Belur Math opens gates for COVID warriors — doctors and nurses

It is often said Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita had taken a big role during the plague epidemic in Bengal by literally bringing out manifestos, working on cleaning of neighbourhoods and building awareness. No wonder Ramakrishna Mission following their footsteps, will rise to the Corona crisis. Other than helping the poor and needy with daily food, rations etc across India, Belur Math has now opened its gates to COVID-19 warriors, doctors and nurses who are fighting tooth and nail to save patients.

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Unfortunately, many of them are being ostracized and are not being allowed to stay in their rented place or PG accommodation. Keeping this in mind Belur Math is allowing its huge guest house to be used by doctors and nurses of TL Jaiswal Hospital of Howrah that is barely 2 kms from Belur Math. Around 26 doctors and nurses of the hospital are now staying at their guest house. Howrah District administration had written to the RK Mission headquarters in Belur asking to help in their accommodation and accordingly it was arranged by Belur Math promptly. After all their mission has always been to serve mankind.

NIT Durgapur students build ‘Pranesh,’ an economic ventilator for COVID-19 patients

National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur has developed an affordable, plug-and-use and easily maintainable semi-automatic Ambu Bag ventilator system in close collaboration and supervision of clinical physicians. A bag valve mask (BVM) has been in use for more than fifty years and is usually named as Ambu Bag. It is a manual resuscitator and self-inflating bag and a hand-held medical apparatus, which is commonly used to provide positive pressure ventilation to the patients, who suffer from inadequate breathing. A face mask is plugged over the patient’s airway and the required amount of oxygen is pumped by squeezing the Ambu bag at a rate of 12 to 16 breaths per minute for adults. The bag can be repeatedly squeezed out and re-inflated rapidly to resuscitate the patients by providing adequate oxygen. The same Ambu bag can be used to provide assisted ventilation through endotracheal tube to Covid-19 patients.

At a time when an increase in number of COVID-19 patients can lead to a shortage of ventilators in India, this Ambu Bag ventilator can come to the rescue. Generally, this medical apparatus is hand operated by highly skilled health-staff and getting so many staff engaged for each patient can be a problem in the current situation where the number of patients is quite high. Therefore, the present situation demands automatic pressurization of the Ambu bag and an affordable but reliable mechanism for the same. The mechanized Ambu Bag ventilator invented by NIT Durgapur students is economic, simple and amenable to easy production. The required clinical parameters of Ambu bag pressurization, such as strokes per minute, volume per stroke, etc can be controlled mechanically. A wonderful name has been given to these ventilators — PRANESH. Indeed, they will act as a messiah of life, or praan. The systems have been clinically tested and till now have been found satisfactory enough for crisis situations meeting the clinical requirements.

In case a large number of COVID 19 cases are reported, these ventilators can supplement a regular ventilator. The model can also be attached to each ICU bed and ambulances with slight modification. The key developers of this project were Dr. Nirmal Baran Hui, Dr. Nilanjan Chattaraj and Dr. Hardik Rajyaguru and the team under Prof. Anupam Basu are ready to help in the commercial production of this ventilator if need be.

Satyajit Ray, the man who brought out the best of Bengal’s rural life on screen

Existing in the world without having seen the sun and the moon

That’s what legendary world-renowned film maker Akira Kurosawa had once said after watching the movie Pather Panchali and while discussing the film-making style of another legend, born and brought up in Bengal, Satyajit Ray. Pather Panchali was indeed a timeless classic and the manner in which, Ray gave his own touches to Apu Trilogy (all three novels written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay) had elevated the movies to a platform never touched before. From the depths of emotions subtly expressed to the heights of background scores, singers, actors, musicians, handpicked by Ray after a lot of experimentation, Ray was a class by himself. No wonder even Kurosawa was touched by his genuine creativity.

A scene from Pather Panchali

Ray was fascinated by the world of Bengal’s rural life. Having spent a sizeable portion of his life in Santiniketan, Satyajit Ray was close to nature and rural life, their style, their dialects. Not just Apu Trilogy, in movies like Ashani Sanket, a film set in a village during World War II and the Great Famine of 1943, through the eyes of a young Brahmin doctor-teacher, Gangacharan, and his wife, Anaga, Ray again brings out rural dialogues, underlying wishes and their world of innocence as well as deceit. The human scale of a cataclysmic event that killed more than 3 million people and the breakdown of traditional village norms under the pressure of hunger and starvation, somewhere struck a chord with the human tale of love and loss that Ray usually portrayed on celluloid.

A scene from Ashani Sanket

While, Pather Panchali was the first film of what came to be known as the Apu Trilogy – the second was Aparajito, in 1956, and the third, Apur Sansar, in 1959. All three were masterpieces, closely weaving hopes and despair of the common man, through protagonist Apu. There is a kind of musical cohesion in the trilogy that Ray made, bringing Apu and other characters to life. In an article Ray once wrote: “I chose Pather Panchali for the qualities that made it a great book: its humanism, its lyricism, and its ring of truth.” Ray kept focusing his adaptation on the poverty and simple living of a family in rural Bengal, just like the original novel does. Bibhutibhushan had a breath-taking narrative style, where he touched upon the details of every corner of rural Bengal along with the minute emotions that each of us suffer from, be it in death or birth. Ray could build up that atmosphere with his midas touch, from the subtle difference between dawn and dusk, to the stillness that precedes the first monsoon shower.

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Also read : When the twain met: Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and Satyajit Ray

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Shooting of Ashani Sanket

Every detail of a rural life opens up behind Ray’s camera. They are put to life in scenes where the children follow the village sweet-seller with a dog trailing them and the procession reflected in a pond; Apu throwing a stolen necklace in the pond to save his sister’s secret, Apu and Durga racing through a field of kaash flowers for their first glimpse of a train or Sarbojaya’s outburst after Harihar comes home and learns of Durga’s death. They are all scenes with a contrast, of joy and anguish, of despair and love of simple rural folk. Similar emotions are reflected in another timeless adaptation of Tagore’s Postmaster. Ratan, the simple village girl and her undying attachment to the postmaster who comes to the village.

A scene from Pather Panchali

In words of Kurosawa: “Pather Panchali is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river. People are born, live out their lives, and then accept their deaths. Without the least effort and without any sudden jerks, Ray paints this picture, but its effect on the audience is to stir up deep passions.” True, Satyajit Ray could indeed bring out Bengal’s rural life at its best on celluloid and touch the hearts and souls of the audience. On his death anniversary, it is proved again, some creative minds never die. Satyajit Ray was one such master director.

‘Yes, I heal, Yes I breathe’ – Mother Nature’s open letter to Humans

Dear Humans,

I am breathing at last, yes my wounds are healing too, my sky looks crystal clear, not a tinge of soot and smoke and my birds sing in glee. All my creatures have found their homes on the silent and abandoned city streets as you went back to your confinement, within the four walls of your homes. Yes, COVID-19 virus has probably made you realize at last how a caged bird or a zoo animal feels as you enjoy their lack of freedom, as you force them behind bars.

Yes, I am breathing at last, my own pool of oxygen that has risen above the loads of carbon emission that your vehicles and factories produce daily, scripting my slow poisoning tale, pushing me to eminent death. I shed tears as my clouds pour down acid rains, heavy with sulphur and nitrogen-di-oxide, choking my every breath, every joy and every free alveolus. My heart skips a rhythm as you chop off one tree after the other, clearing forests to set up industries and mines and what not! From the deadly forest fires of Australia to that of the Amazon, from the bush fires of Susunia Hills of Bankura to the jungles of Kenya, I burn and you hold seminars talking of zero-carbon emission and global warming. A lot of discussions, but no actions on ground ever. Across the globe, every government makes tall talks about climate change, but refuses to sign an agreement to cut down carbon emissions.

You breed, you take away the natural habitat of my animals and birds. I watch helplessly, as the arctic snows melt, as a starved mother Polar Bear walks around trying to feed its cub that would probably die in hunger, I shed tears watching the Amazon rainforest burn, killing exotic macaws, I watch in shame as you chain the Orangutans of Indonesia’s largest rainforests to make them work as slaves! Now you have no control. They are roaming free, they are happy. Peacocks are spreading their hue on the roads of Rajasthan, deer and even leopards are roaming city streets, monitor lizards walking past busy thoroughfares in Bengal and all my birds enjoying the silence of the urbanscape. For them and for me, it’s a new found love, that you robbed us off, decades ago in the name of modern urbanization.

Yes, I heal at last, a reboot button, pressed by none other than me. You killed even my wildlife, cooked them into meals, you did not even spare the flying mammals – the bats, or even a rare pangolin, you ate them too, bringing in a deadly virus that invades you and today you stand helpless. As you die, I heal. But believe me, humans and Mother Nature should have lived in harmony, only if you could have controlled your greed. You could not, I silently bled. Till now, when I smile again, and enjoy my freedom. Yet, I shall still keep giving you flowers, to be put on your graves and hold the hands of your new generation and let them play again on my green fields. Let them learn what harmony and love is all about. I promise, once you rise from these embers, you too will heal. Best of Luck. May you win over a tiny virus and learn to conserve me to avoid such a pandemic again in future.

Sending you a whiff of my rain-soaked breeze to heal you too.

Mother Nature

Tribute to Abhay Mitra, the master juggler of Joy Baba Felunath

Remember that scene from Satyajit Ray’s famous Feluda movie, Joy Baba Felunath, where Jatayu puts up a brave face as Magan Laal Meghraj’s juggler Arjun hits one dagger after the other showing a dangerous jugglery game? Though on-screen all saw Kamu Mukherjee in the role of the dagger thrower, the real hero who acted as his dummy was famous juggler Abhay Mitra. We find Mitra again cast in Phatikchand — playing the dummy, again, for a flame-catching Kamu Mukherjee — and Goopi Bagha Phire Elo, where he played himself on screen, balancing on rollers while juggling two hammers and a ball.

Abhay Mitra is often known as Ray’s juggler and he passed away last week, leaving behind a dying art whose reins he had one day taken up to keep the art of jugglery alive. He was so passionate about jugglery that he even set up an institute, his long-cherished dream and the first of its kind in the country. The institute that will train budding jugglers in an art that is inching towards extinction. Academy of Juggling at the Boy Scouts of Bengal tent on Maidan ran for free almost as Mitra had a wish that the younger generation would take up this art form and keep it alive.

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Mitra himself had inherited the skill from his father, Kalosona Mitra, who died when he was just seven, has now passed it on to his children. His institute takes in any kid between six and 16 years of age and even admits physically-challenged and mentally-retarded children for Mitra always believed juggling in step with the rhythm of music, work wonders for such children.

Despite being a low profile person, Mitra had travelled the globe showcasing his skills. The past took him to Paris, saw him work with the legendary Satyajit Ray, meeting Mother Teresa, magician P.C. Sorcar (Jr) and so many more. From dagger-throwing act, to juggling balls and pins, to ball-and-stick-and-hammer-juggling, ribbon-dancing, sword-balancing, hat-throwing act,  and many more, Mitra was always happy to bring a smile to all.

After having staged more than 5,000 shows in the past 50 years, Mitra’s death will leave a deep void and his intent to spread the magic of juggling far and wide might take a back seat. Still his students would probably keep the show going. Hope Bengal’s jugglery would survive.

Dr Niladri Konar of London not just won over Corona, but dedicated his life treating patients

Like many Corona warriors across the world, Dr Niladri Konar, a doctor treating COVID-19 patients in a London Hospital, himself got infected by this deadly virus. However, the virus has failed to put him down. He not just won over the virus, his dedication to his work made him return to the hospital within days after testing negative and recovery.

As Dr Konar put in: “There is a huge dearth of doctors in hospitals in UK treating Corona patients as most hospitals are working beyond capacity and many medical practitioners are also infected or quarantined. So, I felt the need to join as soon as possible.” An alumnus of SSKM and Ramkrishna Mission Narendrapur, 32-year-old Dr Konar is a specialist in treating COVID patients and is a frontline medical worker in this hour of crisis. He moved to UK in 2017 and was on a night-shift in his hospital treating Corona patients when he started feeling fatigued and gradually over the next few days he developed all symptoms of COVID-19 and developed fever, cough, lack of smell etc.

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As Konar said the situation in UK is very grim and almost 100 patients are getting admitted daily in his hospital and many more are dying all over the country. Also as he pointed out there is lack of protective PPE suits as a result of which doctors and nurses are easily getting infected while treating patients. However, Dr Konar felt his first need was to serve the patients and the minute he tested negative, he decided to join back work. Kudos to such doctors and medical professionals who are fighting the disease without thinking about their own lives.

Cab driver Md Saidul hands over Baruipur hospital he built to treat Corona patients

He had saved every penny of his income and built a hospital a couple of years ago in Baruipur for the poor and needy of the locality. Cab driver Md Saidul Lashkar has again come forward during these difficult times of crisis and has handed over his hospital to the state government to be used as a Corona quarantine centre.

Saidul had built this 55-bed two-storied hospital in memory of his sister Marufa Khatun who died due to lack of treatment and absence of a proper medical facility in the locality. Saidul knew what was the need of the society then and even now. A hospital to treat the poor. The Corona crisis again reminds us all that what we need again are hospitals, more and more of them to keep in quarantine or isolation positive COVID-19 patients and treat them.

The BDO and administrative officials will now look into the hospital and have already sent the report to the State Health Ministry as to how to use it as a quarantine facility. Other than donating the hospital, Saidul has also donated cash to the CM fund. Hope Bengal gets more such brave-hearts and silent Corona warriors like Saidul.

Mungpoo in Darjeeling might play a role to fight Corona

If you have ever travelled the picturesque road to Mungpoo cutting across the dense forests on the foothills of the Himalayas, you probably would catch up with your tour guide’s proposed destination of Tagore Museum. The place where Rabindranath Tagore spent his time often and even wrote some of his famous poems. But little would you realize that hundreds of acres of plantation that you traversed through, can one day come to the rescue of mankind.

The world scrambles to increase the production of Hydroxychloroquinine, a derivative of quinine and chloroquinine, originally extracted from the bark of Cinchona plants. Dr Samuel Rai, Director of Cinchona Plantation in Darjeeling, sees a ray of hope to revive the plantations of Mungpoo. He said: “We are hopeful that the government will increase the capacity of Cinchona production that can be tested as a natural medicine to fight the Corona menace and any future shortage of anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquinine.” In the past Dr Rai made great efforts to trace the Scottish doctor’s family who had set up the rare medicinal plantation in Bengal during British rule.

As Dr Rai points out: “Right now due to Lockdown our factories are closed but we shall start operations immediately after it is lifted and will look into it if the Cinchona barks can be a natural substitute to the anti-malarial drugs being used to treat Corona patients.”

The British authorities in India started Cinchona cultivation in late1850s. Initially at Ootacamund (present Ooty) followed by Darjeeling and Sikkim, Ceylon (present Sri Lanka), and few other hilly areas. It was very difficult then but with the passage of time, the cultivation practices improved and changed. During both World War I & II, Cinchona played a vital role because during those days, out of ten soldiers, eight used to get hospitalized due to malaria and not for any war related injuries. So, Cinchona plants from which the malarial drug quinine was extracted played a vital role in saving lives of soldiers.

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Also read : Mungpoo’s Cinchona Plantation now grows coffee!

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Later, all other plantations were closed down, except the one in Mungpoo. Experimentation is going on with this unique medicinal plant and efforts are being made to revive its lost glory. A Scottish doctor named Dr Thomas Anderson, had harvested this medicinal plant and saved malaria patients in Bengal and India. Darjeeling’s famous Coronation Bridge also known as Bag Pool was named after him as Anderson Bridge.

Cinchona is harvested in a traditional method during November-February, for which the entire plant is cut and the bark is removed right from main trunk to smallest branches by beating with a wooden hammer. People like Subroto Manna of Darjeeling KVK and his team are working on the project to remove the Cinchona barks mechanically and not by hand that will increase the capacity of the plantation.

As Dr Rai points out: “Right now due to Lockdown our factories are closed but we shall start operations immediately after it is lifted and will look into it if the Cinchona barks can be a natural substitute to the anti-malarial drugs being used to treat Corona patients.”

Miss England Bengali girl Bhasha Mukherjee dons her doctor cap amid Corona menace

Bengali lass Bhasha Mukherjee, the beauty queen who made headlines last year as Miss England  2019 has returned to the United Kingdom from overseas charity work to fight the coronavirus pandemic as a doctor. After all, she is a qualified junior doctor and responded to the call of the times.

Invited to be an ambassador for several charities, Mukherjee had planned to hang up her stethoscope and focus on humanitarian work until August this year. In a recent interview to CN she said: “I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work.” But as the coronavirus situation worsened back in UK, Mukherjee was getting messages from former colleagues at her old hospital, the Pilgrim Hospital in Eastern England, telling her how hard the situation was for them. Mukherjee contacted the hospital’s management team to let them know that she wanted to return to work.

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Also read : How did the British tackle 1918 Flu Pandemic of Kolkata. Shall we do same with Corona? 

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“I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work.” Mukherjee, who moved to the English city of Derby from Kolkata at the age of 9, said: “I felt a sense of this is what I’d got my medical degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now.” Mukherjee is self-isolating for one to two weeks until she can return to work as a doctor at the Pilgrim Hospital. She specializes in respiratory medicine but said doctors are currently being rotated to wherever they are needed.

Two Bengali scientists of CSIR device low cost rapid testing Corona kit!

India is heading towards an exponential rise in the number of COVID-19 infections, with the numbers doubling in 3 days. This is a cause of serious concern and like any other country of the world that has been successful in containing the disease, India now decides to go for Rapid Testing among the community that primarily live in high-risk clusters. This will ensure timely isolation of the positive cases and contain the virus from spreading further.

So, a large number of rapid-testing kits are needed. And scientists at CSIR have made a major breakthrough by inventing the first ever Paper-Strip Rapid Testing kit. The test uses the cutting-edge gene-editing tool- Crispr-Cas9 to target and identify the genomic sequences of the novel coronavirus in the samples of suspected individuals. As Dr Debjyoti Chakraborty of the Institute of Genomic and Integrative Biology (IGIB), CSIR’s premier laboratory in New Delhi told the media a few days ago that they were working on the tool for around two years. But, in late January, when the outbreak hit its peak in China, they began testing it to see if it can work for Covid-19 and in two months they proved it can be a very easy test method for COVID-19.

The team led by Dr Souvik Maiti and Dr Debjyoti Chakraborty is currently testing the kit in a patient cohort for its accuracy and sensitivity and will hopefully get a validation from Indian Council of Medical Research within a week. This low-cost, paper-strip test can detect the new Corona Virus within an hour and hence can address India’s urgent need for rapid-testing. The kit is similar to a portable paper-strip test used to confirm pregnancy and does not require any different specialized skill to perform and is relatively less-sophisticated. If number of infections shoot up drastically, several tests will be required to be done in local facilities and this paper strip test will be of great help in that endeavour.

Unlike the real time PCR test currently being used for diagnosis of Covid-19 in India, costing about ₹4500, the paper-strip test costs less than ₹500. It also does not depend on expensive real-time PCR machines for RNA isolation, DNA conversion and amplification, which are already in limited supply. While scientists in other countries including Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been testing this approach, it is the first such indigenous testing kit based on CRISPR technology to be developed in India.