North East India, a re-visit.

North East India trip 24th October to 7th November. Group consisted of :- Navy Commander P.J.Joseph and Usha Joseph, Navy Commander K.V. Ramachandran and Nalini Ramachandran, myself and Molly.

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We all landed back from Guwahati after a 15 day North East tour, at Bangalore KIA 4 hours behind schedule on Indigo Air on 7.11.2017. 

One great benefit observed for myself was at my gym that evening. I had lost ONE kg body weight. The north east is good for health...more of that and other benefits later in the story. 

Generally, incredibly INSIPID food helped me eat less, and crib more. So please note, cribbing about food reduces anabolism and thus reduces bulk. More over as I am used to chilly spice and other spices, ( which were totally absent in all dishes all over NE ) I ate less stuff than usual and that helped in weight loss too. So, such trips are arranged by our friend and efficient Travel Consultant M/s Javian Travels' CMD Jacob Chacko (Mohan, for us) for sightseeing plus health benefits. One of the Navy Commanders with us gained weight despite breathing tardiness + diabetes. One of the Mrs. Navy Commanders got her knee weakness cured as she climbed down 275 steps to see "LIVE ROOT BRIDGE" and climbed them UP at Mowlinnon, some distance from Shillong, in Meghalaya. Mohan should be given the honorary "Ayurveda Achaarya" title for his contribution to health recovery of geriatrics. The village of Mowlinnon is considered the cleanest in Asia.

Start: Arose early morning at Bangalore and went in an Innova taxi together. Ate BF at KIA which was insipid. I should have guessed the future of our gastronomic experience by that breakfast. But NO, I hoped for the bloody best. So much for positivity. 

Reached Guwahati where I did my Pre-Univ ( Cotton College...now Cotton University... Founded by one Brit, Sir. Henry Cotton ) and M.Sc. at Guwahati university campus itself. 

The city, as expected was more crowded and bustling with activity. Old Landmarks were stymied by new buildings and encroachments. Brought back memories of my college mates and some of the unforgettable professors. Particularly a young post graduate who joined the University classes as our DEMONSTRATOR ( a level below junior lecturer) who was fresh with her M.Sc. degree and hence say a year or two older than my classmates, ONLY!!  We had to consider her as Teacher. And we all did. Ms. Monica had also signed up for research in plant physiology. Professor and head of department was Dr. D.K. Barooah. prof Barooah chaired the Indian science congress convention held at Delhi, the year before I passed M.Sc. He was married to Dr. Mrs. Parukkutty ( a Malayalee ).. both ex- Cambridge. Teacher Monica was an inspiration with her good looks, though she was 5 ft. 3" only. When our class went to Darjeeling for tour she came with us. Rest of the story on that topic is private and privileged. I still remember my other friends from the M.Sc. class: Anisul Islam, Ronen Hazara, Ms. Jamila Sadique, Ms. Purobi Mukherjee, Biman Datta. We were 22 students in the class at the Univ campus. Other colleges in Assam were affiliated to this university too.

Visit to the Univ campus was great. It has many more buildings now. Hostel facility seemed quadrupled.

We all saw how Guwahati ( earlier spelt: Gauhati) has become crowded and messy as is all two/three tier towns in India today.

Our short boat trip to the temple on the river island quelled my fear of the ferocious Brahmaputhra river.

Onward to Tezpur, the home of Bhooth Jolokia ( Ghost Chilly, as per the westerners). In the town of Maine USA, we walked into a specialty store and we found Jolokia pickled in small bottles and priced at around $ 12 each.

I have more fond memories of Tezpur than Guwahati, because I was younger and my parents and two of the three siblings were together. Tezpur has grown say five-fold. Visit to Darrang College was so emotional for me, including talking to the three BA students, in the presence of Rajan and Ramu. They were in UNIFORM !!! That is the rule the boys said, my God ! They also said that the principal of my time now has an Auditorium named after him. He later became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Delhi in Indira Gandhi Government...Dr. Bipin Pal Das. While in the campus , I remembered my classmates Gopika Ranjan Das, Monmaa Gogoi, Taroon Borphukan. The latter taught me how to bunk NCC parade wearing uniform that were 4 sizes bigger for us.

Electric Auto Ricks in Tezpur was a pleasant surprise. In my time they had only Cycle Ricks, where while riding it one watched the rise and fall of the Dhoti clad bottom of the Rick cycler. On a climb, (from Darrang college there is a climb) and the bottom went up to my head-level, due to his straining, apart from gas emissions. I used to patronize one Bihari Rick-cycler, of my age. I wonder where he is ! Perhaps he became a minister in Bihar state. He taught me the basic Hindi spoken words. Hindi language refinement happened then in Lucknow and Delhi, though in between Bombay corrupted my good Hindi:- "Karlela Ahai, Marlela Payge', Thhamba, Kai Mantho" etc.

District Commissioner's residence was close to the hillock garden we climbed. The then commissioner's son is My brother Cherish' contemporary and friend ( as Cherish tells me now) from St. Joseph school there.

Church of Epiphany in Tezpur and the diminutive Padre Wild the then Vicar of that little Church will remain my mind as long as I live. Bhupen Hazarikka the singer was in his prime in Assamese songs; later on he migrated to Bollywood. Surprisingly I did not know anything about Bhooth Jolokia during my stay in Assam.

Road to Bomdila and on to Dirang was tiresome. Dirang being the first stop-over to a much colder region, the hotel Petaling was a disappointment, with no room heater and very small rooms. My saga of inedible, insipid and primitive type of meals three times a day began at Dirang. All Arunachalis need to be punished with Bhooth Jolokia paste on their tongues every day for one year to teach them to know what is nice and spicy food.

Reaching Tawang after our backbones were pulped was a relief. The euphoria evaporated seeing low-grade staff at the Hotel TAKSANG. For the first time I witnessed hotel staff ( all three of them) sleeping behind the reception counter ON THE FLOOR cozily and with such abandon, that guests had to wake them up and offer morning tea to get them to prepare breakfast. 

Low voltage current till guests screamed at the staff was a daily routine at TAKSANG . More tasteless meals made me dream of Saambaar and coconut Chutney at night and whenever I closed my eyes. Banishment to Siberia must feel that way, for prisoners in Russia.

In all my life I haven't woken up daily for 15 mornings at unearthly hours of 4 am and 5 am, except for my Cancer treatment at CMC Vellore, when I hardly slept for two long moths. The food at CMC was a tad worse than Arunachal's "yellow-food". Everything yellow, as if influenced by China's Yellow River. We Indians should plant Bhooth Jolokia throughout Arunachal and the Chinese will never claim the region again.

Drive to Boomla pass was memorable though bone rattling in the Tata Sumo vehicle. The driver said seat-belts were unnecessary and hence he had removed it. A Moron. Snow fall and mountain peaks and breathlessness due to low oxygen were an experience. At 16200 ft altitude and below zero temperature (minus 12 C), going to toilet was like undergoing cryogenic surgery for piles. Couldn't feel anything anywhere....couldn't SEE anything either, since there were no lights in toilets. Molly said it was all a good challenge....Yes, blind and with no sensation in the body, I now know how comatose people feel. 

The army Jawan narrating the situation at China-India border said the Chinese could see us, even our smiles using some device ! None of us were smiling. I was clicking photos not knowing what I was shooting. Many snaps had only my fingers on the screen. Then I tried a selfie, while I had started trembling but the camera only caught my nose running like the waterfall we saw on the way up ! Then it was a run to the jeep like a headless chicken, only to see that the driver Shri. Pong Krap Mow Lung, had moved it further away. He was, I am sure hoping a few of us would conk off, so that his down-hill drive would be lighter. No, we all survived the historic

Boomla pass visit...including those with knee pain, asthmatic tendencies. Challenge, I am told ! Govt should consider  big bonfire at that place, a gas fired one, and a well stocked Bar and spicy chicken Tangdy kababs. Hot & Spicy Chinese soups free for all non Bengali visitors. For Bengalis, Jawans must stick masking tapes across the mouth, to silence them. Talking like fish mongers, all of them!

Escaped from  the RECEPTION-BEDDED hotel, and yellow food and world's WORST sandwich makers....One bite of the sandwich and the rest fell crumbling to the ground at Indian Army's "Y-JUNCTION". The stray dogs thanked me for the crumbs. Then Raj & Ramu treated us to Tea and Cauliflower Pakodas. Again yellow. I tried to smile to myself at the mirror in the Officer's tent next door and I thought I had contracted Jaundice. Then I saw all Pakoda eaters were jaundiced looking on the teeth. These days in Bangalore I avoid looking at anything yellow. I salute the soldiers posted there. My sincere salute.

Tawang to Bomdila via Dirang. Bad hillside roads, continually in repair, with earth-movers and boulders to be negotiated skilfully by Dolay the Ahomiya ( Assamese) driver. Stayed at Hotel Tsepal Yangjom, right in the market place.  For a change, the rooms had wall mounted heater AC. Slept well. The ladies went around and bought Bhooth Jolokia right from a vegetable vendor ₹20 for 5 pieces. Looking at the chilies gave a kick start to my so far dormant and disgusted taste buds.

On to Tezpur via the bone crushing bad road ridden with landslides. Onward to Kaziranga Rhino/Elephant sanctuary of 430 Square kilometers. Pleasant weather, familiar vegetation, quiet and widespread hotel rooms, Assamese Bihu dance at poolside. A bit more tolerable food including a choice of both burnet and unburnt omelets, and less watery tea. Saw tea estates on plain land rather than hillsides. Bought some tea from Hathikuli organic Tea Estate.

Some of us wanted to stay a few more days in the salubrious Kaziranga vicinity. But no, we had to complete the saga for the benefit of posterity. Started the long drive to Shillong via Guwahati bypass. Roads were good. When we reached the periphery of Shillong hill city we were greeted by kilometers long traffic jam. Already anaesthetised posteriors and fuzzy heads were predicting nervous breakdown. Usually cool Dolay was yawning uncontrollably. Finally when I was groaning at the long line of vehicles in front, Dolay cut sharply into a gate and lo and and behold, Hotel Landmark Hill Victoria loomed large, as large looking as the frontage of Queen Victoria herself. I thanked God and promised to go to All a saints church the following Sunday and partake of Holy Communion, which I did with my dear friends. The Police Commissioner gave the short and interesting sermon.

Shillong is still the small Scotland of the East, despite the killer traffic congestion. I tried locating my old good friend Pradip Chakraborty by visiting and meeting the principal of St. Edmunds College there but failed. He had studied there and taught there too. My dear friend seemed disappeared to some place. I hope he is happy and well. I prayed at All Saints church for his well being....as also for good luck to find him. Since all sorts of Saints are working for me, I am sure to find him.

On the way back from Shillong to Gauhati airport for our return to BANGALORE, we had a day at Guwahati. Molly took Herculean effort to the chagrin of Dolay, to shoot pictures of Chatribari Hospital and the Church inside Nehru park in the city. Suffered one last dinner at Landmark Hotel there and in the early morning ( again early morning!!!) collected their surprisingly well made chicken sandwiches and left. The airport gave us another taste of North East, by delaying the flight for three hours, hourly announcements thrice. 

Reached Bangalore on 7th Nov Tuesday and life is good again.

Now I suffer from lack of sleep after 6 am. I plan to consult Dr. David Chiko on that issue.

Cheers !

Tito

Cloudy Days versus Sunny Days

                                        CLOUDY DAYS ARE HAPPY DAYS ! 

                     HOUSE WARMING IS PASSE; IT IS HOUSE CHILLING !

There is a painting in my elder daughter’s room which states: “I have got sunshine on a cloudy day”. I have always thought how we in Southern India got to believe that kind of a statement and repeat it in our daily conversations and writings. Largely it is a western thought as they live in a cold and wet weather condition most part of the year. So they jump up in joy when sun shines through ! Even when it shines say in Europe it is for brief periods and hence the excitement. In southern India there being no winter worth calling ‘winter’ and the sun god bearing down, accompanied by the goddess of humidity working full time, sunshine is ( for me surely) a bodily terrible thing and spiritually so taxing that on a bright Sunday morning I feel closed curtains and goggles is the way I wish to stay even at home

Thus, having been born in Keralam I always looked forward to onset of South West Monsoon and the seemingly endless downpour. At the peak of those rainy days there would be a couple of weeks when it gets pitch dark at even noon time when the sun would be lost completely to blue-grey rain laden clouds. That is lovely and almost like paradise. A bucket-to-one-drop kind of blessing from above !

As a young school going boy, I always regretted the passing of Monsoon and the arrival of blazing sun until North East Monsoon. However this second monsoon is always for lightening fireworks and thunder like hydrogen bombs going off, with a few coconut trees catching fire and burning like some north Indian Diwali madness. The much sought after dark days are there, surely, but not to my satisfaction. Complete darkness at noon where one can light a few candles and have candle light lunch is reserved for for the glorious south-west-monsoon.

During summer which is 90 % of the year in my beloved Keralam, the sun is so bright that even the setting sun can tan ones skin and bring down rivulets of perspiration from head to toe. A self-administered shower, at the family well, by drawing bucketfuls of water by rope and pulley and poring down on one’s head generally cooled one’s body a little bit for about quarter of an hour. With such sunshine, on non-cloudy days I usually prayed at night for torrential rain; and sometimes when my prayers went unanswered, I gave in to fantasy and told myself that the ceiling fan's swish was light rain in progress and heavy downpour was on its way. However the pitter-patter of heavy rain drops on my ancestral home’s Mangalore tiled roof would be missing and such disappointments were enough to send one into a half-coma like sleep. AND THEN, the cruel sun would come up on the horizon oozing blood and orange juice and one would get fed up of sleep and rise and grumble for another blindingly bright and sweaty day ! Sunshine ? No thanks ! A dark and cloudy day any time. If goddess of rain pleases to bless by torrential rain, then so much the better.Bangalore days, after retirement is not as good, but is manageable, with lots of lightly cloudy days, with or without light showers that last for a maximum of half hour.

After Keralam, life shifted to Assam in the north east. Finally one could experience ‘winter’. Not severe but quite cold for a south Indian. Summer was hot but humidity was within decent levels; greenery all over, just like Keralam but no coconut trees and many trees and shrubs known to one were missing. Flowers -- chrysanthemums,Roses, Marigolds and many others bloomed in sizes unseen in Keralam. They were huge in sizes and even deeper in their colours, but with less fragrance.Curry leaves grew wild and were the size of tea leaves almost, but one had to use triple the quantity of Kerala variety in curries to get some aroma. Most importantly, SUN behaved itself during winter and clouds and frequent rains beat ‘him’ and made ‘him’ behave. Even summer did not allow sun to horrify God's people on earth.

Bombay appeared in life next.Or I appeared in Mumbai. Humidity always hits the nineties. Some happy dark days were there. Floods and general disruption of daily routine was on the mind during monsoon. On other days sun doused my joy de vivre. Sometimes one wished why nobody invented a huge goggle to fix in top of the city so that the nasty sun would look like the comedian Mahmood in old Bollywood movies from morning till sunset….fantasy caused by very bright sunlight !!

Then life shifted to New Delhi. New or old Delhi, the sun roasted one and all. Poor street vendors and general public particularly. Humidity being too low, the dry heat and dry wind laden with sand from the Thar desert sucked the blood out of every one. Though winter gave the residents another wallop. with bitterly cold  and wind but one felt good in one way that the sun’s criminal behavior was not to be suffered for some months. Dark winter mornings, early nightfall and woollies made one feel the temporary win against the SUN.

Welcome to Yemen....on the RED SEA. Mild hospitable people mild mannered Arabs.. Quite green, but not like Assam nor Keralam. All their vegetables and Qath ( for chewing to get a high) are locally grown. Very few big trees; fairly fertile. Mostly shrubs on roadsides. Taiz is at an altitude of 3600 ft above sea level. Salubrious climate. Houses do not need even fans. Capital Sanaa is 8000 ft. Sun dare not blaze down on Yemen. Rains are often, but light and short.Never any Dark days but plenty of Grey days. One can make do with that.

Finally to the Gulf…Dubai; twenty three years; Desert; the sun ruled in that region like a merciless and murferous devil; thirst; cataract in early age; changing of sweat-soaked dresses twice a day ( or thrice, sometimes). Air conditioners everywhere including in covered bus stops. Light winter from November till end February gave some  respite from the terrible sun which punishes both rich and poor alike. Temperatures hit 50 degree Celsius often in summer; construction workers suffered most the heartless sun’s fury; many fainted on daily basis. The authorities experimented cloud seeding in summer. In my experience all it produced was a glorious dark noon ( that was paradise) for a few hours and just one thunder and a few table spoons of rain. For a fan of darkness throughout the day for a few weeks continuously,that was like someone waking me up at midnight to hear: “ there is no supper tonight, so go back to sleep”.

So when my daughter comes back in a few months from Japan I am planning to put up a painting which will say: “ I HAVE GOT A PITCH DARK CLOUDY DAY ( THANK GOD) ON AN OTHERWISE CRUELLY BRIGHT SUNNY DAY”. Instead of an orange-yellow blob on top my painting I will have a grey blob with black patches inside it... and my smiling face too.

While on the subject of hot bright sun versus dark cold rainy days ( or just cloudy overcast days), I must also say that in most parts of India, and definitely in Keralam, one must not invite people for their HOUSE WARMING…instead, it is appropriate to say: ‘HOUSE COOLING”.... . WHY WARM a place which is already hot humid and horrible ? House warming is for Europe and other regions.

Wish you a very dark or grey,comfortable, cool and cloudy day.

ROSSOGOLLA !

I lived in Assam during my entire college education. My father worked in Tezpur. From my college in Gauhati , I used to travel by bus to my parents in Tezpur. On the way I would see steel vessels with those small white globes in syrupy liquid kept safe from flies in glass boxes. Once when the bus stopped for tea, I ventured to ask the roadside seller what that was. He explained in Ohomia some thing. Taking a risk I ordered two of them which I was served in a 'katori'. It was sweet and sour. I then thought " what a wonderful sweet dish". At Tezpur, after that experience I ate Rosogolla often... Most of the time it was sweet and sour !! The reason being the absence of refrigerators in the shops that sold it. Only several months later when I ate freshly made Rosogollas I realized thst it was supposed to be just sweet and not sweet&sour. My stomach was healthy enough then to tolerate the slightly spoilt Rosogollas.

These days I am very pained to see there is a huge controversy raging about its Geographical Identity. Some wants the GI to be Bengal... Yet others are sure it's GI is Odisha. With my sweet experience long ago, I am casting my vote for Assam. I hope my very dear Odiya and Bengali friends will forgive me for my sentiments. May the authorities decide one way or the other before America decides to patent the product....we barely saved the fate of Neem Tree and Bhooth Jolokia, world's hottest chilies from the clutches of patent hungry Yankees.

The snow white, spongy sugar-syrup filled globes are the gift of North East India for the whole world !!

Jesus Lived in India- by Holger Kersten

I just read, with great relish ,the Book named “JESUS LIVED IN India, by Holger Kersten            ( Penguin Books).

This is a book that will be very interesting for all Christians ( and non-Christians with even academic interest in that faith ), especially those who erroneously believe that the current versions of the holy book contains and records all that is worth knowing about Jesus Christ. The book mainly deals with  “THE HISTORICAL  JESUS” as opposed to “The Religious Jesus”. The latter aspect is ( sadly) what almost all Christians concern themselves with. Since Jesus did live on this earth, then the historical Jesus is as important and his religious contributions, no doubt.

The author convinced me as a reader on the following .......

·         That Jesus spent the missing years from age 12 to 30, in India; specifically in Kashmir. Even today there are places, monuments and ------ with names alluding to |Jesus , his mother Mary, and even Moses, in Kashmir ( the Indian part of Kashmir). The book’s basics are founded on two European researchers who visited relevant locations and read Budhist historical recordings which are available for us to inspect. The place 'Baramulla'  ( 12 Mullas or priestly persons) is probably a reference to Twelve Disciples of Christ.

·         Jesus used the SILK ROUTE to reach Kashmir. Very many of Jesus’  admonitions and teachings came from Buddhist teachings and beliefs. Many of those are quoted by him verbatim. There is no doubt in any one’s mind that Buddhism dated centuries before Christ.

·         Jesus did not actually die on the Cross. Joseph of Arimethea and even one of the Roman Centurions ( the latter being a secret admirer and follower of Jesus) planned ahead and got release of his body before he actually died ( but was in a mild coma, due to loss of fluids  and and a sedative administered through a sponge dipped in  “a liquid”). The Centurion fed Jesus a liquid  containing a combination of Poppy Alkaloids ( known even at that time  as a sleep inducing drug). In that stupor, when Pilate was convincingly informed that Jesus had indeed died ( whereas he did not) gave permission for Jesus to be dismounted from cross. With alacrity Joseph of Arimethea and his confidants got him down ( before Jesus regained consciousness) wrapped him in cloth ( the shroud of Turin is that cloth) impregnated with herbal poultice known for preventing infection of wounds and with quick wound healing properties and went through the charade of “burying him”

·         The Shroud of Turin has been proved to be genuine over the years and it showed blood stains which showed that Jesus was alive but anesthetized with herbal drugs. Corpses do not bleed.

·         If he was a SPIRIT who rose from the dead and walked through locked doors, why was it necessary to roll off the stone covering the grave ?

·         If he was SPIRIT ( the risen Jesus) how could he show wound marks to Thomas ( the doubting Thomas) How can spirit being have bodily scars of wounds and holes where nails and spears were driven in ?

·         The “angels” said to have been sitting inside the Grave after Jesus had gone, were actually “Essenes” a Jewish Community ( Pre- Jesus) who had almost all the characteristics of later day Christians but without the redeeming teachings  of Jesus, much of which in any case was borrowed from Buddhism, from India.

·         Jesus therefore did not ‘resurrect’ but he was ‘ resuscitated’, after the effect of anesthetics wore off and the poultice nearly healed his wounds. That is why Thomas could put his finger in to the deep woulds and get convinced that it was indeed Jesus that he was talking to.

·         After ‘rising’ ( risen from dead was a figure of speech), Jesus with his mother left the region of Palestine, because if he was found alive his tormentors would arrest him and kill him. So he took the ‘silk route’ again  with mother Mary as well as a few of his disciples ( surely Thomas was included in the team) and returned to India ( Kashmir).

·         Mary’s tomb is still venerated at a place in today’s Pakistan called ‘Murrie’. Jesus lived in Kashmir till old age ( 80 or so) and died peacefully and is buried there. The tomb is still there for all to see.

·         The well known fact of St. Thomas Christians of South India fits- in well here as Jesus could direct Thomas to go to South India from North India ( rather than from west Asia) to spread his gospel, and the Thomas could easily reach there and do his job. Therefore we have had Christians in Kerala / Tamil Nadu region from AD 52.

·         The christian order of worship and order of Church as a concept  as we know as well as christian belief are all the creation of St Paul. So what we Christians practice is PAULISM and not JESUSISM  or Christism. I personally feel convinced about this expose`

Notes:

The book in no way reduces the importance of Jesus. We all know that the plain factual history of Jesus has not been explored. HIS life was always been treated with religious fervor and total unquestioning  belief in the Bible, till today. With due deference to Bible, we should have studied the birth to death life history ( keeping apart his religious teachings and acts) of the man which got sidelined for some reason or the other, by many

Other chapters that should have been in the Bible ( i.e Mary Magdalene’s as well as Gospel of St Thomas, which were later discovered as the originals of other ‘included’ chapters were discovered earlier) were ignored. Why ? I am referring to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi relics. The religious councils and their adherents ignored them. The book in review here explains that the ‘resurrection’ was in fact  ‘ resuscitation’ . However for increased impact ( as was the wont of religions that arose before and after Christianity  the the council of Constantine and other ‘councils’ wanted the “ascent of the person in earthly body”  story to stay, for added impact and consumption of the common people who did not understand anything of all this any way. The Church leaders have an agenda in their favor for all of us to believe whatever they dish out.

I have in my simple thinking noted very early in life that Jesus NEVER said he was God or god.Accordingly when asked “ Lord how should we pray” ? , he said “ OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN..... FOR EVER AND EVER” etc.  Jesus COULD have said if he wanted : “ pray to me, The Christ”. He did not do so. More over Jesus explained many times that he was “ son of God” just as all of us are Sons and Daughters of God.

In my personal opinion Jesus was the most perfect human being blessed by God a million times more than any other being and is worthy of all of us to submit to him as the greatest GURU for all times. It is appropriate here to define GURU ( GU-RU). The one that removes darkness and brings in light. Darkness being ‘lack of knowledge’ and light being ‘good knowledge’.

In my opinion, the priest class has misled us through millenia and are still at it. Two of class mates who are priests freely but in person agreed to that view. No wonder that large numbers of youth are LEAVING the ritual ridden main line church denominations and forming smaller groups where they sing and worship without set rituals and litany in Syriac or Latin and other mambo jumbo, which most people do not understand.

The ‘communion’ also has to be understood in the context of Christ’s visits to India and the ‘sacrifice’ routine that existed in the region at that time ( and even today in many places of worship).

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A Trip to Tranquebar ( East Coast of India)

Trip started from Chennai. All of us woke up at unearthly hour of 3.30 am to be inside ca

at or before 5 am, as per trip captain's orders. However the drive was pleasant. Breakfast

at GRT Hotel had innovative stuff like 'Masala Dosha' with 'Uppumavu' as filling. Coffee was

excellent and all had several cups !

Some of us had abdominal belts to prevent back-aches and a few of them took it off after

some time since 'Masala Dosha' kept rising up with the car jerking on potholes.The usual Tamil

Nadu scenery on the way. By about noon we reached Tranquebar ( Taragampaadi in Tamil

which means "land of the singing sea waves"). The waves sounded the same as anywhere

else to me but I was told that one needs to have classical music-ear to appreciate.

Several leaflets and tourist booklets claimed that the breeze there has very high OZONE

content. The second highest in the world after a place in Switzerland !! Please keep a pinch

of salt at hand when you read all this. However the said breeze is recommended for heart

patients and prohibited for Asthmatics

T'bar is on the east coast and the port towns from north to south on the coast will be Pulikat,

Chennai, Pondicherry,Tranquebar,Karaikal and Nagapattinam, in that order. We enter the

T'bar area which was a Danish Colony. T'bar is a 'Taluk' in the Nagapattinam Districtnow.It is

a Heritage Town now as declared by The Indian Govt. In our estimate, the whole of T'bar could

be 1.5 square Kilo Meters maximum.

Motivated by the huge profit made by the British & Dutch East India Companies, the then

Danish Monarch got bitten by the bug that bit many in that area, and a Danish East India

Company was formed in Denmark in 1616. Based on that a few Danes were sent by the

Monarch to Indian east coast and they arrived and entered in to a treaty with the then King

of Tanjore ( Thanjavoor) Named Mr Ranganatha Nayak ( himself a Maharashtrian, not a Tamil

as the name Nayak signifies). So it was outsider agreeing with an outsider to loot the insiders.

Reportedly the Danish jokers came to trade mainly in Pepper ( useful then in preserving

raw meat products).

The local Ruler, Nayak the king, asked for only Rs 3111 as annual rent for erecting a fortress

( Fort Dansborg) at the coast in T'bar. From 1620 till 1845 the area that the Chennai Party

led by JM ( the Trip Captain) trampled up and down was "Danish Trade Settlement". It was so

good to relive history ( no wonder History Channel is thriving on TV). At night I dreamt I lived

from 1640 to 1700 while sleeping on the one meter high bed ( all rooms had such beds) which i

had to climb on to, using wooden steps.

We stayed in a Danish Colonial building named "The Gate House". However other than a

kettle with which one could make tea, food was not served in the building. Reason Unknown.

So for each meal one had to go to another colonial mansion named "The Bungalow on the Beach

( BOB). Our captain being very protective of his regiment, got his driver to ferry us back and forth.

T'bar had the same hot and humid weather of Madras ( Chennai). There is a defunct Railway

station in T'bar. The trains ran from 1926 to 1986. Tsunami did obviously hit T'bar on 26th

December 2004. 800 people died. The Danish Fort was not affected.

The inscription at various places say that Bartholomaeus Zigenbalg and Pleutschan; two German

missionaries sent by the then King of Denmark to spread the Gospel in the Danish settlement

reached T’bar in 1706 and founded the Tranquebar Lutheran church and a printing press was

installed ( said to be the First in India) in 1712. In 1715 the New Testament was translated into

Tamil by Ziegenbalg and printed it in the said Press. A mint started functioning in 1753.

Ziegenbalg brought out his great work titled “An Account of Malabarians” ( sic); ( now exhibited at

London).

On the last day we walked up and down King’s Street, Queens Street, Gold Smith Street etc.,

which are all 20 feet wide at the most. Our major interest was the Danish Governor’s Bungalow,

built in1785. Built in Danish style architecture in 1785. The Bungalow is straight opposite the Fort.

We inspected every nook and corner of the Fort including ‘chicken room’, ‘war room’, ware house,

prison, provision room and the Loo Room. Contracts and Agreements between the Nayak & Danes

were there in the Fort’s museum. They were all in Danish lingo. How could Nayak sign all those is an enigma.

New Jerusalem church built in 1718 holds the grave of afore mentioned Ziegenblag. Other

Interesting spots are Pillars House, St. Theresa’s Convent, St. Theresa’s Teacher Training

Institute, St. John’s Primary School, Govt Hostel for Girls, St. Theresa’s High School for Girls,

Gateway of Tranquebar, Pastor Training Institute, St. Theresa’s Dispensary, Old Mosque ( built in

1415), Nayak House ( the same Nayak who allowed the Danes to come in and settle), Pillaiyar

Temple built in 1306, Hotel Tamil Nadu ( new structure-year 2000), Post Office Building built in

1884. In 1968 Indian Bank started operating from an ancient building ( the first ever bank),

Tsunami Monument,etc.

The First Governor of T’bar was Roland Crape 1624 to 1636 & the last one was Peter Hansen

1841 to 1845. The last Governor sold it to the British East India Co in 1845 and packed his bags

and left. Though the booklets and other places did not mention it, I was told by a man from

Chennai that corruption among the Danes in T’bar was so bad ( meaning they swallowed most of

the profits of trading and the Danish King was fooled), that the King told the guys to sell the territory and

return to Denmark.

Interestingly we did not find any shop or any commercial activity in the whole of the ‘territory’;

Not even a grocery kiosk. One has to go out of the DANISH GATE for that and there it is as messy as

anywhere else

The trading post and the territory was ‘sold’ to the British in 1845 for Rs 12,50,000. That is US $

25000 at current exchange rate.

One thing that struck me as strange was that the so called territory was and now is, very small. Our driver felt

cheated that he could not engage even the third gear of a five-gear vehicle, inside of the T’bar territory.

The Museum in the Fort has a list of ships that came and departed (with year of arrival and year

of departure). The gap between arrival and departure seemed very long, sometimes more than a

year.

From the Fort one gets a beautiful view of the sea bringing in high Ozone laid breeze and really

Peaceful waves that do not thunder like say at Kovalam in Keralam. The name “Tharangampaadi”

Is more than appropriate. “tharangam’ in Tamil and M’yalam means WAVE ( any wave) and

“pattu” means song; “paaduka” means “to sing”; “Paadi” is “singing”.

A trip to Tranqueba is a must for Indians and Danes. After all, the Danes did not stay back to

RULE any one. Nice guys !

Born-Again Man - Story of a Bone Marrow Transplantation

In the summer of 1998, My wife and I accompanied by our daughters aged 20 and 17 travelled to Kerala , my ancestral home, and to Banagalore where my in-laws are settled. This was our annual vacation from Dubai where I worked as a Senior Manager in an Arab Group. One week in to the holidays I felt a few ulcers developing on my tongue which then slowly became excruciatingly painful. The two doctors whom I consulted said they were harmless ‘Aphthous’ ulcers that come and go. I was told most people get them at some time or the other including them Doctors. Thus they dismissed me with a pat on my back hinting I was making a mountain out of a mole hill. However my ulcers kept re-appearing and then onwards I was not rid of them till recently after 13 Doctors and trial and error of 27 different medicines including Prednisolone as well as Dexamethasone internally. These steroids did give some relief in high doses for short periods; but since long term use was considered dangerous for bones, heart , kidney and so on I was wary of them. No Doctor thought anything more serious could be causing the ulcers. Each doctor kept repeating like parrots the same story of aphthous ulcers being a common condition and a minor irritant at worst. However I suffered immensely in the meanwhile as crops and crops of them appeared , sometimes at one time as many as 9 at various locations of the tongue and soft palate as well as mucus membranes of the inside of cheeks or on the epiglottis.

Should this have rung alarm bells in the minds of Doctors about doing a Blood Film and in depth study of my blood cells as they are emerging from the Bone Marrow ? Yes, but it didn't. I continued suffering for years. All sorts of investigations including ECG, Hepatitis , Colonoscopy and endoscopy , presence of Heliobacter Pylori ( the main cause for gastric ulcers) and so on were conducted by various doctors. Some great doctors suggested it must be stress that was the cause.

Let me Fast Forward now from 1998 to 2000 and 2001, back to Dubai, during which period, I developed peculiar stomach upsets. One such episode in 2000 April consisted of loose motions and stomach cramps, but no infection was detected. It continued for a week and subsided eventually. In another incident I developed hiccups one night which wouldn't stop. Two Doctors prescribed different drugs including Omeprazole etc but the hiccups increased its frequency and length of time between breaths and I felt chocked and panic ridden often. The condition abated slowly stopped after one full week during which I couldn't go for work. Both the Doctors involved in this episode did palpate my enlarging SPLEEN and advised me to stop drinking alcohol, if I drank often. Tunnel vision I should say. Anything to do with Spleen or Liver is attributed to alcohol, while gargantuan culprits of diseases go un-noticed. I had always thought that a reasonable "medical mind" would mentally scan all possibilities, however remote and take steps accordingly.

In year 2001 February I came down with heavy throat infection and was admitted to a good Dubai based Hospital. hospital. Due to low immunity, very low haemoglobin, or whatever, I developed pneumonia and was saved by simultaneous intra-venous injections of four powerful antibiotics. Regretfully again, no red alert was declared by any of the doctors, ( ENT Surgeon and a Chest Physician/ Pulmonologist) which to me now in hindsight seem highly unprofessional on the part of the various doctors and most unfortunate on my part.

In October 2004, my my friendly general practioner DR. Abraham Titus in Abu Dhabi was consulted by me for a stomach upset and on routine physical examination he detected my highly enlarged spleen and sent me rushing for an ultra Sound scan of abdomen and a blood analysis including a Smear test. The results were revealing and shocking for me--- I had what was then diagnosed by Dr. Titus as CML ( Chronic Myloid Leukaemia ). I asked the good doctor about the prognosis and he said 15 to 20 years if treated, but there was always a possibility of the disease transforming to the Acute variety ( AML = Acute Myeloid Leukaemia). I broke the news to my wife Molly and she was equally devastated.

I visited Christian Medical College vellore, Tamil Nadu ( India) for their reputed competence, dedication as well as for their reasonable charges. My condition was confirmed as CML with Myelofibrosis, by Dr. Mammen Chandy the Haematology Professor and Head of Department there. Since I showed hesitation in going in immediately for Bone Marrow Transplant, Dr. Mammen put me on daily dose of Hydroxy Urea, with the hope of achieving a remission or arresting the progress of the disease. It worked for almost a year by holding down my WBC total count around 6000 from a peak of 23000, as well as other parameters like haemoglobin, RBC and platelets etc.

In January 2005 I made another trip to CMC vellore and Dr. Mammen and his super team extracted my bone marrow ( drilling the hip bone and aspirating a small amount of marrow) for further study and concluded that the disease had indeed transformed to AML with large quantity of " Blast Cells". He said the news was very bad indeed. The only alternative was BMT(= Bone Marrow Transplant) and I was asked to contact my siblings for HLA matching for stem cell donation from the one whose antigens matched. A perfect match would be of 6 antigens though less number of match ( say3) could also be considered if there be no other alternative. Siblings being the only possibility, I contacted my brother and two sisters. Dr. Mammen preferred a male donor and so my brother, then a Colonel in the Army and posted in New Delhi was the best choice as a donor. Will his antigens match ? If not what would I do ? If my sisters' stem cells did not match, what would happen ? These questions remained.

In the meanwhile it was a great relief to me and others including the donor, my bother that lately the Stemm Cell harvest was very "donor-friendly" unlike in the past when the bone marrow itself had to be extracted from the bones of the donor under general anaesthesia. Now the stem cells are filtered out of the flowing blood by an equipment. The blood would then be pumped back to circulation of the donor. This was a oasis of pleasant thought in an otherwise bleak scenario.

I am now a "born-again" they say. The doctors gave me just about 30% chance of survival even with fully HLA matched Bone Marrow ( stem cells) from my younger brother. The Chemo-conditioning for 6 days was an un-mitigating nightmare. On many occasions during the chemo conditioning I thought to myself : " the desease was better than the treatment" and said so , to Nurse Philomina, who just smiled as she would have heard this truism several hundred times or more. In those six days I had diabetes, hypertension, prostate enlargement, jaundice, nausea & vomiting, urinary hesitancy & pain, hallucinations and insomnia. In my hallucinations I 'saw' my daughters visiting me, my pet dog Negra hiding behind the medicine trolley, away from the sharp eyes of the nurses and kept looking at my face with unflinching eyes, willing me to get well !! Seven different tubes pumped antibiotics, diuretics, pain-killers and other medicines and marrow-destroying chemicals via a major vein through Hickman's catheter in my chest , in addition to various tablets and capsules by mouth. My fast shrinking body was a battleground between cancerous cells in the marrow and the medical profession. I tried all my meditation methods and mantram repeating to disengage my mind from the pain and misery of treatment, which turned out to be intolerable while the disease itself was painless apart from dizzy spells due to drastic fall in haemoglobin levels. Even though I ate no food, I passed motion consisting of my own mucus membranes which started sloughing off from mouth down to rectum in acondition called 'mucocytosis'. Extra care had to be taken to not initiate bleeding as the platelets count was too low. With each 'crisis' the doctors huddled to confer to decide the best course of action. At one stage when passing urine was excruciatingly painful, the Urologists were called who considered inserting a catheter into the bladder but ruled it out as uncontrollable bleeding was a distinct possibility, and that could lead to death. So they relieved the pain with powerful analgesics and got the urinary sphincter to relax, by appropriate medicines. Urine could then be passed with accompanying groans and grunts.

My wife Molly and relatives took turn to be by my bedside to tend to me with my incontinence, vomiting and moaning and groaning. Nurses at CMC Vellore refused to clean up after me as they considered that not part of duty. Senior and junior doctors checked all parameters at frequent intervals till midnight and nurses kept vigil 24 hours monitoring BP, temperature and body weight. I drank double boiled and pressure cooked ( 20 minutes under pressure after the cooker whistle) and cooled water and even fruit juice. Every visitor wore sterilized slippers into the HEPA-filtered and ‘positive-pressured’ Transplant Room, and rinsed their palms in sterilizing spirit before touching me. On the 8th day after clean sweeping my existing bone marrow they kept me alive with blood transfusions since my body did not by then have any bone marrow to produce blood. Alongwith cancerous marrow cells, non-cancerous ones also got wiped out !

My Brother Cherish arrived four days before transplatation and tyook injections of ‘growth fator’ to increase the stem cells in his blood, which gave him slight fever as aside effect which he ignored.Then they extracted stem cells from his blood using a new fangled machine and pumped 180 ml each of the same on two consecutive days, and told me that the rest was with God. Doctors said the stem cells would circulate in my blood stream and in a few days find their home in various bones in my body and hopefully produce normal blood cells of various types. This aspect of how the stem cells behaved after the transplant was entirely in the hands of Nature or God. The first 100 days from the ‘D-day’ of stem cells transplantation would be critical with regard to possible Graft Versus Host Disease = GVHD ( tissue rejection ). On 19th May 2011, I completed the 6 years from D-day. I am still alive . They call me a born again Christian. Yes, they are right; I am a Christian by birth and I survived Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, thanks to the Doctors and nurses and technicians of Christian Medical College Hospital Vellore, Tamil Nadu and to the Almighty God who created Man Medicines and Medicine-men. They call me a " BORN AGAIN" man.