Thatched House

For tomorrow's weekly column in Eastern Mirror newspaper ‘Is facebook making us stupid?’ What kind of question is this? Isn’t this a more appropriate question for those who are not in facebook? For those who don’t know that there’s a whole new world in the social networking site? Facebook is the place where news breaks faster than satellite TV and it makes newspapers look ancient. From a war erupting in the Middle East, to the college buddy announcing his engagement, to the earthquake in Phek, to that pretty face who is having a boring day; facebook gets you all the latest updates. How can something which is as informative as facebook make anyone more stupid? Governments, universities, international and local organizations, common interest groups, top honchos, babus and netas, celebrities, aunty next door are all in facebook that it is becoming indispensable to have an account. Facebook is something that cannot be ignored as a time pass fun that young folks indulge in. Some good ...

A Half-Baked article for my weekly column.  The difference between medicine and public health can be illustrated by the analogy of fishes in a pond. Medicine is the study of the fishes while public health is the study of the pond in which the fishes live (they are not water-tight compartments but that is a good way to understand the difference). It is important to study the fishes, their anatomical structures, functions, behavior, etc. in order to care for them and find ways to treat their diseases. But it is also important to study the condition of the pond in which the fishes live; the water salinity, other chemical contents, surrounding vegetations, other organisms that live in the pond, etc.; in order to keep the fishes healthy. Modern health care has been oriented towards biomedical model, concentrated on hospital based curative care. Ill health is presumed to be something that is fixed at the doctor’s chamber. It is only rece...

The best time of the year to click pictures at Pfutsero, I think is July. Just focus anywhere and click away. The shots turn into beauties!!! Here are some pictures I clicked yesterday, and some a year back. So, that's July 2011 and July 2012 (to over-repeat myself). Is it the best time to visit Pfutsero? Yes, it's a good time. Blame it on the speed of internet connection in Nagaland...had to compress as much as possible Our church bell On Church dedication day, July 13, 2011. 12 kms away from Pfutsero. Our paddy field. Hard labour, this thing of beauty, then harvest.                                       Zaa Begonia, Pfutsero special  Sedzu river, between Chakhabama and Kikruma. Home. with Rukizu colony in the background  Beauty just anywhere :) view from the back Neighbourhood Home

For Eastern Mirror column Patients are no more treated as patients but as business clients . Pharmaceutical companies intrude into doctors’ medical practices. Insurance companies decide who is sick and who is not.  When it comes to health care, USA is not a country to look up to. It is a terrible thing to fall sick in the US if you are not insured. And about 16% (49 million) of the population do not have health insurance. 26% of Americans face grave problems paying medical bills, 58% delay treatment due to inability to pay, and medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy.  Many people could not avail the benefits of safety nets (e.g. Medicaid and Medicare) because they are not poor enough, not old enough, or they are not dying. The poor, who are not destitute poor, the sick who are not suffering from terminal diseases are therefore caught in the middle, of becoming ineligible for these free services and not rich enough to pay insurance. The idea is to exclude as mu...