My trip to Srinagar – Day 1 – 21st September 2023:

Chapter 1

It all started with an invite from Suma Aunty, who casually asked me if I was interested in joining her and a few others, on a trip to Tithwal. Now, this is a small village at the back of beyond and on the banks of Krishna Ganga River forming a border with POK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). On hearing the location, I had goosebumps as I had never ventured so far into the Northern Territory of India and so close to the border with a neighbouring country. My brother Vasu, who is a much-travelled person in this region, fuelled my interest in taking this journey without batting an eyelid.

Be that as it may, there was a religious event at this border village on the 23^rd of September and I had never travelled further than New Delhi, which meant a great opportunity for me to see that part of my unexplored world and I decided to go with the flow.

By the way, Suma Aunty had sat with me a fortnight before and planned the whole trip, intricately mapping the sequence of visits to various temples, shrines, and ruins, et al.

Got the tickets booked for the trip, and started packing for my 5 nights and 6 days adventure. My enthusiasm was that of a schoolchild who was promised a window seat on a train journey to an exotic holiday destination.

Eagerly waiting for D-day to arrive, I started packing clothes to wear, essentials, gloves and beanie caps, scarves, heavy jacket, medicine and whatnot? I was told to sacrifice my entire quota of check-in luggage (cargo) weight as this was taken up by the group in taking a few essential things for the Army Personnel at Tithwal. So, I had to cram my essentials into just my handbag and had to do away with all the non-essential stuff. A noble thought from the group members as this was the least, we could do to our heroes who ensured that we slept peacefully while they guarded the borders. We had an early morning flight which meant I had to either start from my house at 4:00am and pick up Suma Aunty on the way to the airport or, stay overnight at her place and start from there. I took the second option.

Our Vistara flight was from the newly opened T-2 and we had a chance to savour the much-touted new terminal. Indeed, it is beautifully decked and decorated. The place has to be seen to believe the grandeur. Local murals decked the walls along the passageway. Once we were through experiencing the new terminal, we settled down and awaited the call for our flight.

Off we went to Srinagar via New Delhi on the 21^st morning. The flight took off on time and arrived on time too. The connection to Srinagar was a short one and hence, we had to literally rush to a different gate to catch our flight to Srinagar. Efficient ground staff at the transit airport ensured that we could make it to the flight easily (but not so on our return journey – see my next article).

We reached Srinagar on time and after reaching the room, started unpacking the luggage, just enough for the evening as we were to start on our main journey early next day.

With a few of hours to spare that afternoon and as pre-planned, we started towards Sugandhesa Temple located around 28 km North-west of Srinagar. This is in ruins and we could just imagine the grandeur of what existed in historical times, as a great temple.

Next on our itinerary was Shankara Gourishwara temple, a short distance from the previous temple. Dedicated to God Shiva, this was in no better state than the earlier. We saw, to our dismay, kids from the nearby school loitering in this protected place. Perhaps ASI (Archaeological Society of India) needs to take additional measures so that the ruins don’t deteriorate further. This goes for all the places that have come under ASI’s belt.

We could get back in time for a quick stroll to one of the gates (Piers) of Dal Lake. This fantastic and much talked about picturesque lake was just a stone’s throw from our base camp (Hotel Victoria Palace). I had seen this in many a movie of yesteryears and those memories all came flooding as we started to slowly drift on the Lake, in our Shikara (boat). We were inundated by vendors on their boats as we ploughed through the waters of one of the large freshwater bodies. Flanked by Houseboats, with interesting names, we had a glimpse of Shankaracharya Temple on top of the hill, believed to have been the place where Adi Shankara performed his penance (more about this later). Watching the sunset over Dal Lake is an experience and no words can describe it. I am sure even the sunrise experience is equally ecstatic.

There is an island in the lake that has been converted into and named Nehru Park. Some renovations were on, on this otherwise so-so-kept garden. Only a few dahlias and roses were in bloom here. I am sure this would be a much-visited place in season and where the flowers would be in full bloom.

On our way back, the boatman took us to a crescent waterway aptly referred to as the Floating Market, with shops selling their wares from textiles to fashion items, carpets to draperies, dry fruits, nuts and so on.

By this time all the houseboats flanking the lake had lit up and what a sight it was to behold!

As we slowly glided towards our destination, I thought of how we lost showcasing this region, as a top tourist spot in the world (in recent decades), due to unrest created by politically motivated vested interest groups and a country sponsoring this.

We slowly dragged our feet to the base with our stomachs growling, for the last of the food we had was on the flight in the afternoon. Luckily, we had a great restaurant (Annapoorna Hotel) bang in front of our base and we crowded in and ordered parathas with curds and pickles. This devoured, we retired post-packing for our journey the next day leaving the bulk of our luggage behind at the lodge while remembering to pack all the stuff we had specially brought for the Army Personnel.

Sughandeswara Temple Pictures:

Shankara Gourishwara Temple:

The scenic Dal Lake:

More in my next chapter......

Our Journey To, Through & Return From Corona Infection - Part 3

 

Some of the medication completed their journey into us and a few others are left now. In the meanwhile, we have been progressing well on the recovery phase as we await further advice from the Doctor.

Our diet so far has been, only hot and cooked food, with a strict no-no to salads or fruits to mitigate any contamination with outside bacteria/virus. No fruit juices or any other stuff from the fridge. Lots of hydration (we resorted to warm water) as we almost gulped down around 2.5-3.5 liters a day. ORS was added to the water only if needed. Steam inhalation was almost a part of our diet - what with at least twice, if not thrice, a day.

One bright spot during our journey into and through Corona Infection, so far, has been decent levels of SpO₂, as it never dropped below 96 throughout the course of our medication, right from the day of our encounter with Covid. On the contrary, perhaps due to all the attention and nutrition we were getting, as ‘patients’, were helping in gradually improving our SpO₂ levels to 97-98%. We pray and hope to maintain these levels going forward.

Keep your mind calm and stress-free!

Huh! Easier said than done. 

With so many casualties around us, due to Covid, this was almost a Herculean task for us to accomplish. They say, if you want to eat an elephant, you can still do it! Eat it, bit by bit! This was exactly what we envisaged doing. The elephant, metaphorically, being the ‘Stress and Disturbed Mind’, had to be tamed somehow and what we did in the initial stages of our isolation, paved the way for the rest of the period.

In short;

-        We never switched on the TV sets, with all these umpteen channels repeatedly blaring negativity 24/7, showcasing graphical un-pleasant happenings around with no moral responsibility, sensitivity, or humanity to the ongoing saga of life and death. Media has become a mockery now as anyone armed with a smartphone, can become a reporter. I have lost my complete respect for this profession.

-        I have been deleting all those negative news and graphics on my social media account and have been sifting for news/information worth passing on to others.

-        Calls with my kith, kin and friends revolve around our resolve to beat the Virus at its own game.

-        Keeping ourselves engaged in chanting and learning new shlokas from an abundant library of Vedas, etc.

-        Physical exercises, albeit at home – Oh! We have a great runway of 20 steps one way, for a brisk walk and with this princely distance, we are able to clock a couple of km every day. 

-    Breathing Exercises to bring back the 'Lungs Power'. A variety of Pranayama to strengthen and revitalize the lungs.

One would wonder as to how I walked a distance of over 6 km in this constricted space, on a daily basis. Having done it successfully for a week now, I am in a position to dispel the views held by others on the need for a bigger space to exercise/walk.  

Well, in the end, it is Mind over Matter!

As we enter the last phase of our home isolation, I am feeling very lucky on able to write all these down and escaping unscathed from the clutches of the dreaded virus. That said, I still have a distance to traverse for complete recovery both physically and mentally.

Mentally – because, during this period of my illness from around 2^nd week of last month to date, there have been more than a couple of deaths amongst family and friends circle. Quite a few have contracted the virus and are battling to overcome this. My sincere and humble prayers for their speedy recovery. My only advice to them is ‘be strong mentally, this too will be gone soon and as far as possible – think positively on how you too can outlive this virus (if we can do it, so can you) and pray’.

We (my brother and I) survived the pandemic by God's Grace but I grieve for the ones who lost their battles and pray for those who are battling the dreadful virus. To those who are battling, ‘Be strong and in a positive bent of mind’.

I will fail in my duty, if I don’t express my gratitude to the Doctor and his support staff, who dragged us out of this Covid deluge, in particular. Similarly, to my family for their unstinted support to me and my brother during the testing times and to my friends who had me and my brother in their prayers; I bow down to you all, in deep gratitude!

In the wider world, I bow my head with great respects and with deep gratitude in my heart to; a huge battalion of Covid warriors; Doctors, Nurses, Path Lab & Radiology Personnel, Attendants, Other Hospital and Essential Staff, Bank and other Employees who, by nature of their jobs are required to render service to the public – come rain or shine, Police, enforcement and ancillary agencies, Defence Personnel, Transporters of foodstuff, perishables, critical medicines and equipment, umpteen number of volunteer agencies and volunteers, Hotels and other agencies providing food for those unlucky ones who can’t cook at home.

Any other section of people, to whom I have not expressed my gratitude is by oversight and not intentional. I profusely apologise for the slip-up.

This is not the time for just praying (though it does help in maintaining our semblance as human beings). Prayers have to be in tandem with the science of how to break the chain and alleviate the havoc of the pandemic. Scientific advisors have been advising the Governments (Central and States) but it has fallen on deaf ears so far. Can the people with powers take cognisance of this advises and do their job earnestly and honestly, at least now, so that the country can be saved?

Epilogue:

The authorities have been caught off guard and no matter whoever it is who tries to justify the stance taken by them, they can’t shift the blame for their apathetic attitude. Firstly, they could have put in more hospitals/beds in the long year of learning. We had a great head-up on the possible second wave (and now a third wave is predicted in the next half of the year) and we lost the arbitrage to various insensitive, un-prioritised, callous and absolutely unwanted exercises by all the State Governments including the Great Central Government. Bureaucracy and unnecessary Politics has stifled the enterprising Entrepreneurs who could have held the hands of authorities in waging a successful war against the virus.

Gross mismanagement and corruption (well, nothing new here) have brought the logistics of bed/supplies availability to its knees. Mudslinging and cheap politicking is the order of the day (Surprise!)! Policies regarding the Lockdown and directives to the enforcing authorities are formulated by bureaucrats (who may never be in their current position but for their selection due to some draconian reservation policies that the country is still following) with no proper vision and latitude of how these impact various sectors of the society. Stupid errors in drafting the directives give rise to addendums and corrigendum to confuse the hell out of the public and enforcers, alike.

It was pretty disgusting to see and hear about the nefarious activities by those who were entrusted to run the logistics and allocation of beds, etc., to those Covid patients who sought help. Corruption has raised its ugly head in an inhuman way as these patients had no option but to pay through their noses for just getting onto a hospital bed.

Healthcare has never been a priority of any government so far. It is high time that the Governments (Centre and States) prioritize this basic need for the public by taking necessary steps in augmenting the capacities across the country. The program can include training to set up mobile medical facilities in un-used government buildings, sports arenas, etc. in times of emergencies.

More importantly, cut the bureaucracy to the minimum if not ‘Nil’ so that actions can be taken at the right time and in the right place without much ado.

DMA (Disaster Management Act) must be invoked to take action against erring hospitals/bureaucrats and other officials causing impediments during such a pandemic emergency.  

Vaccinate, as this is the only way to defeat the virus! Indian Government must go all out for getting its population vaccinated, at whatever cost and in a minimum possible time.

Well, a lot of the above was for the authorities and the Governments (Centre and State). However, as citizens, are we doing what we are supposed to do in such pandemics. No. We have shown our callous nature (either out of ego, arrogance, or ignorance) by not adhering to the directives issued (compulsorily to wear a mask properly, to maintain physical distance, not to move out of our houses during the lockdown time, etc.) by the authorities. Our uncivilized mentality during the lockdown needs no special mention. We come out of our places in droves, out of curiosity to see what’s happening on the roads. Civic sense is undisputedly absent and we care two hoots about the others. Discipline is a non-existent vocabulary and so is personal hygiene.

What’s the use of our bureaucrats and politicians making umpteen foreign trips to other countries, when not a single lesson has been learnt by them or implemented across their jurisdictions, about the way civic sense operates in these foreign countries?

Somehow, thanks to the pandemic, a few of the above ills are getting corrected in a miniscule percentage of the population but as for the rest, Mera Bharat Mahaan!

Well, in the midst of all the melee, we have forgotten the Mother of this virus, China. Ironically, we have to remember this on Mother’s Day!

What has been done to rope in China with the responsibility of spreading this virus, so far? How can the country that orchestrated and was the epicenter of the global pandemic, go scotfree? Are there no provisions in the international laws to call for World-wide sanctions against this rogue country? Are there secret parleys going on behind the smokescreen between the powerful nations and the rogue nation, for concessions and counter-sanctions? Is the UN such a spine-less organization, not to penalize its permanent member with sanctions? 

Lots of questions but I wonder whether we can get all answers to the above.

Our Journey To, Through & Return From Corona Infection - Part 2

 

Having started on identical medication was the easiest part. The difficult part was to understand the beast inside us and how to tame it by various means. Fortunately, one of our cousins (son of my step-aunt who succumbed to the dreaded virus) who had gone through this path of Covid, came to the rescue and suggested that we contact a certain Doctor who was treating him and his whole family. 

This doctor has been serving the Covid affected patients since the onset of the pandemic and is, therefore, terribly busy. Despite his hectic schedule of more than 18 hours a day, the doctor called me promptly late in the night on 24^th to set the course of the next regime of medication. 

Before that, he advised us to have the blood test done for certain parameters and we contacted his attached path lab’s technician who came home and collected the blood samples. The same evening, the results of the blood tests came through and medication was tweaked to combat the beast of the virus, inside us.

What appeared initially, as excessive medication, what with a host of tabs and blood thinner jabs for the first five days, set the path for our recovery from this dreadful virus.

We just followed the Doctor’s advice and for the first time around, we went out in the open, on 27^th April, to get our Chest X-Rays taken. We zeroed in on a nearby facility which served Covid patients in getting their Pathology, Radiology, CT Scans and other procedures done under pristine conditions.

This done, we requested the Radiologist at the facility to give us the X-Rays in soft copy so that we can send them over to the Doctor. She obliged and we flagged the photograph of our chest X-Rays to the Doctor over WhatsApp, pronto!

Thanks a lot for your help in such times of need, Ms. Radiologist!

Doctor advised us that there is an infection leading to Pneumonia, in my case and in my brother’s case, it is clear with no infection. Reports that came from the facility, a tad later, confirmed what the Doctor had already advised us.  

He also told me “Not to worry as it is mild stages and the medication advised, if taken in proper doses, would clear of all the infections”. 

Proper doses, it is, then!

We were advised to administer injections of blood thinners (for 5 days) along with a host of tablets to be taken. Jabs! I (we) had never done that in our lives. It was pretty scary but the lab technician encouraged us and showed us the process to inject each other, albeit a simple one but to date we had only seen doctors and nurses do it and some who were injecting insulin themselves. But for us, it was new learning. We had no option but to inject ourselves and this too was done and dusted. 

I am sure I must have gotten over the worst by now, as we entered day 6 post-change in the medication regimen.

The doctor also suggested the second round of blood tests and the ever pleasant lab technician came down to scoop the samples for the second blood test. We got the results on the same day and the Doctor prescribed us a change in our medication regimen, again, to complement the needs based on the second blood test results. No jabs this time, it is only pills popping, thankfully, a combination of blood thinners, vitamin supplements, steroids, et al.

Just common sense here. We felt terribly hungry from day 4/5 onwards and were told that the systems are slowly kicking back to normal as the liver and other vital organs have started functioning.

All the while we were advised to keep ourselves hydrated, take steam inhalation, keep our mind calm, perform some breathing exercises and some physical activity (walk in the house itself) which, we have been religiously executing.

While my brother had been active and doing the physical exercises right from day 1 of isolation, I was a tad lazy. The illness provided me with a perfect smokescreen to excuse myself from the rigours of physical exercises.

I was a bit worried too, about the physical exercises as my habit of walking 6 km/day has been hibernating since the onset of the pandemic. However, with no other option in sight, I started off walking at home and in the first two days, I was able to reach only 30-50% of my daily targets. With determination to break the shackles of mediocrity, I decided to put in more effort in notching at least 60-70% of my earlier target. It was a great relief for me when I started touching 85-90% of my target and finally, I did overhaul my target today. All the while, I was thinking that I should be good enough if I can even touch 60% of my target. 

Some positives of positive thinking here!

A good couple of medication ended this morning but the concoction of Steroids, Vitamin Supplements and Blood Thinner still continue to be the regime.

Despite her hectic schedule, My sister-in-law (being HoD of a section at her IT Institution), has been relentlessly cooking hot food, not just for the both of us but to the other family members holed up in her place, as well. My sincere gratitude to her for providing us with delicious and hot food, twice a day.

My other younger brothers who have, as always, risen to the occasion in doing the running around to hunt the medicines and also in delivering us food thrice a day, in addition to odd requirements on an impromptu basis. My sincere gratitude to them too. 

To be continued……..

Our Journey To, Through & Return From Corona Infection! - Part 1

 

Prelude:

Covid-19 infections have played havoc in the lives of the citizens, with its vengeance unleashed in the ‘Second Wave’. A normal life that had been thrown out of gear since March 23^rd last year, continued to batter the public in general and poor/middle-class in particular. Many small businesses have gone under, never to recover from the onslaught of this pandemic.

Entrepreneurs of a different kind are skimming the already downtrodden public in various ways like hoarding of critical medicinal supplies, hospital beds, cremation of the Covid-19 victims, Ambulance journeys to and from hospitals, overcharging on the staples, etc., just to name a few.

Government can only do as much and much more needs to be done by us, as responsible citizens. While I blame the Government (with all its intelligent bureaucrats) that couldn’t foresee the possible second wave in the country, I blame ourselves; as common citizens of the country, for letting our guard down in the wake of climbing numbers and throwing caution to the wind. We became so complacent after the vaccine came out as if panacea has arrived and there will be no more Covid-19 in the country.

Let alone the second/third tier towns where there was no governance to enforce compulsory use of masks and physical (social) distancing, even in major towns/metros, the guard was let down resulting in what we are witnessing now.

This is pure lackadaisical attitude from all of us individually and collectively and paying price for the same, in a very sorry way, is just about justified for our aforesaid actions.

Journey:

I have been on field visits (part of my job and occupational hazard, to say the least) since 1^st of March and have been taking care of my physical hygiene, wearing masks and maintaining physical distances. On the job as well, we had been insisting on following all protocols needed and prescribed by the regulatory authorities.

It was the second weekend of April, 10^th the Saturday, to be precise and what a day it was! I was just returning from the 13^th day ceremony of my late uncle when I got the news that my step-aunt succumbed to the dreaded Covid-19, having battled for a couple of days and lost. It was possibly the day on which I first had a slight fever, towards the end of the day and didn’t bother much to go to the doctor. Just popped in a paracetamol tablet and just rested.

The next day, fever didn’t come down and my brother insisted me on consulting a doctor. I normally get fever due to dust (as I am allergic to it) and hence thought this was the same thing. The doctor gave me antihistamine and suggested not to take paracetamol as the drugs he prescribed will bring down the fever. All the while, fever was still mild and didn’t cross 101° F. Cough, I thought, related to my allergic reactions persisted. I had taken enough care to isolate myself to the best possible extent as I had my aged mother and a brother with co-morbidities.

Only when the fever never came down below 99.8° F despite the pills I kept popping, I thought it was time for action and got myself tested for Covid-19. Gave the samples for RT-PCR tests at the nearest PHC (Public Health Centre) on 15^th afternoon and was told that the results would take about 3 days due to severe pileup of backlogs.

In the meanwhile my brother; who stayed separately, also had contracted fever and throat irritation with severe cough, too had submitted his samples for the test at the same PHC on 16^th. He too had isolated himself from the rest of his family.

While we waited patiently for the test results to come, these were the most difficult days for both of us.

On the appointed day, I went to the PHC only to return emptyhanded as the result, they said, would take a day more. In a way, it was fine as I thought of collecting both our results the next day. However, till late that day, no results came through the normal channels and I was a bit worried. I insisted upon the officials at the PHC who were quite helpful in getting the results. Ironically, my brother's result was the first to come and he was tested POSITIVE for Covid. Officials out there were very kind in counseling me to advise my brother to stay calm and easy as Covid can be treated easily and then handed me a bundle of medicines to be given to my brother. I was pretty impressed by this gesture.

My result never came so long as I was there persisting the officials there, of the urgency. There were a few others as well, who had given their samples on the same day as I of which, there was a young girl who desperately wanted her result as she was embarking on the employment journey and the employer insisted on a Covid NEGATIVE certificate. The officials over there were kind-hearted to allow the girl for a RAT (Rapid Antigen Test), results of which could be known within tens of minutes. I huddled along with that young girl to get this test done and the officials obliged. This too was done and the RAT rattled out its result of my specimen as NEGATIVE.

Glad to note this, I came home and along with my other brother, started off to my brother’s house to hand over the medicines. By the time I returned home from his place, my results came over SMS and they had found the specimen given on 15^th for RT-PCR tests POSITIVE for Covid.

Then started the discussion amongst family members as to how the two of us can be contained and home quarantined. We finally concluded that my elderly mother and two of my brothers must shift to my other brother’s house and he should come over to our place. This would mean making a lot of adjustments in more ways than one.

He came to our place donning a la astronaut suit (PPE Kit) while he had his home sanitized. This done, my other family members left for his house. Food, we had agreed, would come from his place twice a day to start with and one of my other brothers would bring it at appointed times.

We started off on our identical medication, pronto! This would take us for 5 days in terms of dosages/medicines given.

In the meanwhile, during all this brouhaha, I lost my sense of smell and taste and this was all the conclusion needed by me to confirm that I am now undoubtedly, Covid POSITIVE.

 

To be continued….

Why Children can’t be Children anymore!!

 

One recent morning as I started to sip my favorite cup of piping hot Kashaaya (a tea-like drink made from spices) and browsing on my ever-dependable (isn’t it true for many of us) smartphone – more on this later as I want to digress a bit to say something on this fashionable instrument that has made us, its slaves.

I say Smartphones because; with its introduction in our lives, these have made us duds; at the drop of the hat, we consult our phones that have become an inimitable and an inseparable organ of our physical self. Gone are the days when we used to have mobile phones to make phone calls, perhaps to send an odd text message called SMS, store numbers and set alarms and that’s it! These days, the cellphones a.k.a. smartphones are so smart that we can also use them to make phone calls!

Let me get back to where I digressed.

I saw advertisements from a particular company called Whitehat Jr. (WHJ); even on social media about getting our children in the age group 6-12 years, to learn coding. I was flabbergasted, to say the least.

Belonging to a behemoth of an Edutech Company, Byjus, who had been a pioneer in this sphere of activities (at best and in my opinion, a glorified tuition dispensing platform) for various age and grade levels in India, WHJ started this new thing about coding for the children. Their parent company had roped in a Bollywood superstar to get their ad campaign running, pouring billions in Indian Rupees in the process. By the way, Byjus was valued at a whopping US$10.8billion recently. Not surprised at all as we have innumerable wolves amidst us, helping such and other companies through conniving yet suave ways, for the sheep (Bakaras) amongst us to fall for.

Be that as it may, WHJ started their luring campaign, hitting out at gullible parents and children, with the information ‘if the legendary Bill Gates of Microsoft fame started writing codes at a very young age of 6 or 9 and so can your child too’. Why can’t we accept that such persons are exceptions and not the rule? This company has roped in elite sportspersons to endorse their campaign. I am concerned about the way these sportspersons who, lured by the money offered to them, can lead a whole generation astray by their simple endorsement, giving a damn about the future of children. For this company and their likes, Exceptions Must Become the Rule – to keep their cash registers sound KACHIIIING!!

While most of the countries are insisting on their children to behave, play and live their lives as children, we in India are so much behind our children to become ‘Rich and Famous’ overnight as ‘child prodigies’!

With Peer pressure being a major factor in influencing children and their parents alike, companies like WHJ and Byjus are laughing all their way to their banks or to their laptop’s banking online portals.

Why have they become Grinch in the lives of our children? Who gave them the liberty to snatch our children’s childhood and make them slaves to the idiot screens? Isn’t this harassment of the young lives who are supposed to be enjoying their childhood? 

I agree, starting a business is a freedom of every citizen but what are the associations and governing bodies for ethical advertising and other responsible groups and organisations doing about educating the public on the ills of such humbugs?

Already there is a very unhealthy competition amongst the students (and their parents/guardians alike) in cramming the stuff in their heads in the garb of knowledge and education.

Private tuitions were abhorred during my schooldays (decades ago) when only those who were a bit challenged in their studies, would resort to. These private tuitions have since evolved and we have come to accept them as a way of student life now. There has been a reversal in that only those monetarily challenged would avoid these external aids now. So much for the pressure on the students.

With the new Education Policy, Government would be doing its bit in improving the efficiency and efficacy of education going forward. What will still remain unchanged would be the way students and their parents/guardians buckle under the peer pressure and keep running the rat race!

Net result: Children have lost their childhood, Parents/Guardians can brag about their wards’ accomplishments and companies like WHJ and Byjus will continue to flourish milking from unsuspecting and gullible students and their parents/guardians.

Drama in real life! A blast from the past!!

My Rendezvous with Providence aided by a lone Tusker.

 (As experienced in true life by my dear friend, Desai Shubha and transliterated by me)

It was the winter month of January during the early nineties and in my adopted hometown (Mysore), a good 140kms from Bangalore that we (my husband Prakash and I) planned to venture out on a two-wheeler to savour the nature in the nearby nature reserve.

We chose 25^th January for our tryst with nature so that we could rest the next day (a public holiday) before we start afresh on 27^th with our jobs. As planned, we set out early in the morning to nearby Nagarahole forest (don’t know what Rajiv Gandhi has to do with this nature reserve let alone visit it ever, as it is named after him).

That said, we packed enough food, water and other stuff to take care of our needs for the day trip as we planned to return later in the evening.

The weather was lovely, romantic and since we were leading a carefree life (our only daughter was born a good many years later), with no responsibilities, we wanted to indulge ourselves getting a bit free and wild. The journey was comfortable and as we reached the national park around 10:30 am, we were a bit disappointed to hear that the morning safari timings were over. 

The officials suggested that we visit the nearby Irupu falls, have our lunch and return by 3:00pm for the next safari schedule.

Sooner than said, we found our way to this beautiful waterfalls cascading the tree-lined rocks. We were totally lost on beholding the beautiful falls and the nature surrounding it. Before long we heard chitter-chatter, giggles and laughs of a group of young girls who were already playing in the water. Later on, we came to know that they were from Maharani’s College, Mysore.

As we ventured further towards the noise, they saw us and started teasing and enticing us to play with them. Sporty that we were, we too started playing with them and teasing them to the hilt. After spending a good hour or two with them, post-lunch, we returned to the Reserve’s office and parked ourselves in one of the Safari vehicles. Our safari tour was nothing short of utter disappointment as throughout the hour and a half journey, we couldn’t see any wildlife.

Prakash suggested that we should start by 5:00pm so that we can see some wildlife, as they come towards the waterholes during the dusk and by any luck we can catch sight of some. By then, the buses that brought the college girls started to leave and we decided to follow them so that should we encounter any wildlife and at any chance of risk, we could board one of those buses.

Off we went following those buses and encouraged by the roar of cheering girls in the buses, my husband started playing with the bus driver by overtaking him and after a distance, allowing him to overtake us and this repeated a few times. I too enjoyed screaming and laughing with the girls as I tried to masquerade my disappointment of not seeing any wildlife, with this newfound diversion. This happened for quite some time and then we sped off leaving the buses behind, to kiss the dust left by us.

As we gathered speed and covered some distance, Prakash spotted elephant droppings and showing that to me, he said we could see some wildlife after all. I hit him on the head for his naughty comment and didn’t take notice of it.

All of all of sudden, just a good few hundred meters in front of us, was a herd of elephants of all sizes and maybe 40-50 in number crossing the road. We had to, but stop the vehicle and turn off the engine. Watching them playfully crossing the road, we were thinking of how lucky we were in witnessing majestic herd trumpeting to glory.

At the end of the herd was a lone tusker of mammoth proportions who was yet to cross the road from our right to left.  

By then, the two buses came and went ahead of us towards crossing the lone tusker. The girls exploded at the sight of the tusker and started making noise amidst clicking of cameras. This attracted the elephant but as they say, he was blind in the right eye. Irritated to the core; with his left eye, he saw us and came charging towards us.

Prakash yelled at me to jump off the bike and run for my life as he too did the same. I was too shocked to do anything and before I realised the state I was in, I was lying flat on the road with my left leg trapped beneath the fallen vehicle. The tusker came towards me and with his huge trunk around my slender waist, yanked me out that released my left leg from under the vehicle. 

I thought my end had come and was praying for a swift one, if that. But he gently put me down.

By then Prakash had reached the bus in the front and thought I too would have run behind him towards the bus. Girls on the bus were horrified at the sight of me and started yelling “Help her” but he heard it as “Hurry up” (which he told me later).

In his anxiety to make me board the bus first, he turned his head back only to see the ghastly sight of me lying on the road with the tusker playing with my body. He thought of the worst and fearing that I was dead, he collapsed and fainted. Some of the teachers from the bus tried to revive him but to no avail. He was shifted into the bus and all were watching my plight with utter helplessness.

Back to my plight, the tusker kicked me and I started rolling on the ground and slid into one of the nearby pits dug by the forest authorities for planting saplings. He picked me up from the pit and placed me on the ground. Then he removed my brand new golden coloured sandals and flung them into the air. That was the last I saw of them and even in the midst of my ordeal, I was quite sad to see them go as it was my much loved new sandals.

Next in line was my goggles that were skilfully plucked off my face and he exhibited his throwing prowess. Now that it was only me he had to contend with, I was very weak even to imagine “what next”. What followed next, made me realise that there are some forces and powers beyond our imagination and comprehension.

Next I saw myself snuggly held by his trunk and even in this plight, I remembered the girls in the circus being held like that. He threw me in the air and caught me before I could be smashed to the ground. I lost count of how many time this happened and each time I thought “This is it, my end is now” but to my surprise, I was still breathing and with horror I was witnessing how my body was being used as a toy by this huge tusker of a being.

With no one but God to help me, I started praying to my favourite God Ganesha, the elephant God. I had prayed to Him sincerely all these years and my only prayer now was that if it was death I was destined today, to make it quick and painless.

But my God had other ideas. The tusker played with me for a long time, I think, as I had lost the sense of time. He then put me down gently on the ground and placed his foot on my chest. I thought ‘This was it” and I would be crushed in no time. Instead, he caressed me with his foot and I was flabbergasted and shocked at the same time even in such a terminal situation, to see the gentleness with which he was doing this. He lifted me off the ground again and put me on his head. Thinking back, I could humour myself as a royalty sitting on an elephant and looking down on my subjects. It appears he had other ideas. He put me down on the ground again and repeated this many times. While I had closed my eyes out of sheer fear and tried opening at times to slyly understand the situation, he was iterating the exercise as a routine.

At one such point, I noticed that there was a time lag and slyly opened my eyes to see what next? By some strange chance, his attention was caught by the fallen vehicle’s lights that had started to glow. He went to the vehicle, kicked it tearing into a couple of pieces and returned to me.

By then, the driver of the bus mustered some courage and came to divert him so that with the help of others, they could safely pull me to the bus. The tusker was in no means to let go of me. He chased away the driver much to my agony and to the anguish of the passengers in the bus.

After what seemed to be an eternity, one of the Forest Department’s vehicles happened to cross that way and they were soon apprised of the events by the bus driver and passengers. One of the officials fired a shot in the air to scare the tusker. He still had other ideas, it appears, as he soon picked me with his trunk and dashed into the thick woods. The Rangers came after him and fired another shot in the air. He loosened the grip on me and as I slid to the bushes and on to the ground, he headed back into the thick forest not to be seen again.

It was dark by then and we were taken to the Reserve’s office where I was administered first aid along with Prakash. They pleaded the bus driver to take us to Mysore but the college teachers and the principal wouldn’t listen to us and refused point-blank fearing that this would be a police case and unnecessary hassle to them.

The Rangers somehow hired a vehicle and take us to a nearby village called Kutta where I was sedated to brush off my shock. Story of my tryst with death despite an attack from a lone tusker had spread to the nearby villages and the natives had thronged Kutta by then.

On waking up from my sedated slumber, I was told that there are a lot of natives (Jenu Kurubas) from the forest, who wanted to see me. I was taken aback when they started touching my feet with reverence and praying with folded hands. I was told that they thought I was an angel and hence could escape such a ghastly incident with no major injuries (though I was bruised and battered). Most people, who had been in such instances, never lived to tell their tales.

Rangers were indeed divine incarnation in helping us that day and somehow they could hire a Jeep to bring whatever was left of our vehicle and of ourselves back to Mysore, which we reached in the wee hours of 26^th.

I don’t even count the number of deaths I died in those moments and I am sure, I would put any cat to shame as they just have 9 lives.

It took me many moons to overcome the shock and was inundated with nightmares every often. I still wonder why he didn’t harm me as I had grown up listening to stories of how dangerous it is to get accosted by a lone tusker.  

Thinking back; it was nothing short of a miracle that I survived the attack, though I had surrendered completely and was at the mercy of the mammoth, thinking of my inevitable gory end but have lived this long to tell the tale. Even though it is close to 3 decades, I still get goose-bumps whenever I recall this incident or whenever any reference to the nature reserve is made.

This incident made me famous in my neighbourhood and also in the surrounding areas, adding to my popularity due to my modeling career (that was cut short due to other reasons).  

Are we heading to a Neo-Normal, post COVID-19?

Good evening!
I'm sure we are all waiting eagerly for the resumption of normalcy, post COVID19.
However, what if we have to adapt to a new normalcy that includes compulsory wearing of masks, adhering to social distancing, avoiding crowded places, limiting the number of guests for your functions, etc.
Sounds crazy and I'm sure many wouldn't agree with me in assuming the situation described above could be with us for a long time.
Well, I wish I'm proved wrong.
In a 'What If' scenario, can we adapt to the Neo-normal situations?
My answer to that is 'Why Not'?
Didn't we survive the period from 25th March to 2nd May under even more stringent conditions? 
Adjusting and/or adapting to conditions, life throws at us, is probably an innate nature in us humans.
Else, we wouldn't have evolved from the status we were in, during historic times.
Well nobody has seen the future but no harm in Intelli-guessing what it may hold for mankind and trying to get prepared in our own small way.
Like they say, A Plan May Fail But Don't Fail To Plan!
Cheers!