Lots of things happened over the past two weeks. India went from reporting 2 lakh cases to 5 lakh covid postivies. A week or two and it will definitely be number 3. My city has been reporting a surge of cases. It was faring well among the metro cities till last week in the number… Read More Life in times of the virus- day 121
A week and a half ago, when I wrote my last post, India was in the tenth position in the world in the number of infected people. At the time of writing, the total number of cases stands few hundred shy of 3 lakh, the total number of deaths at 8.5k and the country now… Read More Life in times of the great lockdown – day 102
It has been almost two weeks since I wrote anything. After what felt like ages, I opened my WordPress today, and guess what greeted me? An anniversary notification. Today is my 5th anniversary with WordPress. I mean, I could have opened the app tomorrow or day after tomorrow- and I would have missed the notification.… Read More Life in times of the great lockdown – day 89
At the time of writing, the number of positive cases in India stands at 75k with 2500 deaths. For the past couple of days, at the least 3k cases are being reported everyday. My company has extended mandatory work from home until June 30th- another month and a half in seclusion- I hope I don’t… Read More Thoughts in times of the great lockdown- day 72
India saw the single highest rise in the number of covid cases yesterday-3875 and 194 deaths. At the time of writing, the total number of cases stands at 50k with 1700 deaths (in India). So I had this fantastic idea on how to protect ourselves from the virus. Social distancing is the most useful strategy… Read More Thoughts in times of the great lockdown- day 65
At the time of writing, the total number of cases in India stands at 38k with around 1400 fatalities. Every day of the past week has seen more than 1500 positive cases reporting and over 50 new deaths. Yesterday saw the single largest rise in the number of cases reported since January- around 2500 cases-… Read More Life in times of the great lockdown – day 62
Let me begin by describing my daily routine from March 18. So the Indian government had officially enforced the lockdown from March 25. But my home quarantine had started a week prior to that when my company announced partial work from home. The last day I went to office was on March 18th. March 19th… Read More Life in times of the great lockdown- day 54
So I have had this theory for a very long time. Let me try to explain it. India is majorly a religious country. The country has scores of religions and a majority of its population believe follow religious practices rigorously. I too was deeply religious in my childhood, but as I grew older, I began… Read More Thoughts in times of a pandemic- day 47
The realisation has finally sunk in- this virus is not going anywhere. Unless somebody invents a miracle vaccine or we as a population develops herd immunity- until then, the virus would continue its rampage. All these lock-down measures- for example, India has extended its lockdown till May 3rd (the 21-day lockdown was extended for another… Read More Life in times of a pandemic- day 45
The following excerpt is taken from the Wikepedia documentation on SARS outbreak. Outbreak in South China The viral outbreak can be genetically traced to a colony of cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in China’s Yunnan province.[27] The SARS epidemic appears to have started in Guangdong Province, China, in November 2002 where the first case was reported that same month. The patient,… Read More Same November, same February – history repeats itself? – day38
At the time of writing, the number of confirmed cases in the country stands at 5200, with 150 deaths. I had this thought the other day. Ever since the advent of internet and industrialisation, globalisation has reached its peak. There has been a free movement of cargo and people. But now, with the novel corona… Read More Novel Corona Virus in India – day 37
This isolation is killing me. I long for a walk down the streets. To eat out, work in office and live a normal life. Initially, when the lock-down was announced, I was glad that I would get some me-time. But now, I long for company. My future plans are all on hold. I had invested… Read More Thoughts in times of lockdown – day 36
As India enters the 10th day of the nationwide lock-down, the governments around the world are taking unprecedented steps to contain the virus. While the west is largely failing to contain the outbreak, the eastern nations are faring well. It is time for India to avert it’s westward gaze. It should focus on the innovative… Read More Thoughts in times of lock down – day 32
376 new cases in a single day! Wednesdays tally struck me hard in my self imagined paradise. I was under the impression that the Virus would leave India unharmed. The total number of confirmed cases at the time of writing is 1637 and around 40 people are dead. ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) said… Read More Novel Corona Virus – A collection of notes from India- day 31
It has been 12 days since I am stuck up in my room. My city seems totally empty, except for the occasional police patrolling and youngsters on bike. Travellers require special police permissions to move around in the city. I wake up to birds chirping and breath fresh air. I am pretty sure that the… Read More Life in times of a pandemic- day 28
Today marks the first day of the official 21 day nationwide lockdown announced by the prime minister of India. A majority of companies had announced work from home last week itself. This had driven most people like myself to self-quarantine. On 22nd March Sunday, the government had urged all people to stay at home. Now… Read More Novel Corona Virus Day 23 in Bangalore
Today marks the second day of official lockdown in the city. All transport facilities- interstate, intrastate buses and trains are shut down. Offices, and shops except emergency services and facilities are closed. Industries function at 50 percent capacity. But even though the government has banned all gatherings, people still go out on their private vehicles.… Read More Novel Corona Virus day 22 in Bangalore
Yesterday’s Janata Curfew (People’s curfew) was a huge success. Almost everybody stayed inside. And contrary to what I thought, people assembled at 5 and started clapping hands. The entire neighbourhood was noisy with utensils clanging and people clapping. This went on for about 15 minutes. I must say that the social experiment was a huge… Read More Novel Corona Virus day 21 in Bangalore
I just reached my room from the terrace, where I was trying to get a good signal for my ham radio. Our local Ham club- Indian Institute of Hams has organised a VHF contest on designated simplex frequencies 144.800, 145.000, 145.500 and 145.600 for the Bangalore city Hams today. I was trying to contact other… Read More Novel Corona Virus day 20 in Bangalore
“Given the way it is progressing in India, it seems it is about two weeks behind Spain and three weeks behind Italy. But that is the number of known cases. And without sufficient testing and shutting down large gatherings, the numbers could be a lot worse.”… Read More Novel Corona virus day 19 in Bangalore
As of now, India has a total number of 195 confirmed cases. Bangalore reports 15 cases, most of them Indians who returned from abroad. Most of the IT companies have announced work from home option. I myself am under precautionary social distancing and this is my second day of work from home. Yesterday there was… Read More Corona virus day 18 in Bangalore
So there is widespread rumour, misinformation and panic escalating in the city. All of a sudden it seems like the infected techie was working in all Tech parks in Bangalore! The shut down of Cerner G3 building in Manyata raised suspicions that the infected person was from Manyata Tech park and rumours spread like wildfire.… Read More Corona virus day 2 in Bangalore
Ladies and gentlemen, So we have finally reached a point where the shit has hit the fan. Less than 24 hours ago, the authorities have confirmed a case of the latest corona virus in my city. The infected person had travelled overseas on a business trip and returned back with a load full of COVID-19.… Read More Corona virus in my city
Today was the unlikeliest of days. Most of my travel plans are well thought of. Even if my destination is the nearest restaurant, I would plan the whole route from my home to the bus stop, the bus routes and possible traffic block scenarios. I would by-heart the Google maps and mentally revise my kick-ass… Read More An unexpected journey
Before we begin, let me tell you plainly, my brief hiatus from writing had nothing to do with a writer’s block nor did my love for literature diminish. If anything, my passion for writing is stronger than before. The last two months were crucial. I had a couple of exams and my whole life depended… Read More Random bleats
Everywhere I look, be it in the office, the newspaper or the street, people have only one topic to discuss, CAA or the Citizenship Amendment Act which recently came up for discussion in the parliament and which has the power to grant citizenship to minority refugees from Muslim majority countries. I myself am quite ambiguous… Read More CAA, NRC and some politics
Once up on a time, the world was alive. The dancing willows whispered in the wind The streams flowed full and clear from the mountains till the ocean. Children of the mountain played and danced under the sun, over the hill up until the eyes could see. Then came the blight walking on two legs… Read More Once upon a time, the world was alive
“But I did exactly as I was told! “. Tears streamed down from her eyes and formed a small pool on the floor. “I neither broke any rules or spend any moment away from my studies. I did everything by the book!”. “You know, I didn’t care much when a classmate of mine, who failed… Read More Lies
I immediately recognised her factitious smile and the fake voice sweetened to saturation. The conversation has run dry and I’m fumbling for topics. After the niceties were over, we were struggling to find common ground. The bus was taking forever to arrive. Her eyes darted over to the couple standing nearby, the noisy teenagers and… Read More The social circle
