In the early January of this year when reports on Corona started trickling in from Wuhan, personally thought China is paying for it's recent aggression be it Docklam or it's building-up of military base in the South China Sea violating maritime agreements disregarding the interests of other sovereign nation's like Philippines, Vietnam and others in the region.
But never did I realize that the epidemic becomes pandemic and sweep across the nation's to spread like wild fire and blow into a crisis of global proportion putting very human life at peril. And the least, one day, it would loom large in my own home town sending people into tizzy.
Soon Corona became talk of the town. Every one started to tell a new story each day further increasing the anxiety of the denizens and frightening them out of their wits.
But there emerged one story that the hot climatic condition is inimical to the Corona virus and it won't survive in such conditions. As Kalaburagi known for its hot summers, people of the town found solace in the thought that they are insulated from the impending danger and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
But lo!! The next day the news report carrying the news of first casualty from the town sent them into a tailspin and once again the fear psychosis is back to grip the town.
Consequently the district administration swaung into action announcing do's and don'ts and whole life is turned upside down in a matter of couple of days. Followed it up with Janata Curfew, the normal life of the city dwellers totally thrown out of gear. Now they not only have to come to terms with new norm of life but also with the new vocabulary that of social distancing and home qurantine revealing new knowledge of why did people call a Hanuman temple located in an outskirt of the city as 'Quaranty Hanuman.'
With subsequent declaration of three weeks lockdown, the whole city has come to wear a deserted look barring essential supplies shops and occasional aimless wayfarers and gallivanters flouting norms only to be caught and carried to the police station.
People of the town have risen to the occasion to put up their brave front in this new order of life but for a class of people,as they say, habits die hard, have given go-by to the norms of social distancing and home isolation hoping that just by becoming a mosqueter would act as a shield and can walk daringly rubbing shoulders with others with gay abandon. Contrastingly another class is viewing everything with suspicion even their own shadow and their right hand is relectutant to touch their left hand without sanitizer leave apart going near to a person.
Apart from labourers and destitutes for whom the government is taking care for their livelihood. In the last fortnight, in this whole exercise, most hard hit are the city's another class that of boozers, tobacco puffers and tobacco chewers especially those who chew special variety specific to the town called 'MaWa' a preparation includes stuffed granular beetlenut flavored with red color when ejaculated as saliva sticks permanently on the ground that any one can see how this class has contributed to the beautification of the city in important public places like Rail stations, Bus terminals, Market yards and other vantage points of the town. Walls and floors in these places decorated with randomly spread typical red colour with natural designs would have made even Picasol jealous with their artistic work.
This class of people has considerable numbers in terms demographics of Kalburagi in particular and North Karnataka in general. Now they have to fight the battle on two counts, one to curb their habitual instincts and the other to change their behaviour. And are equally affected with aftermath of the outbreak of pandemic as the one who are actually infected with the virus itself. And they need equal care and treatment to survive and thrive.
With the daily rise in numbers of infected in different parts of the country, the district administration has further tightened the situation. With the arrival of new Police Commissioner, policemen are tiptoeing all around the town, shops are shut, roads are empty, all most all are 'mosqueterd', some with home made, some covering with their hand kerchief. Every day people are waking up with the renewed hope of the earliest relief from the pandemic and restoration of normalcy in the situation.
It's intriguing how did Chinese nomenclate the tiny invisible virus as CORONA? But before the arrival of this new CORONA, all that Kalburagi people knew about the name of CORONA was the luxury sleeper bus that carried people from Kalburagi to Bangalore and the brand of slippers that is popular among Indian mass. But now the very name sending shivers down the spine of people of the town!!
.
But never did I realize that the epidemic becomes pandemic and sweep across the nation's to spread like wild fire and blow into a crisis of global proportion putting very human life at peril. And the least, one day, it would loom large in my own home town sending people into tizzy.
Soon Corona became talk of the town. Every one started to tell a new story each day further increasing the anxiety of the denizens and frightening them out of their wits.
But there emerged one story that the hot climatic condition is inimical to the Corona virus and it won't survive in such conditions. As Kalaburagi known for its hot summers, people of the town found solace in the thought that they are insulated from the impending danger and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
But lo!! The next day the news report carrying the news of first casualty from the town sent them into a tailspin and once again the fear psychosis is back to grip the town.
Consequently the district administration swaung into action announcing do's and don'ts and whole life is turned upside down in a matter of couple of days. Followed it up with Janata Curfew, the normal life of the city dwellers totally thrown out of gear. Now they not only have to come to terms with new norm of life but also with the new vocabulary that of social distancing and home qurantine revealing new knowledge of why did people call a Hanuman temple located in an outskirt of the city as 'Quaranty Hanuman.'
With subsequent declaration of three weeks lockdown, the whole city has come to wear a deserted look barring essential supplies shops and occasional aimless wayfarers and gallivanters flouting norms only to be caught and carried to the police station.
People of the town have risen to the occasion to put up their brave front in this new order of life but for a class of people,as they say, habits die hard, have given go-by to the norms of social distancing and home isolation hoping that just by becoming a mosqueter would act as a shield and can walk daringly rubbing shoulders with others with gay abandon. Contrastingly another class is viewing everything with suspicion even their own shadow and their right hand is relectutant to touch their left hand without sanitizer leave apart going near to a person.
Apart from labourers and destitutes for whom the government is taking care for their livelihood. In the last fortnight, in this whole exercise, most hard hit are the city's another class that of boozers, tobacco puffers and tobacco chewers especially those who chew special variety specific to the town called 'MaWa' a preparation includes stuffed granular beetlenut flavored with red color when ejaculated as saliva sticks permanently on the ground that any one can see how this class has contributed to the beautification of the city in important public places like Rail stations, Bus terminals, Market yards and other vantage points of the town. Walls and floors in these places decorated with randomly spread typical red colour with natural designs would have made even Picasol jealous with their artistic work.
This class of people has considerable numbers in terms demographics of Kalburagi in particular and North Karnataka in general. Now they have to fight the battle on two counts, one to curb their habitual instincts and the other to change their behaviour. And are equally affected with aftermath of the outbreak of pandemic as the one who are actually infected with the virus itself. And they need equal care and treatment to survive and thrive.
With the daily rise in numbers of infected in different parts of the country, the district administration has further tightened the situation. With the arrival of new Police Commissioner, policemen are tiptoeing all around the town, shops are shut, roads are empty, all most all are 'mosqueterd', some with home made, some covering with their hand kerchief. Every day people are waking up with the renewed hope of the earliest relief from the pandemic and restoration of normalcy in the situation.
It's intriguing how did Chinese nomenclate the tiny invisible virus as CORONA? But before the arrival of this new CORONA, all that Kalburagi people knew about the name of CORONA was the luxury sleeper bus that carried people from Kalburagi to Bangalore and the brand of slippers that is popular among Indian mass. But now the very name sending shivers down the spine of people of the town!!
.
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