Sad Incident

In the aftermath of  Indo- China war of 1962, there was a spurt of patriotic fervour, with the entire country stood united as  this was the need of the hour in those crucial times. Poets and lyricists penned patriotic poems and songs to instil patriotic feelings at the same time preaching unity.There were liberal contributions to the National Defence Fund in cash and kind. The Government on their part had documentaries made which were shown far and wide across the country.
A senior officer of the Publicity department, GOI, who lived in the neighbourhood arranged to show the documentaries twice or thrice in the locality. The projector operator , a jovial , good natured  young  man endeared himself to all . The documentaries featured songs like Watan ki abroo khatre mein hai .....&  Aawaaz do Hum Ek Hain .
After some days the team accompanied by the officer made a tour to the tribal area. We were told the name of the place Chini. Though Kinnaur district had been formed in 1960, the name had not got so much known and the present day Kalpa was known as Chini . 
The tour ended on a sad note as the team returned sans the operator. The operators had died , only his clothes were found near the river side. It is not known whether he had committed suicide or had an accidental fall into the river. The sad news sent shock waves in the locality. I faintly remember his face and appearance as this happened  57 years back.
The memory makes me sad even today.

TO DYE OR NOT TO DYE

Corona or Covid 19 has  affected our lives in more ways than one . Generally it is the fear psychosis of one kind or the other that has taken in its grip all of us .
A visit to the barber to have a hair cut seems to me a thing of the past for obvious reasons. I donot bother about this as length of the hair hardly seems to matter due to the thin growth. Of course I shave daily as the prospect of growing a  grey beard around the face simply  puts me off. I try my best to live in my comfort zone but the lady of the house hardly digests this. Her sneers and jeers at my unkempt hair sometimes become too much to bear. It's another matter that  even if I wanted to ,she  wouldn't let me go out for a hair cut . At the same time she dare not  give  me a haircut with the scissors so fondly bought by her. But she must dye my hair periodically to feel better. The dark dyed hair hardly match with the furrowed face with crow feet forming on the outer  corners of the eyes.The fresh dyed hair do instil  a sense of well being only for a few days, after which the coming up new growth forms a hair band like silver ring around , that increases in width day by day. I envy the people, some of my friends included, who carry the silver gracefully on their head, not lacking in elegance.

Miracle

I have mentioned earlier also that  S.D. Higher Secondary School, Ganj Bazar , Shimla was  my alma mater for seven years. Most of the time our way back home was  by the side of St. Thomas's School , a Girls' School .
Once I  got issued a Hindi book of folk tales  from the School library . The title of the book was दक्षिण की मीरा or perhaps this was the title of one of the stories. Reaching home, when I opened the bag , the book was missing .The book had slipped out of my bag. This left me high and dry as this was the height of unintended negligence. This was not so much  about the cost of the book or the fine that I would have to pay , but about the fact  a library book changes so many hands and so many students derive pleasure  or benefit as the case may be. I had time to face the consequences. The  next day I told my friends especially Bharat Bhushan who used to accompany me half way through , as his residence was in another direction.
After 2-3 days , Bharat Bhushan, the said friend was too glad to hand over the lost  book, much to my relief . It so transpired that while coming to the school, he saw a girl from St. Thomas reading the book  and talking about it with another girl accompanying her. A word or two falling in the ear of my friend made him cautious and with a rare presence of mind he asked the girl to return the book. The well meaning girl had no reason to refuse when the library stamp on the book confirmed the claim. The book had slipped out of my bag and fallen into right hands.
Miracles , big or small do happen !

CORONA DAYS

With the cumulative figure of Corona inflicted persons in India, touching One Million mark, it is now clear that the dynamics of Corona Virus evades and defies all explanations. In the beginning we had a 21 day complete lockdown in the hope that this would break the chain of infection. Subsequent lockdowns resulted in the slowdown of economic activity resulting in tangible losses at the micro and macro level. We also saw the tablighi jamaat issue being blown out of proportion and hyped by the Media. Then there was the issue of migrant labourers forced by circumstances to return to their homes covering hundreds of kilometres on foot and en route being subjected to hunger, thirst and police atrocities.They were also projected as potential carriers of viral infection far and wide. All these projections and fears seem unfounded. The emergence of Dharavi in Mumbai with a high population density as a hotspot raised alarm, quite understandably . As of now, Dharavi has got over the crisis rather miraculously though serious government efforts were made.

Strangely for days and months now, there is no press conference on the issue by the concerned Ministry and other concerned Institutions and organisations of the Government . Seems we have accepted Corona as a way of life. However it is amply clear that we are ill equipped to handle the situation once it gets out of control. There are news of a vaccine having been developed in Russia and UK but how long it will take to make the vaccine available for public use is not yet known.

Tailpiece-

I- why me ?

Corona- why not !

...

Stay home ; stay safe !!

Anil Biswas

Today is the birth anniversary of Anil Biswas, the noted playback singer and Composer of Indian Cinema.He was born this day in 1914 in undivided Bengal of British India. Active for three decades between 1935 - 1965, Anil Biswas is credited with  introducing 12 piece orchestra in film music . He also introduced western symphonic music and folk music . He gave break to noted playback singers Mukesh and Talat Mahmood in film Pehli Nazar and Arzoo respectively. He married actress Ashalata- maiden name Mehrunissa- and had three sons and a daughter from the marriage.He composed music  for about ninety films and gave some wonderful melodies.
His filmograhy includes films like Jagirdar, Kokila, Watan,Ek Hi Raasta, Pooja,Aurat, Alibaba, Behan,Kismet, Jwar Bhata, Bhookh, Anokha Pyar,Arzoo, Tarana, Aaram, Pardesi, Char Dil Char Rahen, Angulimaal and Chhoti Chhoti  Baaten . He was a recipient of Sangeet Natak Academy Award .
He died on 31 May 2003 aged 88.
Our humble tributes to the great Composer !

CORONA DAYS

With the Corona cases crossing  five Lakh and the death toll exceeding fifteen thousand, the scene in India is alarming as we may see a further hike in number of fresh cases coming to light in the coming days due to increase in the  daily quantum of tests  being conducted.The comparison of high or low figures of incidence being deceptive leaves little reason for complacency.
The media focus on Delhi and Maharashtra concentrating on high figures of  incidence and mortality  suggests some bias as they are losing sight of or deliberately underplaying the fact of the test conducted / being conducted  per million of population state wise.A just and proper conparison is likely to present  a different picture from the one being projected now. When some reasonable voices talked about accelerating the pace of tests the same were  scoffed at and were not given the attention they deserved . In between till now we have seen the issues of tablighi Jamaat, and exodus of migrant labourers rushing to their homes in very compelling circumstances. Now we see the return of labourers to various  places to resume work after lifting of blockdown.There is no immediate remedy in sight , the WHO also talking about the development of a vaccine not before a year.
For a long time to come there is going to be no respite from taking precautions like mask wearing and  physical distancing. Worst hit are also the students, e -classes and online teaching proving but a poor and not a viable alternative. The resumption of economic activities may provide some solace in terms of employment. The resumption of  normal life  for all  seems a distant dream !

LEFT OR RIGHT

As I type this holding my cell phone in my right hand  and  tap my left hand finger on the  keyboard, the thought amuses me. If  I were to write the text on paper, I would do so with my right hand. So what I am, a  lefty or a  'righty'?

In Cricket jargon  I am a right- handed batsman but a left - handed bowler.

I am told ninety percent  of people are right- handed, which is considered the norm. The remaining ten percent are left- handed or lefty which is an aberration . I choose not to use the somewhat harsh sounding 'abnormal'.

There's in built tendency to be right handed or left handed depending on which side of the brain is more active. It is widely believed that right - handed people have more active left side of the brain and converse applies to the  left handed people. I call those parents and teachers naïve who force their kids  to  use right hand for writing and eating , quite ignorant of the  medico- scientific reason behind. It is also an established fact that left- handed people are intelligent, creative geniuses , no less than the others. 

However they are disadvantaged as regards the use of some appliances that seem specifically made for the right handed people. For example the domestic sewing machine. Another disadvantage came to my notice  during my University days where I found seminar chairs  in class room fixed with mini tables on the right side. My left handed friends had to keep extra chair on the left to be able to place  note book    on the table and to write. 

The term 'left handed  compliment' smacks of a built-in bias.  On the ideological side, left and right  represent diametrically opposite views but more of that  later !