Re-imagining Embodiment and the Self in People with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: A Narrative Approach

Traumatic spinal cord injuries from accidents cause physical and social suffering, pain and loss. After an initial period of physical and psychological trauma, the individual begins to cope and successfully crosses over. Crossing over as a term used in the spinal cord injury register refers to positive adaptation—physical, psychological and social. This paper is based on a qualitative narrative study of the lived experiences of individuals negotiating spinal cord injuries in the Indian context wherein the disability is no longer the location of inability, tragedy, pain, and loss, but one of creative possibilities. As individuals re-imagine embodiment and self, a space of infinite possibilities opens, thereby creatively re-engaging the embodied self and taking on new role identities

A study of the socio demographic and obstetric factors in pregnant women with COVID-19 infection at a tertiary care hospital, Kollam, Kerala, India

Background: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic took the world to task. Pregnant women needed care without actually knowing if the treatment schedules outside of pregnancy could be extrapolated to the pregnant state. Obstetric protocols were adhered to as far as was feasible, yet world over there was an increase in cesarean section rates. The so-called alpha variant that we saw at the time appeared to infect pregnant women too with equal frequency but they fared well. The issues regarding infectivity and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) assumed mammoth dimensions. The objectives of this paper were to explore the demographic data and the epidemiological risk factors and study the symptomatology, severity and course of COVID-19 in pregnancy.Methods: This was an observational study conducted on all the COVID-19 positive pregnant women admitted to the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the designated COVID hospital for the district - Government Medical College Kollam - for a period of 6 months from October 2020 to March 2021. These women were studied with respect to their socio demographic details and their Obstetric risk factors and performance. Data was collected and analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software.Results: 377 antenatal COVID-19 positive women were admitted and analyzed during the study period. Nulliparous women (48.5%%) in the age group 20 to 30 years (74.28%) formed the major group. Third trimester and near date admissions were the majority (48.80%). Most women (79.31%) were asymptomatic. Most common symptoms were fever in 35% and flu like upper respiratory symptoms (20%). Breathlessness and lung involvement was seen in 2.91%. Contact tracing revealed a travel history or contact with infected persons at 15.64%. However, 84.8% had no contact history. All antenatal women were tested at admission and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) was done in 73.21%. Rapid antigen and nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) detected the rest. 46% had some co morbidity gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational hypertension, thyroid disease and anemia were the common co morbidities detected. The presence of GDM in 24.14% of the study population is noteworthy.Conclusions: Pregnancy being an immune compromised state, unpredictable outcomes are possible with COVID-19 infection. Asymptomatic patients too can experience complications. Frequent hospital and lab visits could be a source of infection. The growing incidence of GDM in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is a point for concern

Binding Experiences for a First-person Approach: Looking at Indian ways of thinking(Darsana) and acting(Natya) in the context of current discussions on 'consciousness'. (NIAS Working Paper No.WP1-2002)

By and large, if we follow the current discussions on consciousness in the West we get two impressions. First, one gets to think that the understanding of consciousness is dependent on the understanding of, if not the brain, at least the physical processes guided by some mechanism and having the capabilities for replicating the phenomenon in vitro with the help of controlled experiments. Second, there is no consensual definition of the problem, method and the major goals of enquiry itself; and third there is insufficient recognition of the very complexity and subjective nature of the phenomenon. All the three features have jointly contributed towards generating vast literature, dialogues and discussions about a variety of issues relating to consciousness, the primary one being empirical research and on medical possibilities, especially in the area of 'abnormalities'

From shelves to digital media on digital archiving and publication (NIAS Report No. R1-2002)

By the year 2008, it is expected that India would have 20 million personal computers and a 100 million Internet users, compared to the current figures of 4.3 million personal computers and 3.2 million Internet users. This expectation is also vindicated by the fact that in recent times there has been a swifter move towards using Information Technology in private and public sector services as well. Treasure-houses of cultural property such as national museums, archives and private collections, which possess a huge number of manuscripts of antiquity, are also touched by this movement towards an electronic era

Brain-challenged self and self-challenged brain: The central impasse in consciousness studies

Under the aegis of a Templetion Foundation project on “Global Perspectives on Science & Spiritualit

Being and wellbeing in Upanishadic literature

Besides the intricate metaphysical theories about self, classical Indian thinking focuses on the nature, possibility and relationship of our being with the inter-subjective world, and spiritual meaning of ‘wellbeing’. The distinct feature of the philosophical traditions of Indian thinking is its spiritual openness, by which I mean, not just a liberal philosophy, but the facility to integrate new experience and new understanding into an evolving scheme of ideas all leading and pointing to self-exploration. The ideal of spiritual living is given foremost importance. It is not to say that moral and epistemological theories, ethical guidelines and practices are less important in these traditions. But it is to suggest that all such theories and discussions are addressed from a spiritual platform where a discussion on the nature of wellbeing, the world of experiences and the relationship between them becomes the final goal of philosophical pursuit