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Natasha Ramarathnam Profile picture
Natasha Ramarathnam
@nuts2406
(she/her) : Mother : Dog Parent : Feminist : Atheist : Woke: Liberal : People Watcher : Pluviophile: Coffee addict : Tree hugger : Book Dragon : Be Kind
3 subscribers
Sep 16, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
September 17, 1948 is when Operation Polo (or Police Action depending on who you speak to) ended in a crushing defeat for the Hyderabad Army, paving the way for the richest state to become part of India.
Here are 3 books that helped me better understand my adopted state.
++ October Coup: A Memoir of the Struggle for Hyderabad, by Mohammed Hyder
Mhd. Hyder was a District Collector in Hyderabad during the months leading to Police Action. The book is a slightly disturbing account of those days and of how he was hounded later
++
nuts2406.medium.com/book-review-oc…
Jul 28, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
When you tear a banyan fig open, chances are you will find a colony of tiny insects/ larvae inside it. But how did they get there?
1/4 Certain wasp species co-evolved with banyans. An impregnated female wasp dusted with pollen enters the banyan fig, lays her eggs and dies. When the eggs hatch, the male wasp impregnates a female wasp and dies. The female with pollen, enters another fig.
The cycle continues.
2/4
Dec 29, 2021 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Dear Men,
A lot of you call us "toxic feminists" who keep "cribbing about men". You give us unsolicited advice about how we should "take care and be responsible" for our own safety. The moment you see our DPs, your heckles rise.
But do you know what it is like to be a woman?
1/ Do you know we never step out of home without something with which to defend ourselves in case we are attacked. It could be pepper spray, a Swizz Army knife, or a key held as a knuckle duster; we are always prepared.
2/
Dec 28, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Five reasons why I support the demand of the protesting doctors for expedited NEET-PG Counselling. And why I think you should too.

1/6 One:
Doctors often take time off to prepare for NEET-PG. If the exams and counselling are delayed, in addition to the anxiety the opportunity cost goes up. This will particularly hit the doctors who are not well off.

2/6
Dec 28, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Have we forgotten the trauma we experienced because of the acute shortage of hospital beds during the second wave?
Many governments scrambled to improve hospital infrastructure- regular beds were upgraded to ICU beds and new wards set up.
We are better prepared now. Or are we?
1/ A 10-bed ICU ward can be set up in a couple of weeks, and costs a fraction of the CSR budget of mid-cap companies. We have the beds, but do we have the manpower to operate them?
Most of the duty doctors in 'medical college & hospital's are doctors doing their post graduation.
2/
Dec 16, 2021 • 23 tweets • 4 min read
Why is it not a good idea to raise the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21?

~a thread~
1/ Upto 30% of women in India were married before the age of 18, despite the fact that the legal age was set at 18 years in 1978.
This conclusively proves that the law is not a deterrent against child marriage.
2/
Oct 9, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
It goes against the Constitution for a PSU bank to push an overtly religious agenda on its staff and vendor partners.
But what makes this office memo even more pathetic is that the "Navratri Colour Code" started as a marketing gimmick and doesn't have religious significance.
1/ Anyone who has lived in Maharashtra would have noticed the Navratri Colour Code, where the entire city flaunts the colour of the day, everyday.
Most women would even have participated in the trend. And with the popularity of saree pacts, it has now spread across the nation.
2/
Oct 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I read the entire thread, and can't see how any of this is "looting".
Free transportation, hotel stay and to let's for the family are perks.
Taking home chocolates, while not strictly ethical, is something everyone does- haven't we used office stationery for personal work?

++ If the value of goods was higher than what can be declared, it's a culpable offence. If not, they just utilised a loophole in the law.
Either way, why did the Customs authorities allow it, unless they were paid off too?

++
Oct 8, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
People seem to be more upset about the fact that women and girls are speaking up about being molested in Puja Pandals or Devi Visarjans, than about the fact that men are molesting women and girls in Puja Pandals or Devi Visarjans.

++ Apparently when women are being groped in a crowded place, they are expected to ask the harasser their name. If the woman can't furnish the name, she has no business speaking about the incident.

++
May 24, 2021 • 6 tweets • 6 min read
It started with a small idea- can we share our favourite passages, and it grew into something quote delightful. Thank you to all the wonderful people who made it such a happy space. This is a partial list of books/ stories that people read from. Apologies if I missed any out
@namitaj68 Only Love Is Real, Brian Weiss
@pamposh_herPoet The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer
@nazmaaman A Man called Ove, Fredrik Backman
@telmewhuiam The Fly, Katherine Mansfield
+
May 17, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
#VaccinesForAll
"Let those who can afford to pay for vaccines, pay", is a common response when we speak of free COVID-19 vaccines for all. On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with the statement, but a simple analogy shows why that is not a good idea.
++ Imagine a cafeteria in a factory, where all the employees mandatorily eat the same food together. The quality of food will necessarily be good, because the management eats there, and they should be kept happy.
It is the same when vaccination is done though one channel only.
++
May 2, 2021 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
There have been posts about children who have lost both parents to COVID and are therefore up for adoption, with a number to contact if anyone wants to adopt.

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ILLEGAL.
++ If you know of any such cases of children orphaned or semi-orphaned due to COVID, please contact Childline by calling 1098. Their social workers will get in touch and know what to do.

++
May 1, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Dr. Fauci also speaks of creating hospital infrastructure, involving the Army, and vaccination. All great ideas, but are they implementable? And at such short notice?
++ Every hospital is getting only a fraction of the resources it needs. State governments are not allowing oxygen to move out of its boundaries.
The solutions offered at this point are vague and naïve and cannot be taken seriously.
++
May 1, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
When Dr. Fauci recommends lockdown, he has no idea of the ground reality of the country. We do not have sufficient hospital beds, we do not have sufficient oxygen, we do not have sufficient life saving medicines. How will Lockdown help?
++
indianexpress.com/article/expres… How will people admit the severely ill relatives to hospital if there is a Lockdown?
There are patients in gurneys and ambulances outside hospitals waiting to be admitted. Many of them are on oxygen support. Lockdown will only lead to harassment of the attendants.
++
Mar 5, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
We all now know that the Epidemic Act was enacted in 1896 to deal with the Plague Epidemic. What is less known is that in 1897, Dr. Haffkine who had come to India to conduct trials for the cholera vaccine, developed the plague vaccine in his 2 room laboratory in Parel, Bombay.
++ Both plague and cholera vaccines were being manufactured in India in the first decade of the 20th century.
Numerous research facilities were set up in the first half of the 20th century, and a facility to manufacture BCG was set up in the country as early as 1948.
++
Nov 1, 2020 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Men often feel threatened when we speak about the political, economic, social and personal equality of the sexes. Secure in the privilege that their gender confers on them, men do not realize that they too are victims of the patriarchal mindset.
++ Yes, Patriarchy does benefit men. It confers the title of “superior” gender on men. It empowers them to dictate how women behave. Their bodies aren’t policed, and they are certainly not in as much danger of sexual, physical or emotional abuse.
++
Oct 26, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
To me, Navratri has always been associated with Maa Durga. Though born in a Tamilian household, my childhood and youth was spent in communities with a predominantly Bengali population, so Durga Puja is a part of my cultural heritage, not Navratri golu.
++ The frenzied beat of the dakis. The sound of conch shells. The smell of camphor and flowers, mingling with the tantalizing aroma of street food. New clothes and conversations. And reigning above it all the benign face of Maa Durga, home on a visit.
++
Oct 10, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
The last few months have been difficult for us.
We have been trying to cope with too many uncertainties; the Pandemic, the Lockdown, the Economic downturn, and the plight of the migrants that for the first time brought stories of acute poverty into our homes.

#MentalHealth
++ Though it took a toll on our Mental Health, we were not able or willing to acknowledge it.
To stand up and say, "I am not okay. I need time off to recover", was difficult in an environment, where you are expected to pop a pill and turn up even if you are sick

#MentalHealth
++
Oct 8, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
A1. At a personal level, worrying about my mum, balancing work and home, trying not to worry about the kids, missing hugs
At a larger level, being devastated by how a generation of good work came undone, and wondering what the future holds for us all.
#MyHealthChat A2. Oddly, it's been my Twitter family that's been my greatest solace. Too many to name and I wouldn't want to leave anyone out.
With my real life friends, I've been the one offering support.
#MyHealthChat
Aug 25, 2020 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
With nearly half the academic year over, and no sign of the pandemic letting up, the natural question one asks is, ‘when should schools reopen?’
From the pandemic management standpoint, the answer is simple- not anytime soon.
But can the answer really be that simple?
1/ Despite restrictions on the activities that are allowed, the number of new cases is still going up every day. There is still very little awareness among the general public on how to adopt preventive practices.
At this stage, opening up schools can colleges can be calamitous.
2/
Aug 19, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
A mask is like a sanitary napkin. It is uncomfortable. You don't like it. You long for the day when you no longer have to wear it. Yet, you have no choice but to wear it.

But that's not all; there are other similarities between the two.
+ You cannot wear a sanitary napkin and forget about it. You must replace it when it gets saturated or after 6 hours.
Same with masks. You have to change it after a few hours, or risk contamination from the pathogens that stick to the mask.
Dispose responsibly and wash hands.
+