The Storms are Within : Passing Clouds – Day 173. Sep 12, 2020

The weather continues to be in extreme – high rains mainly. Talacauvery saw at least 2 bouts of 100 mm + rainfall during the last two months. Some metros like Delhi, Bengaluru and Jaipur have seem impact flooding in specific zones – not just the rains, but drainage system capacity limits, added to the respective urban woes.  Fortunately the rains and high tide combination did not devastate Mumbai this time around.  Yet the floods in Bihar and Assam definitely caused a pause. 

A fire at a hydel station in Srisailam, meant that the Gods showed out suffocation-  there were people trapped inside tunnels. Srisailam is one of the jyotirlinga locations, a place with 2000+ years of historical significance. Different ruling dynasties have paid their respects, but (our) current generation really dipped more into the natural resources here!! Sigh. 

1.     India and Indians are learning to live with 2020’s Unseen Enemy

2.     After one of the most stringent lock-downs across different countries, Unlock 4.0 kicked in this September

3.     Yet with testing results at close to six-figure positives daily, the lower case fatality is the only blessing in disguise

4.     Now clearly established that more home-bound activities like cooking, well-being, entertainment and learning are gaining credence

5.     Schools, colleges and universities are trying to get their act together online – yet the India vs. Bharat divide plays out in uneven bandwidth availability causing teachers to relook closely at delivery. 

6.     Print media and paper-backs are probably only for baby-boomers and Gen-X (those born before 1970’s). 

7.     One needs to dig around for the positive news daily, and stay the course

Mother Earth had a question “What are these Cytokine Storms”.

Father Time was non-plussed “It is a defence mechanism of the Human Body gone over-board, during a therapeutic intervention. Look at it as a sharp-shooter who went around killing more good cells, unable to stop after halting the bad cells from multiplying.”

Mother Earth could see school-killings, mall-shooters and other pictures “Are there terrorists INSIDE the human body. How DARE you (allow) them in.”

Father Time was taken aback “Hey, it is evolutionary – and a coping mechanism really. You know, human beings have been conquering new frontiers in both external and internal terrains”. 

Mother Earth shot back “Ask them to nuture human life first, natural resources next and come home in one piece, day after day. Then there will be no need for basic human functions like cell divison (a.k.a. cytokinesis) to go awry.”

Father Time thinks he is having the last word “WFH is in, and travel is all gone, even Mumbai’s Lifeline, the Suburban Trains are stand-still yet”

But Mother Earth is still worried “I am fearful of letting these fellows loose, yet”.

So there it is. A country in the middle of a Perfect Storm.  Salient aspects of the Medley:-

1.     Tough geo-political context with a long-running neighbour (dispute) threatening to take up border-rights parleys, in the icy cold mountains; coming next – the winter of 2020, not necessarily mild. Trade opportunities, even where thrown up, are caught in both Asian equations and the Global Tensions.  And one super-power goes to Polls during this same winter!

2.     Economy cracking up – wealth divide, unemployment blues and dampened population confidence. The bastion of the economy, banking and finance is unsure. Highly liquid (on funds) but unclear about how the consumers’ signals are to be read. No interest to be charged? Hey, what price my safe-keeping of deposits? Stock markets have a variant of the liquidity flu and overall there is a flight of fancy to the yellow metal.  Silver lining is consumers queueing up to buy insurance. The BFSI layer supporting the economy is clearly holding-up the fittest here, and looking for more ways to ensure equitable transmission to the needy. 

3.     Social pressures are strong – rich get richer, necessitating the need for safety nets to be stronger to the disadvantaged.  For the Classes, this pandemic is at best an inconvenience/nuisance – impacts day to day chores, yes. But WFH means that my social distance gives the financial immunity to ride out the phase. However for the needy, it is a matter of survival.  And the more they go out, the higher the chances of risking infection.

All of which really means that our Herd Immunity will get built even ahead of the vaccine.  Our inner calmness leads to external frothing but the solution is the Hindu Way of Life - that has survived so many 1000’s of years. 

Spiritualism is in.  

Helping hands is one such aspect “Athithi devo bhava” and intra-regional demand satisfaction, means that the Centre often has multiple solutions for the same problem.

Provided we each have the courage to look inwards. And the conviction to do what is right, by the society. 

Mathematics and Godliness are both Indian constructs. Time always Heals.