January 10, 2015 – The Metrognome

Of flying chariots and other ‘scientific’ claims

If the claims in the recent Indian Science Congress were to be believed, ancient India had invented and discovered everything.

by Humra Quraishi

I don’t understand this. If India was really as evolved as all that, where did all the knowledge go? Worse still, why are we such an unevolved species now, when we have technology at our fingertips?

I have been following news reports about the Indian Science Congress held recently in Mumbai, and I am amused and bewildered by turns. The scientists attending this Congress must have been even more bewildered by the goings-on.

Here’s why. If the claims made during this event are anything to go by, the India of yore achieved the unimaginable. Take flying, for starters. As per one claim, Indians had flying devices that not just roamed the skies from one end of the universe to the other, they also hopped planets and were able to fly sideways and backwards. And here we are in present-day India, our flights stalled for hours and passengers stranded when their standard issue plane is able to fly in no direction, including flying forward.

Then somebody else spoke with authority of ancient Indian doctors performing miracle cures and conducting the most advanced surgeries with basic tools.

A Lucknow-based scientist said India knew about America years before Columbus supposedly discovered it in the 15^th Century. According to the scientist, not just India, but all of Asia was aware of America long before Columbus. (I wonder who will break the news to US President Barack Obama when he arrives here for the R-Day celebrations).

And then I began to wonder, if we were all that wonderful in the ancient years, at what point did we start losing this information? How is it possible that entire generations became slowly ignorant of their predecessors’ great discoveries and inventions? Surely there must be some record in existence somewhere that documents all these ‘facts’ that were laid out at the Congress? Where is the proof that all this happened?

And assuming that all of this was true, it is a shameful state of affairs that today, we are unable to solve murders that are years old. We cannot contain our pollution levels and we have no concept of population control. We don’t know how to treat our old parents and we are shamelessly sycophantic of moneyed people. Despite so many different industries opening up today, we still push our children into studying either medicine or engineering.

So what is the truth? Were we really such an astonishingly intelligent civilisation? So why are we such buffoons now?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.niticentral.com)

Fortis starts New Year with good health

Fortis Hospital, Mulund organises its very first ‘Health Mela 2015’, aims to keep people healthy all through the New Year.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Healthy people make a healthy nation. However, recent changes in lifestyle, unconventional influences, ecological imbalances, and improper food habits are contributing to the creation of an unhealthy community. In view of the soaring health concerns affecting children and older people, Fortis Hospital, Mulund organised the ‘Health Mela 2015’, aimed at providing information on all that one needs to maintain good health.

The fair commenced yesterday, January 9, 2015.

Emphasising good food habits and healthy living, ‘Health-Mela 2015’ was an amalgamation of numerous activities – ranging from free health screenings, drawing competition for children, healthy-baby contest for toddlers, and a series of lectures imparting knowledge about healthy living and how to keep the ailments at bay. The Health Mela also offered customised health check-up packages, as a first step towards wellness. People were offered tests for blood pressure, total cholesterol, blood glucose, ophthalmic, heart rate and many more. Stalls were set-up in the Hospital premises, offering vital information about the person’s health and wellbeing.

Talking about the objective behind the initiative, Dr S Narayani, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital Mulund, said, “The ongoing health fair will help people get the New Year off to a healthy start. The ‘Health Mela’ is an attempt to educate the community about how important it is to have preventive healthcare.” She added that the event also targeted the needs of children by providing valuable information on nutrition and exercise. “Besides being educative and informative, the event was also a fun-and-frolic environment for the children. Nearly 200 children from various age-groups participated in drawing competitions organised by the Hospital. Similarly, nearly 65 toddlers were part of the healthy baby contest,” said Rinku Mavani, Head of Marketing and Sales at the hospital.

(Pictures courtesy Fortis Hospital, Mulund)