Do it yourself

Fruit salad and helmets It was summer of 1992. The weathermen had announced the arrival of monsoon, a few days ago; though it had not rained even once. Weather was hot and humid – just the way mosquitoes, houseflies, fungi, and a variety of bacteria & viruses love it. People, especially children, were suffering from infections. The city administration was daily issuing half/full page newspaper advertisements cautioning people against disease outbreak, and guiding them to maintain personal hygiene, stay hydrated and avoid consuming street food, especially cut fruits. Several billboards and posters were also put up across the city. My office was located on Indraprastha Marg, one of the busiest streets in the city, just opposite an imposing building housing the Delhi Police headquarter (DPHQ). Around 100 meters away from DPHQ, there was a major bus stop (ITO). Several fruit chat vendors would sell cut fruits & vegetables like watermelon, pineapple, cucumber, coconut, etc. Th...

I travelled to the Agra, Aligarh and Bareilly divisions of the state of Uttar Pradesh last week. Holi being the principal festival of these regions, it was the peak season of festivities in these areas. Since, in the past two years, the Covid pandemic impacted the festivities to a great extent; this year’s celebrations were particularly enthusiastic. A good sugarcane and bumper wheat crop added to the farmers’ delight. Poor realization for potatoes was a little dampener. The elections to the state assembly have just concluded and the new government is yet to be formed. Both the principal political parties, the BJP and SP, have performed well in the elections. So the political leaders and workers were also seen celebrating with fervor. Broadly, the aerial socio-economic view of the region appeared quite ebullient and promising. There are few observations that I would like to share with the readers. These observations are relevant for understanding some popular political narratives...