My Musings

THE PORI MAN The real crorepatis of India: This is from Indian Express (23rd). The writer, Ratna Rajaiah, narrates her experience with a "puffed rice (PORI, in tamil) seller." You will come across all over India these vendors of Pori, mur mura, puffed rice or whatever - an old man with a 'saakku mootai' on his back. This particular man was no different - poor, extremely poor, of ill-health, weak etc. In spite of his deteriorating health, he used to pedal his wares, hot sun or chill winter, day in and day out. Stop wondering. How do millions and millions of our people get by, crushingly poor and often terribly sick? It is an unanswerable question, another uneasy question we city people don't want to ponder over. Back to the Pori-seller, you may not be an avid fan of Pori, but when he comes calling "puri, bisi puri" (hot pori in Kannada), you won't have a mind to disappoint him, so you buy one measure or two. Thus the writer too purchased a measure for...

Ulcers and Marshall In the late Seventies, till about 1980, the accepted medical theory was that the ulcers were caused by stress, smoking, and alcohol. In India, there was another 'cause' added - the Kaaram (milagai) one eats. In 1982, an Australian scientist, Marshall, was convinced that the ulcers were caused by a hither-to unknown bacteria that were living in a sterile, acidic zone - the STOMACH - that medical texts had declared uninhabitable. Unfortunately, Marshall's and his assistant Warren's attempts to culture this bacteria failed. But then, FATE intervened, and a lucky break brought them a crop of this bacteria. When they explained, or tried to explain, this phenomenon at an International Conference, Marshall was booed down. Unfettered, in 1984, Marshall, then 32, swallowed the growth from a three-day culture; and five days later, he experienced the classic symptoms of severe gastritis (ulcers). Then he cured himself by taking antibiotics !! Helicobacter pylor...