Check! Check! Breakfast Testing!

It happened twice! In the span of only a week or a mere seven days! If I was bemused in the first instance which was only natural and had the inclination of dismissing it with a grunt, the second instance made me veritably confused! It put me in the ‘search’ mode—the search for possible answers to a query that is as mundane and foolish as it could be! Damn it! I’ve lived my entire life with it: right from the birth time and date; all the time while growing up; all the time while socializing, working or traveling. It’s always been considered an integral part of living—something very important and even sacred. I even discussed the issue with my wife and she opined that it must have had something to do with people’s perceptions while endorsing my lifelong perceptive or otherwise truth of living as well as hers.

So, what the hell does ‘breakfast’ mean? Such a question would make anyone angry and annoyed, obviously. But I still wanted the answers, realizing the conflict raging inside me which was so immensely capable of making me disoriented and lost. I searched up the internet for the meaning or possible applications of the word ‘breakfast’. The explanations confirmed more or less fully my understanding of the word: that it means a morning meal or the first meal of the day; that it means the same if we split up the word into ‘break’ and ‘fast’—‘breaking’ the ‘fast’ meaning normally we retire to bed having our supper and don’t get up in the middle of the night to meddle with the cold sausages in the fridge which means further that while sleeping we rather biologically launch ourselves into a night-long fast that is not eating or drinking anything unless in an emergency and thus get up in the morning to break our fast.

Foodies, dieticians and all of that ilk alike emphasize the importance of this first meal of the day, and how balanced and nutritious it must always be. A few generous souls of the net also explain further that people may take similar foods like that in their breakfast anytime in the afternoon or in the evening too. But they normally call it afternoon or evening snacks and would never call it breakfast. I think nobody would ever say “I have eaten my breakfast in the evening” unless, of course, extraneous circumstances forced him/her to remain empty-stomach throughout the day!

Okay! Perhaps I will have to give another concession or make an exception in a country like India where fasting is very common among the population, due to reasons of religiosity, spirituality, ritualistic customization or simply dieting. Therefore, in cases like these they may be on fast not only during the night-slumber, but also during the whole day, and ideally, they’d break their fast with a sumptuous meal in the evening/night. But even then, they’d not call it breakfast or morning meal; they’d call it the fast-breaking meal. Besides, like breakfast it can’t be the first meal of the day, because most of them continue to drink and take fasting items like fruits, salad and other non-rice and non-roti dishes cooked without oil and masala. I think we don’t need to state that some of the blissfully fasting souls end up eating more during the ‘fasting’ hours. In any case, as the experts confirm, if you take your first meal before sunrise you can call it early breakfast and if you take it after 10-11am you can call it a late breakfast, and that breakfast can never be later than ‘lunch’ under any circumstances.

However, those two instances I aforementioned belied and defied all such explanations, perceptions and convictions.  

In the first incident I received an invitation to an evening local event the schedule of which said ‘breakfast’ at the end of the program. I laughed over it and dearly wanted to say to the organizing secretary ‘I really enjoyed the menu of the breakfast!’ which I didn’t finally say lest it would hurt their feelings whatever those could be.

As I indicated earlier, the second incident was of a more serious nature. A septuagenarian neighbor visited us in that evening, just about five days after the first incident. He was telling us about how satisfying was the felicitation given to him for the release of his first book.

“The program started around 4 o’clock. There were lots of presentations, lectures including mine, musical interludes and prayers for his good health and the wellbeing of the whole neighborhood! It continued till about 6 o’clock. After that there were informal meetups, photo sessions, selfies and all that. Finally, we had our breakfast at 7 and left the venue shortly thereafter. It took us nearly three hours to reach home due to traffic…” he paused as I, confused, interjected.

“So, you stayed there overnight?”

“No, we left the same day as I just told you! We got home after 10 o’clock!”

“But the program was in the afternoon, no?”

“Yes, right!”

I gave it up looking helplessly at my wife. She gave me a reassuring look that seemed to say what she did say later. Perceptions, huh? And then my frantic search began! 

Professional of the Homely Variety!

He is of light medium build with specks of beard littering his round face and a balding head. He has a soft but monotonously lingering way of talking and is often not able or rather willing to concentrate on his work for more than say ten minutes; however, he, in his late fifties, doesn't offend his clients easily and manages to sail through on most occasions. Gunesh is a DTP operator with specialization in the vernacular languages which makes him stay in good demand. He works from his home that is dominated by his proactive better half. And this particular fact of his life does cause quite a bit of inconvenience to his clients. We have some information about a lady who's been suffering because of Gunesh's homely habits that include running off on a daily basis on various errands and desires of his wife even as clients who'd struggled hard to get the appoinments sit on in his homely chamber. 

By some quirk of fate the said lady who stays in a far-off city from Gunesh's got herself entangled in a project with him. And the project has just entered the seventh year without any tangible sign of completion. The lady plans her occasional visits to Gunesh's city and accordingly fixes up a few days work with him, begging him for the favor in a bid to complete the work; but everytime, invariably, Gunesh gets busy during those days and manages to keep the project pending still. 

The exasperated lady now decides that enough is enough. She plans one full week's visit and phones Gunesh in advance to sit with her continuously for a week to finish the work at any cost. As usual Gunesh shows no concern. He nonchalantly informs her that during that week the marriage of his immediate neighbor's daughter is to be solemnised and since traditional marriages in parts of Eastern India are elaborate affairs he will be extremely busy for at least five days. 

The infuriated lady mocks him, "What kind of professional you are? How could anyone afford to not work for five full days for a wedding in the neighborhood?"

"That's very rude, madam! You don't understand! We're very close! And even if I plan to work I can't, because the wedding pandal extends to my workplace!" Gunesh replies sullenly. 

"Why can't you understand that the project needs to be completed! I'm paying you regularly and yet...!"

"In that case take away whatever is in my computer and finish it with some other expert!" Gunesh plays his trump card, definitely not for the first time.

The lady gets worried knowing that finding another language operator is not going to be easy at all. On the other hand this trip of hers cannot be cancelled as she has already lined up few other urgent engagements too. There's no option but to coax him, she realises. 

"After seven long years it's cruel to suggest that. Okay! Help your neighbour and enjoy the ceremony. But please consider my plight too! Please give me at least three days after your five days so that we can complete it in my next visit!" 

"That's not possible at all, madam! It's not entirely because you just mocked and insulted my professional integrity but because after five days of compelling festivities I will be dead tired! I'd need at least two days' full rest! And one day's work is not gonna help you much! Right? So keep it for your next trip and I'll try my best to spare some time for you!"

Courteously Yours!

Breakfast at the dining table. Two ladies are talking in a rapt engagement. They've finished breakfast and the teas, but perhaps the interesting subject of their conversation keeps them engaged still. The younger lady belongs to the host family while the elder lady happens to be a surprise guest. At this moment the younger lady is describing something animatedly. The elder lady listens resting her hands on the table and bending forward to the other lady. Suddenly, a tiny droplet of the younger lady's saliva shoots out and unfortunately, lands directly on the listening lady's right forearm. She, still in the act of listening, looks mournfully at the droplet, but is too courteous lest it draws the other lady's attention and make the whole innocuous happening unnecessarily embarassing. It is not at all known though if the talking lady notices it or misses it, she as innocent as the other lady. 

There has to be a bit of squirming inside the affected lady's mind, obviously. As the the talk doesn't seem to be ending soon the listening lady moves her victimised hand, almost as courteously imperceptibly as is possible, slides it slowly down the side of the table and rubs it on the hanging edge of the tablecloth.

As the keen observer of the unfortunate proceedings I do struggle to keep my composure too, and for the sheer love of courtesy do I try very hard indeed to not let any of the ladies become aware or conscious of anything. Fortunately the COVID-19 was not lurking anywhere near us then. 

IPL-2022 Sidelights!

The cameras involved in the coverage are extremely sensitive and emotive. They capture all emotions of the spectators. When a wicket of a certain team falls its supporters look as if they'll drop dead in grief, but the moment they see themselves in the big screens they burst into uncontrollable cheers! So much for IPL loyalties. 

😀😀😀

Several times during a match the umpire raises his hand and points a finger very emphatically to his watch. The gullible might feel that it reminds them for how long they've been couch potatoes. No! It's a reminder of a very strategic kind like that of Putin, Biden and the like. For the knowing watchers it could be a signal for a tea or drinks or snack-chaat strategy. So much for strategies. 

😀😀😀

The phenomena called The Cheerleaders have not been seen in the three editions, due credit to the Pandemic. With crowds allowed in this edition they could very well have been imported. However, the bio-bubble involved in the cheering process could've rendered them pitifully cheerless leaders. So much for the cheers.

😀😀😀

Thanks to the Pandemic, of course, we've been served with the unique spectacle of Virtual Guest Boxes. The apparent jokers, as per the behavior pattern visible in the boxes, are making all kinds of movements, waving and dancing all the time whenever you behold them in the boxes in your screens. Well, for us they are virtual, but in their reality the quantity of jerks they are producing is bound to virtually drain them of all their sweat in the real heat of the raging summer heat. So much for virtuality. 

😀😀😀

Finally, you cannot but help feel sorry for the players running around on the field when the weather department has been sounding yellow, orange and such kinds of heat wave alerts. The tons of sweat they are shedding is increasingly making their tons really scarce. However, the kind of money they get is more than enough to make them play as much as they sweat in the process. So much for humanitarian feelings. 

😁😁😁

Book Review By Himakar Tata: The Cheerless Chauffeur And Other Tales!

In his book “THE CHEERLESS CHAUFFEUR…”, Chinmay Chakravarty captures the different facets of the lives of middle-class Indians through 34 short stories. The humorous title of each story is indicative of the subtle and wry humor characteristic of the writer. Each story is a throwback on issues dominant in the India of the 1980s and 1990s. During that period technology was transforming lives in metropolitan cities. However, the social norms continued to remain mired in the India of 1970s.

 

The stories “THE RAIN DRENCH”, “YOU ARE INVITED (1 & 2)” are reflective of the hesitancy that came in the way of free interaction between men and women in the public. The 1970s was also the period when you had “leaders discussing poverty with glasses of expensive wine in air-conditioned rooms”. Many of the avowed radicals during their student days “left the left” in the 1980s (“A CIVILIZATION”).

 

It was also the era of shortages with “dirty-rich people in dirty-costly apparels waiting for freebies”. “THE MUNCHING WAYS OF A MISER” is also elaborative of this syndrome of scrounging. The woes and insecurities of a middle-class tenant are highlighted in a humorous style in “THE SPIT- FIRE” & “MILORD-O’LANDLORD”

 

The stories echo the transition that the Indian society was going through in 1980s & 1990s. With traditional societal norms having not yet faded away completely, this was also a time when men were still caught in a “Hamlet like indecisiveness” with regard to their adulterous flings (“FRAMED”).

 

The practical wisdom of a housewife is very evident in “PINNED DOWN”. Unlike her husband, she does not get overwhelmed by the hush- hush technological secrecy behind a “PIN” (Personal Identification Number). She has the perspicacity not to lose sight of the utility of a simple pin. “THE BLUFF OF THE HAZARDOUS KIND” unveils the shrewd negotiating skills of a housewife in undoing the damage caused by the emotional outbursts of her husband. “OUT OF THE CLUE” & “THE DUEL” put the lady of the house in a commanding position cornering a man for his off the cuff remark & having the last word.

 

Chinmay is very current in updating us on the flip side of a family cooped together, 24x7, in their home during the lockdown periods of 2020 & 2021. “BANANA BREAKOUT” cautions you on the qualitative limitations of ordering bananas online (despite its logistic ease). It recommends that even a man with the greatest “virus phobia” should step out in the open to buy bananas. It would reward his wife with that much needed valuable 15 minute “personal space & own time”.

 

“THE VIRAL VETO” dwells on the great debate sparked off during the lockdown on eating outside. “AN ELABORATE CONCOCTION” reveals as to how to circumvent shopping queues during the relaxation of curfew hours. “TALES, TELLTALES & TAILSPIN” sends your head in a tizzy over paranoid Indian TV Channels creating storms in tea cups in their rat race for their TRP ratings. “DECIBELS OF DESPERATION” highlights the impact of pandemic restrictions on the deals and power structure within a middle-class housing society.

 

The restlessness and woes of rail travelers owing to late running of trains is depicted well in “THE CONNECTING TRAIN”. Ironically, in “A CURIOUS CASE FOR DELAYS” the author justifies the relaxation in the demanding norms for punctuality. He indulges in a “perfectly timed time killing” at the airport. “BECAUSE I NEEDED TO BUY” also reflects the unpredictable fastidiousness of a commuter in his choice of the trains despite alternative options being available. “LESS ORDER ON THE SUPERFAST EXPRESS” reflects the psychological triumph of a cynical rail traveler, who has developed a thick skin towards all the antics of the railways. He also has the chutzpah to treat a railway coach like his very bedroom with all the informality. “THE DISCERNING COMMUTER” dwells on the scramble for a senior citizen train seat of a commuter fast “approaching the life landmark” of senior citizenship.

 

The street smart tactics of ordinary men and the mind games played by them  are described in details in “WELL DONE SENOR” , “THE LONER”, “TWO STRANGERS AT IT”, “ THE HAUNTED PAJAMA”, “THE BURPY BLUES “ & “ A PUNCH IN THE LURCH”

 

The need for innate horse sense to provide most unlikely solutions is illustrated in “THE PECULIAR MYSTERY OF A PARCEL” & “THE CHEERLESS CHAUFFEUR”

 

“THE BLOATED MUSICIAN” unmasks the hollow pretentiousness in some men. “BROWN SUGAR AND THE OLDEN RAGE” shows how   hypersensitive men can be. “THE ROUGH CUT” convinces you that it is impossible for one to please everyone.

 

My favorite story is the “THE THAMES POND QUADRILOGY”. Its fast-paced conversations are realistically reflective of motor mouthed salespersons trying to intrude into our private finances and burn deeper holes in our pockets. In “CREDIT CONTROL ROOM” the fast-talking credit card salesperson ultimately has her own way by not giving any chance to customers to respond.

 

The sales talk in “THE COST OF CREDIT” brims with sweet assurances by the credit company that it would be a noble and wonderful thing for the card holder to die in order to leave “benefits” for one’s family! “CASH ON THE CARDS” unveils the slow ego massage given to the unsuspecting customer. In “THE VIRTUAL TRAVEL PACKAGE” it is the turn of the customer to outwit the salesman by reeling out the extra hidden social & hidden costs!!

 

All in all, the wry humor, delivered in a laidback manner by Chinmay Chakravarty, makes you shrug off your middle-class blues to look at the lighter side of life!!

 

Himakar Tata, a postgraduate from the Delhi School of Economics, has been the literal globe-trotter traveling extensively throughout his service career and after his voluntary retirement, always following up with his travel stories published across various newspapers, periodicals and his social media accounts. His stories are always enriched with exciting and beautiful photographs. He hails from Vizag and is a member of Ram Mohan Roy’s Brahmo Samaj. We thank him heartily for this review as our valued Guest Writer.

The Way To Dusty Death—A Thoughtful Story!

It was many years ago, we were not exactly little ones then, we were about high school leaving age: myself and my younger brother. Thanks to our father’s ways we used to be sent to our native village absolutely alone since our primary school age; he used to request the government transport service bus conductor to look after us and to put us in a bus going to our village after arriving at the major preceding bus stations. All the time nothing adverse had happened, and therefore, we were quite used to travel alone or the both of us brothers. It is not at all necessary to identify the state, towns or localities; suffice it’d be that it was somewhere in India a long time back.

 

We boarded the bus at around eight o’clock in the morning after taking a light breakfast at home, from the then home city we were living in, heading for our native village to spend our summer holidays. Our journey was to take at least 8/9 hours which was to deposit us first in the preceding major station from where we were to take the evening bus to our village, as usual. After about three hours’ journey we arrived at a station which was quite an important stop as almost all the passengers and the driver-conductors used to take their lunch there. Since we left home early we were ravenously hungry by then, and after disembarking immediately went to the large canteen. We took the meals to our hearts’ content, enjoying it thoroughly. We never bothered about the time as we presumed the bus would stop for more than thirty minutes.

 

Finishing our delicious lunch we saw the bus still waiting in front of the book stall; didn’t know why it evaded our attention that almost all of our fellow passengers and the drive-conductor duo were not to be seen around by then. Being book worms, in another way of our father, we started looking at the books: one book ‘The Way to Dusty Death’ drew my attention, and I asked for it and started turning the pages lazily while my brother got engaged in some other books. Now and then we checked behind, finding the bus still standing there. However, after almost an hour we got suspicious; I bought by book, my brother returned his and we went for the bus.

 

To our horror, we found the bus was entirely empty! What happened? We inquired with the transport people loitering around. They informed us that our bus had left a long time back and another bus was put there for a journey to other destinations much later. We found ourselves to be stranded with no luggage and very little money in hand. We were not used to such circumstances and so did not know what to do apart from being very angry that the bus conductor never watched or waited for us. The only solacing thought that came to us was that in a small town, just about 20 km away, lived our very dear paternal aunty, and we decided to seek help there. We went out of the bus station and look a public bus that used to be run by private transporters.

 

The day was very hot, sunny and humid. We were sweating profusely in the packed bus, and to add to our woes as soon as the bus hit the pebble-and-sand road there started a huge trail of dust all along that almost enveloped the bus thanks further to incoming and overtaking vehicles leaving more smokes of dust. I looked sadly at the book at my lap—the way to a dusty death indeed? One more frightening thought struck both of us: if our aunt and family were not at home, gone somewhere urgently? Our sweat became sticky and dirty now.

 

It was almost evening when we finally reached the town. Luckily all were at home, and they were mighty surprised finding us so suddenly there. We narrated our tragedy, and our uncle immediately asked if we had informed the manager of that station. He got visibly irritated at our dismal performance, and left instantly for the local government bus station, as there were no phones around in most of the homes then. In the meantime our aunt took absolute care of us. We got refreshed with baths and deliciously hot homemade snacks.

 

After about an hour our uncle returned. He said he had talked to the manager of the preceding station of our destination and requested him to take proper action although it was quite late by then. He also booked our tickets for a morning ride next day as more time should not be wasted.

 

By afternoon next day we arrived at that major station, and even then it didn’t strike us to find the manager and ask for our baggage. Instead, we looked around the whole campus trying to find if the lifter had deposited the bag or the suitcase in the drains around the station. In the midst of our search, getting desperate by the minute, an uncle who lived in the village found us. He was also surprised at our ways. Knowing our full story he immediately took us to the transport manager’s chamber, and told him about the incident. First, he looked very disapprovingly at us and then pointed to a corner.

 

We almost leapt with joy! Our suitcase was lying there, still locked. The manager then asked us about the items put inside which we informed him very honestly about. He checked making us unlock it and finding it satisfactory handed over the suitcase to us. About the handbag he had not a clue. We were happy to get at least the major item back.

 

Our uncle, as if sent by God, took us to our native village and to our home, narrating himself the story behind. All there were also happy that the suitcase could be recovered. We informed our grandfather that the bag contained our undergarments, pajamas and some eatables sent by our mother and that now we had nothing to wear for the night. Our grandfather smilingly arranged two dhotis (traditional Indian village lower wear) and said that other things would be bought from the market the next morning.

 

A few days later one morning we were horrified to find the local police officer with two constables marching heavily toward our house. He informed our grandfather that our father was very worried not getting any confirmation of our arrival. We told him with profound apologies that we were afraid to write a letter as we felt guilty, and besides, the tumult of the whole thing made us forget it too. Our grandfather invited them inside for a cup of tea. 

Of Moods Various…!

Mood changes or mood swings affect every living being of the world including animals and in some cases lifeless objects too. The latter assertion may surprise many, but there are numerous instances in this regard that will be taken up as we rather moodily move along. At the very start of this month, that is August 2021, I lost my mood to write anything and everything—that is to say my mood changed—and I don’t know why. There are, as everyone knows, numerous possible reasons for this: one may feel lazy and pass time in reading rather than writing that demands more application and concentration; one may feel depressed for no reason; one may be disturbed due to happenings that relate to other people or external factors; one may be ill or under particular medicines with side effects and in the case of illness there is a vicious circle of physical illness leading to mental illness and then both affecting one another as it goes on; hormone imbalances which are a bit serious causing mood swings and other problems. Anger is always a common factor for mood-change for all—humans or animals.

 

I didn’t even have the mood to ponder upon what exactly caused my mood-change, and I thought that to understand this complex syndrome of human moods I’d need to embark upon a Freudian analysis for which I had less knowledge and lesser expertise. So I gave up and stopped writing though there were too many things happening in my country and in the world, and of course my original pieces. Thus far we have given some indication of how complex the process of mood-change is and some of the countless reasons for the same, in the case of only humans or basically their minds. Now we can talk a bit about the animals that don’t possess brains to change their moods as often as humans, but have accurate instincts that mostly drive them differentially under different circumstances.

 

As far as wild animals in actual wilderness is concerned I have no direct experience, and only know that the basic instinct of hunger drives them all—the carnivorous goes on hunting to appease their hunger and the herbivorous goes on searching for green and greener pastures. When the tigers or the lions are fully satiated with enough food in the bellies they don’t bother if herds of deer and wild buffalos graze near them, and the latter also understand that at the moment they’d not be chased and hunted. Drinking water is as crucially important for animals as for humans, and therefore, when all types of animals drink from the stream nobody attacks anybody in an instinctive bond of mutuality. All these examples are related to various moods only, but driven by instinct in their cases.

 

Of the domesticated animals dogs are the most astonishing and wonderful variety—they show their moods freely on all occasions. When a tragedy strikes the family that has a pet dog, the latter feels it too and refuses to eat sitting quietly and sadly outside. There are true cases when a dog actually dies out of fasting after the death of his/her beloved master. Such mood changes occur to the cats also, but to a lesser extent. We find cases when the head cat leaves the house after tragedy or death strikes the family. Domesticated elephants also display various moods from terrible anger to supreme peace, but their mood changes are basically related to human force.

 

I mentioned about even lifeless objects having moodiness. Well, when you buy an electronic device you naturally ask the seller how it is going to perform and if it’ll go out of order frequently. I’ve myself heard several sellers saying, “The performance record is very good, but you can never be sure about problems. You know, electronic systems also have their moods, they can be real moody sometimes and you may have to call the service centre!”

 

After more than a fortnight during which I did my necessary activities on my smartphone I needed the laptop for some serious transactions. And my Goodness! It started, but immediately displayed an unstoppable trembling of the screen including the icons on the desktop. When somehow I managed to open the browser and the site I needed and attempted to type something the curser flew to the right or down continuously, not allowing me to type more than a single world in one go. The next day it totally denied me the pleasure of typing –the flickering stopped no doubt, but the keyboard refused obstinately to oblige me.

 

I understood, as it were. My laptop has been so used to my regular writing that when my mood made me inactive it was shaking with rage avenging. I called the engineer who diagnosed the problem without, of course, saying anything about mood-change. Although he promised to bring it back ready in two days it so happened that five days passed during which I started feeling the urge to start writing—the mood-change again—and this time I had to suffer because of the delay in repairing. The day the engineer finally handed over it to me ready and in good mood, I started writing immediately about something that has been in my mind for a long time in this month of inaction. However, the main reason was just to please the laptop, to keep it in a better mood hereafter!

The Lockdown Roti!

From January of the year called 2020 onwards we had been constantly getting reports of the havoc created by the SARS-Cov-2 or the COVID-19 virus in various pockets of China. From February of the same year stray cases were being reported from some parts of India and from the month of March cases were on an unmistakable rise, particularly in the states of Kerala and Maharashtra. We were also hearing about the dangerous spread in several European countries, and we even saw on television how normal ebullient parts of countries like Italy and Spain were looking like ghost cities because of the lockdown. But somehow, at that point of time neither the Indian authorities nor the public took it seriously and perhaps was not aware of the incredibly fast human-to-human transmission that the virus was capable of. Not surprising at all, because even the World Health Organization did not know much at that time. Lockdown was also a novel concept for us and many thought that lockdown was not a realistic measure for a vastly populated country like India where a huge chunk of the population were daily wage earners (in fact, this reality led to the blackest chapter in the Indian lockdown history). So, hardly anybody was surprised when we were headed for Mumbai in Maharashtra by mid-March; we had to go there because of some important personal work.

 

Things were mostly normal in March 2020 except for the closure of schools and colleges. As we reached the Kolkata airport the activities were as usual except for the fact that it was not crowded as earlier and the flight was half-empty. Wearing of masks was not considered essential at that time, and there was a school of thought that healthy people never needed the masks. Anyway, we were given special seats on the plane with free food without any extra cost. At arrival we found the Mumbai airport exceptionally empty and even eerie, but there was no screening, and quarantine was not even heard of as a preventive measure till then.

 

Things started unfolding very fast from late March 2020. National Lockdown was announced from the 25^th of March, and stay-home became the only option available. Compulsory wearing of masks, hand sanitization, thermal checks and social distancing became the norms. As the months rolled by we were getting concerned about our locked home in Kolkata. As the much-delayed COVID-19 peak finally was reached by mid-September and cases started falling from October onwards we started making plans for the journey back, from the month of November. But thanks to various domestic reasons other than the pandemic the plans were getting postponed again and again. The escalation of cases happening in Kerala from February 2021 which was later picked up by Maharashtra made us act immediately as one more lockdown was staring at us.

 

Finally, as it happened, we returned exactly after one year. Arriving at our building I was scared to unlock the house, not knowing what to expect or find inside. We had no experience in our lifetime of having a house locked up for one full year and then coming back. However, everything looked in place as we moved around inside the rooms. Except for a layer of dust, which was only normal, there was not much disorder, and there was no sign of fungus taking over. Even the spider webs were noticeable only in the closed window seals.

I entered the kitchen, a crucial place that always needs to be activated at the earliest. Fortunately, everything looked to be in place here too. Of course, all the food items and cereals left behind were all beyond expiry and smelling. With a healthy thought building up within me about making a steaming cup of tea as soon as possible I spotted a hot case neatly placed in a corner of the kitchen slab. As much out of curiosity as out of habit I lifted the lid. And lo! A roti stared back at me!

 

Good heavens! The roti looked as if it were made only a little while back. It looked perfectly normal, even with the blackish spots or creases that materialize on both sides while cooking it on a hot tawa intact; no blackening otherwise or nets of enveloping fungus. It sort of beckoned at me: one year or not, you can still have me if you want! How that roti got forgotten was something we could never hope to establish.

 

Well, we had been telling our friends about this wonder, and everyone was heartily surprised, some calling it a miracle. Okay, air could not infiltrate the container, but normally a roti hardens and blackens out in about three to four days, wherever may it be kept. My wife had still been preserving it in its wonder-case, for how long I wouldn’t know! Crux of the matter being that the lockdown or the pandemic had no impact on this robust roti!

Now Showing: Vote For COVID-19 Vaccine And More!

 

Photo: sandesh.com

While there has been a global race among nations for the production of the first effective COVID-19 vaccine India perhaps becomes the first nation to politicize the vaccine that is still a long way off. Yes, COVID-19 pandemic may kindly take note. There has been a lot of ‘finance’ involved in it and so the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a way, had to figure in this. Releasing the BJP Manifesto for the three-phase Bihar assembly elections starting October 28, her party promised to distribute the would-be COVID-19 vaccine absolutely free to all citizens of the state. However, it was not clarified about that segment of the state’s citizens who would not perhaps vote for the party’s alliance as to how to exclude or list them out. Apart from this the Finance Minister further justified her presence by promising around 1.9 million new jobs for Bihar.

 

The directly political populism of ‘vote for vaccine’ has, obviously, attracted a series of allegations and attacks from the opposition political parties. They ask, ‘what about other states’ or ‘not free for the non-BJP states’? The immense pressure compelled the party to come out with a clarification that ‘once the vaccine is approved by the ICMR and available for mass production, the central government would distribute the same to all states at nominal costs, and vaccine distribution being a state discretion the Bihar government (if their alliance wins, of course) would make it available free of cost to all people in Bihar. Well, whether the clarification would hold enough water or not the point of poll politics is made squarely and rather too effectively to the gullible and poor voters of the state.

 

Another point needs to be made here. On one hand, the central government has been urging people to adapt to the new normal norms in the strictest way possible while on the other, for motives of politicking the representatives of the ruling class and others have been blatantly violating the norms for wooing the voters who are the people too. Huge political rallies in Bihar have been open invitations for the virus, with more and more rallies to follow. Not only this, almost everyday some protest rallies are taking place in some places, organized by the opposition or the non-ruling opposition or whatever, and here you see only a few leaders wearing masks, and no social distancing at all. The rampant politicking has been one of the major factors for India taking more than six months to reach the pandemic peak.

 

And then, Durga Puja 2020 is one more issue that stinks of direct political play. Bengalis of West Bengal and Kolkata call it their national festival, rightfully so, and this creates a crisis of sorts for the political parties of the state. No party could afford to hurt the peoples’ sentiments by asking them to worship from home and not visit the puja pandals, the shops and the eateries at all. 

Therefore, the ruling TMC government had, as always, announced financial assistance to all puja organizers more than a month back, and then tried to placate them further by allowing pandal-hopping from the third day onward of the bright-moon fortnight or Devi Paksha, with strict norms, of course. The opposition, particularly the BJP huffing and puffing to come to power in the state somehow, has also been trying its best to please the voters who are the devotees too. Finally, it took the Calcutta High Court to clamp down rules for the Durga Puja 2020 celebrations, making all public puja pandals ‘no entry’ zones.

 

No wonder then that Prime Minister Narendra Modi too found time to inaugurate Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata today, albeit virtually. It is apparently more important now for all political parties to assuage the feelings of the Bangla devotees who are also voters, hurt sourly by the High Court ruling and its refusal to consider a review petition by the organizers. Assembly elections are due in the state in the first part of next year, very significantly.

 

One last point. A COVID-19 vaccine can come the earliest by the first part of 2021 only and that too is dependent on so many other factors. Our humble point being that the more the delay in the vaccine coming the more will be the number of possible beneficiaries, because at least two assembly elections are due early next year and more would follow. Once a promise of free vaccine to the people-voters declared it cannot be denied in other states where the same party is going to try its luck in the upcoming elections.

A Thought: The Changing Face of Humankind!

At most times during the last few months it gets unbearable for the humans. From where the heck this unique virus has sprung up and why? First part of the question is answered easily enough: it is a novel strain of the existing Coronavirus and it has proved to be highly contagious, concentrating or rather specializing on human-human transmission. As to the ‘why’ it is very complicated, and correct answers could never ever be found. Before thinking about that part let’s get into another ‘why’. Why has it chosen the most crucial parts of the human anatomy—the Face, with its constituent profiles of the mouth and the nostrils, and the pair of hands that obeys all the basic commands of the humans?

It is said that excess or too much of anything is bad for well-being and health. Therefore, as to the ‘why’ explanation it can be said that, basically, the virus aims at teaching humankind a terrible lesson for all their misdeeds, particularly in the past, perhaps, two centuries. That it has chosen the face means that the mouth, the main organ for communication, has largely been responsible for most of the misdeeds: too much of misinformation; too much of propaganda; too much of agenda; too much quarrels from the petty ones to the most devastating ones; too much of eating; and too much of biting others. The nostrils or rather to nose, meant basically for breathing to live, has largely been responsible for smelling too much into everything and harmful nosing around in the affairs of others. And the hands, the tools for all the physical and manual activities have largely been responsible for activities done in close association with the above stakeholders, with, of course, the supreme authority of the grey cells, housed in the skull that, in fact, defines the contours of the face.

In the process, we have already explained the more philosophical ‘why’, though partly. The ‘teaching a terrible lesson’ can be upheld as the ‘action taken’ of the Authority controlling humankind through an invisible remote. Super clever of the Authority to not resort to the complex cosmos annihilation strategy that implied total destruction instead of giving more time to the earthy souls to learn from mistakes. Therefore, It has decided to take the much easier option of just changing the strain of an existing virus, but thereby inflicting the maximum and the most humiliating damage. Isn’t it clearly displayed by the humans across the globe?

The activities of the inflicted stakeholders have been severely restricted, making it limited only to the interiors of the homes: you can open your mouth to indulge in communication or abuse or propaganda only to the closest members of your family; you can go on eating the monotonous dishes, home being the only service provider and the ambience; you cannot attend social/political/cultural/multinational parties where you always enjoyed the variety and the exotic quality of the dishes: you grudgingly miss physically confronting your friends/accomplices/neighbors/others in the marketplaces or the clubs or the offices/banks/business places or the shopping complexes; you cannot go out for your physical cinema halls or the multipurpose auditoriums; handshake has become a past pastime; you cannot even breathe freely outside; you have got deprived of so many legal/illegal/evil/good/illicit jobs that your hands are capable of doing and the most powerful ones too, not able to pander to their usual tasks in full glory.

However, humankind cannot be made fool-proof in respect of wrongs and evil, even by the Authority. Being confined to the four walls, sometimes very congested and unhealthy, the dominant males, particularly in a patriarchy like India, have become putrid-malevolent squarely contributing to the increasing domestic violence. On the other hand, confinement to home and the kitchen for months the female segment has also become suffocated, frustrated, angry and neurotic, often bursting into avoidable rants. Essentially speaking, conjugal bliss, say ‘peace’ to be less romantic, is dependent on the concept of ‘mutual relief’ which means that, kind of signed into a life partnership, spouses need a break from each other’s eternal company. Now, the most of the males not going to office and females unable to go out shopping or dining this primary ‘mutual relief’ is being denied to both of the stakeholders, leading to increasing stress, tension, quarrels and violence.

On the other, clever humankind has found the way of eking out a virtual existence in terms of the web and the social media to indulge in some of their pastimes like misinformation or propaganda or gossip or some productive things too on the positive side, to some extent. But, the continuous lack of the integral ‘physicality’ makes it unbearable for most stakeholders. Their patience has been fast running out with the disturbing reports that the virus is here to stay for a long time, with no solution in sight for the near future. The ‘how’s, ‘why’s and ‘what’s are tormenting humankind like never before. The philosophical ones who are used to the concept of ‘maya or illusion’ of earthly existence are also severely perturbed, trying feverishly to differentiate between the existential ‘virtual’ and the existential ‘reality’, having no answers in the bargain. Therefore, it can be safely surmised that the Authority has been spectacularly successful in teaching humankind a terrible lesson. However, humankind is after all a creation of the Authority itself, and is immensely endowed with resources to wriggle out of the crisis, sooner or later. History would prove if, indeed, a precious lesson has been learnt by humankind or not. This discourse is the expression of a thought only, so no solutions searched for or tried.