Nuclear Deal Revisited Part - II

 1 Ratings
July 30th, 2008

In my previous post I had highlighted the Qualitative Requirements (QRs) for the kind of Nuclear Reactors we need to address our growing demands of energy (primarily Electricity) in the face of dwindling non-renewable (read fossil fuel) energy sources and the growing global warming concerns.

In this post I’d like to propose a (proven) Reactor design which is being seriously being considered as the most practical and perhaps the best alternative for future Nuclear power generation. This is the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR for short). I use the word proven since a small (8 Mega Watt) MSR has been successfully operated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA for nearly five year from 1964 to 1969.

A Molten Salt Reactor represents a radical shift from conventional PWR or PHWR reactors. In this the fuel is mixed with a highly reactive salt, namely Fluoride. Salts as we know are solids at room temperature, but when they reach high temperature, the melt and flow like water. However, unlike water (which expands when it freezes i.e. turns to solid), salts do not expand when cooled to solid state. Hence, when a PWR or PHWR has to be operated at very HIGH PRESSURE, the MSR can be operated at much LOWER PRESSURE.

The basic design of a MSR (as Googled from Wikipedia) is as shown below: -

 

The molten Fluoride salt (mixed with Uranium Fuel) is made to flow through the reactor core which has Graphite as the moderator.

The MSR experiment at Oak Ridge has used all the three types of Nuclear Fuels namely Uranium 235, Plutonium 239 and the Thorium U233 types. But it has been found to be most successful with the Thorium Fuel cycle. Since I have proposed that our target Reactor should use Thorium as the fuel, let us first understand how the Thorium Fuel Cycle works.

Thorium Fuel Cycle

Natural Thorium is predominantly available in its Isotope form of Th-232. Like I mentioned earlier, to commence any Nuclear Reaction, we require a source of Neutrons. One of the natural sources which produces Neutrons is Uranium 235. Uranium 235 naturally fissions and releases Neutrons and also energy.

• When Th-232 absorbs a Neutron, it emits a Beta Ray and transforms to another element Proactinium-233 (in about 22 minutes).

• After a period of about 27.7 days, this Proactinium-233 emits another Beta Ray and transforms itself into Uranium 233.

Now, Uranium 233 is an excellent fissile material. It is a far more EFFICIENT fissile material than Uranium 235 or even Plutonium 239. How?

• When Uranium 233 encounters a low energy (thermal) Neutron, there is a 90% chance that it will fission to release energy (i.e. only 10% chance that it will not fission).

• When Uranium 235 encounters a low energy Neutron, there is less than 84% chance that it will fission (i.e. more than 16% chance that it will not fission)

• When Plutonium 239 encounters a low energy Neutron, there is only a 75% chance that it will fission (i.e. around 25% chance that it will not fission).

• As the temperature INCREASES, the fission capability of Uranium 235 or Plutonium 239 DECREASES, whereas the fission capability of Uranium 233 remains unchanged.

In the MSR, in order to maximize the yield of fissile material, the Proactinium-233 which is produced is ‘extracted’ and stored separately (to protect it from Neutron bombardment) for about 27 days when almost all of it is converted to Uranium 233. This is then re-introduced into the MSR as fissile fuel.

Therefore, with a proper mix of Th-232 and Uranium 233, we can sustain a Nuclear Reaction almost continously in the MSR, with Thorium (in the form of Th-232) as the only fuel input.

Looking back at the MSR figure, we see that the molten salt fuel is passed through the Graphite moderator, where the Nuclear Reaction takes place i.e. where the Th-232 or Uranium 233 is made to ‘encounter’ a slow (thermal) Neutron. This will obviously generate energy within the Molten Salt, which will raise the temperature of the salt. In the figure, we can see two Heat-Exchangers which are used to extract the heat of the molten salt and use it to drive a Steam-Turbine. This turbine is coupled to a Generator which is used to generate electricity.

Advantages of the Thorium Fuel Cycle Molten Salt Reactor

Let us try and measure the advantages of this Thorium Cycle Molten Salt Reactor vis-à-vis the Qualitative Requirements which I had spelt out in my last post.

1. Thorium Fuel Based The reactor uses Thorium fuel cycle. India has the second largest Thorium resources in the world.

2. Compact Size & Inherent Safety. To understand how the MSR can be built in compact size, we have to look at two aspects namely, Low Pressure cycle (of Molten Salts) and Inherent safety features of the molten salt. As I described in my last post, in a PHWR or PWR, (as the name suggests) very high pressures are involved. Thus the reactors have to be built with thicker layers of materials. Moreover, to cater for the safety backups, the whole reactor complex has many layers of defenses. In the MSR, the molten salt is at low pressure (hence no danger of explosion). Due to the highly ionic nature of Fluorine, all the transmutation products (of the Nuclear Reaction) combine with the Fluorine and thus keep them out of circulation. The salts do not burn in air or water. The salts also do not dissolve in water. Even if there is leakage of the molten salt (to the atmosphere), it will solidify (due to loss of temperature) and ‘trap’ the radioactive elements inside.

The readers may find it interesting to note, that the concept of Molten Salts for Nuclear Reactors was first thought of in the context of a Nuclear Powered Aircraft Engine (in the same Oak Ridge lab). Now, as we all know, an aircraft engine has to be really compact and light weight. Catch the drift?

2. Less Time Frame to Build and Commission. The compact size and the inherent Safety features will in essence reduce the time-frame to build small, distributed MSRs all over the country.

 

3. Higher ‘Burn’ Efficiency. The ‘burn’ efficiency of the Thorium cycle MSRs has been documented to be of the order of 97% and more. (Just compare that with PWR with an efficiency of only 2% and you can understand what I’m talking about)

4. Manageable Radioactive Residues. Conventional Nuclear Reactors produce residues with Half lives (the period after which the radioactivity level reduces to half) of the order of thousands of years. In case of Thorium cycle MSRs, the majority of the fission residues have half life of less than 100 years. In only about 300 years of storage, the residues will have less radioactivity than the ore from which Thorium was extracted!

5. Flexibility of Fuel Source. As we have seen, the MSR can use all types of fuel including Uranium 235, Plutonium 239 and Th-232. In fact it can also use the Transuranic waste of other reactors and other dismantled weapons etc.

6. Independence from NSG. Obviously, since there is no Fuel Fabrication involved, we don’t need to depend on the NSG for specialized fuel which is used in conventional reactor. In fact this has been listed as a DISADVANTAGE of MSRs since no supplier would be willing to supply ‘unfabricated’ fuel. However, as I said earlier, once a reaction is started in the Thorium cycle with initial fissile material (like Uranium 235), the MSR will generate adequate amount of Uranium 233 to sustain the reaction.

7. Lesser Operating Cost. As far as the operating costs are concerned, I would simply like to quote a study which was conducted in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA in 2001 (http://www.geocities.com/rmoir2003/COE_10_2_2001.doc) which compared the cost of electricity generation in a PWR, Coal based Plant and MSR. The results were 3.8, 4.1 and 4.2 ¢/kWh for MSR, PWR and Coal Plant respectively.

(NOTE: It would be naïve to assume that the MSR Experiment at Oak Ridge did not face any problems and had a smooth sailing. However, it needs to be stated that: -

(a) The MSR itself came about at the culmination of nearly 17 years of research which began in the US in the early 1950’s.

(b) Almost all the problems which the Oak Ridge group encountered were resolved and in any case valuable lessons were learnt which would make any present day MSR that much better.

(c) The numerous advantages far outweigh the few drawbacks which were encountered and corrected)

Where Can I Get My MSR Technology?

Now this is the most interesting question. Further, if this technology is so attractive, why aren’t people using it? The fact is that people are using it. In Japan, a 100 MWe MSR (FUJI) is being built in joint collaboration between Japan, US and Russia.

In any case the expertise of the original MSR of Oak Ridge Lab is available in the US. I have found huge resources on the Internet, which give the Engineering details of the Oak Ridge MSR. Notwithstanding that, can’t we approach the concerned US agencies and BUY the technology?

However, the pertinent question to ask here would be:-

Do we require a Nuclear Deal with the US and the IAEA regime to get this technology from the US?

As per my assessment, the answer to the above question is NO, we did not. Let me elaborate.

The Thorium Cycle MSR is inherently NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION RESISTANT. This means, that if we are using a Thorium Cycle MSR, we CANNOT create Weapon Grade Plutonium! I wrote about the Uranium 233 which we were using as fissile material for the MSR. However, for making Nuclear Weapons we need Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239. Although in the MSR Plutonium 239 is produced in minute quantities, but due to its reaction with the Fluoride Salt it gets converted to non-weapon grade Plutonium. This fact has actually been verified in the MSR Experiment of Oak Ridge Lab.

Therefore, as far as my understanding goes, since the Thorium Cycle MSR is proliferation resistant, we should be able to buy this technology from the US without any Nuclear deal or any IAEA regime to look over our shoulders.

CONCLUSION

In the end, I’m afraid, I have to side with the Left in wondering what the urgency was for the Govt. to rush for the Nuclear Deal? As I have tried to highlight the advantages of the Thorium based MSR technology, which is inherently proliferation resistant, my question is: have we really considered all the aspects of the Nuclear technology which are available to us and are we sure that going with the Indo-US Nuclear deal is the only way to secure our future Nuclear Energy options?

As I had stated in my earlier post on the Nuclear Deal, “If a deal is too good to be true, it isn’t”. I’m looking for a critical rebuttal of this post. I really need to know, that if the Thorium cycle MSR is proliferation resistant, then why can’t India simply buy this technology from the US WITHOUT going for a Nuclear Deal (and also the Inspection regime of the IAEA)?

PS: In my next post I shall frame my response to the terror bomb attacks in the various parts of the country

Posted in Electronics & Gadgets | 24 Comments

Nuclear Deal Revisited - Part I

 0 Ratings
July 28th, 2008

(NOTE: I started writing this post before the Nuclear debate in the Parliament. Since it was getting too long, I’ve split it in two parts.)

 

At the outset I’d like to express my gratitude towards all those who wrote encouraging comments on my last post (which was more like a ‘Note’ than a post).

 

Secondly, I’d like to go on record that the reason I took a long break (i.e. the completion of my Project) is not yet over and hence my ‘hiatus’ got somewhat more extended than what I had imagined.

 

Therefore, I’ve not been able to log on to Ibibo for quite some time now. Not withstanding that, I felt compelled to write this post due to extreme importance the Indo-US Nuclear deal has generated in our Parliament.

 

The battle-lines are very interesting. On one hand we have a PM who is respected by one and all (though not as a wily politician) and on the other side we have the Left who have been pretty consistent with their ideological stand.

 

But if we look a bit beyond the rhetoric, let us ask ourselves a few pertinent questions.

 

1. Why do we need this deal?

 

Well, the proponents of the deal point out that this deal ends the Nuclear Apartheid for India and makes the Nuclear Fuel accessible from not only US but also Russia, France etc. The Left feebly try to point out that even if the deal is completed, the cost of Nuclear Fuel would be at least four times as much as conventional sources like coal and Natural Gas.

 

2. What happens if we don’t get this deal?

 

According to the proponents of the deal, it is the end of the world. “India will lose respect in the eyes of the world” and so on. The opponents (including Vinod Dua of Outlook) point out that Indo-US relations are in any case on such a high that the failure of this deal will have no impact at all.

 

The PM has laid his credibility (and his Govt.) on the line for this deal. The pertinent question is that if we critically examine the motivations behind the deal, is it really worth it?

 

I had commented on this Nuclear Deal in one of my earlier posts (dated 23 August 2007). What I’d like to bring out in this post is some facts that I pieced together (all of it from the Internet) and it sort of builds on what I’d written in my earlier post.

OK, now for some verifiable facts. Presently, only about 2.5% of India’s electricity is generated by about 17 nuclear plants. Even if the deal goes through, it will be nearly a decade when this percentage shifts to say 5% (at a much higher cost than it would take for other conventional/ renewable sources).

Before I move on to the brass-tacks, let me elaborate on a few facts which we need to be clear about to understand the technology involved. These issues are as follows: -

1. How is Nuclear energy generated?

2. What are the various types of Nuclear Reactors in use and what type of reactors are in vogue in India?

3. What is this whole funda about IAEA and Nuclear Proliferation?

How is Nuclear Energy Generated?

First of all let me clarify that I will limit myself to Nuclear Fission (there is also another variety called Nuclear Fusion, but Fission is more common). From High School Chemistry we recall that some Radioactive elements like Uranium have a unique property that apart from radioactive decay, if a Neutron strikes the Nucleus of say a Uranium 235 atom, it splits into two Lighter elements. In the process of splitting, it also releases several more Neutrons and Gamma Rays etc. Now, if you also recall Einstein’s famous equation E = mc² (i.e. Energy is proportional to mass x square of Velocity of light). What makes Uranium 235 such a powerful source of energy is that when it splits into Lighter elements, the sum total of the mass of the two elements is LESS than the mass of the Uranium 235 atom. The balance mass converts to energy (as per Einstein’s equation). Secondly, the excess Neutrons released are free to strike other Uranium 235 atoms and sustain a ‘Chain-Reaction’.

To give you an idea of how much energy is stored in Uranium 235 as compared to say Petrol that we use for our cars: One Pound of Uranium 235 (about 450 grams) has the same energy as MILLION GALLONS of PETROL

The energy that is released during splitting of each Uranium atom is converted to heat. Using ‘Heat-Exchangers’ this heat is converted to Electricity (say by converting water to Steam and using Steam-Turbines to generate Electricity).

Various Types of Nuclear Reactors

Interestingly, there are more designs of Nuclear Reactors than there are types of Combustion Engines (the ones used in our automobiles). To date there are more than 900 working Nuclear Reactor designs.

The common aspect in almost all fission reactors is that a ‘Controlled Chain Reaction’ is created to generate heat. This heat is tapped using ‘Heat Exchangers’ like say water which turns to steam. The steam is used to rotate Steam Turbines which generates Electricity.

The difference stems from the type of Nuclear Fuel which is used and the way the Nuclear Reaction is initiated.

Pressurized Water Reactors. More than 60% of the commercial reactors in the world use Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). It uses solid fuel (i.e. Enriched Uranium 235) and control rods (which slows down the Nuclear Reaction like Boron or Cadmium). The Coolant used is normal Water which is kept pressurized so that even at 300 degrees, it still flows as a liquid.

Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR). These reactors use Heavy Water (Deuterium Oxide – Deuterium is an Isotope of Hydrogen) as a moderator to slow down the speed of Nuclear Reaction. The main difference between PWR and PHWRs is that unenriched Uranium can be used in PHWRs whereas PWRs used enriched Uranium.

Incidentally, this PHWR technology was first developed by Canada since USA did not share with them the technology for enriching Uranium. Most of the civilian Nuclear Reactors in use in India are of this PHWR type since India bought the first Nuclear Reactors from Canada and then reverse-engineered the process to make their own Reactors.

Fast Reactor v/s Thermal Reactor. Most of the reactors (including the ones described above) are also typed as Thermal Reactors since they ‘slow down’ the “fast” (or high energy) Neutrons which are released during Fission by use of Moderators. In a Fast Reactor, the fuel is highly concentrated Uranium/ Plutonium and no moderator is used so the fast Neutrons are used to sustain the chain reaction. The absence of moderator means that the Reactor Size is more compact, but the requirement of more enriched Uranium is a handicap since Uranium enrichment is not easy.

Breeder Reactors. A Nuclear Reactor which produces more fissile material than it uses is called a Breeder Reactor. Incidentally, all Nuclear Reactors produce some kind of fissile material in the end. But in a Breeder reactor the usable fissile material is much higher than the initial fissile material which was used. There are two types of Breeder Reactors (based on the Reactor types described above) namely: -

(a) Fast Breeder Reactor. This type of Reactor uses “Fast Neutrons” to produce Plutonium 239 which can be reused as Nuclear Fuel. The interesting part is that although initially to start the reaction Plutonium and enriched Uranium 235 is required, once the reaction starts, one can use the Nuclear waste from dismantled Nuclear Weapons to continue the reaction.

(b) Thermal Breeder Reactor. In this type of reactor, we don’t require any “Fast Neutron”. Starting with a little bit of enriched Uranium or Plutonium we can start producing Uranium 233 from Thorium. Uranium 233 is a Nuclear Fuel since it loses a Neutron to reduce of Uranium 232.

Nuclear Proliferation and IAEA

By using Fast Breeder Reactors, one can develop enough enriched Uranium and Plutonium to make Nuclear Weapons. In fact most of the raw material for the Nuclear Weapons that are available with the countries that possess them have been developed by this route.

Therefore, obviously, the technology for enrichment of Uranium is closely guarded under a Non-Proliferation regime. As we have seen above, in case of PWRs and PHWRs, we require a little bit of enriched Uranium to kick-start the Nuclear reaction. The issue is that, that as a result of the reaction, the ‘spent’ fuel can be reprocessed to produce Weapon-grade Plutonium.

Hence, we have a Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) who have the technology to ‘enrich’ Uranium. And then we have the IAEA, which is the International Inspectorate which ensures that the fuel that the NSG supplies are not ‘misused’ to produce Weapon-grade Plutonium. Therefore, the IAEA Inspectors measure the fuel which is supplied and also measure the ‘spent’ fuel which is to be returned back to fuel supplier.

India’s Present Status

India has not signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is not under the Inspection regime of IAEA. This means that on one hand we cannot avail the little bit of enriched Uranium which is required for us to go beyond the PHWRs and build more efficient Light Water Reactors etc. But, it also means that we are free to develop our own Nuclear energy and Nuclear Weapons as we see fit.

The fact that we have conducted two Nuclear tests (in 1974 and 1996) despite the international Nuclear denial regime is a tribute to our Nuclear scientists who have created weapon grade Plutonium without any outside help.

Type of Reactors for India’s Growing Energy Demands

One thing for which the PM deserves due credit is that he recognized Nuclear Energy as the future source to bridge the gap between the growing demand for energy and the dwindling non-renewable resources like Oil, Coal, Gas etc. However, let us critically analyze what should be the type of Nuclear Reactor which should be used to meet India’s growing demands for Electricity. Without going into the specifics of the fuel type etc., in my opinion, the reactors should have the following attributes: -

(a) Thorium Based. The reactors should use Thorium fuel, since India has the second largest Thorium resources in the world.

(b) Small Compact Distributed Reactors v/s Large Reactors. The choice between small compact Reactors v/s large widely dispersed Reactors is a simple one to make. We need to go in for small compact reactors simply to reduce the Transmission and Distribution Losses as well as reduce the cost, complexity and increased time-frame of building huge reactors.

(c) Less Time Frame to Build and Commission. If we are to make the transition to Nuclear Energy for our Electricity needs quickly, we need to build the Nuclear Reactors pretty fast. The conventional PHWRs that we use today will take probably a decade from to be built and commissioned. We need to look for other alternatives which are quick to build and deliver.

(d) Safety Features. Now, one of the reasons why Nuclear Reactors take a long time for building is the due to the multi-layered safety features which have to be in-built into the design. Therefore, the alternate design which we are contemplating should be inherently safer than the conventional design.

(e) Higher ‘Burn’ Efficiency. The ‘burn’ efficiency (i.e. what percentage of fuel is used up completely to produce energy) of conventional PWR or PHWRs is not very high. For PWRs it is only about 2%. Obviously, we need reactors which provide much higher burn efficiencies.

(f) Manageable Radioactive Residues. In conventional Nuclear Reactors, the issue of radioactive residues which are left over is the biggest headache. The radioactivity level is sufficiently high and so is the Half-Life (the period after which the radioactivity level reduces to half) which is of the order of thousands of years. Obviously, we need a Reactor which leaves us with less radioactive residues and with Half-Life of much lesser period.

(g) Flexibility of Fuel Source. It is obvious that a Reactor which has the flexibility to use a variety of fuel sources including the Transuranic wastes (waste left-overs of other reactors or dismantled Nuclear weapons), Enriched Uranium, Plutonium etc. is preferable over Reactors which are dependant on fixed fuel types.

(h) Independence from NSG. One of the apprehensions that has been expressed by the opponents of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal has been that our civilian Nuclear program would become dependant on the NSG. Simply speaking, the dependence would shift from Oil to Nuclear Fuel. Few people are aware that Nuclear reactor suppliers derive their long-term profits from fuel fabrication. Obviously, any reactor which does not use ‘fabricated’ fuel will be less expensive to run and hence preferred.

(j) Lesser Operating Cost. From the financial point of view this is the most important. The operating cost should be at par or lower than the cost of producing electricity from say Coal or other conventional power plants.

Since this post is getting too long, in my next post I shall spell out the my proposal for a (proven) Reactor design which meets all the Qualitative Requirements (QRs) which I have spelt out above.

Posted in Computers & Technology | 10 Comments

Hiatus

 12 Ratings
May 6th, 2008

I have seldom taken a long break from Ibibo blogs, but I guess I’ll HAVE to take a longish break for more than a month now, due to the pending completion of my project (at which I’ve been working for more than two years now).

In any case, with the diminishing readership of my post, I don’t think it makes much of a difference here. Notwithstanding that, I’m putting up this post to inform those who still visit my blogspace.

 

PS: I will try my best to visit my fellow bloggers posts that I really enjoy.

Posted in My Life | 30 Comments

The Dopamine Principle - Part II

 5 Ratings
May 4th, 2008

In my last post, I had introduced the concept of Dopamine as a natural Hormone which acts as a ‘reinforcer’ for positive memories; for memories which sort of fulfill our ‘basic instincts’.  

 

I had also proposed a Hypothesis called “Dopamine Principle” that all of us need our daily Dopamine ‘fix’ and we try to compensate for it one way or the other. That is the reason why many times people in unhappy relationships tend to eat more. Eating gives a Dopamine release, which somewhat compensates for the lack of Dopamine release due to the failing relationship. Yes, there could be a stage when one totally gives up trying to compensate for the lack of Dopamine, and that is where people fall truly into depression and might even lead to suicide.  

 

Searching For Solutions 

My premise is very simple. We all need our daily Dopamine fix, and if we can’t get it one way, we try to compensate it some other way. And since fulfilling of our basic instincts leads to huge Dopamine release, we are driven (without conscious thought) towards fulfillment of our basic instincts.  

 

That is the reason women spend so much time and effort trying to look pretty, and that is also the reason why men can’t help staring (and fantasizing) about pretty women. 

 

The solution in my opinion is also very simple. Just alter the way we get our Dopamine fix, and we can alter a lot of behaviour patterns. For example, in a recent Survey, it was found that men who were given challenging jobs and lot of praise for doing those jobs, were happy to do them for lesser salary. Which means that the challenge and the praise (for successful completion) acted as a greater Dopamine releaser than higher salary.  

 

Similarly, smart HR people, who want to cut down the attrition rate in the Corporate world, make sure the staff has a fair share of attractive women. For men, talking to attractive women and getting their praise/ adulation is also a big Dopamine releaser.  

 

Many Corporates also have a ‘dating allowance’ (which they will never admit officially), meaning that the ‘hard-working’ Executive can go out on a Date, though not necessarily with his spouse.  

 

Just like many of the Corporates have worked out the ‘right’ way to provide their star performers with their Dopamine fix, perhaps other Employers like the Police all need to follow suit, to curb the lawlessness and animal instincts amongst its ranks. 

 

Similarly, say people suffering from Obesity, can opt for a change in lifestyle. This can be a combination of exercise (like running, which according to another study, produces its own ‘high’ (read Dopamine release)) and praise from close friends/ relatives on losing weight, which again releases Dopamine.  

 

Meditation.   I can’t help adding my views on meditation here. Meditation is a very powerful tool in ‘tempering’ the mind. In my opinion, Meditation helps us to reduce our craving for the Dopamine release. Therefore, there is no doubt that those who can incorporate meditation into their daily lives, will have a much fulfilling and richer experience in general, and be less dependant on the daily Dopamine ‘fix’. After all Dr. Kiran Bedi tried it with the Tihar Jail inmates (Vipassana meditation) with stupendous success. 

 

Conclusion 

When I was in High School, I read a couple of bestsellers in Psychology namely “I’m OK, You’re OK” (by Thomas A Harris) and “Games People Play” by Eric Berne. In psychology, there’s a term called ‘stroking’. It does not mean actual stroking, but simply interaction which comforts a person. Something like say a Mother singing a lullaby to her baby. Babies which do not get adequate ‘stroking’ in their childhood, are more likely to turn to crime and violence as they grow up.  

 

Even as adults, ‘stroking’ plays a very important role. If we can re-interpret this ‘stroking’ as interactions which release Dopamine, then we can consider channelizing our Dopamine cravings by such interactions rather than other means which are not so desirable. 

 

PS: I don’t know how much sense I made in my conclusion. Would really love to get serious feedback. Cheers.

Posted in My Life | 12 Comments

The Dopamine Principle

 14 Ratings
April 30th, 2008

Why do we become obese? Why do so many seemingly respectable men turn rapists? Why do we get so much addicted to say drugs, that we can even rob and kill to get money to buy drugs? Why are women so addicted to shopping? Why do women all over the world spend billions of Dollars to buy beauty products? 

 

Is there even a relation to all the above mentioned questions? Well, in my opinion there is. And knowing the answers will perhaps help us to correct some of the imbalances and evils which afflict our society. 

 

Dopamine Effect

OK, the first concept which I want to introduce is about the Dopamine Effect. For the uninitiated, I’ll take a very simple example. Imagine there is a mouse inside a cage (with no food). There is a contraption fitted so that if he presses a certain button, food will be released inside the cage. Now, while searching for food in the cage, the mouse accidentally presses the button which releases the food. Since the mouse needs food to live, this action of pressing the button needs to be reinforced in the brain, so that the mouse ‘remembers’ it for the future. What the brain of the mouse does is that it releases a ‘pleasure inducing hormone’ called Dopamine, which reinforces the positive memory of pressing the button to get food. 

 

 

Throughout evolution, Dopamine is what has helped man to grow, to stay alive, to reproduce and so on. In fact in clinical studies where the effect of Dopamine has been suppressed in the brain, those individuals have become withdrawn, lost the ability to feel pleasure and so on. 

 

 

The opposite effect is experienced when people turn to drugs like Cocaine. These drugs release artificially high levels of Dopamine in the brain. Also, the drug inhibits the release of natural Dopamine, and hence, the addicts feel the withdrawal symptoms when they are off the drugs. 

 

Dopamine Principle

Having understood the Dopamine Effect, I’d like to propose my own Hypothesis of the Dopamine Principle. This hypothesis is borne out by several Psychological studies which I will enumerate. I believe that all of us (even those who are not drug addicts), need our Dopamine fix, and so we ‘Instinctively’ do things which we would not logically or consciously do.  

 

Overeating.  Let us take for example eating. As I understand, nearly 80% of the US population is overweight. In fact obesity is one of the biggest problems facing urban Indians as well. Why do we become fat? Simple answer is that we eat more than the number of calories we burn. But when we know, that we should eat less (and we are really not hungry), why do we still eat in excess? The answer according to me is that the simple act of eating releases a whole lot of natural Dopamine in the brain. Why is that so? Well, if you consider our ancestors who had no regular supply of food, eating excess was an insurance for staying alive even when the food source ran out. So, even when the person was consuming excess to his/ her requirement, the act was rewarded by the brain by Dopamine release.  

 

 

Incidentally, it has been proven by experiments that in many cases, lonely people, or people in an unhappy relationship tend to gain weight. Yes, there is no doubt that some people have certain genes (which scientists are trying/ have identified) which increase their metabolism and prevent them from getting fat, no matter how much they eat, but I’m talking about the rest of the population who unfortunately don’t possess those genes. 

 

Violent Crimes like Rape.    Now let us turn our attention to violent crimes like Rape. In the recent past, there have been so many incidents of rape/ molestation/ inappropriate behavior etc. reported that people have stopped reacting to it. Interestingly many of the people involved were respectable pillars of society and even Cops. There was an ACP in Mumbai who was suspended for molesting an 18 year old girl. A cop in Delhi raped a 12 year old girl in a moving vehicle. A minor girl in Delhi escaped getting raped by a cop (inside a Police Station) by raising an alarm….the list is endless. 

 

 

What makes the protectors of our society, the pillars of our society (like the Mayor or New York or the Speaker of the Orissa Legislative Assembly), turn to such inappropriate behaviour? The answer in my opinion is again the Dopamine fix. Like the desire for Food, the desire for Sex (20 times more in men than in women due to 20 times more Testosterone in men than women) is a powerful desire that needs to be fulfilled. For this purpose, Society has institutionalized marriage which is supposed to fulfill the desire for sex along with companionship. But, as we see in general in society, after children are born, the woman dons an additional responsibility of a Mother and the children gain precedence over her spouse. Which is exactly the way Nature intended since it has infused the female of most species with the maternal instinct to ensure the survival of the species.  

 

So, where does that leave the men with their libido? Well, as long as the men are working hard at being breadwinners for the family, and hence getting the gratitude and praise of their family, it is OK, since gratitude and praise is in itself a big Dopamine releaser. But, what happens when the gratitude and praise turns to nagging and constant quarrels in the house? Well, obviously, no Dopamine release. Also, no sexual release. So, the husband may turn to food, or drinking or even sexual release outside of the relationship. Sexual release is obviously a big Dopamine releaser. And so this can lead to momentary lapses of reason, where perfectly respectable family men can suddenly turn rapists.   

 

 

So, what is the solution? Is there even a solution? Well, I will discuss that in my next post…..that is in case people care to read till here and are curious to know…

Posted in Dating, Romance & Relationships | 26 Comments

My First Challan

 10 Ratings
April 28th, 2008

A couple of days back, I got my first Challan. I paid a fine of Rs. 900/- for over-speeding. For those of you who didn’t know, the speed limit all over Delhi is 50 Kmph. I was doing 62, when I was caught by the Interceptor vehicle (the vehicle with the Speed Gun mounted inside), which was innocuously parked on the side of the road.

 
And how do you think I felt about it? Well, I felt very happy and proud. Why? Well, let me elaborate. Delhi being the power center of the country, many people here have their share of clout which they bring to bear, when ever they face mundane issues like the Traffic cop catching you for some misdemeanor. Either people use their clout or they bribe their way out. To cut the long story short, I too tried to use the little bit of clout that I have. The sub-inspector was respectful, but he would not budge from his stance. In the end I paid the fine and he gave me the Challan.

 
While I was waiting for my Challan to be prepared, I was observing the interaction of the cops with the other hapless drivers who were also caught with me. One of them offered the phone to the Sub-Inspector. “Saab, Deputy Speaker is on the line for you”. Perhaps he thought that the cop would get scared hearing the name of the Deputy Speaker. The cop threw the phone away. “Don’t tell me about your Deputy Speaker and any other VIP. Pay the money now or your vehicle will be impounded right now. Got it?”

 
In case you all are wondering as to how the cops have become so in-corruptible, let me give another angle. In fact the Sub-Inspector inadvertently spilled the beans. It seems that the guy in the Interceptor vehicle (a Tata Sumo jeep), was making a recording of all the vehicles intercepted. This reel is sent to the Police HQ. Now, all the vehicles which were caught by the Interceptor, would obviously be tallied with the Challans that were issued for that place. Hence the cop was only doing what he had to do.

 
Have said that, let me add, that they also showed their human side. One of the cars which was intercepted had a family with the Mother carrying a small child whose nose was bleeding. She was in tears, “Saab, what is this, I have to go to the Hospital, my child is bleeding”. The Sub-Inspector immediately instructed his subordinates to let the lady go.

 
Image Change for the Delhi Police?

I have seen that a lot of major events have occurred in Delhi, and there has been not one terrorist incident in the Capital. We’ve had the Republic Day, the Independence Day and even the Olympic Torch Relay, which has faced trouble all over the world, except in Delhi. Yeah, I know people will say that for the Olympic Torch Relay there were only Policemen as audience. But at the end of the day, the Delhi Police ensured that the relay went off without any hitch or without any brutal repression of the Tibetans.

 
I remember I was driving around Raj Path and some other roads (which lie in the route of the Republic Day Parade), a few days before Republic Day. There was Police presence round the clock on all these roads days before the Parade. Although I’m no security expert, but seeing the news-reports about IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), which can be innocuously planted anywhere, and detonated remotely, I realize that the precaution the Police takes in ‘sanitizing’ the roads days before the Parade are well justified.

 
Similarly, all the buildings around the paths of the Parade are also ‘sanitized’, i.e. vacated of all occupants and thoroughly searched. Most of us may not realize it, but the kind of pains which the Police takes to ensure security is no trivial matter.

 
Negative Press

 For all their efforts, I did not see a single media report praising the Police for preventing any kind of terrorist activity in Delhi for quite a long time now. Yes, no effort is left by the media to highlight the negative aspect of the Police. Case in point, the recent rape involving the Police. I’m not denying that what the cop did was reprehensible. But let me ask you this, how many of us face the kind of stresses, the long working hours, the ugly side of humanity which they have to deal with day in and day out and not be affected by it all.

 
Conclusion

For all the negative media reports we see about cops so frequently, I am of the opinion that the image of the cops at least where I live (Delhi), is changing for the better. Towards this end, the Police Department itself is coming up with ways to use technology innovatively, case in point being my Challan incident where the Inceptor film was being sent to the Police HQ, to ensure that no driver got away by bribing or otherwise.

 
Slowly as our nation tries to scale the heights to emerge as a Power to reckon with, the Police is also trying to shake its old image and emerge as a World Class Police Force.

Posted in My Life | 17 Comments

My Idea of Quality Blogs

 19 Ratings
April 23rd, 2008

Well, I’ve long contemplated about writing a post on “Quality Blogging”. As I had hoped in my last post, good sense has prevailed and it’s heartening to note that both Dipankar Sir and Writer are back in our fold.

 
Now, even before the debate which started with Writer’s post about “Quality Blogging”, I’ve often tried to analyse what is it that makes this whole blogging format so attractive? Is it about quality creative writing, as Writer has tried to stress in her posts? Is it that blogs HAVE to be short to maintain the interest of the reader? How is this blogging format different from other types of publishing, like say publishing in a newspaper or a book?

 
Well, the answer to all this is what Santosh N has brought out in his latest post is all about “Collaborative Space where thoughts are exchanged and information traded”. The main difference between blogging and any other publishing format is that you get instant responses. These response trigger further dialogue; it prompts the writer of the post to visit the blog of the commentor, where he or she not only reads the post but also responds to the comments on one’s own post and so on.

 
This is how the ‘bonding’ starts. Santosh N has also rightly brought out that it’s not about grammatically correct English.  For me, what is most important is that the blogger should try to express himself/ herself in a manner which gives an insight into how the person thinks. A glimpse into his/ her world, a glimpse into their minds.

 
As most of you are aware, the Ibibo blogspace is largely dominated by ladies. As a man I’ve always be very curious about how the female psyche works. And here let me say that Ibibo is one platform where I’ve learnt so much from the ladies. Learnt so much about the ladies. For most of the ladies, Ibibo is actually like their own family. I’ve learnt so much about their day-to-day lives, their desires, their wishes and anguishes. It is really incredible. Somehow, when it comes to expression, women are so much more articulate than men. The prominent women bloggers here cover such a variety of genres with such ease and aplomb that it really leaves me amazed.

The blogs of men are slightly different. The prominent male bloggers are more analytical, more incisive and so on.

 
My Idea of Quality Blogs

Having said the above, I’d further like to state that my idea of “Quality Blogs” is something more specific. I happened to read about Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs in one of the recent posts (in the Featured Blogs Section). Let me post the image of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Googled from the Internet).   

As you can see, at the top of the Pyramid is the Self-Actualization bit. Here, apart from Creativity, there’s “Problem Solving” also indicated. I was vaguely familiar about this Pyramid. But instinctively, I find myself gravitating to this “Innovative” and “Problem Solving” concepts.

 
My point is that almost all of us blogging here at Ibibo are educated, responsible grown-ups. We all are bombarded with our daily dose of happenings, stimulus about what’s going wrong in our lives and Society. We also get inputs about what a few of us are doing to improve our lives and so on. With the phenomenal power of each of our brains, I feel that if we seriously think of ways to solve the problems which affect us as a Society, which affect us in our day-to-day lives, we all can find solutions. Some of the solutions may be workable, some not so workable, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is the logical thinking that goes behind it.

 
Having been part of the learning process (as part of our educational system) and further having learnt at our jobs (whatever experience our jobs have given us), I think it’s time we gave back something to our society. Some of us, like I gave the example of Sunilxyz (about his Rural Tourism Project) are actually able to give back to society. But for the rest of us who are not able to contribute actively, at least we can put our thinking caps on and think of solutions which will benefit our society and our lives.

 
One will find many blogs where some serious problem, which affects our society is highlighted. But I feel that it’s only half the job. Having projected the problem, what about the solution? The blogs which propose a solution too are really interesting since they instigate the debate. Perhaps this debate gives rise to better solutions. Perhaps this debate gives rise to fresh posts which discuss the issues involved.

 

Conclusion

Posted in My Life | 32 Comments

Blink - The Power of Unconscious Thought

 11 Ratings
April 17th, 2008

I’m writing this 100^th post when two of our prominent bloggers have suddenly decided to quit. I hope and pray the good sense prevails and they return. This post is a long one (as are many of my posts). And the best part is that I’ve not written this post. I’ve just posted the last Chapter (after abridging it as much as I could without losing the sense of it) of a remarkable book I read recently. This is a book called “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a path-breaking book about how to use our unconscious mind for taking important decisions in life. We often talk about how women have an ‘intuitive’ knack of sensing things. Most of the times their intuitions score over whole lot of rational reasoning which might point to the contrary.

This last Chapter of Blink is a tribute to Stree Shakti and to the ladies of Ibibo.

Listening with Your Eyes: The Lessons of Blink

At the beginning of her career as a professional musician, Abbie Conant was in Italy, playing trombone for the Royal Opera of Turin. This was in 1980. That summer, she applied for eleven openings for various orchestra jobs throughout Europe. She got one response: The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. “Dear Herr Abbie Conant,” the letter began. In retrospect, that mistake should have tripped every alarm bell in Conant’s mind.

The audition was held in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, since the orchestra’s cultural center was still under construction. There were thirty-three candidates, and each played behind a screen, making them invisible to the selection committee. Screened auditions were rare in Europe at that time. But one of the applicants was the son of someone in one of the Munich orchestras, so, for the sake of fairness, the Philharmonic decided to make the first round of auditions blind. Conant was number sixteen.

She played Ferdinand David’s Konzertino for Trombone, which is the warhorse audition piece in Germany, and missed one note (she cracked a G). She said to herself, “That’s it,” and went backstage and started packing up her belongings to go home. But the committee thought otherwise. They were floored. Auditions are classic thin-slicing moments. Trained classical musicians say that they can tell whether a player is good or not almost instantly— sometimes in just the first few bars, sometimes even with just the first note—and with Conant they knew. After she left the audition room, the Philharmonic’s music director, Sergiu Celibidache, cried out, “That’s who we want!” The remaining seventeen players, waiting their turn to audition, were sent home. Somebody went backstage to find Conant. She came back into the audition room, and when she stepped out from behind the screen, she heard the Bavarian equivalent of whoa. “Was ist’n des? Sacra di! Meine Goetter! Um Gottes willen!” They were expecting Herr Conant. This was Frau Conant.

It was an awkward situation, to say the least. Celibidache was a conductor from the old school, an imperious and strong-willed man with very definite ideas about how music ought to be played—and about who ought to play music. What’s more, this was Germany, the land where classical music was born. To Celibidache, a woman could not play the trombone. The Munich Philharmonic had one or two women on the violin and the oboe. But those were “feminine” instruments. The trombone is masculine. It is the instrument that men played in military marching bands.

There were two more rounds of auditions. Conant passed both with flying colors. But once Celibidache and the rest of the committee saw her in the flesh, all those long-held prejudices began to compete with the winning first impression they had of her performance. She joined the orchestra, and Celibidache stewed. A year passed. In May of 1981, Conant was called to a meeting. She was to be demoted to second trombone, she was told. No reason was given. Conant went on probation for a year, to prove herself again. It made no difference. “You know the problem,” Ceibidache told her. “We need a man for the solo trombone.”

Conant had no choice but to take the case to court. In its brief, the orchestra argued, “The plaintiff does not possess the necessary physical strength to be a leader of the trombone section.” Conant was sent to the Gautinger Lung Clinic br extensive testing. She blew through special machines, had a blood sample. taken to measure her capacity for absorbing oxygen, and underwent a chest exam. She scored well above average. The nurse even asked if she was an athlete. The case dragged on. The orchestra claimed that Conant’s “shortness of breath was overhearable” her performance of the famous trombone solo in Mozart’s Requiem, even though the guest conductor of those performances had singled out Conant for praise. A special audition in front of a trombone expert was set up. Conant played seven of the most difficult passages in the trombone repertoire. The expert was effusive. The orchestra claimed that she was unreliable and unprofessional. It was a lie. After eight years, she was reinstated as first trombone.

But then another round of battles began—that would last another five years—because the orchestra refused to pay her on par with her male colleagues. She won, again. She prevailed on every charge, and she prevailed because she could mount an argument that the Munich PhilharmoniC could not rebut. Sergiu Celibidache, the man complaining about her ability, had listened to her play Ferdinand David’s Koazertino for Trombone under conditions of perfect objectivity, and in that unbiased moment, he had said, “That’s who we want!” and sent the remaining trombonists packing. Abbie Conaut was saved by the screen.

1.  A Revolution in Classical Music

The world of classical music—particularly in its European home—was until very recently the preserve of white men. Women, it was believed, simply could not play like men. They didn’t have the strength, the attitude, or the resilience for certain kinds of pieces. Their lips were different. Their lungs were less powerful. Their hands were smaller. That did not seem like a prejudice. It seemed like a fact, because when conductors and music directors and maestros held auditions, the men always seemed to sound better than the women. No one paid much attention to how auditions were held, because it was an article of faith that one of the things that made a music expert a music expert was that he could listen to music played under any circumstances and gauge, instantly and objectively, the quality of the performance.

Auditions for major orchestras were sometimes held in the conductor’s dressing room or in his hotel room if he was passing through town. Performers played for five minutes or two minutes or ten minutes. What did it matter? Music was music. Rainer Kuchl, the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic, once said he could instantly tell the difference ‘with his eyes closed between, say, a male and female violinist. The trained ear, he believed, could pick up the softness and flexibility of the female style.

But over the past few decades, the classical music world has undergone a revolution. In the United States, orchestra musicians began to organize themselves politically. They formed a union and fought for proper contracts, health benefits, and protections against arbitrary firing, and along with that came a push for fairness in hiring. Many musicians thought that conductors were abusing their power and playing favorites. They wanted the audition process to be formalized. That meant an official audition committee was established instead of a conductor making the decision all by himself. In some places, rules were put in place forbidding the judges from speaking among themselves during auditions, so that one person’s opinion would not cloud the view of another. Musicians were identified not by name but by number. Screens were erected between the committee and the auditioner, and if the person auditioning cleared his or her throat or made any kind of identifiable sound—if they were wearing heels, for example, and stepped on a part of the floor that wasn’t carpeted—they were ushered out and given a new number. And as these new rules were put in place around the country, an extraordinary thing happened: orchestras began to hire women.

In the past thirty years, since screens became commonplace, the number of women in the top U.S. orchestras has increased fivefold. “The very first time the new rules for auditions were used, we were looking for four new violinists,” remembers Herb Weksleblatt, a tuba player for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, who led the fight for blind auditions at the Met in the mid-1960s.

 “And all of the winners were women. That would simply never have happened before. Up until that point, we had maybe three women in the whole orchestra. I remember that after it was announced that the four women had won, one guy was absolutely furious at me. He said, ‘You’re going to be remembered as the SOB who brought women into this orchestra.’”

What the classical music world realized was that what they had thought was a pure and powerful first impression—listening to someone play—was in fact hopelessly corrupted. “Some people look like they sound better than they actually sound, because they look confident and have good posture,’ one musician, a veteran of many auditions, says. “Other people look awful when they play but sound great. Other people have that belabored look when they play, but you can’t hear it in the sound. There is always this dissonance between what you see and hear. The audition begins the first second the person is in view. You think, Who is this nerd? Or, Who does this guy think he is?—just by the way they walk out with their instrument.”

In Washington D.C., the National Symphony Orchestra hired Sylvia Alimena to play the French horn. Would she have been hired before the advent of screens? Of course not. The French horn—like the trombone—is a “male” instrument. More to the point, Alimena is tiny. She’s five feet tall. In truth, that’s an irrelevant fact. As another prominent horn player says, “Sylvia can blow a house down.” But if you were to look at her before you really listened to her, you would not be able to hear that power, because what you saw would so contradict what you heard. There is only one way to- make a proper snap judgment of Sylvia Alimena, and that’s from behind a screen.

2. A Small Miracle

There is a powerful lesson in classical music’s revolution. Why, for so many years, were conductors so oblivious to the corruption of their snap judgments? Because we are often careless with our powers of rapid cognition. We don’t know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don’t always appreciate their fragility. Taking our powers of rapid cognition seriously means we have to acknowledge the subtle influences that can alter or undermine or bias the products of our unconscious. Judging music sounds like the simplest of tasks. It is not, any more, than sipping cola or rating chairs or tasting jam is easy. Without a screen, Abbie Conant would have been dismissed before she played a note. With a screen, she was suddenly good enough for the Munich Philharmonic.

The fact that there are now women playing for symphony orchestras is not a trivial change. It matters because it has opened up a world of possibility for a group that had been locked out of opportunity. It also matters because by fixing the first impression at the heart of the audition—by judging purely on the basis of ability—orchestras now hire better musicians, and better musicians mean better music. And how did we get better music? Not by rethinking the entire classical music enterprise or building new concert halls or pumping in millions of new dollars, but by paying attention to the tiniest detail, the first two seconds of the audition.

When Julie Landsman auditioned for the role of principal French horn at the Metrpolitan Opera of New York (Met for short), the screens had just gone up in the practice hail. At the time, there were no women in the brass section of the orchestra, because everyone “knew” that women could not play the horn as well as men. But Landsman came and sat down and played—and she played well. “I knew in my last round that I had won before they told me,” she says. “It was because of the way I performed the last piece. I held on to the last high C for a very long time, just to leave no doubt in their minds. And they started to laugh, because it was above and beyond the call of duty.” But when they declared her the winner and she stepped out from behind the screen, there was a gasp. It wasn’t just that she was a woman, and female horn players were rare, as had been the case with Conant. And it wasn’t just that bold, extended high C, which was the kind of macho sound that they expected from a man only. It was because they knew her. Landsman had played for the Met before as a substitute. Until they listened to her with just their ears, however, they had no idea she was so good. When the screen created a pure Blink moment, a small miracle happened, the kind of small miracle that is always possible when we take charge of the first two seconds: they saw her for who she truly was.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude this post with a confession. Like the Orchestra Conductors of Europe, I too have held chauvinistic views about the role of women. This has clearly been reflected in my posts in the past. However, apart from this book being an eye-opener, there has been another incident here at Ibibo which has convinced me that whatever is written above is correct.

Most of us know Cindy as a blogger who writes poems, stories and conducts crazy contests. Few of you who have read my earlier posts might be aware that I had once posted a particularly difficult Word Puzzle out of which Cindy got most correct. Upto this point everything fits. She’s good in English, hence good in Word Puzzles; women are generally more articulate and so on.

But imagine my surprise when Sudoku was launched here at Ibibo (Games Section), Cindy was soon at the top of the Leader Board. Now Sudoku is a game that I’m good at. I tried to popularize it through my blog as well. So when Cindy scored the highest, I blurbed her, “Congrats. So how many times did you play to reach the top?” Guess what was her reply? “FIVE times. I’ve never played Sudoku before”.

I was stunned. Believe me I have probably played hundreds of games so far. But I have not been able to beat her score till date. Someone might do it someday, but it’s very difficult. Sudoku is all about Number Crunching. And as per my stereotypical mindset, I thought that men are better at number crunching than women.

Just as the Chapter above proves that given a chance, women can prove to be better than men, Cindy has proved the same here at Ibibo. My mindset is forever changed. I feel that in the interest of a better society, wherever there are exceptional women, the men ought to take a back-seat and allow their spouses to blossom in the field of their choice. This I feel is inescapable.

Posted in Dating, Romance & Relationships | 24 Comments

Liberating the Indian Woman

 18 Ratings
April 13th, 2008

Whenever I see the Ads for say Whisper, Stayfree or Kotex etc. I wonder, “why haven’t these companies gone bankrupt yet?” Intrigued? Well, several years back, in one of my “What If?” moods, I was thinking to myself, “Science has made so much progress, then why is it that women from puberty till menopause have their monthly cycle? Why can’t there be a device which will prevent this monthly cycle and act as a contraceptive at the same time. When the device is removed, they can get back to normal and have babies whenever they want.”

 
Well, apparently such a device does exist. Sounds too good to be true? Then let me share with you what I’ve learnt about an Intrauterine Contraceptive (IUC) device called Mirena.

First of all, Mirena is probably the safest methods of contraception, since it is supposed to be 99.9% effective. Which means that out of 10,000 women using this as a form of contraception, only one may get pregnant. In contrast, the Pill is supposed to be only 92% effective and Condoms are supposed to be only 85% effective.

Secondly, Mirena is supposed to reduce the monthly periods by almost 90% and in fact make it virtually negligible. This is the case for most users and more than 20% users have no periods whatsoever.

 
How does it work? How long does it last? Mirena lasts for about 5 years. What happens is that this ‘T’ shaped device has a cylindrical reservoir filled with something called “levonorgestrel”. What is “levonorgestrel”? Well, it’s nothing but a hormone which is commonly used in birth control pills and is similar to progesterone, a sex hormone which is produced by the body (Class XII Biology). Once in place, Mirena releases very small amounts of levonorgestrel (about 20 micrograms) daily directly into the lining of the uterus till five years. It prevents pregnancy by increasing the thickness of the “cervical mucus” (i.e. the opening of the uterus), decreasing the motility of the sperm and prevents the growth and development of the uterine lining.

 
Now this last aspect is a big boon (let me quote from a source which I found on the Internet http://www.canadafreepress.com/medical/gynacology082503.htm)

“Mirena offers a big additional benefit to women suffering heavy and painful periods. By gradually thinning the uterine lining during the first few months of use it decreases the amount of menstrual bleeding and pain. This may offer an alternative to hysterectomy for women suffering from heavy periods.”

 
I was surprised to find that Mirena has already been in use for the last 16 years and has been used by 8 MILLION women so far. It is FDA approved (FDA is the US Govt. body which approves all types of drugs which are available in the US market).

 
There was one aspect which I found intriguing. The Mirena website (http://www.mirena-us.com/whatexpect.html?C=&c=)

recommends that it should be used by women who’ve already had a baby and are in a monogamous relationship. I wondered: What about unmarried women? What about women not in a monogamous relationship? How is their state different from a woman in a monogamous relationship who has had a baby?

Well, it turns out that in case Merina fails (1 out of 10,000 chance), then there is likelihood of ectopic pregnancy (i.e. development of the foetus in the fallopian tube) which is inherently dangerous. So, I guess the manufacturers are taking precautions by recommending it for women with at least one baby.

Another very important aspect (which I think is the biggest drawback of Mirena) is that it doesn’t protect against STD and HIV AIDS. Perhaps this is the reason it is recommended for women in a monogamous relationship.

 
However, very interestingly, I found a study conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806090320.htm)

Which brings out that Mirena IUC is considered the safest option even for the so-called ‘high-risk’ group i.e. young, unmarried and sexually active women with the only pre-condition that they should not have acute infection of the cervix. This study was carried out on 200 women from 2000 to 2005 and it was found that Mirena had lesser rate of problems and greater acceptability as compared to another popular IUD in the US called Paraguard.

Hence, I don’t think that there’s anything which prevents Mirena from being used by all women whether married or unmarried. Once in place, it’s like total freedom for the next five years.

Price.  As per the website the price is a bit steep. At $350 it works out to a little more than Rs. 13,300/- But this I think is a small price to pay for the freedom which Mirena offers.

Other Benefits.     There are a lot many benefits which Mirena offers. My recommendation is that those interested can follow the links which I’ve indicated above and can Google much more info too. As I read in their website, fitment/ removal is a very simple procedure which any gynecologist can perform.

Somehow, the awareness of this product seems to be less and/ or, it doesn’t seem to be in the commercial interest of the Sanitary Napkin / other types of contraceptive manufacturers, and so hasn’t been given due publicity.

 
Conclusion

From whatever I’ve read about this device, it seems to be a Wonder Device, which truly has the potential to set the Modern Indian woman free. Since Ibibo has more women bloggers than men, I keenly would like to know the view of the ladies on this issue.

 
PS: My next post shall be based on an amazing book which I read recently and also indirectly on Cindy, highlighting some of her amazing skills.

 

Clarification Regarding the Side-Effects of Mirena

After reading so many comments ascribing Mirena with horrendous side-effects let me post this clarification which is an objective analysis of all the known side-effects of this device. I’d like to go on record here to state that 9 out of 10 women who have used Mirena have recommended it for their friends.

Percentage of Women Reporting Side Effects During the First Three Months and Fifth Year of Use
SIDE EFFECTS	AT 3 MONTHS	AT 5 YEARS
Lower abdominal pain (cramping)	10.5%	2.0%
Acne or other skin problems	3.5%	1.8%
Back pain	3.1%	1.0%
Breast tenderness	3.1%	1.0%
Headache	2.8%	1.6%
Mood changes	2.5%	Less than 1.0%

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION ABOUT MIRENA^®:
Candidates for Mirena^® have had a child, are in a stable relationship, and have no risk or history of ectopic pregnancy or pelvic inflammatory disease. Mirena^® does not protect against HIV or STDs. Ovarian cysts may occur and typically disappear. Complications may occur from placement. Missing periods or irregular bleeding is common in the first few months, followed by shorter lighter periods.

 

Posted in Health, Fitness & Beauty | 36 Comments

Sunilxyz

 16 Ratings
April 4th, 2008

This post is dedicated to Sunilxyz, an eminent blogger whom I’ve had the privilege of nominating for the HOF. He also happens to be the only blogger from Ibibo whom I’ve met in real life.

 
But before I share my experience of meeting this senior IAS Officer (he’s a Joint Secretary level Officer), I would like to recount a comment which Dipankar Sir had posted in one of my previous blogs. He said “Concentrate on building what you believe in. Criticising idiots is not a worthwhile exercise. Let’s start building something we truly believe in. I mean BELIEVE.”

 
Well, with the context of these words in the back of my mind, I’d like to share with my readers, my experience of meeting Mr. Sunil. Sometimes you meet people, who change the way you think. Well, some of the discussions we had when we met in Delhi (which I intend to enumerate in the succeeding paragraphs), actually forced me to relook at the way I perceive things.

 
On Corruption

We had a long discussion on Corruption. I’ve written a lot of blogs on Corruption and how it needs to be tackled. He had a very interesting take on the issue which I’d like to share. His argument was like this: Assume that the Tendering process for a Project has gone ahead in the most transparent manner, and the job has been awarded to X Company. Obviously, the Project needs to be monitored and cleared by bureaucracy at every stage. Now assume that there is an Officer who is not at all corrupt, but inefficient. His inefficiency (sometimes due to extra cautiousness, maybe) would cost the Project enormous amount in terms of delays. On the other hand, there’s an Officer who is very efficient and gets the Project cleared on time (maybe ahead of time). What is the incentive for this Officer to do his job efficiently?  If a Customs Officer does his job efficiently or an Income Tax Officer does his job efficiently and catches a big fish/ haul, he gets a percentage of the booty (Officially). So why not the other Departments of the Govt? If I recall correctly NB had posted a blog where he had brought out how much effort was involved in preparing the case and awarding Contracts/ Projects.

 
This discrepancy is even more starkly evident now that the Pay Commission has not addressed this issue for the Govt. officials and in the Corporate world, this is so much ingrained, where a huge chuck of pay is reserved as productivity linked bonus.

 
Most of us will agree that the IAS represents the cream of our country, and they are definitely at par, if not head and shoulders above, their counterparts in the Corporate world. But when the comparison is drawn of the salaries, then obviously the Corporate honchos tend to look condescendingly at their IAS counterparts.

 
With most of the IAS Officers coming from a middle class background, and where each signature is of the order of a few Crores, and with the rampant Corruption which afflicts our Political class, there is little doubt that in the absence of a efficiency/ productivity linked reward system, even the brightest and the most efficient IAS Officer would be a bit disillusioned.

 
It is in the above context Mr. Sunil narrated to me his experiences of tenure with a Development Authority. Now, imagine being responsible for disposal of land in the heart of metropolitan city. Imagine having the power to fix the price of land (raise or lower it at your discretion) and the power to decide how much to sell to each bidder and so on.

 
The fact is that if I were in his place there, I would be sitting on at least 50 Crores right now. The fact that Mr. Sunil is still leading an ordinary middle class life is a tribute to his values and principles. The fact that Mr Sunil is right now on his study leave and on a fellowship with Edinburgh University, is another aspect which I don’t want to dwell upon too much.

 
On Electoral Duty

Mr. Sunil narrated an episode about his Electoral Observer duty. He was posted to a place in Bihar. When he landed at the Station, there were a huge security arrangements, due to the area being a notorious one. As part of his duty, he was supposed to take rounds of the security arrangements in the whole district. Obviously perhaps tens or Crores had been spent on the Electoral arrangements (including the Security arrangements). While coming back from his rounds one night, he noticed some children scavenging for food in a huge rubbish dump. His thoughts were: “Here we are spending Crores of rupees on Elections where one Politician will replace another one, and in the same place we have people so poor that children are scavenging in the rubbish dump”.

 
You know I’m still thinking about these words. I mean it’s so true. Hundreds of Crores are spent officially by the Govt. for Elections, and perhaps many thousands of Crores are spent unofficially by the politicians (which are perhaps pocketed by the musclemen who ensure ready supply of votes for the Politicians). If this money was actually spent on the welfare of the poor, perhaps by now, we’d hardly have any poor people in the country.

 
On National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA for short) was launched with huge fanfare by the UPA Govt. Thereafter CAG came up with a scathing report of gross misuse of the NREGA, by way of non-identification of the targeted beneficiary, lack of planning in execution of works etc. Mr. Sunil came up with an amazing idea which just boggled my mind. He said: “Why not just put all the money allocated for NREGA in the Bank and just use the Interest to pay the beneficiaries?”

 
Well, to be honest, I did some number crunching, and he’s absolutely right. If you take the interest component of the Govt. outlay for NREGA (say about 20% interest, which is the market linked interest for the last few years), and divide the interest amount amongst the targeted beneficiaries, without them needing to work, then there would be no Corruption and the beneficiaries would be really benefited too, since they would be able to pursue alternative livelihood (since most of them do find some or the other daily wage employment) and earn more money. 

 
On Rural Tourism

Mr. Sunil has prepared a detailed business plan and got the approval of the Tourism ministry for creating rural tourism infrastructure in various parts of the country. The interesting part is when he approached the Tourism Ministry, he did not approach as an IAS Officer but as an ordinary citizen with a business plan. As I understand, the Tourism Ministry is looking to promote Rural Tourism (since majority of India lives in villages). Whatever little he shared about his business plan, I was mighty impressed (and so were the tourism ministry officials).

 
It includes using Solar power for various needs like water heating and electricity. Using earthen utensils etc. (totally bio-degradable, and a novelty for the foreigners), 100% rainwater harvesting for water needs, making hotel management entrepreneurs out of Tribals and uneducated village folk. There were several other details which I can’t recollect now. What is important is that his dream project would see the light of day soon. What is important for me is that with the present food grain shortage in the country, there is an urgent need to focus on our villages. Rural tourism will give a lot of boost to our villages. It will reduce/ restrict the migration from villages to cities.

 
Miscellaneous Anecdotes

I recall an interesting anecdote which he narrated to me. There was a website created by a reputed Software Company (don’t want to take the name here) for the West Bengal State (some specific Dept. which I can’t recollect now). The firm had charged a sum of Rs. One Crore for the website and after sometime the site was down and defunct. Mr. Sunil haapened to notice that this site was down, and discussed it with one of his colleagues who was looking after the Dept. When he explained in layman’s terms how simple it was to create and maintain a website for maybe a few thousand rupees, the realization dawned on his colleague as to how much the reputed company had taken the State for a ride.

 
His Family

In the recent past there was an article in the papers about the going rate of IAS grooms. I don’t want to go into details of that article, but I just want to say, that in our country where IAS grooms get tens of crores of rupees as dowry, Mr. Sunil has had a love marriage. He hails from UP and his good lady is from Kerala, whom he met during his Civil Services interview. He has a college going daughter, and a school going son. When he was talking about his daughter, he quipped “you know my colleagues asked my daughter, whether she’d like to join the Civil Services, and she replied “I’m not so mad like my Dad”.

 
Conclusion

Well, as far as his blogging is concerned, many of you would have read his blogs. I was directed to his blogs by Writer and was really overawed by the quality of his blogs. There is a certain incisiveness and punch in his posts which makes the reader think awhile after reading his post.

 
However, in this post it has been my endeavour to bring out the person behind the blog. Why this is important to me is because of the fact that I believe that people like Mr. Sunil represent the hope for a better future. Like I mentioned Dipankar Sir’s quote in the beginning (“Concentrate on building what you believe in”), I see that in his own way Mr. Sunil is doing just that. He believes in his Rural Tourism Project and it will see the light of day soon and it will benefit the country.

 In the end all I can say is that it’s an honour and a privilege for me to nominate such an eminent person for the Hall of Fame.

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