Day 407: Overwhelmed

Data Dashboard of India. Source: news.google.com 25/04/2021 Day 407: Overwhelmed This morning, on the 407th day of the pandemic in India, the numbers look as though Covid-19 has just begun showing its potential and possibilities of what it can do to a population. The lockdowns are back. The central government has made it clear that … Continue reading Day 407: Overwhelmed →

Day 65: Borders make a comeback

28/05/2020 Day 65 I changed cities today. The prospect of visiting home and spending the remaining days of lockdown cycling to the farm was an appealing prospect. The rules of movement between states in India is in a state of confusion right now. The choice of how states want to deal with the arrival of … Continue reading Day 65: Borders make a comeback →

Day 64: Days Ahead

27/05/2020 Day 64 The country’s airports are busy rehearsing their protocols for processing passengers, now that domestic air connectivity has opened. Elaborate arrangements and plans are being communicated. I am booked on a flight tomorrow to head out to my hometown. I am eager to see the farms in this peak summer. To wait for … Continue reading Day 64: Days Ahead →

Day 63: A chain of disasters

26/05/2020 Day 63 Day after day dozens of disconcerting pictures of the lockdown and its impact come up. One begins to think about the odds that the people who are suffering have had in landing in the situations as those seen in the photographs. The inequality among people is alarming. In this week here are … Continue reading Day 63: A chain of disasters →

Day 62: Eid

25/05/2020 Day 62 I walked to the local park. This was the first time I ventured out on foot, walking the neighbourhood. In the playground cricket has resumed. Looking at them it feels as though nothing happened. Only that there was a gap of two months in them returning to the playground since the last … Continue reading Day 62: Eid →

Day 61: New normal and public policy

24/05/2020 Day 61 As cases continue to rise Indian states are preparing to lift the lockdown. Right now, it is a soup of rules and movement restrictions. Karnataka has imposed a quarantine rule on those arriving in the state. They will have to undergo seven days of institutional and seven days of home quarantine. Over … Continue reading Day 61: New normal and public policy →

Day 60: Dharampal and a visitor

Bapu Kuti, Sevagram. Wardha. 2019 23/05/2020 Day 60: Dharampal and a visitor “You know, I have beaten up so many people. The only regret I have in my life is that why didn’t I beat that guy on that day.”, said the visitor as he sat reflecting. I had a visitor after a long time. … Continue reading Day 60: Dharampal and a visitor →

Day 59: India’s Covid Economic Package

22/05/2020 Day 59 The direct interfacing that governments across the world are now having with citizens is higher than normal times. With work from home being the default mode, it has opened up possibilities of watching press conferences on long play. In one of the important series, the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs held … Continue reading Day 59: India’s Covid Economic Package →

Day 57: Nationalism and the pandemic

20/05/2020 Day 57 The conversations, experiences and debates generated in these months of the pandemic will probably become a genre - Corona Lit or some such. Some early material is already making its way to the publishers. Fang Fang, an award-winning writer from China kept an online diary about her life in Wuhan during the … Continue reading Day 57: Nationalism and the pandemic →

Day 56: Our fragility

19/05/2020 Day 56 The world of today looks very different from the first day that Indians entered the lockdown. India has crossed 100,000 mark for cases of coronavirus infections. 3303 lives have been lost. The latest big victim of the virus is Brazil. In a span of a week the virus has burned through its … Continue reading Day 56: Our fragility →