North Star Talks

Indian history does not get talked about enough (the what-actually-happened-and-was-recorded part of it and NOT the flying spaceships, anti-gravity stones, and our prescient discovery of head transplants kind).  History school books generally emphasize a select few empires and dynasties, relegating the rest of our vast history to a footnote or a paragraph.  Like shining a torchlight on one spot in your room for a few seconds and attempting to learn all about your house and its members. It is understandable, as Indian history could never be a monolith. Indian society or India as we now know it never existed until so recently in the past (brief moments achieved by great conquerors excluded).  For an overwhelming majority of our subcontinent’s history, it has seen dozens and scores of kingdoms at any given point. However:

• A vast majority is taught keeping in mind the current political and social power structures.
  
• History as it is taught in schools focuses on the great conquerors of the subcontinent- the Maurya empire, the Gupta empire, the Mughals, and the British.
  
• Some briefly mention the regional stabilizers and empires such as the Marathas, Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas.
  
• The empires of Gurjara-Pratiharas in the west and Gondwanas in central India are hardly given any credit, and are reflective of the general social status of their respective communities (Gurjars and Gonds) today. 
  
• The Rashtrakuta empire is extremely underrated in my view, as it was one of the biggest empires in India never talked about. 
  
• The Rashtrakuta empire held the Deccan Plateau for almost 250 years, and at one point extended from the Himalayas to the Malabar coast.  

Point being- Indian history is a blast, much like world history and any history that is not just the retelling of facts, but an attempt to understand ourselves and our journey to where we now are. The importance of history in one’s life cannot be understated.  History is not a dry transcript of what happened in a disconnected and irrelevant past. It is a connection from the past to the present, with lessons for the future.  History teaches us how thoughts and ideas have shaped our societies, and continue to shape us. 

History gives us perspective.  The prevalent political, cultural and societal issues of yesterday that shaped our society explain the issues and injustices of today.  History allows us to examine feats of great love, creativity, honor, strength, devotion and intelligence.  Understanding the past also helps us to introspect and learn from failures through ignorance, underestimation, misfortune and betrayal. A well-rounded education of today demands a lesson recap of the past. 

Moreover, it is so much fun! The past is a repository of amazing stories, truths stranger than fiction, sources of inspiration and awe-inspiring perspective of our small part to play in the grand theatre of life.  The past has the ability to astound, move and touch us. By connecting to our past, we also connect to what perennially stays human, our strengths, frailties, failings, our ability to struggle, and our indefatigable thirst for recovery.

Last year I had started writing poetry and the occasional piece here. In 2021, my goal is to write more about history, bringing to light little pockets of forgotten episodes from our past. Do let me know what you think of it!

Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies- A Biography of Cancer is a deep dive into the history of cancer, its recorded occurrence and treatment. The book highlights the multitudes of ground-breaking innovations that have helped scientists understand and, to a lesser extent, treat the various kinds of cancers occurring among humans. The book follows a neat sequence where the reader is introduced to a patient being treated by the author himself- prompting the author to ask – what is cancer? After all, knowing the enemy secures half the battle, and cancer might be one of the most prevalent diseases ordinary people such as you or I would know the least about.

Mukherjee examines the history of cancer in Egyptian, Persian, and Greek civilizations. The Egyptian physicist Imhotep, back in 2500 BC, had prepared a treatise on the prevalent diseases and their cures, but for ‘bulging masses within the breast’, he solemnly notes “There is none.” We hear of legends of Queen Atossa, the queen of Persia around 500 BC, having performed one of the world’s first recorded mastectomies, by ordering her breast to be cut off. Hippocrates, after whom the Hippocratic Oath is named, explained all illnesses as forms of imbalance among the four cardinal fluids (or humors) of the human body- blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. He was also the person to name the disease as cancer, or as it was known then- ‘karkinos’ or crabs, due to the resemblance of the earliest tumors examined with crabs (which is where we get the zodiac sign from). In the year 160 AD, Galen expanded on this idea by noting that cancers were caused due to the excess in black bile in our bodies.

We follow the needle of time through the Renaissance, the first autopsies and anatomies of the human body conducted, the invention of microscopes and the identification of the frenzied, uncontrolled division of cells that is cancer. We explore the roots of chemotherapy, the manic lengths of radical mastectomy, the various conceptions and misconceptions involving the causes of cancer. Mukherjee paints a vivid picture of these scientific innovations, and the failures as well, being pursued. Interestingly, we also read about the political efforts made by the Sidney Farber and Mary Lasker made during the Nixon era to educate and sensitize the voting population and draw the attention of politicians, and the many crucial inventions made by numerous individuals that have allowed us to understand, and in some cases, beat down cancer.

Cancer is a terrifying subject, and even more crucially, is a terrifyingly complex field to understand. However, this book notes and credits the many innovators, chemists, surgeons, and researchers who have developed the weapons we use today to battle cancer. Unsurprisingly, this book does not conclude with a happy ending, and there’s no aspirin-like panacea developed to beat all kinds of cancer today. Our science is not there yet. However, this book serves to educate us in simple terms “in the battle against cancer- where were we, where are we, and what does the future look like?”

This book is a fitting reminder of the mortality of the human body. Mukherjee mentions many survivors of cancer, and many more who couldn’t make it. Reading this book, it is impossible not to reflect on how seemingly random, sudden, and unpredictable cancer. It is a mutation in our very genes, a betrayal or a incorrect development from within. Our life, and our mortality, continues to never be in our control. The Emperor of All Maladies provokes a greater appreciation for the temporary nature of our existence. Lastly, I would like to add a personal note- reflect on your life, your loved ones and your priorities. Cherish, love and rejoice in this marvel. After all, life is never as secure and inalienable as we assume it to be.