NOVEMBER 2021 `100

BR A IN
GA MES y Work
That Rea l l
R AR
By S A R I H A R

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

The Woman
Who Wrestled
a Cougar
INTERVIEW
Amitav Ghosh’s
Mission to Forge a
Better World
HEALTH
Covid-19:
Is Victory
at Hand?
 Reader ’s Digest

CONTENTS

Features 86
78 my story

48
drama in real life
Born This Way
The Woman Who A transwoman’s life of
Wrestled a Cougar
cover story extraordinary resilience.
BRAIN GAMES THAT Confronted by a young
and dangerous feline
by dhananjay chauhan
REALLY WORK during a routine outing
Recent research proves with her five daycare 94
more than ever that wards, Larrane Leech bonus read
puzzles and twisters leapt on to the wildcat, Finding Gobi
keep your mind sharp. hoping against hope that
by sari harrar
How two outsiders
she could do enough to
found their way into
protect the children.
each other’s hearts.
by mary murray
60 by dion leonard
with craig borlase
health
Knocking Out
Diabetes
How to control, and
68
even reverse, this
common disease.
by anita bartholomew

68
photograph by mathieu génon

interview
Appealing to Our
Better Nature
Author Amitav Ghosh
discusses his call to
forge a better, more
harmonious world.
by shreevatsa nevatia

readersdigest.in 3
Reader ’s Digest

photo: (top) the last truth foundation (bottom) illustration by serge bloch; scyther5/getty images (gold nugget)
14
10 Over to You it happens news from the
only in india world of medicine
24 The Gift of the 44 The Latest on
Conversations Gob, a Hollow Stroke Recovery,
big idea Heist and a How Overwork
14 Lessons in Giving Family Fraud Lowers Lifespan
by naorem anuja by naorem anuja and a New Way
good news to Slow Down
18 Wheeling into the Better Living Prostate Cancer
Future and the
Power of Play 32 Remind Your
by ishani nandi

smile
Manners
by karen stiller 40
20 Inter-Purr- health
Sonal Com- 36 COVID-19 and
Meow-Nication the Road Ahead
by dr chandrakant
by your cats/ lahariya
cassie barradas
13 things
points to ponder
40 24-Karat
22 Greta Thunberg,
Nuggets
Thomas Merton
about Gold
and Pico Iyer by emily goodman

4 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

studio
Culturescape 123 William
interview with Dalrymple’s
anuradha roy Celestial Dancer
110 The Way of the World by shreevatsa nevatia
by sukhada tatke
me and my shelf
rd recommends 124 Rahul Raina’s
118 Films, Watchlist, Top-10 Reads
Books and Music Humour
review Brain Games 12
122 Decoding the Humour in Uniform
126 Brainteasers
Burari Mystery
by jai arjun singh
127 Sixy Sudoku 17
129 Word Power Modern Romance
131 Quiz 46
132 Quotable Quotes All in a Day’s Work
67
Laugh Lines
NOTE TO OUR
READERS 76
From time to time, you will As Kids See It
see pages titled ‘An Impact
Feature’ or ‘Focus’ in 92
Reader’s Digest. This is no Laughter,
different from an advertise- The Best Medicine
ment and the magazine’s

118 editorial staff is not involved

in its creation in any way.

On the Cover
top right: wragg/getty images

cover Illustration by Siddhant Jumde

Brain Games That Really Work ..................................................... 48

Drama in Real Life: The Woman Who Wrestled a Cougar ....... 78
Interview: Amitav Ghosh’s Mission to Forge a Better World .... 68
Health: COVID-19: Is Victory at Hand? ........................................ 36

6 november 2021
 VOL. 62 NO. 11
NOVEMBER 2021
Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie
Vice Chairperson Kalli Purie
Group Chief Executive Officer Dinesh Bhatia
Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa
Chief Executive Officer Manoj Sharma
editor Kai Jabir Friese IMPACT (ADVERTISING)
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senior associate editor Ishani Nandi mumbai: senior gm (west) Jitendra Lad
features editor Naorem Anuja bengaluru: gm Upendra Singh
consulting editor Shreevatsa Nevatia kolkata: deputy gm (east) Indranil Chatterjee
editorial coordinator Jacob K. Eapen
BUSINESS
art director Angshuman De group chief marketing officer Vivek Malhotra
associate art directors Chandramohan Jyoti, gm, marketing & circulation Ajay Mishra
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Published at F-26, First Floor, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001. Editor: Kai Friese (responsible for selection of news).

8 november 2021
 wanting to speak with
OVER TO her parents because

YOU
she had been taught
about condoms!
Notes on the Notwithstanding our
September issue Health Minister’s de-
sire to ban sex educa-
tion in schools we
must make it a
Lets Talk About Sex compulsory subject.
Hopefully the New Ed-
Dr Tanaya Narendra’s excellent piece shows the ucation Policy will en-
ground reality of sexuality education (a better term sure that, and help
for sex education) in India. Both in medical educa- educate and protect
tion and regulation, sexual health is one of the most thousands of children
neglected. Currently, there is no specific post-gradua- and create well in-
tion course in India to become a sex therapist. Most formed adults. And
sexual disorders are attended by a psychiatrist, urolo- with 600 million of us
gist or a gynaecologist. With sexual health not even on the internet, social
being discussed in the MBBS curriculum, how can media can certainly
we expect primary-care physicians to address the help spread the word.
Krishan Kalra,
sexual health of the population? This lack of experts
Gurugram
also confuses patients about where to seek care.
Disorders related to female sexual health continue
How to Keep Your
to be sidelined and are rarely touched upon even Heart Young
in the post-graduation course of related specialities. With age, the human
It’s time India revised its medical curriculum to help heart too grows old
address the sexual health of the people.  and some changes
Dr Ankit Chandra, New Delhi are indeed irreversible.
Dr Ankit Chandra gets this month’s ‘Write & Win’ prize of ₹1,000. —EDs
The only viable plan is
to leave no stone un-
The anecdotes shared by Dr Narendra shows how the turned to keep it fight-
lack of sex education clearly has a serious effect on the ing fit. But that’s easier
health of our children and causes grievous damage to said than done, espe-
our human capital. We must learn from countries cially in today’s highly
like the Netherlands. While visiting a Swedish friend, competitive world,
back in 1987, in a village near Gothenburg, their eight- where managing stress
year-old girl came back from school, blushing and is no easy task. Apart

10 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

from the tips listed in winning the Global hooks, bits of lace, a
the story, we should Teacher’s Prize. His silver anklet, a thimble
compulsorily take care story is a lesson on why and odd knick-knacks.
of our obesity and hy- privatization of educa- For hours I would im-
perlipidemia as well. tion must never take merse myself in a world
Dr Sunil Chopra, place. Ranjit, himself, of possibilities, stringing
Ludhiana admitted that it is be- buttons, making neck-
cause he teaches in a laces or odd little toys.
The Unkindest Cut Zilla Parishad school In retrospect, I realize
Reading The Unkindest that he got the freedom how it fuelled my cre-
Cut reminded me of my to transform the life of ativity, paving way for
own tonsorial experi- his countless students. my current vocation.
ences! I have progres- In a private school he The story has inspired
sively lost hair from would not have enjoyed me to put together a
1958, and during my the freedom to tailor his box of my own and
bachelor days would methods to the local start filling it with but-
enjoy a massage and context. Moreover, not ton-sized memories.  
the pleasurable move- all families can afford Sunanda Satwah,
ment of the precious private school expenses. Mumbai
little on my head. With His story is a reminder
marriage and more hair- that some of India’s best The Day the World
loss (the two unrelated, teachers are from gov- Came to Town
I rush to state), Mallika, ernment institutes. Such a reassuring tale
my spouse, became my anirban banerjee, of human bonding in
hairdresser and remains Burdwan the face of adversity.
so to this day. She is our One can hardly ima-
tailor, civil engineer, ad- A Life in Buttons gine the mental state
ept at all of these avatars The story struck a of passengers stranded
besides being the perfect nostalgic chord. When in their grounded planes
hostess and chef for de- I was a little girl, on days for days while coming to
cades! We both enjoyed I was taken ill, mother terms with the enormity
the humour and hu- would let me play with of the World Trade Cen-
manity of this column. her cookie tin. Pulling tre tragedy. The relent-
Dr N. Gopalakrishnan, the lid off that round less efforts of the people
Bengaluru time-tainted brown tin of Gander is a wonderful
container, was like en- example of the kindness
From Sir, With Love tering a magical world— of strangers.
Congratulations to full of colourful beads, Bhushan Chander
Ranjitsinh Disale on buttons, sequins, dress Jindal, Mumbai

readersdigest.in 11
 Reader ’s Digest

Humour in

UNIFORM

My buddy and I— uniforms, I asked an inmate to the

two freshly minted what he’d bought. military prison.
second lieutenants— I was anticipating After we walked
were invited to dine a fancy box of truf- side by side for a
with the base com- fles or assorted few feet, the prisoner,
mander and his wife chocolates. Instead, who had a few years
at their home. We he’d bought his per- on me, pointed to
agreed that before sonal favourite. my weapon and
dinner my friend “Reese’s Peanut said, “You know,
would stop by the Butter Cups!” he you should really
PX [the government said, beaming. “You walk behind me and
department store for owe me 88 cents.” have your rifle ready
US Army and Air —JR Pawlowski to fire in case I try
ralph hagen/cartoonstock.com

Force personnel] to escape.”

to pick up a nice A month into my stint —Howard Hein
box of candy for in the Army, I was
our hostess and that assigned to guard
we’d split the cost. prisoners. The fact Reader’s Digest will pay
The next day, as that I was very raw for your funny anecdote
or photo in any of our hu-
we walked to the was made abundantly mour sections. Post it to the
colonel’s home in clear to me the first editorial address, or email
our Army dress time I accompanied us at [email protected]
12 november 2021
Reader ’s Digest

BIG IDEA

LESSONS IN
GIVING
Teaching children how to give may just
result in a more compassionate world

by Naorem Anuja

T
here is little to deny that giving to India’s hinterlands prompting
is the currency of compassion a change in its name from The
and kindness, but it is in Joy of Giving Week to the more
the act of giving that we receive relatable DaanUtsav.
something far more valuable—a The Reading Revolution, part of
f u l l , h a p py h e a r t . D a a n Ut s av, the 2021 chapter of this festival of
started in 2009, celebrates just that. fellowship, is an effort to include
Unlike most philanthropic campaigns children as active participants in the
geared to achieving certain specific act of giving. Says 38-year-old Ashish
metric-driven goals, this annual Shrivastava, founder of Shiksharth,
week-long festival that runs from 2 to one of the host organizations of this
8 October—celebrates the joy of giving initiative, “The idea driving Reading
by creating a platform through which Revolution was to explore how can
millions in India from all walks of life children celebrate giving, primarily in
come together to donate whatever rural and tribal areas. People, mostly
they can—skills, resources, time—to see them as beneficiaries and never
help those less privileged. Such has as contributors. We believe we could
been its impact that it has travelled change that narrative.” Shiksharth

14 november 2021
 The Reading
Revolution
enables children
to experience
the joy of giving.

joins forces with Swatantra Talim— property or reduced to objects

a group that co-creates learning of charity, there persists a lack of
spaces for children with children— true engagement regarding what
photo: the last truth foundation

a n d Sw a Ta l e e m — a n N G O t h a t they deem vital. Adults, however

provides education to minority girls well-intentioned, cannot always
all over India. serve as authentic voices for how
Despite the unassailable fact children see the world. The Reading
that the healthy development of Revolution is designed to give
children is crucial to the future children not only access to reading
well-being of the world, children are resources, but to foster creativity by
rarely acknowledged as individuals. encouraging them to devise ways to
Primarily viewed as their guardian’s engage with their communities and

readersdigest.in 15
Reader ’s Digest

hopefully inspire a generation of “Children are the most vulner-

future leaders. able in any adverse situation. For
To that end, the participating our partner organizations, access
o r ga n i z at i o n s re c e i v e d l i b ra r y to these books and materials is ex-
kits containing 100 books and set tremely valuable. Once the festival is
about encouraging children to set over, these books would have seeded
up libraries, to further both a love of small libraries that local communi-
reading and learning and use their ties can continue to build and cher-
learnt skills and knowledge to give ish. And hopefully we would have
back. Over 63 grassroots NGO s and provided children here an experience
government schools spanning the unlike any other they have had—one
length of the country, encompassing that may spark a desire to give and a
30,000 children, joined in the lifelong practice of working to im-
initiative to set up prove their communi-
children-run community A RE-IMAGINING ties,” he says.
libraries. Empowered For Shrivastava, a vol-
to decide how they
OF THE WORLD unteer with DaanUstav
wanted to give back, CAN NEVER BE for 10 years, the deci-
t h e c h i l d re n c h o o s e COMPLETE sion to pick children to
to host stor y telling UNLESS CHILDREN spearhead a giving-back
s e s s i o n s w h e re t h e y initiative was simple.
read aloud to members
GROW UP AMIDST Any talk of re-imagining
of their communities, A CULTURE OF the world isn’t com-
put up skits, conduct COMPASSION. plete without enabling
art sessions and giving children. And there is
parents story books to little else that teaches
read for a day. compassion and strengthens inner
Shrivastava’s emphasis on chil- goodness, believes Srivastava, like
dren from rural and tribal geogra- the practice of giving.
phies in this initiative stems from “When you learn to give, you
his own work. His organization is turn more compassionate. Without
based in heavily militarized Sukma in e x p e r i e n c i n g c o m p a s s i o n o r
Chattisgarh—part of the ‘red cor- inculcating empathy how can a child
ridor’, a moniker given to regions in grow up into an adult who feels
the country that are severely hit by responsible towards others? For
Naxalite–Maoist insurgency. Their me, this initiative isn’t simply philan-
mission is to provide education solu- thropy—it is a value-system, one in
tions to children whose everyday lives which we would have propelled chil-
are marred by conflict. dren into a habit of compassion.”

16 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

If you like getting

MODERN ROMANCE angry at the way
someone turns a
doorknob, marriage
may be right for you.
— @BOOMBOOMBETTY

Labourers of Love
I’ve come across so
many of the same
people on dating
apps over the years
that I’ve started to see
them as co-workers.
— ANNE SUNDELL, writer

It’s crazy to think that

my boyfriend existed
and had a life before
we met. How did he
live without me for
all those years?
“Honey, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer to keep the details — @ISABELASERAFFIM
of our marriage more analog than digital.”
Financial Savvy
I once gave my husband because she wanted I moved in with my girl-
the silent treatment to use that time to friend after one year of
for an entire week, at look at her phone. dating. People say we’re
the end of which he — @THECATWHISPRER rushing in, but we’re
declared, “Hey, we’re both so in love with
getting along pretty Her: Are you going to saving $900 per month.
great lately.” walk around all day — @MONDAYPUNDAY
susan camilleri konar

— BONNIE MacFARLANE, without a shirt on?

comedian Me: Just giving you
Reader’s Digest will pay
a show. for your funny anecdote
My wife just got mad at Her: Can I change or photo in any of our
humour sections. Post it
me for fast-forwarding the channel? to the editorial address, or
through a commercial — @XPLODINGUNICORN email: [email protected]
readersdigest.in 17
 (Left) Hyderabad’s ‘Bicycle Mayor’ Sanathan Selvan. (Right) At a rally with the
Happy Hyderabad cycling club.

for livelihood purposes,” explains

GOODforNEWS Selvan. “Affordability is a key problem

for many in the city. We connected with

(left) twitter @sselvan; facebook (happy hyderabad cycling club); (right) youtube
a paper boys, and realized that they have
Better Planet
to spend a lot on repairs. An initiative
like Project Diya helps them im-
mensely,” adds Selvan.
Wheeling into the Future
The Power of Play
urban living In a bid to steer cities to- community Two decades ago, pickup
wards more sustainable goals through autorickshaw driver Dinesh Kumar T
the use of bicycles for inner-city trans- began to notice the youth in his village
port, BYCS, an Amsterdam-based social of Payambra, Kerala, falling deeper into
enterprise has created a ‘Bicycle Mayor’ the downward spiral of alcohol addic-
programme wherein local cycling en- tion. To help combat a grim fate, he
thusiasts across the world drive their found a way to help drive change in
message at the local level. Hyderabad’s community adolescents and guide
‘mayor’, Sanathana Selvan has now ini- them to a better a path through sports.
tiated Project Diya, in which volunteers In 2001, he converted part of his own
collect and refurbish of old, discarded land into a volleyball training centre
bicycles for new users. “The whole idea and started the Volley Friends Sports
looks at reworking these damaged cy- Centre. Since then, the centre has
cles and giving them to those in need launched four national level and six
like paper boys, vendors, etc. who use it state level players as well as took their

18 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

girls’ team to the state inter-school

championship in 2019. “The change HEROES:
volleyball has brought to our village is
beyond my expectations. We have three
An Amazing Rescue
volleyball courts, including an indoor Hiking along Golden Ears Provin-
Sources: Urban Living: The Quint, 25.10.21; Community: The New Indian Express, 31.10.21; Education: The New Indian Express, 24.10.21; Heroes: India Today, 20.10.21

one, besides a gym and an office,” says cial Park in British Columbia, Can-
now 49-year-old Dinesh. ada, Kuljinder Kinda and his four
friends were alarmed to discover
Taking the High Road that two men had slipped off a
education Like millions of migrants, rockface and fallen into a pool be-
Vishnu Teli left his home in Kudal Man- low a large waterfall. Calling the
gaon in the Konkan region to work in emergency services for help was to
the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corpora- no avail with no network coverage
tion in Mumbai, 100 km away, to make in the area. The friends, however,
a life for himself and his family. But his came up with a plan—make a rope
own experience of watching his father
lose his job due to a labour strike at a
textile mill had left an indelible mark
on him. If only educational prospects
were better in his hometown, the peo-
ple of his community could strive for
more stable livelihoods.
Determined to help others realize a
better future, Teli and his three daugh-
ters spend weekends and holidays,
teaching the children of blue-collar la-
bourers in the Konkan region. With
jobs in finance, insurance, banking and
IT proliferating with the times, the fam-
ily conducts classes in English, Math
out of their turbans—and pulled
and in competitive service exams.
off an amazing rescue. “We were
“After long hours of working in their trying to think how we could get
fields, children found little time for them out, but we didn’t know
free classes. But we convinced their how to,” said Kinda, an electrician
parents about the importance of edu- from Punjab. “We walked for about
cation, which led to better enrolment 10 minutes to find help and then
Its the only way to change the lives of came up with the idea to tie our
the rural poor,” says Vaishnavi, Teli’s turbans together.”
elder daughter.

readersdigest.in 19
 SMILE

INTER-PURR-SONAL
COM-MEOW-NICATION
HUMAN,
By Your Cats* We, your most excellent and unbiased cats, have been
experiencing ongoing relational issues with you, which we’d
ILLUSTRATION BY
like to resolve promptly. We have compiled legitimate
Irma Kniivila
scientific litter-ature below. We trust it will help to guide
you in improving your behaviour.

WHEN A MEOW BECOMES A ME ME MEOW Your cats

meow not to call attention to themselves but to your self-
ish ‘me, me, me’ attitude. When you ‘have’ to spend a solid
three hours staring at your laptop screen because you’re
‘working’, that’s time your cat isn’t getting pet or fed—
* ACT UA L AU T HO R :
C ASSI E B A R RA DAS which is rude, and many studies have proven so.

20 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

HAVE YOU HURT THEIR FELINES? REMEMBER TO HAVE ALL DISCUS-

It’s not your cats’ responsibility to SIONS IN A NEUTER-AL PLACE So
withdraw their claws—rather, every often your cats meet you where you’re at:
human in the home should instead on the bed, on the toilet or on a crucial
wear thick, protective pants. When you phone call. But when do you ever meet
ask your felines not to use your legs as them where they’re at: on a cat tree, on
scratching posts, you ask them to deny a countertop or on a windowsill? The
themselves one of life’s greatest joys. answer, according to a recent survey, is
This is basic statistics. never. Come on, human!

SOMETIMES JOKES ARE MORE ARE YOU PRACTISING FUR-

THAN JUST KITTEN AROUND GIVENESS? If something breaks—let’s
Should your cats step on your com- say, hypothetically speaking, a bowl you
puter keyboard during an important once described as ‘the only worthwhile
video meeting, that is a hilarious joke thing I ever made in pottery class’—that
and it is your responsibility to find it bowl is certainly of less value compared
funny. If they knock your laptop off the to the unbroken trust between you and
table while doing so, it is not ‘destruc- your cats. An unbiased study on this
tive behaviour’, it is simply commit- exact topic states, “The bowl was boring
ment to the bit. Fact. and immobile. Then for three seconds it
was unspeakably interesting. Now it is
DON’T ASSUME IT’S HISS-TERIA in pieces. Get over it.”
It is extremely important that your cats
express themselves loudly and at FINALLY, WHENEVER POSSIBLE,
4 a.m. When you shut them out of your REMEMBER TO COMPRO-MICE
room, you shut them out emotionally. Your cats bring you joy, comfort and the
Evidence suggests that a cat’s occasional prey. In return, it is recom-
sleep is directly proportional to a mended you bring them treats,
human’s lack of it. scritches and unyielding loyalty.
Remember, 10 out of 10 therapists agree
ADDRESSING CALICO-DEPENDENT that you are wrong and your cat is right.
TENDENCIES Do not rely on your
cats to fulfill superfluous needs such as P.S. Okay you figured it out, human. We,
affection, or for your glassware to your most cherished and feared cats,
remain intact. But please note that if a made up all those expert studies. We are
cat is sleeping on or near you, it is best not proud of our deception. Oh wait, we
practice not to disturb them ever misspoke. We are very proud of it. To be
(source: Health Canada). honest, it was pretty cat-thartic.

readersdigest.in 21
 POINTS TO PONDER
The way that news organizations have lost our gatekeeping powers to
technology platforms, which have made facts available, has rippled
through our society. … this is a recognition of the importance of facts
in any shared reality. With journalists holding that line. This
recognizes not only how difficult it has been to continue doing
what we used to do—the job of holding power to account.
Maria Ressa, journalist, Nobel Peace Prize winner, 2021

We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is.

from left: alamy (2); bandeep singh

Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is
telling the truth. Hope is taking action
Greta Thunberg, environmental activist

A culture ever more sensitive to slights—and ever more disposed to

fling violent insults in every direction—seems perfectly suited to
shooting itself in the foot it places so confidently in its mouth!
Pico Iyer, writer

Maria Ressa Greta Thunberg Pico Iyer

22 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

Dissents speak to a future age. It’s not simply to say, ‘My colleagues are
wrong and I would do it this way’ ... that’s the dissenter’s hope:
That they are writing not for today but for tomorrow.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and jurist

... I cannot tell if what the world considers ‘happiness’ is

happiness or not. All I know is that when I consider the way
they go about attaining it, I see them carried away headlong,
grim and obsessed, in the general onrush of the human herd,
unable to stop themselves or to change their direction.
Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk and writer

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone
from left: alamy

won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning.
You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here
on earth. You are here to risk your heart.
Louise Erdrich, author

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Thomas Merton Louise Erdrich

readersdigest.in 23
 It Happens

ONLY IN INDIA

“What’s an Insta-worthy honeymoon if there’s no network?”

Gift of the Gob wishes we would pick Trilochan Gaur, cur-

We’re just spitting facts: up the pace, given the rently posted as sub
However we choose to monies it has to spend divisional magistrate
dissect the Indian public annually cleaning up in Dewas, Madhya
behaviour, spitting, un- spit stains and paan Pra-desh, they had high
fortunately, seems hard- marks on its premises. hopes for a hefty heist.
wired into it. Swacch Recent estimates place But after finding only
Bharat Abhiyans not- the costs at `1,200 crore! `30,000 in cash and
withstanding, behav- Chew on that! some jewellery, the
ioural shifts are elusive Sources: indiatimes.com disappointed thieves
still. They say everyone felt robbed. Unhappy
is allowed to change at Hollow Heist at the paltry haul, they
their own pace but the When burglars broke made sure the resident
Indian Railways surely into the home of one knew he should have
illustration by Raju Epuri
24 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

made it worth their Past Life-Present Woes certain instinct for en-
while with a crisp note Running afoul of rhyme terprise. For two rival
of their own. Said the or reason, Rajkumar educators aspiring to
message left behind: Yadav, a deputy engi- the same school princi-
“If there wasn’t any neer for MGNREGA pal’s post in Bihar’s East
money in the house, projects in Madhya Champaran district,
you shouldn’t have kept Pradesh asked that he matters came to blows
it locked, collector.” be excused from work while displaying this go-
Such injustice, indeed. as he had chanced getter spirit. Furthering
Source: ndtv.com upon divine revelations their individual bids to
of his past life. Follow- the job, Shivshankar
Family Fraud ing his “spiritual awak- Giri and Rinki Kumari
Mr Tejpal Singh, a ening”, he wrote to the went to the district edu-
resident of Bijnor, panchayat CEO. His cation department to
Uttar Pradesh, received request: Getting Sun- submit documents of
a text message from his days off as he wants to their qualifications,
son, Sushant’s phone spend the day reading when the duo began
one day. Sushant, it said, the Gita and go door- arguing. When the ver-
took a loan of `1,50,000 to-door seeking alms, bal blows felt lacking,
and had returned only in order to ‘erase ego’. matters were quickly
`75,000. If the remaining As far as leave appli- elevated to the physical
amount wasn’t repaid cations go, the spirit plane. Grappling and
soon, junior would be in of this particular one is general fisticuffs broke
a lot of trouble. Fraught definitely novel, but it out between Shivsankar
with panic and despair, wasn’t enough. Pat came and Kumari’s husband,
Singh rushed to the po- the CEO’s reply: it is out who even tackled Giri
lice station to report him of ego that people want in the wrestling classic,
missing. The twist: Delhi to spend Sundays as per ‘guillotine choke’. May
police found Sushant, their own wish and this we suggest some lessons
safe and unharmed. ego needs to be de- on conflict resolution?
But, upon interrogation stroyed at its root. So, Source: ndtv.com

Sushant revealed that Mr Yadav must work —COMPILED BY NAOREM ANUJA

he had staged his own Sundays, for the sake
abduction as he needed of his soul no less.
funds to pay back his Source: indiatoday.in Reader’s Digest will pay
loans. Children—the for contributions to this
column. Post your sugges-
pride and joy of their Those who can, do
tions with the source to the
hapless parents. We suppose a general editorial address, or email:
Source: theweek.in requirement for life is a [email protected]

readersdigest.in 25
 BETTER LIVING

Remind
Your How to navigate friends,
family and social outings
in a vaccinated world

Manners had to bite my tongue to avoid blurting

“I don’t want to speak with you.”
By Karen Stiller
Luckily, I didn’t say it out loud, and
Illustration by Vesna Asanovic the rude thought stayed in my head
where it belonged. The encounter
At a recent socially distanced gather- made me realize that spending so
ing, I found myself in an unwanted much time wandering listlessly around
conversation with a person I barely my own tiny household bubble had
knew. With my actual friends standing eroded my social skills. I wondered
on the same lawn, the idle chit-chat felt if my manners were also becoming
like a waste of my visiting time and a relic of the past, just like eating
energy. I grew increasingly hot and indoors at restaurants and nights
twitchy. Soon, to my deep surprise, I out at the movies.

32 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

readersdigest.in 33
 Reader ’s Digest

Many of us may be feeling similarly long conversation in a room full of

rusty as we prepare to open our homes people. “We need to relearn those
and our hearts again to family, friends in-person social skills,” says Ismail.
and neighbours. It’s an exciting time, “It’s a lot for the brain to coordinate,
but also a good moment to reflect on knowing who to listen to, monitoring
what we’ve longed for most and what our movements, our own speech pro-
we haven’t missed that much at all duction. It will take some time.”
during the pandemic. Those insights
can help shape our social re-entry BE PATIENT WITH OTHERS
plan. Here are some tips for getting Going to public events, however much
back into social shape. we might want to, may also be more tir-
ing than we expect. Ismail says that
BE PATIENT WITH new fatigue is normal. “Our brain is
YOURSELF working overtime,” she explains. “With
Just as our jurisdictions have distinct time, we will relearn how to coordinate
phases of gradual reopening, we can everything and get over the exhaus-
take things one step at a time as we tion. We will have to take it slowly.”
re-enter a busier, more normal life. Some friends will take longer than
We don’t have to leap from sitting at others to experience the relief and joy
the window watching the cat across the of society opening up again. And, as we
street, straight into packed parties and do gather together again, we will need
noisy barbecues. We might be sur- to be sensitive to the ways in which the
prised to discover we have some new pandemic has affected us all differ-
mental and emotional limitations after ently, whether it’s a job loss, relocation,
having lived at a slower, quieter pace. long separations, anxiety, depression or
Nafissa Ismail is an associate profes- the deaths of loved ones. “We hear peo-
sor of psychology at the University of ple say we’re returning to normal, but
Ottawa. She confirms that we, and our those who lost loved ones will never
brains, need to get back into shape, return to normal,” reminds Ismail.
socially speaking. “Socializing is a skill “We need to be aware of that, too, as
and we get better at it as we practise we are socializing.”
it,” says Ismail. “With the isolation and
the restrictive measures we didn’t START SMALL AND
get much time to practise.” BE SELECTIVE
Those of us who spent the pandemic It’s possible that the pandemic has been
in smaller households, working from a powerfully clarifying event in our lives.
home, may require more practice than We know who we missed seeing, and we
others before we can easily maintain a might also have a short list of people we

34 november 2021
 Better Living

didn’t pine for quite so much. This is have people over again, she advises.
important information to have and it “Put a nice piece of salmon on the
can help us create some new priorities. grill,” she says, by way of an example.
“When everything was mediated by “There’s no need to make salmon
phone or video chats, who did I hear Wellington.” Ordering takeout for you
from? Who did I want to hear from?” and your company from your favourite
asks Sharon Ramsay, a registered mar- restaurant is also officially okay.
riage and family therapist in Toronto.
“Who regularly nourishes us, and could TAKE TIME NOW TO
we maybe pour into those relationships REFLECT AND RECORD
a little bit more?” Relaunch your social During the pandemic, Nafissa Ismail
life with those friends first, says Ramsay. finally took the piano lessons she never
had time for. Sharon Ramsay purchased
EMBRACE NEW FORMS beautiful stationery and regularly
OF VISITING AND mailed letters to friends and relatives. I
ENTERTAINING tried yoga, and found I loved it.
When we do meet again with our social Eventually, life will start to pick up its
circles, whatever their new shape, we pace, and if we’re not careful, we might
may also discover we’re no longer as find ourselves running around in cir-
interested in our old go-to activities. cles once again. “One of the gifts of the
The pandemic has taught us that we can pandemic has been to reconsider how
enjoy a visit with a friend by taking a we live,” says Ramsay. “Some folks
walk together or by sitting on opposite might have taken to walking and
ends of a park bench, eating sand- cycling. Is that a habit you want to con-
wiches we brought from home. Simple tinue? What have been the splashes of
can be good, and that can remain true joy in the cesspool of the pandemic?”
as we move forward. Ismail suggests sitting down with a
Lucy Waverman, cookbook author piece of paper and making an actual list
and a food columnist for The Globe of the practices that brought some hap-
and Mail, believes that smaller scale piness during what might have been
hospitality will continue for some time, one of the most difficult experiences of
and she says that’s just fine. “It has to our lives. Don’t forget the good things
do with exhaustion in general and spe- we’ve learned, she advises. It’s okay to
cifically exhaustion with cooking,” says rest and to keep doing the hobbies we
Waverman, nodding to one of people’s discovered during lockdown. “We don’t
favourite lockdown activities. “I like need to constantly please others,” she
cooking but I’m fed up with it myself.” says. “It was a good life lesson to realize
Keep it simple, at least as you start to it’s okay to slow down.”

readersdigest.in 35
 HEALTH

COVID-19
and the
Road Ahead
The long-awaited victory may
be closer at hand than ever

By Dr Chandrakant Lahariya

36 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

I
ndia’s experience of a ferocious India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive has
second wave of COVID-19 accelerated and by now, nearly 80 per
through April and May 2021 cent of the eligible adult population
won’t soon be forgotten. But has received at least one shot of the
since then, the number of cases has COVID-19 vaccines.
steadily declined. By mid-October, the
daily count of new cases came down Should We Expect a Third Wave?
to around 15,000—the lowest since With high sero-prevalence and in-
the start of the second wave in the creasing vaccination coverage,
country. This is a relief for everyone. epidemiologically speaking, the prob-
While the pandemic is far from ability of a third nationwide wave of
over—in India or the world—there COVID-19 in India is low. However,
seems to be a glimmer of light at the state- and district-specific smaller
end of the tunnel. waves are possible till the pandemic
Public-health experts and epide- is declared as over. Without confirmed
miologists have reached a consensus knowledge on how long immunity after
that as long as the SARS-CoV-2 virus is natural infection or vaccination lasts, it
circulating in any part of the world, is important we continue all possible
there remains a possibility of the emer- COVID-appropriate precautions.
gence of new variants, which can fuel a The long festive and holiday sea-
fresh wave. The practice of handwash- son has started in India. Globally,
ing, face masks and physical distancing in the last 21 months, we have wit-
in public places along with full vacci- nessed that soon after festivals, sport-
nation are the proven ways to prevent ing events or any instances involving
infection and reduce transmission. large gatherings of people, a rise of
A devastating second wave in India fresh COVID -19 cases occurs. With
also meant that a large proportion of approximately one-fifth of India’s
the population was infected and devel- adult population still susceptible and
oped natural immunity, as was noted unvaccinated, this could easily fuel a
in the fourth nationwide sero-preva- new wave. While most vaccines are
lence survey conducted by the Indian safe and effective, vaccination does
Council of Medical Research in June– not result in absolute immunity: a
July this year. The survey estimated that few vaccinated people are still at risk
nearly 68 of every 100 Indians above of disease. Even antibody forma-
the age of six years had developed an- tion is not a guarantee of protection.
shutterstock

tibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Children However, what is certain is that a vac-

between six and seven years had anti- cinated individual is at far less risk of
bodies at a nearly similar rate as adults contracting a moderate or severe form
and thus were protected. Since then, of the diseases than the unvaccinated.

readersdigest.in 37
Reader ’s Digest

Full Vaccination for Adults In fact, the sero-survey has shown

The single dose of the COVID -19 that school-age children in India have
vaccines is known to provide some already developed infection without
protection, however, every eligible developing clinical diseases. The
adult needs to get both shots. More COVID -19 vaccine may be initially
importantly, the vaccines used in recommended for high-risk children
India are not proven to reduce the risk but healthy children may not need one,
of contagion or disease transmission. until different types of vaccines or more
The COVID-19 vaccines are disease- data on the safety of currently licensed
modifying, meaning they reduce the ones becomes available.
risk of moderate to severe disease Scientific evidence demonstrates
and death. So, with the vaccination that children need not be vaccinated
rate going up, even if cases rise, the to attend school. In nearly all countries
proportion of cases with moderate to children have been attending classes
severe illness—those who would need without being vaccinated, As schools
hospitalization—is likely to be small. are re-opening for in-person sessions,
it is the right thing to send kids to
WITH INCREASED PUBLIC school—with strict adherence to age
HEALTH MEASURES, appropriate COVID-19 precautions and
CASES WILL DECLINE BUT safety measures—even without waiting
for the start of child vaccinations.
WE CANNOT EXPECT OUR
Many times, people and parents in
CASE-LOAD TO REACH India get apprehensive after reading
ZERO ANYTIME SOON. global news coverage but it is time we
develop a better understanding and
Children can Attend Schools perspective on these reports. In case
One of the major population sub- of diseases, local context matters. The
groups indirectly affected by this epidemic pattern of the US or the UK
pandemic has been children. Soon is not necessarily applicable for India.
after the start of the pandemic, The epidemiological situation in India
schools in India were closed and is very different owing to various factors
learning and education of children such as age group, co-morbidities,
was severely compromised. adherence to COVID appropriate
Over the last few months, there is behaviour and prevalence of protective
better understanding of the virus and immunity against the Delta variant.
disease in the children. Scientific and
epidemiological evidence shows that Has COVID-19 become Endemic?
children are protected from moderate Virologists and infectious disease
to severe disease. This is good news. experts agree that SARS -CoV-2 will

38 november 2021
 Health

stay with humanity for the forseeable with post-COVID or long-COVID con-
future. With increased vaccination ditions, should not ignore their symp-
and other public health measures, toms and seek timely medical advice.
COVID-19 cases will decline but we The pandemic has taught us a few les-
cannot expect case-loads to reach zero sons. First, consistent good health prac-
anytime soon. A number of countries tices is the best protection from any
such as Singapore, New Zealand and disease, COVID-19 included. We should
Australia that once planned and imple- all pledge to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
mented ‘zero-COVID’ strategies have Second, responding to public-health
since abandoned them. crises require citizen and community
Experts now agree that a realistic participation for effective implemen-
strategy is to achieve a low number of tation of countermeasures. We need
COVID-19 cases through high vaccina- to keep doing our bit to ensure India’s
tion coverage and adherence to public victory against the pandemic. Third,
health measures. Once the number of
vulnerable individuals falls, transmis- WHILE THE WORST OF
sion and the number of daily cases will SEEMS TO BE OVER, WE
decline. At that point, the disease can MUST STILL REMAIN
be considered endemic. The decision VIGILANT AND RESPOND
on when the pandemic should be con-
sidered over will be taken by the expert QUICKLY TO FUTURE
committee formed by the World Health SPIKES IN CASES.
Organization. COVID-19 has not turned
endemic in India, yet. vaccines are proven public health tools
and citizens can contribute by tackling
Preparing for the Days Ahead vaccine hesitancy and convincing every
While the worst of COVID-19 in India eligible person to get vaccinated.
seems to be over, we must remain vigi- The day when the pandemic will be
lant and respond quickly to any future declared as over, is not very far. The
spike in cases. Adherence to COVID- only way forward, is together.
appropriate behaviour and adults get-
ting fully vaccinated remain key. Until Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a medical
both doses are received, unvaccinated doctor and epidemiologist, is the
or partially vaccinated people should Executive Director of Foundation for
avoid large gatherings. Taking care of People-centric Health Systems, New
mental and social health, eating and Delhi. His forthcoming book Pause is
sleeping well as well as keeping fitness an Opportunity: The Transformative
levels high will help support us during Potential of Schools Re-opening in
the critical months ahead. Individuals India is scheduled to release in 2022.

readersdigest.in 39
 13 THINGS

2
Contrary to
24-Karat Nuggets popular belief,
biting on gold is
About Gold not a reliable way to
tell whether it’s genu-
scyther 5 /getty images (gold nugget)

ine—other metals are

By Emily Goodman also soft enough to
show teeth marks. And

1
Pure gold is so ductile (translation: stretchy), though many champs
a mere 28 grams of it can be drawn out into chomp down on their
a thread 80 km long without breaking (at prizes, Olympic gold
which point it also would be too thin to see). If medals haven’t been
you did this to all of the existing gold in the world, made from that metal
it would wrap around the earth 11 million times. since the 1912 Summer

40 november 2021 Illustration by Serge Bloch

 Reader ’s Digest

5
Games in Stockholm. Gold has been only one president
Modern gold medals used in medicine has ever been inside
are mostly silver; those for millennia. The the vaults: Franklin
from the 2016 Games ancient Romans made Delano Roosevelt, the
in Rio contained only dental bridges out of it, same president who
1.2 per cent gold. a practice they learnt effectively took us off
from the Etruscans. For the gold standard in

3
the Nobel Prize much of the 20th cen- 1933. (The United
medal is still made tury, doctors reduced States didn’t fully
of gold, though their rheumatoid arthri- abandon it until 1971.)
it was downgraded tis patients’ pain and

8
in 1980, when it went swelling with intramus- Most of the
from 23 karats (24 is cular injections of gold world’s gold is
pure) to an 18-karat compounds that have now mined in
core coated in 23-karat anti-inflammatory China. The country
gold. The gold in each properties. Today, some overtook South Africa
medal is worth about oncologists use gold for total historical gold
$8,000 (`6,00,700). compounds to shrink production in 2017. But
cancerous tumours. the world’s largest gold

4
A naturally crystal—an extremely

6
yellow element, The term ‘bullion’, rare geometric forma-
gold changes which refers to tion that can appear
colour when mixed gold bars or coins on gold specimens—
with other metals, ready to be traded, weighed 7.7 ounces
which also gives it comes from the Latin and was found decades
added strength. White word for ‘boil’. That’s ago in Venezuela.
gold contains nickel or how to remove gold’s

9
palladium. Rose gold impurities—at a mere Among the more
gets its hue from cop- 2,856 degrees C. surprising—and
per. There’s even green unpleasant—

7
gold, which has silver The U.S. Treasury sources of gold: treated
and sometimes zinc currently holds sewage. In 2015, after
or cadmium. To deter- 147.3 million analyzing sewer sludge
mine how much gold is ounces of gold bullion. from local treatment
in any piece, divide the About half of it is stored plants, researchers at
karat content by 24 and at Fort Knox, a stash Arizona State University
multiply by 100. The that’s worth more than concluded that the sew-
resulting percentage is $130 billion. Security age produced each year
the amount that is gold. at Fort Knox is so tight, in a city of a million

readersdigest.in 41
 people includes, on Space suits and space- a disappointing find,
average, $2.6 million craft are coated in gold it is often discovered
[`1,94,59,817] worth to reflect harmful infra- near sources of real
of gold and silver. red radiation from the gold, so a miner who
sun. Any instrument stops digging once he

10
We have NASA wants to keep finds a piece of pyrite
already ex- cool gets a gold coating may be the real fool.
tracted about as well (since radiation

13
80 per cent of the is also a great source of Don’t go look-
world’s 2,44,000 mine- heat). This includes the ing for a pot
able tons of gold. Ocean James Webb telescope, of the precious
waters and seabeds the world’s most power- metal at the end of a
contain about 20 mil- ful space telescope, set rainbow. One version
lion more tons, but this to be launched later of this legend is more
treasure remains largely this year. of a cautionary tale:
untouched because of When a poor Irish

12
the prohibitive costs to Pyrite, the husband and wife
tap it. But the biggest mineral better pull the last carrot out
trove is in outer space. known as fool’s of their garden, they
One asteroid alone gold, has fooled many, catch a leprechaun
(called 16 Psyche) has a including the famed dangling from it. The
few hundred quintillion English seaman and leprechaun agrees to
dollars’ worth. founder of the James- grant all their wishes
town colony, Christo- if they find his pot of

11
But so far, we’ve pher Newport, who gold at the end of the
only brought sailed a shipload of it rainbow, leaving them
gold to space, to London in the 1600s. to forever chase a
not taken any from it. Although pyrite can be fictitious fortune.

From the Island of Unfit Toys

In 1951, the A. C. Gilbert toy company stopped selling its U-238 Atomic Energy
Lab to aspiring nuclear scientists. Why? The kits cost about $500 (`37,544) in
today’s money—and they used actual radioactive uranium ores. (Though to be
fair, they contained about as much radiation as a child would get from a day
in the sun.) More dangerous was Professor Wacko’s Exothermic Exuberance
chemistry kit. The chemicals in this one started a few house fires. In 1994, the
Consumer Product Safety Commission got them pulled from the shelves.

42 november 2021
 Is Work Shortening
news from the Your Life?

WORLD OF When the COVID-19

MEDICINE pandemic sent office

workers home to get
their jobs done, many
say they previously
didn’t have that option.
Now, 71 per cent of
employees who say
they can do their jobs
from home are actually
teleworking—but there
is a downside. Working
from home can lead to
overworking, as it blurs
the line between profes-
STROKE RECOVERY: NERVE sional life and home life.
STIMULATION CAN HELP The World Health Orga-
nization cautions that
Stroke survivors have a 50 to 60 per cent regularly working more
chance of losing arm function. In addition than 55 hours per week
to physical therapy, some patients with this is associated with a 35
per cent higher risk of
symptom are benefiting from a treatment stroke and a 17 per cent
called vagus nerve stimulation. The proce- higher risk of dying from
dure requires implanting a small box-type heart disease. This is
device under the skin on the chest. When compared to maintain-
ing boundaries around
activated using a wireless transmitter, work and clocking 35
the device stimulates the left vagus nerve, to 40 weekly hours. So
which runs from the abdomen to the brain establish start and stop
stem. Scientists think this type of artificial times for work-from-
shutterstock

home days, and share

stimulation helps to strengthen certain
them with colleagues
neural circuits, making it easier for the to help keep your
brain to relearn lost movements. hours in check.

44 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

Keep Smartphones Eating Out

Away from Frequently Is
Cardiac Implants a Health Hazard
A NEW WAY
Some smartphones,
including the iPhone 12,
TO SLOW In a new study led by
the University of Iowa,
contain strong magnets. PROSTATE people who ate restau-
Unfortunately, these
magnets can tempora-
CANCER rant food twice a day
had a 49 per cent higher
rily suspend the normal Healthy eating habits risk of mortality at any
operations of many may slow the progres- point in time, compared
pacemakers and cardiac sion of prostate cancer, to people who dined
defibrillators. While preliminary evidence out less than once a
these lifesaving implants suggests. This news week. Previous studies
continue working nor- is especially good for might help to explain
mally once they’re back patients who choose why: One of them, a
outside of the magnetic to monitor their disease 2015 analysis published
field, in the meantime rather than opt for in the European Journal
they won’t necessarily immediate tumor- of Clinical Nutrition,
send the electrical pulses removal surgery, an reports that even though
or shocks needed if a invasive procedure some establishments
heart starts to beat too that can cause sexual provide healthy food,
quickly, slowly, or irregu- dysfunction and loss restaurant fare is usually
from top: dave hill/gettyimages. djelics/gettyimages

larly. The US Food and of bladder control. In a less balanced than

Drug Administration Texan study of patients home-cooked meals.
advises people to keep with tumours that It tends to contain
electronics with strong weren’t yet large or more calories, satura-
magnets at least 6 inches aggressive enough to ted fat, cholesterol
away from medical im- make surgery a strict and sodium—even
plants and suggests necessity, those whose when it’s not fast food.
carrying them in a meals resembled the And while it’s hard to
hip pocket instead Mediterranean diet know exactly what
of a breast pocket. (high in fruit, vegeta- cooks are putting into
bles, legumes, grains, your food at a restau-
and fish, and low in red rant, at home you’re
and processed meat) aware of your meals’
had a lower risk of ingredients and
cancer progression. their proportions.

readersdigest.in 45
 All
in a Day’s

WORK

“You don’t get an office. You get cargo pants.”

The driver I stopped at a restaurant. After asked how I learnt

for speeding insisted his first shift, he came about the job, I wrote,
he had a valid excuse. home upset, saying ‘My mother taught me.’ ”
leo cullum/cartoonstock.com

“Sorry, officer,” he said. his co-workers had —Veronica Barnard

“I just had the car laughed at him.
washed and was “Why would they More First-Job Woes
drying it out.” do that?” I asked. Ê Had a job walking
—CharlesDunning “Because our boss five Chihuahuas. When
posted my application they got tired, I had
My 14-year-old’s first on the bulletin board in to carry them home.
job was as a dishwasher the kitchen. Where it Two in my arms, two

46 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

A guy in my office is shaking his protein Me (texting boss): We

still on for work today?
shake, and this woman poked her head
Boss: Yes. You don’t
around the corner and said, “Do I hear have to text me this
margaritasssss?”... No Janet, it’s 10 a.m. every morning. We’re
— @TJKilbride ‘on’ for work every
day, Mon. to Fri.
on my shoulders, and Ê I earned $30 — @dlicj
one on my head. (`2,200) working
— @whoopiepie10 construction for a
temp agency. When
Reader’s Digest will pay
Ê A woman yelled at I finished, there was for your funny anecdote
me for watching her a $35 (`2,600) park- or photo in any of our
swim. I was a lifeguard. ing ticket on my car. humour sections. Post it
to the editorial address, or
— @ReaganPitrowski — @DonnyJ44 email: [email protected]

WOULD YOU HIRE THEM?

A job interview is your chance to
make a good first impression on
hiring managers. Don’t screw it
up the way these people did.

Ê My colleague and I interviewed Ê Pointing to the employment appli-

a very nervous guy. When he got up cation question “Have you ever been
to leave, he opened the wrong door convicted of a felony?” a job-seeker
and walked into the closet. We waited asked, “You only want the felonies?”
for him to emerge, and when he didn’t, This was for a banking position.
my co-worker went to investigate. The source: MONSTER.COM
poor man was so mortified, he was
trying to climb out a window rather Ê I went to greet an interviewee
than go back in. in the lobby. I should point out that
sturti/getty images

source: THE GUARDIAN I am five foot one and she is much

taller. Anyway, the moment she saw
Ê The candidate stated that his me, she stood up, stuck out her hand,
career goal was not to work. and said, “Well, hi there, Shorty!”
source: INC.COM source: INC.COM

readersdigest.in 47
48 november 2021
 COVER STORY

2
G
BRA I N
M
E
T HAT
S REALLY WO R K
Researchers know more than ever about
how puzzles and twisters keep your mind sharp
(Hint: Start with games that are tough!)
By Sari Harrar

Illustrations by Harry Campbell readersdigest.in 49

Reader ’s Digest

T onya Brigham could never

resist a good sudoku—or any sudoku.
unexpected: Her brain seemed sharper
and more focused. “I didn’t have
A 50-year-old smoothie-store owner much, if any, brain fog during meno-
and mother of two, from a suburb of pause,” she says. At her Smoothie King
Washington, DC, Brigham wrestled shop in Bowie, Maryland, she found
with the puzzles while waiting in lines, she could easily put together em-
and raced to solve them in record time ployee work schedules in her head. “A
using strategies plucked from YouTube lot of stores use an electronic schedu-
videos. “If it’s a 30-minute puzzle, ling tool, but I have all the data in my
I try to figure it out in 12,” she says. mind,” she says. “I can very quickly see
“Sudoku lets me challenge myself, take the holes and how to fill them. It’s the
a breather, and then go back into the same with inventory. I think I have that
world’s chaos.” capacity because of the game.”
After several years of sudoku- We call them games, but for many
mania, Brigham noticed something people, brainteasers and challenging

50 november 2021
 Cover Story

puzzles are serious business.

Tom Brady credits his seven
Super Bowl championships
in part to high-tech brain-
training games he performs
on an app called BrainHQ.
Queen Elizabeth keeps a 2
crossword puzzle stashed in
her royal handbag. Half the
midlife and older adults in a
2019 University of Michigan
survey said they play men- 2
tally challenging games to
maintain or boost memory.
The games do seem to
work. In one 2020 study,
researchers at the Univer- 1
sity of Edinburgh found that
1,091 women and men who frequently CHALLENGE: Latin Square
played cards, bingo, or chess or did
WHY IT MAY WORK: Latin square
crossword puzzles had sharper think-
puzzles involve shading in blocks in
ing and memory skills— equivalent
a grid according to a set of specific
to an IQ up to 5.6 points higher—
rules. In a University of Sydney
than those who rarely did. The study
study, doing difficult Latin square
doesn’t prove that the puzzles directly
puzzles activated brain regions
led to the higher IQs, but it does show
that hadn’t been activated in partic-
that even people who increased their
ipants when they were working on
game-playing in their 70s seemed to
easier versions of the puzzle.
get brain benefits within a few years.
“In our older sample, it appears that PLAY IT: Shade in exactly seven
the cognitive exercise provided by of the empty squares in this grid
playing everyday games staved off a so that: (1) there is only one shaded
bit of the natural process of cognitive square in each row and in each
aging,” says lead study author Drew M. column, (2) no shaded squares
Altschul, PhD, a research psychologist touch each other, even diagonally,
at the university. and (3) the number of shaded
Exactly how games sharpen mem- squares bordering on the squares
ory and cognitive function is still containing figures is equal to the
something of a mystery. But advances figure in each particular square.

readersdigest.in 51
 2
line of boxes. The red
numbers indicate the
3 total number of cells
the path passes through
4 in both its vertical and
horizontal lines.

in neuroimaging allows
researchers to study
how the brain reacts
to all sorts of outside
s t i mu l at i o n , e d g i n g
5 them closer to understand-
ing how noggin challengers work.
5 “We’ve known for many years that
physical exercise keeps our bodies
strong,” says Gary Small, MD, chair
of psychiatry at Hackensack Univer-
sity Medical Center and former di-
6 3 4 rector of the Longevity Center at the
CHALLENGE: Path Finder Semel Institute for Neuroscience and
Human Behavior at the University of
WHY IT MAY WORK: We use visuo-
California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “And
spatial skills constantly, for instance, now scientific evidence suggests that
when navigating the grocery store, mental exercise keeps our brains
using a map, or figuring out how young and limber too.”
to use a tool. In a recent study from Exercise really is the key word. To
Japan’s University of Tsukuba, peo- get significant cognitive benefit, you
ple who did visual-reasoning exer- need to tackle a variety of word, num-
cises regularly for several weeks ber and spatial-reasoning puzzles, and
improved their thinking skills. they need to be tough. Does Brigham’s
PLAY IT: Draw a path that leads from sudoku habit really deserve the credit
one of the maze’s openings to the for her powerful memory? Perhaps.
other. The path can move up, down, But for the activity to be really effective,
left, or right but not diagonally and you have to up the difficulty level pretty
can pass through any cell only once. consistently. Our brains are pretty
The black numbers tell you how smart. They adjust to problem-solving
many cells the path passes through patterns quickly and easily slip into a
in that single horizontal or vertical kind of automatic pilot. That default

52 november 2021
 Cover Story

mode— researchers call it the low- That said, the challenges don’t have
dimensional manifold—is great for to be the kind of high-tech, person-
helping us take care of daily business, alized games that Tom Brady uses.
such as folding laundry or catching For instance, a sudoku fanatic could
a ball, without having to figure out benefit by switching things up and
each time how to do the task. But low- trying a game called Latin square, in
dimensional challenges aren’t tough which players shade squares in the
enough to grow your brain. “Choose grid rather than inserting numbers.
challenges that make you think A few years ago, 60 women and men
harder,” says University of Sydney neu- in Australia completed Latin squares
roscientist James Shine, PhD. “I know as part of a study. As the puzzles grew
that’s not easy. It’s uncomfortable and more difficult, with fewer clues in
frustrating. We make mistakes. Stress each grid, players slowed down and
hormones kick in—and that’s actu- made more mistakes. That’s when
ally helpful for getting your brain onto Shine and his team discovered some-
new routes. Learning happens when thing surprising: The players’ brains
you feel a little uncomfortable—in had made a shift. “More regions of
that zone where you get some things the brain got involved, especially in
wrong, but it’s not so difficult that you the prefrontal cortex, an area involved
can’t get anything right.” with problem-solving, judgment and

CHALLENGE: Bubble Math

WHY IT MAY WORK: In a 2019 study
from the United Kingdom’s University
of Exeter of people ages 60 to 93,
those who did number puzzles at
least once a day scored higher
17
11 for working memory, verbal
reasoning and learning than
those who tried them once
a month or less.
10
PLAY IT: Assign exactly
8 one whole number from one to
seven to each of the seven
bubbles. Each number occurs only
once. The sums of some of the
numbers are revealed in the areas
where their bubbles overlap.

readersdigest.in 53
Reader ’s Digest

memory,” Shine says. “The brain was University of Pittsburgh researchers

moving out of the usual patterns we performed detailed brain scans of
follow every day, exiting the major 293 older adults for a 2020 study, they
highways it normally takes when found healthier grey matter in the
solving problems, and taking less- orbito frontal cortex, middle frontal
travelled back roads.” gyrus and temporal pole—areas where
Another easy way to up your brain cell loss contributes to age- related
game is to play with friends. When dementia—in those who spent the
most time doing brain-stimulating
activities with other people.
Those who met seven times a
FEET M H week with friends, neighbors,
and family for activities such
as playing board games;
going to lectures, con-
H certs or movies; or just
chatting had fewer tiny
holes and spaces in these
pinkish-grey clumps of cells.
R D R P Brains without holes are health-
ier. They process information
faster, are more flexible and are
CHALLENGE: Word Worm linked to sharper memory in older
WHY IT MAY WORK: In a 2019 UK study,
adults. Cynthia Felix, MD, MPH, a geri-
regular word puzzlers bested those atrician and postdoctoral associate in
who rarely try these brain twisters the University of Pittsburgh Graduate
on 14 tests for attention, information School of Public Health’s department
processing, executive function of epidemiology, thinks that brain-
(planning and decision-making), stimulating social activities may en-
and working (short-term) and epi- courage the growth and maintenance
sodic (a type of long-term) memory. of connections between the cells be-
cause the activities keep brain signals
PLAY IT: Join the hexagons by moving. That said, even a little social-
creating words that are only one izing can help keep your grey cells in
letter different from the connecting the pink. “To get brain health benefits,
words. Each hexagon must connect social activities can be performed with
to exactly two adjacent ones, as at least one other person at least once
shown with FEET and R _ _ D. The a week,” Dr. Felix says. Online virtual
result forms a continuous loop. get-togethers may help too.

54 november 2021
 Kent Brody, a 73-year-old attorney Friends, an app that lets you play a
from the Chicago area, exemplifies Scrabble-like game online with other
the game-player who incorporates his people. He hopes his puzzle habits
habit into a full life. By 6:30 a.m., he is will help forestall age-related thin-
hard at work on the New York Times king and memory declines that have
mini crossword puzzle with a cup of affected others in his family. “Every-
coffee and Mozart playing on the smart one has moments when they can’t
speaker in his study. “I do three or four come up with a name, but I want to
puzzles a day—from the New York avoid bigger problems,” he says.
Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los A word about fun: While specific
Angeles Times and other places,” says games seem to tickle specific parts
Brody, who has competed 15 times in of our brains, researchers have long
the American Crossword Puzzle Tour- touted the more general benefits that
nament. “I do it for fun, not for the cut- come from giving the mind an enjoy-
throat competition,” he says. able time-out. “You have to play be-
He also relishes the head-spinning cause it is relaxing and enjoyable, and
difficulty of cryptic crossword puzzles, it challenges you at the same time,” Dr
a type popular in the United Kingdom Small says. “There are neurochemical
that features very challenging clues. changes involved in every mental ex-
“The feeling of accomplishment is perience. A positive mood is better for
wonderful when you get that aha mo- brain health. In contrast, depression
ment and see the cleverness of the and stress increase risk for cognitive
person who constructed the puzzle,” decline. That’s why, when playing
he says. Brody also enjoys Words with a game, you have to ask yourself, Is

readersdigest.in 55
Reader ’s Digest

this fun?” In fact, Brigham recently CHALLENGE: Points of View

stopped playing sudoku in favour of
WHY IT MAY WORK: Playing all sorts
something she found more enjoyable:
of brain games at home for fun
Bible study apps. This fun new activity
boosts memory, thinking speed,
might deserve some credit in helping
and other mental skills, according
her brain work better too.
to a large 2016 UK review of
If you’re willing to put down
19 studies. And you don’t have to
your pencil for something more
play on a computer. Some research
high-tech—and potentially more
suggests using paper and pencil
effective—take a page from gamers.
engages the brain in more ways
Two studies, published in 2015 in the
than using a keyboard, and that
Journal of Neuroscience and in 2020
could have memory benefits.
in Behavioural Brain Research, found
that adults young and old who played PLAY IT: Put the pictures in the grid
the Super Mario 3D World video game so that the descriptions on the
for 30 minutes a day for two to four edges are true for the first picture
weeks improved on tests of associative in each row or column in the direc-
memory, which includes remember- tion of the arrow. There can’t be
ing things such as what you had for more than one picture per cell,
lunch or what you told your spouse a each picture is used once, and
few hours earlier. “It’s a kind of mem- some cells remain empty.
ory that starts declining in our 20s and
is associated with Alzheimer’s disease same effect as when our brains are
later in life,” says the lead author of forced to navigate new, immersive
the study, Craig Stark, PhD, professor environments. A study of Stark’s, pub-
of neurobiology and behaviour and lished in 2020 in Frontiers in Aging
director of the Facility for Imaging Neuroscience, found that people who
and Brain Research at the University went on scavenger hunts—following
of California, Irvine. “The change we clues for signs, benches, towers and
saw in older adults in memory ability gates in several California parks—
was equivalent to someone 15 years scored significantly higher for mem-
younger.” The study also found that ory skills. Both experiences seem
a solitaire app did nothing to affect to stimulate the seahorse-shaped
memory and that the older study vol- hippocampus, which plays a starring
unteers who played the simpler game role in learning and memory. Ageing
Angry Birds got only a little boost. and chronic health conditions such
What’s so super about Mario? as high blood pressure and diabetes
Stark believes that complex, three- diminish its powers, contributing
dimensional video games have the to age-related lapses and even

56 november 2021
 Cover Story

plant has often

life windows flies sits on water

found
on land

in animal
kingdom

is attached
by a stem

goes
underwater

can have is alive made has wings

people inside of metal

house submarine birchbark duck airplane tree fish bird leaf

canoe

dementia. Stark thinks that exerci- crossword puzzle won’t do for you
sing the hippocampus could counter- what putting yourself in a new en-
act these things. He’s seen something vironment can,” he says. “Humans
similar in studies on mice and other didn’t develop a whole hippocampus
animals that play with new toys and memory system to sit on a porch
and then experience a boost of chemi- playing crossword puzzles.”
cals that carry signals from one brain Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean
cell to another. your preferred puzzle isn’t helping
There’s good news and bad news you. Truth be told, there is consid-
related to these findings. The good erable debate in the world of neuro-
news: “Even just carefully looking biology about what does and doesn’t
around you at everything in a room, work to grow our brains. “People
at where objects are placed in rela- don’t respond to physical exercise
tionship to one another, can help. programs or diets in the same way.
So can getting outdoors and going We have evidence they don’t respond
to new places,” says Stark. The bad to brain challenges in the same way
news: “The New York Times Thursday either. One type of game or training

readersdigest.in 57
Reader ’s Digest

months later. (Learn

more at bgc.ucr.edu
/trainmymemory/.)
“The results
could help brain
scientists build
better brain- fitness
programs and aid con-
sumers in choosing brain
challenges best suited for
them,” Seitz says. That
data is sorely needed.
“Finding out how games
may work well for some people but and brain trainings work and exactly
not for others,” says Aaron Seitz, PhD, how much they help is complicated,”
director of the Brain Game Center for Dr. Small notes. For one thing, a game
Mental Fitness and Well-Being at the may train you only to play that game
University of California, Riverside. better, not to remember the grocery list
Seitz is in the process of recruiting or your new neighbour’s name. And
30,000 volunteers for what may be studies of brain benefits for long-term
the world’s biggest brain-game study. game players may not fully factor out
Funded by the National Institute of their other habits. “People who play
Mental Health, it will look at the ef- games regularly also tend to have more
fects of a variety of games and train- education and be more likely to exer-
ings on working memory in people of cise, eat a healthy diet and not smoke,”
various ages, personality types, and Dr. Small says. “All those factors also
levels of game experience and with influence brain health.”
different conditions such as diabetes One fact all researchers embrace:
and heart disease that can affect brain Your brain loves pampering. If your
health. “The challenges won’t all be goal is to slash the risk for demen-
games,” Seitz says. “We think some tia, ongoing research suggests that
people respond better to plain train- your little grey cells will work better
ing programs without the extra dis- if you eat well, exercise and pay at-
tractions of a game.” Subjects will play tention to artery health in addition
a free 20-to-30-minute game or take a to playing brain games. Following a
training program twice a day for a to- Mediterranean-style diet packed with
tal of 11 days on a smartphone or tab- produce and good fats, getting regu-
let. They will fill out a questionnaire lar exercise and maintaining healthy
beforehand and take an assessment blood pressure and body weight along

58 november 2021
 Cover Story

with brain-training games slashed risk better made volunteers’ brains func-
for the thinking and memory declines tion more efficiently. “There was less
that lead to dementia by 25 per cent activity in certain areas,” he says. “The
compared to a control group in a 2015 brain didn’t have to work as hard.”
Finnish study. Participants in the study, In fact, Dr Small suggests that if you
called FINGER (Finnish Geriatric Inter- find yourself debating whether to
vention Study to Prevent Cognitive Im- spend the next 20 minutes taking a
pairment and Disability), also boosted walk or playing a brain game, you
memory by 40 per cent and increased should choose the walk. Physical ac-
mental processing speed by 150 per tivity can help keep the arteries that
cent. An American version of the study, deliver oxygen and fuel to your brain
called U.S. POINTER, is underway at sev- cells healthy and can even promote
eral universities. Cosponsored by the the growth of new brain cells and con-
Alzheimer’s Association, the two-year nections between them. “If you do one
study will involve 2,000 older adults thing to help your brain, I’d say it’s ex-
who don’t have thinking and memory ercise,” he says. “Reducing stress and
lapses but are at risk for declines. getting good sleep and a healthy diet
Dr Small agrees that an all-around are also important. Brain games work
brain-health strategy can be power- best as part of a whole package of
ful. In research at UCLA, he found that brain-healthy strategies.” And remem-
just two weeks of eating and sleeping ber: A little fun never hurts.

PUZZLE ANSWERS
2
3 6 7

4 17
2 11
2 4 5
10
2 5 8
5
3 1
1
6 3 4

Latin Square Path Finder Bubble Math

FEET MEET HEAT

FEED REED MEAT HEAR

READ REAR PEAR

Word Worm Points of View

readersdigest.in 59
60 november 2021
HEALTH Reader ’s Digest

Striking new
studies show
how you can
control or even
reverse this
common disease
by Anita Bartholomew

readersdigest.in 61
 W
hen Michael Trailovici of Stuttgart,
Germany, began feeling unusually hun-
gry and thirsty, the 42-year-old editor
didn’t imagine they could be symptoms
of a condition, let alone a serious one.
He didn’t see his doctor.
That was in 1997. Today Michael, now 66, is one among millions
with type 2 diabetes, and 40 per cent of them, like Michael, were
initially unaware they had it. The disease is so prevalent that
the World Health Organization (WHO) calls it an “epidemic”.

If type 2 diabetes is left untreated, or What It’s All About

not well managed, the consequences
can be devastating. It risks damage to It starts with sugar. Cells throughout
the blood vessels, heart, liver, kidneys your body need it, in the form of glu-
and eyes. It can increase the risks of cose, as fuel in order to function. But
Alzheimer’s disease. It can lead to for the glucose to get past the cells’
amputation, and even death. membranes, it needs a ‘key’ to get in.
But there is hope. Experts say that Insulin is that key. When a person has
the numbers of type 2 diabetes cases type 2 diabetes, their body produces
are so high and climbing so fast enough insulin, at least at first (unlike
due largely to our modern diet; this in type 1 diabetes, when the pancreas
means the disease and its severity fails to produce much or any insulin).
are mostly within our control. Recent But though they produce insulin, their
research has found that with attention body is ‘resistant’ to it. The insulin key
to lifestyle and diet alone, these doesn’t work. The cells have trouble
numbers can be reduced, and future recognizing insulin and resist the call
cases prevented. In some cases, we to open up. When glucose can’t get
could even be able force the illness where it’s needed, it circulates in the
into remission. blood, acting as an inflammatory agent,
Here is the latest research on type slowly, relentlessly causing damage.
2 diabetes and diet. There are some
actions you can take to help reduce How Can I Have Diabetes?
your chances of developing it, and
if you have already been diagnosed, Although Michael at first ignored his
how to maintain control. increased hunger and thirst, some

62 november 2021
 Health

weeks later he began getting dizzy, long-term complications, his doctor

and decided to see his doctor. His di- explained, he needed to completely
agnosis: type 2 diabetes. And his was change his lifestyle.
a serious case. His blood glucose level,
tested after he had fasted overnight, Diet and Diabetes
was above 300 mg/dL (normal fasting
levels are below 100 mg/dL; see page For decades, when recommending di-
66). Left untreated, that amount of etary changes to combat type 2 diabe-
circulating glucose, over time, would tes, doctors focused on reducing sugar
wreak havoc throughout his body. His and other carbohydrates. But research-
doctor immediately admitted him to ers have now found it’s not enough to
the hospital where he was prescribed simply cut out sugary foods; ultra-pro-
insulin, an injectable treatment re- cessed foods (those convenience foods
served for advanced cases. that so many of us with busy lives rely
Michael’s case is a classic one. Be- on for sustenance) also contribute to
cause his symptoms were so subtle he the illness, as recently reported in a
dismissed them. As well as hunger and French study published last year in the
thirst, early symptoms can include fa- European Journal of Public Health.
tigue, weight loss, frequent urination, The riskiest of these processed foods,
blurry vision. And sometimes, there surprisingly enough, was found to be
are no symptoms at all. Because symp- processed meat: salami and sausages,
toms often aren’t alarming, explains for example. And, perhaps more sur-
Dr Rozalina McCoy, MD, of the Mayo prisingly, a Spanish review and analy-
Clinic in Minnesota, USA , younger sis of earlier studies also published in
people will ignore them. But the dam- 2019 found that meat in general—the
age continues. His diagnosis shocked mainstay of the low-carb diets that
Michael. However, he soon learnt that many with type 2 diabetes have fol-
his diet, which included a lot of pro- lowed—also appears to both promote
cessed food, white bread and sweets, the illness and make it worse.
wasn’t healthy. He hadn’t realized his But what does meat have to do with
lifestyle put him in such danger. blood sugar? Our cells’ membranes
“Usually, younger people will have are comprised, in part, of fat, which
worse blood glucose control, and be comes from what we eat. “So, if we eat
harder to manage,” says McCoy. “For a a lot of meat, then we end up eating a
young person to have enough insulin lot of fat that will make our cell mem-
resistance to develop type 2 diabetes, it branes more rigid,” explains Dr Hana
must be a severe case.” And that’s true, Kahleova, MD, a consultant endocri-
even with milder symptoms. nologist at the Institute for Clinical
If Michael wanted to avoid serious and Experimental Medicine in Prague.

readersdigest.in 63
Reader ’s Digest

“And if they become more rigid, the researchers divided people with type
insulin receptor embedded in the cell 2 diabetes into two groups. One was
membrane cannot function properly.” put on a completely plant-based diet
In other words, the cells become ‘insu- and the other group was instructed
lin resistant’. to follow the American Diabetes As-
By contrast, says Kahleova, the fats sociation (ADA) diet, which included
in olives, nuts and seeds make the cell animal products. Those on the plant-
membrane more pliable, and as a re- based diet were allowed to eat as much
sult, their insulin receptors function as they wanted. No limits. Those on the
better. Michael committed to eating ADA diet had restricted calories.
healthier foods, substituting whole At the beginning of the study, par-
grains and vegetables for his former ticipants had A1c (glucose) levels of
poor diet choices. He exercised more. 6.5 to 10.5 per cent with an average
After a few months, his blood glucose A1c of about eight per cent. After 22
had come down enough for him to weeks, among those who adhered to
switch from insulin to metformin, a the plant-based diet, with no changes
diabetes medicine in pill form that is in their medication, A1c had been re-
typically used for milder cases. duced by an average of 1.48 percentage
Study after study confirm this rela-
tionship between meat and type 2 dia-
betes. Oddly enough, that still holds
true for leaner meats. A 2017 meta-
DIABETES RISK
analysis of numerous earlier studies FACTORS
found a strong association between
Being overweight or obese
eating any kind of meat, including
or carrying more weight in the
lean cuts, and type 2 diabetes. Mean- abdomen (a waistline of 101.6
while, this and other studies found eat- or more centimetres for a man,
ing whole grains was protective and, or 88.9 centimetres for a woman).
when included in a diet that relied on
fruits, vegetables, dairy and minimizing  A diet heavy on sugar, espe-cially
sugar, lowered risk of developing dia- sugar-sweetened drinks;
betes by 42 per cent. processed foods; and/or meat,
There is also research that indicates especially processed meat
that a healthy, meatless diet might also  Taking statins
reverse diabetes. In a 2006 study by  Family history of type 2 diabetes
Dr Neal Barnard, MD, adjunct Profes-  African, Asian, American-Indian,
sor of Medicine at the George Wash- Hispanic or Pacific Islander descent
ington University School of Medicine
in Washington, DC, and his team of

64 november 2021
 Health

5.7 5
6.
An AC1 test measures the sugar in your blood. A measurement of 5.7 per cent or
lower is normal; 6.5 per cent or higher indicates diabetes.

points, versus only 0.81 percentage people who ate a mostly vegetarian diet
points for the ADA group. For some on that included unhealthy foods—sweet-
the meatless regimen, their A1c levels ened drinks, fruit juices, refined grains,
dropped to 5.7 per cent and that meant potatoes and sweets—had a 16 per cent
their diabetes was, effectively, reversed. increased risk of developing diabetes.
“A reduction of that magnitude is big- Diabetes is strongly associated with
ger than you would see with typical oral obesity. Being even a little overweight
medications,” says Barnard. can increase the risk. But losing weight,
That’s not to say that all those who early in the disease, can sometimes re-
try veganism will reverse their diabe- verse it, even if you just lose 10 per cent
tes or avoid getting it in the first place. of your weight, where it’s been found
A 2016 study of about 2,00,000 people, to reverse diabetes for up to five years.
age 25 and up, by Harvard researchers What about the low-carb and keto
suggests a possible reason why: it’s not diets that are popular today—can they
enough just to go animal product-free. play a role in managing the disease?
It has to be a healthy diet, too. People Yes—with caveats. Low-carb diets can
who ate a mostly vegetarian diet based sometimes result in rapid weight loss
on healthful foods had a 34 per cent and with it, a reduction in high blood
lower risk of developing diabetes. But sugar. When followed for no more

readersdigest.in 65
Reader ’s Digest

than three months, the benefits could The more ailments an older person has
be worth the risks. But for long-term along with diabetes, the greater risk she
diabetes management, such diets can faces from bouts of severe hypoglycae-
increase risk because of the diets’ reli- mia (big drops in blood sugar) that can
ance on animal products. lead to increased risk of heart disease,
falls and bone fractures—even death.
Older Diabetics Take Note Even lesser instances of hypglycae-
mia brought on by aggressive treatment
Everything that’s true for younger peo- can decrease the quality of life while
ple with diabetes—diet and lifestyle—is not offering much, if any, benefit. That’s
also true for age 65-plus diabetics, ex- one reason why older people who have
cept for one very important difference. other serious, chronic conditions are
If you have type 2 diabetes, are older, usually better off trying to keep A1c
and have other serious chronic con- no higher than 8 per cent, says McCoy.
ditions, intensive or aggressive treat- Treatment should be individualized, so,
ment can lead to significant problems. those 65 and over, with no other chronic
conditions, would probably aim for a
A1c of 7.5. But generally speaking, aim-
ABOUT BLOOD TESTS ing for an A1c of 8.0 instead of trying to
keep it lower after age 65 with other ill-
Two different tests are used to
determine the level of glucose nesses leads to better outcomes.
(sugar) in your blood.
Don’t Let Diabetes Win
The fasting glucose test in people
without diabetes should ideally be Today at 65, Michael Trailovici is a trim
lower than 100. If fasting glucose
78 kilos, still needs only metformin, and
is above 125, it signals diabetes.
feels great. And he enjoys a sense of ac-
The A1c test measures the av- complishment, knowing that he took
erage amount of sugar in your control of the disease instead of letting
bloodstream over the past three it control him. If you’re one of the mil-
months. A measurement of 5.7 lions who’ve been diagnosed with the
per cent or lower is normal and at illness, you’ve heard the dire warnings.
6.5 per cent or above it indicates But the good news is how much you are
diabetes.
in control of what happens.
The target for most people under Changing one’s your diet and getting
age 65 with diabetes is less than enough exercise can assure a better,
7 per cent and for younger people, healthier future. And if you’ve only re-
less than 6.5 per cent. cently been diagnosed, lifestyle changes
might even lead to remission.

66 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

LAUGH LINES

If I ever rob a bank, I won’t My dad and I went to a restaurant and

the waiter pointed at the QR code on
resort to guns or violence.
the wall and said, “That’s our menu”.
I’ll bring in sizzling fajitas, And my dad looked at it really close
the one distraction no and said, “Is this some kind of joke?”
human being can resist. — @johnistoasted
— @samgrittner

Restaurants
drastically over-
I have an idea estimate how
for a hot wings much I care
restaurant: The about which
wings are free, but wood they
napkins cost $100. smoke my
— @lunch_enjoyer bacon over.
— @SLOnans

When I tell people I “tried

a new restaurant,” I mean Waiter: Would
I went to a place which is you like to know
different from where I the one thing on
normally get fettuccini the menu we’re
alfredo—and I tried their out of tonight?
fettuccini alfredo. Me: No, no, I’ll
wragg/getty images

— @notviking find it, thanks.

— @whatsJo

Amuse Bouche
readersdigest.in 67
 INTERVIEW

Appealing
to Our
Better Nature
by Shreevatsa Nevatia

A
mitav Ghosh’s novels— that might even better it. His 2019 novel,
The Shadow Lines, The Glass Gun Island, was a step in that direction.
Palace, the Ibis trilogy—were Earlier this year, Ghosh released
always things of delight. Jungle Nama, the verse adapta-
We savoured his prose while losing tion of a Bengali folktale. Set in the
ourselves in the expanse of the worlds Sundarbans, the book cautioned
he had imagined. It was The Great against human greed and excess. His
Derangement: Climate Change and latest, The Nutmeg’s Curse, employs
the Unthinkable, published in 2016, a scholarly non-fiction framework
that introduced us to a new Ghosh. No to further those warnings. In telling
longer content to simply invent new the story of how Europeans robbed
worlds, Ghosh was urging his fellow the Indonesian Banda Islands of its
writers to join him on a mission—the nutmeg, Ghosh shows us how colo-
forging of a literature that will not just nialism exploited human life and na-
try and understand our reality, but one ture, reducing both to inert resources.
PHOTOgraph by Bandeep Singh
68 november 2021
Reader ’s Digest

readersdigest.in 69
Reader ’s Digest

As he joins the dots between imperi-

alism, capitalism and climate change, Ghosh (right)
he demonstrates just how destruc- at the 2016
International Book
tive a mechanistic view of the earth Fair in Turin, Italy.
proves to be. The author explained his
thoughts to Reader’s Digest.

The nutmeg doesn’t just look like

a planet, it is also a stand-in for it.
Given the hyper-nationalism and
individualism of today, how hard
has it been to try and begin a
‘planetary discourse’?
One of the effects of the planetary crisis
is exactly this sort of hyper-nationalism
that we see growing all around us. As history so as to root our present pre-
the crisis deepens, it’s only going to dicament in the past. But, you know,
get worse. At the same time, though, what history shows us so very clearly
we know that this is a crisis that can is that humans have never learnt from
only be addressed at a planetary level. it. Humans always repeat the worst
It’s a crisis that requires us to really mistakes of the past. And, sadly, I think
try and create transnational forms of that’s exactly what is happening today.
cooperation. Here, we have only to
look at India to see that the world is You write about how the colonial

photo: © nicolò campo/pacific press/alamy live news

going exactly in the other direction. project hinged on this idea of
We have become so profoundly alien- ‘extermination’. How do you
ated from our closest neighbours, even respond when apocalyptic end-
Nepal. There’s a Nepali speaking part of of-the-world ideas are employed
Bengal, and to think that this kind of in the climate change discourse?
alienation has happened, is a matter of I have a great antipathy towards apoca-
deep personal sadness. lyptic thinking and writing. This goes
back to the beginning of my career as
The fate of the Banda islands a writer, because even back then it was
can, of course, be a template for very fashionable to write books that
the present, but might it also be a ended with apocalypses of various
likely model for the future. Is our to- kinds. I always resisted that tempta-
morrow going to be as predicated on tion. I felt that for someone like me,
the idea of forgetting as our today is? who comes from Bengal, one of the
This book is an attempt to resurrect world’s poorest, most unfortunate

70 november 2021
 Interview

and brown and poor. This is one way

in which they are deluding themselves.

We sometimes hear of people

talking about nature as ‘vengeful’.
You yourself once describe Gaia
as ‘monstrous’. Isn’t this counter-
productive? Aren’t we only exagger-
ating our opposition to Earth and its
environment by inadvertently think-
ing of it as an avenging ‘other’?
The earth is neither vengeful nor nur-
turing; it is supremely indifferent to
us. It has absolutely no use for us, you
might say. But what has happened is
regions, it would be ethically unac- that over a period of a few hundred
ceptable to imagine an apocalypse for years, we have gone and significantly
so many people. So, I’ve always tried to altered various kinds of Earth systems.
steer clear of that. And now they’re lashing back at us in
But I do think what your ques- so many ways. To indigenous peoples,
tion implies is actually true. A lot of this does not come as a surprise, be-
apocalyptic thinking arises out of a cause they have always ascribed an
sublimated exterminationism. I say agentivity to the earth. There are many
‘sublimated’ because extermination- indigenous peoples who believe that
ism cannot speak its name today. That forests and glaciers can feel and think.
aspect of Western culture is unac- Today, even botanists have begun to
ceptable in a wider global discourse. think that forests communicate. One
But, you know, the ghosts of that ex- sees various kinds of non-human enti-
termination are ever present. You see ties actually acting in ways that show
it when people talk of a Malthusian humans are not in control.
correction. You see it when billionaires
are getting into their jets and planning There’s a radical passage in The
to race off from the earth. They are re- Nutmeg’s Curse where you say that
ally implying that billions and billions we should ask ‘where did it happen’
will die. There’s an expectation that instead of ‘when did it happen’. Are
this will happen. And there is, also, I’d you saying that we got it all wrong?
say, often an eagerness for it to happen. That geography should have mat-
Because they imagine that the people tered more to us than history did?
who die will be overwhelmingly black Geography is at least a study of space.

readersdigest.in 71
Reader ’s Digest

It gets us to relate to the land. It’s re-

ally shocking how modern, urban,
educated people are completely igno-
rant about the lay of the land around
them. This is most visible, I think, in in
a place like Mumbai. This is an entirely
geo-engineered landscape. There were
once six islands there, which came to
be replaced by what is called a land
reclamation project. So, it’s now this
huge peninsula which stretches into
the sea. It’s an extremely precarious
environment and people in Mumbai
seem to be completely oblivious to it.
Similarly, people in Delhi might
know a lot about the history of the
region, but they are completely un-
aware of the geography. They pump
up groundwater at such an astonishing
level that they’re going to run out of it
in a year or two. This has even been
said by the Niti Ayog. You see this phe-
nomenon of obliviousness about the
land in many parts of the world. Ghosh, at the 2015 Hay Festival in
Wales discussing the third volume
of his Ibis Trilogy, Flood of Fire.
The Biden administration, for
instance, often stresses on the thing. The implementation of engi-
word ‘science’ when they talk neering projects, for instance, has al- photo: steven may/alamy stock photo
about climate change. After reading most always favoured the elites, and it
Nutmeg’s, one starts to feel that may has almost always strengthened the co-
be part of the problem. Much like lonial grip on colonized countries. That
imperialism, science, too, has re- was certainly the case with India’s mas-
duced both human and non-human sive geo-engineering projects, and only
life to inert resources, right? now do we see how catastrophic those
Yes, absolutely. But again, I think we projects have been. We see it very viv-
have to be very careful in thinking idly right now in Punjab where the land
through these things. It’s absolutely the which was made fertile by overground
case that historically, science and co- irrigation is now actually degrading.
lonialism are two aspects of the same This is why farmers can’t even make a

72 november 2021
 Interview

“THE WHOLE IDEA OF ‘HUMAN’ COMES TO CENTRE,

REALLY, ON WHITE MEN ... FROM THE 18TH CENTURY
ONWARDS, THE REST OF HUMANITY IS REGARDED AS
ESSENTIALLY BRUTISH ... YOU WOULD BE FOOLISH TO
IMAGINE THAT THE LEGACY OF THAT DOESN’T REMAIN.”

living anymore. Their protest is a form destructive work. So, the whole division
of environmental protest. Again, it’s between, say, humans and brute nature
the earth hitting back at us. So yes, the is actually also a division between cer-
history of science and engineering is a tain kinds of humans on the one hand
history of unintended consequences. and certain others who were regarded
I think we have to rationally criticize as brutes. The vast majority of those
certain kinds of scientific projects, es- other humans are actually either black
pecially in relation to geo-engineering. or brown or of other races.
At the same time, however, we also What’s in fact so striking is that the
have to accept that science itself has whole idea of the human comes to cen-
changed. And today, there are many, tre, really, on white men. From the 18th
many scientists, especially climate century onwards, the rest of humanity
scientists, who are very aware of these is regarded as essentially brutish. You
issues. So, I think it’s a very nuanced can’t also forget that these ideas were
picture. In any situation, you have to prevalent well into the 20th century. Just
pick the right people, the right allies, look at Winston Churchill—someone
so to speak. And that’s absolutely true held up as this great moral figure. He
in relation to science, too. was constantly referring to Indians as
brutes, as animals. He’d say things like,
You write about how the etymolo- ‘Look at them [Indians] reproducing
gies of words such as ‘brute’ and like rabbits.’ That entire language was
‘massacre’ can help tell stories of completely absorbed, and you would be
subjugation. This made me wonder foolish to imagine that the legacy of that
about the relationship between doesn’t remain. These are very deeply
violence and language. Would there rooted ideas, especially within the
be harm if we didn’t have the words Anglosphere. I think it’s almost im-
to justify the inflicting of it? possible to get these ideas out of vari-
Yes, of course. Violence between hu- ous kinds of cultural and academic
mans has always existed. But I feel a imaginaries. So much of development
word like ‘brute’ or ‘extermination’ economics, etc., is still informed by
does a lot of profoundly damaging and these prejudices.

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Reader ’s Digest

As more and more people start anywhere in their heads, so it’s a

migrating as a result of climate complete waste of time to even talk
change-related suffering, how to those people.
best do you think can we avoid
a narrative of victimhood? The Nutmeg’s Curse is, of course,
I don’t know how we’ll do it, especially an urgent book, but were you also
because, within the frameworks of the consciously writing quickly?
liberal state, justice and victimhood I’ve never written a book at this speed.
are almost completely identified with The pandemic created a situation
each other. Compassion is extended where this long focus was possible, but
only on the grounds that people are even then, I must say the concentration
victims. And it’s a very strange thing that I was able to achieve in that time
because many of these migrants who is something completely foreign to
are moving today are not necessarily my experience. Usually, books take
victims. Though they do, of course, go me years, but this time, there was an
through terrible suffering, and many urgency. Also, it was uncanny that I
of them are displaced by climate was there writing about colonialism
events, it’s not a very simple picture.
Fortunately, I’m not someone who
is involved in the making of policy,
but I can certainly see that this
problem can’t be dealt w ithin
the normal frameworks of liberal
governance. We need some different
kind of framework.

photo: clive gee/pa images/alamy stock photo

Have you ever considered involving
yourself in the making of policy?
Also, wouldn’t it help if policy-
makers read your books?
I wish I could agree with that.
Every time I’ve been in a room with
policymakers and technocrats, I can
“USUALLY, BOOKS
tell you that they don’t allow anyone TAKE ME YEARS, BUT
to speak. They are not in the least bit THIS TIME, WITH THE
interested in any input from anyone NUTMEG’S CURSE, THERE
else. Their arrogance is absolutely
staggering. Even if they read a book
WAS AN URGENCY.”
like mine, it will never penetrate

74 november 2021
 Interview

(Left to Right) Aravind Adiga, Sebastian Barry, Amitav Ghosh, Linda Grant, Philip
Henshaw and Steve Toltz—the six shortlisted authors for the 2008 Man Booker Prize
for Fiction in Piccadilly, central London.

and its environmental impacts, and, Worli sea-face in a very spectacular

suddenly, I see this Black Lives Matter building. Then suddenly, one day,
march go by where they’re saying the there’s this cyclone coming at them,
same thing. and, slowly, all their lives are com-
pletely destroyed. I also made a video
Do you think that forest fires, to go along with my story—something
the sudden flooding of New York I clipped together from various kinds
or even cyclone Amphan will be of found footage. They were just com-
enough to shake institutional apathy? pletely riveted. Just showing it to them
Let me tell you a story. Some years ago, in that format really made a huge dif-
the Godrej group asked me to speak at ference, I think. Afterwards, Pheroza
their annual meeting. Since they had Godrej came to me and said, “I’ll im-
many speakers, I was given some 20 mediately try and create a disaster
minutes. I thought anything I say management scenario for Mumbai”.
would sound didactic. So, I wrote a I think that actually happened. Con-
story about a young, successful execu- crete things can, at times, come out
tive and his family who live on the of speculations, too.

readersdigest.in 75
 AS KIDS SEE IT

“I can still see you sticking your tongue out at me.”

Our nine-year-old con- his pillow the following carve ‘I love you’ on
ducted an experiment day. Eventually, he con- the side of their car.
to prove the tooth fairy fronted us with his sci- — REDDIT.COM
isn’t real. When he lost entific evidence.
a tooth, he kept it under — @ROGUEDADMD My five-year-old daugh-
his pillow and told no ter is convinced she
one for three days. No My daughter wanted to has a superpower.
YASIN OSMAN

money. Then, when he show her grandparents The superpower is

told us he lost his tooth, how much she loved that she can smell ants.
there was money under them, so she decided to — @PRO_WORRIER_

76 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

The family dog, Dooley, My six-year-old, when I told him to go play:

was about to celebrate
“I don’t want to play. I don’t have imagina-
his 11th birthday. Our
five-year-old grandson tion. Imagination is boring!”
suggested that a frisbee — ARIANNA BRADFORD, writer
might be a good gift,
but we pointed out A few weeks ago, I tried told our mom. “I want
that Dooley was now to bore my three-year- security at the door.”
a senior citizen and old to sleep by telling He’s in kindergarten.
too old for one. him everything I knew — @AVENEET_G
“Don’t worry,” about nuclear and
our grandson said. particle physics. I have curly hair. One
“It says, ‘ages five to Every night since day, while on a video
12’ right on the box.” then, however, as he’s call with my daughter,
— SALLY ROPER falling asleep, his little her three-year-old son
voice pipes up: “Tell appeared behind her.
I smoked an eight- me about atoms again.” Looking at me, he
pound pork shoulder — @DETLY thrust both his hands
for nine hours because into his mom’s hair
my kids said they’d One evening, my nine- and made a mess of it.
eat it. Five minutes year-old daughter was Then he said, “Mom!
before it was done, watching a hockey game Now you look just
they said they wanted with my husband. Half- like grandma!”
hot dogs instead. way through the game, — PAULA GOODMAN
— TOM VANHAAREN, reporter she turned to me excit-
edly and said, “Mommy, My toddler is having
My five-year-old can we adopt a goalie? a tantrum because,
didn’t want to take a That one only costs $31.” apparently, “the
bath last night, so I She was referring to his bath is too wet.”
told her the bathtub jersey number. — @LOTTIE_POPPIE
was filled with ‘special — SARAH TIESSEN,
birthday water’ and this
was her only chance to My little brother invited
experience it until her his entire class to his
Reader’s Digest will pay
next birthday. I’ve never birthday party, except for your funny anecdote
seen her get in the his ex-girlfriend and or photo in any of our
humour sections. Post it
bathtub faster. her new boyfriend. to the editorial address, or
— @SNARKYMOMMY78 “She can’t come,” he email: [email protected]

readersdigest.in 77
Reader ’s Digest

78 november 2021
 DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

THE WOMAN WHO

WRESTLED
A COUGAR
Her mind racing,
Larrane Leech leapt on to
BY Mary Murray
the cat, hoping against hope ILLUSTRATION BY
she could protect the children Kagan McLeod

readersdigest.in 79
Reader ’s Digest

N
udged awake by the morning sun, the
young cougar opened its jaws in a teeth-
baring yawn and stretched its muscular
forelegs. Then it started down the mountainside,
crossed a narrow highway and loped towards
the wide, rushing river. For days, the cougar had
been edging closer to the small lumber village
of Lillooet on the Fraser River, at the edge of the
mountains of southern British Columbia. Now,
after drinking the river’s cold water, the cougar
bedded down again in the nest of tall grass.
On 3 July 1991, the five children in So far, the centre was operating
Larrane Leech’s daycare group were smoothly. But it was too soon to tell
outdoors early, painting bright tempera whether the families she worked for
landscapes under the penetrating sun. would be happy with it. And she wor-
By 10 a.m., it was time to find shade, so ried about being able to care for enough
Larrane decided they would walk down children to make the business pay off.
to the river. “We’re going to pick berries Larrane had known all five children
now,” she announced. in her care since they were infants.
At 44 years old, she had made one of Three were siblings: playful Mikey, age
her dreams come true when she turned two; Jessica, five, the exuberant leader;
her home into a daycare centre. It had and three-and-a-half-year-old Alleshia
taken hard work and determination to Allen, the tough little athlete. Four-
get her certification. After completing year-old Natani Leech, who had long
her coursework in early-childhood hair, was actually their aunt, and
education, she had worked as a volun- Larrane in turn was her aunt. Only the
teer in a daycare centre while holding bubbly toddler Lisa O’Laney, a few
down a job at the local lumber mill and months shy of two, was unrelated
raising three teen sons alone. to them. All were members of Indigen-

80 november 2021
 Drama in Real Life

ous tribes clustered around Lillooet, “Mmmmmm, good,” he said, and got
more than 160 kilometres northeast busy plucking more.
of Vancouver.
The children had fallen easily into The cougar cocked an ear towards the
Larrane’s daily routine. A nature lover, birdlike chatter and reflexively sniffed the
she insisted they spend as much time air. Cougars rarely attack people or show
as possible outdoors. Everyone loved themselves, but as towns expanded into
circle time, when they passed around mountainous countryside, there had
a black-and-white eagle feather; the been more and more sightings, espe-
child who held it could then talk about cially in southern British Columbia.
whatever they wanted. At the time, the province was home to
After clearing away the painting some 3,000 of them.
supplies and handing each child an The young cougar was instinctively
empty jar, Larrane called for Pal, versed in hunting strategies: step
her one-year-old part-German shep- silently and downwind through the
herd. Giggling with anticipation, Jes- brush to avoid being heard, scented or
sica and Natani paired off in front. Lar- seen; choose the weakest prey and
rane linked Mikey’s hand with attack from behind, clamping powerful
Alleshia’s, took little Lisa’s in her own jaws on the vital nerves and blood
and said, “Let’s go.” vessels of the prey’s neck.
Larrane’s house stood on a wooded
slope not far up from the mighty LARRANE AND THE children moved
Fraser River. The group made its way slowly from bush to bush. Pal stopped
over the dusty gravel road and then on frequently in the shade, panting. In
to a dirt trail through the trees. The two 20 minutes, the children filled their jars
oldest girls broke into a run through and were almost to the river. Here, the
the tall brown grass at the trail’s edge, ground fell steeply to a cool, shady
Natani’s waist-length hair swaying strip of sand about four metres wide.
back and forth. Larrane and the little “Okay,” Larrane commanded after
ones hurried to keep up. the group clambered down to the
Stopping the children at the first sandbank, “let’s get in our circle.”
berry bush, Larrane pointed to the She could not risk letting a child
long, thin branches bearing clusters of wander off. Suddenly Alleshia jumped
plump, sweet navy-blue fruit. “Look, up and scooted towards the trees.
the berries are all over,” she said. She “Come back, Alleshia,” Larrane called.
helped Lisa find some clusters on the Running after her, she caught up with
lowest branches. Mikey watched, then the child and leant over to help her
tentatively bit into one of the berries. back to the sandbank.

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Reader ’s Digest

Now the cougar could see the funny little towards the cougar. Blindly intending
creatures that had been making all the to grab its tail, she shifted aim at the
noise. Automatically, its predatory last minute and seized the cat by
machinery kicked in. These were perfect the scruff of the neck. Tugging once,
prey: small, wiggly and oblivious to any she shook it from side to side.
possible attack. Instantly, the cougar unsheathed its
Stepping over the thick carpet of pine claws and wheeled toward Larrane,
needles, the cat slunk toward the chil- swiping Mikey’s face and Lisa’s, too.
dren, never so much as rustling a leaf or Growling and hissing, it stretched up
snapping a twig. Then it did something high and brought its paws down upon
remarkable, something only a young, the head of the five-foot-one-inch
inexperienced cat would do. It walked woman. As she stumbled backwards,
on to the bank and merely nudged one one paw slipped on to her right shoul-
of the children, the young boy, Mikey, der, the claws grazing her ear.
backwards on to the sand. The rules of
hunting required that the cougar grab LARRANE GRABBED THE
the boy’s head in its mouth and carry
him away. But the young cat paused, BIG CAT BY THE SCRUFF OF
and to remove any hair before attacking
and feeding, it began to lick the boy’s ITS NECK AND SHOOK IT
smooth skin with its rough tongue. FROM SIDE TO SIDE.
LARRANE SENSED THE children sud-
denly go quiet. She looked up to see the This animal was capable of killing
back end of a cat the size of Pal standing her. Although still in its youth, it had all
over Mikey. The cat’s head was down, the teeth and muscle a cougar needs to
out of sight behind its peaked shoulder pull down a victim three times its size.
blades, and its plumped, black-tipped Aware now of the danger, four of the
tail swiped back and forth like a whip. children shrieked and ran behind
Larrane was momentarily frozen by Larrane. Mikey lay still on the ground.
the sight. Now Natani was giggling “Stay behind me,” Larrane screamed
nervously. “Stop licking Mikey’s face,” as she faced the cougar. Acting before
she said playfully, as though talking to she could think, she grabbed the
a house cat. animal’s forelegs and pulled them off
Larrane couldn’t tell whether Mikey her. The cougar’s thrashing forced her
had been bitten; he was silent and back into a crouch. Her soft sandals
hidden beneath the beast. Her mind shifted and slipped in the sand,
racing wildly, she sprang impulsively making it difficult to keep a secure

82 november 2021
 Drama in Real Life

stance. Summoning all her strength, instantly on to its feet and darted past
Larrane forced herself back upright, Pal through the brush farther along
still grasping the cat’s thick legs. Then the sandbank.
she thrust her arms forwards and Without knowing it, Larrane had
locked them straight out in front of her. responded perfectly. She had dis-
At the same time, she used her thumbs tracted the cougar from Mikey only
to push the animal’s paws inward to a fraction of a second before it had a
protect herself from being cut. chance to crush the boy’s skull in its
Locked in a deadly dance with the mighty jaws. Then her aggressive
cougar, Larrane felt as though she movements and loud shouting proba-
were watching herself in slow motion. bly scared the animal. Cougar experts
She stared at the animal’s pink tongue say the cats often lose their appetite for
and long ivory fangs. Stepping back and killing when angrily confronted.
forth on its hind legs, the cat let out a
menacing growl as it tried to tug its paws
with their sharp claws away from her. THE COUGAR HAD ALL
“Pal, do something!” Larrane yelled
at the dog cowering on the sand not
THE TEETH AND MUSCLE
three metres away. She felt the muscles TO PULL DOWN A VICTIM
THREE TIMES ITS SIZE.
in her arms, legs and back weakening.
What in the world am I going to do? she
thought. No one will ever find us here,
and if the cat gets away from me, he’ll
surely kill the children. “Just go away Watching the cat retreat, Pal gave
and leave us alone,” she yelled into the chase, barking madly. In one bound,
animal’s face. “Leave us alone, and the cougar leapt halfway up a pine,
we’ll leave you alone.” then climbed to the top, wrapped its
The cougar was now trying a new paws around a branch and hung there,
tactic to break Larrane’s grip. It began looking down at the dog.
thrashing its upper body from side to Larrane rushed to Mikey, who lay qui-
side, and Larrane could sense its immi- etly on the sand. The left side of his face
nent escape. Again acting without any and neck was bathed in blood. But he
conscious plan, she arched her back to was breathing, and his eyes were open so
gather momentum, then shoved for- wide they seemed to bulge from his face.
ward with all her might, thrusting the He’s alive, Larrane thought, gasping
cat directly at the dog and shouting, in relief. But he was eerily still. He must
“Pal, do something!” be in shock, she decided as she pulled
The cougar fell backwards but rolled him into her arms.

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Reader ’s Digest

Larrane pulled him along

Larrane Leech towards the house. Pal lin-
on the day she
gered behind, watching the
received the Star
of Courage. cougar, before finally follow-
ing the others. “Everything
will be all right,” Larrane
called out to the kids. But
deep down, she was not so
certain. The cougar could be
anywhere. She considered
what it had already done—to
Lisa, to Mikey and to the
dream she had worked so
long to realize. Would any
parents trust her with their
children after this?
In five minutes, they were
all inside the front door.
Suddenly Larrane was aware
of her own pain. Her thighs
Then her eyes fell on Lisa, wailing at were bruised, and the scratches on
her side. The girl’s face was also covered her arm, forehead and ear burned.
with blood. Her hands shook as she telephoned
Shifting Mikey to her right side and the hospital and the parents of
scooping Lisa up in her left arm, Larrane Lisa and Mikey.
called to the other children. “We have to At the Lillooet Hospital, Mikey
run home now.” She saw their terror as needed 40 stitches to close the
they looked at her. She touched her face lacerations on his chin and neck, but
and felt blood dripping. It’s scaring them all his wounds were shallow. Lisa had
just to look at me, she realized. “Let’s go,” been lucky, too. The cat had clawed
she ordered, “as fast as we can!” within an inch of her right eye. The
COURTESY OF BETH MCLELLAN

They scrambled up the hill, Lisa still doctors used 20 stitches to repair
crying, Mikey remaining silent. Larrane the cuts on her face and gave both
soon found the two children too heavy children tetanus shots.
to carry and eased Mikey down. He Larrane’s scratch needed only to be
suddenly jolted from his stupor. “Owie, cleaned and left to heal. But the muscles
owie, owie!” he screamed, tears coursing in her arms, back and legs were so sore
down his face. that she had difficulty walking.

84 november 2021
 Drama in Real Life

The next morning she felt profound on. Her friends and neighbours
relief when she opened the front door to applauded her strength. And now, she
four of her daycare children—including felt, she could accomplish anything.
Mikey. Only Lisa did not return.
For several days, as they sat in a circle Police and a local conservation officer
passing the eagle feather, the children set out in search of the cat immediately
remained quiet. The pictures they after the attack was reported. Nine days
painted at art time were showered with later, the cougar wandered into Doug
splatters of red. Johnston’s yard, one and a half kilo-
Finally, a week later, Mikey took the metres north of Larrane Leech’s house.
eagle feather in his hand and said, Johnston called his neighbour Dayle
“I had a dream last night.” Turley, who came over with a shotgun
“And what did you see in your and killed the cat.
dream?” Larrane asked gently. In December 1992, Governor General
“I saw an eagle. And he was sitting on Ramon John Hnatyshyn, awarded Leech
my bed. Then he flew over me.” the Star of Courage. And the village of
Larrane smiled. In Lillooet folklore, Lillooet gave her a commendation for
the eagle is a sign of strength, sent by “outstanding bravery”.
ancestors as an assurance that the Leech continued running a daycare
person who sees it will be kept safe. She out of her home for several more
knew the child was beginning to feel years. She passed away on 14 September
secure again. 2020, at age 73.
Larrane felt secure, too. She had met
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE MAY 1993
the greatest challenge of her life head EDITION OF READER’S DIGEST.

Fair Weather Friend

One night when American weather forecaster and journalist
Al Roker was still a young meteorologist in Cleveland, the evening
news anchor, Doug Adair, was swatted on the head by a homeless
African American man outside the studio. During the broadcast the next
day, Adair turned to Roker and said, “Al, I don’t know if you heard, but last
night after the 11 o’clock news one of your people attacked me.”
Before anyone could draw a shocked breath, Roker calmly turned to him and
asked, “Doug, why would a weatherman attack you?” And that, my friends, is
how you become one of the most beloved fixtures on network news.
J U D I T H N E W M A N I N T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S

readersdigest.in 85
Reader ’s Digest MY STORY

BORN
THIS WAY
A glimpse into a transwoman’s resilient
life, both synchronously coveted
and singled out

By Dhananjay Chauhan.
as told to Naorem Anuja

I
often think about the to Chandigarh. My parents
way plants grow. Not named me Dhananjay. I
all stretch upwards, was three when I first told
tall and straight. Some my mum that I wanted to
instead curve, diverge, join in on a kitchen chore.
turn as necessary, reaching I would watch fascinated
out for the space and light as she kneaded dough to
it needs to survive and make rotis for our daily
photo courtesy: sarada menon

bloom. As a child, I knew I meals. My request however

was different from others, met with a dismissive wave
but had little inkling about and resistance—perhaps
how that difference would because I was a little child
mark me out. and would hassle more than
I was born in Uttarakhand help; partly because in my
in July 1971. Soon after, my home, like in most Indian
father got a job in Punjab homes, a boy has no place
University, and we moved in the kitchen.

86 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

photo courtesy: shutterstock

readersdigest.in 87
Reader ’s Digest

That night, once everyone fell asleep, negotiations with adults in my world, a
I tip-toed into the kitchen. The light constant back and forth between what I
was out of my reach, but, scrambling in desired and what I was allowed.
the dark, reached into the large, heavy It is hard to articulate the disso-
container where flour was stored, put nance between my assigned sex at
some into a vessel, poured in water and birth and how I felt as a person. I
stuck my fingers into the soupy mess. I couldn’t explain it and even if I tried, I
had no idea what I was doing, but mim- am not certain you would completely
icked what I saw my mother do every understand. If you were asked exactly
day. It was thrilling. The sound of my how long it took you to grow your hair
tiny hands, slapping against the wet, out, you wouldn’t be able to point to a
unset dough woke her up. Worried that precise timeline. Gender is somewhat
a cat had strayed in, she looked in to similar—rarely a cataclysmic event
check, and found her eldest boy flour- that can serve as identifier of when
soaked, playing house. you started to express who you are.
Gender is socially constructed.
Kids learn boys are this Children are taught what it means to
be male or female and which pronoun
way, and girls cannot goes with what body—constructed
do that, and that is all and ordered in binaries. They learn
that a boy is this way, and girls can-
there ever was, is or not do that, and that is all there ever
even should be. was, is or even should be.

I
was seven, when I told my mother
When I turned five, it was time for I was a woman. I was quickly
my mundan ceremony—a Hindu carted off to a pandit, who as-
coming-of-age ritual where they shave sured my parents that a witch had
a child’s head. This purification ritual possessed me; nothing a quick ex-
is supposed to rid a child of negativ- orcism couldn’t fix. Hot tongs were
ity from his past life, and put him on taken to my body, lashes repeatedly
the right path to development in this inflicted to beat the spirit away, until
life. Girls in my family were excused finally, cowering in pain, I spoke the
this ritual baldness. I was inconsol- words that made them feel better—
able and kept screaming that I was a I’m a boy. I understood that it wasn’t
girl and should be spared. I lost that okay, or safe for me to tell others that
fight but won a different battle—they I, a boy felt like a woman. I began to
let me wear a frock at the ceremony. try and present more masculine but I
My childhood was full of such subtle was deeply unhappy.

88 november 2021
 My Story

Soon, puberty struck and my body

started to betray me. The tufts of hair
on my face, made no sense. How
could this be happening? I’m female.
But women’s bodies looked differ-
ent from mine. The memory of the
hot tongs, the beatings and the fear
joined forces and developed a voice.
It told me that what I was knew and
felt deep down—I am woman—was a
lie, a betrayal.
But truth, I found, is stronger than
doubt. No argument or force can with-
stand its power. Every nerve in my
body wanted to be female. The ‘real’
world demanded that I look and act
Dhananjay, now a trans-rights activist
like a man, but my reality was that of a
woman. School became harder: isola- fair game and without help or sup-
tion, bullying, homophobic abuse and port. Whenever I gathered the cour-
eventually sexual assault—first by a age to fight back, they would threaten
schoolmate and afterwards a middle- me with violence and blackmail.
aged neighbour—marked my aca- My family didn’t understand what it
demic years. By the time I turned 12, meant for me to be living in a body
it became clear that I had to hide who that was not my own or the traumas I
I was from the world, and often those had to undergo because of it. I wanted
who saw my truth were not my friends. to escape. A few years later, I did. I
Small pockets of joy carried me cycled all the way to Kurukshetra,
through the miasma. Performing as only to realize I had nowhere to go.
female characters in neighbourhood

E
skits during Ramlila celebrations, ducation, I decided, would be
made my heart sing. For once, I could my ticket out. In 1993, I topped
dress-up and put on make-up without Panjab University in my course.
photo courtesy: dhananjay

censure, without being singled out. But I started pursing multiple diplomas,
even these spaces weren’t safe. learning different languages—Russian,
Predators, armed with the ability to French, computer science courses.
sniff out weakness, picked up on my Keeping myself gainfully occupied
vulnerability, my fear of discovery, helped me with my mental health.
knowing full well that the way I car- Learning kept me from completely
ried myself—‘like a girl’—meant I was sinking into an abyss. I had found a few

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Reader ’s Digest

friends from the LGBTQI community, price I would have to pay to get home.
and their company saw me through When the bus reached Chandigarh, I
those days. With them I didn’t have to dragged myself to the police station to
control and police how I spoke or how file a report. Skeptical, the cops took me
my body moved. I could drop my guard to a room and began questioning me.
and just be me. They asked me to remove my clothes to
Now an adult, I enjoyed safety show them where I had been touched.
among friends, but danger was never Feeling helpless and terrified of further
far away. One day my group and I at- assault, I decided I didn’t want to regis-
tended a carnival, the sort that shop- ter a report and walked out.
ping malls often organize. There was

N
music and dancing and we joined in o one wanted to acknowledge
the revelry. A little after 9 p.m., I was my trans-femininity, unless it
headed home when a man walked up was to punish both the man
to me and struck up a conversation. He I looked like on the outside and the
had a kind manner and we chatted for woman I was on the inside. I felt de-
a while. It was late, so he offered to give stroyed, attacked at every level. It felt
me a ride, maybe drive around the city like people forgot their humanity as
a bit before taking me home. His friend soon as they encountered me. No one
would bring the car around. I turned ever listened to people like us; we had
him down several times but he insisted. no protection. A lifetime of trauma
Once his friend arrived, he held and pain came simultaneously hur-
my hand and shoved me into the car, tling to the fore. This was no way to
pulled out a gun and threatened to live—like a gaping wound. Thoughts
pull the trigger if I made noise. They of ending it all swirled in my head.
drove me to a hostel in Ambala, where But as I turned that thought over
20 men took turns violating me through and over in my head, I felt a surge of
the night. Trembling, bleeding, devas- anger: Why should I destroy myself?
tated, I was driven to the bus station Why did I have to hide who I was?
and left there at three or four a.m. What was my crime? Being stuck in-
After what felt like ages, a half-empty side a body I was born with, that was
and dimly lit bus stopped and I clam- never my own? For once I would let
bered on to a seat in the back. The con- ‘her’ live instead of hiding her away.
ductor appeared after a while and sat No one would be allowed to hold
next to me, asking for my ticket. I told my true identity over my head like a
him I had no money. I don’t know what weapon, using it to abuse me, hurt me
it was exactly, but he knew it too—I or diminish me again.
wasn’t a straight man. He grabbed my I poured myself into activism and
hand and placed it on his privates—the reached out to people in the LGBTQI

90 november 2021
 My Story

community. Initially it was hard: a be part of various progressive steps

lot of trans-people are disillusioned, and victories for the transgender
paralysed by the overwhelming barri- community. I was at the forefront of
ers and hatred we’ve faced, but cow- organizing the first Chandigarh Pride
ering away was no longer an option. parade, campaigned to get the state
I started building networks in the government to institute a transgender
community. In 2009 I started an NGO welfare board, and now serve as one
called Saksham Trust. We started col- of two transgender members of the
laborating and learning from our work 14-member panel.
with other LGBTQI organizations. After I joined Panjab University, I
In 2012, I joined a national level campaigned for separate transgen-
consultancy where transgender activ- der bathrooms, for instituting an
ists across India got together to file a anti-discrimination cell on campus
public interest litigation together with and providing transgenders with free
the National Legal Services Authority tuition. From being oppressed and
(NALSA). After the 2014 NALSA judge- stuck in a cycle of violence, waiting for
ment recognized the transgender com- hours outside institutions to hear me
out, I now get invited to conferences,
I felt a surge of anger: schools and colleges and even police
academies across the country to speak
Why should I destroy and deliver sensitization programmes.
myself ? Why did I To those struggling with their gen-
der identity, I want to say: Own your
have to hide who I was? story, embrace your identity, edu-
What was my crime? cate yourself and engage. Choose life
as an act of resistance. It took time,
but I have learnt to accept myself.
munity as the third gender, I became It is my body, and only I am allowed
the first transgender person to join to make rules for it, choose what
Panjab University in 2015. I went to makes me comfortable in my skin and
the university admissions dressed in happy in my being.
women’s jeans and a kurta. It was the After years of seeking ways to dis-
first time that I looked into the mirror guise my true self, I have made the de-
before I stepped out of my home, and cision to medically transition. In a few
I wasn’t scared of what reflected back months, I will present as unambigu-
at me. At the age of 44, I had finally ously female and bring my body finally
allowed the woman in me to live, I was in sync with my mind. Soon, I will be
going to see what she was capable of. able to live as a resilient 50-year-old
I have been fortunate to be able to woman, who was born a male.

readersdigest.in 91
 LAUGHTER
The best Medicine

A man had too much

to drink and needed
a ride home. So he
called his wife to
come pick him up.
“Where are you?”
she asked.
“Let’s see,” he said,
looking around. “I’m
at the corner of Walk
and Don’t Walk.”
—Submitted by
Melanie L. Jungles

Upon entering a
store, a man noticed
a big ‘BEWARE OF the man replied. crackers he had
DOG’ sign posted “He doesn’t look begged her for. As
on the door. He con- dangerous. Why do she unpacked the
tinued cautiously you need that sign?” rest of the groceries,
until he noticed an “Because,” the man the boy spread the
old hound asleep on explained, “before I crackers all over
the floor near the put it up, people kept the kitchen table.
cash register. tripping over him.” “What are you do-
“Is that the dog —Startsat60.com ing?” the mom asked.
we’re supposed to “I’m looking for
beware of?” he asked A mother returned the seal,” said the boy.
dan piraro

a worker behind from the supermarket “It says you can’t eat
the counter. and handed her young these if it’s broken.”
“Yep, that’s him,” son the box of animal —Scoutlife.org

92 november 2021
 Reader ’s Digest

I think that being an astronaut on the members of the

way to the moon would be the worst laity,” the priest
time to find out you’re a werewolf. said, “and I can’t
find my collar.”
—Leonard Chan, comedian
“My, my,” his
I used to be addicted to A priest was looking friend replied. “A lay
the hokey pokey. But I for something when date and a collar short.”
turned myself around. his friend walked in. —Submitted by
—Fatherly.com “I’m meeting some Wendell Powers

What’s Up, Doc?

Ê The doctor gave me A REAL PLOT TWIST
some cream for my skin The author of The Prince thought it better to be feared
rash. He said I was a than loved and instructed youngsters to be cunning
sight for psoriasis. and cutthroat. Here’s how Mr Machiavelli would
—Bestlifeonline.net review these more recent children’s titles:
arlindo 71 /getty images (caterpillar), ekinyalgin/getty images (book)

Ê I went to see the doc- ÊWhere the Wild Things Are: Max could have been a
tor about my short-term great and terrible ruler. But he allowed loneliness to
memory problems. creep into his heart and gave up his position of power.
The first thing he did I give this opus 3 out of 5 stars.
ÊGuess How Much I Love You?: Love should be used
was make me pay
only for deceitful means, and Little Nutbrown Hare
in advance.
understands that his father’s love can be used to
—Memesbams.com
manipulate his actions. 4 stars.
ÊCharlotte’s Web: Charlotte should have drained
Tonight’s forecast: dark; that pig for all he was worth. Instead, she made the
continued dark tonight, mistake of choosing to have empathy for the weak
turning to partly light hog. Pathetic. I award this book 1 weak dying star.
in the morning. ÊThe Very Hungry Caterpillar: The ambitious young
—George Carlin, comedian caterpillar eats his way through bigger and more
difficult obstacles and emerges more powerful
than ever. 5 glorious stars.
Reader’s Digest will pay for ÊThe Giving Tree: The boy uses fraud to
your funny anecdote or photo deceive the tree into giving him more and
in any of our humour
sections. Post it to the more of itself. The ends always
editorial address, or email: justify the means. 5 stars.
[email protected] —Pointsincase.com

readersdigest.in 93
Reader ’s Digest

94 november 2021
BONUS READ

How two
outsiders
found their
way into
each other’s
hearts
By Dion Leonard
with Craig Borlase
from the book
finding gobi

readersdigest.in 95
Reader ’s Digest

like the start line of any race,

everyone was doing their own thing to cope with the
nerves. I tried to distract myself by looking at the other
100 or so competitors. It was June 2016 and I was in
northwestern China to run a race: 250 kms over the
course of a week across freezing peaks and then the
scorching Gobi Desert. I’d be attempting about one
marathon a day for four days, and two on day five.
Only three days earlier I’d kissed my with my hamstrings in agony. I felt
wife, Lucja, goodbye in Edinburgh— I may never compete again. But I’d
she was an ultramarathoner too recovered enough for the Gobi race.
but couldn’t get the time off for this The thought of never competing
race—and after the long trip, I was again made me feel queasy—and this
exhausted, which isn’t how I wanted time, I wanted to reach the podium.
to feel this close to my biggest race. It’s Because I didn’t like being an out-
hard to think of a more brutal test of sider. Not since I was a kid in Australia
mental and physical toughness; ultra- and life changed forever.

photos, previous spread, courtesy of dion leonard

marathon runners go through agony,

I
shedding sometimes even 10 per cent t was a sunny day in 1984 in my
of our body weight during these races. rural hometown in Queensland, just
But finishing is one of life’s most one day after my ninth birthday.
rewarding experiences. That morning, I’d finally perfected my
I was 41, and had started doing somersault on our outdoor trampo-
ultramarathons only three years ago. line, and after lunch Dad and I went
I’d run the fabled Marathon des Sa- out with our cricket bats. He taught
bles in Morocco twice, running with me how to hold the bat and hit a ball
1,300 others; the route is through the so hard it sailed beyond our property’s
Sahara in 51-degree Celsius tempera- boundary. That evening, Mom left for
tures. The first time, I placed 108 th ; aerobics class, Dad watched cricket on
the next, I was 32nd. But at my most TV, and I went to bed. Some time later,
recent race, in Cambodia, I’d finished I awoke to, “Dion!”

96 november 2021
 Bonus Read

I got up to see what Dad wanted. different, so I started attending church

His breathing sounded wrong. “Go get alone on Sundays. Sometimes the
your grandmother, Dion.” sermons made me feel better about
Nan lived in an apartment attached myself. But the way people looked at
to the house. As soon as she saw Dad, me, whispering, as I hovered near the
she called an ambulance. “Garry, cakes table afterwards made it clear
you’re having an asthma attack,” she that I didn’t belong.
told him in a voice I’d never heard. One Saturday when I went to a
“Keep calm, Garry. Stay with me.” friend’s house, his mom told me he
When the paramedics wheeled Dad couldn’t come out. “You’re a bad
out, he was still struggling to breathe, influence, Dion,” she told me from
his head shaking. behind the door. “We don’t want
I’d never see him again. you coming around.” I walked away
At the funeral, I broke from Mom’s devastated. I didn’t swear or act out
hand and draped myself around Dad’s at school; I was polite, kind. But I was
coffin, sobbing, until someone peeled becoming aware of my place in life:
me away. on the outside.
It w a s a s i f Mo m b e c a m e a As the years passed, my mother
child again after Dad died, crying spent days in her bedroom, leaving

STILL ONLY A BOY, I WAS AWARE OF

MY PLACE IN LIFE: ON THE OUTSIDE.

constantly while Nan took care of me me to make the meals. Christie and
and my little sister, Christie. Then one I couldn’t do anything right. If we
evening, when Mom and I were in left crumbs around or I didn’t do my
the kitchen, she said out of the blue, gardening chores right, my mother
“Garry wasn’t your dad.” nagged and screamed.
I have no memory of what I replied, “You’re useless!” she’d say. I’d yell
maybe because of the shock. What back, and soon we’d be swearing at
I know is that while everything had each other. Mom never apologized.
changed in one ambulance ride, it took Nor did I.
only four words to rip my heart apart. By the time I was 15, I’d had
I was ashamed of the truth about enough. I said I was moving out, but
myself. My hometown was a small Mom didn’t seem to care. A friend
place with traditional values, and it and I rented a room in a hostel filled
seemed all my friends came from with drifters and drunks. I was still at
perfect families. I didn’t want to be school and pumped gas to pay rent; I

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Reader ’s Digest

managed to keep up with my school- they were right. At more than six
work, but my teachers showed no sign feet tall, I weighed 108 kilos, heavier
of caring about how I was coping. than I’d ever been. I didn’t exercise,
I became a pain-in-the-ass loud- occasionally smoked, and had created
mouth, riling the teachers and getting a dent in the sofa where I watched
thrown out of class. At the final assem- sports on TV.
bly, when the headmaster greeted each Then Lucja made some new friends
of us with a friendly word about our who loved running and fitness, and she
futures, he could only say to me, “I’ll be got onto a health kick. When I realized
seeing you in prison.” it wasn’t just a phase, I panicked: the
But when I hit my 20s, life got a lot fitter she became, the greater my risk
better, and I met Lucja. I first tried of losing her. Why would she stay with
running when I was 26 and we were a fat bloke like me?
living in New Zealand. At the time, So I started running, too, and got
Lucja was managing an eco-hotel a lot healthier. For the first couple of
and I was working for a wine exporter. years I ran three or four kms at a time,
Both jobs came with perks such as but then I impulsively bet a runner
crates of wine and great meals out. friend that I could beat him in a half
People told me I was a big lad, and marathon. He was so confident he’d
win that the familiar fear from my
youth—of not belonging—
returned. I trained hard, won
the bet and haven’t looked
back. In fact, my need to prove
myself only became stronger.

A
t the start line of the
Gobi Desert race, I did a
final check that my back-
pack’s straps were snug across
photo courtesy of dion leonard

my chest. We carry everything

we need for the entire week: I
bring only a sleeping bag, the
clothes I’m wearing, and the min-
imum food I need, 2,000 calories
Dion and Lucja a day. I’d be eating rehydrated
on their meals, jerky, nuts and energy
wedding day. gels, and I wouldn’t be changing
or showering.

98 november 2021
 Bonus Read

I should have been feeling confi- by side for a while until a Romanian
dent; my training had prepared me runner, Julian, caught up. The three of
well. But as always happens at the start us traded the lead from time to time,
line, I began thinking the other run- and we ran across muddy fields, over
ners were fitter, stronger. I struggled to bridges, and past villages that be-
ignore that familiar voice: Who am I to longed in another century, I became
think I can do this? hopeful that this race might not be my
The horn sounded, and a crush of last after all. I was flying.
people surged down the middle, want- Back in my yurt that afternoon, I laid
ing to take the lead. I’d put myself wide. down and thought about my perfor-
I didn’t want to trip, and I could maybe mance. I was happy with third place,
get ahead before the course narrowed and there was only a minute or two
and dropped into a canyon. My plan between me, Tommy and Julian. I ate
worked and soon I was behind a fa- some jerky and dozed in my sleeping
vourite to win, Tommy Chen of Taiwan. bag, waking an hour later when my

THEN I SAW A DOG WITH BIG DARK EYES,

BEGGING. I THOUGHT, NO WAY I’D FEED IT.

The rocks were slippery from the dew, tentmates returned from their runs.
and I struggled to keep my footing. A “Whoa! Dion’s back already!” said
twisted ankle would mean a whole lot an American named Richard Henson.
of pain or, worse yet, a ‘Did Not Finish’. I smiled, and congratulated them on
Halfway through the day, I saw a the first stage.
dune towering ahead. It was steep, “Are you here to win?” asked another.
and easily 300 feet high. The sand “Well, I’m not here for fun,” I replied.
gave way with the slightest pressure, Richard laughed. “We got that
falling like weak clay, and I had to use impression. You’re not exactly socia-
my hands on it for extra grip. Tommy ble, are you?”
and I weren’t running up it ; we I laughed too. I liked this guy. “Yeah,
were scrambling. it’s just how I get through these races.”
Up top, we ran along its narrow peak At 6:30 I wandered outside carrying
stretching almost a kilometre. “Look my bag of dehydrated chili. At the fire
at this view!” Tommy shouted. “Isn’t it where water was boiling, I made up
magnificent?” I said nothing. I’m scared the meal. Everyone was sitting around
of heights and had to move cautiously. chatting, but all the seats were taken,
Tommy was surprised when I over- so I crouched on a rock and ate. Af-
took him on the descent. We ran side ter scooping the last traces from the

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bag, I got up to head back to the yurt “You’re cute,” I said softly, “but
and turn in. you’d better be fast if you’re not plan-
That’s when I saw a dog. Sandy co- ning to get trodden.”
loured with big dark eyes and a funny- I looked about; someone had to get
looking moustache and beard, it was it out of our way. “Does anyone know
walking among the chairs, getting up whose dog this is?” I asked as the
on its hind legs and charming runners countdown began. None of the locals
into parting with their precious food. or staff noticed. Nine, eight, seven....
Clever dog, I thought. There’s no I looked down. The dog was still
way I’d feed it. sniffing my gaiters. “You’d better get
away, little doggie.” Five, four....

J
ust before 8 the next morning, I “Go on,” I said, nudging it. But it only
shivered in the cold as I took my took a playful bite of the gaiter, jumped
place on the starting line. The back, then dove in for another sniff.
ground was wet, and the Tian Shan The race began, and as I set off, the

THE DOG COULDN’T CROSS THE CULVERT.

BUT I DIDN’T LOOK BACK. I NEVER DO.

mountains ahead were covered in little dog came with me. The gaiters
dark clouds. We were already at an al- game was even more fun now that
titude of 7,000 feet, and today would they moved, and the dog danced
take us up to more than 9,000. I fo- around my feet as if it were the best
cused only on the challenge ahead; I fun ever. But the last thing I wanted
couldn’t afford not to. Then my con- was to trip over the pooch and cause
centration was broken by laughter and injury to it or myself. I had to stay
a little cheering behind me. focused on keeping pace, so I was
“It’s the dog! How cute!” thankful when, next time I glanced
I looked down and saw the dog from down, the dog wasn’t there.
last night. It was standing by my feet, its The forest fell away as the path
tail wagging, staring at my bright yellow climbed into the mountains. I kept up
gaiters I wore to keep sand out. a six-minute-mile pace, concentrating
Then it did the strangest thing. It on a short stride and quick feet.
slowly looked up, its dark eyes taking in Then I saw something move out of
my legs, then my yellow-shirted torso, the corner of my eye. I forced myself
and finally my face. It looked right into to look down for a fraction of a sec-
my eyes, and I couldn’t look away. ond. It was the dog again. It wasn’t

100 november 2021

 interested in my gaiters now; it
seemed happy just trotting be-
side me. Weird, I thought. What’s
it doing here? I liked dogs. Lucja
and I had had a Saint Bernard
named Curtly, but after he’d
died, we didn’t get another;
neither of us wanted to go
through that kind of pain again.
But my only concern with this
one was that it would trip me or
make me lose focus.
I pressed on and attacked the
incline. Zeng, the Chinese run-
ner in the lead, had pulled away
from me a little, but I couldn’t
hear anyone behind me. It was
just me and the dog, side by side,
tearing into the switchbacks. Dion feels that, in many ways, by finding Gobi
When the path was inter- he has found more of himself.
rupted by a three-foot culvert, I and my head a little dizzy. Every step
leapt over the fast-flowing water with- became a battle.
out breaking stride. The dog stayed When a checkpoint finally came
behind, barking and whimpering. But into view, volunteers and organizers
I didn’t look back. I never do. The dog called out the usual encouragement.
probably belonged to someone back But this time, they shouted a little
near the camp. It had had a good louder. “There’s that dog again!” I’d
workout, conned some runners out almost forgotten the little dog at my
of food, and now it was time to head side. While I’d been struggling uphill,
photo courtesy of dion leonard

home. I kept my head in the race and it had kept pace, skipping along as if
pushed on. running 2,500 feet into the sky was the
Suddenly there was a flash of most natural thing in the world.
brown, and the dog was back. Deter- At checkpoints, runners refill their
mined little thing, I thought. bottles and medics ensure we’re okay.
Soon the track became even steeper But this time the dog got far more
and the temperature dropped. The attention, and volunteers took photos.
air numbed my face and fingers, and When I headed out, I expected the dog
the altitude made my breathing tight would stay here in favour of a better

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meal ticket. But it joined me again. midway to my mouth, it struck me

If the run up the mountain had that I hadn’t seen it eat all day. “Here
been tough, the eight-km descent on you go,” I said, tossing it half the jerky.
a path of rocks and loose stones was I didn’t want its mouth on my fingers.
its own unique sort of pain. It was The dog chewed, swallowed, spun
brutal on the joints, and I struggled around a few times and lay down.
to hit anything close to my maximum Within seconds it was snoring, deeply
pace. Tommy glided past me, followed asleep. Then I was, too.
by Julian. I was annoyed with myself I woke later to my tentmates cooing
for giving too much on the ascent, but like kids. “Ah, how cute is that?” “Isn’t
finally the path flattened and I picked that the dog from last night? Did you
up my pace. I wouldn’t catch Tommy, hear she followed him all day?”
Zeng, or Julian that day, but felt good She. I hadn’t even considered if the
to still be on pace for third overall. dog was male or female. I opened my
People were cheering for the brown eyes, and she was staring deeper into
mutt and I as we crossed the finish my eyes than I would have thought
line side by side. I could swear it was possible. “Yeah,” I said to the guys.
playing to the crowd by wagging its tail “She stuck with me all day. She’s got
faster. “That dog, man!” said Tommy. a good little motor.”
“It’s been following you all day!” Some of them fed her, and she
Someone found a small bucket and gently accepted, as if on her best be-
gave it some water, but I stepped back, haviour. I told them I’d guessed she
wanting to get away from the crowds. belonged to someone at the last camp.
When the dog finished drinking, it “I don’t think so,” said Richard.
looked up, locked eyes on my yellow “Some of the others said she joined
gaiters, and trotted over. It seemed de- them on the dune yesterday.”
termined to follow me. I was staggered. She’d run almost
As soon as I sat down in the tent, 80 kms in two days on those little legs.
the dog curled up beside me—and I “You know what you’ve got to do
started thinking about germs and dis- now, don’t you?” said Richard.
eases. It’s crucial during these races “What?” I asked.
to keep as clean as possible because “You’ve got to give her a name.”
without any access to showers or

T
sinks, it’s easy to get sick from any- he next morning, I stopped
thing you touch. running just 1.5 kms in, cursing
I had a few hours before my 6:30 my stupidity. I’d put on a jacket
meal, so I pulled out some nuts and as it had been cold, but suddenly the
jerky. The dog’s stare into my eyes sun came out. As I stood packing
was unbreakable. With a piece of meat the jacket, Tommy, Julian, and two

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others passed. Then one more runner I imagined. Using only my right arm
approached, and I smiled. for balance, I edged forward. I slipped
“Hey Gobi,” I said, using the name more than once, one time going down
I’d given her the night before. “You’ve hard on my left side, getting Gobi wet.
changed your mind?” But she didn’t wriggle. She stayed
She had spent the night curled up at calm, letting me do my job and keep
my side, but once I got to the start line, her safe. There was a moment when
she’d disappeared among the crowd. her face was level with mine that I
I’d been too focused on the weather to swore she gave me a look of genuine
worry about her. But there was Gobi, love and gratitude.
looking up at me as I fastened my bag. I put her down on the other bank and
She was ready to go. So was I. she scrambled up it, shook herself off
Some time later we reached a fast- and stared at me. “You’re ready, aren’t
moving river at least 150 feet wide. you, girl?” I said, unable to stop smiling.

JUST BY BEING THERE, DETERMINED,

GOBI MADE ME WANT TO KEEP GOING.

Julian had already traversed it, and I “Let’s go, then.”

waded right in. The water reached my That’s when I looked up and saw an
knees, and there were slippery rocks old guy on a donkey. He was watching
underfoot. One misstep and my race us, expressionless. What must this look
could be over. like? I wondered.
I was so focused I didn’t consider I was behind the leaders but pushed
Gobi. I guess I assumed she’d find her to catch up. Whenever I started to tire,
way across, like yesterday. But with I only needed to glance at Gobi. Just
every step I took, her barking and by being there, and being determined,
whining became more desperate. I Gobi made me want to keep going.
was a quarter of the way across when Later, a couple of kilometres from the
I did what I had never done before in finish, I made a series of sprints to catch
a race. I turned around. up to Tommy and Julian. My lungs
Gobi was running up and down burnt, but Gobi thought it was great
the bank, looking at me as I made my fun, pushed me hard—and we passed
way back. Would this lose me a place the leaders. I crossed the line first, Gobi
on the podium? I tucked her under on my heels. The sound of the finishing
my left arm and waded back into the drum couldn’t drown out the cheers
cold water. She was much lighter than from organizers and volunteers.

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D
ays four and five were going line, scanning the horizon. For a mo-
to be gruelling sessions on the ment she stayed motionless, and I
black, hard-packed Gobi Des- wondered whether she’d recognize
ert under a cruel sun. I decided this me. Suddenly she leapt from the rock,
would be too much for Gobi, so she’d a blur of brown fur tearing toward me,
travel to the next camp in a volunteer’s little tongue flapping.
car. I made sure that person was going For the first time that day, I smiled.
to keep her cool and hydrated, but I In the tent, with Gobi curled up at
felt a shiver of worry. Gobi had at- my side, I drifted in and out of sleep.
tached herself so clearly to me; would I was missing Lucja. I relied on her in
she be okay with strangers? Or would so many ways at races. Whenever I be-
she set off on another adventure? came frustrated, she’d take the sting

GOBI HAD TRUSTED ME TO HELP HER.

HOW COULD I LEAVE HER BEHIND?

Day four was brutally hot, with out. One of my favourite memories of
temperatures in the 37-degree range. running with her is our first Marathon
I stayed in front for a long time, but des Sables. On day one, I’d almost
that meant I had to navigate the route quit. But I improved, and as I neared
and suck up the vicious headwind. I the end of the final day, I was happy
missed Gobi biting at my gaiters to I’d place near the top 100. Then, a few
speed me up. My legs felt like con- hundred feet before the finish, I spot-
crete and my head drifted into famil- ted Lucja, shielding her eyes from the
iar thoughts. Maybe I’m all washed up. sun as she looked in my direction.
Maybe coming here has been one big “What are you doing here?” I asked
mistake. By the time Tommy, Julian, when I reached her. She should have
Zeng, and another runner overtook reached this point an hour ago.
me, I was past caring. In the final kilo- “I wanted to finish with you,” she re-
metre, all I wanted was for this whole plied. We crossed the finish line hand
thing to be over. I could imagine Lucja in hand. She could have placed much
telling me to sleep on it, that I’d feel higher, but she chose to wait for me.
better after some rest and food, but I needed Lucja. But today had
another voice was telling me to give t au g ht m e s o m e t h i n g e l s e. I’d
up running completely. missed Gobi, and would miss her
Then I turned the final bend and again the next day. She was a great
saw Gobi sitting on a rock at the finish distraction during hours of running,

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and she inspired me. She didn’t know Everyone I asked thought it was more
anything about running technique or likely she was one of China’s count-
race strategy; she was a fighter who less strays. I didn’t want to leave her to
refused to give up. After only two fend for herself, but there was more:
days of running with Gobi at my side, Gobi had picked me, out of so many
I realized I enjoyed watching her little others. From the time she started
legs power through. nibbling at my gaiters, she had hardly
So while day five, almost two mara- ever chosen to leave my side. She
thons long, was even hotter—we’d had trusted me to help her, and given
moved on to the Gobi’s black sand, everything she had to keep up. How
and temperatures soared to 52 de- could I leave her behind?
grees—I kept the lead. And when “You know what?” I replied. “I’m
I really started to struggle, I pulled going to find a way to bring her home.”
my secret weapon from my bag: an I hadn’t spoken to Lucja for a week,
iPod. I’d saved it for a moment when and when I finally got to call her I was
I needed a boost, and my rocket fuel a little nervous. How would I tell her
was Johnny Cash. When that baritone I wanted to bring home a stray dog
filled my ears with lyrics about out- from China?
siders and the kind of men everyone But before I could say much more
writes off, my spirits lifted. He was than hello, Lucja asked, “How’s Gobi?”
singing just to me, calling me to push I was stunned. “You know about
harder, to prove the doubters wrong. Gobi?”
I was utterly depleted as I neared “Yeah! Some of the runners men-
the finish, and there was Gobi, just tioned her in their blogs. Pretty little
like the day before. She dashed out to thing, isn’t she?”
run the last 200 feet with me and we “She is. I wanted to talk to you—”
crossed the finish line together. “You’re bringing her home? As soon
I was on a high. My overall second- as I heard about her, I knew you’d
place podium position was all but want to.”
secure; the final day would be a sym- It wasn’t quite as easy as we’d hoped.
bolic 10 kms, followed by a celebra-

I
tion feast. I had proved to myself that left gobi at the home of a trusted
my running career had some life. volunteer in the regional capital,
“What are you going to do about Ürümqi. Back home, I returned to
that little one?” one of the runners work, and Lucja and I researched the
asked later, pointing at Gobi. steps for bringing a dog to the UK.
It was a good question, one I’d Gobi would have to be quarantined
been asking myself. Did Gobi have four months at Heathrow Airport.
an owner on the edge of the desert? But first, as we learnt from a helpful

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woman named Kiki from WorldCare I felt desperate, but my desire to find
Pet Transport, a Beijing pet-moving Gobi was as strong as any I’d ever had.
service, Gobi would need a rabies test When I landed in Ürümqi, I met the
in Ürümqi followed by a 30-day wait search committee that Kiki had or-
in that city. Then she could fly to the ganized, led by a dog-loving woman
UK for her quarantine—but only from named Lu Xin. They’d been putting
Shanghai or Beijing. To fly to either of up posters and knocking on doors.
those cities, she must be accompanied I was blown away by the kindness
by the person who would be taking of strangers who had jumped in to
her out of China. help. But I couldn’t see how we’d ever
Could we really bring Gobi home? find Gobi in this city of more than
The total cost could be several four million. We’d have to knock on

IN THIS CITY OF FOUR MILLION,

I DIDN’T SEE HOW WE’D EVER FIND GOBI.

thousand dollars. So we decided to thousands of doors at countless apart-

create a crowd-funding page, set- ment blocks. And she’d been gone
ting the limit at $6,500 [`4,85,000]. several days; if Gobi had decided to
Two days later, the Daily Mirror got head for the mountains in the dis-
in touch, and 24 hours after they tance—if she made it through the
published, “Heartwarming bond be- dangerous traffic first—she could be
tween ultra-marathon man and the long gone. It seemed impossible.
stray dog he refuses to leave behind,” It was late when I got back to the
we’d surpassed our target. Worldwide hotel after my first full day searching
media coverage followed, and we had with the team. I was jet-lagged and
enough funds to bring Gobi home. had not eaten since breakfast so I or-
There was only one problem: She dered room service, took a drink from
had gone missing. the minibar, and tried calling Lucja.
No reply. I waited, and took another

G
obi had somehow gotten out of drink. Then another.
the volunteer’s home days ear- When Lucja called back, a surge of
lier. Lucja and I agreed: if Gobi sadness flowed out of me, like water
had a chance of being found, I’d have down a drain. All I could do was cry.
to return to Ürümqi. My employers at When at last I caught my breath,
the whisky distiller where I’m a busi- Lucja told me she’d talked with Kiki,
ness manager were very supportive. and they’d agreed we needed local

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media coverage. She had arranged a the race, arrived. His work took him
TV interview for the next day. around China, so he offered to help
“Maybe it’ll kick things off, like the search. I didn’t know it at the time,
Daily Mirror did,” she said. but Lucja had asked Richard to look
“I hope so,” I said quietly. “But after me. She knew I was stressed and
Lucja, she could be a hundred kilo- not eating properly. We went for a
metres away.” much-needed run; I’d had my eye on
“You know what I’m going to say, the mountains and Richard helped
don’t you?” Lucja replied. me hand out posters in villages there.
I did. But I wanted to hear it any- Still, I despaired as we searched
way. “Sleep on it. It’ll all look different Ürümqi’s streets daily. I couldn’t stop
in the morning.” doubting our chances, and feeling the
pain of knowing I was losing Gobi.

T
he TV reporter wanted to know We’d followed up on some 30 tips, go-
why a guy living in Scotland ing to see dogs that were nothing like
would come all the way here her, dashing my hopes each time.
to search for a dog, and he knew the On day 14 of Gobi being missing we
search was being led by locals. The got yet another tip. Someone who had
coverage worked; the next day we seen our poster spotted a stray they
had more volunteers, and interview thought was Gobi and had taken it
requests from across China. One sent home. They texted a photo, but it was
a crew to follow me for a live broad- blurry, and the dog had a deep scar on
cast of the search. its head. I was doubtful, but we went
We needed the coverage to help con- to check it out.
vince locals to care about a little dog, We drove to a gated community and
and we did get more tips, though so far parked. I stepped into the house, and
all were dead ends. But I’d have to be suddenly a streak of sandy brown shot
careful with media, especially interna- across the room and jumped up at my
tional outlets; we were advised to never knees. “It’s her!” I shouted, picking the
be critical of the state. If authorities felt dog up and thinking that I’d slipped
China was painted in a bad light—say, into a dream. She was making the
as dog-eating barbarians—we could excited, whimpering, yapping sound
lose their cooperation. One article she’d made when we were reunited at
had speculated Gobi was snatched for the finish line. “This is Gobi!” She bur-
the dog-meat trade. (I dismissed this; rowed into my lap like a puppy.
locals told me the practice wasn’t com- I rang Lucja. “We bloody well found
mon in this region.) her!” I said the moment she picked
On the fourth day, I was excited up. Both of us didn’t say much for a
when Richard, my tentmate from while. We were too busy crying.

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Gobi’s first run

on the beach
in her new home,
Edinburgh,
Scotland.

I
couldn’t risk leaving Gobi alone supportive, refusing my offer to resign.
in China again. Also, she must “I guess this is where we start our
have been hit by a car: in addi- new life together,” I told Gobi when
tion to the gash on her head, she had it was decided. She stared back at
a painful dislocated hip and needed me, big eyes locked on mine, just like
photo courtesy of dion leonard

an operation. So Lucja and I decided during the race. I was convinced she
I’d stay. I’d be with Gobi during the was telling me that whatever the next
30 days following the rabies shot, and adventure was, she was all in.
then my little dog and I could do a We relocated to Beijing, where I
three-month quarantine together in rented a small apartment. The rabies
China and avoid her going through test came back negative, and then
four months of that alone in the UK. I Gobi had her hip operation. She was
feared my employers would think I’d up and about just days later. We spent
lost the plot, but they were again fully lots of time outside, walking along

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the canal on nice days. Gobi and I It’s my 42nd birthday—the day
soon learnt that the best street-food after Gobi and I arrived home—and
stalls served jianbing, a crepe with the three of us are on our first run
egg inside. We couldn’t get enough together. Gobi turns around, tongue
of those. We even found a cafe where out, eyes bright, chest puffed. She and
the staff didn’t mind us sitting at an Lucja had bonded the moment they
outdoor table; for a city that generally met, and it’s as if she understands
doesn’t allow dogs in taxis or buses, exactly what Lucja had just said.
and has only since 2015 allowed “You haven’t seen anything yet,” I
guide dogs on subways, this was a say, pushing the pace to loosen the
major score. strain on Gobi’s leash. “She was like
Gobi seemed happier than ever, this in the Tian Shan mountains.”
holding her head high, eyes bright. It Gobi is a true climber, and with
was impossible to tell she’d recently every step we take, she’s more alive.
been a stray. Sometimes I’d slip out Soon her tail is wagging so fast it blurs,
to the gym or grocery store, but Gobi her body bouncing with joy.
didn’t like being left alone. Whenever This little dog has changed me in
I returned, she’d spin and sprint and ways I think I’m only just beginning
yelp with pure excitement. I’d pick her to understand. To be trusted so much
up, and a deep calm would fall over by a living creature, and to be on the
her, just like at the river crossing. receiving end of that kind of love and
Life in Beijing got tougher devotion is a powerful thing.
i n Nov e m b e r : t hat ’s w h e n t h e Love. Devotion. Attention.
government turned on the heat Affection. Those all disappeared from
nationwide and pollution worsened. my life for a whole decade when I was
The apartment was a furnace, but I growing up. Now I was getting the
dared not open the windows and let chance to treat someone vulnerable
dirty air in. We couldn’t go for walks. in the way I wanted to be treated back
The end of December couldn’t come then. In many ways, by finding Gobi,
soon enough. I’ve found more of myself.
Finally, though, after four months of Gobi turns again, pulling on the
waiting in China, we could go home. leash, and I swear she’s grinning.
Come on! Let’s go!

“W
o w ! ” s ay s L u c j a a s Lucja and I look at each other and
the three of us charge laugh as we run, enjoying the moment
up Arthur ’s Seat, the we’ve longed for: To be together.
steep grassy mountain dominating
From the book FINDING GOBI by Dion Leonard with
E d i n b u r g h’s s k y l i n e. “ L o o k a t Craig Borlase. Copyright © 2017 by DionLeonard.
Reprinted with permission of Thomas Nelson.
her energy!”

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photo: netflix

110 november 2021

 CULTURESCAPE
Books, Arts and Entertainment

THE WAY OF
THE WORLD
by Sukhada Tatke

T
he latest novel by author and its meaning expands and contracts
Anuradha Roy, The Earth- infinitely within this span. The potter
spinner, is a marriage of her sees earth in one way, and the father,
two loves: writing and pot- who is a geologist, thinks of it as some-
tery. Set in a past that is relatively re- thing created over millennia. The title
moved from now, it deals with themes in Folded Earth refers explicitly to this
of sectarian violence and religious in- aspect of the planet—that the Himalaya
tolerance, rendering it deeply resonant is quite literally created by the collision
with the world of today. The novel is a of one continent against another. I like
haunting investigation into grief and this sense, in books I read or write, of
loss and the need for creative impulse a dimension beyond the human one,
to rise above it all. Finally,The Earths- more mysterious, unknowable, tran-
pinner is about the fragility of the free- scending all that happens to the char-
doms to live and love the way we want. acters, connecting a gigantic planet
with a little bit of soil from its surface.
This is your second novel with ‘Earth’
in the title. What is your relationship What was the seed for this novel?
with Earth—the planet, and earth— An idea? A character? A theme?
PHOTO: RUKUN ADVANI

the ground beneath our feet? The book began with the horse. I had
That’s such an unusual question. In come across clay horses in my child-
this book, earth can be the small ball hood—they are made in Bankura in
of clay in the potter’s hand that turns Bengal. Later I discovered clay horses
into a bowl, or it can be the planet itself, were also made in parts of south India

readersdigest.in 111
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and when I read about the horse in her husband or a potter grieving the
Hindu mythology, I encountered a rich loss of his dream. Are we, as humans,
set of myths about a ‘submarine horse’ condemned to forever remain stuck
that roams the ocean floor. This horse in our silos of grief and losses?
and the clay ones felt connected. I don’t think that humans are con-
demned in that way, and that is not
The Earthspinner is, among other thi- what the novel is about either. As you
ngs, a novel about creativity and the say, many of the characters experi-
battle to keep it alive despite all odds.ence grief and loss. Loss is the other
Is your creative process like that of side of having anything, isn’t it? I think
Elango, the protagonist, loss, in the book, is like
where you give yourself the water that one of the
fully and madly to what characters says forms
you’re creating? limestone—“unnoticed
Without the energy of ob- in warm and calm sea-
session there would be no water from sediments
audacious artistic projects of shells and algae that
and if you don’t feel ob- remain in it as fossils”.
sessed, you might as well What I mean is that
not do it at all—because everyone is altered by loss,
then the odds will certainly it changes your substance,
defeat you. When creating it becomes a part of you,
his horse, Elango is up but you are not a pris-
against all kinds of con- oner to it.
straints—both quotidian, EVERYONE IS
such as the availability of ALTERED BY LOSS, Dog, horse, owl, butter-
clay or the weather—as fly—fauna are central in
well as the more inde- BUT YOU ARE NOT the book. What is your
finable: Is his imagina- A PRISONER TO IT. relationship with them?
tion up to the task? Does I am fortunate enough
he have the strength and persistence to live on a hillside by a forest, so birds
for it? Is it worth doing at all? Will he and animals are a part of my daily
lose heart or faith in his own idea? life. Woodpeckers, babblers, warblers,
These are questions everyone making magpies, all visit to eat from the feed-
things—books or sculpture or pots— ers I fill for them daily. They have vig-
have to confront. orous baths in a shallow bowl of water
kept for them. We use no pesticides,
Grief and loss are at the heart of this so it has a great deal of insect life—
novel—a woman grieving the loss of butterflies, hoverflies, bees and less

112 november 2021

 Culturescape

pleasant things such as scorpions, (from books, travel, interviews) and

wasps and snakes. We are slaves to four then write as if it is lived experience. I
dogs who rule our home. Earthspin- don’t want any undigested information
ner is partly about the hierarchies hu- floating around or too much knowledge
mans establish, in which they are at the tacked on just because I discovered it.
top and animals are immaterial. This is
imbecilic, and responsible for many of There are chilling similarities in the
our current problems. book with what’s going on in India to-
day—sectarianism, lynchings, reli-
Nature plays a very important role in gious animosity. Is there a difference
your novels, including this one. Surely between the segregated India of to-
the climate crisis is weighing on you? day and the one you came of age in?
It makes me feel as if I am watching the None of us can delude ourselves that
last act of a tragedy written by self-ob- things were peaceful, harmonious and
sessed and greedy humankind decades joyful among communities and castes
ago. I would like to think there is still some decades ago—there has always
something we can do about the climate been caste and religion-based violence.
crisis, but honestly, I don’t think capi- But the difference is that secularism
talist and crony interests will ever allow and equality were something to be as-
the kind of action that is needed. Here pired to then. Now this dream has died.
in the mountains, you experience the
crisis every day, in the incessant rain, Like Elango, you are into pottery
sudden droughts, catastrophic land- yourself. Do your two arts—writing
slides, falling trees. There is nowhere to and pottery—inform each other?
run or hide. We are in a car with failed There are any number of metaphoric
brakes, hurtling down a hillside. parallels that can be drawn between
writing and pottery. The way sludge
History and politics always play out in and slop is transformed over many
some way or another in your novels. stages into a thing with shape, form,
How do you approach your research? beauty, utility. Pottery has taught me
Too much song and dance is made about patience, persistence and han-
of research when the real energy and dling failure stoically. Writing is a con-
force of fiction comes from its language, dition for me of being alive, and the
coherence, immersiveness, ideas. It’s way I decode the world for myself, but
a bore to read books that wear their the process can be painful and com-
research too obviously, unless it is plex. Making pots gives me much more
deployed with flamboyance and imagi- immediate, sensory satisfaction. They
nation, as in Moby Dick, for example. In are two completely different things and
my research, I try to absorb information I couldn’t do without either of them.

readersdigest.in 113
 RD RECOMMENDS

Films Archie Yates of Jojo Rabbit fame in Home Sweet Home Alone

ENGLISH: Home Alone the Korean thriller The Dalit rights. Seeing that
films, especially those Terror Live for Netflix. a young tribal man has
starring Macaulay In it, we see news simply disappeared
Culkin, are things that anchor Arjun Pathak after being arrested,
make both Christmases (Kartik Aaryan) receive Chandru tries hard to
and childhoods special. a call from a terrorist find him and bring his
Streaming on Disney+ who says he’ll strike at wife justice. Also star-
Hotstar from 12 Novem- Mumbai’s very heart. All ring Prakash Raj and
ber, HOME SWEET HOME hell breaks loose. Lijomol Jose, this gritty
ALONE takes the familiar and urgent film will
trope of a boy protecting TAMIL: Based on real stream on Amazon
his home from dastardly events that occurred Prime Video from
intruders and casts it in 1993, JAI BHIM tells 2 November.
in a British setting. the story of Chandru
Archie Yates, who had (Suriya), a lawyer who MALAYALAM: Hill Top
announced his adora- comes to champion used to once be a grand
bility in Jojo Rabbit,
plays the lead.

HINDI: Films like Let’s

Talk and Neerja are
proof that few filmmak-
ers can build the kind
of toe-curling suspense
that Ram Madhvani
does. Premiering on 19
November, DHAMAKA
sees the director adapt A still from the film Jai Bhim set to stream on Amazon Prime

118 november 2021

 Reader ’s Digest

hotel, and the pride of

Ernakulam. The rundown
property suddenly starts
to feet less drab when a
married couple—Pavithran
(Nivin Pauly) and Haripriya
(Grace Antony)—liven
it up with their vigorous
bickering. KANAKAM
KAAMINI KALAHAM
(releasing on Disney+
Hotstar on 12 November)
is a quirky riot of a comedy
that is being promoted
as “a crazy, fun joyride”. The cast of the comedy flick Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham

#WATCHLIST: decided to now tell us

0N OUR RADAR what happened before.
Coming to Disney+
Hotstar on 12 Novem-
Special Ops: The Him- ber, this high-adrena-
mat Story Season 1.5: line prequel shows us
The first season of how Himmat Singh Joe Exotic from Tiger
Season Ops left us King season two
(Kay Kay Menon) rose
wanting to know through the R&AW
what will happen ranks. Aftab Shivdasani flamboyant Joe
next, but creator and Vinay Pathak will Exotic and his rival
Neeraj Pandey has both play key roles. Carole Baskin. Sea-
son one showed us
Tiger King Season 2: Re- how Joe was jailed
leased last year, Tiger on charges of animal
King made us want to abuse and attempted
cringe and binge. There murder. Out on Net-
was something both flix on 17 November,
crude and compelling season two of this
about American big docu-series contin-
Poster for Special Ops 1.5 cat owners like the ues his saga.

readersdigest.in 119
Reader ’s Digest

Books
Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India’s Lonely Young
Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence
by Shrayana Bhattacharya, HarperCollins India
If recent headlines are and Jharkhand, Khan
Scope Out
anything to go by, it offered both recourse
Pride, Prejudice and
seems clear that Shah and escape.
Punditry: The Essential
Rukh Khan’s stardom is Desperately Seeking
Shashi Tharoor (Aleph):
predicated more on Shah Rukh tells the
This book collects the
love than adula- story of how
best of the five million-
tion. Not even generations of In-
odd words that Thar-
the worst of dian women have
oor has published in
scandals can seen in the actor
books, newspapers,
shake it. Shra- the possibility of
magazines and online.
yana Bhattacha- a friendlier mas-
rya can, perhaps, culinity. While,
You Can’t Be Serious 
vouch for this. on one hand, it
(Simon & Schuster):
For 15 years, she celebrates the
In this candid memoir,
travelled across India, actor’s extraordinary
Kal Penn writes about
speaking to women 30-year career in Bolly-
his remarkable jour-
who turn to SRK in their wood, it first documents
ney, one that has in-
times of turbulence and the struggles of those
cluded acting, writing,
heartache. In Jor Bagh who love him.
working as a farmhand
and teaching Ivy
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE ... League courses.
Resolve by Perumal Murugan (Penguin
Hamish Hamilton): Though in possession The Horizon (Harper-
of good fortune (a piece of land), Mari- Collins India): Gautam
muthu is still not able to find himself Bhatia further explores
a wife. He is awkward, inward-looking the themes of freedom,
and desperately lonely. Others might have used this violence and fear in
premise to write a comedy of manners, but Perumal this sequel to his fast-
Murugan, expectedly, uses it to ask larger questions paced, stylish and con-
about agriculture, caste and gender. Translated fident science-fiction
from the Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, this debut novel The Wall.
novel is comic on the surface, but savage at heart.

120 november 2021

 RD Recommends

Music
TUNE IN
Song: ‘Kudi Nu Nachne De’
Artists: Shilpa Rao ft. Anurag Naidu

Covers can sometimes be hard to

get right. While they, of course, feel
familiar—the songs they render are
usually popular already—it is a chal-
lenge for them to hit a note that the
original hasn’t. Composed by Sachin–
Jigar and sung by Vishal Dadlani,
‘Kudi Nu Nachne De’ was an apt an-
them for the 2020 film Angrezi Me-
dium. The tune instantly made you Jamshedpur-born singer Shilpa Rao
want to groove; the lyrics made
you think. rendition retains the pep we have
In her version, Shilpa Rao strips always identified with the track.
away the song’s elaborate produc- When heard without much accom-
tion, using Anurag Naidu’s piano as paniment, Rao’s raspy and rounded
her only instrument. The clicking of voice forces you to listen to the words
fingers sometimes gives her perfor- of the song, realizing fully its feminist
mance an a cappella touch. potential. This cover is rousing, yes,
Surprisingly, even this pared down but also reformative.

LISTEN than a straight-up engage

AUDIOBOOK: narration, Ali Sethi her
Amitav Ghosh’s has, thankfully, family,
JUNGLE NAMA, a also given the book friends
book written in verse, a wonderful score. and col-
rightly deserved an in- leagues
ventive PODCAST: On THE in conversations
audio- MICHELLE OBAMA about life, love and
book. PODCAST, we hear other emotions that
Rather the former First Lady make us who we are.

—COMPILED BY SHREEVATSA NEVATIA

readersdigest.in 121
Reader ’s Digest

REVIEW

Decoding
the Burari
Mystery
A new documentary
shows some secrets
are always taken Poster for the Netflix docu-series House of Secrets
to the grave

By Jai Arjun Singh heart, another makes too shell-shocked neigh-

much noise, a mother’s bours and distant fam-
Of the many talking resolve weakens—things ily; video footage from a
points around the 2018 get messy. Yet here the party two weeks earlier;
Burari case—the one entire family, including and diaries revealing a
where a family of 11 two teenage boys and history of spiritualism.
committed mass suicide a young woman soon Such a case sparks a
in their Delhi home— to be married, ended discussion on many im-
what true-crime afi- up dead in a crowded portant things: mental
cionados should find neighbourhood, after health crises, the nature
fascinating is how effi- performing a late-night and myriad pressures
ciently the whole thing ritual on the terrace. of the joint family struc-
was done. Especially This is one of the ture. At the same time,
given that the proximate mysteries that the as psychologist Rachana
cause seemed to be the Netflix docu-series Johri (one of the show’s
mental illness of a fam- House of Secrets, crea- more poised talking
ily member who con- ted by Leena Yadav and heads) points out,
vinced the others he was Anubhav Chopra, can’t straightforward answers
getting instructions from address beyond a point, may not exist at all.
a deceased patriarch. though it does a scrupu- Ultimately this could
Where the actions of lous job of providing all be one of those rare,
so many people are co- the pertinent informa- outlying cases that can
ordinated, missteps usu- tion. The facts are laid teach us very little—and
ally follow: someone has out non-gratuitously— that might be Burari’s
a last-minute change of interviews with police, biggest horror.

122 november 2021

 Culturescape

STUDIO

Celestial Dancer
By William
Dalrymple
Digital print on
Photograph, 2021
24 X 17 inches

HAVING authored books

such as The White Mu-
ghal and The Anarchy,
William Dalrymple, one
would assume, must
have first come to India
to follow a late Mughal
or British colonial trail.
Strangely, though, it 200 BC and 1200 AD. there is one picture
was ancient India—the A proficient photo- that stands out in
Ajanta caves, Buddhist grapher, Dalrymple particular. On display
sites like Sanchi and took along his camera at The Metropolitan
temples in the south— when he travelled to re- Museum of Art in
photo: vadehra art gallery

that became his starting search for The Golden New York is an 11th
point. The Golden Road, Road. Showcased as Chandela sculpture
Dalrymple’s next book, an exhibition in Delhi’s of a celestial dancer.
has taken him back to Vadehra Art Gallery last Much like her improb-
the start of his India month, his photographs able pose, Dalrymple
obsession—artistic of Chalukya temples helps exaggerate her
and cultural leaps the and Pallava sculptures impossible beauty.
country took between are all striking, but — BY SHREEVATSA NEVATIA

readersdigest.in 123
 ME & MY SHELF

Rahul Raina is the author of

How to Kidnap The Rich. He
divides his time between Oxford,
England, where he runs his own
consultancy, and Delhi, where in
the down season, he teaches
English and works for charities
for disadvantaged children..

The Red and the If Tomorrow Comes

Black BY STENDHAL, BY SIDNEY SHELDON, HarperCollins,`399
Modern Library, `504 I think all Indian middle-class families
The original social satire, have a copy of this or another Sheldon
con-artistry bildungsro- somewhere on their shelves. Who can
man, this novel—set in a argue with a hundred million books
country in psychological sold? Tracy Whitney is framed by the
and social crisis—has thrilled, moved mafia for a crime she didn’t commit
and appalled readers from its very first and sentenced to 20 years in jail. It
publication to this day. Julien Sorel only gets more compelling from there.
is a hero who has been copied, mim-
icked, stolen—but never bettered—by Jonathan Strange
a hundred authors, since Stendhal. and Mr Norrell
BY SUSANNA CLARKE,
The Count of Monte Cristo Bloomsbury Press, `699
BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, Om Books, `395 Magicians, aristocrats,
Slow-burn revenge, meticulously de- Austenian chicanery,
scribed. Brigands, treasures, bankers, tart archness, love, loss,
villains, money beyond measure, friendship and genuinely terrifying
kindly priests, and that most beautiful nightmarish elfin creations. It has
photo: the author

of plots—the innocent turned cold- everything you want in a book—

hearted avenger. Is this the most plea- especially footnotes. All books should
surable novel of all time? It’s certainly have footnotes. All books should be
the most copied, adapted, stolen-from. about competing magicians. Actually,
And the original self-help book too. all books should be this.

124 november 2021

 Reader ’s Digest

The Inheritance of Tales from the Kathasarit-

Loss BY KIRAN DESAI, sagara BY SOMADEVA, Penguin, `350
Penguin, `399 Indians have been telling stories for
Indian literary fiction centuries. They bind us together
can sometimes pale and drive us apart; they show us the
with age. What seemed world has changed, and that the world
fresh, artful and exciting has never changed. Somadeva was a
a decade ago can seem tame pablum Kashmiri who lived a thousand years
today. International audiences can ago. The importance of his stories is
sometimes champion work that an- utterly timeless and will continue to
noys us as Indians. Desai’s work will shape and inform every Indian writer,
never suffer this way. Her third novel even if they do not know it.
may never come out, but no matter.
She has given us the world already. The Old Man and Me
BY ELAINE DUNDY,
Fingersmith Virago, `399
BY SARAH WATERS, Virago, `800 Unfairly ignored but now
Show me one person who read this thankfully back in print
book and doesn’t love it, and I’ll show and loved by generations
you a heartless, tasteless, gutless hu- anew, Dundy’s wonder-
man being. The plot is a chocolate fully cynical, beautifully amoral book
box of twisty, mazey, sweet delights, about revenge, social-climbing and
the villains are shocking and brilliant. post-war hijinks still shocks, amuses
And the descriptions! Bollywood must and enraptures. It’s extremely funny
adapt this for film. We shall all benefit. and scabrously witty—the sort of book
I wish I could write about India today.
The Quincunx
BY CHARLES PALLISER, A Murder is Announced
Ballantine Books, `2,006 BY AGATHA CHRISTIE,
This is a 1,200 page book you can read HarperCollins, `299
in two days. I certainly read it in two Short, sharp and brilliant from begin-
days, one frosty British Christmas. ning to end. It shows that Christie was
Utterly mesmerizing with a gorgeously the foremost humorist, social novelist
nested, labyrinthine, puzzle-box of a of the 20th century, as well as its best
plot. 19th-century inheritance law has crime writer. The freshness of her sar-
absolutely no reason to be this inter- donic savagery and skewering of social
esting. This is the (faux-) Victorian types is something no half-baked all-
book every Indian shelf should have star adaptation can dull. Are we sure
contained when I was growing up. that Agatha wasn’t secretly Indian?

Book prices are subject to change. readersdigest.in 125

 BRAIN GAMES
7 Pages to sharpen Your Mind

Ships
How to play:

Determine the position of the 
ten ships listed. A square with
wavy lines indicates water

and will not contain a ship. 
The numbers indicate how
many squares in that row or

column contain parts of ships. 
No two ships touch each
other, not even diagonally.


Example 



          

    

Star Search
How to play: Example:
 
Find the stars that
are hidden in some     
of the blank squares. 
The numbered
squares indicate
   
how many stars are
hidden in squares  
adjacent to it (inclu-
ding diagonally).  
 
126 november 2021
 SIXY SUDOKU

1 How to play: 2
 Insert the 
numbers 1 to
   6 just once in 
 each a) row,  
b) column,
   c) bold out- 
lined area
   and d) white 
or grey
rectangle.  

3   4
  
 Example 

  
  

5    6
Beware!
The bold
 outlined ar-  
eas are no
longer 2x3! 
  

For answers, turn to page 128.
Visit www.sixysudoku.com for books and a free app Puzzles © PZZL.com

readersdigest.in 127
 BRAIN TEASERS SOLUTIONS FROM PAGES 126 & 127

Ships Star Search

 
  
 
 
 
 

SIXY SUDOKU SOLUTIONS

1       2       3      
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 

4       5       6      
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 

128 november 2021

 Brain Games

9. inert adj. (ih-’nert)

WORD POWER a explosive
b inactive
c poisonous
Grab your safety goggles and fire up
your Bunsen burner—we’re heading to 10. velocity n.
(vuh-’lah-sih-tee)
science class with terms related to a speed
chemistry, biology and physics. If you b friction
feel out of your element, don’t worry; c pressure
the words are also used outside the lab.
After your pop quiz, take a quantum 11. vertebra n.
(‘ver-tuh-bruh)
leap to the next page for answers. a green metal
b back bone
By Sarah Chassé c reptile family

1. hypothesis n. 5. crucible n. 12. pathogen n.

(hi-’pah-thuh-sis) (‘kroo-sih-bull) (‘path-uh-jen)
a published study a pot for heating a invasive species
b unproven theory b simple machine b disease’s cause
c law of motion c volcanic rock c plant spore

2. combust v. 6. evolve v. (ih-’volv) 13. inquiry n. (in-’kwy-ree)

(kum-’bust) a die out a reaction
a burn b change gradually b thesis
b fuse c pass down c investigation
c shatter
7. nucleus n. 14. symbiotic adj.
3. vacuum n. (‘noo-klee-iss) (sim-bee-’ah-tik)
(‘vak-yoom) a bodily fluid a oxygen-rich
a air pump b observation b interdependent
b unit of measure c cell part c evidence-based
c empty space
8. hybrid n. 15. variable n.
4. dilute v. (di’-loot) (‘hi-brid) (‘vair-ee-uh-bull)
a split in half a clone a math equation
b water down b hatchling b colourless gas
c apply force c crossbreed c changeable factor

readersdigest.in 129
 Reader ’s Digest

Weird Science
Science has countless branches, many with names ending in -logy
or -ology, meaning ‘study’, from the Greek logos (word). Among the
lesser-known specialties: oology (the study of birds’ eggs), koniology
(dust), dendrochronology (tree rings) and ichnology (fossil footprints). And
for those who really want to get down and dirty, there’s scatology, the study
of ... well, excrement.

Word Power 6. evolve 12. pathogen

ANSWERS (b) change gradually
Experts believe that
(b) disease’s cause
Bacteria, fungi and
some dinosaur species viruses are all types
1. hypothesis evolved into birds. of pathogens.
(b) unproven theory
The professor designed 7. nucleus (c) cell part 13. inquiry
an experiment to test A cell’s nucleus contains (c) investigation
her hypothesis. its genetic information, “My conclusions are
or DNA. based on scientific in-
2. combust (a) burn quiry, not on personal
“Oh no,” Ben cried on 8. hybrid (c) crossbreed opinion,” said Dr. Lee.
Christmas. “Our tur- The clementine is a hy-
key combusted in brid between the manda- 14. symbiotic
the oven!” rin and the sweet orange. (b) interdependent
Today’s teenagers
3. vacuum 9. inert (b) inactive have a symbiotic
(c) empty space Medications often in- relationship with
Adopting a rescue dog clude inert ingredients, social media.
has filled the vacuum such as dyes.
in Geena’s life. 15. variable
10. velocity (a) speed (c) changeable factor
4. dilute (b) water down As the league’s top wide Meteorologists con-
You should dilute receiver, Chetan is known sider a lot of variables
bleach before using it for his velocity and when predicting
to disinfect surfaces. ball handling. the weather.

5. crucible 11. vertebra

a-s-l/getty images

(a) pot for heating (b) back bone Vocabulary Ratings

“For this experiment, I will never go ice skating 9 & below: pat on
we’ll melt aluminum in again—the last time I the back
a crucible,” Ms Saikia went, I fell and cracked 10–12: above the norm
told her students. a vertebra! 13–15: high mark

130 november 2021

 Brain Games

QUIZ

BY Samantha Rideout

1. Even during a power outage, food- 8. Every human has wisdom teeth.
crop seeds would remain safely frozen in True or false?
the Global Seed Vault, located where?
9. What’s the biggest wild cat native
2. What is generally considered to be to the Americas?
the first science-fiction film?
10. For what movie did Jordan Peele
3. What major sports tournament receive the Oscar for best original
requires players to dress in white, screenplay, becoming the
to minimize the visibility of first Black screenwriter to
sweat marks? win that category?

4. What collectible plastic-brick toy 11. Which of the following countries

sets can sell for thousands of dollars does not recognize dual citizenship:
and have even become China, Turkey or Denmark?
targets for thieves?
12. What kind of wine is
5. On average, how much time often sold to support breast-
passes between two high tides? cancer awareness?

6. Anne Bonny and Mary 15. In 2000, Canadian 13. He inspired the idea
Read were notable 18th- psychologists published of ‘short man syndrome’,
century women because of a tongue-in-cheek paper but roughly how tall was
their occupations as what? diagnosing Winnie the Napoleon in reality?
Pooh and his friends 14. Until 2018, what po-
7. Residents of Chumbivil- with disorders. Accor- pular and spicy German
cas, Peru, celebrate Christ- ding to the paper, street food had a museum
mas by challenging each Piglet clearly suffers dedicated to it in Berlin?
other to what? from what?
PHOTO: © GETTY IMAGES

(curry sausage). 15. Generalized anxiety disorder.

12. Rosé. 13. 168 to 170 centimetres, which was average in France at the time. 14. Currywurst
ple are born with no wisdom teeth under the gums at all. 9. The jaguar. 10. Get Out. 11. China.
4. Lego. 5. Roughly 12 hours and 25 minutes. 6. Pirates. 7. Fist fights. 8. False. Increasingly, peo-
Answers: 1. Svalbard, Norway. 2. Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902). 3. Wimbledon.

readersdigest.in 131
Reader ’s Digest

QUOTABLE QUOTES

If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.

Jean-Paul Sartre, philosopher

As much as I live I shall not imitate them or

hate myself for being different to them.
Orhan Pamuk, author

It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture

where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.
Brene Brown, academic

ALAMY (3), RAMESH SHARMA

Is the country free? If daughters are disappointed
in the country, they are unhappy, Put your hand
on your heart and say is the country free?
Kamla Bhasin, activist and author

Jean-Paul Sartre Brene Brown Orhan Pamuk Kamla Bhasin

132 november 2021