Gen-Hold on
Hold on, better times will be here soon!
It is crazy, crazy, crazy (yes, that degree of crazy) time these days.
My thoughts get muddled, mind goes blank, the fear of the unseeable covers me like a cloak of darkness! I thought I needed fresh prescription for my glasses. So, off I went to a reputed ophthalmologist and then blew up a few thousand rupees on a new pair of lenses which I presumed would help me see the world clearer.
I still feel like I am living in a science fiction. I want to ask all those who read a lot, have they ever come across writings of any poet, writer, scientist, even a soothsayer of yore, about this dreaded virus? Can the doctors’ books tell us - how long did the earlier 18 of Coronavirus 19’s predecessors live?
The news of the ambulance drivers’ reluctance to ferry Covid positive patients to hospitals due to unavailability of beds there, shortage of medicines and oxygen, the blizzard-like effect of the viral infection keep jolting you the whole day. The problems of wage-earners, business-owners, students, healthcare or security workers, anyone and everyone, blur all positive thoughts.
Our sense of unfairness has become subjective. A friend lost her 85+year old uncle who was improving in the hospital but passed away suddenly; ‘not fair’ she wrote. I wanted to ask her: is it fair to wake up to the news of the sudden death of a 55+year-old younger brother who was also ‘getting better’ (and for whom she took the second dose of the vaccine early so that she would be able to go visit him,) or of a 35 year old diabetic teacher who could not wrestle any longer with the complications the virus had brought and gave in, and many, many more scores of such cases.
The news of any known one testing ‘positive’ makes me sick with dread. Dear God, can you please stop introducing only those whom we care for, to the virus?
No…I would not continue in the same vein. After hours of being miserable over humans' helplessness, prayers, unsuccessful attempts at meditation, a few rows of double crochet helped by copious amounts of Kahlua in various combinations finally healed my mind to some degree and like a beam of sunshine came and suddenly rang in my ears, the Munnabhai song.
Anyone remember the film Munnabhai MBBS? Please recall the song where Munnabhai is describing in detail how he was left heart-broken when the girl he had fallen for got married? The nurses’ eyes were brimming with tears, the other patients in the room listened with their mouths open, the doctor took the stetho out of her ears, the boy for whose benefit the song was being sung (for those of you who do not know- the characters in an Indian film can break into a song and dance sequence anytime, anywhere, that too with lyrics, rhythm, beat, steps and even background dancers, here it is a hospital room.) asked phir, phir kya hua (then, then what happened) and there went the macho hero in his vest singing away about how then came another girl and there was a flutter in his heart again.
And I remembered that like Munnabhai, my aim is to bring a smile to your face, even if for five minutes every Saturday; after all that is what I write for.
Let me therefore drag your mind back from the real world of pathos and tragedy outside, to happiness on your screens and share with you some of the pictures and memes which have kept me positive (in the traditional sense of that word) in such times. Maybe you have already seen some of them but what is the harm in smiling once again?
Perhaps if we smile and pretend everything is OK, the virus would feel dejected and humiliated and go away! Didn’t we try to do that with taali (clapping) and beating of thaali (plates) around the same time last year?
Doesn't everyone say God resides in the hearts and words of children?
But Dennis (the Menace) forever remains my sweetheart.
Stay at home, stay safe and achieve the following results.
Otherwise, one slip and you will be the one in whose name the funeral brunch will be arranged.
Choosing the right bunch of players to govern our states is our national duty and we take it seriously, even risking our health and lives. The leader and his people in the Corona times:
 |
| The leader |
The people in the Corona times
We do not violate the rules.
Who said we are not concerned about safety?
 |
Now you know why we boast that several centuries ago it was the Indian mathematician Aryabhatt who invented zero. We religiously apply it to social distancing. Or is it an oxymoron?
 |
| India Today: A huge crowd was seen at Byculla vegetable market last Friday, a day after Maharashtra reported its highest single-day surge. (Image: PTI) |
I salute all those who risk their own health for the sake of community service providing sustenance to the needy during the lockdown.
 |
| Photo: Gulf News |
We got this life of a human being to, if not be able to attain moksha, at least improve our next birth. One way is to take a dip in the holy Ganges' waters in Haridwar at the ongoing Kumbh like the gentlemen below (yes, even in Corona times). You might meet one of them in their next life pretty soon.
HeheSniffsniff...it would be hilarious if it wasn't pathetic!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ma'am for the nice post.
ReplyDeleteReally it has become horrible, people are dying Government is issueing guidelines to protect ourselves from the virus at the same time the Government is organising election rallies, road shows, house to house campaign. Then Kumbh mela, IPL matches etc are being organised. It has become chaos, people are suffering, there are no beds in the hospitals, no room in ICUs, no oxygen cylinder, no ventilator, no testing kits and at the last no vaccine for inoculation of general public.
People are rushing to catch trains, buses or other modes of transport to reach home and stay with their family. There is no control to check whether the covid guidelines are being followed or not.
What's all these going on. People are dying but there is no room for there cremation and at the same time there is no room in the mortuary.
It has become hell.
Don't get surprised.This day had to arrive.Nature has it's carrying capacity.Population explosion and exploitation of natural resources have taken their revenge in their own way.
ReplyDeleteHello Ma'am. Soothsayer Nostradamus' predictions of 20'21 (as read and read between lines, sideways, whatever...) tells us that year 2021 would 'make us zombies with the virus', and 'cancer would have a cure' ; so are we going to pay heed to it? If so, which one? The good or bad prophesy? Whatever we go with, at least we have 'Humour in a covid uniform'. Respect to the Ones Lost, ones affected, but Time is a Healer, and quicker still with a little Comic Relief, No Harm.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ma'am for discovering and bringing forth some bright humorous patches hidden in the dark cloud of gloom pervading all around the world. It is really great to find some reason to smile in this difficult dreary time.
ReplyDeleteReally hilarious 😂 post during this gloomy scenario.
ReplyDeleteGood reading. Brings a smile to your lips, lights up the day and lifts the spirit.
ReplyDeleteBrings smile on sad faces
ReplyDeleteAgree with all, it brought smile to my lips and cartoons were also apt.
ReplyDeleteAgree with all, it brought smile to my lips and cartoons were also apt.
ReplyDeleteThe frequent ringing of ambulance siren all through the day depresses me even more, wondering how yet another person and his family are coping...
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing some light hearted reading during such gloomy times.