Thoughts in Words

            Now you cannot get away from the corona thing, even if you are nowhere near it. Quintillion messages  about quarantine  crash in on WhatsApp. Social media is ablaze with videos. For brownie points, children making masks are videographed and floated. Many have got out of the social media, paradoxically during this lockdown, due to the pulverising bombardment.             Mask is the in-thing now. People wear it even at home. One must wear it while going out. Most do. On their chins! Mouth and nose are left open.   Guests and anchors on TV to blurt out their wisdom. At such times they are not in a public place but nicely indoors with hardly anyone around. None is crowding the speaker, anyway. Should they wear? They do - on their chins! It incidentally covers their double chin. Right from top tier Ministers downwards.   To show off that they are ...

The other day my grandson had the impudence to ask me, "So, Granpa, what new hobby have you picked up during this lockdown?". He is sixteen going on seventeen. Fortunately for him, he was not within my kicking distance. He was on the phone from Secunderabad. I can't blame him. Everybody is telling every other body to do something of that sort. Particularly the celebrities. And ladies and children listen to the so-called stars. Just because they have a good face or body, their upper storey and the grey matter therein is not questioned. Let us forget that. The fact is, my grandson came very close to catching me, wanting to learn a new hobby. Not the least due to the unusual inactivity the world is undergoing. It is a longstanding desire. You see, I always loved music. As I always said and said elsewhere in a blog, I had two things against God. One, he didn't construct me tall. And, two, he didn't provide me with a singer's vocal cord, the Provider that He...

Providence, also known by His aliases like Nature, Provider, Almighty, God etc; God being the most common of all, is on furlough. Most probably at the Sentinel, in the Andamans. He handed over this Planet to Covidence, His Emissary, before taking His break. Covidence seems not to be of a benevolent disposition as Providence Himself. On the other hand, he is more active and result-oriented as an Emissary. This fellow's effectiveness lies in cleaning up the Planet, which Providence in aeons could not. Maybe that's why the handing-taking over, hopefully on a short lease. Covidence is yet to acquire any aliases. As soon as Covidence took over, he created a change in the Earth's atmosphere. This is not surprising. Any new lateral entry rookie CEO would do something like that in his new organisation. Between the Earth's surface and Troposphere, Covidence introduced a Coronosphere. This new layer is much closer to the surface, at about only a mile up. After all, the talle...

There are innumerable problems faced by the public during the lockdown. The inability to have an evening tipple tops the list. I won't tell, but some have revived the age-old, fine art of wine making and some others have revived the age-old, rustic art of home brewing. Good for them. Mine is a different problem. This problem is not an everyday affair, and so no one has given it a thought, I am afraid. I mean, it is nowhere in the list. Because no one could envisage the difficulty that a minuscule of people like me would face. It crops up once in about 21 days. Those 21 days are over, and now the lockdown is on for another almost 21 days. How can I hang on? In an earlier blog of mine, I had mentioned how the disciplined father of mine used to take me for a crew cut every three weeks. That stood me in good stead in the Army. But the problem is that I could never afford the style of a long mane, even after retirement. I get a sneeze, cold, stuffed nose, sore throat and feve...

Today, I went out for the second time during the lockdown. The first time was to an ATM. Today was for medicine for my brother. He, like an obedient citizen, had ordered two pairs of masks: one for him, one for me, which were home delivered. In our family, we are all obedient citizens. Our father was the most obedient, having been an employee of the Postal Department. A government servant by definition. Mother was one step ahead. If the father said, "No", it was written in stone for us as far as she was concerned. If the father drew a line, mother would make it longer and deeper. With that kind of parentage, we, the siblings, could never think of straying. That is why the advanced preparation for the drive to SCARF, the NGO where he goes for his prescription medicines. This time he wanted me to drive him along, what with autos, his standard mode of transport, unavailable. And there I found the patients following the physical distancing with no one getting after the...

No. It is not about tiny tots. It is not even about that evening tot. It is about Transfer of Technology. Capt Yadav and I were roommates in our Officers Mess in Rajouri in ‘72-73. By room, I mean basha. The accommodation there was temporary, then. He was from the Corps of ASC and I, from EME. I, as the Officer-in-Charge of their Light Repair Workshop, was the lone EME Officer in that Bn. I was treated like a guest, being from another Corps. As a youngster, to be treated like a guest amongst about twenty Officers is a beautiful thing. That was a lovely tenure. Games and sports were a priority. They even made me their football captain! There I learnt to do stunt driving on a Bullet and was in their team! We did some display too, striking the Division with awe. ASC were the pioneers in stunt driving. Later, others took over and overshadowed them. You have seen the “Dare Devils” on Republic Day Parade. Capt Yadav was senior to me by six months. He was an affable person, who hardl...