Death
Oh death Is it always on time Is it not a resultant crime When dignity is denied When a system fails the time Oh soul Why do you go away I Am a patient Be patient and stay My body is young not fray Oh breath The pulse is beating quite fast It’s slowing do try and last The huff and puff I gasp The support...
Lockdown Diaries: Intolerance against Afghan Sikhs in a time of pandemic damned by Sikhs across the world
The world is reeling from a global coronavirus pandemic. Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, went into lockdown for three weeks, beginning on 27 March. Residents are supposed to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel. With bigger problems in the world, you might think that there would be some tolerance and understanding in these times, but clearly not. I am...
Lockdown Diaries: Bamboo House India supports waste pickers, daily wage earners with continued livelihood and aid
'My Waste, My Responsibility' is the mantra followed by Hyderabad-based social enterprise Bamboo House, India. Prashant Lingam, who co-founded the initiative along with his wife Aruna Kappagantula in 2006, moved from making eco-friendly bamboo homes to recycled eco-friendly plastic homes, plastic paver titles and kiosks for street vendors, using tonnes of used plastic garbage that would otherwise end up...
Lockdown Diaries: Sumit Pawar makes the most of the lockdown, helps others keep mentally fit in isolation
The uncertain arrival of a highly unwanted guest, the COVID19 was unexpected for most people, including me. In my entire life I never thought or even had a distant nightmare of a scenario where we will have to lock ourselves inside our homes for weeks on end, like this. The beginning of the lockdown was very difficult for a...
Lockdown Diaries: Senior journalist Senthil Chengalvarayan shares a Chicken Badun recipe to impress your wife
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world in massive ways. Pollution has dropped, community spirit is up, and the importance of general hygiene has been given the prominence it rightly deserves. An interesting trend that's popped up is that a lot of men, particularly in cultures where it's traditionally the woman's role to cook, have taken up cooking. They are...
Lockdown Diaries: Migrants miseries multiply in India as government continues with its mum’s the word
The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the open secret of the Indian economy, and its inability and failure to support the backbone of the industrial prowess - the 114 million strong, ductile and undemanding work-force and migrant labourers that have been left in the lurch during the eight-week-long lockdown (as we go to print.) Mass exodus The workplaces are shut or denied...
Lockdown Diaries: Ankit Bhuptani’s views on self-isolation and how our actions will define a generation
50 or 100 years from today we will not be able to talk about the year 2020 without talking about this COVID-19 pandemic. I wonder, will a teen of that time be able to believe that all the commercial planes of the world were grounded? Businesspersons, film-stars, industry leaders and other powerful people who hardly had time to eat a meal peacefully,...
Lockdown Diaries: Reflections In The Wake of COVID-19
Most of us Indians across the globe perhaps share a similar story at this juncture. We are in the same boat, stranded mentally if not physically. For those of us whose families are far away in India, the question that has inevitably crossed our minds is: “When will we get to go home next?” It's my 83rd day today,...
Lockdown Diaries: Restauranteur Chinten Pandya supports NHS workers and the needy with free Indian meals
Chinten Pandya, a civil engineer and restaurant owner of Desi Dhaba, had to close his businesses following the government's guidelines but he and his wife Mona have never been busier. They are using his Feb-launched restaurant to feed hundreds of NHS workers, the vulnerable and needy in the community. The Wembley-based Director of Apna Construction Ltd. has turned the restaurant...
Feeling Zoomed Out? – Advice for the fatigued
Do you remember when a videoconference was an infrequent occurrence - something special that you looked forward to? Whilst being locked down, video-calling gave us a way to see each other, even when we couldn't be with each other. The novelty wears thin My first few months of the pandemic were filled with virtual business meetings, virtual learning, virtual happy hour, and...
