Mental Excursions

  For this bond of love I am not informing of any fact hitherto unknown or a discovery when I say the lockdown, or the partial lockdown as the government prefers to call it, has changed our routines. In our building complex, earlier the mornings saw a few birds chirping before the humans made their appearance to move and flay their limbs on the pathway and then was the turn of the dogs. One would see five strays competing with the domesticated ones for their right to strut on the road as and where they wished. At least a dozen dogs live in these apartments. Most of them are Labradors or Pomeranians or their descendants with pure or traces of the original genes and characteristics. I would have loved to see a few more canine breeds especially the bigger kinds, but a mere onlooker does not deserve the right to ask for variety in this kind of show, so I just stay content with what is on offer.   But believe me, their lives too have changed. Mornings and evenings were the us...

Get shot … twice I do not know about you but six weeks ago when I got my second dose of the vaccine, I thought the whole population would also do the same then and finally… the world would turn into a fragrant cool haven and all will be right after all. What followed was confusion, noise, debates, controversies and what-not. No, it was not because of my getting the vaccine. It was the vaccine itself. While 2020 was about this novel disease, treatment, inadequate medical facilities, migrant workers and employment, this year has been about the virus mutations, Oxygen, after-effects and of course, the vaccine.  Yes, I do believe in vaccinations. Why, I  had  given   even  my dog  all the vaccinations when I kept one. But d on’t worry, I am not going to discuss about taking the vaccine or not, which one is more effective, the pricing policy, side-effects or any other meaningful issue related to the subject. I leave that to those who are qualified to do that ei...

Take a moment to smile! Of course, I am not saying anything new when I say we are passing through strangely difficult times. The good people among us are helping the others by getting Oxygen, medicines, hospital admissions or food for those in quarantine. Some are risking their   lives to provide succour to those who need help in these tough times. What am I doing? Scared to go out and fall sick or spread sickness, I sit at home, trying to cheer everyone up. So, I have brought for you (using beg, borrow, steal formula) examples of what the creative minds are doing. Most of them are self-explanatory so I resisted the temptation to add any comment. Students struggling with online classes and home schooling are wondering how  long  this level of weird life  going to be.  But there is no stopping husband-wife jokes even in this time. This year too there are no travel plans.  On Covid protocol Meanwhile, the ICMR has announced refusal of ownership of the list of...