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