8/8/2019 04 04 2010 TRAVEL TO RAJSTHN PG 2

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p8The New Sunday ExpressI April 4, 2010

many children from LKG up to Stand-ard VIII assembled before me, primin their dark and light green uni-

forms, complete with sweaters and monkeycaps. How lovely it must be to study in a

school where you can look out the windowand view the silvery peaks of Kedarnath!But they along with the others in the

region take the natural beauty for granted,Kya milega idhar? Vatavaran accha hainbas! remarked a villager. (What can youget here? The environment is good, thatsall.) The morning assembly began withquite a few patriotic songs that the childrensang with gusto. Patriotism has alwaysmoved me. How this one feeling of love con-nects us all.

Besides the Saare Jahan Se Accha andthe national anthem, the students had quitea repertoire of patriotic songs in Hindi.One student had to lead the assembly inEnglish by announcing the date and read-ing from the daily news and ending withthe temperature and weather in Ukhimath.I found myself teaching English, Geogra-phy and World History. Though I dont re-member the lessons, it seemed to be freshin the minds of the students. How did Iknow? Well next year I was at Ukhimath

once again and up came one boy anddropped the names of Mahatma Gandhi,Hellen Keller and Abraham Lincoln. Theywere featured in some of the lessons I hadtaught them!

I took to the children of the school as ifI had known them all along or rather theytook to me ever so easily. After the classe sand the lunch, I got back to my room for alittle sleep. After a cup ofchai at the dininghall there, I set out on a walk through themountain road. Good evening maam! Iheard a little voice call out from an emptyfield where some boys were playing crick-

et. It was one of the students. Soon I had abunch of the m walking with me, posing forphotographs with those mischievous fingerhorns behind their classmates heads.

We ambled up the road and walked tothe Omkareshwar Mandir. The girls showedme the place where Krishnas grandsonAnirudh married the daughter of Banasur,Usha and showed how dropping a coin ortwo at the Vivah Sthal will be a sure wayfor our prayers to be answered.

The cool mountain air, the setting sunglimmering in gold at the peaks of Kedar-nath, the enthusiastic voices of the lovelychildren are among my happiest memoriesof the Himalayas. I felt as if I belongedthere, my home.

at home onthe silverypeaks ofkedarnath

It is termed a chronicgranulomatous diseasebecause it producesinflammatory nodules(granulomas) inthe skin and nervesover time.

leprosy

himalayansojourns

Swahilya Shambhavi

is the editor-in-chief and publisher ofSimply Spiritualweb magazinewww.simplyspiritual.orgShe blogs at www.swahilya.blogspot.com

Leprosy is a disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae that causes damage to the skinand the peripheral nervous system. The disease develops slowly (from six months to 40 years!) andresults in skin l esions and deformities, most often affecting the cooler places on the body (forexample, eyes, nose, earlobes, hands, feet, and testicles). Although human-to-human transmission isthe primary source of infection, three other species can carry and (rarely) transfer M. leprae tohumans; chimpanzees, mangabey monkeys, and nine-banded armadillos.

the disfiguring

numbnessThe majority of cases (mainly clinically diag-nosed) are treated with antibiotics. The rec-ommended antibiotics, their dosages andlength of time of administration are basedon the form or classification of the diseaseand whether or not the patient is supervisedby a medical professional. In general, pauci-bacillary leprosy is treated with two antibi-otics, dapsone and rifampicin, while multi-bacillary leprosy is treated with the sametwo plus a third antibiotic, clofazimine. Usu-

ally, the antibiotics are given for at least sixto 12 months or more. Each patient, depend-ing on the above criteria, has a schedule fortheir individual treatment, so treatmentschedules should be planned by a clinicianknowledgeable about that patients initial di-agnostic classification. Antibiotics can treatpaucibacillary leprosy with little or no resid-ual effects on the patient. Multibacillary lep-rosy can be kept from advancing, and livingM. leprae can be essentially eliminated fromthe person by antibiotics, but the damagedone before antibiotics are administered isusually not reversible. The role for surgery inthe treatment of leprosy occurs after medi-cal treatment (antibiotics) has been com-pleted with negative skin smears (no detect-able acid-fast bacilli) and is often only need-ed in advanced cases.Surgery is with the goal to attempt cosmet-ic improvements and, if possible, to restorelimb function and some neural functions thatwere lost to the disease.

treatment

symptoms prevention

transmission

http://www.medicinenet.com/leprosy/page5.htm

One hour from Lahore is thevillage of Kasur. At the cent-er of the town, just off themain street, is the shrine ofBulleh Shah. He was a much-

loved folk poet whose soulful verses arestill sung by many including the giftedand popular Pakistani singer AbidaParveen, who draws inspiration fromBulleh Shahs poetry. These kafis or poemsare examples of what mystics endeavor todo: simply teach the love of God and theProphet without becoming enmeshed intheological debate. Such verses, written inthe local languages, were a bridge to themasses who were not learned in Arabicand Persian, the languages of the elite.

The layered verses of mystical poetryoperate at several levels. Recognizable folk

legends, imagery, and metaphor represent

the Sufi quest for unity with the Divine.Some kafis remove gender as a divider ofmankind

Bulleh Shah was often known to bein a trance, a state of spiritual bliss at-tained through music and dancing. Hedenied being a either a devout worshipperor a blasphemer. Neither good nor evil, heis seeking the bliss of union with the Be-loved:

Bulleh who am I, what do I know?Neither in mosques an orthodox aco-

lyteNor in any blaspheming riteNor pure amongst the defiled reconditeNeither Moses am I, nor PharoahBulleh who am I, what do I know?

Excerpted from Sacred Spaces:

A Journey with the Sufis of the Indus

Unfortunately, the early signs and symptoms of leprosyare very subtle and occur slowly (usually over years).Numbness and loss of temperature sensation (cannotsense very hot or cold temperatures) are some of the firstsymptoms that patients experience. As the diseaseprogresses, the sensation of touch, then pain, and eventu-ally deep pressure are decreased or lost. Signs that occur,such as relatively painless ulcers, skin lesions of hypopig-mented macules (flat, pale areas of skin), and eye damage(dryness, reduced blinking) are experienced before thelarge ulcerations, loss of digits, and facial disfigurementdevelop. This long-time developing sequence of eventsbegins and continues on the cooler areas of the body (forexample, hands, feet, face, and knees).

LEPROSY OR HANSEN'S DISEASE (HD), NAMED AFTER NORWEGIAN PHYSICIAN GERHARD ARMAUER HANSEN

sacred spacesPakistani artist and educator Samina Quraeshi travels through her homeland in search of diverse Islamicexpressions in Sacred Spaces A Journey with the Sufis of the Indus. Express brings you excerpts

Samina QuraeshiPublisher: PeabodyMuseum Press/

Mapin publishingPages: 280Price: Rs 3,150

SacredSpaces

Researchers suggest that M. leprae are spread person toperson by nasal secretions or droplets. They speculate thatinfected droplets reach other peoples nasal passages andbegin the infection there. Some investigators suggest theinfected droplets can infect others by entering breaks in theskin. M. leprae apparently cannot infect intact skin. Rarely,humans get leprosy from the few animal species mentionedabove. Routes of transmission are still being researched.

Prevention of contact with droplets from nasal and

other secretions from patients with untreated M.leprae infection currently is a way to avoid thedisease. Treatment of patients with appropriateantibiotics stops the person from spreading thedisease. People that live with individuals that haveuntreated leprosy are about eight times as likelyto develop the disease, because investigatorsspeculate that family members have close proxim-ity to infectious droplets. Leprosy is not hereditary.Many people get exposed to leprosy throughoutthe world, but the disease in not highly contagious;researchers suggest that over 95% of exposuresresult in no disease. In the US, there are about200-300 new cases diagnosed per year, with mostcoming from exposures during fo reign travel. Themajority of worldwide cases are found in the trop-ics or subtropics (for example, Brazil, India, andIndonesia). The WHO reports about 500,000 to700,000 new cases per year worldwide, with cur-ing of about 14 million cases since 1985. There isno vaccine available to prevent leprosy. Animals(chimpanzees, mangabey monkeys, and nine-band-ed armadillos) rarely transfer M. leprae to humans;nonetheless, handling such animals in the wild isnot advised.

Somatosensory cortex

Limbic system

Cerebrum

Thalamus

Afferentnerve fiber

Slow,unmyelinatedc-fibers

Afferentnerve fiber

Spinalcord Dorsal

ganglion

Substantiagelatinosa

Synapse

Spinal cord

Brainstem

Reticularformation

Spinothalamictract

Fast, MyelinatedA-fibers

Site ofinjury

Bradykinin

ProtaglandinsSubstance P