When a virus goes viral

I’ve read the Spanish Flu had wreaked havoc in 1918 AD by killing millions. Life has advanced so much in a century that those memories have faded to dust. With 13K+ deaths and a quick spread over 180+ countries (as of 21 Mar), COVID-19 is showing promises to turn into another deadly pandemic, if not deadlier. Our future seems uncertain; warnings and predictions vary hugely:- we may be dinosaurs; we may be downsized in number severely by the time we find an answer in the form of an antidote or immunity; a scorching summer will save us; …

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The puppet show

Sridevi’s death was untimely and unexpected. It shocked the nation both on and off the net. The media couldn’t miss it; how could they? It’s a cutthroat business of story-selling. Some are seasoned, resourceful and sophisticated, whereas others jump the gun. It’s common to go overboard… progressives troll media for being insensitive, classy media hate cheap media, we’re all voyeurs at the end of the day… and one more role-playing chain settles only with the arrival of a next ‘event’.

Inspirited

I was reading a few reports written in memoriam a gentleman who ran a business of brewing alcoholic beverages. He achieved remarkable success with his rum brand that reached the number one spot in the country. A couple of highlights can be easily noticed in those obituaries.

A timeless classic

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say

…

I am in desperation today, in whatever possible way, to write something. Ten years have got behind me in my current job. I received a congratulation or two – the usual ones that come from the upper respiratory tract along with CO2 and traces of water vapor. There is nothing from my heart to pat me for living these 10Y. How can I blame others? I’ve consistently failed in different roles and capacities, yet carefully avoided depression. This cliché song by Pink Floyd is one of the very few of theirs I listen. I had to reopen and read the lines today, Time and again.

That was yesterday. 24 hours since then and still I am not able to add, edit or delete a single word. That’s how a classic is designed to behave. Let me copy/paste and celebrate. I’m relieved of the eerie feeling that I thought I’d something more to say.

A poor man’s travel

Posted at Bayart.

Productivity tips to beginners

Posted at bayart.

Make hay while the sun shines

Posted at bayart

 

Kingdom of boredom

Why does a crime get fixed by a sentence behind the bar? I’m not talking of human rights or from any ethical point of view. I’m trying to understand the sentiment that makes imprisonment a reasonable retribution. A prison cell is hell; though it offers the three basic necessities of life, namely food, shelter and clothes. It’s deemed as a dark dungeon devoid of interactions to the rest of the world. It’s an infernal climate of living to anyone across ‘net worth’ bands. The efficacy of this mode of punishment stands on the fear of boredom. A mental condition of being alive while having nothing to do at all, or harping on the same monotone day in and day out with little passion or variation amounts to heavy lashing by boredom. Boredom is dreadful and a dread can correct a miscreant mind. As a theory, boredom then can kill the traits of a character that once (or a few times maybe) propelled a man to felony. However vague the definition of boredom remains, the impact of this state of mind is undoubtedly mighty.

Ducks and drakes

Scarlett Johansson has touched upon an interesting note in a recent press meet. She feels monogamy isn’t an intrinsic part of human nature. It takes a lot of effort to honor it by controlling the urge to “look beyond”. [I relished the retort by Tim Lott and recommend a mass reading ceremony of it] It hardly occurs to the working/middle class folks that monogamy vs polygamy could be a subject to ponder upon. As Mr. Lott says, lack of choice kills a lot of flavors from hogging the brain and vanilla rules by default.

40: Time’s running out

2 months or millions of seconds passed since I announced my ecstasy. Nothing did I initiate to mark a change. My decay continues with no respite in sight. No serious effort being made to walk my talk, I’m in a classic monkey trap. Is this a psycho-paralysis or a comfortable numbness or just a lull before the storm?