Things to Do

In a few months I will be joining Flipkart as a Software Development Engineer. So there are things I must sort out now. Things I would like to do once I have money in my pockets:

• Volunteer for social services. This is something I have been thinking for many years now. I will see what I can do. Teaching children, helping out the elderly in old-age homes and feed the homeless and the poor. I must do it. Probably on the weekends after finishing week's job(s).
• Backpacking and travel places. Starting with India. I would really like to get a feel about traveling alone(maybe with one or two friends?). Two additional things I would like to do as well. Get a reel camera with photosensitive films. And get a small diary to write about my travels. I think I would ask my father to lend me his camera.
• Read a wide variety of things. There is just so much to read out there. I am really focusing on non-fiction as of now. Revolving around history, physics, medicine and social issues. I still haven't thought of a plan to manage my time here. I will have to be extremely disciplined with myself to do that which brings me to the next point.
• Exercise daily. Running and core-strength training. First one because I want to be a serious runner and begin participitating in marathons from 2016. Second one is to tone my body. Around 4 kilometers of jogging/running, 30 push-ups and pull-ups everyday. That should do it I think.
• As I will be exercising a lot, it makes sense that I consult a dietician/trainer who is going to supervise it. Food intake is going to be very crucial.

Ofcourse, this list is not exhaustive. But I think it is enough to guide me in the coming months. Wish me luck!

Thoughts on the Emperor

This is a review of The Emperor of All Maladies written by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Before I write the review of this book, it would be justified to share the reasons of picking it up in the first place.

It was around 2010-11. The newspaper headlines showed that a non-residential Indian has won the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction. The book was on cancer and the author was an oncologist. Impressed by the facts, I took a mental note of reading the book in future. Around four and a half years passes. On October 2015, I get a phone call from my mother. She is worried about her brother. He has been ill for sometime. The scans have showed that his intestines are lined with tumors. He has to undergo a major surgery. Though the diagnosis hasn't come yet, I already knew what was coming. A month later, the biopsy results came in. It is a Stage III colon cancer. The time to read the book has arrived. Cancer is now a personal crusade.

Before I pick up a book written on science, I first go through the qualifications of the author. Though a Pulitzer Prize winner, I still had to check. Siddhartha Mukherjee, in this case, is an assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University and practices at CU/NYU Presbyterian Hospital(additionally a Rhodes scholar; he has graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School). All my doubts were put to rest.

The book surely was intense. It starts with the story of one of the author's patients and ends with another. In between, he described the entire history of the disease - from its first mention in ancient manuscripts to Sidney Farber's "Jimmy" campaign to our current understanding of cancer genetics. It was a journey of hope and despair, fighting against a shape-shifting disease of enormous resourcefulness.

This book was strikingly readable and humane. Cancer is a master of destroying human dignity. And so its medicine. Radical surgery, invasive chemotherapy and the haunting feeling of death suck out the life from patients. But it also shows how people don't lose hope even in the toughest of times. For instance, chemotherapy(which is a treatment using cytotoxic chemicals; cytotoxic means "cell-killing") may result in asphyxiation through vomiting apart from hair loss, kidney failure or infertility. People still go through treatments boldly.

Herein lies also the stories of researchers who painstakingly found new ways of controlling the menace. From testing of thousands of toxic drugs to obsessive collection of tumor samples to recruitment of patients for randomized trials; biochemists, radiologists, hematologists, surgeons and medical students helped humanity in the race against itself.

Cancer - fundamentally as a disease of mutations and cellular pathways - is a corrupt version of ourselves. It is a cell which has evolved to get a maddening urge to divide(in a sample present in the author's lab, the leukemia cells still divided furiously; the blood cells belonged to a woman who has been dead for thirty years). All death signals have been switched off - resulting in a scary version of immortality. Cancer cells use tactics which were only used during our birth, when we were developing as foetuses in our mothers' wombs. The tumors also create their own blood vessels for oxygen supply.

Though it may seem daunting, medical researchers are finally getting a comprehensive picture of the disease. Cancer therapy is finally becoming targeted. More and more drugs are being developed which specifically aim only mutant cells. Hope still stands tall.

If you're reading this, then allow me to thank you. I have another thing to ask of you as well. If you aren't, then please start going for medical checkups on a periodic basis. Take your family or close ones too. The best way to defeat this disease is to detect it early.

Revving Up!

It has been really hard to learn astronomy without a teacher or a guide. I have managed to ace through a few introductory astrophysics courses by using whatever little physics I learned at school(luckily my physics doesn't suck as much). But sometimes, my lack of formal training shows bitterly at places.

 

Today, I was solving an exercise involving the radial velocities of stars in a hypothetical galaxy. I managed to solve some of the problems before getting stuck. The problem told me to identify a graph showing correlation between radial velocity and right ascension of the stars. Let’s not go into much details here.

 

Now that italicized term became a horror for me. I tried to learn about it(on my own) near the beginning of senior high school. I didn’t get it then. I couldn’t wrap my head around it today.

 

That's why I have decided to attend an astronomy camp in nearby future. I am looking for a great place with amazing enthusiasts. Do you have a suggestion?

 

Will write about the further developments.

Old Lanes Revisited

Today, I went to my uncle's home in Ranchi. He is not alive anymore. It has been three years. Since then, it is my first visit to the home where only my aunt lives now.

Let me clarify. He was not a blood relation. He was my father's friend. But anyway, he has been very close since the day I came to Ranchi for IIT-JEE preparation. A lot of things happened in between. I have a job now and will be graduating soon.

One thing that moved me was how the place has changed after my uncle's death. He has been a small businessman. After his untimely passing, his wife and son(who is in college) has been left with no income source. Therefore, his home has been transformed to provide accommodation for girls. The income source is humbly modest.

My aunt has to live alone now. She was telling how hard it is for her to do all the chores like shopping, paying taxes etc. She has no one to talk to. She passes her time by going to relatives, watching TV or reading religious books.

My uncle has been a jolly person. Extremely friendly and easy-going. The house was full of energy when he was there. Now, it seems dark and cold.

After the visit, I roamed through streets which I used as a senior high school student. It was nostalgic. Shops which were frequently visited by me and my friends still functioned the same way. But today, I was alone in a vast sea of people.

How time makes so little and yet so large a difference?

Feelings

People ask me to tell things about her. Tell how she is. How could one describe a person? I think I know her. But words don't make much sense as I begin to speak. It seems as if she is a experience. Bounded to a time and a place. And to a memory.

I was in a barren land. Frigid. Nothing grew there. And then. One day. It was a surprise. I felt a touch on my shoulder. A warm one. I looked up after a decade. There she was.

Her smile. Her scent. Things that I can never forget. The other details, I have long forgotten. As I looked around, my world was not barren anymore. Flowers were blooming. Birds were chirping. Streams flowed.

My life has never been the same anymore.

Suppressing Ego

I have been a fortunate person all through my life. I have had decent education, didn't face financial problems and have great parents. I am at a better position than lot many.

But, it has a side-effect. I have felt my ego increase with every step I took in my life. I get offended easily and judge people too often(I judge myself too).

Therefore, I have thought of a plan to control my sense of self-importance - learn things outside of my comfort zone. So that I feel humbled. Often.

The first step I took was to complete an online course on Cosmology. It is actually the last of four courses being offered by Australian National University on our Universe. It is being taught by Brian Schmidt, a Nobel laureate and Paul Francis, a distinguished educator.

Reasons for choosing cosmology are straightforward:

• The CS courses I took had very little to do with physics. So how I think is not in sync with how physicists think. Therefore I would be pushed a lot harder. And I was. It was one of the hardest courses I have been through. It was unbelievably fun too.
• Universe is beautiful. Period. As much is out there, astrophysicists and observational astronomers use "indirect" techniques to learn about things. I was curious about what these techniques were.
• You don't get many chances to learn from distinguished people.

That was it. I am still to complete the final exam(but have faired quite well on the Homework problems). It is much work and I can't spare my time as I would like to. But I will do so soon.

Next step? Learn another thing! I have procrastinated a lot on learning Neuroscience. Hopefully, now I will. Wish me luck!

As Good As Heaven!

Some experiences are unforgettable. Today, I visited Moti Mahal. Not a "palace of pearls" as the name suggests. More like of tandoor(sort of Indian barbecue but not really).

Growing up in India, I never got treated well for the money I paid. This fact changed today.  The duration I spent in the place was full of royalty, fragrance and awesome food. I never thought of seeing Rogan Josh in a menu while at Ranchi. This changed today as well.

Cooking is an art.  From actually making the dish to how you serve it, everything matters. The dining I experienced today, pushed the definition farther towards the sky.

I don't even words for praising the food that was served. As a non-expert, I will try to do justice in a best possible way. Chicken that melts in your mouth, finely chopped mutton that brings up childhood memories, vegetables mixed in thick creamy sauce which makes you smile; you will find everything. Served right from coal-ovens.

And, the music that made it all fall into place.

If you are looking to spend a fine evening with your friends or loved ones, I highly recommend this place.

P.S: I was grateful to meet the Chef too. He was deeply touched by our feedback.