Anna Hazare aur anne hazaron (Anna Hazare and the other thousands) – A Photo Essay

The past week saw dramatic developments in India. Tired of rampant corruption in public life, one man stood up and India responded with vigour.

Anna Hazare, 72, is a social activist and a self-acclaimed Gandhian, who has stood up many times for local issues. The issue at hand now was the Lokpal (Ombudsman) Bill in the Indian Parliament. This legislation has been in abeyance for 42 years with successive governments of all political dispensations avoiding it. The civil society demand was for the Government of India to formulate a drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill with equal representation of Ministers (politicians) and private citizens. The GoI said it was not possible. Anna Hazare said he will fast himself to death until that happens.

Blackmail or force of conviction? Every protest is a form of blackmail. Indians everywhere responded in huge numbers. Thousands thronged to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the site of the fast. Thousands also gathered at India Gate, the symbol of our nationhood, every evening for peaceful protests, street theatre, candle light vigils and marches.

The issue was serious but the mood remained festive. People of all ages, religions, urban and rural, rich and poor, came to show support. The crowds were large but orderly. People helped each other, shared views and sang together. They stood by each other because corruption affects everyone.

Was it media managed? Yes, but why should it not be? Why should a powerful medium not be used for a good cause? The voice of the people had to be carried. There were also an estimated 4.4 million tweets in 3 days.

After 4 days the government relented and agreed to the demands. Now begins the hard work of drafting a tough bill that will make sure the corrupt get punished and that it happens with complete transparency and with speed. Only then will India’s real potential be unshackled.

It happened so quickly because the government listened to popular sentiment. A big reason is also the personal integrity of our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. He is probably very deeply affected by the scams faced by his government.

Dr. Singh, rise to the occasion and follow your heart. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Anna, you have shown us the way. Continue to lead but beware of the opportunists in your ranks.

Here are some pictures from my trip to Jantar Mantar and India Gate on Friday, April 8, 2011. Feel the moment.

Jantar Mantar

The crowds descended at Jantar Mantar

It included the young, ....

.... the very young, .....

..... and the old.

They sang, .....

..... helped each other,

.... and made sure their focus was on corruption (not on kulfi-falooda, gulab jamun, etc.

They packed the protest site ......

to listen to this man (not the one with the microphone, but the one in white). Anna Hazare.

They signed banners. I signed the banner. Can you spot my signature?

They hung corrupt politicians, ....

.... but also remembered martyrs in the fight against corruption.

 India Gate

The tricolour was proudly displayed

Handicap was no handicap

Candles were in full display, ...

.... and so were the hands that held them

They also brought other agendas to protest against

In the end, India Gate took everyone in its fold 

Light a candle. Remove the darkness of corruption.

Barcelona

This Catalonian metropolis is a colorful mix of extravagant architecture, vibrant street life, and museums and galleries full of artwork from prominent Spanish artists. The soccer team FC Barcelona or simply “Barca” has a cult following, especially after Spain won the World Cup.

Barcelona - An Eagle's Eye View from Tibidabo (Credit: Uzair Siddiqui)

La Rambla

The street life of Barcelona can be seen best on La Rambla – the street that leads down from the busy Plaza Catalunya to the seashore. The boulevard, which has a wide central walking area comes to life in the evening when performers and local artists vie for attention. Over the course of an hour we came across artists dressed as a flowerpot, a large fly and the most ingenious as an ingredient on a large plate of paella (a Spanish rice dish). There was also a fabulous juggler whose silken movements were amazing, and a spray can paint artist who created an ethereal world on paper in under 15 minutes.

The Paella Man

The Spray Can Artist

The atmosphere on La Rambla cannot be described – it can only be experienced. The boulevard is crowded with kiosks selling newspapers, flowers, sweets, ice cream and curios. Amidst all this were young men from Punjab selling scarves sourced from Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar market, and fluorescent helicopters that could be launched from rubber bands – much like the scene at India Gate. La Rambla is one big carnival every evening.

With its 435 pedestrian malls, Barcelona is a walking city where you can stroll its wide parks, where locals come to sit with friends, chat or read a book. Barcelona is also home to Spain’s four biggest names in art – Gaudi, Dali, Picasso and Miro – all eccentric yet brilliant in their own right. While Gaudi’s stamp on this city is omnipresent in the form of his bold architecture of La Sangrada Familia, Park Guell, and various housing projects, Barcelona also houses fantastic galleries featuring the works of Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, in whose museum you will see not only his famous cubist pieces, but also some of his early works.

Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympics and the Parc de Montjuic revives that memory. Besides the Olympic stadium, this area also hosts a museum that features the history and trophies of FC Barcelona – a feat for soccer fans. Tickets come at a premium for Barca games, but a casual tourist can always join victory celebrations at the fountain at La Rambla.

Barcelona is also a good place for shopping – either real or the window type. Almost every city district has fashionable as well as small traditional shops, but these are most prominent along La Rambla and in the Gothic district. For artwork, there is the centre of the Spanish village, Poble Espanyol, on the Montjuic Hill. You can soak in the atmosphere of a busy street that has been around for a thousand years on the European shopping street Sants and Creu Cobarta. There are over 350 shops as also restaurants and bars.

Inside the Gothic Cathedral (Credit: Uzair Siddiqui)

Expiratory Church, Tibidabo (Credit: Uzair Siddiqui)

After a day full of walking and soaking in the sights and sounds of Barcelona, many a tourist can be spotted lazing over a carafe of sangria, a wine punch typical of Portugal, but quite popular in Spain as well. 

Columbus Day Protest (Credit: Uzair Siddiqui)

Gaudi Gazing in Barcelona

Barcelona is promoted as a modern European metropolis. Its temperate climate, a killer location on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, but above all, its modern architectural style has made Barcelona an attractive city to visit. In this capital city of the Catalonia province, the Catalan Art Neoveau arose in the presence of an architectural scene of eclectic tastes. Above all else, it is the work of Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926) that stands out in this city.

Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet (Antonio Gaudi in its English translation) was a Spanish architect who is famous for his highly unusual and individual style that extended far beyond the scope of Modernisme. We spent the entire day exploring two of Gaudi’s brilliant pieces of work, both designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites  – Park Guell and The Temple of Sangrada Familia.

Sign at entrance of Park Guell, Barcelona

The businessman Eusebi Guell conceived Park Guell as a garden city, which would bring together the ideal conditions of habitation in the middle of an insalubrious industrial city. He chose Gaudi, who had earlier worked on Guell’s palatial home on La Rambla Street (another Barcelona landmark). Gaudi worked on this park from 1900 to 1914, but the project was later abandoned as a commercial failure. The Barcelona City Council acquired it in 1918 and converted it into a public park in 1923. Park Guell is now one of the best public spaces in Barcelona.

Park Guell, Barcelona

Park Guell was designed as a private urban development in the northern part of Barcelona known as Muntanya Pelada (Bald Mountain). In this rocky terrain full of slopes, Gaudi designed all the necessary services such as viaducts to distribute water, squares and streets, a large entrance stairway to a hall for a covered market. Over the roof of this hall is a large public square bordered by an ergonomically designed winding bench decorated with artwork done using broken tiles.

Public square on top of the columnar hall, Park Guell

Gaudi's tile work, Park Guell

The outstanding feature of Park Guell is its integration of architecture with nature. The Porter’s Pavilion and Keeper’s House Pavilion dominate the entrance, the former with its four-armed cross and both with attractive mushroom-shaped chimneys.

Porter's Pavilion (right) and Keeper's House Pavilion, Park Guell

Gaudi’s most famous project and his labor of love is the Temple of Sagrada Familia. Being a devout Catholic, Gaudi devoted his later years to this project, which he designed to have 18 towers – one each for Jesus, Mary, the 12 apostles and 4 evangelists. Construction began in 1882, slowed down by 1912 due to personal tragedies in Gaudi’s life, the economic hard times in Barcelona and the death in 1918 of his patron, Eusebi Guell. In June 1926 Gaudi was himself hit by a tram and died three days later in a pauper’s hospital in Barcelona. He lies buried in La Sangrada Familia. The work on this project continues up to this day, some according to Gaudi’s original plans, much of which were destroyed in the Spanish Civil War. Work is likely to be completed around 2030, making this perhaps the only World Heritage Site that is still being built.

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

La Sangrada Familia is a church of the basilican plan and with a Latin cross, has five naves in the central part and three in the transept. The limit on space has led to its optimum use and explains the cloister around the temple. The style of Sagrada Familia is Gothic, based on controlled geometric structures. It has a paraboloidal base structure, columns in the central nave and a tree-shaped columnar form that supports vaulting of a hyperbolic base and internal modulation of windows that filter and distribute light. Once complete, the church is estimated to accommodate 13,000 worshippers.

Interiors, La Sagrada Familia - The tree shaped columns

Apostle Towers

There are various symbolisms in the structures and the sculptures. Four towers on each of the three facades are dedicated to the twelve apostles, the first bishops of the church. For this reason, Episcopal symbols crown the pinnacles.

The anagram of the Holy Trinity crowns the cypress, the Tau – the first letter of the name of God in Greek, the cross in the form of the cross-piece of the Son (Jesus Christ) and the dove of the Holy Ghost.

Holy Trinity, Tau and the Doves

Gaudi himself completed the eastern façade known as the Nativity Façade. It is ornamented in a baroque fashion with motifs of plants and animals, and of course a nativity scene. Opposite to it is the Passion Façade, on which work started in 1954 and was completed in 1987. The abstract figures, including those depicting the crucifixation, created a storm, as the style was very different from that of Gaudi. The work now focuses on the nave and the southern façade known as the Glory Façade, which will depict life and death.

Nativity Facade

Passion Facade

Entry to the under-construction church is 12 euros; a combined ticket for the church and the Park Guell museum can be purchased for 14 euros. An elevator ride up one of the towers followed by a short climb up the narrow stairs is another 2.5 euros. Beware – the elevator does not bring you down. It’s a long walk down narrow stairs. Those brave enough to go up and then walk down get fantastic views of Barcelona as well as close-up views of the church. It is a photographer’s delight.

Barcelona from Sagrada Familia Tower

The Churches of Granada

Granada was the last bastion to fall to Christian armies in 1492 after almost seven centuries of Muslim rule in Al-Andalus. It is therefore not surprising to find grand churches in Granada. It was an expression of newly acquired power. Christopher Columbus also discovered the American continent in 1492 and in time that brought much wealth to the Spanish monarchy. New wealth and new power led to an unprecedented building spree, which is seen nowhere better than in Granada and Sevilla.

The Cathedral de la Anunciacion (also called the Metropolitan Cathedral), dated 1522-1704, is one of the most impressive examples of Spanish Renaissance. Emperor Charles V decided to turn it into a royal mausoleum. In the building five naves are juxtaposed to a rotunda with a double ambulatory, and presents a multiple symbolism. The circular cimborrio (central tower) is also the royal vault, alluding to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The central alter indicates a very precise ideology – the sacred sacrament of the Eucharist irradiating over a city that was still Muslim. After the death of its primary architect Diego de Siloe, the main façade was completed by Alonso Cano. It was conceived as a triumphal arch whose tripartite design disguises the interior structure of the five naves and intensifies the play of light and shadow.

Cathedral de la Anunciacion

The Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) was commissioned by the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1504 for their burial site; work started in 1506 and finished in 1521. The Chapel is an example of the late Castilian Gothic style: Latin cross plan, with an apse and a choir, ribbed vaults and decorative emphasis in the upper part of the wall. On the inside, the most outstanding features are the Renaissance grate located in the transept, the sepulchers of the monarchs and those of Felipe the Handsome and Queen Juana, and the alterpiece of the Holy Cross. On the outside, the Chapel has only one façade, with a front dated to 1526 and rebuilt in 1733 to unite it to the Cathedral complex. At the bottom of the nave, another front leads into the Iglesia del Sagario.

Capilla Real, Granada

The Iglesia de Sacrario, dated 1705-1722, is in the Baroque style and occupies the site where the Major Mosque of Granada used to stand. The building follows on a smaller scale the Basilica of Saint Peter – Greek cross inside a square. A hemispherical dome covers the central part and domical vaults cover the four sides of the transept. The front is divided into two parts, with sculptures by Augustine Vera Moreno in the second part – Saint Peter in the middle, flanked by Saint John Nepomuceno and Saint Ivo.

Iglesia de Sacario, Granada

In the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral are two educational institutions – Antigue Universidad Literaria and La Madrazza. The University building is dated 1527-1544 and is in the Renaissance style. Emperor Charles founded it in 1526 to indoctrinate the Muslims who remained under Christian power after the conquest of Al-Andalus. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, the teaching was transferred to the old Colegio de San Pablo de la Compania de Jeus and the building became a heritage site. La Madrazza (The Madrasa) was established in 1349 by Sultan Yusuf I as a school and university. It is stated to have a splendid prayer hall and mihrab, but sadly it was closed for repairs.

Puerta del Pardon is a cathedral in the Renaissance style dating to 1537, with the second part done in 1810. Its name comes from a convicted criminal who sought refuge in the cathedral and was later pardoned. Roman triupmphal arches provided inspiration for its design, signifying the victory of Christian forces. Above the spandrels of the lower arch are the allegorical figures of Faith and Justice, which suggest that the land was given to Christian monarchs because they acted with faith and justice.

Puerta del Pardon, Granada

Puerta del Pardon, Granada

The Hospital Real (Royal Hospital) is as grand as any early to mid-16^th century church in Granada. It is built on a Greek cross plan with each quadrant consisting of a fountain courtyard and rooms in the surrounding verandah. The transept is crowned by a central tower. The construction of this hospital is dated 1511-1599; the frontispiece dated 1632 is one of the finest in Granada. Hospital Real was built on the orders of King Fernando V, as part of a public service programme undertaken by the Crown following the conquest of Granada. This building is now part of the University of Granada and houses a large library. Strangely, this was the only building in Granada in which we had to pass through metal detectors and our bags were also screened through X-ray.

Frontispiece, Hospital Real

Fountain Courtyard, Hospital Real

Spain Diary - Getting there and some history

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi, its associated chaos, vacations in schools and colleges for two weeks and a speaking assignment in Spain, led us to plan a trip to this country. My fascination with Spain is largely due to its Moorish past, its rich history, a mixed culture and architectural styles. Naturally, we will begin with Andalucia, the southern part of Spain.

Here is the itinerary that we plan to follow.

Our itinerary in Spain
1. Arrive in Madrid; proceed to Granada (Oct 2)
2. Granada to Cordoba and back (Oct 4)
3. Granada to Seville (Oct 6)
4. Seville to Barcelona (Oct 7)
5. Barcelona to Madrid (Oct 13)

I will try to write this diary as we go along. But I will also keep updating it with pictures and facts as and when I get more time from the travels.

Oct 2, 2010
Our journey began with Qatar Airways QR233 leaving Delhi at 4:50 am. The 4 hr flight was uneventful, the plane was nice and movie selections were good. We reached Doha at about 6:45 local time and connected quickly to QR071 to Madrid. A group of Pakistanis traveling together were quite excited and always wanted to use toilets when food trolleys were in the alley. The coolest one was a Sikh from Quetta, who kept reading an Urdu novel through the flight to Spain. Cannot get any more cross-cultural than that. I again met this group two days later in Granada. They worked for a Spanish fertilizer company in Pakistan and were on a company-organized pleasure trip.

Bajaras Airport in Madrid is quite large but did not have as much traffic, at least when we arrived. It is Spain's busiest and the world's 11th busiest airport. The new Terminal 4, which opened in 2006, was designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers. According to a Madrid travel site, "the award-winning design attempts to use its sweeping visual effects to psychologically create a stress-free feeling among passengers prior to their journey". I wonder why they overlooked the stressed-out arriving passengers. There were three sets of stairways to cross to get from the aircraft to the arrival hall, which was not very convenient. But the immigration was efficient and luggage arrived quickly. The lady at the information counter was helpful, telling us exactly how to get to the bus station (Estacion del Sur) for the next leg of our trip to Granada.

Arrival Hall, Terminal 4, Bajaras Airport, Madrid

The taxi from airport to Estacion del Sur was expensive; a 15-min ride cost us 30 euros. The landscape and vegetation reminded me of the dry hilly terrain of Denver (USA) where we lived for a few years and have visited often. Estacion del Sur is like most bus stations in Europe. Lots of ticket windows, sitting areas, lots of vending machines and places to eat. We catch the 5:30 pm ALSA bus to Granada, the trip costing 16.20 euros per head.

The trip from Madrid to Granada took 5 hours, which included a 30 min stop midway. The café (possibly owned by the bus company) offered cold and soggy sandwiches, stale donuts, coffee and soft drinks. The terrain from Madrid started with dry rolling hills but later changed into rich agricultural land with olive plantations. Alternative energy was prominent in modern windmills and farms of solar panels.

Windmills and Olives, Madrid-Granada Highway

Midway stop, Madrid-Granada Highway

We arrive in Granada around 10:30 pm and take a taxi to our hotel - Pension San Joaquin, which we booked through the internet. It is along a cobblestone alley, just off the Gran via de Colon, close to the old part of town. Our triple room is basic, but is clean and functional. Best of all, internet is free and there is WiFi in our room. Pension San Joaquin is designed like an Andalucian home, around a decorated central courtyard. The housekeeping service is good and the reception staff is helpful, even though they can speak very little English. There is no breakfast, but there are plenty of restaurants, and cafes near the hotel. Further,  the hotel's coin-operated coffee machine serves decent coffees for only 0.5 euros. Those have made parts of this blog possible.

Our hotel - Pension San Joaquin, Granada

More on Granada as we start exploring it. We have a date with Alhmabra tomorrow.

Oct 3, 2010

We spent the day exploring Granada, a majority of it being spent in Alhambra, the fortress palace built by the Moors, which takes architectural finesse to new heights. The Nasirid Palace within this complex is a beauty. I have seen Topkapi, the palace of Ottomans in Istanbul, which would be contemporary to this building, and the Red Fort in Delhi, which was about two centuries later. Neither of these buildings come close in the finesse and detailing seen in the Nasirid Palace. The Taj Mahal in Agra, again about 200 years later, would be a close competitor.

Nasirid Palace, Alhambra, Granada

Granada cannot be appreciated without a bit of history. You find it around every corner in this city. If the Muslims built Alhambra, the Christians who followed went on to build with a vengeance, dotting the city with many fine churches in the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque style. The Granada of today is a young and vibrant city with about a quarter of its population being students; its university and medical school are highly rated.

Granada is the gem of present day Andalusia province in Southern Spain. Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation governed by Muslims at various times between 711-1492. The Moors, as the Arabs who ruled Al-Andalus were called in general, were not part of one continuous dynasty. The Umayyads who ruled present-day Syria and Iraq till the middle of the 8^th century, conquered the Iberian peninsula when Tariq ibn Ziyad led Muslim forces on the orders of the Caliph Al-Walid I to Gibraltar in 711. The word “Gibraltar” itself is derived from Jabl-al-Tariq (The Mountain of Tariq), designating that famous geological formation in the Strait of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean between Spain on the European continent and Morocco on the African continent. In a seven-year campaign, which was followed by some reverses, almost the entire Iberian peninsula was brought under Muslim control. Al-Andalus became part of the expanding Ummayad empire. The Caliph in Baghdad ruled Al-Andalus through a governor.

In 750, when the Abbasids defeated the Umayyads, the exiled Umayyad prince Abd-ar-Rahman took control of Al-Andalus by 756 and established himself as the Emir of Cordoba. For the next 150 years, his descendants ruled as emirs of Cordoba, with vacillating control over Al-Andalus, sometimes not extending beyond Cordoba. Abd-al-Rahman III who took control in 912 restored Umayyad power and expanded his dominion over the entire Al-Andalus and parts of Northern Africa. In 929 he elevated the emirate to a Caliphate, competing in prestige and power with the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad and the Shi’ite caliph in Tunis. This was the golden period of Al-Andalus.

A civil war between 1009 and 1013 led to a collapse of the Cordoba Caliphate. Al-Andalus broke up into small independent states called taifas, which came under threat from Christian kingdoms to their north. The taifa rulers sought help from the Almoravids, the Islamic rulers of Maghreb to their south. In 1086 the Almovarid ruler of Morocco, Yusuf bin Tashfin, defeated the Christian armies and by 1094 he annexed all the muslim taifas. The Almovarids were followed by another Berber Muslim dynasty, the Almohads in the 12^th century, who were defeated by the Castilian Alfonso VIII in 1212 at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The final Muslim threat to Christians on the Iberian peninsula came from the Marinids in Morocco who took control of Granada and surrounding areas during the 14^th century. The Marinids were defeated at the Battle of Salado in 1340 and Gibralta, till then under the control of Granada fell in 1350. Thereafter, rebellions and wars among Chritian states ensured the survival of Granada for almost 150 years. King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille were married in 1469 and this union marked the final assault on Granada. The Pope declared their war a crusade. In January 1492 after a long siege, Mohammad XII, the Moorish sultan, surrendered the magnificent fortress palace Alhambra, bringing to an end the Muslim rule in Al-Andalus.

Jaundice in Japan

I am just back from Yokohama, Japan, where I went to attend the United States-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program (USJCMSP) Workshop on “Enteric Viral Hepatitis A and E in Asia”. As the name suggests, most of the participants were from USA and Japan, but there were a few from elsewhere as well.

Yokohama is Japan's second largest city about one hour south-west of Tokyo by fast train. The Narita Express (N’EX) takes 90 minutes to get there from the airport. It is clean, efficient and a very comfortable reserved train. The fare is JPY 3,500 one-way or JPY 5,500 return (~ Rs. 3000 or $65). A new feature for tourists is the NEX-Suica combination ticket for the same price. The Suica is a top-up card that enables cash-free local travel and shopping.

The Tokyo metro is one of the world’s best. The stations are busy but functional in every way; some of the larger ones are underground cities. The only problem is that ticket machines at many smaller stations are almost always in Japanese, leaving the traveler a bit lost. But help in the form of an official or eager youngsters ready to practice their English, is never far away.

There was no time to explore Yokohama, partly because of the busy conference schedule and partly due to the weather, which remained rainy and windy due to a passing typhoon. The planned walk in a Japanese garden followed by dinner in a traditional Japanese house was limited to the latter. From the bus and hotel windows, Yokohama appeared to be a modern city with skyscrapers and skywalks. This was my forth visit to Japan, the first being in 1993. One visible change I noticed was an increase in the number of cafes. Coffee drinking is becoming popular in Japan as well. A Cappuccino is never far away.

The Yokohama Sakuragicho Washington Hotel (where I stayed) was large and functional to meet the needs of a business traveler. For JPY 11,500 (~ Rs. 6400 or $140) one gets a room that fills up very quickly with just the bed and a counter that accommodates a TV screen, a hot plate and has room for a laptop. Internet was fast and free. The toilet was small enough for me to touch both walls while standing in the middle. But, it had everything that one needs – a shower-cum-bath, a basin, a toilet, soap, shampoo, conditioner, clean towels. And water from the tap is drinkable.

The Japanese toilet has also undergone a transformation. All toilets now have bidets. This is a device, which at the push of a button extends from under the flap to wash you after the job is done. And it is hands-free!! Here is the link to a video that is a funny, real-life experience of using a Japanese toilet.

At the conference a researcher even showed data that correlated a drop in hepatitis A virus transmission in Japan to the introduction of bidets. Technology to the aid of public health.

The conference was quite good. There were about 50 people, many of them the world’s experts on hepatitis viruses. The talks were excellent and the discussions meaningful. The focus was to discuss new developments in the biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis and control of enteric hepatitis A and E. Hepatitis A and E viruses (HAV and HEV) are enteric, i.e. infect through the gut but finally affect the liver causing jaundice, a lot of morbidity and about 1% mortality in affected patients. Both viruses are transmitted primarily through contaminated water and food, and sanitation is central to their control. As expected, countries that are poor and have large populations deprived of development are also endemic for these viruses. It is estimated that the cumulative burden of HAV and HEV is 5 billion and 2 billion, respectively (world population ~6.8 billion). This is enough reason to study these viruses and the diseases they cause.

What were the highlights of this conference? Many interesting new studies were reported that described the changing epidemiology of HAV and HEV, and recent outbreaks in Asia. While most Asian countries do not see hepatitis A as a clinical disease because it is so endemic that by 10 years of age pretty much everyone is exposed, has asymptomatic infection and is then protected for life. But with widely disparate standards of hygiene in many countries, the generation growing up on bottled water in our countries is increasingly at risk. A vaccine is available, but is expensive and is impractical for use in the vaccination programme of a country like India.

Hepatitis E epidemiology is however very interesting. At any time in India no more than about 30-40% people show exposure (based on antibodies to HEV). This leads to a lot of disease in young adults. HEV also causes high mortality in pregnant women, but the reasons are not fully understood. Proposals made at this conference suggested that pregnancy is a state of immunosuppression (to preserve the fetus) and viral infection compounds the problem. But why don’t all viral infections lead to high mortality like HEV. The use of proteomic and metabolomic technologies are beginning to unravel the host status during these infections, and allowing us to understand these details.

The recently published clinical trial for a new HEV vaccine was presented at this conference. This trial tested a Chinese recombinant HEV vaccine in almost 100,000 people – half of whom got the vaccine and the other half got a placebo (the hepatitis B vaccine). These people were then followed up for one year to see how many get naturally infected with HEV. There were no infections in the vaccine group and 15 infections in the placebo group, giving a one-year efficacy of 100%. But it is these same numbers that illustrate the economics of using HEV vaccines. If there were 15 infections among 48,000 persons over 1 year, this gives a rate of 0.0003. In other words, over 3000 persons will have to be vaccinated to prevent 1 infection over one year. That is clearly not affordable, unless the vaccine is dirt cheap.

An interesting example of the hygiene hypothesis was also presented. This hypothesis suggests that lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents, gut parasites and allergens increases susceptibility to allergy and asthma. In a retrospective study of atopy and respiratory allergies, Italian men with these allergic conditions showed significantly less exposure to HAV and the gut parasite Toxoplasma gondii. laeding the authors to conclude - "Respiratory allergy is less frequent in people heavily exposed to orofecal and foodborne microbes." Click here to read the paper.

The cellular receptor for HAV is a protein called TIM-1 (also called HAVcr1). It has been shown to regulate the development of asthma in humans. There are two forms of this gene - the long form and the short form. The long form of TIM-1 protects from allergy/asthma but 1 or 2 copies of this gene result in more severe HAV disease. During human evolution, HAV infection has driven natural selection of the short form of this gene, which protect from HAV but predisposes the carrier to allergy/asthma. This is a great example of environment and gene interaction.

The bottom line is - A little dirt never hurts. How much is enough? That is the question to ponder over in an over-sanitized world.