Number 13

 

NUMBER  13  --  INAUSPICIOUS   or   AUSPICIOUS  ?

 

 

Dr. T. Rama Prasad         July 2012  updated on November 13, 2022

Today is November 13, 2022 when my article titled ‘Zero COVID’ struggles is published in THE HINDU as a ‘Web Special Premium Article’ (  https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/zero-covid-struggles/article66105508.ece  ).  I consider this as the best of the hundreds of my published articles.  It is published on 13^th.   Is this number just a coincidence ?  Read on about this number below.                                             www.rama-scribbles.in         drtramaprasad.blogspot.com

    

 The botanical name of  the “God cactus”  is  Ferocactus herrerae  (Barrel Cactus) which is a native of Mexico.  The number of ‘ribs’ (the ridges on the surface of this plant) in this species of cacti are always 13. The number 13is considered across the cultures by many as inauspicious. In many hotels, room number 12 is followed by room number 14, and similarly we don’t see 13^th floor in high-rise buildings.  Rajyalakshmi noticed, after buying, 13 precious stones in a set of ear ware jewellery,  and immediately got it exchanged to one having a different number (12) of stones.  I remember to have read that at Jesus Christ’s ‘Last Supper’,  there were 13 people around the table.  Some believe this number 13 unlucky because one of  the 13 people, Judas Iscariot was the betrayer of Jesus Christ at the supper.

 I joined on 13^th the institution in the Perundurai Sanatorium campus (Ramalingam Tuberculosis Sanatorium which was later incorporated with Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre) where I worked for over 30 years -- perhaps an act of a non-conformist !  It was not planned for 13^th.  The position of availability of accommodation in the train made me land here on 13^th.  That is all.  The number of letters in my name “Dr. T. Rama Prasad” is 13.  Again, just a chance   occurrence !   The number of letters in the name of my clinic “Pay what you can” is also 13.  The various words by which I am referred to contain 13 letters -- 'Perundurai doc' (13); 'pulmonologist' (13); 'respirologist' (13). 

          And on 13^th of March 2011,  a JCB excavator machine demolished our garden to facilitate extension of our clinic building.  This is also not planned particularly for 13^th.  It was planned for a Sunday which happened to fall on 13^th.  And  artist,  Ms. Bhuvana came here on the 13^th of May and 13^thof September  to supply some illustrations for this website,  just coincidentally ! 

The sum of the digits of 13 is 4.  Many Chinese and Japanese believe that 4 (1+3) is an inauspicious number.  I have an interesting piece of information on number 13.  “Triskaidekaphobia” is the word used to denote fear of the number 13.  

“Friggatriskaidekaphobia” is the word used for fear of Friday and 13^th falling on the same day.  Many people believe that the combination of Friday and 13^th is most inauspicious. Curiously,  it was on Friday, the 13^th of July, 2012 that the opening ceremonial rituals were conducted in the newly constructed consultation chamber of Geeth to mark the opening of the ground floor block of Geeth’s O & G speciality facility.   I don’t know whether Geeth herself was aware of this.  In the O & G speciality, curiously, there is a product with an ad line "POWER of 13" (13 Amino Acids to aid foetal growth) -- AtoZ AMINO of ALKEM.  This number 13 may just be a coincidence of which the manufacturers might not have an idea !

On the other hand,  the “Friday the 13^th” has long been considered lucky in Judaism.  Some think that the fear of 13 stems from anti-semite sensitivity. 

This number 13  is curiously associated with many things connected with our just (July 25, 2012) sworn-in 13^thPresident of India, Pranabh Mukherjee --  his first election to Lok Sabha was on May 13, 2004; married on July 13, 1957; lived for several years at 13, Talkatora Road, New Delhi; for 8 years he was in Parliament's room No.13; there is a 13 in the vote value of 7,13,763 in the present presidential election !!

 

  https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/zero-covid-struggles/article66105508.ece

OPEN PAGE                                                                                                                 13 – 11 -- 2022

‘Zero-COVID’ struggles                THE  HINDU

 

T. Rama Prasad                                                                        ‘Web Special Premium Article’

NOVEMBER 13, 2022 01:01 IST

UPDATED: NOVEMBER 13, 2022 01:01 IST

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Stringent lockdown and protocols for COVID-19 continue in China to this day. | Photo Credit: AP

Is it not exacting high economic, social and political costs, though lives are being saved?

 

My patient Ms. Coveena (recently changed her name) asked me last month: “Doctor, the Chinese Communist Party’s weeklong Congress is going on to pave for the ascendency to a third 

 

 

five-year-term for the President, Xi Jinping. Will Xi abandon the ‘Zero-COVID’ strategy after he is reelected?”

 

I said: “Why should he? The strategy saved a million lives. There have been only around 5,000 COVID deaths among the 1.4 billion Chinese, in stark contrast with other countries where the virus killed more than six million people, one million in America alone.”

She made a derogatory remark: “Yes, yes, they are Chinese figures with questionable reliability... They have their own method of counting and doctoring COVID deaths; hiding deaths from the world like a serial killer burying bodies.”

 

I said that even if we factored in those elements and even if the numbers were wrong by tenfold, it was reasonable to believe that the fatality rate is admirably very low in the population because of the dynamic Zero-COVID policy.

She retorted: “Why then was there the humongous surge in Shanghai leading to miserable effects of lockdowns like food supply shortage, disruptions to the economy and access to medical care, and protests by the public?”

 

I explained that there was a new subtype of the virus and that the seemingly excessive Zero-COVID restrictions reflect the resolve of President Xi who has repeatedly said over the past two years that “people’s lives are of utmost importance” to justify elaborate border closures and strict pandemic control policies.

 

With an expression of disbelief, she asked: “Doctor, do you think that Xi’s Zero-COVID policy is for the benefit of the people?” Sensing my bewilderment at that question, she quoted what Priyadarsi Mukhergi, professor in Chinese and Sinological Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said recently, “…Xi Jinping’s weaknesses have been revealed through the excessive lockdown policy imposed on the public in the name of achieving a ‘Zero-COVID’ level. Actually, he wants to root out any challenge to his power and authority. A Zero-COVID strategy restricts public movement outside homes and thus neutralises any possibility of popular uprising.”

 

Ms. Coveena also launched into a more important reason for Xi doggedly clinging on to the Zero-COVID policy. The global admiration for the very low rate of COVID deaths in China gave a tremendous fillip and political popularity to Xi Jinping to get elected for another term.

Further, she posed a lot of questions: For how long would Zero-COVID be sustainable? Is it not exacting high economic, social and political costs ? And how long can the authorities stamp out public protests? Would not giving up the Zero-COVID policy be considered tantamount to Xi’s failure ? Would not a million of the immunologically naive Chinese die if Zero-COVID is suddenly given a farewell? Is this a historic turning point in state–society relations?

 

I was a tad confounded and said that eminent world leaders analyse things deeply in consultation with top experts in the field of health and medicine and act rationally. She pointed out that former U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested that disinfectants could be injected into people to keep COVID at bay, and that Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro had told people that COVID vaccines would turn them into crocodiles, men into women and women into men.

 

The word ‘lockdown’ evokes a feeling of melancholy and dread among the people. The word Zero-COVID is more frightening. It’s the buzzword in media now. So, finally, Ms. Coveena herself answered her first question (Will Xi abandon the Zero-COVID strategy after he is reelected?). She was of the view that he would not, because he knows that once the Zero-COVID umbrella is closed, there would be an acute and severe shortage of crematoria and burial grounds!!!

 

drtramaprasad@gmail.com

Dr. T. Rama Prasad       

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December 6, 2022:   On this day, to my surprise, I happened to see an unusual full front-page ad connected with NUMBERS --  the photos of the page are attached below.  We must ask DR. J. C. Chaudhry about this number 13 !