Month: December 2013

Categories
Wellness

‘Indians don’t see a dentist unless they suffer a toothache’

The Indian Dental Association (IDA) cautions on the problems arising from lack of oral hygiene among adults and young children.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Do you brush your teeth at night, despite coming home very late from work or a party? Do you undergo regular dental check-ups to maintain the health of your teeth?

Or do you think of going for a check-up only when there’s a severe ache in your tooth?

Dr.AshokDhobleIf you fall in this latter category, you are not alone. The Indian Dental Association (IDA) contends that a low number of Indians visit a dentist despite suffering cavities and tooth decay, and that both adults and children in the country are prone to gum disease and bad dental health. We spoke to IDA’s Secretary General Dr Ashok Dhoble on the subject.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is the biggest challenge that doctors face in creating oral health awareness?

Although the Oral Care market in India is continuously evolving, it yet remains one with great potential for growth. India offers a big opportunity as it is still an under-penetrated market. Indians tend to follow a remedial path where they seek professional dental care only at the time of severe toothaches. There is little awareness of the benefit of an early, preventive care approach to oral health.

Only a few people realise that oral problems can be prevented by adopting a few simple, stress-free hygiene practices. Starting early will make oral care a habit and not a practice. Children, from an early age of three should be made aware of the basics like the importance of brushing teeth twice a day, cleaning teeth and gums properly and other oral care information. While brushing your teeth is essential in the morning, brushing at night is as significant to reduce bacteria activity in your mouth.

The availability of toothpastes which are focussed at providing relief for specific ailments are helping to address oral care needs. However, the need to spread oral care awareness in the country is important. A Consumer Usage and Attitudes Survey recently conducted by IMRB (2009) International for Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited revealed that out of 70 per cent who suffer from cavities or decay, only 58 per cent visit the dentist.

There are steps being taken by the dental profession to ensure maximum awareness in this regard. The Indian Dental Association, each year partners with Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited to organise the Oral Health Month spanning two months. This platform offers our affiliated dentists to provide free dental check-ups to consumers across the country. This year, 30,000 IDA dentists have come forward to spread Oral Care awareness supporting the Oral Health Month in October and November 2013.

Which are the age groups and people most vulnerable to oral health disorders?

Oral diseases are not restricted to just adults or children. Any person who doesn’t pay heed to his/her oral hygiene is prone to oral care disorders.

Introducing your child to good oral care and hygiene practices from an early age is recommended. As mentioned earlier, children should be taken for regular oral health checkups from the age of 3 years. Children are vulnerable to dental problems because of their affinity towards sweets, chocolates, sugary drinks and sticky fast food options; they are more likely to show early signs of caries that may lead to problems like cavities. This can lead to other complications such as toothache and may affect the child’s overall health in the long term.

Even teenagers, for that matter, are so engrossed in studies, sports and other social activities, that oral care often takes a back seat. In such a situation, parents should encourage brushing, flossing and regular dental checkups for them. If need be, parents should become role models and set high standards of oral hygiene for their children to follow.

What is your expectation from corporates in the realm of oral health care? How, in your opinion, should corporates help in generating awareness?brushing teeth

There are many companies that undertake numerous socially relevant initiatives towards this cause throughout the year and across the country.

How should the Government respond to the need to create awareness?

Provision of healthcare is the responsibility of the Government.  Other agencies like IDA are meant to supplement the governmental efforts. Public expenditure on health in general is very poor and there is no separate allocation in the budget for oral healthcare, in particular, which is a must.  A separate oral health policy as a part of the national health policy could improve matters in this regard. 

Changes in the nation’s demographic profile, new technologies, evolving disease patterns, growing Government and media influences, market place changes, globalisation of healthcare–all these and other factors affect dentistry just as they influence other parts of society.

A well-structured, continuous training programme to keep pace with changing disease patterns can contribute to better oral health.  The Government should take a lead in this regard and must use the arm of Dental Council of India for this purpose. There is no separate department to exclusively deal with oral healthcare services. Oral health problems being directly linked to our own lifestyles, and lifestyle changes being rampant, setting up of a separate Oral Healthcare Services Department in the Ministry of Health brooks no delay.

Looking at the limitations of the public sector, the private sector equally has a major role to play in the development of the nation’s health. Public Private Partnership should be encouraged on an increasing scale to improve healthcare, including oral health.

An aggressive approach to oral health promotion, disease prevention and access to dental healthcare needs to be adopted to improve oral health and quality of life, since oral health is often neglected by most people. Towards this end, a closer collaboration among all healthcare providers should contribute to achieving dentistry’s primary goal of improving the health of the people.

Have you come across a recent study/survey in India that threw light on the issue of lack of oral health awareness?

Various studies, over a span of time, have thrown light on oral problems in India. For instance, a survey by Nielsen (2011), commissioned by Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, reveals the seriousness of the condition of tooth sensitivity in India; and the dismal state of awareness about this oral health problem. According to the survey, over 40 per cent of the respondents claimed to suffer from tooth sensitivity.

The objective is to spread the overall oral care awareness and make consumers aware of the importance of oral hygiene as part of their overall health.

Do you find a disparity in awareness of oral health care between India’s cities and rural areas?

Some rural areas in the country have limited dental facilities as compared to the metros. Consequently, the level of oral care awareness in these areas is also low. However, there are several initiatives undertaken by institutions such as the IDA which aim to educate the rural population.

(Pictures courtesy www.telegraph.co.uk, www.foxnews.com)

Categories
Event

‘Koffee With Kahani’ goes off with a bang

The Metrognome and Silver Innings hosted their first storytelling event for senior citizens at Borivli and got a great response.

It was a simple enough task – write a story, then present it to an audience. There were just two conditions – a senior citizen must write the story, and he or she must team up with a youngster to present it to an audience.

Navanita Parmar presents her love storyWhat was the need for this? Says Sailesh Mishra of Silver Innings, who we teamed with for ‘Koffee With Kahani’, a storytelling session over snacks and coffee, “When we were young, our grandparents told us stories to amuse and educate us. Sometimes, they made up stories on the spot. This activity helped generations bond with each other. These days, though, with families going nuclear and even with grandparents and youngsters glued to TV sets, the art of storytelling is lost. There is hardly any conversation between our elders and us. So this activity will, we hope, bring back our storytelling tradition in a fun way.”

We set December 28 as the date for participants, and selected three great love stories written by Navanita Parmar, Jimmy Dordi and Arun Pandya. The teams set to work, working with youngsters Sanket Jalgaonkar, Renu Jain and Sadaf Surti to present their stories. Of the three, Navanita’s story was a fiction, with the other two stories were real life incidents.

The turnout for the event was great – a mix of senior citizens and youngsters turned up at the Veer Savarkar Udyan, Borivli, to hear and watch three love stories. All three stories were great – Navanita’s moving story was set in the backdrop of mental illness and separation, Jimmy’s story was a hilarious reenactment of his own honeymoon 45 years ago, and Arun’s story was a fun flashback to the time that he as a young man shared a few magical moments with a stranger in the monsoon. Hemendra Jimmy Dordi collects his winner's trophy with his teammate Renu JainBengali provided background vocals to set the stories to music – in Navanita’s story, the gifted singer even provided siren sounds!

The audience voted for Jimmy’s story as the best of the three.

Said Arun, “This was a fun exercise and we enjoyed our rehearsals, too. All three teams would rehearse their lines together and suggest ways to better each other’s presentation. There was no spirit of rivalry at all.”

If you or someone you know would like to be a part of the next ‘Koffee With Kahani’ event, drop us an email at editor@themetrognome.in/silverinnings@gmail.com and we will get back to you with the event schedule, registration process and rules. 

(Pictures courtesy Sailesh Mishra)

Categories
Bombay, bas

Mumbai’s ‘potty’ issue

It’s a basic human requirement, but sadly, an international city like Mumbai still does not have enough clean public toilets.
by Devashri Prabhu

Mumbai’s local trains are the saviours for those who travel to far off places for work. I travel on the Western line, from Borivali to Andheri. The trains, as you know, are crowded even as early as 7.00 am or 7.30 am. So even from Borivali, after the great struggle to get into the train all I can manage is a place to stand near the door.

Okay, so the train starts slowly first and then picks up speed. The wind makes you forget all the worries. You feel happy about the journey even though you are surrounded by a sea of people on all sides, each one breathing onto the other!

And soon enough, a stench makes your nose twitch in disgust.

The stench becomes stronger as the train passes through the Kandivali, Malad and Goregaon. Your olfactory senses are then helped by supporting visuals to help you know the source of the stench – the source is nothing but rows of people defecating on the railway tracks.

gents toiletThis type of behaviour is majorly observed in men and also to some extent in women and children. I have encountered this scenario not only on the railway tracks but also on the roads. Isn’t it disturbing? And not only because it is aesthetically displeasing or that it is embarrassing to watch people openly defecating. The most disturbing bit is how unfortunate it is that the need for sanitation is taken for granted in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai. It is also not a healthy situation both physically and psychologically to be in, if you have no private place to go to, when nature calls, and all you have as an emergency resort is a public place such as railway tracks or main roads of the city.

The practice endangers the lives of those using these open public spaces for defecation, especially along railway tracks and roads. I feel a chill when I se even young tots, unaccompanied by elders, engaging in the same activity on the tracks, oblivious to the oncoming trains.

The needs of these people are to be seriously looked into. The vision for National Urban Sanitation Policy under Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, is:

“All Indian cities and towns become totally sanitized, healthy and liveable and ensure

 and sustain good public health and environmental outcomes for all their citizens

 with a special focus on hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities for the urban

 poor and women.”

Yes, the Government has an Urban Sanitation Policy in place, known as the National Urban Sanitation Policy, 2008. But what would happen if there are enough toilets built but there is no water facility provided? It would still be as good as no help given. I would go further and state that it is rather equal to mocking the situation of these people.

I also want to bring your attention to the availability of working/functioning community and public toilets. The paid toilets that have come up are a good step in this direction. But what amazes me is that the paid toilets on the railways stations, some of which are recently built, are locked at most hours of the day, and this is true for almost all the ladies toilets a toilet in dharavion the railway platforms. Even while leaving the house for far-off travel, females have to empty their bladders before leaving home.

And when it comes to gents’ toilets, they are far worse than ladies’ toilets. We complain of the stench and the filth in these toilets, but the people employed to take care of these toilets have a huge task at hand. It cannot be easy cleaning a space that the public uses in large numbers. So, we all have to be responsible when using public toilets. If water is available, we should flush the toilets are use – and this is not too much to ask for, don’t we flush the toilets in our own homes?

So the next time we want to assert our rights, we should also ensure that we don’t fall short of carrying out our duties as well. What I get from reflecting on this issue is that the ‘potty’ issue is surely not a ‘petty’ issue for Mumbai!

Devashri Prabhu has a Masters in Psychology and her interests lie in areas like Mental Health, Social Issues and Spirituality.

(Pictures courtesy environmentalwatchman.blogspot.com,  sanitationupdates.wordpress.com, affordablehousinginstitute.org)

Categories
Tech

Review: LG’s Nexus 5

LG’s newest offering adds punch to a device that improves on its predecessors, if you can ignore a few niggles.
by Manik Kakra

The Nexus series has only gained popularity ever since it was rolled out by Google. With the Nexus One and even the Nexus S, the series of phones was only aimed at developers and modders who are interested in their phone’s internal – be it software or hardware. With the Galaxy Nexus, we saw quite a few users starting to take an interest in the phone (big thanks to its pentaband capability).

Then came the Nexus 4, and Google along with LG, decided they would also play with the price factor. The device was shiny, made out of glass, almost latest hardware, and latest software. And now the Nexus 5 – latest hardware, software, simple design, and again a price that won’t make your wallet cry as most of the other flagships today may.

What’s really up with the Nexus 5?

Hardware: LG’s Nexus 5 (D821) is more or less, at least internally, based upon the LG G2. Powered by the Snapdragon 800 SoC (2.2 GHz Krait 400 quad-core, Adreno 330 GPU) and 2 GB of RAM. It comes in 16 GB and 32 GB storage options, and packs 2,300 mAh battery. Running on the latest Android 4.4.2 OS, the phone has, of course, stock Android.

Sporting a 4.95-inch full HD LCD touchscreen, the phone is slightly smaller than the G2, but larger than the Nexus 4. On the back, there is an 8 MP (AF) camera, along with an LED flash; while the front has got a 1.3 MP camera.

Design: The phone has a very simple design. You won’t be left breathless with its looks, but it is not boring at all. With rounded edges and a curved back, the phone fits nicely into your hand. The plastic used (white model in my case) on the back is not very glossy or slippery. Similarly, the front is also not completely coated in glass like the Nexus 4.

LG Nexus 5On the front, above the screen, there is a distinct white speakergrill, and below the screen. Two grilled speakers at the bottom (only one is a loudspeaker, while the other one is a mic), with the microUSB port placed between them, sort of reminds me of the iPhone 5. On the back, the Nexus logo, which is reflective on the white model, looks nice and certainly adds to the phone’s overall looks.

The camera protrudes a bit at the back. On a side note, pressing the back of the phone with your thumb or finger, especially on the logo, causes the back panel to get pressed, and that might bother those who care a lot about their phone’s body. That pretty much tell you this isn’t your HTC One or iPhone 5 when it comes to build quality. On the left side panel, you only have the volume rockers, and on the right side panel are the micro SIM slot and Power/ Lock button placed right next to it. These buttons are made out of ceramic and are quite sharp than your usual physical buttons, which could be a bit uncomfortable for some, it was just fine with me. Thanks to these buttons construction, you get a nice feedback on pressing them pretty much every single time.

Having said that, if you try shaking them left and right (rather, rattling them), you’ll see they aren’t very well put together in the whole body – this definitely bothered a little. The top has the 3.5 mm headset jack, secondary mic, and there is an LED light right under the screen, where you would normally have physical buttons.

Screen: The phone has a 4.95-inch 1080p LCD. LG hasn’t really disappointed us before when it comes to screens, and it isn’t very different here. The screen is quite bright, colour-rich, and has got decent viewing angles. My review unit had a light leaking issue (right next to the volume buttons and front-facing camera, probably just a one-off case), but it isn’t really an issue in any other units I’ve seen. While the screen isn’t as nice as the G2 or Note 3, it is pretty good and holds quite well against today’s flagship phones’ screens. And yes, it is very well calibrated.

Camera: The phone boasts an 8 MP camera that also has OIS and can shoot 1080p videos. You can check a few sample images here.

The camera is not bad. The 4.4.1 (presently on 4.4.2) update made the stock camera app faster, images sharper, but you may feel you’re still missing out against the likes of the iPhone 5s, LG’s own G2, S4 or even a year-old iPhone 5. Google has also introduced HDR+, which isn’t exactly your traditional HDR mode. HDR+ seems to give different result than what you would expect from HDR, but the mode definitely helps in taking good shots with the Nexus 5’s camera.

You can change the default camera app, but it may not enjoy access to core level as the bundled app does, which means less options and power available to you while taking shots. So, the camera quality is pretty good in daylight, but is just average when the conditions aren’t favourable. To sum the phone’s camera quality, it is noticeably better than the Nexus 4, but well short of the G2.

Audio: The phone’s in-ear audio quality is clear and quite loud (using the bundled headsets). But the loudspeaker’s output is disappointing. It is tiny and distorts at the two highest volume levels. It is way below the G2‘s quality.

The call quality is fine, though I have used phones with louder in-ear sound, I didn’t have any problem with what the Nexus 5 does. WiFi reception holds just as well, and network reception is just as good as you would expect from a flagship smartphone today.

Software and performance: Android 4.4 marks the platform’s move from Dalvik cache to ART (Android RunTime), apart from visual tweaks, new APIs and features. While it is still in the testing stage, you can enable it from Settings in order to give this new runtime a shot, and it’s clear that Google probably wants an alternative to the long-running Dalvik, but whether this is to support mid-range Android devices or just to give an overall performance boost, is yet to be seen.

Android 4.4 KitKat has, other than anything else, given the OS a visual change. There are quite a few changes you’ll see as soon as you start using the device. The icons are now slightly larger than before and that’s definitely a good move by Google. Simply making them larger has given the stock launcher a facelift and also icons in the dock much nicer. I wish fonts used would have also been something different, but that may be just me. It has three Home screens by default, plus, Google Now on the leftmost (swiping left to right) and uses “OK Google” to start the voice assistant.

You still have the Google search bar put on Home screens, same folder and icon arrangement – no changes there. Pull down notification bar is also a bit changed. Settings has now been given a place in the bar and its icon has changed to a cog. The more you use the OS, you will see Holo design has been, umm, whitened. It has been made a few shades lighter, and I am not complaining.

Another addition to the OS is better native emoji support. This means there are no more blank boxes or half missing emojis in any app. The stock google keyboard gives you emojis on long-pressing the Enter key.

Oh, and Google has replaced the default SMS app to Hangouts. So, your video calls, GTalk and phone messaging are all under Hangouts. Is it done neatly? No. This was probably the only half-baked part of the OS. If you’re a heavy SMS user, installing a dedicated SMS app and making it the default is suggested, especially since the Hangouts app doesn’t do good job at separating messages, GTalk IMs and video calls from one contact from your Contacts list.

Using TrueCaller? Well, Google has sort of come with its own way to give users identification to numbers in their call list. If the number is listed in Google’s Business data, you can search the number in Dialer to see the contact details. Handy.

As far as the phone’s performance is concerned, Google has already released two minor updates since the phone got out, and Nexus 5 surely utilises its software and hardware combination in a great way. The OS runs very smoothly – I had no app hiccups (ART may not be your best option here), and I didn’t notice any performance issues throughout my usage. The Nexus 5 is, without a surprise, one of the smoothest smartphones out there.

I think LG’s Nexus 5 is probably the best smartphone you could by in Rs 30,000 today. If you are okay with its camera’s performance, and those little hardware niggles (buttons and back) aren’t going to worry you, this is a great phone for you that guarantees prompt OS updates and gives good hardware inside to power all of it.

Categories
Swaad 'Anu'saar

Christmas goodies, fatafat!

Still don’t have a good Christmas giveaway treat planned for your guests? Take heart from these four simple food ideas.
anurita guptaby Anurita Gupta

Who doesn’t love Christmas goodies? And when it comes to something better than goodies, it is clearly food! J

Imagine giving away lovely fudge and cookies in beautiful glass jars, all decorated with Christmas ornaments and a small name tag! It’s an ‘Aha!’ moment for sure, but who has the time, right? Not to worry, I will give you quick recipes for delights that will be ready in a jiffy.

Pancake mix: Every one loves a tinge of magic with flour. So why not make your very own pancake dry mix and present it in a jar? All you need to do is put in 300 gms of maida (all purpose flour), 1 tablespoon baking powder, a pinch of baking soda, and 3 tablespoons of castor sugar. To this, add 1 pod of vanilla (slit in the middle) for extra flavouring and some effect. Shut the jar.

Now, on a colorful sheet of paper, write instructions for us: ‘Break 2 eggs and add to this mix, with 200 ml of milk. This will make for a brilliant breakfast for the family after a nightlong Christmas party.’ Don’t forget to write your name on there, too!

Hokey pokey: The traditional hokey pokey has made for a great gift on famous English brunches. But it hokey pokeywould definitely make for a great return gift, too.

Put 100 gm of sugar and 4 tbsp of golden syrup in a thick bottomed pan and stir together. Now put the pan on heat and do not stir. Let the mixture melt and then turn gooey, bubbling into an amber colour, for not more than 3 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add 1 ½ tsp of soda bicarb and watch the magic.

The syrup will quickly bubble into a fluffy cloud like aerated, orangey gold.  Now quickly transfer the mixture on to a parchment paper or greased foil. To this, add the Christmas flavours you like – some cut raisins, or just a powder shot of cinnamon. Leave until it’s set and the bash it into many big and small crunchy pieces. Pick a nice tin box and line it with parchment paper, then put in the hokey pokey goodies. Shut and then put a tag through a red and green ribbon, and tie around the neck of the tin. Happy present for a Merry christmas!

ice cream cake in a jarIce-cream cake in a jar: Desserts in a jar are a rage nowadays. And they make for great giveaways, especially when the dessert can be ready in 60 seconds.

All you need are some bashed-up Oreo biscuits, some nice chocolate syrup, a few tiny marshmellows, and a rich chocolate sponge cake or loaf. Now, to a tub of vanilla ice cream, add all the above ingredients except for the cake. In a mason glass jar, place a layer of the dense chocolate loaf and then a layer of the rich icecream that has the yummy Oreos and marshmallows in it. Repeat the same layering until the jar is full. Top with chocolate-coated nuts if you wish.

Hot tip: Theobroma and Moshe’s chocolate loaf is perfect for this recipe.

Glittering marshmallow crispies: To a pan, add 50 gm of melted butter and 300 gms of mini marshmallows and mix till there is a smooth slurry ready. Immediately take it off the heat and lightly mix 200 gm of rice krispies to it. Now press it down into a greased pan and smoothen the top. Add some edible glitter and Christmas ornaments. Once cool, cut the kirspies into squares and put in a jar and present.

Anurita Gupta is a media professional who is passionate about two things – food and radio. Her love for all things food makes her a foodie with a cause.

(Pictures courtesy www.goodlifeeats.com, ourkitchen.fisherpaykel.com, downtownbellevue.com)

Categories
Achieve

Mumbai hospital wins top honours at India Healthcare Awards 2013

The PD Hinduja National Hospital was awarded top prize for being India’s best multispeciality hospital, in the national capital yesterday.

India Healthcare Awards by ICICI Lombard & CNBC TV18 recognised PD Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre in Mumbai as the Best Multispecialty Hospital – Megapolis for this year. The India Healthcare Awards hosted every year is an initiative to honour and award centers of excellence and quality driven healthcare delivery institutions. In year 2011, PD Hinduja National Hospital was selected as the best amongst a few hundred hospitals, but this time, it beat 3,000 healthcare providers for the top spot.

The award ceremony was presided over by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who presented the award to the hospital.

Not many people know that PD Hinduja National Hospital started off as a refugee camp clinic in 1951, and is today ranked as one of the leading multispecialty tertiary care hospitals of the country.

On the occasion, Joy Chakraborty, Senior Director, Operations said, “We are thankful to the organisers and jury members for recognising our leadership role in healthcare delivery. This award once again makes us feel proud. Our patient-centric care and value-added healthcare delivery will inspire us to further dedicate ourselves towards the trust, confidence and support shown by our patients and healthcare fraternity.”

(Picture courtesy PD Hinduja Hospital)

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