In this crucial time of the COVID 19 that rendered thousands of migrant labourers, students, medical patients as well as travellers in a difficult situation outside their home, many states including Sikkim has already taken an initiative to bring them back home but with strict norms of 14 days quarantine at designated quarantine centres.
Never before have we seen a lockdown of such scale and magnitude, at least in our lifetime. It is our only way to fight the virus and prevent its spread, at least for as long as we don’t develop a vaccine for it. Until then, we have to find ways to carry on our work from the confines of our homes. Technology provides us with the means to do that in a very successful manner.
I clearly remember that I had walked into the house late one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1985. I was in class six then. My mother asked me if I had sneaked out to watch ‘the’ film. I said no. She gave me an uncanny look and then went on to believe what I had said reminding me it was “A” categorized film and was ‘not good’ for me. I spoke the truth. I had not seen the film. I also saw that Siliguri town was suddenly gripped by a fever. It was Sagar, the film which was the talk of the town. The bold posters that were plastered across the city were enough to raise quite a few eyebrows. It was much later that I actually got to see the film. I did not know that it was Rishi Kapoor then.
We are students, we come from a diverse background. We have friends who have almost everything which one can buy, but we also have friends who do their livelihood on their own. Though, we never complained because we believed that our day may come, as said: “if you are born poor it is not your fault, but if you die poor it is.”
It’s Sunday. Doesn’t feel like one though. Being a late riser I rose to hymns and choir of the St.Pauls Church in 5th Mile. The church is Silent. No hymns no bells. Easters too passed the same way. Well, must be same for everyone living beside Temples, Gurudwaras and mosques. It’s not the same world anymore. But it’s good too. I now wake up to calls of the Magpie Robin and sparrow chirps. The sweet bird calls were overpowered by the unpleasant noise of the trucks and vehicles.
When we make speculations and prophecies about the future of human civilization, we tend to commit a grave error. The fundamental basis of most of our prophecies is flawed. We often imagine the future as a continuation of our civilization. Little do we realize that human civilizations throughout history have fallen and new ones have risen on the ashes of the old.
The role of education is not only to train the students for a living but for life. For years, education has only been used as a standardizing factor and not as a factor for liberating the self. This COVID19 pandemic has shaken the entire globe and we have been seeing the repercussions of lockdown in every sector including education. All sectors are trying their best to stay afloat and digital platform has acted as an oar to help row in this chaotic storm of events.
We are a group of non-resident Bengali physicians, health scientists, and healthcare providers born, raised, and educated in the state of West Bengal. Almost all of us have families who currently reside in the state. We are spread all around the globe, but what links us beyond our common ancestral heritage is our public health conscience during these times of unprecedented global health disaster.
The onset of winter is a prelude to a beautiful season of emotions, merry, tension – it is the season of Marriages. This season will give rise to gossips and whispers, did you hear?
World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) States that “Respiratory viruses like coronavirus disease (COVID19) spreads when mucus or droplets containing virus gets into your body through eyes, nose or throat. Most often, this happens through hands. During such a global pandemic one of the cheapest, easiest and most important way to prevent the spread of a virus is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water.