Monday, October 31, 2016

Peaceful, moon-lit village nights....

Moon-lit summer nights on my in-law's terrace.......
Monsoon ws imminent...so clouds were draping the moon..

Coconut fronds were swaying in the cool winds......


Peaceful it was......far away from smell, noise and night pollution..

Sunday, October 30, 2016

In memory of my cousin brother who we lost to dengue...

Diwali..........the festival of lights.......
On this day he was born....my cousin brother....few months younger to me...so he was named 'Deepak'...
A cute boy, who grew into a fine young man.....with high educational degrees......got a job in information technology...was about to be promoted...

Things did not work that way.......at the tender age of 25, he was snatched from us by hemorrhagic dengue...
It was 2008...eight years have passed since then....the shock has not healed..some bolts never go away........especially for my aunt, who lost her eldest child.....

We were of same age...and were very close... 
The fateful day was late December.........
I was studying in Guwahati....I had just got back to my hostel from a fun-filled trip to Kaziranga NAtiinal PArk.......
As I called my mother, got to know he is running a high fever....I talked to him...he was having a heavy headache..so, it was brief..
Little did I know, it was the last time I am talking to him.......
The next day, on the way to the hospital, he suffered delirium and collapsed to death....
So sudden to even let the trauma sink in..
I was told about it a day after......

My people in Odisha know about malaria, even filaria.........but dengue was new to them....
They thought it to be a regular fever......who knew it was fatal dengue...
Its really devastating, as only a small fraction of dengue infections progress into the haemorrhagic form..
And he was young... was hardened from him army school training...yet!...Who knew Faridabad, his job place, where he contracted the virus is a dengue endemic place!
Sometimes, bane indeed lurks in what we think as boon.
To make things worse, his father, my uncle had died of septicemia few months back.

A well-to-do, happy family was ruined....
All that remains are few memories....when we played together as children in our maternal uncle's place....my jealousy when he was admitted to a better school than me...his disappointment when he could not join a defense career...his pride for me when I joined a top technology campus....

If only this incident would have been a nightmare..
If only, my aunt's life would not have been that miserable by pining for her child every moment..

We humans, for all we brag and boast are helpless in such situations..
My only consolation is that I work now day and night on many diseases.....HIV, Ebola, dengue, zika, tuberculosis, cancer, allergy, autoimmune diseases....researching and publishing on their causes and potential therapies...

I urge the readers to stay aware of your surroundings....morbidity and mortality comes in disguise..
In the quest for big dreams, do not jeopardize your health....
Make good use of the huge digital wealth at our finger tip...learn and educate people on health...
Precaution is always better than therapies..

Saturday, October 29, 2016

The beginning days of my researcher life........

Now biomedical research is passion of my life.......I don't enjoy anything as much...
But, the initial days were tough....lot of discipline was needed to adhere to this critical field...
Some memories....as I started as a microbiologist...back in 2007..till 2010..three years of PhD research......
Learning about the existing literature..

Pipetting.......




Culturing..

Plating....counting..

Microscopy...

Assay...

Spectrometry...

Maintaining cultures........

May be relaxing a bit....

Friday, October 28, 2016

Subanshiri hostel memories...

Subanshiri hostel...this was the only girls hostel in IITG, when I was doing my PhD there...some memories...
the vegetation-clad hill..


The terrace overlooking palms..

A friend's room.......




Thursday, October 27, 2016

Assam memories.........

Random places in Assam.........
A local park, with heavy blooms of mussaenda...

A hillock covered with lush vegetation...emanating fresh herbal smell.......

At a local open-air market..

On a hill top overlooking the mighty Brahmaputra river........



Cherish those moments..........very glad to have enriched my life with memories there..

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Rain in our village homestead.........

Many of us would agree that rain carries a feel of nostalgia...
Especially, if it does not rain for months and years in your current place..yeah, i am talking of the dry South California........
So, I insist on visiting India during the monsoon time...
Here it was during such a rainy season...
Gravid sky...

Soon it started raining....creating zillion bubbles....

The green gate gets drenched..

The passion flower vine all soaked up...

The ixora bush as well.......

I grew up in this house...
How I remember...lying in my bed, reading a story book..with roasted peanuts or ginger tea in my hand...good old happy days!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Start humble..dream big..contribute to the world....My life..

I started as a village girl..........for first 15 years of life...then I moved from towns to cities to metros for studies........and now I live somewhere in between Los Angeles and San Diego...

As one of the child of a school teacher...entertainment options were few.....I mean travelling...
I was sure to one day go as far as I want....
But, to materialize this dream I have to work hard........using whatever resource I have got...

My father had created a mini-library at home...with thousands of books and magazines...
Science, religion, history, geography, comics, biography, fiction........
In English, Hindi, Oriya...
I made good use of them......no fancy reading nook, but lots of trees in the backyard....under the canopy of which, listening to chirps of birds and inhaling the blossoms, I soaked in those...

Mother would supply snacks and tea.....we used to pluck fresh ripe oranges and guavas...
The friendly cattle would come to interact....
In such peaceful environment, I spent my formative years.....

Now, in my early 30s' nothing gives me as much bliss as learning...
Not only reading other's work, I do author myself...so far 80 articles in science journals and several books.........
On topics as diverse as tuberculosis, probiotics, Ebola, ethnobotany, cancer, cockroach allergy, cardiac glycosides, brain-eating amoeba, autism, health risks of pesticides, vitiligo, among an array other topics critical for human health...
Life appears meaningful....feel very happy to have developed such an addiction, that other addictions have no place in my life...

Monday, October 24, 2016

Health risks due to cosmetics..

When were young, we don't know how health risks feel...
We indulge in all sorts of abuse to our body by using a range of cosmetics, toiletries..


When we realize their dangers...its too late..
Do you know, the perfumes, sunscreens and deoderants  cause allergies, cancer, brain pathologies, depression...
Beware of those chemical cocktails..rejoice in your natural beauty..

Sunday, October 23, 2016

A cat in my in-law's neighborhood...

A happy cat in my in-law's neighborhood......
I don't know if it is a she or he...so, I will use the noun 'it'..
It sleeps on the hot asbestos..

What a peaceful face!

Changing poses...with opened mouth..paw on face to block the sunlight...

Full white with a black mark on the forehead..

Here, it is waiting for the fish scraps.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Assamese wedding..........

Soaking in the culture and rituals of others is something I always loved...
Here are some shots when I attended some Assamese weddings........



Friday, October 21, 2016

Visiting Kalakshetra, Assam....

Kalakshetra is a cultural sit in Guwahati........I have been fortunate too visit it a couple of times......
By the lily pond...........

The flamboyant tree in bloom............

A bamboo reed gazebo..........

A statue of a cowherd boy on the buffalo......

Golden yellow Brazilian jasmine plant...........

Jasmine......

Amalatas (drooping Cassia) bloom creates a pretty canopy........I loved this place when it was wet by the rain..

There are lots of gardens, museums, art galleries, and performance pavilions.......
People near by should visit it...
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