A disturbing, distressing, disgusting scenario! My reaction changes from anguish to anger as I helplessly and hopelessly watch the visuals of patients gasping for breath, scores losing their lives while waiting outside hospitals. There are heart wrenching accounts of patients being shuttled from one hospital for the want of oxygen bed, hospitals running out of oxygen, desperate attendants moving from pillar to post, making frantic appeals on social media for life saving drugs and oxygen for their loved ones. Patients dying in hospitals due to lack of oxygen-this is unbelievable, unacceptable.
The Mask(ing) challenge
When asked how prepared she is to cope with the second wave of the coronavirus, a Punjaban answers gleefully that she is all geared up with the matching masks ready to go with every suit.’ Well! It is one of those WhatsApp jokes taking a dig at women. Of course, an exaggeration but not completely divorced from reality.
Taking a jab at the coronavirus
My WhatsApp chat box has been buzzing with positivity and enthusiasm ever since the rollout of the Covid19 vaccine in the country for senior citizens and people with co-morbidities above the age of 45. Every now and then, a message pops up in my inbox by one or the other member making proud proclamation of having taken the first dose of the vaccine.Undeniably, the response of the seniors, especially in my circle of friends, acquaintances, colleagues, neighbours to the vaccine, is reassuring.
An unexpected lesson in contentment
I had always been moved by the plight of a shabbily clad limping man who worked as a maali in my neibhourhood. Though not a trained gardener, he could be seen wielding his khurpi (trowel), working in lawns and tending to flower beds in the locality.
H
Humour
