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Dr. Sanjoy Kumar Pal |
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My Views
Cairo, Egypt
I wanted to visit the pyramids of Egypt from my childhood as in our school days we were taught about Egypt i.e., about their Kings and Queens and the mysterious pyramids. The movie on Cleopatra that I watched during my teens even rekindled my desires even further. Visiting Egypt was on my wishes list for a long time; however, my desire got a boost when I went to Ethiopia in 2010. Egypt was not very far from Ethiopia and I could have visited the country while returning to India for vacation. A plan was made to visit the country along with my friends in 2012; however, large scale protest started in Egypt from February demanding the military to step away from power. The disturbance in Egypt did not subsided till I stayed in Ethiopia, so I was not able to visit the pyramids. Then again when I came to Nigeria I starting making plan to visit Egypt while going back to India; however, as the ticket was provided by our university so the ticket of the shortest route via Ethiopia was given to us. Anyway, finally in August 2023 while going back to India I was able to visit Egypt with my colleague Dr. A Senthil Kumar. The layover time in Cairo was about 20 hours. The tour was very nice as we were able to see the pyramids of Giza and the Cairo museum. We got a good tour guide cum driver Mahmood who took us around the place without any hassle.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Family Visit to Dubai Family outing is not very common for us as our vacation time do not match. Hence, most of the time our journey together is going to Kharagpur or Kolkata. However, now Sneha has grown up and she wants that we can travel to some exotic place for vacation, but my vacation time is during August so what every to be planned had to be during this month. Last year a one day trip was planned to Goa i.e., August 2021. We along with Mr. Debu Mukherjee dashed to Goa for a day; however, due to COVID most of the places have just started to open but the casinos were closed. That was one of the main attractions of the trip. We stayed at Taj Hotel & Convention Centre, the place was really beautiful, but virtually empty because of the pandemic. Anyway, we had a good time in Goa and enjoyed the traditional cuisine and night life also went for some sightseeing and shopping. We could not stay for long in Goa as I had prior commitments and it could not be rescheduled........Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Agonizing Year of 2020 In my horoscope, the time of Saturn mahadasa and sun antardasa started from September 2019 to September 2020. This time period was predicted to be of physical pain and mental agony. In a layman’s term, the period was not going to be a good, difficult time in terms of both physical and mental challenges. So I was mentally prepared to deal with any eventualities right from the start. For the first six months nothing significant happened, then in the early part of 2020 everything went to a state of suspended animation due to the COVID-19 pandemic........ Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Life in Kano, Nigeria I came to Kano to join the Skyline University Nigeria (SUN) on 1st October, 2018, it was Monday and a public holiday. Though the city of Kano is quite big, but the airport was not very impressive. Anyway, there were some people from SUN to receive me. From airport with-in half hour I reached the international staff accommodation, which was 6 Abbas Road near the Race Course. The residential accommodation was quite nice and fully furnished. The university was around 4-5 km away from the residential villa and it took around 10-15 minutes to reach the university........................................ Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Memories of Bhopal I came to Bhopal from Kharagpur in 1981 to continue my higher studies in science stream. I did my schooling, graduation and post-graduation studies from there. I stayed with my aunt (Masi) and uncle (Meso) in their house in 126-B,Indrapuri. My Masi was like my second mother, she was my guide, friend and Guru. It was her guidance and brotherly help of my cousin Sujit that I could reach where I am today.Masi was like a good friend to us (Sujit& me) and with her we could discuss many difficult topics and even taboo subject like sex. She was open for any discussion and we used to spend hours on discussion. I was initially very nervous and shaky with little self-confidence; however, with constant inspiration from Masi, Meso and Sujit I got completely transformed and could complete my higher studies. I learnt many things from Meso, and the most important amongst them was the time management. He used to tell that ‘the work done is not important, how it was done is important.’ He was very meticulous in his work and from him I learnt the art of planning and work execution. He served as a Senior Manager in the Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, Bhopal. ....................................... Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bikaner, Rajasthan I came to Bikaner to join the RNB Global University (RNBGU) one year back. The RNBGU is situated in the outskirts of the city, around 20 km from the Railway station. The city is known for the 16th-century Junagarh Fort, and for the world famous Karni Mata Temple or the Rat Temple which is around 30 km away from the main city and is dedicated to Karni Mata, believed to be an incarnation of goddess Durga. Contrary to my expectation this desert city was quite green and there was no water crisis in the peak summer months largely due to the Indira Gandhi Canal, bringing the much needed water from Satluj and Beas rivers. However, the ambient temperature was terrific. ............................................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Life in CACM, Kharagpur I left Kharagpur in 1981 for my higher studies, and life after that was full of adventure and wandering. After leaving Kharagpur, I stayed in many cities for my studies & job. The cities that I stayed in the last 35 years were: Bhopal-Bareilly-Lucknow-Bhopal-Kolkata-Lucknow-Dehradun-Mumbai-Harar. Finally, again in 2014, I got a chance to come back and stay in Kharagpur as I got a chance to work in the Centre for Advance Communication (CACM). I have seen CACM from the budding phase to grow into a full blown tree from STEP, IIT, Kharagpur. Anyway, getting associated with CACM was a great experience. ...........................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit to the land of Jaganath Mahaprabhu - Puri Trip I have been to Puri many time, may be over 20 times. However, my recent visit to Puri was after a gap of 15 years. The last time I went there along with my family was in 1999. Many things have changed in Puri since my last visit. Many new luxurious hotels have come up and a superb theme park ‘GourVihar’ in the outskirt of the city. This time I went along with my dad and Pal meso. We stayed in Victoria Club hotel, we were lucky to get the ground floor sea view room as it was off season. However, the weather was not very conducive; there were heavy rains all the 3 days we stayed.. ...........................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangladesh visit My first visit to Bangladesh was in 1998 when we took the body of my father-in-law to Dhaka. His cremation was done in Dhaka with state honours. He was a celebrity in Bangladesh, so his funeral was attended by thousands of peoples. I did not stay there for long. I did visit Dhaka again after one year. This time my family also went along with me. We stayed in the house of Nilidi [Ms. Nilofer Ahmed], she was then the Director in the Prime minister’s office. Her family was very close to my in-laws. She was also a close relative of Sheik Hasina [PM of Bangladesh]. We stayed there for a week. . ..............................Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dubai Again After I left Dubai in 2011, I had a wish to visit the city again. The city is really intoxicating to tourist like me who is visiting it for the first time. One would like to visit the city again and again. What a city, you have the world’s tallest building, tallest hotel, largest shopping mall, biggest aquarium, biggest airport and so many other eye catching wonders spread throughout the city. The place is real paradise on earth. The first time I went to Dubai, my friend Nirlipta Raychoudhuri (Kismis) did not leave me for a minute, like a big bro he took me to all the places in his car. So I could smell the place but, could not really taste it. ................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My Dubai visit Nirlipta Raychoudhuri (Kismis) and Grindelia di are my childhood friends. Exactly, they are more than just friends. Their father Raychodhuri Jathu and my father worked at the same Railway Hospital, Kharagpur. Both of them were very close to each other, so was my mom and Jathima (Kismis’s mom). Our bungalows were also nearby, hardly 4-5 minutes walk. Ever evening we used to play at Kismis’s bungalow. In summer we played football and cricket in winter. They had a massive bungalow with a big play ground. There were about 10 -15 players, mostly my friends staying in the Railway colony and were of same age group. Together we made a great team. ………………Read more
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Addis Ababa Addis Ababa which means ‘New Flower’ in Amharic is the capital of Ethiopia. However, it is popularly know as Addis. I first landed in Addis while coming to Harar in October 2010. But, I did not get an opportunity to venture out of the Bole International Airport. During the semester break in June 2011, Dr. Manas Panigrahi, his wife Mrs. Riku and I visited Addis on our way to Bahir Dar. Addis is the largest city in Ethiopia and often referred to as "the political capital of Africa", due to its historical, diplomatic and political significance for the continent. The site of Addis Ababa was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul and the city was founded in 1886 by her husband, Emperor Menelik II. ……….. Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Passage to Ethiopia It all started with the news of my friend Dr. P S Bedi getting selected for the Al-Jabal Al-Garabi University, Libya in end part of 2009. The news was good and exciting because one of my close friends will be going abroad as an international faculty. However, I was skeptic about the living conditions in Libya. However, after 2-3 months Dr. Bedi was seems to be very happy with his new assignment. This provoked me to think about applying for job in Gulf countries. In the months of May-June there was advertisement in Times of India by Global Placement Agency, Hyderabad regarding faculty positions for Ethiopian Universities. I immediately applied for the same. Subsequently, I was invited to attend the interview in Delhi.…………………….. Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mumbai The City of Dreams & Illusion My present home is in Mumbai. I never in my wildest dreams thought that Mumbai can become my home. I was very afraid to stay in a metro because the quality of life is not so good in big cities. I always wanted to stay in small cities and avoid big crowd. However, you cannot change your destiny. When I was in Dehradun, I happen to meet Vaidya Balendu Prakash. He was known to me earlier, I first met him in an Ayurvedic conference held at Sewagram in 2002. For his work on treatment of haematological malignancies with Ayurvedic Medicines he was awarded the ‘Padma Shri’ in 1999................................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My First Teaching Assignment In July 2006, I got an interview call for faculty position in department of Biotechnology from Sardar Bhagwan Singh Postgraduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences [SBSPGI], Dehradun. At first I was not very keen to go for the interview. I heard many things about private institutes that were not very pleasant, like lots of exploitation and harassment; moreover, they pay less and do not follow the UGC guidelines. Some of my colleagues working in Sanjay Gandhi PGI came and told me that their children were studying in that same institute. It was very good and no exploitation of staffs is reported from there, so I should not miss this chance. SBSPGI was rated quite high amongst the various teaching institutes in Dehradun. .............Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My USA visit It was my childhood dream to visit USA. After I registered myself for the Ph.D. program in I.V.R.I., visiting USA for higher studies was always there in the back of my mind. After completing Ph.D. when I came to Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS, Lucknow, the chance of going abroad become even brighter. I met Dr. Hatori in SGPGI, who had come all the way from Japan to teach us recent advances of molecular biology techniques in January 1994. After the training program he was very keen that I should join him in his lab in Japan. However, I told him that I want to go USA for my post doctoral study………………..……Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucknow Meri Jaan I came to Lucknow in January 2000; this was first visit to Lucknow after my 1994 health problems. Actually, my friend Durjoy Mazumdar from Kolkata was trying for his PhD, I suggested him to go to Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS). I wrote a letter to Prof. Suraksha Aggarwal in the Medical Genetics department introducing my friend and informing about my present position. I was not sure how Prof. Suraksha will react to my letter as my earlier stay in SGPGI was brief and futile. However, she was good to my friend and inform me that I should come back to SGPGIMS and try for some position. So I visited SGPGIMS and met her. She was instrumental for my Postdoc admission to SGPGIMS in 1993.. ...........................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My Introduction To Cancer The detection of ‘Cancer’ can alter the daily normal rhythm of a middle class family drastically. This is what happened when my 70 years old father-in-law [late Mr. Brojen Das, King of Channel], was diagnosed with cancer in 1997. The best of conventional cancer therapy failed to produce the desired response. And the adverse side effects produced by the treatment became more painful than the disease itself. Hence, neither the treating clinicians nor my family members were in favour of more chemotherapy. Moreover, he had open heart bypass surgery few years back, so doctors were not ready to take any risk. Our greatest predicament was what to do next as we just cannot let him die without any treatment. Like any other concerned caregivers’, we started looking for some dependable alternative cancer treatment in India and abroad...............................Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Most Strange Incidence of my life It was in late March 1996. I along with my father-in-law (Mr. Brojen Das), mother-in-law (Mrs. Chanda Das), Somujit (brother-in-law), my wife (Sanghita) and Banerjee da went to visit Bhojpur temple. This Siva linga temple was built by Raja Bhoj (1010-1053 AD).The lingum in the sanctum is almost 7.5 feet in height and 17.8 feet in circumference. However, the temple was never completed. Bhojpur is 30 km from Bhopal. Even with the ravages of time, it remains one of the best examples of temple architecture of the 12th and 13th centuries…………………..… Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Most Miserable Phase of My Life The most miserable phase of my life started two days after my marriage. After I completed my doctoral studies and joined Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow in November 1993. Due to long work hours in the hospital/lab and frequent mess problems made me sick. I was having frequent stomach problems. Prof. G. Choudhuri of the department of Gastroenterology examined me and told me that only medicines cannot solve my problem…………………. Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Escaping from the claws of death: the killer earthquake of Uttarkashi During the Durga Puja / Dushera vacation in 1991 a team of 21 members consisting of my relatives and friends went for a trip to Uttarkasi. The route of the trip was Haridwar-Gangotri-Kedarnath-Badrinath. The trip started with a real fun with Ganga Shnan (Bathing) and Bengali food at Da-Didir Hotel in Haridwar. Though the river Ganga is polluted throughout its course in the main land, but it was crystal clear in Haridwar. We stayed at Haridwar for 2 days before starting for Gangotri……….….. Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IVRI Bareilly I had a keen interest to pursue my higher education and get a PhD. degree. However, I knew that it was not possible to do that from the place where I was doing my masters i.e., Barkatullah University, Bhopal. In our MSc. class we had 8 students and only one or two could be accommodated for PhD. in the department. Getting fellowship was another important factor. In March of 1987 there was an excursion trip to Pantnagar University from our department. Thanks to our senior Dr. Rajat Saxena who was doing his PhD. in Pantnagar made all the arrangement for this trip................ Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The most beautiful phase of my life College days are always exiting; it becomes memorable when you have good friends and teachers around. The three years period from 1985-1987, I consider as the best period of my life so far. This was the period when I was doing my M.Sc. Genetics from the University Teaching Department, Barkatullah University, Bhopal. We were 4 boys and girls batch. My colleagues were: Grishma, Kakoli, Sapna, Radhika, Manoj, Vaidyanath and Vijendra………………….... Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Most Tragic Incidence of My Life I like to share my experience about the most tragic incidence of my life that happened exactly 25 years ago. The date was 3rd December 1984, I was doing my final year of graduation in Bhopal. I stayed in my Uncle’s house in Indrapuri, Bhopal. Indrapuri is a satellite township situated near the Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL), Bhopal. My uncle was a manager in BHEL. I used to live with my aunt, uncle, didi and Sandha our domestic help………………… Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Personalities who shaped my life The two people who had a profound influence on me are my parents. My dad Dr. D. N. Pal was a successful dermatologist and was always busy with clinics. My mother Mrs. Mira Pal was a simple house wife. Though, my dad could spare very little time for me, but he had made a rule that our family remain together at dinner. During dinner he used to ask us about our daily activities. The best thing about him was that he used to discuss almost everything with us during dinner. Discussion topics included astrology, ghost, sports, biology, movies, life and even sex…………….……. Read more ----------------------------------------------------------------------- My Childhood days in Kharagpur My father worked in the South Easter Railway Hospital in South Side, Kharagpur. He was allotted a big bunglow near the hospital. The colony in which we lived was one of the best build railway colonies of India. The colony was build by the British in the early 1900s. All the bunglows had big open area for gardening and some had tennis court and swimming pools. All the bunglows had 4-5 servant quarters or out-house as we used to call them. The bunglows had strange features i.e. the rooms were very big, almost 20 ft x 20 ft x 20 ft…………….…….. Read more -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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