Regardless humanity

I don't think I need to reveal the situation in India as the world is watching us. Lack of oxygen, inadequate of certain medications to treat the affected, people oscillate for the second dose of vaccine and more on all, the corpses are kept burning, as the death ratio is at 150 an hour. Life seems to be beyond imagination and dreams to be dreadful, and I couldn't stop expressing my grief even I find it a bit difficult to stare at the laptop or mobile.

I realize my problem is with the eyesight, which results in a headache because of my irregular use of specs, but I would require checking with an ophthalmologist since it's been years, I'm wearing the same specs for 8 years.

Some people don't seem to care about pandemics like lockdown. People refuse to believe pandemic a life-threatening, even seeing the worst of their lifetime. Lockdowns or restrictions are unavoidable and certainly, a burden to bear, but with a social concern, we need to go through it; and we cannot be indifferent when our fellow human beings suffer and die in front of the eyes. 

Pandemic does not spare anybody, and everyone is affected in certain ways, and suffering is suffering, either it’s small or big; the path we decided to walk is our choice, and we must confidently face any obstacles that come our way. We’re too late to complain; as we have already traveled a year into the pandemic, couldn’t we have learned a bit or anticipate what could be next?

I think we keep focusing the light more on ourselves than throwing at others to see how far better we are, and anger isn't going to change anything, rather increasing the conflict. A peaceful mind, which a lockdown could abundantly provide if implemented, could unlock better ideas to tackle and improve the lifestyle and livelihood of people. Even boulders get different shapes, from the continuous flow of water, how come a muscular mass, relaxing its stiffness, with a kind of tickle, from a butterfly? The human body is made up of 60% of water couldn't the heart bears a trace of wetness, but the world is watching us with it in the eyes.

Let’s wake up and be conscious of every move we make, keeping in mind our dear ones around us. The spreading of the virus is rapid and ruthless, and if we continue with the recklessness, the result could be worse. I could not hear anything regretful from anyone around me when we're losing thousands of lives daily; it's inappropriate of them to complain of being confined and forceful to wear the mask, rather thinking about the difficulty of those fighting for oxygen. Oh my, where's the humanitarian? Please stop being senseless, and regardless even if you can't do anything.

Thank you

Hide and Seek

 

(A super pink moon from the balcony)

The moon plays hide and seek

The passing clouds like a veil 

On the bride’s face, keeps moving 

Allowing the curious eye of the moon 

To peep at the people with the same intend

The silent Sunday of curfew

Silenced the environment 

The disappeared noise and light pollution 

Helped Illuminate the night 

Ever so bright in the moonlight 

A game of high and low beam 

At the pace of passing clouds. 

P.s. I'm having some mild headaches for the last few days, and so perhaps, I would be keeping away from staring at the laptop sometimes.  Sorry if I couldn't check your blogs or post my blog. Take care

The Story of an Old Man

The oldest man in the neighborhood, and my neighbor from the opposite house, had passed away yesterday at the age of 94. I hope you guys remember the reworked garden and flowers from the house opposite us that I have posted here and here, and it was the father of the son who takes care of it all.

He's one of the oldest residents in our area and a neighbor of over 40 years.  He's self-restrained, which he seems to be maintained from his service as a wing commander in the Indian air force, continued this attitude throughout his life! During his early retirement period, he had been quite active, and he does all the garden work himself; and a member of a tennis club, he plays it every day, and drove his fiat 1100/103 until he was able to drive.

They had a long driveway, and it was fun then to see him reverse the car carefully, and what interested me was the way the car’s door opens and closes. Unlike the regular car front doors, the doors of fiat 103 were hinged to the center pillar, which is called suicide door – a slang term for an automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front – perceived as being less safe.

I never remember seeing him speaking or smiling to anybody outside his home or family. He always stays inside the home, except working in the garden and going to a club to play tennis when he was active. What I'm saying was about 15 years ago, before we shifted home to another area. But what I hear from my uncle is that the senior citizen used to comes to the yard every early morning and then bow to the sun with few minutes of prayer and get back into the home immediately.

But I always wonder how he able to stay inside the home all day. We shifted back to the same house in 2018, but I'm not a morning person, so the time I come out, he would have gone to a day nap. The last time I saw him was after the rework of the garden when his daughter-in-law walked him up to the gate, along the driveway, to let him see his garden back in its elegant shape and glowing in the newly installed lights.

He also insisted his granddaughter drive a car and play tennis, which I heard that she still plays tennis and keeps fit like her grandfather even after moved to the US years ago. One day, I found it saw true when she was visiting her home two years back, she was returning from somewhere, perhaps from a tennis court, as she carried a racket in hand, and the way she paces in was obvious how the fit was she to fit into a teen outfit.

She's a mother of two kids, and she was back from the US two weeks before to visit her ill grandfather and returned only last week, and he's no more within days of her departure. The older man got married when her wife was 13 years old, and they moved to the opposite house purchased by him using his retirement sum, which was told to my aunt by his wife, who is age 84-85.

The family was relocated from Palakkad, in Kerala, and perhaps because of this, they had no relatives here to attend the funeral. Even their friends don't seem too close, or they haven't attached to anybody – like how they isolated from the neighbors – or because of the pandemic, they stood away, and the funeral took place with only a few people that includes my uncle and cousin, who helped them to lift the body into the hearse. 

I think the funeral was handed over to an agency, and they haven’t conducted many rituals, and only his son accompanies the hearse, and my cousin went on his bike to support him. It seems the reworked garden was one of the reasons to keep up the spirit of the older man, and watching the bloomed flowers and green lawn would certainly put him in a peaceful state of happiness. I believe he lived his life to the fullest, and from what his wife told my aunt once was that she visited many countries and have been around the world when he was in the air force, and perhaps because of this, they decided to live idle and away from people to lead the remaining days at peace. I hope he rested in peace.

No, he isn’t a covid casualty.

Random knock

Where does the human race rush? 

To wake up only for the sake of selfishness, 

To concern only when it bothers in some ways, 

Blaming others for their indifferent attitude 

And act as if they are right to raise voice  

Against not only the new norms of living 

The principles of humanitarianism 

The countless losses to covid 

Become casual and corpses as firewood 

Economy burns on the altar 

Respect, as if that belongs to ancient 

Ignoring the homebound as ignorant 

Without the knowledge that none spared 

From learning or experience life from armchair 

Is not a difficult thing in the digital age 

And it doesn't mean making money 

Is the only matter in the world?

Out of hand

Covid 19 is out of control in India, and the prevalence of the infection is twice that of the previous year! The situation is terrific to think about what next, as we almost started to walk back on the track of lockdown, with restrictions gripping around. India had crossed a record of 0.2 million per day of covid cases, which is extreme so far and unpredictable further.

Leaving the idiots, who still believe covid is a myth, how come the most being senseless to the pandemic rule of social distancing and masking? But glad to see a development in wearing masks after strict enforcement. And I'm sorry to say, how well did we educate and what kind of awareness we got to behave like deaf and blinds. I'm not to humiliate them, but I write what I thought was that the people who lack some senses are far better than the well-being!

I saw a girl kid in the news bumped on a lady cop for fining her and her father for not wearing the mask in the car, and she was adamant, despite her father's comfort, she told she didn't infect and why should we pay. I don't know should I admire her boldness or worry about her short-tempered attitude at this age of less than 10.

In Cuddalore, district people rush to a hospital to take the covid test, but they don't care about the social distancing or give a thought, what if they aren't infected, the way they throng could stick with the spikes of the corona. I think our days are supposed to be tough ahead, and despite the terrific covid, a lockdown to implement could be a difficult phase to manage on a certain level. On the other hand, the vaccination has picked up speed, and many have volunteered to be vaccinated, which is the only chance we have to survive, and whoever is eligible for the vaccine should not miss the chance.

Beautiful streaks of clouds from a mountain visit a few years back, and it's been two years since I visit the mountains, as well as taking long trips that mostly head to mountains of western ghats. Thank covid for stealing a couple of years from my travel diary.

Shimmering

 

Like an umbrella in the rain,

and shadows of summertime,

a simple breeze off the sea,

keeps out the exhaustion of heat.

I'm at home, unexposed to sunlight

doesn't mean I unaware of the trouble, 

but being optimistic keeps me forward

to seek better out of the worst.

The shimmering light reflect heat,

perhaps, because it is bright enough,

the diminished shadows couldn't elbow

like the sun pierce the skin.

Covid-21

For over a year, we have been traveling with the pandemic and have dealt with the deadly coronavirus, aka Covid-19, but it's a wonder that still, many are in the mindset of believing it to be a myth. And I could hear people saying that there's no Corona in an indifferent tone, and they further add just be deceived, while I even wonder how they could think like this when the world is at war against coronavirus. 

google pic

Perhaps to say, India is facing its 2^nd pandemic war. Began March, just like the beginning of a pandemic war like last year, the cases of infection have started to rise but 20 to 30 times faster, and we're in a condition more than what we had in the middle of last year had been nearly double. If the elections were the reason for the increased spreading of the virus, why should every other state (without elections) have a similar or vigorous spread of the disease? But one thing for sure is that the indifference of the people upsurged the virus.

Maharashtra alone reported half of the country's corona infections. Tamil Nadu counts 6000 and Chennai alone 1800+ daily. I don't think there's something hidden behind the spreading or fact of covid-19, but perhaps there could be some dispute in the way it traced back then. The government showed some slack when the virus was declining, and people too shifted to uncooperative in the process, so it won't be fair to blame only one side for the spread of the virus.

Vaccination, which started in January, so far has been putting for people only above age 45, but for a population of 1.3 billion, it's not an easy task to do quickly. Only lately, or witnessing the rise of the infection, people had come forward to take the vaccination; and both my parents were vaccinated two weeks back and was scheduled for the 2^nd dose in May.

I could take the vaccine once the age limit is lifted below 35, my current age. Perhaps I need to consult a neurologist before taking a vaccine since my condition with muscular dystrophy. The government is re-enforcing restriction to a latter level, allowing a partial occupation in public places such as malls, cinema halls, transportation, etc. And the unmasked are fined again, which was missed even among the cops is once again on the spree of collecting fees!  

I wish people act as responsible citizens and humans overall in the progress of driving the coronavirus, a threat to the human race; the coming weeks seem too critical for India, and I hope we all stay together in the distance and kick the covid-19 away. The caption is just for fun, and you don't be scared that there's another covid out there. Lol

My Voting in Assembly Election and Vote Percentage

I cast my vote yesterday (April 6) for the 6th time in this lifetime since my first voting in 2009 general election in India. So far, I have voted in three general elections and three assembly elections each. So far, I have voted in three general elections and three assembly elections each. Though I earned the right to vote in 2003 and fetched my name on the voter list the following year, I started to vote only from the 2009 general election skipping the 2006 assembly election.

I started to use a wheelchair only in 2007, as before that, I could walk barely a few steps, so in that condition, I couldn't think of voting or visit the polling booth. My first polling experience is quite vivid, and I could still catch the images in memory when I look up or close the eyes, and it's the same booth I cast my vote in all the time. Though we shifted to different houses and addresses, my voting had always been at our native address, so it wasn't a problem each time, and I still use the voter ID I fetched for the first time - a b/w photo ID of me took in age less than 20.

We usually cast our vote in the afternoon to avoid the crowd and was in the same idea this time as well, but as my uncle insists, we polled in the late morning, and our polling booth was least crowded, so we quickly polled off. We were given gloves for the right hand after sanitizing the hands and masks made mandatory, and gladly everyone followed the rules despite the social distancing wasn't that satisfying.

The room allotted for us was smaller than last time, so they had to adjust the tables for my wheelchair to get close to the EVM (electronic voting machine), but still, it wasn't in a range I could reach; so, my father voted on my behalf on the symbol I already insist.

EVMs were started to use partially in India from 1998 to 2004, and from the 2004 general election, EVMs becomes a voting system in India in place of the ballot box.

Something that always annoys me after the polling was the question of whom I voted; though I don’t hesitate to say to whom I voted, those who inquire me don't open their mouth when it was their turn; and I don't care about it either; as they have voted at least than those who laze around complaining without doing a thing for the change.

Take the vote ratio in the capital Chennai; it is much lower than other districts in Tamil Nadu. We received less than 60% of the vote in the Assembly election, while the educationally and economically backward districts received more than 75% of the vote. What this really shows me is how indifferent and conscious we are to fulfill our democratic duty.

We (Chennai people) live cozily and get all the development and priorities in the first place, but we aren't even ready to vote in the election that takes place once in 3 or 5 years. People like me in a wheelchair could easily skip from voting, but I really wanted to vote not only because I like to do something for the society and to assert my right (at least this way), but also like to be an exemplar as well! I mostly choose my candidate from the individualistic notification for the volume rather than from the general manifesto his party or organization released to seize power.

Neighbor's Garden Flowers

The temperature has started to storm us here in Chennai, and the hot inland wind blowing stronger than the sea breeze has increased the heat. Heat is a common thing during the summer, but I feel it's early for the season, and I terrific what it holds further travel into the season.  Anyhow, I wish it wasn't severe as predicted.

Coming Tuesday, we are going for the state assemble election; the propaganda by the political leaders and candidates are rocking the state at every nook and corner, as the last date for the propaganda being tomorrow. The two main political parties are scorning each other rather than announcing the core activities they supposed to do.

Like how the temperature rises, covid 19 cases in the state and country is rising to an extreme level; the election field has become a hub for spreading the virus. We expected severe restrictions to implement on post-polling, but I don't anticipate a lockdown again, instead, there would be some enforcement to bring down the virus.

Oleanders along the driveway of the neighbor

Coming to the post, I share some of the photos of hibiscus and other flowers I shot from the neighbor’s house opposite us. I hope you remember the post I did here on the neighbor's rebuilt garden, and his hibiscus continues to bloom daily from his neatly arranged pots close to the gate. I take photos of the flowers whenever I see them clearly for a shot, but lately, the neighbor's father (age 94) wasn't well, so was his hibiscus, as he couldn't take care of the garden like before.

Hope you like the photos.

Red Hibiscus

Yellow Hibiscus

White Hibiscus 

Orange Hibiscus

Some cute roses

Linking this post for Garden Affair