Request to Medical Research Professionals

A sincere request to all medical research professionals:

On the very first day of the year, I had to take my 15 months old son Romir for a scheduled vaccination for Measles. As the nurse was preparing the injections, I realised that there are three syringes to be inserted in the poor little soul. The sight really pained me and my wife. I was wondering that inspite of such great advancements in medical technology, why still we dont have alternative non invasive methods of administering vaccinations to toddlers.

I am sure there would be some research going on towards this technology and I wish the researchers all the best to come out with a solution at the earliest. And the best part is that such a solution will not only be a boon for the kids, many adults (like Kushan) would also love to have such an option.

Good Bye 2008

As I bid a goodbye to the year 2008, I was thinking about the highs and lows I came across in this year. Choosing one of each was like a situation in an interesting test match (like a recent one between India and England in Chennai) where a number of players come up with good performances and you have to chose one whose performance was not only good but also was the deciding factor in the out come of the match.

So when I was thinking on the good things that happened, quiet a few things came to my mind like shifting to Bangalore, the trip to Europe, growing up of Romir but what took away the crown was the moment when I came back to India after a 52 day international trip. I had missed Diwali and Dussera during this trip. But when I reached home at 3:30 AM at midnight, I was emotionally choked to see my house lighted up with diyas, done by my wife to say that Diwali is not about a day but about being together. Also as soon as I entered home I tried not to make any noise to not wake up Romir but it was like he was waiting for me. He woke up on his own as soon as I entered and played with me for an hour. This was definitely the most touching moment for me in the entire year.

And when it came to the contrary, there were not many things that came to my mind. Maybe because of my nature of being a hopelessly optimist, I try to forget the unhappy incidents of my life ASAP. But there was one thing that lingered in my mind and was not easy to forget. It was the image of 2 year old Moshe, the son of the Israeli rabbi was parents were killed in the Mumbai attacks on nariman point. The sight of that sweet innocent kid not even aware of how his life has changed completely shattered my faith in humanity and frankly also frightened me. The obvious thought came to my mind, what if.....probably this is when you have to leave it to god. But I am sure Moshe will get enough love from Israel, India and the world that he will never miss his parents.

So that was all about 2008. I am very hopeful of 2009 for myself, my friends, family and the whole world that we will have better times ahead.

Comparing Barack Obama and Lance Armstrong

It’s not very often that I read books and that too, two biographies in under 4 days. Off late I have developed an inclination towards (auto)biographies.

The two that I read in the last 4 days are – “Obama – A Promise of Change” and “Lance Armstrong – Its not about the bike”.

Obama and Armstrong, both are now legends in American history, the former in politics and latter in sports. And its not just their nationality that they share in common, there is much more that I realized is common between the two as I read the two books.

The first common trait that came to my mind was their childhood, their growing up years without the support and presence of a father. Barrack’s father left him with his mother when Barack was only two. Still better than Lance who never knew who his father was till some journalist found him out after Lance’s success in cycling. It may be common in America for young women to raise their children without the support of a husband. And somehow I feel this gives an additional sense of responsibility to the mothers to make the children strong and self dependent, to solve their own problems and to never quit. “You don’t quit” – said Lance’s mother when he was about to quit a race he could not finish.

The other common trait that looms large in the lives of these two greats is the four letter word that that has now become synonymous with Obama – HOPE. Both achieved whatever they achieved against all odds. From a relatively unknown senator to a president elect in less than 5 years and from a cancer survivor and written off cyclist to the winner of tour de France for 5 consecutive years can only be a result of die hard optimism and rigorous hard work. While Lance sweated it out on his bike inflicting himself to physical hardships, Obama’s game was all in his mind, connecting instantly with his audience, who finally voted for him.

No doubt both are great role models of each one of us to help us keep working towards our dreams against all odds.