Antiseptics, bone TB, Joseph Lister and Invictus (William Henley)

This blog is about the linkage between a great poetry and antiseptics. It sounds strange how Invictus, a legendary poetry was written by William Henley when he was admitted under Lord Joseph Lister, the father of antiseptics for treatment of bone TB. Henley, a 26 year old lad who was hospitalised under Lord Lister for his antiseptic treatment wrote this. I was pleasantly surprised by this correlation of chemical antisepsis, TB, Lister and Henley.

Invictus is one of my favorites and every school child should read this. I have always obtained strength from this poetry whenever I felt helpless under the spell of adversity.
I am copy pasting this below.

INVICTUS

"Out of the night that covers me,
      Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
      I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
      Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul."

This was written by William Earnest Henley in the year 1875 when he was getting treated by none other than Lord Lister to save him from a sure amputation due to tuberculosis. By that time, William was a 26 year old lad who had already lost a leg, left leg below the knee due to tuberculosis of bone. He had suffered from tuberculosis from an age of 12. By the age 20 he already lost left leg. When he found his right leg has got affected by bone TB he was devastated. One has to remember by 1875 humans did not know what caused tuberculosis, Pastuer's Germ theory just got noticed and antibiotics were a distant dream. Robert Koch discovered Tubercle bacillus in 1882. However by 1875 Joseph Lister, a British surgeon has pioneered use of antiseptics like carbolic acid in surgery to reduce infections. William Henley, scared of an imminent amputation of his remaining right leg, sought treatment of Lister and got himself admitted in Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh in 1873. During the long treatment by Lord Lister he witnessed the pain of so many diseased patients surrounding him and thus was born the poetry Invictus which today has become the symbol of inner strength in the time of untoward circumstances.
I found this information while reading history of microbiology. I was amazed to see how antiseptics pioneered by Lister cured Henley who in turn wrote this classic poetry during his hospitalization and treatment with Lister's antispetics.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lister
3.https://www.cdc.gov/tb/worldtbday/history.htm

Irfan Khan : The irreplaceable

I cannot accept Irfan Khan passed away today. It was not the time and age to depart. He had much more to offer. I always looked upto him, the way he became a legend after long struggle is noteworthy. Now everybody is writing he did so well in Hollywood ( The Amazing Spider man, Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire etc ) but if you note he struggled from 1988 ( Salam Bombay) to 2003 till Maqbool shot him into fame. In between he acted in TV ( ChandraKanta, Bharat Ek Khoj etc) but he was fairly forgettable.

Naseeruddin Shah once asked him how he did not become a drunken complainer. He replied he was never satisfied by his performance hence always strived for better. That’s the spirit for a man who came to Bollywood without a godfather and went to Hollywood to become India’s greatest actor. He struggled for 15 years (1988 to 2003) but never lost his focus. He proves by sheer talent you can achieve what you want. We complain so many times that our parents did not help, that circumstances are adverse etc etc. But success of Irfan Khan from a humble background without godfather in a competitive film industry where you are as successful as your last hit shows nothing is impossible. He was a self-made man who reached greatest height. He inspires us to dream. In the end he succumbed to cancer but never to failure. He left head held high. In last 17 years ( Maqbool 2003 to Angrezi Medium 2020) he stayed in the top of the game. 

Just look at the enviable filmography. Maqbool, Life in a Metro, Haider, Namesake, Hindi Medium, Piku, Lunch Box, Slumdog Millionaire, Qissa…..one cannot end, the list is unending. He was indeed very prolific. He never had the looks of a hero but he had portrayed versatile roles. From playing criminal to police officer to university professor to a regular sarkari employee to a chauffer, he did every role with finesse. He made boring roles memorable. For example, his role of a lonely unmarried man in Lunch Box made us fall for his lonely soul. I felt Lunch Box was made for him, nobody in India would turn that mundane role to an award winning one. I still regret why Lunch Box was not sent for Oscars. Goutam Ghosh, the famous filmmaker commented he wanted Lunch Box to be in Oscars as the only Indian entry but everybody vetoed him. Lunch Box was produced by Sony Pictures and had a high chance of getting into Oscars race in 2013. But our bad it was never sent to Oscars. Irfan deserved a standing ovation for Lunch Box. 

His comic timing in Life in a Metro, his slumdog no one in Mumbai Meri Jaan, his uncouth inability to speak English in Hindi Medium, his matter of fact role of driver in Piku, his professorial look in The Namesake, his criminal dacoit role in Paan Singh Tomar…..I cannot stop. His roles ate too many to describe in a short space. Just 2 years ago he played the lead role in Doob, a film made in Bangladesh which became Bangladesh's first official entry to Oscars in 2018. He proved for making a movie you need actors not stars.

 It’s a pity he died during lock down. Twenty thousand would have stood for his cortege, only 20 were actually  allowed. Social media is flooded with homage. He has won hearts and rules the minds of common man.

Pensively, looking at his end, I quote from a poem “ The Burial of Sir john Moore at Corunna”.

“Slowly and sadly we laid him down,

From the field of his fame fresh and gory;

We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,

But left him alone with his glory”.

I bid adieu Irfan Khan. You are irreplaceable.

Mozart Bird Song : Piano Concerto no 17,K453, 3rd movement

Mozart had a pet bird, a common starling. These birds are known well for singing, they are a kind of song bird. Mozart immortalized his pet bird by copying its chirping in one of his piano concertos. 3rd Movement of Mozart Piano Concerto no. 17, K 453 has strains of the bird song. Mozart thus immortalized his pet bird. It is not unusual to make music mimicking natural sounds and Mozart surely loved his pet bird; he organized a funeral after the pet expired.

I am sharing an Youtube video. These days Youtube makes so many things possible, even 25 years ago I would have scrambled to search for such legends' recordings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsdfPVM0stI

Happy listening.

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart%27s_starling 

Haydn Farewell Symphony story

Once Haydn wanted to go on a holiday with his orchestra from the court where he was employed. But the prince who employed him refused to given him a holiday. So he decided to ask for leave musically. He composed a symphony which at the end becomes smaller and smaller. The musicians stop, get up, snuff of the candle, take the music sheet and walk out. Until one violinist remains in the hall. The symphony which started with a full orchestra ends with just one violinist. The prince who was present at the first performance of this strange symphony took the hint and have Haydn and his team of musicians a holiday. The symphony came to be known as "Farewell".

Today there is no candle light so no question of snuffing a candle. However in Youtube you can see the orchestra slowly leaving the stage one by one till in the end you have solo violin. I shared this particular video to show how Haydn's orchestra might have surprised the prince then. Next time you ask for leave try something novel like this; hope your boss has a sense of humor !

Also note the opening movement, you will realize how Mozart was influenced by Haydn.

The link about the full story :
https://arts.ucdavis.edu/post/haydn-symphony-no-45-farewell

Travelling Cinema : A lost world

Today the concept of travelling cinema has died a death with introduction of mobiles and digital cinema. Many of my time and older than me will recall there used to be makeshift movie shows on white screens in localities. There used to be evenings of film shows during festivals. Just after Durga Puja in 1986 I remember seeing a bengali Film Dhonni Meye in open air at Tribeni Tissues ground where my father worked. It was 60 Km away from Kolkata, a paper mill with officers quarters, school premises inside. Nearby movie hall was in Tribeni, Bandel or Chinsurah. Most people did not have TV sets those days there. I remember watching that movie in 1986. There was a large gathering sitting on the ground watching Jaya Bhaduri turning from a tomboy to a demure girl in love with Partho Mukherjee, the film's hero. It was entertaining to see the audience laugh, cry and whistle. If they would be happy they will clap or whistle. The seats were first come first served. Those who were late will sit in the opposite side so they watched the film in reverse direction. This kind of shows were quite popular in villages and mofussils those days.

Even I have seen this makeshift movie screens in Manoharpukur, Kalighat in Kolkata in 1980's where I grew up. Every summer vacation there would be a Shitala pujo and for almost a week there will be Jatra shows, jalsha and movie screenings. I recall watching Sholay in 1985 in one such travelling cinema. There used to be reels of films and there will be intervals because those reels needed to be changed. Sometime the cinema technician will go for a smoke and forget that the reel ended which will create a huge furore among the audience who may be now on the edge of very important scene of a film. 

These days such travelling cinema shows are over, you will only be nostalgic about it but you will never see it again. The present generation doesn't even know what simple pleasure we had. Those who have watched Shah Rukh Khan's Swadesh may recall such travelling cinema show inside the film in one scene. Once travelling cinema used to be the only source of big entertainment in villages. But now it has died, nobody shows it again. I will tell my son how it was, he will never see it.

Dr TC Anand Kumar : the man who relinquished glory to India’s first test tube baby maker Dr Subhash Mukherjee

 

It is now well known that late Dr. Subhash Mukherjee from Calcutta was India’s first test-tube baby maker. This article aims to clarify some points and show the magnificent munificence and righteousness of another great reproductive biologist Dr. T.C.Anand Kumar who reinstated Dr. Mukherjee with full glory.

 Dr. Mukherjee did make India’s first test tube baby Durga Agarwal in 1978.He was actually the second person in the whole world to make a test tube baby. He was a little late , actually by few months after Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe’s first test tube baby in the world. This signifies Dr Subhas Mukherjee’s scientific efforts and novelty of the process. However he was not credited for what he achieved for a long time. Vilified by doctors in Kolkata he committed suicide. It was Dr TC Anand Kumar, a famous reproductive biologist who made India’s first documented test tube baby in Bombay in 1986, found out Dr Mukherjee’s work while attending science congress in Kolkata. Dr Anand Kumar later declared that it was not him, but Dr Subhas Mukherjee who should be credited for India’s first test tube baby (1). There are ample evidences of Dr. Mukherjee’s published work which Dr.T.C.Anand Kumar appended in the end of his article in Current Science (1). Moreover Dr. Anand Kumar discussed Dr. Mukherjee’s techniques in details and how it differed from Dr. Robert Edward and Steptoe’s work (2).

It was in a 6 page long historical note in the leading Indian science journal “Current Science” published in 1997, Dr.T.C.Anand Kumar relinquished glory to Subhash Mukherjee (1). Dr.Anand Kumar was the director of Institute for Research in Reproduction in Bombay [now known as National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH)] when birth of Harsha, supposedly India’s first test-tube baby was declared in 1986. He was also a reproductive biologist par excellence. He mentions that he was unaware of Mukherjee’s achievements and clarified beyond doubt in that landmark article that it was Mukherjee, not him, who was responsible for producing India’s first test tube baby Durga Agarwal in 1978 in Calcutta (1). Rarely do we come across such liberal and honest-to-the-core soul in a highly competitive world who can give away his laurels to the deserving one. By relinquishing his glory Dr TC Anand Kumar displayed his nobility.

Secondly it is also not true that the ICMR and Indian medical fraternity have not corrected this historical error of omission of Mukherjee’s achievements. The website of the Dr. Subhas Mukherjee Memorial Reproductive Biology Research Centre in Kolkata declares that in 2002 ” The Indian Council of Medical Research acknowledge the contributions of Subhas Mukherjee with regard to the work on IVF and recorded it in their document “National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulations of ART Clinics in India”.”(3).

It is pertinent to note that Indian scientists were always at par with their Western counterparts in the field of IVF. Prof. Robert Edwards, 2010 Nobel laureate for medicine in the field of IVF went to the same place, Edinburgh to study reproductive physiology as did Dr.Mukherjee. Prof Edwards depended on natural menstrual cycle to collect ovum whereas Dr.Mukherjee used the hormone gonadotrophin to stimulate ovum production. Freezing of embryo in liquid nitrogen and implantation of fertilized ovum in next cycle was another innovation from Mukherjee’s side (2). It should not be forgotten that IVF is still the only method to make embryonic stem cell. Stem cells are rage these days due to the infinite hope raised by their therapeutic value in treating neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, burns, fatal anemia, blindness etc. Though embryonic stem cell research is embroiled in moral and ethical issues and fulcrum is now bent towards pluripotent stem cell, still ease of IVF procedure and procurement of embryonic stem cells make IVF a mainstay for stem cell research. IVF is also the main way to clone animals. Dolly, the cloned sheep that grabbed popular attention in 1997 would not have been made without IVF. It appears IVF has far-reaching impact and without the pioneering work of Edwards, Steptoe, Mukherjee etc IVF would not have come this far.

Dr.T.C.Anand Kumar passed away in January, 2010 (4). It is surprising that Bengal, otherwise known for its progressive and liberal attitude, vilified Mukherjee and cornered him to commit a suicide. Loosely based on his life Ramapada Chowdhury, a Bengali writer wrote a novel “Avimanyu”. Mr.Chowdhury likened Dr.Mukherjee’s life as claustrophobic as Avimanyu, the Mahabharata character suffered. Tapan Sinha’s “Ek doctor ki maut” was in turn based on this novel. I remember one newspaper report of 2006 published in Anandabazar Patrika wherein it was written that Dr.Mukherjee’s wife was impoverished and uncared for even though his students were minting money from this IVF business in Kolkata that this man spawned. Such is life. Restitution of Subhash Mukherjee’s glory actually came from a quarter least expected. It was not from Bengal intelligentsia but from Dr.T.C.Anand Kumar of Mumbai. And that makes Dr.T.C.Anand Kumar so special to the Bengalis of Kolkata!

References:

1. T.C.Anand Kumar (1997).Architect of India’s first test-tube baby:Dr.Subhash Mukherjee(16 January 1931 to 19 July 1981).Current Science, vol 72,no.7,pg 526-531

2. T.C.Anand Kumar (2004). In vitro fertilization in India. Current Science, vol 86, no.2, pg 254-256

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhash_Mukhopadhyay_(physician)

4. Rajvi H. Mehta. (2010) Dr T.C. Anand Kumar - a doyen in reproductive biology. Indian J Med Res 131, March 2010, pg 466-467

Bisorjon Movie Review

I admit I am quite late in watching this immediate classic Kaushik Ganguly made in 2017. I am forever thankful to my friend Madhurima Ghosh Chaudhury for suggesting this movie last year. In recent past  I was never this excited to anticipate a sequel.

By now everybody knows the story. I would rather write on subjects I liked in this movie. Padma(Jaya Ahsan) has proven her subtle gestures speak more than her words. Her vacant wistful gaze enrobed in white saree spoke highly about her desolation in widowhood. The regular shocks she exhibits while meeting her dogged suitor Ganesh(Kaushik Ganguly) portrays her dislike in the way Ganesh is tightening slowly his stranglehold over her. Kaushik Ganguly's character sometimes appear comic, sometime you almost buy his sob story but he portrays so deftly the cunning and impish nature hiding behind his obese frame wearing white always. In fact his moments of villainy make you cringe and hate his character. The greed, the cat and mouse game between him and Padma, the hapless widow was so palpable. I must say I am damn impressed by his acting skills.

Though many expected Naser Ali(Abir Chatterjee) to be in a tumultuous affair with Padma, he showed a rare restraint as expected from a smuggler hiding in another country and longing to come back to his beloved Ayesha. The emotions between him and Padma ranged from gratitude to his saviour to dependence to love and surrender at last. He wanted to go back to his love Ayesha, but he is stranded and guilt ridden. At the same time the bond of trust between the savior and the saved is all powerful in this narrative of unusual cross border love that breaches the barrier of religion also. Naser a.k.a Subhash maintained his restrain almost till the last night when Padma let her hair loose, started drinking and smoking to relive her memories of her departed husband. The consummation of their love by making love in the end expressed Jaya's repressed yearning for a love she has been denied throughout her life by a drunkard husband. That very moment between Naser and Padma melts down all the barriers of borders and religion. The receding frame of Naser on the river as he has been smuggled out by Padma with the complete surrender to the satisfaction of her suitor Ganesh marks both the beginning and ending of relations. The name Bisorjon matches so well with the ending where the woman enters into a new beginning after giving away the love which might have been a possibility but not reality.

The movie has been mostly shot indoors but the human drama keeps you on the edge. The screenplay was taut and some dialogs I shall remember. For example when Naser urges Padma not to change she replies " Padma ei chora pore geche, apnara to jol charen na" referring to water politics India plays with Bangladesh. Then she advises while consummating their love by " Bisorjon er por r fire takio na" to urge him to begin a new life forgetting this chapter.

This movie was swan song of Kalika Prosad whose song " Bondhu tor laiga re" brought tears. I found this movie absorbing and of high standard similar to European,Iranian or Latin American films. Most of Bollywood misses the subtle emotions in man-woman relationships. In Bengali, Rituporno Ghosh was a master of this genre. Many films by Kieslowski, Polanski, Innaritu, Mokhmalbaf, Sofia Coppola,Hiam Abbas etc show this kind of sensitivity. It is surprising Bisorjon has not garnered too many international awards.

In a depressing rainy day this movie did not lift my spirits but the pain, the tenderness lingers on....the story is unforgettable....the director knows how to make you cry......not without a reason a sequel named Bijoya was made and I now move to watching Bijoya.