Quarantine Diaries

     Two days in line, and you come to know about passing away of the two stalwarts. It’s not that we are here forever. We all are going to die some or the other day. But when everything around is gloomy, losing such persons around is not just shocking but also it is depressing. When one read/ hear such news one’s view that 2020 is pathetic and worst year gets reinstated. I too feel the same. 2020 started well but none had iota that this would be devastating year. Corona which was just confined to some part of the world in Wuhan spread like wild fire across the globe had to be declared as pandemic. Now the whole world is under lockdown. When I sit back and look, two months ago life was all normal – alive, kicking, happy and happening. A typical day would start with my whole family around me. I used to work, study, conduct sessions, go and meet up friends, hang-out in some book-café, enjoy “me-time” on bridges or parks or any open public spaces, have hearty ...

It is said that human being is a social animal. And we live in a “civilised society” where everything is by design, wherein a system is there in place having proper structure and function. The basic component of this system is the human being. It is us – the “civilians”. For proper functioning of this system of society, bare minimum that is expected from us it to be civilised and show some civic sense. But do we even know what civic sense is? In a layman’s language it is something basic a human has to have to be able to gel well with the society and something that contributes to the well-being of both – such human as well as the society. It is something that helps in smooth running of the functions of the society. These are unspoken yet commonly agreed norms. We can take some hue of it from our Constitution in form of both – fundamental rights and fundamental duties. It’s not that we aren’t aware of it or haven’t ever read or known about it. We all do about it. Then why do w...

It has almost been a month we are home quarantined. India is under lockdown, Pune city is sealed. So much has happened in past 30 days yet so little is known. All thanks to corona virus!   I have tried a lot to write on this, however, did not publish it in a blog. What to write, how much to cover, which aspects to reflect upon? Seems beyond my reach! So finally I have decided, instead of keeping it in my drafts, I will put it on my blog - everything and anything that comes to my mind including the drafts. To begin with, this is a first of a kind calamity that we have faced of late. I asked my granny if she had experienced anything like this during her lifespan of 88 years. She said, “We did face drought/ famine like conditions, we survived poverty, we survived floods, earthquakes but this is our first time too.” She is yet to come to the terms that a virus is the main cause that has halted the whole world. I remember it was mid-March, somewhere during 14-15 th March...

And now you are free to judge me as an 'anti-national' for defying the appeal. While I stand and affirm to do what is best possible for me as a citizen in this health emergency & fight against corona, I also stand to disobey the activity which does not appeal to my rational and scientific temper. I also 100% support the lockdown & stand also against those social elements which deliberately cause trouble to frontline soldiers in this war on corona.  I am worried about the health of all my people (staying indoors or on their long march to their respective homes). However, I am more worried about the health of people like my Aai who have to deal directly with patients & who are not even armoured with basic masks let alone PPE. Am worried about the life of all those doctors, nurses, healthworkers, sanitation workers, police who are being brutally attacked while they risk their lives for us.  In all this, my lighting a candle/diya can only make good conten...