A homoeo cure for low back ache

Over exertion during the final stages of my PhD thesis at IIT Bombay from 1998 to 2004 and sitting for long periods of times without exercising, probably led to the start of my low backache in 2003 immediately after submission of my pre-synopsis in May 2003.. While I am perfectly healthy in all other aspects of my life, the low backache, it affects the Sciatica nerve, has been bothering me. On recurrence of symptoms, I took Ayurveda treatment in May 2007, Allopathic treatment in 2011 and 2015.

Most recently I had a recurring bout due to cold weather in November 2021.  Incapacitated and on bed, this time I called my sister-in-law, Shirley, a homoeo doctor practicing in Kochi. She prescribed the medicine Rhus Tox to be taken every two hours, besides Arnica daily thrice and Ruta, daily once.

Surprisingly I should say, the pain disappeared and of late I also have added confidence that I have got the correct medication and can emerge healthy out of this seventeen year ordeal against low back ache. 

Besides my daily back stretching exercises, I continue the best exercise for the human body walking, (have even given away a good car and use an 8 year old Nano of my son) have also started daily exercising using  Resistance rubber tubes for back stretching and  Abdomen muscle building roller wheels through Amazon India. So far, so good ..

The problem with such issues is that one tends to lose the self confidence they have in themselves. Over seventeen years, I always felt a missing piece that kept going off my hands, but this time , I am bent on regaining it. 

 

I have regained the lost confidence of all these years and can focus on regaining the lost seventeen years of my life ..

George 

iD fresh business model ..

It is great to see iD fresh has come a long way. They have set up a INR 50 crore plant in Anekal.

In the processed food industry which is bound to have excellent growth in the coming decades.

Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industrial methods used to make convenience foods. Wikipedia

Click here  for a Harvard uty doc on why processing of foods is done, the different types of processed foods, advantages and disadvantages etc .

Idfresh idli dosa vada batter does not have any added preservatives and has to be used within 3-4 days and is to be stored in controlled refrigerated environments. Storage and transportation is a problem which prevents the massive growth of this business model. 

 

Processed food is any food that’s altered during preparation to make it more convenient, shelf-stable or flavorful. Some foods are much more processed than others. 

 

There are lots of discussions on what foods are better - minimally processed ones or the maximally processed. Without any extra reasoning, it can be concluded, if you read the following passage.  

Minimally processed food vs heavily processed food

A bagged salad or pre-cut green beans technically count as processed, but it’s only minimally processed because its natural state hasn’t changed. 

In other words, it looks pretty much the same as you’d find it in nature. Bottled water is minimally processed.

A box of macaroni and cheese or a microwavable dinner or biriyani on the other hand, are considered heavily processed (also called ultra processed) because they’ve been chemically altered with artificial flavors, additives and other ingredients. A bottle of coke or Pepsi on the other hand is heavily processed - ihsfna.org

George 

How to stay positive ?

Daily we hear or read lot of messages that exhort us to be positive. Deep, hard core research work carried by some of the best behavioural scientists from around the world reinforce the fact that positive thinking besides giving us good health and glad tidings, exhort and motivate us to be positive and remain positive. 

 

The three main points in this direction are given here.

1. Separate fact from fiction / weakening negative thoughts

2. Identify positive thoughts / actions and pursue them

3. Develop a sense of gratitude to others / God

Click here for the April '16 Forbes article by Travis Bradbury 3 ways to stay positive. 

I wish to add a couple of powerful points to this from my life experience of 50+ years ... 

1. Do something positive everyday. for example send a whatsapp goodwish query or an Amazon gift.

2. Think twice before you act, is it positive or negative.  If negative, postpone it for another time and think again,  is the action positive or negative  ?

3. Promise to talk only good things about others. 

All the religious scriptures, traditions and customs teach and exhort us to stay positive..

Practice makes perfect.

George 

Another great opportunity to serve humanity..

Money makes Friends, Blood Makes Brothers"

"The only postive thing about me is my Blood group" 

Last evening, 3 Nov '21, when I contacted Dr. Sitalakshmi, St Johns hospital in Bangalore, she asked me to get ready for a voluntary apheresis procedure this morning. It was a great God given opportunity this morning to voluntarily donate platelets through an apheresis procedure for 2 kids aged 4 and 12 suffering from critical bone marrow illnesses. 

Click here for my earlier posted detailed researched explanation of the apheresis procedure, what it is and how safe it is ..

3 months back I had donated whole blood, my 41st donation. Since then every two to three weeks I have been doing platelet apheresis, where the whole blood is passed through a centrifuge and only platelets are separated, about 200ml or 3x10 ^^11, and the blood is sent back to the body. 

Today a 4 year old kid and 12 year old kid, waiting for bone marrow transplants at St Johns Medical college Bangalore benefitted from 100 ml each of my platelets.

From a whole blood donation, they get 70 ml platelets, but from each platelet  apheresis they collect 200 ml platelets, equal to about 3 whole blood donations. More effective and productive. To the donor it makes more sense. Since my last whole blood donation, after three months the next whole blood donation would have helped just one patient,  but the four platelet apheresis procedures have benefitted at least 8-12 needy patients.

The Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of any voluntary blood donation is the number of critically ill patients who have benefitted. 

My friend Sandra from Goa had this to say, " You should create awareness as  more people can benefit. A person like you creating awareness and a hospital creating awareness is very different. More people will come forward when people like you tell others....and, do  not create awareness under the umbrella of any hospital".

My only fear is awareness creation should not be misconstrued as selfish image building. Being a socially beneficial activity,  I request more people to come forward and donate blood or specific blood components.

I have no words to thank and appreciate the blood bank department from St. John's MC Bangalore, led by Dr. Sitalakshmi and her capable team of senior residents and others, who have been a humble and selfless source of inspiration for the donors. A big thanks to all of you .. 🙏🙏

George 

Very sensible advice ..

മുഷിഞ്ഞ വസ്ത്രധാരിയായ ഒരു വൃദ്ധൻ തീവണ്ടിയിൽ ഏസി കമ്പാർട്ടുമെന്റിൽ യാത്ര ചെയ്യുകയായിരുന്നു .

ടിക്കറ്റ് പരിശോധകൻ (ടി ടി ഇ ) അയാളുടെ അടുത്ത് വന്നു ടിക്കറ്റ് ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടു. 

വൃദ്ധൻ തന്റെ ബാഗിനുളളിൽ തിരയാൻ തുടങ്ങി.

" ഇവിടെ എവിടേയോ കാണണം"

വൃദ്ധൻ തിരച്ചിൽ തുടരവെ അതൃപ്തിയോടെ പരിശോധകൻ പറഞ്ഞു.

"ഞാൻ തിരിച്ച് വരുമ്പോൾ താങ്കൾ ടിക്കറ്റ് കാണിക്കണം". 

വൃദ്ധൻ ടിക്കറ്റ് ഇല്ലാതെയാണ് യാത്ര ചെയ്യുന്നതെന്ന് പരിശോധകൻ ഊഹിച്ചു. കുറച്ച് കഴിഞ്ഞ് തിരിച്ച് വന്ന പരിശോധകന് വൃദ്ധൻ തന്റെ ഏസി ക്ലാസ് ടിക്കറ്റ് കാണിച്ചു.പരിശോധകന് കുറ്റബോധം തോന്നി.

'ഒറ്റനോട്ടത്തിൽ അയാളെ ഞാൻ വിലയിരുത്താൻ പാടില്ലായിരുന്നു'.

തീവണ്ടി സ്റ്റേഷനിൽ എത്തിയപ്പോൾ അയാളെ പുറത്തിറങ്ങുവാൻ പരിശോധകൻ സഹായിച്ചു.

തന്റെ ലഗ്ഗേജ് എടുക്കാൻ ഒരു ചുമട്ടുകാരനെ വൃദ്ധൻ വിളിച്ചു.

ചുമട്ടുകാരൻ ലഗ്ഗേജ് എടുത്തെങ്കിലും പെട്ടെന്ന് അത് താഴെ വെച്ച് നടന്നു പോയി. അയാൾ അടുത്ത കമ്പാർട്ടുമെന്റിൽ വന്നിറങ്ങിയ ഭംഗിയായി വസ്ത്രം ധരിച്ച ഒരു സ്ത്രീയുടെ ലഗ്ഗേജ് എടുത്ത് അവരോടൊപ്പം നടന്നു പോയി.

' ചുമട്ടുകാരനെ കുറിച്ച് നിങ്ങൾ എന്ത് വിചാരിക്കുന്നു ..😇.?' 

ഇത് കണ്ട പരിശോധകൻ വൃദ്ധന്റെ ലഗ്ഗേജ് എടുത്ത് ഒരു ടാക്സി വിളിക്കാൻ സഹായിച്ചു.പരിശോധകനോട് നന്ദി പറഞ്ഞ വൃദ്ധൻ ഒരു നൂറു രൂപാ നോട്ട് അയാളെ എൽപിച്ചു എന്നിട്ട് പറഞ്ഞു "ദയവായി ഇത് ആ ചുമട്ടുകാരന് കൊടുക്കണം.

മേലിൽ ആരെയും വേഷം നോക്കി വിലയിരുത്തരുതെന്നും പറയണം".

തിരിച്ചെത്തിയ പരിശോധകൻ ചുമട്ടുകാരനെ കണ്ടപ്പോൾ അയാളോട് പറഞ്ഞു "നിങ്ങൾ ചെയ്തത് ശരിയായില്ല. 

ഏതായാലും ഈ പണം അയാൾ നിങ്ങൾക്ക് തന്നതാണ് വേഷം നോക്കി ആരെയും വിലയിരുത്തരുതെന്ന് നിങ്ങളോട് പറയാനും പറഞ്ഞു ".

"ക്ഷമിക്കണം സാർ" ചുമട്ടുകാരൻ പറഞ്ഞു "തിരക്കിനിടയിൽ ഞാൻ പറയാൻ വിട്ടു പോയി അതൊരു അന്ധയായ സ്ത്രീയാണ്. 

സ്ഥിരമായി ഞാനാണ് അവരുടെ ലഗ്ഗേജ് എടുക്കാറുള്ളത് .ഞാനതിനു കൂലിയൊന്നും വാങ്ങാറുമില്ല.താങ്കൾ ആ വൃദ്ധനെ കാണാൻ ഇടയാവുകയാണെങ്കിൽ അദ്ധേഹത്തോട് പറയണം ആരേയും ഒറ്റനോട്ടത്തിൽ വിലയിരുത്തരുത് " .

നാമാണ് യഥാർത്ഥ ശരിയെന്നാണ് നമ്മുടെ ധാരണ...

യാദൃശ്ചികമായോ അല്ലാതെയോ പലപ്പോഴും അങ്ങിനെ ആയിത്തീരാറുമുണ്ട്......

ആ അഹങ്കാരത്തിൽ നാം പലപ്പോഴും മറ്റുള്ളവരിലെ കുറ്റം കണ്ടെത്താൻ ശ്രമിക്കാറുണ്ട്.....

എന്നാൽ നമ്മളേക്കാൾ വലിയ ശരി അവരാണെന്ന് തിരിച്ചറിയുന്നതിൽ നാം പരാജയപ്പെടുന്നു.

മനസ്സിരുത്തി വായിക്കുക. ജീവിതത്തിൽ പകർത്തുക .....

സ്വന്തം ഭക്തി, ആരോഗ്യം, സന്തോഷം, മനസ്സമാധാനം, ഉറക്കം ഇതിനേക്കാള്‍ പണത്തിന്‌ പ്രാധാന്യം നല്‍കരുത്‌.

കണ്ണുനീര്‍ തുടയ്ക്കുക,പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ടാവിനെ വണങ്ങുക... നല്ലതുമാത്രം വിചാരിക്കുക, നമുക്ക് കിട്ടിയതെല്ലാം അനുഗ്രഹങ്ങളാണെന്നോർക്കുക...

സത്‌ഫലങ്ങള്‍ മാത്രം തരുന്ന മരത്തെപ്പോലെയാവുക, 

കല്ലെറിഞ്ഞാലും അത്‌ ഫലങ്ങള്‍ കൊഴിച്ചുതരും.

പെരുമാറ്റരീതികളും, മനോഭാവങ്ങളും പൂന്തോട്ടത്തേക്കാള്‍ മനോഹരമാവട്ടെ..

സമയത്തെ ക്രമീകരിച്ചാല്‍ ചെയ്യാനുള്ളതെല്ലാം ചെയ്യാന്‍ കഴിയും.

നല്ല ഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങള്‍ വായിക്കുക..അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ വിശുദ്ധ ഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങളുടെ പാരായണം കേള്‍ക്കുക..

ഒരു പക്ഷെ അതിലെ ഒരു ചെറിയ വചനം ഹൃദയത്തില്‍ പ്രകമ്പനം സൃഷ്ടിച്ചേക്കാം...

മഴയേക്കാള്‍ ഉപകാരിയാവുക. ചന്ദ്രനേക്കാള്‍ സൗന്ദര്യള്ളമുള്ളവരാകുക

നമ്മുടെ അലങ്കാരം സ്വര്‍ണ്ണമോ വെള്ളിയോ അല്ല, മറിച്ച് എളിമ, വിനയം, ക്ഷമ, ദയ, അറിവ് പരോപകാരം എന്നിവയാണ്.

നിരാശയില്‍ അകപ്പെട്ടാല്‍ ഒന്നും പഠിക്കാനോ ഒന്നിലും സന്തോഷം കണ്ടെത്താനോ കഴിയില്ല. 

ആരോഗ്യകരമായ ശരീരത്തില്‍ ചതി, വിദ്വേഷം, അസൂയ എന്നിവക്ക്‌ സ്ഥാനമില്ല.

ദാനധര്‍മ്മങ്ങളിലൂടെ പാവപ്പെട്ടവന്റെയും ആവശ്യക്കാരന്റെയും സ്‌നേഹം നേടുക

പ്രാര്‍ത്ഥന പതിവാക്കുക.

ഒരു മണിക്കൂറിലൊരു ആശയം രൂപീകരിക്കുക, ഒരു ദിവസത്തിലൊരു സല്‍കര്‍മ്മമെങ്കിലും ചെയ്യുക.

നമ്മുടെ ചിന്തയാണ് നമ്മുടെ സ്വര്‍ണ്ണം, ധാര്‍മ്മികതയാണ്‌ അലങ്കാരം, നല്ല പെരുമാറ്റമാണ്‌ സമ്പത്ത്‌.

കൊടുങ്കാറ്റിന്റെ നടുവിലും നല്ലതേ വരൂ എന്നു ചിന്തിക്കുക. 

ഉപദേശം കൊണ്ടും ദയയുള്ള വാക്കുകള്‍കൊണ്ടും നിങ്ങളെ സഹായിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുന്നവരോട്‌ മാത്രം നിങ്ങളുടെ സങ്കടങ്ങള്‍ പങ്കുവെക്കുക.

വീണു പരിക്കേറ്റ കുഞ്ഞിനെ ഓര്‍ത്ത്‌ കരഞ്ഞ്‌ സമയം കളയരുത്‌. അവന്റെ മുറിവുകള്‍ വേഗം പരിചരിക്കുക..

ഓരോ ദിവസവും പുതിയ തുടക്കമാവുക. ചെയ്യാന്‍ കഴിയാത്ത കാര്യങ്ങളെ ഓര്‍ത്ത്‌ വിഷമിക്കരുത്‌, മെച്ചപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ കഴിയുന്ന കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ക്ക്‌ സമയം ക ണ്ടെത്തുക.

നമ്മുടേതു പോലെ എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും പ്രശ്‌നങ്ങളുണ്ട്‌ എന്ന്‌ ഉള്‍ക്കൊള്ളുക. മനസ്സ്‌ ശാന്തമാക്കുക.

കഴിഞ്ഞ കാലത്ത്‌ നമ്മള്‍ തെറ്റു ചെയ്‌തിട്ടുണ്ടെങ്കില്‍ അതില്‍നിന്ന്‌ പാഠം ഉള്‍ക്കൊള്ളുക, എന്നിട്ട്‌ അവയെ വിട്ടുകളയുക.

ഏറ്റവും നീചമായ ശത്രുവാണ്‌ നിരാശ, അതിന്‌ മന:സ്സമാധാനം നശിപ്പിക്കാനുള്ള കരുത്തുണ്ട്‌.

പോയ കാലത്തെ മാറ്റാന്‍ നമുക്കാകില്ല. ഇനിയുള്ള കാലത്ത്‌ എന്താണ്‌ സംഭവിക്കുക എന്നും നമുക്കറിയില്ല, പിന്നെന്തിനാണ്‌ നാം സങ്കടപ്പെടുന്നത്‌. 

ഭക്ഷണം കുറക്കുക, ശരീരത്തിന്‌ ആരോഗ്യമുണ്ടാകും.

പാപങ്ങള്‍ കുറക്കുക, മനസ്സിന്‌ ആരോഗ്യമുണ്ടാകും. 

ദു:ഖങ്ങള്‍ കുറക്കുക, ഹൃദയത്തിന്‌ ആരോഗ്യമുണ്ടാകും.

സംസാരം കുറക്കുക, ജീവിതത്തിന്‌ ആരോഗ്യമുണ്ടാകും.

ജീവിതം തന്നെ കുറച്ചേയുള്ളൂ..വിഷമിച്ചും, ദുഖിച്ചും പിന്നെയും പിന്നെയും ജീവിതത്തെ ചെറുതാക്കിക്കളയരുത്‌...

മോശമായ നാവ്‌ അതിന്റെ ഇരയെക്കാള്‍ അതിന്റെ ഉടമക്കാണ്‌ കൂടുതല്‍ പ്രയാസമുണ്ടാക്കുക. 

സുന്ദരിയായ സ്‌ത്രീ ആഭരണമാണെങ്കില്‍, സദ്‌‌വൃത്തയായ സ്‌ത്രീ നിധിയാണ്‌. 

മനസ്‌ സുന്ദരമായാല്‍ കാണുന്നതെല്ലാം സുന്ദരമാകും.

കൂട്ടുകാരെ ഇത് വായിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞു ഇഷ്ട്ടപ്പെട്ടാൽ ഷെയർ ചെയ്യണേ , കാരണം നല്ല കാര്യങ്ങൾ അറിയാൻ കൊതിക്കുന്ന ആയിരക്കണക്കിന് കൂട്ടുകാർ നമുക്ക് ചുറ്റിലും ഉണ്ടെന്ന കാര്യം ഒന്നോർക്കണേ

©️

Make meaning of your life ..

It was depressing to hear about some instances of cancer that had hit my close relatives and was wondering how to face it physically and psychologically that I decided to have a look for an interesting article. It was then that I hit upon an interesting HBR article that mentioned how to handle the difficulties and life changes associated with cancer.

I happened to read the HBR article, the real life reflections, by London Business School Professor Dan Cable "The most powerful lessons my cancer taught me about life and work" (click here) which is condensed here into just three points.

1. Identify the stories you have been telling about yourself, your actual and earlier activities, your purposes of life

2. Choose a better story about the same activities but with a different meaning and emphasis

3. match your behaviors to the new story so that your new meaning of the stories can make better connection

Cancer patients, most of them would have been earlier chasing their careers, often ignoring family life, work life balance etc. When the news of cancer strikes them like a bolt from the blue, they scramble around to find new meaning to their life. Often at this point they realise it is not worth running behind the pleasures and rewards life offers and instead start concentrating on the small pleasures and relationships of life, often enriching them.

The third point of matching behaviours to suit the new story is what transforms the life. If earlier people were behind money, fame and reputation, suddenly one finds people going after work life balance, peace, yoga, daily exercises, spirituality and the like. 

This transformation is worth going after after one realises the shortcomings of life. So when life gives you a shock or redirects it, instead of losing hope and entering a state of despair, find new meanings for your life and adjust your life to these new meanings, let what Prof. Dan Cable did with his personal life on realising he was affected by cancer. Now he has a new and different meaning for life and is happy with it.

George.

Third apheresis at SJMC 20 oct '21 and clearing lot of doubts ..

Yesterday, being a holiday, I called up Dr Sitalakshmi at St. John's asking whether there was any need of platelets. She asked me to come by 11 am. From 11.20 am to 1.30 pm, as usual in earlier cases, I donated platelets. I am very thankful for the SJMC staff, it was again a great and pleasant experience for me.

I also got to talk with the PG doc Dr. Ashley for two hours on Amazon, Jeff Bezos, global history, Peter Diamandis, Yuval Noah Harari  and so on. Also about human migration from Africa 66,000 years back till 25,000 years back to Cape Horn  South America. Since the process should happen only under medical supervision, the interactions with the doctor and understanding about his studies, work life balance etc, helped me to pass time fast.

 

Naturally when I speak about apheresis to others, what people usually ask is how safe is it ?. Earlier a whole blood donation would be over in 20 minutes, there is only some blood drain from your body, but during apheresis, it is recirculation of the blood after passing through an external centrifuge machine that takes out the platelets from the blood, the rest of the blood reenters the body, this is the cause for this doubt among the people. 

 

Some questions I had to answer to people regarding apheresis. My own family members started questioning my discretion as regards the procedure. With my limited medical knowledge and help from uncle Google, I could get some relevant info, hope it turns out useful for potential future donors.

 

1. Can infections come from the centrifuge or the kit ? Enough care is taken in the machine to prevent any infections through blood, the doctors say. After every process, I am more than confident it is cleaned well before the blood of the next patient is passed through it. Moreover, the external kit for doing an apheresis is very costly, about INR 14000/-. It is sterilised enough and kept in sterile conditions, so no cause for worry.

 

2. Is whole blood donation safer than apheresis ? Medical literature quotes that the risk of medial complications is less in apheresis, than with whole blood donation. 

Overall, evidence in the literature suggests that the frequency of reactions to apheresis donation is less than that seen in whole blood donation, though the risk of reactions requiring hospitalization is substantially greater.  Jeffrey Winters, pubmed.gov

Click here for the abstract of a paper on Complications of Donor Apheresis, pubmed.gov, nih.gov, National Library of Medicine. The paper claims that the complications though less than whole blood donation, the complexity of complications could be greater in apheresis. 

3. What are the side effects of apheresis ? Some close family members and close friends were sceptical and questioning me on the side effects of apheresis. From medical literature of all these years, (that is the only evidence we have of any complications), the only side effects can happen only during the apheresis procedure.

Some people have side effects from apheresis. These may include an allergic reaction, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, or low blood pressure. You may feel numbness, tingling, and itching. Most side effects will stop when the treatment ends - Learning about Apheresis, Uty of Alberta

Click here for a doc by University of Alberta on the side effects of Apheresis. 

4. What happens during apheresis ? What is the process of Apheresis ? 

Image courtesy, med.utah.edu

The process of apheresis involves removal of whole blood from a patient or donor. Within an instrument that is essentially designed as a centrifuge, the components of whole blood are separated. One of the separated portions is then withdrawn and the remaining components are retransfused into the patient or donor - med.utah.edu

5. Is apheresis safe for me? Yes, apheresis donations are very safe. Each donation is closely supervised by trained staff who observe the donors throughout the process. Only a small percentage of your platelets are collected, so there are no risks of bleeding.  www.leehealth.org

6. What are the medical conditions that are treated with apheresis precedure ? Stanford Healthcare talks of the different medical conditions that can be treated with apheresis. Conditions treated with apheresis may include: (courtesy Stanford Healthcare), links provided for more detailed study

Stanford Healthcare claims to deliver the highest levels of care and compassion,.

• Breast cancer
• Colon cancer
• Graft versus host disease
• Hodgkin's disease
• Leukemia
• Lymphoma 
• Multiple myeloma
• Myeloproliferative disorders
• Sickle cell disease
• Small cell lung cancer
• Thymoma

My experience at SJMC during the apheresis procedure is getting very interesting  day by day as I get to know more each time by interacting with the very informed professionally trained medical professionals available there for helping the people. Very informed and professional competent friendly doctors and staff at the blood bank are a real asset to the hospital. Reached home by 2 pm.

 

In total it was an interesting and good experience.. Experience is what matters in the present day world. You will get all wealth and leisure in life, but rich experience and knowledge one can get only by personal interaction with real life situations and knowledgeable individuals. Thanks to St. Johns Medical College doctors once again.

George 

My first IKEA purchase ..

Ikea is already a household name in Europe and US. I have been hearing lot about it and been watching videos and even read cases done on it.
 

Here is what Forbes has to say about it - IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad. IKEA operates 422 stores in more than 50 markets. Nearly 70% of the stores located in Europe. The best countries for IKEA are Germany (15% of sales) and the U.S. (14%). The retailer added 19 stores last year, including its first store in India in Hyderabad. Ikea received 957 million store visits in 2018 and 2.5 billion to Ikea.com. It offers roughly 9,500 products.

Ikea generated sales of Euro 39.6 billion in 2020. From sales of about Euro 21.5 billion in 2008, Ikea has grown in 2020 to about Euro 39.6 billion, ie. about 60% in ten years. Very decent and modest growth considering the fact that this GREEN industry cannot grown like other modern businesses.

 

The other day I made my first purchase at Ikea on the Ikea India app. From Bangalore Chennai etc we can only make online purchases till now. Very soon I am sure Ikea's physical store will open in Bangalore, that is what I have been told. My purchase was a steel bedside table costing about Rs 800/-. I was surprised to find that the same table is available at Amazon as an Ikea product at Rs 1300/-. The design w sleek and excellent. Great value for the INR 800 I spent on it.

 

I remember it was about 4 years ago, that I first did a case discussion on Ikea in the class. IKEA has grown very big and in India they have set up their head office in Hyderabad and their big store in Mumbai.  Ikea is operating in an industry that is fully dependent on nature and greenery. If there are no trees, Ikea does not exist. This raises a major question about the scaling up of this industry naturally, unless one comes with innovative sustainable measures for scaling up.Ensuring availability of hard and soft woord across the year in different geographies is a real challenge for the company. Availability of hard wood, soft wood is a challenge in India. With the increasing rate of deforestation, Ikea is in a very piquant state in India as citizens are aware of the environmental degradation such a consumerist culture in wooden furniture can bring to India.

 

Planned deforestation in select areas in the country growing select type of wood and usage of particle board can make big difference in India. Rubber trees are harvested after almost 15 years of its growth and loss of yield, when its wood is used for making strong durable furniture.

Will Ikea be able to bring bout an innovative wood growing and logging method in India to satisfy the needs of the world ? Who will be the credible and reliable competitors for Ikea in India and the world ?

These days having stylish wooden furniture at home has become a style statement which has led to a consumerist culture among youngsters to acquire more and more wooden furniture even though there is no real need for it at home. We have to wait and see what will be the big change that Ikea can bring about in the youngsters of the country ? 

 

Mail me at geasaw@gmail.com for a case on Ikea.  

 

George

My second apheresis at St. Johns Hospital, Bangalore.

On 30 September 2021, I made a call to Dr. Sitalakshmi, in charge of the St Johns Blood transfusion service, but could not contact her. Later she called me back to ask whether I was ready to donate platelets for a pregnant patient. I readily agreed. She had called me a week earlier (two weeks after my previous apheresis) but I was busy with classes and could not bunk from work.

 

On 31 September , I reached St Johns blood bank at 8.45 am. The two hour process started  at 9.15 and was over by 11.15 am. After taking 10 minutes rest and a fruit juice, I walked almost a km to State Bank of India branch in Industrial area in Koramangala for some banking related work. Perfectly fit.

The platelets help in blood clotting. This time about 100 ml, 3 x 10 ^^11 in number was collected and given for a pregnant lady who was suffering from excessive bleeding in the hospital. I wish the donation becomes useful for her.

Platelets, or thrombocytes, are small, colorless cell fragments in our blood that form clots and stop or prevent bleeding. Platelets are made in our bone marrow, the sponge-like tissue inside our bones. Bone marrow contains stem cells that develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. -www.redcrossblood.org

Platelets are tiny blood cells that help your body form clots to stop bleeding. If one of your blood vessels gets damaged, it sends out signals to the platelets. The platelets then rush to the site of damage and form a plug (clot) to fix the damage. -                 www.urmc.rochester.edu

 

Thrombocytopenia (low platelets count) signs and symptoms:

• Easy or excessive bruising (purpura)
• Superficial bleeding into the skin that appears as a rash of pinpoint-sized reddish-purple spots (petechiae), usually on the lower legs.
• Prolonged bleeding from cuts.
• Bleeding from your gums or nose.
• Blood in urine or stools.        - www,mayoclinic.org
  

Low platelet count is symbolic of Leukaemia. Platelets usually survive in the blood for 7 - 10 days and die naturally. 

What is a healthy platelet count - A normal platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. Having more than 450,000 platelets is a condition called thrombocytosis; having less than 150,000 is known as thrombocytopenia.  www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Here is a good link on blood and its constituents from the Uty of Oklahoma Health Sciences Centre, click here.

Life makes meaning when we give, not when we amass for ourselves .. When I tell others about blood donation and apheresis, I get mixed reactions from people.  Most of them are appreciative, but a bit cautious. Some of them raise concerns of hygienic blood transfusion services, while others find it bothersome to go to a blood bank, stand in queue and spend half an hour for humanity. But generally on the whole the response is positive and appreciative.

After blood donation with the knowledge that it is going to help at least three or four needy patients, there is a great feeling of having done something for fellow human beings without any hope of returns. Before the process, one is given two Calcium tablets and after the process, a can of fruit juice. 

 

With no tiredness and no lethargy, blood donation opens an infinite resource of positivity and optimism in your mind and body, helping everybody in your contact to bubble with zeal, confidence and energy. Ever since I started this process from the Govt. Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala in 1984, there has been no looking back. We also have a great committed blood donation team at St. Johns hospital with whom I have become friends, Dr. Sitalakshmi and Dr. Ashley, especially after my forty third donation.

 

George

An Amazon Echo dot for Dayabhavan orphanage

After our visit to Dayabhavan two weeks back, Anila and myself decided to give an Amazon echo dot (gen 3.0) to Dayabhavan at Kunigal, Tumkur. Dayabhavan is an orphanage run by Malankara Orthodox Syrian church in Kunigal, Tumkur, Karnataka, India with 70 boys, non-HIV infected of HIV parents. 

Amazon echo dot is an Artificial Intelligence enabled voice controlled smart speaker with excellent audio reproduction capabilities.

The Amazon Echo Dot is a voice-controlled smart speaker that uses an artificially intelligent personal assistant named Alexa to perform a broad range of activities. Alexa can play music, set alarms, control other "smart" devices in the home, play games, and answer questions by searching for information on the internet, just to name a few of its many skills - www.businessinsider.com

Day before yesterday Friday 11 Sept, Father Jinesh called me to say the product has been delivered by Amazon.  The same day evening they have finished configuring the system to their wi-fi network. The echo dot has been kept in the front visitor's room and is accessible to the inmates, the staff and visitors alike.

The purpose of donating an echo dot has been thought out very much. There are many intelligent and curious kids among the inmates at Dayabhavan. We are hopeful that the product will instill an interest in some of the children to follow a degree and profession in computer science and Artificial Intelligence. 

Kids will be able to dream of the infinite possibilities open in life in front of them only when they see the real life product. Hope this small gift from our side will motivate the kids to think of Industry 4.0 and beyond.

 

Tracking Amazon echo or Google Home, who is leading (click here) ? 

Start working with Alexa, the Amazon AI (click here) ..

George.

UN's conniving inaction in Afghanistan

United Nations should have assisted the Afghan govt when US left or taken temporary charge of the administration.  That is the purpose of UN in conflict ridden places of the world. 

UN has a lot of questions to answer in this issue..

1. Does UN want to destroy Afghanistan ? 

2. Does US favour a weak Afghan govt ?  

3. Is UN with the oi-rich enemy-of-humanity Qatar in destroying Afghanistan ? 

4. Why did UN Sec Gen Antonio Gutteres remain silent and inactive in this case ?

5. Why did UN ditch the Afghan govt and people in this time of crisis and allow enemies of humanity like Pakistan and Qatar play a destabilizing role in Afghanistan ?

Answers please, Antonnio .. 😟😟

This question was raised by my daughter yesterday when we were having a discussion at home on global issues .. 😟

A destabilized Afghanistan means a disturbed Asia. A disturbed Asia means a silent and inactive China and India, which means a golden opportunity for US to play the Good Samaritan and establish yet again its dominance of the world.

George 

An apheresis procedure at St. Johns hospital, Bangalore

I had the good opportunity of going through a voluntary 2 hour apheresis procedure on Saturday 4 Sept '21 morning to separate platelets for a cancer patient in St. Johns hospital, Bangalore.

Apheresis is a medical procedure that involves removing whole blood from a donor or patient and separating the blood into individual components so that one particular component can be removed. The remaining blood components then are re-introduced back into the bloodstream of the patient or donor. 

 

Platelets, one of the 4 components of blood, (about 3 x 10^^11 was collected), is a yellowish thick liquid separated from our blood,, about 50 - 100 ml, given to critical / terminal cancer and leukaemia patients. 

Human blood contains platelets 45% and plasma 55% by volume, platelets helps the blood to clot and prevent blood loss. 

The monitor gives progressive info

Actually I went for blood transfusion, but since my last transfusion was just 2.5 months back, they suggested instead an apheresis procedure.

A young doctor there explained to me the procedure well and uncle google also was helpful, I agreed. I was told it is a really harmless procedure, I can do apheresis, every two weeks, if I want to. This time only platelets, next time could be only plasma etc. By this, more people can donate the diff blood components. Though this was my 42nd blood donation, this was my first experience at apheresis and it was cool ..

A very safe procedure, an approximate count of platelets taken was mentioned, 3 x 10 to the power 11, (300 billion or 300,000,000,000 platelets .. ). The procedure app took 45 minutes, totally 2 hours pre-harvesting and post-harvesting in an a/c room under watchful eyes. 

Having had a good breakfast, I was given two Calcium tablets before and one orange juice packet after the procedure. I am perfectly fine after the procedure, healthy and active, no hangovers at all.

If you want to touch the past, touch a rock.  If you want to touch the present, touch a flower.  If you want to touch the future, touch a life.” – Author Unknown

Thanking Almighty God for giving an opportunity to serve society, hope this will motivate others to continue give back to society ..  🙏🙏

An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching - Mahatma Gandhi

George 

Visit to Dayabhavan, Kunigal, Tumkur.

2005 pic of inaug. by HG Osthathios (c).

Dayabhavan is the home for the non-HIV infected children of HIV infected parents situated in Kunigal in Tumkur district in Karnataka run by the Orthodox Syrian Church of India. Wanted to visit some socially stimulating place and this institution run by the Orthodox Syrian church founded by Geevarghese Mar Osthathios in 2005 was a very apt place to visit. This is our second visit... The website of the orphanage is www.dayabhavan.org 

 

The place has two buildings, the St Gregorios orphanage that houses 72 inmates from 5 years to about 20 years of age, mostly studying in the local Kannada medium govt schools and some in local english medium schools, going to PUC and Degree. 

 

The other building is the govt recognised St Gregorios adoption centre for Tumkur district that has about 17 children from 1 day to about 4 years of age. The kids are in different stages of adoption by local childless couples and foreign ones. Usually adoption is a very long legal process taking about 3 years of time. The government system works well in trying to understand over this period of time the willingness and capability of the couple to adopt and take care of children well into their adolescence. Children from the adoption centre move in to the orphanage as they grow. About 7-8 babies are in different stages of adoption by Indian and foreign couples. 

From St. Gregorios Orthodox church, Hosur Road, Bangalore, a team of ten members from five families and driver Anil, under the leadership of Dr. Alice Mani, got ready by 6 AM. By 6.45 AM we were hitting the road to Kunigal in two Toyota Innova, loaded with food and gifts for the children. We went there to spend a very productive day with the children.

We carried the breakfast of appam (total 400) for all the orphanage inmates and their caretakers, while the chicken curry was prepared by the kitchen staff. After a blessed breakfast with the children, we were entertained by them for about two hours. They sang and danced to their hearts content. It was great motivation for them to perform in front of a very welcome crowd who gave them all support and encouragement to dream big and do great things in life.

Kids having breakfast

Then we went around the compound to watch the kitchen gardens being maintained by the children with Fr. Jinesh Varkey. A type of Miyawaki forestry (click here for Miyawaki at Toyota Kirloskar plant Bidadi)  of intense vegetation is practiced here. Instead of wild trees, lot of beneficial fruit bearing trees and vegetables were planted closely together that supported each other while giving high quality organic produce for the inmates to consume. They also make very pure vurgin coconut oil which they sell at rs 300 per liter. 

We also brought some of the produce with us back to Bangalore, at a cost, which helps the orphanage financially. Besides the members also gave good donations to the orphanage to help in it's daily functioning alongside sacks of rice, books, furniture, pickles, and so on.

Alice Mani was very helpful

We also were fortunate enough to plant about ten saplings, a practice to have deep intimate feelings of association with the orphanage and the inmates. The return trip at 2 PM got us back in our homes in Bangalore by 5 PM.

This is a trip we would not forget for a long time. We have enjoyed the warmth and safety of our parents during our lifetime and so have our children. When we think of these children who were denied these luxuries, we feel sorry for them and wish to help them in all ways possible. We are forever grateful to God for giving us the basic pleasures and luxuries of life. 

Were it not for the persistence from Dr Alice Mani, we would not have made it to Kunigal during this Covid time. A big thanks to her once again.

If you want to help the orphanage financially pl contact the Manager / warden Fr Jinesh Varkey 94483 71298. The passion and dedication of Fr Jinesh to this institution is commendable.

St. Gregorios Dayabhavan

Bhaktharahalli Post, Vanigere Village, Kunigal Taluk, Tumkur District, Karnataka State, India. PIN-572 120

Ph. No: +91-76767 05649 (Admin Office), +91-94483 71298 (Secretary Fr Jinesh)

dayabhavan@gmail.com

George.

Artificial Intelligence role play in the MBA class

30 July 2021 we did a role play in the MBA sem 1 class, section B in Alliance School of Business, Bangalore, India.

According to wikipedia, Role-playing is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role.

Northern Illinois University has this explanation of role playing. Click here .. 

Role playing is that allows students to immediately apply content as they are put in the role of a decision maker who must make a decision regarding a policy, resource allocation, or some other outcome. - serc.carleton.edu

Click here for my earlier writing on the Bloom's Taxonomy to effect great understanding in the learning process, Role play comes in the top create part of the pyramid.

Objective : Understand how AI applications in daily rioutine activities in industry or elsewhere can help simplify matters and improve productivity

Procedure : There were 3 groups of 4 students each, the rest of the 45 students were taking online sessions from home. The 12 students carried out the role play.

The role we assumed in the class were of participants who earlier had issues with carrying out the mundane functions in the manufacturing plant or office or home and demonstrating how AI helped to efficiently carry it out.

The first group showed how they had problems manufacturing computer displays in the shop floor. The manual processes were inefficient and resulted in errors which the quality manager often found and complained to the top management in the company. It was when they decided to call in an AI expert and succeeded in effectively shifting from manual control to AI based control, which saw high quality and increase in efficiency.

The second AI based role play involved the hostel mess where the students were bored with the same breakfast. Even after repeated complaining, the menu had not changed. That was when one of the students had a friend who was contacted and who helped come out with an AI program that helped to mix the right ingredients of different varieties of flour to get any food of their liking and preferences. It changed the students perception to the hostel mess food immediately and was a big success.

The third group focused on a retail store. Earlier the store had problems with low sales and the store management decided to install AI systems. This system tracked eye ball movements of customers that gave indicators to the store management what were the items customers were looking at which would move faster than the other items in the store. The store was able tom improve its sales by installing this system. 

Learning : The exercise helped the students to visualise a poorly performing situation and the improved situation with the application of AI based systems that led to overall improvement.

Difference between religion and spirituality (from Internet)

This is one tremendous message, read it completely at a leisurely pace. 

A learned man was once asked to explain the difference between Religion and Spirituality. His response was profound:

▪ Religion is not just one, there are many.

▪ Spirituality is one.

▪ Religion is for those who sleep.

▪ Spirituality is for those who are awake.

▪ Religion is for those who need someone to tell them what to do and want to be guided.

▪ Spirituality is for those who pay attention to their inner voice.

▪ Religion has a set of dogmatic rules.

▪ Spirituality invites us to reason about everything, to question everything.

▪ Religion threatens and frightens.

▪ Spirituality gives inner peace.

▪ Religion speaks of sin and guilt.

▪ Spirituality says, "learn from an error".

 

▪ Religion represses everything which is false.

▪ Spirituality transcends everything, it brings you closer to your truth!

▪ Religion speaks of a God; It is not God.

▪ Spirituality is everything and therefore, it is in God.

▪ Religion invents.

▪Spirituality finds.

▪ Religion does not tolerate any question.

▪Spirituality questions everything.

▪ Religion is human. It is an organization with rules made by men.

▪ Spirituality is Divine, without human rules.

▪ Religion is the cause of divisions.

▪Spirituality unites.

▪ Religion is looking for you to believe.

▪ Spirituality you have to look for it to believe.

▪ Religion follows the concepts of a sacred book.

▪ Spirituality seeks the sacred in all books.

▪ Religion feeds on fear.

▪ Spirituality feeds on trust and faith.

▪ Religion lives in thought.

▪ Spirituality lives in Inner Consciousness.

▪ Religion deals with performing rituals.

▪ Spirituality has to do with the Inner Self.

▪ Religion feeds the ego.

▪ Spirituality drives to transcend beyond.

▪ Religion makes us renounce the world to follow a God.

▪ Spirituality makes us live in God, without renouncing our existing lives.

▪ Religion is a cult.

▪ Spirituality is inner meditation.

▪ Religion fills us with dreams of glory in paradise.

▪ Spirituality makes us live the glory and paradise on earth.

▪ Religion lives in the past and in the future.

▪ Spirituality lives in the present.

▪ Religion creates cloisters in our memory.

▪ Spirituality liberates our Consciousness.

▪ Religion makes us believe in eternal life.

▪ Spirituality makes us aware of Eternal Life.

▪ Religion promises life after death.

▪ Spirituality is to find God in our interior during the current life before death.

Religion is for the illiterate masses

Spirituality is for our soul

-We are not human beings, who go through a spiritual experience.

-We are spiritual beings, who go through a human experience.

Why the Covid second wave could be serious in India ?

Of late, just over the past two weeks, we have been hearing about more Covid occurences. Why did this happen ? Many reasons are cited, I am listing some of them here.

1. People have felt relaxed about the restrictions of Covid

2. The second wave is a different variant not responding to the vaccines nor showing any response to the RTPCR vaccine.

3. During the elections held in some states, no Covid restrictions were followed that led to the massive spread

4. People have been traveling wide and far and have been responsible for bringing the virus from other parts

5. The covid patients now are asymptomatic, because of which they are moving freely in society acting as super spreaders

6. Asia and particularly India is showing the max Covid patients now.

7. travel is still possible over air, rail and road across the different affected states 

8. curfew restrictions were relaxed initially that led to people moving across the states and affected areas freely

9. People who have taken one and two doses of Covaxin or Covishield are now getting infected, proving that the new variant has no vaccine and is dangerous

If the situation goes this way,  lockdown will also be declared in Karnataka like it has been done in Mumbai. 

So be prepared and take care.

George

Blood donation at Narayana Hrudayalaya Bangalore 3/3/21

My close friend and classmate Brian DSa from Goa, sent me a message on 2nd March. It was from the Bangalore Blood Donors Forum (BBDF) that a patient is in urgent need of 30 units of blood at Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) and asked whether anyone could help. A sincere request, a great deed to carry out. After all, it was a request from a close friend.

NH was the most convenient place for me to go, just 10 kms from my Anekal campus of Alliance University. Also my blood being O+ve I could donate to anybody. Though my last donation was on 24 Dec '20 and it was just past 9 weeks, because of the urgent  request from BBDF, I did not wait for the mandatory 12 weeks before the next donation. 

At 10.30 am I left the AU Anekal campus to NH by bus (a low Carbon footprint activity) and returned by 12.15 pm after donating 350 ml of blood. Very trained nursing personnel made the process very simple, professional, smooth and remarkable one. The donation procedure lasted about 20 mins. After a very minor refreshment I was back inside the bus to the campus at Anekal.

 

This is my 39th blood donation, ever since the first one in '85. This is my fourth or fifth donation at NH. I was feeling really on top of the world after  the donation. I thought they would take 450 ml of blood as is usually the case at St. Johns, but at NH they took only 350 ml, no strain at all.

Thanking God for giving me the great opportunity to serve mankind this 39th time. 

Most people look down upon blood donation because of poor awareness. That system should change in our society. Blood donation keeps you healthy and active, with a great feeling of doing something and giving back to society. Click here for the link to my 2016 blood donation, again to Narayana Hrudayalaya. 

One blood donation gives you enough vitality and health as running two full length 41 km marathons .. so why wait ?

George 

Make this lenten season a memorable, forgiving one ..

The vicious rift in Kerala, the southern state of India, between the Malankara Orthodox and Jacobite Syrian Orthodox factions of the ancient Eastern Orthodox Syrian church headquartered in Antioch, Syria has been bothering and pestering believers of both sides for more than a century now. 

 

Both sides have gone to court and the Indian Supreme Court had come out with a final verdict on 3rd of July 2017 in favour of the Malankara Orthodox faction working out of Kottayam, Kerala.

 

What could have been a peaceful settlement did not end then as the Malankara Orthodox priests wanted to extract their pound of flesh in the name of the verdict and antagonise the Jacobite faction, by insisting on a unforgiving settlement to follow the (invisible) 1934 constitution, which was not acceptable to the Jacobites. 

 

Even three and a half years after the verdict, and Orthodox faction spending crores as litigation fees and grabbing 52 Jacobite churches, the matter has not been peacefully resolved. There is a belief among the Orthodox Christians and more so with the intelligensia that a more peaceful, loving, hand-holding, accommodating approach by the Orthodox faction could have seen a peaceful resolution of the conflict much early.

Listening to Pope Francis, if during this lent season starting from 15 February, we could, starting from the Malankara Orthodox clergy and laity, try to be free from grudges and be reconciled with everyone, the objective of our Christian faith would be more than met. 

For the past couple of weeks, I have been attending the online Sunday mass / qurbana at St. Mary's Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Manarkkadu, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Manarkadu st Marys is the famous pilgrimage centre for intercession of Mother Mary. It was spiritually very satisfying. It is high time our priests start walking the talk on the sermons they make during the qurbana, of love, brotherhood, forgiveness etc.  

Most of us immerse in the practice of lent, ie. generally avoid rich food, luxury and pleasure, abstaining from food till noon everyday and try to be more engaged in spiritual activities, forgiving others, having frequent prayers and doing social service.

Instead of attending only our service or qurbana, and carry out the activities as listed above, if a large number of Orthodox believers could attend occasional Jacobite qurbanas during this lent season, it would be the best way to show our love and develop respect for our brethren. 👍🙂

 

Can we forgive our Jacobite brethren during this lent season ..? If not during this year, let us plan to forgive and be Christ-like at least during the 2022 lent season .. Again a wasted year ..

Why are our spiritual leaders not taking proactive action to bring peace in the church ? There are vested interests of protecting their turf of influence and affluence besides simple ignorance and playing politics. If all Christians following Christ are sure to go to heaven, why do we need all these sects and groups? If every good person irrespective of their religion can lead a happy life, do we need religions at all ?

It is our baggage of materialistic assets (the devil) that is stopping us from getting closer to God. Nobody wants to admit it openly and continue fooling and cheating the innocent public.

Pope Francis, different from the others, is known for making such spiritual, introspective and surprising calls every year during important occasions. The spiritual head of almost 1.2 billion Catholics, who are about 16% of global population and about 50% of all global Christians, as per 2010 data (click here), is a very respected figure for the whole world. 

George Easaw

Unknown facts about our body ..

Body matter - Some interesting secrets about the body ....

 

 1. Our nose can detect the smell of 50,000 scents.

 2. Like a fingerprint, each tongue has different lines.

 3. Some of the bones in the human foot are stronger than concrete.

 4. We can light a watt bulb with the energy produced by our brain.

 5. If the first tear when crying comes from the right eye, it is a happy cry and if it is from the left eye, it is a sad cry.

 6. The average person blinks 12 times a minute.

 7. Our eye is 576 megapixels.

 8. You can't sneeze with your eyes open.

 9. Every minute 300 million cells in our body die.

 10. Our body produces enough heat to boil half a liter of water every 30 minutes.

 11. Do you know how much saliva an average person produces in his lifetime?  The same amount of water needed to fill two swimming pools.

 12. The eyes of newborns are generally blue.  Later, when the ultraviolet rays hit, the eyes turn black.

 13. Every sixty seconds your red blood cells are circulating throughout the body.

 14. During urinary incontinence, your bladder often appears larger than usual.

 15. It takes about six months for a fingernail to reach full growth, that is, from its base to its tip.

 16. The average person in the West consumes 50 tons of food and 50,000 liters of water (not only water but also all liquids) in his lifetime.

 17. The muscles in the eyes contract and expand a million times a day.

 18. One kidney in the human body has one million filters to purify the blood.  It purifies 1.3 liters of blood every minute.  The amount of urine it excretes in a day is 1.5 liters.

 19. The average lifespan of a person is 40 pounds of skin peeling off their skin.

 20. A man's brain uses 20% of the oxygen in the air he breathes and the calories he absorbs.

 21. The ovaries produce about five million eggs, but only about 400 cause the pulse of life.

 22. Every human body has a different smell.

 23. Have you ever wondered why your stomach is indigestible?  This is because new cells are produced faster than the cells of the stomach that are destroyed.

 24. There are about half a million sweat glands in a human body.  The amount of sweat it produces in a day is 750 ml.

 25. 90% of the knowledge we gain is from the sights we see around us.

 26. You can never tease yourself.

 27. The bark of newborns is used to implant new skin on the body of burns.

 28. The skin of a full-grown man is about 20 square feet when stretched.

 29.  We can recognize the taste of anything only when it is mixed with saliva.

 30 .One produces ten million sperms a day, which is enough to produce a population equal to the population of this planet in six months.

 31. There are 300 million microscopic blood vessels in a human lung.  If these are executed one after the other, it will be about 3499 km.

 32.  It is estimated that the IQ level of those who dream regularly is higher than others.

 33.  When you go to bed, your height will be less than one centimeter than when you wake up in the morning.  This is because the cartilage in your spine is compressed throughout the day ....

Stratetigically Collaborating with the competition -

Usually when we have competition in the area we work, everybody tend to take it lying down, doing things behind the scene so that the competition is not aware of your actions and plans. We take extra care in snooping on what the competitor is planning to do and try to get what his immediate and long term plans are. If it is a product  company we tend to lok at the new product releases in the market by competitors and see how it affects our position in the market.

But in some sectors the competitors can collaborate or cooperate, help to build the market and within the market, compete with the same players with whom one has collaborated in setting up the market. We call this process Coopetition. 

An article in HBR When should you collaborate with the competition (click here) by Graham Kenny Jan 2021, speaks about this coopetition process in Australia, how the wine growers and Avacado growers collaborated in the initial stages decades back to educate the consumers about the benefits of wine and Avocado and later with an increasing aware customer base, compete in the same market to get a share of the market.

This strategic move can help create new markets, till now unknown and unexplored.

A similar exercise was undertaken by Amazon with the introduction of their Personal Assitant Echo dot in the India market by 2017. A customer base unaware of the product and how the AI product could change their life, underwent a series of informational campaigns by Amazon through the print and electronic media to educate the customers. 

Once the customers became aware of the technology and industry competition understood the potential of this new AI contraption that could slowly change the way humans interact with machines, Google through the Google Home, Microsoft through Cortana and Apple through Siri have also entered the market and are competing with each other to get a share of the market. 

George..

How many AI apps do we daily use ?

We all are enamored by the mention of the word AI , but are we fully in grip of the potential AI can make in our lives. Why are some of us afraid when there is a mention on AI, while others are upbeat when they hear the word AI.

I have been trying to find out the AI apps I use in my daily life and have been successful to a limited extent. 

The basic purpose of this exercise is to create better AI awareness in the society and for my students, so that they are better prepared to face AI when it hits us very soon in the next 5 - 10 years.  

Are AI apps harmful to society and humanity in general or are they beneficial ?

To prepare oneself for the AI revolution, it makes sense to know how many AI apps are we using presently and for which processes.

• Email replying - Google AI
  
• Searching to get better and relevant search results - Google search AI
• Spam filter - Google AI
  
• Email sorting (smart email categorization) - Google AI 
• Google Maps - Google AI
• Google ads - relevant to my search - Google AI
  
• Google doc - grammar check - Google AI
• Translate from speech to text - Google AI
• Translate from about many languages to other languages - Google Translate
  
• Facebook photo upload - suggests friends, Facebook AI
• Image editing - Faceapp AI
• Image editing - Prisma AI
• Online shopping - products suiting my taste at Amazon - Amazon AI
  
• Chatbots at SBI, HDFC 
• Music search and playback at Amazon echo dot - Amazon Alexa AI engine
  
• Music search and playback at Google Home Mini - Google AI engine
  
• Washing machine at home - Haier, Fuzzy Logic
• Website building - Leia app
• Chat companion - Replika app
  

I am constantly trying to find different areas of AI application. Will keep updating this list. I am yet to find an AI financial app that can help me manage my finances well.

George.

Why academic administrative positions remain paralytic ?

In general administration,  people get satisfied rising up the administrative ladder. But in academics it is misfits in academics or people who have no confidence in their academic qualifications or accidentally entered the teaching profession that aspire for administrative positions.

The objective of academic administration is only to enable effective academics. The Professors have to ensure good teaching in the institution.  

It is only high quality teaching that will be remembered by students, not administration. 

Sadly in India, academic administration takes the upper hand over real academics, which is the bane of our country. These administrators with qualifications from doubtful institutions with poor credibility, kill academics instead of supporting it. They take false pride in bringing around academic paralysis in Universities across the country. 

Improving the quality of academics by improving teaching quality and increasing student confidence in their own academic qualifications is the only way out. 

George