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!!