The Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth- A Bilimbi story and more...

Some time ago I came across a news where a person was admitted in hospital with discomfort and nausea. The tests revealed severe renal failure. The perplexing fact was that this patient's tests had shown healthy kidneys just a few weeks back. It turns out that this patient consumed a glass of bilimbi juice each every day for four days and by fifth day developed the said symptoms. detailed tests showed oxalate crystals in urine due and had to undergo weeks of treatment and hoemodialysis before he regained full health. Apparently the bilimbi juice consumption was done based on advise via YouTube by some self proclaimed "experts". On search I came across many other patients who were admitted in hospital due to the over consumption of bilimbi juice to treat their hypercholesterolemia. A good research would have revealed that there is no general prescribed daily dosage for bilimbi juice. All authentic sites give you the benefits, but advise you to consult a doctor before starting on the bilimbi for any health benefits.   

Many of our attitudes are formed by hearsay or ideas projected to us through mass media, social media, cinema and literature. The Internet is flooded with videos, discussions, debates, advises and articles, many of which gives a singular dimension of the truth. We often forget that there is a huge difference between Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth. Our selective amnesia on this important fact make our attitudes dangerously jaundiced and biased.

One such topic is our apathy towards the govt health infrastructure and personnel. The Whole Truth about this can be found only with effort, time and humility to accept that our knowledge and exposure is limited. Kerala has one of india's best health infrastructure. Another strength is the proactive Community medicine department in Kerala that was noticed by public only after its contributions to effectively control the Nippa outbreak. 

Interacting with people in the health sector reveals the extreme resource constraints within which the health system works. In my personal interaction with many doctors, nurses and support staff in the govt. sector, I was surprised and humbled by their dedication despite the severe resource (both human resources and others) within which they work. However most of them were accepting of the situations and kept their morale high by contributing to filling in the gaps in the resources in their own way. A doctor donated chairs for the doctors waiting room which had little furniture, another donated a music system to the C-ICU to play soft music and soothe the nerves of the suffering patients, PG students assisting in the ICUs and wards always decide on and donate an equipment needed, at the time of completion of their course. These people did not wait complaining about the situation, but found their own ways to run the system in the beat possible way. 

In this context I borrow a point from the book 'How NASA builds teams' by Dr. Charles Pellerin - "Where attention goes; power flows". It is high time we take effort to shed light on the constraints and difficulties in the health system, so that the authorities concerned would pump in resources to strengthen it and not just conveniently crucify the personnel whenever there is an error in the system. Whenever there is a gap in the system we give our opinions without hearing both sides of the story and join the media in blaming the system and echo their accusations. 

We took its services for granted till now. Now lets give it the attention it deserves, and let the power flow.

What makes a joyous life?

What makes a joyous life?

Chocolate melting in you mouth and filled platters

Content palette and tummy matters

Dance, music and disco lights

How can we miss the party nights!

What makes a joyous life?

Watch the silver moon and the golden sunrise

Roaring waves and the breeze on my face

Feet in the cold stream and fish nibbling my toes

And walk on wet grass with no shoes.

What makes a joyous life?

The buzz and noise of day 

The silence and quiet of the night

Times when we talk and talk away

Lips silent and eloquent eyes bright

What makes a joyous life?

Sit by his side and hold his hands

Caress her cheeks and the lovely strands

Listen to his dreams and his chatter

Enjoy her songs and her laughter.

What makes a joyous life?

Tears flow out; It's the cost of wisdom flowing in

Fierce Red sea, does part ways, revealing path in between

You see morning dew however scorching yesterday's sun be

Rainbows are invisible unless there are eyes to see!

Deep impressions- Journey down the memory lane

How the human mind and memory works has never ceased to fascinate me. I was amused by the movie Inside Out with its creative and imaginative representation of the human mind and memory.  For the same reason I have read many books that explain the peculiar nature of human mind. One such book is 'Invisible Gorilla' . The beginning of the book, mentions an experiment where you need to watch a video and count the number of times a ball is passed between certain participants. I was confident of my observation skills and was proud that I got the right answer. But I missed a glaring visual- a participant who walked across the stage in a gorilla suit. I thought my husband was pranking me when he brought it to my attention To my utter dismay, I found that he was right when I watched the video again . But yes, this did teach me a lot of things about judging people and how I may miss the glaring gorilla if I am not careful enough. 

As I understood from different incidents in my life; the gorilla can be objects, facts or our own attitudes and prejudices that we miss due to the conditioning of our minds. 

I had very clear memory of many incidents in my childhood. A very old one is regarding my visit to Goa when I was just about four years old. Even today I can remember clearly the layout of the apartment, the building, the children's park behind it and the beach near by. 

Today I believe that many of the old memories stay with you for a reason and you get to figure it out only much later. Three very old memories involving my father made me come to this conclusion. It was my father who taught me how to read time from an analog clock. He drew a clock and explained it in a simple way and I could figure out how to read the time very easily.  A few days later when I had difficulty reading the time, he again repeated the process without judging me. Today, whenever I have to explain something I use illustration, synthesis  and a little patience, and I see it working each time.  

I had seen my fathers tender and patient side even though he was known for his short temper and toughness. As a three year old, I remember sitting on my fathers lap watching the rain through the grilled verandah. After some time, he suggested that we go inside as it was growing cold. Not wanting to stop watching the rain, I insisted that we stay for some more time. Complying, he took me inside, wrapped a towel around my neck and we watched the rain together till my hearts content. 

Another memory is my fathers reaction when I broke a new bottle of sauce the same day he bought it. Achan, as I call my father, was always passionate about cooking and loved to experiment. Different types of cakes, grilled chicken, my first taste of chilly chicken, batura (a popular Indian bread) were all his specialties; all of which were novelties at that time. One day as I was helping him clear the shopping bag, the big ketchup bottle that he had purchased for one his special cuisines slipped from my hands and shattered on the floor. I froze and looked at him nervously expecting a dress down. To my surprise his reaction was "Thank goodness it did not fall on your feet!" Then he helped me clean up the mess. As we were doing it I asked him, "Now what will we do? It was a new bottle." "Buy a new one tomorrow. What else?" was his reaction. 

Many such memories come right on time and help me see the gorilla in front of me before I become the irritable, impatient, prejudiced and judgmental self that I am. It helped me forgive the broken china, give into the requests of  kids for extra time with them, do activities of interest with kids and challenge myself to work on my creative side. 

Great memories are treasures worth revisiting. walk down the memory lane and wipe off the dust settled on it so that it glows. There are deep biochemical and neurological explanations for how memories are built. I would say our memories are seals that mould us and make us who we are. The unique patters developed by the different incidents imprint on us and give us the unique personalities that we have. When it begins to crumble and fall off we lose a part of ourselves and we seize to be who we are.  This is the realisation that would help us be more humble and grateful selves. 

Ode to the Friend

An ode to the NGO, Snehita (which translates to 'Friend') Women's Health Foundation that work tirelessly in the area of breast cancer awareness. Snehita has always lived up to its name lending a supporting hand to the people in need. In the time of the pandemic when everyone was confined Snehita got more visibility by the efforts of the member volunteers through online webinars and media. A lot of online events were conducted in association with other institutes and organisations including the NSS, each of which was a success. I am a proud Snethita!

 In the highest tower Friend lit the lamp

To spread the missive as a beacon, 

Guide the multitude in the damp

And shepherd them till the war is won.

The crowd moved as a busy bee

To work, markets, park and beyond the sea

Engrossed in the work of the hour;

So busy, they never lifted their eyes to the tower.

The Friend stayed up and kept the lamp lit;

By morning and night with determination and grit

Little by little the message did spread,

To raise their eyes who were prepared.

A heavy, bleeding, hurting grasp,

Anyone in the clutch of the crab;

In pain of the tightening pedipalp;

The Friend did have the healing message of help.

Then came the damp killing mist,

Stole the souls of those who touched it or breathed.

Anyone in the streets fell its prey,

The crowd stopped venturing out for work or play.

In the confines of their home,

They cried out in agony and pain

They longed for the light but in vain.

Days were dark and damp, and nothing was the same.

In the solitude they raised their eyes high;

Far above the mist was the tower high.

They descried the missive it beaconed,

As they followed it, the clutches of the crab weakened.

The mist outside was dark and damp,

But now the crowd had eyes on the lamp.

The lamp that shed the ray of hope,

For liberation from the crab, a way it did ope.

Adventures of POLICE - POLICE to Blunderland

Six kids accompany their grandfather in a perilous journey to experience the mysteries of a place they had heard of only in his narratives. ‘Police to Blunderland’ tells us about their first ever adventure together. 

What do they face on their journey? Do they finally reach Blunderland? Read the exciting story to find out.

To purchase this book, please follow this link : amazon.com/author/josephl
This book is currently available only in kindle. You can purchase the book via the Kindle App. 

Books to expect soon: 

-- POLICE in Blunderland
-- Adventures of Dr Cloney 2 - Dr Cloney and the Robocops

Here is the 'From the Author' section of the book

This story started as a bedtime story. My kids loved listening to stories and would beg for a story every night. As days and years passed by Jo and me soon ran out of stories and were forced to be creative. Every night a part of the story would be narrated an we would stop as soon as the kids fell asleep. Kids love these stories more than the stories that we narrated from our memories. The more elements of creativity Jo added to it and the more the kids loved it. A few years ago wrote a single page outline of the story and then sat down to build it. In 2013, I wrote the first manuscript. I edited it several times before it came to this form. In 2016 I added some illustrations to it on Jo's advise. It did add to the the overall appeal of the book. In my previous book, the cover page was a big challenge and I had a difficult time designing it. Though I put effort on the design, the book cover did not come out that well. So I thought of adding a good photo for my second book. I chose a real photograph for this. This photo had an air of mystery and also a fairy tale feel about it. It did come out better than the first one. 

The Black Dog and its new prey?

Sushant Singh Rajput -One more added to the list of good souls held captive by the Black Dog?

I saw him first in the movie, PK and was sure that he was a promising artist. With this single movie he moved to my list of favourites in Bollywood (in line with Aamir Khan, Shabana Aasmi, Konkona Sen, Nasuruddin Shah, Om Puri, Navasuddin Siddiqui, Nana Patekar, Paresh Raval, Kajol...). He had a captivating smile and his eyes could express even the subtle emotions.

I remember one of his speeches given to students of DCE where he was an alumni. The audience wooed and clapped for almost all the lines he spoke. There he described himself as an introvert. Though he was the owner of a personality that attracted the attention of a lot of youngsters, it did not sound contradictory to me. Many of the Mollywood actors whom I watched from childhood and appreciated were introverts. From big shots like Momootty, Mohanlal, Shobana to other talented actors like Prithviraj, Fahad Fazil, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Sreenath Bhasi, S P Sreekumar, Sudev Nair, Tovino Thomas, who won the hearts of people of Kerala are introverts. Many times I felt that they compensated for the limited words in their life with the mind blowing performances as outgoing characters. This was kind of confirmed in the message that Sushant conveyed in his speech at DCE. He admitted to feeling excited and happy when he played the characters in the movie who were very different from him.

Samuel Abiola Robinson a young actor from Nigeria, played the role of a football player in the Malayalam movie- Sudani from Nigeria. This movie won a lot of awards in the Kerala State Film Awards. Samuel was appreciated for his brilliant performance in this movie. Recently he was in the news because of his post in the social media regarding his stint with the Black Dog.

The topic of the Black Dog never came up in any of  Sushant's conversations. So none of his friends found the need to dig deeper or found any reason to be concerned. Did the brightness of his smile hide the Black one that growled behind him? Smiles can be very deceptive...

Reminds me of a small poem (Sher) which I jotted some years ago

कहते है सब, आप की मुस्कराहट है हंसीन बड़ी।
कहते है सब, आप की मुस्कराहट है हंसीन बड़ी।
मगर वह क्या जाने ;
दिल में जो चिंगारियाँ है, उसी की रौशनी चहरे पे पड़ी ।।

By the POWER of Google Search… I have POWER…

I remember the time in early 2000s when Altavista was awarded the best search engine award. Google was there even then and it made me wonder why Google was not rated the best. Today Google has evolved to become the answer to most of my questions.

Now when I search for something it gives me much more than I ask for. I can also use the powerful options given by Google to promote my site. The beauty of it is that these powerful options can be used by following some simple steps.

Knowledge Panel – This is additional information about the entity searched combining many related attributes of the entity like website, logo, name, etc. This is seen as a box on the right side of the search result. You can own up the Knowledge panel and do the necessary modifications so that the knowledge panel shows the right data. https://millennialmoderator.com/how-to-create-a-google-knowledge-panel#fold

Example: Search for Google in Google search. On the right panel you see the Knowledge Panel with the summary details of the entity Google.

Site search – This is a powerful tool to enable Google search within your website. When you search a website powered by Google search, Google gives a secondary search option in the search result for your company. Use this secondary search option to search for anything within the website. To enable this, follow the instructions in https://support.google.com/customsearch/answer/2715510?hl=en.

Example: Search for pinterest.com in Google search. You can see a secondary search option in the first result. Search for something using this and the search result would only have items within pinterest.com

Rich Snippet- Do you want Google to give you rich snippet for the items/products in your website, then this feature is for you. Code in micro-data on your product into your website page using JSON-LD or Schema.org. Google would use this micro-data to build a rich snippet in the search result. Want to know more? https://jsonld.com/product/

Example: Search for a popular product in Google search. You see the result with the micro-data that you set for the item like Rating, Description, Price, Reviews, Offers, etc.

More on the powerful options of Google search in another post