The Hippocratic Inspiration For Bollywood

It was an afternoon - evening in between times call from my dear friend Sushanta asking me to write something for our forthcoming and very ambitious project entitled 'URULI' , the dedicated ‘magazine’  being prepared to be published during the Durga Puja 2015 at Bengaluru by our very own and beloved Assam Association Bangalore...I also knew that much water had flown in this regard and it was a sensitive topic to broach to Sushanta whether we should call it a magazine or just a souvenir ... the dominating thought and consensus amongst the wise counsel agreed to it being called a 'magazine' ... so when i was asked and subsequently given the topics of health and travel to write on ... it was a pleasant surprise and yet a very big responsibility to make a slightly esoteric topic like 'health' interesting, enriching, invigorating and fulfilling...nevertheless here is a humble effort from my end and hope you enjoy the read ...

One of the most fascinating aspects of being a doctor is the unsaid oath that we as doctors globally take of ensuring the most ethical treatment protocols are followed as and when we treat a patient ... this is what is globally called the 'HIPPOCRATIC OATH' ... however, in India medical science has been very successful in straddling the celluloid screens with some very memorable and also hilarious outputs over the years ... truly time and again Bollywood does seem to get inspired from Hippocrates or to put it simply from Medical Science.

One of my first memories of how a film made against the backdrop of medical science became a blockbuster is that of the magnum opus called 'ANAND' (1971)... while everybody remembers the melodic singsong way in which Rajesh 'ANAND' Khanna calls Amitabh Bachchan 'Babu Moshai' I am sure many would not remember the dreaded terminal disease Anand is diagnosed with in the film ... any guesses folks ???  In the film itself Anand himself is heard explaining his disease and jokes about the name that, “kisi viceroy ka naam lagta hai. aadmi vividh bharati par announce kar sakta hai.”... the name being 'LYMPHOSARCOMA OF THE SMALL INTESTINE' , a type of abdominal cancer to put it mildly and simply. 

So was the fancy sounding form of cancer just thrown in for the purposes of character development? Or was it perhaps actually the name of a disease Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who was a Chemistry major student, stumbled upon by chance many years ago as a chemistry student? Whatever the reason, clearly no one on their crew knew the correct pronunciation of the word or the following it would develop. The tragic diagnosis then took on a cult status in Bollywood movies, memorable for its almost bizarre obscurity, and became de rigeur for anyone needing a terminal disease. It resurfaced most memorably in the smash-hit comedy Munna Bhai, MBBS (2003) about a Bombay thug-turned doctor who fights for the life of a patient with none other than…you guessed it, lymphosarcoma of the intestine ! Surely, this was a nod to the original “patient-doctor” film Anand.

Now where Bollywood takes a leap of another kind is making the disease a most dreaded and terminal type which is far from the reality. There’s probably a reason why you haven’t heard of lymphosarcoma of the intestine in real life.  A 1922 paper that discussed three cases of the disease in-depth in Annals of Surgeryremained the definitive word for many years. The paper described it as an extremely rare and obscure condition about which current knowledge was lacking (this was well before the age of DNA). Also discussed is how towards the end of the illness, the patient presents with severe constipation or vomiting—both unpleasant effects that Mukherji failed to include (they probably would not have gone over well on screen). 

Nearly 100 years later, the term “lymphosarcoma” is obsolete–by definition all neoplasms of the lymphoid tissue are cancerous and simply termed “lymphoma.” So what was perhaps once called the mysterious lymphosarcoma of the intestine is now recognized as intestinal non-Hodgkin’s MALT B-cell lymphoma. Still, this particular form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma occurs infrequently (only 8% of B-cell lymphomas), but retains a good prognosis if a particular chromosomal mutation does not occur. It can be caused by chronic inflammation from the bacteria H. Pylori, in which case, antimicrobial agents could cure you. Unfortunately for Anand, H. Pylori would not be discovered until 1982. Still, surgery and chemotherapy were available options for these patients, neither of which seemed to have been advised for Anand. For him, lymphosarcoma of the intestine remained an unavoidable death sentence. I know there too much of medical jargon I have used in the para above ... well that's just to say that misinterpretation of a medical condition to create a melodrama is not always advisable.  

And now you’re saying, so what? So Hrishikesh Mukherji made melodrama from an obscure fatal disease and didn’t stick with its actual forms of progression and treatment, big deal? Well, I’m here to say, for whatever it’s worth, lymphosarcoma of the intestine became ingrained under false pretenses in the imagination of Bollywood when knowledge about something more realistic and with a higher incidence might have actually served some benefit. What if he was just dying from End-Stage Renal Failure due to severe diabetes after a life of eating pure asli ghee? Yes, it’s a stretch. All right, a huge stretch. But someone had to say it.

Well Bollywood had much to offer apart from specific diagnoses, who can forget other iconic scenes such as a flashing red light outside the “operation theatre” (all my years as a medical student and later as a doctor I truly do not remember seeing that flashing red light apart from the one that is on the ambulance); the almost inevitable cure of blindness that occurs at the end after the eye bandage is removed etc. etc. (as brought to its height as an art form in Mere Jeevan Saathi.

Of course, the modern day Bollywood has made rapid strides into the inner realms of medical science by exploring many esoteric and might I say exotic medical conditions like Progeria as seen in 'Pa'; Asperger's Syndrome as seen in 'My Name is Khan' and before I forget  'Retrograde Amnesia' as seen in 'Ghazni' ...

Yes medical science can provide loads of inspirational stories and truly many of these have went on to become iconic movies winning laurels and awards for the sensitive portrayal of human frailties... some quick names that comes to my mind are 'Rainman' the brilliant Dustin Hoffman enacting Autism and Tom Cruise playing the perfect foil; 'Children of a Lesser God' a simple movie story that brings to focus beautifully the life and challenges of the deaf and the dumb and yes 'Outbreak', the epic on the ebola virus and how it is brought under control. In recent times, I did enjoy the 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' an interesting reverse take on Progeria wherein a person starts aging in reverse order.

But folks do not forget that it all began for us with the now iconic 'LSOSI' 😄 

Goals By Gods

Over the years and as I grew up watching FIFA World Cup matches, I realized that there are some players who are head and shoulders above others in that particular WC or in a particular team. 

These are the marquee players who in a moment of sheer magic and brilliance can singlehandedly change the course of an ongoing match and the resulting outcome. These are players who makes fans go wild with agony or ecstasy, leaves the biggest impact and thus makes the beautiful game so delightfully beautiful. 

These are players who are also Gods chosen and blessed ones and to their innumerable fans are the no less than Gods themselves...they are the gods of the game !!!

Interestingly, these players are the ones who makes the all important goals too and in manners which may not be there in the game rule book and these goals come to be known as God's Goal...Let me take you through some of the most famous God's Own Goals,,,

At the top of the list will be Maradona's "Hand of God" Goal Against England in the 1986 World Cup

     
   The second one is also accredited to the irrepressible Maradona who mesmerized the world with the second goal in the same match. For me those dancing and dribbling feet were of God ...So "Feet of God" goal is my No 2... i personally believe this is the greatest goal ever in the history of FIFA World Cup wherein Maradona starts from the midfield and one after another dribbles past seven English players enroute to scoring the most beautiful goal ever and lifts the beautiful game to another level

From 1986 till 2014 there were lesser 'God Goals' until yesterday June 24th 2014 ... in a do or die of a match  between Italy and Uruguay to qualify for the next round (Round of 16) at the FIFA 2014, God played his part again in ensuring that a goal happens to break the deadlock. Diego Godin, the hitherto quiet captain of Uruguay, came to the WC party and 'shouldered' a goal from a Uruguayan corner and ensured that the first ever world champs of the FIFA Cup gets another crack at the title to be champs again at the cost of 4-times FIFA Champs, Italy, who really would not have been a deserving team to advance at the expense of Uruguay. This sublime moment wherein the most elusive goal by Godin made him the God of Uruguay (even if for a day) and the ubiquitous shoulder push is what I would like to call the "Shoulder of God" goal

    
FIFA 2014 is reaching feverish peak now. We soon would be seeing teams getting knocked out either by a superior opponent or by a moment of sheer magic of a football maestro or by God himself who too, it seems, cannot resist a piece of action of the beautiful game ... so who are we to complain... we are only mortals still !!!

FIFA World Cup - The 4 Year Mad Ball Disease Due To The Beautiful Game

What is it about the beautiful game that makes the whole world go crazy and many like me and many of my football fanatic friends getting affected by what I call the 'mad ball disease'... To begin with this beautiful game becomes the biggest leveler of sorts when a much fancied side gets outgoaled and outsmarted by a seemingly innocuous and lesser known side... this beautiful game enables one to become a global household name and in many cases a global icon and dare I say that yes this beautiful game gives a nobody a chance to get his 15-minutes of global fame...no wonder the world recognizes it as the most beautiful game !!!

My first exposure to this madness and to this glorious festival of spirits and sports was way back in 1986 when a certain Diego Armando Maradona turned, twisted and traded towards a glorious triumph over the indomitable Germans...I am sure everybody from my time must still be recovering from Maradona's two goals in the semis against England...if the first one was from the 'hand of god' the second one definitely was from the 'feet of the god' ... a true wondergoal ... many pundits still refer to it as the 'goal of the century'  ... I am posting the link here for everybody's benefit and nostalgia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtJnk7TCDS0

Over the years, I have been blessed to see some of the most beautiful games as my quest and desire to know more and not miss any aspect of the beautiful game grew by leaps and bounds. The beautiful game demands passion, precision and perfection from its performers and more so on the greatest stage of the game the FIFA World Cup (Somehow I always loved the previously named Jules Rimet Trophy more).

The great goals and the super saves are what makes a FIFA match worth its weight in platinum. The best player gets the Golden Ball Award while the highest scorer gets the Golden Boot Award and the best goalkeeper gets the Golden Glove Award and not necessarily the winners of the above awards belongs to the winning team. This just proves that while individual performances matter in a match, at the end, it is the best team that wins the holy grail and not the individual and many of the individual winners will gladly trade their individual trophies for the coveted and the elusive grand prize.

For fans like me every 4-years we immerse ourselves in the beautiful game, we take sides of our favorite teams and join our teams in their victories and defeats and for a month get happily afflicted with what I call the 'Mad Ball Disease'  ... viva the beautiful game !!!

To Smoke or Not To Smoke

While Hamlet had suicide on his mind when he famously quoted, I am amazed how smokers never realize that they actually are working towards a slow death wherein death befalls as the body succumbs to the various adverse effects of chronic smoking. I tried smoking since I thought it was macho to smoke...this was way back in my teens...however, i soon realized that there is no iota of any mystery or machismo in that ubiquitous puff...in fact it is actually a pain to actually squeeze on to your cheeks as you inhale till your lungs shouts "i am bursting dude" and then you let it go as if its nirvana one has attained !

I know I may be sounding very cynical to many out there who are still caught in the quintessential hamletian quagmire of "to smoke or not to smoke" but I really find it very hard to understand that smoking acts as a stress buster...dudes we are talking about lung cancer to oral cancer to heart problems caused by smoking to smokers and yet my smoker friends believe its a stress buster !!! my friends you have just lost it just like the band smokie who lost it despite leaving next door to that wonderfully named girl called alice !

Finally my friends who smoke all i want to say is there is no tomorrow to kick the habit a goodbye and give up the puff its today and its now since there is nothing great in saying the famous quote "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."

In fact to give up up smoking is actually training your mind to get over the matter.. a small matter called smoking !!!

Mumbai 26/11, Lysistrata Phenomenon & Countering Terrorism

It was about quarter past 11pm when I got the first phone call from Mumbai from a close friend informing me about the attacks at Cafe Leopold, CST Stations and then at the beautiful Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Trident. All this while I was in a state of bliss being in my beutiful homecity of Guwahati amidst family and friends.

I didn't know how to react to the terrible tragedy and thought that being a quizzard and having a blog on quiz how about having some gyaan sharing with the readers of this blog on one of the first innovative counter terrorism measure ever to be adopted that actually worked very effectively.

It was in Greece and was formulated by the women of Greece led by Lysistrata. She got together the women of Sparta, Corinth and Boeotia (all warring Greek provinces)and swore them to withold sex from their husbands who were all at war against one another. The genesis of this amusing counter terrorism measure stems from the fact that till then Greek men used to believe that a Greek women has no self-restraint when it came to matters of sex and wine. The women on the other hand thought that the men were very stupid in their decision of having war all the time. The stand was war is an injustice thrust on women only since a men will never have problem of finding another woman as wife but for women as they grow old it will be very difficult to get a bew husband.

The men attempted to fight this resolve of their women but after about a month of futile attempts the men had to give in to the demands of the women. The men started experiencing physical pain from lack of sex.They quickly settle peace negotiations between the various provinces. Lysistrata declares the sex feud over and allows the women to return home with their husbands.

This entire Greek episode has beeen celebrated in the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes and in quizzing vocabulary is generally referred to as the Lysistrata Phenomenon. I am sure RGV can do up a bit of reading on the same to get further inspired with his next project on terrorism along with his already done groundwork of taking a tour of the Taj.

While such innovative counter terroriam may not play any role in the realm of modern day terrorism or mercinaries but the thought that I am trying to put forth is that our security / intelligence agencies needs to be very innovative in dealing with modern day sophisticated terrorist or mercinary. It is not about pumping in money in beefing up our security systems its about thinking one step ahead of these criminals all the time so that effective counter measures can be implemented swiftly whenever such a situation ever arise.

Why Minds Over Matter ?

This is a question that I have discussed and debated with many of my quizmates and opponents and let me tell you despite it being the adopted motto of our first creation of passion which was Quiz Foundation of Guwahati in 1991, we till that have not been able to come to a conclusion on this subject matter.

To me Minds Over Matter signified the enormous capacity of the human minds to come up with answers to seemingly impossible problems, shall I say queries or quiz questions, by working out an answer.

At QFG, some of the masters of this art form were guys like Senjam, Ranjit and many more. This blog is an attempt to revive the same people who came together one fine sunday afternoon to create one of the finest quizing group of this country and in the process created some of the best quizards that this nation has ever seen but who all remained unsung.

From late 1980s to mid 1990s Guwahati was the place for some great quizing action. Some of the best quiz masters of India like Derek O'Brian, Siddharth Basu and Joy Bhattacharya used to come on a regular basis and conduct quizzes.

Most of these quizzes were big ticket items and the competition was very very fierce. However, over a period of time some of the men stood out from the boys and continued to rule the roost for long periods.

Some of the best groups of that time were Amnesiacs, Excaliber, Unix (later on Soulmates), Commerce College; Law College etc. I may have missed out on many other names but trust me thatz because of amnesia that have set in over a period of time and also for not exercising the grey cells enough in my quest for minds over matter

Some of the names that stood out as brilliant quizzards were Reuben Choudhury, Sushil Dawka, Senjam Raj Selhar, Pritam Saikia, Ranjit Das, Subir Das, Miftauddin, Digambar Patowary, Rakesh Das, Sanjeev Sharma, Sujit Goswami, Niladri Bora, Saponti Baruah, Abhra Das, Gaurav Goswami, Gopu Da and yours truly.

Some of the best quizzes were the Pankaj Sharma Memorial Quiz, The Tea Center Quiz, The North Star Quiz, The Abhiruchi Quiz, The Exploreres Quiz etc etc. Again amnesia at work and I may have missed out on many other names.

As my first ever blog I have sort of taken a nostalgic trip down memory lane. I shall be blogging on lots of other quizing experiences and hopefully should be able to get in touch with all those whom I have met during those glorious quizzing days at least in the virtual world.

I also look forward to getting back to some serious quizzing and hope there is a quizzing club in Mumbai somewhere wherein on a sunday afternoon people who puts their minds over matter, meet up, and over beer, fish and chips also gets a generous dosage of quiz.