Now that the mammoth is extinct, the elephant is the largest animal on land. But going by the recent breakthroughs in cloning this may not remain the case in future. Recent moves in cloning the Tasmanian tiger, long thought to be extinct, is paving way for more cloning and reproduction of the extinct or endangered species. A few years back, a mammoth's remains were extricated in excellent conditions in Siberia. If the DNA of any such well-preserved mammoth is found to be cloning-worthy, the mammoth might again dwarf the elephant on Earth and come back in a totally different ecosystem this time. Aided by advanced computers, scientists will be able to repair the broken links in the damaged DNA strands of extinct species.

On the other hand, therapeutic cloning holds a lot of promise as a cure for some of the most intractable human maladies. Rita Hayworth, Jonathan Swift,Ronald Reagan, Mark Twain and Ralph Waldo Emerson all died from Alzheimer's disease, but for those living with the dementia, the stem cell research may one day indeed bring in cure. Stem-cells, the precursors of the specialized organ cells, could be cloned to multiply in large numbers and then be allowed to grow into specialized organic cells, thus offering hope to tens of thousands of subjects of Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, organic brain or spinal-cord damage, diabetes mellitus, degenerative myopia or any disease originating out of cellular degeneration. Stem cells could one day be designed to grow into body organs, thus making the horizons bright for the patients with heart or kidney failure. Hair cells could be cloned and could one day emerge as a cure for alopecia. Such immense possibilities exist, but how long will it take to translate them into reality? It is a mammoth question. Politicians must do whatever it takes to ensure the development of such technologies that would be available at humanity's disposal to mitigate the intractable diseases.

Kishore da had a very wide repertoire. He sang all types of songs with equal panache. My personal favs are those which are of sombre thought (example: the video posted here) or the ones that are of inspirational sort. He will surely be missed by generations to come.

What brings me in this context? No way, I am a match for Phelps in terms of his swimming abilities but whenever there is a talk of swimming I begin to dote on the good ol' days when I would swim a lot along with my childhood buddies. It was the central passion in my life in those days. I grew up in a small town, where there were no swimming pools or trainers, but there was a surfeit of wells, lakes and rivers everywhere, and if there was someone in town who did not know how to swim, he was surely reckoned as a timid and lazy guy. We even swam in wells that were known to be haunted by ghosts (such stories abound in countryside). But, every time I swam, I developed sinusitis and pulsating headaches, so I had no option but forsaking swimming a few years ago.

Recently, we had been to a huge hydroelectric project. Surely, the reservoir water was very beckoning. Swathed only in innerwear, I plunged into the water, something that I had not done in years. But, I could barely swim beyond a few meters, seriously wanting in stamina, a sequalae of a sedentary lifestyle. Plus, the water was very turbulent too, in a literal sense. So, I confined myself close to the edge rather than attempt something extravagant. This time exultant though, I returned with a bout of cold. Never underestimate the art of swimming even though it may be easy to acquire it after a little practice. Some people who do not know swimming think it is a child's play and they enter into deep waters, often to the serious detriment of their lives. Swimming is like driving. If you don't know how to do it, just don't do it. It is as simple as that. Ishmeet, a budding singer of 'Voice of India' fame, perished while swimming. If you're a poor swimmer, do it only under supervision. Initially, use swimming paraphernalia like inflated tubes or ropes to give an extra feeling of safety. Don't try to swim in swift currents as in canals even if you are very proficient in swimming.

Bollywood has all along included the sequence of swimming in almost every film's plot to display the supple hams and cleavages of the heroines. But, even for the bourgeois class as for anyone else, swimming is the most ultimate form of exercise. It takes away the abdominal flab like no other exercise does, if done regularly. No wonder, in the Western countries, even pregnant women swim. The whole experience of being in water gives the body a very unique sensation. Water is one of the forces of nature and as with other forces of nature, it commands respect. Its fury and ferocity can be seen in times of calamities such as floods or tsunamis.

Uska milna dushwar bahut tha

Jo na tha mere hathon ki lakeeron mein

Uss shaqs se mujhe pyar bahut tha

Jiss ko na tha mera hal-e-dil maloom

Uss shaqs ka mujhko intezaar bahut tha

Na chahte huve bhi bhula diya usay humne

Kya karte iss baat pe uska israar bahut tha

English translation:

Whose proximity was such soothing

Yet, a rendezvous with whom well nigh impossible,

Alas! The One who was not destined to be mine

I harbored copious love for her

The one who was unwary of the state of my heart

I waited interminably for her

Had to abandon her thoughts, though reticently

'twas upon her insistence that it had to be this way.

True that men are exempt from what a woman's life is fraught with: inherent responsibilities, trials and tribulations (some of them "man" made while some are natural). For instance, the woman who is unable to conceive suffers angst at the hands of both the society and herself too, even though the defect may not necessarily always be hers. And even the bliss of motherhood comes at a cost: the awful pangs of motherhood and the unsightly stretch marks.

Talking of the boisterous claims about the liberation of women in the West, the trend is somewhat shady presently, even in the egalitarian set-ups of the West, where some detractors claim that the women are being touted as mere objects to promote consumerism. Isn't the tritely talked about liberation of women, just emblazoning women on billboards, while for the majority of them there is a very sombre outlook? Ironically, these societies are the ones who make a clamorous hue and cry for women's rights. Today, such numerous movements directed at women's liberation in the West have assumed a new idiom: unstable marriages. The result is that marriages there are more brittle, and are likely to snap up at the slightest of instance, and women are increasingly deciding to the go the lone path, shunning marriage. In the West, it may be slightly more convenient for a woman to walk out of a sour relationship, than in a country like ours, where a woman may endure battering all throughout her life, rather than risk a divorce, and hopelessly condemned to lead a pitiable existence.

A few Miss World and Miss Universe titles in tandem for India seemed more of a Western plot to promote cosmetics' culture in India, and do not reflect anything about the majority of the society. Subsequently, there are beauty pageants mushrooming in every nook and corner of the country. Even now, when India's computer techies are much sought after globally and her economy booming, more and more women are being seen at the helm of say a convertible Mercedes(the Bollywood style), the irony could not be starker for a large section of women who still have to go through horrendous atrocities in marital relationships. Agreed that there is an ever growing section of urban college-going Lolitas daring to flaunt the cleavage, unmindful of what lies ahead when they have to finally tie the connubial knot, but in the rural countryside things are still very grim for any girl. How justifiable is it to celebrate liberation of women, and how can the pageants be a yardstick of the state of the society, when in fact when there is no perceptible change in ground-reality for most of the women, even now in India? An infinitesimal number of women make it into the glitz and glamour of modelling and catwalks, while a majority of women struggle daily with their traditional roles, mundane tasks actually, thrust upon them by the society. A recent survey in India divulged the shocking truth that almost 40% of women are assaulted by their spouses. Even though wife-battering is a phenomenon that defies man-made borders, still, in the patriarchal mores of the several so-called third world countries, it may be the case that women happen to be victims of spousal abuse on a much larger scale than in developed countries, but the abuse in such countries can be attributed to poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, and the need of the hour there is the education of women, as a means of fortifying themselves for any eventuality in their lives.

The true liberation of the women in countries, where abuse of women is rampant, it would require nothing less than a complete makeover in social perception and getting rid of deep-running prejudices in the society. It is a complex issue that has no simple answers, like a maze that leads to nothing but obfuscation

Hai gham kuch aisa ki bataya nahi jaata.
Hai dard kuch aisa ki saha nahi jaata.
Andhero ki padh gayi hain aadat hamen.
Ujalo ki chah na rahi.
Har simt se uthte hain kaale ghanere sayen.
Kyon bhala pasand hoga mujhe

Koi mayoosi bhara khayal

Par kya karoon aata nahin koi doosra khayal

Majbooryon ne to bas kuch nahi kiya,
Sirf zindagi ko ek tamasha bana diya.

*-*-*

I cannot type in Hindi, which would have otherwise been more apt for readers. I translate it roughly tentatively in English as below:

There is a grief that cannot be shared

And a pain that cannot be endured

So inured to darkness

That I don't long for light anymore

Darkness emanates from all directions

I don't have a penchant for thoughts of despair

But I cannot think otherwise

And it was all courtesy to helplessness

That my life resembles a sideshow.

Just quoting a few lines from a Rafi song, which exhort us to be cool, patient and be content with what is in one's life. For most of us, life may not be exactly as what we want it to be. May be, to most of us, we have more than the usual shares of woes or stresses we have in life. Disappointments will always be there in our life. Important is how we react to them. We cannot change what is ordained for us. What we can change is the perception of an event or incident or things in life.