TACKLING AMPHISTOMIASIS AS A VETERINARY PROBLEM

Jabalpur

There are only three trematode infections of our domestic animals which have attracted greatest attention of the scientists and a lot has been worked out and written on these subjects. However, it is also true that these fluke infections are mainly problem of African and Asian countries. Why it is so ?  , As every one will appreciate there is a great climatic difference between these continents and mostly European continent is not conducive for development of these fluke infections in the snails.   Other reason of this difference, beside climatic, is husbandry practices in these continents.. While animal husbandry is confined to large agriculture farms in European and American countries ,it is mostly dependent on agriculture reseduces in African and Asian countries and considered a poor man's way of extra earning. Here, grazing of the animals is a big phenomenon in maintaining the domestic animals; these animals are allowed to let free in marshy lands, barren areas for grazing . They  fulfill their water requirements from local sources which are either in the form of lake, ponds, tanks, rivers , rivulets or even low laying areas filled with rainy water. And these are the great source of trematode infections in our domestic animals. 

 In true sense , history of parasitic diseases is not very old and it is only in late nineteenth century where malaria disease was suspected to be caused by a protozoan parasite . It is not surprising that the  old literature on fluke infections, contain  great emphasis  on  fascioliasis , considering it as main problem of our animals with little attention on amphistomes and schistosomes. This is so in any important veterinary parasitology book including that of Soulsby or old monneign book. It is not very difficult to speculate over this; as we are aware Fasciola hepatica was discovered long back because of ease of its finding in our domestic animals hence this was the fluke first considered causing much harm to the animal industry . Also other  reason for this emphasis was discovery of Lymnea truncatula, as intermediate host for Fasciola hepatica in Australia- a country with emphasis on sheep hasbandry ; therefore, the scientists claimed Fasciola hepatica as an important pathogen for sheep health. Moreover, this snail was amphibious in nature thus giving possibility  of its survival on land as well as in water. However subsequent research found that is is mainly F.gigantica in Asian countries where an obligatory aquatic snail is intermediate host . Again this snail (lymnaea aurricularia or L.accuminata ) is mainly present in perineal water source . This is in contrast to the intermeidate hosts for amphistomes and schistosomes which are present not only in perineal water sources but also temporary water sources. The other reason is increase in number of species of the flukes and snails proportionately in these cases. 

Therefore , we have advocated that along with fascioliasis , two other fluke infections are also problems in India or other Asian and African countries.

Till now , it is a simple story but further work becomes complicated since little attention has been paid on mysteries of amphistomiasis and schistosomiasis. We have written in details on schistosomiasis in a book form that has been published by Springer India in 2012.

Therefore, this write up desires our attention on amphistomiasis where following points are to be considered
Presently, there are three important publications on amphistomes from India
a. A review by BSW Chauhan on amphistomes published in ZSI in 1966 or so
b. Dr SC Dutt Monograph on Paramphistomes and Paramphistomiasis in domestic runinants- published by PAU in 1980
c.Dr NK Gupta ,1993 book on Amphistomes ;systematics and biology- published by Oxford university, New Delhi
If you vet any of these publications , you will observe they are written from a Biologist's view point and many questions and literature which is important to deal the disease has been left as such.
In recent years there are some chapters on aphistomes but again dealing mainly systematics while our view point is dealing the subject  from a Veterinary point of view ,

1. Its very simple to see amphistomes  in  slaughter houses or while conducting postmortem of a animal. This is because opening of stomach or rumen, reticulum, abomasum of any animal ,witnesses presence of amphistomes in these animals.

2.Those who are not well versed with Parasitology, claim these adult  amphistomes for death of the animal

3 But for a Parasitologist it is always difficult to ascribe these adult amphistoomes for any pathology of the animal though there is no doubt that these flukes suck nutrients for their host for survival and reciprocation. All the books of parasitology tell there is no harm or no much harm due to presence of adult flukes in the stomach and it is difficult to refute this opinion.

4. There are more than 20 species of amphistomes prevalent in India but only four have been incriminated for causing pathogenesis ( though persons like Dr SC Dutt have identified about 40 amphistome species and most of them have been synchronized ). But the main question remains why all amphistome species are not considered pathogenic ? Is it due to their low number in nature or little power of infecting  animals ? or no production of any toxic material during its life cycle ?

5. Another problem is that amphistomiasis is considered a problem of young animals and intake of large number of metacercariae simultaneously else smaller doses of metacercariae may not cause any harm to the host. The main reason ascribed for pathology is lodging of a large number of immature amphistomes in duodenum at a time thereby causing sloughing and blockage

6. Do we have technology to identify cercariae of each amphistome species and to calculate which amphistome species is more prevalent in particular area. Is there any relation between prevalence and pathology of the infection

7.Diagnosis of amphistomiasis is again a complicated issue as detecting amphistome eggs in the faeces is not considered pathogenic hence persons have to demonstrate immature amphistomes in faeces of the animals.

8.As detecting immature amphistomes in faeces is more tedious , scientists have developed a method of antigen detection test in faeces which if positive shows animals being suffering from amphistomiasis.

9. However, arguably eggs in the faeces will also turn the test positive hence will it not affect ssensitivity of the test ?
10. In fact, in countries like India, there are multiple infections that occur in an animal in nature and it is very difficult to ascribe importance of each infection in every host species. Perhaps , there are many factors like species of the animal, age , sex and nutritional status which decide pathogenecity of the infection.
11. Though it is simple to control these coprological fluke infections by preventing them not coming in contact with water hence preventing hatching of the eggs , yet it is easy to say then to practice. The future Gobar Dhan yojna may play a great role in controlling these fluke infections .

Nevertheless, i am planning to write all about amphistomes and amphistomiasis with a perspective of a veterinarian point of view and will appreciate to receive any research paper, project report , etc on my mail < drmcagrawal@gmail.com> Like schistosomiasis, i will not hesitate to incorporate any new modern technique that may help in solving the problem provided it cost effective and simple , ; this may be confirmed by reading the chapter "technologies developed" in the referred book.Needless to say that each and every contribution will be thankfully acknowledged in the book . 

WHAT'S A LIFE ?.

1st Nov 2017
what is life ?
This philosophical question has rotated in the minds of every human being , since he started thinking and they have given answers to this question in various ways. I have also raised this basic question in my forth coming book Research guidance in Parasitology.

In my Hindi book "YE HAI HAMARE KRISHI VISHWA VIDYALAYA" (available in Amazone.in) I have opined that no person got peace during his life  where i have cited examples of :Dhratarashtra" or "Pandavs". But even if you read life of our ideal Rama , he perhaps remained perturbed in his later life due to absence of his beloved wife Seeta and how he finished his life- by immersing his body in Saryu river .

Who so ever may be great in his active phase of life ,  every one has to face this last phase of his life , where there is no fire works but only a silence or a wait  -and there is no escape for this phase. We mourn this demise of the person for whole life if he left us in a very young age . But has to accept this bitter fact even for our near and dear one -even if he has crossed any age of his life.

This whole rhetoric is on a news my colleague has transmitted to me yesterday. 

The news is that our Professor Dr Harish Lal Shah has shifted from Jabalpur to Lucknow after crossing the age of 85 years and when the going becomes more tough at Jabalpur. His widow daughter in law with her grown up two children came to their rescue and took them to Lucknow where all will live together at Lucknow. This news once again compelled me to thing over miseries of life . Now ! where is his blue eyed boy Dr HOP Shrivastava ? What happened to his other students residing at Jabalpur ?   

As i knew Prof Shah since 1965, i may be able to describe the events more closely. However, let me clarify that these are my feelings without knowing about theirs as though both of us were living in Jabalpur  ,we remained  wide apart since last twenty years .

I have written much about Dr Shah in my Hindi book , primarily since both of us were in Parasitology and he told us so many things of his life. Though his surname "Shah"suggests him belonging to some other community but he is a chhatriya of Pahadi area of UttarPradesh. In the book i have mentioned how he was promoted to Professor of Parasitology through Madhya Pradesh service commission and joined in 1966 ,Jabalpur Parasitology department and taught us Parasitology. He impressed us by his way of teaching in undergraduate classes then he went to Illinois University for his Ph.D However, his family with three sons remained in Gorakhpur colony of Jabalpur city (where HOP was also residing )  ; His one son was suffering from  muscular atrophy and lost his life when Dr Shah was still at USA . Thus his two sons  remained with him- the elder Hemant joined medical college , Jabalpur, did his MBBS while younger Jayant did BA and joined Army as an Officer. Dr Hemant took MS in gynaecology ,married a Bengali girl and settled at USA with his family. The younger son also married in a christian family belonging to Satna and joined some private company as security officer , after leaving military services  However, Jayant developed some health problems, admitted in Marble city hospital of Jabalpur but his life could not be saved and he expired in 1999 or so; at that time his wife was very young carrying the burden of two children.Every one of us thought that she will make a second marriage as our Professor was also of this thought. However, life has many hidden miseries, she did not marry and now she with her two grown up children came forward to take Dr and Mrs to Lucknow with them so that life of Dr Shah can be less miserable. But what happened to Dr HOP Shrivastava who is residing nearby ? Was he not remained supportive to Dr Shah family ?

It is a open secret that Dr Shah supported  HOP blindly, at all places.So much so, that he does not hesitate to kill the claims of other genuine persons. This i have referred in my Hindi book by narrating an example of interview where neither merit nor seniority was considered only to give professorship to HOP. 

Again when he became President of IAAVP( Indian association for advancement of veterinary parasitology), i requested him to write a book (with my full assistance) describing Indian Parasitology- its achievements and areas for further research; but he did not take up the matter. Frankly i considered it because of HOP

Dr Shah remained to support HOP , what we can call Blindly. Though it was a great puzzle to understand it.

It still remained a puzzle ?

whether Dr shah has a true love for HOP despite all his shortcomings ?

And HOP has used Dr Shah only for his pretty benefits ?

What is the present thinking of the two for each other ?

SHOULD NOT WE CRITICALLY EVALUATE OUR VETERINARY SYSTEM

There are always two schools of thought- one never try to critically evaluate any system- howsoever  old it has become while other school believes to look into the system-what we have achieved and why we have failed to achieve. I belong to second category. With my age of 74 , i have witnessed introduction of Agriculture universities under American land grand pattern in India. The first university came in existence in Pantnagar in 1960. Its reputation in Agriculture prompted PAU,Ludhiana to be second and Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya ,Jabalpur as third Agriculture university of India ; however, this university could not attain equal fame. Perhaps, the main reason was its inclusion of all 6 agriculture colleges and 2 veterinary colleges of Madhya Pradesh in Agriculture university (this was not done in Pantnagar and Ludhiana) and diminishing state professors and head to Associate Professor with creation of Professor's post ,only at Jabalpur. Again, required funds were not  infused to sustain such a large system hence other campuses deteriorated with almost halt of research work. . While Pantnagar encouraged students to become teaching assistant ,during  their post graduate degree program and promoting them directly to Assistant Professor, such facility was again deprived by JNKVV and even intelligent students were forced to join inferior post of senior research assistant . It clearly reveals how human capital at these two places was treated which reflected widely in its achievements.

It was a good idea to encroach vast agriculture land under Agriculture University so that students may do practicals in the field. For this reason, these Agricultural universities were opened in remote areas-away from cities.

While this proved a boon for Agriculture education, the same was not true for Veterinary education. The main reason was training of these student veterinarians was to be given on animal patients which were scar in these places. Therefore, though their hospitals were having good facilities, the students failed to apply these techniques on a large scale. According to some , they were not well trained to perform general veterinary activities.

One important fact emerged that these Indian Agriculture universities abandoned good practices of American system like hourly test, monthly test , earn while you learn but never hesitated to imbibe controversial practices. The main argument of including veterinary science in Agriculture universities was since American and our farmers keep both animals and agriculture hence veterinary was included in these universities though their education syllabus greatly differed . Again, only those students having a BVSc degree were allowed to join post graduate degree program. This created great controversies and citing examples from America first two  Agriculture universities (Pantnagar and PAU ) started college of Animal sciences where both vet and agriculture students were allowed to take up post graduate  program.However neither Agriculture  nor veterinary departments were ready to appoint these students and as a result both colleges of animal sciences have to be closed down. 

Our Agriculture faculty was sent to American universities for doing Ph.D thereby helping India in auguring Agriculture research but when these scientists returned from America after obtaining Ph.D , they did not start research work , but started complaining about meager facilities existing in the country. 

It is half truth that these Agriculture universities were responsible for green revolution or increase in wheat production. In 1965 our erst while prime minister shri Lal Bahadur Shastri was struggling with food problem ,asked people to have a fast for one day in a week and coined the slogan :JAI JAWAN JAI KISAN 'In fact this was dwarf variety of wheat, developed by Dr Norman Barloug (an American scientist) in Mexico which was introduced in the country with the efforts of Dr MS Swaminathan, Head Botany dept at IARI, and Dr C Subramanium, the then Agriculture Minister.

Likewise, it is wrong to give credit to the Veterinarians for taking the country first in milk production. Really it  was an engineer Dr Vargees Kurian, who has no relation with Veterinary or Agriculture education, pioneered operation flood and AMUL model which became so darling that many countries came to adopt the program.Our Veterinary scientists ,instead, started cross cattle breeding program which utterly failed to produce a high yielding milch cow. Moreover, they have not discussed utility of male calf which is used as beef in America but was not possible in India. Similar was the fate of "pichwade ki murgi" where we could not produce a hen  giving more than 200 eggs to the small farmers. Thus there are many questions raised by the public; what is the aim of these agriculture universities ? whether our research is for small farmers or big business houses? How we are treating our Indian scientists ? Why IAS can refuse to implement a research plan without understanding its utility?For example,  how our scientists can undertake large scale trials of their vaccines, diagnostics, drugs etc when these agriculture universities do not have executive powers ?

Why persons are allowed to import technologies on hefty royalty that can be developed easily in our country . Why our scientific organisations in their websites list research highlights or awards without name of the scientist or team of scientist ?

There are many alike questions which need answer.

Now time is changing and so is India. Therefore, it is necessary to look into whole issue of research in our education system so that our new generation can enjoy fruits of growth.Sadly there are scarcity of the books which are  critically evaluating our education or Agriculture system.

I have analysed some of above questions in my memoir in the form of a book  YE HAI HAMARE KRISHI VISHWA VIDYALAYA.(ISBN 978-93-86673-37-4)

This book is published in August 2017  by BLUE ROSE PUBLISHERS, NEW DELHI and is available on Amazone.in , and flipcart .( link : http//:bluerosepublishers.com/product/ye-hai-hamare-krishi-vishwa-vidyalaya/ http//:amzn.in/5efCl62 )

Shortly the book is coming on kindle in e book format so that our young generation may retrieve it when ever they desire so.In contrast to my technical book, published by springers, price of hard copy is only Rs600; our young generation may use e book format on Kindle and it is costing only Rs300.

Long back (perhaps in 1970es) Dr Vinod shah , An Agricutural Scientist , wrote a book critically analysing our agriculture system but I could not find the book. It was based purely on Agriculture.
Recently Dr JS Bhatia has written  following book that deals with Veterinary education and profession in India
A glimpse of veterinary  education in India.
publisher Satish serial publishing house. 403 express tower,commercial complex,azadpur,
Delhi 110033
Hope these books will not vanish so shortly and desired persons will be able to retrieve these books.

TO EQUIP OUR VETERINARY UNIVERSITIES WITH MODERN FACILITIES

It is heartening to note that almost all Indian states are interested to open a new veterinary university in their state to augment animal husbandry-an important part to double up farmers' income. Obviously present veterinary universities have been carved from erstwhile State Agriculture universities hence they are lacking some basic facilities to participate in Agriculture growth. There may be different parameters for growth and new equipment for achieving this  growth when we reach in mid of 21st century but presently 3 requirements appear necessary for these universities..These are -our veterinary hospitals, a university library and a department of vet economics and statistics in each and every vet university

VETERINARY HOSPITALS : It must be realized that unlike to Agriculture Universities, these veterinary universities do not require large farm lands hence should be started in or nearby big cities. We have some bad experience in Pantnagar university where vet students were not able to handle and treat good number of animals , merely because that town does not have large animal population. In contrast, big cities like Jabalpur, Patna, Kolkatta etc have good bovine population mainly because these animals cadre milk demand of the big cities. 

However, new developments have lead to shifting of the dairies from city to outskirts hence the existing veterinary hospitals of old veterinary colleges are mainly serving cat and dog population of the city as bovine are shifted about 10-20 km away from the city.; obviously, in such circumstances students fail to acquire good practice on  large animals.

There is also a new development of opening Gaoshala where unproductive and other kind of bovines are maintained. I think it will be a win win position for both the stakeholders if veterinary hospitals/colleges take charge of these animals.

These hospitals should possess not only the modern facility for treatment but arrangements for night stay of staff and students.However , for any progress in veterinary profession, we should, in my opinion,stop equilling our treatment with that of medical science ; there is good time to realize the difference between the two treatments- where as in medical treatment, emotions play a great role while veterinary treatment should mainly  concern with finances. Except pet animals, it is only finances which play great role in healing of the animals. Therefore, it is necessary to develop our community medicine to a great extend- mayh be where its principles may be referred by medical fraternity . 

The Veterinary Ambulatory is also needed to fabricate so that it be able to transport large animal beside first aid for treating any type of animals ; presently , it is merely a college bus without any facilities except transporting staff and students.  Ambulatory facility should be in real sense where ailing animal can be  treated and cured, if having minor ailments.  

VETERINARY LIBRARY ; A library is essential in any university, where research and patents become important  beside post graduate research. However, in most of the veterinary univresities, the libraries are in nascnnt form; their condition is pathetic, many library are even with out sufficient staff and funds. I surprised to note that these libraries are not getting funds in every year, they are asking new books on lowest basis; thus the distributors are supplying only old or discarded books where they are able to get 30% discount. Again , neither there is any rules in spending money on text books vis a vis reference books ( it may be important to state that our Veterinary Council of India has made it compulsory to aware our students about history of the subject /veterinary science hence such books should also be purchased). Obviously purchasing of the books should go round the year.
As every university have more than one college and also colleges of  fishrey and college of management. Therefore, there is need to classify our veterinary libraries also.
There is need of a university library which have all the facilities to join any national or international library. There are great advances in library science including digitalization of important documents , hence it wwill be pertinent to change important old books /other documents into digital form to extend their life and easing its transmission.
I am tempted to compare the city library of Sharon ,America with our library and consider there is much more that can be imbibed in our libraries. In America, these city libraries provide facility to every member to open their site at home and may search any book from their home; another important fact is that the website of the library inform other related books in the subject along with table of contents and summary of the book; whether the book is on shelf or issued is also depicted  and all the working is carried out through internet.
Thus there is lot to be changed in our library system , if we wish to utilize this facility in proper way.

DEPT OF VETERINARY ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS  Though important veterinary institutes in India, like IVRI, NDRI or Madras Veterinary college have separate department of veterinary economics and statistics, it is not so in other veterinary universities ; Factually , our VCI has not made this dept mandatory for veterinary colleges, most of the veterinary colleges or state governments are reluctant to open this department in their veterinary college without appreciating its importance. It is important to mention that there is no where a Veterinary Economist or Veterinary Statistician in whole of the state hence the whole subject remains neglected. It is important to mention that every Agriculture college has a separate department of Agriculture Economics but this is wanting in Veterinary colleges because no one has understood its importance
If we want to double up the income of our farmers, it is important to appoint a subject matter specialist of Veterinary economist who may help in identifying animal products that may be in great demand in the people and may fetch a good price for the product. Likewise, there is need of a Veterinary statistician who can maintain animal population of the state and can provide data of animal production and animal diseases..
In my opinion Agriculture Economics has greatly helped in realizing importance of different agriculture produce and same thing will be done when a separate department of Veterinary Economics starts functioning in these new Veterinary Universities.
  

der  

दो अदभुत धुरंधर वैज्ञानिक

 

जिस समय मै परजीवी  विभाग मे था मैंने एक साथ दो मशहूर परजीवी  वैज्ञानिक  को नजदीक से देखा और उनके अंतर को भी महसूस किया  /

इसमे पहले वैज्ञानिक थे डॉ हरीश लाल शाह - गोरा चिट्टा रंग ,लम्बे ,न दुबले न मोटे ,थोड़े सिर के बाल उड़े हुए /

हम लोंगो का परिचय डॉ शाह से १९६५ मे हुआ था जब हम BVSc कर रहे थे और थर्ड इयर मे परजीवी विषय भी पढाया जाता था  उसी समय एक छात्र का एक आध्यापक से जैसे परिचय होता है यह  भी उसी प्रकार का था /

मुझे आज भी याद है जुलाई १९६५ / परजीवी को path,bact,para के अध्यापको ,कभी डॉ रिछारिया ,कभी डॉ  ठाकुर ने पढाया / फिर दीपावली की छुट्टी के बाद डॉ शाह क्लास मे आये और अपना परिचय दिया /पता लगा कि पहले वह Mhow मे असिस्टेंट प्रोफेसर  थे अब प्रोफेसर  पर मध्य प्रदेश  सर्विस कमीशन से प्रमोशन पाकर जबलपुर आये है / जबलपुर मे पहले path,bact,para था अब १९६५ से उनके आने के बाद से परजीव विभाग  स्वतंत्र रूप से काम करेगा /

डॉ शाह के कुछ दिन  क्लास लेने पर ही बह छात्रों के चहेते बन गए / सब कोई उनके धारा प्रवाह इंग्लिश बोलने से जैसे अभिभूत हो गया /उनका समझाने का ढंग भी बहुत अच्छा था जिससे लडको को समझने मे भी कोई परेशानी नहीं होती थी / हालाँकि परजीवी एक बहुत ही नीरुस बिषय माना जाता था जहाँ पैरासाइट की साइज़ याद  करते रहो -और उस पर ऊटपटांग नाम –वो भी एक नहीं बल्कि अनेक /

  लेकिन यह डॉ शाह का ही आकर्षण था की लड़के विषय को अची तरह समझने लगे / उनका यूथ को आकर्षित करने का करिश्मा तब भी पता लगा जब १९७४ मे बह पंतनगर एसोसिएट प्रोफेसर होकर चले गये/यह उनके पढ़ाने का तरीका ही था जिससे उस समय UG के छात्र डॉ के ऍम ल पाठक ,डॉ देवेन्द्र कुमार आदि को MVSC परजीवी मे करने को प्रेरित किया /

लेकिन जबलपुर मे डॉ शाह कुछ ही समय रहे / फिर बह इलेनॉइस  विश्व विद्यालय ,अमेरिका पीएचडी करने चले गए –शायद १९६६ या १९६७ मे / वहां  पर उन्होंने प्रशिद्ध वैज्ञानिक डॉ LEVINE के निर्देशन मे पीएचडी सफलता पूर्वक की और १९७० मे जबलपुर वापिस अपने बिभाग मे आ गए /

परन्तु उनकी अनुपस्थित मे जबलपुर मे एक बहुत बड़ा परिवर्तन हो गया था /जबलपुर का पशु चिकित्सा महाविद्यालय एक बहुत पुराना महाविद्यालय था जिसका उद्घाटन ८ जुलाई १९४८ को सी पी एंड बरार (उस समय मध्य प्रदेश का निर्माण नहीं हुआ था ) के पशु धन को विकसित करने के लिए किया गया था और यह पशु पालन बिभाग के अंतर्गत किया गया था  परन्तु अक्टूबर १९६४ मे जवाहरलाल नेहरु कृषि विश्व विद्यालय बनने पर यह उसके अंतर्गत आ गया और उसके सारे नियम कायदे बदल गये/ इसमे प्रमुख था  यूनिवर्सिटी प्रोफेसर के पद पैदा करना और स्टेट प्रोफेसर (जो डॉ शाह थे ) को एसोसिएट प्रोफेसर मानकर उसपर स्ताफित करना /दूसरा बड़ा बदलाव था कॉलेज के स्टाफ को फील्ड से अलग करना –अब कोई भी पद interchangeble नहीं रहा /

मै १९६८ मे पशु चिकत्सा महाविद्यालय मे आ गया था और १९६९ मे सुनने को मिला कि परजीव विभाग मे एक बहुत ही नामी,अवार्ड विनर साइंटिस्ट ने प्रोफेसर के पद पर ज्वाइन किया है / यह थे हमारे डॉ शैलेश चन्द्र दत्त / उस समय डॉ शाह अमेरिका मे थे और मै था  मेडिसिन विभाग मे /

मेरा डॉ दत्त से कैसे परिचय  हुआ , यह  भी एक अजीब संयोग रहा- जब मुझे mvsc, परजीवी मे इन्सेर्विस अभियार्थी  के रूप मे एडमिशन मिला/ /वास्तव मे मैंने परजीवी मे अप्लाई भी नहीं किया था और मेरा मन भी नहीं था इस विषय में mvsc करने का / इसका विस्तृत विवरण मे अन्य पुस्तक मे कर चुका हू  (Remembering Dr SC Dutt : The Parasitologist. Har Anand Publishers, New Delhi. 2015 Page 205 ) /

डॉ दत्त एक मछोले कद के , कुछ सावले व्यक्तित  के साइंटिस्ट थे जिनके चेहरे से शांति छलकती थी /

मे यहाँ कह सकता हू की मुझे दो विसिस्ट व्यक्तियों  के अंतर्गत mvsc करने का अवसर मिला और साथ ही मिला दोनों व्यक्तियों को परखने का अवसर  ? यह बात सुनने मे शायद अटपटी लगती हो की कैसे एक छात्र अपने अध्यापक को परख सकता है परन्तु यह बात बिलकुल सच है –हम न चाह कर भी दो अध्यापको के पढ़ाने की तुलना शुरू कर देते है / मेरी यह तुलना उस लड़कपन के महेश से कुछ अलग थी जो डॉ शाह की पर्सनालिटी , फ्लो ऑफ़ इंग्लिश से अभिभूत हो जाता था जिसको कॉलेज मे समय विताये दो बर्ष ही हुए थे /

मैंने महसूस किया की डॉ शाह का थ्योरी पार्ट अच्छा था –बह समझाते इस तरह से थे की आप उसको लिख सकते है –जो एक छात्र के लिए बहुत जरुरी है ( ज्यादातर क्लास यह टीचर अपने कमरे मे ही लेते थे अत ब्लैक बोर्ड पर कुछ लिखने का सवाल ही नहीं था ) /

जैसा की साइंस के विद्यार्थी को पता है की प्रतेक्य विषय को दो भागो मे पढाया जाता है – एक भाग थ्योरी होता है और दूसरा प्रैक्टिकल / डॉ शाह थ्योरी लेते थे और प्रैक्टिकल को दूसरें टीचर पर पूरी तरह छोड़ देते थे / यही कारण रहा की हमने protozoology मे स्लाइड्स के आलावा और कुछ नहीं देखा – बाकी बाते सिर्फ किताबो मे पढ़ी /

दूसरी और डॉ दत्त helminthology पढ़ाते थे / बह थ्योरी का पार्ट तो अच्छा पढ़ाते ही थे बल्कि प्रैक्टिकल भी स्वय करते थे / यही कारण रहा की उनके संपर्क से हमने अनेक पैरासाइट ,उनकी इंटरमीडिएट स्टेज ,इंटरमीडिएट होस्ट आदि को पहली बार देखा/ यह डॉ दत्त की ही कृपा रही की हमने विषय को इतनी अझी  तरह समझ पाए/ जो कुछ किताब मे पढ़ते थे बह सव माइक्रोस्कोप मे देखने का मौका मिला और जो आपने अपनी ऑंखो से देखा है उसको भूलना मुश्किल होता है/

क्योकि मै १९७१ मे ही मेडिसिन बिभाग से परजीव मे स्धारंतिरित  कर दिया गया था और mvsc के साथ ही लडको को प्रैक्टिकल लेने का देमोस्त्रटर  होने की बजह से काम करता था अतः मैंने बिभाग की गतबिधियो को बहुत नजदीक से वा बारीकी से देखा और महसूस किया /

मैंने देखा की डॉ शाह का काम थ्योरी क्लास लेना ही था –दोनों UG वा PG का (उस समय बिभाग मे पीएचडी शुरू नहीं हुई थी ) / छात्र mvsc पराजीव मे करना पसंद नहीं करते थे अतः उस समय कोई भी छात्र अपना थीसिस भी परजीवी मे नहीं कर रहा था / अतः देखा जाये तो टीचर्स के पास क्लास ले ने के बाद समय ही समय था /

उस समय हमारे डॉ शाह चैन स्मोकर थे –क्लास जाने से पहले सिगरेट  पीना और आने के बाद सिगरेट पीना /परन्तु ये कहना पड़ेगा की उनोहने  कभी PG क्लास मे भी सिगरेट नहीं पी / और काफी समय बाद –शायद १९८५ के आस पास –एक बार उनके खासने पर बलगम के साथ खून आ गया –बह डॉ को दिखाने चले गए / बहा डॉ ने उनको सिगरेट छोड़ने की सलाह दी / और आशचर्य जनक है की एक चैन स्मोकर ने तत्काल ही पूर्ण रूप से सिगरेट छोड़ दी / यह निश्चित तोर से उनकी विल पॉवर को दर्शाता है /

डॉ शाह को कहना चाहिए की महफ़िल सजाने का शौक था /क्लास के बाद उनके कमरे मे कोई न कोई डटा ही रहता था / एक तीन चार टीचर्स का ग्रुप था जो रोज डिलाइट के पास चाय पीने जाता था ,जिसमे डॉ शाह भी होते थे / डॉ शाह का शेष समय इंग्लिश की किताबे –ज्यादादर मशहूर  उपन्यास – पढने मे बीतता था /कुछ समय क्लास मे जाने से पहले अपने नोट्स भी पलटते थे /

इसके बिपरीत हमारे डॉ दत्त का समय अपने कमरे मे विषय की किताब पढने मे, माइक्रोस्कोप मे ,कुछ स्टडी करने मे ही बीतता था / मैंने उनको स्टील के स्टूल पर लगातार दो तीन घंटे बैठ कर माइक्रोस्कोप मे स्टडी करते हुए देखा है –यह हमारे कॉलेज के लिए एक अजूबा कह सकते है / अक्सर आप उनको कॉलेज की लाइब्रेरी मे भी देख सकते थे /

डॉ दत्त दोपहर को खाना भी नाम मात्र को खाते थे (वह कॉलेज से ८ मील दूर अधारताल मे रहते थे इसलिए विभाग मे ही खाते थे )  / बह ज्यादातर दो ब्रेड की स्लाइस ,एक उबला अंडा ,एक फल (संतरा ,केला, या सेव )लेते थे –और फिर एक कप चाय या काफी / मैंने कभी कभी डॉ दत्त को अंत मे एक आध सिगरेट पीते हुए भी देखा /

दोनों टीचर्स के स्वाभाव का अंतर सब कोई महसूस कर सकता था / जंहा एक और हमारे डॉ दत्त हमेशा पढने या पढ़ाने मे, माइक्रोस्कोप मे ,लाइब्रेरी मे, व्यस्त रहते थे वही दूसरी और डॉ शाह को क्लास के बाद जैसे विषय से कोई मतलब ही नहीं था /

शायद डॉ शाह इसको महज एक नौकरी की तरह लेते थे / क्योकि खाली समय मे उन्होंने अपने जीवन के बारे मे बहुत कुछ बताया था जिसमे प्रमुख था की बह उत्तर प्रदेश के पहाड़ी इलाके से थे / लखनऊ विश्व विद्यालय से एमएससी जूलॉजी करने के बाद पीएचडी मे भी एडमिशन ले लिया था ( उस समय बहा मशहूर साइंटिस्ट डॉ GD Thapar भी टीचर थे )/ उसी समय –करीब १९५४ मे – उन्हें असिस्टेंट प्रोफेसर परजीवी  का mhow कॉलेज का इंटरव्यू  मिला (उस समय वेटरनरी कॉलेज मे पशु चिकत्सा की  डिग्री अनिवार्य नहीं थी और बहुत सारे विषय मे प्योर साइंस के टीचर आते रहे ) और फिर अपॉइंटमेंट लैटर / उस समय भी नौकरी , पढ़े लिखो मे भी , एक समस्या थी  और जरूरी नहीं है की पीएचडी करने के बाद भी , आपको फोरन नौकरी मिल जाये – और मिलेगी भी तो बही असिस्टेंट प्रोफेसर की / अतः सभी संगी साथियों ने सलाह दी की पीएचडी छोड़ कर उनको  mhow  की नौकरी ज्वाइन कर लेनी चाहिए / इस तरह उन्होंने mhow मे नौकरी की शुरू आत की जंहा परजीवी path, bact , para, का ही एक हिस्सा था / १९६५ मे बह प्रोफेसर होकर जबलपुर आये जंहा पर परजीवी को एक अलग विभाग बनाने की जिम्मेदारी भी उन पर आ गई /

यू तो डॉ शाह मेरिट की बहुत बात करते थे –उनके पास  इसके बहुत से उदहारण भी थे , जहा वैज्ञानिक असिस्टेंट प्रोफेसर रहने के बाबजूद केबल अपनी रिसर्च वा शोथ पत्रों से देश विदेश मे मशहूर हो गए / परन्तु ऐसा लगता है की उनके अंदर कही न कही इस बात की टीश थी की उनके ऊपर  डॉ दत्त को प्रोफेसर बनाकर बैठा दिया गया / शायद इसीलिए जबलपुर मे उनको अपना भविष्य अंधकारमय दीखता था क्योकि डॉ दत्त १९७९ मे रिटायर होते अतः डॉ शाह को प्रोफेसर शिप  पाने के लिए ४-६ साल और इंतजार करना पड़ता / शायद इसीलिए डॉ शाह ने जबलपुर छोड़ने का अपना मन बना लिया हालाँकि जबलपुर मे उनके बहुत सारे  दोस्त थे और छात्रों मे भी उनका बहुत आदर था / इसीलिए बह समान्तर पद ,एसोसिएट प्रोफेसर  पर ,पशु चिकत्सा कॉलेज ,पन्त नगर मे १९७४ मे चले गए- बहा फर्क यही था की परजीवी को एक स्वंतंत्र विभाग बनाया जा रहा था और उनके उपर कोई नहीं था / हां ! प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट creat करके जल्द भरने की उम्मीद भी दिलाई गयी थी / उस समय उनकी उम्र करीब ४३ साल की रही होगी /

जैसा मे उपर ही कह  चुका हू की डॉ शाह मे UG को अपनी और आकर्षित करने की अदभुत छमता थी /येही बात पंतनगर मे भी साबित हुई / उन्ही के आकर्षण से उस समय के तीन मेधावी छात्रों –डॉ पाठक, डॉ देवेन्द्र कुमार, वा डॉ जुयाल ने परजीवी मे mvsc करने का मन बनाया  (हालाँकि उनोहने डॉ भाटिया बा डॉ गौर के अंडर मे यह पढाई की क्योकि तब  तक डॉ शाह ने पंतनगर छोड़ दिया था  ) और परजीवी विज्ञानं मे अपनी अलग पहचान बनाई / यहाँ यह बताना भी उचित होगा की डॉ JP DUBEY अमेरिका भी डॉ शाह के UG के mhow के विद्यार्थी ही थे /

परन्तु एक आश्चर्य  है की जंहा डॉ शाह UG छात्रों को इतना चुम्बकीय ढंग से आकर्षित कर पाए , बही उनका ये जादू उनके PG छात्रों पर नहीं चल पाया / उनके PG छात्रों की लिस्ट बहुत बड़ी नहीं है – डॉ HOP श्रीवास्तव ,SB घोषाल ,PC जैन ,DK पेठकर ,KP सिंह , RK चौधरी वा  RK शर्मा /  

इसमे डॉ hop वा चौधरी को छोड़कर उनके किसी भी छात्र से बहुत मधुर सम्बन्ध नहीं रहे / क्योकि मे भी उसी विभाग की फैकल्टी मे था अतः मे भी उन PG छात्रों की परेशानियों का गवाह रहा हूँ / मुख्या रूप से जो बात निकल कर आती है बह यही है की बह छात्र को अपने  हाल पर रिसर्च करने को छोड़ देते थे / लेकिन अगर रिजल्ट उम्मीद के मुताबिक नहीं आये तो उस छात्र पर विश्वास नहीं करते थे और कई बार उसको दुबारा करने का हुक्म दे देते जब की छात्र का कहना रहता की उसने पूरी ईमानदारी से कार्य किया है / यहाँ तक की पीएचडी की थीसिस लिखते समय भी दूसरे  टीचर को देखने को कह दिया परन्तु जब थीसिस फाइनल टाइपिंग की बात आई तो उसको पूरा नकार दिया और फिर से लिखने को मजबूर कर दिया –चाहे उससे छात्र का कितना ही नुकसान हो जाये /

इसे नियत का विधान नहीं कहेंगे तो क्या कहेंगे की जिन डॉ दत्त की वजह से डॉ शाह ने जबलपुर १९७४ मे छोड़ा  था उन्ही डॉ दत्त ने भी कुछ माह के अन्तराल से १९७४ मे ही  जबलपुर छोड़ दिया / जबलपुर छोड़ ने की डॉ दत्त की मुख्य वजह शायद यहाँ का नॉन अकादमिक माहौल था / बह यहाँ  से ICAR गए और वहा से लुधिअना –जहा उनोहने  अपने प्रोफेसर बा हेड का शेष कार्यकाल पूरा किया /

चूँकि पुस्तक के इस भाग मे हम परजीवी के दो पुरोंधाओ का जिक्र कर रहे है अतः यहाँ यह बताना उचित होंगा की PG छात्रों की डॉ दत्त की भी लिस्ट बहुत बड़ी नहीं है  -डॉ माथुर,मालवीय ,गौर,   (IVRI ),डॉ  श्रीवास्तव, avashati  ,निखाले , अग्रवाल (जबलपुर ), रेड्डी ,सिंह  (लुधिअना )/

परन्तु यहाँ  पर इन दोनों साइंटिस्ट्स मे एक बहुत बड़ा फर्क नजर आता है / जहा एक बार कोई डॉ दत्त के संपर्क मे आ गया बह उनका मुरीद हो गया –उसने ऐसा वैज्ञानिक, ऐसा पथ प्रदर्शक पाने पर अपने  को धन्य समझा / इसका मुख कारण रहा है डॉ दत्त ने अपने को इन छात्रों के साथ आत्म सात कर लिया – उनको इस  तरह पढाया की बह यह विद्या हमेशा याद रख पाए- उनकी मुस्किल को अपनी समझा  / थीसिस लिखने मे भी उनकी बातो को सही स्थान दिया /

यहाँ  मे डॉ दत्त के बारे मे ज्यादा नहीं लिख रहा हू क्यों कि उन पर एक पूरी किताब लिखी जा चुकी है और मे आग्रह करूंगा की और अधिक जानकारी के लिए उस किताब को जरूर पढ़े /  

एक बात की तारीफ यहाँ जरूर करनी पड़ेगी की लगभग ४-५ साल तक डॉ दत्त बा डॉ शाह जबलपुर मे एक ही विभाग मे साथ साथ रहे परन्तु उनोंहने कभी भी ईएसआई कोई बात नहीं की जिससे लगे की इन दोनों मे कुछ differences है / हां यह जरूर रहा की जबतक ये दोनों जबलपुर मे रहे- डॉ दत्त का सारा ध्यान विभाग को बढ़ाने मे रहा –नये माइक्रोस्कोप ख़रीदे गए , रिसर्च स्कीम ICAR को भेजी गई ,जो उनके जाने के बाद डॉ सहस्राबुधे ने चलाई (वही  विभाग की पहली स्कीम थी )/ इसके बिपरीत डॉ शाह का काम क्लास लेना ही था /

डॉ दत्त के जाने के बाद ,प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट advertise की गई  और डॉ शाह पंतनगर से पहले इंटरव्यू के लिए और फिर ज्वाइन करने वा रहने  को जबलपुर आये / परन्तु इस घटना ने इस बात को नकार दिया की उनके लिए पोस्ट का कोई महत्व न होकर साइंटिफिक अचिएवेमेन्त्स का ही महत्व है /

जब डॉ शाह ने जबलपुर मे १९७५ मे प्रोफेसर बा हेड पर ज्वाइन कर लिया तो शायद उनको भी लगा की विभाग मे रिसर्च भी चलनी चाहिए / यह  बात इसलिए और जरूरी हो गई क्योकि १९४८ मे बना यह कॉलेज १९६४ से जवाहरलाल नेहरु कृषि विश्व विद्यालय के अंतर गत आ गया था जिसका उद्देश्य केवल टीचिंग न होकर ,रिसर्च बा उसका विस्तार भी हो गया था /

क्योकि डॉ शाह एक प्रोतोजूलोगिस्ट थे अतः उनोहने इसी विषय मे कार्य करना चाहा / इसमे आगे आये उनके प्रिय mhow के छात्र डॉ दुबे जो इस समय अमेरिका मे कोच्सिडिया की बिभिन्न प्रजातीय पर शोध कर रहे थे / उनने अपने कुछ पेपर डॉ शाह को इस बारे मे भेजे और शायद सलाह दी की बह सर्कोच्य्स्तिस पर कार्य करे क्यों की इस बारे मे भारत मे बहुत कुछ किया जा सकता है / डॉ शाह ने अपने छात्रों को sarcocystis पर थीसिस प्रॉब्लम दिया और बाद मे एक ICAR की स्कीम भी विभाग मे लेकर आये / 

एक बात और उभर कर आई  की डॉ शाह बोलने मे लेक्चर देने मे बहुत माहिर थे  उनके लेक्चर को वैज्ञानिक बड़े मनोयोग से सुनते थे और कई लोग इसी वजह से उनके मुरीद हो गए /

इस कॉलेज मे एक जनरल कहावत हो गई थी की यहाँ के दो फैकल्टी सदस्य ने अपने बोलने के दम पर ही सारे  देश मे अपनी धाक जमा रखी  है / एक थे डॉ शाह और दूसरेडॉ वेगड़ –पैथोलॉजी के प्रोफेसर / बाद मे इन  दोनों  ने अपनी अपनी सोसाइटी के प्रेसिडेंट के पद को भी सुशोभित किया  / और अपनी वाक पटुता से कॉलेज से बाहर देश मे ज्यादा प्रसिद्ध पाए /

डॉ शाह जून १९९१ मे उम्र के ६० वर्ष पूर्ण करने पर प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट से रिटायर हो गए / परन्तु उनका पढ़ाने का शौक बरक़रार रहा इसीलिए उनने पढाना बंद नहीं किया और काफी समय तक पढ़ाते रहे /

फिर आया १९९४ / उस समय तक मुझको नेशनल फेलो का icar (यह पोस्ट प्रोफेसर के समतुल होती है ) का पत्र आ गया था और आर्डर आने मे कुछ वक्त था / इसी समय के आस पास JNKVV की प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट भी advertise हो गई / उसमे यहाँ से हम तीन लोग कैंडिडेट थे और बाहर से कोई नहीं था (शायद उनेह अंदाज था की यहाँ बालो का ही सिलेक्शन होगा )/

 अगर सेनिओरिटी से देखा जाये तो पहले थे डॉ जोशी ,फिर डॉ श्रीवास्तव और आखिर मे मै/ परन्तु जब दूसरेलोग मेरिट से लिस्ट बनाते थे तो उसमे मेरा नाम पहले रखा जाता था /इसका कारण भी था की मे पुरे विश्व विद्यालय मे पहला टीचर था जो इस अवार्ड के लिए सेलेक्ट हुआ था / दूसरा कारण था की मे हिसार के कृषि  विश्व विद्यालय मे प्रोफेसर परजीवी पर सेलेक्ट हो गया था और इसके ऑर्डर्स भी आ चुके थे /

फिर इंटरव्यू के समय पता लगा की इंटरव्यू लेने बाले नहीं आ रहे है (कुछ लोगो का यह भी सोच रहा की ऐसा जान बूछ कर किया गया ) / तब इंटरव्यू मे हमारे डॉ शाह को एक्सपर्ट के रूप मे बुलाया गया / दूसरेथे हमारे डॉ भिल्गओंगर –जिनोहने १९८१ मे हमारे विभाग से ही पीएचडी किया था / और उस समय के कुलपति थे डॉ जोहर जिनोहने mhow से ही bvsc की थी – या तो डॉ श्रीवास्तव के साथ या एक आध साल के अन्तराल से / और हां ! ये डॉ शाह के भी छात्र रह चुके थे यानि डॉ शाह इस इंटरव्यू मे बहुत ही अहम् भूमिका मे थे /

जब कॉलेज मे यह बात फैल गई कि इंटरव्यू में डॉ शाह को एक्सपर्ट के रूप मे बुलाया गया है और इंटरव्यू देने बाले है डॉ जोशी , HOP श्रीवास्तव और अग्रवाल  – तो सबका  यह सोच रहा की देखे अब डॉ शाह क्या करते है ? यानि अब आया ऊट पहाड़ के नीचे / लोगो का सोच रहा की अगर डॉ शाह अपनी शाख बचाना चाहते है –हमेशा कहते रहते है की मे तो मेरिट को तवजो देता हू – तो उन्हें डॉ अग्रवाल को सेलेक्ट करना पड़ेगा ,और अगर सेनिओरिटी से फैसला होता है तो डॉ जोशी को पहले रखना पड़ेगा / लेकिन वह hop को छोड़ नहीं सकते इस लिए पैनल बना दिया जायेगा जिससे हर हालमे hop को एक साल से पहले ही प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट मिल जाएगी / क्योकि सितम्बर १९९४ मे डॉ जोशी रिटायर हो रहे थे / और मे या तो हिसार चला जाऊंगा या कुछ महीने मे नेशनल फेलो पर ज्वाइन कर लूँगा / इनमे से ही कोई विकल्प सामने आने की चर्चा थी / इसका एक और कारण था  की डॉ जोहर भी डॉ शाह के छात्र रहे थे और उनमे इतनी हिम्मत नहीं थी की बह सही बात को न माने / परन्तु जो लोग डॉ शाह को और करीब से जानते थे उनका कहना था की देखना डॉ hop का ही सिलेक्शन होगा /

और अंत मे जो बात सामने आई बह येही थी की सारी बातो को ताक पर रख कर hop का प्रोफेसर पर अपॉइंटमेंट के ऑर्डर्स हो गए / मुझे कुछ मित्रो ने कहा भी की इस आर्डर को कोर्ट मे चैलेंज कर दो पर मे अपना समय बर्बाद नहीं करना चाहता था और मैंने भी हिसार कर रास्ता अखितियर किया /

परन्तु इस परिणाम ने डॉ जोशी को बुरी तरह तोड़ कर रख दिया / उनको अपने वा डॉ शाह के संबंधो से पूरी ऊम्मीद थी की उनको प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट मिल जाएगी और पैनल बनेगा सेनिओरिटी से जिससे डॉ hop को सितम्बर मे डॉ जोशी के रिटायर होने पर प्रोफेसर की पोस्ट मिल जाएगी / और मे या तो नेशनल फेलो ज्वाइन कर लूँगा या हिसार चला जाऊंगा /

परन्तु इतना सरल सा गरित न मानते हुए इन सब ने डॉ श्रीवास्तव का प्रोफेसर पर सिलेक्शन कर दिया / इस घटना ने बहुत ही भद्दे ढंग से इस बात को उजागर कर दिया की डॉ शाह, डॉ hop के इंटरेस्ट को टाल ही नहीं सकते है / उनके लिए मेरिट की बाते सिर्फ अपनी इमेज बनाने के लिए है  अंदर से उनके लिए इन बातो का कोई महत्व नहीं है /

कुछ लोगो का मूड यह सब बाते पढ़ कर ख़राब हो गया होगा – उनमे मे भी एक हू / बार बार येही सोच उठती है की एक इतना उम्दा टीचर , उसको hop के प्रेम ने इतना रुसवा कर दिया / और हमारे डॉ जोशी इस बात को आज तक नहीं भूल पाए की किसतरह hop के मोह ने उनको प्रोफेसर नहीं बनने दिया / पुरे विभाग मे बस दो ही टीचर रहे –एक डॉ जोशी और दूसरे  डॉ घोषाल – जो सारी qualification होने के बाबजूद प्रोफेसर नहीं हो पाए और एसोसिएट प्रोफेसर पर ही रिटायर हो गए / दोनों को ही डॉ शाह से किसी न किसी वजह से गिला रहा है / लेकिन ऐसा ही है हमारा  ये   कृषि विश्व विद्यालय , इसी लिए जवाहरलाल नेहरु कृषि  विश्व विद्यालय का नाम करण कर दिया गया  – जहा न कही विद्या ,बुधि बगेरह /  

 

(This is part of a chapter "college mai vapsi" of my book " Ye hai hamare krishi vishwa vidyalaya" published in August,2017 by Blue Rose Publishers, New Delhi and available on Amazone.in )                              

Why no Indian University has department of History of Science (some questions on previous observations)

SPART 1

My this write up is mainly dependent on Google search engine .As i have developed interests in ancient science , particularly of India, I started searching google for the information.

I surprised to note that many western universities have separate departments of history of science and profile of 24 Professors of History of Medicine are available in Linkedin. Thus important universities like Harvard university, Yale university, university of wisconsin Madison or Johns Hopkins school of medicine are having either separate departments of history of science or history of medicine. Not surprisingly, there is a separate scientific journal on this subject -Bulletin of history of medicine. 

And i could not record any Indian university who is having separate department either on history of science or history of medicine. This is despite  our boosting great ancient history ; there were puspak vimans in ancient India. Perhaps we have relied mainly on our archaeology department or  Sanskrit books  or those persons who do not believe in modern science.

There is no harm if any one does not believe in principles of modern science but he has to support his/her assumptions and have to recreate the same on critical grounds . ( Beauty of present science is that it tells the principles behind a particular phenomenon and any one can repeat it following these principles) .  Thus, if any one believes that it is possible to change figure from man to animal and vice versa or any one can minimize or increase his figure at will  or may appear or disappear at particular place , he has to show the phenomenon and be ready for critical examination ,explaining principles for the same . Even there are persons who still believe in "Parash pathar or touch stone " which will turn any mineral into gold but their claims have not been substantiated with proofs.

I may mention that all the above were earlier assumptions of early human civilization . It should also be very clear that present science has not developed in a day or two but this was a continuous process that took centuries together to take present shape. All the above assumptions were the earlier thinking of human beings which were discarded later  as proves were assembled against these facts.

Perhaps, it may surprise many that the great Greek Philospher Hippocrate has hypothesized that " life originates spontaneously"( life from nothing ). All the evidences were against this hypothesis which was formed  as Hippocrate failed to see tiny eggs of the beetles ,emerging from animal's stools. It has been proved beyond doubt that only life can generate life and it is not originating spontaneously or from nothing . Therefore, it may be correct  to presume at that time  that any creature can appear all of a sudden from nothing  but now this is simply his wishful thinking .

Therefore, either we have to accept general principles of modern science, physics, medicine etc or provide concrete evidence for the phenomena , explaining their principles . Else we will loose our credibility at international level.

If you search google , most of these studies by western scholars have been made on Greek or Roman culture  as well as their discoveries on Egypt. This is obvious since Rome  is  part of Europe while Egypt is not only an oldest civilization but there is a link in the form of Alexadria- the city  inhabitated by Alexander the great. 

In that sense there are no authentic  reports on Indian civilization by these western researchers (except a few made at early stage of excavation of Indus valley civilizarion) . There are few references which suggest that work has not been taken  in late twentieth century or so (partly this is due to ban in further exploration of the site ). Even there are some questions on our ancient civilization  which need further explanation . I may mention a few:

ORIGING OF WRITING : what so ever little we are seeing on Indian civilization, it is centered around our epics- Ramayan or Mahabharat . It should be ample clear that both these epics are written in Sanskrit . Even our Vedas are written in Sasnkrit . According  some ,  the period of writing of these epics is around 200BC or so . This suggests our civilization was existing  a period which is much later on scale of time .

Even prior to Sanskrit we were having "Brahmi script" whose details are not yet deciphered. 

So ,the important question is whether India was the place where it developed own language ? As per present descriptions true writing was invented atleast at two places- Mesopotamia around 3200BC and Mesoamerica around 600BC.

However, as per Wikipedia writing developed in Egypt around 3200BC and in China around 1200 BC.

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION . If you talk about ancient civilization, there is reference  of Indus valley civilization which occurred during Bronze age in ancient India around 3200 BC.

Though there are descriptions showing proof of a well developed city, where there was best water drainage system , bathrooms as well as common bath place.

Yet i am afraid if many questions have been answered in noting these records . For instance :

The persons were using what is called 'Indus script" which is still not deciphered.  There is still debate whether script is true writing or proto writing or non-linguistic sign system.

Interestingly the indus valley civilization is said occurring around 3200 BC and this is the period when Egypt is said to develop its writing. But the two writings are different. Does this not indicate that India developed its own writing which later on resulted in development of its own language . What was that period ? Was there any other language prior Brahmi script ?

Another important fact that is told that the persons involved in Indus valley civilization, whose proofs are extended in the form of Mohanjo Deoro or Harrappa  were not Aryan but what is now called Dravidian.

Do we have sufficient grounds to think so ? Probably not .

First, Dravidian is not a genetically defined class. This dravidian is a sanskrit word used for the persons who were speaking Tamil or alike language. Do Sanskrit , spoken by so called Aryans , has no similarity with Tamil language ?

How old these native persons or Dravidians  were residing in Indus valley ? There is no clear cut idea about that. The only fact, said, is that they were earlier settlers than Aryan race.

For our discussion, we should call them  Dravidian. Important question is when they migrated to Indus Valley. Whether they migrated from Mesopotamia and aware about Agriculture , earlier than their settling in Indus valley.  

Or they have migrated in Indus valley ,directly from Africa, much earlier than Mesopotamia developed ?

Perhaps there is no concrete evidence to substantiate either.

SIMILARITY IN CUSTOMS : How we were treating our near and dear ones after death ?  If you read Egyptian civilization they were believing in life after death hence preserved the body (what we now call 'Mummy") along with fulfilling other domestic requirements. The Roman civilization is also burrying dead body.

 BURNING DEAD BODY  However, a unique system was adopted in India and that was "Burning of dead body". 

This fact is very important which has not been highlighted by previous researchers.

We do not have any evidence of preserving dead body or making tombs for dead persons in Indus valley ; neither such practice is followed in present days in South India .This suggests that these Dravidians were following the unique practice of 'burning dead body' and this was also followed by the Aryans. But without a close contact, how the two communities learn a common practice , particularly when it is not followed in any other part of the world ? These facts make me greatly sceptical that Dravidian and Aryan have migrated in different times in India. This fact is indicative that there were close relations between the two .

Interestingly, the two other important religions i.e. Boudh and Jainism, those developed in India around 2000BC are also having same custom of burning the dead body.  

END of CIVILIZATION : Again there appears no conclusive evidence how this great civilization perished. A hypothesis is existing that a flood marooned the whole city and this was responsible for discarding the city . But if you study Egyptian civilization , this was the floods  of Nile river, occurring every year in that geography that brought prosperity and crops to those persons. Actually floods were not considered havoc in those days but a medium of bringing fertile soil which resulted in good harvest. So, how and why floods were considered harmful to human race ,related to  Indus river ?

Even if we consider the floods as the reason  , there is one way how floods might have resulted in perishing the whole human population in Indus valley ; it should be sudden and wide spread that did not give time and means to run away the persons. But then there should be evidence of excavation of large number of skelton from that area. In absence of such evidence it is hard to believe that floods were responsible for discarding the Mohenjodaro .Again, this was a city ,inhabited by traders and artisans , hence question arises what was the distance of this city from Indus river ?

There is , on the other hand, one possibility ; that Indus river might be changing its course slowly , giving problems to the residents and hence they decided to migrate to other places for future prosperity. And this may be the reason, they started migrating towards Gangetic planes .

Or was there risk of occurring any disease or diseases which caused slow migration of these persons ? (Pl see Part 2 in other blog. www.indianschistosomiasis.blogspot.com) 

DR N CHOWDHURY , PAU

After his name, I have tagged him belonging to PAU. But was he belonged really to PAU ? How we decide a person belonging to certain institute or a place ? Obviously either he has graduated, or post graduated from that place or have served the place ,irrespectively whether he merged himself with the culture of that place. In that sense, Dr Chowdhury belonged to PAU as he served this institute , first as Associate Professor of Parasitology and later as Professor of Parasitology and held charge of Head of the Department of Veterinary Parasitology for some time. As this was his last destination from where he took retirement, we may tag him as belonging to PAU. But was he really belonged to PAU ? Scrutiny of his biodata reveals as if he was a cosmopolitan scientist who perhaps felt uneasy at the serving place and was trying to run away to take solace  at some other place.

This great Indian scientist did his graduation in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry from Assam Veterinary College, Guwahati  and did his MVSc in Parasitology from Mathura Veterinary College under Dr BP Pandey-the renowned  Indian Parasitologist of twentieth century. Both Dr JP Dubey, USA and Dr BB Bhatia,Pantnagar were his colleagues as all were doing MVSc under Dr Pandey ,at that time. After wards ,Dr Chowdhury joined Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar as a Research scholar for a short period. Then he went to Belgium under some international scholarship and did his DSc. He also visited Japan  under promotion of science and developed great bond with  DR I Tada, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu university, Fukuoka, Japan which culminated in acting of the latter as co-editor for the book “Helminthology”.

The desire of Dr Chowdhury to understand the subject at international level led him to become member or fellow of societies of Veterinary Parasitology, Belgium, Japan and America . Not satisfied from that he became member of World Association for Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology. Though at some time , he became life member of Indian society of Parasitology and that of Indian Association for Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology.

I met Dr N Chowdhury first time in 1981 at IDPL, Hyderabad where both of us were candidates for the post of Senior Biologist, equivalent to Associate Professor. I could not join this post for some reason while Dr Chowdhury joined PAU in 1982 as Associate Professor of Parasitology. Dr Chowdhury came more close to me when he was writing a chapter “ Helminths of domesticated animals in Indian subcontinent” in his book “ Helminthology” (Published in 1994) . He was interested particularly in my review articles on Stephanofilariasis, schistosomiasis incognitum and nasal schistosomiasis. As the latter article was not handy till that time, I send him rough manuscript of the article.

Those who have read this chapter in his book will appreciate how meticulously  Dr Chowdhury has provided authentic information on the subject. I have no hesitation in stating that his chapter is a milestone in reviewing all the relevant literature on helminths in domestic animals in Indian continent that happened after about twenty or thirty years when our predecessors have written on checklist of helminths of domestic animals and alike important articles.   In 2001 , came another important book ‘Helminths of Wild life” of Dr Chowdhury. This was again a first attempt to deal with parasites of wild life at global level.

Then came the difference of opinion which I developed not with Dr Chowdhury but with some of my fellow scientists. I was of the opinion that Dr Chowdhury should be elected as fellow of Indian Parasitology Societies as he has written important books and they are sufficient to recognize this scientist. He has already established his international credentials by inviting international scientists of different institutes  to write chapters for his two books.

However, there were two difficulties. First was that for considering fellowship of the society or academy Dr Chowdhury should apply for the same  in a prescribed format or at least  making an application in that respect. Dr Chowdhury refused to apply as by that time he has retired from services of PAU and this suffix was of little value to Dr Chowdhury . Perhaps, there was a hidden message that this will give credentials to your society to elect a distinguished scientist as their fellow.

Another fact was that the societies have developed a format where the judge has to give marks for every achievement of the candidate scientist like degrees, experiences, research papers , books published, society activities made by the scientist and so on. And the scientists are awarded fellowship on their mark basis.

On this selection basis, I have remarked (though I have remained a judge for the selection of follows for some years) . Thanks God ! our Goswami Tulsidas has not applied for the fellowship otherwise he could not get this coveted title as he has written  “Ramcharitmanas” only to his credit (others are short booklets) or case of Meera Bai or alike personality would have rejected by our Indian scientific academies  .

But Dr Chowdhury was more bitter and outspoken than me. He was highly critical of the standards of so many professionals . He felt pain that these persons are not advancing our science and are engaged only in private works- counting their bank balance or type of car or house ,they are possessing .  I remember how much critical he was when one distinguished Parasitologist constituted  young scientist award on his own name, when he was not only alive but active in his service career. I agreed with Dr Chowdhury that this is against our Indian culture. But we have to keep mum at certain places where we are helpless –in my opinion at least this scientist came forward to encourage our young scientists . We have not taken “theka or contract ” to improve each and every one and we should see ourselves – we should avoid the work which we do not like. But Dr Chowdhury was hard to convince and he has written letters to the distinguished persons where he differed . I came to know about these facts as Dr Chowdhury sent a copy of such few letters to me also.

Now  , he is no more. When I look back at his achievements , I feel the Indian scientific fraternity has not done justice to Dr Chowdhury. He could not get from them what he deserved most . Our some scientists have not liked his critical character though that is important for improving ourselves or at least assessing ourselves. This has long back  been narrated by our poet Kabir das  “nindak niyare rakhiye, angan kuti chawai, binu pani bin sabuna, nirmal kare subhaw.” ( keep your critic close to you; give him shelter in your courtyard. Without soap and water he cleanses your character).

I pray Almighty God to give peace to the soul of  my dear friend Dr N Chowdhury.

Dr PD Juyal , Vice Chancellor of Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary University, Jabalpur was associated with Dr N Chowdhury as Dr Juyal was also Professor and Head of Parasitology, PAU and has close acquaintance than me with Dr Chowdhury. Therefore, I requested him to provide an authentic brief of Dr Chowdhury which he very kindly did and I am copying  the same as under 

CHOWDHURY, NIRMALENDU ; BVSc , MVSc, DSc; 

Born on 1st February, 1942,Karimganj, Assam (Father late R.M.Chowdhury) , Married with Mrs Amita Chowdhury and blessed with a daughter. Did BVSc from Guwahati Veterinary College, MVSc from UP College of veterinary science , Mathura; DSc from State university of Ghent, Belgium ; Kumamoto university medical school, Japan;

Served  in 1969-70 as Research scholar at IVRI, Izatnagar; state univ of Ghent 1971-75; Associate Professor at Assam Agriculture University 1975-80; Associate Prof at PAU,Ludhiana 1982-87; Professor of Helminthology 1988-2002 (Head of the dept for some time ) . Retired in the year 2002 from PAU, Ludhiana and settled there 

He was research fellow of CSIR and ICAR 1969. Belgium Ministry of Education 1970; Japan society for promotion of science 1980.

Fellow of Belgian society of Parasitology; ex member Japan society for parasitology, American society of Parasitology. Member Indian Society of Parasitology, World association for advancement of veterinary Parasitology;

He has edited and published the book "Helminthology" in 1994; Helminths of wildlife (2001), Perspectives of Helminthology(2001). 

He contributed 5 book chapters and 35 research papers, 1 review paper. He won many awards and was a distinguished international Parasitologist.

Dr N Chowdhury expired on 24th March 2016. We condole his death and pray to the Almighty for eternal peace to his soul  and to give courage to his family to bear this loss.

….