How can citizens help?
Yes, the 10-day ‘containment measures’ are under way.
The authorities have made an effort and they’re constantly on the job to mitigate the COVID scenario. The question we need to ask ourselves is: What are we, as citizens, willing to do to aid the government in the fight against COVID-19?
Here is an answer: We need to remain indoors unless there is an emergency, at least for these 10 days.
Lockdowns had dried up banks accounts, devastated businesses and even taken a toll on mental health of some people. But there is a need to look at the bigger picture because much is at stake.
It is in our hands to contribute towards the ongoing fight against the pandemic. But are we making any effort?
The vaccine conundrum
Last week, two commuters booked a local cab from Khyndai Lad to 7th Mile, Upper Shillong. The trip began after the rate was fixed at Rs 300.
The middle-aged cabbie picked up a conversation with his passengers and began by asking the most important question doing the rounds these days in Shillong. “Have you taken your vaccine yet?”
While one responded positively, the younger passenger said he wasn’t old enough to take the jab of the vaccine yet.
When they returned the question to the cabbie, he quickly replied that he was hesitant to take the jab since he had heard so many theories that the vaccine wasn’t safe.
When the passengers argued that it was necessary for him to take the vaccine since he comes into contact with so many people during the course of the day and he wouldn’t know if any of his passengers was a carrier of the virus, the cabbie fell silent for a few seconds.
“But people test positive even after taking the shots,” he questioned with a slight decisiveness in his voice.
The trip was slightly delayed due to the usual traffic jam at 3rd Mile.
“I have to admit that I am not very confident about taking the vaccine,” the cabbie continued.
The elder passenger said she had also taken the vaccine and there was no side effect. “You must go for it,” she argued.
The rest of the trip was uneventful.
As the two passengers disembarked at their destination and paid the cabbie, he smiled and said, “I am not fully convinced but I am going to think over it when I get home.”
A dog’s way to bed
Shillong, just like many cities in the present day, has a large number of stray dogs with majority of them being harmless. Deprived of homes and proper shelter, they have taken to becoming more social than their nature already is.
Some have memorised who are the ones that offer food or when or where to stop by meat shops to get a chunk of that delicacy.
Yes, they’re smart — they know where to look for food, they sense people’s intentions and do a lot more than just lying on the tarmac of the roads.
But to see where one of these dogs has trumped others in the league in terms of brains, we have to head to a locality in Upper Mawprem between 1 to 4 am.
One particular dog, white in colour and visibly of local origins, has found itself a comfortable place to sleep which wouldn’t have been the case if it weren’t for its smart brain.
Along a long stretch of two-wheeler parking place, it perches on the seat of a bike or scooty on some occasion as per wish, almost daily during midnight.
For now, the seats are his cozy bed. Who knows what comfort it’ll go looking for next?