Health

‘Because the wind wants to feel your hair, and the earth wants to touch your feet.'- Kahlil GibranWe live in nature, but we don’t live naturally. We live on the earth, but we don’t touch it. Ninety per cent of the time, we hide from the sun. We use hot water to bathe, which is a fast, functional affair. Most of the time we condition the air we breathe. In winter, we keep warm and in summers, we protect ourselves from the heat. We burn most of the vitamin in food before we eat it. In fact, we protect ourselves…

The Medico-Pastoral Association and Stage Left Productions present This is their story, a play directed by Vasudev Kanthraj and Nazeef Mohammed on 6th December 2008 at St Francis Xavier's School Auditorium, Promenade Road, Fraser Town, at 6.30 PM. This play is an original script written by the members of Stage Left Productions. It is written as a response to the growing problem of suicide and self-harm in today's world, especially since the statistics are alarming and very disturbing. Bengaluru has earned the dubious distinction of being the suicide capital of the country. This play thus essentially deals with different kinds…

December 1st is World HIV/AIDS Day. I do not believe in declaring just one day in a year for a purpose, like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. However these days do hold some significance, because all the authorities (government and non-government) and people working for the cause get inspired to introspect, recount their activities of the year and plan the activities for the next year. Communication for Development and Learning (CDL), a city-based NGO, recently conducted a series of workshops on HIV/AIDS and related issues, both to sensitise journalists and motivate them to write more on this issue. CDL works…

In Cooke Town, you'll see an unusual way to get the message across, to random dumpers of garbage. Especially those who miss the bus on the morning collection, when carts go down the road to collect your bag of disposables. The location here is Ashoka Road - a nice peaceful road, where you'd like to go for your morning walk, without turning up your nose and holding your breath. As a "pilot project" the Residents Welfare Association of Cooke Town has cordoned off this spot, which was a major landing point for random dumpers. Once a spot starts off as…

As art becomes big business, it is not surprising to find art galleries springing up everywhere in Bangalore; but when one finds a gallery that is somewhat different, it is rather intriguing! I met young Veena Narsasetty, an artist and sculptor, who was exhibiting for a show at a gallery called ‘Swasti’. The unusual thing about the gallery is that it is funded and run by Health Care Global, an organisation that runs an oncology hospital in Bangalore. Health Care Global (HCG) is about five years old, and has seven hospitals all over India. Dr. Bhagya Ajaikumar, wife of the…

Dr Aswath Narayan, MLA, Malleswaram, inaugurated the Bike Rally undertaken by Baduku project as part of its one-month campaign Spoorthi Jagruthi against stigma and discrimination against sex workers and HIV positive people here on Wednesday, 5th November.Addressing about 150 members from the sex workers’ collectives and staff of Baduku Project, he gave a call to treat the HIV affected with affection and human touch. Baduku is a community-based organisation formed by women in sex work who are also HIV positive. The three collectives of sex workers, who took part in the programme are Swathi Mahila Sangha, Jyothi Mahila Sangha and…

It was late on November 3rd afternoon when five men worked by the side of a lonely stretch of road in the as yet un-named land between Anjanapura and Kanakapura Road. The barefooted men silently hoed and shovelled the last dregs of a waste heap, shoving the plastic and other indistinct matter into a truck parked nearby, where one of the men stood next to the waste. This is near Avalahalli, about 2.5 kms east of Kanakapura Road. Stray dogs feasted on the roadside dump which had untreated biomedical waste mixed with kitchen waste. Pic: Angela Jain. At first glance,…

Sunita (assumed name *) was in the hospital for a long time. Diagnosed with cancer, she had undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy. As a result, her immune system was severely stressed. A few weeks later, she developed an open chest wound that had to be operated upon. Soon after, her doctor noticed a stubborn bacterial infection that just would not go away, no matter what antibiotics they prescribed. The doctor conducted a few tests and found that Sunita was infected with Methycillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, a fatal drug-resistant bacterium that thrives in hospital wards all over the world (www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735).…

It was a huge argument allowed to run riot, while the ban over smoking in the public place was coming towards its implementation date, 2nd October, 2008. We could read and hear a lot spoken about it; all sorts of arguments supporting and disregarding it.It’s more than a week since the imposing of the ban and all the 'chimneys' have been relocated from office balconies, roof-tops, walking areas around the building and parking lots; to the roadsides, middle and not so middle of the road.I was surprised to notice that while the ban imposed would mean a lot of discomfort…

What happens if you don’t see light at the end of the tunnel? You don’t see the tunnel; you only see darkness. You reach around only to clutch at thin air. You seek help and you only see smiling faces that don’t really listen, friendly eyes that don’t really see. You see people around you who seem to be concerned, but don’t know how deep your anguish is; and the deeper you go, the lonelier you feel. You don’t know which way to head; you don’t know if the next step forward, is forward. You’re hopelessly lost, with no hope,…