Experience of my friend during the 'SEAL DOWN' of their neighbourhood!

Preamble:

Bengaluru, like other parts of India, has been witnessing lockdown since 25^th March 2020. It all started due to the influx of overseas passengers flowing into the city and some transiting through.

It was tough for the Health and Welfare Authorities to determine the impact of this infection, as in most cases, the patients were asymptomatic. Adding to this confusion was the fact that a good many passengers who didn’t show any symptomatic signs were infected during the 14-day gestation period, and by then, they had come in contact with scores of others.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…. You all know the story of its spread now, and some of us have become armchair experts in dispensing safety precautions and solutions.

However, what I am narrating below is my friend’s first-hand experience that is continuing as I write this. How their day-to-day life has changed completely as three streets in the area are ‘Sealed Down’ and my friend’s house is located in one of those 3 streets that have been impacted.

As you scroll down this sentence, it is all my friend’s experience, mostly in my friend’s own words, with a bit of tweaking to give my touch, only where needed.

19^th April 2020

After almost 26 days of lockdown, we saw a white line being drawn on both ends of the street. We initially thought it was being done just to mark the hotspot zone, as we knew our area was a hotspot with one family infected with COVID-19.

In the evening we saw a Hoysala van (Police Patrol Vehicle) with a team of people comprising three policemen, personnel from BBMP, personnel from our local Corporator’s office and volunteers, announcing over the mic that our area has been sealed down and that we cannot go out nor anyone come inside till further notification.

It was like a jolt to us. Many had so many doubts; whether we can go out with a pass, what can be done for veggies, groceries, milk, medicines, dogs for a walk, etc., etc. Police did reply to everyone’s queries patiently. Volunteers collected the phone number of one person from each household.

Soon, they had put tall metal sheets across, on one end of the road, preventing us from going out or talking to anyone on the other side of this fence. Movable metal barricades were also put up on the other end, where there was a police outpost set up as entry/exit for service personnel and also for us to interact with police and volunteers. CCTV cameras were installed to keep a watch on the movement of the residents. BBMP/Police team also created a WhatsApp group comprising of the residents, from our phone numbers collected already. 

This group was named ‘CONTAINMENT ZONE XXX’

20^th April 2020

They listed phone numbers of the grocery shop, veggies & fruit shop with whom we can place our requirement, and shopkeepers were also given strict instructions to supply us promptly, irrespective of the quantity. They were to come to the end of the road and call us to collect the delivery. If the list of required items was long, they were then allowed to come inside the cordoned zone, keep the groceries in front of the gate, and leave. Of course, only digital payments were being made for the safety of everyone.

Unfortunately, the very next day of the seal down there was the death of an old lady, raising doubts in everyone's mind as to the cause. We heaved a sigh of relief when it was found that she was very healthy till the last minute and died due to cardiac arrest. BBMP team helped them a lot, for which the team deserved praises not just from that household, but from all of us in the Sealed Down area.

The above is pretty much the same activity, day in and day out.

In addition:

Every alternate day, BBMP personnel are spraying disinfectant.

One of the team members visits every household to check if we are receiving all our supplies correctly.  One day, we had no power supply, and when we complained, it was immediately resolved (this would not happen on normal days). Another person had problems with sewage, which was also resolved in no time. These types of complaints were not addressed in such a short time during normal days.

Of course, some people did have issues, like they could not take dogs for a long walk, and they were becoming restless. Another had a sick dog and wanted to go out in their car, which led to a big fight between the volunteers and the dog owner. The police team had to intervene and resolve the issue. After 3 days, most of us got used to the seal-down situation.

Routine:

First hour of the morning, there is some activity; like people taking their dog for a walk, only one milkman is allowed to deliver milk sachets to all the households, one paperboy is allowed in, and also the garbage collector. They are under strict instructions not to stay for an unreasonably long time, nor chat with the residents, but to complete their tasks and duties hastily and retreat.

After the first hour and during the course of the day, not a single person is seen outdoors. As the evening approaches, I see most of the residents on their terraces doing Yoga, some walking, kids playing. It is fun as we can see some activity, despite being sealed down.

There were issues like: kids playing without masks, disinfection process carried on without notice, non-availability of particular staple items in the notified shops. Minor issues, but these were settled amicably in the next day or two.

These are extraordinary times that call for maturity and patience in handling various skirmishes, calmly. People realised the situation within a short time and started to co-operate with the authorities and the volunteers. Complaints dwindled as the days progressed.

Of the 200-plus people in our containment zone, it is but natural for people to feel grumpy for no rhyme or reason, revolt against the system of seal-down, etc. But the way in which these apprehensions were addressed by the COVID-19 Help Group is commendable. Our group of residents is also thinking of honouring these selfless warriors who are standing by, serving us 24/7, thereby ensuring our safety.

Somehow, we must collect the names of all these volunteers, police personnel, and other personnel who are helping us get through these difficult phases during the SEAL-DOWN.

My Two Cents:

If we have not experienced the SEAL-DOWN, let’s not (for the heck of it) sympathetically say, ‘Yeah, we understand how you feel, blah, blah…..etc.’ No. We can’t understand how it feels unless we have experienced confinement.

Please be cordial to the volunteers and other service personnel. They are there to serve you and to keep you safe, and have no other ulterior motives.

We are at war here, and I am sure we can all beat the enemy in this war, only if we act maturely, taking all necessary precautions.

For reasons to protect the area and people resident here, I am neither mentioning names nor posting any pictures of the location.

Day 28 of Lock-down - My Travelogue!

The Topic: My travelogue covering our first family outing to Cape Town post-relocation!

The Time: April, Circa 2004

The Places: Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and Return

The Season: Ebbing of summer in these parts of the world

The Mood: Excellent!

The background was set.

On the appointed day, we packed enough stuff to last us a week (as planned) and off we flew to Cape Town marking the first leg of our sojourn. On landing in Cape Town, I hired a pre-booked car, which was our means of transport throughout the next week or so. Couldn’t have asked for a better one as it was a Ford Focus hatchback, quite spacious for all three of us and our baggage.

The first stop was the Cape Town Bed and Breakfast (where we stayed for three nights), on Camps Bay Drive. As we drove past the famous Table Mountain, we were in awe! Honestly, I had not seen this earlier in my life and the experience of seeing this mighty mountain, was an exhilarating one! As we reached our home for the next 3 nights, the owner, David Meyers, came out to greet us and took us around the room and a half with kitchenette. Hmm… impressive! More impressive was the sight of the ocean from the room and the patio as we relaxed post-lunch and had our tea enjoying this beautiful sight of the Atlantic. We did a bit of city tour and lazed around that afternoon and evening before retiring for the night nap.

The next day, relaxed with enough sleep overnight, we left for the city tour and our first stop was, you guessed it right! Table Mountain! Up we went in the cable car that took us to the top of the mountain. The view from here, of the city of Cape Town, was amazingly beautiful as we were lucky to have a clear day for the best all-round views. Spent a couple of hours just letting the sights sink into us (which, I can still remember very vividly). You can never have enough of such sights but compelled to move on as we were, we reluctantly climbed down in the cable car again catching the last of the glimpses of the Mother City (as Cape Town is known in South Africa).

Any tour of Cape Town would be incomplete without visiting a winery. So we made our way to Spier Winery on the route to the famous Stellenbosch wine region. We had our first taste of wine, at the wine tasting. I was amazed at my wife’s flavour discerning abilities! Believe me, this was her first venture to taste alcoholic drinks and she could handle different wine varieties with aplomb, explaining their nuances and no sooner, this was confirmed by our tasting guide for the session. We thoroughly enjoyed the tasting session as my daughter got to chomp of all the cracker biscuits that we were given, to eat between two different wines, to clear our palate. This was an experience for all of us and we spent quite some time around the winery before returning to Cape Town.

Next in our itinerary was a visit to Robben Island (just northwest from V&A Waterfront), the infamous prison of Nelson Mandela – Father of new South Africa. It is a 3.5 to 4 hours tour including the time we spend on ferrying to this island on the Atlantic waters. We could see the gruesome prison in all its infamous glory. One visit to this prison of an Island and your respect for the freedom fighters of South Africa, escalates even without any effort from you. We were taken around the places where Mandela was imprisoned and his cell where he underwent solitary confinement as well. A lot of history has been written about South Africa’s freedom struggle and Robben Island is an integral part of all such.

This done and dusted, we took the ferry back to Cape Town, had our supper in V&A Waterfront before retiring for the night.

The next morning, post breakfast, we went down to Hout Bay and a quick ferry took us to the seal island where we could see a lot of seals basking in the sun. The ferry was navigating through choppy waters and some in the ferry was a bit sea-sick. As it was summer, the southern whales had no interest to infest the warm waters, else we would have seen a lot of them.

Next in our list of to-do visits was the Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope (CGH) and off we went from Hout Bay passing Chapman’s Peak on the way, which is one of the most scenic routes in Africa. Construction workers were busy placing steel meshes on the sides of the hilly surfaces to prevent landslides (which, this place is known for). Historically, CGH has a lot of significance as Vasco-da-Gama and before him, Bartholomew Dias sailed around CGH on their voyage to find a new sea-route to India, which Vasco-da-Gama did by landing on the West Coast of India circa 1498. These places are unimaginably beautiful what with the ocean on one side and hilly terrain on the other side. CGH is the South-western most tip of the African Continent.

By the time we reached the Cape Point, it was mid-afternoon and we had to hurry as they close this site by 5:30 pm. This place is something out of the world in the sense that you have to traverse through the Cape Natural reserve with majestic mountains and mighty ocean subsisting together. We got into funicular (a train-like vehicle on tracks) that took us closest to the point where we could see the old lighthouse. As we made our way to this lighthouse, the sight was simply awesome! The wind was blowing heavily as we could catch the glimpse of the ocean and enjoyed the sight thoroughly. We couldn’t see much of fauna here but could see lots of mountain rats (beavers like animals) all around. 

Reluctantly, we dragged our feet down to where we had parked our car and bid adieu to Kaap Punt (as it is referred to in Afrikaans) and drove back to Kaap Staad (Cape Town in Afrikaans), had good pizzas for dinner and hit the bed.

The next day, we took it easy as we started to pack stuff to move out to our next base, Knysna. This route N2 between Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is aptly called as Garden Route for a reason. The flora along this route is, really, out of this world. We had to take a bit of detour to see Cape Agulhas and it was worth the trouble. This is the southern-most tip of the African continent where both Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. Spent an hour here lazing around and marveling at the beautiful sight of the oceans and off we went back to the garden route, heading east thereon.

By the time it was dark, we reached Knysna and since I had pre-booked in Azure House, we eased into our rooms and had some fruits and bakery items for supper. We could see the faint outlines of the lagoon’s heads dimly illuminated by the lights of the city reflected on the lagoon, savoured it a bit and lost ourselves in deep sleep.

The next morning, we could appreciate the sight from the room’s patio. We fell in love with this place at the first sight of dawn here! The view of the ocean through the heads of the landmasses on both sides of the lagoon was unrestricted and I am sure we couldn’t have asked for a better location than this. That morning we lazed around in the small town and could see some beautiful sights of the lagoon during the day. A holiday is not just about traveling but also relaxing and hence we dozed off post-lunch. The second half, we drove to the nearby elephant park where there were a lot of orphaned elephant calves that were being taken care of till such time they could be left in the nearby Addo Elephant Park, near Grahamstown. My daughter had her fill of fun by feeding these elephants and enjoyed to the hilt.

The next day, we drove to Tsitsikamma National Park, located just outside of Plettenberg Bay, where we took a short break to stroll on the sands for a while. We could see a pod of dolphins swim quite close to the shoreline which, again, was a first for us. As we saw them disappear over the horizon to our left, we proceeded towards the nature reserve.

Tsitsikamma; the flora was out of the world here. I could have easily spent over a day getting lost in this wilderness. However, we had our fill and started off at the rope bridges connecting two landmasses with the river Tsitsikamma below, running into the Indian Ocean. We also had a chance for a boat ride that took us deep between the two hills that were separated by this river. As we went upstream, the opening started getting narrower and the water was deep brown in colour. The oarsman, who had the knowledge of the flora there, said the deep colour was due to the tannins from the leaves and the foliage from the nature reserve. After an hour, we returned and disembarked at the base camp. 

The weather was perfect for such an outing and though it was scorching outside, the canopy of greenery made it hard for the sunlight to penetrate let alone radiate heat. We walked all over the reserve till our legs gave away.

After what seemed an eternity, we slowly limped our way to the car for our return journey. On the way, we stopped over (which we had seen on our onward journey) at a place on N2 highway called Bloukraans Bridge, which is a famous site for bungee jumping. At the time of our visit, this was the highest/deepest bungee jumping site in the Southern Hemisphere. None of us had the kind of adrenaline push to risk the jump but having gone there we witnessed a couple of jumps from junkies. Amazing sight! Had I then been a decade or so younger, I would have ventured the jump.

We had just enough strength to book for an evening cruise on Knysna River at the Knysna Quay and grab something to eat and hit the bed for a snooze.

Refreshed after the snooze, we made our way to the Quay for our cruise in the evening. The vessel was in mint condition and had adopted an old steam engine with a huge wheel paddling through the waters, by the side powering the launch. Drinks and dinner were available on-board and we shared some good wine just for the heck of it. Nibbled something which I don’t even remember now. The lazy cruise took us to the end of the lagoon where the river merges with the Ocean and we could see both the East and West sides of Featherbed Sanctuary. Gorgeous sights and truly blissful experiences!

Dog tired, we returned to our home-sweet-home and slept the night off.

The next day, we drove past George towards Oudtshoorn. This place is well known for the Ostrich farming industry. We visited High Gate Ostrich Show Farm where we were taken around the farm by enthusiastic guides. They showed us the different uses they made from the ostrich that were slaughtered for meat. I was given to understand this meat is pretty lean meat compared to red meat and very healthy. Not that I tried. The feathers were put to multiple uses including feather duster (they showed how to make one and my daughter eagerly made one that was gifted to her by the guide), fillings for pillows and different uses of ostrich skins and eggshells as well.

As we went out into the open, we were shown ostrich eggs and I was insisted to stand on it to test its strength. Hesitant and reluctantly I stepped on it, first on one leg but I was forced by the guide to stand on the egg with both my legs. To my utter surprise, it could hold all of my 80+ kilos of weight. 

I had no words to express the beauty of Nature. The egg easily could have weighed around 2 kilos, to my knowledge.

Post this, we were given a lesson on the digestive system of ostriches. Did you know that ostrich pecks and eats pebbles which in-turn acts as a grinding stone in its stomach to digest its food? Amazing, isn’t it!

Then, we came to the adventure part of the tour. Yes, an ostrich ride! First it was my daughter’s turn to sit on an ostrich and one of the handlers ran along with the ostrich in tow. A good distance of 100m and boy, did the ostrich ran! She enjoyed the ride thoroughly and was overjoyed. Next was my chance to ride on this creature of a bird. My word, this is quite a powerful bird at that and could easily take my weight and run at a considerable speed. They say you can never outrun an ostrich and I then, knew exactly why they say it. It was a different experience for me and I can’t say that I enjoyed it.

We returned to Knysna by dusk and had dinner, lazed out in the patio watching the lights yonder, squinting our eyes to see the outlines of the heads that separated the lagoon and the starlight sky above long before we hit the bed for the fourth night in a row.

We had a good breakfast, packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel. We came to George from where we were supposed to take our return flight to Johannesburg, late that afternoon. Before that, we had plans to visit a nature reserve at the Outeniqua Mountains outside this town. There is a power van that takes us through the scenic passes as we reach a picnic spot in the mountains. We had a picnic basket that got empty in no time as we were hungry by then.

On our return, we could see the debris of the fateful flight of Hanse Cronje, a famous cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team, who died tragically at a very young age. He was implicated in match-fixing scandal and had to unceremoniously resign and retire from active cricket.

We reached the base and saw the Outeniqua Museum where the Choe Tjoe Train originated from and so many other vehicles. Post this, we drove off to the airport, dropped off the hired car and embarked on our return trip to Johannesburg.

On the whole, though we missed many more spots and sights, it was quite a satisfactory trip and by the time we reached home later that evening, we were quite charged up and totally relaxed.

Trips like these don’t drain you and despite getting totally exhausted by the end of every day, we were totally stimulated to go on for more as we woke up the next morning. Such is the power of this elixir and added to this, if you have your loved ones as a company, what more can one ask for?

To conclude:

Those were the days we had no smartphones and the only maps were in our heads other than the physical map books we had taken with us. It makes a hell of a lot of difference if you have a membership with Automobile Association of SA. Their offices provide free maps to everyone irrespective.

Those were the days where, your cell-phones could only make phone calls unlike the modern ones, which can also be used for making phone calls. Else this article would have been filled with some of the photos we clicked along on our tour.

Be that as it may, that we enjoyed the vacation and even today that I could write most of this travelogue without taxing my grey cells much, is stark evidence of how much the sights have ingrained in my system.  

Day 26 of Lockdown!

Culture and Tradition:

One of those things happened to me while surfing the net (YouTube), inadvertently.

Hold your horses! What I have in mind, to click and clutter my screen, is just not what you are imagining!

Intrigued? Hmmm, thought so!

Well, this was what I had in my mind and letting loose from my grey cells.

I chanced upon a few Korean soapies and thought, what the heck? Let me give it a go. Anyways, they all had the option of subtitles in English (for people like me) and so I started to watch their soapies and tried to compare it with ours. Not that I am a big fan or critic of Indian soapies. But to my limited knowledge of watching them, on and off compulsorily, I was just curious.

To my utter surprise, I watched so many of their soapies non-stop, not just over these days but also prior to that. Man, there are some serious Rom-Coms, Action, Thrillers, Historical, Sci-Fi, et al. and believe me, these are produced very well covering all genres.

Most of these soapies are of 16-20 episodes of which many are further stripped into parts of an episode around 20min each. You can go on binge-watching these episodes on YouTube, if you activate the Auto Play feature. They even have short stories and dramas too.

What really struck me, on viewing over a number of episodes from a variety of soapies, is the fact that the Koreans have a very strong affinity for their culture and tradition. Also, they address their parents in the way very similar to us; e.g. for mother they call “Umma” and for father, it is “Appa”, which surprised me a lot.
 
In all of those I watched, there was a respect to the tradition, be it;

• Sitting on the floor for eating breakfast, lunch or dinner (only those that exhibited lifestyle of the ultra-rich showed dining tables),
• Display of respect to elders and guests,
• Changing the footwear used outside the house to the ones for use indoors only, right at the entrance of the main door, etc.
• Accepting a drink (including tea) from any person with both hands,
• Not drinking with your face to the elder or senior but by turning your face to the side not visible to the elder/senior,

To check my understanding, before I conclude on the above, I made sure to watch from amongst assorted themes and genres. I was really flabbergasted to see the strong clasp, of their culture and tradition, come across all these soapies without an exception.

This is in sharp contrast to what we exhibit in our soapies, at least to my limited knowledge of these across various genres. Except where the central theme is around rural or semi-rural background, all other soapies ooze unnecessary grandeur and unrealistic costumes, particularly of the female cast, which not only confuses the viewers but are way off from reality. Agreed, our costume directors for these soapies, base their creation on what is warranted by the producers and directors of these productions and also ape the ideas from other regional soapies. After all, we have umpteen languages and the TV channels have to cater to all these languages.

Well, many of the traditions have long gone into thin air as a heavy dose of ‘Westernisation’ has swayed us and made us question everything that our culture had, innately. The current scenario of lockdowns and emphasis on personal hygiene and social distancing is proving to be a chance to make people understand that these were the exact hygienic values our forefathers and ancestors had bequeathed us but in the garb of modernisation, we have lost all these by the wayside.

Isn’t it time to think about this? Can’t we pick up from where we left and move on?

Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on normal life!

Prelude:

Peeping into the looking glass; Year 2020 holds a significant deviation from the norm. Personal Hygiene, Social Distancing and Lockdowns coupled with the inimitable abbreviation WFH (Work from Home) have become buzz words and has almost become the ‘new normal’ of many nations in the world.

The metaphorical vision 20/20 (ironically, rhymes well with the current year 2020), was severely lacking; where none of the think-tanks of over 200 countries in the world, nor the world bodies like the UN and WHO, could even comprehend how the cataclysmic influence, a minuscule non-living protein matter covered with just a thin layer of fat (Corona Virus), could hold the world to ransom. 

Fear of infection, in this case, is far worse than the fear of death despite the number of infected people recovered so far, far outstrips the cases of death from its infection.

Having said that, I sincerely hope not to see the second wave of relapses with an evolved strain of this virus. God forbid; if this happens, it might spell disaster to many parts of the current civilisation as an already shaken world population would get into a mode of desolation.

Repercussions on normal life:

Well, normal life has been redefined as we have been witnessing a state of stupor in the hitherto known buzzing and chaotic outer world that was an inevitable part of everybody’s lives. As the contagion of COVID-19 spreads; most of the private sector employees are working from home, while essential staff are the only active ones plying on the desolate roads. Public transport in particular and Air, Sea and Surface freight and passenger transports are being restricted to just about minimal and emergency movements, worldwide.

Food security and shortage will be the first ones, to be in the epicenter of strategical thinkers and advisors of the countries worldwide. Enough care must be taken of and by the farmers themselves, about their (and their employees’) health during this massive outbreak. Failing which, agriproducts will be severely impacted. So will be the case with the fishing and other food providing/processing industries. I am sure all the governments worldwide, would have this as one of their top priorities.

Intercontinental trade has long stopped and the ramifications of this will only exacerbate as the days pass by. Shortages of many items are already noticeable on many shelves across different distribution centers and to replenish these stocks to normalcy, will take a long time due to logistical challenges that are imminent once the worldwide lockdown relaxes. Hence, the distribution of food and staples, is sure to be amongst the top of the list in the sequence of their priorities.

Governmental activities in a variety of ways will ensure the return of confidence amongst its citizens and these should be the ones to resume quickly, among the other firsts in the priority list.

Schools and other educational institutions are on a long vacation, yet many of them are going about with online classes and exams thereof. Online education is being refined and redefined during these trying times and so too are many other hitherto traditional activities and concepts that required a set rules of environment for their effective and efficient performances.  

Many a profession that require face-to-face interactions with clients and professionals, are yet to evolve with times that compel them to change and change, they must, to survive and yet deliver the requisite outcomes. Deadlines will be missed and their repercussions are unimaginable and incalculable (like in court cases, deadlines for tax and other statutory submissions, etc.).  

Normal banking activities and other services like insurance (both Short and Long Term), investment activities, collection and payment of various rates and taxes, levies and cesses have taken the brunt of the lockdowns.

Trading activities have come to a standstill with the closure of most of the non-essential items as the world has moved into a warlike situation to combat this minuscule protein particle. So has the manufacturing activities of many and most of the products worldwide.  Resumption of these activities will be important in more ways than one as this feeds the major employment sector.

Handymen like plumber, electrician, masonry, construction workers and others are in their nightmarish worst with the lockdowns and restrictions. Their daily wage-earning has come to a grinding halt. Steps to be taken to address these issues of the tradesmen, in terms of providing handouts or grants to sustain themselves and their immediate families, failing which, we can see a major social upsurge.

Doctors in practice, who rely on the inflow of daily patients for their livelihood, too, are at the short end of the stick, due to this pandemic. Governments must either call them to serve the emergency situation or provide alternative means for their sustenance. With the looming outbreak and agnostic as to its continuance, Dentists, ENT and other oral health professionals will have to wait for a long time before they can start practicing their profession with confidence. So is the case with so many other related health professions.

Porters at various transport terminals and railway stations ring in the same stories, of their daily bread being snatched away and uncertain as to how long will their daily bread remains ‘a pie in the sky’. So is the plight of Auto rickshaw (in many developing countries) and Cab drivers, in general.

Small-time restaurants, hotels and accommodation providers in various cities and towns across the world and more specifically in tourist locations too, would be glaring at doom till some remedy comes their way to avoid the complete collapse of this sector.

Barbers and hairdressers would, probably, be the last ones to resume their profession only after the last of the residual viral strains being neutralised, as this can be the easiest way for the virus to infect the healthy population (in addition to Dentists and other oral healthcare professionals).

So goes many more classes of small-time professions like repair shops of various nature, small mom-n-pop shops, round the corner greengrocers, individual pharmacies, domestic helps, couriers and other deliverymen, etc. The list goes on and on and is very inclusive.

Conclusion:

The mopping-up operations post this endemic is a humongous one, hitherto unheard of during our lifetimes. Thorough cleaning operations, coupled with enhanced personal & herd hygiene and marked changes in social behaviour, is the way we can prevent such outbreaks to dominate mankind, in the future. Preventative measures implemented across various countries’ port of entries will go a long way to mitigate the contamination and contagious impact of these viruses. Budget allocations, previously not apportioned to such activities, will now be prioritised.   

Proactive interventions of the world bodies like WHO, both in terms of mitigating such outbreaks and also in guiding their developing and other member countries in combating these contingencies will repose faith of the mankind in humanitarian purposes for which these bodies were conceptualised and established.

Day 17 of Lockdown!

Mauritius – not just any other ordinary (Stopover/Transit) destination:

This was my first visit to Mauritius, though I was just a hop, skip and a long jump away from this exotic and a dream destination.Yes, having spent over a decade and a half in Johannesburg I never had an opportunity to see this fabulous Island of a Country.

Be that as it may, providence provided me with a perfect chance to visit this country that was a French colony in the decades gone by. Though I had a stopover of just 21 hours, I decided to make full use of this time.

Travelling to Johannesburg from Mumbai on Air Mauritius, along with my friend and associate, Madhu Kongovi, the flight took off on time. This early morning flight had us totally drained of our sleep as we took a late night flight the previous day to Mumbai from Bengaluru. I hadn’t travelled this route (overseas via Mumbai) in more than a decade and hence was ignorant if there were any transport facilities between the terminals. When enquired, we were told to take the public transport to reach the other Terminal. Booked an Ola cab and reached the other Terminal around midnight on 15^th November. Our flight was only at 06h40 on 15^th to Mauritius. With more than a couple of hours to kill before the check-in counter opened, I employed a couple of ways from my bag of tricks to tide over.

Once the counters opened, we checked in and on crossing over to no man’s land (after emigration formalities) we reached the lounge where we spent the next couple of hours before the flight. Dead tired that we were and also famished due to long interval between flights, the food at this lounge was just what the doctor ordered.

This done and dusted by the time our flight was announced, we lazily strolled towards the flight and boarded leisurely.

Friendly and courteous flight attendants were at our service from the time we entered the aircraft and served sumptuous food with a plethora of drinks to wash it down with.

Dozed off the rest of the flight post breakfast, only to wake up close to landing time and the sight of a typical tropical flora.

Immigration formalities took a longer time to my liking since most of the passengers, other than Mauritians, had to be issued visas on arrival. That done, we got a few stuff for our friend whom we were about to meet.

Mahen Appadoo, a major logistics contractor, had come to the airport to receive us.  Warm guy, we hit out with him instantly. He took us to the hotel where we were given transit accommodation for a night as our connecting flight to Johannesburg was only the next day at 10am. We freshened up and while Madhu went along with Mahen, I lazed about in the hotel and relaxed before they returned along with a friend of Mahen, a Vimal Ramloll.

Our next stop was Port Louis, the capital city. Using Mahen’s clout, we could meet up with one of the Ministers of the recently elected Government, to discuss some business projects.

This done, let me introduce Vimal properly. Mr Vimal Ramloll, owns a company named Chiselmet and the uniqueness of Chiselmet is, it specialises in restoration of colonial buildings and furniture.

This said, Vimal chaperoned us around two of his present projects, in Port Louis. First, an imposing Theatre, which had been dilapidated over time and is being restored completely.

Aptly named as “The Theatre”, construction for this structure began around 1820 and inaugurated on 11th June 1822. This is one of the oldest theatres in Southern Hemisphere. 

The maintenance of this building was totally neglected over the decades. Restoration of this building started over a year ago and will continue well into 2020. The work that Vimal and his team has started with, needs special mention as he has left no stone unturned in his efforts to bring this building back to its old glory.

Some of the pics of this great historical monument:

 

 

We then drove down to his unit, ‘Chiselmet’, where he showcased us the painstaking process of restoring these fittings and fixtures like dados, panelling and cladding, tiling, etc.

Some of the pics are below, courtesy Vimal’s Chiselmet:

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, many of his workers are from Bangladesh and many of them have adapted to Mauritian way of life, as they are known to do so worldwide. Few of them speak rusty French (which is the official language other than Creole and English) and their supervisor was pretty fluent in both Creole and French.

Post this, we had a good snack at a bakery/restaurant in downtown as we were famished by then. This reminded me of the many Irani joints in Mumbai, where, I had the pleasure of hogging on their Maska Paav and Tea. Here we had a couple of chilli bites and maska bun as well.

Next on the list was to visit one of the resorts owned by Vimal, which was a good distance from the city. The roads and the topography reminded me of my life in Goa.

                                                                                     

He gave us a quick tour of the resort and I must say, it was really an excellent place to relax, relax and relax. Refreshed with a couple of drinks, on we proceeded to our next venue of interest.

Next one on the list was in Rose Hill, which for a long time was the temple of culture in Mauritius, thanks to Plaza. This magnificent old-fashioned Theatre and its Village Hall have hosted many a major event in the past. With the Party Hall finally being restored, the Theatre being renovated, will put these buildings to its former magnificence. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the time of the day, I couldn’t get inside these buildings to take a few pics.

 

Also, due to lack of time I couldn’t get more information on these and other projects. Perhaps in my next write-up, I will cover these better, with more information.

Great job Vimal! All the very best and hope you restore some more of these nostalgic buildings to its former grandeur.

Next in tow was our visit to Mauritius Club, where we met some of who’s-who in the Indian community of Mauritius. Celebration of Diwali festival at this club, was the highlight of the day, with some excellent live music ringing out some of the old Hindi numbers. While the elders’ eyes were moist and their faces brightened up from nostalgia, the youngsters too enjoyed the music in their own way.

Downing a couple of tots along with a plethora of short eats, we were full to the brim and almost ready to call it a day.

Mahen’s son was our designated driver and thanks to him, we reached our hotel safely in the night. Hit the bed almost instantly and dozed off just after reminding the reception to wake us up early the next day as we had to catch the connecting flight to Johannesburg.

This in short was the travelogue of my first, but certainly not my last, trip to Mauritius!

Thanks a lot to Mahen and Vimal for the excellent hospitality extended to us and particularly to me as I was a total stranger who was quite at ease in your company. Hope I get a chance to reciprocate this gesture of yours, in future.

My experience in Durban during Durban July Event - circa 2013!

Day 13 of Lockdown:

While sifting through various photos, from my avatar at South Africa, this one struck me right in my heart and made me realise what patriotism is all about.

Date: Sunday, July 7, 2013.

Event: Post Durban July, a prestigious, annual horse racing event at Durban, South Africa.

Location: Mt. Edgecombe Golf Resort, Durban.

Chronicle:

Compliments from one of our major suppliers, I had the opportunity to visit Durban July, a prestigious annual horseracing event normally held on the first Saturday of July. Hence it is aptly named and famous as ‘Durban July’ event.

This is one event where “All Roads Lead to Durban”!

Who-is-who of the country’s elite, celebrities, newsmakers and kingmakers alike, top businessmen and business executives, bankers and the like, can’t resist this event for all the money in the world.

Glitz and Glamour abound,

Dresses that cause traffic jam around,

Unique marquees of hosts that surround,

Makes one who is not used to these events, spellbound! 

That said about the event, my colleagues and I flew to Durban on 5^th July afternoon. We were joined by some more client representatives of our supplier and were driven down to this lovely Golf Estate at Mt. Edgecombe, where the Manager, Karl (a German gentleman, perhaps in early sixties), welcomed us with a drink and ushered us to our rooms.

After a quick snooze, I went down to see if I can get any company to while away my time. Luckily, our host Michael and his lovely family (wife – Kate, son - Paul and daughter - Stephanie) were there along with others as well and we hit off like old family friends. That they jelled with us very well is an understatement.

What started off with tea and coffee with some cookies soon graduated to beer and spirits as we moved outdoors into the open area, bordering the golf course and had a campfire lit to get the evening mood right and then, the guzzling went on till late in the night. Cautious with my drinks that I always am, I spaced my drinks well enough to let my liver do its job of metabolising the liquid and thereby remain sober, despite couple of multiple drinks.

Michael’s children, being under-aged for drinks, remained satisfied with fruit punches and mock-tails and nibbled on the short-eats.

Couple of hours after sundown followed by sumptuous dinner, couples started leaving the place wishing each other good night as they were afraid to oversleep or wake up with a bad hangover and mess enjoying the big event, next day. Couple of us stags, stayed well into the late night and Michael and Paul played impeccable hosts in giving us company till we called it a night!

Just as we went inside and got into a mood for a night-cap of Liqueur, one of the guests, whose wife had already retired for the night, came walking zigzag and we realised that he had not just one, but two too many. He was insisting us to take him to some nightlife spots in Durban, where he can indulge himself.

With just Michael and Paul besides me and this gentleman, we did some quick thinking and I nodded at Michael and said ‘let’s go’! Michael got the clue and told Paul to drive us around as I didn’t want to risk driving under influence.

So off we went, Paul, this gentleman and I in search of elusive nightlife in that part of Durban! Since I had already hinted Paul, he drove us in circles as the gentleman sitting in the rear seat, a bit drowsy by now, started to tell us where to go. He kept blabbering that we are hoodwinking him and not taking him to the right spots and insisted that we drive according to his directions.

We went round and round from Mt. Edgecombe to Umhlanga and back many times. By this time our friend in the back seat was close to dozing off and had kept quiet.

All the while, I was talking to Michael and Stephanie (she was a very worried little girl about her big brother and naturally so) and kept assuring them of our safety.

Couple of kilometres on the clock and a few liters of fuel burnt, we returned to the resort, at last, much to the relief of Stephanie, Kate and Michael. We helped the gentleman to his room and Michael, Kate and Stephanie thanked me for safe return. Paul narrated the story in brief and we all had such a hearty laugh at the gentleman’s expense before retiring for the night.

Next morning, post exchanging pleasantries, the gentleman and his wife avoided us like poison ivy as they just finished their breakfast in a jiffy and off they went to change over to their fancy dresses. The rest of us had a leisurely breakfast before we went to change our outfits and boarded shuttle to reach the Greyville race course, well in time before the first race started, to savour the hospitality in the host’s marquee.

What went on at the event was just about extraordinary stuff with a plethora of food that satisfied every palate, drinks of every kind flowed copiously, entertainment – out of the world, excellent races (I never bet though and have never done so), the hospitality was impeccable and I am sure we all enjoyed thoroughly.

Since it was winter time in South Africa and the sun had set early in the afternoon (Durban is in the east coast of South Africa), post noon races were under floodlights. This gave a different dimension to the event and;

We had joy, We had fun; and

We frolicked even after Sun

Even after the last race was flagged down, we still weren’t ready to call it a day. However, all good things must end and hence we returned by shuttle, dragging our feet, around 9 in the night, relishing every second of the time we spent at the event. I couldn’t even guess as to how many drinks I polished off over a period of 8-9 hours and so did many others.

On the whole, it was a memorable event as we stayed put in the Golf Resort for one more night before we packed to return to our bases. Spent out our last bit of energy, we just had enough strength to say goodnight and dashed to our rooms to go flat out on our beds.

Next morning was a different story. As we gathered around for breakfast, the hosts thanked each of us for our presence and bid farewell appropriately. The gentleman and his wife were, naturally, ill at ease and were squirming on their chairs.

To me, Michael and his family hold a special place in my heart as they took great care of me right from the time we landed till bidding farewell. Not for just making me feel comfortable by conversing in English only, as I was the only alien amongst their fellow countrymen but also for the simple reason that I being a vegetarian, they had gone out of the way in selecting choicest vegetarian food and snacks.

Thanks a ton Michaels! May God bless you all!

The hosts came to see us off as we were told our transportation to shuttle us to the airport, was waiting for us. Karl had arranged a surprise of mammoth proportions, for me, as we came out to board the shuttle.

Crux of the Story:

Since most of the guests and the hosts as well, were South Africans and I was the only foreigner in the pack, Karl had hoisted our Indian flag in my honour!

Man, what a feeling it was to be the star of the morning and with my beloved Indian Flag flying high above the ground!

With moist eyes, as I couldn’t resist the overwhelming feeling, I just held Karl’s hands and thanked him profusely for making my day happen, even before it began! The feeling what I experienced on that day is etched permanently in my mind and even to this day, just the thought of Mt. Edgecombe and Karl, gives me goose bumps and misty eyes.

No words, similes or metaphors can describe those moments aptly.

My sincere thanks to all those who made me experience that feeling.

Obviously, I have used pseudonyms of my friends to honour their privacy.

Day 10 of Lockdown in India!

Day 10 of Lockdown!

Impact:

As the curtains are drawn, signifying the end of 10^th day of Lockdown, my mind races as to what has been achieved by this lockdown.

On the one hand; it has been scientifically proven that the 21 day lockdown period, coupled with Social Distancing, would culminate in a break in the chain of Corona Virus’ spree of infections.

On the other hand; I see a lot of nincompoops strolling in the areas like, ISRO Layout (for example, near Kumaraswamy Layout), going about their morning walks, some without even proper masks and also on two wheelers, disregarding the lockdown principles.

I will be failing in my job, should I not appreciate the efforts of the staff and management of Star Bazaar, who have been providing impeccable service to the residents here. Excellent crowd management within and outside the establishment, adhering to social distancing and other requirements, they are striving to better their service each day.

Hats off to you, ladies and gentlemen, of the Star Bazaar!

Also in this area, there is a spurt of roadside vegetable and fruit vendors who have come from other areas as I can see very unfamiliar faces, causing concern to the residents. I am in a dilemma here as I can neither blame the residents as they don’t have a choice but to buy whatever is available as essentials, nor can we prevent these small businesses/opportunists (maybe a harsh word in the circumstances, but nevertheless apt as well) in setting up their shops.

All of a sudden, these small businesses are seen to be owned by a single community and spread over this area. These shops are open for the best part of the day disregarding the lockdown principles. Wonder where these people were during the normal times. Just an observation and I am certainly not prejudiced or judgemental. While many can dismiss this as poppycock, I request further investigations by the powers that may be.

Philosophy of being alone:

Many of us may be feeling lonely (despite being with our loved ones and spending most of the quality time with them) as our comfort zones (working in offices, being with our friends and favourite hangouts, etc.), have been taken away from us by this compulsory lockdown. Some of the bachelors/bachelorettes, singles but ready to mingles, forced ones to stay singles are left with no choice but to use their computers, handhelds, etc. burning the bandwidths in networking with their loved ones or friends, associates and acquaintances to shed out their boredom.

Be that as it may, the crux of this discussion was to know the difference between being alone and being lonely. There is a gulf of difference between the two words though sometimes many of us may use these interchangeably.

I dread to be lonely but I am at ease being alone.

Sounds queer, right!

Being lonely is dreadsome. I shiver even at this thought. It is a state of mind where, despite being in a crowd, you feel lonely for more reasons than one!

Being alone, is something I sometimes long for. I can accomplish a lot of things like reading, browsing, writing, listening to the music, watching a play on the (hitherto dumb) smart boxes, thinking about various things, planning something, gardening, cleaning in general and dusting off of the old relics and photos, drifting away in nostalgic moments, etc. to name a few.

Health OutPost Platform:

In the backdrop of the Corona virus outbreak, the company I am associated with in a consulting capacity, which is a social-impact enterprise, have put together a Data-driven digital outreach platform, Digital Health Outpost (DHO^TM), for the effective monitoring, containment, management and mitigation that can work at a National/State level. This can serve as a digital backbone for the city/state, for health related matters.

This platform can fit/integrate with what may already exist. It brings in the required Public engagement, primarily reaching the last mile.

It is a pity that such a brilliant product, which was conceptualised even before India thought of fighting COVID-19, has been languishing as there are many hurdles and bureaucratic red tapes to counter before anything can happen. We have tried every means to bring this to the notice to the powers that exist, but to no avail.

There are number of players who have brought out trackers for COVID-19 but, for us, tracker is just a miniscule innate component offered as a side snack, in this holistic platform.

It is still the early stages in many countries, for this virus to show its true colours and therefore, if there are any readers, whom we can request to assist us in reaching to these powers in any of the countries, it would be a great service to the public at large and humanity in particular!

Conclusion:

This lockdown has given us the required space and time to do various activities, hitherto pushed on to the backburner, feigning lack of time (?). What a great opportunity to do many things, if not all, that we normally brush aside in prioritising our routine activities. Impact of these lockdowns on the economies of all countries in the world will be immense and it will take a lot of time for many and most to limp back to pre-endemic stage. That said, it is still worthwhile than losing lots of lives to this infinitesimal virus which is but a protein particle covered by a layer of fat.

Happy lockdown!!