Goans have forgotten or ignored the essence of healthy living and the goodness of manual labour; it is time to choose between wealth and clean environment
Although the universe was born about 13.7 billion years ago and our own solar system came into existence around 5 billion years ago, with our sun being the star around which nine planets revolve and rotate around their own axis. The purpose of this essay is not to outline the finer aspects of cosmic sciences in its eternity and splendour but to connect man the social animal with the viruses, many believe is the origin of life on this “human universe”.
Yes, as human beings we have inhabited the earth for nearly 80,000 years as homo sapiens. Again, I am avoiding digressing into the life history, culture and the role of Neanderthals and Homo Erectus, which provides us an understanding of how the universe works.
As Indians by and large and as Goans our tryst with viruses is as ancient as our human recorded history. Little do we know that early man on the Indian subcontinent loved and respected Mother Earth and unwittingly that included the viruses too. In my earlier essay on virology, I had dealt briefly on the aspects of the crystallisation of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Although we attribute to Jenner, the discovery of the cowpox vaccine, we conveniently and callously ignore that our forefathers used to inhale smoke. Again, I am not going to delve into details about finer aspects of immunological science, as to how our body responds to the viral antigens by producing specific antibodies. The art of preparing vaccines and using it to induce an immune response is in itself a complex medical science. However, I would impress upon my readers our forefathers inhaled and smoked several weeds, shrubs, leaves not only as a force of addictive habit to opiate drug use but as a source of traditional ancient medicine.
Our ancestors and the viruses played the game of hide and seek to perfection and the traditional epidemiology was totally ignored by our historians, except human history. Our ancestors and our forefathers left us and handed over to us a wealth of information that we have treated with scant respect. Let me justify with just one more example. Not a very long time ago, our grannies used to hang sausages over the chullas or stoves using firewood. We have failed to understand the science of food preservation applied by our
forefathers when there was no refrigeration.
We in Goa have totally forgotten or ignored the essence of healthy living and the goodness of manual labour. We gulp allopathic drugs, tablets, syrups at a drop of hat and forgot that our body has well-oiled machinery for its defence.
We elect dopes to be our MLAs and our Health Minister only invests our taxes in medicines, which are discarded and dumped in garbage heaps, thus increasing microbial resistance to drugs. Do we realise that with each passing day the incidences of cancers are increasing by leaps and bounds? I have been losing friends, much younger to me. Last, I was upset that Georgie Mascarenhas from Panjim died few days ago of pancreatic cancer. Sadly we concentrate on nothing to proactively fight the scourge of cancer.
Once a person is dead all is forgotten until the next tragedy strikes. I cannot help but assert that Georgie was hail and robust until just two months ago. He entertained me profusely, singing at Sabores de Goa where I used to meet him over the dinner table. He was kind yet an angry young man as he knew well that Goa was going under environment decay. Neither of us realised that in two months his melodious voice would be history and I would lose a friend who always egged me on in my fights against environmental degradation. I did not bring out Georgie’s untimely demise as an obituary reference but to question Goans, whether we have learned anything. We know that viruses in Goa are having a field day. It is not only coughs, colds, pneumonia, hepatitis, encephalitis, monkey fever, SARS, coronavirus, dengue, etc.
We do autopsies, postmortem and give decent burials. Isn’t it a challenge for us to evaluate and determine the exact role the viruses in Goa play on our physiology? Even, the role of adulterated food on rising incidences of cancers is
ignored.
We must acknowledge that viruses on our planet are at least 2000 million years old. Pathogenic viruses have to be handled on scientific lines. Shockingly, we build memorials, statues, concrete jungles and call it development. All this is bad governance as the men we elect are incompetent to handle the challenges of medical science and health needs of our society. Goa has kala bhavans, numerous engineering colleges, industrial estates, and casino culture but not a single electron microscope to study viruses infecting and affecting Goans. The study of virology is complex. There are single or double-stranded RNA or DNA viruses.
Let alone the need to understand the mechanism of genetic control of the human cellular mechanism by the viruses, we do not know the morphology of the viruses that infect our pancreas, lungs, intestines, etc. Viruses are extremely small living matter or particles measured in size in millimicrons. These are only seen in an electron microscope – both the transmission as well as the scanning electron microscopes. The coronavirus, for instance, is a spherical particle with a single strand of RNA coiled in a spherical capsid of structural proteins, which give the virus a dazzling crystalline look. They remind us of crystalline salts of metals, which also look very attractive. There are spikes on the viral outer protein membrane which have the capacity to attach themselves to the mammalian cell surface and inject the viral RNA genome into even the human cell and allow it to navigate to the host (victim) genome which results in diseases such as cancers and physiological malfunctioning. Although Goans are victims of viral epidemiology which has absolutely no knowledge or institutions to counter viral pathogenesis.
Often cancer is detected only when metastasis sets in and organ failures occur. We are far behind. We in Goa have not even seen how a virus looks like. Wake up Goans, we have been extremely selfish and self-centred. We are happy making money by destroying our environment. We will have to take a hard call whether we would like to remain a society full of statues, samadhis and polluting infrastructure or clean and green Goa with hospitals, clean rivers and pure air.
