letters
With No Cure In Mind
KOCHI George Jacob : This is with reference to your cover story No Cure Yet For That Buzz In The Ear ( March 5 ). The last chapter has not been written yet in neuropsychiatry textbooks , thanks to the rapid turnover of information and changes in therapeutic i nterventions due to research . It ’ s too early for profit-seeking pharmaceuticals to jump into the fray ! This specialty has to be given time to find its place on an evolved scientific mooring .
NEW DELHI P . Kumar : I read all the articles on mental health in the current issue of the magazine . They were useful and informative and almost offered a holistic picture . But I wish you had included a pager or two on the various therapies and steps one can take to stay mentally healthy , there surely have been some positive development there .
PATTAMBI V . N . K . Murti : This refers to your story on dementia ( If The Brain Withers ). My mother is suffering from dementia . She nurtured eight children and was very active even in her seventies . But , her brain took the toll from the drugs she took for diabetes . She has some vivid memories of her childhood but forgets who came home yest erday to meet her . “ But you can still live well with dementia ,” says a line from the article . Yes , you can . Mother is doing just fine , but she has to pop several multivitamin tablets and medicines in that state .
ON E-MAIL Arindam Chatterjee : Your article on dementia caught my eye . My father succumbed to Alzheimer ’ s disease ( AD ) after fighting it for four years . I was looking after him in all those years . He was treated by good neurologists in Kolkata , but they all said that Alzheimer ’ s had no cure as of now . My experience with my father
March 5 , 2018
prompted me to write a small manual for the care givers called ‘ A TO Z care for Alzheimer ’ s patients ’. I am now making a documentary on the subject to spread awareness .
Incorrigible Anarchist ON E-MAIL M . C . Joshi : As Delhi CM , Arvind Kejriwal has never cared for norms of governance — leave alone the recent skirmish with chief secretary Anshu Prakash ( Long Rope Curls Into Tight Tape , Mar 5 ). He has been at loggerheads with the Centre , LG , bureaucrats and even the municipal heads , all the time blaming others for his own failures . Prakash , in his police complaint , said the CM ’ s advisor had phoned him three times on February 19 to inform him about that night ’ s meet . So much for the nagging nature .
ON E-MAIL Ganesh Hedge : The country ’ s constitution lets the judiciary , legislature and bureaucracy work within their allotted powers . Crossing the line will result in an administrative breakdown , which has become Delhi ’ s recurring problem post-AAP . On top of it now , the ruling party is itself allegedly indulging in goondagiri — and , still worse , playing the victim . The perpetrators of crimes must be booked .
SECUNDERBAD K . R . Srinivasan : The CS episode continues to linger what with AAP spokesman Ashutosh blaming the Lt Governor for not acting on complaints of attacks on its two leaders . What ’ s more , even CM and his deputy , who were eye witnesses to the episode , have conveniently shifted the blame on to the Opposition BJP !
ON E-MAIL Buddhadev Nandi : No matter what , no CM should summon the CS in his residence at midnight — unless the matter is to discuss something very urgent . By the government ’ s own revelation , there ’ s been a delay in ration disbursal . So , why not wait till the next morning ? No wonder , even the food and civil supplies minister chose to gave it a miss !
ON E-MAIL Mahesh Kataria : The present case shows something more than is in public view . That the Delhi Government has been limited by the Centre in the past is not hidden from anyone . The Delhi government has been pushing development particularly in the fields of education , health , bijli , pani etc . So , bureaucrats who have been working overtime to deliver for AAP , are bound to feel pressured . If an assault happened , it should be unequivocally condemned , but there is a lesson in all this for bureaucrats as well .
Stolen Goods ON E-MAIL Deepak Dang : This is apropos Outlook ’ s story on the PNB one-liner
PUNE Anil S .
The infinitely complex human brain should skip the whole pill routine and look for alternatives .
6 OUTLOOK 19 March 2018