Editor
‘’Meghalaya Prays,” a program telecast by NDTV on Easter Sunday earned the praise of many from within and outside Meghalaya as seen from the favourable comments it received in the You Tube version. Indeed it was a wonderful programme and the message of Easter linked with this time of crisis was fittingly and compellingly delivered through it, The program enthralled many of its viewers and also influenced them to participate emotionally while it was telecast on television.
The humility displayed by Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma and his expressive solemnity while conveying his message at the start of the programme touched the sentiment of many viewers and participants to respond to his call to stand together with Meghalaya while its people pray and intercede for our nation and the world with hymns of prayers. In a quiet and unassuming way but with precision he got the message through, merging the spirit of the occasion with the need of the hour.
The idea for bringing out such a program is certainly splendid and more so the efforts that led to its materialization must be tremendous. The Chief Minister certainly deserves praise for this novel initiative and so does his team who endeavoured to make it succeed. A big round of applause especially to all the artistes in the programme for their passionate and awesome performance which left the viewers touched and spellbound.
Yours etc.,
KL Tariang,
Via email
Dharavi a Covid-19 hub
Editor,
With four deaths due to Covid-19 epidemic in Mumbai’s Dharavi and as many as 43 infected cases, Dharavi is now sitting on a powder keg as people of this area are fast getting infected with Coronavirus.Dharavi is considered to be one of the Asia’s largest slums. The BMC authorities have identified 10 hotspots within Dharavi, which is spread over 240- hectare and are maintaining vigilance on matters relating to health in the area.
Dharavi is home to more than a million people. Many are second generation residents, whose parents moved in years ago. As a matter of fact, it is a city within a city with unending stretch of narrow dirty lanes, open sewers and cramped huts. People are working in cramped conditions with no fresh air to breathe. Just like rodents’ burrows, people live in cramped single rooms. Public health system is in the doldrums. Water access derives from public standpipes stationed throughout the slum. The limited lavatories that are there are extremely filthy and broken down to the point of being unsafe. Mahim creek is a local river that is widely used by local residents for urination and defecation causing the spread of contagious diseases. It is said that there is an average of one toilet per 500 people.
It may be recalled that the first plague to devastate Dharavi happened in 1896, when nearly half of the population died. A series of plagues and other epidemics continued to affect Dharavi and Mumbai in general for the next 25 years with high rates of mortality. Epidemics like dysentery, typhoid, cholera, leprosy, amoebiasis and polio used to be very common in this area. People living in such squalid conditions are prone to infections like Covid-19 so the government must not allow this squalid condition to continue on whatever excuses any more, for, the living conditions of a person in a particular area also affect another person. So, a person observing good and hygienic practices cannot be safe so long as another person in that locality lives in a squalid condition.
The state government taking into account the gravity of the problem must chalk out plans to redevelop Dharavi and transform it into a modern township, complete with proper housing and shopping complexes, hospitals and schools. High-rise buildings are ideal for the people of Dharavi, because families can be rehabilitated in the same area without uprooting them from their homes. When more families can be moved into these high-rise buildings, space can be saved. Once people are rehabilitated, they will become more hygienic.
At this point it is feared that a more virulent form of epidemic than Covid-19 may break out in the immediate future too, and so, a little bit of precaution may be good and of course a stitch in time will saves nine.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan
Via email
Human indecencies
Editor,
In my college days I had the privilege of reading the book, ‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus. It instantly made a great impact on me. This book helped me realize that the act of demeaning others in order to glorify oneself was both ridiculous and dangerous. The Plague was published in 1947 and Albert Camus got the Nobel prize for his contribution in the field of literature in 1957. How plague destroyed the harmony of the lives of the people in the town of Oran in North Algeria was the theme of this novel. An outbreak of a disease has previously been used as a backdrop of a story. But here the disease itself has been made the main character of the story. Many consider it an allegory of the French resistance to the Nazi attack during the Second World War and the disease Camus had referred to was nothing but fascism.
After the reading the book, I got the impression that Camus had actually been pointing out to our indecency in general in the guise of the plague. Fascism is indeed one of the manifestations of indecency. But it also has other forms of manifestations. Sometimes, it takes the shape of machismo. Sometimes, it emerges as infinite capitalist greed for money. Sometimes, it becomes a narcissistic obsession for self advertisement. Sometimes, it goes to thrash humanity at the altar of casteism or slavery. And sometimes, it uses even the belief in god to gain money and political power. Like an outbreak of a disease, these ugly manifestations of human indecency cause death, destruction and deprivation.
The priest in the novel, Father Paneloux who said that the epidemic was a curse by God for our sins, could not answer why a child whom the priest himself loved ~ died. He could not refute that the child was absolutely innocent. Shaken ~ the priest lost his desire to live. I can still visualise how he staggered to the church after the death of the child. Camus makes it clear that an outbreak of a disease is not a divine intervention but it is, as it were, a dance of the demons that have existed in our environment.
At the end of the book, Camus reminds us that the plague might again break out any time soon as the germs would exist in the environment. The pandemic we have been witnessing now is not the plague but Covid-19. But there is no difference. Just like the plague bacteria, corona viruses will exist and take newer shapes. This is as dangerous a phenomenon as the act of the mind where hatred rules. It is as dangerous as the manifestations of the desire to dominate and exploit others. Indeed, it is as dangerous as every form of indecent behaviour.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata
BSNL’s poor service
Editor,
In the current scenario where everybody is struggling to maintain social distancing as one of the measures to contain Covid – 19 pandemic, necessitating especially the seniors and elderly citizens to communicate online and adopt the “work from home” culture, internet connectivity plays a major role. However, the role of BSNL at such times leaves much to be desired. My landline number 0364-2575702 having broad band connectivity was out of service for last 2 ½ months but the irony is that despite making several complaints through several numbers to the concerned authority, the line was not repaired. Interestingly the bills for the months of Feb and March 2020 were sent through messages on my cell phone raising doubts as to system/data is that is being used. Besides complaints that have been registered with acknowledgement on March 03, 2020 has not yet been attended to till date. BSNL as one of the essential public service providers should attend to such matters urgently.
Yours etc…
K Marbaniang
Via email.