In their recent  comment  titled “Beyond behaviour as individual choice: A call to expand understandings around social science in health research”, Nakkeeran and colleagues reminded the social science and health community about the need to scrutinize and address the underlying structural and institutional factors that perpetuate “behav...

In 2006, Al Gore brought out “An Inconvenient Truth”, and back then, George W Bush, sort of a climate change denier, was the President of the US. In 2016, we saw a passionate appeal by Leonardo DiCaprio through “Beyond the Flood”, and now we will have Donald Trump, clearly a climate change denier, as the next US President. Mr DiCaprio co...

The gift of time and the gift of energy are truly worth having, to the extent that a power couple rightly listed   them as superpowers earlier this week. One cannot buy time, but one can harness energy and delegate responsibilities in an equitable manner to ensure the time available is used optimally and in a way that wellbeing is improved. So...

I have been occupied (possessed?) by thoughts related to the planning of my doctoral studies in the broad area of environment and health. One major dilemma is: where should I pursue it? Besides not wanting to spend much time away from my family, I am also concerned about flying (or travelling long distances) – not because it is not enjoyable, ...

The population of the world can be understood in terms of the “haves” and the “have-nots”. As has been pointed out by many, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intended for both developed and developing countries, unlike the MDGs which were largely focused on improving the situation in developing countries. In addition, in a...

  Environmentalists watched as if in a trance, The negotiations that happened in Paris, France. But it was the same old show, As they all want to “grow”, And so there was no change in stance.   This limerick portrays a situation which some of us don’t want to witness in a few months’ time. As we embark on another World Environment Day c...

How should we describe the current mood among Non-Governmental Organisations in India? “Unsettled” or “Disgruntled” would be a good start.  Good book-keeping, public image and paper work notwithstanding, the factors contributing to this state of being are both insidious and disturbing. The NGO movement in India began a few decades ago d...

I visited the movie theatre with my wife a few nights ago in Pune City, and we were excited to catch Kingsman – The Secret Service. It did not disappoint. With a healthy mixture of comedy, politically incorrect drama, and good action, it was quite a treat. Despite that, after exiting the hall, I was left with the same troubling feeling I got aft...

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to hurt anyone, but rather to reflect on some personal experiences in a humorous way! I reiterate that the team from ITM and UWC did such a fantastic job arranging this program! I also thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Hotel Verde which became like home. Also, I’ve made a couple of long semi-technical presenta...

Health systems are increasingly being understood and described as complex adaptive systems. I attended an interesting discussion the other day at Health Systems Global on “Postings and Transfers” of healthcare staff, a cross-cutting issue in most countries, where a former bureaucrat from an Indian state was invited to share about measures th...