my thoughts

  With the news of COVID 19 vaccines doing the rounds, the print media these days is flooded with updates about stages of development / evaluation various vaccines are currently at. Newspapers and magazines are full of articles informing us of the successes and failures of vaccine trials being done by various pharma companies. And amidst all these writings, the one that caught my eye was like a low blow in this season of hope. Published in The Indian Express, this article states about the probable challenges in administering a vaccine in a country as diverse as ours and how, in this hour where sufficient knowledge about COVID 19 and its vaccine is not available, the only way to tread through is with wisdom because only knowledge will not be enough in making the right decision and coping effectively with the current challenges. There is also one mention that the countries which applied wisdom and not knowledge only faced the challenge of pandemic more effectively than others. Wisd...

  “You are working at an educational institution and have top priority for the COVID 19 vaccine, free of charge”, read a phone text message received by an elementary school teacher in Moscow.  Moscow began distributing the Sputnik V COVID 19 shots on Dec 4, 2020, marking Russia’s first mass vaccination against the disease. So much has and is still being said and written about COVID 19, that talking any more about it might seem tiring, even futile. But the extent to which our current and potentially future lives are reeling under its continual impacts, the topic is nearly impossible to avoid. It has been almost a year now that the world is fighting this virus, and if there is one thing that we know for certain, it is that the repercussions will be long term and not confined to our physical health only . Different countries are facing different challenges and governments are trying to come up with varied coping up strategies. Matters worth discussing and contemplation range fr...

I recently watched the latest Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha starrer film, ‘Chhalaang’. Set in a small town in Haryana, it is the story of a school PTI and his unconventional training methods. The beginning of the film establishes the lead character as an extremely lazy and complacent fellow who is uninspired and unprofessional. But as the story progresses, we see him evolve when faced with stiff competition due to the entry of a new sports coach. The risk of losing his job, self-respect and the love of his life, makes him pull up his socks. To prove his credibility and coaching skills, he goes on to challenge the new PTI with a three - sport competition wherein both the PTI’s are to choose and train their teams. In order to impress the female lead, the hero chooses to train a significantly weaker team of students, thus calling upon himself a task of extreme difficulty. As the story moves forward, we witness various problems he faces and the unorthodox training ...

We have just celebrated a number of festivals in the last few days. In India festivals come with lot of preparation of different kinds but the most important of them during Diwali is preparation of sweets and delicious food.The pleasure with which these are served and received tends to make many gain weight and they keep eating promising themselves to start dieting after the festiwal. but does that happen? We often come across such examples where people find it difficult to pursue important tasks they plan to do. For e.g., one might solemnly pledge to follow a exercise routine  or get rid of a bad habit from the very next day. But sadly for most of us, the decision of starting from ‘the next day’ is taken every day till we settle for ‘we will one fine day, when the time is right’. Can such a behaviour be attributed to sheer laziness and poor planning? Not quite. It is what is called ‘Procrastination’. Widely understood as the act of delaying or postponing tasks, procrastination i...

  I recently came across an article in the newspaper ‘Tribune’ where the writer nostalgically talked about his childhood memory of comic books. He started with vividly describing the demographics of a small departmental store in Shimla which along with essential items also sold a small range of comics. As per the article, in those days (about 40 years back), when parents were not very happy about children reading comics, and limited amounts were received as pocket money, one could only buy a few of those books. But once bought, the prized possessions would be retained with a lot of care. The story stayed with me because it reminded me of my own childhood. It reminded me of how belongings in those days were not only limited but were also to be shared with siblings and cousins. And how those small acts of sharing not only gave us profound happiness but also deepened our bonds with one another for life. Childhood days as we would all agree are the formative years of an individual’s ...

  In the recently concluded Monsoon session, our Parliament passed three new farm reform bills, The ‘Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill’, ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill’ and ‘The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill’. While some believe these have the potential to change the face of agriculture in our country, others fear wrecking millions of farmer lives. Newspapers and news channels have been flooded with opinions and analysis by various experts. A brief about the bills is as follows: 1. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill : This law allows farmers to sell their produce anywhere within the country under the ‘One Nation- One Market’ concept. As per the old laws, farmers were restricted from selling anywhere other than state government operated ‘mandis’ called Agriculture Product Market committees’ [APMC] where they were allowed to sell their...