ASSIGNMENT ONE (1)

What does independence mean to me?

I don’t know what to write under this question, which happens to be my assignment. Maybe tha is why I am submitting it so late. But all this while I have been doing this- long and silenced thinking. But it’s today that I realized, many a times, I don’t believe in what I ‘have’ to say, but I believe in what I feel. Maybe that is how I will go about explaining what I am trying to say.

• On Independence Day, there is nothing known as “ Happy Independence Day” (it has much derived from the American culture, but due to the RED-ALERTS that keep making their way into the news on such occasions, a-lot of people do believe in saying it). But, on this day what I genuinely feel is to thank the people in my nation, for giving me what I completely have for my self- a nation, an identity and a passport.

• On Independence Day, it is believed to sing the national anthem at least once and that to under the national flag. But, on this day I feel like wearing a small flag on my shirt pocket and feeling proud to be an Indian. Because I feel not everyone should sing the anthem (it is meant for the choir. The beautiful song unnecessarily gets croaked mercilessly and forcefully). One should just feel proud of the nation and not impose that feeling on one-self if ultimately one is brain –drained.

• On Independence Day, one is supposed to have an ‘off’, it being a national holiday. However, I feel the holiday should not be an ‘off’. All citizens should compulsorily meet up in their nearest and dearest NGO and discuss how India could be made a better place to live in. While the later completely brings out the meaning for Independence to me, the ‘off’ is just a way out for all escapists.

If I were a PM for a day I would…

Call for a meeting with all the employees of the Government of India and make a speech to make everyone realize how proud we all are and should be of such gorgeous a nation. By this, even though I would not be telling each and every member of how they should/shouldn’t do their duties, I would just sensitize them on who they are doing their duties towards. I would thereafter give away a khadi kurta colored in our national flag, as a memento, to all those who attended the meet, from the PM’s fund.

My Baby Green-leaves!

He says "it's amazing" almost a billion times in the class. I usually wonder whether it actually is amazing or not. For a science student, theory has always been amazing. There have been laws and concepts which have amused me time and again. But realizing the "amazing" behind the way people act and re-act, needed a lot of thinking to whether it actually is amazing or not.

Anyway, I had this assignment, where I had to plant a seed any where in public. Now, where exactly is public was my first question. Malls? Theater? Cinema? GK? Sarojini? Pubs? Discos? Parliament? where? I wanted my seed to be with the maximum public so that it could look at them and remind them of their mistake of polluting and remind me of my mistake of greeni-fying. Anyway, so I put my seed in this pot and placed the pot on the divider of a busy road.I wake up every day in the morning early to put water into my pot and reach home on time to water it again. I cross the road almost a million times in a day to see whether my pot is there or not. The baby leaves are out and my baby is growing green in the middle of the blacks (I'm not being racist here!).

It's quite difficult to see your child growing amongst his/her fears, amongst his/her enemies, amongst his/her killers and murderers. But I think I'd be able to handle it. My baby will perhaps grow stronger than the others and teach it's killers even if it has a young death. I am a proud mother and I feel very responsible. He says "amazing" almost a billion times. Maybe now I know what he means. He too is proud of something and truly is responsible for his nation-for his baby.

Report on Women’s health issues after researching from Public Health Centers.

Anemia in pregnancy is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a hemoglobin concentration below 11 g/dL.[1] It continues to be a major health problem in many developing countries and is associated with increased rates of maternal and parental mortality, premature delivery, low birth weight, and other adverse outcomes.[2]

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has almost 40 beds in the maternity ward that can adjust 40 patients. “It may accommodate 40 patients altogether, but it becomes thoroughly overbearing for a limited number of doctors” according to a source. Right outside the main building a couple of female patients were asked how often they visit AIIMS for maternity problems. Though most of them believe in coming to hospitals, the elder child was mostly born by a ‘dai’ or a midwife.

More than half of the pregnant women in the world have hemoglobin levels indicative of anemia.1 Although only 15% of pregnant women are anemic in developed countries,[3] the prevalence of anemia in developing countries is relatively high (33% to 75%). The most common cause of anemia in pregnancy worldwide is iron deficiency.[4] The predisposing factors include grand multiparty, low socio-economic status, malaria infestation, late booking, HIV infection, and inadequate child spacing – among others.

“Eighty % of the health services in Delhi are being provided in the private sector because the Government has not been able to provide public health services to all the people of Delhi,” Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president said to The Hindu on 14 sept 2006. But now, suddenly his attention seems to wander away to transportation, water supply and infrastructure for the current fiscal.[5] So the question is- is there anyone in the government to care about this vital situation for poor, pregnant, malnourished, anemic women?

Bhaukti Devi, who sat near an electricity board and continued to roast herself under the sun in the AIIMS, was under serious tension for her husband who was suffering from lung infection. As he lay flat under the shade, she spoke of how he is immediately rushed to the hospital when he feels unwell. But as far as her health is concerned, coming to the hospital was more a liability than a need. For her, a ‘jhulachap’ was more convenient and cheaper when in need of a cure.

Communities like UMANG (Uplifting Marriage Age, Nutrition, and Growth), found nine out of ten adolescent girls to be anemic and two out of three illiterate. These factors severely limit the life prospects of young women and also negatively influence the future of their children and families. An anemic or malnourished mother has a very high probability of giving birth to a low birth weight baby, the single biggest predictor of future malnutrition. And a mother’s level of education is correlated with all sorts of behaviors which can strongly influence whether her child will survive past his first five years. Adolescent anemia can be the start of a vicious cycle of poverty which is difficult to escape from. However,UMANG is a project which provides iron supplementation to these girls, as well as a forum to discuss the issues they face in daily life related to health, education, and family in the absence of Public Health Centers in the rural districts.

The problem of anemia (due to malnutrition) in pregnant mothers is not just in rural districts. The problem of a hemoglobin deficiency is also prevalent in women who can afford any kind of treatment at any expense. However, they prefer the more expensive hospitals because of the quantity and quality of services provided. One only wishes to avail public health centers and public hospitals when it is not easy to pay a bigger price. According to Doc. Shah who works at the Max, “Most patients here prefer the quality and the expertise we provide. We do not just charge more because of being a brand, but because of the time, energy and patience each doctor puts into every patient, unlike government facilities.”

However much we may try to boast about the new technology and the greater set up of medical avenues in the health sector, there is always a rich and a poor demarcation. Most of India's billion-plus people struggle with a public health care system which is virtually nonexistent in villages[6]. On the other hand, private health care is booming, and the country's state-of-the art hospitals and highly skilled doctors even attract patients from countries where health care costs are much higher. The challenge before India is to make such top quality care accessible for the majority of its people and to put such high quality services within reach of the poor.

---

[1]World Health Organization (WHO). The prevalence of Anaemia in women: a tabulation of available information. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 1992. WHO/MCH/MSM/92.2.

[2]Mahomed K. Iron and folate supplementation in pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;(2) CD001135: World Health Organization Reproductive Health Library CD-ROM. 2004;7.

[3]World Health Organization (WHO). Prevention and Management of Severe Anaemia in Pregnancy: Report of a Technical Working Group. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 1993. WHO/FNE/MSM/93.5.

[4]Nyuke RB, Letsky EA. Etiology of anaemia in pregnancy in South Malawi. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72:247–256.

[5] The Hindu, It will slow development: Harsh Vardhan, 26^th March 2008

[6] Public Health Foundation of India, India Offers Both Best, Worst of Health Care ,Voice of America Press Releases and Documents , 3 May 2006, http://www.phfi.org/news/newsdetail.asp?id=74