Friday, March 18, 2011

DA VINCI CODE

Da Vinci code

“ I have offended God and mankind ,because my work did not reach the quality it should have”-Leonardo of Vinci-Italy – Painter and Man of science

A Hollywood mega movie based on top seller ‘Da Vinci code ‘was a record breaker. I never saw the movie due to unknown but yet unsuspicious reasons. It is based on cracking code in paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci. In this movie an Art Historian played by Tom hanks deciphers the hidden messages in Da Vinci works.

Vinci was a real life painter who excelled in the art and is considered as a foremost representative of his style which is inimitable. His style was termed as High Renaissance. The Italian painters works are spread in cathedrals and museums all over Europe .That he was a man of science was discovered later based on his writing and notings in scrap and workbooks which contained engineering drawings and technical illustrations of inventions which he wrote from Right to left requiring mirror to read it. His other jottings were studies in anatomy. He painted very limited paintings as his interests shifted from one subject to other. The famous being The Last supper and Mona Lisa

One of his famous paintings which has drawn awe all over world is ‘Mona Lisa’ an Oil on Panel painting of 77 by 55 centimeter dimension .It is a portrait of an lady, may be an unknown model but the painting became famous due to the demeanor of the woman who is in relaxed mood with an amused gaze .When I visited Louvre Museum there was a rush around this art piece and continuous clicking of cameras with flood of flashlights. It was difficult to get near it as many scrambled to get closer to it. May be art aficionados I thought .But the real reason is to look continuously at this painting which comes alive when you concentrate on it. Mona Lisa was painted in years 1503 to 1505.The facial anatomy is characterized by ample subcutaneous fats blending into various regions very smoothly a feat where facial muscles put optimum stress on the tissues above it to be expressive of amusement and relief in a dignified way. Only a man of science can achieve these expressive tones in eyes and the lips which are held in a small smile.

Leonardo strived to achieve perfection in drawings as for him they were work of science and design as much as works of Art. He used the technique of sfumato-Subtle blending of tones .It is said that Sfumato is beyond technique. It is a form of poem delimiting boundaries of human expression and form. In Mona Lisa the background too is mysterious as compared to plain background of portraits in that era.

Now Art historian Silvano Vincenti and his group are reading more into Mona Lisa painting and using high definition magnification of eyes in the painting have discerned Letters LV in her Right eye and C and E or B in left eye. Other group has discovered 72 or L and a 2 painted in the mysterious background bridge that forms the backdrop. This may be asking too much as if you look at any old building walls you tend to see faces and designs and letters init by chance occurrence as different patterns rise out of the paint wearing out. Mind sets change after people are exposed to media creativity just as they change after they witness a masterpiece such as Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa is a sensation as a painting but the persona in the portrait is not a celebrity albeit a high class woman who is exudes patience and understanding. The woman is not beautiful by any standard like the Afghan Woman on the National Geographic who became a darling of literate elite in 1970s

Here I choose to digress a bit to drive in my point as I put on record the fact that I had the good fortune to own a copy of that issue which I held for a long while .Now I was never a subscriber of NatGeo as I could never afford it and surely felt miserable for that state of affair envying those who had the access to the highly photogenic masterpieces which arrived with precise periodicity. Remember, there was no Television in those days but NatGeo Magazine was sufficient to arouse and satisfy that never ending desire and quest for unknown places and people across the globe .I was a proud owner of some issues which I had purchased from roadside Kabadi shop. I would glance and flip through the issues again and again especially to admire the Afghan Woman on the cover for the perfection of her feature and the nativity of her expression. Eventually the National Geographic launched a ‘hunt’ for this remarkable woman and traced her to a small village in Afganistan.She did entertain the team from NatGeo but refused to remove the Burkha to let everyone see her although a picture did appear on the magazine cover later. I was lucky once again to watch the episodes on NatGeo of her discovery or rather her rediscovery .How I had wished I had that Magazine issue which got misplaced as it would have brought fortune and fame at my doorsteps.

The point I want to make is that Women are beautiful but Womanhood is more beautiful .To me this is Da Vinci Code ,a code of ethics and immense character of a woman , a code of morality and of dignity ,a code of conduct and stature and the only the inimitable Leonardo Da Vinci could get this code on a canvass in the form of a Portrait. Mona Lisa is an example of this superlative expression of womanhood on canvas and as it hangs on the Parisian museum is a tribute to this humble great artist.

Another woman of equal stature would be Lady Diana and her immense stateliness and superiority .Anyone who saw her was awestruck by her poise and serenity. She was Womanhood personified .It is an enigma like the Da Vinci Code that she met sudden violent death with Dodi Fayed her very good friend in one of the by lanes of Paris not very far from the famed painting of Mona Lisa

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

C L O S E E N C O U N T E R

(With The Fourth Estate)

9-03-2011

On Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:54:24 +0530 Supriya Sobti <supriya.sobti@aljazeera.net> wrote
>Dear Dr Dilip,
>
>I am journalist working on a story related to clinical trials in India.
>We are particularly looking for participants of clinical trials sponsored by US pharma companies who may have had an adverse reaction to
>a trial drug. or perhaps someone's family member passed away during or shortly after being on it.
>f you know of any such trial participants and could share their details with us I’d really appreciate it!
>
>I look forward to hearing from you.
>
>Many thanks in advance,
>
>Regards,
>
>
>SUPRIYA SOBTI | PRODUCER | NEWS & PROGRAMMING
>AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
>INDIA
>phone + 91-9619071456
>web www.aljazeera.net/english
>
>Notice: This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of our firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
>

Subject: Re: Clinical trials....

From: "DilipVishnu maydeo"<dr_dilipmaydeo@rediffmail.com> Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:29:37

To: "Supriya Sobti"<supriya.sobti@aljazeera.net>

Hello ,
Was involved with an high end antibiotic in Nosocomial Pneumonia .We at our institution did 2nd largest series for that indication. But due to proper selection, monitoring ,quick response and documentation ,had no ADR or more sinister outcome.In fact we from the data generated concluded that existing antibiotics are as good as the new intended antibiotic. This molecule was eventually launched and we were called for the launching event. But we were surprised that no reference was made to our study in the dossier handout.
Incidentally the Largest series had 3 times our subjects. This is possible if the selection criteria are not strictly adhered to.It is in such circumstances that ADRs are maximum.

In another situation for an Anti TB drug we refused to conduct the trial as the basic premise of the trial was not clear and was scientifically irrational. Role of World Bank in such community driven trials is suspect. Our own know how on therapeutics of TB is cutting edge and clinically outsourced trials on anti TB drugs should not be entertained on poor patients.

Trials of Alternate day regimens and twice weekly regimens for TB were conducted 1n 1970s at leading TB research institutes in the country with favorable results.Inspite of the costs having come down drastically in last 30 years, It was surprising that Indian Government gave a go ahead to world bank funded DOTS after 25 years in form of RNTCP.The world bank needs to give royalty to the individuals and institutions who conducted these studies off setting their own interests. Moreover this DOTS treatment has spurned XDR TB due to inherent mathematically provable fallacies on compliance and operational issues.

We were also involved in yet another Anti Asthmatic drug which was proved to be safe and became as established drug all over .Although skeptic at the beginning we realized consistent ly good out comes. This drug has a great role in Step down treatment from Steroids.

Our corpus of experience is heterogenic and we tend to conclude that basic rationale needs to be examined and clinical trials seen as very sophisticated research rather that a business model to multiply incomes in a scenario of opportunistic me too molecules being introduced in and encashed in a charged brand management Marketing environment .There is therefore a distinct need to endorse social marketing as a modality over traditional competitive marketing as a 'spit and polish' charismatic activity.

2^nd Email to Supriya

India and mainly Maharashtra especially cities like Mumbai and Pune are hubs for Clinical trials. From 2009 a Register is maintained at Centre for studies in Ethics and Rights for listing these trials although it is not mandatory for Pharmacokinetic or Bioavailability studies to be registered. From 2006 to 2011 there was a 36% increase in number of Clinical Trials.

Interestingly there is no correlation between the epidemiology of diseases and trial scenarios which means that Indians are being used as Guinea pigs. This scene is due to trials being outsourced to the country partly due to the fact that they can be done at a very economical price and partly due to the fact that skilled and dedicated personnel are available for conduct of such trials.

The discrepancy is illustrated aptly by the fact that TB is most prevalent disease however TB drug trials conducted are < 1% whereas Cancer trials are maximum at 13 % even when Cancer does not rank as a major killer in the country unlike the western hemisphere. Trials on prenatal conditions stand at 2.9%.

Source : TIMES of India

ADRs/death results for the following reasons 1) Poor quality of Induction and motivation 2) Not assigning responsibility to junior staff 3) Inadequate remuneration to junior staff 4) Communication gaps between patients and Junior staff or between juniors and seniors 5) Not following the inclusion criteria or lack of understanding of the criteria 6) Inadequate monitoring and or reporting 7) Drug interactions and undeclared co morbidities 8) Lack of appreciation of seriousness of certain clinical signs and inadequate clinical training to staff including nursing staff 9) Monetary gains and suppression of information for being deported from trial and loss of monies 10) laziness to document ADRs immediately and improper filling of forms due to other clinical responsibilities.

Dr Dilip Maydeo MD ,DIM,MCAAI

Subject: Re: Clinical trials Scenario

From: "DilipVishnu maydeo"<dr_dilipmaydeo@rediffmail.com> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:41:29

To: "Supriya Sobti"<supriya.sobti@aljazeera.net>

Show full Headers | View blocked images in this message

Actually I am not a clinical pharmacologist who specialize in conduct of trials. I am a clinician with interest in clinical research and drug evaluations. Because you wrote , I wrote back.i surely can spend some time with you with documents if I can lay my hands on them.

Having worked for Pharma industry in past, I am able to appreciate the business aspects of the activity. Being a perfectionist, I do not undertake any study unless I am satisfied about the ethical aspects of any study.Incidently Clinical research is not only about drugs ,it can be about technology ,bioengineering, Biodesign and bedside monitoring as well. Your team is welcome to interact with me if it is mutually convenient. Please keep me informed.
My cell number is : 9821041983

On Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:10:32 +0530 Supriya Sobti <supriya.sobti@aljazeera.net> wrote
>Doc many thanks for your email. That was very informative.
>
>I just wanted to double check if there are any US sponsored trials that you conducting at the moment? Either in the recruitment phase or on-going.
>
>We will be in Mumbai later this week and if you are available and willing to talk to us about how you conduct trials (perhaps even show us some patient interaction - how people are told about a clinical trial at the time of signing the consent form etc..) then we'd definitely like to spend some time with you.
>
>I look fwd to hearing from you.
>
>Best,
>Supriya

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

From: DilipVishnu maydeo <dr_dilipmaydeo@rediffmail.com>

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 07:17:45 +0300

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

At 12 noon they walked into my office point blank. I was ready for them but not the questions as I was not given any questions in advance which is an etiquette .This was their Modus Operandi to get onto their subject aggressively so that caution is flung to the wind. Any defense is ruled out.

They were; one Canadian, One American and one French Man. They took charge and dictated the terms, they set the agenda .It was expected that I will succumb to their salvos and say something unconstitutional and ridiculous. That is not possible as a man of science equipped with a vocabulary of terms which have been a standard armamentarium to draw in certain points emphatically especially when the subject is close to your heart.

I was talking incessantly fielding one question after another, trying to illustrate my points as much. I was ruthless with and capitalization of Healthcare.

Healthcare Vs Fine Chemical Industry: Relevant points which I made was the confusion of layperson to consider Chemical and fine chemical drug industry as a part of health care industry. One is a manufacturing industry whereas another is a service industry. Doctors role was to deliver health care holistically not be looked upon as a prescribing extension of Medical Sales team.

Conferences: Conflict of Interests is highly prevalent although it is blatantly denied. Foreign jaunts used for promotion of products. Research has to be relevant to the country. Manpower utilization is justified due to availability but there is strong likely that it will be misused for lesser effective molecules which may exhibited as very useful additions to therapeutics. Most conferences are studded with papers which are sponsored for a consideration and cost of sponsorship is high. The timings of such presentation is strategically decided to allow maximum audience. Papers which talk highly favorable of a molecule are selected for award.

Responsibility: Onus of fair and quality trials are with Medical Professionals. The registry of ethical trials should be available to any interested party including competitor’s .Transparency is uppermost. Trial data cannot be withheld under the garb of privacy or secrecy of contract as results which can get extended to hundreds and thousands eventually has to be in public domain and it will be criminal to withhold any data be it positive or negative. Doctors should accept trials based on their expertise and get data from world literature and not rely on data given by the company which may be highly biased E.g. Omalizumab. ADRs are the ones when co morbidities are ruled out as the cause of the ADRs.Omalizumab is a failure in US and hence being tried on Indians to get back the monies spent on research of a useless drug is being sold in a garb of a post marketing study.

.ADRs & Deaths :Deaths associated with usage of molecules may be due to high intrinsic mortality of a condition but inefficacious molecules may be indirectly implicated .This is justified and only genuine molecules which are distinctly superior to existing molecules need be studied and accepted for clinical trials.Eg Doripenem vs. Cilanem.Doripenem was later indicated for abdominal sepsis and not nosocomial pneumonia. It was a drug which was being resurrected in 2007 for which I was a part of multicentre trial. From my own data of 17 odd cases I could conclude that this drug was not superior to many other existing high end antibiotics. I showed the master chart of those cases .2 deaths had occurred in Doripenem group co-incidentally these patients had high level of comorbidities.They clicked pictures of the chart.Doripenem belongs to Johnson & Johnson.It was a drug possibly discovered in 1967.Drug Lag still exists again for commercial reasons.

American Multinationals Companies should adopt the subjects throughout lifetime and not abandon subjects after the trial is done with. It is wrong to pose that the subjects are getting drugs which are unaffordable by them this is not true due to generic drugs being available in interiors at one fifth the cost for most life threatening conditions. Cancer is not number one killer in the country but infectious diseases most cases are thronging to cancer centers in towns and cities and becoming easy targets of clinical drug research. The biggest fallout of clinical trials is skill generation by Indian doctors. Ethical committee is a farce. The trials should document ethical committee minutes and relevant questioning by peers from all departments than by a high powered committee who gives the signal for monetary considerations. Failed drugs are being resurrected and possibly commercially exploited for unsuspecting patients by buying off his doctor. Commercial objectives are placed above ethical issues as money has become sparse in capitalalistic society and governments have ceased to be welfare states.Corporates have become bigger than nations. Another relevant issue is : Will Americans accept drugs based on trials done in India ,because of racial issue which translates biologically as Pharmacogenetics or ecological due to differing nutritional status of Indian subjects. What about Ethics committee meetings in US how are they administered? Are they not farcical too?

Many other points were raised and debated. A certain magazine bought by my wife came handy .I had read an article in the morning before the interview. They had read it too. At the end I was visibly tired. Very Passionate!!Was their response in unison .For me, it was a close brush with aliens belonging to another professional planet: The press

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Ecological Intelligence

I just finished reading the second novel by a great Marathi writer who was a historian, sociologist and naturalist all rolled into one. He was the great ‘Go Ni Da’ or Gopal Neelkanth Dandekar whom I had met during my schooldays trek and stay at Rajgad .

This man was revered by entire Marathi community across board from illiterate to scholar due to his down to earth writing about the people of Maharashtra .He occupies a high pedestal even in Maruti Chitampalli’s magnum Opus autobiographical work – Chakwa Chandana .

I had read his novel ‘Padghavali’ an intense story of a small hamlet in Konkan which gets corrupted due to poverty , greed and ambition while the protagonist battles to uphold the integral fabric of the settlement preventing the disintegration due to exodus and gradual relocation of its inhabitants to metropolitan Mumbai. In the last moving chapter after significant loss of the good people the woman protagonist who is about to board the ship for Mumbai hurriedly gets off the boat to spend last days in the same village where she has witnessed glory and experienced love ,grace and gratitude. GoNiDa paints a very vibrant picture of the village and the upper caste treachery of some of its vicious members against the humble farm laborers or poor caste brethren who succumb to the cunning deceptions one by one at times eliminating self by immolation.

‘Machivarcha Budha ‘ is from the same genre. Unlike Padghavali it is a short story but a very intense and scintillating one. It is a story of one’s roots ,of nature ,of life and of accomplishment in paradigm shift.It is a story of liberation and transcendence of a single ,simple old farmer who comes back to his home on a mountain slope to stay all by himself after spending most of his life in the lower income ghettoes on Mumbai and lives on valiantly to appease himself and his ancestors trying to gain the self respect by toiling hard to raise crops and make a living .And while doing so befriends a dog, goats and squirrels to keep company and add value to his solitary life.Budha is replete with instinctive intelligence and due to his intense faith in his dead ancestors who are watching him integrates himself in his new home which he erects with the help of local tribal.

Budha is old and retired and suffers from dim vision likely due to cataract but he is lucky because of the closeness with the gods.budha gets fair amount of vision due to a local tribal who instills some herbal medication whereby he is able to see much clearly.budha plants rice in his ancestral land and it keeps him busy .the dog is his constant companion. One day his son land in his house beckoning him to come back to Mumbai.budha is on verge of going back but suddenly decides the other way. And comes back to his hut.budha learns to light fire from local tribal by using flint stone. At leisure Budha sits perched on a tree observing the plains called Konkan.

Actually at this point it is necessary to understand that Budha is a form of the author and writer.GoNida tells us of the immense information about the nature that Budha has learnt and which he puts to good use for survival.But Budha is connected to the other world as well ,for he sees a plane which traverses the zenith every day at the same time of the day and gets emotionally attached to it. Having worked in Mumbai he is aware of technology AND HE DOES RELATE TO IT. But as distantly as the plane flying thousands of feet above.Budha watches the two Maratha forts in the vicinity Manornajn and shrivardhan with pride but there is no mention of his knowledge of its history.Budha plants creepers near his hut and develops special relation with trees around him. He is in a unique envious position as he can spent hours watching neighbors who take their cattle to graze daily and who locate the bees hives to get their share of virgin honey.Budha never allows his protégé animals to go hungry the dog who has become his man Friday and the goats and the squirrels and their kids.Budha provides for them compulsively oblivious of their status .Budha is a liberated soul who connects with everything good and natural.

Budha enjoys special relationship with clouds in their splendid form and when they brings monsoon which beats down relentlessly with downpour to turn everything green and glorious.Budha then comes into his elements and adjusts reflex to the fury with native sportsmanship. He knows too well natures benevolence which to an outsider is mercislessness.Budha is ecologically informed he is intelligent and wishes to surrender to the glory of the gods of nature. He has patience and waits for that with perseverance. Days pass after nights seasons come and go.Budha has no idea of the calendar days he only understands the signals of nature and is content with it. But Budha is a man of intense faith and he has learnt some basic hymns of the great saints of Maharashtra the likes of Tukaram and recites them daily in the morning a rich heritage which he has memorized during his days in Mumbai from some of the groups who are essentially religious and Budha is aware of this ritual with immense belief.Budha combines best of a native in his elements.Budha lives in rhythm with his surroundings he does not have neighbors except for the Bomblya family whose wife has a squint and with eight children but they are far away and come to help when in need for a smoke or milk for tea.

Budha is strong and during summer he wards off the forest fire that is about to devour him and his humble hut.Budha gets the energy of a giant and beats the fire to defeat. Budha occasionally remembers his son and daughter in law but brushes the idea of returning to Mumbai.He is here to meet his mentor and there is no compromise.

But Budha is distinctly waylaid eventually by fate and gradually comes to his finality of life. It is a mirage that sets the trap for Budha .One fine day as he is perched on the top of the mountain, he witnesses a troupe of soldiers who pitch their camps 1000 feet below into the valley.Budha welcomes them with the Hindu magnamity.He secretly plays host to them .They are there for around 10 days performing their military exercise, may be the national cadet core (NCC).Budha wants to witness it all. He literally talks to them for a distance of 1000 feet as if they cared. But he is happy for them and their effort s. Then suddenly they disappear packing their belongings and retreating in their jeeps.Budha is sad as they leave without bidding farewell. On the same day the Plane refuses to ply in the air.Budha is angry he returns and due to some reason blames on to his companion dog.Budha now drives him away for he is unhappy with himself.The dog that day refuses to eat and goes out to sleep. Then at night Budha is awakened with strange sounds and he finds the dog devoured by the tiger.Budha is sad and blames himself for the mishap. He buries the remnants of the dog and goes food less in depression.

Budha is sad and lonely without the dog.Then one day he discovers an old and injured Buffalo abandoned by the owner come for his protection.Budha fights tooth and nail with the injury on the buffalo. She responds but only partially.Budha in an attempt to rescue the being of the malady falls and gets hurt when the buffalo steps on his feet injuring him greviously.But Budha has forgiveness in his soul. He continues to nurse the old Bufallo.That night Budha develops high fever and doesn’t get a wink of sleep.

Budha is now fighting for his life and the life of the Bufallo.But that night Budha gets delirious and he is now coming clear and affront. As the night proceeds Budha drifts from tree to tree ,he touches all the creatures the goats and squirrels and the sky and the valleys ,the mortal remains of the buried dog .He feels a strange inner voice that beckons him to all his experiences one by one on the mountain slope and gently but surely Budha passes into oblivion.

Next day dawns Budha is sleeping peacefully .But there are ants all over his body .But he cares not. For Budha is back into his elements and with his ancestors. He has won .Budha has acquired the ultimate the oneness with the God Of the Woods who descends onto him and delivers him to eternal peace.

Budha the intelligent, is now inseparable with the soil for which he has waited patiently .

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Performing Folk Artist of Maharashtra

Growing up in the Girangaon(Mill worker Area) of central Mumbai was a venerable experience .Life was simple but ethically and ethnically rich.One land mark habitat nearby was Mahadevachi wadi at the foot of Golanji Hill where old rooftop houses were located in an area roughly of 2 acres of land which had been leased out by Wakf Board just behind Haffkine Institute .We reviled this colony as against our own built of concrete as this was occupied by simpletons from Konkan who worked as mill hands in cotton fabric factories in Central Mumbai. We would venture into this colony during catching cook games and wonder how these people stayed in these houses and considered these places as wretched homes but at times secretly envied them due to their rural background which we missed.

Mahadevachi wadi threw up exotic experiences to us city dwellers some of them were red tiled roofs,verandahs,humble wodden structures with wodden plancks for seatings mimicking rural architecture ,people in khaki half pants with bare chests ,women wearing 9 yards sari worn as kashtas ,mini poultries which they maintained to get their rations of eggs and chiken.Another common feature was the small auspicious Tulsi shrub potted in tin containers or planted in front of their houses. But one distinct feature were evening Bhajans with chorus , cymbals and dholaks. They sang sitting around the Dholak in small chimney lamps with tunes and rhythm which were subtle and high pitch. They sang mostly on Thursdays or during festivities or poojas as well. There were no televisions and evening used to be more scary due to the darkness of which we were afraid as children .And as we clung to our mothers the sweet melodies of the Bhajans came haunting from the settlements adding some mystery to our city lives.

During festivities in Mahadevachi Wadi there were loudspeakers blurting Marathi songs which were Povadas of the Maratha Military victories sung by balladeers or Fisher folk songs called Koli Geets or Bhajans of the diety Vitthal..One such song that struck me was a Fisher men song ‘Dada Awar Ye’ a melodious and piercing song sung in high tempo which caught my fancy and made me happy in my soul .I always wondered who this very talented Sahir was ? I would sing this tune under breath when in great mood or when sad as It was heart rending .This man had golden voice that represented the best in Marathi Folk music although he was not an acknowledged one like more elite sahirs . He sang with verve and appeal. Later his Martial ballads would stir us our valorous sentiments called Veer Ras in Hindu classics. His Bhajans took us into raptures of faith and belief in the gods and their incarnation and his rural repertoire send us into the agrarian or marine raptures experiencing the rich traditions of artisans of hinterlands. He was a perfect product of toilers in city and moffusil and displayed rich heritage with his husky yet voluminous voice. Very Lately I discovered ,he was Vitthal Umap was born on 19 July 1931 Umap started singing at the age of 8 .His first public performance was in 1960 when he was 29 years old .He performed in a popular ballet of Vasant Bapat in which he sang a very popular Abhang ‘Variyane Kundal hale,Dole mohit Radha Chale’.I would hear this number time and again on Radio. Vasant Bapat was our professor in Marathi in Ruia College and in 1969 and 1970 would conduct early morning drill at Ruia Campus that electrified the youth with his patriotic songs .One such song which still occupies pace of pride in my mind was ‘Tuzya kama madhun,tuzya ghama madhun udya pikal soniya che Raan, Chal uchal hatiyar gadya houn hushar ,tula navya jagachi aan’

I might have missed his entire concert of Vitthal Umap during those days in our own colony festivities of Ganapati as I had embarked on studies in university and had become a keen hostelite while I missed the rich culture curry of rural Maharashtra on a platter .There were many sahirs like the Pundalik Farande, Shahir Sable and Dada Kondke or some historical story tellers of yester years like Baba Sahb Purandare But Vitthal Umap was distinctive concoction.His talents were diverse and striking and would catch the fancy of non Marathi audiences as well like Dada Kondke who had become very popular among non marathis speaking populace due to his comedies on the screen.

On one of my treks to ‘Vyagreshwar-The diety of the Tiger’ I encountered the same tune and was moved to tears.This time it was extolling the great lord shanker ,the mahadeva or God of Gods.The lyrics,I bet were from some local Shiva Fan.It went: ‘He Bholya Shankara…..Awad tula Bela chi re, Awad tula Bela chi re……bela chya Panachi……..” sung high pitch at 12 midnight A mystic experience in a far away lonely ancient place of worship.I had experienced nemesis there and then and kept awake with the admirers to claim benefaction. Again two years back ,I had the opportunity to witness a full 3 hours folk musical by Vitthal Umap and his troupe. The dance and music drama was called ‘Jambhul Akhyan’ or the Story of Era that the Pandavs of Mahabharata spend in forest, Umap playing different parts of the Protagonist and of Draupadi whence he would dance with 46 yards sari to portray the episode in which Duryodhan orders to disrobe Draupadi as Pandavas loose everything the game of Dice including their wife Draupadi..His renditions and his dances were a treat for the eyes and we were fortunate and indebted to Rangai who hosted the show.Vitthal Umap was a recipient of International Folk art shows award .In 2010 during one of the program in Nagpur to launch a dedicated channel to Shri Babashaeb Ambedkar Umap collapsed on stage and met his creator head-on in a tradition of Maratha Warriors. Umap will be remembered as a classical folk artist who symbolized all that was good and original in Folk music of Maharashtra.