Want to improve your English? Don’t depend too much on writing apps --East Mojo

Published on East Mojo in April 12, 2022

Want to improve your English? Don’t be over-dependent on writing apps

The jury is still out on the efficacy of grammar-checkers. While some feel there’s no harm in using them, there is unanimity in one fact — if you want to improve your English, you have to get your basics right

Most of you must have noticed the writing and grammar suggestions your email composer or word processor offers when you start typing a mail. These are just two examples of the myriad of English writing apps available out there—offering services such as grammar-check, spell-check, writing styles, and vocabulary and syntax suggestions.

Some may find them irritating but there are many who firmly believe or are even confident that these apps would help them improve their English language skills and grammar.

So the million-dollar question is — do these apps really help and if so, to what extent? Experts say while they may help you detect typos and errors, or even offer alternatives and suggestions, you won’t really get your English grammar and language right unless you are thorough with your Wren and Martin and well-read at the same time.

Learning a language doesn’t happen in one day; it’s a process. The more you read and write, the more refined will be your language skills, the experts say.

Then there are others who feel there are people who may not be strong in the English language and so there is nothing wrong if they use such a facility to correct their mails and communication.

All experts are, however, unanimous in stating that over-dependence on these apps won’t do any good.

Sajni Mukherji, a former Professor of English at Jadavpur University, finds such apps irritating and prefers to stay away from them.

“I am conservative and don’t believe in the efficacy of these apps, which automatically without my asking correct my spellings as I send messages or write letters on the phone. And it is usually wrong because they are assuming something and I want to say something completely different,” Mukherji says.

“I would rather do it myself because I think my English is good enough for grammar or spelling or for rearrangement of a sentence. I think I can do it much quicker and better myself.”

Mukherji says such suggestions obstruct the flow of writing when you want to write a creative piece. “I think ‘O good Lord’, I didn’t say that, so why is it saying that? I get very angry and so frankly I don’t like spell or grammar check by apps on phone or computer. I prefer to do it myself.”

Some well-known apps are Gammarly, ProWritingAid, Linguix, Writer.com, Beewriter, Scribendi, WhiteSmoke, Sapling, Slick Write, After The Deadline, Hemmingway, etc.

Grammarly is used for checking grammar and plagiarism. It offers numerous writing styles, suggestions for grammar, vocabulary and syntax.

At the same time, Mukherji feels such apps could be useful for people who have a problem with writing in English or with spellings and so on.

Mukherji thinks these apps are too mechanical and the best way to make sure that one doesn’t make mistakes in grammar or spelling is to read a lot of good books so that there is much less likelihood of making any mistakes.

“I have taught for so many years. When I found somebody making too many spelling mistakes, I would say to him/her ‘I want you to read one chapter of something very carefully and I will ask you the spellings afterwards.’ I pressed upon them that they have to read carefully and keep their eyes wide open so that they don't make spelling mistakes.”

Mukherji says if somebody corrects her grammar, then she would want to know the reason why he or she corrected it. “And usually it’s not the reason that convinces me. But I guess if people need it, they need it, that’s their requirement. I don’t want to say don’t use them at all. But I wouldn’t and I won’t recommend them to people either,” Mukherji said.

How reliable are such apps?

ProWritingAid says it checks grammar, readability and plagiarism-related issues. It offers a detailed report on all grammar errors, runs a readability analysis, allows you to test how easy it is to read and understand your draft and provides a thesaurus for word suggestions.

KV Sridhar (Pops), Global Chief Creative Officer, Nihilent Hypercollective at Nihilent Limited, feels it is okay to use them if they make your work faster. But when it comes to professional writing, one has to learn the language from the beginning.

 “Technology provides you with clues to check grammar, spelling, etc. It is far more accepted today in any word document. We have been using it for a very long time. The predictive nature of computer intelligence allows you to type even WhatsApp messages with a bit of prediction. Today 90% of Wikipedia is not done by human beings but by bots. So technology is helping people. But I am not talking about professional writers,” said Sridhar.

A lot of content today is written by machine and not by human beings and so taking the help of technology is accepted now. “Earlier, if you didn’t know how to form a sentence, or a sentence was grammatically wrong, people used to curse you and correct it. Today, even in newspapers or spoken English if the grammar is wrong, people forgive them,” Sridhar says.

Today, even if something is not written in proper English, it is accepted but earlier it was not the same.

“On Twitter, famous people or celebrities write using auto correct. Earlier, grammar Nazis used to spot mistakes. It was quite a rage. The old school people from, say, Hindu and Statesman, who subscribe to the right language, used to get annoyed by celebrities not writing in the proper language. It was quite a phenomenon then but later they gave up because in the ocean of words, which is moving so quickly, nobody can hold anything.”

All these apps, including Microsoft Word, give spell check, grammar, and predictive writing indication, which help you do your job a little better and quicker, Sridhar explained. He thinks it’s far more advisable to run a grammar and spell check in a piece of content or article than going through it alphabet by alphabet, word by word or sentence by sentence as we are living in a LIVE world.

“In a way you can call it laziness or incompetence. But on the other side it is agility, convenience and precision. You may make mistakes but computers don’t. Often if you don’t set the language, whether it is British English or American English you may face inconsistency in the way you spell or frame sentences or use certain words. But if you set all your parameters right and take the help of any of these tools, its fine for me. It is okay to take the help of technology to do anything better. It is always a good thing,” said Sridhar.  

But to learn the language and to frame sentences to express your ideas better; you have to learn it from the beginning, from school.

“If you are a professional writer, you have to be extra cautious and should know the language well. Learn it properly, and then take the help of technology because the pace at which you are working today is much faster then what it used to be 20 or 30 years ago,” added Sridhar.

Elaborating on his argument, Sridhar said that today if a person doesn’t respond on WhatsApp, you wonder what happened and within two seconds you move on. It is the same with Twitter, where three minutes is the time to respond. If a company or brand doesn’t respond within three minutes, a brand or company is not excused.

Choice of words on the computer will be a little advanced and appropriate words help you to express your thoughts better or the personality of your writing style. And this is where technology helps. “You just need to use it wisely and judiciously,” Sridhar says.

Sridhar says human voice is coming in a big way and who knows tomorrow spoken English would be converted into proper English by the computer and sent across, which is fine because you need to express your thoughts.

Thoughts and ideas are far more important than the play of words, he says. “Responding quicker is far more important than writing proper English. If auto correct can correct two or three things, it is fine. Running a grammar check before sending a mail to someone in a split second is far more appreciative than not sending or sending it the next day,” Sridhar said.

Linguix is said to be an AI-based writing assistant and a grammar checker tool that helps you to check real-time errors. It provides alerts and recommendations for grammar and punctuation. It allows you to copy-paste your existing text and provides alternative words and phrases and spelling corrections. It eliminates poor phrase and sentence structures and typos.

Benita Sen, a journalist, editor, children's author and creative writing teacher, feels such apps are shortcuts. “If you want to learn the grammar, is there any shortcut to learning the rules and then using them? I doubt that. Unless you learn correct usage, you will be app-dependent for far longer than you need to be. I advise my students to read books on grammar. My favourite is, Eats Shoots and Leaves.”  

But don’t these suggestions hamper the spontaneity of a writer? “It would not hamper the flow of thoughts if you decide to write come what may, and then put the completed piece through the checker,” added Sen.

If you are bound to use some app, do some research about its veracity. “I would do some background research if I have to fall back on an app. I have been teaching creative writing to students in India and abroad. I would not suggest that my students trust any app blindly. If the app makes a suggestion, look up the context of the suggestion before incorporating it. Nuances may be lost if we leave all our writing to AI,” added Sen.

The Writer.com grammar corrector tool claims it helps keep content quality consistent by providing brand-specific feedback. It enables you to build a custom style guide. You can check the content according to your company’s style guide and enable you to turn on/off different types of writing suggestions.

These artificial intelligence-based grammar-checking apps come in handy in finding missing articles or punctuations or errors but one should never be over-dependent on them — definitely not to learn and improve English or grammar, feels Nilutpal Thakur, a senior journalist.

Many such apps make unnecessary suggestions, and so it’s not good to follow them blindly, he says.

“These are not learning tools, they are reviewers. Anyway, a review suggested may or may not be always correct because they are based on algorithms and artificial intelligence. They do not recognise complex sentences and those with multiple clauses. They may suggest alternative sentences and words that may have different, nuanced meanings,” Thakur added.

Many experts explained that people who use these apps do not actually get to the bottom of why artificial intelligence may have suggested a change. So they tend to blindly correct a sentence without understanding their mistake and forget about it the next moment. And this is not helpful because they are not learning from their mistakes.

So if you want to be a better writer in English, learn the language from the beginning and read more because no app can help you much, besides finding errors here or a typo there.  

 The writer is an independent journalist and video content creator based in Delhi-NCR. Runs a YouTube channel Think Positive: Live Healthy. 

Want to improve your English? Don’t depend too much on writing apps 

 

Lost your job?

 This is not the end. This is just another beginning

The years 2020 and 2021 have taught us how a small virus can turn life upside down. People have lost their jobs; there have been salary cuts and business losses, and what not. People are feeling low and don’t know what to do, mostly contained in their homes. I will say, don’t give up.

No storm can last forever. Like every dark night is followed by a beautiful day, this too shall pass. Like every coin has two sides, this phase also has two sides. The most important thing is we are alive. Life is precious and there can be nothing important than that.

Work from home has become the norm. A lot of people are working from home. Yes, working from home has its own pressure.  But what is important is you are with your family. All these while you have been complaining that you don’t get time to spend with your family because of your hectic schedule. So the virus has given you that opportunity. Utilise it and spend quality time with your family.

If, unfortunately, you have lost your job, never think that this is the end. Maybe life is opening another door for you.

Spend your money rationally till you get your next job. Try to connect with your old network. Who knows something better is waiting for you.

There are lot of short-term online professional courses; look for one that will add another skill in your resume and will open more opportunities for you.

If you have ever dreamt of starting something of your own, and if you have enough savings, then this is the time to give it a try — your very own venture.  Sometimes taking a risk is worth it. If you are successful, you can be a source of employment to more people and get blessings in return. If not, you will definitely learn a lot from the experience. Most successful people in the world have taken risks, learnt from their failures, and today their failures have become stories behind their success for other people to learn from.

Look at your children, you will know how to be happy without any reason. Observe how when they are bored, how creatively they create a new game for themselves. Play with them, talk with them, try to look at the world from their perspective. Yes, you will know that not only children are fast learners, they are great teachers too.

Things will be like before again, till then, hold on with patience, be positive. Don’t forget to follow me on my blog --Mixed Bag-- for more such write-ups. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel -- ThinkPositive Make a Difference in Life, or follow me on Facebook -- ThinkPositive Make a Difference in Life. You can write to me in the comment section.  

 

How to keep your sanity intact during Covid

 

Mental Health Matters

As we are fighting the second wave of the deadly corona virus pandemic, mental health has become an issue all over. How to maintain our sanity is a big question

Those who are safe at home should feel blessed that at least we are sleeping in our homes and not in a hospital. Spend quality time with your family in between work. Play some indoor games such as carom, ludo, chess and play antakshri. Let kids know about these games too. If you have an independent house or have some space on the terrace, you can play outdoor games too. This is the best thing Covid has given us, family time.

Many are constantly working for office from home and doing household chores at the same time. Most of us are working without helpers or maids. All family members should come forward to help each other in managing the chores, so that the woman of the house is not burdened with all the work. The lady of the house should also get some free time in between office and house work. And if the woman is a homemaker, she should not be taken for granted that all household work is her duty. Instead tell her that you always are on your toes, so now start sharing your load with us and see the million dollar smile on her face.

Make a garden of your own in your balcony or terrace. You just have to collect seeds from the kitchen and plant them. There are ample details on the internet on how to grow them. And once the first sapling starts growing, you will experience what is called real joy.

If you have never entered the kitchen, try that. It’s said that cooking is a great stress buster. To say, “I can cook” is much cooler than saying, “Sorry I can’t cook”. Or you can start from baking. Baking a cake is literally a cake walk. And the first cake that you will bake will be the most memorable one and the tastiest too.

Try to connect with old friends; nowadays social media has made it very easy. Try to find all childhood friends and call them, talk with them about all your childhood mischiefs and get nostalgic. Video-call them, see how they look now and pull each other’s legs. Friends are life’s best gift to us. 

Music is another magic that you can explore. Listen to all types of music, sing along and dance even if you have two left feet.

If you had a hidden wish to learn some musical instrument, but could never fulfil it, this is the time to do that. There are lot of weekend classes available online. In the next get-together, you can proudly show off your new skill.

If you have a knack of writing but never got time to do that, then start now. Start with writing your feelings in a diary; gradually you can even start your own blog.

Ladies, if you like the way celebrities look you can learn how to do make-up on internet and when things will be back to normal, you can surprise your friends, colleagues, neighbours by getting ready like a pro. 

Who knows one day your newly explored hobby can turn into your profession. And when your hobby becomes your profession, life becomes beautiful.

 

Be positive. Don’t forget to follow me on my blog --MixedBag-- for more such write-ups. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel -- Think Positive Make a Difference in Life, or follow me on Facebook -- Think Positive Make a Difference in Life. You can write to me in the comment section.  

 

I am not mad, why would I visit a counsellor?

Why is mental health important?

People in India still openly don’t say that they visit a counsellor. They don’t understand that if it’s important to visit a doctor when someone has a physical problem, it is the same with the mind. Mental health is equally important. 

I had a nature of counselling people when they felt low and loved to bring a smile on people’s faces. Naturally, I had the knack of reading articles on parenting and other counselling topics. While working for a newspaper, I decided to do a course on counselling. I used to attend classes on weekends and later interned in a hospital set-up in my 30s with very young girls.

When my family and friends came to know about it, they would confide in me with their problems as they felt comfortable talking to me. They would compliment me often after I counselled them. So one day, I decided to give an ad in a local newspaper and started counselling people on weekends as on other days, I had the journalism job.

I started getting calls. But often, the queries were strange, “What type of counselling do you do?”  “From where have you done the course?” “What procedure you follow?” “What is counselling?” “What does a counsellor actually do?” “Can you counsel me on phone?”

Once a lady even requested me that she would send me the fees but I should counsel her on the phone. Though I tried to convince her that face-to-face counselling is always better but she insisted. So I agreed to counsel her over the phone. But she didn’t turn up nor did she call. That’s the problem. Sometimes people make up their mind to talk to a counsellor and then they take a step back.

One of my relatives from a different city often used to call me as she felt better talking to me, sometimes for hours. I advised that she should visit a local counsellor as I knew she was lonely and had some past issues. She replied, “I am not mad, why I would visit a counsellor?”

I still smile remembering a man who addressed me doctor while fixing the appointment and throughout the session though I kept on telling him that “I am a counsellor”.

One day, a young girl came to me. She felt so good talking to me that after reaching downstairs, her father (who came to pick her up) called me to say that she wanted to talk more. I advised them to come after seven days as talking again the same day wouldn’t have helped much. They never returned. 

Once a housewife came to me for counselling, and after her session I advised her to bring her husband in her next session. Sometimes family counselling is important to better heal the person. But she said, “No, that’s not possible.” Instead she asked me if I could teach her to speak English. I said yes so that at least she should turn up for the next session, at least to learn English. But she never came. I even called her as I really wanted to bring her confidence back. But she never responded.  

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwTZirredJupZZs65UfnmJg/videos

Child counselling is difficult as they don’t open up so easily. I remember once a mother coming to me with her son, who was around 12 years old. The mother requested that she would be present during the session. Though I wanted to talk to the child alone, sometimes mothers won’t understand, and they feel insecure too to leave the child alone. The moment the child started confiding in me, the mother started interfering in between and gave her own advice. One of the questions I asked the child was, “Do you somehow feel your mom loves your younger sister a little more than you?” The child just moved his head in affirmation. His mother immediately asked, “Don’t I love you?” The child became quiet again. That session was of not much help because of the mother. I requested her to bring the child after seven days and said I would talk to the child alone for some time. But they never turned up.

Some came with genuine problems. And returned for multiple sessions, and felt better too. In some cases, when I felt that only counselling won’t help, I would refer them to psychiatrists as they would need medicines to heal.

The problem was that one fine day they felt, ‘okay let’s visit a counsellor and meet her for a day and everything would be fine’. It was difficult to make them understand that day one was only history-taking and introductory session. Most of them didn’t turn up for the next session.

In an hour-long session, they would continue talking even after the time limit. Then I started putting an alarm to make them aware that the day’s session was over. But that would rarely help. Often my one hour’s session would extend to one-and-half hours.

Fee was another issue. I started with Rs 300 for an hour-long session (that was long time back). One day, an old lady came with her son who was addicted to some medicine and was drowsy throughout the session. That lady requested me to take Rs 200 and I obliged. I advised her that her son would need hospitalisation to heal completely. I suggested a few names where she can call and admit her son. But she never called me to inform about the developments of her son.

A young boy came to me for counselling and forgot to bring his wallet. And he remembered that after the session was over. I never asked for my fee before the sessions. That day, I felt like laughing at myself. One of my friends knew his mother and so she transferred my fee online. I still don’t ask for fee before the session, lesson not learnt.

What did I learn as a counsellor? I became a good listener, I became empathetic, I don’t judge people and I became more forgiving. 

People in India still openly don’t say that they visit a counsellor. They don’t understand that if it’s important to visit a doctor when someone has a physical problem, it is the same with the mind. Mental health is equally important.

Mental health and physical health are connected. Mental health plays an important role in maintaining good physical health. Often, mental issues such as depression and anxiety, affect people's capacity to maintain health-promoting behaviours.

When mental illness is left untreated, it can cause major emotional, behavioural and physical health issues. Sometimes they lead to unhappiness and decreased enjoyment of life and even family conflicts.

Now with the pandemic taking the world in its grip, mental health is a big concern with people mostly indoors. With everything going digital, even counselling sessions are being taken online. The need is only for people to understand that if they feel something is bothering their minds all the time, they should not shy away from talking to a counsellor.

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Interview with Dr Tapan Saikia in Mumbai, one of India's leading oncologists. Published in North East Sun. Along with video interview on Think Positive Live Healthy

Interview with  Dr Tapan Saikia in Mumbai, one of India's leading oncologists. Published in North East Sun. Along with video interview on Think Positive Live Healthy

I would love to give something back to the people of Assam: Dr Tapan Saikia

Don’t miss the video interview at the end

  

 

Dr Tapan Saikia is among those people who work tirelessly to bring hope to others and live life differently. He is also one of the leading oncologists in India, dealing with terminal cases of cancer. He is the best man in India for bone marrow transplants. Right now he is associated with Prince Ali Khan Hospital in Mumbai.

 

Dr Tapan Saikia wanted to take up a job in Assam as a doctor and settle in his home state. But things didn't work out. He says, may be the people who interviewed him thought he was not good enough. Now he feels his heart is in Assam and body in Mumbai.

Dr Saikia's dream project is to make a very good cancer hospital in the NE. He thinks such a hospital is a necessity in that region so that the people don't have to travel for treatment.

Old man and the sea is one of Dr Saikia's favourite books. The story is about an old fisherman but what fascinates Dr Saikia is the everyday struggle in the character that can be seen also in a common man's life. He draws a lot of strength from that character. He believes whatever one does should be meaningful. His principle is, end will come one day in whatever way may be, but the fight should be well fought.

Dr Saikia thinks everybody influences him in some way or the other. He believes he lives for today because tomorrow is uncertain. He loves to hear Bhupen Hazarika's famous number Bristinna Parore Ashonkya Jonore …which has inspired him a lot since childhood. This doctor also has a regret – that he couldn't sing or play any instrument.

After the lighter side, let's peep into the deeper side of this medical man.

 

 

North East Sun: What is your subject of specialisation and major achievements?

Dr Tapan Saikia: Medical Oncology, my area of specialisation, is study of cancer medicine, a relatively new branch. It started during the Second World War, when it was realised that mustard gas used in the war as a poison, could reduce some of the tumours. Many classified (later unclassified) work took place in the US defense and led to development of a number of anticancer drugs. Most of these drugs are very, very strong and cause side effects. Medical Oncology is not only about using these drugs; the specialist needs to take care of the patient as a whole. He/she is more of an internist rather than only being a chemotherapist.

Currently, many childhood cancers can be cured with chemotherapy. First evidence came with some long survivors of acute leukaemia in children. A number of adult tumours also could be treated very effectively with medicines alone. Bone marrow transplantation (now known as blood stem cell transplantation) has added the number of survivors among patients with blood cancer, lymphoma, myeloma and some non-cancerous conditions. More recently, molecules are being developed to target the basic pathology of a disease (chemotherapy drugs are usually non-specific in choosing targets) and has shown great potential in controlling various cancers. One drug known as glivec (imatinib mesylate) has been very effective in controlling a blood cancer called CML and a solid tumour called GIST.

NES: Your greatest medical achievement.

DTS: I consider becoming a physician (by providence, rather than by design) itself is an achievement for me. Also, I have not achieved anything significant yet. If I could continue to help the community at large till my last day of working, my job will be done.

NES: Tell about your experience being part of the team during the first Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) in India.

DTS: I was fortunate to be a part of it. I was young and even now feel like living a dream. Drs Advani and Gopal, our senior faculty members, were trained at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA, and they taught us on the subject at the Tata Memorial Hospital. We learned everything first-hand. This has helped us learning many aspects of this difficult field. The first transplant was successful. Subsequently, there have been many failures and some successes. We are continuing to learn every day.

NES: Medical profession is more of a business now. What is your say about this?

DTS: I have mixed reactions. Nevertheless, I have consciously managed to keep the faith. It is unfortunate that some of us are looking at the profession from a different perspective. There are good things and bad things and there are good people and bad people. We have to live all through these, is not it?

NES: Cancer treatment is very expensive. What do you do for the poor patients?

DTS: From a very recent personal experience, I have just found out that any illness can cost you a large amount of money; very unfortunate, but appears unavoidable at the present time. Cancer being a chronic disease, often drains the patient/family financially and emotionally.

As many of our patients are poor, we have been trying to find as many means as possible for funding. It is amazing how some hospital authorities (not all of them though), charitable trusts and good Samaritans extend help! I have noted this big heart, especially in Mumbai. However, it is never enough. Until the health care system is revamped in the country, the poor will always be at the receiving end.

NES: How do you deal with the psychology of cancer patients?

DTS: Every one is different. We need to understand the person as a whole and act accordingly. Getting the patient into a positive frame of mind could be easy, tough or impossible. I try to act rather than react (often fail). More often than not, it is the family with whom we end up dealing more. Hence, knowing family members' psyche is equally important. Dealing with a terminal stage cancer patient is extremely difficult. The need for palliative care is increasing.

NES: What is the status of medical care in India right now and what about the North-East?

DTS: Medical care in India is excellent in its own ill-organised way. The word ill-organised means failing to keep a proper document for future reference. We need more human resources to record notes and keep documents.

In the North-East, more efforts are needed. We have brilliant students of medicine. Existing institutes need better treatment from the authorities concerned. I would have loved to give something back to the people of Assam; I owe it to them. However, I do not want to initiate anything in a haphazard way. Also, the people should accept me (a difficult one from certain perspectives).

NES: What is your dream achievement in the medical field?

DTS: I need to be realistic here. In the past, I considered many ifs and buts. It is not feasible to have seminal contributions in the field while working in India. The environment is not truly conducive to do basic research, not because of lack of institutes but due to poor organisational shortcomings. Nevertheless, I have not given up on my dreams yet.

NES: Your memorable moment in life.

DTS: To identify one or several incidents is not easy. Seeing some young people back in their studies, jobs, starting a family gives me immense happiness. Some young people have been very generous in helping needy people. Some would adopt a patient for financial assistance, while the other would send a month's salary every year (earned in dollars abroad) for the poor. Some would form help groups. What else do you need in life to be happy!

NES: Do you get emotionally attached with your patients?

DTS: How could you avoid it? Yes, I usually get close. If someone says we should not, I consider him/her a demon. It is as simple as that.

NES: Do you believe in God?

DTS: I would let the question pass. It is too personal a matter and my interpretation would be misunderstood by others. Only one comment – religion and God are two different issues.

NES: Do you get time from your hectic schedule to spend with your family?

DTS: It is all in day's work. Everything overlaps. We give space to each other. We share responsibilities. I try to do everything – cooking, washing, cleaning, plumbing, ironing clothes, etc., excepting the accounting part. My wife, Beethi, is the expert in that department. She is more efficient in every area.

NES: Your hobbies.

DTS: I have too many hobbies, not necessarily good ones. I like to see the world as a colourful one, no dark glasses (shades) for me. I love to travel, read books (all kinds), occasionally cook, do exercises, clean the house, sit in front of the computer for hours and writing articles. There is no spare time, everything overlaps.

NES: Tell about your hometown.

DTS: I grew in half urban, half rural, Naharkatia. Looking back, I had a fairly happy childhood; can not remember any long-lasting traumatic events. We are nine siblings brought up by maternal grandmother (she is no more to see us surviving this way). Had a great neighbourhood full of events like, Bihu, moina parijat, jungle adventures (it was our backyard, now gone), sports and healthy/unhealthy gossips. It was a normal childhood. The growth depended on one's outlook and dreams. Medicine happened and I became a physician; destiny brought me to Mumbai ( Bombay) 1981. I did not have the opportunity of working in Assam.

Video interview with Think Positive Live Healthy

Link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GevGQ5Ke30&t=294s

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