Report on 2020

(Since we expect to be travelling to N Kerala during the 30 Dec-04 Jan, I'm posting my report for the year a few days earlier than I usually do.)

>>When I read the Report on 2019 that I posted on 31 Dec 2019, I was reminded of the words of the poet Robert Burns: "The best laid schemes of mice and men/gang aft a'gley". Towards the end of my report for 2019, I had outlined some plans we had for 2020. How very different everything eventually turned out!

January: The year started on a sad note, when we learned that my schoolmate Ranga died in a two-wheeler mishap on 02 Jan. Just the previous day, he had posted some cheerful messages to us classmates on the Class of 68 WhatsApp group. We last met Ranga a couple of months earlier, at another classmate Geetha's sister's home at Perianaickenpalayam. Ranga lived just down the road, and came over and had a meal with us. We promised to visit him at his home, but our visit took place only after he died. We met his grieving wife Somini, who turned out to be from Kerala, and we heard her recollections of Ranga in a mixture of Tamil, English, and Malayalam. Another classmate Sunder, who lives in Ooty and who attended the funeral, told me about the hundreds of people who came for the funeral, and who spoke of the many ways in which Ranga helped them. How little we know of people during their lifetimes!

February: We spent a few days in our cottage at Coonoor, enjoying the cold weather, clear skies, long walks, unceasing birdsong through the day, and crackling fresh air. We planned to go up to Coonoor at least once a month during the coming year. We met our good friends in Coonoor and Ooty, but spent most of the time quietly, enjoying the beauty of the place. Coonoor is a tonic for the soul.

March: I flew to Imphal via Delhi, and was received at Tulihal Airport by Col (retd) Chris Rego, founder of Sunbird Trust, and his TFI colleagues Michelle, Sonal, and Ravi. We had lunch in the city, and were soon on our way in the Bolero capably driven by Michelle, heading for Ijerong, in the hills beyond Noney. It was dark when we arrived at our destination, where a welcome hot bath and dinner awaited us. The next two days were spent visiting the School at Ijerong, inspecting the projects funded by Anaha Trust (AT). We also drove to the neighboring village Puichi, where we were treated to a grand reception by the students, with their parents beating the drums and helping out. We also attended the wedding feast of the Pastor of the village, and I enjoyed the heaped plateful of pork and sticky rice for lunch. The next day, we met my good friend Col (retd.) D P K Pillay SC, a decorated soldier about whom I have written earlier. We drove with him, through awful roads made almost impassable by the showers in the night, and finally reached Tamenglong, where we were the guests of 44 Assam Rifles. After attending a meeting with the villagers of Longdi Pabram where AT plans to support a school project sponsored by Col Pillai, we drove on to Tamei, where we were the guests of 4 Bihar. This was an unexpected bonus for me, as I had done my 'Army Attachment' as an IAS Probationer with the same Battalion in 1978! After visiting a school where AT had supported a Computer Center, we drove to Keithel Manbi, which is the Area HQ of the Assam Rifles. The next morning we drove to the HQ of the Mountain Divn at Leimakhong, and met the CO and his staff. Back in Imphal, I spent another day meeting old friends, before boarding the flight back to Delhi and thence to Kochi.

On 24 March, the PM announced the national lockdown, and life changed forever for everyone.

April-June: During this period, I busied myself with continuing my usual activities and work, attending board and committee meetings, webinars, and even a music concert by T M Krishna. I, like many others, learnt that I could do most of what I did earlier despite the restrictions, from the comfort of my home. I recall giving a talk to the members of the Women's Entrepreneur Network on how to cope with the pandemic, and saying that MSMEs should focus on cash, renegotiate their leases, ensure their employees get paid, and see how things go for the next few weeks. As the days passed, and the pandemic tightened its grip in most of the country, we started to get the sense that any 'return to normal' was quite a distance away. During this period, the Health Services of Kerala got national and international prominence for the way they responded to the crisis, and especially the way they looked after the elderly and vulnerable people.

July-Sept: Life for many settled into the new routines, and companies discovered that their costs had reduced substantially, with business travel almost halted, all meetings happening online, and many employees working from home. Factories and businesses started to reopen after having been almost fully shut in the previous quarter. That took a terrible toll on the daily wages and informal sectors, who were mostly left to fend for themselves, except in Kerala. During this time, a small scandal involving a femme fatale, gold smuggling, and a senior government official hogged the local headlines, pushing the pandemic off the front pages. The UDF made political capital out of this, and their demonstrations on the streets became 'super spreaders' that negated the early gains in Kerala in handling the pandemic. The large numbers of people returning home for Onam further compounded the problem, and soon infections in Kerala started to rise. My work continued uninterrupted, and in fact there were days when I was in more than one online meeting or webinar! I also attended a few music concerts online, and enjoyed them.

Oct-Dec: The increase in infections grew stronger during this period, and soon Kerala was leading the pack in India. I blame the UDF agitations and the large number of people returning other States and the Gulf for this. The unusually high TPR in Kerala is difficult to understand, and needs investigation. During the month, the elections to the LSG bodies were held in Kerala. The LDF was returned to more LSGs than previously, which was an endorsement of the good work they have done in the past five years at the LSG level. In December Poornima and our granddaughter Anushka visited us and spent a few days here. Vikram calls occasionally from Delhi, and we enjoy our conversations. We hear from Anushree, and also get some news about Aditya. Each one is busy in their own work and preoccupations, which is a good thing. We are happy and relieved that they are safe and well. Millions across the globe have been less fortunate, and many have died.

During the year under review, I have enlarged my reading list by including authors I came across quite by chance. They include Howard Zinn, Yanis Varoufakis, A K Ramanujan, Chris Hedges, Yukon Huang, Martin Jacques, and Arthur Morgan. I continued to read with pleasure works by Eric Hobsbawm, Amartya Sen & Jean Dreze, John Le Carre, Janet Morgan,and Alain de Botton. I re-read 'Golden Gate' by Vikram Seth, and savoured the taut terse poems of Rukmini Bhaya Nair. My friend Arun released his second book of poems "Mantram Beach".

I discovered the pleasures of watching and listening to YouTube talks, and it was actually through this medium that I discovered Varoufakis, Jacques, et al. I have now made it a practice of listening to a lecture every morning when I huff and puff my way through my daily workout. This helps relieve the tedium of a routine workout, and also nourishes the mind.

Was this an 'annus horribilis', a year to forget, a year that was a disaster? Of course it was for many people, who lost their jobs, their businesses, who suffered from the infection, and who lost their dear ones. Many economies have been dealt a mortal blow, and the jury is out about how many are going to make it back to 'normal' working and how soon. I believe businesses have been forced to look at the way they went about their work. Much will change, and business travel for example, will, in my view, never be the same again. That is not a bad thing, because it was self-indulgence by the business folks that served little useful purpose, but only served to keep afloat the overpriced business air travel industry and business hotels. Education is another sector that has been impacted, and I hope the lessons will be learnt well, and the necessary changes made in the pedagogy, and the technology. I believe this will help improve access for more children to the fruits of education.

In balance, on the personal front, I am thankful that Vini and I, and our family and friends have mostly come through relatively unscathed. We take each day and week at a time, try not to do anything foolish, and yet try to see that we continue to do the things that matter. The work of ANAHA Trust has picked up during the year, and many new projects in Kerala, TN, and Manipur have been added to the list of those being funded and supported. I have also enjoyed working with groups of people engaged in social enterprises, and believe that the fruits of their work will yield benefits to livelihoods very soon.

Vini joins me in wishing all our friends (and friends we haven't as yet met) a Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year! We wish that you and your families stay safe