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Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Harnessing The Hurricane

Hindustan Times | ByMalavika Sangghvi, Mumbai
Mar 11, 2020 11:59 PM IST

Coronavirus, What you need to know about the Global Pandemic is a book brought out by Penguin Random House which covers various aspects of the disease

“‘Coronavirus, What you need to know about the Global Pandemic’ is a book brought out by Penguin Random House which covers various aspects of the disease,” says Mumbai’s Dr Rajesh M Parikh, director, medical research, hon. neuropsychiatrist at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre and Adj. Prof. at the Carver School of Medicine, Iowa. His author profile in a book of photographs he once published on Kashmir describes him as a poet, painter, photographer, pilot and India’s first and leading neuropsychiatrist who has taught at institutions like Harvard and Yale.

An alumnus of Johns Hopkins School and KEM, Mumbai, Parikh, who is equally at home at a Pink Floyd concert or discussing the tenets of stoicism or studying Sanskrit, found his learning curve vastly extended while on a visit to photograph the elusive tiger in the Sunderbans recently. “We began hearing stories of the Corona outbreak while drifting in the Ganges Delta late January,” he says, adding, “I realised that we had an impending disaster in the making, like one of those hurricanes that periodically batter the Sunderbans.”

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On returning to Mumbai, the first thing he did as a dedicated medical professional was to throw himself into the task of drafting a protocol for Jaslok, so that it would be prepared to effectively deal with the virus, without affecting its other patients and health care workers.

Soon, there arose another task to attend to. Milee Ashwariya, his publisher at Penguin who had long been nudging him to fulfill his promise of a three-book deal, called on a crisp February morning, requesting him to do a book on the virus. It was a no-brainer for Parikh. Having been through two weeks of intense research on it, he agreed; with one caveat: to do justice to the task and meet its crushing 15-day deadline, he would have to enlist the assistance of trusted co- authors. Knowing she was on to something of a publishing coup (no other book on the subject had been announced), Ashwariya gave her nod and Parikh enlisted the help of Dr Swapneil Parikh, his son who is an internal medicine specialist with a keen interest in infectious diseases and Maherra Desai, who has been his long-trusted research colleague.

And what is the good doctor’s prognosis about the coming few weeks? “My co-authors and I have tremendous faith in humanity’s ability to respond to a crisis and emerge wiser and stronger,” he says.

TRUE LIES

The recent arrest of a high-profile banker seems, in hindsight, to have been a chronicle of a crash foretold. For months, F&B circles say they have been watching curiously as one of its members, an experienced hospitality maven has been sending his CV out to potential employers. “Many of us wondered why he would do that, as he seemed to be in a cushy position, heading an exclusive members-only club, allegedly owned by the banker’s kin,” says an insider. “But obviously, he’d seen the writing on the wall of an impending meltdown, long before it became public knowledge.”

Meanwhile, word on Dalal Street is that the almost daily revelations of financial chicanery will impact a variety of industries across the board.

TWEET TALK

Breaking: Congress

— Actor VJ Ranvir Shorey on Tuesday

Mother Courage

One of the more moving posts on the occasion of the recent International Women’s Day was from Delhi-based photographer Samar S Jodha. The artist, who uses film and public art to address social issues such as empowering the girl child, shared a heartfelt tribute to his mother, who hailing from a conservative feudal family from Rajasthan and having been married at the tender age of 15 to a man she hardly knew, had gone on to becoming a pillar of strength to her husband, and their two sons, their guiding beacon of light through three continents and six decades.

Samar S Jodha with his mother

“She picked up local languages wherever she went; once fought off an armed robbery at home; worked with local women support group and the police to rescue abducted girls, hosted a Nobel Prize winner for dinner and because of my father’s job as a high-ranking economist, even met the Queen of England – while wearing a traditional Rajasthani outfit!” said the doting son, adding, “It’s women like my mother and all those women across the planet who are the glue who keep us and the family structure together.”

His mother at her engagement when she was 13.

If this unstinting tribute were not enough, Jodha says that having recently lost his father, he plans to spend the next few months travelling with his mother. “I want to take her back to the homes she set up in America, Africa and various places in India and Nepal,” said the sensitive artist, adding, “My mother didn’t have a normal childhood. I feel whatever I do in my life and social work, may help repay some of my Karmic debt to her.”

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