There is no connection between extraction of teeth and eye sight. When the upper teeth decay (due to tooth caries, Periodontitis, etc.), the pain extends up to the eyes. Hence people have this misconception. There is no truth in it. It is essential that decayed teeth have to be removed because they might spread infection into other parts of body.
Due to plaque and calculus, the gums and bone around the teeth recede and gaps are caused between the teeth. However, as the calculus covers those gaps, they are not visible. When the dentist cleans the teeth and removes the Calculus, the gaps among the teeth become visible. This gives the impression that teeth move apart due to cleaning or scaling. This is not true. If one does not get one's teeth cleaned and the Calculus remains for longer time, it would affect the neighboring healthy teeth and they would fall.
Due to supernumerary teeth, forget about luck, cleaning the teeth would be problematic as the brush does not reach there. Thus one has the problems of plaque, gum-disease and cavities. In addition, one has bad breath and movement of teeth. When one has supernumerary teeth, one must consult a dentist and get orthodontic treatment done.
The Nicotine and Tar in cigarettes accumulate as plaque on the teeth of smokers and once bacteria settles in the plaque, severe dental problems follow. Similarly, in the case of tobacco chewers and those who consume pan masala etc., the lime and other hazardous ingredients damage the sensitive membrane in the mouth and create oral sub-mucus (fibrosis). As a consequence, the tender oral skin gets hardened. This enhances the possibility of acquiring oral cancer by 3%. These people have multiplied possibility of gum diseases and oral infections. Hence one should quit smoking and chewing tobacco products immediately.
The purpose of brushing is only to remove the food debris on the surface of the teeth. Brushing for longer duration leads only to worn teeth but does not help brightening teeth. The ideal brushing time is in between 2 to 3 minutes. If we brush in the morning and after every meal and before hitting the bed, the food particles would not stick in the mouth. Hence, plaque would not form and colour of the teeth remains intact.
As one does not brush one�s teeth properly, plaque forms on the teeth and they change colour. Frequent consumption of tea/coffee and artificially coloured dishes changes the colour of the teeth. Smoking and chewing pan masala and other tobacco products changes the look of the teeth. However, these stains can be removed by ordinary scaling and polishing of the teeth. In some cases, due to fluorine contamination of water, intrinsic stains formed in the deeper layers of the teeth. Still, by the method of bleaching-bonding-cleaning the deeply stained teeth can be made look good.
Excessive consumption of Sweets usually leads to cavities in the teeth. Children eat sticky chocolates and do not brush the whole day. So, bacteria spread in the sticky particles of chocolate and lead to caries. We should cultivate among the children the habit of gargling and brushing after eating such sticky confectionaries. We better avoid eating sweets before going to bed and if we do, we should invariably brush our teeth immediately.
No, caries is not a hereditary problem. But, it was observed that as children emulate the dental care practices of the adults, the dental health of the whole family depends on its dental care practices. Those who neglect dental care are more susceptible to dental problems. But there is no possibility of acquiring dental problems hereditarily.
If one loses a tooth in an accident, one has to preserve the tooth in milk or salt water or beneath the tongue. If one can reach an expert dentist within an hour, the tooth can be restored by way splinting. Root canal treatment has to be done to that tooth. If we restore such lost tooth within one hour, the success rate is 90%. Usually children between the ages of 7 to 11 lose teeth while playing. So, it is better that children are provided with mouth guards while playing.


Cookie and Kate are finally back in the kitchen. I still wasn't feeling in the mood up until a couple of nights ago, when I spent a few hours cleaning out the cabinets and the refrigerator. Turns out, everyday cooking doesn't need to involve avalanches of dried pasta. Organization is key.
The past few weeks of kitchen avoidance have been heavy with introspection. I want to say that I've come out on the other side with clarity and a renewed zest for life. (Every sad story needs a happy ending, right?) The truth is, I'm still just one sappy coffee shop love song away from another fit of tearful existential despair.
It'll pass. In the meantime, I'm treating myself right with these burrito bowls. Caramelized sweet potatoes, seasoned black beans and cilantro-spinach brown rice combine in one bowl for a cozy vegan dinner. Oven-toasted pumpkin seeds, avocado and salsa verde make it totally irresistible.
More reasons to love this dish? You'll have enough time while the sweet potatoes and rice cook to clean the kitchen before dinner's ready. Oh, and these bowls reheat well for lunch, too. Burrito bowls for the win!
Please don't be intimidated by the length of the recipe—it's pretty basic stuff. All you do is blend up the green rice seasonings and toast the rice before cooking it as usual. Roast some sweet potatoes, toast some seeds and warm some beans. Then you arrange it all in a bowl and make it look pretty. Or not. I assure you that my leftovers won't look as pretty as shown here.
If you're craving more spicy sweet potato recipes after this, check out my sweet potato burritos and tacos. Leftover green rice would be great in my kale and avocado burrito bowl, too. Lastly, don't miss the burrito bowl recipe and sweet potato enchiladas in my cookbook!
Healthy burrito bowls made with roasted sweet potato, green rice and black beans! This delicious, vegan dinner reheats well for lunch. Recipe yields 4 servings.
Meanwhile, transfer the beans and their cooking liquid (don't drain the beans) to a medium pot. Stir in the cumin and chili powder and warm over medium heat. Once the beans are simmering, cover the beans and reduce heat to maintain a very gentle simmer until you're ready to serve.
Once the rice is done cooking, remove the pot from heat. Uncover the pot and place a clean tea towel over the pot, then recover. The towel will help absorb excess liquid as the rice continues to cook in its own steam. (If you don't have a clean towel, you can skip this step, just cover normally.) Let sit for 10 minutes.
Once the sweet potatoes are done cooking, toss the pepitas with ¼ teaspoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt on the small baking sheet. Toast the seeds in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until they're turning lightly golden and making little popping noises. Set aside to cool.
Fluff the rice with a fork and season with salt if necessary. Remove beans from heat, stir in the vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Assemble your bowls: First add green rice, then use a slotted spoon or fork to transfer beans to the bowls. Top with sweet potatoes and add a few slices of avocado to each bowl. Sprinkle with toasted pepitas and cilantro and optional feta. Serve with salsa verde on the side.
Green rice adapted from Simply Recipes. Burrito bowls inspired by my sweet potato and black bean tacos.
Change it up: I think butternut squash would be great in place of the sweet potato! You could also substitute another grain for the rice, although you'll need to adjust the cooking method and amount of liquid for said grain.
this was a hit with the family! i fid make some changes though as i had to double it for my large family. i used multi grain rice, half butternut squash half sweet potatoes, i also i doubling ran out of veggie broth and had to substitute with chicken broth, and lastly i served with regular salsa, but none the less it was amazing!!! im so making this again and sharing this recipe!
I want to try this recipe but I have a question, if I use canned beans I like to drain and rinse them. I'm leery of the "stuff" they are soaking in. If I drain and rinse, what should I use as cooking liquid to heat them?
Hi Kim, the "stuff" is just starchy bean cooking liquid, but you can use 1/2 cup water instead if you'd prefer!
If there was an option for 6 stars – I would have chose 6. I made this and my family loved it. I didn't change a thing, it wasn't necessary. I added Cod as a protein as I'm not vegetarian and love to add a protein to these recipes. Cookie and Kate is my go to for recipes.
You are so sweet, Heather! I really appreciate your comment and review.
I loved this recipe! The green rice was amazing! I made it exactly as is and wouldn't make any subs. So quick and easy!
Great! Thank you, Kaitlyn for your review.
Hi Christine, for the green rice, you can just replace the cilantro with extra spinach. There isn't really a suitable substitution for cilantro, so I'd generally suggest omitting it.
This was seriously amazing – I should stop being surprised by how fantastic your recipes are because they always are! Thank you so much for inspiring me to continue on my cooking/baking journey!
You are so sweet, Nicole! You are very welcome. Thanks for coming back and for the review!
Hi Kate! I've tried a few of your recipes and they've all come out lovely. This was my first time cooking brown rice and I followed all the steps. But even after cooking it for nearly 3 hours it was still crunchy. I was wondering if you knew how to rectify this?
I'm sorry to hear that, Vincent! That shouldn't have been the case. Maybe your rice needed some more liquid? I think if you toast the rice for too long, it can have trouble absorbing water, but it might just be your particular variety/brand/age of rice that caused problems. I hope your next C+K recipe turns out perfectly!
Is the brown rice uncooked to start out with? Thanks!
Yes! You start with it uncooked through the first few steps, then you add the rest of the vegetable broth and cook the rest of the way. Hope this helps!
I am looking to incorporate other sources of protein into my diet that don't include eating meat, not that I'm against it, just looking to expand my eating habits to something a little better! Win that being said, I am trying theee of your recipes this week and super excited to see how they turn out! Your blog(?) has been so helpful to me for this experiment already and I haven't even started cooking! Thank you!
Your green rice is amazing – I received your cookbook for Christmas this year and my white-rice-loving toddler DEVOURED this rice. She didn't care that it was brown (vs. white) and she didn't care that it was covered in green, so this is now my go-to, guilt-free dinner option for her to add some nutrients to her carb addiction. Thank you.
Well, thank you Megan! I'm happy it is such a hit with your toddler. Thanks for your support and review!
You're sweet, Nisha! I'm happy you have had so much success. Thanks for the review!
I made this last night, and my brother-in-law, a devout meat eater, loved it. But more importantly, the vegetarians present loved it. We were all wowed by the combo of textures and flavors: soft, crunchy, hot, cool. The hint of lime in the beans and the seasoned rice were show-stoppers. I am curious to try other flavored rice, but for now, thank you so much for such a wonderful company dish.
Wonderful! Thank you, Juli for sharing.
As I opened this recipe for about the bazillionth time (I actually don't really even need to look at it anymore) I thought it was high time I shared with you how much I bloody love it. It's seriously brilliant, as is everything on your site (and in the book)! I have been vegetarian now for about two years: I found this recipe shortly after I stopped eating meat, and I have never looked back.
Thanks for all the recipes you share with us! It's so valuable to have blogs and cookbooks that you just TRUST. If I try a new recipe from you both I and my (also vegetarian) husband 100% know we are going to love it. So cheers for that!
Fantastic! Another big hit with my family! Each part full of flavor, combination of parts = delicious!
-Used 1/4 cup onion instead of shallot.
-used 3T chopped jalapeño from a jar.
-cooked the green rice in rice cooker (simplifies meal prep and rice came out perfect).
-used guacamole, organic Greek plain yogurt, and pico de gallo as toppings (what was available).
Thanks again, Kate! Photo posted on Instagram.
Pretty good – loved the rice. The beans were a bit bland, will try with lime instead of vinegar next time.
I'm sorry you felt that way. But, sounds like you know what your taste buds like. Thanks for the review!
Have made this twice and it is so good. Thank you ladies!!!
Can you use rice that has already been cooked for this recipe?
I guess you could, but I'm not sure how the flavors would change. Browning the rice is key. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
I have been cooking from your blog for about a year now, and every recipe is delicious! Each one is easy to make and just full of flavor. It is really the only blog I use. Also, most of them my 2 and 4 year old will eat as well, which is a huge plus! Thanks for such a wonderful food blog!
Thank you!! So nice to hear, MK. I really appreciate the review.
This continues to be one of my favorite go to meals during the week. So delicious and pretty easy to throw together!
I actuallly prefer the green rice in your cookbook in the chick pea recipe so I always substitute when I make these bowls!
I'm so happy to hear it's a favorite! Great meal for the week. Thanks, Mary!
This is absolutely, positively delicious! Excellent, excellent, excellent!
This was so, so, soooo good. I ate the leftovers then wanted to make it again the next day, it's so delicious. Going on the weekly rotation. Thank you!
You're welcome! Leftovers are perfect.
I am 13 and I plan on making this for my family tonight! The recipe looks amazing and I can't wait! – I hope they enjoy it! It is so healthy and a balanced meal! – Amazing :) However, I plan on using a rice cooker to cook the rice and then combining the puree of the green veggies? – How do you think that will work?
How fun, Aashi! I didn't use a rice cooker for this as the flavor and texture of this really needs the browning and then adding the green mixture. But, you could search the comments to see if other readers have had experience. Thank you for your review!
Oh my Gosh!!!! Made this for dinner last night! So Yummy! Thank you for your GREAT recipes! This one will go into the rotation of favourite dinners! You have such wonderful recipes!
Hooray! Thank you, Jan. I really appreciate it.
This is an awesome recipe! My whole family loves it! I'll make it again and again!
Wonderful, Cheryl! Thank you for your review.
We had it last night. Had the whole family over. They all love it and were pleasantly surprised to to have it for dinner. My son took home the leftovers (what little there was).
Oh yes! I love when that happens. Thanks for sharing, Sarah.
My husband (who prefers meat in every dish) said this was an amazing mix of flavors and I, of course, must agree. Thanks for another delicious recipe. You are my favorite maker of recipes!
Hooray! That's awesome to hear. Thanks so much, Debbie.
This has been a staple in my house for quite awhile! And anyone looking to cook the rice in an Instant Pot: Prepare rice as normal (I sauteed mine in the Instant Pot itself), but be sure to drop your total liquid to about 2¼ cups, then cook on high pressure for 15 min, doing a quick release after 5 min.
Your recipes never cease to amaze and this was certainly no exception.
Took a bit longer to prepare than my average dinner but so worth it! My girlfriend wouldn't stop telling me how tasty it is and I completely agree. So good, and healthy!
Due to availability, I made a few adjustments, I used sesame oil instead of olive oil and a sweet onion instead of shallot and it worked great!
My only suggestion to other people making this is don't feel shy about adding spice and herbs to the black beans as they can take a lot of it before it becomes overpowering.
I'm SO happy you think so, Josh! Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad this worked well, even with your adjustments.
This recipe is delicious! The rice took longer to cook and needed more liquid, so I added more broth and it ended up being like a risotto, which was a nice change from the usual rice texture. I left out the cilantro (I'm one of those people that hates it), and it still had great flavor. Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome, Victoria! Thanks so much for your review.
The green rice was out of this world. I subbed the spinache with kale which also worked perfectly.
Great recipe, I will definitely try it.
Let me know what you think when you do, Vandana!
I made this tonight and it is just amazing. Wow. I am blown away and will make this again and again.
I had to substitute out the cilantro, as my husband doesn't like it. I used flat leaf parsley and some lemon juice in its place. It still tasted great! I'll have to try it with cilantro when my husband goes back to camp.
I'm happy to hear that, April! I'm glad you liked it with the parsley still. I appreciate the review.
I made this for dinner tonight. My husband was asking "where's the meat?" while I was cooking. Then he tasted the bowl and he gave it an 11 out of 10 rating…lol! Thanks for another AMAZING recipe, Kate!
That's a win! Thanks for sharing, Brenda. I appreciate the review.
I made this recipe exactly as instructed and it was amazing!! So flavorful and filling. This is definitely a new favorite.
New favorite, that's great! Thank you for your review, Kyla.
Really delicious! I made it word for word and it turned out great. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro but used it anyway, was the right choice. It really added to the dish but wasn't an overpowering flavour which I find tends to happen with recipes that use it.
Second time I made these I served with roasted corn and homemade pico de gallo. I think this recipe is going to become a regular in my weekly meal prepping. Thank you so much!
Made this the other day. It was a hit!!! Great flavors!


What Is Their Lasting Damage?
The 9/11 attacks had both immediate and long-term economic impacts, some of which continue to this day. While it cost al-Qaeda an estimated $400,000 to $500,000 to plan and carry out the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a 2011 report from the The New York Times put the total costs to the U.S. at $3.3 trillion.
The attacks caused the Dow to drop nearly 700 points and deepened the 2001 recession. It also led to the War on Terror, one of the most prominent causes of government spending in U.S. history. The breakdown below includes immediate costs and physical damages of the attack, as well as the economic impact, homeland security, war funding and future war costs.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked four planes. Two were hijacked from Boston's Logan airport, one took off from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, and the fourth originated at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. The terrorists chose planes headed for the West Coast because they would be loaded with fuel. They planned to cripple the U.S. economy by destroying three centers of power: Wall Street, the Pentagon, and the White House.
The first two planes hit their targets. American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into Tower One of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into Tower Two at 9:03 a.m. Millions of viewers saw Tower Two collapse live on television. Tower One collapsed from the top down at 10:28 a.m. Tower Seven at the complex was damaged from debris and later collapsed at 5:20 p.m.
American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. Portions of the building collapsed at 10:10 a.m.
United Airlines Flight 93 never made it to its target, the White House. At 9:23 a.m., after the World Trade Tower crash, dispatcher Ed Ballinger texted all flights he was following, including Flight 93. He said, "Beware any cockpit intrusion two a/c hit World Trade Center." Five minutes later, the terrorists killed the pilots and took control of the plane.
By that time, at least 10 of the passengers had talked to loved ones via cell phone. They heard about the World Trade Tower attacks and figured out their likely fate. At 9:57, the brave passengers attacked the terrorists. Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m., killing all 40 passengers and crew members aboard, as well as the four hijackers.
The Federal Aviation Administration shut down all New York City area airports at 9:17 a.m. President Bush announced the terrorist attack at 9:30 a.m. Ten minutes later, the FAA shut down all U.S. airports for the first time in history.
The total death toll of 2,977 – not including the 19 hijackers – surpassed that of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The death toll included 2,606 people at the World Trade Center, 125 at the Pentagon, and 246 on the four planes.
A 2002 report from the New York Comptrollers Office estimated the cost of 9/11's physical damage at $55 billion. Of that, $24 billion is the expected income of the lives lost. The value of the World Trade buildings alone was $8 billion. Computers, furniture, and cars cost $6 billion. The damage to utilities and the subway system was also $6 billion. Damage to other buildings cost $5 billion. The city spent $5 billion to treat injuries, including those suffered by first responders who inhaled the toxic dust.
It spent $1 billion to clean up the area.
The stock market closed for four trading days after the attacks, the first time since the Great Depression, when President Roosevelt closed the exchanges for two days in March of 1933 to stop a bank run.
The Federal Reserve dropped the fed funds rate half a point to 3.0 percent. The stock market reopened on September 17, 2001. The Dow promptly fell 7.13 percent, closing at 8,920.70. The 617.78-point loss was the Dow's worst one-day drop at that time. Stock prices recovered that loss by October.
Oil prices fell from $23.77 a barrel in August 2001 to $15.95 in December. Although oil prices decline in the fall, this was a sharper decline than usual. Another cause was the dollar's value which rose sharply between August and December. Investors perceive the U.S. dollar as a safe investment during times of crisis. Send oil contracts are priced in dollars, oil exporters can lower oil prices when the dollar strengthens.
The airline industry lost $5 billion from the attacks. The four-day shutdown cost $1.4 billion alone. Passengers were afraid of flying for at least a year. As a result, 1,000 planes were parked during that time, and thousands of workers were furloughed. On September 22, Bush signed into law $15 billion in federal loans.
The 9/11 attacks worsened the 2001 recession, which had begun in March 2001. The economy had contracted 1.1 percent in the first quarter but bounced up 2.1 percent in the second quarter. The attacks made the economy contract 1.7 percent in the third quarter, extending the recession. Growth returned to 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter. The Y2K scare had initially caused the recession . It created a boom and subsequent bust in internet businesses.
Although the recession ended in November 2001, the threats of war drove the Dow down for another year. It hit bottom on October 9, 2002, when it closed at 7,286.27. That was a 37.8 percent decline from its peak. No one knew for sure if the bull market had resumed until the Dow hit a higher low March 11, 2003, closing at 7,524.06. Unemployment continued to climb until June 2003, when it reached 6 percent. That was the peak for that recession.
On September 20, 2001, President Bush called for a War on Terror. He said, "Americans should not expect one battle but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen." Then he put it into action.
Bush launched the War in Afghanistan to find and bring to justice Osama bin Laden. He was the head of the al-Qaeda organization that launched the 9/11 attacks. In its first year, Congress appropriated $29.3 billion in emergency funding for the war.
On March 21, 2003, President Bush sent troops into Iraq. He said the Central Intelligence Agency had found weapons of mass destruction. He added that Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, was aiding al-Qaeda operatives. Congress appropriated $36.7 billion in emergency funding for the War in Iraq in its first year.
The costs for both wars kept mounting. By the end of Bush's two terms in office, the War on Terror cost $1.164 trillion. That was added to increased spending for the Defense Department and Homeland Security. President Obama spent $807 billion during his two terms. President Trump budgeted $156 billion. That brought the cost of the War on Terror to $2.126 trillion.
The most significant economic impact of the 9/11 attacks was how the increased defense spending led to the U.S. debt crisis.
Without the War on Terror, the 2018 debt would be $19 trillion or less. That's $21 trillion total debt, at present, minus $2 trillion. That would be 93 percent of the country's economic output. The U.S. gross domestic product was $20.4 trillion in 2018. This total is still higher than the 77 percent debt-to-GDP tipping point recommended by the World Bank. But it's much better than the actual 104 percent level.
The War on Terror reduced funds for stimulus programs to boost the country out of the 2008 financial crisis. Fewer jobs were created, which meant less tax revenue and a further increase in debt. That also meant less funding for infrastructure repair and replacement.
High debt levels became a crisis in 2011 when tea party Republicans balked at raising the debt ceiling. Instead of cutting military spending, they called for severely limiting Medicare benefits. The crisis created the first-ever downgrade of U.S. debt by Standard and Poor's.
In 2013, Congress again refused to raise the debt ceiling or fund the government. It led to a 16-day government shutdown and global fears of a U.S. debt default. Instead of focusing on job creation, it focused on austerity measures. That kept economic growth lackluster. The U.S. debt crisis has continued. Democrats and Republicans accuse each other of increasing the debt when they are out of power. But they both continue to spend when they are in control of Congress.


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Tag Archives: headteacher
Dopey Cow
Posted on July 14, 2016 by Sitting comfortably with andy daly
Here's a little story to keep you going. It concerns Deputy Headteacher at the last school I worked at; one Mrs Denise Fajita: a 'dough-basher' by origin – a cooking teacher with a chip on her shoulder, 'Born-Again Christian', a bear of very little brain, sworn enemy of the Arts and anything which involved Creativity, a concept she singularly failed to understand. She was an 'I-will-be-a-Headtea cher-at-any-costs' Cv-builder.
Well, it came about that the incumbent Heateacher who had thought long and hard about retirement, decided that on balance and taking all things into account, it was time for a rest. The calling of the cool, leafy green arbours of sweet Hayes and a Heateacher/Consultancy at a school therein was simply too strong.
And so it was that this combination of audacious arrogance, twinned with monumental ignorance, Mrs Fajita stood up in the staffroom, during a friday morning meeting shortly before the interviews for the new Headteacher were due to take place, and attempted a lame joke, whose punchline revolved around the fact that at that time, each of the deputies: herself, Greg Hill and Bill Carter all drove Volvos. With true lack of self awareness and comic timing (lack of, I mean) she garbled the words at the critical point and announced to an aghast staff that an appointment was only to be made to someone who had a 'vulva!'
I mean, I know the school management has been consistently criticised for its gender imbalance, but I felt it a bit of crude indicator of suitability for the post.
Posted in Autobiographical, Writing | Tagged denise fajita, deputy headteacher, headteacher, lame joke | 5 Replies
Rake's Progress
Posted on May 30, 2012 by Sitting comfortably with andy daly
"What time is it?" asks one of the patients of his next door neighbour.
"Quarter to three" He announces firmly, without looking either his wristwatch, or the clock on the wall.
(It is in fact 11:30 am)
"So," continues Patient One, "What's your name then?"
"Frank?"
That's right, I'm back in hospital again.
Back in the parallel universe, whose space/time contiuum is so warped, that days can last as long as weeks just as surely as hours may fly by in seconds.Where the most improbable things are commonplace, and are treated as nothing out of the ordinary, Like in Flann O' Brien's absurd and perplexing "The Third Policeman", you reach a point, eventually where nothing is a surprise, such that one begins to wonder whether 'The Real World' actually exists out there at all. Or whether 'the ward' consistutes its own reality and all that goes on outside its confines is actually nothing but a figment of your own imagination.
And of course, on a Neuro ward you get more than your fair share of weird shit happening.
Take Malcolm. A bit of a music fan, one of the many symptoms of his condition is short term memory loss. So he uses a Dictaphone to record the names of CDs or tracks by artists he wants to download or buy …. and his lottery numbers, so he doesn't forget. Every night, after his sleeping tablets have taken effect, but before he has turned the damned thing off, the rest of the ward is treated to a seemingly endless loop of the day's messages to himself:
"'Theme from S Express'… Hot Chip… David Bowie… 'Kinky Afro' by Happy Mondays… Seventeen!"
Also suffering memory loss and poor eyesight, there's Ned. So called because his alarming resemblance to Simpsons' Ned Flanders (inc. yellow skin)
He constantly pesters the nurses in the most nauseating way,
"So where do you live then?"
"And is that a house or flat?"
"And what do you prefer? Indian or Italian food?"
Minutes later, the long-suffering nurse is bombarded with exactly same barrage of questions.
I overheard him one morning. He was being attended to by two nurses, one male, one female. She was doing all the talking. At one point, without warning, she went off to get a blanket, leaving the male nurse to continue with the bed. I don't think Ned realised, firstly there had been two nurses by his side, and that now he was left with only one – the male nurse.
Off he went:
"Edgeware" (My goodness! She has a sexy, throaty voice)
"Edgeware? I know Edgeware. Whereabouts?"
"Richardson Road"
"Richardson Road? Eh?…. Er, have I just asked you that?"
"Yeah about ten minutes ago"
"Richardson Road, Edgeware. I'll make sure I don't forget that in future"
The nurse looked up momentarily and, meeting my eyes, ever so slightly raised his to heaven and muttered:
"I wouldn't fucking bother mate, you're still going ask me again in ten minutes"
Andy the Autonomic and his snoring! Bloody Hell! I mean I've known people whose snoring has annoyed or irritated me (no names) but never frightened me! After a night on the ward with him, the nurses would have to spend 20 minutes the following morning moving all the furniture back into place and retrieving small objects from his nostrils. The noise, and more than anything, the sheer power of his massive inhalations of air scared the shit out of me.
And then of course there is Yours Truly, who on the night after my op was convinced my bed was a 750cc Honda Fireblade, I just couldn't work out how to get the blanket over the petrol tank. I tried numerous configurations – some at high speed – until exhausted by my efforts I went back to sleep.
In fact, I am in Mount Vernon Hospital which from its vantage point on the Middlesex/Hertfordshire border looks out across North West London. The hospital and its surrounding land was the gift of Charles Dunnell Rudd at the turn of the last century. Rudd was a partner of Cecil Rhodes in the De Beers Mining Company. During the First World War, as well as its British patients, it played host to French and Belgian soldiers suffering from tuberculosis. The patients were expected to work or exercise for an hour and a half in the morning and two hours in the afternoon to prevent them becoming 'self-centred and lazy'. Those who could work outside did gardening, maintaining the grounds and pathways. Just what you'd want I suspect after two years digging trenches at the front. It even treated German prisoners of war between 1939 – 45.
The old chapel
It consists of a whole range of buildings in a bewildering collection of styles from the bizarre York Sandstone and flint gloomy Art Nouveau chapel, which was never consecrated and is now The Cancer Research Campaign's Gray's Library, to timber-clad Swiss-style chalets to utlitarian 'boxy' system-built things (like this one) to constructions which appear to have come straight out of a De Stijl book of architectural templates from the '20s.
My room, third big red window on right, top floor. Four Star
And then there's the 'Main Building' A cruciform shape which houses the cafe with its high-beamed ceiling, a dark building replete with green tiles (like the Paris Metro, it says here) and ornately carved staircases. Here hang the plaques in memory of Rudd and Benjamin Abbott Lyon, the hospital's chairman 1884 -1909: a bygone age of practical philanthropy. The foundation stone was laid by the Princess Christian in 1902: she must have been a strapping lass as it is set into the wall about four feet up. It must have taken a bit of lifting! I guess they had stronger backs in those days. From the outside you follow the path round to the front (it is only at this point you realise that till now you have only been looking at the back and the side of the main building) and are rewarded by the sight of a beautiful south-facing two storey curved facade behind which are light and airy wards. A balcony with white balustrade stretches its whole length, and in the centre, a clock tower with bright green copper roof and flashing. All of which look out over a lawn which ever so gently falls away to the shrubs and trees at the bottom. Back in the day these would have been pruned to allow uninterrupted views as far as Windsor and beyond. I close my eyes. I half expect that when I open them again, the lawn to be peopled with nurses in starched white uniforms and caps, wheeling young men, smoking pipes, tartan blankets covering their legs whose brilliantined hair glints as they enjoy the late evening sunshine.
Facade and clock tower from lawn
Oddly enough not more than a few yards away from this grand but delapidated nod to an era so far back it may as well be ancient Egypt, is the consulting room in which I was given my diagnosis. Twelve years ago. My wife was with me.
Well, it seems your GP was correct
"Well, it seems your GP was correct, you have Parkinson's Disease" I remember distinctly the tall beech trees that I could see behind Consultant Neurologist Richard Crawford, through his window. I was transfixed by them as they swayed in the stiff breeze. His words seemed to echo around the room, while briefly, still captivated by the trees I left my body and looked down on the scene in the room from somewhere above the window but which still allowed me a view of the trees as well. The gentle squeeze of my left hand brought be back down to earth, and back to the body, destined to be a battleground for the rest of my life. Crawford leaned back in his chair and began to chew on his spectacles. He had taken off his jacket earlier when he got me to do the gait tests (to my humiliation, out in the corridor in front of a packed clinic waiting room) and sat there in blue striped shirt and tie with red braces. He began to speak. His eyelids closed and fluttered as he did so. There was the tiniest hint of a stammer in his voice. God knows why, but I imagined him as a schoolboy. Public school of course: taunted, teased and bullied because of his blessed stammer and, I suspected, a complete lack of co-ordination and interest when it came to sport. I found myself feeling sorry for him. Strange, really in the light of the news he had just given me. I first saw him a little under a year ago, with the same symptoms. Stress and Writer's Cramp he concluded. I think he knew then, his diagnosis possibly intended to 'buy' me a few more worry-free months, maybe more. In the event, it did the exact opposite: the intervening year being one blighted by increasing concerns as to whether there was something wrong with me or whether it was all in my head. By rights, I should be on his desk now slamming his head in the drawer.
"I think it would be wise to start with medication straight away. How do you feel about that?" "Mr. Daly? … How do you feel about that?" Another gentle squeeze of my left hand, and I was back in the room again. "Yeah. OK I suppose"
Parkinson's Disease? What was it? I had no real idea. I knew that it was incurable and that it manifested itself as a tremor or shaking; none of which I had. Was it killer? How long had I got? How was I going to tell my Mum and Dad … the Kids? That's all I could think of.
As we left the clinic I wondered how many other recipients of bad news there were still sitting unawares in the waiting area.
My senses sharpened and heightened, I remember the rest of the afternoon clearly. After walking down past the plaques, green tiles and staircases to the pharmacy to collect the medication, I drove us home. And you know what? In what is probably the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me, and something I'll never forget, my Wife popped a tape cassette into the machine in the kitchen and pressed Play.
It was an interview with Saxophonist Barbara Thompson, who I was a big fan of, during which she talked about her own diagnosis with Parkinson 's and how it shouldn't be thought of as a death sentence. My Wife had heard it on 'Womens' Hour' and recognised that she was describing exactly the same symptoms as mine.
She aleady knew what was coming earlier that day in Crawford's office.
She had collected a variety of information: leaflets and advice from the Parkinson's Disease Society.
And I began to read.
I've really fallen on my feet this time! I am in the Northwood and Pinner Community Unit housed at Mount Vernon. Basically a rehab unit for elderly patients which aims to stabilise them prior to their discharge back into the community. And lucky old me has blagged himself a single side room with a spotless en suite bathroom, bigger than that at home. I wonder whether my threats to kill the 'all night talker' who kept me awake during my first night on the ward had something to do with it.
I am waiting for a transfer to The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. Some six months ago I had the surgical placement of the hardware necessary to enable Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Namely bilateral implatantation of titanium leads, both of which carry four contacts, in the Subthalamic Nucleus of the brain and a constant-voltage Implanted Pulse Generator under my collarbone during a seven hour operation.
A Beginner's Guide To Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery: A Practical Approach
You will need: one coconut, one cauliflower, 4 kebab skewers, copper wiring, AM Radio, power drill and a new potato.
For those of you struggling to visualise the brain anatomy here: take your cauliflower, it's kind of that bit just above the stalk. We can replicate it by using a small new potato. Use some cocktail sticks to secure it. Your coconut is the skull. You'll have to split it (Carefully retain cranial fluid and place in suitable receptacle. Add vodka and sugar later for home made Malibu) and then shave it first of course. Drill two holes (a 20mm bit should do it) with a Black and Decker or similar about 5 cm apart. It is through these that the skewers (leads containing electrodes) will access the cauliflower. (brain) Carefully stick two kebab skewers through the holes we have made into the top of the cauliflower, push them down at angles until they enter the new potato, almost meeting at this point And there you have it. Wire the skewers up to an AM radio. If you can pick up Radio Luxembourg, you're in business.
Actually, I don't for a minute want you to think I am belittling the work of the surgical team who frankly leave me in awe with the kind of exqisitely accurate micro surgery they perform on a daily basis) Programming the DBS system to optimise its therapeutic efficacy in my case has proved melon-twistingly difficult. The last configuration of contacts has caused increasing dystonia (turning in of my feet) result of which I had three falls (unlike me) I was deemed 'at risk' and so was admitted here to the unit at Mount Vernon as a temporary measure, while the Functional Neurosurgery team at Queen Square decide what to do next.
Caution. Walter Mitty
I am idly considering this when I am reminded of another meeting some six months after that pivotal twenty minutes in Crawford's office. A meeting I have called to inform my employer, the Chair of Governors, Kingsmead School, via its Headteacher Neville O' Laughlin about my illness.
I remember O'Laughlin's first day. I was singularly unimpressed with the way he ambled to the tatty stage to take his first assembly in his Marks and Spencer suit one size too big, the backs of the trousers hanging down over his shoes in a big 'V' and dragging on the floor.
From Essex.
Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Essex or the good people who live therein. But as I think we all accept, there are a small number of its citizens who frankly let the side down on a regular basis. Such as O' Laughlin. I had him sussed out from day one. His loathesome 'Estuary English' and his 'Wide Boy' demeanour were a giveway. What took me a little longer to figure out was whether his machinations, lies and duplicity were all part of a master plan or whether they were the knee-jerk reactions of a Walter Mitty, living in a fantasy world in which he had forgotten what lies he had told to whom in 'off the record' conversations in toilets and corridors.
It was the latter.
Confirmed as he became an increasingly reclusive figure surrounding himself with a phalanx of 'Assistant Headteachers', so desparate to hang on to their positions, and so afraid that they were prepared to do his bidding even if it meant rubbishing or harrassing colleagues and former friends.
The meeting comprised myself, O'Laughlin and Dan Morton, my union representative. Ostensibly there in the capacity of friend: to make sure I didn't forget anything. Of course Dan's role was much more significant than that. He was there to make accurate minutes of the meeting should it be necessary at any time to refer back to them. In a cruel irony, Dan himself was to exhibit Parkinsonian symptoms a few years later. We sat round the table. I had an agenda, which I'd given to O' Laughlin in advance. He was flustered. I wonder whether he thought I was going to spring something on him. Evidence for instance that money from Special Needs budgets had been diverted elsewhere – allegedly.
So, it was with an expression of relief that he took my news.
"It's Parkinson's Disease" I said.
He fidgeted in his chair
"Well, all I can say, Andy is I'm glad it's you and not me."
I almost burst out laughing. Proof, if more were needed, that Neville O'Laughlin was a grade A, top of the range, gold-plated knob.
The rest of the meeting was taken up with conjecture over 'how long I would last', puncutated by entreaties to let him know if there was anything I needed – to ask and it would be done. I did. It wasn't. He would even try to sort out 'a little deal' for me when the time came to give up. The governors (in other words He) had it within their gift to enhance final salary under certain circumstances (eg. retirement through ill health) but in my case, although having taught there for over fifteen years, it was not deemed appropriate. (I was never told why) Although this was still to come, I got a sinking feeling as the meeting went on that told me I was on my own. Negotiating the tricky path toward early retirement was to be my journey alone. They took over six months to respond to recommendations made by the borough's Occupational Health adviser for example. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I left his office pausing only to comment to his secretary about the tiny balls of white polystyrene which lay all over her office: packing from some delivery.
"Chrys, you've really got to do something about your dandruff"
Me and Dan had a de-brief in the pub after work.
"What did you think of that then, Matey?"
I shrugged.
"Par for the course I suppose"
Dan took a good slug of his pint and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I've just fucking seen him now"
"What? …. What do you mean?"
"O'Laughlin. I've just seen him now. I was on gate duty, he came over to me. He says "Dan, how do you think I handled the meeting with Andy?" So I said "Okay, considering you were on the backfoot: you didn't know what was coming" "Yeah, he says …. But don't they shake?""
This time I did start laughing … fit to burst. Dan began to chuckle as well.
"What a wanker! …."
It was six years later that I called it day, most of my best freinds on the staff had moved on by then, although that was not a factor in my decision. By then I was purely and simply knackered. If the truth be told I worked on probably two years longer than I should have done. A secondary comprehensive school is not the sort of place to work if you are not 100% fit – especially one in which the concept of a caring environment was as alien as a genuine crop circle.
Kingsmead School. Excellence through teaching (it says here) I would have though that was a basic aim of every school, but then what would I know
The truth is, my relationship with the school had always been a bit ambivalent. I recall the day of my interview. I simply couldn't make up my mind about the place. I was already Head of Department in a successful school in Berkshire. I had just taken 105 students through their GCSE Art and Design, my prospective Lower Sixth A Level group for the new academic year numbered 15, all of whom showed great promise. Why would I give all that up to come and work in a school which had more bins than students, didn't run A Level Art and apparently held an all-week jumble sale in its foyer? In the end I decided to leave it up to Mick Godden, Greg Hill (the then Head and first Deputy) and fate to make up my mind for me. I resolved to give the most assertive interview I could muster. If they wanted me after that then fine! I remember saying some controvertsial things about the National Curriculum and Assessment, what I felt about the way the school presented itself, and finished off with a series of demands which included (among others) my wish to be a Sixth Form tutor and for the management team to match any funding that the department raised which would enable us to work with practising artists on projects in school.
"We don't normally de-brief successful candidates, but there are one or two points we think we should make about your interview technique" Greg Hill said as he called me back to the Head's office. I had been offered the job and my requests granted!
An unhealthy interest in hospital architecture and decor.
And so here we are, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, having transferred from Mount Vernon. As I stand in the ornate black and white marble atrium, waiting for a porter to take me up to the ward, I am reading the big stone plaques which record the story of the origin of the hospital and its benefactors. Here she is again: Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. She certainly got around her London hospitals. Mind you, I'm not doing so bad myself. In fact, I realise I am starting to develop a rather unhealthy interest in hospital architecture and decor.
The National. Notice the decorative lintels and the exquisite brickwork ….
Up we go and after a brief wait while the bed is prepared, I am taken in and introduced to it as well as my fellow wardmates with whom I am destined to be as close if not closer than their partners and immediate families over the next few days.
They consist of the charming Winston, unfortunately plastered, collared and braced seemingly over every inch of his body. Looking comically like some cartoon image victim, before he is reconstituted to pick up his chase again of Roadrunner or somesuch.
Michael, who is in a lot of pain and discomfort, but seems an interesting bloke, someone I would like to chat to more.
Raymond, a parole officer, whose only complaint seems to be verbal diarrhoea,
and Colin.
I don't know Colin's story. I don't want to know Colin's story. I know his hands are bandaged like boxing gloves to prevent him pulling out his own tubes and hitting the nurses.
No, Colin makes himself my mortal enemy by calling out day and night the name of his brother Neville (with an irony that is not lost on me as you will remember if you were paying attention, for that was the name of my former employer) Then, when Neville (who I never see because on visits he is always hidden by the curtain, but whose voice is the exact double of writer and presenter Danny Baker) is here, all Colin does is slag him off. I know that brain injuries are capable of changing a person's personality in wierd and wonderful ways, but that said, I think even before his surgery Colin had 'shit' written through him like a stick of rock.
Matters came to a head one morning after laying in bed, listening to him abusing the nurses who were trying to clean him up after he had ripped open his colostomy bag and … well I'll leave it at that. After the nurses had finished with him, I walked up to his bed and in my best 'Angry Teacher' wagged my finger at him and shouted that he ought to be ashamed of himself and how he didn't deserve the care being bestowed on him. (Feel free to incorporate your own suitable expletives here – I did!) Then I stormed off to the bathroom to the sound of faint applause from the other end of the ward.
Colin.
Posted in Autobiographical | Tagged headteacher, humor, humour, Mount Vernon Hospital, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Parkinson's Disease, Personal Writing | 7 Replies
Now then, while visited by two old schoolmates recently we got to chewing the fat more than somewhat about the good old days, after which we came to the conclusion that save for some minor mental scarring our schooldays amounted to a hilarious, surreal experience – a sort of 'Kes' in real time. On pondering this I got a flashback the other day from my time at middle school which proves my point. I walked into the boys toilets just at the end of break to find 3 lads (for the life of me I can't recall who they were), but of the two main protagonists One had his leg fully outstretched, shoe sole against the wall, while the other was taking short run ups and kicking the leg at a point midway between knee and ankle. The owner of the leg hadn't done his Maths homework and wanted someone to break his leg, so he could get out of the lesson!
Posted in Autobiographical | Tagged Casper, headteacher, kes, remembering, Rochdale, school, schooldays, Story | Leave a reply
Dick's Out!
Posted on August 19, 2011 by Sitting comfortably with andy daly
Before the complaints come trickling in. The apostrophe IS in its rightful place.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Bear with me. I am writing this in Spain in a 'Cyber Cafe'. A vile and loathesome place peopled by well-off, but badly-behaved and foul-mouthed delinquent Spanish teenagers, and (forgive me, for some of my best friends are …) surly Poles and Rumanians. I can hardly hear myself think above the din of Air Hockey, Pool and Table Football; and the associated arguments and squabbles. I am tempted to keep the lot of them back at the end of the evening until they can show me how to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. It will be their own time they are wasting … So if I'm not up to my razor-sharp best there's the reason.
I've been in Spain and I've been thinking a lot about Clive.
Clive loved Spain.
He died out here, suddenly just over a year ago. I worked with him: or at least taught at the same school as him for 10 years or so. I miss him terribly. We weren't 'Best Pals' but we did spend a lot of time together. Like many others we fought against half-baked thinking and the inadequate grasp of fundamentals in education, nay in human relationships, and especially so when it came from the unleavened Mrs Fajita. (See 'Dopey Cow') Hapless management, more so in later years, made our day, but at what cost?
We shared some of the same interests in music, although it has to be said we didn't agree on everything. On another note, I have forgiven him for, unbeknown to me, turning my trusty WEM Dominator amp off while he did some acoustic numbers at a social do in the school hall. We then took to the stage where I spent the first eight bars trying to work out why my amp or guitar: one or the other, was goosed.
'It was 'Buzzing" he said.
'It's a 1970s British valve amp.' I said ' It's what they do!'
Ooooooh I was cross with him.
I enjoyed his blog 'Going to the Dogs in Swindon', while Clive was complimentary about my writing (if not my spelling) which meant a great deal to me and gave me the confidence push it on a bit … come to think of it, he has a lot to answer for …
We were tutors in the same (Sixth form) year group. I remember a right old day out in Southsea. Ostensibly, a Sixth Form end of term trip, we skidaddled straight away and during the course of the afternoon – this is before the arrival of my uninvited guest of course* – drank a bucketful of beer, ate the second largest plate of fish and chips I've ever seen (It takes a lot to beat the Waterford Arms at Seaton Sluice) chewed the fat more than somewhat, and ended up on some hideous ride/torture machine at the funfair. By then, we had met up with other staff, who though sober, still accompanied us. Poor Denise B. I've never seen anyone go soooo green
Then there was that memorable day in Valencia. Of all the people over the years who have said 'I'll pop across and see you, I'm only in Javea/Denia/Xativa/Valencia/Almeria/Extremadura/Santiago de Compostella/Wherever ….' Clive and Sue (and Tim Brown) were the only ones who ever did – come to us I mean. We ate paella (which, if you have never had the real thing you have no idea …) To round off the day, I gave our eldest a dollar for the fruit machine, and he won the bloody jackpot ¡Ay caramba!
He loved the Simpsons, and in particular, Homer's half-witted, lugbrious attempts to be a real father; wholly the opposite of Clive . I remember descriptions of his readings of bed time stories from 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' which were gripping enough to 'reel – in' neighbourhood kids and passers-by!
We laughed at the same kinds of things, both of us unashamedly cynical. But he never let his … 'worldliness' let's call it, cloud his teaching. He was a great teacher to those who were prepared to listen – and often those who weren't ….
Clive turned me on to Irvine Welsh, (when he was good) 'The Watchmen', which I read cover to cover. Not bad for someone who hates comic-books, while I used to love hearing his tale of how he booked Paul Simon to play at the folk club he ran in Swindon. I assume this must have been 1965, when Simon was living over here. As Clive recalled, it was not long after this that with Art Garfunkel, (Quick check – yes it is spelt like that) he began to achieve his first major success.
Anyway, the story I am about to relate is true, and it happened at a West London/Middlesex secondary comprehensive during a friday morning staff meeting (A time when most present were still actually in a deep state of unconsciousness) Not Clive. No, I think Clive had been preparing himself for some time for that particular morning's meeting; one which was to be chaired by the school's First Deputy, Greg Hill.
Now, the reason that the responsibility for the weekly staff meeting – indeed the whole school, lay in Greg's capable hands was that Headteacher, Dick Duggan, a man of principle and honour (if also worryingly long sideburns and crispy fried seaweed comb-over) was not in school, but attending the Hillingdon Association of Secondary Headteachers' conference. Or 'HASH' as it was known. (I swear I'm not making this up)
Calling the meeting to order, with a most unfortunate turn of phrase which he to this very day swears blind was unintentional, Greg booms out:
'Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dick's out'
To which, quick as a flash Clive replied:
'Is that an order?'
Now, I don't know whether you have ever seen a teacher spontaneously awake from a profound slumber; let alone half a roomful. It is not a pretty sight. It's very funny, as those awake enough to get the joke first time – then watch the spectacle of their colleagues variously choking on dentures, hot tea, coffee, spilling same over weeks' worth of marking, exam papers and in one or two cases even wetting themselves – will attest. Very, very funny.
But it is not a pretty sight.
Staff meetings, like assemblies are always worth staying awake for (if you can) in my experience, as it is often at these gatherings that you can make the 'catch of the day' And so, there you have it. A priceless moment from one of many. Sadly missed. Clive, this is for you with the hope that we may one day chew the fat again like we did down at Southsea.
I've looked at Life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's Life illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all
© 1973 Warner Bros
*Parkinson's – if you are still trying to figure it out
Posted in Autobiographical | Tagged Clive, Clive Jarvis, Dick Duggan, Greg Hill, headteacher, Personal Writing, Southsea, Spain, Thoughts, valencia | 9 Replies
Trainer Wars: Round One
Posted on February 8, 2010 by Sitting comfortably with andy daly
An old schoolmate has just told me that Mr. O'Riordan, the former Headteacher of St. Wilfrid's the Middle School we both attended in Rochdale died at the weekend. He'd been suffering from Altzheimer's for some time.
I must say, I wasn't over-keen on him, especially since the day in 1972 he 'slippered' me with a size 9 Dunlop Green Flash tennis shoe. For once, I was innocent of all charges (That we'd shouted obscenities at the pitch on which a match was being played as we passed one lunchtime) I hadn't done it. I was out of the sightline of the arresting officer/teacher anyway. I was guilty by association. My only crime was to think it was cool to hang around with a bunch of ne'rdo – wells and villains.
I didn't realise I was being beaten with a '70s 'Design Classic' at the time. I suppose that in itself was reason enough for a good battering. Come to think of it, this was probably the first 'muscle-flexing' of those companies whose battles for superiority in the 'Great Trainer Wars' of the 80's and 90's took place in every school playground in the country. My guess is that the late John O'Riordan was being paid a tidy sum by Puma to always make sure he 'leathered' pupils with a Dunlop Green Flash. The spectacle was organised so that the quaking miscreants were given plenty of opportunity to view their particular instrument of torture (and its distinctive logo) before the prolonged attack. Product-placement in reverse, I suppose. Accordingly the Head at the next school down the road was being paid by Dunlop to always make sure he 'tanned their little backsides' with Mitre boots and shoes and so on ….
There's a lot more to marketing than meets the eye, you know.
Posted in Fiction | Tagged Dunlop Green Flash, headteacher, Marketing, Mitre, Personal Writing, Pop culture, Puma, Rochdale, school, St. Wilfrid's | Leave a reply
Phil Milner
My Best Steak and Kidney Pie Recipie

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Qigong and Chronic Pain: Three Cases of Pain Resolution, Other Health Benefits and Improved Vision with Long-term Practice of Qigong
Fibromyalgia: Open Access
Fibrom Open Access 1:111, Vol 1(2)
Jana Sawynok*
Department of Pharmacology, Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
*Corresponding Author: Jana Sawynok, Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Tel: 902 494 2596, Fax: 902 494 1388, Email: [email protected]
Received Date: Sep 27, 2016 / Accepted Date: Nov 04, 2016 / Published Date: Nov 08, 2016
There is an emerging literature on health benefits of qigong in fibromyalgia in which participants practice qigong for standardized amounts of time (up to 6 months) and some reports of practice for 1-3 years. However, there is little information on longer-term practice over decades. This is a report of the experiences of three individuals with chronic pain and multiple other health problems who undertook instruction in qigong (Chaoyi Fanhuan Qigong, CFQ) and went on to practice over extended periods of time (hours/day, 8-15 years). All three report resolution of their chronic pain and multiple other health problems, as well as improvements in vision, during the course of their longterm practice. In each case, some benefits were manifest within the first months of practice, and initial benefits promoted further and more diligent practice to explore health possibilities. Health benefits occurred progressively over time. Improvements in eyesight were gradual. These experiences indicate that long-term qigong practice can transform health trajectories and individual lives in those with chronic pain. Further exploration, at many levels, into the health benefits of qigong needs to occur.
Keywords: Qigong; Chronic pain; Pain resolution; Health benefits; Vision
CFQ Chaoyi Fanhuan Qigong; MBSR mindfulnessbased stress reduction; OD right eye; OS left eye; RCT randomized controlled trial
Qigong has a long history in China, and many forms have developed in the context of health promotion and preservation. Traditional characterization of qigong involves cultivation of a dynamic body-wide energy system that interacts with physiological systems, whereby practice removes blockages and promotes balanced and unhindered flow of qi [1]. Contemporary characterization recognizes core elements of practice (gentle movement, breath regulation, mental instructions), and qigong is considered as "mindful exercise" [2] or "meditative movement" [3,4] distinguishing it from other forms of exercise, and "movement-based embodied contemplative practice" distinguishing it from other forms of meditative practice [5].
Health benefits of qigong are being explored within randomizedcontrolled trials (RCTs) in which participants receive instruction and undertake standardized practice regimens (30-45 min daily, for 8-12 weeks). Such regimens consistently produce health benefits in fibromyalgia (pain, sleep, impact, quality of life) [6-9] and chronic fatigue syndrome (fatigue, sleep, anxiety, depression) [10-12]. Both conditions are considered as "central sensitivity syndromes" and exhibit several common co-morbidities [13]. In both conditions, benefits are related to the amount of qigong practice [8,12]. There are some reports of extended qigong practice over 1-3 years producing marked health benefits (improvements in pain, fatigue, mood and multiple other symptoms such as asthma, and food and chemical intolerances), but the number of individuals who engaged in extended practice is limited [14,15]. There are few reports on the health benefits of qigong practiced over decades. However, a cross-sectional study of tai chi (taiji) and qigong practitioners in the United States indicates significant differences in health trajectory over decades in those who engage such practices [16].
During the course of a RCT and extension trial, and the reporting of community-based cases involving Chaoyi Fanhuan Qigong (CFQ) [17], a form that has been available locally since 2000, two participants with fibromyalgia reported improvements in vision [14,15]. Additional cases of improvements in vision following long-term qigong practice also became known anecdotally. The current report documents three cases of marked health benefits in persons with chronic pain, including improvements in vision, that occur as a result of long-term selfpractice of qigong over 8-15 years. It is important to document these outcomes, as it would be impossible to conduct a prospective trial over such extended intervals and with this amount of practice. Furthermore, outcomes provide validation of a practice that is presented as a healing practice, but has limited documentation of benefits. Each individual provided written informed consent for the assembly and publication of the report, and verified the accuracy of the transcribed contents of the report. All vision readings in tables are from written reports provided by vision professionals to the individuals at their request.
Table 1 provides a summary of the demographics and duration of qigong practice for the three cases included in this report. All subjects practiced CFQ as the form of qigong [17]. Level 1 CFQ practice involves a set of choreographed movements, with ten repetitions of movements 1-5 and five repetitions of movements 6-7. Each sets lasts 11-13 min depending on the pace. Movements are gentle, loose and flowing, and mental activity involves connecting with and feeling the body. There are also ancillary movements (e.g. downward sweeping of hands over the body, stepping side-to-side on alternating feet). Level 2 CFQ involves seated, standing or lying meditation techniques, with an initial instruction of feeling the point of contact (chair or floor depending on the form) and connecting with presence. Each individual received instruction from the main developer of the technique (YSY) at community-based workshops, some of which involved daily practice and instruction for several weeks. Individual cases elaborate on amounts and types of practice.
Age at start of practice (gender)
Qigong start year (practice duration)
Pain diagnosis at start of practice (pain duration)
Case #1* 57 (female) 2008 (8 years) Fibromyalgia, multiple other conditions (20 years)
Case #2 55 (female) 2006 (10 years) Fibromyalgia, multiple other conditions (15 years)
Case #3** 37 (female) 2000 (15 years) Chronic myofascial pain, traumatic pain (12 years)
Table 1: Demographics of those undertaking long-term qigong practice over 8-15 years
* Case 1 outcomes over 1-3 years were reported as a case report [15]; longer-term experiences are reported here. Cases 2 and 3 have not been recorded previously. ** Case 3 was designated as chronic myofascial pain in the late 1980s, which predates the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for fibromyalgia; characteristics of the condition would meet updated 2010 criteria for fibromyalgia.
This is a female who was 57 years old when she commenced qigong in 2008 (Table 1). She had fibromyalgia (she described herself as "in pain 24/7"), and multiple other symptoms (sleep difficulty, food allergies, irritable bowel syndrome) when she started. Over the course of the prior 20 yrs, she had tried many conventional and alternative therapies (including physiotherapy, osteopathy and massage therapy, multiple supplements and food restrictions; see [15]) with limited benefit. In July 2008, she undertook an initial 10 day qigong training workshop at a community-based venue; subsequently she attended additional workshops, and practiced regularly for 3 years, for 1-2 h/day (level 1/level 2) at intervals. Her experiences over 1-3 years (including cessation of other therapies, food restrictions, supplements and medications as they were no longer needed) were reported as a case report in fibromyalgia, but with only casual mention of vision changes [15]. Corrections and acuity in her vision over 8 years are summarized in Table 2. Briefly, over the first 6-7 months of practice, she had vast improvements in pain and other bodily functions (bladder, bowel function). At 7 months (Feb 2009), she experienced difficulties with her vision (blurring), but a visit to her optometrist indicated an improvement in both eyes, with her right eye changing from -4.00 to -3.50 and left eye from -3.75 to -3.50, and glasses with modified corrections addressed the issue. She continued to practice qigong for 1-2 h/day, and in 2011 (~3 years of practice) reported minimal pain and consolidated health gains in other areas (food tolerances, irritable bowels) [15]. In 2016 (~8 years of practice; she is now 65 years old), she indicates consistent daily practice of qigong for 3 h/day (1.5 h each of movements and meditation). She now "rarely thinks of her health – it has become a non-issue - and takes no medications" She has used no other complementary treatment since starting qigong. Her vision has improved progressively over time since the start of qigong practice.
correction OD* -4.00
OS** -3.75 OD -3.50
OS -3.25 OD -3.25
OS -2.00
Acuity OD 20/20
OS 20/20 OD 20/20
OS 20/20
*OD right eye, **OS left eye
Table 2: Vision determinations over time for case #1.
Acuity OD* 20/20
OS* 20/20 OD 20/25
This is a female who was 55 years old when she commenced qigong practice in early 2006 (Table 1). At the time, her health conditions included fibromyalgia, arthritis, back pain at the site of fusion (for severely herniated discs, L4/L5 and L5/S in mid-1980s), sleep apnea, high cholesterol, allergies and intolerances to multiple foods, irritable bowel syndrome, and frequent pneumonia/bronchitis. She also had congenital hearing loss and corneal dystrophy (epithelial basement membrane dystrophy, map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy or Cogan's dystrophy, an eye disorder causing pain and dryness). She had previously tried mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) (for 15 years, instructing for 10 years) and several energy modalities (Reiki, Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch) but with not much benefit (although the MBSR allowed for better tolerance/acceptance of the pain). In her words, "when I found CFQ, I was a mess". Her initial qigong practice was intermittent, but she began diligent qigong practice (1 h daily) in July 2007. By December 2007, she was weaned off prescription medications for arthritis, back pain and fibromyalgia (an antidepressant, pregabalin, hydrochloroquine) and was only taking over-the-counter analgesics (acetaminophen, ibuprofen) as needed. She stopped using her continuous positive airway pressure device, and her sleep was now normal. Between 2008-10 (she retired in 2009), she extended her qigong practice to 1½-2½ h/day and experienced further improvement in arthritis pain, back pain and fibromyalgia ("no more pain, like I never had any of it"). In addition, her general health was improved – there were now few episodes of pneumonia/bronchitis, and food allergies were better. By 2011, she experienced a sense of wellness, and rarely had colds or flus. In 2012, she had a sudden onset of cataracts, and underwent cataract surgery; following the surgery, her corneal dystrophy became more troublesome, with more erosions and dryness causing poorer vision and much discomfort. In 2014, she was prescribed Restasis (topical ophthalmic cyclosporine) which helped with eye pain, discomfort and dryness. She had continued with her diligent qigong practice, and her cholesterol levels were now in the normal range (she took no medications for this). By the end of 2015, her visual acuity improved and she could now see clearly for the first time in years (Table 3). As an adult, she had never worn glasses with prescription corrections for her eyes. In 2015, her hearing had improved slightly (by 3%), and she considered this meaningful as both parents experienced much age-related hearing loss in their 60s, and she was now 65 years old. She currently characterizes herself as "feeling well, normal and younger in every way", and the last 8 years have been the best/healthiest since age 40. Since starting qigong, the only additional complementary therapies she used were MBSR, with a 2-3 year overlap, but she stopped that once she was confident of the benefits of qigong; there were also 3 sessions of acupuncture for a sinus condition. She takes supplements (probiotics, vitamins) regularly, and herbals as needed.
This is a female who was 37 years old when she commenced qigong in 2000 (Table 1). In 1988, she experienced the first of several automobile accidents, with the first being the most serious (4 minor ones followed). At that time, she had been diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome, had back pain, shoulder impingement, and numbness and lack of feeling in two fingers; she also had experienced weekly migraines for 10 years (losing consciousness with some), disrupted sleep, irritable bowel syndrome and food allergies. She had been treated with an anti-inflammatory drug for pain, and had tried multiple other treatments over the years (physiotherapy, massage, exercise, water exercise, acupuncture, orthotics, water pillow, neck brace, cranial sacral therapy, biteplate). She had been blind in her right eye since birth due to a congenital defect (glial tissue surrounding the optic nerve); her left eye had required correction since childhood, and her vision was being regularly monitored (Table 4). Following her introduction to qigong in 2000, she practiced 1-1½ h daily (movements initially, meditation added in 2003). In 2005, she had a uterine fibroid tumor, with indeterminate pathology, removed. In 2006, following an intensive exposure to CFQ (3-4 h/day, for 21 days; this included external qigong healings), she became serious about qigong and practiced 1-2 h of movement and 1 h meditation daily. Between 2006 and 2010, she attended 10 further qigong workshops and training sessions (lasting 2-4 weeks). She became a CFQ Level 1 instructor in 2004, and a CFQ Level 2 instructor in 2009. Since 2009, she has practiced 1-1½ hrs movement and 1-2 hrs meditation daily (except for travel interruptions), and performs 12 meditative healings per week. She indicates resolution of her chronic pain in 2001, and of arm problems (numbness, loss of feeling) in 2006. Between 2002 and 2013, the vision in her left eye progressively improved with time (Table 4). At the latter date, her optometrist further commented that "focusing ability is about 10 years younger than it should be, i.e. she is hardly entering presbyopia at age 49". More recent readings (2014-16) indicate some rebound in corrections. She has undertaken no additional treatments or therapies (except for the surgery in 2005) since 2003.
Sphere correction -5.50 -5.25 -5.00 -4.75 -4.50 -4.25 -4.00 -3.75 -3.50 -4.00
Acuity 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20 20/20
Table 4: Left eye determinations over time for case #3.
This report describes marked benefits in chronic pain of 10-20 years duration (fibromyalgia, arthritis, myofascial pain), and other health benefits (sleep difficulty, sleep apnea, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, food and chemical intolerances, vision changes) following long-term practice of qigong over 8-15 years. Many benefits are so marked that several changes can essentially be considered as resolution of the condition. Most of the health information provided is qualitative, but the nature of the information is clear and compelling. Two of the individuals (cases #1 and #2) are now in their mid-60s, and have much better health than during earlier decades. There is quantitative information for vision. In cases #1 and #3, there were changes within the first year of practice and progressive improvements with continued practice of qigong over the course of a decade. In case #2, vision improvement was recent and occurred only following considerable qigong practice; however, this case is difficult to interpret due to fluctuations over time, the genetic condition, cataract surgery, and use of the topical ophthalmic medication (cyclosporine).
The form of qigong practiced in this report involves a global approach. Thus, particular aspects of practice are not emphasized depending on the condition, but the entire (energy) system is engaged in a comprehensive algorithm, and this allows for diverse symptoms to respond. It therefore differs from medical qigong in which specific targeted interventions with a specific intent are applied. Changes occur within weeks-months of initiating practice, but consolidation of health gains and resolution of conditions can take years. The qualitative information recorded here, as well as the quantitative improvements in vision, attest to the need for longer-term practice for best outcomes. RCTs of qigong for central sensitivity syndromes (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome) in the medical literature generally involve a time course of 3-6 months [6-12] and likely underestimate the full potential value of the practice. Extension trials, in which those who experience health gains during the initial exposure continue practice over longer durations, are both feasible and encouraged. Within trials, benefits are directly related to amount of practice [8,12], supporting the need for diligent practice. Each of the cases reported here had multiple health conditions and had accessed medical care and previously tried multiple different treatments, both conventional and complementary, for their condition over prior decades. In each case, with the resolution of conditions, medications and other treatments for those conditions were no longer needed.
In a traditional framework, qigong self-practice involves cultivation of a body-wide energy system that interacts with the physiological system; practice removes blockages and stagnations, and this allows for the free flow of qi within this system [1]. A contemporary view of this body-wide system is the living matrix in which arrays of collagen fibres within connective tissue form a hydrated matrix which has unique conduction properties and rapidly conveys information that is important for the integrated function of a complex organism [18]. Contemporary models have the advantage of additional metaphors and mechanisms to call upon to explain experiential events described by those engaging in qigong practice. An additional contemporary framework is that of interoception, with exploration in the realms of psychology and neuroscience [19-21]. Other contemporary models use systems to account for health benefits of qigong in relation to particular conditions – these include psychosocial and mind-body interactions (regulation of neuronal, endocrine, immune systems), and regulation of the autonomic nervous system (enhanced sympathovagal balance) [2,22-24]. In view of the profound health changes described in this report, further exploration of qigong needs to occur in the interests of better understanding health effects arising from qigong practice. Such exploration needs to be pragmatic and to proceed simultaneously at multiple levels. This includes clinical exploration, consideration of mechanisms using a range of models, neuroimaging the meditative component, recording real-world experiences of those who voluntarily engage in long-term practice, and attending to the language needed for effective implementation. A particular challenge of this area is the multiple forms of qigong that have developed in various contexts, and comparative health effects of different forms of qigong and practice regimens would be of much interest to determine.
In summary, this is a retrospective report of 3 cases in which each person clearly attributed health benefits in pain and other symptoms to their extensive qigong practice over decades. It is subject to the limitations of retrospective approaches, as well as the unknown generalizability that limits all case studies. The primary value is that it documents marked health changes in long-standing conditions that have not responded to multiple other treatments (medical and alternative), and outcomes suggests that RCTs of qigong should consider longer durations of practice beyond standardized amounts currently used (months). In each case, there was a time-response relationship between practice duration and symptoms, and the clarity of these changes is what motivated extended practice. Vision changes are incidental to the other symptoms, and were not in any way anticipated or expected. There is no literature on qigong benefits in vision, but it is interesting to note that during the course of an extension trial of CFQ qigong, one participant (036) also reported marked vision improvements during the trial [14].
All participants provided written statements consenting to the assembly and publication of this report, and confirmed the accuracy of the final report before it was submitted. Access to data for the purpose of data sharing is not applicable to this report. The author has no conflicts of interest in relation to the report.
I wish to thank Dana Marcon for making me aware of some of these cases. I also want to acknowledge all of the individuals in the report who undertook these extraordinary levels of qigong self-practice, and thank them for their willingness to share their experiences.
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Citation: Sawynok J (2016) Qigong and Chronic Pain: Three Cases of Pain Resolution, Other Health Benefits and Improved Vision with Longterm Practice of Qigong. Fibrom Open Access 1:111.
Copyright: ©2016 Sawynok J. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Below is some of the correspondence relating to the 18 month build-up to a proposed one hour documentary for Dispatches Channel 4 that was to be transmitted on World AIDS Day 1998.
We were given development money to carry out a series of tests together with the Robens Institute at Surrey University which showed up some serious anomalies in the HIV test results from three different commercial test kits.
David Lloyd, editor of Dispatches, had previously commissioned four Dispatches programmes from us (Meditel Productions) about challenges from scientists to the infectious hypothesis for AIDS and questioning HIV as the cause of AIDS. He gave us £17,000 of development funding and, together with Huw Christie, then editor of Continuum Magazine, we put 29 blood samples (blinded) through three different commercial test kits, with some astonishing results. Admittedly this was a small study and David Lloyd felt it did represent a real "breakthrough" from the dissident camp. The attached correspondence reflects Lloyd's gradual reluctance to take on a major challenge of the orthodoxy that would focus on the unreliability of the HIV test.
He decided not to go ahead with the World AIDS Day special and suggested instead that we make a short report for Channel 4 News on that day.
As it happened we had been filming at the Geneva World AIDS Conference where the Perth Group of scientists, including Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos, Dr Valendar Turner, Dr John Papadimitriou and David Causer had participated in a conference by satellite and had stated that HIV had never been isolated or purified and that the HIV test was based on flawed science.
We were commissioned by Chanel 4 News to make a 10 minute report. The day before transmission, the editor Jim Gray said he had had a "tectonic shift" and refused to broadcast our report. Continuum Magazine and Meditel staff demonstrated outside Channel 4 News offices in Greys' Inn Road on World AIDS Day.
But the good news is that we were able to documentary our research for the documentary in my book "Positively False – Exposing the myths around HIV and AIDS" and also in a documentary made thirteen years later called "Positively False – Birth of a heresy". Although it has not had a network broadcast, it was nominated for best documentary at Lucerne and Marbella International film festivals.


text:
GENDER AND SPORTS
Gender Bias and Pay Gap – Hurdles in the Development of Sports for Women
by EDITORSLPRR
India U-17 Football Team [IMAGE SOURCE: AIFF MEDIA]
[Authors – Sanjana Sharma, a Third Year B.L.S LL.B student at Government Law College, Mumbai & Aishwarya Vardhan, a Fourth Year B.A LL.B (Hons.) student at Symbiosis Law School, Pune]
The gender pay gap in the country and even globally, is not a novel phenomenon. It is pervasive in a myriad of sectors and even after a history of resistance, it doesn't seem to assuage. It is in fact, not an isolated concept, but one of the many branches of patriarchy in the world.
India currently ranks 112 in the Gender Pay Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum. Slithering down from its previous ranking, the country has a long way to go, in order to offer equality to all the genders in this sphere. Being masculine has always been intrinsically linked with grit and fortitude. This has led to the prevalence of masculine hegemony in several realms, especially those which require physical strength.
There can be no actual empowerment until females will be called the weaker sex and the LGBTQ+ community will be discriminated on the basis of their sexual orientation. Numerous individuals belonging to these genders are aggrieved of the dramatic gap in payment received by them, as compared to their male counterparts. It isn't merely a man-woman tussle now. This game of tug of war now has more participants, one side of which has the heterosexual male gender and the other side has women and men of different sexual orientations, yet it is the former, which is the most potent.
This article specifically focuses on the payment norms and gender bias in the field of sports in India. It is emphasized that the disparity is not only unfair but also alarming; given how much we have progressed in this domain, leaving only this stone unturned. The lack of attention given to this issue coupled with the void of a codified statute to look into this particular subject-matter, stand in the way of bridging this discriminatory gap.
DISPARITY AND BIAS IN PAYMENT AS WELL AS RECOGNITION
The general principle of equal pay for equal work was pronounced by the Supreme Court in the case of State of Punjab & Ors. V. Jagjit Singh and Ors. It aimed to do away with the practice of discriminatory payment to individuals who are employed for the same work.
However, when sports in India doesn't adhere to its National Sports Development Code which inter alia, calls for protecting gender equality in the profession, let alone will it have regard to a general principle delineated by the Court.
Moreover, the question of disparity in payment arises from the level of commercialization of a particular sport. This means that equal, if not more importance is given to the display, sale and marketing of the teams and the sports events, to the sport on the playground itself. This trend leaves behind groups of sportspeople and sports teams which do not enjoy the popularity, and although it isn't broadcasted in the media, it is clearly depicted in their paychecks.
Drawing less crowds is the factor responsible for this gap. While majority of the women stay aggrieved due to this, the former Indian cricketer Snehal Pradhan, believes that the disparity in only fair as the game rules differ for both the teams. Hence, there cannot be equal pay for unequal work. She further emphasizes that the women's team needs to add more weight in order to reach the same pedestal. However, it is not only cricket where women are paid less. There are numerous other sports which account for this discriminatory practice. And if we see the larger picture, this happens in almost all the other sectors as well.
There are varying perspectives with regards to this issue; however, the only fair view can be the one which is in consonance with the principles of natural justice. And this can be achieved when there is a statute to regulate it and put an end to the prevailing discriminatory practices.
In order to change what the country has been witnessing since decades now, there needs to be a significant change in our mindsets. The deep-rooted issue of gender inequality in the sporting ecosystem can be fought when people get rid of the dogmatic principles that have been governing their lives.
To understand why women are paid less than their male counterparts for the very same effort, if not more, it has to be understood how athletes make their money.
What comprises the total earnings of a sportsperson is the prize money combined with pay from teams/clubs they belong to, and endorsements. While 83% of sports now reward men and women equal prize money, there is a massive amount of difference in the pay checks provided to males and females. The game's biggest stars who are mostly males pick up suckering pay checks while women don't even get the bare minimum. It is indeed appalling how there is a humongous difference in treatment meted out to the athletes who play the same sport for the very same country.
One extensive reason for this woeful scenario is the substandard media coverage. Media being a central part of our lives today is a highly influential tool that includes inter alia – newspapers, television, radio and internet. While media is a prominent reason why sports clubs and athletes today enjoy massive fan following, there is an urgent need for media to re-examine its portrayal of sports women. Statistics claim that 40% of all sports participants are women, yet women's sports receive only around 4% of all sports media coverage. This depicts how abysmal the state of affairs is in the so called 21st century, where everyone boasts of equality and having come forward.
To add to this misery, the cynosure of the already insufficient coverage is not the athleticism but the femininity and beauty of female athletes. They are seen less for their achievements and more for their off the field endeavors. In an arena that is presided over by men both in terms of participation and governance, this representation is not only unfair and grossly negligent but also regressive. Not only does this depiction degrade women, but also makes people view women as inferior and incompetent individuals.
In light of this subject and to combat gender disparity, a document named The International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport has been adopted by UNESCO's 38th General Conference which emphasizes on the rights of women and asserts that 'equal opportunity to participate and be involved at all supervision and decision-making levels in physical education, physical activity and sport, whether for the purpose of recreation, health promotion or high performance, is the right of every girl and every woman that must be actively enforced'.
NEED FOR REFORM AND POLICY INITIATIVES
Other than media coverage, there are a multitude of other factors that are an impediment in bringing an end to the disparity and bridging the gaps. The notion of male superiority that has been ingrained in the brains of people is one such factor. Not only this, opposition from the family against playing any sport is a huge problem. To address these issues there ought to be awareness campaigns and workshops that emphasize on the importance of sports and how it makes a woman economically independent helping her earn for herself and also making a mark in the society.
Additionally, there is a clear need for policy initiatives and regulation framework to empower women as gender inequality continues to persist even against the backdrop of economic growth. One way of empowering women is giving them representations at every step of the hierarchy. Adequate female representations in the form of teachers, trainers and coaches might act as an instrument of change bringing about a paradigm shift in the status quo. Targeted investments, scholarships and incentives by the Government would make a great support and might prove to be an aid in alleviating financial problems that plague the Indian subcontinent.
Furthermore, the selection procedures ought to be fair and transparent. Training centers with adequate infrastructural facilities and sports equipment must be set up. Widening the perspective thereby including women in decision making and leadership positions in all public spheres would make a remarkable difference.
In order for India to become a more powerful nation that commands respect worldwide, and maintains its stance as a global leader, there is a need for the individuals and specially women to stand up for themselves and fight against the ill discriminatory practices, prominent bias and stereotypes. The idea of a wholesome nation can be turned into reality when women's sport becomes a priority of policy makers and there is a comprehensive effort coupled with a consistent coverage on part of the media to build a positive and robust image of women athletes that encourages others to participate, and try for career in sports sans any inhibitions. It is of paramount importance that government and different stakeholders in Indian sporting culture give suitable platforms, equal opportunities and due representation to females while ensuring that policies are implemented to put women in parity with their male counterparts. Attitudinal shifts, fighting blatant discrimination, addressing gender inequality and diversity in all its forms and promoting sports at the grassroots level would be an appropriate start in the direction of bringing about a revolution, empowering the women and achieving a disparity free India.
*For any query, feedback or discussion, the Authors could be contacted at [sanjanaasharma12@gmail.com] & [aishwaryavardhan0503@gmail.com]
PREFERRED CITATION– Sanjana Sharma & Aishwarya Vardhan, Gender Bias and Pay Gap – Hurdles in the Development of Sports for Women, SLPRR <https://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2020/07/21/gender-bias-and-pay-gap-hurdles-in-the-development-of-sports-for-women/> July 21st, 2020.
Sanjana Sharma
Aishwarya Vardhan
TagsEquality • Gender • Media • Payment • Recognition • Women
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