Reader S Digest India October 2018 PDF

OCTOBER
2018
`100
HA!
REALLY DUMB
CRIMINALS
FAIL TO JAIL:
Funny Tales of Bungling Bandits
PAGE 56
CLASSIC READ THE LEOPARD

TERROR ON A heart-rending tale by
THE ROAD Ruskin Bond
PAGE 122 PAGE 64
NEVER HAVE ‘FIGHT FOR A

BREAST CANCER WORLD OF
Experts provide a REASON’
prevention plan By Charlie Chaplin
PAGE 70 PAGE 32
THE GOOD NEWS ADVICE TO A

ABOUT GLOBAL BOY LONELY
WARMING IN MONTRÉAL
PAGE 84 PAGE 78
THE IMPORTANCE OF IRON .................................. 44

LAUGHTER, THE BEST MEDICINE ........................ 76
DRAMA IN REAL LIFE: NO WAY OUT .................... 102
IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY NOW .................. 157
Contents OCTOBER 2018
Cover Story Drama in Real Life
56 THE WORLD’S DUMBEST 102 NO WAY OUT
CRIMINALS Six caving buddies set off on an
Hilarious accounts of thugs hoist adventure, but come nightfall, only
by their own petards. TEAM RD four return. LISA FITTERMAN
64 THE LEOPARD My Story

An unlikely friendship with a big 112 THE GIFT OF BAD TIMES
cat—at what price? RUSKIN BOND Lessons learnt from a year of
unemployment. ABHA SRIVASTAVA
70 LOWER YOUR RISK FOR
BREAST CANCER 116 FLOWER MEN
Keep the killer disease at bay
Portraits of vendors at Kolkata’s
with these expert-backed tips.
flower markets. KEN HERMANN
LISA BENDALL AND ISHANI NANDI
Classic Read
78 ADVICE TO A BOY LONELY
IN MONTRÉAL 122 TERROR ON THE ROAD
A father writes to his millennial Shot during an armed robbery in
son trying to find his way in a Honduras, it was up to his family
big city. C. Y. GOPINATH to save his life. JIM HUCHISON
84 GLOBAL WARMING: 130 CITY ON EDGE

THE GOOD NEWS Warsaw is a hub of striking
Some positive trends that are contrasts. HÉLÈNE DE BILLY
redeeming. DAMIAN CARRINGTON
Bonus Read
92 AN ARMY OF TWO 138 THE HUMAN CHAIN
A judge sentences a war veteran Florida beachgoers device a risky
to jail—then joins him in his cell. scheme to save two drowning
ROBERT KIENER boys. DEREK BURNETT
P. | 64
T I TAS PA N DA
READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 3

Vol. 59 | No. 10
OCTOBER 2018
Dreamers
18 The Festival Of Giving
DaanUtsav celebrates 10 years
this month. ABHA SRIVASTAVA
P. | 32 VOICES & VIEWS

Department Of Wit
26 Monkey Business
Apish misadventures. SAMIT BASU
In My Opinion
28 Will the Spirit of Alma-Ata
Come Alive in Astana?
Fingers crossed for the fate of
READER FAVOURITES
health care at the WHO conclave.
DR K. SRINATH REDDY
12 Humour in Uniform
22 Life’s Like That Words Of Lasting Interest
36 Points to Ponder 32 Fight for a World of Reason
53 It Happens Only in India The iconic speech from the
76 Laughter, the Best Medicine 1940 film The Great Dictator.
151 As Kids See It SIR CHARLES CHAPLIN
152 Sudoku
Finish This Sentence
154 Laugh Lines
38 “The one thing I would
155 Brain Teasers
never give up for my TOP LE FT: A L A M Y, LE F T: I N D I A P I C T U R E
157 Word Power partner is ...”
REGULAR FEATURES
10 Dear Reader
14 Over to You
34 Good News P. | 38
46 News from the World of Medicine
163 Studio
164 Quotable Quotes
Æ
4 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST
Vol. 59 | No. 10
OCTOBER 2018
WHO KNEW?
148 13 Ways Your Mobile Phone

Affects Your Body And Mind
MICHELLE CROUCH
Me & My Shelf
159 Tishani Doshi’s perennials
Entertainment
161 Our Top Picks of the Month
P. | 48
P. | 161
ART OF LIVING
39 Living With Loss

VIBHU GAIROLA
Health
44 The Importance of Iron Total number of pages in this issue of
TOP L E FT: P H OTO GR A P H BY M AT TH E W COH E N

SAMANTHA RIDEOUT Reader’s Digest, including covers: 166
Food
48 Frozen Food Myths
M A R I S SA L A L I B E R T E
Travel
50 5 Reasons To Visit
New Zealand S H E I L A KU M A R
Home
54 A Checklist For New Homes COVER IMAGES: ALAMY, INDIAPICTURE
DIGITAL IMAGING: AMARJEET SINGH NAGI
BUSHRA AHMED COVER DESIGN: SADHANA MOOLCHANDANI

VOL. 59 NO. 10
OCTOBER 2018
Editor Sanghamitra Chakraborty Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie

Deputy Editor Abha Srivastava Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa
Assistant Editors Ishani Nandi, Suchismita Ukil
Contributing Editor Blessy Augustine BUSINESS
Editorial Coordinator Khushboo Thakur Group Chief Marketing
Officer Vivek Malhotra
GM, Marketing &
Senior Art Director Sadhana Moolchandani Circulation Ajay Mishra
Assistant Art Director Keshav Kapil Chief Manager,
Production Gajendra Bhatt Operations G. L. Ravik Kumar
Narendra Singh AGM, Marketing Kunal Bag
Manager, Marketing Anuj Kumar Jamdegni
IMPACT (ADVERTISING)
Publishing Director Manoj Sharma
Associate Publisher Anil Fernandes NEWSSTAND SALES
Mumbai: Senior GM (West) Jitendra Lad Chief GM D. V. S. Rama Rao
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Kolkata: Deputy GM (East) Kaushiky Chakraborty Deputy GM, Operations Vipin Bagga
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Dear Reader
The Loneliness Of Parenthood
I WENT BACK TO WORK when my son was
six months old. It was a big decision, but I
stuck with it. One half of me was always trying
to finish office work, so I could rush home to my baby.
Sometimes I would be stabbed by a sudden panic,
What if something goes wrong? Then there was guilt:
I would be suffocated by it every time I saw a little
baby holding on to his mum—on the street, in a photo.
But leaving baby behind with his nanny was actually
the most difficult part. He always knew—when I got
ready, it was time to leave. He made sure he never lost
sight of me. And then, after looking at the watch and
fretting about how late I was getting, we would switch on the TV, distract
him, as I slipped away. It was never this smooth every time, but I played
this game of deception with him for months. Around the first time he was
P H OTO GRA P H BY A N A N D GO GO I , H AIR & M AKE - U P BY R OLIKA PR AKAS H

able to string together a sentence, he told me something I’ll never forget:
“Tell me when you leave, Ma.”
My heart twists in pain still, thinking about those hazy, anxious days. It
was then that I started believing that I would be punished for what I had
done. That the tables would turn. I would pine for him, but he would be too
busy to notice. And then it would be time to leave the nest, and go to college.
Now that our young lad is in high school, that possibility is more real than ever.
Reading ‘Advice to a Boy Lonely in Montréal’ (p 78), in which C. Y. Gopinath,
an empty nester, writes to his millennial boy, I was haunted by the inevitable.
This is the story of every parent and child, of love and separation, loneliness
and pangs that play out across generations. Glowing with wisdom and empa-
thy, it is a must-read.
Of course, there’s a lot else in this issue—starting with ‘The Leopard’ by
Ruskin Bond (p 64), the funny cover story on the daftest criminals ever (p 56),
and a hilarious monkey invasion (p 26), to Sir Charles Chaplin’s Words of
Lasting Interest (p 32), our Classic Read: ‘Terror on the Road’ (p 122) and
‘Human Chain’ (p 138), the story of an amazing rescue.
Happy reading! Send an email to
editor.india@rd.com

Humour in Uniform
JAC K Z I E GL E R /T H E N E W YO RK E R CO L LE C T IO N/© COND É NAST

OUR BOATSWAIN’S MATE was a guy with the same last name as
smoker who would toss his matches him answered.
overboard. One day, he surprised “That’s a unique name,” I said. “Do
us all when he popped a cigarette you have a relative in the Marines?”
in his mouth and produced an “Yes,” he said. “Lieutenant Colonel
expensive lighter from his pocket. [same last name] is my cousin.”
With great fanfare, he flipped open As I tried to think of something
the top, flicked the spark wheel, lit pleasant to say about the colonel, he
his cigarette ... then chucked the jumped in. “Don’t worry. I can’t
lighter overboard. BOB MCCORD stand him either.” Source: notalwaysright.com
Reader’s Digest will pay for your funny
AT CAMP LEJEUNE, USA, there was anecdote or photo in any of our humour
an officer who was loathed. One day, sections. Post it to the editorial address,
I called the training centre and a or email: editor.india@rd.com

Over to You
FEEDBACK ON OUR AUGUST ISSUE
WRITE
&
WIN!
IN ALL BUT A NAME
‘My Family’s Slave’ is a WILDFIRE FURY
truly heart-rending tale. The cover story ‘Voices for
Lola’s story mirrors the Liberty’ was apt, considering
life of millions of people the present scenario. People
around the world who are of all ages seem to have
‘slaves’ in everything but suddenly lost their power
a name—it is appalling of reasoning, especially
how they are treated by when caught up in a tangle.
their employers. But the Be it on the streets or market,
author’s love and com- at religious events, school
passion for her reaffirms functions and private or
our faith in the goodness of public programmes, mob fury
humanity. It fills me with positivity catches on and spreads like wildfire.
to see that he neither grew up to The person who ignited it may
be a tyrant like his grandfather nor disappear, but the mob turns violent,
insensitive like his parents. and innocent lives are lost, with
PRACHI JAIN, Ne w D e l h i many more left brutally scarred.
What’s the reason for this fury?
THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE Who is to be blamed? What’s the
The article ‘Thank You So Much for best we can do to control this
Caring’ reminded me of the words menace? So happy to find so many
by William Arthur Ward: “Feeling answers to my questions in this
gratitude and not expressing it is issue. I feel elated to see the youth
like wrapping a present and not giv- taking up burning issues of our times
ing it.” Thanksgiving, in particular, and trying to find peaceful solutions
calls upon us to acknowledge with for most of them.
the deepest appreciation the gifts INDIRA GANAPATHY, My s u r u
people have given us in the form Indira Ganapathy gets this month’s
of praise, affection and genuine ‘Write & Win’ prize of `1,000.—EDs
esteem. In fact, every day and every
relationship teaches us something INSPIRING COMPASSION
about loving, trusting, forgiving, ‘The Transformative Power of Giving’
setting boundaries and taking care is sure to inspire readers to extend
of each other. BEENA MATHUR, P u n e help to deserving people who struggle
14 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST Æ

OV E R TO YO U
in their life for want of money or society, sub-inspector Gangadeep

materials. In Kerala, my home state, Singh’s sense of duty and fortitude
school children and activists regularly inspires us to have courage and stand
come forward to collect funds for up for what is right [‘Between a Man
the construction of houses for the and a Mob’]. SAUMYA BHATT, Ut t a r k a s h i
homeless and for meeting the medical
expenses of the poor. Reports like Two things make Gangadeep Singh
these in broadcast television or print stand apart—his guts to do the right
media about the victims and those thing in the middle of a hostile situa-
who dedicate their lives to helping tion and his thoughtful, responsible
them may be enough to trigger approach regarding the pitfalls of
positive action all around. social media—one of the leading
K. V. DHARMARAJAN, P u n e channels used to instigate hate crimes.
We should salute people like Singh.
MAKING REAL CHANGE May this story be a motivation to all
‘Blue flag beaches’ [Good News] upright citizens and civil servants.
is a welcome move to save our RAVI CHARLES, Ti r u c h i ra p p a l l i
environment from water pollution.
Beaches play a vital role in determin- HIS MORAL DUTY
ing environmental health and climatic My view on ‘The Case of Nowhere
conditions. The long-standing practice to Live’ [You Be The Judge] is that a
of draining sewage water and hazard- husband does not have the right to
ous chemicals from factories as well as deny a wife and their child residence,
dumping plastic waste into our oceans on the mere basis of incompatibility.
should be curbed before it is too late. It’s his moral duty to look after them
The clean-up of the Chandrabhaga through thick and thin, or file for
beach is a great first step in the fight divorce. However, if Rajesh Tiwari
to end global warming. Instead of only had moved his residence, the
blaming the government for not keep- court could have ordered Roma
ing the environment clean, it is wiser to live with Rajesh in his new house.
for the public and non-profits to take The fact that they lived ‘as a couple’
charge, bring people together, create in their father-in-law’s house need
awareness and make real change. not be reason enough to restore the
PREETHA RENGASWAMY, C h e n n a i earlier order of status quo.
REKHA MENON, Mu m b a i
DOING WHAT’S RIGHT
While the story of Ankit Saxena Write in at editor.india@rd.com. The
best letters discuss RD articles, offer
[‘Enduring Love’] shows the brutal criticism, share ideas. Do include your
truth of the communal divide in our phone number and postal address.

Dreamers
DaanUtsav—an initiative that aims to spread
generosity, kindness and compassion—
celebrates 10 years this month
The Festival Of
Giving
BY AB HA S R I VASTAVA
IT WAS AN ORDINARY SUMMER the grateful passers-by. It was a simple

day in Goa. Pedestrians, shop own- offering but the children, and the
ers, daily-wage labourers and city strangers they helped, imbibed a
cleaners went about their day, trying valuable lesson—even a small act
to survive the oppressive heat. At of giving can make a big difference.
midday, a small group of children, In an age when virality is amongst
accompanied by volunteers from the most admired of virtues, imagine
the NGO Spending Time and Reaping if giving went viral? If there’s one
Smiles (STARS), showed up with thing that could make it possible,
three coolers filled with chilled juice it’s DaanUtsav—the annual, open-to-
and began offering the refreshing all, celebration week (2–8 October)
drink to everyone, free of cost. The where people come together in a
joyful astonishment on the recipi- carnival of generosity and kindness
ents’ faces delighted the kids and to donate time, skills, money or
soon every drop was given away to resources to those in need.

DaanUtsav
being celebrated
across India.

T H E F E S T I VA L O F G I V I N G
Earlier called the Joy of Giving someone who needs your time, exper-
Week, DaanUtsav is the brainchild of a tise or resources positively impacts
small group of volunteers and leaders your sense of self, boosts compassion
from the non-profit sector, who got and sets goals for generosity that soon
together in 2004 and developed become a part of your life.
the idea of a ‘national day of giving’. The festivities are deliberately
Although the concept generated much devoid of a rigid framework, explains
excitement, it was only in 2008 that Krishnan. “There are at least 50 to
serious planning could begin 100 activities that are run by
and the first DaanUtsav various organizations and
came to life in 2009. groups.” These include
“Once the idea was collection drives, dona-
revisited, it simply took tion events, tree-planting,
off and soon expanded painting murals at railway
from a giving day to stations and more. Sara
a giving week,” says Adhikari, founder and
Venkat Krishnan N., trustee of the NGO
one of the volunteers “Hopefully, one Small Change, and a
involved in the initial day, we volunteers DaanUtsav volunteer
stages of the event. since 2013, adds, “We
What began as just will be redundant hope that in the near
an idea among a few because people future, DaanUtsav
like-minded folk, has becomes a part of
today turned into a
won’t need to be the festival calendar
nationwide movement persuaded to give.” in India like Diwali,
with several millions Eid or Christmas—and
raised in funds and we volunteers become
500 volunteers across 200 redundant because people won’t need
Indian cities organizing 1,500 to to be persuaded to give.”
2,000 programmes and activities in “When I was a child, Independence
collaboration with schools, colleges, Day was celebrated in homes and
NGOs, businesses, housing societies schools across the country. I see
and government departments. DaanUtsav there in the next 10 years,”
This year’s event will mark the says Mumbai-based Bharati Dasgupta,
10th anniversary of DaanUtsav. co-founder of the non-profit Catalysts
This festival is unique in that it for Social Action, and a DaanUtsav
shifts focus from the person receiving volunteer for the past three years. The
a gift to the act of giving, and how it 75-year-old retired professional firmly
makes one feel. Reaching out to believes that anyone who joins the

R E A D E R S D I G E S T. C O . I N
movement stays committed. evangelizing the festival, the team

The festival has also changed a lot behind DaanUtsav aims to launch
of popular, but mistaken, perceptions a nationwide outreach programme
about philanthropy. Donating one’s to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
time or resources is no longer seen This will include initiatives such
as the prerogative of the super-rich as ‘A Fistful of Joy’, in which givers
or businesses and their corporate participate by donating a handful
social responsibility cells. of grain to someone in need, and
As Priyanka Awasthy, another vol- ‘Dil Ki Suno, Kuch Karo’ (Listen
unteer, puts it, “To participate, you to Your Heart, Do Something)—a
need no permissions or contacts. The collection drive where people can
givers and receivers can be anyone donate clothes, utensils, food and
and everyone. Even a slum-dweller money. The proceeds of the campaign
will contribute a handful of grain. Just are to be used by Goonj, a non-profit
like any other popular festival, people organization, for its rural develop-
participate because they enjoy it.” ment programmes.
Awasthy feels the festival’s raison d’être Says a pleased Madhusudan, “The
is “to help experience the joy of giving most amazing part of the festival is its
by making a difference in someone’s organic growth … People read about
life. To some it could mean a contribu- the festival somewhere, hear about it
tion in kind, or it may be a labour of in a conversation at another place and
love. Others may just help by spread- decide to experience it.” Here’s to the
ing the word. Every year brings newer next decade of giving!
and more innovative ways of giving.”
Wish to join this kindness crusade and experi-
According to Aarti Madhusudan, ence the joy of giving? Visit daanutsav.org
one among hundreds of volunteers for information on how you can participate.
FOODSTUFF
Billion-dollar idea: A smoke detector that shuts off when you yell,
“I’m just cooking!”
@L EM M YW I NK LE R
I wanted to go out tonight, but the avocado I bought this week will
ﬁnally be ripe enough to eat between 8 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., so I can’t.
@TANIS H ALOV E

Life’s Like That
“And if you fall behind on payments, it drives itself back to the dealership.”
THE FIRST REACTION to R. K. Nara- then, you cannot stay inside a tiger
yan’s Tiger for Malgudi, in which the for long.” C. V. VENUGOPAL, B e n g a l u r u
narrator is a tiger, was not compli-
mentary. But all that changed when AS MY WIFE AND I prepared for our
CARTOON BY RON MORGAN
readers discovered profound insights garage sale, I came across a painting.

and literary circles spoke highly of it. At the back, I discovered that I had
Around this time, I met the author at written “To my beautiful wife on our
his Mysore residence. As our talk fifth anniversary. I love you … Keith.”
veered towards the book, Narayan Feeling nostalgic about a gift I’d
noted, with a witticism typical of him: given her 25 years ago, I showed it
“I wanted it to be much longer. But to her, thinking we should rehang
| |
Æ
22 OCTOBER 2018 READER’S DIGEST
L I F E ’ S L I K E T H AT
the picture. After gazing at my mes-

sage for a few seconds, she replied, A TRICK OR TREAT FEAT
No one does Halloween quite like
“You know, I think a black marker
Josh Sundquist. At nine, Sundquist
would cover over all that so that we lost a leg to cancer. Now, each year
could sell it.” KEITH CHAMBERS
on 31 October, he creates an amaz-
ing costume that shows there’s no
PARENTHOOD limit to what he can do.
Q I like having conversations with
kids. Grown-ups never ask me what
my third-favourite reptile is.
@SIMONCHOLLAND
Q Mytwo-year-old has a superpower:
Everything he touches gets sticky.
@A_PANIAGUA
Q We
could live inside the school bus
and my son would still find a way to
make us late for it every day.
@DADANDBURIED
AFTER DOING some DIY projects

around the house, I have a new
motto: Do your best to do things
right the first few times. THOMAS NGO
TO SAVE MONEY, I suggested to one

of my grown sons that we all live to-
gether in one house. I could tell he
didn’t think it would be cost-effective
when he asked, “Who’s going to pay
the therapist?” VIRGINIA DAVIES
COURTESY JOSH SUNDQUIST
WHOEVER SAID “Don’t bite off

more than you can chew” has never
been to a buffet with my family.
@ATSUKOCOMEDY (ATSUKO OKATSUKA)

anecdote or photo in any of our humour
sections. Post it to the editorial address,
or email: editor.india@rd.com

VOICES VIEWS
Department of Wit
Monkey
Business
BY SA M IT B ASU
IT’S MONKEY SEASON IN DELHI AGAIN, which means

walking on the streets is rendered additionally challenging.
You have to keep your eyes on walls and balconies to spot
fast-moving or lurking shapes while simultaneously trying
not to trip on the intricate trap-maze that is the average
RA J U E P U RI , SA MI T B AS U I L LU ST R AT I ON: KE S HAV KAPIL

Indian street. There are two kinds of people when it comes
to urban Indian monkeys. The first display enviable calm,
SAMIT BASU chatting with them or not even acknowledging their presence
writes fiction, and just going about their business—perhaps they cannot
and has distinguish between Delhi’s monkeys and its humans. I am
authored the
the other kind. I love monkeys only in fiction and amusing
GameWorld
trilogy and internet videos.
superhero I’ve had four home invasions, and a tug-of-war over food
novels that ended badly for the whole street, so my monkey-story
Turbulence and standards are high. I’m sharing the latest one, not because
Resistance.
it features special slapstick hilarity, but because it made me
question everything about myself, and taught me life lessons.
I step out of my bedroom to find, in my living room, three
monkeys having a panel discussion. Upon seeing me, they
exchange glances, and approach me with steely glints in

their eyes. This was their home monkeys are distracted by shiny
now, they say; I was the interloper. objects; I have none handy and I
Displaying the derring-do that I am don’t see the point of going outside
famous for, I retreat quietly into my to distract them. Monkeys don’t like
bedroom and lock the door. it when you make direct eye contact
Q Step One: I try calling my Top with them, or smile at them. Thank
People for advice. Network is poor, as you, great database of all human
always, but not as poor as I feel when knowledge, I was not planning to.
they do not take my calls. They are all Finally, I find a solution. Monkeys
busy overachievers and are out there are scared of roaring tigers. And I
conquering the world. happened to have one handy in my
Q Life Lesson One: Keep a few friends bedroom. Fine, I didn’t, but there was
with spare time on their hands. YouTube. A search for ‘roaring tiger’
Outside, the monkeys start making leads me to a video thumbnailed with
thumping and dragging sounds. They an amazing, loud-looking tiger.
are rearranging the furniture, possibly I wait and watch for five agonizing
beginning large-scale construction. minutes the video of a tiger roaming
Q Step Two: I ask social media what I around his cage, stubbornly silent,
should do, and immediately receive as kids with American accents shout
fantastic tips. I should have locked ‘He’s not roaring, mommy!’ I feel their
my balcony door better. I should call pain. Eventually, I make do with a
a “langur man”—excellent advice, video of a barking dog, at full volume.
but, unfortunately, I did not have No results. The only hope I had
such stalwarts on my contacts list at this point was another tip saying
and later found out the monkey monkeys get bored quickly and move
catchers have largely been driven on. So I continued doing what I do
out of work, making the overall best: nothing.
monkey situation much worse. The monkeys left eventually, thanks
My timelines had more advice: either to boredom or the soya sauce
I should post photos. I deserved it, they had found in the fridge and
I was a bad person. Would I like to drunk. They clearly hadn’t liked it,
buy their books while I waited? and had expressed this by liberally
Q Life Lesson Two: Do not ask distributing it around the house and
questions on social media. breaking the bottle.
The monkeys have actively started Q Life Lesson Three (and this is a
banging on my door now. big one): Always keep soya sauce

Q Step Three: I do more research in the house, even if you don’t plan
using my expert methods—how to on using it. You never know when
get rid of monkeys, I Google. I find it might save your hide.

IN MY OPINION
Comprehensive primary health care could potentially emerge

centre stage at a WHO conclave in the Kazakh capital this month
Will the Spirit of Alma-Ata

Come Alive in Astana?
BY D R K . SRIN AT H R E D DY
“HEALTH FOR ALL BY 2000” was an inspiring slogan

that rang out of the Alma-Ata Declaration that the world
adopted in 1978 under the auspices of the World Health
Organization (WHO). Much has changed since then,
with Kazakhstan emerging as an independent country
from the break up of the Soviet Union and changing
the name of the erstwhile capital Alma-Ata to Almaty.
DR K. SRINATH The country has even had a new capital in Astana since
REDDY 1997. The distance between Almaty and Astana, both in
is president, Kazakhstan, is 1,200 kilometres. The world has taken
Public Health 40 years to make this journey, which still seems a start
Foundation of
and not an end.
India. He was
awarded the More important, the resonance and relevance of the
Padma Bhushan declaration have altered in the changed context of global
I L LU ST RAT I O N BY K E S H AV KA P I L
in 2005. health. The design of comprehensive health care, which

emerged at Alma-Ata, was abandoned in the decades that
followed, only to be revived again in recent years. The
cynicism, with which critics dismissed “health for all” as
an empty slogan, has given way to new understanding and
fresh commitment, as the United Nations (UN) in 2015
articulated as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to
be attained by 2030: “Ensure healthy lives and promote
well-being for all at all ages”.

Investing in comprehensive primary health care is the need of the hour.
Between these years, the idea non-infectious causes of disease,

of comprehensive primary health death and disability (cardiovascular,
care was distorted and discarded, respiratory and kidney diseases,
as ‘selective primary health care’ cancers, diabetes, mental illness,
was pushed by international donors and injuries).
and practised by aid-dependant While these vertical program-
low- and middle-income countries. mes did achieve some success
Many vertical disease-control by mobilizing and channelling
programmes were designed for resources towards specific targets,
delivery through a splintered it soon became apparent that they
primary health-care system. Even cannot be force-fitted into a weak
the Millennium Development Goals health system. Not only did the
(MDG), adopted in 2000 by the UN, delivery of these programmes suffer
directed action towards specified because of challenges in health
health issues (maternal health and workforce and coordination but they
child mortality) and major infectious also extracted a huge opportunity
diseases (HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and cost through the neglect of other
malaria). The health system was health conditions that should be
functionally segmented by age and addressed by health services.
I N DI A P I C TU R E
fragmented by disease. This led to The interest in competent and

the exclusion of many age groups comprehensive primary health care
(such as adolescents, middle-aged resurfaced with the growing global
and elderly persons) as well as major commitment to universal health

W I L L T H E S P I R I T O F A L M A - ATA C O M E A L I V E I N A S TA N A?
coverage (UHC). The provision of or close to home. Well-organized

appropriate health care to all, with primary health care also provides
adequate financial protection, is the best defence against the spread
now an identified SDG target. It has of epidemics and enables effective
become the new flagship programme disaster preparedness and response.
of the WHO, which advocates that Primary health care need not
comprehensive primary health care be mostly doctor-dependant. Both
must lead the journey to UHC. rural and urban primary health
This renewed call for strengthening care can greatly benefit from
primary health care, as an integrative several services delivered through
platform that addresses a broad range technology-enabled, non-physician
of health needs in a population and health-care providers, including
provides continuity of care, will be community health workers, nurses
made by WHO member countries at (especially nurse practitioners) and
Astana in October 2018, rekindling a range of other skilled allied health
the spirit of the Alma-Ata Declaration. professionals. Many affordable
Wherever such a model of primary technologies are emerging that
health care has been adopted, can greatly enhance the outreach
universal health coverage has been and effectiveness of such services,
easier to achieve, since the whole but their success depends on the
population benefits from a broad availability of a multiskilled primary
range of services that addresses health-care team. The engagement
most health needs at low cost. of communities is vital to the success
The need for costly advanced of primary health care, for setting
health care, delivered through priorities, partnering in delivery and
hospital admissions, is greatly monitoring the quality of services.
reduced by efficient and easily This enables democratization of
accessible primary health care health care.
that assures health promotion, If the world has learnt its lessons in
disease prevention, early detection the 40 years after Alma-Ata, primary
and cost-effective management health care will emerge from Astana
of health threats. Primary health as the heart of a caring and compe-
care also serves as a gatekeeper for tent health system and the soul of
making not only critical but timely universal health coverage. It will also
referrals for more advanced care and drive us towards the SDG targets of
provides long-term care for persons 2030 with assured purpose and
returning from higher levels of care. performance. Back to the future!
Communities too are comforted
by care that is delivered at home The views expressed are personal.

WORDS OF LASTING INTEREST
This moving speech was written for the 1940 film The Great Dictator.
Here, Charlie Chaplin’s character, a Jewish barber thrust into the
position of a lookalike despot, seizes the opportunity to speak out
Fight for a World of Reason

BY S IR CH A RLES C HAP L I N
I’M SORRY, BUT I don’t want need humanity. More than cleverness
to be an emperor. That’s not my busi- we need kindness and gentleness.
ness. I don’t want to rule or conquer Without these qualities, life will be
anyone. I should like to help every- violent and all will be lost …
one, if possible—Jew, Gentile, black The aeroplane and the radio have
man, white. We all want to help one brought us closer together. The very
another. Human beings are like that. nature of these inventions cries out for
We want to live by each other’s happi- the goodness in men, cries out for
ness—not by each other’s misery. We universal brotherhood, for the unity
don’t want to hate and despise one of us all. Even now my voice is
another. In this world there is room reaching millions throughout the
for everyone. And the good earth is world—millions of despairing men,
rich and can provide for everyone. women and little children—victims
The way of life can be free and beauti- of a system that makes men torture
ful, but we have lost the way. and imprison innocent people.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, To those who can hear me, I say—
has barricaded the world with hate, do not despair. The misery that is
has goose-stepped us into misery now upon us is but the passing of
and bloodshed. We have developed greed, the bitterness of men who
speed, but we have shut ourselves in. fear the way of human progress. The
Machinery that gives abundance has hate of men will pass, and dictators
left us in want. Our knowledge has die, and the power they took from
made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard the people will return to the people.
and unkind. We think too much and And so long as men die, liberty will
feel too little. More than machinery we never perish …

You, the people,
have the power—
the power to create
happiness, and make
this life free and
beautiful. In the
name of democracy—
let us all unite.
Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to and beautiful, to make this life a

brutes: men who despise you, enslave wonderful adventure.
you, who regiment your lives, tell you Then, in the name of democracy,
what to do, what to think and what let us use that power—let us all unite.
to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat Let us fight for a new world: a decent
you like cattle, use you as cannon world that will give men a chance to
fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these work—that will give youth a future
unnatural men: machine men with and old age a security. By the promise
machine minds and machine hearts! of these things, brutes have risen to
You are not machines! You are not power. But they lie! They do not fulfil
cattle! You are men! You have the that promise. They never will!
love of humanity in your hearts! You Dictators free themselves but they
don’t hate! Only the unloved hate— enslave the people! Now let us fight to
the unloved and the unnatural! fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free
Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! the world: to do away with national
Fight for liberty! barriers—to do away with greed, with
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is hate and intolerance. Let us fight for
written: “The Kingdom of God is a world of reason, a world where
within man”—not one man nor a science and progress will lead to all
group of men, but in all men! In you! men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the
You, the people, have the power—the name of democracy, let us all unite!
power to create machines. The power
A LA MY
to create happiness! You, the people, The final speech from The Great Dictator.
have the power to make this life free Copyright © Roy Export S.A.S. All rights reserved

SOME POSITIVE STORIES THAT CAME OUR WAY
Good News
BY MAD HU R I CHOW DHU RY
Everybody’s welcome
EQUALITY Looks like eating
out in India just got a whole
lot more inclusive! After a
transgender individual was
allegedly denied entry into
a mall in Pune, 45 hotels,
restaurants and service com-
panies, including UrbanClap
and the Olive Bar & Kitchen,
have pledged to make all
people feel more welcome, regardless still define as a man and woman
of gender and sexual preference. together. We have started addressing
Keshav Suri, executive director of a couple as a twosome instead,” he
the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group and told Hindustan Times.
one of the petitioners for decrimina- The establishments will make
lizing Section 377 of the Indian Penal various changes such as training their
Code, has been a vocal advocate for staff to provide more inclusive service,
gay rights in India. “It begins with better hiring processes and gender-
a fundamental concept such as not neutral bathrooms wherever possible.
assuming that if two men are checking This is another big step in the right
in together, they have to be provided direction for India and will hopefully
with twin beds; and changing the pave the way for a safer, happier,
concept of a couple, which people more embracing society for all.
“People thought, ‘Bison on dunes? The crazy Dutch!’

But it is working.”
Yvo nn e Kemp , leader of a successful project to introduce the normally forest-dwelling wild
European bison on the Dutch coast 80 years after they were hunted to extinction from the continent.

An epic find
SPACE Ever dreamt of discovering a
planet in a solar system far, far away?
A team of Indian scientists, led by
Professor Abhijit Chakraborty, from
the Physical Research Laboratory
(PRL) in Ahmedabad, recently did just
that. The planet in question, named
EPIC, is located 600 light years away
from Earth. That means it would take
a space shuttle from Earth a whopping
22 million years to reach it! EPIC is
six times the size of Earth’s radius,
but still smaller than Saturn (which hours until he reached Vishwaraj
is nine times Earth’s size). Hospital, where he works. Deshmukh
The discovery was made possible later said, “RLA (ruptured liver
by a spectrograph designed at PRL abscess) can be fatal and can lead to
that was able to measure the planet’s sepsis, empyema or peritonitis. I am
mass, which is 27 times denser than the only surgeon at Vishwaraj. I had
Earth’s. Because it is closer to its star to get there by any means possible.”
than we are to our Sun, EPIC’s surface
temperatures reach up to 600°C— The food ATM
much too hot for life forms to exist. GIVING Students from Mahadevi Birla
Scientists speculate that the planet’s World Academy, Kolkata, have been
heavy mass may be made up of ele- helping feed 150 children living in the
ments such as ice and iron. Here’s Tiljala slum since July this year. With
hoping the team will continue to un- the help of teachers, they have set
ravel more mysteries of the universe! up an Any Time Food (ATF) Fridge,
so food can be distributed to kids
The good doctor between the ages of six and 14,
HEALTH What happens when Monday to Friday from 2:45 to 3 p.m.
roads are blocked by a procession, Organized with the intention of
but you need to reach a patient who sensitizing kids to the needs of others,
needs immediate surgery? If you are the initiative began after thorough
Dr Sushil J. Deshmukh, you will make research on how food ATMs work
the eight-kilometre trip on foot to and what kind of food Tiljala’s chil-
perform an emergency laparoscopy. dren needed. “With 4,000 students, I
Parking his car at Hadapsar, Pune, was sure we could make a difference,”
at 10 a.m., the doctor walked for four said school principal, Anjana Saha.
Sources: Equality—The Better India, 26.6.18. Space—FirstPost, 23.6.18. Health—The Logical Indian, 18.7.18.
Giving—Dailyhunt, 25.7.17
Points to Ponder
If our parents didn’t love and
understand each other, how are
we to know what love looks
like? … The most precious
inheritance that parents can
give their children is their own
happiness. Our parents may be
able to leave us money, houses
and land, but they may not be
happy people. If we have happy
parents, we have received the
richest inheritance of all.
THICH NHAT HANH,
Buddhist monk and peace activist
DOES THE CONSTITUTION allow a TALENT IS INSIGNIFICANT. I know a

quiver of fear to become the quilt lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie
around the bodies of her citizens, all the usual words: discipline, love,
PHOTO COURTESY: THICH NHAT HANH’S TWITTER PAGE

in the intimacies which define their luck, but, most of all, endurance.
identities? If there is only one answer
to this question, as I believe there is, JAMES BALDWIN,
the tragedy and anguish which Sec- novelist, playwright and essayist
tion 377 inflicts must be remedied …
Section 377 provides for rule by the THE SILENCING OF DISSENT and
law instead of the rule of law. The rule the generating of fear in the minds
of law requires a just law which facili- of people violate the demands of
tates equality, liberty and dignity in personal liberty, but they also make
all its facets. Rule by the law provides it very much harder to have a
legitimacy to arbitrary state behaviour. dialogue-based society.
JUSTICE D. Y. CHANDRACHUD, AMARTYA SEN,

s i t t i n g j u d g e o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t o f In d i a , N o b e l P r i z e -w i n n i n g e c o n o m i s t ,
in the court’s verdict to decriminalize a part of Section 377 at the Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture in 2016

BIG DATA ALGORITHMS might create IF WE DEFINE ‘beauty’ as having blue
digital dictatorships in which all power eyes (and only blue eyes), then we
is concentrated in the hands of a tiny will, indeed, find a ‘gene for beauty’.
elite while most people suffer not from If we define ‘intelligence’ as the
exploitation, but from something far performance on only one kind of test,
worse—irrelevance. then we will, indeed, find a ‘gene for
intelligence’. The genome is only a
YUVAL NOAH HARARI, mirror for the breadth or narrowness
historian, in his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century of human imagination.
WALKING IS VERY important to us SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE,

Jains. The Buddha was enlightened c a n c e r p hy s i c i a n a n d r e s e a r c h e r, in his book
while sitting under a tree, but our The Gene: An Intimate History
great tirthankara, Mahavira, was en-

lightened while walking. We believe ALL YOU HAVE to do is put a label on
that walking is an important part of somebody. And then you don’t have
our tapasya. We don’t use cars or any to deal with the physical fact. You
vehicles, partly because travelling so don’t have to wonder if they are
fast can kill so many living creatures, waiting for the Easter bunny or love
but partly also because we have two Christmas, or, you know, love their
legs and travelling on foot is the right parents and hate small kids and are
speed for human beings. Walking sorts fearful of dogs. If you say, oh, that’s a
out your problems and anxieties, and junkie, that’s a ni**er, that’s a kike,
calms your worries. Living from day to that’s a Jew, that’s a honkie, that’s a—
day, from inspiration to inspiration, you just—that’s the end of it.
much of what I have learnt as a Jain
MAYA ANGELOU,
has come from wandering. Some- p o e t , s i n g e r, a u t o b i o g r p h e r a n d a c t i v i s t
times, even my dreams are of walking.
PRASANNAMATI MATAJI, IT HAS OFTEN and confidently been

a Ja i n m o n k , in William Dalrymple’s book Nine Lives asserted that man’s origin can never
be known: But ignorance more fre-
WHEN A WOMAN is emotional, quently begets confidence than does
she’s ‘hysterical’ and she’s penalized knowledge: It is those who know little,
for it. When a man does the same, and not those who know much, who
he’s ‘outspoken’ and there are so positively assert this or that prob-
no repercussions. lem will never be solved by science.
BILLIE JEAN KING, CHARLES DARWIN,

former tennis player, on sexism in professional sports n a t u ra l i s t , g e o l i s t a n d b i o l o g i s t

FINISH THIS SENTENCE
“The one thing I would never

give up for my partner is ...”
… the annual vacation
with my
girl gang.
MRINALINEE PATRO,
Bhub aneswar … reading
Reader’s Digest
as I have been since 1991, when
I was an engineering student.
VENKATA RAMANA, Hyderab ad
… my viewpoint.
PRIYANKA GARHWAL,
… my love for
Jo dhpur
books and
travelling.
SHIVANI SINGH,
Allahab ad
… biryani!
SOURAV BANERJEE,
Bhilai
… my weekly
solo coffee outings: ... healthy eating
I N DI A P I C T U R E
my ‘me time’.
KAVITA RAO, Pune
habits.
AMITA KORGAONKAR KUBAL,
Mumb ai

ART of LIVING
Grief experts help us navigate life after a death
Living With Loss

BY V I B HU GA I RO LA
I LLU ST R AT ION BY LYNN S C U R FIE LD

LIVING WITH LOSS
ON 7 OCTOBER 2015, before “Grief is your internal response to

the sun had risen at home in loss,” says Dr Alan Wolfelt, director of
Canada, I was awoken by a phone the Center for Loss & Life Transition
call during which I learnt that one in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. After
of my dearest friends had died. someone dies, he explains, grief
Jacob had been a schoolmate at presents itself as a constellation of
my junior college in Singapore. feelings that can range from sadness
I’d been drawn to his gargantuan to shock to disorientation to anger.
personality, impeccable baking Most often, it is expressed in pre-
skills and love for his pals. At 25, dictable ways, either physical (loss
his heart suddenly stopped beating. of appetite, insomnia or difficulty
While friends in Singapore were concentrating) or emotional (yearn-
planning the wake and how best to ing, regret or even relief). “There are
support his family, I haplessly apo- different dimensions of response to
logized for not being able to afford loss, unique to the individual and
a flight back. I felt numb but some- impacted by the circumstances of
how still functional. I’d dealt with the death and the relationship to the
loss in my family before, but Jacob’s person who has died,” says Wolfelt.
death was unique: He was the first Identifying your particular reaction
out of my chosen family of friends to losing a loved one will help you
to die. All of us shared the sense of decide what tools you need to navigate
immense loss, but I felt alone in my it. But whatever that may be, Wolfelt
struggle with it, because I was miles stresses you should not feel badly for
away from the rest of the group. having intense reactions. Despite the
The fact is, while grief itself might stigma surrounding therapy in some
be universal, it tends to isolate more societies, grief counsellors can help
than it unites and can make you you begin to pay attention to the
unsure about how to process your areas that need a bit more work and
feelings. Thankfully, bereavement dig deeper to resolve issues that can
professionals offer insights that can otherwise make it more difficult to
help us come to terms with loss. achieve peace of mind. “Emotions
need motion,” he says. “Mourning
Identifying your puts your emotions into motion, and
grief response they will usually soften over time.”
While reactions to death will differ
from person to person, the first Reconciling with the loss
step for everyone should be an When going through grief, it’s com-
attempt to understand the nature mon to look forward to a time when
of your own situation. the pain will completely disappear,

but at least one expert in the field

suggests a different goal.
“A lot of people feel like they’re
not doing grief ‘right’ because
they are not attaining this so-
called ‘closure’, and we need
to reframe these expectations,”
says Andrea Warnick, a regis-
tered psychotherapist and grief
counsellor based in Toronto,
Canada. “I’m not trying to help
anyone ‘get over’ or ‘move on’
from anyone who has died.”
Instead, she helps people stay
connected with the deceased. Com-
fort with talking about the dead and and allow yourself to weep.” Breath-
remembering them is a sign that the ing and mindfulness techniques,
loss has been integrated into your life she adds, can also help in these
and is less likely to create barriers to moments. Although these floods
intimacy or psychosomatic distress come further apart as time passes,
moving forward. Warnick suggests they may never disappear. “If you
allowing yourself to miss the deceased talk to an 80-year-old woman whose
and even embrace reminders of the child died 60 years ago, she’s still
person. Sometimes, she says, it’s help- going to be grieving,” Warnick says.
ful for the bereaved to address any “‘Time heals all’ is inaccurate.”
unfinished business with the dead
by writing a letter to them. Finding a circle of support
Warnick also prepares her clients Grief and mourning are words often
for “grief bursts”, sudden rushes of used interchangeably, but Wolfelt
emotion triggered by scents, foods or says there’s an important distinction
places associated with the deceased. between the two. The former, he
Sometimes, Warnick says, “They explains, is a personal reaction to
come out of the blue, with no obvi- loss, while mourning “is the external,
ous triggers.” She emphasizes that shared response, or what I’d call ‘grief
these surges are completely natural gone public’.” Mourning begins with
and nothing to worry about. “We’re ceremonies, such as funerals and
not trying to mitigate those feelings. wakes. As hard as it is, seeing a supine,
If you’re in the car and the person’s lifeless body is sometimes the only
favourite song comes on, pull over thing that makes the unreal real.

LIVING WITH LOSS
“You may know it intellectually but alone in this struggle.” While not
not emotionally or spiritually,” Wolfelt many support groups for bereave-
says. “And a big part of mourning is ment exist in India, many hospitals
integrating that loss from your head have therapists and counsellors who
to your heart.” can provide the right support for
These events also provide a context people experiencing grief.
within which to share memories of Whereas the elderly find solace
the departed, validate and gain a sense of
your grief and access a purpose and strength
community that pre- from spiritual or religious
vents you from feeling “You may know it communities, younger
isolated. That assis- intellectually but people have the addi-
tance, says Wolfelt, tional option of exploring
shouldn’t end there. not emotionally. online support groups,
“In what I call a buck- A big part of where people share
up, move-on culture, stories, express feelings
we can’t identify peo-
mourning is with relative anonymity
ple who are grieving,” integrating that and offer encouragement
he says, adding that it’s loss from your and positive messages,
consequently impor- all of which are impor-
tant for them to seek head to your tant steps on the path
ongoing support. heart.” to better emotional
Gurugram-based health, she adds.
psychotherapist For immigrants
Aparna Samuel Balasundaram says, like me, with members of families
“Death is not something you can spread out across many countries,
put a lid on. Many people, especially distance is a complicating factor
young adults, who lack a strong sup- because it isolates us from the
port system, often because they live communities where healing would
in different cities from their home- begin. Grieving without the friends
towns, reach out to me for emotional I’d had in Singapore meant I had to
guidance.” Counsellors can also put take tiny steps alone, and I never
people in touch with others going considered reaching out to a support
through similar trauma. According group or relying on close friends in
to Balasundaram, “The process of Canada who didn’t know Jacob.
talking to and hearing others’ experi- Looking back, I wish I had done
ences makes it easier to acknowledge those things. Finally, after many
and accept one’s own feelings and years, I’m ready to take that leap.
internalize the idea that we are not —WITH INPUTS BY ISHANI NANDI

HEALTH
Tracing the connection between

the mineral and our well-being
The
Importance
Of Iron
BY SA M A N TH A R I D EO U T
ALL LIFE REQUIRES IRON. and non-haem (found in both ani-

Humans use it to make, among other mal and plant sources). “Haem iron
things, haemoglobin and myoglobin, is well absorbed by the body,” says
proteins that help store and carry Agnès de Sesmaisons-Lecarré, a
oxygen throughout our bodies. member of the European Food Safety
Our iron supply needs to be Authority’s nutrition unit. “By con-
continually replenished with food. trast, the absorption of non-haem
Good sources include meat, fish, iron is strongly influenced by inter-
egg yolks, beans, nuts and dark- actions with other meal compo-
green vegetables. You can boost nents.” For instance, the muscle
your intake further by cooking in tissue in meats or foods rich in vita-
a cast iron pan: You’ll be eating min C, such as oranges and toma-
microscopic pieces of your skillet toes, can increase its absorption.
along with your meal, but your body The body keeps some iron in
NERTHUZ/ISTOCKPHOTO
can use them. Iron supplements are reserve. However, sustained low
another possibility; as their name intake or low absorption can lead to
suggests, they’re intended as an anaemia, which is a lack of healthy
addition to a nutritious diet when red blood cells for carrying oxygen.
necessary, not a substitute for it. The possible symptoms include
There are two main types of fatigue, shortness of breath, a feeling
dietary iron: haem (from meat only) of being cold, headache, irritability,

dizziness or a paling of the skin. It’s the recommended dose of supple-
important to address iron deficiency ments, getting too much iron is
anaemia (diagnosed through blood unlikely—unless you have haemo-
tests) because it can lead to heart chromatosis, a genetic disorder that
problems in the long run (see box). affects up to one in 200 people of
Iron deficiency anaemia can also northern European descent. It pro-
be a sign of an underlying condition motes excessive iron absorption,
such as coeliac disease, inflammatory causing signs such as joint pain, belly
bowel disease or colorectal cancer. pain and fatigue. Left untreated,
Because iron is shed with blood leav- haemochromatosis may ultimately
ing the body, other people at a heigh- trigger serious heart or liver trouble,
tened risk include menstruating but when managed with a low-iron
women and frequent blood donors. diet or regular blood removal, it need
Short of swallowing far more than not become a heavy burden.
Iron Deficiency Anaemia in India

According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015–16: India,
published by International Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai, the
prevalance of anaemia in Indians aged between 15 and 49 years is 53 per
cent for women and 23 per cent for men. Dr Dharini Krishnan, a senior con-
sultant dietician in Chennai, elaborates that anaemia can cause changes to
the heart’s left pumping chamber, which increases the risk of arrhythmias,
heart attack and myocardial ﬁbrosis. “The lower the haemoglobin, the more
likely it is that left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure will develop.”
The more vulnerable groups to the repercussions of anaemia are preg-
nant women and children. Fifty-nine per cent of children between 6 months
and 5 years are anaemic in India. Anaemia is a serious concern for children
as it can impair cognitive development, stunt growth and make them prone
to infectious diseases. The prevalence of anaemia is higher among children
of anaemic mothers than non-anaemic mothers. In 2016, 50 per cent of
pregnant women in India were anaemic. Several other studies indicate that,
depending on its severity, anaemia is a common cause of maternal death.
The high incidence of anaemia in India, however, does not mean you
should turn to over-the-counter supplements without consulting a doctor.
“Iron supplements have to be prescribed by a medical practitioner. Iron is
not easily excreted by the body and can cause toxicity. So when anaemia
has been treated, the supplementation has to be stopped,” says Krishnan.
—BLESSY AUGUSTINE

NEWS FROM THE
World of Medicine
How to live longer almond, coconut and rice milks and
Researchers have devised a simple concluded that soya milk offers the
study to test the assumption that a most nutritional value. Why? It con-
healthy lifestyle really adds years to tains a balanced blend of the three
your life. They looked at the lifespan macronutrients—carbs, proteins and
of more than 1,23,000 Americans fats—plus isoflavones, compounds
and then checked to see who had that may help prevent hormone-
stuck with these five daily habits: related cancers by binding with
eating well, exercising regularly, main- oestrogen receptors.
taining a healthy weight, avoiding
smoking and drinking in moderation. A quicker antidepressant
Sure enough, the folks who followed Esketamine, currently used as a
all five lived longer, but even the re- general anaesthetic, could prove to
searchers were astonished by how be a powerful weapon in the fight to
much longer. Women who at age 50 prevent suicide. In a small study,
followed all five healthy habits lived volunteers with severe depression
43 years more on average, compared who used an esketamine nasal spray
with 29 years for women who didn’t reported greater improvements in
follow any of them. Men who main- their symptoms (including feelings of
tained all the habits lived an addi- sadness, difficulty concentrating and
tional 38 years beyond 50, compared suicidal thoughts) just four hours after
with 26 years for those who didn’t. their treatment, compared with those
who used a placebo. This is signifi-
Plant-based milks are cantly faster than the four to six weeks
not all equal it takes for most antidepressants to
Cow’s milk is nutritious for those who take effect. However, no benefits were
can digest it properly, but as many observed after 25 days, suggesting that
as 65 per cent of the world’s adults the spray works for only a short time.
cannot. What about plant-based
milks, which are more widely Charting cancer pain
tolerated? Scientists from McGill During a five-day trial with nearly
University in Montréal, Canada, 2,000 patients in 19 different cancer
compared unsweetened soya, centres, medical staff regularly noted

the level of patients’ pain on a paper prescribed daily fat requirements of
chart: red (severe), yellow (moderate) an individual. We recommend you
or green (mild). Those whose care seek your doctor’s advice, especially
included use of the chart reported if you have high cholesterol.
less pain during this time, even
though they did not receive Married Indian women
higher doses of medicine. most suicidal
The chart apparently prompts According to a study published
doctors to review which pain in The Lancet Public Health,
medications are working and suicide was the leading cause
which are not before patients’ of death in India, in 2016, for
pain becomes unbearable. those aged between 15 and
39 years. Globally, India’s
The truth about contribution to suicide
coconut oil deaths jumped from
At a lecture in Germany, Karin 25.3 per cent in 1990 to
Michels, an epidemologist 36.6 per cent in 2016 among
from the Harvard T. H. Chan women, and from 18.7 per
School of Public Health, called cent to 24.3 per cent among
coconut oil “pure poison”. men. Experts noted that
According to Michels, the high suicide deaths ranked first
proportion of saturated fat in among all causes of death
coconut oil (about 30 per cent in women between 15 and
more than in butter) makes it 29 years in 26 of India’s
“one of the worst things you 31 states. “Married women
can eat”. Indian experts, account for the highest
however, consider the claim proportion of suicide
to be baseless. Nutritionist deaths among women in
Ishi Khosla says, “There is India. Marriage is known
ample research to prove that to be less protective against
coconut oil is highly beneficial suicide for women because
P H OTO G RA P H BY T H E VO O RH E S
for overall health.” of arranged and

Dr Dharini Krishnan, early marriage,
a senior consultant young motherhood,
dietician, says that there are low social status, domestic
no known harmful effects violence and economic
of the oil but it is obviously dependence,” according
high-calorie and needs to to the study.
be consumed within the —RD EDITORS

FOOD
Just because it’s frozen doesn’t mean

it’s not healthful—or tasty. Follow
these freezer-friendly tips and enjoy
Frozen Food Myths

BY M A RISSA LA L I B E R T E
MYTH NO. 1 Frozen between 4.5°C and

fruits and vegetables 60°C—at which bacteria
aren’t as healthy as can thrive. Of course,
fresh ones. defrosting in the fridge
Frozen fruits and veg- takes longer, so take
gies are often picked care to plan ahead.
at peak ripeness, then
flash frozen within six to MYTH NO. 3 Frozen food
10 hours, says dietician is high in sodium.
Jenna Braddock, Florida, Frozen foods are an add-
USA. “That freezing on to our daily diet, so
locks in the nutritional even though the sodium
value,” she says. content may not be too
high in what you buy,
MYTH NO. 2 It is your salt intake may still
safe to thaw food increase as it is in addi-
on the counter. tion to your regular diet.
This is probably the big-
gest culprit of unsafe MYTH NO. 4 Running
thawing, says dietician hot water over food
P HOTOGR A P H BY M AT T HE W CO H E N
Caroline Passerrello, will thaw it safely.

Greater Pittsburgh This could cause health
Region, USA. A spokes- issues. “Parts of your
person for the Academy item can be frozen while
of Nutrition and Diete- other parts are hot and
tics as well, she adds might even start to
that one should thaw cook,” says Braddock.
food in the refrigerator That means uneven
instead, where it will be cooking and some of
safe from the “danger the food could enter
zone” temperatures— the temperature danger

zone. The Food Safety air as you can before
and Standards Authority freezing. Blanch fresh
of India recommends vegetables before
thawing meat, poultry or freezing. The boiling
fish in a microwave and water stops enzymatic
adds that if some items action that would
need to be thawed in otherwise strip the
running water, then flavour and crispness
potable water at 15°C from your veggies,
or less should be used. says Passerrello.
MYTH NO. 5 Refreezing MYTH NO. 8 Once

food is unsafe. you’ve hit a food’s
As long as you thawed sell-by date, you
it in the fridge, you can shouldn’t freeze it.
put it back in the freezer, Grocery stores use ‘best
says Passerrello. Just before’ dates to mark
beware that its quality the period till when the
could degrade after the food will remain fully
second freeze, she says. marketable and safe to
consume, but the quality
MYTH NO. 6 Frozen would have deteriorated.
food expires. The ‘expiry date’ refers
The site foodsafety.gov to the end of the period
lists guidelines for how till when the food retains
long to keep items in its qualities and is safe
the freezer—for instance, for consumption. But
two to six months for popping food in the
leftover cooked meat— freezer on those dates
but that’s just for quality, shouldn’t really have any
not safety. “Frozen food health consequences,
pretty much remains says Braddock.
safe indefinitely,” says
Passerrello. MYTH NO. 9 You can’t
freeze everything.
MYTH NO. 7 Food There’s really nothing
should go straight you can’t freeze—it just
into the freezer. comes down to quality.
Typical meat wrappers The texture of some
let in airflow, affecting foods, such as milk and
the quality of the meat, cheese, might change
says Passerrello. Rewrap a bit after freezing, but
the food in freezer paper they’re still perfectly
and push out as much safe to eat.

TRAVEL
From natural beauty to fabulous food and a unique

local culture, this island country is pure magic
5 Reasons To Visit
New Zealand
BY S H E ILA KUM AR
Amazing waterbodies and enabling the country’s indigenous

Running the gamut of astonishing people, the Maori, to maintain tradi-
colours from ice-blue and turquoise tional ties with their ancestral water
to teal and cobalt, New Zealand’s are all top priorities of the administra-
waterbodies comprise an impressive tion. With great tourism potential,
4,25,000 km of rivers and streams, recreational prospects
4,000 lakes and more than 200 under- and economic promise,
ground aquifers at the last count. each waterbody is
Preserving their inherent character, treated with the utmost
protecting the local lora and wildlife love, respect and care.
A panoramic view of the Auckland,

New Zealand skyline.

he result is picture-perfect panora- undertaken, is impacting and disci-
mas that should make every travel plining the colossal wilderness.
buf’s bucket list.
Maori culture
Big-sky country, controlled he Maori tribes have been resettled,
wilderness apologized to and included in every-
The sky hangs large and startlingly thing from seats in the parliament
low over beech forests hedged with to mainstream jobs in the public
giant fern; stand after stand of pine and private sectors. Every place in
serve as windbreakers; massive trees Kiwiland has its Maori name dis-
are contorted into intricate shapes played proudly, Maori handicrafts
by the force of powerful gales blow- sell (very) well and visitors are wel-
ing in from the Pacific Ocean and the comed with the Maori greeting kia
Tasman Sea; shrub-like gorse and ora. At a time when indigenous peo-
heather bloom bright yellow and ples of the world are being isolated,
deep purple. New Zealand has ghettoized, ignored and oppressed,
approximately 6.4 million hectares this is indeed heart-warming.
of indigenous forest, almost entirely he Polynesian settlers arrived
located in the South Island. in New Zealand between 1250 and
Kiwi country was largely a forested 1300 CE, and, over time, they deve-
land mass prior to human arrival, loped their own culture, language,
but today, forests are being exten- mythology, crafts and performing
ALAM Y
sively replanted wherever required, arts. he Europeans came in the

and ecotourism, conscientiously 17th century. While relations between

The 26-metre Whangarei Falls
5 R E AS O N S A T R I P TO
is part of the Hatea River in
New Zealand’s northernmost
district, Whangarei.
the Maori and the new arrivals were Gallipoli Lone Pine, the solitary tree
initially amicable, land disputes soon that survived the battle at Gallipoli,
arose, and so did conlict. However, are planted as WWI memorials. Anzac
earnest eforts have been ongoing Day, 25 April, is observed as a day of
since 1999 for a more inclusive society commemoration for those who died in
and to ensure that the Maori, who the service of their country. One finds
form 14.9 per cent of the population as many young people as older ones
today, are active in all spheres of paying their respects with warmth
New Zealand life and culture. and passion on this day.
Tributes to the past Delicious food and drink

In 2015, New Zealand’s national Lamb and beef chunks that melt
museum, Te Papa Tongarewa in in the mouth; mussels, whitebait,
Wellington, collaborated with crayfish; dark, ambrosial chocolate;
Weta Workshop, a design and special- herb-infused hard and soft cheeses;
efects company, to create the exhibi- the sharply sweet taste of the kumara
tion Gallipoli: The Scale of our War. (NZ’s amazing sweet potato); hokey-
his long-running crowd-puller takes pokey ice cream—vanilla ice cream
visitors through labyrinths of that with pieces of honeycomb; meringue-
ill-conceived World War I campaign, based pavlova, which New Zealand
as a tribute to the brave Anzac (short claims as its own creation; Pinots
for Australian and New Zealand Army and Sauvignons from Marlborough
Corps) troops, who lost their lives in country; Maori hangi with chicken,
battle. New Zealand also honours pork and mutton, as well as various
its war heroes in the form of statues, vegetables, cooked in an underground
bridges and more than 1,000 war pit. Fact is, one could go to Kiwiland
ALAMY
museums. Descendants of the just to eat and drink!

IT HAPPENS
Only in India
VARANASI’S MANIKARNIKA GHAT on the outskirts of the country’s capi-

sees the faithful from all walks of life. tal. Standing at eight metres less than
This time, it was 150 men, gathered to the heritage site, the dump, the oldest
perform the “last rites of their marital and one of four landfills in Delhi, is
relations”. Organized by men’s rights gaining height every day without any
groups growing fearful of the threat alternatives to dispose the garbage
of a “gynocentric society”, activists generated by the city. A report warned
claimed there was bias against men of its grave impact, and that the Delhi
and that families had been shattered government has been asked to ad-
“because of feminism”. Misuse of anti- dress the matter urgently. However, it
dowry laws has led to the mushroom- remains unclear what steps are being
ing of men’s rights activists advocating taken to fix the issue. One man’s trash
equality, even as they fail to register is another man’s treasure, NOT.
that feminism stands for just that— Source: Mongabay-India
equality of the sexes. One step forward —COMPILED BY SUCHISMITA UKIL
and two steps back. Source: Hindustan Times

R A JU E P U R I
Reader’s Digest will pay for contributions

to this column. Post your suggestions
HERE’S A ‘MONUMENT’ to rival the with the source to the editorial address,
Qutub Minar: a landfill in Ghazipur, or email: editor.india@rd.com.

HOME
Every cheerful space needs these basic elements
A Checklist For New Homes

BY B U S HRA A HME D
IN THE HUSTLE OF EVERYDAY Varieties such as money plants, Boston

life, a house can be a sanctuary in a ferns and bamboo palms are natural
challenging, sometimes unforgiving, air-purifiers, according to a NASA
world. So whether you’re looking for a report. Lots of windows mean indoor
built space or making one from scratch, plants get enough sunshine to thrive.
make sure it’s got these essentials: Ensure balconies allow light and rain-
QLIGHT AND AIR Builders in the water to reach your garden. It should
city take shortcuts, especially when it also have a good drainage system.
comes to good ventilation and light. QPROTECTION With fast-changing
Lack of air circulation and sunlight is seasons and temperature highs and
not only unhealthy but also throws the lows, India’s climate can be tough on
entire living area into gloom. But any windows, doors and exteriors. Ensure
space can be transformed with a bit of you invest wisely in them, so your win-
imagination. Get professional help to dows and doors are sturdy and well-
tear down a wall, join some rooms or protected through rain and heat. This
create skylights and windows to fill not only contributes to a sense of secu-
your home with warm sunlight and rity, but will ensure the outside of your
cool breeze. A balcony space and neat home looks as good as the inside!
windows can brighten interiors too. QROOM TO STORE Some tips
QGREENERY Add serenity to your for extra storage space: Use vertical
house by creating green spaces. A spaces, get drawer and cabinet orga-
small apartment should not deter nizers and install hooks and knobs
you from experimenting with shrubs, where possible. Also try furniture
succulents and other perennial plants. with built-in boxes or shelves.
I N DI A P I C T U RE

COVER STORY

THE
WORLD’S
DUMBEST
CRIMINALS
Crime never pays—especially
if it’s planned badly.
BY TEAM RD

THE WORLD’S DUMBEST CRIMINALS
WHAT WAS HE SMOKING?

This one is ‘high’ up on the list of daft
criminals. According to Bengaluru’s
Susheel Kumar Moosad, prisons are for
rapists, thieves and murderers. Correct.
The former techie also firmly believed
prisons are not for those who “smok[e]
a plant that makes them happy”. As
proof of his theory, he sold cannabis,
along with an assortment of halluci-
nogens, on his subtly named Facebook
page: Bangalore Cannabis. Here he
had posted pictures of himself smok-
ing pot. A good time as any to recall
that the possession and consumption
of narcotic and psychotropic drugs are that day. The suspect was changing
illegal in India. The self-assured Moo- his clothes in the holding cell when
sad had also helpfully provided his con- one of the officers noticed his undies,
tact details on his page. The cops got adorned with cartoon graphics of burg-
the peddler’s 16-year-old high down ers, doughnuts and fries; the same fast-
in a jiffy when they posed as custom- food medley the burglary victim had
ers and lured him into a trap. He had described her intruder as wearing. Ma-
been obviously smoking some good chon’s ‘novelty underpants’ were held
stuff himself! up as evidence against him in Cardiff
Crown Court last August. He was sen-
I L LU ST RAT I O N S : KE S HAV KA P I L, A L L IM AG E S : ALAM Y

ILLEGAL BRIEFS tenced to two years and 10 months for
Early one morning a burglary and dangerous driving.
woman in Bridgend,
Wales, discovered a bur- PUPPY LOVE
glar rummaging through Two cheeky college students found a
her downstairs cupboards. pug in an open crate in the compound
The startled robber fled—but not be- of a house in Chennai’s Ambattur.
fore the homeowner caught a glimpse, Overcome either by a sudden bout of
revealed as he bent over, of his strange cuteness from Maya, the four-month-
underpants. The quirky boxers would old pup, or imagining themselves to
prove the thief’s undoing. be shrewd criminals who could make
Darren Machon, 39, was already a neat profit from her, they decided
wanted by police and arrested after to grab the crate and take off. Maya is
a car chase in the town centre later normally indoors, but that day she was

cashier he was that broke). At another

point he accidentally called his accom-
plice, Adam Breen, by his real name,
which helped police zero in on the duo.
When constables searched Bartlett’s
house they found, among other in-
criminating items, a one-legged pair
of pants. The other leg Bartlett had
used to fashion the crude balaclava
he wore for the heists.
Bartlett, who had 27 previous con-
victions for 78 offences, was sentenced
to 13 years in prison. Breen received
five years two months.
put out. The closed-circuit TV footage

revealed the culprits, upon which the BIG RISK, NO REWARD
family filed a police complaint. Two men withdrew money from
a roadside filling-station bank
Imagine their shock when they machine the hard way in Stock-
found Maya in not one but two ads on port, England: They pumped
OLX. The pup was put up for a distress explosive gas into the ATM and
sale, at half the ‘market value’, by the exploded it. The pair of crooks
novice lawbreakers. When the family managed to scoop roughly
25,000 pounds sterling out of
turned up to claim Maya, they found
the machine, and fled. When
the culprits were too lazy (or broke) to police arrived at the scene, they
even change her collar! The dazed boys found the partially destroyed
were nabbed but later released. ATM. But, as if leaving a tip, the
thieves had spilled some of their
NO LEG TO STAND ON stash as they drove away. The
trail of bank notes led police
No one would describe serial thief directly to their hideout beneath
Paul Bartlett as having masterful a sign-bearing highway gantry.
attention to detail. Dangling above the motorway,
The 47-year-old crook wearing a the frightened crooks were
homemade balaclava had robbed three almost relieved to be arrested
before they fell into traffic. They
stores in the area of Birmingham, Eng-
pled guilty to theft and “causing
land, in three days—making off with alan explosion likely to endanger
cohol, cigarettes and cash. In one raid, life” and were sentenced to a
he wasted time scooping up change total of 15 and a half years.
from the cash drawer (quipping to the

NOT VERY ‘SMART’ He failed, and ended up prone with his

A British man added “poor head trapped between two of the bars.
judgement” to his long list
of transgressions when he LOOSE CHANGE AND MORALS
stole his lawyer’s mobile A man who broke into a Welsh post
phone. Barrister Charlotte office was apprehended after he tried
Johnson was defending Bobby Heath, to buy a used car with a pile of coins.
26, from Strood in Kent, who had been Security cameras in the post office
charged with drug and driving offences, captured Daniel Allen Thomas, 29,
when she realized her phone was miss- leaving the premises with cash and
ing. Images from the court’s closed-cir- cigarettes. Shortly after, he offered a
cuit TV system revealed Heath slipping man selling his Renault Clio £1,000 in
it into his pocket. loose change, which weighed 9.5 kg.
Heath was tried, found guilty of The suspicious vendor declined and
theft, and jailed for two weeks. “This so Thomas returned with notes.
crime shows he doesn’t care who he Police caught their man after a
targets or what misery he causes,” said widespread social media appeal.
police constable David Paine. Confronted with security camera foot-
age and evidence from the car sale,
TRAPPED BETWEEN BARS Thomas initially denied it was him.
In July 2016, police and firefighters had And then he didn’t. He was sentenced
to rescue a thief from the entrance of a to two years in prison.
launderette he was trying to rob. The
man broke the glass in the door with RUFF JUSTICE
a rock and tried to force open the bars A man fleeing on foot after a high-
so he could slip into the Madrid facility. speed chase with police thought he
CALLING CARD
George Clooney’s heist in Ocean’s 11 unfortunately could not be recreated
in rural Bengaluru’s Nelamangala taluk—for reasons that are … well,
embarrassing. Last year, thieves broke into the house of an industrialist in
Arisinakunte village, who was away with his family. They first poisoned the
pet dog, and afterwards, proceeded to loot `3 lakh and 400 grams of gold
jewellery. When the homeowners returned and discovered a trashed home,
they called the cops. A search of the premises led to the discovery of a
mobile phone, which didn’t belong to anyone in the family. Turns out one
of the thieves had forgotten his phone—an inadvertent calling card that is
bound to ruin his promising career!

was scot-free. He appeared to be out- police were left scratching their heads
running the cop who was pursuing after failing to find his loot though.
him—44-year-old traffic officer, Police There was an unexpected break-
Constable Steve Hutton of Wiltshire, through after Manjunath got into a
England. Then the young thief heard: scuffle with an old partner-in-crime
“Police officer with a dog, stay still!” fol- jailbird, who recognized him. He bore
lowed by savage barking. The sound a grudge against Manjunath for not
stopped the terrified youth in his tracks. giving him his share of spoils. As the
The officer, out of breath, quickly fight escalated, the whereabouts of the
handcuffed the man before the stash spilt out.
truth registered: there was no dog; it
was officer Hutton himself who had DRUNKEN SAILORS
been barking. In the fishing town of La
The young man was questioned but Rochelle, along the Atlantic
later released. French coast, four men in
their 20s spotted a catama-
OPEN YOUR MOUTH—HA, HA, HA! ran tethered to the pier of a sailing club,
Our elders may be on to something and decided to take a predawn joyride.
when they tell us to open our mouths They unhitched the Hobie Cat [small
only when necessary. Manjunath, 30, a catamaran manufactured by company
serial thief and murder convict, found of the same name], hopped on and,
out the hard way—while already in with great brio, headed for open sea.
prison. Adept at evading cops, he man- But they had failed to notice a cou-
aged to give them the run for six years ple of things: First, it was a small boat,
until he was finally nabbed and jailed meant for two sailors, maximum. Sec-
in Bengaluru’s central prison. The ond, the plugs in the hulls were not

screwed. Before the youth could nose

the boat much beyond the dock, it sank. CHILD’S PLAY
The quartet was rescued, and tossed in Quick-gun Murugan he clearly
was not. Bhavesh Sudarshan
the drunk tank to—literally and figura-
Lekhak walked into a bank in
tively—dry out. They eventually paid Mumbai’s Nariman Point at
2,000 euros to have the boat restored. 9:40 a.m., fully intent on robbing
it. Wielding a gun, the 35-year-old
WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING! grabbed the watchman and
A German mugger made the police’s ordered everyone else to hit the
job easy. Having snatched the purse of floor. He then rushed towards the
an 81-year-old woman in broad day- cashier and commanded her to
hand over the
light in the town of Hildesheim, the
cash in the teller
thief hopped on a bicycle and made machine, while
off. To make sure nobody was following yelling at
him he made a quick turn and failed to a visitor to
see a lamp post and crashed into it. He down the
abandoned the bicycle and fled on foot. bank’s shutters.
However, the crook had dropped Soon, however,
a rather important item when he hit the po-po,
alerted by the
the pavement: a letter with his home
branch manager,
address on it. Police arrived at the rushed in and
robber’s home almost before he did. busted the
‘gunman’. It
READ DIRECTIONS BEFORE USE turned out that
One evening in July, a 24-year-old man, this filmi drama
with his 17-year-old mate, decided to was entirely
rob a pharmacy in the western city of unnecessary
as Lekhak, an
Perth, Australia. One of them got the
unemployed
notion to disable the clerk with pepper electrical
spray. He brandished the can and let fly engineer, was
a stream of burning capsicum (capsa- waving around
icin). Unhandily, the nozzle was pointed a toy gun. This
backwards and the thief blasted him- was his plan:
self in the face. Meanwhile, his accom- Rob. A. Bank.
plice, armed with a knife, cut himself. With. A. Toy.
Gun. Let’s just
The crooks fled, only to be tracked
say, he overshot
down by the local police soon after. his hand.
Last heard, they were explaining their
double mishap before a judge.

DUMB OR WHAT! cameras in the town to a nearby house.

Amr itpal Mehat stole Turned out the crook had stolen the
£400,000 from a post office bike in Mechelen the previous week
in Manchester. Upon and, caught in that act, dashed off, but
getting caught, the Indian- fell from a roof and broke his ankle. He
origin conman cited was taken by police to hospital where
severe mental health problems and he was fitted with a cast. Upon his re-
finally claimed he was struck dumb by lease from custody, he began his reha-
god for his transgression—and did not bilitation by robbing the café, for which
utter a single word for a year. he was arrested again.
The charade ended when he was
referred to a mental hospital where FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
he had to undergo a month of consul- Around 2 a.m., a thief broke into a
tations. During one such session, he church in the German town of Muhl-
slipped. An artful psychologist tricked hausen. In pitch darkness, he groped
Mehat by wishing him good luck in around for the light switch. He found
Punjabi, the crook’s mother tongue, to the junction box and tried several
which he couldn’t resist responding switches. Suddenly, the church bells
with a ‘thank you’. started booming. The man, 32, hur-
After Mehat blew his cover, a jury riedly grabbed a wooden figure and
unanimously found him guilty and fled—only to be arrested by police
decided he was “mute by malice” performing routine traffic patrol.
and not by a “visitation of god”. Even
Judge Bernard Lever admonished him LET ME OUT!
sharply: “This was a wicked decep- When a driver left his car to go pay for
tion. You have had the crown jumping parking, a thief in Barcelona, Spain,
through forensic hoops for two years!” seized his opportunity. He hopped in.
But then the driver remotely locked
BACK TO BURGLING IN NO TIME the door of the Audi as he walked away.
An alarm tripped in the wee hours The crook was trapped inside.
brought police to a café in the Flanders After almost four hours in the hot car,
region of Belgium—but not before the sweat-soaked, dehydrated and woozy
burglar had fled with around 2000 eu- from lack of oxygen, the man was
ros. Images captured by the security finally rescued by police, after bystan-
cameras at Café De Gouden Vis (the ders noticed the fogged-over windows.
Golden Fish) showed the crook wear- “Lucky you it was a cloudy day,”
ing a cast on his right leg. As he made an officer remarked after arresting
his awkward getaway on a bicycle, po- the thief. “If it had been sunny, you
lice tracked his progress via security would be dead”.

THE
LEOPARD
The author forged an unlikely friendship with
a big cat—but did it come at a price?
BY RUS K IN B O N D I L LU ST R AT I O N BY T I TAS PA N DA

I
FIRST SAW THE LEOPARD when I was crossing the small stream
at the bottom of the hill. The ravine was so deep that for most of
the day it remained in shadow. This encouraged many birds and
animals to emerge from cover during the hours of daylight. Few
people ever passed that way. As a result, the ravine had become a
little haven of wildlife, one of the few natural sanctuaries left near
Mussoorie. Below my cottage was a forest of oak and maple and
Himalayan rhododendron. A narrow path twisted its way down
through the trees, over an open ridge where red sorrel grew wild,
and then down steeply through a tangle of wild raspberries, creeping
vines and the slender ringal bamboo. At the bottom of the hill, the
path led on to a grassy verge, surrounded by wild dog roses. The
stream ran close by the verge, tumbling over smooth pebbles, over
rocks worn yellow with age, on its way to the plains and to the little
Song river and finally to the sacred Ganga.

T H E L E O PA R D
It was early April and the wild roses The langurs in the oak and rhodo-
were flowering. There were still yellow dendron trees, who would at first go
and blue primroses on the hill slopes, leaping through the branches at my
saxifrage growing in the rocks, and an approach, now watched me with curio-
occasional late-flowering rhododen- sity as they munched the tender green
dron providing a splash of crimson shoots of the oak. The young ones scuf-
against the dark green of the hill. fled and wrestled like boys, while their
I walked down to the stream almost parents groomed each other’s coats,
every day, after two or three hours of stretching themselves out on the sunlit
writing. I had lived in the cities far too hillside. But one evening, as I passed, I
long, and had returned to the hills to heard them chattering in the trees, and
renew myself, to get rid of some of the I was not the cause of their excitement.
surplus flesh that had gathered about As I crossed the stream and began
my waist and to write a novel. climbing the hill, the grunting and
Nearly every morning, and some- chattering increased, as though the
times during the day, I heard the cry of langurs were trying to warn me of some
the barking deer. And in the evening, hidden danger. A shower of pebbles
walking through the forest, I disturbed came rattling down the steep hillside,
parties of khaleej pheasant. The birds and I looked up to see a sinewy orange-
went gliding down the ravine on open, gold leopard poised on a rock about
motionless wings. I saw pine martens 20 feet above me.
and a handsome red fox; I recognized It was not looking towards me, but
the footprints of a bear. had its head thrust attentively forward
As I had not come to take anything in the direction of the ravine. It must
from the jungle, the birds and animals have sensed my presence, though, be-
soon grew accustomed to my face. Or cause slowly it turned its head to look
possibly they recognized my footsteps. down at me. It seemed a little puzzled
After some time, my approach did not at my presence there; when, to give
disturb them. A spotted forktail, which myself courage, I clapped my hands
at first used to fly away, now remained sharply, the leopard sprang away into
perched on a boulder in the middle of the thickets, making no sound as it
the stream while I got across it. The melted into the shadows.
forktail’s plumage blended with the I had disturbed the animal in its
rocks and running water, so that the quest for food. But a little later I heard
bird was difficult to spot at a distance, the cry of a barking deer as it fled
but the white ‘Cross of St Andrew’ through the forest; the hunt was still on.
across its back eventually gave it away, The leopard, like other members
its sharp, creaky call following me up of the cat family, is nearing extinction
the hillside. in India, and I was surprised to find

one so close to Mussoorie. Probably in the hollow stump of a tree, at a spot

deforestation had driven the deer into where the forktail often disappeared. I
this green valley; the leopard, naturally, had no wish to rob the bird of its young;
had followed. I was simply curious to see its home.
By crouching down, I was able to
It was some weeks before I saw the command a view of a small stretch of
leopard again, although I was often the stream and the sides of the ravine;
made aware of its presence. A dry, rasp- but I had done little to deceive the fork-
ing cough sometimes gave it away. At tail, who continued to object strongly to
times I felt almost certain I was being my presence so near her home. I sum-
followed. In May and June, when the moned up my reserves of patience, and
hills were brown and dry, it was always sat perfectly still for about 10 minutes,
cool and green near the stream. The hill when the forktail quietened down. Out
station’s summer visitors had not dis- of sight, out of mind! But where had she
covered this haven; I was beginning to gone? Probably into the walls of the ra-
feel that the place belonged to me, that vine where, I felt sure, she was guarding
dominion was mine. her nest. So I decided on trying to take
A shower of pebbles came rattling down, and I looked up to

see a sinewy orange-gold leopard poised 20 feet above me.
The stream had at least one other her by surprise, and jumped up like a
regular visitor, the spotted forktail, and jack-in-the-box, in time to see—not the
though it did not fly away at my ap- forktail on her doorstep, but the leopard,
proach, it became restless if I stayed bounding away with a grunt of surprise!
too long, and then it would move from Two urgent springs and it had crossed
boulder to boulder uttering a long, the stream and plunged into the forest.
complaining cry. I spent an afternoon Needless to say, I was as astonished
trying to discover the bird’s nest, which as the leopard, and forgot all about the
I was certain contained her young, be- forktail and her nest. Had the leopard
cause I had seen the parent bird carry- been following me again? I decided
ing grubs in her bill. The problem was against this possibility. Only man-eaters
when the bird flew upstream I had dif- follow humans, and, so far as I knew,
ficulty in following her rapidly enough, there had never been a man-eater in the
as the rocks were sharp and slippery. vicinity of Mussoorie.
Slowly making my way upstream, deco- During the monsoon the stream be-
rated in bracken fronds, I hid myself came a rushing torrent, and the friendly

T H E L E O PA R D
murmur of the water became a threa- And then the rains were over and it
tening boom. I did not visit too often, was October and I could lie in the sun,
but it was always worthwhile tramping on sweet-smelling grass, and gaze up
through the forest to feast my eyes on through a pattern of oak leaves into
the foliage that sprang up in profusion. a blinding-blue heaven. I thought no
more of the men. I had seen them as
One day I found the remains of a their species Homo sapiens, and not
barking deer, which had been par- as individuals. My attitude to them was
tially eaten. I wondered why the leop- similar to the attitude of the denizens of
ard had not hidden the remains of his the forest. They were men, unpredict-
meal, and decided it must have been able, and to be avoided if possible.
disturbed while eating. Then, climbing On the other side of the ravine rose
the hill, I met a party of shikaris. They Pari Tibba, Hill of the Fairies, a bleak,
asked me if I had seen a leopard. I said I scrub-covered hill, where no one lived.
had not. They said they knew there was It was said, in the previous century
a leopard in the forest. Leopard-skins, Englishmen tried building their houses
they told me, were selling in Delhi at there, but the area attracted lightning.
over a thousand rupees each! Of course After several houses had been struck
there was a ban on the export of skins, down, the settlers had moved on to
but they gave me to understand that the next hill, where the hill station
there were ways and means … now stands. To the hill-men, it is Pari
I thanked them for their information Tibba, haunted by the spirits of a pair
and walked on, feeling uneasy. of ill-fated lovers who perished there in
The shikaris had seen the carcass of a storm; to others it is known as Burnt
the deer, and they had seen the leop- Hill, for its scarred and stunted trees.
ard’s pug marks, and they kept coming One day, I climbed Pari Tibba—a
to the forest. Almost every evening I stiff undertaking, because there was no
heard their guns banging away; for they path to the top and I had to scramble
were ready to fire at almost anything. up a precipitous rock face. But at the
“There’s a leopard about,” they al- top was a plateau with a few pine trees,
ways told me. “You should carry a gun.” their upper branches catching the wind
“I don’t have one,” I said. and humming softly. There I found
There were fewer birds to be seen, the ruins of what must have been the
and even the langurs had moved on. houses of the first settlers—just piles
The red fox did not show itself; the of rubble, now overgrown with weeds,
pine martens, who had become quite sorrel, dandelions and nettles.
bold, now dashed into hiding at my ap- As I walked through the roofless
proach. The smell of one human is like ruins, I was struck by the silence that
the smell of any other. surrounded me, the absence of birds
00
68 || OCTOBER
OCTOBER 2018
2018 || READER’S
READER’S DIGEST
DIGEST
and animals, the sense of complete mind. I did not seek physical contact,
desolation. The silence was so abso- or even another glimpse of that beau-
lute that it seemed to be shouting in tiful sinewy body, springing from rock
my ears. But there was something else to rock. It was his trust I wanted, and I
of which I was becoming increasingly think he gave it to me.
aware: the strong feline odour of one of But did the leopard, trusting one
the cat family. man, make the mistake of bestowing
his trust on others? Did I, by casting out
I paused and looked about. I all fear—my own fear, and the leopard’s
was alone. There was no movement protective fear—leave him defenceless?
of dry leaf or loose stone. The ruins Next day, coming up the path from
were for the most part open to the sky. the stream, shouting and beating
Their rotting rafters had collapsed and drums, were the shikaris. They had a
joined together to form a passage like long bamboo pole across their shoul-
the entrance to a mine; this dark cavern ders. Slung from the pole, feet up,
seemed to lead down into the ground. head down, was the lifeless body of the
The smell was stronger when I leopard. It had been shot dead.
approached this spot, so I stopped “We told you there was a leopard!”
again and waited there, wondering they shouted.
if I had discovered the lair of the leo- I walked home through the silent
pard, wondering if the animal was now forest. It was very silent, almost as
at rest after a night’s hunt. Perhaps it though the birds and animals knew
crouched there in the dark, watching that their trust had been violated.
me, recognizing me, knowing me as I remembered the lines of a poem by
the man who walked alone in the forest D. H. Lawrence; as I climbed the steep
without a weapon. I like to think that he and lonely path to my home, the words
was there, that he knew me, and that he beat out their rhythm in my mind:
acknowledged my visit in the friendliest “There was room in the world for a
way: by ignoring me. mountain lion and me.”
Perhaps I had made him confident—
Excerpted from A Time For All Things: Collected
too confident, too careless, too trusting
Essays and Sketches by Ruskin Bond, written
of the human in his midst. I did not over a period of 60 years; published by
venture any further; I was not out of my Speaking Tiger, New Delhi 2017

This killer disease may be on the rise but
women are far from powerless to keep it at bay
Lower
Your
Risk for
Breast
Cancer BY L I SA B E NDALL A N D I SHA N I N A N DI

LOW E R YO U R R I S K F O R B R E A S T C A N C E R
C
URRENTLY, BREAST CANCER IS THE MOST COMMON
cancer among women worldwide. In India, it is the
number one female cancer, occurring at an age-adjusted*
rate as high as 25.8 per 1,00,000 women, according to
the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. Equally
concerning is that the mortality rate among breast
cancer patients in India is fairly high—12.7 per 1,00,000 women.
As Ravi Mehrotra, director, National rate through early detection, but

Institute of Cancer Prevention and simple preventives can also help
Research explains—“The major reason reduce chances of breast cancer.
for a low survival rate of breast cancer “Lifestyle interventions and regular
in India is that the awareness about screening allow for early diagnosis and
*Name changed upon request
this disease is very low. Most cases treatment—the two most important
come to us at third or fourth stages factors in combating breast cancer,”
[45.7 per cent to be exact] where treat- according to Sarin.
ment is difficult,” he says, in an article “It’s incredibly important that people
published by Mint earlier this year. know they are not powerless,” says
“A lot of younger women in India get Susannah Brown, senior scientist at the
aggressive cancer and seek help late. World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)
About 50 per cent of cases live no more in London, UK. Last year, the WCRF
than five years after detection,” adds partnered with the American Institute
P H OTO ( P R E V I OU S S P RE A D) : ©M AST E R FI LE , © I STOC K PH OTO

Dr Ramesh Sarin, an onco-surgeon at for Cancer Research to analyze more
Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals than 100 studies, drawing on data from
with more than 40 years of experience. millions of women around the world.
The risk factors associated with this They found strong evidence of lowered
disease in India range widely, from breast cancer risk with simple lifestyle
genetic—age, family history, type interventions. “It’s never too late to get
of breast tissue and age at which healthier,” says Brown. “But the earlier
menstruation begins and ends—to you start, the better.”
lifestyle-related: environmental factors, Here’s how to lower your risk.
tobacco and alcohol consumption, diet,
diminished levels of physical activity, BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE
obesity and high body mass index Exercise lowers the risk of breast cancer
(BMI), among others. and being inactive increases it. The
Timely testing and risk assessment protective effects depend on whether
can greatly ameliorate the mortality or not you are postmenopausal, if
*Age adjustment is a statistical process applied to rates of disease, injuries or other health outcomes so that
communities with different age structures can be compared. Source: New York State Department of Health

the exercise is moderate or vigorous There are many likely ways physical
(gauged by whether or not you can chat activity protects against breast cancer.
comfortably while engaged in it) and Exercise reduces oestrogen levels in
how long you stay active. postmenopausal women and improves
“The more you exercise, the lower the immune system. If you are active
your risk for breast cancer,” says outdoors, vitamin D exposure from
Dr Jayant Vaidya, MBBS, PhD, breast the sun may even make a difference.
surgeon and professor of surgery and However, further research is needed to
oncology at University College London. understand the impact of different
Studies show that premenopausal kinds of activity on the body’s cells.
women who are the most active cut Along with staying physically
their risk by 17 per cent. But starting active, getting enough sleep is also key
well before you are menopausal has its to preventing cancer. As founder and
obvious advantages. medical director of the Cancer Center
for Healing in Irvine, California, USA,
Leigh Erin Connealy, MD, writes in her
book The Cancer Revolution, insuffi-
THE MORE cient sleep causes you to produce fewer
YOU EXERCISE, THE natural killer cells—the body’s first line
LOWER YOUR RISK of defence against tumour cells—and
FOR BREAST CANCER. prevents the body from clearing out
AIM FOR AT LEAST toxins, which accumulate and become
30 MINUTES EVERY DAY. a potential set-up for cancer.
CONTROL YOUR WEIGHT

Being overweight or obese in later
Aim for at least 30 minutes of brisk adulthood is a clear risk factor for
exercise a day for prevention, but postmenopausal breast cancer. Studies
remember that any activity is better show that the disease peaks at an aver-
than none. “Interestingly, daily age age of 40 to 50 years among Indian
exercise can even help reduce the women. “Every 10 kilograms of post-
likelihood of cancer returning postmenopausal weight gain is associated
treatment,” says Dr Rosina Ahmed, with an 18 per cent relative increased
senior consultant, breast surgery at risk,” notes Dr Julian Kim at Cancer-
Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata. “Being Care Manitoba, Canada. (‘Relative risk’
active protects against conditions here means you are 18 per cent more
such as heart disease and arthritis; likely to get breast cancer than some-
breast cancer is another one to add to one of similar age and body type who
that list,” she adds. hasn’t gained weight.) Maintaining a

LOW E R YO U R R I S K F O R B R E A S T C A N C E R
healthy weight protects against other As with exercise, there’s no single

types of cancer as well, not to mention reason why weight influences breast
diabetes and stroke. cancer risk. After menopause, however,
Ahmed agrees: “There is more and fat tissue is a key source of oestrogen.
more evidence that women (especially Researchers have also identified
postmenopausal women), who are links between obesity and chronic
overweight, increase their likelihood of inflammation of fat tissue, which may
breast cancer,” she says. “An analysis of be responsible for an elevated cancer
82 studies of more than 2,00,000 breast risk in the breast. The same applies to
cancer patients found a 75 per cent higher levels of insulin. Whatever the
increase in mortality in premenopausal reason, controlling weight, particularly
women and a 34 per cent increase after menopause, will protect you
in mortality in postmenopausal against breast cancer.
women who were obese when their
cancer was diagnosed,” according to AVOID HORMONE REPLACEMENT
Dr Evandro de Azambuja, medical THERAPY
director of the Breast European Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is
Adjuvant Study Team at the Institut used to treat symptoms of menopause
Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium. caused by sharply declining oestrogen
PREVENTION IN A PILL?
“OF ALL THE BIG CANCERS— the risk of breast cancer by 55 to

breast, lung, gastrointestinal—there’s 65 per cent,” says Dr Ramesh Sarin.
only one that can be prevented Both Indian doctors advise great
with medications, and that’s breast caution, however: “These drugs are
cancer,” says Dr Julian Kim. used to treat breast cancer, usually
Certain drugs, such as tamoxifen in conjunction with surgery or other
and raloxifene, as well as exemestane oncological treatments and never
and anastrozole, which lower resid- used for women who simply want
ual levels of oestrogen in postmeno- to reduce their risk,” says Ahmed.
pausal women, reduces relative risk, “They are not without side effects
but is only meant for women particu- and their use is regulated and limited
larly prone to the disease, either be- to specific high-risk situations.”
cause of a damaged gene, or they Research is ongoing, but it is
have a diagnosis of a pre-malignant important that women talk to their
condition, according to Dr Rosina doctors about whether they should
Ahmed. “They are known to reduce take these medications.

levels, like hot flashes, sleep disruption supervision,” advises Sarin. Ahmed
and vaginal dryness. It involves taking concurs and suggests younger women
supplemental oestrogen by pill or consult a doctor regarding the use
patch, sometimes in combination of hormone-based contraception to
with another hormone, progestin. assess the potential risk of breast cancer.
But experts estimate that HRT ,
which exposes postmenopausal REDUCE ALCOHOL INTAKE
women to increased oestrogen, If you are drinking to your health, think
causes 15 per cent of all new cases again. What you are actually doing
of breast cancer. is raising your risk of seven different
“Deciding whether to take HRT is a cancers, including colorectal and liver
complex decision a woman needs to cancers. Results from a comprehen-
make with a specialist,” says Vaidya. sive study by the American Institute
“ HRT increases the risk for breast for Cancer Research and the World Can-
cancer, but can also make a huge im- cer Research Fund in 2017 reveal that
provement in the quality of life in some drinking a small glass of wine or beer
women with severe menopausal symp- a day (equal to about 10 grams alco-
toms. Each woman needs to carefully hol) increases the risk of breast cancer
consider the pros and cons to make a by five per cent among premenopausal
joint decision with her doctor.” and by nine per cent among post-
Depending on your symptoms, menopausal women. A standard drink
your doctor may suggest local is 14 grams of alcohol.
oestrogen therapy, which uses low- “A lot of women are shocked by that,”
dose vaginal oestrogen, like a cream says Kim. “They want to drink a glass
or ring, and carries a much lower of wine to relax, and they think they
risk because very little oestrogen gets are getting away scot-free.” Alcohol can
into the bloodstream and circulates. increase levels of oestrogen, which, like
“Combined oestrogen/progesterone other hormones, delivers messages
therapy has the greatest risks when that control cell division in the body.
used for longer than three to five Increased lifetime oestrogen exposure
years, so … take it for no longer than is associated with breast cancer.
this time,” says de Azambuja. That’s why getting your first period
“Although HRT is not common in before age 12 and reaching menopause
India, it can help women with severe after 55 are risk factors for the disease.
postmenopausal symptoms. However, Plus, when we metabolize alcohol, it’s
women at a high risk for breast can- converted into a toxic by-product
cer, due to, say, family history of the called acetaldehyde, which can
disease, should choose this with great damage DNA and interfere with our
caution and only under close medical ability to repair it.

Laughter
THE BEST MEDICINE
TOURISTS at a natural history The guard answers, “Well, the

museum are marvelling at some dinosaur bones were 6,50,00,000
dinosaur bones. One of them asks years old when I started working
CARTOON BY JIM BENTON
a guard, “Can you tell me how old here, and that was 11 years ago.”
the dinosaur bones are?” Source: haha.cafe
The guard replies, “They are

6,50,00,011 years old.” A FEW days after a robbery occurred
“That’s an awfully exact number,” at our house, my five-year-old
says the tourist. “How do you know brother asked me, “How was I born?”
their age so precisely?” A deep breath later, I responded,

“Vyan, one night, a beautiful fairy left
you quietly lying beside mummy.”
Vyan thought for a bit and then
came back with, “I see. So I think she
LIMERICKS TO MAKE YOUR
must have taken all our stuff in ex- MIND TURN TRICKS
change, right?”
TANAY SHUBHAM, Pa t n a There once was a lady
named Ferris
ADAM AND EVE: the first people Whom nothing could ever
not to read the Apple Terms and embarrass.
Till the bath salts one day,
Conditions.
In the tub where she lay,
Church sign, via Planet Proctor newsletter
Turned out to be plaster of paris.
TWO DOG OWNERS are arguing A magazine writer named Bing

about whose pet is smarter. Could make copy from most
“My dog is so smart,” says the first anything,
But the copy he wrote
owner, “that every morning he goes
Of a ten-dollar note
to the store and buys me a sesame- Was so good he now lives in
seed bagel with chive cream cheese, Sing Sing*
stops off at Starbucks and picks me
up a mocha latte, and then comes There once was a runner named
home and turns on ESPN, all before I Dwight
Who could speed even faster
get out of bed.”
than light.
“I know,” says the second owner. He set out one day
“How do you know?” the first In a relative way
demands. And returned on the previous
“My dog told me.” night.
From the book Laughter: The Best Medicine
A forgetful old gasman named
Dieter,
“YOU KNOW THAT snakes can’t
Who went poking around his
hear?” gas heater,
“How can you say that?” Touched a leak with his light;
“If they could hear, do you think He blew out of sight—
frogs would have been so noisy?” And, as everyone who knows
T HE N OU N P ROJE C T
VIJAY DONGRE, Mu m b a i anything about poetry can tell

you, he also ruined the meter.
Reader’s Digest will pay for your funny Source: rd.com
anecdote or photo in any of our humour *A maximum security prison in New York
sections. Post it to the editorial address,
or email: editor.india@rd.com

An empty nester writes to his millennial
son trying to find himself in the big city
Advice to a
Boy Lonely
In Montréal
BY C . Y. G O P INAT H
ILLUSTRATION BY PRIYA KURIYAN

A D V I C E T O A B O Y L O N E LY I N M O N T R É A L
O
ne day, one of these thinking of your dinner. You raid
days, you’ll come back the fridge but all you find is what
to your hostel room in you put in there. No magic elves are
downtown Montréal, stocking it up any more with juice and
switch on the lights and cheesecake for a late-night snack. You
look down upon the evening lights of sleep late but there’s no one to wake
Sherbrooke Avenue far below — and you up so you don’t miss class. You
you’ll suddenly feel utter loneliness. wake up feeling feverish and ill — but
You’ll wish you were back home— there’s no one to cool your brow.
where winter is a warm season; where Maybe this is what a baby bird feels
everyone is familiar and friendly. like when it is nudged off the branch
You’ll long for your childhood. You’ll by mama and papa because it’s time
ache for your past. for the little one to fly.
I heard it yesterday in your voice Let me prepare you for what’s
and your words when we Skyped. “I coming, because loneliness comes
know this is what I wished for,” you like an illness, with its own symptoms
said. “I wanted to leave home, and go and aches and pains.
to McGill University. But my wishes Here’s what will happen.
have come true, and it’s nothing First, you will feel depressed. I saw
like the pictures.” it on your face when we spoke last
At this very moment there are a week. Your world will lose colour
couple of hundred thousand young and you will yearn to just get on a
men and women like you, sitting in plane back home. That will be partly
their rooms and thinking nearly the because Montréal in November is like
same thoughts. Their dreams came that—grey and gloomy. Everything
true—but now they just want to will seem pointless.
go back home. But because a part of you knows
Here’s a simple truth, son: You’ll that things could not really be as
want to go home for the rest of your meaningless as they feel right now,
life. To a simpler time, a safer, better you may begin reflecting. You’ll
place, where someone else took wonder about God, or religion at
care of everything. But you can never least. When my loneliness as a young
go home again. man in Mumbai became unbearable
Till you start college, you do not I began attending bhajans (religious
know what it is like not to have a rapture music)—swaying, eyes closed,
parent always anticipating your daily with about 200 people. I fell in love
needs. But that disappears overnight, with the mystic Meera’s achingly
with almost no time to prepare. devotional songs to Lord Krishna,
You come home and no one’s been and would sing them in my room

and weep in my solitude. But they did and soon, slowly, art and other pretty
nothing to ease my loneliness. things will start going up on the walls,
So one day, perhaps as your second sills and mantels.
term starts, you’ll That metaphori-
leave God alone cal empty house is the
and start wondering rest of your life, yours
about yourself. You to take and make your
will want to know ver y own. Here are
who you are, and who some ideas from me on
you want to become. how you can make gold
You’ll want answers out of your loneliness:
to the big questions:
Why are you here? MAKE FRIENDS
What is it all about? WITH THE NEW CITY
One day you may The only way to make
start to realize that the past feel like less is
t h e re i s s t i l l o n e As you add things by making the present
person who cares, to an empty house, feel like more. You have
who can and will nine years of memories
do anything for you,
it will transform in Bangkok and two
who will never leave into a warm months of nothing in
you for the rest of home. That Montréal. Make time
your life. You only to explore your city. Be
have to ask. That
metaphorical adventurous. Have fun.
person is you. empty house is Make the city yours
your life, to take through discovery. Find
LONELINESS IS AN lanes and corners no
OPPORTUNITY ...
and make one knows about, and
... It’s like your first your own. search out experiences
days in an empty the guidebooks don’t
h o u s e w h e re y o u tell you.
will live for many years to come. As Away from home, I would drive
you start adding things to make it around the different quarters of
cozier and more liveable, it will start Mumbai, through ancient lanes and
blossoming from mere walls and past gracious buildings centuries old.
a roof into a warm home that is This was how I stumbled upon the
uniquely yours. The necessities will Portuguese quarter, and also an
come in first—the kitchen will grow, alley I christened Literacy Lane. It was
your workspace will take shape— a brightly lit, hush-silent lane filled

A D V I C E T O A B O Y L O N E LY I N M O N T R É A L
with hundreds of shanty children bamboo and cane furniture, books,

hunched over their books, studying aroma diffusers, potted plants,
by the light of halogen street lamps. the sound of chimes. Think of the
Then I discovered that if I boarded dozens of framed photographs of good
the ferry at Bhaucha times with friends
Dhakka pier along and family. Ever y
M u m b a i ’s T h a n e piece had a story to
creek, with a round- tell and a memory it
trip ticket to the evoked of a birthday
fishing villages of or vacation—that was
Madh Island at what made it a home
around tw ilight, I for all of us.
could watch Mumbai Ma k i n g a p l a c e
city recede as the your own costs time,
sunset cast its pink not money. It needs
colours on the old little touches, not
stones and the stars big flourishes. You’ll
appeared. Like magic, The phrase know it is working
the stress disappeared. ‘breaking bread the day you feel a
together’ has come sense of lightness
COOK FOR YOUR and relief walking
FRIENDS to mean ‘building through your door.
There is a reason why friendship’—the
the phrase ‘breaking camaraderie of GIVE BACK
bread together’ You start belonging
has come to mean shared mealtimes to a place and a
‘building friendship’. that can last c o m mu n i t y w h e n
Even back when I was forever. you start giving
a disastrous cook, I back. Even one hour
would regularly have a week is a lot — and
four or five friends over and cook for it does not matter whether you spend
them. No one cared how it tasted—the it reading to elderly people in a
warmth and camaraderie that shared retirement home or teaching maths
mealtimes can build last forever. to schoolkids or washing dishes in
a soup kitchen. Right now, you’re
MAKE YOUR ROOM SPECIAL in Montréal to get an education.
What made your home in Bangkok The day you start giving something
special? Think of all the little touches, back is the day your relationship
the trinkets, wall hangings, figurines, with the city begins,transforming

it into a vibrant, pulsing community an astronaut, who is stranded on Mars

of which you are a part. when his crewmates, believing him
to be dead, leave. He is the loneliest
READ, WATCH, THINK, REPEAT man in the universe. But instead of
The book I left with you, Robert giving up, he decides that he is going to
Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle “science the s*@# out of this”. He has
Maintenance, was a cult classic no intention of dying on Mars.
in my college days, but remains No spoilers from me. But
vitally relevant to every generation Matt Damon’s last lines, delivered to a
because it is about life, people, classroom, are worth carving on a
relationships — and the important plaque and hanging on a wall—here’s
questions they raise. what he says: “I guarantee you that at
This is your time to find your some point, everything’s gonna go
answers. Maybe this book I gave you south on you ... and you’re gonna say,
will give you something. Maybe some ‘This is it. This is how I end.’ Now you
other book will. You need to find your can either accept that, or you can get to
creed, the code you will live by. Look work. That’s all it is. You just begin. You
for it, and take it where you find it. do the math. You solve one problem …
and you solve the next one … and then
WATCH THE MARTIAN the next. If you solve enough problems,
Despite everything, there will always you get to go home.”
be days when you will want to give up
and crawl into a hole in the ground. This is excerpted from Letters to a Son @
McGill, a collection of letters from a baby
On those days, watch The Martian. In boomer father to his millennial son.
the film, actor Matt Damon plays the The author is currently seeking publishers.
PLEASE RESET YOUR PASSWORD

I needed a password eight characters long, so I picked
Snow White and the seven dwarves.
NICK HELM, c o m e d i a n
I hate it when I forget my password and can’t answer my

secret questions right. It’s like I don’t even know me.
@KWI R K YK E R R I
Kenny Loggins should team up with Kenny Passwords.

@J OH NM OE

We’re not out of the
woods yet, but there are
many positive trends to
help the environment
BY DA M IA N CA R R I NGTO N
F R O M T H E G UA RDI AN
GLOBAL

G L O B A L WA R M I N G : T H E G O O D N E W S
A
SERIES OF fast-mov- embodied in the Paris agreement
ing global mega- is going to be critical.”
trends, spurred
by trillion-dollar METHANE:
investments, indi- Getting to the meat
cates that humanity C a r b o n d i o x i d e f ro m b u r n i n g
might be able to avert the worst impacts fossil fuels is the main greenhouse
of global warming. From trends already gas, but methane and nitrous oxide
PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION, PREVIOUS SPREAD: ©PARABOL STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK; OPPOSITE PAGE: ©SHUTTERSTOCK

at full steam, including renewable are a major concern because they
energy, to those just now hitting the big are more potent. The main source is
time, such as mass-market electric cars, livestock farming, in particular
to those just emerging, such as plant- belching cattle and their manure.
based alternatives to meat, these trends The world’s appetite for meat
show that greenhouse gas emissions and dairy foods is rising as people’s
can be halted. incomes rise, but the simple arith-
No one is saying the battle to avert metic is that unless this is radically
catastrophic climate change—floods, curbed, there is no way to beat global
droughts, famine, mass migrations— warming. The task looks daunt-
has been won. “The important thing ing—people hate being told what to
is to recognize that we are seriously eat. However, just in the last year, a
challenged,” says Christiana Figueres, potential solution has burst on to the
former UN climate chief. “At the same market: plant-based meat, which has
time, the fact is we are already seeing a tiny environmental footprint.
many, many positive trends.” What sounds like an oxymoron—
Michael Liebreich, the founder food that looks and tastes just as good
of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, as meat or dairy products but is made
agrees. “The good news is we are way from plants—has attracted heavy in-
better than we thought we could be. We vestment. The buzz is particularly loud
are not going to get through this without in the US, where Bill Gates has backed
damage. But we can avoid the worst.” two plant-based burger companies and
Also cautiously hopeful is climate Eric Schmidt, formerly executive chair-
economist Nicholas Stern at the man of Google, believes plant-based
London School of Economics (LSE). foods can make a meaningful dent in
“These trends are the start of some- tackling climate change.
thing that might be enough—the two Perhaps even more telling is that
key words are ‘start’ and ‘might’.” He major meat and dairy companies
says that the global climate meetings are now piling in with investments
to be held in Poland this Decem- and acquisitions, such as the US’s
ber are crucial. “The acceleration biggest meat processor, Tyson, and

multinational giants Danone and Nestlé. the Good Food Institute. Plant-
The Chinese government in 2017 put based meat and dairy produce are
US$300 million [`2,000 crores] into not only environmentally friendly
Israeli companies producing lab-grown but also healthier and avoid animal
meat, which could also cut emissions. welfare concerns, but she says these
New plant-based products, from benefits alone will not make them mass-
chicken to fish to cheese, are com- market : “We believe the products
ing out every month. “We are in the themselves need to be competitive on
nascent stage,” says Alison Rabschnuk taste, price and convenience.”
at the US non-profit-making group Plant-based milks—soya, almond,
oat and more—have led the way
and are now about 10 per cent of
“I BELIEVE THAT the US market and a billion-dollar
IN 30 YEARS OR SO business. But in the past year, sales
ALL MEAT WILL of other meat and dairy substitutes
EITHER BE LAB- have climbed eight per cent in the
OR PLANT-BASED.” US with some specific lines, such
RICHARD BRANSON, business magnate as yoghurt, shooting up 55 per cent.
and philanthropist “I think the writing’s on the wall,” says
Alison Rabschnuk.
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard
Branson agrees. “I believe that in
30 years or so we will no longer need
to kill any animals and that all meat
will either be lab- or plant-based.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY:
Time to shine
The most advanced of the megatrends
is the renewable energy revolution.
Production costs for solar panels
and wind turbines have plunged, by
90 per cent in the past decade for
solar, for example, and are continuing
to fall. As a result, in many parts of the
world they are already the cheapest
electricity available and installation is
soaring: Two-thirds of all new power
in 2016 was renewable.

This extraordinary growth has con- choked China, there are now no
founded expectations: The respected provinces where new coal is needed,
International Energy Agency’s (IEA) so the country last year mothballed
annual projections have anticipated plans for 151 plants. Bankruptcies
linear growth for solar power every have torn through the US coal indus-
year for the past decade. In reality, try and in the UK it has fallen from
growth has been exponential. China 40 per cent of power supply to seven
is leading the surge but the impact per cent in the past five years.
is being felt around the world: In “Last year, I said if Asia builds what
Germany one week last November it says it is going to, we can kiss
2017 there was so much wind power goodbye to two degrees Celsius
that customers got free electricity. (the internationally agreed limit for
dangerous climate change),” says
KING COAL: Liebreich. “Now we are showing coal
Dead or dying [plans] coming down.”
The flipside of the renewables boom A second tipping point is needed, he
is the death spiral of coal—the filthi- says. That will occur when renewables
est of fossil fuels. Production appears are cheaper to build than running
to have peaked in 2013. The speed existing coal plants, meaning that the
of its demise has stunned analysts. latter shut down. If cost of renewables
In 2013, the IEA projected that coal continue to fall as expected, this would
demand would grow by 40 per cent happen between 2030 and 2040.
by 2040—now they project a growth
of just one per cent. ELECTRIC CARS:
The cause is simple: Solar and wind In the fast lane
energy are cheaper. But the conse- Slashing oil use—a third of all global
quences are enormous: In pollution- energy—is a huge challenge but a surg-
“WE COULD SEE AS MANY AS 80 PER CENT OF

NEW CARS BEING ELECTRIC BY 2030.”
VIKTOR IRLE, analyst at EV-volumes.com

ing market for battery-powered cars is be deployed by 2020, and between

starting to bite, driven in significant 40 and 70 million by 2025, according to
part by fast-growing concerns about estimates based on recent statements
urban air pollution, with cities and from carmakers.”
countries from Paris to India announc-
ing future bans on fossil-fuelled cars. BATTERIES:
China, again, is leading the way. It Lots in store
is selling as many electric cars every Batteries are key to electric cars and,
month as the rest of the world com- by storing energy for when the sun
bined, with many from home-grown goes down or the wind drops, they
companies, such as BYD. US-based are also vital for enabling renewable
Tesla is rolling out its more affordable energy to reach its full potential. Here
Model 3 and in recent months virtually too, a megatrend is crushing prices for
all major carmakers have committed lithium-ion batteries, which are down
to an electric future, with Volvo and 74 per cent over the past six years.
Jaguar Land Rover announcing that The International Renewable Energy
they will end production of pure fossil- Agency expects further falls of 50 to
fuelled cars within two years. 66 per cent by 2030 and a massive
“I don’t think it is going to slow increase in battery storage, linked
down,” says Viktor Irle, an analyst at to increasingly smart and efficient
EV-volumes.com, the global electric digital power grids. In the UK alone,
vehicle sales database. “If current government advisers say a smart grid
growth rates continue, we could see as could save bill-payers eight billion
many as 80 per cent of new cars being pounds [`72 crore] a year by 2030, as
electric by 2030,” he says. well as slashing carbon emissions.
The rapid rise of electric cars has Fears that lithium-ion, the techno-
left the oil giants playing catch-up. logy that dominates today, cannot be
In its latest forecast, OPEC forecasts scaled up sufficiently are overblown,
P H OTO I L LU ST RAT I O N : © S H U T T E RSTO CK
235 million electric cars will be opera- argues Liebreich, as the metal is not
tive by 2040. ExxonMobil and BP are rare. “You can be sure lithium-ion will
bumping up their forecasts too. Heavy get cheaper and you can be sure there
transport remains a challenge, but even is enough.”
here ships are experimenting with wind It is true, however, that batteries will
power and batteries. Short-haul electric not be the solution for energy storage
aeroplanes are on the drawing board, over weeks or months. For that, the
too. Meanwhile the Global EV Outlook physical links that transfer electricity
(a publication from the International between grids or across borders, are
Energy Agency) reports that, “Between being built and the storage of renewable
nine and 20 million electric cars could electricity as gas is also being explored.

EFFICIENCY: larly as a fossil fuel—natural gas—cur-

Negawatts over megawatts rently provides a lot of heating. “What
Just as important as the greening of is a crime is every time a building is
energy is reducing demand by boost- renovated it isn’t done to really high
ing energy efficiency. It’s a no-brainer standards,” says Liebreich, “and this is
in climate policy, but it can be very pretty much a global problem.”
tricky to make happen, One sector that is
as it requires action from “ACHIEVING lagging on energy
millions of people. LARGE-SCALE efficiency is industry, but
Nonetheless, good FORESTATION technology to capture
progress is being made and bury CO2 from fossil-
IS NOT JUST
in places such as the fuelled power stations is
EU, where efficiency in
THEORETICAL.” being tested and ways to
MICHAEL WOLOSIN,
homes, transport and Forest Climate Analytics
clean up cement-making
industry has improved by are also being explored.
about 20 per cent since
2000. Improving the FORESTS:
efficiency of appliances Seeing the wood
through better standards The destruction of for-
is surprisingly important: ests around the world
a new UN Environment for ranching and farm-
Programme report shows ing, as well as for tim-
it makes the biggest b e r, c a u s e s a b o u t
impact of any single 15 per cent of greenhouse
action except rolling out gas emissions. This is
wind and solar power. the biggest megatrend
But again, continued not yet pointing in the
progress is vital. “We right direction: Annual I LLU ST RAT I O N : © S H U T T E RSTOC K
need to drive energy tree losses have roughly
efficiency very, very hard,” says doubled since 2000.
Professor Kevin Anderson at the This is particularly worrying as
University of Manchester, UK. “We stopping deforestation and planting
could power down European energy new trees is among the fastest ways of
use by about 40 per cent in something cutting carbon emissions.
like 10 to 15 years, just by making the But it is not getting the support it
most efficient appliances available at needs, says Michael Wolosin at For-
the new minimum.” est Climate Analytics in Washington,
P H OTO
In countries with cool winters, bet- DC, USA, “Climate policy is massively
ter insulation is also needed, particu- underfunding forests—they receive

only about two per cent of global has removed more than 12 billion tons
climate finance.” Furthermore, the of CO2 from the atmosphere—three
US$2.3 billion [`16,000 crore] commit- times the entire EU’s annual emissions,
ted to forests in key deforestation coun- Wolosin says. This action was driven by
tries since 2010 is tiny compared with fears about flooding and food supply.
the funding for the sectors that drive de-
forestation. “Brazil and Indonesia’s gov-
ernments alone invested US$276 billion
[`19 trillion] in agricultural subsidies
W ILL THESE MEGATRENDS move
fast enough to avoid the worst
of climate change? Opinions vary and
in the same time frame, in just the Manchester University’s Kevin Ander-
four key driver commodities: palm oil, son is among the most hawkish. He
soya, beef and timber,” says Franziska says it remains possible for now, but
Haupt, a member of the Climate is pessimistic that the action will be
Focus team, and lead author of the taken. “We have to actively close down
annual New York Declaration on Forests the incumbent fossil-fuel industry.”
Progress Assessment. The LSE ’s Nicholas Stern is cau-
In fact, new research has shown tiously optimistic, saying that what has
that, and Michael Wolosin says, changed in recent years is the realiza-
there are some grounds for hope that tion that green economic growth is the
new forests can be planted. “Achiev- only long-term option.
ing large-scale forestation is not just “I am very confident now we can do
theoretical. A few countries have done this, but the change has to be radical,”
it successfully.” he says. “Will we have the political and
In the past two decades, tree-plant- economic understanding and commit-
ing in China, India and South Korea ment to get there? I hope so.”
COPYRIGHT © GUARDIAN NEWS & MEDIA LTD 2018
LINDA: WHAT A PRETTY NAME!
In 1947, after Jack Lawrence’s song ‘Linda’ hit number one,

5.5 per cent of the girls born in the U.S. were named Linda. Since
then, no baby name has become so popular so quickly. Oddly
enough, the Linda who inspired the song (the daughter
of Lawrence’s lawyer) became even more famous in 1969
when she married a guy named Paul McCartney.
@AD AMOFE AR T H

An
ARMY
of TWO
A judge sentences a fellow veteran to jail—then
joins him in his cell for the night
BY R O B E R T K I E N E R
I L LUSTR ATI O NS BY M IC H AE L BYE R S
HE MINUTE JOE SERNA WALKED into the Veterans

Treatment Court in Fayetteville, North Carolina,
USA, he could feel his shoulders tense up, hear
his stomach growling. He had come to turn himself in.
Six months earlier, Serna had been arrested for impaired
driving. As part of his sentence, he was required to report
to Judge Lou Olivera’s court every two weeks to take a
urine test and prove he hadn’t been drinking.

Judge Lou Olivera (left) with
fellow veteran Joe Serna
A
Serna had passed every biweekly FTER THREE tours of duty
screening—until the week before. in Afghanistan, countless
Positive. He decided to try to bluff combat missions, two Purple
his way out of trouble. “I never Hearts [a highly respected US military
had a drink, Judge,” he told the decoration] and the memories of way
court. “Honest.” too many “best buddies” losing their
I f Ju d g e O l i v e r a s u s p e c t e d lives, 39-year-old Joe Serna left the
anything, he didn’t let on. Both men army in 2013 after 18 years of service.
were veterans, and Olivera had come By 2016, he was living in Fayetteville
to know and admire Serna as he with his wife and three children and
participated in the court’s programme studying for an accounting degree at
to help vets [war veterans] with nearby Methodist University. But in
drinking and addiction problems. truth, he had never really left the army,
Though their lives had gone in opposite and it certainly had never left him. The
directions since they’d left the military, memories would lie low for a while, like
they were still connected by their a hidden enemy, only to re-emerge in
service. And that was what ate at Serna, a nightmare or a tormenting flashback.
what had brought him back to Olivera’s His wife, Rocio, had learnt the warn-
court a week after his lie. This guy is a ing signs: his cold sweats, the way he
fellow soldier, he told himself. I need to would tense his shoulders or cry out
make this right. So Serna stood before in the night. She was rarely surprised
Olivera and admitted quietly, “I lied.” when he woke her up, thrashing in bed
As beads of perspiration rolled down and whispering, “Bad guy … Bad guys.”
his forehead, he said, this time a bit Sometimes he’d kick and shout, “IED!”
louder, “I lied, Judge. I was drinking.” Then, “No! No!”

The flashbacks emerged, seemingly, pounding, he heard his team mem-

from a thousand points of darkness. bers screaming for help as the water
There was the time during Serna’s first swallowed them up. This is it,
tour in Afghanistan in 2006, when his he thought as he struggled to free
convoy was ambushed. Or the time himself. I’m going to die.
when he threw a wounded comrade But then one of his brothers came
over his shoulder and carried him to the rescue. “When the water had
through heavy fire. As he would later reached my chin, I felt a hand come
explain, “He was my brother in arms. down and unfasten my seat belt and
We never leave each other behind.” release my body armour,” Serna says.
Once, while he was interrogating “Sergeant James Treber picked me up
a local Afghan with an interpreter, and moved me to a pocket of air.”
he suddenly heard a metallic click, The truck’s hydraulic system had
followed by a telltale ping as some- been knocked out, so the doors
thing hit the floor. A suicide bomber wouldn’t budge. The soldiers were
had detonated a grenade that sent trapped. Because there was not
shrapnel through much of Serna’s body enough space for both of them in the
and face and knocked out his teeth. “If small air pocket, Treber dived into the
I had been a foot closer to the grenade, water to find a larger one. Suddenly,
it would have killed me,” he recalls. some fuel cans broke and contami-
Yet it was another incident that nated Serna’s air pocket with gasoline.
caused most of his nightmares. As He passed out.
part of a convoy, he and three other “I thought I’d died,” says Serna.
Special Forces soldiers were inside a “Someone pulled me out of the truck.
19-ton RG-31 mine-resistant truck, When I came to, I saw three bodies
driving through Kandahar, Afghani- lying on the ground. Everyone else in
stan, to recover a fallen brother who the truck, including Sergeant Treber,
had died after stepping on a mine. had died.” To this day, being stuck in a
Just after midnight, as they were driv- confined space can trigger flashbacks
ing along a pitch-black dirt road that for Serna. He was still in the military
was flanked by a canal, the narrow when doctors suggested to him that he
road gave way. The massive armoured was suffering from post-traumatic stress
vehicle fell sideways, slipped down disorder (PTSD). He wanted to keep it
the bank and toppled into the canal. quiet. He was a Green Beret, among
“The truck started filling with water, the best of the best, and Special Forces
and I couldn’t release my seat belt,” types don’t like to admit weakness. In
remembers Serna. Helpless, he felt the truth, he was scared, afraid that the
water rising over his feet, then up to diagnosis could end his career. He
his knees, then his chest. His heart turned to drink to quiet his demons.

AN ARMY OF TWO
S
TILL, HE NEVER gave up the asked him, “Do you trust me?”
fight, and Judge Olivera knew “Yes, sir,” said Serna.
that. On the day when Serna “Then get in my car,” Olivera said.
stood in the courtroom to admit he He drove Serna to nearby Lumber-
had lied about drinking, the judge ton, North Carolina, where he knew
wasn’t angry. He was moved. the local chief of police.
“One of the main aims of the Veter- An hour later, Joe Serna, dressed in a
ans Treatment Court is to build trust jail-issued orange jumpsuit, walked into
and relationships with the veterans a ten-by-seven-foot one-person cell in
who appear before us,” Olivera says. the Robeson County Detention Cen-
“We are one big team—we are all ter. As the heavy steel door slammed
veterans—and when one of us screws behind him, Serna sat on the hard steel
up, the rest of the team says, ‘You have cot. He felt his shoulders tightening, his
to square yourself away.’” heart beating faster. He tried to fight the
He listened familiar feeling of
to Serna’s con- We are ONE BIG TEAM dread, but as his
fession that day
and when one of us screws body tensed, the
and decided on g u n m e t a l - g re y
the punishment: up, the rest of the team says, walls began to
one night in the ‘You have to SQUARE close in on him.
Cumberland YOURSELF away.’ He knew he
County jail. would soon be
The next after- flashing back to
noon, Olivera got a text telling him, that armoured truck, feeling help-
“ FYI , Joe Serna is reporting to jail less as the water rose up to his chin,
today.” Olivera crossed the street reliving the horror of that night. His
to wish Serna luck. He found him mind was racing. How do I get out of
highly agitated, his white T-shirt here? he thought. There is no way out!
soaked with sweat. Then the door jangled as the jailer
“You OK?” asked Olivera. unlocked it. Standing in the open
Serna, his eyes locked on the doorway was Judge Olivera, carrying
floor, mumbled an answer. Suddenly two dinner trays.
Olivera remembered the story of “OK , Joe, are you ready?”
Serna’s truck rollover and the linger- Olivera asked.
ing claustrophobia it had caused. The “Where are we going?” asked Serna.
judge asked the jailer whether he had “We aren’t going anywhere,” Olivera
an open cell, one with bars instead of said. “We are staying here.”
cinder blocks and a door. He didn’t. Serna was confused. But a few
The judge turned to Serna and minutes later, after the jailer brought

in a two-inch-thick foam mattress

and once again locked the heavy
s t e e l d o o r b e h i n d h i m, S e r na
understood. The judge, a fellow
veteran, realizing that this cell was
no better than the first one, had
decided to spend the night with a
A
comrade in arms. Olivera’s compas- FTER GRADUATING FROM
sion nearly drove Serna to tears. But Me t h o d i s t U n i v e r s i t y i n
he managed to regain his composure May, Serna plans to move to
enough to beg Olivera to take the cot California with his wife and their chil-
and let him sleep on the floor. dren, Matthew, Efrain and Andrea, to
“Judge, I can’t give you the floor,” run his father’s construction company.
he said. (Matthew is named after the man
“Call me Lou, Joe. And I have slept who saved Serna’s life: Sgt James
on the floor before. In fact, you and I Matthew Treber.)
have slept in worse places.” For his part, Judge Olivera insists
They traded war stories as they that any veteran would have reacted
tucked into jail-issued meat loaf and to Serna’s plight just as he did. He is
mashed potatoes. “Nasty stuff, isn’t fond of telling a story he once read
it?” joked Olivera, cutting the tension about a veteran who was suffering
in the cell. Serna told the judge about from PTSD: “The veteran was in a deep
the day he was almost blown to bits hole. First his family threw down a
by the Afghan suicide bomber, and rope, but he wouldn’t come out. Then
he found himself actually laughing his therapist threw down a rope, but
as he described the ping he’d heard again he didn’t come out. Then his
when the grenade pin had hit the floor. minister, with the same result. Finally,
Olivera laughed, too, sharing in a a second veteran came by, and he,
shade of black humour only a fellow too, threw down a rope. But this time,
veteran would understand. he climbed into the hole with the
The two talked for hours about first vet. ‘What are you doing down
their service, their families and their here with me?’ the vet with PTSD
hopes for the future. At around one asked. The second vet answered,
in the morning, Olivera heard Serna’s ‘I’m here to climb out with you’.”
breathing get deeper, and he even- “I’ve never forgotten that story, and
tually began to snore. He will be OK I know that there are many veterans
now, the judge said to himself as he who would have done the same. These
rolled up his shirt into a makeshift are our brothers. We never leave each
pillow. He’ll be fine. other behind.”

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE
SIX CAVING BUDDIES HAD SET OFF FOR A

DAY OF ADVENTURE. BY NIGHTFALL, ONLY
FOUR OF THEM EMERGED FROM THE DEEP

Jason Storie
peering through
a tight passage
in a cave called
Cascade

N O W AY O U T
T
HE RAIN COMES DOWN steady and hard. Jason Storie hears
it but is not worried as he prepares for a day of caving
with five friends in a remote spot about 129 km north-west
of his home in Duncan, on Canada’s Vancouver Island.
He is dressed for the wet weather— he is a university drama graduate

and for just about any other predica- turned entrepreneur, the owner of a
ment: a T-shirt, then two sweatshirts, window-washing company. It was his
a pair of overalls, neoprene socks, friend Andrew Munoz, 33, who intro-
a water-resistant jacket and rubber duced him to the sport. Unlike Jason,
boots. Under his arm, he proudly Andrew is an expert caver—a former
carries his new helmet and headlamp. caving guide, actually—and a wiry
“Sleep in,” he whispers, bending paramedic who would know what to
down to kiss his wife, Caroline Storie.do if something were to go wrong.
“Be careful,” she says. Jason, Andrew and two more
“Always.” friends—Adam Shepherd, also a
It’s 6 a.m. on 5 December 2015. A paramedic, and Zac Zorisky, a chef
newcomer to the sport, Jason has gone and volunteer firefighter—drive
caving only four times. This will be through the heavy rain to the parking
his toughest outing yet: a cave called lot of a log-cabin candy store in Port
Cascade. It’s dangerous enough that Alberni, where they get the key to
the entry is blocked by a locked metal that metal door. There they meet up
with Matt Watson and
SOON, THE DRIP TURNS INTO A Arthur Taylor, both computer
STEADY FLOW AND THEY ARE programmers.
WADING UP TO THEIR SHINS. The six men drive up an
unmarked trail for about
door to keep the casual spelunker [an a little less than a kilometre before
explorer of caves] out; the key can be parking in a clearing to take inven-
obtained only after everyone in the tory: ropes, harnesses and carabiners?
caving party signs a waiver. About Check. Two bags that contain a small
1.6 kilometres long and 338 feet deep, gas-fuelled Jetboil stove, food, water
Cascade is full of turns and barely and a first-aid kit, and a Mylar ‘space’
passable tight squeezes. blanket that resembles aluminium foil?
Jason is the outlier among the Check, check and check.
group, with the least experience They hike a bit before coming to
and at 43, older by a decade or the door, which sits in the ground—
more. A stocky father of two toddlers, you’d miss it if you weren’t looking

Jason (far right) at
Double Trouble on a
later expedition
A
for it. It’s 10 a.m. They pull the door B OU T 45 minutes in, Adam
open and climb 30 feet down a rickety announces he can’t go any
aluminium ladder into the black, each farther; his back, injured a few
anchored with carabiners to a rope. weeks earlier, is twinging. The constant
The last one in locks the door behind hunching over has taken its toll. Matt
him and ties the key to the bottom of escorts him to the entrance to let him
P RE V I O U S S P R E A D A N D T H I S PAGE : ANDR E W M UNOZ
the ladder. It is damp and chilly, about out. He closes and locks it again, and
five degrees Celsius. With their way then rejoins his four waiting friends.
illuminated by headlamps, they walk For the next 90 minutes, they are ex-
down a narrow passage studded with plorers, taking their time as they crawl,
jagged boulders. The silence is broken stride and slide through the cave’s two
by a drip-drip-drip from above. Soon very different environments: either
the drip turns into a light but steady pipelike passages barely big enough
flow, and they are wading in water up to fit a grown man or chambers that
to their ankles, then to their shins. are like the nave of a church, big but
“Everyone OK?” Andrew, the de facto not overwhelming. Wherever they go,
leader of the group, calls out. they try to stay within a 100 feet from
“Yeah,” comes the reply. the first person to the last, congre-
“Yup.” gating in the chambers between the
“Me too.” more challenging crawls and climbs.

A R E YO U S T I L L I N T H E R E ?
INSIDE CASCADE
With its narrow passages, flowing streams
and chambers studded with stalagmites and stalactites,
Cascade is a caver’s dream. But for the novice spelunker,
it can turn into a nightmare.
Entrance
50 feet Theatre
Room
The cave’s entrance is an

easily missed hole in the
ground guarded by a locked
metal door.
100 feet
The Tight
Squeeze
(20 feet long)
150 feet
Bastard’s
Crawl
Cascade,
200 feet about
1.6 km long in Where Jason
total, twists got stuck
and turns for
Andrew (in front) and another
Jason recreating their Double
400 metres.
16-hour ordeal at the base Trouble
250 feet of Bastard’s Crawl

Jason is in awe of his surroundings. stew with rice. After their 20-minute
Andrew once told him, “There are lunch, the five head out again, slid-
over a thousand caves and tunnels on ing and crawling their way down to-
Vancouver Island, and it’s never the wards the cave’s end, less than 400
same.” Cascade is like nothing he’s metres away. But they get only 300
seen before. feet when Zac begins shivering vio-
Soon they approach one of the fea- lently. Although the temperature
tures that make the cave unique: a nar- hasn’t changed, the cold inside a cave
row passage not big enough to stand up can hit unexpectedly. The five decide
in that leads into a short, tight down- to turn back together.
hill. This has a name: Bastard’s Crawl. They start to retrace their route.
Four streams meet here and indeed, First Matt goes, then Arthur, then
the water is flowing more quickly. Jason, Zac and Andrew. The sound of
“Crab-walk!” Andrew calls. rushing water grows louder. There is
Once they emerge from more mud than there was on the way
Ba s t a rd’s C rawl , t h e y
approach the top of a THEY SET UP ROPES TO RAPPEL
waterfall called Double 50 FEET. BOOTS AND GLOVED
T r o u b l e — s o n a m e d HANDS CLAW FOR LEVERAGE.
because a jutting rock
splits the stream in two. They set up down a few hours earlier, and it sticks
their ropes to rappel 50 feet. Boots heavily to their heels. Plus, they are
and gloved hands claw for leverage now climbing up, so it’s taking much
on slippery ledges. The water gushes longer to return than it did to come
I L LU ST R AT I O N BY JOS É DE LA ROSA. AND RE W M U NOZ
on either side of the rock formation, down. “Careful!” one of the cavers up
landing at the bottom in a spray of front yells to those behind.
bubbles. There’s a reason this cave is As it nears 2:15 p.m., the cavers
called Cascade. approach Double Trouble. The sound
As Jason descends, his heart is beat- of the water has turned into a roar.
ing so hard, it feels as if it will jump What had before been a gushing but
out of his chest. You wanted a harder manageable flow is now a churning,
challenge, he thinks. You got it. angry white froth. How could this hap-
pen so quickly? Jason wonders. Is it
A
F E W M I N U T E S beyond run-off from the rain?
Double Trouble, they stop Matt hooks the rope that was left at-
for a quick bite. It’s just tached at the top of Double Trouble to
before 1 p.m., and they’ve been in the his harness and starts hauling himself
cave for three hours. Andrew fires up up. The journey is not long, maybe
the Jetboil to make beef and chicken 50 feet, but it’s tough, precise work:

N O W AY O U T
hoisting one leg to find a tiny, wet It feels like forever. Images of his family
shelf in the rock wall; then a gloved flash before him, like a mental photo
hand; then the other leg. Once he has album he tries to hold on to: Caro-
climbed to the top, he throws the rope line, whom he has been married to for
down and Arthur follows suit, then 16 years and who had warned him to
Jason. At the top, Jason gets on his be careful that morning; Jack, five, who
stomach to pull himself up the incline loves aeroplanes; and three-year-old
of Bastard’s Crawl. The water, deeper Poppy, his princess.
than before, smashes into his face as Zac, having followed Jason up, is
he powers through it. God, it’s cold! now atop Double Trouble. He shouts
Finally emerging through the open- down to Andrew, “Jason’s in trouble!”
ing and into the next tight passage, he Andrew clambers up behind Zac
pauses, puzzled, because it splits into and goes to the bottom of the crawl.
two. He can’t see the two cavers ahead “Head up, Jase,” he yells to his friend.
He can barely see his friend’s
JASON TRIES TO CALL FOR face through all the water.
HELP, BUT INSTEAD HE GASPS Jason is only a couple of
feet away, but he’s in such a
FRANTICALLY FOR AIR. precarious position and in
of him and is nervous about waiting such a tight space, Andrew can’t easily
at the top because there is really only pull him out. “Keep on coming, dude.
room in this spot for one person at a Towards me! Head up!” Jason is flail-
time. I’ll just go back down and ask, ing. “Place your feet against me! Lift
he decides. your butt up and float. C’mon, Jase!”
He carefully crab-walks about Jason’s gloved hands emerge from
15 feet when the streaming water sud- the water, then his wet face. He is
denly sweeps him on to his back, sub- gulping air as if he has hiccups. “My
merging him. He feels the pressure of leg’s caught.” Jason doesn’t recognize
more water building up behind him. his own voice because it comes out so
If he doesn’t get out of the crawl fast, slurred and slow, as if he’d suffered a
the merciless surge of water will pop stroke. He tries to dislodge his boot. It
him out like a champagne cork, over won’t budge.
Double Trouble and on to the rocks “It’s OK, dude,” Andrew says, reach-
below. But he can’t move—his boot is ing into the rushing water and fishing
stuck between two rock shelves. around for the stuck boot. He grasps
Lying on his back with the water something solid. “Is this it?”
rushing over him, he tries to call for “Yeah.”
help, but instead he gasps frantically “Well, we got ourselves in a jam.
for air. It has been about five minutes. OK, we’ll do this together.”

Five of the cavers
enjoying being
above ground after
their adventure
Twenty minutes after getting stuck, Jason is turning hypothermic, so cold

Jason emerges from Bastard’s Crawl that he has stopped shivering. He
like a baby being birthed, wet through, wraps his friend in the Mylar blanket
eyes shut tight and gasping. Andrew and fires up the Jetboil. He warms
settles him on a narrow ledge inches Jason by pouring hot water down his
above the water. Jason, his eyes now clothes. As he does so, Jason’s colour
wide open and looking bewildered, starts returning to normal.
knows he had a close escape. “Welcome back, buddy. Do you feel
“You’re OK,” Andrew says, grasping ready to get out of here?”
his shoulders. “Zac, stay with Jason With an hour’s hike to the entrance,
while I get the supply bags up ahead.” they start to climb, inundated by
It takes him about 15 minutes. water. They’re fighting it—or it’s fight-
On his return, Andrew tells Zac the ing them, crushing them, pushing
water is still rising, so he should join them back. When they finally near the
Matt and Arthur just beyond Bastard’s top of the crawl, there are barely four
Crawl. “I have to get Jason warmed up inches of air left between the water
RO B C A M P B E L L
before we try to get out,” he says. “If we and the ceiling, not enough for them
don’t catch up to you in 30 minutes, to keep their heads up to breathe.
notify Search and Rescue.” “It’s too high!” Andrew calls.
Unspoken is Andrew’s fear that “Turn back!”

Andrew (left) and Jason
continue to explore Vancouver
Island’s caves together.
C
Jason spots a ledge; although the O N S E R V I N G T H E b a t t e r-
wall is at an awkward 45-degree ies in their headlamps,
angle, there is room enough for the they sit mostly in the dark,
two of them. Andrew perches in front which makes them forget what
of Jason to take the brunt of the spray a tight space they are in.
from the water, his legs uncomfortably Jason draws on his theatrical train-
braced against a ledge on the other ing, forcing his breathing to slow
side of the waterfall. down and move through his dia-
The water keeps rising, almost to phragm and up to the tip of his skull.
the ledge, and its sheer force and fury Trying to warm his face, he pulls his
cause a wind to come up. Both men sweatshirt up over his nose. He thinks
know that caves have their own micro- about his family and wonders how
climates, and with nowhere to go, the much life insurance coverage he has.
wind whistles and keens. It is 6 p.m. Andrew silently recites a mantra
They are about 200 feet underground based on a passage from the science
at this point. Zac left them three hours fiction novel Dune: Fear is the mind
RO B C A M P B E L L
ago. They huddle together under a killer. Fear is the little black death that
blanket. The Jetboil is out of fuel. brings total oblivion. I will let the fear
“If we don’t get out of here, our pass through me, and when the fear is
wives will kill us!” Jason says drily. gone, only I will remain.

There is no sign of rescuers. Did the An hour later, the water level has
other three even make it out? Maybe gone down enough that they can
they’re lying on the other side of keep their heads above water and try
Bastard’s Crawl, blocked by water and an escape. Stiff from sitting in one
injured. Or dead. position for 12 hours, they slowly
What the two men don’t know is unfold their bodies. Jason screams
that their friends did make it out. They in pain. A muscle in his groin is
called for help, and at around 9 p.m., strained, but he is determined not to
members of the Ground and Cave let it stop him.
Search and Rescue squads arrived on Getting on all fours and through
the scene and entered the cave. But B a s t a rd ’s C raw l — n o t h i n g e l s e
the water level, as well as its ferocity, matters but that. Still, each time Jason
forced them to retreat. They would moves a leg, he cries out. “You can
have to try again later. do this,” Andrew exhorts. Then they
are through.
T
HE HOURS PASS. Jason and Over the next 90 minutes, they
Andrew don’t dare to move for make their way towards the entrance,
fear of slipping. They doze off, at times in chest-high water. Now, in a
then jerk themselves awake and they passage that is high enough for them
check in with each other ever y to walk upright, Jason sees something
20 minutes or so. flicker in the distance.
“You still with me?” Andrew asks. “Lights! I see lights!” Jason ploughs
“Yup. You still good?” ahead. Soon they hear voices.
“Yup.” “Hey,” they call out. “We’re here!”
Every once in a while, one of them “Andrew? Jason?” It ’s one of
turns on his headlamp to scan the the rescuers.
water level. Around 5 a.m., it seems For the first time since entering the
to be receding. cave, over 20 hours earlier, Jason’s
“Let’s wait for a bit and see,” emotions get to him and tears trickle
Andrew says. down his cheeks. “We made it.”
WHY NOMENCLATURE ISN’T THE STUDY OF GNOMES
Mineralogy? Study of minerals.

Oceanology? Study of oceans.
Meteorology? NOT ABOUT METEORS.
@ADAMOFEARTH

The Gift of
Bad TimesMy year of unemployment and the
lessons it taught me
BY AB HA S RI VASTAVA
IN THE FOURTH DECADE OF MY If this sounds like the plot of a dark

life I have truly grasped the meaning film, that’s exactly how it felt like for
of the phrase ‘be careful what you wish me. It was as if I was in an intense, grim
for, it just might come true’. plot. When the going got rough, I was
About two years ago, while sitting at the actor. When optimism returned, I
my desk, editing, I would often yearn was the spectator.
for an extended vacation, a break However, at some point it became
from office routine, just a few days of evident that this role-playing wasn’t
nothingness. And then, out of the blue, going to get me anywhere. Moping
it happened. The reprieve I so longed around the house, waiting for the
for was suddenly thrust upon me: Cost- few people I knew to come a-calling,
cutting in the news organization where talking to myself was just leading
I worked led to my abrupt exit. me to a wall of doom—a dark place,
For 14 months starting February where my brain would shrink up and
2017, time slowed down. Every day I prove useless when I needed it. Self-
would wake up hopeful, search the net pity—though quite convenient—was
manically for the right job, recognize a luxury I neither had the time for
my foolish optimism and stop. nor the headspace to indulge in. Like
Yet, somehow, I never gave up Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic

groping for that sliver of hope, which Park famously said “Life will find a
would give me a reason to wake up the way”, I was hell-bent on finding my life,
next morning. my way, my way.

MY STORY

THE GIFT OF BAD TIMES
THE FIRST STEPS ...

... were baby steps. Of a sort. Opting Abha
out of my self-imposed exile, I gathered Srivastava
the nerve—at times you need it for the
simplest of acts—to go out. Whether for
a brisk walk, a half-hearted jog or just a
stroll to the cluster of shops around the
corner, I ensured I was out of the house
for some time, every day. It worked.
Slowly, I entered the land of the living.
QT here was a reason to wake up:
Exercise.
QA n outcome to look forward to:
A natural high.
QA by-product of the sweat: A fitter me.
QA welcome revelation: A more
confident self.
Not surprisingly, health professionals
endorse exercise and physical
activity as they help release feel-
good endorphins, drowning anxiety
and depression.
I also started meeting more people.
Not too many, just a few. Close friends,
caring relatives and spirit-boosting
acquaintances, who would take my daily routine 40 minutes long.
mind off the constant brooding and QDrink more warm water for hydration.
allow me to laugh. They also made Q Respond to friends who have been
me realize that the entire world had trying to call.
problems. Some massive, some not so Q Smile more while talking to my
much. But problems exist, for everyone. parents on the phone.
QCook a dish and call a friend over.
KEEPING AT IT ... Q Practise gratitude for all that I have.
... was not easy. However, once I Q Keep the faith—somehow. Whether
realized I didn’t have to win the war at it was yoga, meditation or any form of
one shot, that I could focus on smaller spirituality, I tried it. It can’t hurt, I told
battles, life looked bearable. I created myself. In my case, it helped. A sense of
a timetable: calm enveloped me.
QWalk 20 minutes longer and make the Still, there were days when I would

feel my confidence ebb, my anxiety rise BEING MENTALLY ACTIVE ...

and my hope for a better future fade. … was a tough one. There are only so
But then, I’d sternly tell myself, You many grey cells one uses being online,
are privileged to live in a big city and watching television and occasionally
be able to make ends meet, albeit with Netflixing. Books became my friends
some help. There are people in your life once again, as did comics. I went back
who care. Appreciate that. to Calvin and Hobbes and Asterix, my
With a mental slap to the self, I’d be saviours at another not-so-happy time
up again. To get out looking for a job— in my life. I was making myself smile …
meet people, apply for positions, even if then laugh. And eventually guffaw.
it meant facing disinterest or rejections. I kept reminding myself life couldn’t
come to a standstill. When interviews
LETTING THE SADNESS IN ... went well but didn’t translate into
... is not as defeatist as it may sound. concrete offers, I gave myself a specific
I had to accept the fact that I was time frame to mope. And then dusted
unemployed and good job offers off the depression and strode out again.
were not banging my door down.
The question why is this happening WELCOMING GOOD TIMES ...
to me? was normal. As were disbelief, … was the most elevating, validating
depression, sadness … Trying to bury and eventful time of my life. After many
them under the rock of a stony smile false promises and starts, I landed a job
was not ideal. Of course, it was okay I had never dreamt of. A fresh start! My
to be miserable. longish streak of unemployment finally
So I allowed myself time to do that. came to an end. Happiness peaked,
But not all my time. With each excitement grew and congratulatory
opportunity that didn’t work out, I felt messages from well-wishers poured in.
dejected. I knew that a job wouldn’t The past year has taught me that
just tap my bedroom window. I had to there will be obstacles, but they will
try—again and again and again. appear much smaller with support,
I kept telling myself This too shall perseverance and the lessons from a
pass. A close friend and my mother tougher time gone by. I have learnt to
would always tell me, “Things have hold on to the good things and strive to
a habit of working out on their make the best of them. Problems don’t
own.” Which doesn’t mean you can disappear on their own, you need to
warm the couch. It just helps to e n s u re y o u s t a y a h e a d . W h a t
know it because you can stop the disappears is the defeatist mindset.
self-blame, keep trying (which can be And what stays is the wisdom of
exhausting) and trust the universe to turbulent times that leaves us with
do right by you. strength, confidence and gratitude.

Vendors at India’s flower markets wear
their colourful wares. Photographer
Ken Hermann snapped these striking
portraits in Kolkata
Flower
Men
Odhir Gayen sells false ashoka (debdaru)
leaves on the banks of the Hooghly River.

Flowers are so much a part of our lives in India. Above: Dileep Hajra sells
tuberoses (rajnigandha). Opposite, clockwise from top left: Ashok Goldar sells
Madurai jasmine (malli), S. K. Bhagat Chinese hibiscuses (gurhal), Sikanto Pawani
butterfly pea flowers (aparajita), Bacchababu Yadav roses (gulaab).

Opposite page: A vendor named Kulwinder sells orange marigolds (genda). This page, clock-
wise from top left: Sudeep Manna sells tuberose; Ramashish with lotus (kamal); Bablu Shah
sells true jasmine (chameli); Ramdayal Yadav sells bright red cockscombs (mawal).

CLASSIC READ

After Wally Eamer is shot during a vicious
armed robbery in Honduras, it’s up to his wife
and three young children to keep him alive
BY JI M HU TC HI S O N F R OM R EADER ’ S DI GEST , 19 9 9
P HOTO I L LU ST R AT I O N BY K E SHAV KA PI L

TERROR ON THE ROAD
“LOOKS LIKE A BREAKDOWN,” said Wally Eamer, swinging

his grey Toyota Land Cruiser around the dilapidated truck
blocking the road’s single lane. His wife, Sharleen Thompson,
peered warily at the five men in and around the vehicle.
Breakdowns were common on the dusty highways of central
Honduras, but so were roadside robberies.
Helping others came naturally to While Wally checked under the
the Victoria, B.C., couple. Sharleen, hood, a small, wiry man sauntered up
45, was teaching first aid in remote to the Land Cruiser, stopping at the
Honduran villages, while 48-year- passenger side. Smirking, the stranger
old Wally, a British Columbia parks drew a .22-calibre semi-automatic
director on a leave of absence, was from a hip holster and pointed it at
using his management skills to aid the children in the back seat. Gwen
small businesses. Their year-long threw up her hands to ward off the
stint in a Central American volunteer gun while Struan shrank behind his
p ro g ra m m e a f f i l i ate d w i t h t h e big brother. “No!” Sharleen shouted
Anglican Church of Canada would, as she rolled up the window.
the couple had decided, provide Wally whirled around at his wife’s
the experience of a lifetime for their cry. He approached the gunman, who
three children: Gil, 14, Gwen, 11, and pointed the pistol in his direction.
Struan, 8. “Come,” Wally commanded, walking
“What’s the problem?” Wally asked to the rear of the Land Cruiser. The
the group in Spanish as they drove by man followed, his gun levelled at
on the afternoon of 3 January 1998. Wally’s chest.
“It won’t start,” said one of the men. “Give me your guns,” the man
Wally considered the situation: It was demanded. His assumption was
1:15 p.m. and hot—and getting hotter. reasonable; anyone in Honduras who
It might be hours before another could afford an expensive vehicle
vehicle came along. Besides, the local would likely have a gun to protect it.
police had assured them their chosen “No,” Wally said, shaking his head.
route for a week’s holiday in the He figured if the attackers realized the
Caribbean Bay Islands was safe. family was unarmed, they’d do as they
“Stay in the car. I’ll see if I can help,” pleased—robbers were known to kill
Wally told his wife and kids, taking the their victims, leaving no witnesses.
precaution of pulling up 30 metres The man backed up to the rear
ahead. Leaving the engine running, passenger window and again pointed
he walked over to greet the men. his weapon at the children.

The Eamers: (from left to right) Gwen, Wally, Sharleen, Struan and Gil
“I want your guns and money,” meant leaving the other behind.
he growled. As the gunman focused on Wally,
Desperate to get the kids out of the again demanding guns and money,
line of fire, Wally yanked open the rear Sharleen slipped behind the wheel and
door on the driver’s side and ordered the kids quietly climbed back in. Her
(FAMILY PORTRAIT) ©JOHN YANYSHIN/VISIONS WEST
the children out. They stood by the eyes on the rear-view mirror, she prayed
wheel well, the Land Cruiser’s body her husband could talk his way out.
shielding them from the gunman. Suddenly, the robber became more
Wally walked back behind the car and agitated. A man at the truck grabbed
again motioned the robber over. He his bag to leave, not wanting to witness
had a plan. what was going to happen. Go now,
Sharleen! Wally pleaded silently.
IN THEIR 20 YE ARS of marriage, The gunman took three steps back,
Wally and Sharleen had taken many aimed and fired. Wally spun and
adventure trips, and their teamwork dropped to his knees, crying out,
had gotten them out of tight spots in clutching his groin as searing pain
the past. For their time in Honduras, shot through his body.
they had devised a strategy in case Sharleen knew she should speed
they were assaulted: Each would try off, but she couldn’t bring herself to
to get the children to safety, even if it leave the man she loved to die. She

TERROR ON THE ROAD
ran back to where he lay sprawled on passenger seat. Another bullet zipped
the ground, one arm on the vehicle’s through Sharleen’s plastic seat belt
bumper and blood seeping from cover, just missing her thigh. Empty
between his legs. cartridge casings spewed over Struan
The gunman had turned his back to as a third slug plowed into the metal
them, waving his pistol and shouting window frame. Then the gunman was
at the other men. He had disabled left behind, still trying to shoot at the
the driver and could take his time. Land Cruiser.
Few women in Honduras drive, and Sharleen skidded around the corner
it didn’t occur to him that Sharleen and shouted, “Is anyone hit?”
would know how. “Nobody,” Gil assured her.
“We’ve got to go,” she urged Wally, The children stared at their father,
dragging him towards the car. With his who was pressing his hand to the
FEW WOMEN IN HONDURAS DRIVE,

AND IT DIDN’T OCCUR TO THE GUNMAN
THAT SHARLEEN WOULD KNOW HOW.
wife supporting him, Wally hopped to widening stain of blood soaking his
the door on his good leg and climbed white shorts. The bullet had glanced
in on top of the kids. off the bone, severing both the femoral
Sharleen got into the driver’s seat artery and vein. Without pressure on
and threw the Land Cruiser into gear. these major blood vessels, Wally would
She willed herself not to look back, bleed to death within minutes.
concentrating on a left-hand bend just “Get pressure on his wound!” Shar-
ahead. If I’m shot, Gil will have to take leen ordered, flooring the accelerator.
over once we’re around that corner, Gil pushed down with both hands on
she thought. top of his father’s. Wally grimaced in
Looking back, Gil saw the robber pain, his eyes rolling back in his head.
whirl at the sound of the revving Months of helping out with their
motor. The man’s face contorted with mother’s first-aid sessions were
rage and he sprinted after the vehicle. paying off. Gwen was about to breathe
He caught up to the open rear window air into her father’s lungs when, to her
and fired wildly. Gil ducked as a bullet relief, his eyes fluttered open.
thudded into the top of the front “Dad’s conscious!” Gwen yelled.

“Okay, press as hard as you can,” WALLY HAD NEVER FELT such pain.
Sharleen urged. Gwen jammed her “Give me something to bite on,” he told
elbow down on top of Gil’s and Wally’s Struan. Rummaging around, Struan
hands, but blood spurted between found Wally’s red address book. As he
their fingers and soon soaked the seat. watched his father bite down hard, he
Sharleen drove as fast as she dared. bent forward and kissed his forehead.
After 10 minutes, she skidded to a “I love you, Daddy. Please don’t die,”
halt at a fork in the road. A wrong he pleaded.
turn would cost Wally his life. Then “I’ll do my best,” Wally said, but he
she spotted a little restaurant with knew he was badly wounded. “Roll
people sitting around. “Which way to down the window and put my good
Juticalpa?” she yelled, aware that the leg out,” he said, hoping that raising
city was the site of the nearest hospital. his right leg would get more blood into
A young man approached. Shocked by his torso. Gil and Gwen struggled to
the sight of Wally and three children lift his leg and brace it on the window
covered in blood, he pointed down the frame. For a few minutes, Wally felt a
left side of the fork. little better, but soon numbness crept
Sharleen took off, wheels spinning. up from his legs into his arms.
YV E S LAC H ANC E
God, we really need you now, she After another 10 minutes of driving,
prayed. There was nothing she could Sharleen flagged down a truck, and a
do for Wally but drive. It was up to the passenger volunteered to guide them
kids to keep their father alive. to the hospital. In Juticalpa, as they
raced down side streets, horn blaring,
people leaping out of the way, Wally
N said weakly, “I don’t think I can last
another five minutes.”
E
LIZ
“You can do it, Dad. It won’t be

much longer,” Struan urged. Gasping
A
BE
AL
CARIBBEAN for air, his breathing laboured, Wally

SEA
EM
felt himself slipping away.

Two blocks from the hospital,
AT
JUTICALPA
H O N D U RA S Sharleen screeched to a halt behind

GU
LA PAZ a pickup truck waiting at a red light.

EL TEGUCIGALPA
SA
LVA She leaned on the horn. “Get out of
DO
R
SAN
SALVADOR
the way!” she screamed in frustration.
N I C A RAG UA The truck didn’t move.
“Hang on,” she muttered. Rolling
PAC I F I C
OCEAN forward, she nudged the truck’s rear
bumper. It still didn’t budge. Revving

TERROR ON THE ROAD
her engine, she pushed the truck to the trip, so Gil and Gwen rode in the
the side of the road and roared past. back with Wally while Sharleen and
Thirty minutes after the shooting, Struan followed in the Land Cruiser.
the family turned through the gates “Whatever you do, keep him
of the small rural hospital. talking,” Sharleen implored her
children. “Don’t let him go into
WA L LY ’ S FA C E WA S A S H E N a s shock.”
two orderlies rushed him into the Before they could take off, however,
emergency room. they learnt that the ambulance was
“ W hat b l o o d t y p e a re y o u ? ” out of fuel. Sharleen paid the $40 to
a d o c t o r a s ke d a s s h e c u t o f f fill the tank. Then, finally, lights
his shorts and started an IV drip flashing, they roared off through the
of saline solution to raise his blood winding countryside towards the
volume. Honduran capital.
“A negative,” he croaked. The external bleeding had slowed
SHARLEEN SKIDDED TO A HALT

AT A FORK IN THE ROAD. A WRONG TURN
WOULD COST WALLY HIS LIFE.
The doctor looked at Sharleen. “I’m to a trickle, but internal bleeding

so sorry. We don’t have any. You will soon swelled Wally’s leg and scrotum,
have to go to Tegucigalpa,” she said, and he writhed in agony. Gwen and
applying a pressure bandage. Gil watched the two bags of saline
Sharleen was stunned. “But that’s disappear at an alarming rate.
over two hours from here!” she After half an hour, Wally’s saline
protested. The doctor told her there ran dry and his IV line turned red
was no other way. with blood. They had no choice but
At 3 p.m., after more than an hour to turn it off.
at the hospital, Wally was wheeled Thirty minutes later, Wally began
aboard an ambulance. His leg was to shiver uncontrollably. Gwen yelled
tightly bandaged from groin to toe. at the driver to pull over. She and Gil
Two pints of saline—the hospital’s saw that their father’s face had gone
last—dripped into his arm. The simple white and his eyes had dilated. They
clinic hospital had no attendants for realized he was going into shock. “We

need blankets, water and painkillers!” then began the delicate task of stitching
the children called to their mother. a four-centimetre artificial graft to join
Once they had covered their father the destroyed ends of the artery.
with blankets, the ambulance headed After more than two hours, the
off again. Wally gritted his teeth in surgeon held his breath as he removed
agony, his leg having ballooned to the clamps, then grinned with relief as
twice its normal size. Whenever he blood flowed into Wally’s swollen leg.
felt blackness closing in, he heard his
children’s voices: “You’re okay, Daddy. BY THE NEXT DAY, the patient was
Don’t go unconscious.” stable and his children were allowed
Wally’s head rocked back and forth to see him. They entered Wally’s room
as he mumbled in Spanish, “God, one at a time, and he gripped their
please protect my family.” hands. “Thanks for being there for
“Dad! Dad! Wake up!” Gil shouted. me,” he said.
But Wally felt himself being drawn into Nine days later, a boil appeared on
a peaceful place. He couldn’t think of his buttock. “That’s no boil. That’s
a better way to die, with his family the bullet,” Sharleen declared. It was
around him. Then he remembered removed, and 24 hours later Wally left
where he was. You promised the kids the hospital on crutches.
you’d try, he scolded himself, fighting Wally’s recuperation in Honduras
his way back to consciousness. lasted long enough for Sharleen to
oversee another four first-aid courses.
SIREN BLARING, THE AMBULANCE By February, one month after the
sped through the hilly streets of shooting, he could limp a kilometre,
Tegucigalpa. At 5:30 p.m.—more than and the family drove to the Caribbean
four hours after the shooting—the Bay Islands—sticking to the main
family arrived at the hospital. None of highway—for the holiday they’d missed.
the staff preparing Wally for surgery They returned home to B.C. in March.
could believe he had survived for so The Canadian Embassy reported the
long. He had lost half the blood in crime to the Criminal Investigation
his body. Branch in Juticalpa. Armed with the
“I’ll do my best,” vascular surgeon Eamers’ description of the gunman,
José Carlos Alcerro Diaz told Sharleen, the police conducted an investigation,
“but I don’t know if we can save his but the robber was never caught.
life, much less his leg.” Wally Eamer kept the dented bullet
In the operating room, Alcerro Diaz that nearly killed him as a reminder of
clamped off the bleeding artery and his good fortune.
vein. Both were badly torn. He carefully “You have to be proud of kids who
sutured the damaged ends of the vein, saved your life,” he says, smiling.

Wavering between socialism and conservatism,
modernity and tradition, Warsaw
offers the traveller a face full of contrasts
City on Edge BY HÉ L È NE DE BI LLY
P H OTO : © RO LA N DAS M I S I U S /A L A M Y STO CK

The Warsaw
mermaid,
a symbol of
the city,
brandishes
a sword
and shield.

CITY ON EDGE
ELEVEN O’CLOCK AT WARSAW’S LEGENDARY A. BLIKLE CAFÉ. As I

sit down, dazzled by my sumptuous plate, I find my mobile and snap
the assortment of wonderful rolls, scrambled eggs, ham, cheese and
irresistible paczki (Polish doughnuts) laid out before me.
P H OTOS , C LOC KW I S E FR O M TO P LE F T: © JAC E K KADAJ/G E T T Y IM AG E S ; COU R T E SY OF A. B LIK LE C AFÉ; © R AG A /GETTY IM AGES

An hour goes by, and I ask for the bill. Dressed in livery, the waiter
suggests I put away my wallet. The man at the table behind me has
taken care of it. I turn my head. My benefactor has left, preferring to
remain anonymous. A Polish gentleman.
Such is Warsaw, a city of exquisite Known as the Phoenix City for rising
food and enduring courtesy. from its ashes after being virtually
For those who return after a annihilated during the Second World
prolonged absence, the city exudes War and ravaged by four decades
a sort of poetry, an art de vivre that of communist dearth, Warsaw still
arises from the past. “Something wavers between withdrawing and
undefinable,” confesses Elizabeth opening itself to the world.
Gdulewicz-Jelen, a sculptor who fled In October, on the eve of my arrival,
the communist regime and settled in the Rosary at the Borders procession
Montréal, Canada, some 40 years ago. brought together demonstrators along
When in Warsaw, Elizabeth likes the country’s borders and at airports,
to linger on the Chopin benches. An seen as gateways, including Warsaw
initiative to mark the 200th anniversary Chopin Airport, less than 20 minutes
of the Polish composer’s birth (1810– from the capital.
1849), the 15 benches across the city Armed with rosaries and holy
play excerpts of Chopin’s works. At images, the faithful reaffirmed
the touch of a button, passers-by can Poland’s Catholicity and the need
listen to marvellous chords of the to protect it from secularization
piano and gaze at the Royal Castle or and Islam. The ruling conservative
the ramparts along the river Vistula. government effectively shut the door
THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT

EFFECTIVELY SHUT THE DOOR TO ASYLUM
SEEKERS QUITE SOME TIME AGO.

Clockwise from left: Museum of the
History of Polish Jews, built on the
site of the former Warsaw Ghetto;
doughnuts from the A. Blikle Café,
famed for its pastries; the 230-metre
Palace of Culture and Science, a gift
from the Soviet Union

Clockwise from left: The historic Royal
Castle, rebuilt after it was destroyed in
World War II; one of the lavishly decorated
rooms in the castle; a Warsaw metro
station, modern, clean and efficient

to asylum seekers quite some time ago a sentimental hippie. He believes that
and many observers believe that the freedom is also market freedom and
threat foreigners pose to the nation is the freedom to get rich. But, as he
largely imaginary. explains, the collapse of the Eastern
Poland is in the midst of a major bloc left many in dire straits, and that
crisis. Since 2015, the conservative very gap between rich and poor is
Law and Justice (PiS) party has partially responsible for the problems
stepped up measures to restrict shaking Poland today.
P H OTOS , C LOC KW I S E FR O M TO P LE F T: © P HOTO B LISS /ALAM Y; © T IB OR B OG NAR /G E T T Y; © B AR TEK 7 1 / ISTOC K PHOTO
judicial powers and gag the press. Still, Warsaw remains a welcoming
Week after week, Warsaw is the stage city, openly relieved to have survived
of demonstrations and counter- the cruelty of the 20th century that
demonstrations. A nation divided. ushered madmen Hitler and Stalin
Krzysztof Materna, an opponent of into this world (and Poland).
the regime during the communist era Few vagrants roam the immaculately
and the co-author of a popular 1990s kept streets. Women are elegantly
television series recently resurrected dressed, bookstores are treasure troves
online, sees the current government’s for booklovers, churches are full on
actions as a menace to democracy. Sundays and most young couples have
“The state-inspired patriotism has a stroller in tow.
extremely corrosive effects on society,” Like all the world’s capitals, Warsaw
he tells me. is home to museums that feature
At nearly 70, Materna continues to avant-garde exhibitions, jazz, punk,
condemn the government’s abuse of rock and gay bars. But freedom is not
its power. The play he directed in a always a given.
Warsaw theatre in the autumn of 2017 On the night I happened upon
voiced hostility towards right-thinking a lesbian bar (a one-night affair in
racism and the fossils who manage to a fleeting space), the location was
breathe new life into the dark demons secured by hulking bouncers—
of the past. evidence that this type of event is not
Behind the wheel of his well- without risk.
appointed Audi, Materna is far from Downtown, coffee shops laden with
STILL, WARSAW REMAINS A WELCOMING

CITY, RELIEVED TO HAVE SURVIVED
THE CRUELTY OF THE 20th CENTURY.

CITY ON EDGE
pastries and stylish restaurants have on erasing all traces of the regime
popped up where locals once queued have embraced a revisionist history
for basic necessities behind the Iron worthy of Cold War-era Stalinism
Curtain. Where there were back-alley itself. Claiming that John Lennon’s
dealings for luxury items, there is ‘Imagine’ is a communist manifesto,
now a genuine urban centre a right-wing city councillor sought to
with financial institutions, glass change the name of the street named
skyscrapers and buzzing shopping in the songwriter’s honour.
malls. The subway stations are like art City of creativity, Warsaw has always
galleries; the cemeteries like public found a way to defy nonsensical
gardens, and the public gardens like autocrats and politicians. “When I
enchanted forests. was in art school in the 1960s, artists
It has been nearly 30 years since tried every trick not to be silenced by
the fall of communism. In many censorship. And, for a long time, it
FIRST-TIME VISITORS RARELY PERCEIVE

THE GHOSTS, WHOSE PRESENCE IS PALPABLE
IN ANCIENT CITIES LIKE WARSAW.
ways, Varsovians have turned their worked!” says Elizabeth.

backs on this chapter in their history. Today, with authorities effectively
Case in point is the mammoth Palace threatening to wipe out all the street
of Culture and Science, the spurned names with a communist connotation,
symbol of Stalinist architecture that, one clothing label light-heartedly
after much debate, citizens decided flaunts the past. The brand Pan Tu Nie
to preserve. Stal recalls the long lines of customers
“I think we ended up laughing who spent hours in front of empty
about it,” observed Elizabeth. Like storefronts waiting for shops, like the
her former compatriots, she is butcher’s, to open. Elizabeth provides
proud to see the nation’s economic the translation: “When someone tried
growth driven by the strength of its to cut the line, they were rebuffed with
manufacturing sector. “We cannot ‘You weren’t there, Sir!’”
forget what the country went through The Koszykowa Street boutique is
but we can tackle it with humour.” filled with apparel and accessories
Paradoxically, those hell-bent inspired by the typography and

iconography of the communist photographs: monuments, theatres,

period: socks that evoke the unheated churches, fountains, delicious meals.
apartments, vintage mugs and more. But as they amble through the Old
Fun and colourful reminiscences of Town, linger on a park bench, or
the dark years. attend a baroque music festival, they
There is a similar sense—minus rarely perceive the ghosts, whose
the humour—in the capital’s last milk presence is palpable in ancient cities
bars, sparingly decorated cafeterias like Warsaw.
that serve old-world dishes like Polish While some carry the names of
borscht [sour soup] and breaded terrifying dictators, others, like the
pork chops that, in my opinion, Warsaw mermaid, are the stuff of
only locals could love. Bambino dreams. A symbol of the city, she
milk bar on Krucza Steet is one of emerged from a dragon brandishing
the rare canteens that outlasted a sword and shield.
the Soviet years, where straight- No different from other mermaids,
faced government employees hand the mermaid of Warsaw sang. But her
customers their plate from behind ancient song has long since been
the counter. forgotten. Across the modern city, she
The new and old. The visible and is ubiquitous, a tiny refugee carried by
invisible. The known and unknown. the river, a tiny saint that has
First-time visitors usually take away transcended all religions, political
a city’s sights, the images captured in parties and governments.
SUNDAE FUNDAE
I like to remind my kids who’s boss by putting a cherry tomato

on top of their ice-cream sundae every once in a while.
@AWES OM E _ T OD D
This hot fudge sundae hasn’t killed me, so it must be

making me stronger.
@O NL Y FAS T E D D I E
I’m a parent—the only warm meal I get around here is ice-cream.

@M AR LE B E AN

When two boys are sucked into a
rip current, fellow beachgoers start
a risky scheme to save their lives
BY D E RE K B UR NET T

BONUS READ
For the two struggling boys

and their mother, help was
so close and yet so far away.

THE HUMAN CHAIN
VEN NOW, NEARLY A YEAR AND A

half after their stunning act of group
heroism, the dozens of people who
risked their lives to save two boys
from drowning in Panama City
Beach, Florida, USA, marvel at the
memory. The tattooed homebuilder
who had nearly drowned a year
earlier. An Asian couple who didn’t speak English.
The grandmother who had recently survived two
heart attacks and who would, before the boys were
relayed to safety, suffer a third. One after another, they
leapt into the roiling water, linking enough hands and
arms to stretch nearly over 90 metres into a riptide
that threatened to swallow anyone who came near.
T
“There were people there who didn’t HE STORY BEGINS on
know how to swim whatsoever, and 8 July 2017, on Florida’s
they were up to their necks in water, hard-work-and-cold-beer
holding on to other people,” says Bryan panhandle [an unofficial
Ursrey, the father of the two boys. term for the north-western part of
PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY ROSALIND BECKTON

The rescuers call it the Human the state]. Members of the Ursrey
Chain. The physical ‘chain’ was family, eight in total, are enjoying
what rescued the boys, who were an evening together at the beach. As
passed along from person to person the sun sinks lower on the horizon,
until they were back to the safety the two boys—Noah, 11, and Ste-
of the beach. But it was the deeply phen, 8—take their boogie boards [a
‘human’ aspect of the rescuers’ short, light surfboard] and stray into
strategy that made it so remarkable. the waves without the grown-ups
“They could have gone on about noticing. When the boys are about
their day and not cared,” says Bryan. 65 metres from shore, they realize that
“But they found good in their hearts the ocean has tugged them out to sea.
to help do what needed to be done. After trying and failing to paddle back
This, right here, kind of renews your in, they start waving and scream-
faith in humanity.” ing for help. But the lifeguards have

clocked out for the eve- their boogie boards—
ning. There’s a yellow then discover that they,
flag flying, indicating too, are now in trouble.
caution, but most of the They can’t get back to
regulars can scarcely shore and can barely tap
remember seeing any the sandy bottom with
other colour. their feet.
The boys have been After a few minutes,
struggling for several it’s clear to the women
A family day at the beach
minutes when Brittany turned terrifying for
that they are all trapped
and Tabatha Monroe, Stephen Ursrey (left) and in a rip current [an
a married couple from his brother, Noah. intermittent strong
Georgia, stroll by. They surface current flowing
ROBERTA URSREY (2)
don’t see the boys at first, but they seaward from the shore]. Rips move
hear them. They leap into the water perpendicularly to the shoreline
and easily reach the brothers, who and can quickly exhaust swimmers
are still in fairly shallow water, less who try to fight them. A powerful
than six feet deep. The women reas- one can sweep even the strongest
sure the frightened boys and grab swimmer out to sea; the National

THE HUMAN CHAIN
Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- sees the trio of heads popping through
tration in the United States reports the waves. A hulking house framer
that 92 people drowned in rip currents from Georgia, he immediately strides
in 2017. Safety experts warn against into the water despite an unusually
fighting the current and advise that powerful reason not to. A year ago,
anyone trapped in a rip should swim Shaun was caught in a rip current in
parallel to shore until finally exiting its this very spot and narrowly escaped
deadly belt. The women try to do just drowning. He is uncomfortably
that, but no matter which way they try familiar with that feeling of the water
to swim, they find they’re still stuck. lapping about his nose and ears as
Brittany, who has eight-year-old the vacuum-cleaner current pulls the
Stephen, is petite and struggling to sand out from under his feet. Still, he
keep her head above water. Panick- wades out as deep as he dares, up to
Tabatha is screaming for help, but

Shaun knows that if he continues he’ll
become another victim.
ing, she releases the boy and makes a about his chin, until he knows he is at
frantic push for safety. By now, some the brink of no return.
teenagers have heard the commotion. A gaping space of 15 feet still lies
One of the teens, a boy who is tall between him and Tabatha and the
enough to keep his feet on the ocean boys. She is screaming for help, and
floor, dashes into the water, grabs he almost can’t bear to abandon them,
Brittany, and hauls her back to shore. but he knows that if he continues, he’ll
Meanwhile, Tabatha can feel become another victim. He turns
herself being pulled farther out. She is around. “Please don’t leave me,”
treading water, already exhausted and Tabatha pleads to the hulking stranger.
beginning to despair now that she is “I’m fixing to die!” “I’m not leaving,”
trying to save both boys alone. Shaun answers. “I’ll be right back.”
Onshore, Brittany is terrified and
I
hysterical. A man heading back to his T’S ABOUT THIS time that
car stops. “What’s wrong?” asks Shaun Roberta Ursrey, the boys’ mother,
Jernigan. “My wife is drowning!” returns from the bathroom and
Brittany says. Shaun looks out and looks around for her children.

She is shocked to see

them floating with their
boards much farther out
than they’re allowed to
go. She hollers at them
to come ashore, and they
scream through their
tears that they’re stuck. A
bolt of panic fires in her.
She flings her phone on
to the sand and sprints
into the water. She fights
the waves to get to her
screaming sons and the
stranger who is trying to
save them.
“I’m going to help
you,” Roberta says. “I’m
going to get you all out Brittany (left) and Tabatha Monroe were
of this.” She seizes the the first to try to save the boys.
boys’ boards and starts
kicking for shore, but she quickly the surfboard, they’ll survive until a
discovers the truth of their rescue boat comes. But the surfer
predicament. It is nearly impossible laughs and paddles away.
to make headway in any direction. Roberta sees her grown nephew,
By now, other people have begun Justin Hayward, surface nearer to
to notice the stranded group, though the shore. He’d been exploring the
the gravity of the situation isn’t shallows underwater, oblivious to
entirely clear. A few yards away, an what was going on farther out. He
Asian couple are treading water and can see now that his aunt and little
trying to inflate a child’s ring-shaped cousins are in trouble. Even though
COURTESY TABATHA MONROE
flotation device. They likely came out he broke his hand playing football
to help the boys, but when Roberta on this same beach just a week
tries to talk to them, she runs into a before, he swims hard for the boys.
language barrier. Just beyond them “Don’t come out here!” Roberta says.
is a young man on a surfboard at- “We’re gonna drown.”
tempting to catch waves. Tabatha and He swims to them anyway. “Give
Roberta scream to him for help — me one of the boys,” he tells his
they know that if they can all cling to aunt. Roberta can’t bring herself to

THE HUMAN CHAIN
Shaun spots two

police officers and
rushes up to them.
The officers, he
says later, not only
refuse to help but also
attempt to stop him
and any other would-
be rescuers from
entering the water.
(Deputy Police Chief
Chad Lindsey later
says in a televised
inter view that the
officers thought it was
Barbara Franz (left), shown here with her daughter,
Roberta Ursrey, spent several days in the hospital. too risky to let anyone
swim out to the boys.)
relinquish either of her children. Shaun ignores them and instead
Justin finally persuades her to give flags down a few other beachgoers,
him 11-year-old Noah and sets out and together they start to wade into
to tow him on his boogie board the water. To keep from losing their
towards shore. But Justin, too, comes to footing in the current, they begin
understand that he is no match for the holding on to one another, and that
force of the water. gives them an idea: Why not form
a human chain extending from the
F
O R T U N AT E LY, m o r e h e l p beach all the way out to the struggling
is on the way. Shaun Jerni- swimmers? As long as the farthest
gan, the homebuilder who link stays connected to those whose
almost drowned the year before, feet are still firmly planted in the sand,
has told his daughter to call 911 and they’ll be safe.
returned to the water’s edge. He is Of course, that will require more
s e a rc h i n g f o r a ro p e o r o t h e r links—probably dozens of them.
equipment when he sees a man running Shaun spots Derek and Jessica
t o w a r d s t h e w a t e r. H e t r i e s Simmons, a local married couple
ROBERTA URSREY
to stop him. “Don’t go out there!” in their 20s, on the beach and they
Shaun says. “We’re trying to get start rallying the folks who have been
them out!” But Bryan Ursrey charges watching the drama with passive con-
in anyway. “That’s my family out cern. “Don’t just stand there!” Derek
there!” he says. yells. “There’s got to be some hope left

for humanity in some of you!” ocean floor while holding the boogie
Then the most astonishing thing board over his head.
happens: One by one, link by link, Derek grabs Noah’s board from
total strangers wade into the waves Justin and tells the boy, “Everything is
and grasp one another by the wrists, going to be all right. Just stay on your
determined that no one will die on board.” At one point, Noah falls off,
this beach today. and Justin grabs him by his britches
and puts him back up on the board.
J
ESSICA SIMMONS is petite, As soon as Derek gets Noah to the end
but she’s an unusually strong of the chain where Shaun is, it’s like
swimmer. As her husband, lightning. Shaun starts passing him
Derek, continues to recruit rescu- back. He hears the chain shouting
ers, she grabs two boogie boards ‘Pull! Pull!’ all the way back to the
Roberta is so exhausted that she

blacks out just as Jessica helps her
connect with the chain.
and swims out past the still-forming beach. It takes only a minute or so for
line to see how she can help. When the chain to ferry him to the beach.
she reaches the end of the chain, Jessica has been helping little
she sees that it is still 20 to 30 feet Stephen make his way over to
shy of the group of swimmers. A tall the chain, which is now some 70
man at the end of the chain says to volunteers strong, and when he
her, “Do you think you could get reaches it, he, too, is whisked ashore.
them close enough to where we Next comes Roberta, who is so
could grab them?” exhausted that she blacks out just as
“Yeah, I can do that,” Jessica says. Jessica helps her connect with the
When she turns around, she sees her chain. The people pass along Rober-
husband swimming just behind her. ta’s limp body, one link to the next,
“I couldn’t leave you out here,” Derek and deposit her on the beach. It will
says. Justin has been trying despe- be five minutes before she wakes up.
rately to get his young cousin over to As it turns out, that was a blessing,
the human chain, in part by plunging considering what’s happening with her
beneath the waves to ‘walk’ over the mother out in the ocean.

THE HUMAN CHAIN
B
ARBARA FRANZ, 69, saw her completely exhausted by now, sees a
two grandsons struggling and chance to save Barbara and prays for
swam into the danger zone strength. With a burst of energy, he
right after Justin—despite the fact picks her up and heaves her between
that she’d had two heart attacks in the couple. That’s where she stays
the past two months. Within minutes, until the three of them get her about
the water overwhelmed her. She is still 10 feet from the chain, where there is
out in the water when Roberta and the another boogie board. They manage
boys are conveyed to shore. In fact, to get her up on it.
she doesn’t realize they have been Somehow Justin swims to the end
rescued, and she sinks into of the chain to add a link and ensure
“Everybody stopped what they

were doing and helped get my family
out of the water.”
hopelessness as her body continues that his grandmother is taken ashore.

to fail her. When the man next to him grabs his
Justin tries desperately to float injured hand, Justin hears the bones
his grandmother along on a boogie rebreaking. The man recoils, but
board, but she keeps flopping off, Justin says, “It’s OK.”
her limbs like spaghetti. Over and Moments later, they shuttle the
over, the waves hit them, she goes Asian couple down the chain, and
under, and Justin brings her back Justin and a stranger carry Barbara
up, being careful of his broken hand. on to the beach. She appears lifeless
Derek swims up to assist. By now, but a moment later begins vomiting
Barbara has become delirious and seawater. Barbara later says that she
incoherent, telling them, “Just let me felt her dead husband, Carl, appealing
go. Save yourselves.” to her while she was unconscious and
Apparently realizing the gravity she believes that she herself was dead
of the situation, the surfer has for part of the ordeal. She will spend
returned and given his board to the a few days in the hospital and months
Asian couple, also caught in the rip recovering from what turns out to be
cur rent. Derek, who is almost a third heart attack.

N
O W E VE RYO N E I S ashore the meantime, Bryan finds his foot-
except for Tabatha, who ing and wades in on his own steam.
flounders about 20 feet Everyone, miraculously, has made it.
from the end of the chain, and the
T
boys’ dad, Bryan. Tabatha is beyond HE VAST MAJORIT Y of the
exhausted, beyond despairing. rescuers from that day remain
“Hold on, baby girl,” Bryan tells anonymous : the teen who
her. “I got you.” Again and again helped Brittany ashore, the lanky
he digs the tips of his toes into the young man who swam Tabatha in, the
sand and tosses her forward—and Asian couple. Each deserves to be
again and again, the sea undoes his celebrated—but won’t be. This hum-
feeble progress. Shaun and the oth- bles the Ursreys almost beyond words.
ers in the human chain see what’s “It didn’t matter what colour you
happening, and the shout goes out to were, what age you were,” Bryan says
move the rescue operation down the now. “Everybody stopped what they
beach, closer to where Tabatha has were doing. They got off their phones,
drifted. There is a great scrambling in tablets, whatever, and helped get my
the surf, and a moment later the chain family out of the water.”
reforms, aligned to rescue Tabatha. “Those people on that beach that
A fresh swimmer splashes up to her. day were angels on earth,” says
“Come on—grab my arm,” he says. Roberta. “Whether it’s the first person
Tabatha reaches for him, and he tugs or the last person in that chain, they
her the last few feet over to the chain, were our heroes. Every link was just as
which zips her back to the beach. In important as the other one.”
HOOFS AND GOOFS
“We’ve traced the call. It’s coming from INSIDE THE HORSE.”
–Trojan 911 Dispatcher

@EW FE E Z
If I got a horse, I’d name her Grace, just in case I fell from her.
@3S U NZ Z Z
Who called it a police horse and not a clip-clop cop?

@CH U U E W

WHO KNEW
13 Ways Your
Mobile Phone Affects Your
Body And Mind
BY MI C HE L LE CRO U CH
I L LU ST RAT I O N BY S E R GE B LO C H
1 First, some good news. Your

phone can keep you safer. A
study in the Journal of Emergency
people called 911 (a North
American emergency number)
from a mobile phone rather than
Medicine that analyzed emergency from a landline.
dispatches over an 11-year period
revealed that 137 more lives were
saved per 1,00,000 patients when 2 But there are plenty of concerns
too. Scanning your phone right

before bed can disturb your slumber. caused to the neck muscles due to
The short-wavelength, bright blue constantly staring sharply down-
light your device emits boosts your wards at your phone, and ‘SMS
attention during the day, but at night thumbs’—pain and soreness due
it can inhibit the production of mela- to repetitive thumb movements.
tonin, which helps you fall asleep. To
avoid that, make a habit of not using
your phone for at least 30 minutes
before you close your eyes.
6 Most mobile phones are crawling
with germs—10 times what you
would find on most toilets, says
University of Arizona, USA, micro-
3 When you are awake, a single

buzz, buzz signalling a new
notification on your phone can
biologist Charles Gerba. Wipe your
phone down daily with a gadget-
friendly antibacterial wipe or a
weaken your ability to focus on a microfibre cloth.
task, researchers at Florida State
University, USA, have found. Switch
your phone to ‘do not disturb’ mode
to remove the distraction.
7 That said, your phone can help
you be healthier. In a study of
overweight volunteers, those who
used a smartphone app to record
4 Putting your phone aside when

you’re alone—rather than tak-
ing it out to play games—can help
their food intake were much more
diligent than those who used a
paper diary or a weight-loss
inspire creative ideas. “When you’re website—and they lost almost
bored, four different areas of your twice as much weight.
brain activate and work together
to pull in random thoughts and
combine them in unique ways,” says
psychologist Larry Rosen, author of
8 Radiation exposure, long thought
to be a risk for heavy-duty phone
users, is probably not a significant
The Distracted Mind. concern. Smartphones do emit radi-
ation, but most scientific evidence
5 Indians spend more than

200 minutes a day on internet-
based mobile apps. A recent study,
has not linked the use of a mobile
phone to cancer. One draft study
found that exposing male lab rats to
using a small sample at the S. B. B. the highest levels allowed for mobile
College of Physiotherapy, in phones was linked to one type of rare
Ahmedabad, found that the more tumour in the tissues surrounding
time people spent on their phones nerves in the heart. If you’re worried,
the more likely they were to suffer use earbuds or a headset when you
from ‘text necks’—discomfort talk on your phone.

1 3 W AY S Y O U R M O B I L E P H O N E A F F E C T S Y O U R B O D Y A N D M I N D
9 Navigating by consulting a
map and trying to remember it
may be better for your brain than
12 We all know that walking
around town with your face in
your phone can be dangerous, and
passively relying on step-by-step there are studies that underline the
instructions from your phone’s GPS. point. City pedestrians using their
Researchers found that older adults phones looked left and right less
who chose the more active approach often and were more likely to be hit
increased activity in the hippo- by a vehicle, according to a review
campus, a part of the brain impor- of studies on distracted walking in
tant for memory. the Journal of Traffic and Transpor-
tation Engineering. In another small
10 Snapping a pic with your

smartphone may also hinder
your memory. On a test after a visit
experiment, 94 per cent of pedestri-
ans who were using mobile phones
didn’t see free cash hanging from a
to an art museum, students were tree. (That’s right, they walked right
less likely to remember objects they by a bunch of ready money.)
had taken photos of. “As soon as you
hit ‘click’ on that camera, it’s as if
you’ve outsourced your memory,”
says psychologist Linda Henkel.
13 It would be easy to avoid
all these maladies by simply
putting down your phone. The
problem: it isn’t so easy. That
11 Your phone can do a number

on your eyes. According to a
study on college students between
twinge of phone separation anxiety
is real. In fact, Rosen says, detaching
from your phone can cause your
18 and 25 years, by researchers at brain to release the stress hormone
Chennai Medical College Hospital cortisol. Of course, there are many
and Research Centre in Tiruchira- phone apps (with calming names,
ppalli, about 44 per cent smart- such as Forest and Mute) to help
phone users experience eye strain. you control your phone addiction.
Try blinking often, increasing font Or you can just let the battery run
size and taking a break from screens down and forget about it!
every 20 minutes. —WITH INPUTS BY BLESSY AUGUSTINE
IN ON THE JOKE
Laughter is an instant vacation.

M I L TO N B E R LE

As Kids See It
“I’ve been trying to get to sleep, but the monster under my bed snores!”
I WAS DRIVING my seven-year-old don’t want to be a person. I want

grandson, Joel, to rugby practice and to be a dog! Dogs don’t take baths!”
my small dog was riding between LOUIS PAHIS
us. Happy to be with us, the dog
S U SA N C A M I L L E RI KO N A R
started licking my arm. Joel looked ME: You can’t buy a good personality.
at him seriously and said, “Norton, EIGHT-YEAR-OLD: Did you check
don’t lick Grandma’s arm. She Amazon? @XPLODINGUNICORN
is wrinkled enough.” THELMA FOX
anecdote or photo in any of our humour
MY FOUR-YEAR-OLD when I forced sections. Post it to the editorial address,
him to take a bath: “This is why I or email: editor.india@rd.com

Sudoku
BY I A N R I E N S C H E
7 1 8 5
8 4
4 7 9
9 4 5
2 8 3 1 7
3 2 8
2 1 6
7 9
2 7 4 8
TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE … SOLUTION
You have to put a number from
5 8 1 4 9 7 6 2 3
6 2 9 3 8 5 7 4 1
1 to 9 in each square so that:
S U DO KU P U ZZ LE R .CO M
3 4 7 6 1 2 5 8 9
every horizontal row and vertical

4 1 8 5 2 9 3 6 7
Q
7 9 6 1 3 8 4 5 2
column contains all nine numerals 2 3 5 7 4 6 9 1 8
(1–9) without repeating any of them; 8 6 2 9 7 4 1 3 5
each of the 3 × 3 boxes has all nine

1 7 4 2 5 3 8 9 6
Q
9 5 3 8 6 1 2 7 4
numerals, none repeated.

Laugh Lines
SCARED SILLY
Tell the barista

your name is
The only way Beetlejuice and
I’d be scared of quietly walk out.
a ghost is if one @SLIMMY_SHADY
was coming
at me wearing
a fitted sheet
that I thought
I’d have to fold.
@PLOCKWOOD65
“I’m not really a big dog person.”
—Lying werewolf
@PATBRENCLASSIC
What do you call a group

P H OTO GR A P H BY M AT T H E W CO HE N
of really tidy witches?

A self-cleaning coven. I hate when boxing
@RHEABUTCHER announcers say a
boxer is “down for the
count”. I don’t care
that he loves Dracula.
Every time someone says “I’m aware”, I just want to know
I always wait a couple of seconds in who’s winning.
case they add “wolf”. @THEMILTRON @KIMMYMONTE

Brain Teasers
Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind-stretchers,
then check your answers on the next page.
STAR SEARCH (Difficult)

Place stars in seven cells of
this grid so that every row,
every column and every out-
lined region contains exactly
one star. Stars must never be
located in adjacent cells, not
( STA R S E A R C H ) F RAS E R S I M P S O N ; ( W IN OR LOS E ) DAR R E N R IG BY
even diagonally.
WIN OR LOSE (Moderately difficult)

The Reds, the Golds, the Blues and
the Blacks have a round-robin tour-
nament wherein each team plays
each other once, for a total of six
games. The Blacks won more games
than the Blues, and the Golds lost
more games than the Blues. The
Reds tied the Blacks, the only tie in
the tournament (a tie counts as nei-
ther a win nor a loss). Who won the
game of the Reds versus the Blues?

BRAIN TEASERS
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
GET YOUR
NUMBERS 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
STRAIGHT (Easy)
Hidden in the array
1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 3
is a sequence of 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
seven consecutive
numbers in a straight 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1
line. Can you find it? 2 2 6 2 2 6 2 2 2 2 2 6 2 2 6
7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7 5
ARITHME-PICK (Moderately difficult)
(GE T YOU R N U M B E R S ST RA I GH T ) M ARC E L DANE S I; ( AR IT H M E - PIC K ) FR AS E R S IM PS ON

Place one of the four basic arithmetic operations (+, –, ×, ÷) in each box to
make a correct equation. Symbols may be repeated, and you don’t have
to use all four. All operations are performed from left to right, ignoring the
mathematical order of operations. The result at each step must be a positive
whole number. What’s the equation?
2 6 9 5 3 = 48
Brain teasers: Answers
STAR SEARCH WIN OR LOSE GET YOUR NUMBERS
THE REDS. The Blacks tied one STRAIGHT
game, so they won a maximum of
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
two games. They won more than 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
the Blues, so the Blues won 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 3
a maximum of one game. Since 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
the Golds lost more often than 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1
2 2 6 2 2 6 2 2 2 2 2 6 2 2 6
the Blues, the Golds must have
7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7 5
lost all three matches. The match
that the Blues won must have
been against the Golds, so they ARITHME-PICK
lost the match against the Reds. 2 x 6 + 9 – 5 x 3 = 48.

IT PAYS TO ENRICH YOUR
Word Power
From aria to zucchini, Italian words add beauty and flavour
to everyday English. Check out how familiar you are with
these Italian loanwords, and then take a gondola ride to the
next page for answers.
BY E M I LY COX AND HE N RY RAT HVO N
1. fiasco (fee-'a-skoh) n.—A: rowdy A: small role. B: almond cookie.

celebration. B: complete failure. C: sofa bed.
C: big fire. 9. sotto voce ('soh-toh 'voh-che)
2. al dente (all-'den-tay) adj.— adv.—A: under one’s breath.
A: seasoned with salt. B: eaten B: drunkenly. C: in the open.
outdoors. C: cooked until firm. 10. bravura (bruh-'vyur-ah) n.—
3. incognito (in-kog-'nee-toh) A: encore. B: battle cry. C: display
adv.—A: well travelled. B: exces- of brilliance.
sively complex. C: with a concealed 11. amoretto (a-muh-'reh-toh) n.—
identity. A: hazelnut flavouring. B: cherub.
4. vendetta (ven-'deh-tuh) n.— C: waistcoat.
A: layered cake. B: blood feud. 12. forte ('for-tay) adj.—
C: sales booth. A: loud. B: masculine.
5. patina (puh-'tee-nuh) n.— C: built on a hill.
A: high priest. B: lawn bowling. 13. bruschetta (broo-'skeh-tuh)
C: sheen produced by age. n.—A: grilled bread appetizer.
6. dilettante ('dih-luh-tahnt) n.— B: thumbnail sketch.
A: coffee cup. B: dabbler. C: short story.
C: secret note. 14. campanile (kam-puh-'nee-lee)
7. belvedere ('bel-vuh-deer) n.— n.—A: bell tower. B: army troop.
A: head butler. B: set of chimes. C: best friend.
C: structure with a view. 15. brio ('bree-oh) n.—A: cold spell.
8. cameo ('ka-mee-oh) n.— B: donkey. C: gusto.

WORD POWER
Answers
1. fiasco—[B] complete failure. 9. sotto voce—[A] under one’s
Though its premiere was a fiasco, breath. “I always speak sotto voce,”
the theatrical production became the whispered Sophia, “to make sure
smash of the season. people are listening.”
2. al dente—[C] cooked until firm. 10. bravura—[C] display of bril-
I like my noodles al dente, but these liance. The defence lawyer delivered
are practically raw! the closing argument with bravura.
3. incognito—[C] with a concealed 11. amoretto—[B] cherub. Why
identity. The spy travelled incognito, don’t you paint a little amoretto
using an assumed name. above the kissing couple?
4. vendetta—[B] blood feud. 12. forte—[A] loud. In my opinion,
Romeo and Juliet’s love affair was a trombone serenade is too forte to
doomed by their families’ vendetta. be romantic.
5. patina—[C] sheen produced by 13. bruschetta—[A] grilled bread
age. “You can tell this writing desk is appetizer. You can’t order the
an antique by its beautiful patina,” bruschetta and the garlic knots;
Marco explained. you’re supposed to be watching
your carbs!
6. dilettante—[B] dabbler. The
maestro seeks a professional singer, 14. campanile—[A] bell tower.
not some weekend dilettante. The village’s picturesque campanile
has been
7. belvedere—[C]
standing since
structure with a NAME THAT NOODLE
Can you tell rigatoni from buca-
medieval times.
view. From the
domed belvedere, tini? You could if you knew that a 15. brio—[C]
noodle’s name often tells you its
we could watch gusto. After
shape—when you go back to its
Mount Etna Italian-language roots. Rigatoni, just one sip
erupting. from riga or ‘line,’ has grooves; of espresso,
bucatini, from buca or ‘hole,’ is I feel my brio
8. cameo—[A]
hollow. Other varieties include returning.
small role. bow-tie-shaped farfalle (farfalla,
Francesca blew ‘butterfly’), pointed penne
her audition for (penna, ‘quill’), spiralled fusilli VOCABULARY
(fuso, ‘spindle’), and long, thin RATINGS
the lead, but she 9 & below: soloist
spaghetti (spago, ‘string’).
has a cameo as a 10–12: diva
taxi driver. 13–15: virtuoso

Me & My Shelf
TISHANI DOSHI’S PERENNIALS
Tishani Doshi is an award-winning poet, novelist and

dancer. Her recent book—Girls Are Coming Out of the
Woods (HarperCollins), is a powerful collection of
poetry, which deal with gender violence, memory,
happiness, ageing and what the point of poetry might
be. Small Days and Nights (Bloomsbury), her second
novel, is forthcoming in April 2019. She lives on a beach,
not far from Chennai, with her husband and three dogs.
ONLY THE SOUL KNOWS HOW TO SING, Kamala Das,

DC Books, `125. I remember reading Das and thinking, you can
do this in a poem? There was something so irreverent about
her, so unafraid of sentimentality, so relating to my own experi-
ence as a woman. She kicked open the doors of poetry and
invited me to take a seat.
THE VIEW FROM CASTLE ROCK, Alice Munro, Vintage, `499.

I love how Munro combined history and autobiography. These
stories gave me permission to mythologize my own family his-
tory. It was also my first understanding that writing requires a
kind of ‘calling attention’ and self-dramatization that most fami-
lies don’t encourage. Sentence for sentence, Munro is flawless.
AGAAT, Marlene van Niekerk, translated by Michiel Heyns, Tin

House Books, `1718. This is a monumental novel. Epic and
intimate. Niekerk is a poet first, and it shows because her atten-
tion to language is sublime. But as beautiful as the language is,
what makes this book masterful is what remains unsaid.
P H OTO : C A RLO P I ZZ AT I
INVISIBLE CITIES, Italo Calvino, translated by William Weaver,

Vintage, `399. A book for every season of your life. This is a
series of conversations between Marco Polo and the Emperor
Kublai Khan, talking about cities when the map wasn’t so clearly
defined, when one city could be all cities.

ME & MY SHELF
POEMS: NEW AND COLLECTED, Wisława Szymborska,

translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh,
Harcourt, `1,270. Szymborska is an easy poet to love because
there is an apparent simplicity about her work. She is also funny,
which is rare. But the more you read her the more you under-
stand she’s always tricking the reader by introducing an idea
and then subverting it.
HOUSEKEEPING, Marilynne Robinson, Picador, `605.

I remember reading this novel and being mesmerized by the
voice. The tone was mystical, biblical, speaking down from
someplace far, mysterious, warning, lyrical. But it also captured
something I’m interested in, which is the idea of loneliness. It’s
an area I think Americans have an odd monopoly on.
LYRICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAYS, Albert Camus, translated by

Ellen Conroy Kennedy, Vintage, `799. In the feud between
Camus and Sartre, I always knew which side my bread was
buttered. His novels are wonders, but the essays emerge as
entirely new things whenever you read them.
ELEGY OWED, Bob Hicok, Copper Canyon Press, `1,137.

I love Bob Hicok. There is what we call ‘voice’, which Hicok
has in spades, but it is equally the vision—surreal, tragi-comic,
absurd, startling and, eventually, heartbreaking. I want to see
the world the way he does, but failing that, I read his poems.
SPEAKING OF SIVA, translated by A. K. Ramanu-

jan, Penguin, `399. HYMNS FOR THE DROWNING,
Nammalvar, translated by A. K. Ramanujan,
Penguin, `250. The dancer Chandralekha recom-
mended these books to me, and I have always
carried them as a pair. The poems are marvels,
spare and lyrical, completely erasing the divisions
between spirituality and sensuality.
—COMPILED BY SUCHISMITA UKIL
Book prices are subject to change.

Entertainment
OUR TOP PICKS OF THE MONTH
Films
Ayushmann Khurrana
plays a blind pianist
embroiled in a murder in
Sriram Raghavan’s much-
anticipated Andhadhun.
The film is inspired by the
1996 thriller Fargo as well
as the television series (From left) Tabu and Khurrana in
based on it. Scheduled for release on Andhadhun; Tom Hardy in Venom;
5 October, the movie also stars Tabu, (below) a still from Namaste England
Radhika Apte and Anil Dhawan.
In Namaste England, Parineeti Venom is the story of a journalist
Chopra is an ambitious young bride (Tom Hardy) who becomes host to
who leaves her husband an alien that gives him superpowers.
(Arjun Kapoor) to follow Directed by Ruben Fleischer,
B OT TOM : I ND IAPIC T U R E
her dreams. The film is a the horror film is about the

sequel to the 2007 hit relationship between two
Namastey London, which entities that have to work
was also directed and together to function as
produced by Vipul Shah, one hybrid being. The
and releases in theatres film hits theatres on
on 19 October. 5 October.
Cricket fans have two action-packed months ahead of

SPORTS them with the English cricket team touring Sri Lanka
from 10 October to 27 November. Offering a smashing
bookend to the intense Grand Slam tournaments is the
WTA Finals in Singapore, which will be held between
21 and 28 October. The 48th edition of the FIG Artistic
Gymnastics World Championship will be held in Doha
from 25 October to 3 November.

E N T E R TA I N M E N T
BOOKS
Red Birds (Blooms- nation by inspecting
bury) is a hallucinatory what it means to be
tale about family and a Brahmin, especially
love during war. in the ancient, holy
Stephen Hawking’s city of Varanasi.
final thoughts on the The characters of
universe’s biggest Fatima Bhutto’s The
questions have been Runaways (Penguin
compiled in his post- Random House) come
humous book Brief from disparate back-
An American pilot Answers to the Big grounds but their
crash-lands and takes Questions (Hachette). paths meet in the
BOOK COVER COURTESY: BLOOMSBURY

refuge in the camp In The Twice-Born: deserts of Mosul, Iraq.
he was supposed to Life and Death on the As a treat to fans,
bomb. At the camp, Ganges (HarperCol- Chris Riddell has
a teenager has been lins), author Aatish enhanced the magic
chosen for research on Taseer insightfully within J. K. Rowling’s
a book on the ‘teen- explores questions of The Tales of Beedle
age Muslim mind’. culture and politics the Bard (Blooms-
Mohammed Hanif’s that are going to bury) with his dazzling
much-awaited novel define our future as a illustrations.
Streaming A still from the

show Chilling
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina follows Adventures of
a half-witch, half-mortal teenager, Sabrina.
who is juggling normal life and an
education in the dark arts. The first
10-episode season releases on
26 October on Netflix.
Available from 1 October on
Amazon Prime Video is God Friended a friend request on Facebook from
Me, a humorous, uplifting series about God and becomes an agent of change
an outspoken atheist whose life is in the lives of others.
turned upside down when he receives —COMPILED BY BLESSY AUGUSTINE
All release dates are subject to change.

Studio
COVERING LETTER, BY JITISH KALLAT

FOG-SCREEN PROJECTION, VARIABLE DIMENSIONS, 2012
Jitish Kallat’s art is often about rethinking the past through the
utterances of the many men who moulded history. For his installation titled
‘Covering Letter’ (2012), he turns to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. A few
weeks before the onset of the Second World War, Gandhi wrote a letter to
Adolf Hitler urging the German chancellor to “prevent a war which may
reduce humanity to the savage state”. Hitler never received the note as it
P H OTO: B . H U E T/ TU T TI
was intercepted by the British authorities. Kallat uses the letter to create an
immersive installation: In a darkened passage, projected on to cascading
fog is the text of Gandhi’s letter. The spectator reads and walks through
this message. The evanescence of the fog is evocative of the fate of this
appeal for peace and of the many who walked into a different kind
of fog in Nazi Germany’s gas chambers.
— BLESSY AUGUSTINE

Quotable Quotes
Helping is easy. I’VE LEARNT SO MUCH FROM
MY MOTHER, STARTING WITH
Being helped THE FACT THAT THE WORLD’S
takes strength. A NICER, HAPPIER PLACE IF
EVERYBODY HAS A SANDWICH.
DAV E H O LM E S ,
writer M E LI S SA M C C A R TH Y, a c t o r
If you want to bring people around to your way of thinking,

you need to first show them that you are open to theirs.
J U S TI N TR U D E AU, p r i m e m i n i s t e r o f C a n a d a
FR OM TO P : D FR E E . RO H I T C H AW L A/I ND IA TODAY. M ILIND S H E LT E / IND IA TODAY

A DOG WITH A BONE IN ITS
MOUTH CANNOT BARK.
ARUN SHOURIE , e c on omi st , jour n ali st an d polit i ci an ,
recalling a Zulu proverb
The day you start To find beauty

feeling that you in ugliness is
are a star, it will the province of
be the end of the poet.
you as an actor. TH O M A S H A R DY,
novelist and poet
N AWA ZU D D I N S I D D I Q U I , a c t o r
I’ve been in the process of retiring for

the last 30 years.
JESSICA LANGE , a ct or

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OCTOBER

CLASSIC READ THE LEOPARD

NEVER HAVE ‘FIGHT FOR A

THE GOOD NEWS ADVICE TO A

THE IMPORTANCE OF IRON .................................. 44

64 THE LEOPARD My Story

84 GLOBAL WARMING: 130 CITY ON EDGE

READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 3

P. | 32 VOICES & VIEWS

157 Word Power partner is ...”

148 13 Ways Your Mobile Phone

39 Living With Loss

TOP L E FT: P H OTO GR A P H BY M AT TH E W COH E N

6 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

Editor Sanghamitra Chakraborty Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie

TRUSTED MEDIA BRANDS, INC. (FORMERLY RDA INC.)

President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Kintzer

8 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

P H OTO GRA P H BY A N A N D GO GO I , H AIR & M AKE - U P BY R OLIKA PR AKAS H

10 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

JAC K Z I E GL E R /T H E N E W YO RK E R CO L LE C T IO N/© COND É NAST

12 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

14 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST Æ

in their life for want of money or society, sub-inspector Gangadeep

16 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

IT WAS AN ORDINARY SUMMER the grateful passers-by. It was a simple

18 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 19

20 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

movement stays committed. evangelizing the festival, the team

READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 21

readers discovered profound insights garage sale, I came across a painting.

the picture. After gazing at my mes-

AFTER DOING some DIY projects

TO SAVE MONEY, I suggested to one

WHOEVER SAID “Don’t bite off

Reader’s Digest will pay for your funny

24 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

IT’S MONKEY SEASON IN DELHI AGAIN, which means

RA J U E P U RI , SA MI T B AS U I L LU ST R AT I ON: KE S HAV KAPIL

26 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

banging on my door now. big one): Always keep soya sauce

READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 27

Comprehensive primary health care could potentially emerge

Will the Spirit of Alma-Ata

“HEALTH FOR ALL BY 2000” was an inspiring slogan

in 2005. health. The design of comprehensive health care, which

28 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

Between these years, the idea non-infectious causes of disease,

fragmented by disease. This led to The interest in competent and

READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 29

coverage (UHC). The provision of or close to home. Well-organized

30 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

Fight for a World of Reason

32 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to and beautiful, to make this life a

READER’S DIGEST | OCTOBER 2018 | 33

“People thought, ‘Bison on dunes? The crazy Dutch!’

34 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST

DOES THE CONSTITUTION allow a TALENT IS INSIGNIFICANT. I know a

PHOTO COURTESY: THICH NHAT HANH’S TWITTER PAGE

JUSTICE D. Y. CHANDRACHUD, AMARTYA SEN,

36 | OCTOBER 2018 | READER’S DIGEST