Exotic Animal Practice in South Asia.

Exotic animal practice is at its infancy in South Asia. We lack the formal education for this subject. However, new policies and improvements in the veterinary education system and a positive shift in demographics of exotic animals as pets have led to an upsurge of knowledge about this subject. Earlier people were forced to treat exotic animals, however, now there are many veterinarians who make it a choice to treat these species. This shift in trend will help exotic animal practice grow in South Asia.

Sukshmjeevanu in Vedas: The Forgotten Past of Microbiology in Indian Vedic Knowledge.

No one questions the existence of presumptive knowledge of invisible organisms causing disease, decay and destruction mentioned before the discovery of the microbial world by Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, who was the first to describe the invisible world as per literature available today. However, the knowledge about microbial world by Indian Rishis presented in Sanskrit shlokas or suktas of our traditional manuscripts such as Vedas remained unseen, where the Rishis had predicted the role of microorganisms known as Krimi or Jeevanu years before Leeuwenhoek. This note is an attempt to bring an emphasis to revisit our traditional Vedic knowledge and establish them through research based facts for wider acceptance globally.

Spinning Solitude: Coronavirus and the Philosopher.

This fictionalized script (fictional dialogue between Coronavirus and the Philosopher) traces the contours of the conversation that seeks to fathom the crisis unleashed by the outbreak and global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic) and the ensuing anxieties created in our current social living. The scenario of deepened isolation of the self from the other (social distancing and 'stay-at-home' or various lockdowns) is considered, and it is proposed (by the philosopher, I presume) that isolation, while an unavoidable requirement, does not mean it is some mental lassitude but rather may be seen as an enthusiastic concern toward recovering physical and mental wellbeing of the larger communities concerned to control the possible avenues of transmission of the contagion. The conversation meanders around the issue of quarantine, its attraction or otherwise, and who benefits from this restriction, its effects on one's mental constitution, etc. Philosophers have been known to isolate themselves in other contexts and situations (Yajñavalkya and the Buddha withdrawing to the forest; the Jain mendicants crossing "the ford"; the Stoics withdrawing from society, Nietzsche's retreating regularly to the sanatorium; Heidegger to the Black Forest; Kant's unsocial sociability and Wittgenstein living lonesome lives, etc.) give us a taste of what is to come in the dialogue to resist the calamity of the coronavirus and its grim effects that engulf the entire humanity.

Drinking habits in ancient India.

Consumption of one or other form of intoxicating substances has been present throughout the history of the world. This article traces such use in the Indian subcontinent, both in North and South India. References to the use of intoxicants are to be found in the Vedas, the Great Epics, and the ancient Tamil literature.

Morality and moral development: Traditional Hindu concepts.

Morality (from the Latin word moralitas that means "manner, character, proper behavior") is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good (or right) and those that are bad (or wrong). It is determined by how one's genetic makeup interacts with the environment. The development of morality has been a subject of investigation for a number of decades, and our understanding of neuro-biological and psychological mechanisms has increased manifolds in the last few decades. Development of morality has been of particular significance to psychiatric literature because of its significant contribution to the development of one's personality and it's aberration in various disorders. Cultures that have been just, equal and moral have been widely accepted and appreciated. In this review, we shall summarize the modern theories of moral development and then look into a part of our past and cultural heritage and review the traditional Hindu concepts of morality and their contribution to development of one's personality and their relevance in the current times.