GENRE: Features

In an article in LiveMint, ‘Of plagues, people and the everlasting impact of short events’, Anurag Behar, the CEO of Azim Premji Foundation writes, “We have not dealt with anything like this before, individually or collectively as a modern global society.” The article begins with a reference to William McNeill’s book on epidemiological history, Plagues and People that discusses the influence of diseases on the course of humanity. Behar writes about his chance encounter with this book at a Washington DC book store just a month ago and the turn of events thereafter.  As I read this article, I think…

Ghulam Mohammed Meer, a 61-year old Kashmiri Muslim, is a worried man. His brow furrowed with worry lines, he sits brooding over a cup of tea in a corner of his rented accommodation, which he shares with 11 other fellow Kashmiris, in Mori Gate Mohalla of Chandigarh. “I am stuck here for the past 22 days,” said Meer, his voice choked with emotion. “I badly need to go home bad. My 105-year-old father is on his death bed. He just wants to meet me one last time before saying his final good bye”. Meer, a resident of Karalpura village of…

Translated by Sandhya Raju நாம் அனைவரும் நெருக்கடியான சூழலில் உள்ளோம், நம்மைச் சுற்றி அனைத்தும் இடப் பிழற்சி போன்ற நிலை உள்ளது. மனநல மருத்துவர் மற்றும் ரிச்மண்ட் பெல்லோஷிப் சொசைட்டியின் பெங்களூரு கிளையின் ஹானரரி ஆலோசகர் Dr  எஸ் கல்யாணசுந்தரம் அவர்களுடனான நம்முடைய முந்தைய உரையாடலில், மன நலம் சார்ந்த பிரச்சனைகள் வெகுவாக அதிகரித்துள்ளதை பார்த்தோம். Dr Kalyanasundaram S கொரோனா தொற்றால், நாம் இந்த பிரச்சனையின் நிலையை தற்போது உணர முடிகிறது - கார்ப்பரேட் நிறுவனத்தில் பணிபுரிவோர் அனைத்து வேலைகளையும் வீட்டிலிருந்தபடியே செய்ய சிரமப்படுவது, பெற்றோர்கள் தங்களின் குழந்தைகளை சமாளிப்பது, முதியோர்காளுக்கு தொற்றை பற்றியும் நிலைமையும் எடுத்துக் கூறுவது... இதையெல்லாம் விட இந்த சவாலான நேரத்தில் தொடர்ந்து பணி புரியும் மருத்துவர்கள், செவிலியர்கள், துணை மருத்துவ சேவை புரிபவர்கள் ஆகியோரின் முடிவில்லா வேலை! இத்தகைய சூழலை சமாளிப்பது எப்படி? Dr  எஸ் கல்யாணசுந்தரம் அவர்களிடம் உரையாடியதிலிருந்து: "மிகவும் மன உளைச்சலில்…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on both lives and livelihoods in India -- the virus has claimed 239 lives, the lockdown has reportedly claimed another 20. While there's not much cause for cheer in what's being observed all around, a recent briefing released by Climate Trends points to a possible silver lining: a drastic reduction in air pollution. 'Good-air days' for many Indian cities The briefing paper says that over 90 Indian cities showed minimal air pollution since the lockdown. 35 cities ranked "good" on the fourth day of the lockdown. These levels have been seen for…

“I survived on bananas which I had stocked up in my bag,” Surendra Ram told me on the phone, about how he got through the ‘Janata Curfew’ of March 22. That day, when most of the shops and businesses in Mumbai shut down and those who could stay indoors locked themselves in, Surendra sat on the footpath near the Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel. Surendra is 37 years old and has oral cancer. That footpath had been his ‘home’ for a week by the day of the curfew – no ‘locking in’ for him and many other patients living on…

“I survived on bananas which I had stocked up in my bag,” Surendra Ram told me on the phone, about how he got through the ‘Janata Curfew’ of March 22. That day, when most of the shops and businesses in Mumbai shut down and those who could stay indoors locked themselves in, Surendra sat on the footpath near the Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel. Surendra is 37 years old and has oral cancer. That footpath had been his ‘home’ for a week by the day of the curfew – no ‘locking in’ for him and many other patients living on…

Sample this: One drone disinfects 80,000 sq metres in a day, requiring negligible manpower and covering all nooks and corners of the city.  This technology, adopted by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to combat the spread of COVID-19, has caught the attention of many city residents. In a tie-up with Team Dhaksha (Aerospace Department) of Anna University, the civic body is using drones for spraying disinfectant across the city. Following a pilot run in the Corporation’s headquarters at Ripon Building using four drones, the project is to be extended across Chennai, according to the Corporation’s press release. We spoke to…

With schools across the country forced to suspend classes because of the COVID lockdown, children across the country are now meeting an entirely new set of teachers who help them with their coursework: their desktops, laptops, iPads - and their parents. Classes went online with most schools switching to virtual classrooms, circulating homework via emails and conducting video tutorials. From yoga classes to science lessons, schools in India are gearing up to impart online education for an indefinite period.  Traditionally, Indian parents are used to a routine: getting children ready in the morning, sending them to school, picking them up…

Since India imposed a complete three-week lock down of the country, there has been a lot of discussion on the desperate plight of its migrant workers who have spread themselves thin across the country, in search of their daily bread. When the lockdown was announced, thousands of them tried to get back to their hometowns using whatever means of transport was available, and more often than not, on foot. In Chennai alone on Sunday night, when the first 14-hour lockdown took place, local government figures revealed about 4,500 workers were stuck at the city's railway station, unable to return home.…

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…