The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

From darkness to light again
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, June 11 — A 58-year-old man started having vision problems in both eyes six years back. He never realised that in few years his world would be dark and even to move around he would need someone’s help. He got treatment but to no avail. In the past 8 months he could barely recognise a moving object close to his face.

Dr G.S. Bajwa, in-charge, Retina Unit ‘DMCH’ Ludhiana, diagnosed him as a case of proliferative retinopathy with clotted blood in the eyes. After treating him with medicines for three weeks, it was decided to operate upon one eye of the patient.

With the help of a sophisticated vitrectomy machine, which allows to take a cutter into the eye through a very small hole, under a high magnification of 30x, the organised blood and the membranes were removed.

A few days back, the patient reported for the follow-up alone and recorded unaided 6/18 vision. Dr Bajwa, who has been operating upon such complicated cases regularly, informed that a thick blood clot in the eye could occur after eye injury, long standing diabetes, high blood pressure, blocade of blood vessels in the retina, repeated retinal infections (pars planitis) and swelling of retinal vessels (vasculitis). He told that the commonest cause of such presentation in young age was vasculitis, while maximum number of patients these days had it due to diabetes.

He felt that for a surgeon enabling a patient to see this beautiful world gave greatest satisfaction. He advises regular 6 monthly eye-check-up of diabetic patients. He cautions that it is the only pair of eyes we have got, prevention of bleeding is still the best option.

Such a surgery is possible by making 30.9 mm holes in the outer eye. It is a positive pressure surgery, ie, the eyeball pressure is maintained using fluid which enters through one hole.

The other two holes are used to take scissors, forceps, into the eye to enable us to see within the dark eye, on endoillumination prob is used along with a cold light source. Vitrectomy can be done for other conditions like remaining foreign beelies, old retinal detachments, cataract removed in children,dropped lens or for removing pus from the eye. Success rate is between 60 and 80 per cent.

SPORT

The lab of Asian Games
M. S. Cheema

LINK three key words: Ludhiana, Laboratory Asian Games. It looks futile. Think of some relevance. No sense would solve the puzzle. Logic would lead to more confusion leading to a blind-alley.

Unless I have gone crazy, there is a key to decode and thereby hangs a tale. To borrow from Hafeez Jalandhari: It is half a century old story, not a tale of 2 or 4 days. The vibrant Ludhiana has more to it than pollution, it has a history, more recent than old.

At Lahore, to be precise, at the premier institution, Government College, were growing scores of living legends. A sports-twin comprised Principal G.D. Sondhi and Prof Harish Kathpalia.

The furious storm of the Partition blew a community west-wards and another east-wards like straws.

In 1949 Prof Kathpalia was transferred to Government College, Ludhiana to head it as Principal. The friendly duo met and their range of exchange of views was maximum: significant things of Punjab to matters most urgent for the nation. Both were gifted with great dreams and big schemes, besides, faculty of vision and decision.

Prof G.D. Sondhi met Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to impress upon him the importance of World Olympics and identified a number of difficulties. To assess the national potential with a view to boosting it, the Sondhi-Kathpalia concept of the Asian Games was presented. Pandit Nehru nodded consent and said, “Go ahead”.

The pre-Asian Games were planned. Indian Olympics were organised as XVI All India Amateur Athletics/Games at Ludhiana, to be exact at its Government College, to be more precise at the historic Cricket Ground.

The National legends, such as Roshan Mistry, Lavy Pinto, Barbara Webster, Davenport, Gauntlet, Baldev Singh, Jagmohan Singh and scores of others participated. David Abraham of Bollywood was the commentator. Many know him as a film actor. Very few remember him as a lover of sports. The secretary of the organising committee was our saintly S. Thakar Singh, Head of Physical Education Department of the college ably assisted by Capt Sohan Singh, popularly known as Chacha Pannu. Principal Kathpalia provided the inspiration, Principal G.D. Sondhi the philosophy.

That Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee or Mrs Sonia Gandhi addressed their political rallies at the college stadium tell another story.

These grounds are playfields which produced cricketer Yashpal, Olympian Jagdev Singh Sidhu and scores of other persons.

Night cricket tournaments popular in Ludhiana
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, June 11 — Nights are no longer reserved for dining and dancing and partying. Cricket is the latest addition to the long list of activities Ludhianvis have been doing during the night. It is not the street cricket, but the organised tournaments are being played here during the night under bright gaze of electric bulbs.

Currently one such cricket torunament is in progress in the Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. According to the organisers, 11 teams are participating in the tournament. The tournament is being played on knock out basis.

Each match will be of ten overs each. The game is being played with the tennis ball with full team of 11 players each. The teams have come from different parts of Ludhiana. It is for the first time that such a tournament is being organised here.

The tournament being organised by the Leo Club Ludhiana Vishal in aid of the poor and the needy. Each participating team has contributed Rs 1100 each. Besides voluntary contributions are also solicited from the spectators.

It was live and exciting atmosphere in the playground in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. Hundreds of people came out to witness the cricket match. In fact it is an open space within the colony which is being used by the organisers as the playground. Ludhiana does not have any cricket stadium.

The organisers had to face some difficulties in organising the lights in the ground. The officials of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, which owns the land being used as a playground had demanded Rs 10,000 per night for allowing the organisers to hold the sports event. However, the matter was resolved and the tournament was allowed to go on smoothly.

Some of the players said TNS talked to emphasise the urgency for constructing a good sports stadium in Ludhiana. They pointed out the city had produced international stars in various fields, yet the Ludhianavis were devoid of a sports stadium.