Such a ghoulish time-frame!

Deaths of public figures….. in such close succession. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi (August 7), Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul (August 11), former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee (August 13), former distinguished Indian  cricketer Ajit Wadekar (August 15), former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee (August 16), former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (August 18)…… and I seriously hope the list ends there.

2018 has come down really heavily on Indian politics and cinema. Supriya Devi, a veteran actor of yesteryears from Bengal breathed her last on 26 January. The former Bollywood queen Sridevi died on 24 February and Rita Bhaduri who co-acted in their famous 1975 movie “Julie” died on July 17.

Coincidental, eerie….. and really hoping this spooky spell to end.  Here we have definitely not forgotten the demise of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati (March 1) and renowned international physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking (March 14).

And now we are flooded so disastrously in Kerala — with that morbid once-in-a-century magnitude. 400 lives have been lost — only counting human, that is.
Help is being marshalled from all corners of the country, with the Centre and states pitching in substantially. The public donations are so heartfelt, it leaves one so  absolutely overwhelmed — a girl who sells fish in her college uniform in roadside stall in Kerala (massively trolled in cyber-space recently for doing just that) donated all her support-money of Rs 1.5 lakhs, cart-puller in Mumbai sacrificing his day’s earnings, a 9 year old child donating her entire Rs 9000, saved up over 4 years for a cycle, artists selling prints of their work to raise money or offering to create limericks for those who would donate atleast 5k to the cause and so on and on…………….. This surely reaffirms our belief in humanity, of kindness and sacrifice still making its presence felt in this dog-eat-dog’s world. N. Vasuki, the Collector of Thiruvananthapuram is being rightfully lauded for her exemplary role in tacking this grim situation. The Kerala floods also was a cold-blooded reminder of what we ignore every day of our lives– nature’s fury. The photo of a bridge in Kerala choked with plastic litter, when water finally receded off it, (this photo made umpteen rounds on watsapp), was again such a depressing reminder of our unforgivable antics.

So after a forced break of about a week I come back, guys, with death and disaster as my opening post. But then again that has what August 2018 has done to us, left us shaken and shattered and terribly swollen-eyed. This August will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, I guess!!!!!!

But the grit and determination of Keralites are giving us new goals to grow. Three Cheers to that or for every single soul who support the rehabilitation of Kerala. Or should I say ‘O-podu’,  O-podu’, O-podu’,

So long friends

Your very own

Kaberi

PS. Thank you, dearies who enquired everyday in between why no new post was coming up ….when I was down with the typical Kolkata August flu. It has left the lingering usual weakness and also a kindling warmth that so many of you follow my posts regularly and encourage me to keep up on this. Thank you….. for accepting me in such a short time and for everything else.

Happiness always my friends

 

Kaberi