VidyaKrishnan @VidyaKrishnan@qoto.org

#TIL Legend of the Flying Dutchmen comes from a yellow fever infected ship that was repeatedly denied port until all on board died. The ship is forced to sail endlessly manned by a ghost crew & can nvr mk port

PS: This wouldn't hv happened if the Dutch were not greedy colonizers

#TIL that slave ships were trailed by sharks that quickly learned that slaves were so routinely thrown overboard- with many dying from yellow fever.

SO MANY SLAVES were "thrown to the sharks" (also led to origin of that phrase) that it changed sharks' migratory patterns. Some types of sharks still follow the transatlantic slave trade route 

It's #WorldAIDSDay & I recommend these movies if you want to know more about the plague years:
How to Survive A Plague (Youtube)
Fire In The Blood (Netflix)
Dallas Buyers Club (Netflix)
#AIDSDay

👇🏾column by @paimadhu has more recommendations
https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhukarpai/2019/11/30/aids-activism-a-playbook-for-global-health-advocacy/#594f1e8f40a1

The best feature of #TheFreelanceLife is the amount of reading you can get done.

Read these in the last month- give or take a few days.

Silent Library- Murakami

We were Eight Years in Power- Ta-Nehisi Coates

Hidden History of Burma-Thant Myint-U

Life and Times of Michael K- Coetzee

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks-Rebecca Scoot

Winner Takes All- Anand Giridharadas

Talking to Strangers- Malcolm Gladwell

Agent running in the field- John Le Carre

Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli

Becoming: Michelle Obama

can't think of a single person with the archival capacity Jabbar Sir had.

We are losing first generation survivors. And we are nowhere close to remotely doing right by the second & third generation survivors of this horrible disaster. In 2 weeks it'll be 35 yrs to #Bhopal

This is such a big loss. Jabbar Sir was an institution. Last we met he was refusing MP govt's offer to help with escalating med expenses. He was stalling ..on principle.. wont take help from the govt that did this..

I hope he finally gets some rest. God knows he has earned it.

https://www.ndtv.com/people/bhopal-gas-tragedy-activist-abdul-jabbar-dies-2132717

My latest on UNICEF's delay in educating #Rohingya kids

One teacher told me: Our children have to be taught law, human rights, history– esp our history. How else'll we break the cycle of violence? We cant bring'em up like animals. This is not normal.

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2019/11/12/Bangladesh-Rohingya-schools-refugee-education-restrictions

Guys, I'm looking to purchase a good health insurance policy for myself. I have one from Apollo Munich but it has a long list of exclusions.

Can anyone recommend a good policy?

For the love of windows and reading nooks.

In case you are looking for a podcast to binge on this weekend, I've got just the one. #Moonrise

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/podcasts/moonrise-the-origins-of-apollo-11-mission/

I am liking in this already. Hi.