WHY?

 WHY?

A number of instances appear in our memory, most of which I try to figure out- why? In fact, I have always felt, these are cases of some ‘blind’ adherence to habit rather than obliging any logic. Let us try to consider the following – in our effort to decipher any rationale behind such practices. Look at these

HOTEL

Why names like “Ambal café, Arya bhavan, Venkatesa bhavan, Balaji bhavan” are more common as names of vegetarian hotels in Southern India? May be some sentiments of associating names with those of some deities – with the innate respect for those Gods holds the key to the nomenclature. A similar trend does not seem to be so common in naming their non-vegetarian counterparts. Often they carry names of Moghul emperors- Akbar or Jehanghir or some places like Hong Kong, Singapore or New York. However, a major Indian example of ’naming’ a non-vegetarian chain of hotels of global distribution on a deity’s name  is Madurai Muniyandi Vilas, ‘Muniyandi’ – being the name of a family deity for a group of people hailing from a place in Madurai district. By tradition they use the name of their deity for naming the hotel no matter where it is located on a global map. Of course, a few families choose to use names of some other deities for their hotels.

CINEMA HALLS

Central, Roxy, Wellington, Paradise, Diamond, Casino are some names associated with cinema halls which were started in the days of pre-independence in India. I am sure none knows what those names signify to a movie-goer. All [s]he knew was which house would screen vernacular movies and which ones patronized English or Hindi movies. Names of movie houses changed to be outright ‘domestic’ with names like ‘Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Ram , Sundaram’ etc; some went so far as to provide  names, ‘Karuppiah, Vellaikkannu, Pitchai, Sannaasi ‘ and so on  for movie halls.

Saloons

The earlier practice of addressing the ‘hair-dressing shops’ was to call them saloons. Mystery used to shroud their names. Irrespective of the town, in most places across Tamil Nadu, saloons were named ‘Malaya Saloon’, Singapore Saloon’ and at times ‘Saigon saloon’. What have these Asian destinations to do with hair dressing? Was it that the best of craftsmen on that trade were abundant in those places? Possibly, some sentiments used to rule the naming of a shop.

TAILOR SHOPS

Tailors also had the fancy of using names of places for their shops. They too resorted to ‘Singapore’, Saigon, Hong Kong, Tokyo and at times NewYork for naming their shops. There was some degree of patriotism too with some of them, if we go by their shop names such as Bombay tailors, Madras Tailors, Bangalore tailors etc. It appeals to me as a polite publicity of the craftsmen having been trained from those places. No customer attempts to verify the veracity of those names either.

 

BOMBAY MEALS

It is fashionable in South Indian towns to market Chappathies and related dishes on the name of ‘Bombay Meals’. Some also associate the food with Gujarat and call it ‘Gujarathi meal’. None has ever visited Bombay or Gujarat or has had the opportunity to taste the kind of food served in hotels across Bombay/ Gujarat. But, what has a semblance of North Indian taste or flavour readily acquires the status of Bombay meal/‘Gujarathi meal’. The consumer [of course a Southerner] does not understand the distinctions between, people from Maharashtra, U P , Bihar , Rajasthan or even from W. Bengal.  For them summarily all are North Indians [Hindi people] and their food is Bombay meals. The situation is the closest parallel for the average Indians to consider all Westerners as British people even if from Germany/ Russia or Scandinavia and firmly presume that their language is English. On sighting any of them our school children eagerly line up before him/ her and ask in distinct syllables “What Is Your Name”. The visitor baffled by the oriental pronunciation manages by sheepishly laughing and nodding his/ her head individually to each child. Emboldened by this, the children stretch their forearms for a handshake and the visitor gleefully responds. What does it matter if [s]he is British or Irish or Russian? [S]He is English in our reckoning.

IYENGAR BAKERY

The innocent Iyengars are forcibly brought into a trade of which they are neither familiar nor guilty. Yes, across Tamil Nadu if one travels by road, every 3- 4 minutes some bakery or the other stands visible bearing the name X X X IYENGAR BAKERY.  All one needs is to substitute the X X X segment by some name to be faithfully followed by the magic words “IYENGAR BAKERY”. The trade believes that but for the name ‘IYENGAR’, they cannot freely market their produce. It implies that the name tag is a QUALITY ASSURANCE by itself.  People who are too very keen to use a name that serves for a quality clearance, ought to bestow attention on to the feasibility of congruity in names. Look at this incongruity in name “SUPPIRAMANI IYENGAR BAKERY”-- Proprietor: Mari muthu or in some shops : Pechi amma.  Equally, comic is the attitude of some local politicians who choose  to call themselves “Mayandi Yadhav” or “Pitchai Yadhav”, as such a suffix is in vogue across North Indian  political outfits. Only name is needed and no logic is thought of.

Prof. K. Raman 

THE HAIR DRESSER

 THE HAIR DRESSER

Undoubtedly, among the varied services, the most indispensable is hairdressing and the hairdresser. Over the years, the profession has received a greater sense of respect and nomenclatural sophistication. In fact, the level of sophistication is so high that, the hair- dressing place is rich-looking, by all its gadgetry, high-tech cosmetic appliances, applicators, use and throw versions of fabric and so on. Honestly, any old timer would not muster courage to visit the place even once for hair-dressing. What baffles the tradition-bound customer is the array of lights resembling those of a movie-maker studio; the inhibition of entering the premises is compounded by the fear of unfamiliar nomenclature of the services offered. Should one erroneously call for a service un-intended, problems of two different dimensions rock the head; a] what we would end up with and b] how much we may have to shell out by way of ‘service charges’. It sounds even more strong that such places would levy a high % GST for using ‘imported gadgets’, lather of  heavens and so on.  No matter how sparse is the growth on scalp for the matter ‘to be trimmed down’, the service charges would be ‘merciless’.

Instantly, the least sophisticated ‘door-service’ hairdresser of our times looks god-incarnate. All he would need from us was just plain water and a small shelter at our backyard that too for our comfortable sitting under the shade of a tree on our chair. All, the trimmed-down pieces he would scavenge upon completion of work and leave the place neat. His services were offered for a very nominal fee at our own premises. The trade has witnessed an evolution of sorts. Who ever thought it would reach a scale beyond one’s limits of imagination?

 We did have hair-dresser shops in our times; but they were more customer-friendly and never frightened even school boys whose Sunday forenoon hobby was to visit the hairdresser shop once every 3 weeks. Not that those boys were any trim-conscious. It was a ploy to browse cinema magazines, trivia and tit-bits which could be had from there. Reading such material was an offence those days especially for boys. Parents would not permit reading such material at home [in fact such magazines were unknown in any house] nor would boys and girls be allowed to listen to cine-songs. Most hair-dresser shops had such print periodicals besides a radio tuned-in to receive cine-songs from Radio- Ceylon [the then Sri Lankan Radio].Only upon completing most reading matter, the boy would submit himself for hair trimming. Post hair trimming, it was not possible to stay there for long, as more persons would trickle in. 

What of those elders then?

Most elders used to avail of the ‘domestic service‘ by the then hair dressers of the town or village. There was a near regularity for the service once- a month. It was more or a clientele. Those hair dresser personnel were well informed of such rigidities as ‘amavasya’, opening day of tamil month, Saturdays,  and such other ‘restrictions’ for hair dressing exercises. They would avoid those times and visit only when such prohibitions are not observed. Their gadgetry was quite modest; included a small cup, a razor, a couple of Scissors, a comb and a mirror of the size of a present day Android phone; all were contained in a small tin box . Those craftsmen were merciless in trimming down most growth from head and would give a clean shave to face making the client younger by at least 5 years in looks.   Some hygiene-conscious customers used to deliver a few drops of anti-septic liquids like Dettol into the cup with water and protect self from cuts. Some households used to have the services extended to all their children –each for less than a rupee or so per head. Such rapport between houses and hair dresser personnel has gone now. The service charges have hit a new high these days ranging anywhere between Rs 70 and 100 per person. So, the interval between sessions of hair dressing, gets widened too. Changes in mode of operation have not spared hair-dressing functions either.

Prof. K. Raman

TRAVEL BOOKING [Indian railways]

 

TRAVEL BOOKING [Indian railways]

Well, any non-Indian may just wonder as to what prompts such a write- up. But, for non-Indians everything about India is a matter of curiosity. For them any liquid packed in a bottle is a ‘safe’ drink and presume that world over Industries are conscious of providing hygienic products to consumers. So, they buy any beverage in bottle and presume to have done the right thing in India. Our understanding is different! We carry tap water in old beverage bottles and are mentally assured of taking ‘safe‘water. What have these bottles to do with the topic – is a question lingering in reader minds. I am aware, but having embarked on ‘curiosity’ on a railway premises, it was a digression of comparing different minds.

Getting to the title back, it is necessary to recall how train tickets were booked till late 1980s and a little later as well. Ticket booking was a process of sorts in the sense, the commuter must know the route on which [s]he plans to travel; should know in which junction a ‘connecting’ train can be had for continuing the journey onward. Besides, the train number of each train / the availability of the train on that day when our train reaches the connecting junction should also be clear for our venture into train travel- booking. Unless these data were ascertained from authentically valid sources, long distance travel into Northern parts or for a northerner to Southern parts would be an ordeal compounded by language problem precluding scope for gathering information from other persons. All such data used to be furnished to the official in the ticket booking counter, so that [s]he can initiate appropriate steps. What –initiation of steps?

The traveler would file an application detailing the date of travel, travel route and break of journey if any, besides the class in which travel is proposed. The official would issue a card ticket for the initiating date of journey up to a certain point say Chennai Egmore; at the back of the ticket, all crux of travel  would be handwritten by him / her ; further the traveler would be advised to come after 3 days to confirm further details of onward journey for which the railways would send ‘wire’ up  and get reply. After 3 days, if confirmed, all further travel tickets for apt dates/ trains would be issued at the originating station. A minimum of 3 to 4 days of waiting was required for travel confirmation. Even more arduous, it was if we recall how travel data were maintained at booking stations. Yes, there used to be distinct ledger was each train whose number was prominently scribed on the outer cover. Once a ticket was booked, the clerk used to ‘register‘ the data on the proper page of the relevant ledger. People were a bit worried that the person should use the proper ledger, lest should lose accommodation in the intended train.   Even as the man used to open the ledger, doubting Thomases like me, managed to  peep in to see the train number the proper page for date etc; without fail the clerk would be irritated and he would take revenge by asking us to tender the exact amount like Rs 163. Ps 45 and collect the ticket thereafter. What to do? We can ill afford to forego reservation because of someone’s casual attitude. Somehow fetch the amount in appropriate denomination and gather the ticket. We cannot ask him ‘Sir, have you booked the ticket for proper train and date?’ So, even if we should fetch correct amount, better be sure that the ledger [train], the date etc are what we requested for. From such a ‘documented’ registry of ticket information, we have come a long way into the comforts of ‘computer booking’, which right way makes a Pan India registration in no time. No such delays like sending ‘wire ‘or wire pulling  to buy travel ticket for trains. Kudos  to the authorities of Indian Railways, who managed to train all their ticket booking personnel to the processes of computer operation. By any stretch of imagination it was no mean task, because, for long, they had all been used to write the data and register them on paper and practically had no formal familiarity with the functional requirements of computing. The staff also deserve our honest appreciation, since switching from easy tradition to ‘unknown modus operandi’ like handling a computer so as to quickly book tickets especially for vacation travelers who would otherwise may lose chance of travel by several days. The magnitude of the problem can be perceived, only if we realize that within minutes of opening, tickets get exhausted –as many commuters from across India may all be targeting a specific train and date. By and large, India and Indians catch up with any modernity despite poor opportunities / low economic conditions interfering with learning advanced techniques. All said and done, train travel suits our country men the most by being the most competitive and comprehensive to travel across the country.

Prof. K. Raman  

 

THE COMMON COLD

 

THE COMMON COLD

Though named so, everything about it looks odd and irritating. Can anyone stay in peace with cold-affliction?  Among the several viral disorders known to target humans, the least worried about and the most contracted is the common cold. NOTHING LOOKS ‘COLD’. The nose looks purplish, eyes feeling drowsy, voice turning husky or hoarse and pronunciation distorted. ‘N’ sounds  ’t’, ’m’ sounds  ‘b’ and so on. Quite some ruffling occurs in throat and the victim neighs like a horse on and off. The nagging experience is, neither can one take to bed nor can go about routine with the usual freedom. The engaging assignment for the victim is to ‘blow off ‘the fluid from nostrils, lest it should cause embarrassment unpredictable for magnitude. Such persons carry different forms of balm or cream meant to ‘ease’ breathing by relieving congestion. All such facilities are mere transient supports, as in due course, the victim is bound to go to ‘nose-blowing’ exercise.  Reams of tissue may be needed before one can stay free from the disturbance.

Cold is caused by virus. But, under the generic form ‘cold’ there are varieties. No two varieties of cold are alike. All differ by the length of time they reside in a victim. Some last for 3 days, some for 5 days, some-7 days, some for 3 weeks and so on. Every cold is preceded by typical symptoms like dry nose ,  ruffled throat or both. For how long the symptom persists before the cold establishes in a person is an approximate indication of the ‘stay’ of cold in a victim. The longer the persistence of symptom, the greater the duration of stay of cold. Some precautions may lower the severity of infection.

Once dry nose feeling arises, better to flush the nostrils clean with fresh water once every 15 minutes. This can wash off viral particles still in the nasal canal, so that the volume of infection is lowered though it cannot be eliminated outright. Another effective help can be had from salt gargling of throat, which osmotically challenges the infection processes. The advantage from gargling can be readily felt and repeat gargling for a few hours would prove advantageous in minimizing the severity of infection.

Most regimen suggested for cold are mere strategies of lessening the burden and not a cure per se. There is a popular saying in English which suggests ‘Cold -treated lasts for a week and if untreated stays for seven days’. Perhaps, truth cannot be paraphrased any better. Most suggestions to tackle cold include spices like pepper, betel leaf, vasica [adathoda] leaf, and dry ginger, turmeric etc concocted to a drink and periodically consumed. The dreaded part of cold relates to the sneeze that possesses the victim. My naming it ‘possessing’ the victim has the logic that the person never knows when would [s]he sneeze, but would unfailingly do so when the least expected. The most proximal persons may recognize the sneeze on its way, provided they happen to watch the victim under the prospect of a huge sneeze. Sneeze appears to be a ‘process’ which requires a certain level of organizing the event. The ‘sneezer’ comes under the process of possession. [S]he slips into penance –like state, one of the eyes closed 90% and the other open 70%, nostrils gently palpitating while one nostril slightly expands and the person feels tickling in the head, releases a huge spray of fluid in a high decibel frightening all persons around; it is not the end of it; slow trickle of water from the corner of the eye, mouth and nostril follow in precision. The person has no way of containing the sneeze, except to shield the mouth with a thick towel. At times, the sneeze is so sudden that all including the victim are caught unawares. Despite the outburst by sneeze, the person has to again go through the session of nose blowing.  The ordeal of the victim is harsher at night because breathing turns near impossible while lying in bed, except by a reclining posture.

Yes, cold is common and its grip over humanity is also common but no sufferer feels ‘I am not alone’.

Prof. K. Raman

BUZZ, LULL AND DULL

 LULL, DULL AND BUZZ

If we desire observing all the three, undoubtedly the best destination is a railway station. I choose to carefully call it a ‘station’, not a junction. Junctions invariably stay nearly active through the best part of a 24 hour schedule. Any railway station of a medium-sized town would readily satisfy the components in the title of the write-up. When each of them comes into play, it is complete; lull, dull or buzz reaches its full in a short time. As if under a magic spell, the system draws itself into a shell only to re-emerge to life after a few minutes or hours.  It is interesting that the whole army of men who attend to various functions in the territory quickly disappear; except some tea stall every other kiosk stays shut till minutes before the arrival of a train. As if responding to a providential dictate, they resume respective duties by opening the stall, moving the luggage cart, news paper vendor boys and tea/coffee sellers move briskly.

In a medium sized town if we visit the railway station, we find airy platform, the lone resident being a lazy dog stretching all limbs in deep slumber at 11.00 am, with no sign of human life around. Around the station superintendent’s chamber, some voice is heard –but no visible person. We wonder who would take care of operations with every possible door shut and no whisper of life; we are to board our train at 11.35 am with only hope from a consoling mention: train no 11626 RT [meaning running to time or right time] for that day.  With barely 7 minutes to go a voice says ‘Kandasamy, 626 blocked. From nowhere a stocky man emerges and gives a long bell ending in 3 hits.

Slowly shops on that platform open; Stocky Kandasamy slips into trousers and moves to the far end of the platform, just after the second bell of 3 strokes. So far only some three of us were on the platform; now some thirty people of varying family sizes are trickling in and soon the number touches 50+. One person in red vest [obviously a porter] collects the luggage from behind a bench and leads two people to the prospective spot from where they can board the coach on which their accommodation is reserved.

In minutes the train moves in making the place busy of buzz with people running in either direction to locate their compartment. The vendors keep running too, shouting out the product they sell. Enough passengers alight from the train and try to move out with luggage and children dragged along. Do you think one can have a safe exit from the station into the town? It is near noon now and hot Sun compels people to look for some transport. Before the people take a decision, the operators –drivers of taxis or auto rickshaws line up clogging the exit and try to snatch some luggage so that the owner merely follows suit and that way they can catch hold of the forenoon’s chance.

 Meanwhile the train had left and the entire platform has dropped into silence and would be so for the next 3 hours or so after which a passenger train to south would arrive bringing some life. Even then the ‘life’ would be just partial, as shops would not open till late evening and passengers generally do not buy anything as they get to the town. There is lull in the platform, dullness descends on the entry of the station with a lone auto rickshaw parked under the neem tree.  The place looks deserted right up to the main road where one or two fruit stalls are left open.

Life looks rather sedate till around 6.00 pm or so where up on at least  4 express trains bound to Chennai would bring life and cheer with each train drawing up 70 people or so daily. It is the evenings in such stations that witness real buzz. The trains returning from Chennai complete their schedule between 4.30 and 5.30 am in the dawn hours. Only transport workers congregate hoping for some business. The station looks dull till 9.00 am when commuters move out in local train for neighbouring town for work.  Thus a moderate station witnesses degrees of activity every single day. 

Prof. K. Raman

 

CINE MUSIC

 CINE MUSIC

Quite a few persons may not relish the very title or the theme thereof. But, in my perception, we cannot dismiss something outright as of irrelevance. Why, I reckon so, is only after deep consideration of facts and facets of the case. Yes, it is a brand of music by itself and has the participation of several distinct agencies –big and small, besides those of several players [instrumentalists], lyricists, composers, recordists , sound engineers [ acoustic organizers] before a song emerges. There is nothing derogatory to discard cine-music in the sense that, it has taken deep roots in the social setup of the present day. Besides, several writers, critics and free-lance observers place ‘cine-music’ on a pedestal of cognizable importance. So, it offers enormous scope of decent living for many. The harsh criticism against cine music largely pertains to ‘how it rams into the precious time of youth who would otherwise be free of distraction from studies. But, world is a stage for all to play and none can restrict anyone; it is for us to be judicious in apportioning time for the most significant segment of life and to those of lesser relevance. With this preamble, let me try to place some details for our consideration.

Generally what irks the ‘purists’ is the real gay abandon that goes with the format in cine  music. There are no rigid rules of grammar to abide by nor should any composition stick to a defined framework called ‘Raaga’. At the same time, let us recognize that the game is like playing grounded in the sky. The grammar of traditional format offers a protective fence to stay in; on the contrary, being unfettered by any frame is a burden in not losing the imaginary limit set for each song; any deviation in staying within  can ruin the song. Imagine how difficult it would be for a composer to appropriately tune the singers and all players to perform to scale set individually for each item. Though one would say that all players are to abide by the musical score sheet, the composer and his immediate assistants ought to be extremely alert to curb any tendency of violation from any quarter.  In a large band of orchestral team, it is a task of sorts to pinpoint error spots and set them right.

Where does cine music score over traditional music

Everyone is aware of traditional compositions for their pitch, amplitude and the ‘swara patterns’. So, the audience at large desire from the performers ‘perfect adherence to the defined patterns’ and still bring to play imaginative variations thereof. Creativity in the format of traditional brand of music is confined to ‘flexibility within the set frame limit’.

In cine music, the composer chooses play up the value of chosen emotion which fits the scene- say philosophic or romantic or comic or abrasive disposition –in display. To this effect, the lyricists deliver phrases –every time newly coined [as to avoid looks of repetition]. The lyric is the core of the idea. It has to be ornamented by elegant presentation. That is the domain of the composer; [S]he chooses a tune appropriate to carry the emotion of the character on screen and sees to it that all words in the lyric stay in harmony with the tune; if a couple of words ‘refuse to stay in conformity’, substitute terms are furnished by the lyricist, so that the spirit of the lyric stays intact. That fixed, the singers are trained to sing in a specific pitch [octave] to respect the emotion in the scene. Also, music scores are set for varied instruments to be played in a particular sequence along with the singer between phrases or as interlude scores; while playing along with singer all instruments are subdued in tone to accord value to voice; at interludes orchestral pieces are quite rich; appropriately conceived notes have the mesmerizing effect of blending the interludes with the lyric body of the song. Sometimes they do not blend well, leaving the song in lurch and such songs quickly reach the oblivion.

The critical issue here is, the Composer has to ensure freshness of presentation, new embellishment styles and fine play of percussion and harmonic rhythm. To sustain these requirements is a formidable task; this is because, the average time for a song is 3 minutes 17 seconds. Just within this time schedule, the entire range of imaginative creation, dexterity of play and sustenance of song mood have to be ensured song after song. Is it not easier to render a song on time-old grammar prescription and attain status of perfection over a period of time?

A cine music composer has to be a round the clock creator and deliver goods through articulate rendition.  In addition the composer has to make use of apt voices to suit the mood and the screen artiste as well.  [S]he exercises tight vigil over the entire proceedings of song recording to ensure execution of the prescribed form.

It would be interesting to mention here that being a high stakes industry, producers/ composers prefer to engage the most dexterous of players on any given instrument. It is not as if anyone with a good training can perform on a cine platform. The most talented among them are the sought after.  In fact they keep flying between destinations to oblige different composers, though they stand to gain for every effort. If we look at the demand for a person, it would be a huge surprise. In a 3 minute song a particular expert just plays certain notes in specific intervals accounting for about 30- 40 seconds. Why they seek that person is his /her elegance in the nuances of play. For that, hours are spent flying between terminals. The most respectable aspect is, for engaging such  players, unanimity of respect prevails for that artist across languages ; none discriminates him /her for creed or colour or language.

Cine music –though regarded less in some circles, has its own intricacies and rigidities not known elsewhere. Hope, the perception is clear to dispel our own misgivings about that format.

Prof. K. Raman

WE ARE NOT ALONE......

WE ARE NOT ALONE …  

What is this? Is it an assertion? Or Is it a consolation that many share the ‘issue’?  In any case, such an opinion certainly arises in us at least on two occasions. We need not conclude that only two occasions conform to the above state of mind. Let us try to recognize, how are we driven to reckon so? As for instance, some astrologer suggests that certain planetary positions in the horoscope indicate that for a few months to come, your son or daughter would face health problems largely due to ‘not so favourable’ dispositions of certain planets in the zodiac. So, you are advised to visit a particular deity on day 5 after every full moon for at least 6 consecutive months to ward off the ‘bad effect’ from the disposition of certain planets as per the horoscope. To suggest this, he propitiates some deity with his eyes closed and rolls out the dice and makes some arithmetic calculations and offers the advice ‘go and pray to  the deity in some temple which alone has the deity controlling the planets in question. But, the deity is in a small village about 23-25 km from Thanjavur; the place is accessible by train, as the temple is close to the railway station “Thirumaanoor”. The deity is quite ‘powerful’ in subjugating bad planets. The place is served by a passenger train in the morning and in the evening. On the prescribed day, with all awe and reverence, you take your son / daughter by train. When you buy your ticket at the counter,  you feel,  left alone and worry as to how you would make it on specific days that too by a defined passenger train.  After say – an hour or so , the passenger train reaches ‘Thirumanoor’ . As you hurriedly get down, you are surprised that that nearly half the train is vacated by passengers who alight in the same station. All along you have been of the opinion that such peculiar planetary dispositions are unknown for many. But, as the entire cluster of passengers moves to the same temple, as you do, it is a revelation that ‘we are not alone’. Bad planetary alignments are not uncommon or peculiar to a few alone.

Another occasion in one’s life is, when visiting a specialist physician. Yes, this time it is in connection with some bone problem in hip region. Your family physician suggests that you visit an Orthopaedic physician at a specific hospital in Chennai. You are mentally overwhelmed by the tedium of travel to Chennai and to seek a prior ‘appointment’ with the doctor who would spell if yours is a case of medication or one of surgery. Natural sentiment for any patient is to pray for treatment by medication as the very thought of ‘surgical intervention’ is as much painful as the surgery itself.  Suddenly your neighbour chooses to be an advisor; he recommends ‘ayurvedic’ oil massage which is far more effective,  non-invasive and free from agony of surgery. A man who was so far not well disposed to us, now looks a messiah, having given the option of avoiding the pain of scalpel. Ayurvedic medication is more acceptable, for it is just external application of some ‘concoction’ of herbal extracts in oil and judiciously applied to restore tissue positions so as to ‘restore’ normal setting by mere external dabbling of muscles. The ayurvedic physiotherapist suggests that for 15 consecutive days you visit the clinic by 5.15 am for massaging and there after a steam bath for 10 minutes daily. The next morning by 5.15 am you  notice at least 45-50 people , young and old taking the same therapy . Many of them say, they take to this type of therapy as it is comprehensive with body care and re-scheduling of food intake for alleviating pain and dislocation of muscles instead of surgery. Everyday different sets of men and women appear for therapy. Here also, we recognize that enough people come for treatment of every kind of disorder. Some prefer surgical intervention while many are happy to be treated through physiotherapy. In any place, we are not alone. There are enough [wo]men who share the same problems as we do. One would get to have a like experience when accompanying an ailing relative to cardiology wing or to Urology section or any other special therapy in multi-specialty clinics.   No where we are alone; rather we are not alone anywhere, as our country has a range of specimens for every description. That ‘we are not alone’, is by itself a booster of ‘mental well-being’- as knowing the general trend ‘we are not alone’ is a morale booster. India has a rich population to serve all the varied samples typical for all disorders.  Not merely for disorders. If you visit civil supplies authorities for any disorder in your ID card, there are 100s with similar errors on their documents. If you visit the University examination section for error in your daughter’s name, they readily provide a ‘printed’ format for seeking rectification. It means errors are quite common as to keep ready a formatted petition!.Nowhere is anyone alone.

Prof. K.Raman