New podcast
Did a podcast with Arihant on Ayushman Bharat and govt schemes, why doctors and private hospitals are not lining up for it and what it actually costs to run a hospital in a metro city.
Movie Review: The Kashmir Files
The audience continues sitting in stunned silence for several minutes after the movie has ended. As I slowly start walking out of the theater, I see many in the audience crying. It’s a premiere show, the actors of the film are waiting outside to interact with the audience. I see him standing outside. Shiva Pandit, […]
“Now show me your face!”
The first time I saw her face was when she was being put under general anaesthesia for her surgery. Even when she visited my consultation room with her husband for a neck swelling, she was wearing a top-to-toe burkha with gloves, covering every visible part of the body, following the directions of the holy book […]
Thank you, FPJ and Dr Harish Shetty!
The Free Press Journal kindly listed me among the “Angels of Mumbai” in 2021 for a few things we did to help our fellow citizens during this COVID pandemic. I am pleasantly surprised, and a bit overwhelmed at the acknowledgment. It is only a small contribution in a colossal global catastrophe running over the past […]
Time to abandon mRNA vaccine boosters?
mRNA vaccines are a great technological advance, but the medium-term results are proving disappointing. When a virus enters a human body, it faces a formidable line of defence, known as the immune system. Various weapons are thrown at the virus, such as antibodies that bind with the virus and destroy it, and cells that can […]
Podcast on Omicron variant : how worried should we be?
Did a podcast with the kind folks at The Pulse on the new Omicron variant, and what we in India should expect in the coming months.
Putting #IndiaFirst: India Positive Citizen Perspectives, by Savitha Rao: Book Review
“Building a great Nation, one India Positive action at a time” and “Putting #IndiaFirst”: this is the philosophy behind Savitha Rao’s self-published book – a compilation of short life histories and thoughts of well-known and not-so-well-known inspirational people in India from various walks of life. Each of these esteemed persons brings in their unique perspective […]
Six “COVID control” policies that should be strongly opposed
Since the start of the COVID pandemic, there have been several policies that were used early on, and that make very little sense now that much more information is available about viral transmission. But they continue to be used by various state governments in varying degrees. This article will call out some obvious ones that […]
Booster dose for COVID vaccination: Needed or Not?
It is well known that two doses of COVID vaccination – whether it is Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Covishield or Covaxin – offer excellent protection against moderate and severe COVID (95-97%) but not against mild and asymptomatic disease (28%). Booster doses have been a matter of speculation since the early days of COVID vaccination when it was […]
“Excess Mortality” due to COVID: A reality check
It has long been speculated that the actual mortality due to COVID pandemic is much higher than official numbers, not only in India but in several other countries. New York Governor Andre Cuomo has been caught repeatedly fudging mortality data. The UK government too was accused of under-reporting COVID deaths in the first wave of […]