Inter district travel during COVID days

We had to travel for a personal emergency from Chennai to another district this monday. It was a situation we never thought we would be in.

We have been holed up in our house ever since the lock down, occasionally stepping out for groceries, vegetables. We had read about the process laid out by the government and what people are going through while trying to travel from one place to another. That was all news to us since it was happening to a nameless person whom we did not know.

When you are in that situation, that is when the reality actually sinks in. When we had decided to travel on Sunday, we did not know where to start. We tried to look for the government sites that were put up to issue epass and all we got was inter state travel forms. Thankfully, I was able to reach out to friends in the whatsapp group to get the right link and get advice on the process.

When I finally got the link, we found that we just had to submit the form for the epass. The only problem was it asked for a few documents and for a lot of information. People told me that the epass would be approved in less than an hour since we had a genuine reason and it was an emergency.

We waited for an hour and got a rejection on the epass that we had submitted. Feeling frustrated and emotional, we did not know what to do. Should we just travel without an epass and explain the situation in the checkposts or should we wait to get it approved. My cousin then told us to apply it a second time and give more details and explain the situation. We got the toll free number as well and were asked to call and explain to them. Fortunately, we got our epass approved in 10 minutes when we applied it for the second time. It was valid for maximum 2 days including the return travel.

We got a message on the phone with a link to download the epass. All we had to do was show the downloaded epass at the checkposts and give them the reason for travelling. They allowed us to go through after verifying the epass.

We were wary of Covid risks, not stopping the car at any restaurant, using handsanitizer every time we paid cash at the toll gates.

It was a different experience for us - travelling 130kms on a well known route after staying at home for nearly 2 months.

The only question that we asked ourselves was - the whole process the government has put up for emergency travels seems to be helping only people who have money and have an own vehicle. We had our car, had a mobile with network connectivity and had people who helped us to understand the process.

What about the people who could not afford a personal vehicle. How do they travel during a personal emergency? It seems that our government was only putting up a process to aid the people who had money and was not concerned or bothered about the rest of the population.

Travails of the migrant laborers during the COVID situation

When I watch the news these days and hear the plight of the poor people in this country, I say a small thanks to the universe for giving me this life. A life where I can afford to buy what I want even during the lock down days.

I shudder to think of what the daily laborers and migrant workers are going through these tough times. Imagine waiting everyday for someone to provide food or trying to find some way to go back to your native home since you have no means to earn a living.

Imagine feeling helpless and hoping that the government will do something for you.

I understand how these political parties work in the country. No party that has been in power is corrupt free these days. Some are worse than the others. In spite of knowing all this, I thought that at least these people had a little humanity in them and were not that very bad.

That is where I was wrong. The current government has sent out a clear message to this country - they will help someone only if they are rich and powerful or if they contribute greatly to the vote bank. Otherwise, they are not bothered. If you are poor, you will be treated no better than animals.

Some incidents that moved me in the last few weeks -

* Migrant laborers walked hundreds of kilometers to their native after waiting for days. After walking for a few kilometers, the officials sent them back to the place they started.
* A man asked permission to go and pick his pregnant wife. He was denied in spite of showing e-pass. The pregnant wife decided to walk to reach home. On the way, she delivered the baby.
* Migrant laborers who fell asleep on the railway tracks due to tiredness, were run over by the train.
* Migrant laborers who had continued walking on the roads were run over by vehicles.
* A man who had a cart with two cows, sold one of his cows for money. He then pulled the cart,  stepping in place for the second cow, carrying his family and his belongings
* Two men got a ride in a lorry/truck and asked the driver to stop for water. He did not stop. One of then got dehydrated and was on the verge of dying. Since the driver had asked the dying man to get down, the friend also got down. The other man held his friend for hours until the sick friend passed away.
* Government officials sprayed disinfectant on a group of migrant laborers, treating them like animals.
* Police lathi charge group of migrant laborers who had protested and had started walking towards their destination.

There were a few good Samaritans - police, volunteers who helped these people. Glad that we have some people who understood their plight. I did hear that some people bought a lot of slippers in different sizes to give to these people who were walking to their home town. Such a thoughtful gesture. And some state governments like Kerala who have done such a good job. That state is an example of what good administration is and how efficiently people can run a government.

Question is - when they can do it, why cannot the central government or other state governments do it. When they spent money to get back Indians stranded in different countries, why couldn't they arrange transport for these poor people to go back to their native homes.

The poor have lost all their savings. They are the ones who are heavily impacted due to the virus and the lock down.

What was even more surprising was the fact that the supporters of the ruling party, still had nothing to say about the situation. Why do they still defend the government when they know very well that nothing has been done.

How can they not show any empathy towards these people. How can the elected ministers and other representatives be so insensitive. How can they even eat their food or sleep properly every day when they know that hundreds of people are suffering every day.

Every time I see a debate between the ruling and the opposition party in a local news channel, I get irritated. How can these representatives of the ruling party argue that their side is always right or lie so confidently.

How did these people lose humanity? Is caste, religion, money, power so important than these human lives?

The Manoranjitham flower

Born and raised in my native where for generations the only livelihood was agriculture, my mom loved to have a garden. That is her way of being close to nature. Thankfully, we live in an apartment that has a lot of open surrounding space.

Our compound houses a few coconut trees, a neem tree, an orange tree and my mom's garden. The biggest challenge is to make sure the plants are not ravaged by the rodents or the cats.

A few years back, probably two or three years, we noticed a strange plant growing in a pot. My mom had no idea what it was. After many weeks, she transferred it to the ground and took care of the small plant. We initially thought it was some fruit bearing plant. Over the years, the plant grew in height, without bearing any flower or fruit. There were days when my mom wanted to cut it down since it did not resemble any plant we knew.

Yesterday, while tending to her garden, my mom just looked at this plant while watering it. And that is when she noticed a flower. We were not sure if it was really a flower, since it was green in color and looked different. My mom was excited and told me that it looked like the - Manoranjitham flower. I was skeptical and thought she was wrong. She then asked me to get the "dhoratti" which is actually a iron hook that could be placed at the end of a long stick and used to pluck fruits. She plucked the flower with the dhoratti. She took it in her hands and showed it to me. And that was when I knew she was right. It was indeed the Manoranjitham flower.

The flower changed it's color from dark green to a lighter shade today.

The plant -

The flower -

The Manoranjitham flower has a fruity and an exotic fragrance. It is an unique flower.

My mom told me that there is a myth that whatever smell you wish for, the flower will provide that fragrance.

I also heard that once the flower dries, the fragrance of the flower will get more intense.

Well, we were excited the whole day.  What an unexpected discovery!!!