#DaySixtyEight

I always thought the toughest part of writing my blog would be approval of readers. But now that I am actually doing it, I am realizing the toughest—rather the scariest part is thinking of when it ends and how many readers will there be at the end of it all.

-DayZero

The Lockdown Diary

And I am back! Don’t worry; I wasn’t gone due to some health issues, though the things that kept me busy felt nothing less than issues. But here I am, eager to chat it out with you.

The fifth lockdown has been initiated which will mark the fourth month of this extremely testing period, not only for our patience but also determination. The scare I mentioned in my first post, of not knowing when this blog will end, has finally seeped its way to our hearts. Writing such enamoured sentences is one thing, and living them is another; let alone having the whole world suffer through it. The initial surge of positivity—getting to spend time with family, revisiting hobbies, taking the much-needed break—has receded and we are forced to face the gravity of situation at hand. I won’t comment much on what seems to be the largest reverse migration India has seen this century; enough has been said and not done on the matter. Blaming it all on government would be unfair; it already has more than enough on its to-do list and for a change showing some genuine efforts. Students continue to be in limbo, with the education system still unable to trust its candidates with their calibre. Seriously, how unsure parents can be of their children! My joining has been deferred to January 2021, and so I am now forced to look out for things to do till then. Better to not say anything about final year students with no jobs yet.

There’s also the brighter side though. I ain’t no market guru, but even I can tell the market will be a gold mine for those who care enough to look into it. For once, India has a real shot at being the global leader. Hopefully research and healthcare will be given some serious considerations henceforth.

This year has proven itself to be the turning point of this era. Human society, founded on the pillars of trust and co-existence, is now forced to socially distance itself and co-exist with the pandemic. To be a part of generation who will shape up the new world is exciting, if not scary.

That will be all from my side for now. It was good to hear from some of you that you were missing my posts. As a matter of fact, I have been working on something lately, but let’s wait for the right time to talk about it. Do tell me what y’all have been upto all this time; the comments box is always waiting for you. :)

#DayFourteen

Home arrest is the last theme I could have thought of for our farewell.

- Any final year student

It says 3.20am in the corner of my laptop and boy, how blissful I feel right now! It’s already been eight hours of The Devil Wears Prada (good job, Lauren Weisberger on the book btw, and pardon me for assuming you read my blog!), and I have just loaded my system with a piping hot glass of coffee, now looking forward to slurp midnight-Maggi just after I finish writing this post and go back to TDWP.

Sorry if you missed me and my posts—I hope—for quite some time now. Blogging is surely nothing near what I imagined it to be, but let’s keep aside that topic for later. Reading my posts till now, if you have taken me to be a nearly-graduated (and I hope I reach there without any hiccup, if COVID-19 permits) student relaxing in his lockdown days watching anime & movies, reading Austen books and reliving the old days of Ramayana-Mahabharata with his parents, you might not be entirely accurate.

Though it is true that the lockdown has spared us students from the everyday growl of early morning lectures, rush hour travel and at least in my case, gruelling project work, it’s not all La La Land. All the #OLT plans have gone down the drain, replaced with video calls for no good. There’s a high possibility of having no farewell party, higher than percentage of germs killed by Dettol. All the cultural fests, the marathon and the annual sports fest have been cancelled, much to the dismay of their organising committees who had been sweating it out throughout the year. Our annual art exhibition has been transferred into an online format, at the loss of its ambience. There are no more pizza outings, and no more movie-binge and stay-overs while celebrating the last birthdays of our undergrad life. 

And no, this is not us millennials crying for some petty things—it’s not only the fun part that is messed up. There is absolutely no telling when we will have to appear for any kind of exams. Students with repeat exams and/or backlogs are hanging in mid-air. Students going abroad for higher studies are in complete disarray about their visas, course schedules and scholarships. Students still to be placed have no certainty of it anymore. Add to it a crippled economy which won’t be very welcoming.

And Just—after four years of scraping enough to pass & scoring perfect in a subject nobody ever had, working overnight for fests out of sheer enjoyment and some life lasting lessons in friendships—just when I thought I was finally done with my undergrad life!

#DayEight

Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human.

-Aristotle, Politics

To be honest, I have never been the social animal Aristotle expects me to be. Thankfully, my parents were large-hearted enough to let my antisocial bum be lost in the world of books instead in unknowns faces at baby showers, birthdays, weddings, and funerals. Never being a member of any boys’ gang, any false ideas of manliness did not corrupt my tender heart, for which I feel grateful even to this date.

Unfortunately, not all of my antisocial friends (yes, being antisocial does not mean not having friends) have been this lucky. Not all of them had parents recognising their disdain towards attending fufaji ke chachere bete ke mausaji ki shaadi and were dragged along to face relatives asking questions about what they wanted to be in future, when all they knew at that instant was to run and hide away in their peaceful abode (sauce: let’s have a stay over with lots of popcorns and hear these stories first-hand, of course once this quarantine ends!). I remember a fellow Austenian telling me once how her books and bookmarks are subjected to potential agonizing torture whenever her parents invite relatives over with their little devils, otherwise called kids. I have never sympathised with anyone more.

Sadly, the likes of my kind constitute only a small part of our society, thanks to the culture and traditions who stress the importance of being one of the crowd through every religion, epic, festival, ritual, and beliefs. So, as the phrase social distancing has become a worldwide sensation over the span of just a few weeks, practicing it in real life as the days pass by, proves to be a challenge not nearly as easy—especially in a nation where Atithi Devo Bhava is the mantra of life.

We are already missing on the true spirit of today's Durgashtami and in coming months, we better be ready to miss out on many  such things. So, my sincere apologies to all those social bums out there crying after reading this post, or maybe not so sincere;).

#DaySix

“A man who has nothing to do with his own time has no conscience in his intrusion on that of others.”

-Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

I write this post at the risk of sounding extremely cliché, thanks to the bloom of overly sentimental Facebook and Instagram pages, but be assured, my readers; do not doubt the sincerity behind these words and the passion with which I approach today’s theme. And pardon me if you feel a sudden change in my writing style and do not feel convinced of it, for the stars have finally aligned to commence the holy ritual named ‘The Austenian Abbey’ around which I look forward to digress our discussion very soon.

Having taken the decision of pursuing engineering entirely on my own, I readily shoulder the responsibility of all the vices and virtues that came with it. Though I won’t deny the immense capability it has developed within me to take on any role required of me—as my fellow comrades would agree upon—, it has certainly left me with this overwhelming feeling of exhaustion, the form of which I am unable to put my finger on.

And therefore, this quarantine certainly comes as a blessing in disguise, for (except the task of final year project being the only unpleasant chore) it has finally given me the break I needed to engage with myself and to see if I am ‘fine’. There are no more hangovers in morning; the minimum eight hour sleep rule is being obeyed at last; all the morning positivity stays with me until the evening, free being subjected to the dreadful rush hour of Mumbai lifeline as in the past and failing to sustain itself through it. Every cell of my being does not complain anymore of not feeling alive, much thanks to the persuasion power of my alter ego to put them through some grind. The classics which ones stirred all kinds of emotions my naive heart was unaware of are being revisited, in an attempt to rekindle them. Occasional visits to the Shishuvarga-Balvarga report cards, a KBC notebook in which I used to note down all KBC questions, remnants of earlier ventures into literature, writing & the Japanese language, the gifts from my teachers and the underlying messages—all—remind me of the dreams I had once sketched for the future me and fill me with a newfound surge of life energy.

Spirituality has never been my area of expertise; I can say having dared to grasp its meaning through some accidental reads. Nor do I possess any aspirations to succeed in defining it. But, isn’t this journey of unravelling the sense and sensibility riddled as spirituality itself?! I now fear of sounding too pretentious, possibly at the expense of my readers’ approbation. So I will allow myself to take your leave for the day in hopes of continuing this amiable affair tomorrow, hoping you still bear with me.

#DayThree

I swear by Apollo Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.

-The Oath of Hippocratus, 1923 Loeb edition

I assume it’s safe to say that the highlight of #DayThree for all of us would be the contrast between our expectations from doctors and the treatment we have been giving them—the attack on a private practitioner in Beed by some local political goons, followed by our government requesting private practitioners to keep their medical centres working in this crisis, risking their families, health and safety.

Let me break it down further for you: in the wake of recent developments which have made us realise that it’s the hospitals—and not the temples—who kept their doors open when it really mattered, all segments of our medical fraternity are now expected to work 24x7 to serve and save the fools who couldn’t understand enough to follow the basic precaution of confining themselves within their homes, a celebrity singer who’s throwing tantrums for not being treated like the star she isn’t, and their fellow medical practitioners who had to undertake the risk of getting infected while helping these fools and celebrities; all this within the limitations of a healthcare infrastructure, which cannot be compared to that of countries who have already given way to the pandemic—the same healthcare system which couldn’t be spent upon more than 1.15% of GDP, thanks to which India ranks 184^th out of 191 in terms of %GDP spent on healthcare as per WHO, by the government who is now encouraging people to appreciate them by blowing whistles and banging plates; while ignoring the threat of getting kicked out of their houses like what happened in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and the cries and woes and blames of being extortionists, still giving away their own salaries to keep the hospitals functioning; only to face more and more people breaking the quarantine and extending the period for which they are to maintain this superhuman form—working in multiple shifts at abnormal hours without sufficient protective equipment to reduce the risk of getting infected themselves and yet at their maximum efficiency—for there is no other explanation as to how they are currently managing to do this.

That’s a lot to ask of someone, in the name of one oath, isn’t it?

#DayTwo

The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.

-Aldous Huxley

Day two started with the morning news of more and more people breaking the curfew, roaming around in the streets and increasing the law enforcing workload. The warning of the second wave of COVID-19 in China should teach us to do better than this, but sadly Indians seem to be hell-bent on proving Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s warning of shoot-at-sight orders necessary. The unanimous reasoning behind these wanderlusts appears to be not knowing how to spend time at home, in peaceful solitude or with family.

Don’t worry, I am not here to educate, suggest or dictate you about what all you can do, learn or develop in these 21 days of lockdown—within the boundaries of your home; social media seems to be doing that job just fine. Instead, I thought why not share with you today what I have been doing in this quarantine. After all, the more personal we write, the more global it becomes, or at least I hope so.

A look at the sidebar ‘Count since quarantine...’ may have already given you some clues. Ticking off as many books from my TBR list as possible during this lockdown has turned into an obsession, and so have binging anime and movies. It’s heart-warming to see Marathi books being circulated on WhatsApp along with Google Drive links of movies and drama series. What’s more, I have also been brushing off my dance moves, after the happy realisation of its necessity during my blasphemous attempt of leading the FunTech group dance. My laptop and mobile storage have more free space now, and the bookshelf, cupboard and showcase have been dusted and rearranged multiple times.

Spending an entire day with family seemed like a huge challenge at start, but now each day is turning out to be those family vacations which we never had. Playing carom with dad has become part of the regular schedule and inheriting his Teen Patti and Rummy tricks might come handy in future. Coming to terms with Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma for my sister does not feel irritating anymore. Cooking has become even more satisfactory, now that it’s giving my mom the time she never had to explore her hobbies and to learn that she likes the same author as me is quite exciting. These small things may not sound significant enough, but these are the things completing my bigger picture, which I never realised were the ones missing.

Oh, and just in case if someone finds all of this childish or unproductive—things you can’t add in CV—there’s always the option of short courses on Coursera, edX and similar platforms, not to forget blogging :).

Why not share your plans during quarantine, other than facetiming and playing Psych!, by dropping a comment below?! Eagerly waiting to know them and as always, stay safe and stay invested!

P.S. In case you are looking for some inspiration, check out Institute of Chemical Technology’s fine arts club Meraki’s Instagram account meraki_ict (https://www.instagram.com/meraki_ict/) for awesome artworks on daily basis. They have been doing an amazing job of providing everyone with creative distractions during these hard times.

#DayOne

First Covid then Hantavirus, now earthquake in Russia and tsunami in Hawaii. #HavanKarenge

-Just another unreliable sauce

The morning of #DayOne started with reading this status on WhatsApp, leading me to fact-check, and believe me, I haven’t laughed this hard in days! No offense to this one guy as there is a plethora of forwarded unverified information in the last fifteen days or so, compensating for my extremely slow network and providing me a lot of content to roll eyes at.

Well, even though this blog is less of an information source and more for sharing my thoughts, I will still try to provide you with some reliable relevant links pertaining to our discussions in the side bar. To summarize the new Hantavirus and tsunami alerts, the only way for us (assuming all my readers follow good household practices in their houses) to get infected with the Hantavirus is to participate in Khatron Ke Khiladi and do tasks with rodents. As for the tsunami and earthquake alarms, Russia and Hawaii are more than capable to face the non-existent giant waves. What we should be more concerned about are the giant waves of false information we are already facing, which started pouring in even before the start of the lockdown.

Come to think of it, is this the first time there has been a false alarm of a tsunami or an earthquake or a sporadic viral outbreak in some corner of the world? Add to it the WhatsApp messages with the header: Iss message ko banane me 15 din lage hai; kripaya forward kare—then, why is it so that each and every crisis, however small—teeny and tiny—is now being connected to end of the living world? What’s the working mechanism behind this social psychology? Do people really crave drama? Or should I say tragedies? Is that why the Mahabharata and the tragedies of Shakespeare are still the bestsellers?

(That took a sudden dark turn for sure.)

Coming back to the discussion of this whirlpool of information we are being subjected to, the simplest reasoning behind its generation would be boredom. An empty mind is the devil’s workshop. As one of my friends EGo  (https://medium.com/@egodbole) worded, in fact it makes this whole situation war-like, much worse in fact, in many ways. First, people are not allowed to go outside, even during the day, more like participating in Bigg Boss but for survival instead of prize money. Second, they are to limit the interaction with the outside world irrespective of who it is, contrary to the basic principal of sociology—humans are social animals. Third, there is no visible or traceable enemy, turning it into a war against visibly no one, bound to psych people out. Imagine the number of infected cases swelling up beyond a limit, which may lead to slightest suspicion of infection translating into something bad, like two people committing suicide after thinking they were positive. There is no movement of patriotism, on which Indians are always high in my opinion, to motivate or distract people.

Especially in a country like India, where a large chunk of the population does not have an occupation which can be converted into a work-from-home format, we are left with no choice but to read every forwarded message on WhatsApp, to watch every news channel flashing the same breaking news all day long and formulating their own conspiracy theories, adding to this whirlpool.

All the reasons stated above makes the role of media all the more crucial for responsible release of information, which they don’t seem to understand yet, not reporting appropriately and trying to colour the news in a certain way. So should the media be held responsible? To be honest, after watching certain channels covering the mass gatherings on 22^nd March’s sunset as acts of appreciation and hence promoting people to sabotage the whole point of Janata Curfew further, I am almost compelled to say yes. But as responsible educated citizens (as we like to call ourselves otherwise) my recipe of copypasta and sauce might help you out to carry out your share of duty towards the nation more effectively as well. (Yes, verification and analysis of information during any national crisis is indeed the duty of its citizens. Let’s not limit it to banging plates and lighting firecrackers amidst a curfew.)

Allow me to ask you a simple question: do you enjoy your pasta without sauce (unless you have poorly developed sense of taste, that is), ever? I guess the majority of answers will be no, with further specifications about its types and methods of preparations. Then why do the same with the content you are feeding yourself through all kinds of social and mass media! So the next time you feel like the content you are being subjected to is just another copypasta, ask for the sauce. And if you don’t find the sauce reliable (by that, I mean source, for readers who are still wondering about the relation of pasta with COVID-19), chuck the pasta in the bin, and I totally mean it!

Let me also assure you, if you find yourself stuck with some query, not finding any reliable source to satisfy your doubt, the comments section is always available to you. See you tomorrow, till then, stay the f*ck inside and stay safe!

P.S. Leaving you with a Marathi poem by Anil Dravid written during the national emergency in India which also comments on the ambiguity of news we receive during crisis situations. I hope y’all find it interesting as well.

नाव नसलेल्या झाडाच्या

प्रचंड पानावर बसलेला विदूषक

घरात आला.

म्हणाला : खऱ्याखोट्या आवयांचे

बिछाने करा आणि त्यावर

झोपी जा.

कातडी बदलून फार दिवस

झाले नव्हते तरी मी म्हणालो :

हल्ली मी उगवतीच्या फांद्या

गोळा करतो आणि दाराच्या

चौकटीला टांगून ठेवतो.

तो दाराशी गेला

फांद्या काढून घेत म्हणाला :

मी यांची सुरेल वाद्ये बनवीन.

तो गेल्यावर मी दार

लावून घेतले

सर्व दिवे पेटवले आणि

सुरांची वाट पहात

बसून राहिलो.

~अनिल द्रविड