Category: Socio-Political-Economic

Posted in Political

The Hindu Reasoning

Posted on by veeskitchen

Was watching a critically acclaimed/awarded documentary last evening. Time ran out so I had to give up half way through. Its never possible for me to watch any flick at one go. In between will have a 1000 chores and errands to complete even if people may think I am jobless.

Can’t agree or disagree with the picture totally. Its a very heavy subject. Such controversies used to be of great interest to me once upon a time. Nowadays I want only peace at any cost. May be signs of ageing.

But I am clear on one thing. No Hindu is terrorist. Maximum you can blame Hindus for hooliganism. If you have the cheek to call Hindus extremists for sporadic incidents of violence, and if you can go blind on Islamic terrorism that has been bleeding this country for centuries (from historic times) and the cultural mayhem unleashed by foreign-sponsored Christian evangelists/missionaries bent on breaking up India, then you are an intellectually dishonest lot who will never win public sympathy. I shall never have an ear for this kind of flawed philosophy. I have my sympathies for Dabolkar, Pansaar etc., but there the buck stops. These are isolated cases. Justice must be served and the assailants brought to book no doubt. These communists seem to be good men with right ideals. Their idea of universal brotherhood is really the way forward. I totally agree with the injustice of casteism etc. But above all that, India reigns supreme for me and comes first. Some collateral damages here and there. Unavoidable. Do these guys really think that we can create that perfect Utopia where nothing will be out of place one hundred percent. Just who are you kidding.

We Hindus are not aspiring for a Hindu rashtra in America or Australia or Africa or Arabia or Antarctica. India is the birth place for Hindu Dharma and the branching Buddhism. We have every right to strive so as to remain a predominantly Hindu nation to eternity because we are vested with such an onerous responsibility of passing on the Dharmic traditions without a break. Other (follower)s are welcome but when a guest outstays hospitality shown by the hosts, then issues are bound to crop up. The hosts have every right to prove assertive to the guests. How can nationalism be wrong in such a case. You are talking about a nation that has suffered from invader-marauders since the 7th century CE. Is this new self-defence so abhorrent. No society is flawless and we Hindus have our own inherent flaws on which we are working right now.

But I appreciate the sincerity behind the efforts in making of the picture. I only hate the condescending tone on the Hindus. Hindus could be hypocrites and passively aggressive, but at least Hindus give you a stage to speak your mind. I wish this Anand Patwardan or whoever has the guts to produce a similar story on Islamists. Haha you cannot even scribble a cartoon remember!

All these intellectuals today are talking without mostly having NOT lived as a minority in a theocratically islamic state. I have. I do. That’s what it will take for some good sense to rub into you. You are welcome to live in Saudi or Pakistan for 1 year, why even 1 month as a free secular and democratic individual (the way you live and talk in India) and post your reviews. In this one month or so in that Islamic heaven, I dare you to munch a packet of salted peanuts during Ramzan fasting hours in full public view. How about asking muslim women to forego their black veils and speaking on their suppression and rights in their mass media.

Why should justice, equality etc., be only a Hindu’s moral responsibility. All said, I am for social justice always. I am equally concerned about casteism but at the same time I brook no nonsense when it comes to pointing out to islamic terrorism. Or christian conversion mafia. I have been blogging that India’s democracy is incumbent on India’s demography first and foremost. Suvar Irundhaal Thaan Chithiram Ezhudha Mudiyum. Only in Hindu India can you come up with this ‘reason’ or any reason for that matter!

Why such a hue and cry about Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. Why should everyone accept him as father of the nation. I am an admirer of Gandhi as well at the same time. But Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose to me are equally important in Indian history. One man’s terrorist is another man’s martyr. World juggles and champions such converse logics. Why can’t these leftists come to accept that contrary views exist? I am divided on Gandhi at times. Not comfortable about all his decisions. Just who was he to solely represent India. Who was Nehru. Why should these two come to unanimously represent entire India. They probably filled a vacuum, perhaps.

Undoubtedly Mahatma Gandhi spearheaded the Harijan movement that marked a paradigm shift in the way the Hindu society functioned. Gandhi was the influence perhaps for the Dravidian movements at a later stage. Over his role in India’s freedom struggle, I respect Gandhi more for his contribution to social change in Indian society.

However, I am not for this naming and shaming of any particular community. All the upper caste Hindus are in equal measure responsible for the cruel caste prejudice that is prevalent in our midst even today. Some are passively aggressive and rare few take to arms (resorting to hooliganism). Not all the forward castes have been prosperous as well. Quite a number of them have languished in poverty over centuries. The upper castes also bore the brunt of the islamic invasions paying a heavy price. I strongly believe Dharma can take care of itself and establish an equilibrium over time. Balance always gets restored. In Tamil we say, ‘muppadhu varusham vaazhndhavanum illai, muppadhu varusham thaazhndhavanum illai.’ Everything is a cycle. Gene pools go stale for the most forward castes/races in course of time as lethargy and complacency set in. We see this in UK now 😀 Fresh infusion of knowledge in the most backward communities releases locked potential and bright ideas. You see the surge of scheduled castes/tribes sports people etc., in India presently. Africans in athletics, etc.

Changes are happening as we are seeing. It can’t be said that nothing is happening. Groundbreaking transformation is on already. Maximum awareness is there at grassroots level. If anything smart phones etc., quickened the timeframe for awareness and change.

What was established practice for 2000 years cannot be undone in mere 50 to 70 years time. Give some time for the society to mature. We do see seeds of social justice perking up in every quarter. The educated are thinking.

In my personal view though, casteism as of now takes a back seat to classism in India. Casteism is done in. What we have in its place is now classism. Wonder what the leftists have to say on this.

Posted in Socio-Cultural

When Casteism And Racism Meant Business

Posted on by veeskitchen

Chanced upon this interesting and intriguing argument on casteism and racism prevalent in India and across the world in general, in social media recently. Apparently racism as well as casteism meant economic prosperity to a section of community at the cost of others’ (subjugated). Never thought of it this way until now but then, how come we missed something that was right before our eyes all these years…

Racism in America led to American prosperity with the African blacks brought to the continent as bonded slaves to work their ranches and cotton fields. Cheap labour was also the need of the hour when the great American railway was laid across the country for thousands of miles. It meant, a section of humanity (or was it humanity at all) prospered at the expense of the most vulnerable and gullible.

Same holds true for colonization of most Asian nations and African countries and Latin America by Europeans. Paying bare minimum and extracting maximum became the economic principle for profiteering for which playing the racial card suited best. Substitution of native faiths and belief systems with Abrahamic Christianity and Islam made the colonized develop low self esteem.

India hardly fared better when it came to discrimination among sons of the soil. Whereas the Europeans practised segregation and racism only with the alien they conquered, in India, casteism was thrust upon unsuspecting fellow sons of the soil on basis of birth citing scriptures even as Hindu Dharma remained freewill and not an organized religion. Such a way of life must have only united us more as humans than dividing. I am perplexed that injustice was allowed at all to thrive for millennia. Upper castes hugely benefited by consigning menial and low paying works to the suppressed classes. What are the communities that dwelt in the city center with access to resources such as temple tanks, wells etc., for centuries. There are Agraharas, Vanniya (Baniya) streets, Chetti streets, Mudali streets, etc. typically around any ancient temple (even today). The city/town/village plan was thus devised that the social hierarchy prevailed in the townplanning. Social hierarchy also directly correlated to one’s wealth and landholdings. However the scheduled castes/tribes never were residents of structured city planning in Indian history. Was this not landgrabbing at all, confining the poorest and weakest to the fringes of our civil society. Today we talk of landgrabbing by criminal gangs and vested interestes. Is it really landgrabbing or taking back one’s denied share to prime property. (Here we can find parallels with even reservation in education and government jobs.) Can you find an old mansion that ancestrally belonged to Dalit community in the city center of any of India’s towns or villages or cities. Some hotcake real estate that was in their families for generations like many of us may boast of until today. It has been possible for them to live within city limits only in last 50 years. Bhoodhan movement led by Shri Vinoba Bhave played an effective role in just and equitable redistribution of landholdings to marginal farmers in India’s poorest districts in post-independence era.

Like real estate holdings, education is merely another arena where the privilege of learning was hard fought and won for some communities. Reservation quotas came into force for this reason. But why should that surprise us when even the right to worship had to be legally sanctioned for this lot. The heroes who championed such a noble cause are today character assassinated every single day in our social media, with their good work conveniently brushed under the carpet.

Anyway. Tides are turning. Nature has a way of correcting imbalances with its own checks and readjustments. I am a firm believer in Karma and Dharma. Let not at the same time, asserting and reclaiming one’s rights become justification for vandalization, arson and rowdyism on part of the scheduled communities. Whatever said, one cannot turn back the clock. Frustration and bitterness can well be channelized into beneficial pursuits of development and progress.

**************************

My recommendations:

Twelve year a slave (Hollywood)

Pariyerum Perumal (Tamil)

I respect the way the heroes in these two flicks handled discrimination and injustice and at the same time ensured that they did not get consumed by hate in the process of reclaiming their rights. There is a rare dignity in both of the characters.

Posted in Political

Postal Ballot: Taking Democracy To Next Level

Posted on by veeskitchen

Last evening saw a curious trio walking upto our doors. One was holding an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) model even as a lady in sari overlooked me taking a special interest in my octogenarian MIL standing behind. That aroused my suspicion. The tiny team said they were at our place to conduct a mock demo of EVM voting for my MIL who may not be able to/willing to walk to polling booth to vote in upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. (It is another story that my MIL muttered after they left ‘endha porukkikkum vote poda poradhilla!) Postal ballots for the aged and the infirm so that their votes wouldn’t be going waste. How thoughtful really! A certain political party’s volunteers the three visitors, they finally openly asked my MIL to press the button on their election symbol and carefully elaborated how she must ensure that she didn’t commit a mistake allowing her vote to go to null.

I guess this is a first time exercise in India, taking the ballot box door to door. Frankly only the Vadivel joke flashes to my mind! ‘India vallarasu aayiduchu’ he screams and I felt silly wanting to jump up and down like him thinking how smart our political people have become. Who is this desperate not to let even a single vote go waste!!!

I am raring to walk to my polling booth on April 6th to cast my vote. My son ill-advised me to vote for Kamal Hassan party even if I didn’t seek his opinion. How about me asking him to vote for BJP. Can this gen take it from us. Seriously! Looks like Gennext luvs Kamal! My whole family, I mean the younger lot, hooked on to Kamal. To state the truth, I do think he is good and uncorrupted. I was watching Kamal giving names to newborn babies in his election campaign (in tv news bulletins). I am supposed to hate him! I wouldn’t want to squander my precious vote on his Makkal Needhi Maiyam that will divide the electorate without giving a clear majority to any one.

Colourful political campaigns and election canvassing door to door. My DIL who is American is flabbergasted that they beat drums here and blow trumpets as candidates walk through the streets garlanded by crowds! Apparently that will be courting arrest in the US. But not in India! Here sub chaltha hai! After the drum beat again, my MIL feels like fainting. This noise pollution is not good for younger children and the aged and the sick alike. I didn’t expect this fanfare at least in these times of pandemic. This morning tooo a different group came up to meet my MIL but I asked them where their masks were. They were put off by my question and exchanged awkward looks. ‘We want to talk to the patti in the house’ they insisted. Patti Thattha kkum oru time varum!!

(Officials paid a visit by midday with a big ballot box screened from public view on all sides and handed over a printed sheet to my MIL to mark her postal ballot. Two police constables stood guard as she exercised her franchise upon which the paper was asked to be folded by her, then placed in an envelope and sealed to be dropped into the ballot box. Quite a spectacle. I was expecting an EVM at our doorstep really. Casting of postal ballots got over in my constituency today)

I have always voted for JJ. For the first time in over 20 years we don’t have her in election scene. Feels eerie.. At least ‘kattumaram’ old rascal is also no more thank god! Without the two who were running Tamil Nadu between them from 1989 or even earlier, it is again another first time for Tamil Nadu. Feels strange at least to me.

Btw after this postal ballot of taking EVMs door to door for the super senior citizens, why can’t our government consider installing polling booths in our diplomatic missions abroad. My husband and other NRIs have never had a chance to vote for over two decades. Last Lok sabha elections there were rumours that the Indian expats could exercise their rights to vote in Indian High commissions or embassies in their respective resident countries. Instead of asking for voter’s ID or Aadhar card, the passports of NRIs can be considered our IDs for the voting. I expect our PM Shri Modi ji to seriously consider this option. You will be doing a great service to NRI community ji. This community earns valuable foreign exchange for the nation. The frustration in not having their voting rights exercised and not having a say in the nation’s economic/political affairs is building up agonizingly in the NRI communities. Hopefully our Indian govt will do something in this regard soon. PIO cardholders can be exempted from voting eligibility. Only Indian citizens who are NRIs who hold valid Indian passports may be deemed eligible.

Come to think of that, I was wondering how this can be feasible. NRIs come from nook and corners of India, from all sections of society. How many constituencies could be represented in our foreign missions. In how many countries totally. Indian expats have made even African nations their homes, for instance. In some countries there are multiple geographic locations spread out over thousands of kilometers where the Indian diaspora may be dispersed. Classic case the US. Where to take the voting to exactly. What about the timeframe. All these complexities must have stopped the Indian govt from looking into this matter. However, India has been phenomenally successful in personalizing EVMs for every single constituency in the country without hick-ups. By the same measure, we can arrive at a solution to make the NRI vote count. We have to do something about this! Just a thought.

PS: Proud to have a dear friend serving for years as election officer in Kerala. What a mammoth exercise this is. For state assembly elections, the workload is halved. For Lok sabha elections, this is truly a backbreaking exercise. Starts over 6 months to 1 year in advance with initial preparations and tasks assigned apart from manpower training. So much responsibility and accountability. Not to leave out the security aspect. I recommend the mallu picture ‘unda’ starring Mamooty for the season. Chanceh illa. How seriously India takes our democratic status. You will have an idea with the film.

Posted in Political

Trump Card To Play In Election Games.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Recently I chanced upon a political post in social media that alleged that, a certain Sri Lankan Tamil organization fueled anti-national sentiments in Tamil Nadu joining hands with a Dravidian party (since long). I wouldn’t want to explore the possibility as I am not interested in the outcome for the reason I believe that, the said dravida party could have in fact betrayed any Tamil cause in the long run in Sri Lanka contrary to what is circulated in the media.

In any case, the post reflected poorly on the intelligence and judgment capacity of individuals who are raring to take over the reins of the government in upcoming Assembly elections.

Only one question pops up in my mind. Should the assassination of one prime minister be reason enough to condemn an entire community that is blood related to mainland Tamils.

Secondly, these are not the Rohingyas from Myanmar with no umbilical cord or cultural connect with India. These are our very brethren who did not migrate to the island nation on their own will. Rather these were brought to Lanka and forced to work as bonded estate labour by the British a good century or two ago.

It reminds me of the cruel ‘Bale Kampung’ slogan that used to be raised in Malaysia at the drop of hat during election times. It meant ‘go back home’ to Chinese and Indian migrants who were moved to the south east Asian nation a good three hundred years back by the British occupiers for working the tin mines and rubber estates in the country. It also brings back to memory the American ideology in the past of resettling back the blacks in Africa (sort of ‘passive’ ethnic cleansing?) footing the bills with generous handouts. Good the native Indians do not harbour similar sentiments of sending back ALL SQUATTERS IN AMERICA!

The British left Lanka without awarding equal constitutional privileges to Tamils who had to fight for even for their voting rights once the colonists departed. There reportedly was no mention of the Tamil ethnic race at all in the Independence charter. No legal sanction for a community that had made the island their home for over 200 to 300 years. Overnight rendered illegal immigrants. The Sri Lankan Tamil story is heart-wrenching.

I had a firsthand information from my biological mother who went on excursion with her school wherein she worked, in 1980 to Sri Lanka. After a 10 day tour, she came back with minimal shopping. She had said that the Tamils in Sri Lanka were living in fear. The tourists could not visit Kadhirgamam already as they were stopped from going there. A river of blood had flown therein only weeks earlier. It was my mother’s greatest disappointment, having not visited the Murugan temple in Kadhirgamam.

It was an age when social media was still a very distant dream and even mass media was dysfunctional or erratic mostly. Newspapers ran censored lukewarm columns.

Violence of Sri Lanka thus had reached my home a two to three years before it was mainstream media news with international audience. Mid 80s saw Sri Lanka hog the headlines.

In Sri Lanka in 1980, my mother and her Hindu Tamil women teacher colleagues had to wipe their bindhis and cover their heads for their own security until they boarded their ships sailing back to Madras that was a mere three hours away by sea.

My mother never lived to see Lanka erupt into flames. Back when had she narrated the Sri Lankan horrors told to the visitors by Tamil traders, merchants, restauranteers, drivers etc., we had been shocked and numbed into disbelief. The Tamils were now the estate owners and business entrepreneurs igniting insane jealousy in Singhalese with their hard earned wealth.

We were receiving Sri Lankan tv in our home as well until 1982-83 perhaps. It was called Rupa Vahini and it was a far better channel than our Indian/Desi Door Darshan!

I grew up tuned to Sri Lankan radio that was my granny’s favourite that would keep blaring in my home all the time. ‘Ilangai oli parappu koottu stabanam Thamizh sevai irandu.’ Tell me which Tamil kid born in late ’60s or early ’70s missed this service.

The early ’80s saw the refugees in exodus from Sri Lanka arriving in boatloads accommodated into settlement camps in the state. Our school received quite a few Tamil girls who had fled their homes with empty hands and not even clothes to change.

We had meetings when these girls and parents addressed us, relating to us the genocide that was taking place in the island nation. Today none of us want to return to this point of reality sadly. As for as I was concerned, it was the first time ever that I heard of violence and bloodshed of any sort in my life. Very sheltered and peaceful village like life in Madras. Even Indira Gandhi was around then. Kashmir had not yet gone out of bounds. What an idyllic state of existence we have had until 1980 or so.

My aunt’s school saw a wave of admissions as well. One parent promised to come back with more girls rescued from the island but never returned. The clothes we donated. The food and medicines we garnered. The funds we raised. Didn’t this phase roll on for another 2 to 3 years at least.

All this is forgotten history now.

So easily and how heartlessly and crudely do some of us reduce all this to mere bloodshed and militancy. Is it all about Sri Lankan Tamils.

Can one assassination turn upside down an entirely justified cause of a population. Not denying the spate of violence that the said dreaded organization unleased in the island nation as well as in Tamil Nadu (in sporadic incidents). Still what drove men and women to found such an outfit and arm themselves to teeth. Was it in self-defence or in offence. Answering this one fundamental question can make a significant difference to our line of thought.

Was the supposed organization that was hardcore militant, sole representative of the island Tamil community. Or were these extremists the only voice of the beleaguered Tamils.

What a contorted notion this is and how far fetched can this be from truth.

One cannot hold a community responsible for any individual/organization’s actions or misdeeds. This is a very sick and mischievous ideology aimed at only one thing: shifting blame and scapegoating the gullible. Opportunistic.

The Sri Lankan diaspora is spread all around the world today, uprooted from their soil. And they can never go back to their motherland the way we Indians take our country for granted.

What a literate and intellectual society is this Sri Lankan Tamil community. The hardships they faced molded them into one very strong steely stock that struggle to uphold far better the puritanical Tamil culture over mainland (local) Tamils.

It was India who abetted their quest for a separate homeland in the first place that none of us can deny. But India changed tack conveniently and quickly abandoning the cause that we sponsored, leaving the hapless lot lost in confusion and mess. Any mental revisit to Mandapam years in ’70s?

And now we blame the unfortunate and battered island Tamils for stoking anti-national feelings in Tamil Nad?

Such a thinking can point to only one fact: how irresponsible and callous and shallow and insensitive can some of us become without a thought to larger scheme of things. There is always the full picture. If we get to depths of truth that can reveal things for what they are, we can never be arriving at nonsensical, hasty and irrational judgments.

This is what I fear most. A justified cause flagged for a one-off blunder that cost dear a tormented people. The wrong type would exactly latch on to such a weakness which is their trademark operating style. Trivializing aspirations and dashing hopes.

It is precisely this kind of political clout that I detest. Rash in action and judgment.

For how many more rounds of elections would we have Sri Lankan Tamils to use as our Trump card. Shame.

Hopefully, the Sri Lankan Tamil community live in peace at last wherever they are around the world, enriching lives, nourishing Tamil culture in far more meaningful way than merely by paying lip service.

I knew a family here in Chennai that was divided in most horrific way. Parents in Germany. Mother rented a house here in Tamil Nadu. Two boys. The eldest lost his life in a tragic rail accident while crossing over to his engineering college in Kattan Kolathur. The flights to Sri Lanka were rarest. Almost never. The parents made it a point to return to roots but the kids stayed away sadly. Very scarred at heart with a heightened sense of insecurity, this was one family that escaped murder and pillage, seeking refuge in Tamil Nadu/India overnight.

What language did they speak: Tamil. What is their Dharma? Hindu. Who were their ancestors? Hindu Tamils/Indians. And how quickly we judge anyone.

****************************

Few go back now but those who do are resigned to fate, swallowing pride and coming to terms with second class citizenship, as uneasy truce prevails now in Lanka. It is very painful to contemplate this harsh reality which has become the norm of their lives.

Let the bygones be bygones. Sri Lanka is done and dusted. We don’t know what pushed people to edges. I hope this never happens to any citizen of India even in our worst nightmares. Having to flee our homes in the dark of the night… the very thought can chill our spine…

If you meet Syrians or Palestinians or Sri Lankans or even Egyptians or Pakistanis/Afghans or Africans in life, you will realize what a blessed nation you are born into. Let us leave the Sri Lankans in peace.

I have met a Palestinian woman who did not even hold a valid passport. Instead the men and women from her place possess stamped loose travel papers.

I have heard from a Syrian how he walked to safety through a landmine stretch in single piece.

My tourist guide in Turkey was a Palestinian as well. Not knowing where to go next or where he would be allowed to step in at all.

Older and wiser these days. Everyone has a story to tell. If we are lucky enough not to become statistics like them, we must only be using our good offices to bring cheer to unfortunate lives than making more people miserable.

First of all cultivate LOVE. There is so much hatred all around that I find suffocating.

Posted in Political

An apathy called Mixopathy.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Updated March 15, 2021

Blogged about this simple village woman Muniamma just a couple of days back. She is no more. For a brief time when there was drought and she couldn’t work her farms for the first time (and ever since), she came looking for job to the city. She was my househelp for a three month period. That’s when I was touched by the hardwork and sincerity of this very poor and unfortunate woman who never knew happiness in her life. Who was born to toil in agricultural fields and keep the kitchen fires burning after sunset. During her residence in the city, she was selling ‘kezhvaragu koozh’ near Harrington road railway signal (when we did not have the subway ready) to make ends meet. She worked in one more house. Never seen her in good clothes. Never heard of her going to the cinemas or beach. (When she came to me she was 50). 65 years of running and running, not pausing to enjoy anything in life. Her dearest motherless granddaughter got married recently. So hopefully she finds the elusive ‘shanthi’ now in her death. In a way, I am relieved her turmoil came to an end. My heart goes out to the this plain and pained rural Indian woman who I believe will never have a rebirth, for lifelong sufferings for no fault of hers. Born into misery. Born into this vicious circle of poverty and tragedy only dictated by the caste prejudice. Shame that we even absolve ourselves of such heartless crimes perpetrated by our ancestors. We do not have to do a penance to achieve any state of nirvana. A reflection on the way the woman lived her life for the family she adored never complaining, accepting her destiny, tells me what mukthi is all about. We do not have to go to any temple to realize some great truths. Good bye friend. You did your job best. There is a lot that today’s gurus can learn from someone like you. May your atma find satgathi. Straight moksha to you. Did you even have time to think about temples or puja or scriptures. How quietly you called the bluff of everything soooo superficial…? When a good soul departs, i don’t feel the loss but I feel touched by the profound goodness that the earth was graced with by this soul. So much of love and innocence and good vibes only…

One more non-descriptive rural poor woman who never mattered. It is as if she never existed. A stat. This callousness of the self-righteous is what angers me more.

*********************************************

I am just relating a real life effect of mixopathy/alternative medicine on our general janata.

When all was well and world was still a sane and safe place to live in just before the corona struck, a poor village lady of 60+ I learnt had come to the city seeking medical treatment for her ailment. Into her 60s, the farm worker turned restaurant dishwasher had started bleeding again. When I came to know of her plight, I asked her family to take her to KMC hospital for further examination. It was over 10 years since she had had her menopause. Something did not add up and I had my suspicions about the woman’s health conditions. (btw i am not a qualified medico, just a housewife with basic intuitions that mostly never fail me)… A timely intervention could save her life. Her case was not unprecedented and in fact was a very common women’s affliction given her age.

The semi-literate family did not heed by my words even though they took her to government hospital and also to the Children’s hospital in Egmore where there is an obstetrics department. Here they had suggested probable removal of the woman’s womb after a biopsy. All this indicated to cancer of the uterus as I feared. I did not have time to follow up on the case. I knew this woman personally and she was a hardworking labourer all through her life. Not a moment to take respite. Her whole life was miserable working in hot tropical sun and the late evenings were for feeding the family and doing the chores. She had led an embattled life with a alcoholic husband who never went to work. But then I had a flight to catch and I forgot her case soon as I boarded the plane to the other side of the world. I was confident that with right medical assistance on diagnosis at the right time, in maximum three months or so, the woman would be back to normal and fit and healthy.

Three months later when I touched down, I was to hear a different story however. I was told that she had stopped consulting govt hospital and had moved over to Homeopathy/Ayurveda/Siddha. I was shocked to hear of this absurdity. Since when these people started treating cancer patients. Whatever happened to the biopsy and supposed surgery in Cancer hospital. Nothing. Nothing ever happened. The woman was swallowing white colour sugarlike pills in her high diabetic condition as dished out by her homeopath, having returned to work. In the meanwhile, her health woes took a temporary break. The family assured, they knew better and they cared better than an outsider like me. I was aware I was an intruder but the idiocy and stupidity and naivety of the village folks kept worrying and annoying me. Whatever I said fell on deaf ears with no takers including the concerned sick woman.

Within an year the corona came striking as also the woman’s ailment resurfaced. By now, surgeries were suspended in most govt and private hospitals. The only option available was chemotherapy upon biopsy. My fears came true. By now it was stage 3 and the cancer had metastasized. Unavailability of doctors and nursing staff delayed matters. Homeopathy or Siddha or Ayurveda guys expressed their helplessness.

Like wildfire the cancer started spreading and now the poorest of poor woman is suffering the last days of her life, once again forced to take the Kerala Ayurvedic medicine by her kith and kin. After a round of chemotherapy and radiation, the family had opted for mixopathy of their own – which is mostly practised by quacks in India.

As life slowly dims for the good woman who worked so hard for her entire life, I feel such a rage for this mixopathy culture that is killing thousands in our towns and villages for no reason. This atrocity can be allowed to happen in this 21st century only in this country. In this specific case, it is the alternative medicine that is to blame. I am citing this case to show how things are going to go on from here.

A life that was worth saving, a life that could have been easily saved, a life for which we have had resources and time and efforts to save, is now getting lost because of our pathetic ignorance. I can’t believe our government seconds incorrigible mixopathy and has made this fraud or perhaps unverifiable ways of medical treatment legal in this country. This is going to take a heavy toll on our rural population who may be easily gullible to malpractices by quacks.

You switch on the tv. See how many quacks are advertising their wares and the public are falling prey to their false claims of cure.

In any other country, the quack who treated the poor woman wrong in spite of her cancer, would have had his/her (alternate) medical practice licence suspended and thrown behind bars. Not in India. In India, this is perfectly valid and legal and the fraud practitioners or those with inadequate knowledge/experience of alternate medicine can still get away because of provisions under statute that allow and protect their unscientific, unproven practices. (The very concept of alternate medicine is illegal in most countries and can be punishable with a sentence).

Now imagine mixing all this into one formula to brew a medical concoction…

Ayurvedic practitioners are about to perform surgeries under the aegis of qualified surgeons (allopaths) in our governement hospitals very soon. I am not entirely in knowledge of how much of mixing is allowed. Will add details soon. Can you see this madness in any other respectable nation in the world.

Mixopathy will take us back by decades and reverse whatever progress we have achieved where it concerns rural health and development, there are no two opinions on this. Urban lower middle class is going to be dealt a severe blow as well. The crooked elements may get emboldened for all wrong reasons and the security and trust our general janata have reposed in the country’s health care system is to be compromised/breached like never before.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ima-protests-against-mixopathy/article33306544.ece

How far mixopathy is going to affect the private health sector remains speculation. Given the menacing presence of the insurance companies, the mixopathy contribution in star rated hospitals and medical clinics can be minimal, this is my guess.

Bracing for more lowering of standards across the board and general worsening of standard of living in future…

************************************

Unorthodox alternative medicines without the seal of government approval is tolerated in India for generations. In rare cases, this can even work out – like in the case of skin issues such psoriasis, melanin deficiency, bone and joint treatment et., where external application of medicinal herbs can act as cure. Taking Ayurveda/Siddha/Unani/Homeopathy any further than this is going to spell disaster and derail whatever progress we have managed to record in health & wellness in recent decades.

How to undo mixopathy???

Posted in Political

What is BBC to India. Why are they given such a huge media access in India.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji will you please answer me. Just who are the BBC and why do they continue to have such a huge media presence in India. Will Republic News be given such an official access to everything by the UK government to PRODUCE AND BROADCAST/TELECAST. When there is no equal reciprocation, such a privilege must NOT be accorded to foreign broadcasting corporations. BBC is mainly staffed by Pakis. None of their content is India favouring. BBC Tamil and other regional languages, BBC awards and coverage to Indian sportswomen, BBC this, BBC that… How do you even allow this Prime Minister. More than a dozen mainstream and you tube channels operating in Indian soil covering India every square inch. Are these guys broadcasters or espionage agents. Please put a fullstop to foreign broadcasting corporations taking India for granted. I hate their free access to India in the first place. Just who are they here to award us or certify us or criticize us. Foreign media presence in India is menacing. I have wanted to highlight this to you directly for years now. Just got a timely reminder. Please look into this Prime Minister. Just send them packing. Whatever access Indian news channels get in the UK, accord equally reciprocal broadcasting rights to same no. of UK channels in India. Not an iota more. Time to tick them off.

Posted in Social

Covishield Dose 1 – Done!

Posted on by veeskitchen

Took my first shot of Covishield, the corona vaccine made in India proudly today. Very neatly streamlined procedure. Our ID proof is mandatory as India is taking count of the vaccinated lot. I guess a certificate to the effect will be issued after the second dose to be administered after a gap of 28 days.

My husband called me from abroad to say, India made vaccines are not recognized in Middle East. I said, India exports corona vaccines to dozens of countries worldwide.

Medical studies suggest, India made Covishield (for Astrazeneca/Oxford) may be better than that marketed by the pharma giant Pfizer which is many multiple times more expensive than India vaccines.

Further 100% local India made Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, is reportedly rated the best as it is live vaccine. Hesitancy is therefore for this reason. However, our prime minister Shri Narendra Modi ji bravely opted for desi manufacture Covaxin silencing critics in one stroke.

Looks like the US is coming up with Johnson & Johnson or whatever that it touts to be the best. India is supplying vaccines free to many poor nations. India has also captured a sizeable chunk of world market for covid 19 vaccines. China made corona vaccines may be hardly reliable. (J & J vaccine may be made in India as well, truly mine is the Vaccine capital of the world!)

Countries where Pfizer vaccines are dumped naturally have ruled out India made vaccines coming at fraction of a cost compared to very, very expensive Pfizer vaccine. They have to clear their accumulated heaps first which need cold storage at -70 degree C at a very steep cost. Whereas India made vaccines can be preserved like any other normal vaccine in use so far at 2 to 8 C. Easy transport, storage and administration.

PM Shri Narendra Modi takes Covaxin vaccine, Made-in-India

West will do whatever it can in this price war to thwart India. They are losing in a big way to India here in this pharmaceutical battle.

Blue shade indicates India made Covid 19 vaccine receiving countries

Hats off to PM Shri Narendra Modi ji for making available the local made Covishield as well as Covaxin FREE to Indian public through government hospitals and primary health centers around the nation in such a short span of time. I am talking about 1.3 billion population here. In private hospitals, the vaccine costs a mere Rs.250/- (approx US$ 3/-) Even as war clouds have been threatening nations for decades, what a wonderful peacetime initiative by India doing a quiet, commendable job. Brazil, Canada, Australia, Bangladesh etc are a mere handful of nations that have opted for the Indian manufacture Covid 19 vaccine.

I said NO to Pfizer and opted for India made Covishield. Covaxin is not yet available everywhere. Looking forward to a corona free world in near future… (Pfizer not marketed in India naturally).

Over three hours since I took the jab, so far no symptoms unlike as reported in Pfizer cases. Touchwood!

Posted in Political

Who to cast vote for in coming TN Assembly elections.

Posted on by veeskitchen

The way ex CM Jayalalitha Jayaram was hushed up leaves everyone of us feeling deeply insecure in Tamil Nad including me. If this can happen to the most powerful woman CM of the state and none of us can lift a finger about it, where does that leave us. The famous justification is that the end justifies the means, right? Extremely RIGHT if you get it. Yet, even those like me have to concede with a grudge that the state hasn’t quite missed her somewhat, with surprisingly the EPS OPS team filling (even if clumsily) in the large shoes left by the imposing lady. Nothing stopped working, and the state functioned smooth in extraordinary climate under the pandemic situation. Effective management of the crisis that could have easily gone out hands, with Ayurvedic and Siddha preventive medication to a large extent could have contributed to not only the state but entire India scrape through the Coronavirus spread. Something that will never be acknowledged by the west because it validates eastern/Hindu food habits, medicine and healthy way of life and may in fact mark ours superior to theirs. (Yet I am not for Mixopathy don’t get me wrong. This self-contradiction at every step is exactly my problem!)

Anyway, Tamil Nadu is fit like a fiddle. Most of India is for that matter, compared to rest of the world still reeling under the pandemic (touchwood) and even our economy is stabilizing. We cannot now miss out on how the state government handled even the nonstop continuous monsoon spells in the entire southern coromandel coast that began with the onset of south west monsoons in July and without a recess progressed on to north east monsoons. Timely weeding of the catchment basins such as temple tanks, lakes, reservoirs etc have ensured a good storage for the monsoon country. Good tidings! These things matter more to the public and the general opinion is good.

So where in these circumstances is the need for a change in the office??? It is not a million dollar question as to who is pulling the strings from behind. Aadravan oruvan. Aattuvippavan oruvan. Whichever way it is, I have absolutely no complaints. Except for the way the civic department is functioning. Whatever happened to Swachch Bharat. Down with covid19 is it. Please bring it back with a full vengeance!

On retrospect, a change could have been in the offing. It is open secret who negotiated with who and who backed out for what reasons and who remains yet at the table. Not as you think any impossible scenario. No scruples in politics please! Kind and gracious of PM Modi to have flown into Chennai for Metrorail phase inauguration (!). What other businesses ji? So the stage is set.

One way or other, personally I don’t want to vote for a government that will be anti-Hindu. As simple as that. Church and Mosques can stay but cannot be allowed to expand to overrun Hindu interests. Call me a fanatic, fundamentalist, I don’t care. Dharma has to survive and will survive and it is the responsibility of every single one of us to ensure that it does.

For leftists here is my word: the democracy of India is incumbent on our demography. Islam has to only touch 51% of our total population and we will have sharia the next moment. Where will you guys seek asylum ji, only in capitalist states. As for Christianity, this is slow poison. Wouldn’t want to play second fiddle to America or Britain. Hindu Dharma is one big reason, we in India are the way we are. Neither for bikini nor for burqa culture. Let us live in peace. Our sari is beautiful! Indigenous. Neither belongs in arab world nor in america or australia or africa or even cheeni. We are who we are. And this is what makes us tick.

This generation of Indians carry a lot of responsibility on their shoulders as Hindu population is now increasing at a decreasing rate. Relentless onslaught by the christian missionary mafia bent on conversion like they have done to Latin America and Africa is afoot on one side with islamic madarasas breeding terror minded on the other. Under the conditions India does need a ruthless, sharp, fearless dheergadarshi who can think ahead by a hundred years. We have to be on the offence, not in defence. This is why I want Modi at the helm of affairs. Only if we win this current battle can we save the war. Liberals may or may not agree with me. I have not holidayed but LIVED in foreign countries. I know how their minds work. Everyone is human and generous until you rub them in their wrong side. Or their use for you is over. I have come to the conclusion that India has to stay majority Hindu with 75% of our population being solidly Hindu for our own benefit. Our kids deserve this.

Every Hindu must therefore vote for the nation. Otherwise we will be the next Egypt or Turkey. That bastard Musharraf of Pakistan actually said that once. That by population jehad, India will be won over.

So before the economy, before the farmer issue, before the pandemic, before even India-China-Pak conflict, before inflation and rising oil prices etc., etc., what matters to me is that we ensure a Hindu majority India for next 2-3 generations and leave the rest to our genNext to carry on from where we leave.

Social justice, equality, gender neutrality, gay rights everything is fine. All this have a chance only in Hindu dominant India. Shall we call ourselves Bharat please.

Who you vote for is now upto you.

Posted in Economic

Where there is no level playfield

Posted on by veeskitchen

Sometime back I read a post on difference between CBSE education and State board education.

I have these to say.

I and my friends attended only LS, the famous girls’ school in Mylapore. I still remember my 6th standard school fees. It was a total of twenty six rupees for one academic year, that’s all. It was paid by my mother in cash. In my 7th standard, we paid Rs.33/- for one whole academic year.

Finally in standard XII I guess I paid Rs.150/- as per prevailing cost of living conditions then, being annual fees. Apart from this, I guess we paid exam fees to the board of perhaps 5/-rupees nothing more, to my memory.

Look at what we paid for schooling and what the privileged kids paid for theirs. In what way today we are inferior to the CBSE school products.

My school/classmates have gone on to become medicos, mathematicians, scientists, engineers, lawyers, teachers etc in every corner of the world. My mother too was an alumnus of my school.

Dr. Shantha of the Cancer Institute of Adyar passed away today. She was a renowned alumnus of ours. Playback singer Vani Jayaram and actor Lakshmi are our proud alumna.

My education was heavily subsidized. Max fees I paid was for my math undergrad degree in private college – which came to 750 rs per annum which was deemed very expensive in those days. My PG fees was Rs.500/- pa being Univ of Madras govt dept. Through out school, I received my father’s office scholarship as he worked for central govt undertaking which came to Rs.600/- pa much more than what we paid as fees. For class 11 & 12, I received cheque for Rs. 900/- pa from my father’s office because I scored over 90% in all classes. The scholarships were awarded for scoring 90% marks in previous annual exams by the children of the employees.

My husband and his brothers attended Tamil medium schools in villages as my FIL was posted in rural Tamil Nadu. Only for class 6 they came to Madras. The boys went on to still become school toppers in English stream in state board schools and also in their respective colleges and are leading professionals in their chosen fields ever since. Until now their grammar may not be perfect but my hubby claims, he and his bros have what we call ‘technical brain’ which can understand maths and physics and chemistry effortlessly that comes by birth. The other brain is what we call the artistic brain that can enable some of us in becoming artists-artisans in creative fields such as literature, art, costume designing, performing arts such as theatre, music etc.

Until today this is the greatest plus for the brothers as I can see the same trait even in my son. To them equations and numbers and formula are too very simple and not at all confusing or complicated. But for my husband anything literary is very complex. Writing an essay or even 3-4 lines at one go is … not really a problem but never appealing if I can put it that way. Anything artistic is too out of the way so I wonder how he is reasonably a good amateur artist still. Perhaps that is why my son is a mix of both literary and math brains. Rarely we see such a combo.

I gave homeschooling to my son from 3 years to 6 years in Malaysia. I took the text books with me. Here in good old Madras, he had just started school and was starting to write alphabets.

In standard 3 at the age of 7 years he was turned down for admission by every single school in Chennai as he did not have record of formal education. Indian school system sucks!

Finally a matric school in Anna Nagar dared to give him admission as I was nearing the end of my wits running from pillar to post frantically trying to secure admit for him in any school. The correspondent of the school simply opened the school diary and asked my son to read the national pledge. My son read it fluently and comfortably. He was given spot admission. Two years later I switched school for him when the correspondent got irked. In these 2 years, I received many notifications from the school that was pulled up by state govt authorities that sought records for my son’s formal education upto class 2. We had not a single paper and I was forced to get a signed declaration from a retired teacher in Malaysia claiming that she taught him at home. Only then he was allotted an admission number. It never mattered to the board or any authority that my son was already topping the school almost having had no formal schooling at all until his 7th year.

So I wonder what is wrong with our education.

In Malaysia, our PC was my son’s blackboard and I taught him upto class 2 at home at our own leisure. I had educational CDs from ‘Pasar malams’ the famous nightmarkets of Malaysia that played a vital role in his education. We did playfully and joyfully the numbers and rhymes and even short stories. My son also did attend a play school with Malay and Chinese kids for an year but regular schooling for kids started in the south east Asian country only by 7 years. When we were back in Chennai, my son could comfortably read the latest Harry Potter over other kids who had had regular schooling right here in the city. So I guess it is merely a matter of how much your ward can absorb irrespective of what or how much you can impart. Or that is how I see it. Kids brains are like sponges. Of various levels of absorption. Some drink in more whereas some imbibe moderate. Learning can be from outside world exposure as in my son’s case.

CBSE syllabus is undoubtedly good I am not denying that, but state board kids pay far less for education compared to the central school kids. For what we paid at least in my generation, what we received in return was immense. In my opinion which stream you study is hardly important. State board kids are far more street smart. Finally it’s a question of affordability in India, which school you attend and which university you graduate from. It is very cruel to compare the better-off kids attending CBSE schools with the rural state run school attendees who have to walk miles to go to school.

Contrary to what I read from the post on CBSE vs State schools by this friend, when my son joined engineering stream, most failures in his class were from CBSE who were overconfident. As the state board kids were learning engineering physics, chem, maths, engg drawing for the first time, they worked diligently and secured a pass.

But CBSE students definitely have the best edge in national level entrances especially when it comes to IIT, II of maths, physics, science etc. Aspirants for these streams need to take up only CBSE syllabus and nothing less.

One has to remember here that Sundar Pichchai still attended Jawahar Vidyalaya only and not PSBB even if later he went on to graduate from IIT-IIM. The other stalwart CEO of Microsoft from India, Satya Nadella, isn’t even from a pricey engineering university reportedly. Not an IITian.

Finally it is all upto the individual. How well you capitalize what resources are available to you. How well you hone your skills. How you apply your knowledge and skills acquired in 2 dimensions to a practical 3 dimension. As we say in Tamil, ‘yettu suraikkai karikku udhavaadhu.’

My husband says, whenever they secure mammoth industrial project contracts, as project head he thinks ahead by years – in 3 D – from raw material and manpower procurement and execution phase to complete profit projection. Most importantly cannot allow idling of resources which will be billed on the project. He can visualize the entire concept and finalize the designs (steel design structures) in his mind and order of phases of execution. For instance, in the case of even basic demolition, one has to start from roof top not from rock bottom. That’s how you go about things. He says for this logical thinking you have to be street smart with hands on experience. Text book knowledge is insufficient. Translating your book knowledge to field acumen is the secret. That is how filmy directors work. That is how director Shankar made his Robot starring Rajnikanth. What kind of schooling can teach you this kind of critical thinking, planning and execution.

My simple state board school had National Geographic stacked in our library and that is how I got to know of the journal in my middle-school. We were obviously subscribing to such world class editions at a time before we had satellite tvs that beamed in these foreign channels right into our living room.

My school taught me to respect elders, to be responsible, to be polite, to be humble…. and more than all I mixed with middle-class girls which is what makes me what I am today … for better or for worse. As not much came from text books, we girls learnt a lot from other outside sources, from life experiences etc.

I don’t know how good state board schools are faring presently. For the first time I believe a christian lady is HM in my girls school now which is nothing sort of a revolution. Such a Hindu school which is the main reason I was enrolled in this school. Obviously the world has come a long, long way.

It is heartless to criticize the state board kids or syllabus because they are not there by choice. They are in state board only because that’s what their families could afford.

The lapse is on part of the Indian state. Such a disparity in education. I think I have blogged on this in the past. A kid’s destiny is decided right at the time of his/her KG admission. There simply cannot be comparison between a corporation/panchayat school kid who learns in local language (Tamil) and a urban upper middle class kid attending creamy school in the metro with access to (global) English (language) text books to study materials. In which other country in the world is education so divided and unequally distributed as in India.

In Malaysia, there was only one board. You attended school that was closest to you. Admission denied in any school over 2 km range. I was stunned to see the uniformity of education there all those years back. Which is why Malaysian Indian (Tamils) community mostly as well as the Chinese community were doing so good. Admissions to universities had quota system favouring the Malays. Down at school level, everyone was on equal footing with equal opportunities available to all. Those who are questioning reservation in India today are precisely from the creamiest section ironically. Yes, you can do that provided you have the guts and honesty to enroll your kid in corporation school. Let all of us start life on equal footing. Then we will earn the moral rights to phrase and question the formulated practices of justice in the nation.

Now that brings us back to the question of NEET. This is why NEET is NOT justified in rural India where poorest rural children grow up right from the start at a disadvantage. Center expects them to compete with CBSE kids with sound economic and academic background. Whereas these creamy kids will go on to work with only Fortis and Apollo, the rural kids on quota basis who attend medical schools will go back to their native villages to work for the poorest and tribal communities. What they may lack by book knowledge, they learn with valuable hands-on experience handling hundreds of OP as well as in-patient cases every single day in their public health centers/govt hospitals. It needs no mention that the swanky city hospitals today have book-thumping medicos with not great experience. The effects of our current NEET entrance will be known after a generation or two when the present serving physicians as we know them in health care industry will take retirement. Then we will pay for the mistakes of willfully neglecting the aspirations of poor malnourished rural kids who dreamt of one day going back to their native villages to serve their local communities. After all, how many Tamil films have had this single plot for storyline ?! In their place we will have super sophisticated English speaking medical professionals over-dependent on machinations and lab test results without instinctive diagnosis skills that can come with experience alone.

Posted in Political

India rolls out Covid 19 Vaccine to Public today.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Despite the opposition scheming and despite the media junkies criticizing the govt and spreading false information, India is rolling out the local manufacture Moderna vaccine today for Covid 19 all across the nation. The frontline warriors in health sector and those serving the community such as the police service will be receiving the first batch of shots. Later on, the vaccination will be available to public on demand. I don’t need media guys telling me what to do and when to do. These are the least fit na-layaks to certify anything good and/or worthwhile. My friend who is a experienced medico practising in the US took two shots of Pfizer vaccine and developed (expected) symptoms after the second doze administered after a 28 day gap. She is asking me to go for both dozes that are modified for both the strains of covid-19, and I need no other prescription than this to go for the vaccination. Will do it as and when time permits. Whether we have co-morbid health conditions or not, once you cross 45 or 50 years, I feel we are in a vulnerable age already. Some of us attract infections easily. Women especially have a weaker immune in my thinking. I may or may not be right. I am taking Kabasura kudineer on weekly basis, lemon-ginger-tulsi-garlic-amla concoctions everything which I have been taking all my life, not just because of corona scare. Only now all this is suddenly projected so much as immunity builder to us Indian families. We are doing it for ages. Turmeric, cinnamon, cloves – can’t imagine life without these.

Hopefully we leave 2020 psych totally behind with the vaccine and start fresh life once again. Heartening to read our Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu’s address to the nation on the launch of the vaccine to Indian public. I will do a copy-paste job.

“COVID Vaccination DriveToday is a red-letter day for the people of the country. India has scripted history by touching a new milestone in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic with the Prime Minister, Shri Narendrabhai Modi launching the world’s largest vaccination drive. Two Indian manufactured vaccines, cleared for emergency use, will inoculate an estimated 3,00,000 healthcare workers with the first dose today. This is a proud moment for every Indian and I would like to convey my deepest appreciation to all the scientists for the remarkable speed with which the vaccines were developed in a record time. It is pertinent to point out here that it takes several years before a vaccine rolls out to reach people at large, after the successful completion of all trials at all the stages.In recent memory, there was no other medicine or vaccine for which the entire world waited with such anxiety and restlessness as it did for the vaccines for Sars-Cov2, which are being rolled out in some countries.I am happy that the Union Government and all the States are coordinating this immunization programme in a truly ‘Team India’ spirit as more than 1.65 crore doses of #Covishield and #Covaxin have been allocated to the States and Union Territories in accordance with their requirements. The Centre and the States worked in a mission mode to complete the dry runs and take care of the logistics and the required infrastructure.The Centre and States deserve our compliments and appreciation for this synergy and for working in sync to ensure smooth completion of this mammoth task. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, India like the rest of the world had faced massive disruption to the economy and the livelihoods of people, even as the novel coronavirus claimed thousands of lives and stretched healthcare systems of the most developed countries, as also ours, to their limits. Hopefully, the days of uncertainty and anxiety will end soon. Motivated by the ‘Atma Nirbhar’ Bharat call given by the Prime Minister, our scientists have risen to the occasion. Their efforts were ably complemented by our frontline COVID warriors- healthcare workers, sanitation workers, police and others who never gave up and walked the extra mile to protect all of us. Today, their patience and hard work have paid off. The country, as a whole, will soon reap the benefits of the efforts of these patriotic men and women. Around 3 crore health and other frontline workers will be covered in this phase—they include doctors, nurses, paramedics and other support staff. Apart from them, police personnel and paramilitary personnel, Home Guards, Disaster Management volunteers, municipal workers, Revenue Officials and other Jawans involved in the containment of the virus will be vaccinated. The same vaccine will be given as the second dose after 28 days. In the second phase, people above the age of 50 and those with co-morbidities will be vaccinated. Apart from them, people living in areas with high infection rates will be vaccinated in this phase. While the launch of the immunization drive is a big morale booster, I would like to appeal to the people, including those vaccinated, to not lower the guard in the fight against COVID-19. Everyone must continue with the ‘social vaccine’- of wearing masks, washing hands regularly, and maintaining a safe distance from others.I would also like to urge all the officials involved in the administration of the vaccine to strictly follow the comprehensive list of do’s and don’ts to avoid any untoward incident. The instructions include specifications regarding dosage, cold chain storage requirements, contra-indications and minor AEFIs (Adverse event following immunisation). As mentioned earlier, vaccine development entails a prolonged scientific process as it has to pass through all the stages of clinical and human trials involving thousands of volunteers. It is truly a feat worthy of our appreciation that the government acted with remarkable speed in completing various aspects like prioritizing the target groups, conducting dry runs, preparing the database of healthcare workers, training the vaccinators, delivering the vaccinations to the final administering sites safely, storing the vaccines in cold storages, and evaluating and monitoring the situation on a real-time basis through the Co-WIN network and central helpline. Undoubtedly, tireless efforts have gone into ensuring smooth operations till the last mile. My heartfelt regards to the field workers, health professionals, scientists, volunteers and the officials for their indefatigable efforts in fast-tracking the entire process and bringing to fruition the two Indian manufactured vaccines.India has developed a reputation as a world leader when it comes to immunization. The latest experience in developing a vaccine in record time only adds to that legacy. We have already done a fantastic job in the export of medical equipment to fight COVID-19- from PPE kits, N-95 masks and ventilators to other countries. It is not just the developing world, but the developed world too which looks up to us now as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’.We must build on this momentum and become the vaccinators for the world too in the true Indian spirit of treating the entire world as one family—‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. We have already offered support to our neighbouring countries with COVID-19 vaccine. Soon, as the domestic demand is met and with ramping up of production, we can match and deliver to the global demand too. I am sure that today’s drive will serve as a successful template for immunization of the larger population in the coming months. My best wishes to all the people involved in the drive today.”

I trust the Indian physicians/scientists/health workers/community service workers one hundred percent completely. They are by far the best.