Dr Rajiv Desai
An Educational Blog
Over-The-Counter (OTC) Drugs
Over-The-Counter (OTC) Drugs: _ The term OTC does not mean that the drugs are literally sold over a counter. Oftentimes, they can simply be taken off a shelf, and paid for with your other shopping. _ Section-1 Prologue: The Italian adventurer Casanova (1725–1798) is often quoted as saying: “In wise hands, poison is medicine. In foolish hands, medicine is a poison.” Such is the case with over-the-counter (OTC) drugs—those medicines found on shelves in drugstores, convenience stores, and supermarkets. Buying of OTC medicines is the self-medication practice. From the very ancient period, people used different types of herbs for the treatment of their health problems. Once a common practice across centuries of human history, self-diagnosis and self-treatment are making a comeback. OTC medicines are the most common choice for self-treatment, with almost everyone having some experience in using or purchasing such medicines. Patients often approach pharmacy or grocery store […]
Electric Vehicle, EV (electric car)
Electric Vehicle, EV (electric car): _ The engine of a conventional internal combustion engine car is replaced by an Electric Motor and the fuel tank is replaced by the Battery Pack. Of all the components only the Battery Pack and Electric Motor alone contributes to about more than 50% of the total EV’s weight and the price. __ Section-1 Prologue: A car can be a wonderful thing. It can take you where you want, when you want — even when those places aren’t served by public transportation. In fact, much of modern life would be impossible without cars. They help us get to our jobs, schools, grocery stores or even just to the local shopping mall. Unfortunately, as wonderful as cars are, they also have some serious drawbacks. Two of these drawbacks are that they often cost a lot of money to maintain and they pollute the […]
PRIVACY
Privacy: _____ _____ Section-1 Prologue: Many people consciously respect other people’s property yet sometimes fail to respect something even more important to a person which is his/her privacy. Every individual value his/her privacy. A private time with no one around gives you room to reflect on the most important issues in your life while private time with another helps to build close personal relationship with the one whom we choose to draw close to. To intrude in this is like stealing from someone or trespassing on the person’s domain. The right to privacy could refer to your right to be left alone or to your right not to share every detail with someone. The most common retort against privacy advocates — by those in favour of ID checks, cameras, databases, data mining and other wholesale surveillance measures — is this line: “If you aren’t doing anything wrong, […]
Are We Animals?
Are We Animals? _____ Man versus polar bear: _ Keeper Julius Latoya shares a tender moment with Kinna, a young orphaned African elephant at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. ______ ______ Section-1 Prologue: Many parents admonish their misbehaving children by saying “stop acting like animals” implying that children are acting in a primitive and thoughtless manner. When my students/patients misbehave, I occasionally tell them that they are behaving like animals. Of course, my critics in India would label my utterances as racist and dehumanizing akin to the Nazis’ persecution of Jews during the Holocaust and torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Many patients hospitalized in some Covid-19 facilities in India complained that their condition was like “animals” at the facility. Most of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. Many of […]
Digital Learning (Digital Education)
Digital Learning (Digital Education): _ _____ Section-1 Prologue: “Lectures are only terrible if you are a terrible lecturer!”. Lectures that are dynamic, evoke emotion, and engage the audience are worthwhile learning experiences. But in this age without technology dynamicity, emotion evoking, audience engagement etc. are all impossible. For our new generation kids born in latest technological environments, everything seems boring when it is not connected with technology, and rather counterintuitively we expect that they would learn under the same old age classrooms systems. Today’s students are digital natives. This is a generation that has never known a world without Google, the internet or even smartphones. Technology is at the center of their lives, touching every aspect of their day-to-day experiences and influencing their decisions. It stands to reason, then, that technology should be a crucial part of their educational experience. In today’s world, digital technology has not yet been applied […]
