Celebrating Ronald Ross, Puja 2025, rainy umbrella musings, and a humorous look at negligence
Mrinal Chatterjee
Remembering Sir Ronald Ross
On 20 August 1897, Sir Ronald Ross achieved a milestone in medical science that changed the course of human history. Working in Secunderabad, India, he made the breakthrough discovery that the female Anopheles mosquito transmits malaria, a disease that had plagued humanity for centuries. This revelation not only solved one of the great mysteries of medicine but also paved the way for prevention, control, and treatment strategies that have saved countless lives across the globe.
Ross’s achievement was the result of tireless dedication, meticulous research, and unshakable perseverance. At a time when resources and technology were limited, he combined scientific rigor with imaginative experimentation, dissecting mosquitoes and tracing the malarial parasite in their gut. His discovery earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1902—the first awarded to a Briton—and brought recognition not just to an individual but to the immense potential of medical research in improving human well-being.
The legacy of Sir Ronald Ross goes far beyond the laboratory. His work laid the foundation for public health campaigns, eradication drives, and vector control programs that continue to this day. For millions across tropical and subtropical regions, his discovery brought hope against a disease that once seemed unconquerable.
As we commemorate his contribution each year on World Mosquito Day, we remember Sir Ronald Ross not only as a pioneering scientist but as a benefactor of humanity whose vision and persistence transformed global health. His legacy endures in every life saved from malaria.
On the evening of that momentous day Sir Ronald Ross composed a poem; he finished it two days later and sent it to his wife. This poem is inscribed on a plaque and kept at a museum in Kolkata:
This day relenting God
Hath placed within my hand
A wondrous thing; and God
Be praised. At His command,
Seeking His secret deeds
With tears and toiling breath,
I find thy cunning seeds,
O million-murdering Death.
I know this little thing
A myriad men will save.
O Death, where is thy sting?
Thy victory, O Grave?
Puja season
With Ganesh Puja, the puja season 2025 has begun. In India, Puja season is less about devotion and more about motion—of traffic, shopping bags, and overworked loudspeakers. Streets suddenly turn into catwalks where aunties compete in “saree Olympics” and uncles follow them. Pandal-hopping becomes a national sport: people proudly cover more distance than marathon runners, fuelled by roadside food.
Meanwhile, tailors and delivery boys turn into gods themselves—summoned with folded hands to “please finish my blouse/parcel before Ashtami.” Children rehearse dance dramas that look like mythology meets TikTok. The priests recite shlokas while the DJ tests subwoofers with Bollywood remixes, ensuring the goddess herself occasionally taps her divine feet.
Yet, despite the din, chaos, glitter, and traffic snarls, Puja season is India at its best—colorful, chaotic, and completely impossible to ignore.
Umbrella: Isolation, Intimacy
Reflecting on the umbrella brings to mind moments of intimacy and solitude. There is something curiously isolating about walking under an umbrella in the rain. It creates a tiny world, muffling the sounds, softening the lights, and making space for introspection. On a solitary walk through a drizzle-draped lane, with only the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain on the canopy above, I have often felt more connected to myself than in any silent room.
At the same time, the umbrella can foster connection—two people sharing one in a downpour, leaning close, their steps synchronized, their warmth mingled.
Limit of Negligence!
Scientists made milk powder
Made soup powder
Made mehndi powder
Made garlic powder
But still haven’t made alcohol powder
There is a limit of negligence!
(The author is Professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, IIMC Dhenkanal. Views expressed are personal.)
