COVID-19

As yet, there is no Standard Operating Procedure from the Centre or the state on this. But as uncertainty around reopening of schools drags on, at least some private schools in Mumbai have launched online classes to try and complete the syllabus of the current academic year. But the online learning system and the way it is being implemented by schools, is finding little support from parents. According to a survey conducted by the India Wide Parents Association (IWPA), a four-year-old Mumbai-based pan-India parents association, 80% of parents it polled are not in favour of virtual classes for their children.…

As yet, there is no Standard Operating Procedure from the Centre or the state on this. But as uncertainty around reopening of schools drags on, at least some private schools in Mumbai have launched online classes to try and complete the syllabus of the current academic year. But the online learning system and the way it is being implemented by schools, is finding little support from parents. According to a survey conducted by the India Wide Parents Association (IWPA), a four-year-old Mumbai-based pan-India parents association, 80% of parents it polled are not in favour of virtual classes for their children.…

After three months of freedom to grow, my hair needed to be contained. It now formed a curtain over my eyes and glasses. When the government allowed the opening of beauty parlours, I booked myself for a first day, first trim. This was a calculated move. I would be in a place cleaned thoroughly after months of lockdown.  The shop wasn’t quite ready, so I made it “second day, first cut.” The Aadhaar card was mandatory, I heard. Parlours had to check the ID of people they had “beautified” routinely for years? But it made sense. I did look unrecognisable. …

In the first two weeks of May, a survey of over 2500 domestic workers in Bengaluru was conducted by us at Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU), Bruhat Bangalore Gruhakarmika Sangha (BBGS), and Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union. Some of the most startling findings from the survey are below: 2084 (about 87%) of the workers were told not to come for work since the lockdown in March, and were not sure if and when they would be called to work again. 341 workers in the areas surveyed by BBGS, and 150 workers in the areas surveyed by Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union, lost their jobs entirely…

Exactly a week before Srinagar reported its first COVID-19 case on March 19th, Junaid Azim Mattu, the flamboyant mayor of Srinagar chaired a high-level meeting with medical experts and senior officials of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), to frame the strategy to fight the spread of the deadly pandemic. Immediately after the meeting, he announced his first decision: closure of all schools and colleges across Srinagar. The announcement triggered a hot debate in the J&K administration and was opposed by the then divisional commissioner of Kashmir Basser Khan. But the same evening, the mayor’s decision was formally accepted and extended…

Chennai has seen a steady increase in the number of cases over the past two weeks. The city hit 10,000 cases on May 24th. In just over two weeks from the date,  the total number of cases has more than doubled, and the tally on June 11th stood at 27,398. The number of deaths stand at 279.  Recent days have seen citizens share harrowing accounts of  their inability to find beds and timely care for COVID+ family members. There are several reports of patients being forced to wait hours at public hospitals to be accommodated.  With the rising number of…

At 10 am on June 10th, Delhi government’s Corona Dashboard showed a total of 9021 COVID-19 beds, of which 4873 were occupied and 4148 were vacant. The availability of ventilators was 494 with 262 being used and 232 lying idle. These are figures as updated by the Central and Delhi state government and private COVID treatment facilities. And this Dashboard pattern showing about half the beds lying unoccupied has been there for the past many weeks. Yet, recent days have seen social media bursting with stories of patients going from hospital to hospital in search of a bed and being turned…

It took Chennai just two months to hit the 24,000-mark in COVID-positive counts. Economic compulsions, however, have led the administration to take steps towards easing restrictions in some areas. Stand alone shops, salons and dine-in restaurants have resumed operations in a number of areas. And it is increasingly becoming evident that people will have to learn to live with the virus for some more time to come. Masking up, frequent handwashing, physical distancing - these are some of the steps that we must follow as we gradually adapt to life in a post-COVID world. Below are a few standard protocols…

As it makes its way through crowds of unsuspecting people, the COVID-19 disease leaves behind a trail of physical and mental misery, showing no bias in whom it attacks. But the epidemic has come with in-built compensation. In the lockdown that followed, the world rediscovered nature – in the form of clear skies, clean rivers, quiet surroundings, breathable air...and traditional medicine.  Traditional medicine in use across states The Kerala model, recognised for its success, has asserted that Ayurveda preparations are part of the treatment of Covid-19 patients. “Integrated treatment protocol” they call it. That life-long intake of Ayurvedic concoctions has…

இனி, இந்த பரபரப்பான சென்னை வாழ்விலும் குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்களுடன் பரஸ்பரம் முகம் பார்த்து பேச நேரம் ஒதுக்கப் போகிறார்கள். இனி,  படோபட வெளியுணவை இயன்றவரைத் தவிர்த்து ஆரோக்கியமான உணவையே குடும்பங்களில் சமைத்து உண்ணப் போகிறார்கள்.  இனி, குடும்பம் மற்றும் சமூக விழாக்கள் அளவுக்கதிக ஆடம்பரமின்றி பொருள்வளம் வீணாக்கப்படாமல் நடைபெறப்போகிறது. இனி, தனிநபர் ஒவ்வொருவரும் ஓர் ஒழுங்கு மற்றும் புறசுத்தத்தை தன்னளவிலும் சமூகத்தொடர்பிலும் கடைபிடிப்பார். இனி, கூட்டம் கூடும் இடங்களில் மக்கள் முண்டியடிக்காமல் தன் முறைக்காக பொறுமையாக வரிசையில் காத்திருக்கப் போகிறார்கள். இனி, எல்லோரும் உள்ளுணர்வுடன் வாய் மூடி தான் இருமவோ தும்மவோ போகிறார்கள். இனி, சென்னை வீதிகளில், பேருந்து மற்றும் ரயில் நிலையங்களில் யாரும் எச்சில், சளி உமிழ மாட்டார்கள் இனி, ரூபாய் நோட்டுகளும் பேருந்து பயணச்சீட்டுகளும் எச்சில் தொட்டு தரப்படாது இனி, பொதுக்கழிவறைகளை அசூசையோ அச்சமோ இல்லாது நாம் பயன்படுத்தும் அளவிற்கு சுத்தமாக இருக்கப் போகிறது இனி, ஒவ்வொருவரும் தனது…