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My interview on Mindscape Matters
Posted on May 7, 2023
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Baradwaj Rangan 
brangan
May 7, 2023
This is an interview series with Dr Mohan Raj, who helped me a lot with some anxiety issues.
vijay, hope there are no kamalahasan-isms here 😉
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Yajiv
May 7, 2023
@BR, I have been really enjoying his videos. Anxiety & depression run in my family (in varying degrees) so it has been really useful for me. Wouldn’t have found him without your Twitter. Thanks for the reco!
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vijay
May 7, 2023
BR, I like Kamalahaasanitis to an extent as long as it is interesting 🙂 will chk this out..
(BTW, is it just me or I sense quite a few blog commenters here opening about some mental health issues in the last 1-2 years? its not a post-covid thing either as some of these issues seem to be longterm but it seems only in recent times I have seen a lot of this either in RWI or in the comments space (atleast once every month whenever I drop in) that I begin to wonder whats going on..maybe its more prevalent than I thought it was)
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vijay
May 7, 2023
Singer Srinivas has had a strikingly similar trajectory, Chemical engg->work for a few years in corporate setup disinterested, while being in touch with music-> breakthrough with Rahman in his mid-thirties…
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vijay
May 7, 2023
Now that I think about it I dont think you have ever had a deep-dive chat with Srinivas atleast in the last few years after you switched to video..he is a good conversationalist, add him to your list, maybe a musical deep-dive series…
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Madan
May 7, 2023
vijay: I was telling Jeeva on FB that covid does in some cases inflame the nerves. I received medication for neurological pain when I was dealing with long covid. So covid has caused or exacerbated mental health effects. I know there is a study from a prominent and respected UK research body claiming there were no significant mental health effects observed during the pandemic but they studied the universe, aka everyone including those who weren’t infected (and that is flawed if you want to understand what the disease does or can do to people).
I had terrible anxiety for the last two-three weeks when a long covid spell struck again. Since yesterday, it appears to have subsided and I feel fine in my head again. I say appears because it’s so stop start I am becoming superstitious about even saying things are OK. I will never know when things will be completely OK and I am learning to accept they may never be and I have to fight through these spells.
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Madan
May 7, 2023
Seconding Srinivas for an interview. A wonderful interviewee. And I know you don’t do the Bollywood beat that often even with Galatta, BR, but if you can ever hit up with Ehsaan Noorani. He is a walking talking encyclopedia of rock-pop.
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musical v
May 7, 2023
He mentioned about trolls. Trolls can easily unsettle people who are in public space. Cant avoid them. Just answer them or ignore them. There are so many like trolls, covid effects, jobs, personal problems waiting to attack us mentally which is much more lethal than physical attacks. We need help, we need well wishers around us, we need mental strength to overcome and carry on with stoicism and some detachment. Nothing lasts. Either these things start having less control over us as time passes or we will be beyond them finally.
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vijay
May 7, 2023
“I say appears because it’s so stop start I am becoming superstitious about even saying things are OK”
Yes, touchwood. Hope things work out for the better pretty soon..
I may never be able to forgive the Chinese(and their US backers) for what they inflicted, esp. on India..and then to have the gall to create trouble at the borders as a bonus.
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Yajiv
May 7, 2023
@vijay:
I think there are several factors for that. Partly, I think the mental health problem among Indians has always been worse than people gave it credit for. In my own family, I’ve seen several folks in the older generations who have struggled with anxiety & depression for decades yet are STILL in denial about their issues and refuse to talk about/seek treatment for it. There was/is a huge stigma about being labelled “paithyam” or “crack”.
I also personally feel that social media & smartphones have changed our brain wiring permanently and not necessarily for the better. A lot of Gen Zers & millenials are struggling with poor self-image/esteem (among a myriad of other problems) thanks to the likes of Instagram & Facebook. Taking just a few days away from the internet made me realize how drugged up we all are on our devices.
Long Covid definitely didn’t help matters, as Madan shared. Whatever it is, I think acceptance/admission (on all sides) is the first step. I hope everyone gets the help they need.
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vijay
May 7, 2023
I think part 2 would cover some of your anxiety issues I guess, but I wonder if it had something to do with your switch from a more private corporate environment to a more publicly visible job, where pretty much your daily work is put out for scrutiny. That’s not an easy switch and ‘developing a thick skin’ first requires you to withstand a few blows. Not many would be up for it I guess, especially with the video format. Striking a balance between reader engagement and having a Zen-like detachment I guess would take some work.
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Madan
May 7, 2023
vijay: Thanks for the kind words. Agree completely as well – this was imo a gain experiment or whatever is the terminology gone wrong. It’s just been covered up superbly unlike the Iraq war where the US lies got exposed in short order.
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vijay
May 7, 2023
“Taking just a few days away from the internet made me realize how drugged up we all are on our devices.”
It sure does. Europeans take their 35-hr workweeks as well as their beach vacations seriously. The culture in rest of the world is’nt that well demarcated.
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Yajiv
May 7, 2023
@Madan: Unfortunately, China (unlike the West) is very good at covering their tracks, especially within their country. It is pathetic, however, how quickly the world bodies fell in line with the BS they were spouting. I guess this is the clearest sign that they are truly the singular world superpower now.
I hope you are getting all the support you need where you are. (I rmb you saying you were away from home.) Take care and please be kind to yourself.
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Madan
May 7, 2023
Yajiv: Thanks man! Yup. To be honest, it was very tough when long covid hit again about 3 weeks back. Because I found myself tucked in bed on a weekday with nobody else home. But I’ve ridden out this spell. I hesitated to tell my manager about it because this is a new job. But he was able to empathize because his son, a college student who plays football for college teams even in Europe, too has spells of breathlessness post covid.
I think the reason world bodies caved in is the gain of function tests were conducted at a lab that was also funded by the NIH, US. We don’t know what actually went on then and whether the NIH is culpable in this. And the US would understandably not want anybody to know.
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Anand
May 7, 2023
Madan, hope you are finding needed support and things turn for the better on the impact of long CoVid.
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Madan
May 7, 2023
Thanks Anand.
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therag
May 8, 2023
I think covid did lead to a sort of “mental-health” pandemic as well. This was felt more acutely in western countries because their societies are more individualistic, so higher chances for loneliness and related issues.
But even looking from a purely physical perspective, people were stuck indoors for a long time, food-habits and exercise habits were disrupted, a lot of stress due to anxiety. Just the staying indoors bit directly leads to less sun-exposure which means lower Vitamin-D, which is linked to bad moods.
People look for major life events as causative agents for mental-health issues but it can be multiple smaller issues that compound over time – especially when your issues are apparent to you but not visible enough to get diagnosed by a doctor.
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Jeeva Pitchaimani
May 8, 2023
I say appears because it’s so stop start I am becoming superstitious about even saying things are OK. I will never know when things will be completely OK and I am learning to accept they may never be and I have to fight through these spells. ///
@madan, en inam ayya neengal!!!
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Yajiv
May 10, 2023
@Madan: That’s really nice to hear that your new boss was understanding. Must have been a huge relief for you. Oh yes, the NIH funding thing. Unfortunately that got buried with all the insane Covid denial things Republicans were spouting (at that time).
@Madan & @Jeeva:
Keeping you both in my thoughts FWIW. Really proud of you guys for persevering despite all your struggles.
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Madan
May 10, 2023
Thanks man!
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brangan
May 13, 2023
Part 2 is up….
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Jay S
May 17, 2023
I enjoyed the second half of the second part. I wish the interviewer skipped all the general stuff and stuck to his specialty of the mind. Not that he should probe into BR’s personal life any more but questions like – the making of a creative mind (br himself as well as the people he interviews) – what are the childhood experiences that nurture it? Besides creativity, what are the skills that people need in the film industry for example – what is the difference between writing for fun versus making a career of it.
A discussion on – how to nurture creativity inside and outside the educational system (only based on what experiences were impactful to BR himself etc)
How BR’s engineering background helps/holds back from his current profession!
Across the board, some efficient ways BR sees in people around him or in himself by which one copes with the roller coaster ride of creative careers.
Of course there is a external aspect to success/failure – but some interesting examples) traits that help creators manage and control their destiny. Etc etc etc
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brangan
May 20, 2023
The third and final part of my interview with Dr S Mohan Raj
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vijay
May 21, 2023
Ome thing which I have not seen being asked in these interviews or even before in this blog(unless of course I missed it completely) is about the immediate family(parents or spouse/kids) and what sort of a role did they play during the ‘uncertain’ phase in the earlier part of your career. Because its one thing to go in this journey single or alone and still feel anxious but having dependents around can sometimes put in that much more doubt/insecurity with regard to risk taking and such …was that a factor at all?
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brangan
May 24, 2023
vijay: That’s a whole other (traumatic) story, and maybe I’ll share it one day after discussing it with the many, many, many family and friends and everyone else involved — it really was a village out to brainwash me out of this. 🙂
PS: Got this note via email.
Hi Baradwaj, I was searching for your new interviews and heard your story with Dr. Mohanraj. I am 47 and never practiced chemical engineering.
Thank you for promoting mental health!
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ara108vind
May 28, 2023
Br serious request by ur student… occasionally pls do interviews with people working outside cinema say politics,sports, industry etc…this brings us a whole new perspective of life through the eyes of BR
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