City: Chennai

The spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic across the world has brought entire nations to a standstill. As a measure to prevent extensive transmission of the virus, the Government of India announced an extensive lockdown for a period of 21 days starting March 25. During this time, all no-essential shops, establishments and non-essential activities have been ordered to be stopped. All citizens have been advised to remain indoors and only step out in case of emergencies.  While the strict lockdown measures are essential to curb the virus, the move has left people from various walks of life vulnerable, with many…

Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation recently said that India has tremendous capacity in eradicating the coronavirus pandemic. He cited the country’s success in handling polio and smallpox, both through targeted public intervention. Of these, the smallpox story is directly connected to the history of Chennai, for it was here that the first decisive public intervention was done. And the man behind it was Dr Ayyagari Ramachandra Rao, the institution being the Communicable Diseases Hospital (CDH), Tondiarpet. I have written before about him, but a repeat is still worthwhile. Summer may pack in a whole host of…

India is in the midst of a 21-day lockdown that started today. In his televised address to the nation, Modi exhorted the nation to cooperate with the 21-day lockdown, violation of which could “set us back by 21 years,” in the Prime Minister's words. He warned of the dire consequences faced by other nations as a result of ignoring mandates of social distancing and urged the country to stay indoors to avoid a similar fate. However, the last time that the PM asked all Indians to stay at home, on March 22nd for a day, the results had been mixed.…

The ever-bustling Velachery Main Road in Chennai is deserted now, thanks to the impending imposition of Section 144 by the Tamil Nadu government. The coronavirus scare has led people to stay indoors and maintain social distance fearing contact transmission. In many parts of the city, shops are open only for a few hours and there is panic buying to stock up on essentials. There is an informal instruction issued by the cops to shut down supermarkets to limit crowding. In this scenario, have the small businesses in Chennai seen an increase in business yet? Sadly not. With lockdown in force,…

"I just feel like talking to someone," said my 83-year-old mother who lives in Bangalore. Until three weeks ago, she was looking forward to the wedding of her grandson in Bangalore, and she would put out sarees for every occasion, showing it to my sister (who lives in USA) on WhatsApp. Both the bride and groom live in USA. Many family members from across the globe had committed to come for the wedding. We were pleasantly surprised at the promised turnout,  it made me wonder about changing perspectives today, families were actually looking forward to bonding. And then we had…

COVID-19: Two new cases, two quarantine facilities, app to trace contacts A 20-year-old UP man who reached Chennai by train and a  21-year-old student who flew down to Chennai from Dublin tested positive for COVID-19 this week. The two patients were asymptomatic upon arrival and self-reported to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) with symptoms. Health Minister Vijayabaskar tweeted that the patients are stable and being closely monitored. To enable the fight against the virus, two quarantine facilities - Institute of Public Health (IPH), Poonamallee and Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM) at Tambaram Sanatorium - have been set up.…

Everything about Rita akka is a demonstration of what life strives to teach us – that it has a purpose. The physically challenged sanitation worker (she cannot hear or speak) is a widow, and her daughter, aged 17, has left home to be with her grandmother. The 42-year-old has loneliness writ large on her life, but won’t surrender to it. Every morning, Rita akka (elder sister) – as she is known in her neighbourhood (though some call her oomachi, a derogatory term for those with speaking disabilities) – wakes up and diligently goes about her garbage collection job with the Chennai Municipal Corporation. Sometimes though, she does…

சமீப காலமாக சென்னையில், “மாடித்தோட்டம்“என்பது வேகமாக வளர்ந்து வரும் ஒரு கலையாக இருக்கிறது.  ஆகவே, அது குறித்து மேலும் அறிந்து கொள்ளும் ஆர்வம் தூண்டப்படுவதும் இயல்பே. ஏனெனில், அடுக்குமாடிக் கட்டிடங்களின் செறிவும், தண்ணீர்ப் பற்றாக்குறையும், வீசும் அனலும் இங்கு அவ்வாறிருப்பதாகும். அதற்கிடையிலும் குறைந்த தண்ணீர் பயன்பாட்டில் குறைந்த இடத்தில் எப்படி ஒரு பசுமை முயற்சி வெற்றி பெற்றுள்ளது என்பது நம் மூளையைக் குடையும் ஒன்று தானே. உள்ளவாறே இந்த விஷயத்துக்குள் நாம் நுழைந்து அறிய முற்படும் போது ஒரு புதிய உலகிற்குள் புகுந்தது போல் ஓர் ஈரவுணர்வும் புத்துணர்ச்சியும் நம்மையும் தொற்றிக் கொண்டு விடமாட்டேனென்கிறது. இதைப் பற்றி அறிந்து கொள்வோர் அனைவரையும் நாமும் இப்படி ஒரு தோட்டம் அமைக்க வேண்டுமென தூண்டும் வண்ணம் அந்த அனுபவங்கள் நெகிழ்ச்சியாக உள்ளது. அதுபோன்றே அதற்கான கட்டமைப்புகளும் பெரிய அளவில் விரிவடைந்து பிரமிப்பையூட்டுகிறது. மாடித்தோட்டத்திற்குத் தேவைப்படும் அனைத்துப் பொருட்களும், அதற்கான பயிற்சியும் மட்டுமல்லாது அரசின் மானியமும்…

As lunch hour breaks, there's palpable energy among the students of Chennai Primary School run by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) in Tondiarpet, as they gather to eat their protein-rich midday meal -- eggs and sambar rice. However, just a few kilometres away, the students in the Government Primary School at Ennore, are not as fortunate. Forget mid-day meals, the 32 children belonging to various classes of the government school do not even have enough room to sit according to class - they  are all accommodated in a single congested asbestos-sheeted classroom. The school in Tondiarpet has roped in NGOs…

Before I explain the title, let's look at the numbers. As of March 15th, 2020 169,444 cases of Coronavirus have been reported across the GlobeThere are more cases outside China now than in China - which was the epicenter (80,848 - China, 88,696 cases outside)83.8% recovery rate in China, 11.2% recovery rate outside China These are some simplistic numbers given above to explain the impact of the virus. Let's understand the stages of transmission of the virus: Stage 1 is when people come with the virus into India. Stage 2 is local transmission when the affected people transmit the virus…