Roshan Radhakrishnan's Blog, page 13

Interviewing Heroes of Kindness

For those who don't know, my Heroes of Kindness blog series seeks out kind people from across the world, of all ages and nationalities, and showcasing their stories to remind readers that the world still has plenty of compassionate individuals left.
That there is still hope. That even in cynical and polarizing times like this, good human beings still exist. And in a thousand different ways, they spread kindness all around them, inspiring others.
I have been lucky over the last few...

The 33rd East Asian Medical Students’ Conference was a resounding success

The 33rd East Asian Medical Students’ Conference (EAMSC) 2020, was recently organised and concluded at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. The conference is held every year by the Asian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) and this year the Indian Chapter of AMSA got the opportunity to host this first-of-its-kind conference for medical undergraduates in the country.




More than 200 delegates from Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia,...

The Unique Bubble Nest of the Betta Fish #WordlessWednesday

I woke up the first morning after acquiring this lovely red betta fish / siamese fighting fish to find this unique 'bubble thingy' being made by him. Considering the fact that I did not feed him soda or beans, it stumped me as to why he was being so gassy.
So I did some reading on it.

Turns out, the bubble nest is a natural process of the male betta fish. When he's in a 'daddy mood', he starts making these small clusters of bubbles as a nest. After spawning with his babe, he quickly...

The Blueprint for Eliminating Leprosy in India #CreatingHope

Nearly two to three million people across the world live with leprosy today of which India accounts for over 60% of all the new cases. While it’s true that a lot has been done over the last century to make this disease curable, there’s still more that needs to be done. People affected by Leprosy along with their families continue to remain isolated in India and are often deprived of educational and vocational opportunities for the same.
Although leprosy is a fully curable disease, several...

Healthy Pregnancy – Healthy Baby: Foods to Limit During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the needs of the unborn baby should always come first. Due to this significant change in your life, you will have to avoid and limit certain food groups during pregnancy.

Eliminating certain foods from your diet will keep both you and the baby happy and safe throughout the pregnancy until the baby arrives. Limiting these foods can also help you avoid harmful bacteria infections like listeria and salmonella, which cause illnesses and sometimes miscarriages.


Foods to Limit...

The Impact of Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy

The effects of smoking during pregnancy could have short-term and long-term consequences. It has been associated with increased risk of low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, and increased infant mortality rate.



Smoking can make it harder for you to get pregnant because it increases the risk of fertility problems for both you and your partner. Maternal smoking, while pregnant, could cause severe harm to your health and that of the baby. Mothers who expose their babies to secondhand...

Your First Year as a Parent Can Save Your Child Forever #YourCareQuotient

In 2016, I read an article where a young doctor from Kerala expressed his anger and frustration as he watched a child die in agony from diphtheria. The article shocked me because I remember studying that diphtheria was close to being eradicated in India thanks to diligent vaccination programmes. And yet, even in 2019, small children were dying of diphtheria all over again.


Vaccines in the Era of Misinformation
How this occurred became obvious once people started looking for the reasons. A...

Debunking Misconceptions About the Flu #IPromiseToStopFlu

While one of the commonest errors people make with regard to the flu is assuming that the flu is the same as the common cold, it is not the only misconception around, with regard to this stealthy virus.



One of the most basic misconceptions is that the flu affects only the very young or old. The truth is that while the extremes of age may be more vulnerable, influenza can cause severe symptoms even in the young1. I’ve personally seen and treated many young adults who needed intensive care...

Make the Right Choice: Immunize Your Child #YourCareQuotient

It scares me that even in 2019 we still need to talk about how essential it is to vaccinate children. The benefits of decades of vaccination are visible all around us and yet doubts are being raised on the efficacy of these vaccines. There are plenty of conspiracy theories playing on the insecurities of parents, aiming to seed doubt that there is no need to vaccinate against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. It is a different matter that these diseases are highly contagious and...

Indian Grandmother selflessly knits over 250 caps for newborn children in US hospital while on vacation #HeroesOfKindness

Unlike the nearly 200 Heroes of Kindness stories that I have collected over the years from across the world, this one is a little different for me - you see, there is no news article about this woman. I came across her deeds thanks to a series of tweets put out by her son and was intrigued by the story.