Jul 15, 2015
ROMANCE IN THE TIME OF THE MONSOON
Romance in the time of the Monsoon How can I not think of Gabo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, when I am wandering around this lovely small town of Fort Cochin? I…
Stories
Field notes from the road
Medicine, culture, travel, food, healing, and human stories from my archive. Start with a trail, search for a memory, or move by year.
Roads, meals, clinics, and human encounters.Archive into inquiry
These field notes are not only memory. They are the ground from which my new field inquiries begin.
The current inquiry follows one trail through the archive: food culture, metabolic health, Indigenous knowledge, and Suriname.
Apr 15, 2015
WHO IS THE OTHER IN JEWISH COCHIN?
Who is the OTHER in COCHIN? Anthropology is about the study of THE OTHER and until recently it has been chez l’autre (in the OTHER’s home). But in light of…
Jan 15, 2015
SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RESEARCH IN HEALTH, ILLNESS AND DISEASE
SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RESEARCH IN HEALTH, ILLNESS AND DISEASE You have to tip your hats off to molecular scientists who concentrate on a minute aspect of metabolism. But it…
Dec 15, 2014
YALDA IN IRAN, ISRAEL LOVES IRAN, STONEHENGE, CARNAC, CHICHEN ITZA, DZIBILCHALTUN ANDהילדה הקטנה שלי
December 21st, 2014, it would be the night of YALDA, celebrated in most of the Persian Speaking Middle East and Central Asia, also spilling into the Indian Subcontinent. But one…
Dec 15, 2014
GREETINGS TO MY MALAYSIAN, INDONESIAN, AMERICAN INDIAN FRIENDS AND FAMILY, ALSO TO MUSLIMS EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD
DEAR FRIENDS I send these greetings to you because I consider my relationship with you to be important. This long winded thoughts put down on paper is my way of…
Nov 15, 2014
FROM INDIANS TO CUBANS A FREQUENT FLIER ODYSSEY
Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE FROM INDIANS TO CUBANS A FREQUENT FLIER ODYSSEY At 630 AM, as NPR was broadcasting the news of the day, I drove…
Oct 15, 2014
SUPERMODERNITY AND TRADITION IN ONE DAY : MIAMI TO THE INDIAN RESERVATION IN ONE DAY
SUPERMODERNITY AND TRADITION IN ONE DAY MIAMI TO THE OMAHA INDIAN RESERVATION. Hey, Doc, said my Omaha Indian teacher, I don't know where Belgium is, but it does not matter,…
Sep 15, 2014
FINDING MEANING IN THE MODERN WORLD
FINDING MEANING IN THE MODERN WORLD On the early days of this New Year 5775, I stared into the tranquil Atlantic Ocean as the sun was setting. Boats were gently…
Sep 15, 2014
SHANAH TOVAH TIKKATEVU 5775 WELCOME JEWISH NEW YEAR
SHANAH TOVAH TIKKATEVU WELCOME TO THE JEWISH NEW YEAR 5775 This New Year, as I dip the apple slices into the honey, I would remember fondly the various conversations around…
Sep 15, 2014
SPIRITUALITY IN HEALTH CARE: WHAT I LEARNED FROM CANCER PATIENTS
Spirituality in Health Care Healing versus Curing Quality vs. Quantity How many vs. how much In treating Cancer, How long is the survival? Rather than how good is the quality…
Aug 15, 2014
AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE ISRAELI NOBEL LAUREATE, DANIEL KAHNEMAN
AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE ISRAELI NOBEL LAUREATE, DANIEL KAHNEMAN When I began working with the Indians, it looked like they were intent on educating this “tribal” boy into the ways…
Feb 15, 2014
NUTRITION, OVERWEIGHT, OBESITY AND CANCER AROUND THE WORLD
The Jakarta Post is an English Language newspaper published in Indonesia and as regional newspapers go it has less parochial and more of an international slant than Straits Times of…
Jan 15, 2014
SYMBOLIC HEALING AMONG RAPA NUI
SYMBOLIC HEALING WHAT CAN WE LEARN IN RAPA NUI One of the pleasures of being trained as a Medical Anthropologist is to absorb with the vision you have been taught…
Jan 15, 2014
CUBA AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN MEDICINE
Most westerners, americans of europeans, hardly know about the magnanimous Cuban efforts at Humanitarian Medicine. When people think of Humanitarian Medicine in the west, they think of flying out when…
Dec 15, 2013
SPEND A MORNING WITH AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST AND READ WITH HIM
Eleven articles arrived on a peer reviewed Diabetes and Metabolism Journal this morning. What was very interesting to note was that the authors were not from the usual developed countries…
Nov 15, 2013
THRIFTY GENE TO METABOLIC SYNDROME : HOW THE HUNTER GATHERERS BECAME OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE
LOW HDL CHOLESTEROL AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS, HYPERCHOLESTROLEMIA IN JAMAICA AND A CUBAN/AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST In the Medical Literature, there has been a lot of hullabaloo made about the importance of…
Nov 15, 2013
INDIAN PHILOSOPHY TRANSLATED INTO REALITY: THE TRADITIONAL KICKAPOO TRIBE IN ACTION
INDIAN PHILOSOPHY TRANSLATED INTO REALITY: THE CASE OF MEXICAN KIKAPU/KICKAPOO: KICKAPOO TRADITIONAL TRIBE OF TEXAS KTTT Philosophy as a guide to living- an essence of ones contentment, the feeling of…
Nov 15, 2013
THE JEWISH IDENTITY IN DIASPORA
The Jewish Identity in Diaspora The Economist, published weekly, has to be one of the best brain foods that is published that frequently in the English Language. I have great…