Diwali in India is now over, firecracker ban was imposed and largely followed or not followed on quiet streets depending on who you want to believe, and the Chief Minister provided the rest of us with an opportunity to see how he prays. What else was and is the news that you did not read in the mainstream media?
As of now, there is no information on who paid for the arrangements as well as the advertisements that preceded this function, and it is likely that we, the taxpayers, did. What happened to the Anup Jalota programme is not known as yet, though I did ask, and have not received a response. Why and how Arvind Kejriwal, who I have known since 2005, is propagating his religion in public which he has not done before, is yet unknown, nor is it polite to venture a guess. It may be as scientific a reason as the odd-even experiment or similar.
The domestic stray dogs in my part of Delhi were largely not impacted by the sound of anything, for multiple reasons, genetic as well as acclimatisation. The regular noises of traffic, metro trains, building construction round the clock, and more, have inured them to strange sounds at all time – and the only sound they really react to in their role as unpaid but beloved watchdogs – is strangers walking unsteadily at night. In addition, domestic dogs in India were traditionally trained to and capable of operating under fire and cannon to reach behind enemy lines, wherein they performed attack roles.
Ask the horses and elephants. Those genes survive till today, as any fauji formation in India will tell you, and camp-followers always include a substantial domestic Great Indian Roadster canine population much beloved. It helps that there is another community which finds dogs unclean and therefore their forces, legit or otherwise, are minus dogs. As Indians, we may also wish to read up on which animal reached the top of Mount Sumeru and with whom.
Delhi is now one out of the last few States of India which have yet to adopt the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) system, which has been successfully adopted by 28 States – including many nowhere close to the facilities that Delhi has on offer for wifi, for example. The huge benefit of ONORC is that it ensures ration portability, meaning that the citizen with a ration card, hard-copy or virtual, can source his or her ration anywhere in India. A typical separated family, for example, can take one share in one State and another share in another State. In addition, most importantly, it does away with the business of fake ration cards in the Public Distribution System. It has always been suspected that much of the PDS in Delhi is, ahem, misused. Mostly by, ahem, a “particular community.”
Here it is pertinent to point out that Arvind Kejriwal’s NGO “Parvirtan” emerged from an attempt to clean up the Public Distribution System of Delhi, and one of the most energetic persons there was a fine young lady, Santosh Koli. Who else remembers her? I do.
The Corona Virus has struck this writer very close, up close and personal, re-affirming that this pandemic is not a joke. We have been very careful, people around us are made to be very careful, but self-quarantine means no more morning walks either – as well as cancellation of a planned exit from Delhi due to the bad air reacting with my health. Whilst there are many, may takeaways on advice given and received, salient ones I want to share are –
a) Get some sun, increase Vitamin C, and don’t stress. Walk as much as is good for you even if it is in controlled areas.
b) Keep a close eye on the Oxygen numbers, SPO2, anything near 94, hit the button and head for the selected hospital.
c) Don’t be ashamed of being +Ve or in quarantine, let the neighbours or anybody inter-acted with know.
Veeresh Malik was a seafarer. And a lot more besides. A decade in facial biometrics, which took him into the world of finance, gaming, preventive defence and money laundering before the subliminal mind management technology blew his brains out. His romance with the media endures since 1994, duly responded by Outlook, among others.
A survivor of two brain-strokes, triggered by a ship explosion in the 70s, Veeresh moved beyond fear decades ago.
