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

Week 2 – March 16th

Had just put this last Friday. Things got overwhelming.

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.

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

Link to Week 3

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

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..

And here we are.

A modified tractor to take out trash. Beasant nagar was cleaner than I expected.

Here is my own Yearly Tradition!

Every year I start my first blog post on the books I read the previous year. Here is the list from 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 2018

Here are the books that journeyed with me in 2019

Science Fiction

I got this video forward on Whatsapp – by a Teacher giving advise to her kids – might be on graduation or a reunion. It was in Tamil.

Here is the gist of her talk which resonated with me.

“I wish you lot of problems. Life is not easy. I wish you failures. You might wonder how come I am wishing you failure. There is a reason.

Success does not teach you anything. Success puts you in a drunken state and you will settle for less.

Failures will keep pushing you forward.

Go after a bigger challenge. Bigger competitor.

You should fight big and fail. It is ok if you do not get the Trophy at the end but you should have fought hard.”

I totally agree with her.

If I brand myself a failure and say I keep searching for bigger and bigger battles to fail – how awesome it will be.

I have seen this from people with early success in life – the toppers from colleges.They do not take risks as they are afraid to fail. They are not ready to take a cut on their salary to work on a challenging project. Instead they are stuck at their current job – being paid well – but a boring job.

If you brand yourself as a failure, then there is no pressure in failing. This sets you free to go after risky battles.

Want to enter a territory with your product where you are going to be killed. So be it – give a fight. What if you survive?

Want to release a crazy feature which you believe will give 10x productivity – and only some customers will love, but majority might reject. So be it – build it. What if it becomes mainstream and majority would start using it?

Fight risky battles with no pressure of becoming a success. Then your focus is on fighting the battle and not the outcome. The outcome will come on how good you fight the battle – not by pressurising yourself that you want success.

It is a mind shift.

It is like a negative feedback. In control systems Negative feedback is what makes the system stable. Positive feedback makes it race and runs towards instability quickly.

Failure is like the Negative feedback. Success is like the Positive feedback.

If we can embrace failure – it is similar to negative feedback. It ensures stability. It will help us in focusing better on the problem and working on it.

If our end goal has to be success – we will not take the risks that are needed sometimes. It will put undue pressure on ourselves.

I embrace you failure.

Now I go conquer the world or might fail spectacularly.

Our vacation revolves around school vacations. Last October 2018 during Dussehra I had planned a trip to Darjeeling. Booked tickets but people discouraged saying Darjeeling is over crowded and has lost its charm.

So changed plan to Sikkim and re-booked rooms in Gangtok ( pro tip : Agoda allows free of cost cancellation upto a certain point ).

Took Yeshwantpur-Howrah Duronto Express. Love long train journeys. Can sleep as much as you want and read as much as you want. I had off-lined a few movies in Prime – and family were entertained. I saw Dhalapathi with San – after 26 years – what a kick-ass movie. Last time I saw Dhalapthi was in my 10th standard summer holidays – a 2nd show that too in a movie theatre near Railway station. To kill time because we were to board the Cochin-Howrah express at 3:00 AM in Coimbatore. We were going to Cuttack, Orissa. The Howrah Connection!

Started Sunday 11:00 AM Bangalore. Reached Monday 5:00 PM Howrah.

We took a break. There are lot of trains to NJP – New Jalpaiguri. Could have booked a train for 8:00PM but we have a 60+ Young lady and a 10ish Old man.

Took the train Tuesday evening 5:00 PM. It was going to Assam, we got down at Jalpaiguri Wednesday 6:00 AM. Brushed teeth and we get out of the station.

There is a Pre-paid Taxi stand. Best is to go via this – there are lot of these Mahindra and Tata Sumo. They charge around 250 or 300 per head. It takes 4 – 6 hours to reach Gangtok from here by road. Entire way the beautiful greenish Theesta river accompanies you. Lovely site.

We break for breakfast on one of the road side dhabas. Momos are there everywhere. They have a healthy vegetarian offering called Thakkali thaali.

There is a simple alternative now – if you are short of time can take a flight directly to Gangtok – a new Airport is opened now. Otherwise on Train + Road it takes 2 nights and 2.5 days from Bangalore.

 Day 1 :

Immediately after checking in – via the hotel – gave aadhar copy, passport size photos for registration. This has to be done before 4PM – so they can get a pass for visiting Nathula Pass ( India-China Border ). Also one day of the week this is closed. Please check before making travel arrangements.

Mahatma Gandhi Chowk.Vehicle free street. Lot of shops and eateries and trinket shops. Nice place to hang out. The place looked so good they could have held a concert there. Then I later found – public speakers are banned in this state. Sikkim is unique in many ways. Kept uncovering interesting facts about this wonderful state.

Day 2 : 

We had to leave around 7:00ish. There is a ban on SUV kind of commercial vehicles from entering Gangtok during office hours – Being the capital + tourist place – it is seriously messed up.

There is a package. Nathula Pass, Baba Mandir and Tsongpo lake. Will be a full day.

These 2 nut cases were from Jharkand. My kind of guys. Have to pull this off someday. We started making plans how to do a ride in our bikes. Fire lit in our hearts.

Baba Mandir

There is an interesting story of an enlightened Jawan. How this Jawan died in a water accident, he came in a dream of his friend and told the exact location to find his body. This shrine is in his honour.

Highlight here is at 12noon they play National Anthem and we all can sing together. San started crying here. It was an emotional moment.

Tsongpo Lake

It was just after 2pm and mist started enveloping the mountains.

Day 3 : 

You can stop any small taxi ( Santos or altos ) and they will give you a 7point package for Rs.1000 for half a day. We decided to visit 2 places in the package – wanted to drink Sikkim deep.

Ranka Monastery

It is not one of the famous monasteries. Picked this because this was uphill ( downhill if we go then we had to spend 1 hour to enter Gangtok on the way back).

It was totally deserted. Had green tea in a cafeteria inside the monastery compounds near parking. Richard Gere, Aamir Khan – lot of celebrities have visited this place. Also they were serving Chicken moms – What Sacrilege!?

I did not take pictures in their sanctum. No one was there, I just opened the main door and walked in. It was like in some KungFu movies. Sat and meditated and studied all their paintings and the Beautiful Buddha statue and so many Gods ( later found out who they are all – another blog post ). It was a moment I will never forget – it was so quiet and magical.

Next stop was the waterfall. Banjhakari waterfalls

The climb to the falls is well setup with Gazebos, and statues etc. The waterfall was a little disappointment – as it is little – but the entire walk was well made. We had lot of fun at the falls too – it was like walking in a Japanese Movie Set.

Got back, had a late lazy lunch and then took the Ropeway that runs across Gangtok.

Next day we returned to Siliguri, over night bus to Kolkatta.

While researching on Sikkim found that the Northern part of Sikkim is untouched. The place where Teestha originates is a site to behold.

Sikkimese are very kind and loving people. They speak with a smile and are very courteous. There is no fleecing in the taxis or the shops. There is a kind of gentle peacefulness in this place. There were absolutely no foreigners. All prices are moderate and not inflated like in other Touristy places.

I sound like I am marketing but found a totally different state of mind among Sikkimese.

Also I saw lot of posters for an Organic state. They are banning pesticides throughout the state.

My kind of place.

Will be visiting again definitely. Not done with this cute little state of ours. Might even live here for a few years – who knows!