The monk, The 'dweep' and the grand diversion!

हे जी रे.. (4)

हे..

रामचंद्र कह गए सिया से (2)

ऐसा कलयुग आएगा

हंस चुगेगा दाना तुन का (2)

कौआ मोती खाएगा

हंस चुगेगा दाना तुन का

कौआ मोती खाएगा

हे जी रे..

फिल्म : गोपी (1970)

संगीत दिया है: कल्याणजी-आनंदजी

गीत के बोल: राजेंद्र कृष्ण

गायक: महेंद्र कपूर

Apple music link to the song: https://music.apple.com/in/album/ramchandra-kah-gaye/1352497375?i=1352498126

Would Dilip Kumar while filming the song have thought that 51 years later, a relatively unknown, slightly overweight, average looking 36 years old from the cage of his residence in Gurgaon, would borrow from his song to attempt succinctly summarizing the India of 2021? Perhaps, not. And yet, here we are!

Who would have thought that a nation whose founding fathers back in 1947 cobbled 552 princely states, (the balance got included in the Indian republic subsequently) and the provinces under British control together, a landmass which housed not just the most impoverished 31,86,60,000 people (1941 census) but also 1/8th of humanity; masses barely educated, with a literacy rate of just about 12%; would have shown the farsightedness of including ‘scientific temperament’ in its founding document, and yet they did. The first PM of this country and also the one to have got elected the most number of times till date (3 straight terms) made sure that India got premier institutes of science like IITs, AIIMs alongside laying the foundation for reasoned enquiry, data-based decision making and statistical analysis, by instituting various census and surveys as an effective arm of the government. India has achieved quite a bit in the last 74 years, it is a thriving country with an active and alive democracy (though under serious existential threat for the last 7 years) but she could not do enough to rid herself of her ‘unscientific approach’, deep-rooted backwardness and moronic entanglement and fascination with anything resembling ‘spirituality or ancient Indian tradition’. 

Needless to say, we are paying a heavy price for it in these pandemic times. Society is naively and naturally falling prey to misguided and downright unlettered suggestions, being made by those in power. Reproducing a few for you here to familiarize you with the degree of the absurdity of these statements from the ruling party of the day.

• BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur believes that drinking Cow urine will cure Covid-19. The lady in the past has also claimed that she cured herself of cancer with Cow Urine!

• BJP HRD Minister Pokhriyal denounces the theory of evolution, he says that ‘no one has seen a money turn into a man’!

• BJP Culture Minister for MP, Usha Thakur proposed ‘yagna chikitsa’ for preventing the 3rd wave!

• BJP MoS of health and family welfare Ashwini Kumar Chaube had suggested that standing in the sun for 10-15 minutes every day will kill the Covid virus!

• Lifelong RSS prachhakar, BJP karyakarta and current PM Modi put forward the instances of Karna from Mahabharta and Lord Ganesha’s trunk to suggest that cosmetic surgery and reproductive genetics were in use in India thousands of years ago! 

• BJP Union minister of railways Piyush Goyal is confused about who discovered gravity, he also believes that mathematics did not play a part in the discovery of the said physics principle. 

The theatre of the absurd does not end there. The satellites of supporters orbiting the ‘political narrative’ of the BJP almost involuntarily, have also paid their dues in furthering the cause of utter nonsense’.

As ludicrous and crackpot as it may sound, in India lead by Fakir Narender Modi (मेरा क्या हैं मैं तो फ़क़ीर हूँ जी झोला उठा के चला जाऊँगा, words of the honourable PM) of 2021, qualified and respected doctors are being forced to defend ‘the science of allopathy and modern medicine’ by arguing with a saffron-clad self-styled Ayurveda and Yoga guru with questionable past, who did not even complete his primary education; in TV studios, at a time when the world is reeling under Pandemic and India has emerged as a hotspot of the world, recording the most number of cases and deaths. What is even more grotesque is the fact that he seems to be winning the battle thus far. Poor doctors, who studied their lungs out, wrote an all India entrance exam, qualified in it, studied medicine for a minimum of 6 years and a max of 15, stand ‘assailable’ in the world of narrative. 

You may wonder why I pronounce Baba the winner in the fight, at least thus far? Here is why.

• Baba openly and publicly lampoons the whole science of modern medicine in the most scurrilous tone imaginable, and yet continues to roam free. He floats his pronouncements on Youtube and other social media platforms, where he enjoys a thick follower base. 

• The quack has bought about 20% (approx) of all advertisement slots on all popular commando comic news channels (a term originally coined by Shekhar Gupta of the print to describe BJP propaganda news channels). Advertisements for his products are flashed even on debates that they organise to banish some of his fallacious claims. Such is the might of the Yogi.

• The Saffron clad Yoga Guru’s wealth and social reach gives him the political muscle needed to make the health minister, who by the way is an allopathy doctor himself and current union minister for road transport & highways and the minister of micro, small and medium enterprises in the Government of India; stand in acquiescence on his either side when he publicity unveils ‘Crononil’ a collection of herbs, untested by any scientific means, as preventive and curative medicine for aliments induced by “Covid-19”, a deadly virus that has killed people in excess of 35.2 lacs, globally. 

• Nothing stops him from selling the ‘cure’ to Indian consumers.

At this point, you might be thinking how do these ‘men of tradition, spirituality and Yoga’ make it so big? To understand it we will need to take a little dip in the history of the nexus between politicians and “Babas and Gurus’. 

• PM Indira Gandhi, daughter of the man, who professed scientific temper; in her days of power had Dhirendra Brahmachari as her Yoga Guru. He used to be just as powerful then, as our Ramdev is now.

• Spiritual guru Chandraswami provided mentorship to PM PV Narasimha Rao. Stories of his influence are part of folklore in the southern part of the country.

• PM Modi is known to be close to Ramdev and many like him, some of his favourite people are also currently serving jail terms for heinous sexual crimes.

I have listed three PMs here but if you dig a little you’d find that over 90% of elected CMs too have some or the other affiliations with one or more ‘men of faith’. 

The unholy alliance between power, politics and these ‘Godmen’ is not hard to understand, these men have a huge following, running in several lacs. They wield enormous influence over their followers who willingly let these godmen tell them who they should vote for. Politicians naturally have an affinity for these people. 

It may be ill-omened that the Government led by PM Modi allows flimflammers like Ramdev to defame the authentic and scientific line of treatment and even speak disloyally of the effectiveness of vaccines when seen from the vantage point of governance and public health and safety but we will need to concede that its political dividends are enormous. And perhaps that is why, he is allowed to rage and rave, as he wishes. The monk who can buy a Ferrari and much else said and I quote, “What can the doctors do, they could not save themselves,1000 of them died despite taking double doses of the vaccine”. Would such a comment not add to already grave vaccine hesitancy in the hinterland of India, you be the judge of that. The government chooses to not intervene with the penal action, no prizes for guessing why.

Politics is a field in which genius moves are often cacodemonic in character. I would like to call your attention to the brilliance of the timing of Ramdev’s attack which is no less crafty,  in the unit of malevolence with which politics measures itself. You might wonder why am I saying such a thing? Let me uncover the bigger act in play here for you.

The peak at least in official numbers for the 2nd Covid-19 wave seems to have passed now in India, with daily caseload reduced to nearly ½ of what it used to be at the peak a few weeks ago. The public attention had started shifting from delinquencies in the cure (Oxygen, beds, ventilator, meds and medical staff) to deficiencies in prevention (vaccine). The number one conversation currently running on the minds of people is vaccines or lack of it. People have understood, by and large, that there is no alternative to getting inoculated when it comes to meeting the challenge that the virus and its many variants in circulation pose. PM Modi’s preoccupation with elections, disdain for the advice of the scientific community, contempt for knowledge and ill-informed bravado came in the way of his administration procuring the number of doses needed to protect the Indian people. As a result, India is experiencing a vaccine drought, of sorts. The mammoth gap between supply and demand, as can be seen in the attached numbers which are a testimony to dwindling rate of vaccination in India.

The administration leaves a lot to be desired for and it does not want the public to understand, acknowledge and discuss its many failures. If there is one thing that PM Modi is concerned about then it is his own image. Recently, BJP’s president joined PM Modi and RSS members to brainstorm ways of recovering from the dent in the image of his leadership, the performance of his government and particularly the mess in UP. The meeting ended with BJP National president, Nadda making a public appeal to the party workers and elected representatives to become ‘more visible’. They understand that the truth is out there and people are taking note of it.

The government desperately wants the nation to look the other way, so it in its masterstroke has expertly manufactured a number of controversies to completely hog the headlines of the newspapers, discussions in prime time and by extension the attention of the people.

 

• They have effectively fashioned a dispute at the peaceful arcepalogo of Lakshadweep. Twitter trends are abuzz and the national media has been forced to turn its gaze to the disturbance that Modi’s trusted BJP party member and currently the administrative head of the island, Praful Khoda Patel has created by suggesting to bring in new laws. Including the one to allow alcohol in the island, mind you, it is coming from an ex-minister of the state Gujarat, which has been in prohibition since time immemorial. Some of his other radical ideas are: 

• Land Development

• Beef and Cow slaughter ban by implication, the draft, however, hides direct mention. It must be noted that the BJP is fine with beef-eating in Kerala and the NE.

• Goondas act; ability to arrest anyone for a year!!

• Ferocious and published feud with Social media giants (Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp), OTT platforms and digital news organisations. The televised theatre of sending Delhi Police over to Twitter’s headquarters in India and several letters being written to Whatsapp have all been timed to coincide with the crisis so that the shortcoming of the Government on the handling of the 2nd wave gets drowned in the noise of these issues.

• Whilst at the Whatsapp topic, you must know that neither parties are fighting for the interest of the users. Whatsapp wants to send metadata freely to Facebook to strengthen its advertisement business and also employ mountains of data for future product creation. The government wants Facebook to break ‘end to end encryption in the cover of identifying the original originator of a ‘fake message’. Many believe that Modi Govt will use the access to clamp down on free speech. Triangulate and bring down posts criticizing the Government, as it has done several times in the recent past, particularly with farm bill protests and the Covid related posts exposing failing of the GOI.

The BJP knows that when these measures are announced there is going to be a widespread protest, noise and chaos. It not only understands and estimates but also anticipates groundswell in opposition to these measures, coming from all directions - and that is exactly what it wants. So that the nation does not find time and attention to focus on the sparsity of vaccines, hiding of deaths and massive undercounting of infections, prominently. With the mess hidden those responsible for it will also get an opportunity to distance themselves from it.

Like it or not, it is indeed a political masterstroke. 

Fight with the Social Media companies, Socio-political disturbances in Lakshadweep and Baba Ramdev’s deplorable, injudicious and irresponsible remarks together provide the best cover that PM Modi and his associates can ask for and create at this point in time. They have succeeded thus far in shaping the national narrative. Whether they continue to march ahead unchallenged and undefeated in the future or not, will depend on how much attention we the people give to what issue? People will need to decide to not get distracted from the number one issue of the day, which is ‘vaccination of a billion people’- nothing that they throw our way will break our resolve. 

We got to use the currency of our attention, judiciously. 

Let's unite in demanding accountability for mismanagement of the pandemic and above all for the quickest possible vaccination for all, not just those who can afford to buy their way out of the pandemic.

Till then take care, goodbye!

Positivity, healthcare and responsibility of the citizenry!

A modern civilised nation is governed by rule of law and is held together as a society by cultural imperatives, codes of collective morals and ethics. It relies on shared history and common future aspirations to keep the nation together, united as one force. A large enough group of people can’t remain united without any of these in place. Time and again though when one of these forces begin to grow weak under the influence of temporary developments, the ruling class throws into the mix a ‘common enemy’ to galvanise the masses with the goal to dissolve differences thereby gaining the lost grounds of cohesion. Nature has done its part this time around in uniting the whole of humanity by allowing the virus to have a ball. Yes, to put things on record, I do not buy into the conspiracy theories that point to COVID-19 being a Chinese laboratory mishap. To my mind science of the day is not that evolved, and in my assessment it can’t accomplish something of this proportion, just yet. Nations, rich and poor, have proved to be inadequate, across the globe in the face of the challenge that the virus has posed. The US languished in the 1st wave but made a decisive recovery by being thoughtful with its vaccine strategy. The UK did not fair well too in the first wave but made wise corrections from the 2nd onset and followed it up intelligently with an effective vaccination drive. Tales of the rest of western Europe are also more or less the same; fell first and then gathered themselves up.

This however can’t be said about Indian management of the crisis, we stand apart - truly in a league of our own. Unlike any other sizable sovereign on the planet that first goofed up and then corrected itself by imposing restrictions to break the chain of transmission followed in quick succession by inclusive vaccination program; we managed the first wave relatively well and then messed up completely in the 2nd wave and we did not stop there we also gave the game away by completely throwing the vaccination strategy in the bin. We have earned the dubious distinction of having the most unscientific response to the virus imaginable. Helpless poor Indians dying by the thousands as a result of acute shortages of everything necessary from oxygen, to hospital beds to medicines to doctors to nurses and even ambulances, stand testimony to the failure of the current regime. Ugly misery has spread itself visibly on the roads and the streets of the nation so starkly that it has overwhelmed the strong hold that the Government has on the media and as a result of which it is finding it impossible to keep the damage under the covers, hidden from the scrutinizing gaze of the world. Social media carried the painful cries of the Indian people to all parts of the world connected with the internet. Monumental mismanagement could no longer be hidden. Taking a clue from it the Government has quite cleverly come up with ‘positivity spin’ to harvest favorable coverage for itself and to take the attention away from its own failings. 

In the first half of this article let me present to you three such events, which are utterly disconsolate, but have been presented to the nation as courageous, smart, considerate and inventive moves by the citizens - the ‘positive spin’, as it were, has been given to the negative news. 

Social media preceded the coverage of reputed newspapers and subsequently the ‘event’ was also given space in the new-age internet media; images of Indians quarantining on trees! We learn about history from the text as well as images, later being more profound. Billions of pictures are taken every day, especially in our time and age, cameras embedded in ubiquitous mobile phones have made capturing moments easier than ever before. When history of this time is written, it will be impossible for histographers to not include these images which speak of our poverty, the pervertedness of the ‘system’ and the collective helplessness of the society, both loudly and clearly in equal measures. These pictures are an antidote to the product of the well-oiled propaganda machinery of the rulers of the day. When I say these things, I am mindful of the fact that every story, every narrative, every detail; in an argumentative society has many layers. Nuance is not always welcome and superficialities sometimes do outrun deeper truth. And perhaps, when current affairs are filtered in the funnel of time, the dust and impurities of passion, pomp and show, I hope, will get eliminated and what will come out will be an unadulterated, accurate and unemotional representation of facts, the truth of our times.

This is why it has been said that journalistic reports and commentary on events of the time are the first draft of history. I wish therefore to accommodate the ‘positive’ version that has come out too, in which people praised the ingenuity of these villagers who not only took the threat from Covid19 seriously but also took effective steps, at the cost of their convenience and despite the lack of means, needed to safeguard their near and dear ones from the deadly pathogen. I have provided here a link to just one such news report from the source that I trust for my information. It must however be said that it is not the only source, this story has been covered extensively. 

Hindu Coverage: Coronavirus | Migrant labourer completes quarantine on a tree 

I see the ‘positive praises’ in the same light as I received the ‘pleasant’ weather reports in the national capital region of India this week, knowing fully well that it is at the cost of severe devastation and deaths caused by the cyclone Tauktae on the western coast of the country. We enjoyed cool afternoons, our air conditioning devices could catch some rest only because at another place, thousands of KMs away from our residences, some of our own people were suffering. While they were waiting for help to arrive both nervous and anxious in equal measures, some of us in the north wanted this weather to extend as much as possible.

I have to confess that the cool breeze that soothed me on the exteriors caused me pain on the inside, just as much as, reading lauds for the individuals on the treetop, made my heart sink.

Let’s analyse yet another instance of the state failing miserably in its primary function of saving the lives of its citizens. Last month, a report made many of us gloat, over 85 years old, now late Narayanrao Dabhadkar, giving up his bed to save the life of a young man.

Indian Express report: Viral claim about 85-year-old RSS worker giving up his bed for younger man runs into questions.

The brave selfless soul died three days after his discharge. The country, in one voice, praised him. Enthusiasts among the supporters of the current regime also dug out his connection with RSS to incinuate that, that is exactly how all men of the self-proclaimed nationalistic Hindu organisation the RSS, are ‘selfless’ and ‘righteous’. Thankfully, we know to ignore these baseless collective claims with ease. The tragedy has been given a massive ‘positive spin’ but is it not impossible to overlook how the state failed in providing an old man with a bed and other necessary medical treatment as a result of which he died. What we collectively and blithely ignore in this ‘positive spin’ is the fact that ‘right to live’ is not an either-or proposition but something that is applicable to all Indian citizens under our constitution. The old man deserved to live no less than the middle-aged patient for whom he sacrificed his life. 

I bow in respect of the supreme sacrifice but at the same time, I also feel ashamed for being part of a country that can’t save its citizens from an illness that has been known for over a year.

The propaganda of positivity is not only restricted to colouring the news reports with rosy tint but it also has been deployed with the sinister intention of concealing facts that reveal the poor delivery of the union government. There is no way for us to know precisely of all declared and accepted Covid deaths by the Government, how many could have been saved if they got timely and able medical assistance? Some experts believe that a little over half of those who perished prematurely could have survived, though with diminished quality of life, if they got what their medical condition commanded. Whose responsibility was it to ensure that everything needed was provided for? It is that of the elected union Government, when I say this I am mindful of the fact that ‘health’ is a state subject. Let us not forget though that the epidemic act of 2005 that the union government invoked last year is still in force. And therefore, I say, this pandemic is totally and completely the responsibility of the Modi government.

We know that not only have they failed spectacularly in doing what was required of them but they have also brazenly abandoned responsibility and made a concerted attempt to push blame of the failure over to the states. Indian states have neither the expertise nor the financial resources to deal with the calamity of this pandemic and yet, they are having to muscle it all by themselves. Image conscious PM has held multiple meetings with the district magistrates in which he gave no ‘objective’ detail, and got away instead with generic ‘feel good’ comments. As the meeting ended a bunch of photographs and video clips were released to the public and the media, who in turn plastered them everywhere to create an impression that PM Modi is hard at work. The ‘positive spin’ you see.

The truth however could not be any further from the claims. Very simply if he worked, so many would not have died in such precarious circumstances.

Let’s now turn to the state of healthcare in our country.

The subject requires a much deeper dialogue, discussion and debate. Decades of studied underinvestment has impoverished the infrastructure immensely. To give you a sense, I quote from a WHO study.

Quote 1

“World Bank data (https://bit.ly/3u4cHfg) reveal that India had 85.7 physicians per 1,00,000 people in 2017 (in contrast to 98 in Pakistan, 58 in Bangladesh, 100 in Sri Lanka and 241 in Japan), 53 beds per 1,00,000 people (in contrast to 63 in Pakistan, 79.5 in Bangladesh, 415 in Sri Lanka and 1,298 in Japan), and 172.7 nurses and midwives per 1,00,000 people (in contrast to 220 in Sri Lanka, 40 in Bangladesh, 70 in Pakistan, and 1,220 in Japan).”

Quote 2

“Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA), Ashoka University, shows that this has been stagnant for years: 1% of GDP 2013-14 and 1.28% in 2017-18 (including expenditure by the Centre, all States and Union Territories) (https://bit.ly/3bw3O7Y). Health is a state subject in India and State spending constitutes 68.6% of all the government health expenditure”

** Note that both of these quotes are from the editorial published in The Hindu, dated 21st May 2021.

It should also be acknowledged that additional healthcare capacity can’t be augmented in the short term. You can erect buildings, buy equipment, procure most advanced medicines but healthcare professionals who can use the infra to cure people, take time, a lot of time to come by. Medicine is a highly specialised field. To give you a sense, if we decide to improve the ratio of doctors per 1000 Indians today, the impact of it will only be seen in 10 years, that is how long it will take. But as you know elections happen every 5 year and electorates do not necessarily punish the politician for what is ‘not there’, the social awareness around these aspects are yet not developed among the masses.

A country that has wilfully not chosen to spend on healthcare for decades together can’t expect its infrastructure to have the capability to see the surge of a kind that we witnessed and to some extent are still witnessing in the 2nd Covid wave through, without widespread apocalyptic damage, death and destruction. So, as much as we would like to not believe; these deaths are a result of deficiencies that are not only systemic and structural but also deeply rooted in the thinking of the policymaker. Our problems are as old as the Indian democracy itself. We would have absolved the Narendra Modi government of what clearly is an unpardonable sin of mis-governance easily, if he elected to make any headway in the right direction in the course of the last year. Sadly every piece of evidence points to the contrary. He collected massive sums of money in his private fund named ‘PM CARE FUND’, a fat sum of 30K Cr. has been put aside in the union budget for vaccine-related expenditure and yet, he did not order vaccines in time. Even now, the states have been left to fend for themselves. PM CARE FUND is as opaque as opaque can be, significant efforts have been made by the PMO to hide it from the gaze of RTIs.

The misfortune of the Indian people is that the executive head of its republic is a man who cares about elections and elections alone. It should not be forgotten that he organised “Namaste Trump” in Gujarat, right at the beginning of the 1st wave of Covid, last year. He went ahead with it, despite India having discovered the first lot of patients suffering from the virus. Not just that, he waited for the Congress-led MP Govt to fall and Shivraj Singh Chouhan from his party BJP, to regain power, before declaring the 1st lockdown. Right in the middle of the 2nd wave he himself, his entire cabinet and party leadership were busy gathering huge crowds in all 5 states elections. Mercifully voters did not choose him in WB, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He did however manage to keep power in Assam and win the UT of Puducherry for this party. 

In the last two essays :

#1 Indian an evaporating state: https://www.lavkush.co.in/2021/05/india-evaporating-state.html 

#2 India floating lifeless : https://www.lavkush.co.in/2021/05/india-floating-lifeless.html

We’ve dissected the cause of the failures, some of its seen and many of its unseen effects, in the rest of this write up let’s turn our focus to what changes should be made in the state of healthcare so as to ensure that, the next pandemic does not inflict upon us the same degree of devastation as this one lamentably has.

In a democracy, everything is an outcome of politics; from administration to economy to healthcare. Politicians, by way of policies and allocations, try to answer the questions that people ask of them. In the name of carrying out the will of the people, they fulfil their ideological commitments to their political parties. The debate on which set of ideologies is better than the other is an endless one and we should not get into it. Instead, our focus should be on making the things that matter important to the politicians. The core issue is that we vote on ‘vague’ promises. ‘Development, Employment, National security are agendas on which we the voters have been surrendering our fates to. We do not ever ask, how? Where will the money come from? Who is going to be a part of the executive team? How will the manifesto become a reality? The action plan, as it were.

India needs to take a clue from the United States of America - the way it has secured its institutions. It was the institutional integrity of the US that brought an end to the mistake that the voters made in choosing Trump. In India, we the citizens, instead of holding the elected representative to account we work hard to opt-out of the government. We send our children to private schools. When unwell, we seek the care of private hospitals. People with substantial wealth trust private security agencies to keep them safe. Our demand from the Government has still not matured beyond clean pothole free roads and bridges. We do not ask for universities and quality academic institutions. We do not fight for their research freedom, instead, we frown upon them.

The direct tax-paying vocal middle class in this country chooses to ignore that poignant state of the healthcare facilities. There is a strange acceptance of government-run facilities to be poor in cleanliness and deliveries. So much so that, when we see things not moving fast enough, we often remark, “Why is this moving at the speed of Government”. We have normalised under performance. Tied in unavailing and outdated concepts like religion, region and caste; we do not unite our voices on basic questions of healthcare, education, safety, financial wellbeing, improvement in the standard of living - we just do not. Election after election, we just vote someone, without ever assessing their objective performance.

When something grave and dramatic befalls us; we shut down our tribalistic instincts  for a while and then go back to nourishing our caste, religious and region biases over again. Politicians exploit this weakness to legitimise substandard results. Collective ignorance causes deaths as we have witnesses up and close in the last 18 months.

The other problem is that of data, we just do not know. Governments collect data selectively, they decidedly paint a picture that makes them look pretty, irrespective of the situation on the ground. Did the health minister not proclaim that Covid is in its endgame here in India, in the 2nd week of March this year? Have elected chief ministers not gone on record saying things are all right in their state? Have they not strenuously denied shortages of Oxygen, beds and medicines in their states? All of this when the truth is unravelling right in front of our eyes? Imagine how truthful and forthright they must be on items that we do not have intimate knowledge of?

What gives the politicians the courage to bullshit their way out of a difficult situation? The answer lies in the fact that ordinary Indians do not look for data and objective evidence to validate the claims that are made by their leaders. It won’t be a stretch to say that they trust what they hear from those in positions of power. Call it our collective naivety, innocence or plain stupidity. That is what it is. Politicians won’t work on things unless we make them work on them. We will need to come to the position from which we can set the agenda of the day, and not be blindly led by the whims and fancies of those in electoral politics. We will need to stop voting for a symbol unrestrainedly and start scrutinising the qualities of the candidate, their past, their ability and their plans not just their plain promises before we cast our ballot in their favour. 

To make healthcare the priority of the politicians we will need to ask and seek data/information on these questions.

 

1. How aware are we of the major health crisis of the city or the area that we live in?

2. Do we value the glitz of the property more than the actual treatment that is being rendered?

3. How easily and frequently we self medicate? 

4. Do we let quacks decide the course of our treatment?

5. Do we try to find out the scientific basis of the various forms of advertisement and endorsement that we are subjected to?

6. How much do we spend on the prevention of a condition?

7. How strongly do we demand laws to crush the nexus between the medical establishment and pharmaceutical and pathology outfits? 

   
   

Any form of data, from unemployment to college dropout to causes of death is “exotic” in our country. Have we ever made the ‘quality of information’ an election issue? 

On community health, have we ever questioned?

1. How are people feeling?

2. What is the form of ailment that is causing distress in the area?

3. Report on the state of water and air in the region? 

4. How long do we wait on common infections; fever, cold and pain etc before seeing a qualified doctor?

What effort have we made to improve the quality of conversation that we have been having with the health care providers, doctors and nurses alike?

1. How long does the conversation last? 

2. Do we ask the doc why a certain med is being recommended? 

3. Why is a certain investigative test important? 

4. How informed is the decision that we take?

   
   

What kinds of incentives have we provided for both the political class and the healthcare professional to behave ethically and in our interest? 

We are responsible for the mess that we find ourselves in. We refuse to ask questions, we refuse to bring them to book for not doing their jobs!

Let me give you a data point, India is among the countries with the highest out of pocket expenditure, as much as 64%, on total healthcare expenditure. Individuals, can’t have the knowledge needed to assess the correctness and the applicability of the treatment being provided therefore it is needed for the Government to legislate and being a layer between citizens and the healthcare system.

We can call it insurance or give it another name. If there is one thing our PM does right, it is naming schemes, I am sure he can come up with something fun.

Below items could form the outlines of the legislation. A law to regulate the flow of money into the healthcare system.

1. Citizens who can afford to pay the insurance, should pay a proportionate amount, it could be made another tax at the source of the income.  For those who can't, the Government steps in for them.

2. The agency on our behalf keeps the hospitals in check. 

3. Grantee of care and outcome is ensured by performance metrics and related rewards and penalties.

4. Direct payment has to be completely ruled out.

5. The agency works in consonance with the public health care function of the government to make sure that hospitals anticipate health care issues and stock supplies to facilitate seamless care.

6. Every piece of information, from input to output; is made publicly available.

7. Modernisation of the healthcare system is made into a mandate. 

   
   

For things to improve we will need to become citizens. An informed citizenry, asks questions of the establishment, uncomfortable and difficult ones. Keeps the power in check. Sadly, in the last 7 years, we have been reduced to subjects. We are fed propaganda and we indulge in worship and that precisely is the reason for such grand apathy from the Government.

It is high time we change!

India, an evaporating state!

India today magazine on its cover called India a “Failed state”. Shekhar Gupta in his national interest, a weekly opinion piece called India a “flailing state”. I would like to humbly disagree with both these characterisations, would instead like to say that in my view the Indian state is an 'evaporating' one. You may say that all three adjectives are not very distinct from one another and you will not be wrong but you have to accept that despite similar-sounding titles; both India today and Mr Gupta, present a very different description of the state of affairs. While India today, with its cover story is trying to compensate for what it does not calculatedly do from the television studio it owns. India's largest television network and also the most credible for the political class, when it comes to spreading propaganda. Mr Gupta has recently become soft on the failures of Modi, so much so that in his latest 'Off The Cuff' with Dr Jha, he said and I quote “someone forgot to order the vaccine” as if he was referring to a child who forgot to turn the lights off before leaving the room, not sure what stopped him from saying 'ignorant and arrogant Modi regime did not take steps necessary in the passage of a full year, not ordering the vaccine is one of many missteps taken'. I do know not what stops him from calling the 2nd wave, a Modi creation outrightly? I must however admit that we the citizens have no right to expect anything from either Mr Gupta or any other news outlet in the country because the “truth” is so stark and unfortunately for us so dark too, that no matter who tries or how organised one gets in the attempt, it just can’t be pushed under the carpet. 

It is impossible to hide (not report) deaths occurring in thousands, on an everyday basis! Though "undercounting" in the official records can be easily pulled off and as it has been proven by reporting of a few responsible news outlets that the media scene is left with, like the Lallantop, Caravan and the Scroll. Officials are undercounting covid mortality with great alacrity and efficiency. Various mathematical models have also beyond any reasonable doubt have proven that India is under-reporting death by a factor ranging from 2 to 6. To know the real death count, multiply the reported number by 6, that is how grave the situation is.

You might ask why am I bothering to write about it then, am I trying to uncover unknown truth? Nope, that is not the reason. In fact to be fair, with some hesitation, all media houses have broadcasted grim images from India's many crematoriums and graveyards. We could also argue that they did not have much of an option, with social media rife with helpless images, sore stories and vivid videos, there is no way they could not have reported? The tale of tragedy is available for anyone willing to look around. Like Mr Gupta, they too never name the one at fault, some say 'system' and others try and put the blame on the past and the opposition - such is the stronghold of the current regime on the narrative. 

And that is why it becomes important for citizens to chronicle the time; as these write-ups will serve as the first draft of history. So in a way, I am addressing the researchers of the future, who would like to dig back to know, what was happening in India in 2021; perhaps a century from now.

Well, coming back to my description of the Indian state, why do I call it evaporating and not failed or flailing. Because it is not as if the Indian state has ceased to exist. It is present in areas of its choosing. Weeks ago, the Indian state was conducting elections, facilitating mega rallies in 5 Indian states. No less than the PM participated in rallies exultant to witness a sea of people, on a day when India reported 2 lac cases, in the books of the government. All of the states that went to polls are now reeling under the 2nd wave pretty badly. The Indian state has not failed in lodging FIRs against desperate citizens who made the mistake of giving out SOS call on social media. The Indian state did not flail in organising the Kumbh Mela, attended by millions, right when the Covid curve stood perpendicular. The mighty Indian state is present and determined to collect GST on vaccines and oxygen concentrators. The Indian state is also intent on broadcasting every inch of movement in any direction, look at Twitter how cabinet ministers post drone shots of 5 oxygen containers being transported by the railways. How could the construction of central vista be categorised as 'essential services' if the thoughtful Indian state was not behind it? Therefore, it is wrong to conclude that the Indian state has either failed or has flailed. A truer statement is; that it chooses where it wants to be and evaporates from inconvenient spaces to evade accountability and public scrutiny. PM Modi is the only head of a democratic state who hasn't done any press conference on the Covid tragedy, that must tell you how healthy is the state of democracy in our glorious nation is.

The truth is that the pandemic has exposed both the shortcomings of an underinvested public health infrastructure and the incapacity of the current rulers. Nowhere in the world, such a shortage of oxygen has been experienced or reported. The government as it comes out now, was sitting on information that asserted eminent 2nd wave. It chose to let elections take precedence over everything else. It just did not act in the interest of public health and safety.

Every crisis brings both the best and the worst in people, this pandemic is no different. Exploiting the pandemic for commercial gain or cheap publicity is not cool, though! Corporate India must know that people see through their "donation schemes". These circumstances demand sincerity more now than ever. We must never forget what goes around comes around, natural justice is both inescapable and infallible. 

We must all trade very carefully!

Humans are dying of Covid and humanity of filthy greed and stinky shamelessness. Ambulance agencies, petty oxygen refilling centres and some hospitals are fleecing the hell out of people struggling to breathe. Makes one sick to the stomach.  A careful study of the socio-economic background of black marketers of oxygen concentrator and other essential drugs who have been arrested in the last few days in the Delhi NCR region reveals that these corrupt individuals come from particularly wealthy and well-connected backgrounds, easily from the top 1% of the country (wealth wise). 

What does it say about our social makeup and collective responsibility? How morally degenerate and emotionally insensitive can, we get as a society?

Caught between the apathy of the elected representatives and greed of these rich and influential inconsiderate monsters; the common man is dying unable to breathe on pavements of hospitals and on sidewalks of uncaring heartless cities the poor ill has been naively calling their home.

History will absolve none of us for the atrocities that are being rampantly committed against humanity. 

In these grim times, I gather hope from the selfless action of civil society groups and the interventions that our wise courts are making, particularly, Honourable 'Delhi High court, Allahabad High Court, Madras High court and the High court of my city Patna'.  We must root for the apex court to recognise universalised and government-funded vaccination for all under the right to life and personal liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the constitution of the Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic of India.

But till that comes by, it is we the people, who would have to assume the responsibility that the elected government has criminally abdicated, in whatever way we can; to save the nation and her people.

National vaccination policy seems informed by Social Darwinism; the fittest in this context means most resourceful. They will get access to the jab first and those who do not have the muscle (of wealth and influence) latter (which is basically in distant and unknown future). PM Modi, in yet another attempt to manage the headline and create a favourable narrative, announced that India will start vaccinating all above the age of 18 from 1st of May 2021, knowing fully well that both the vaccine manufacturers put together do not nearly have enough vaccine in stock to even cover another 10% people with one dose let alone 2 doses and entire population above 18, which is roughly 90 cr. The little we say about deferential pricing for the state and the centre the better - it is foolish economics and shrewd politics. 

Racial, ethnic and religious minorities and those economically disadvantaged are feeling the weight of the pandemic more than others. Higher rate of infection and lower recovery in this group point towards biased and collective apathy of one class of citizenry towards the ‘other’. This inequality is a global phenomenon and not just a blot on the Indian spread; though in our subcontinent, the social, political and economic aftereffects are more pronounced than anywhere else on the planet. 

Bharat is the ‘herd’ in the ‘herd immunity that India so desperately desires today.

Bharat has been bailing out India since time immemorial, with the only notable exception of the Indian freedom movement. Bharat fights India’s wars. Bharat grows food for India. Bharat erects the mansion India calls home. Bharat lays the roads and the runways on which India rages its motor of choice. Bharat participates in drug trials for India to have safe vaccines. Bharat curls empty stomach in moonlight so that India could party in the empty streets. Bharat toils on assembly lines on hot and humid shop floors for India to test the speed limits of its sports cars. Bharat labours in mines for India to have electricity powered life and lifestyle. 

Bharat votes for India to rule.

It is this Bharat that keeps the myth of India alive.

Will Bharat get its due, most certainly yes .. but sadly none of us will live that long to see it, not happening in our lifetimes, so stark and pronounced is the inequality.

Sending a prayer for India that is Bharat.

So for our own good, we must help the underprivileged, today!

India’s ok to do, middle classes and the above, which is roughly top 40% of the country have a choice to either amplify the shortsightedness of the policy with myopic selfishness or to behave in accordance with Gandhian Idea of inclusivity to help those who can’t afford to get a vaccine in an expensive 5-star hospital. Know this, that if the top 40% do not show magnanimity, the virus will continue to infect the poor and in the process mutate and then will come back stronger to hunt those living in the ivory towers later, too. 

The anaemic pace of vaccination, coupled with inelastic supply and high hesitancy not just among regular people but also medical practitioners (only 60% took the vaccine when it was available for all of them in the first phase); is going to ensure that virus keeps raging for next 2 years (most conservative estimate).

Given that social vaccine, which is ‘mask, social distancing and hand hygiene’ and state-mandated lockdowns and curfews; blunt as they may be are the only tools that the majority of our country will have access to fight the pandemic. 

The sooner we make peace with it the better it will be for us, all.

Don’t let your guard down, not now and not even in the near future.

A palace surrounded by graveyards from all sides, no matter how beautiful & grand, is seen as haunted. If for nothing else then to save the sanctity of our castles save the humble huts from burning in despair and disaster.

If India incorporation (all firms big & small) decided to cut its marketing spending (advertisement) by half for the rest of this year and diverted the funds to vaccination and rehabilitation of those infected from the bottom 30% of our impoverished country. It will become possible for India to imagine a future without Covid wrecking havoc, as early as the mid of 2023.

It may not be a legal requirement, one may argue that welfare is not the core objective of the private entities that operate to earn profit and that they are being unfairly expected to do what the Govt that collects lion’s share of their profits as taxes (both direct & indirect ) have been elected to do. They won’t be wrong, after all, they have worked hard to accumulate, raise the lifeblood of their org, the capital.

As much as they are right in ‘not spending’ it is also correct that the Govt of the day is both incapable and inconsiderate; so someone will have to come forward.

Come forward to help the desperate and destitute of this country today; after all, it is them whom you wish to sell to.

Money is not an issue, collective will is!

The amount of money that India spends each year on weddings and festivals is obnoxious, more than 100 billion dollars (conservative estimate). Imagine, if all of India decided to give up festivities and the expensive circus around weddings for a year - how easily can she wade through the crisis of Covid? 

At times like these India misses the charisma of figures like Bapu, Pundit Nehru, even Lal Bahadur Shashtri; who could rally the country behind such a mission.

Well, they may not be around; but their ideals live - we need to take inspiration from them, and give up what must be given up to offer people who would otherwise die if not from the disease then from hunger that would follow; the gift of life. 

Think long and hard and then act, we can’t be sitting on the fence.

The national duty of every Indian today is to do everything within their means to not fall sick; thereby saving an already collapsed medical infrastructure from further desecration. Her graveyards and crematoriums and other resting places (tower of silence) alike are tired and exhausted - they deserve to rest.

Shun social, political, religious and economic responsibilities in the interest of national well-being, support the nation: Do not venture out, save the country!

No effort is too small; no contribution, insignificant!

Keep in view the legend from the epic the Ramayana, ‘the little squirrel and the Rama Setu’, whenever you feel small and inadequate when faced with strong urge to help. For matters of kindness are not measured so much in volume but in purity of intent and by the degree of selflessness. Your contribution of sponsoring vaccination of one unrelated and underprivileged individual is in no way any lesser then someone choosing to dump a billion dollars in an already wealthy charity, in the book of the Karma.

I appeal to your humanitarian senses and not just patriotic propriety ; come forward to help, in whichever way you can.

Humanity demands action, we can’t leave those in need today to suffer in silence initially and then settle in eternal quiet eventually. We have to think creatively, cut costs wherever possible to find the ‘funds’ needed for good intentions to manifest in tangible acts of help. 

Here are a few things that we can attempt. 

1) Healthy individuals: Volunteer for non-medical efforts at hospitals: wheeling patients, filling forms, waiting in queues, distributing food and water, etc.

2) We can lobby with RWAs to cut the maintenance expenditure of the societies that we reside in, divert the saved funds to the needy, instead.

3) We can have common spaces in our gated communities and apartments converted into isolation centres for those who live in houses woefully small to maintain any social distancing; thereby limiting the chain. 

4) Cut personal expenditure to the bare minimum: Donate amount equal to electricity tariff of the ACs that we use, drop all non-essential purchases even the budgeted ones. Donate in kinds. 

Indiscriminate aid should become the principal character of public policy response and also that of independent social outreach programs funded by concerned citizens and NGOs.

In helping, that is if we have the resources to help, we should not see any group of needy as ‘the other’. Wherever possible, we must direct relief in the direction of those who need it the most and not towards those with who we know or identify the most with.

Helping people is serving GOD.

Take care and stay safe.