Puke-worthy education

Zoology is what I'm doing my graduation in. We learn about all kinds of animals - even minuscule little icky creatures which you'd never imagine can be called 'animals'.

We have been dissecting animals right from the initial few days in college - cockroaches, earthworms, prawns, fish, pigeon heads, frogs, rats...
In the final year, in our subject of Physiology, we are supposed to record a frog's heart beat. Now, for the froggy's heart to keep beating - it has to be alive - and the poor little thing's heart has to be removed from the body.

How do you think we manage to do that? In the most brutal, horrifying way. It is the stuff done by psychopath killers to their victims..and worse..
A frog (alive and healthy and kicking) has to be held by its legs and slammed on a flat surface. Twice. Thrice.

All this slamming does the following things to the poor creature :

1. Stuns it.
2. Makes some of its blood splatter.
3. Damages its skull.
4. Makes its tongue hang out in the most heart wrenching way.

Stunning it is what is required for the rest of the experiment procedure. Next it is pinned and/or a pin is pushed through its brain so that it doesn't move about when one is going to tear him up. Then follows a complicated set of steps requiring pushing pins through the heart, ligating the main veins etc.

I absolutely hate doing any of this.. Many others do too..my classmates, students who have been through this already. Nobody has been able to do anything about this outrageous practice of wasting hundreds of frogs' lives.. and all of it for a completely useless purpose of studying a frog's heart beat - something that can be done simply through a text book!

Teachers don't seem to see reason here. Venting out the exasperation regarding the insensitivity and unwillingness of the teachers to understand logic would require another post though.

Till anybody of consequence decides to do anything of consequence about this deplorable physiology experiment, we'll continued to be blackmailed to kill poor froggies.. as it so happens..this particular practical experiment carries a hell lot of marks in the exam. Will be soon posting a video showing some of the above mentioned atrocities on frogs - not for the weak of heart that video.

Why did she die?

Radhika Tanwar,20, was shot on Tuesday, 8th March 2011..right outside her college. She was shot in the back of her neck - not fatal - but she died anyway.

Ok..who shot her? A young guy, possibly a rejected lover, out to take revenge. He had also been stalking the girl for quite some time. Himself stunned for a whole minute, during which he stood utterly still, after pulling the trigger, he made a mad dash for it, losing himself in the crowd. Yeah, there was a crowd present. It took 10 full minutes for them to realize that a gun shot results in bleeding and bleeding can result in death.

Do you think the poor girl could have imagined in her wildest dreams that she'd die that way? Amidst people who had neither common sense nor the balls to do anything except just watch the 'tamasha'.

The police are now REQUESTING witnesses to please come and give specifics about that man. And why should it make me feel indignant, shocked, shameful? Because I am of the exact same age - it could've been any of us. I don't wish to die that way.

I'd like people to pounce on that sonofabitch and tear him to pieces, rush me to hospital immediately and the judiciary to make his remaining life hell.

People, please, get a goddamned sense of duty.

Random, this one.

I am the embodiment of lethargy today. Shouldn't be complaining though - Its just the way I like it. The whole day occupied with lots and lots of things to do. Doesn't leave you with a minute free to dwell on useless things.
For instance, what should I do in the future? It is completely and entirely useless to think anymore about it. No amount of pondering over this extremely tiresome question could lead me to the answer.

I idolize Dagny Taggart, the female protagonist of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. She never had a minute free either. Oh but she knew what she wanted to do.

She could work day and night and morning and evening and noon. Sleep on her desk in her office, not eat, not drink, walk miles, fly more miles. But when she was to appear in a party, say, or in company.. she managed to look jaw-dropping-awesome. Things like these shatter the illusion of idolatry.

Anyhow!! Haven't gotten over this book even after 10 months of reading it. The impact is here to stay, I'd say.