Category Archives: Musings

Musings

Week 9 – Coronavirus

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Link to Week 8

Monday – May 4

I was still battling server issues. The load on the server was not just going down. Even starting 20 EC2 instances did not help. It was making it worse – and slowing the site and app further.
Monday morning I started with Angamardhana + SMM on the terrace. While doing the yoga+kriya I get an insight – I am not kidding – perhaps the memcache is failing on heavy load.
After standup I test my theory and it turned out to be true. When Memcache fails, all calls start hitting the database – and hence the load. Increasing more EC2 instances, was making more memcache failures, and more database load.
By noon the issue is resolved. App and site are back to their super fast mode. I am jumping with joy here – and no one to tell. I go to tell San, but she is in the middle of a long meeting with the Sales heads – they are strategising the Life time ERP free the competitor is touting. 

ADDA’s P&C Team ( People & Culture – we do not call ours as Human Resources ) – arranges for Mangoes. 

 And today Liquor shops open all over Karnataka. Lot of videos circulate of people standing in long lines. Someone had taken the Bahubali snippet where the statue falls down ( India Economy ) – and how a drunkard ( Bahubali ) comes and resurrects it.
Thursday

San and I step out post lunch time to see how our area is doing. There are 2 liquor shops and still long lines were there! The grocery shops however were empty and the neighbourhood chaat shop was having Pani poori packets. They didn’t have the masala though.  We pick up 3 packets.
Friday

The editorial on New Indian express shines light on the uncomfortable truth of the Migrant Labourers. I felt guilty being the beneficiaries of their work.

Saturday

I write a short story – And all fell down – Achu Charu are not happy with it. I post it in my college group – they are not happy with it. It does trigger a debate on capitalism. We discussed various models – like an ideal one which is a cross between a Wikipedia and an Amazon. 
Evening we have Pani poori. 

Sunday

Morning I do the weekly weight check. It is mixed this time. Mine has gone down by half a kg to 71. Last week I did not touch any chocolates or sugary mock tails these kids make now and then. It helped I think. 
First half I work. 
Post lunch catch 8 miles – Biography of Eminem. Lose yourself is one of the pump songs I listen when I feel down. Loved it.
Later we see – Intern – Robert De Niro and Anne Hathway. Beautiful movie. When I grow old I want to be like Robert De Niro!
Musings

And all fell down

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2020 

10 million died from coronovirus – a new strain of common cold which spread across the globe.
In the beginning many were in denial. It will only affect the elderly. The Western capitalistic economies thought – this is awesome. > 60 year olds are a burden to healthcare and social security budget. Let the virus take them out of the system – economy which is tanking at 2% growth can grow up by a few decimals.
The virus killed the elderly who were deposited in old age homes. It looked like a success. The western countries allowed the virus to spread. They relaxed the lockdown because the economy was tanking.
In populous 3rd world countries in Asia and Africa – the multiple chain lockdowns couldn’t stop the virus. People living on a day to day earnings all died of hunger and Mal nutrition. The Governments supplied food – once a day meal – to the poor. But the Govt ran out of money and commodities.  
Then the virus mutated. It started targeting children and young adults.
Towards the end of 2020 – the most vulnerable were not the > 60s, but the < 20s. 
Schools and colleges shut down permanently. 
Old age homes were mostly empty – across the world. 
2021
By mid 2021 – < 20 and > 60 were mostly gone. A few survivors in this age were still left. Those who had not yet come in contact with the world or they had really strong immunity or had very special anti bodies which could resist the virus.
Unfortunately the scientists who could have taken advantage of these antibodies to create a vaccine – they were all dead. Most of the hospitals have closed. Permanently.
The virus again mutated, having decimated children, the young adults and the elderly population.
There was mass depression. Mass suicides were the norm. 
Concerts across the world started happening – the very last concert. There were booths were one can go to get infected with Covid and die. 
2022

The worlds human population has dwindled. Just over a billion. 
All human activity has come to a standstill. Animals were multiplying everywhere in hordes  – just like how humans had multiplied everywhere.
Snake bites, leopard attacks, stray dogs – turned into wolves – roaming around and attacking humans – became the norm. Animals out of hunger broke out of the zoos – and started multiplying. 
Urban Concrete Jungles became the home for the animals – all big and small.
The few human survivors tried to create barricades around their cities. But it was of no avail. The animals like Leopards, Panthers could easily circumvent all the defenses .
Elephants and Rhinos could just push them aside.
2023

Human population has dwindled even further. Just over a million now.
Where one could look only animals were there. All human activity has ceased completely. 
The virus has stopped its work, but now the poor humans with no special skills like other animals wait their turn to die. Either dying of hunger, or water borne disease or being mauled by a small predator. 
By end of 2023 – the species called Homo sapiens became extinct. 
Musings

Week 8 – Coronovirus

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Link to Week 7 

Monday April 27

Sufi resting the whole world on her nose.

Sufi loves to sleep under tables

Charu gives finishing touches for this cauliflower Chinese dish

Kidference in progress

Saturday evening we have Pani poori


Prithvi and I go for a walk on the terrace. Here is our balcony from the other side. Its a tropical forest.

Middle of the week – San gets to know of two of our employees helping out people near their locality. She sends 5000 Rs to each of them to help them out.
Rs.1000 will help a family of 5 people for a week. Here is the update we got from one of the employees. 

Atta- 5Kg
Rice – 5kg
Toor Dal – 1kg
Moong daal – 1kg
Onion- 2kg 
Potato-2kg
Sugar- 1kg
Gram Flour – 1kg
Tea Leaf-300 Gms
Soap – 1 Nos
Salt – 1Kg, Oil – 2ltr
Name :Munir
Address : Squatters colony, Malad east
Profession :Mechanic
No. Of family members : 8
Earning person : 1
Mobile Number :  *******
Name : Sufiyan 
Address : flyover society
 goregaon east
Profession : 
No of family members : 05
Earning person : 1
Name : Geeta Shirola 
Address : squatters colony , Malad east
No of fam mem : 4
Mob No : *******
Name : Wasim 
Address : flyover society goregaon east 
Profession : Auto rickshaw driver
No of family members : 06
Earning person : 01
Mobile Number : *******
Name: Abdulla
Address : squatters colony, Malad east
Profession : Plumber
No of family members : 5 
Earning person : 1
Mobile Number : *******
I took Prithvi for the once a week supply shopping. He was stepping out after 2 whole months. He picked 4 bottles of Bitter Lemon Schweppes.  I did not see the price – apparently it was a wholly imported beverage – and each one was Rs.125. Felt guilty that here we are splurging on imported stuff, and families around the country are going hungry.
We decided not to buy any more of these stuff. And step up sending money to people who are helping others. 
Here are some funny forwards we got this week

Musings

Week 7 – Coronavirus

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Link to Week 6

Monday – April 20

Evening we play board games. I try to wind up by 7:30 PM.


Wednesday

I sign up for Flutter course in Udemy – they are having a sale now – all courses are 460Rs or something.. Flutter reminded me of Java Swing days – the UI is constructed with code. 

Thursday


Hair is becoming unruly. Debating whether to go for a full head shave. Later order a hair trimmer from Amazon for < 500 Rs. Delivery date says May 8th. 

San comes up with an idea of a resort for Saturday. 
We will check in by 4:00 PM. There will be a welcome drink – mocktails. Then there will be cake and tea. There will be a game. After that there will be veg roll, egg roll and chicken roll. We start planning – kids have something to look forward for the weekend.
Friday

Friday evening we have a pencil sketching session by Akshay from Dubai. As a budding cartoonist I watch in awe.  I recharge Apple Pencil and plan to revive my Idly cartoon series. [ Idly takes a look at bikers ]

Akshay’s masterpiece. 


The learner’s. 

Prithvi saw for sometime, but got bored and ran away. 


Saturday

The welcome drinks

Pressure cooker cake making in progress. Apparently equal part of maida and sugar was added. Cakes are quite dangerous!

Chocolate chips was put at top – it got melted and didn’t taste well. Below the top layer it was yum.


Game making in progress.



The bottom of the cake was good.


The finished game. It was a nice variation of Snakes & Ladders. San’s College friend’s School Friend had come up with this idea.


Write a 4 letter word with both hands.


Scratch someone for 2 minutes. 

Stand like Statue of Liberty till next turn.

I get an idea – why not create this snakes and ladders game in Flutter. This board game will get stale – we tried playing on Sunday and already we were bored of the repetitions. The game can randomly pick from a repository of harmless tasks – or – one can choose the level – easy to ridiculous.
The number of cases is on the rise. The govt says the rate of doubling has reduced from 7 days to 4 days. Well it is a media spin. It is not slowing down, but doubling every few days. But the Govt has to do its job of not panicking people.  Compared to the European countries India is doing lot better, but how long  can we continue like this – will this be sustainable. 
I see people in groups commenting on photos of over crowded markets where people are rushing to refill their supplies. They don’t have any other option – its a fight for survival – they might not even have a fridge at home to stock up veggies for a week. Millions in India live on a daily wage mode. What will they do after they run out of their little savings. When we lived in Kandivali, Mumbai – I sometimes used to run through the slums – because they were built on the hills and had upslopes. People are packed in thousands in narrow streets and dingy huts. How will they survive this epidemic?
Tamil Nadu has announced a 4 day curfew. Madurai,Chennai,Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruppur.
Bangalore things seem to be quiet. I keep creating mental models in my head – how the world is changing. But I know its all useless. How the world will look like in another 3 months I have no clue. Looks like dine-in restaurants are out. People wont be taking vacations anymore. Or who knows – cities like Dubai, Singapore – might be able to attract more tourists because of their clean image? 
We step out of our apartment gates once a week – to get weekly supplies. I have a vague feeling we are consuming more than usual – or because I do groceries now I am getting the feeling. Our apartment complex has an in-house store and I go once every 2/3 days to refill supplies – sometimes its onions, potato etc. 
Every Sunday we measure our body weights. This week we all have gone up by an average of 250gms. 
This week I started with my standing desk – so did not go for a walk ( try to squeeze in 2 in a week ) – and also did Angamardhana only twice this week. Gotto pick up pace for next week. 
Finish off Sunday with UNO in the morning. Post lunch I watch Unda ( Bullet ) a Malayalam movie and more Flutter.

Musings

Week 6 – Coronavirus

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Link to Week 5

Monday – 13th
Mondays are hard for me. Also coming out of a long weekend – it was a bit more stressful. Around 3:00 PM, felt my throat getting sore. Lot of piled up tickets and escalations come to me non stop.
But I stumbled upon a happy piece of news. AR Rahman’s 99 Songs got released in Apple Music.
I got nostalgic. Whenever AR Rahman’s songs gets released I will go buy the cassette and will listen. At least 3 times – so I get used to it. One has to train one’s ears to listen to AR Rahman’s songs. There are so many layers – and at first hearing it comes all together and difficult to appreciate.
I could do 2.5 times on Monday – and by evening my ears had got tuned to 99 songs.
The songs are really good. Not at the level of Rockstar or Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya – both were love at first hearing – but definitely top 10 of all time AR Rahman’s.

Prithvi’s online classes got cancelled / postponed. Boy is back to enjoying his self. 

Monday he apparently hurt his fingers plucking the guitar – so he will not do the little 10 problems his mummy gives daily. However he could still game – because he used a different finger it seems. Heights! 
I had downloaded Invisible Man in kindle. He is almost at the verge of completing it. But I have to literally force him to read 2 chapters a day. Found Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyl and Hyde in free section – downloaded them both. He picked a liking to Treasure Island.
Tuesday – 14th 

Tamil New Year. Bengali New Year. 
I start Ponniyin Selvan – Part 2. 


Modi extending lockdown till May 3rd. 

Prithvi gets a haircut.

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday

Sucked deeply into work. Had 2 exits this week from my team. Friday evening our dusk standup went for an hour with each giving a farewell speech to this developer – Dinesh – it would have been the most memorable time for him I believe. The 2nd developer – a senior guy – still KT has to happen and he is negotiating. Don’t blame him but the same time as a founder I have to be fair to everyone in the company and cannot do any special favours. It is really sad. 
All this stress got to me. My throat started hurting. Had severe headaches throughout the day. The outside temperature is also on the rise and it gets quite hot in our home. We are on the top floor and don’t have AC in any of our rooms. Friday I started taking breaks every half an hour – get up and walk around. It helped I think. Headache did not come.
On Wednesday San got to know from the Association President that in one of the apartments where 3 girls are staying by themselves, one of them is running a 106 temperature and is trying to go to a hospital. This was around night 8PM. They finally managed to get an Uber which is running essentials – as long as the destination is hospital they will come. They take her to Manipal on Old Airport road where they give Paracetemol and Saline. Suprisingly they don’t do blood test for Dengue.
Thursday they talk to the layout clinic – to send an ambulance. They charge Rs.6000! San drives her to the clinic for testing. Again they do not do Dengue test, Doc continues paracetemol.
Friday morning the girl calls San and says she is feeling very weak and wants to go to the clinic to see the doctor. San takes her to the clinic and this time they do Dengue test. It comes out positive. They get back and decide to get her admitted later in the day. Apparently hospital will inject fluids only up to 3 Liters. The rest 5 to 8 liters has to be compensated by drinking water or juice – every 3 hours. An attendant is necessary. Luckily one of the girl’s relatives is in Bangalore and he could come and stay with her. 
That girl’s mother – she is in Hyderabad is freaking out. San had to console her and give confidence. The mother tried getting a pass but couldn’t to travel to Bangalore. Can imagine how helpless she will be feeling right now. We had an important call at 3:00 PM and San was still on phone till 2:45 PM – almost an hour. I had to make signs asking her to get off the calls to prepare for the meeting. 
San goes in the evening and gets the girl admitted in the hospital. 

This is the photo San took. Apparently they have a Dengue cart and it was kept ready – Standard operating procedure! 

2 weeks back, I didn’t blog it here – there was a death in one of the apartments. A 54 year old lady – she had complications with heart – she passed away at home. San went to their home and helped them with lighting Diya and generally helping them with the paperwork etc. San is reading Death book by Sadhguru – and last week while reading a chapter she said – Wish I had read this before – we did not tie the lady’s foot together, or play some slokhas. 
In Dec 2018 we attended Inner Engineering Course by Sadhguru. There was one meditation where Sadhguru asks us to imagine you are the mother to a child. Then for one more. Then what about a family. Like that he expands and asks can you – can you be the mother to the universe. When we were done I found San – we both sit at different places like strangers – and she was crying unconsolably. It had affected her deeply. 
That’s Sangeeta.
Nothing will stop her from helping out her children – big or small. Both these instances San need not have bothered – but she did go out of her way to help. 
Friday evening 6:00 PM onwards I started a Nirjal fast for the next 36 hours – no food or water –  till Sunday morning 6:00 AM. It’s Ekadeshi – on Saturday – 18th. 
Saturday

It’s 7:00 AM now as I am typing this. 13 hours into the fast. Autophagy genes will be kicking in shortly and they will be starting their work. 
The mind has to be kept quiet during these times. 
1st option – being totally devoted to God helps. Thinking of Allah or Krishna during this time – the stomach never grumbles or you will never feel thirsty. 
The 2nd option – for not someone who is totally committed to God  – is to first read up on all the science and benefits of fasting. Imagining how the toxins are getting cleaned up from the system. How the autophagy genes are out of their barracks with swords in hand – searching and destroying the aged or half dead zombie cells – who have potential to turn cancerous. 
Me? – I am in between the two. I am devoted but not to any one God – like Allah or Krishna. I am still forming the spiritual thesis in my head – so cannot commit myself to any God – or one God. But I believe in the Religious practise of fasting. I am a firm believer in Science though – and the power of autophagy genes.
Here is a video on benefits of fasting I saw long back – which convinced me to do the Ekadeshi fasting. 
Around 4:00 PM I got bugged. And my mother asked me – you want coffee? I said yes. So broke my fast around 4:30 PM.
That’s around 22.5 hours of Nir Jal fast. Not bad. If it was a work day then I could have extend it till 6 PM.

We dug out this Disney puzzle we had – which has never been solved before. I realised my eye sight has gone very poor. I could not see with my current glasses. Have to remove and bring the puzzle pieces very close to see the details. Not good!
Later we invent our own game with a TT ball and a cup and a later we even removed the cup and came up with TT Ball Sammangal game – where the opposite side’s samanangal posture is the goal post.

Sunday

We were all discussing what we wanted to do after lockdown happens.
Me – Dalhousie 
San – Beach with Amu
Achu – Goa
Charu – Meet friends in Coimbatore
Prithvi – Wants to go to Taco Bell! 
And he has been craving for a Taco or a Quesadilla. So we decided to make him happy. Before that we went to office  – which is in the same layout – and picked up 3 tables and 2 chairs. One of the tables I could completely dismantle – so did in 2 trips in the car. San,I and Krishanu – in his house – have been sitting on the floor and we have started developing back pains. Our posture is not good and the body has started creaking.
Later in the day I setup my standing desk. 

The laptop gets super hot in the late afternoons and the fan that kicks in makes lot of noise – for ventilation purpose have kept it elevated. 
Back to Quesdilla. After moving the tables and chairs – we 3 started work on food preparation. 

Rajma Beans, American sweet corn, Red+green bell peppers, Onion, Tomato + Cheese which was grated. On the left is Maida + corn flour for the Tortilla.

The finished product was nothing close to a Quesadilla. Some stuffed Roti it became.

When asked how is it. Prithvi said Ok. 

Like his honesty, I was expecting kisses and hugs from him – and I was disappointed. 
Quesadilla project was a dismal failure.
I wont bother making this junk food again. At least not a Sunday Prime time lunch.
Musings

Week 5 – Coronavirus

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April 6

Monday
Was happy to start the week. Let me confess – I am a workaholic. Any time I take a vacation ( I hardly take one or two max in a year ) – I feel restless, count the days I can get back to the routine – where I sit in front of my mac. 
Yesterday (Sunday) I was a bit edgy. Post lunch we saw Uri – there was a good dose of patriotism but somehow the outlook of the world has changed. The virus does not differentiate between a Pakistani or an Indian. We are all in this together. Wish humans realise this and we put all our energies in fighting the virus for now, and later after winning the war – instead of going back to our old ( current ) ways – focus on space exploration or making this world a better place – less pollution, more greenery, more movies and art and literature and take humanity up a notch.
So come Monday, I dived right into work and was happy to start the week.
Tuesday

This is my routine : Morning I kept alarm at 4:45 AM. Open my phone to check Server statistics. Its a routine I have for the last 11 years – before going to sleep and moment I wake up – I check for this email which ADDA sends. Subject is ADDA Says hi. First line is Lub Dub. Followed by the queue lengths ( should be zero else some process has gone zombie ) and server statistics ( load and other vital information ). This email comes every 15 minutes. If I don’t see the email – then many things could have gone wrong. I have to login to figure out things. 
Then I do the ablution, brush, wash my legs hands and face and go light Diya in our home Temple. 

They say lighting Diya during Brahma Muharram is really impactful. Brahma Muharram is around 3:30 AM. The time I light the Diya is around 5:15 AM – its close to Brahma Muharram. Early morning mind is clear and devoid of any clutter – so praying at this time is good.
Next I go back to our bedroom and lay out the yoga mat and do Bhutta Shuddi – a cleansing process of all the 5 elements.
Then I pick up the yoga mat and mosquito bat and go to the terrace.
Here for the next 30-40 minutes or so I do Angamardhana
Post Angamardhana – I do Shambhavi Maha Mudhra which is another 20-30 minutes.
Post Shambhavi – I do Shanmukhi Mudhra. 

I could not find the video from Isha – which is where I learnt. 
By the time I open my eyes its bright day light. Thank the Sky and the Sun and get back home.
I pick up my affirmation book and write 2 of my affirmations – 15 times each.
Then I start my day with Filter Coffee and Online newspaper on Magzter.
Wednesday,Thursday

It was tough 2 days. I have to attend meetings, plus have a long list of to-dos which I have to strike off. Also have to meet my committed deadlines. I end up working, even after my dinner. 
Could be exhaustion – Thursday evening I think I drank water from the Clay pot. Even before dinner time I felt my throat go sore. The hypochondriac in me woke up with a start. 
Today Prithvi’s dry run starts. 

From Monday his classes are to start in Zoom. 

Friday was off for all of us.
I had planned to work on Friday. But I ended up binge watching Panchatyat – on Amazon Prime. Also managed to complete Neal Stepheon’s Fall, or Dodge in Hell.

Neal Stephenson’s books grinds you down. You need to be a masochist kind of book lover to read his books. I was in a daze after finishing it – didn’t feel like reading any other book. 
After someone dies, the brain is scanned and uploaded into the bit verse. The 2nd half of the book is entirely in this bit verse. Processes create processes ( Adam and Eve ) and these processes descendants go on a quest. A separate blog post is needed to talk about this book. 
I think the 3 off days I got was a good rejuvenation.
By Sunday mid-day the cold mild feverish feeling was gone. It was just plain exhaustion and body was forcing me to take a break. No more bragging of being a workaholic. 
Lesson to self – should take 1.5 days on the weekend. Will work half days on Saturdays. 
Musings

Week 4 – Coronavirus

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Link to Week 3

March 30
Monday
Right now at home we are not thinking of Coronavirus. How do we manage Dengue is in top of our mind.
Achu had severe pain in his thighs and calf muscle. He did not sleep properly in the night. I had woken up at 1:00 am to give him his mid-night dose. One of the tablets is to be given every 6 hours.  
Post lunch, I take Achu for the 2nd blood test, and platelet count has dropped to 77k. Before doing the test, we met the doctor and she says if it falls below 80k you get admitted.
This spooks me. This clinic in our layout has been there for more than 10+ years, but does not have a good reputation. I think they are pulling a fast one?
I go to the Chemist I typically get medicine from for some practical advise.
She tells, till the platelet count drops below 25k you are fine. Do not get admitted. Just water and pomegranate juice. That’s all is needed for treating Dengue.And even if you are getting admitted, go to a bigger hospital. Not this clinic.
I go around the layout and find another lab and we give blood for testing. Around 6pm the result comes – while I am in the middle of the dusk standup – I drop out of the standup because the result says 110k platelets. 
I am totally confused now. How can this big a difference exist?
After lot of deliberation we decide to stick to the first one. What matters now is to see if the platelet reduction is stemmed. Doesn’t really matter on the numbers. Continue monitoring and if Achu stops taking fluids in – then things are serious. Then get him admitted. 
On another note – I see a conspiracy theory video. Beijing and Shanghai had hardly 500 coronavirus cases. Their stock market did not plummet like every other stock market in the world. Chinese investment firms are still strong flush with cash. They have started acquiring businesses in Australia which are going bankrupt.
In India lot of Startup’s are funded by Chinese VCs. Now Chinese VC firms will get more active and will take over as the American and Indian VCs might tighten their belts. Is it East India all over again? Future history books will talk about this phase.
I am not happy with my productivity. First half went in planning the cash flow situation. We got insurance for all our employees, their kids and spouse. Then had some contingency discussion. Then fixed a few escalated support issues. My todo list keeps growing – not being able to churn out stuff at the usual pace I do.
Over the weekend ADDA app new UI gets released in iOS and Android. I had promised my team to take them out for lunch if we release by Feb end. A month delayed but it has come out really well. 



Tuesday

Achu’s condition isn’t improving. He still has pain and his headache is still persisting. He has fitfull sleep and is taking Tremdol – a pain killer.
We go for his test and the count is now dropped to 69k
This is during our standup. Sufi came for cuddles. Today morning her mom fed Pedigree and she didn’t like it. She only finished 1/4th of it – which is very unusual of Sufi. She will always wipe her food bowl clean..Typically she is always at the foot of her mummy – and even when she goes to the bathroom she will be waiting outside. 

Prithvi learns music for Hum and Strum – a very good music school. They are now giving classes online. That’s his piano Sir. We are all adapting quite fast. This could be the norm going forward. 
Wednesday

We do a test and result comes as 57k. We are now worried. The doctor had advised to get admitted the moment the count falls below 80k.
Achu’s dad also wants us to admit him – who is stuck in Coimbatore and is feeling helpless. We debate internally a lot – getting admitted in a good hospital is out of question. There are barricades at the nearby junction and we cannot leave the layout. We will have to get an ambulance and how will we shuttle between home and the hospital. We can get admitted in the same clinic  which is there in the layout – but I don’t have faith they will do a good job. Already I am a little suspicious of them – what if they extend the say or administer unnecessary medicines just to make some money.
We decide to step up a notch Achu’s treatment. Achu sleeps most of the time and misses drinking water or juice. I set alarm on Amma’s phone every half an hour from 7:30 AM to night 8:00 PM. From tomorrow the new drill begins.
Today is April 1 = peak billing day. The monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly bills get generated today. It is like Black Friday for ADDA – and the load goes through the roof. All the new sign ups over the last few months are all starting their billing today. The load goes through the roof – users signing in to look at the bills, the Covid discussions, users making payments – I sit glued to the screen – turning off some services, adding more servers.
Thursday

I get this message that Google’s Neighbourly is shutting down. What a time to shut down – this is the time when they could have been of some use. Perhaps they had planned it all along, or the entire team which worked on Neighbourly might have got laid off ( I am certain it was in India – because this was launched only in Mumbia and Bangalore )


Achu’s drill begins. San takes the day off to focus on making juice and also waking up Achu to drink water or juice. Around 3PM, I pack my laptop, and change of clothes for Achu and I – and we go out for the testing ritual. Before we go to the clinic, we go to the 2nd clinic where we tested ( and they gave better numbers ).
Count is 54k. The 2nd clinic gave a number of 100k. The rate of drop has slowed. Achu also feels much better. Pain has gone away and today he walked by himself without any support. We all are confident.
We come back home. And decide to continue the practise of water or juice every 30 minutes. 

Waiting for my morning standup to begin. Sufi is still with me – she is angry with her mom still? 

Night the kids sleep outside in the room. Sufi goes and lies down whenever the beds are laid. She owns this place.

Friday


We now have a kid preparing for NEET. And 3 Working from home. And 1 kid who has to entertain himself – all locked up in one house! We need more than Social Distancing so all of us can work / study / play without disturbing one another.
Morning we rearrange the tables a bit and as the mom works, the boy watches movies on a 15 year old iMac which still works! 

Afternoon we go for Achu’s blood test. He is quite confident now and even has a bet that his count will go up by 1000.

Results come – it is 58k. We are all much relieved. It was quite a stressful week – with server load, and managing a dengue patient. Phoo!

Sufi is now back to being the tail of her mummy. 
Evening we have a 2nd Team Lead’s meeting – to catch up on what all the teams are doing and strategize.

My zoom background is the filter coffee photo I took in Saravana Bhavan, Kanchipuram ( Week 0 )

Saturday


I redo my setup with double monitors. Psych! 

San goes shopping and we air the stuff. She gets all “sweet stuff”. 

Achu’s test result comes – 88k. We are officially out of Dengue now.
I work on Saturday too – and by evening I am mentally drained. A tough week comes to an end! 
Musings

Week 3 – Coronavirus

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Week 3 – March 23rd

Chaos begins.

Karnataka Govt by mistake or by plan – leaks the list of 15,000 passengers who had travelled via International Airport. Immediately everyone starts searching for their Apartment name in the list.
2 from our Apartment Complex are found. And fun starts.
A stinker message is posted in the forum – there are 2 people and they did not disclose. This is not right. One of them is coming to the terrace to do yoga in the mornings. That apartment’s other members are seen going out. Their maid and cook have gone and worked. Their garbage is being put out.This is wrong. Take it seriously. This is big. Blah blah blah. 
The association washes its hands off – they did not disclose to us.
I had to step in to put the records straight. Because one of the 2 apartments in the list – one of us was ours. San had returned from Dubai on March 13th. That time they did not tell anything about quarantine. But she thankfully decided to do a self quarantine. Our apartment is on the top floor and terrace is right above us. She climbed the stairs to the terrace and did the yoga there – around 5:00 to 5:30 am. She did not take lift ( obviously – lift service does not run to terrace ), and she did not touch any railings. But perception was set as if she was roaming around – these forum posts are dangerous I tell you! Not posting the not-too-kind messages that started going around. But here was my response. 

Morning when San woke up I told her that what was happening in ADDA forum. Read it out to her. She then corrected me on one thing – the Covid task force – she had created it. And the Association members were part of it and they knew very well! Anyway – I didn’t bother to add these 2 facts. [ Here is the account from San’s perspective – from her blog ]
People are being treated like his for a healthy quarantine. What happens when someone in our apartment gets contracted with the virus? 
And our Apartment complex is one of the most gentler and peaceful places. Can’t imagine what is happening in other places. Scary indeed.
My mother who is locked in is getting angry. San – some of her daughter in law genes still work – sensed her uneasiness and said she has to go out. She loves getting groceries and veggies – we have stopped her for almost 2 weeks now and you have to take her.
Around 3PM I take her out. Make her wear a mask and give strict instruction not to touch anything. The entire layout is deserted. Only the grocery shop was open. And there were lot of people inside. Anyway we go in and most of the stuff is gone.
We wanted idly rice and it had a hole and it was leaking. Did not pick it – don’t know if the hole was created by a rat or something. There was no more idly rice. Picked couple of Maggi packets. And soup packets. We have 3 kids at home and 3 adults. Got some snacks. Kids had asked for Bounce chocolate – but only 5 star and Kitkat was there. San wanted to eat cake – only the cupcakes were there. I pay with Google pay. The shopkeeper says – I wont give discount. If I pay with card he gives apparently. I wanted to be touchless. Others were still using cards or even cash. Only few were using Google pay or BHIM.
We then went to the Veggie shop outside the grocery shop. Some 20 people were there inside. I asked my mother to stay outside and picked up stuff and billed it. 
Dropped the stuff in the car. I keep an alcohol based sanitizer in it and we both rubbed it clean. But that teeny weeny virus could still be sticking in any of the packets – or could have been in the shopping cart where the bags were kept. If it has to come it will come and hit us – there is no escaping. 

Sufi loves the lockdown the most. She goes around getting cuddles.


She watches if I am working or reading coronovirus news.


She has taken liking to this bean bag.

Amar Chitra Katha has made all their magazines free for one month. Prithvi is having the time of his life.


The new iPad Pro got released – and on the apple website there was an AR feature – we can see how the iPAD Pro looks on your table or home. We were playing with it.


Prithvi did a skull, and then made a mess off it. Here is the after picture 

Night 8 PM – Modi again addresses the nation.
Everyone is predicting lockdown. And so it is – he announces 21 day lockdown. 

This time we watch it from YouTube PM’s channel. Did not want to see Aaj Tak’s underwear Ad.

Friday,Saturday
We have a busy day. All hands for our company is planned – some 94 employees we have. All of the company is going for a pay cut – the leadership takes 30%. Desperate times, desperate measures. We have decided not to lay off anybody – but we will move people around to other teams.

Evening the call goes. Its all a bit gloomy.

Then Achu picks up high fever. Around 103. It had started after lunch time. He was complaining of headache from thursday.

First thought that came to all our minds is – is he struck by covid? We isolate him in a room, and dig out some paracetemol tablet. He complains of headache, but thankfully no cough or sore throat.

Saturday morning San installs Apollo app and they have a Q&A in it. We feed in the symptoms – it says this is not Covid but consult a doctor.

We are worried. While stepping out the security guard asks where you are going? What if we tell Doctor and they all get spooked. Already our flat has become famous ( because of San’s quarantine and the police visit to stamp her ).

We use Apollo app to get an appointment – but none are available – not even online. We call a family doctor friend and she prescribes Calpol 650 MG and asks to take lot of fluids.

We wait for 2 doses, and by late afternoon – neither the temperature or the headache is reducing for Achu.

We decide to go to Apollo at Kundalahalli. At the gate, security guard asks – I just tell flat no. and move on before he asks for what?

Apollo Kundalahalli is deserted. No doctors. We then go to Aayugs in AECS layout. Its deserted, but thankfully there is a doctor. She is in full armour. She is wearing a white glove, and a surgery glove. She is wearing a blue apron. She is fully masked and is wearing a head cap as well. It is as if she is out of a Heart Transplant surgery. Kudos to her. I should not be joking. She is at the highest risk right now of catching covid.

She advises an injection and a blood test. We get home, and the injection reduces the headache.

Around 8PM I call and they send me the report. Its Dengue Positive.

We are relieved and worried at the same time. Its not covid, but dengue.

The blood platelet count is slightly above 1.5Lakhs. We need to keep it up now. Dengue we can fight.

I have a vague fear – is this the beginning? I dont know.

Link to Week 4

Musings

Week 2 – Coronavirus

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Week 2 – March 16th

Sunday we announce everyone to work from home and not report to office. Office will still be open to come and collect anything they will need.
I go to office today and bring my stuff – Decathalon party table which I use as standing desk, my external monitor and keyboard. Also pick up San’s laptop charger. 
I take my mother and son to Star Bazaar. It is closed. Govt has ordered closure of all Malls and movie theatres. Star Bazaar does not qualify as a Mall but still they were closed. We went to Big Bazaar. It was crowded as usual. Saw lot of people wearing masks. I got a doubt, perhaps its not a good idea to bring my mother and son.
Monday, in my team half had come to office. We do the standup – some online, some physical. Around 11:30 AM I go to office to discuss a few things and also tell my team mates to not come to office from tomorrow. 

Also meet a few from Sales team – they argued cannot work from home, how can we not meet customers. Valid point – but no other choice.
Tuesday – in Tech we all meet online. Try Zoho Conference, Prime time – and then settle on Zoho meeting. It worked pretty well.
San meanwhile is still in quarantine. She gives a scare saying she is having headache. I quickly check and its not one of the symptoms of Covid. She is glued to her phone all the time – in umpteen whatsapp groups. All the news we read is also very depressing. And also overdose of facts. She loves plodding through such information overdose. It’s over use of her phone.
I ask her to stop using phone for a few hours and headache goes off. I don’t let her touch the phone for extended periods of time. Phoo – close call.
Wednesday morning I feel a bit sore in my throat. Previous night had eaten a guava. Or could be all the news I keep reading. Mind can do wonders. Damn you.
Feeling went off after a while.
Work from home is tiring. I keep getting ping after ping – from all the teams. At office also I constantly get pings – but its not this bad – I sometimes go into meetings and I cant be reached that time. Here they all know I am available and pings keep coming.

Had just put this last Friday. Things got overwhelming.

Prithvi is having the time of his life. First couple of days we let him out – then we realised its a bad idea. Lockdown for him started from Wednesday. He plays this online game – Roblox – with his friends. He chats with them on whatsapp and plays some 5 – 6 hours. Evenings he starts drawing something. 
His mom has hung a thread and has started collecting his artwork.

On Saturday I setup Xbox – and stop all online games. Prithvi loves Minecraft – its purely offline. We come up with 4 to 7PM game time.

Rest of the time he listens to music, or reads comics – All Amar Chitra Katha comics are available for 1 month free.  
Prime Minister Modi announces Janatha Curfew on Sunday. It’s a brilliant idea. It might temporarily pause the spread of the virus. 7AM to 10PM. 5PM we have to make lot of noise.
Sunday we do just that. It is lot of fun at 5pm. I take out my djumbe and beat the hell out of it. I was afraid Sufi will be scared but she was fine. 

Modi addressing the nation and Aaj Tak showing a terrible Underwear Ad. Ughh.

Link to Week 3

Musings

Week 1 – Coronavirus

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Week 1 – March 9th – things started going south. Fast.

First Italy and Iran hit the roof. Case after case started piling up.
One Italian tourist was quarantined in Jaipur. Along with him the people he came in contact with. Another Indian who travelled from Italy and landed in Delhi – he went around and infected a few.
I heard murmurs of – oh this is all a conspiracy to quell the CAA protests that are happening. This virus wont come to India. Saw Whatsapp forwards of how this virus does not last in hot weather.
By Wednesday couple of cases in Karnataka got identified. In Bangalore. Rumour mills were working over time.
Someone from Dell had tested positive. Some 2606 humans have come in contact – the newspaper said. Wow – we could calculate with so much precision?!
Thursday schools in Bangalore started closing. Parents wanted schools to close without exams. I was little confused. Just last week I had started the drill of making Prithvi study. He was reading one chapter a day in History. He finds it hardest to memorise the dates, or the family lineage of the Kings.
I was relieved. Now the drill will be only in September. Phoo!
Thursday he came home with all his books. His 6th grade was over. Vacation starts now – 3 full months. Or might be more?
I get a call from one of our investors – as of tonight ( Thursday night 12 mid night ) – all international flights are going to be stopped.
San had a return booked for Friday. I called her and said you come tonight. Being Bootstrapped all the while – she tried calling the airlines to reschedule the flight. She was going for a meeting and was distracted – said will book later. Had to convince her to let the return flight go but book a new one. Also cleartrip had a message that on cancellation they will refund. Prices hadn’t soared yet. We are still waiting for the refund btw ( Mar 22 ).
She relented, and booked her for Thursday night. She would land morning 2:30 AM on Friday.
India had banned entry of all Indian borns who are now Foreign nationals. Apparently Indian Citizens would still be let in. San was fine – but now she could work on Friday – otherwise it would have gone in travel.

5 years go, same day we were in a Goa beach. I have this journaling app – Day One – which sends these this day long time ago messages. Wish could go to Goa and sit there in a beach shack right now. Hmmmm..

Meanwhile, in our tech team we kept debating whether to work from home the next day – Friday – just a trial run to see if our team can work from home.  Discussed with a few but many were against it. We were working on couple of releases and  lot of interaction was needed.
I let it go – so tomorrow, Friday we will work as usual.
Friday, I woke up at 4:00 AM and saw the message from San that she is out and is waiting. I did not want her to take the airport bus – which she typically takes or an Uber. 
During this week read a lot about Social Distancing. There were so many forwards and they clearly explained the importance of not infecting others or being infected – just by keeping away from as many people as possible.
By traveling by bus – San has the chance of risking infection – what if someone from Italy just sat before her – or if she is infected, she should not spread it in the bus.
I reached around 6AM, picked her from the curb and we reached back home. She said in airport they did a thorough screening – 2 rounds of checks – they checked her temperature and also enquired where all she has been. She had to fill a form. A week later she will get an automated IVR call to check if she has symptoms. Someone had painstakingly entered all the data – and that too accurately.
San decided to self quarantine for 2 weeks. 
Our maid and cook decided not to come. Someone advised them that if someone has travelled international the risk of them contracting the virus is higher.
My mother was a bit upset but we felt that it is practical.
Saturday we took stock of things. We discussed a lot about the power of social distancing and how it is important for all of us to act responsibly. We called for a meeting of Team Leads and we decided to announce work from home for the coming week.