Author Archives: Rajgopal Nidamboor

The Viral Paradox

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR There’s this celebrated story of a patient, with flu, who went to his physician with the illness. The latter quickly scribbled a prescription in his customary difficult-to-decrypt handwriting. The patient put it in his pocket, but forgot to go the chemist. Each morning, for two years, he displayed it to the conductor as […]

Kahlil Gibran: Plumber Of The Soul

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR When Kahlil Gibran published his magnum opus, The Prophet, a hundred years ago, he wouldn’t have, perforce, realised the true, perennial import of his work: a structure with a timeless appeal. All the same, his insuperable work was a roseate contribution to literature — one that has in it just about every ingredient a […]

Cells Of Good Hope

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR First things first: an elderly woman in China, who became seriously ill after getting infected with the COVID-19 virus, made an uneventful recovery following stem cell therapy. Similar treatments were undertaken elsewhere — the outcome was reassuring. However, the fact is — it is early days in the chronicle of stem cells foretold. The […]

Warped Balance

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR The universe may not think it’s all-intrusive, according to the Vedas. Hence, its relationship with nature and us is substantial — even when one is not familiar with their teachings. The Vedas celebrate the environment for each of us, whatever our belief, or ideology. This is, by itself, the Vedic foundation of truth […]

Forever Greene

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Graham Greene — the legendary novelist, playwright, short story and screenplay writer, critic and journalist of the top draw — was always a mobile writer, never ever easy to pin down. His narrative quest was criminal-centered. His novels enveloped dissent, and his journalism championed disliked causes. His comedies were sad and his politics […]

The Rembrandt Of Suspense

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it. — Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE, was a great visual artist. He was also a supreme architect of anticipation. What’s more, he never believed in the ordinary. He held a magnetic, or hypnotic, charm too. Evil, for him, […]

Molecules Of Emotion

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Our brain is the control centre for conscious, unconscious and automatic life processes. The interesting part also is all of us have not one but, in effect, three brains in consonance with our evolutionary ‘construct’ — the ‘logical’ brain, the ‘heart’ brain and the ‘gut’ brain. Our brain abounds with neuropeptides. Neuropeptides, as […]

Bannister’s Magic Run

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR He’s a British sporting hero upholding impeccable standards, an archetypal athlete, strong in both will and mind. Self-effacing, suave, and gracious, he also — in the truly Churchillian sense — espoused the famed bulldog tenacity, a never-say-die attitude that’s remarkably inconsistent, if not wanting, with modern British athletes. Adaptable, creative, practical, he was […]