What connects vaccines to Osama's capture? | #38
What does malaria have to do with a famous drink?
2021 offers a ray of hope things might return to normal. Thanks to all the brilliant scientists and researchers working tirelessly to find vaccinations to the Covid-19 virus. This week’s newsletter highlights a few interesting anecdotes about vaccines.
Things we learnt this week
Had a tough week? Here make yourself a G&T to unwind. The quintessential relaxing drink was initially made in India as a cure to Malaria. A Scottish doctor, George Cleghorn, discovered that quinine could be used to treat malaria. This quickly led to tonic water being drunk by British soldiers stationed in India to fight malaria. But tonic water is bitter. Solution - add a bit of gin, some lime and a bit of lemon and voila - G&T is born
A fascinating use of a vaccination campaign was in the capture of Osama Bin Laden. A fake polio campaign was launched in the hope of entering the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad to understand how many people lived in that compound and if there was a possibility to get DNA. This has unfortunately led to backlash against vaccines in parts of Pakistan.
Much like today, there was skepticism about the vaccines in the 1950’s - when Jonas Salk’s inactivated virus vaccine was created. Enter Elvis Presley. In 1956, he started his performance on the Ed Sullivan show with a polio vaccine shot and by the end of 1957, cases in New York had reduced by over 81%. There may be modern day skepticism of the effect of Presley’s shot, but back then it was the perfect advertisement for the vaccine.
Our twitter threads ICYMI
Our tribute to the heroic Kamlesh Kumari - the first policewoman to be given the Ashoka Chakra.
A short thread about how a Ranji Trophy game in a quaint little town inspired a little girl to become the number 1 batswoman in T20 cricket.
Things we’re reading / watching / listening to:
Open by Andre Agassi - As the name suggests this is a frank insight into the man and player that Andre Agassi was. He seems to hate the sport that he was good at, but had the drive to be the best in it. Also check out the passage talking about his views on Leander Paes
The Devotion of Suspect X - A fast paced thriller by Japanese author Keigo Higashino, that constructs the perfect crime. The movie Drishyam is said to have been inspired by it.
The GME stock price - Seriously. We can’t stop looking at it.
SouthBay
Our 8th episode all about the constitution is up on SouthBay YouTube channel. Don’t forget to tune in on Sunday 6PM for the next episode.
Quiz Announcement
The whole world knows about the genius that is Krish Ashok. We are super thrilled to have him host our next quiz - The Ultimate Food Quiz. We could do some jalsa and show jilpa while talking about mouth watering food. Very excited to have the simbly great Narendra Shenoy and the fabulous Satshya as panelists.
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❤️ IWTK