Enthralling Trails

  A face popped out of the door and said ‘Hello, have you just moved in? We turned around to see a woman step out of the adjacent apartment. She wasn’t very tall and was lean. Her short grey hair was pinned behind her head and she had a cheerful face. She was dressed in Kurti and leggings and had a face mask on. She asked us cheerfully,’ Are you going to move in here? We were six of us but she addressed just one of us. She probably thought we only wanted one of us to move in. ‘We are thinking about moving here,’ we said. We smiled and asked, ‘How is living here?’ Is it to your liking? Do you have friends? She said, ‘I’ve lived here for three years and it’s good to stay independent. We have sufficient security personals for safety. There are plenty of friends once we cross this corner and walk to the right into the D3Apartments.’ ‘Do you stay alone?’ we asked hesitantly. Does anyone else live on this floor? She replied, ‘ Yes, I have been staying alone. Eleven years ago, I lost my h...

I am Different, not Less “Life is all about balance. Since I have only one leg, I understand that well.”― Sandy Fussell The article named ‘ Pandemic takes a unique toll of South African Disabled ’ spoke of the stress the disabled had to face due to their disability during the pandemic. The president addressed the nation’s fears, but none had spoken for the disabled like the deaf and the blind who could not hear or see the president. The pandemic restrictions, the use of masks, the lockdown measures and social distancing had blocked their sense of smell and help of people. The disabled in any country undergo social exclusion. Life is difficult than the disability due to ostracism. Human beings are either unkind due to their experiences or learnt emotion. The article reminded me of Saira and her doll. Saira was born a few years ago after the summer solstice. The earth was hot and fiery, but Saira’s whines matched the rage. She could gulp lungfuls of air and cry relentlessly. It was i...

  We should look for expressions of artistry, and be sensitive to beauty, responsive to what has been created for us” ― Edith Schaeffer, This academic year, the students joined the undergraduate program six months later than the schedule due to the Pandemic. They were happy that the professional courses had begun finally, and the University was trying its best to save their year by making the academic year a shorter one. The online classes began with great fervour, but we missed meeting the students in reality. The students who joined the course were from various states in India. There were a few students from Kashmir too. The students were polite and elegant in their composition and speech. They were empathetic and actively involved in sensitizing people when a fire broke out in Sweepers Colony, Noorbagh in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. They helped the weak and vulnerable. A photograph of one of the Kashmiri students clad in white overalls with a dark scarf and a mask overlo...

  “Nothing in this world is impossible to a willing heart.”― Abraham Lincoln I am a vial of multiple doses of Covishield AstraZeneca, I was created in the Serum Institute of India, in Pune. After great research and initial trial, we were manufactured with the codename AZD1222. Weakened germs and other ingredients were pumped together to change me into a vaccine. I was then bottled in an elegant glass bottle that measured 10 ml in all. Weakened germs and other ingredients were pumped together to change me into a vaccine. I was then bottled in an elegant glass bottle that was 10 ml in all. The world was getting vaccinated but Indians were waiting for their turns. While a few fostered a fear towards the Vaccine, there were many others who were heedless towards the pandemic as they felt they could manage the new mutant of Coronavirus with their newfound immunity. The vials manufactured that January was sent to other countries, I was waiting eagerly to be shipped. The rise in the C...

  “Life’s most precious moments are not all loud or uproarious. Silence and stillness has its own virtues.”― Kilroy J. Oldster A little boy’s toys were visible on the window sill when the soft brown velvety curtain was drawn. I looked out for the boy this morning, in the afternoon and the evening. I awaited his presence as I cooked dinner for the family but the curtains remained drawn.  The boy had appeared on the window sill every morning since the first wave of Pandemic. He was thin and fair with a charming smile. His little tuft of hair had grown into long locks of curls during the first wave of the pandemic making him look like a maestro. He not very tall when the Pandemic began but now he was taller. He wasn’t very fluent in his speech then but he would hang out on the window sill speaking loudly the whole day. He would call out for his friends. The boy lived in the opposite building that was hardly twenty feet away from ours. The window is visible from our living room an...

  When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts. –Dalai Lama The posh reception area in Pratibha College of Management was crowded with more than a hundred people, the crowd was segregated into tiny groups. Clad in a sari, I was there for an interview. The interviewees were for assorted subjects, they were well-qualified professionals. I had enrolled for a PhD then, I was on the lookout for a few hours of teaching for undergraduates and graduates to complement my research. The interviews were for the MSC, MCA, BCA, B.Com, BSc, BBA, MBA and many others. The venue was the same for all. It was here that I met Dr Janardhan Takalkar for the first time. He was a board member of the Dept of Commerce and Management at Pune university and the Principal of Pratibha College of Commerce and Computer Studies in Pune. He asked me at the end of the interview, “Are you NET, SET or PhD qualified?” I said, “I have none of these, I am enrolled for a PhD and have no...

  That which does not kill us makes us stronger.― Friedrich Nietzsche It was an online Google Meeting to discuss the updates, after addressing a few of the issues, the Head of the Department called out for Santosh. He had been unwell for the past ten days yet he switched on the camera. The image that was screened showed a frail, weak and mentally disturbed man, depressed with the Covid Pandemic. Everyone wanted to greet Santosh and wish him a speedy recovery but he said nonchalantly, ‘I have been advised to take Remedivir and the injection isn’t available anywhere. It is ten days now and I feel hot, feverish and unwell, the Pandemic has spread to my wife and child’. He also added, ‘I need to get admitted to a hospital for cure but there are no beds available for patients'. The Head added some words of advice and spread the message about the requirement to everyone. The word spread like fire within no time, the whole family of colleagues came together and by the end of the day, Sant...