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Why power
cuts Assam
burns |
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Saving
the tiger
Implications
of Taliban-type diktats
Love and
loss
Infertile
but not barren
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Assam burns
Thousands
of people displaced in earlier flare-ups in the Bodo-dominated districts of west Assam were yet to move out of relief camps — some even after two decades — and fresh violence over the past week has rendered another two lakh homeless. In the immediate context, the state government failed to respond effectively as the clashes between the Bodos and a large immigrant Muslim population spread, possibly restrained by political considerations. What was sparked by the murder and counter-murder of a few leaders of the feuding groups, became an all-out mayhem simply because there were inadequate security forces deployed in sensitive areas. The Army has been called in now, but much after serious damage to stability. The failure of both the state and Central governments, however, goes back further. The area is governed by the Bodo Territorial Autonomous District Council, which was formed in 2003 as a tool to end the Bodo tribal militancy that had been on since the eighties. The Bodos had long been working — often using violence — to oust what they called illegal immigrant (Muslim) settlers, as well as some other groups from Assam itself. The battle is for limited resources, including jobs. Thus, when a group gains power through violence, it cannot be expected to serve the interests of other communities, especially the ones it was fighting in the first place. For the past few years an atmosphere had been building up for the present violence, with former Bodo militants cornering benefits, including those under government schemes, at the cost of the rest of the communities. The state government looked the other way as extortion and kidnapping rackets spread. Appeasement is a measure often required to put down a crisis at hand. But then it has to be followed by more permanent measures. West Assam never really moved towards economic consolidation after the peace bought 11 years ago. The North-East is a territory inhabited by fractious tribes, many of which have yet to feel fully integrated with the nation. How would they, when the nation turns its head in that direction only when there is smoke rising. It is time the country let the sun rise in the east.
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Saving the tiger The
Supreme Court has come to the rescue of the tigers, nearing extinction, by stepping in to provide a much-needed intervention. The court’s ban on tourism in the core areas of the 39 tiger reserves in India will surely go a long way in ensuring a safe haven for the big cats. By ordering the state governments to notify the core areas immediately, or face penalties, the apex court has batted for tigers. The tiger population has sharply declined from over a lakh to an estimated 1,700 tigers in a century. There is no doubt that in the short term, the measures will have a negative effect on the livelihood of those who relied on tiger tourism, especially in places like Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, and other places that have thousands of rooms built to cater to tiger tourism. However, the proliferation of tourism in areas reserved for forests is widely blamed for disturbing the protected species in habitats that have been reserved for them. Core areas need to be inviolable so that the protected animals can grow in a safe environment. In time, the buffer areas around them will get the overflow where tourists too can be allowed. India has a long commitment for saving tigers, but recent years have shown an alarming decline in the number of tigers and other protected species. It is an international convention that no economic or commercial activities should be allowed in the core areas, and thus the sooner states are made to notify them, the better it will be for saving the tigers. We do need to keep in mind that notifying core areas is but only one of the important steps needed for the preservation of this vital species. Tigers continue to be poached, since tiger body parts are much in demand, especially in neighbouring countries. They are also under threat because people who live near wildlife reserves often intrude into protected areas. While the ban is a good start, more vigorous efforts are needed to protect tigers.
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Be yourself. The world worships the original. — Ingrid Bergman
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Implications of Taliban-type diktats IN Parwan province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, a gunman shoots a woman dead to the delight of a wild crowd. The Taliban had held her guilty of 'adultery' in a kangaroo court. Hundreds of women dared them and came on to the streets in support of the murdered woman. More or less at the same time and at the same distance from India's capital, New Delhi, a Muslim village in UP gives women the Taliban-type diktat not to go to the market without escort, not to use mobile phones and not to have a love marriage. In this case, there is no protest and even politicians prefer to keep quiet. Instead, a khap, a combination of 35 panchayats, endorses the 'furman' (order) while the Supreme Court wants some action against the khap. Something more shocking and scandalous happens at Guwahati, where a 17-year-old girl is molested in public. A local television channel telecasts the incident the whole day. The editor and the reporter of the channel resign when their complicity becomes public. The police is late in taking action and so is Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. The National Commission for Women tarries behind in Delhi until the media points a finger at its indifference. The Senior Superintendent of Police is merely transferred after the demand by the academicians. Not long ago, girls in Pune were asked by the self-appointed custodians of morality not to wear jeans. In Mumbai, a similar force forbids women from going to bars. In Assam, a legislative assembly woman is beaten mercilessly because she marries a Muslim. A nine-year-old girl is killed when a member winning the corporation election fires at random to celebrate his victory. All these incidents may seem unconnected, taking place far away from Afghanistan. Still they have the same pattern of irresponsibility and the same ruthlessness that has distinguished the Taliban from other terrorists. The former want to register their cruelty beyond comparison. Indian civil society, the thinking segment of the nation, remains quiet. There is no evidence of its unhappiness, much less any demonstration. People shrug their shoulders and put the entire blame on the government. The elite does not mention such incidents in their drawing rooms lest they should spoil the mood of the over-dressed, over-fed class. The media reports some incidents but does not pursue them except Arnab Goswami, who is relentless in exposing such horrors and dwelling on them. By announcing that it is against the cricket series between India and Pakistan this December, the Shiv Sena has again shown its same old bias. This organisation is like any other set of fundamentalists who are out to pollute the atmosphere of amity. Some similar organisations and individuals may adversely react to resuming India-Pakistan cricketing ties. Retired players on both sides should voice their protest against those who are trying to sabotage the series that may make even the Pakistani authorities sit up and ponder over the court's rejection of the judicial commission's report on 26/11. The tragedy is that the right thinking people choose to keep quiet and leave everything to the government which has its own policies. The question that the Indians have to ask themselves is: Has civil society become effete because it is afraid of being targeted or is it a victim of the Taliban-type culture where the people have effaced the thin line between right and wrong, moral and immoral? Whatever the answer, the fundamentalists cannot escape the blame. They are brainwashing young men in the name of religion and they are the ones who, in turn, are hijacking society. Even those who feel that there is victimisation of women or the marginalised, they keep quiet lest they should become unpopular in the eyes of fundamentalists. They do not dare to join issue with either a maulvi, a pandit or a granthi. Civil society all over the world represents the nation's conscience. True, it is invariably lost in its own doubts, ifs and buts, but it does assert itself at times. They are the ones who have to call a spade a spade. If they do not - and invariably they don't - they harm the cause and encourage the wrong-doers. Their silence is the loss of society. I have seen that civil society, over the years, has become insensitive. Even the slightest wrong used to create furor, but now it does not care as if cruelty has become part of living. When pushed or cajoled, a segment of society expresses itself but it goes back to its inactivity and slumber when it should be in the field all the time. True, the government should be more vigilant and prompt, but it has got into the habit of making loss and leaving it at that. That is the reason that one sees the law is more violated than adhered to. Martin Luther King has said: The day you see the truth being challenged and you do not speak out is the day when you begin to die. This is probably too high an expectation in a society which is too absorbed in making money by hook or by crook. Yet it is the duty of every person to preserve the fundamental values of a democratic society. He or she must display a degree of vigilance and willingness to sacrifice. Without the awareness of what is right and a desire to act according to what is right, there may be no realisation of what is wrong. The role played by human rights activists is commendable. Thousands of them are working at the grassroots level throughout the country and facing the wrath of extremists on the one hand and the repressive authorities on the other. The success of these activists may be limited as compared to their failures, but the nation should be grateful to them because civil society is complacent and the government-sponsored bodies are on the side of the political party which appoints them. The truth has strayed from the path of righteousness. The activists alone are trying to retrieve the situation but with very little success. Civil society has to put its act together and speak out to be
counted.
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Love and loss Having
grown up during the days when Rajesh Khanna hysteria was a thing of the past, the news of his death passed over me like water on duck’s back. As a colleague gave me this sad bit of information, it did not affect me as it did many others. Of course, unlike Gen Next who can be found quizzing who’s Rajesh Khanna, I was not oblivious to the superstar’s presence. Actually one had seen and appreciated much of his cinema and stories of how he made girls swoon all over him and one had heard from mommy dearest who, of course, was a diehard fan of his. But second hand accounts like all things second hand have little charm and allure. Smitten by Rajesh Khanna, I certainly wasn’t. So, why was it that after my rather placid reaction to the news of his demise, I found myself glued to the television sets. As channel after channel aired clips from his films, like a woman possessed I just couldn’t tear myself away. Every bit of information on the actor who took romance to a crescendo hitherto unheard of I wanted to lap up. The irony of his life struck me like a bolt from the blue. How come the man whose photographs would send girls in a frenzied tizzy didn’t find true love in his own is a question that haunted me almost like a ghost. I sought answers in all that was being written and shown on him. A BBC documentary retrieved out of God knows where, answered it somewhat. As yesteryears columnist Devi who had acid running in her pen and veins remarked in the same documentary, “Actors are such self-centered persons, they have nothing to offer and give to anyone.” In yet another bite she talked of his complexities and insecurities. But my curiosity about the enigmatic star was not satiated and merely gave birth to yet another query. Are superstars different from ordinary mortals? As the footage moved from his super-duper hits to his last advertisement where he appeared to be only a pale shadow of his former self, one could see the journey of not just Rajesh Khanna but of life itself. From start to finish. Why could I suddenly see the life of my own loved ones unfold in the same manner? In their prime and on the decline, and finally dust unto dust. Clearly, superstar or no superstar, nature doesn’t treat people differently. As the funeral procession moved along with his mortal remains lying in a glass casket bedecked with flowers, eyes froze on his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia’s stoic expression. On her face one could see the tragedy of the man who loved and lost and the tragedy of millions of us who need a cruel reminder like death to wake up to the import of significant others in our lives. In our dogged pursuit of the most immaterial, ephemeral things we often forget in the end all that matters is who we loved and who loves us. Suddenly I have found the answer to his dysfunctional relationship with the three women who came in his life. But have I learnt the lesson? Well, as my daughter repeatedly tells me, we all learn from our own
mistakes.
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Infertile but not barren
There is an increasing acceptance of procreation with the help of donor sperms, eggs and surrogacy by infertile couples. Society and law have kept pace with multiple treatment options for even those couples in whom a permanent damage is beyond repair
While the developments in the field are exciting, there are many pertinent questions which have arisen: Why is the incidence of infertility increasing? Is it real or apparent? What are the common reasons for infertility? How can we diagnose and prevent infertility?
Before we go into the causes of infertility, we have to understand the normal process of conception. We can take the simple analogy of the development of a plant. The uterus is like the mother-earth. The hormones, which support and nourish the pregnancy, are like water and fertilisers. The seeds i.e. sperm and ova (eggs) come from father and mother, respectively. The two seeds combine to form an embryo or the sapling. The pituitary gland situated in the brain acts like a farmer — guiding, regulating and helping the whole
process.
Infertility occurs commonly due to the present-day lifestyle factors, many of which are not conducive to pregnancy. The incidence of infertility is rising due to many causes that include delayed childbearing, obesity per se and related disorders, increased sexual promiscuity and sexually transmitted diseases. In males, there is a trend towards decreasing sperm count. Obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, mental stress, air and chemical pollutants and use of electronic devices etc. are generally some of the reasons associated with the problem.
How to approach
the problem Before opting for treatment, appropriate investigations are essential to know the cause of infertility:
Of these issues, obesity is one factor which has a serious and direct bearing on fertility. In addition to infertility, obesity is an important contributory cause of poor success of treatment, abortions, and malformations in baby and an adverse pregnancy outcome. Many of these problems can be reversed by losing weight.
Ovarian problems All females are endowed with a fixed quota of eggs by birth. There are roughly 3,00,000 eggs at birth, out of which only 300 finally mature and are released for fertilisation during the whole menstrual life span of a woman (age 12-50). The rest of the eggs die a pre-programmed death at the rate of 3,000-5,000 per month. Contrary to common misconception, the fertile life span of women (age 18-40 years) is much shorter than the menstrual lifespan. Even in this age group, the rate of fertility declines to less than 50 per cent of the younger age. Decreased ovarian reserve due to delayed child-bearing has become the single most common or contributory reason for infertility and the reason for poor outcome in urban societies. No matter, how healthy a woman remains one cannot stop the ageing process of the ovaries.
Polycystic ovarian disease PCOD, as polycystic ovarian disease is commonly known as, is a dysfunction of ovaries. Almost 20-30 per cent of women with infertility have this problem. This is related to genetic factors and obesity. Any gain in weight in a genetically predisposed individual can lead to abnormal hormonal function, menstrual anomalies and abnormal ovulation. A lifestyle which is conducive to an optimal weight is the only available treatment which is likely to restore normal menstruation and ovulation. However, pregnancy can be achieved with the help of fertility hormones.
Pituitary problem Presence of tumour-like conditions in the master gland pituitary, or in other areas of brain, tension, mental stress, anxiety — all interfere with the hormonal control and menstrual cycle and may affect the normal ovulation process. The ovaries may be absent by birth, removed or destroyed by surgery, disease or toxic treatment related to life-threatening diseases like cancer. Most of these problems, except age, can be treated with fertility medicines. However, 30 per cent of these cases will also require in-vitro fertilisation procedures.
TB trauma
The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is increasing worldwide and with that genital tuberculosis is also rising. Genital tuberculosis is generally silent and asymptomatic. Even if healing occurs with the help of body’s own defences or with medicine, there is a significant impact or scarring of the tubes. In severe cases even the ovaries or the uterus may get involved. Treatment is successful in reversing infertility only in cases where there is early detection. The IVF is the only successful treatment for all cases of tubal block or dysfunction. Endometriosis, responsible for almost 10 per cent of infertility is a tumour-like condition, which occurs due to implantation of the lining of uterus in abnormal positions. The most common sites are ovaries and the lining of the female pelvic organs. These result in abnormal chemical composition of peritoneal fluid, severe adhesions of pelvic organs, destruction of ovarian tissue and abnormal function of both ovaries and tubes. This is a progressive disorder. There are adverse consequences on the wellbeing and fertility. A woman may have progressive pain during menses or throughout the menstrual cycle. She may have bleeding problems. Infertility in such women is difficult to treat. Most of these women require IVF treatment which should be done early.
Uterus and endometrium
Uterus is the muscular organ which increases from a lemon size in the non-pregnant state to one and half foot long when carrying the growing baby. In addition to protection, it also supplies the foetus with nutrients through maternal blood for nine months. Finally, the uterus helps to deliver the infant at term. All these active functions can be impaired if there is any tumour like conditions e.g. moderate to big-size fibroids or infections like
tuberculosis.
Unexplained infertility
There is a large subset of nearly 20 per cent of infertile couples where no cause can be detected in both partners despite extensive workup. Here, the defect lies at the functional or biochemical level, which is neither possible to diagnose with current workup techniques nor required. The treatment remains with IVF in the most of these couples. Unexplained infertility in young couples is as bad as infertility due to any other cause. If pregnancy is not occurring at the best of age, the chances decreases with the growing years. The IVF is indicated after three to five years of unexplained infertility in young couples also. In conclusion, the first step to treat infertility is the elucidation of all contributory causes in both the partners. It takes two to make a baby. There may be one or multiple causes in one partner or both the partners. Treatment has to be tailored according to the age, cause of infertility and duration of infertility. Too much, too little, too early and too late are all counter-productive in management of infertility. If a treatment modality fails for three to four treatment cycles — the same is unlikely to succeed. Spontaneous pregnancies are still possible. Unnecessary and futile treatment especially surgical is more harmful than no treatment. It is better to opt for IVF or adoption in such cases.
The writer is a Chandigarh-based fertility specialist
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The fecundity rate per month for any individual couple is only about 15-20 per cent. Infertility is defined only if a conception fails to occur despite unprotected intercourse for more than 12 months. Conception may occur even in the presence of apparent milder problems. Therefore, investigations and treatment before one year are generally counter-productive. At the same time, the duration of infertility of more than three years has a negative impact. In older couples, investigations and treatment should be started early. 
Fallopian tubes are the connecting passages, which pick up the eggs from the ovary with active suction, support it until it is fertilised with the sperm, nurtures the very early embryo for two days and even moves it to the uterus for implantation by wave-like movements. Any blockage in both the tubes is an absolute barrier to fertilisation. Even with the open tubes, the functions of egg pick-up, nutritional support of early embryo and embryo transport to uterus may be compromised in certain cases, blockage or dysfunction may occur due to infections like tuberculosis, post-abortal or post-partum infections and sexually transmitted
diseases.
The abnormal shape of uterus by birth, operations or abortions may interfere with the process of implantation, growth of baby or full enlargement of the uterus and infertility, abortions or pre-term births