Scripting the Chemistry of life

Ayesha Sheikh

Written with rare confidence andsurety of a seasoned writer the book'Burning Sapphires' by Suresh KGoswami is a master fully fleshedout multi - layered tale about awoman Shahzadi Ghulab Sahib,who braved the very real danger ofdeath to lead her people out of mis-ery. Living high up on the Mountainsin a little village, Shahzadi GhulabSahib grows up amid the strife thatdescends upon her world. From aninnocent girl to a complex personal-ity that can both be ruthless andwise, yet still in touch with her innerhumanity, Ghulab's life as the even-tual "emancipator" of her people-political refugees all-are utterly jaws-dropping. The hardships that befellupon her may seem too fantastical-ly numerous, yet the storytellingskills and the author's strong senseof verisimilitude and prosody makethe story as believable as the per-son sitting next to you and why notbecause her story is the real story ofmany Kashmiris who have fallen toa miserable destiny as the plague ofterrorism has infested deeply in theValley of Kashmir, burning its waythrough their homes, lives, and evenhopes, spreading throughout thevalley of Kashmir,As a result, 'Burn-ing Sapphires' is as entertaining andcompelling as any modern saga, yetit still bears that authentic, evocativeatmosphere that transports you tothe idyll of Ghulab's childhood, longbefore violence and political conflictravaged it.There is a cold sense of

antagonism that permeates the val-ley once called the paradise onearth. It is a quarrel between sub-stance and form you may say - doesa country owe most to its past orpresent? In both senses Kashmir iscuriously treated and the wails of his-tory often ignored as passing winds.

'Burning Sapphires' gives itsreader goose bumps-the positive,unforgettable kind-it has the emo-tional gravitas of, say, Spielberg's'Schindler's List' or Zhang Yimou's'Not One Less'. It is a story that ismajestic and sweeping in its scope

and utterly unforgettable in its boldtackling of the plight of theoppressed Muslims and KashmiriPandits in what is otherwise an idyl-lic, "Paradise" on Earth.

The story of Ghulab is miracu-lous, generous in association, trag-ic and inspiring. Reflecting realtragedy through fiction; Burning

Sapphires has given a voiceto the people and their sto-ries that have unknowinglygotten lost through theyears, buried under thesnow.

The variously talentedscreenwriter, producer,director from Kishtwar, Jam-mu & Kashmir and nowauthor Suresh K Goswamihas penned down a pas-sionate book on tragedy,hope and inspiration. Burn-ing Sapphires, though a fic-tion, recounts real life snip-pets from lives of the manyKashmiri Pandits, who livedthrough the nightmare oftheir exodus from their oncepeaceful homeland alongwith the Kashmiri Muslimsentrapped in the Valley,being ripped apart by terror-ism and corruption that arebeing allowed thriving for

political and commercial advan-tages, the scope of which often runsbeyond the border of a single nation.

Burning Sapphires is available onall the major internet sites such asAmazon, Barnes &Noble, Flip cart,Google etc.

Er. Jitender Kohli

Undisputedly admitted that humanbeing came first, religions were insti-tuted later on. Man was not made forthe sake of religion but religions wereformed to assist and serve human torealize God and thus to attain the ulti-mate bliss, for which the most mankindstarve for. Unfortunately presentlyhuman being has exclusively shelvedthe basic objective of the religion hebelongs to in every field of their life.Reality is that the spirit has left only theSkeletons of religions remain. The peo-ple in race have developed hatred forothers and that is why, religion, found-ed to purify and free the soul, servesonly to further imprison it.

Undisputedly we know that somefive hundred years ago there was noSikhism; thirteen hundred years agothere was no Islam, two hundred yearsago Christianity was not in existenceand three thousand years ago therewas no Buddhism, five thousand yearsago there was no Krishna and beforeTraitayug there was no Ram and if goon exploring the past similarities shallappear before. But the mankind existssince the very creation and will remaintill the end of this Universe. Howeverthese religions for which we are shedblood of each other may not remain solong. Each religion was initially institut-ed to achieve same bliss.

Since the soul- the inner-mostessence of human, is the smallest tosmallest particle of the same lord, thuspeople believing in any religion areessentially the same in each respect.Founders of all religions have empha-sized that God is within us. But somepriests who came after these enlight-ened founders were not capableenough to guide people to go inside andrealize the lord within. Hence they havesuccessfully externalized the true reli-gious path and began to exclusivelyemphasize the outer rites and ritualswhich clearly differ from one religion toanother because of differences of lan-guages, customs, manners and as wellas social, historical and geographicalcharacter of the land where from these

religions originated. As a result, peoplegive undue importance to specificnames to God in different languagesand to the external places of worshipconstructed by men in different shapesand styles. Today we have totally for-gotten that the Supreme Lord is not lim-ited to any location or name. He is allpervading and nameless. The humanbody has been described by the real-ized saints as the top of the creationand is the temple of the living God.Today we have crossed all heights offoolishness to such extent that we aredestroying these temples and mosquesof the living God i.e. killing humanbeings. But we must have seen that a

potter cannot tolerate if someonedestroys the clay pots made by him.Similarly God will not forgive those whodestroy His own temples. By doing sothe killers are not pleasing God. Thesekillers are His culprits and will certain-ly be punished by His supreme law irre-spective of their created religion. If wetry to go into depth of each religion thenwe will conclude that each enlightenedfounder of religion has preached-Lovethe nature, Love the mankind and Loveis the ultimate name of Supreme Being.

Unfortunately, today our concept ofreligion is indeed lamentable. Weapproach without any hesitation theoutstanding physicians, scientists andartists following different religions forour worldly selfish motives. In the same

manner there should not be any hitchat all to respect and approach the truesaints irrespective of their caste andreligion. We are not following the teach-ings of these very saints/ prophets forwhom we profess others to follow.

The global terrorism and variantmode of violence in the name of the reli-gion are basically a camouflaged polit-ical lust to govern different portions ofthe planet. The human violence promi-nent these days is found between Mus-lims- Christians and Hindus. Their reli-gion is not dividing them but the fanat-ic, fundamentalists and lusty politiciansare the real culprits to create this vio-lence for their individual lusts.

Can anyone justify this violence?Can anyone convince slaughtering ofhuman? Can someone satisfy for thevictimization of the women? Can some-one scientifically differentiate betweenthe human of one religion and of theother?

No, none can do so; we are to admitthat we are the children of the sameFather who created the entire universe.So we should serve the mankind in thebest possible way and discard all kindsof discrimination on the basis of caste,creed, breed and colour and set goal ofGod realization through spiritualism.But spirituality is a science which canonly be caught or experienced and nottaught or explained. So one has tomove on the path of serving themankind with a firm decision not todamage the human temple at any stageand to understand all inner senses theenlightened founders of different reli-gion had projected.

The present interpreters of their reli-gious teachings are emotionally black-mailing the innocent people, majority ofwomen are further sentimentally con-fused. The followers of such preachersare confined to the preacher alienatingfrom the universal creator. The follow-ers are wasting precious time of theirlife running after such gurus who areaccumulating huge wealth in shape ofmoveable and non-moveable proper-ties. Why the human races do notunderstand the truth of the life?

Gauri Chabbra

Today every other daily soap that youwatch on your favorite channel talksabout Paternity tests, every food itemthat you pick up the shelf talks about theingredients, every test you go through inhealth care talks not only about the dis-ease but the extent of the disease. Haveyou ever wondered what makes it pos-sible?

Which is the discipline dealing with allthis? Is it a pure science or an appliedone? We all know that the cell is the struc-tural unit of living systems. The living cellhas chemical constituents that undergoseveral reactions and procedures. Thestudy of these reactions is called Bio-Chemistry.

Biochemistry involves the study ofchemical processes in living organismsand is based on the principles of chem-istry, biology, mathematics, genetics andphysics.It also encompasses stem cell orgenetic research that has the potential toresult in dramatic medical or scientificbreakthroughs. Today,it has made head-way into all aspects of life from health toagriculture to genetics to forensics.

Hence the multifarious careeroptions.

Getting in:You can start with science in plus two

with Physics, Chemistry, Biology andMathematics. Some universities do offerbiochemistry during graduation,B.Sc.Biochemistry .Typically, a B.Sc. is a threeyear course.Subjects studied under thisdegree are Chemistry, Biophysics, Math-ematics & Statistics, Molecular Biology,Genetics etc.However, it is post gradua-tion that really establishes you as a bio-chemist. You can opt for a JuniorResearch Fellowship after MSc byappearing for the UGCCSIR JRF/NETexam.This could lead to a lectureshipand a career in research and develop-ment, consulting or allied work. Somemedical colleges may offer MD Biochem-istry open to MBBS graduates. CentralDrug Research Institute, Industrial Toxi-cological Research Institute, NationalBotanical Research Instituteoffer scopefor advanced studies and research.

To become a bio chemist, you needto have problem-solving, research andanalytical skills, and curiosity of askingwhy. You also need to beef up your oraland written communication skills as youmay be working as part of a team, writeresearch papers or proposals, and havecontact with clients or customers.

Institute Scape:* Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh * All India Institute of Medical Sciences,New Delhi * University of Allahabad, Allahabad * Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi *University of Delhi, Delhi(www.du.ac.in)

Career Pathways:Since Bio Chemistry follows an inter

disciplinary approach, there are plenty ofjob openings in health and beauty care,chemical manufacturing, food and drink

production, medical instruments andpharmaceutical development.The workenvironment could be the government,private sector, laboratories, hospitalsand other educational and research insti-tutions. Following are the sectors youcan go in for:

Food and Beverage Processing:The food processing sector is geared

towards upgrading food processingtechnologies, improving food quality,and adding value to raw agriculturalmaterials through quality assurance,packaging, and biotechnologies. Youcan work as Micro Laboratory Techni-cianwhere you will be responsible forpreparing the laboratories daily activitiesincluding equipment start-up and lab dis-infection while also providing support forthe Lab Sample Analysis Systemthrough the collection, preparation, anddata entry pertinent to tested samples.

Your knowledge of the properties ofproteins, fats, starches, and carbohy-drates, as well as micro componentssuch as additives and flavorings, canfetch you the job of Food and FlavorChemist

Where you create different approach-es to use ingredients or synthesize newingredients, such as fat or sugar replace-ments, while utilizing natural and artifi-cial ingredients to develop flavors in foodproducts.

Clinical Trials:As a Clinical research associate, you

may be responsible for Clinical trialswhile designing and implementation of anew drug protocol or the use of a newvirus for gene therapy. You may have todevelop the clinical trials or supervisethem. Your work would involve the analy-sis and evaluation of data from the trialsto ensure that clinical protocols were fol-lowed.

You may also be identifying the wayin which DNA, which carries the geneticinformation, is transferred between cellsand can be manipulated.

Manufacturing:In the manufacturing sector, you may

take the biochemical process developedin the laboratory and scale it up throughthe pilot plant stage to the full productionplant. Besides, you may also be requiredto determine what instrumentation andequipment are needed and troubleshootproblems in the scale-up procedure.

Health care:In the health care sector, you can

work as a Biostatistician where youdesign research studies and collect andanalyze data on problems - such as howa disease progresses, how safe a newtreatment or medication is, or the impactof certain risk factors associated withmedical conditions.

Environment Up gradation:One of the most pressing issues in

our society, environmental degradation,is being addressed by biochemists. Youmay be required to perform improve-ments in the efficiency of photosynthesisto increase crop yields, bioremediation

of polluted soils, development of newfeed-stocks, chemistries for the produc-tion of biofuels, genetic mapping ofecosystems to monitor biodiversity, andmethodologies for boosting biologicalcapture of carbon.

Research and Education:In case you qualify the NET, you can

avail the Junior Research Fellowship(JRF) scheme.The Junior Research Fel-lowship (JRF) scheme of the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC) is open tocandidates who qualify in the NationalEducation Testing (NET) of the UGC andthe UGC-Council of Scientific and Indus-trial Research (CSIR) joint test. Howev-er, these are qualifying tests only and donot bestow a fellowship upon the candi-date. The objective of the JRF schemeis to provide opportunities to NET-quali-fied candidates to undertake advancedstudies and research leading toM.Phil./Ph.D. degrees.

The tenure of fellowship is initially fortwo years and before expiry of this peri-od, the work of the fellow will beevaluat-ed by a Committee of three memberscomprising of Head of the Department,Supervisor and one outside subjectex-pertto be constituted by the concernedDepartment of the University/Institution.If the research work is found satisfacto-ry, his tenure will be extended further fora period of three years under theenhanced emoluments of the JRF.

The rate of fellowship for JRF andSRF are at par with the UGC Fellowshipas amended from time to time.Present-ly these rates are as follows:

Fellowship @ Rs. 16,000/- per monthfor initial two years (JRF.) and @Rs.18,000/- per month for remainingtenure (SRF). Contingency for Science@ Rs. 12,000/- per annum for initial twoyears and @ Rs. 25,000/- per annum forremaining three years. Besides, there isalso a provision of Escorts/Reader Assis-tance @ Rs. 2,000/- per month in caseof physically and visually challengedcandidates. The House Rent allowance,HRA is as per the rules of the your Uni-versity/Institute .

The Road Ahead:Renuka Malhotra, Assistant Profes-

sor Dept. of Bio Chemistry, DAV CollegeJalandhar, says," The future belongs toBio Chemistry. Today, it has madeinroads in many other, less obvious,aspects of our society. It is increasinglybeing used in forensics by Law enforce-ment agencies to provide evidence ininvestigations. Besides, it is used byarchaeologists as genetic and isotopicinvestigations of our ancestral remainsare illuminating much of human historyand pre-history.

It would be difficult to overstate theimportance of the role biochemistry playsin all our lives. For all those who wish toscript a career in Bio chemistry, manyamazing and transformational pathwayslie ahead…"

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2013 (PAGE-3)

CAREER COUNSELLING

LIFE STYLE

Goal of God-realizationSACRED SPACE

A tragic tale

MUSIC, BODY and MIND

BOOK REVIEW

For queries contact gauri_nagpal @yahoo.com

Pooja Sharma

Music is a universal language. It influences all lev-els of human existence. It is a medium for commu-nication, which can be both a pleasant and healingexperience. Modern science and medicine arenow rediscovering the healing powers of music.Music therapy, the specialized use of music intreating persons with special needs in mental andphysical health, rehabilitation and special educa-tion, is gaining ground.

Indian classical music therapy is a complemen-tary therapy that promotes the inbuilt natural healingprocess. This music produces beneficial effects and isphysically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually uplift-ing.Original knowledge of these things is found inVedas. Gandharva Veda, which is a constituentof Sama Veda, is regarded as the Veda ofMusic. The science of medication is one of themost enlightened ways of Sama Veda.Theimmense potential of the power of Shabda (cos-mic flow of sound) hidden in music was well recog-nised by the ancient Indian sages and they haddevised several musical patterns emanating fromthe "Omkara" for chanting of the Vedic hymns andfor distinct spiritual effects. The Shastric schoolsof music discovered musical octave named asshadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham,dhaivat and nishad (sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa)indwelling in the subtle sounds of Nature andinvented the basic classical ragas for activatingspecific streams of natural powers and effects.

Music is an age-old part of Ayurveda, theholistic science which promotes a happy andhealthy lifestyle. The doshas like Vata, Pitta andKapha can be controlled effectively by MusicTherapy. Great composers of Indian classicalmusic have attempted music therapy down theyears. Legend has it that classical music maestroThyagaraja brought a dead person back to life withhis composition. Rhetorically commenting on theecstatic impact of soothing music, Carlyle had once said"God walks behind good music". So, how could therebe any disease or suffering where God is? There willonly be an unflinching flow of bliss all over.

It is believed that music stimulates the pituitarygland, whose secretions affect the nervous system andthe flow of blood. It is believed that for healing withmusic, it is necessary to vibrate the cells of the body,for it is through these vibrations that the diseased per-son's consciousness can be changed effectively to pro-mote health. The right kind of music helps one to relaxand refresh. Even during the course of working, lightmusic improves efficiency. Listening to music helps con-trol negative aspects of our personalities like worry, biasand anger. In addition, it can help cure headache,abdominal pain and tension. Music therapy is one ofthe most effective ways of controlling emotions, bloodpressure and restoring the functioning of the liver.

Various Raga Research Centers are currently mak-ing a comprehensive study of Indian ragas and evalu-ating their therapeutic potential with the help of musi-cians, doctors and psychiatrists. They argue that theimmediate benefits these ragas offer is mental peaceby alleviating tensions and providing an enchanting andcreative diversion to the mind. Interpretation of the Vedicscriptures on Nada Vidya implies that Shastric Musichelps synergetic augmentation of the panch pranas. Inconcordance, research in energy medicine (pranichealing) and classical music shows that specific shas-tric ragas enhance the level of vital energy. It is the defi-ciencies and disorders in the vital energy distribution inthe mind body system, which is the root cause of its ail-ing state. The smooth and increased flow of vital ener-gy rejuvenates the mind and empowers the immunesystem as well as the auto-regulatory healing mecha-nism of the body. This is how classical music generatesnew hope, joy and enthusiasm in the otherwise dull ordepressed mind and removes the disorders andrelieves one of the untoward pressures and excitementsof inferiority, despair, fear, anger, etc.

It is believed that classical Indian ragas can benefit a whole host of conditions ranging from insom-

nia, high and low blood pressure to schizophrenia andepilepsy. It is believed that there are other ragas thatcan help fight ageing and pain, too. Music is capable ofimproving happiness, peace, health and concen tration.It is however important to know the method and dura-tion for which Music Therapy is to be administered.

This knowledge can be obtained through regularexperiments and experience. The first step towards thisis the correct diagnosis of the disease and then theselection of the precise raga that will be helpful. Proce-dure, discipline and a systematic method will helpachieve this goal.

Singing or engrossed listening of Raga Bhairavi hasbeen found to uproot the diseases of kapha dosha e.g.asthma, chronic cold, cough, tuberculosis, some of thesinus and chest related problems etc. Raga Asavari iseffective in eliminating the impurities of blood and relat-ed diseases. Raga Malhar pacifies anger, excessivemental excitements and mental instability. Raga Sauratand raga Jaijaivanti have also been found effective incuring mental disorders and calming the mind. RagaHindola helps sharpening the memory and focusingmental concentration. It has been proved effective incuring liver ailments.

Music has direct impact on the seven chakras hid-den along the endocrine column and hence affects ourphysical as well as subtle bodies. Each chakra is thesource of energy. Through meditation, we can feel thateach note corresponds to a certain chakra. When theenergy, vibrations and frequency of Indian classicalmusic matchs with the energy, vibrations and frequen-cy of the chakras, they get activated. This inner inte-gration makes a natural path for the kundalini to riseupwards. When rising, the Kundalini nourishes thechakras and provides proper energy to them. Sinceorgans are connected with the chakras, they also getthe proper and adequate energy and so the balance isrestored in the affected organ. Once kundalini finds itspath to rise, it rises and pierces through the fontanelbone area and forms connection with the cosmic ener-gy i.e. power of divine love; it enlightens the brain andactivates all the nerves in the brain which in returnenlighten the heart.

Music is an

age-old part

of Ayurveda,

the holistic

science which

promotes a

happy and

healthy

lifestyle.