Day 22 :: Covid-19 Lockdown

 

Day 22 :: COVID-19 Lockdown

  

WhatsApp Mania 

 I woke up a bit groggy as last night's sleep was extremely disturbed due to confused heat and even more confused mosquitoes. I was expecting some news about the direct from farm vegetable vendor who was due to come to our apartments, yesterday I suppose. 

It was very annoying of the Association member to not give any information regarding the same and create another damn WhatsApp group for it! It's like they are on a group creation spree. Demanding information on the main WhatsApp channel be like - Oh! So you wanna discuss about blah blah topic, here's a group for you. And they throw a group link right at your face to pick up the scent. 

Under the current circumstances, it is practically impossible to keep a tab on updates on various subgroups. Hilarious actually, as it is like living in a pond and being surrounded by a group of bossy frogs who do all the work but expect everyone to croak to their tune.

Like wondering through a government office where the counter guy tells you – “Sorry, your query can’t be processed here, please go to counter '{eye-yam-stew-peed}' and register your details there”.

I would rather have more chat with my family and friends during whatever spare time I have left during the day leaking with finished/unfinished chores than roam around like a ghost in this virtual building. 

Damn! I think I have another phobia now - weird WhatsApp group link phobia.

So I put all the building related groups' notification on silent mode for a whole year. For the next dread is during this home isolation phase they might create more such groups like,

1.   Please close the lift door properly group

2.   Upstairs neighbor - stop moving/ banging furniture at weird hours group

3.   ACT fibernet is acting up again group

4.   No electricity- backup not working group

5.   Maid management group 

6. Who took my milk packet group

7.   Who took the dumbbells from the Gym group

8.   Whose fault is it group

And so on and so forth.

I am sure even tonight's sleep would be full of such nightmares.  However, one good thing about disassociating myself from these groups until they regain their sanity, is that I can be free willed and go out more than once on an adventure trip to the supermarket nearby. After all I have a valid explanation of managing food items when there is unsatisfactory help from the association 😜

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by encrypted WhatsApp walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth in a single group;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards supermarts and vegetable stores;

Where the clear stream of social distancing has not lost its way into the dreary desert of nervous crowd;

Where the mind is led forward into ever-widening thought and action –

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let me peacefully awake."

 

(With due respect to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore)

 

#COVID-19

#Lockdown extended till 3rd May

The Chronicles of Brajmohan Mishra - "COVID-19" Lockdown

 [Disclaimer : This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to the characters alive/departed is purely co-incidental ] 


It is truly, atrociously horrific times, I tell you sir. This virus is like a *Sumo-Tragedy* trying to sit on top of us and crush us with its giant bottom, if you know what I mean, sir. Like the scene in the most famous Harry Potter, the great, "Muggles, in their rightful place!"

Day 1 for me was a trauma, Sir. After that all the days count under the post traumatic stress disorder. I tell you Sir, not going out at all, not be able to stay in, it's like become fully stuck in a No Man land. Fake passport, No Visa.

My wife gave gentle reminder in morning of day 2, what to tell you Sir, she said "No Moping!" Only Mopping!"
She call me, Sir, she call me twice on my phone from the kitchen to ask if I were coming home for dinner, tottally completely forgetting I was at home only!

On the 3rd day, I pretend to be a migrant labourer clamouring to reach my beloved village on foot but got caught by the cops and beaten blue-black. How it aches, I can't tell sir, all the work and muscle flexing. The house job and the appalling monotony of seeing our same faces day in and out, is like repeat telecast of a drama TV series. And all the utensils lying there in the sink in wait to be cleaned is tottaly like a scene from any horror movie, I tell you. They be like ready to pounce on you any moment in time you neglect!

4th day, it was then I hid in my child's play tent, Sir, pretending to be in quarantine. I saw too much news, what to do! I had symptoms, I tell you. What to do, outside horror of the inside of my home just won't end also! I sanitized the TV, the mobile screen, still my symptom won't go away. My teenage daughter, she listened to some song, "Erase and Rewind", Maybe that singer lady is some psychiatrist doctor of mind, you see.

Come day 5, I listed to Sadhguru tottal throughout after my kid convinced me that I was cured of the brain virus and no need to be in quarantine anymore. Very good boy he is, Sir I tell you.

I learnt a lot from the social media too, like, "If you can't go outside, Go inside!" So I went into the bathroom (that is the deepest place I can go in my home) and cleaned it neat as a needle, I tell you Sir. But still no respite. Meditation is the key, go inside your head, Mr Varma, my holy neighbour messaged me.

How to go inside the head I don't know, however, one logic worked just fine with me. "Can one meditate while working or can one work while meditating?" So I brushed every corner and counted all the sticks in the broom. What a ample spiritual feeling it was, I tell you Sir! I got light in the head and a smile appeared on my face.

Then on the 6th day, it suddenly peeped like a ray of divine light into my forehead. I can't express the feeling, the enlightenment, tottally blinding! I am very most certainly like those frontline workers, superheroes of the day! This feeling of powerfully spraying disinfectants and evaporating the virus, is so intoxicating, I tell you Sir. My kids are watching the Avengers. I love them too much.

Day 7, I feel like a robot without artificial intelligence, fitted with a digestive system to sustain the circle of economy, with just the right amount of computing power. Delicate situation, Sir, what to do. But everything is peaceful now. I am like the Buddha, with a halo around my head, a spiritually enlightened Robot.

 So let us RIP together, rest in peace at home all my brothers and sisters of our greatest nation. 

Stay in. Stay safe.

Book Retrospect - Metamorphosis

Book Retrospect

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Kafka was a 20th century writer whose work got its fair share of recognition after his death. His works are not many, unfortunately, due to his untimely demise. His stories not only resonated with the World War eras but are also equally relevant in today's scenario.

His novels and short stories were translated and published by one of his close friends after Kafka's death. And hence he became famous and is among the most revered and accomplished writers of the 20th century.

Metamorphosis is like his biography. Most of the things mentioned in this novella are extracts from his life. For example, the father-son relation and the brother-sister bond, the disenchantment from norm of the society and the basic fundamental emotions are very well depicted here.

This is a book that weaves fantasy with practicality and disillusionment in such a simple way that one can instantly relate to the story. It is a seemingly simple tale of life in a big city and how the people are trapped in its vicious circle. A middle class travelling salesman turns into a vermin overnight and the way life takes its turn after that. How it impacts him physically and mentally and the toll it takes over the other family members is what forms the narrative. The writer has put forth so many details in unpretentious words that one almost feels its proximity to reality.

Waking up as an insect symbolizes how everyone is living in a world full of never ending demands, trapped in an ongoing wheel of industrialism, without being able to break free and do what one sincerely aspires. Tired of the burden of work and the onus to sustain his family and their ever growing never ending demands, the protagonist realizes that he has been reduced to the mere form of an insect and is no longer human. His inability to express his thoughts into words and the way his father, mother and sister device means to cope with this unexpected occurrence, is very vividly depicted throughout.

The knowledge that one cannot swim against the tide and would live and die in a preset template of a lifestyle, is equally discomforting and disheartening. Isn't this still relevant in our present day world?

Overall, let not the metaphoric writing style deter you from reading this thought provoking, ahead of its time, novella. It is definitely a worth read as it makes one appreciate the blessings we have in life.

Happy reading!

Buy the book here

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More about Franz Kafka

More about the book Metamorphosis

Religion Realization – Study woes

(Me Pages) - Religion Realization – Study woes

A lesson in my 7-year old’s text book deals with the topic of various religious faiths existing in our country. For some reason, she is unable to easily compartmentalize and remember their names, holy books, festivals, places of worship etc. While she is quite good at the other lessons like Food, Safety Rules, etc.

We have been going through the same routine since past two years, learning and re-learning. No matter how much I try and whichever way I try to tell her, it just won’t get into her head because these are just imaginary terms and people for her. They don’t really exist in her world. They are unimportant! (Not that I mean they are)

The kids can only categorize who are friends and who are not. Some are good friends and then some are partners and some are on and off friends.  

That’s her world.

Now my dilemma is how to explain, she is just a kid. Given my opinion, she needn’t even know! When I try to explain the differences, I sound like a pathetic bigot! Even though we don’t go into details, I still feel it’s unfair to discriminate. She has only recently realized which faith we follow but she doesn’t care to remember it at any given time of the day. And I am happy about it. 

My question is, if the school is teaching it, is it correct? Why at this tender age? Why not a little later when the kids are a bit more aware about their environment? Maybe it's only to teach religious tolerance or to appreciate each other as human beings.

I can’t imagine how the other parents do it, but since I wasn’t brought up with the heavy imposition of religious ideas, I am at a loss how to deal with the situation.

We start with – There are people of different religions in India, namely, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians…………….. mumma! And aliens! Aliens are also there, you forgot! And I am like, here goes…..

Back to square one!

#GaurdiansOfTheGalaxy

#HarryPotter

#ReligionsOfIndia

#CommonParentingWoes

An Interlude

Madrigal Monsoon

#Save Every Drop
#RainWaterHarvesting

The Filigree Frame