly virus. Among the people stranded in the epicentre of the virus were several Indian students and visitors. Based on the appeal of the stranded Indians, the Indian Government has already flown two special Indian airlines - jumbo Boeing -  and have airlifted more than 600 plus Indians back to India from the locked down city of Wuhan, with support from the Chinese authorities.

Although the virus has taken a pandemic proportion,  it is not the time for blame game to finger point the Chinese or others for the global spread of the virus, which in the modern connected world is an absolute certainty. Moreover, the Chinese authorities are doing an extraordinary job in combating this global pandemic by taking all possible timely actions. It is therefore hoped that the efforts taken by the Chinese authorities, with support from international community, is likely to impact the arrest of the virus very soon. Experts believe that timely collective efforts of the global community, led by the Chinese, in arresting the spread of the virus will start kicking in and in the best case scenario, the virus will only infect few more people. However there are also others who feel that it may be too early to pass judgement, whether efforts to sanitise places and quarantine people, including advocating use of widespread face masks, will at all have their effect that will start arresting the rapid spread of the virus. Scientists have also suggested that the incubation period for the Corona virus (up to 14 days) is relatively longer than most other viruses and therefore the control measures must keep this in mind before deciding on the measures to arrest the spread of this virus. There are also pessimists who believe that the virus has got out of hand in China, spread too far, too quickly to really be contained. Some of them going to the extremes of predicting a worst case scenario, often referring to the Spanish Flu epidemic a century ago, which killed an estimated 12 million people including some 5 millions in India, and believe that (based on a prediction model) some 190,000 people have already been infected in Wuhan, and that it may be just a matter of time that this number could increase exponentially and spread globally. Whatever be the situation, optimistic or pessimistic, one thing is for sure, we all must be better informed to effectively tackle this infectious disease and play our small role in supporting the global health workers in combating this issue.

Just a week back, on 30th, January, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared this outbreak a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ - an alarm it reserves for events that pose a risk to multiple countries and which requires a coordinated international response. The pace at which the virus is spreading has caught the attention of health workers across the globe, who are unitedly trying to contain this pandemic. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the extraordinary developments in our understanding of diseases, crucial  biological information about the Corona virus and how it spreads are yet to be understood completely. Medical experts are addressing this issue keeping in mind our previous experiences of best- and worst-case scenarios of earlier virus epidemics and what scientists already know.

Based on past experience health workers, with support from scientists, have managed to control certain viruses that cause diseases like chicken pox and influenza, which are endemic in many countries including India, through vaccination and confining people at home when they are ill. One big question is, whether the coronavirus will become endemic and is here to stay? If efforts to contain it fail, there is a high chance that it will become endemic. This could mean that like the chickenpox and influenza, which are caused by a virus, the Corona virus may also continue to circulate every year and lead to some deaths making it necessary for development of a vaccine for the Corona virus. If the virus can be spread by people who are infected but don’t have symptoms, it will be more difficult to control its spread, making it more likely that the virus will become endemic. In which case we are possibly looking at a virus that’s going to be with us for a long time and therefore scientists must work towards developing a vaccine for this virus. Although it is now fairly well established that the Spanish Flu - a global Outbreak - a century ago (1908), had affected close to 50 million people with an estimated 10 to 15 million deaths including an estimated 5 million deaths in India, the current era of medical advances and so also the economic conditions of the people with much better cleanliness and sanitation, we are better prepared to address outbreaks. Take for example the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There was a global outbreak of this virus in 2002–03, which also emanated from. Hina but was very effectively addressed by the global community and once the outbreaks in hospitals were brought under control, SARS was contained and now there is hardly any evidence to suggest that the SARS virus is still circulating in humans. So we can be optimistic and we must trust our authorities and must avoid panic and spread of rumours about the Corona virus, which will make it more difficult for the health workers to address this issue. Looking at the way the Chinese and the global community are addressing this issue with WHO putting in their might, and also considering the fact that the control measures are effective, and the virus transmission has started showing signs of slowing down, which means that each infected person infects no more than one other person, the nCoV outbreak will very soon fizzle out. 

There are however some worries about the possible mutation of the virus. Some researchers are concerned that as the China coronavirus spreads, the pathogen could mutate so it can spread more efficiently, or become more likely to cause disease in young people. Currently, the virus has caused severe illness, and death, mainly in older people, particularly those with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Although Dr Li died of this virus at age 34 it is still not clear whether he had any pre-existing health conditions.

The escalating outbreak has prompted a flurry of research activity on the coronavirus, which emerged in humans in December and is new to science. Researchers have shared dozens of genetic sequences from strains of the new Corona virus and a steady supply of those sequences will reveal genetic changes as the outbreak progresses, which will help in the future development of an effective vaccine against this virus. As of 30 January, at least 54 English-language papers on the coronavirus have been published.  More than 30 papers are on preprint servers, and a handful have also appeared in peer-reviewed journals, like The Lancet and the Journal of Medical Virology. There will also be papers published in other languages including Chinese, which will help in better understanding this virus for an early vaccine development for arresting this virus. There are also some studies which have focused  on the virus’s structure or genetic make-up — information that could be used to identify drug targets or develop a vaccine. Researchers have also published genomic data on the virus on online platforms such as GenBank, which will go a long way in helping scientists and pharmacists to develop drugs for this disease to help patients suffering from this disease. Interestingly enough although most media are talking about this virus outbreak, it is seen from the statistics that the proportion of infected people who die with Corona virus attack is relatively very small in comparison with earlier virus attacks like the SARS. With some 590 deaths so far out of nearly 28000 plus infections, the new coronavirus has a death rate of 2%. This is significantly lower than SARS, which killed around 10% of the people it infected. There is currently no effective drugs against the Corona virus. Two HIV drugs thought to target a protein that helps coronaviruses to replicate are being tested as a treatment. Scientists have also identified other existing medications that target this function, and several international research groups are working on a vaccine for the Corona virus. Hopefully as statistics and data suggest the spread of the virus seems to have slowed down a bit and sooner than later it will completely be removed from human society. 

The most worrying part now is how one can and must control spread of this virus in towns and villages particularly in south East Asian countries and the African countries, which do not have adequate health safety measures in place nor do they have the resources that the Chinese authorities had at their disposal. Addressing the press and declaring a global health emergency, the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said his main concern was that the outbreak could spread to countries with fragile health systems. If the virus spreads throughout the world, the number of deaths could be substantial. The current death rate of 2%, while not as high as for SARS,it is still quite high for an infectious disease.

Let us hope that the global efforts on all fronts will effectively take on this virus and defeat it at the earliest. 

Novel Corona Virus (nCoV) : Epidemics in a Connected World.

Novel Corona Virus (nCoV) : Epidemics in a Connected World.

This day - 25th January - is special for the Chinese, for it happens to be their Lunar New Year and is also known as Spring Festival, a grandest festival in China, with a 7-day long holiday. The Chinese Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year is the most colorful annual event, celebrated across the country with traditional new year celebrations, which lasts up to two weeks and this year it is scheduled to last until 8th February. The Chinese New Year is internationally known for its iconic red lanterns, loud fireworks, massive banquets and parades, and the festival even triggers exuberant celebrations across the globe and therefore it is no wonder that many international tourists visit China during this celebratory period. 

Most unfortunately, this years Chinese New Year celebration has been muted by the novel Corona Virus, which has struck the city of Wuhan in central China, the spread of this virus has been declared as a health emergency in China by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The past few days, most news headlines across the world, including India, have front paged the news of the novel Corona Virus (nCoV), which has wreaked havoc in the city of Wuhan, China, bringing it to a eerie silence. The fear of the virus and its spread is so severe that the Chinese Government has restricted the movement of nearly 40 million people and an unprecedented and indefinite lockdown has been imposed in 13 cities in central China, aimed at arresting the spread of this virus. The resultant travel lockdown, just ahead China’s Lunar New Year holiday, the busiest travel season, has effected not just China but the whole of the global community, including India. The severity of the fear of the spread of the nCoV has drawn the attention of the World Health Organisation, who has declared it a health emergency in China and just stopping from calling it a global epidemic. Although there was no unanimity among the WHO, while debating on the issue for declaring it as a global outbreak, yet there was one certainty, the seriousness of the issue. The total deaths reported by the Chinese health authorities has already touched 41 with at least 15 new deaths reported in Wuhan, the epicentre of this deadly virus, just yesterday. The virus is now no longer confined just to China. It has spread to other countries as well with a second case confirmed in the United States and three cases confirmed in France. Health officials across the globe are preparing for an outbreak that could last months.

The novel Corona Virus was first identified in Wuhan, China in a market selling live poultry, seafood and wild animals. Now the virus has spread to South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States. Investigators in other countries, including Mexico and Saudi Arabia, are evaluating possible cases. As soon as the news of nCoV spread broke out, the Indian Government too has initiated measures to contain its spread in our country. Passengers flying into India from affected areas in China and other countries are being examined and as many as 20,844 passengers, from 96 flights, have been screened for nCoV symptoms in India,  as of January 24, as per the statement issued from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Just yesterday, the health ministry said , 4,082 passengers were screened in 19 flights  and a travel advisory has been extended to 12 more airports in addition to the current seven. Fortunately for us, the Health Ministry statement said that no case of novel coronavirus (nCoV) has been detected in the country so far. The health Ministry has also identified different labs across India which can screen for the nCoV and the National Institute of Virology, an ICMR lab, has confirmed that none of the samples screened so far from passengers who have flown into India from affected areas have shown positive and therefore it is sign for some relief as of now. However a news has now confirmed that the first known Indian national, Preeti Maheshwari, who is afflicted with the Corona virus is battling for life in a hospital in China. Maheshwari, a primary art school teacher at the International School of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, who suffered a coronavirus pneumonia attack leading to respiratory failure is now suspected of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and has gone into a septic shock and is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit at Shekou Hospital in Shenzhen, China. Therefore, in the connected world we now live in, it is absolutely essential that the government and all health workers must remain on high alert to combat the spread of this menace.

Virus, such as the Corona viruses, are highly contagious and spread rapidly. The Corona virus is named so due to the spikes that protrude from their membranes, which resemble the sun’s corona. The current virus China dubbed the novel Corona virus nCoV, can infect both animals and people, and can cause illnesses of the respiratory tract, ranging from the common cold to severe conditions like the SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - which had earlier affected thousands of people around the world and killed nearly a thousand people during its 2003 outbreak. The Chinese researchers earlier had announced that the mysterious illness that had sickened 59 people in the city of Wuhan, with 11 million population, in central China was because of the novel Corona Virus nCoV. These cases were linked to workers at a market that sold live fish, animals and birds. This market was later shut down and disinfected by the Chinese authorities. It is therefore certain that animals are the most likely primary source of the outbreak of nCoV, but unfortunately which animals are responsible for this virus is not certain. Our experience has shown that the past virus outbreaks of similar illnesses, including SARS, also are believed to have emerged from live animal markets. It is also now fairly well known that one form of coronavirus causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, which is transmitted to humans by camels. The current nCoV, the Chinese health officials believe, can also be transmitted from person to person and a growing number of people, including medical staff caring for patients, have become infected in Wuhan, and it has therefore made containment of the spread of this virus more difficult. Scientists researching on the nCoV are still not sure how exactly the virus spreads. However it is certain that the nCoV it can be transmitted from one person to another, which makes it a bigger risk than if it were carried only from animals to humans. The virus most likely gets transmitted through coughing and sneezing, as is the case with influenza and other respiratory viruses, which are highly infectious.

The best selling book “The World is Flat : A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century." by Thomas Friedman, New York Times, columnist, uses a metaphor -World is Flat- to describe the 21st century’s connected world (inspired by Nandan Nilekani), which offers a level playing field for commerce to the global community, destined to economically benefit countries like India. But then this very advantageous level playing field -of a connected world- comes with spread of viruses such as the current nCoV, and its consequences. We must therefore be prepared to face such consequences by reminding ourselves of the 1918 pandemic Spanish Flu, which had killed more than 75 million people across the globe including in India. 

The year 2018, marked the centenary of the 1918 pandemic -the Spanish Flu Outbreak-which rampaged the world and killed 75/to 100 million people an estimated 5 percent of the world’s population. India too has paid a heavy price during this outbreak, resulting in an estimated 17 million deaths, in two waves of this deadly flu that swept India in May and October of that year (1918). A hundred years later, scientists know much more about how to prevent and treat such diseases. But the threat of a global outbreak, like the current nCoV is now far greater than ever. Understanding what happened during this major health crisis is therefore important, particularly in the current connected world and an era of humanity’s growing population and its ever continuing drift to crowded cities across the globe and the resulting cohabitation of limited space with animal kingdom, which aid in spreading of diseases. All it takes now is one plane ride for a few localized cases of a disease to become an epidemic.

In order to create an understanding of the importance of such epidemics and their impact among the public, in the year 2018, the Nehru Science Centre, (NCSM), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, had organised an exhibition “Outbreak  : An Epidemic in a Connected World”, which was developed by the National Museum of Natural History, a Smithsonian Institution, to commemorate the centenary of the Spanish Flu. This exhibition was brought to our centre with support from the Harvard Global Health Institute. 

TB, Malaria, Dengue, Influenza, and such other diseases like AIDS, Ebola, Cholera, Plague, Nipah, Zika etc. terrorise our country and kill thousands every year. If this is not scary the modern lifestyles in a connected world and ever increasing migration from villages and smaller towns to larger metropolitans and to global cities, with ever shrinking space, and inadequate hygiene is sure shot recipe for disaster and the best way to arrest this is creating awareness on infectious diseases and outbreaks. Therefore the Nehru Science Centres in its continuing efforts to create public awareness on these issues organises exhibitions on such topics from time to time and even the current on going exhibition ‘Superbugs : Is it the end of Antibiotics?, about which I have already posted earlier is also aimed at creating public awareness on health issues. 

I do hope that the earlier exhibition’Outbreak, and the current exhibition Superbugs, help in sowing a seed of public awareness with a hope that it will result in changing behaviour on an individual and community level to bring about the much needed difference. This awareness, we hope, will go a long way in lowering the pandemic risk of spread of infectious diseases like the nCoV which the world is now facing. 

VIGYAN SAMAGAM: Pushing the Frontiers of Science

VIGYAN SAMAGAM: Pushing the Frontiers of Science in its final leg at the National Science Centre Delhi.

After its successful showing in our centre the Nehru Science Mumbai, where it all began on 17th May, 2019, Visvesvaraya Museum, Bangalore and Science City, Kolkata, the Vigyan Samagam exhibition, which show cases India’s first-ever, global Mega-Science Projects on one single platform, finally arrived on its last leg in Delhi. This exhibition, a joint collaborative effort of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), was inaugurated on the 21st January, 2020, by Dr Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy (DAE); and Department of Space, in the August presence of several distinguished scientists from India and abroad including Dr R Chidambaram, Secretary DAE and DST and others. 

 “Almost everything that distinguishes the modern world from earlier centuries is attributable to the progress in science”. This statement, by Bertrand Russell, succinctly describes the importance of science for human society. The Vigyan Samagam exhibition that has been opened at the National Science Centre, Delhi, which presents the frontiers of science research in seven mega global science projects, in which India is a partner,  is aimed at creating an awareness about the frontiers of science research and the cutting edge technology that is used in these research projects among the public in general and students in particular. This exhibition presents in layman’s language, what these projects are and how are they likely to shape and benefit human society.

The mysteries of our universe stretches from an extreme unseen universe of subatomic particles - quarks, muons, positrons, Higgs Bosons (god particle, discovered at the LHC, at CERN, Geneva) etc. - to the extreme, beyond the observable, unseen macroscopic universe. The quest for study and understanding of such extreme scales of universe and its nature has become a necessity for scientists in their endeavour to collectively aim at pushing the frontiers of science. For eons we have taken science for granted. Notwithstanding the fact that technologies - the application of science - are inextricably linked to our day today lives, we hardly ever try to hazard a guess to even remotely understand from where do these benefits come from and who sowed the seeds of science for unravelling the secrets of nature at its deepest and farthest, to shape our understanding of nature’s marvels to harvest its technological applications for benefitting human society. A look at the history of science reveals that giant leap towards modern society was shaped by human understanding of the universe and its governance. 

The need for research on pushing the frontiers of science has led to international collaboration in pooling of men and material resources and establishing global partnerships. And the resultant outcome is the Global Mega Science Projects, in which India is also a partner. To show case the significance of such Mega Science Projects, particularly the Indian contributions in these projects, three Government of India institutions; Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science and Technology and the National Council of Science Museums, have joined hands to present the first ever “VIGYAN SAMAGAM”, an exhibition of seven mega science projects and a plethora of events, panel discussions, debates, programmes etc. involving the best of scientists from India and abroad and other stakeholders in the field, including industry. The exhibition is aimed at creating interest in science among the public particularly among the students.

 From the dim millennium of prehistory science has been central to human progress and civilisations across the globe including majorly ancient civilisations like India have benefited from scientific pursuits. The progress towards harvesting scientific knowledge for modern society was kick started when Galileo aimed his telescope to look beyond our Earth and Newton began to unlock the secrets of the gravitational force that govern our universe at the macro level. Ever since, scientists have continued to strive to provide answers to many of the mysteries of the universe, and with that knowledge the human race has achieved incredible benefits. All of this has underpinned our technological adventure into the 20th Century. Our understanding of the building blocks of matter – atoms – brought about the next technological age - the computer age, undoubtedly the most impactful invention from this science was the Nobel prize winning discovery of the humble transistor in the middle of the 20th century. Transistors shaped the Silicon Valley and without the transistors it perhaps would have been impossible for us to have computers, smartphones or any electronic devices, which we see all around us today. The digital technologies, which are an offshoot of fundamental research at the quantum level have ushered in modern technologies that can assist in further unravelling the mystery of the universe at its deepest and farthest, which the seven mega science projects featured in the Vigyan Samagam exhibitions are set out to achieve and India is privileged to be a major partner in each of these global mega science projects.

From powering the industrial revolution to sparking the digital and information era and unlocking the secrets of the stars, researching and pushing the frontiers of science has underpinned our technological adventure into the 21st Century. Now that we are at the cusp of entering the third decade of this century it is befitting that global partnerships, with India as one of the partner, have been cemented to further push the frontiers of science. The Vigyan Samagam, ongoing exhibition at the National Science Centre, Delhi, showcases seven mega-science projects, which are pushing the frontiers of science and in each of these projects India is collaborating with other international scientific bodies. These projects include, Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), Square Kilometer Array (SKA), Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). In the years and decade/s to come, these projects and the research findings from them are sure to bring about a paradigm shift in our understanding of our universe and in the process this understanding could further benefit human society and help us in achieving the much awaited sustainable and millennium development goals, which have been set by the U.N.

The primary objective of this mega event is to spread a message that all developments in science and fundamental research in basic sciences leads to new knowledge and will hopefully provide scientific capital. The mega science projects create an opportunity from which the practical applications of knowledge can be drawn for the benefit of society, this is all the more relevant today than ever before and history has shown that basic research is the pacemaker of technological progress.’

The Vigyan Samagam exhibition is supplemented by unprecedented number of lectures from the best of scientists, other outreach educational activities, demonstrations and quizzes. For details of the exhibition and the ongoing lectures and events please see;

www.vigyansamagam.in

Jai Vigyan, Jai Hind