You, me and our Morality

You, me and our Morality.

by

MURALI MURTHY

Upto few years ago, In some dusty trunk of my house lied a heap of comics that I have read and re-read hundreds of times.
I read them when I was bored or because I didn't want to study and was surely a source of entertainment.
Comics were a quick getaway, as We lived those characters.
I speak for most of us 80s and 90s kids, when not even a day went without reading our favourite comics.

One of the most favourite one was Panchatantra - interesting short stories which ended with a moral.

Another favourite one Chandamama - It became an alternate to our grandparent's stories. Those bed-time stories often had a moral for us at the end of the story.

We were groomed and fed with loads of Morals since childhood. Our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, the books we read, everything and everyone were feeding us with morals, with good intentions to give us good upbringing and values.

They don't make those books these days, neither do we have Morals left these days.

What is Morality after all?As we all understand, it's a set of intentions, actions, standards, principles, code of conduct derived from / for a specific geography, region, philosophy and culture, for the sole purpose to enable people live in cooperation and harmony.
Morality are a bunch of unwritten rules to define the goodness in a society.

Moral or Ethics refer to what is Good, what is Bad, What is Right, What is Wrong.
That's how we and the society saw things as - Either it's right or wrong, it was simple binary for us those days.

Morals were universally accepted within the society we lived in.

We see Moral conflicts everywhere around us, people taking Moral high ground than the other, with differences in definition of what is right and what is Wrong.

Let's begin with the classical Moral conflict - A Vegetarian calling meat eaters immoral. While this eternal conflict keeps going on while both sides defending and using all convenient logic to put the other party irrational, somewhere in the middle came Eggetarians "Excuse me, Egg is scientifically not meat, so morally I am right"

A Vegetarian who vehemently argues and makes meat eaters feel they have sinned by killing a poor animal just to fill the stomach, brazenly goes on a cockroach killing spree, beats the street dogs with stones as he can't stand them! Hypocrisy at its best!

It's all about lust, isn't it.Lust for food, lust for power, lust for sexual desires, lust for money.
This lust towards something that we desire to or just our ego, makes us to come up with our own rationale to say We are right.

A Vendor bribing a company official or a common man bribing a Govt official, pre-marital sex, relation outside marriage, homosexuality - People indulging in any of these will have their own logic to defend what they do is not wrong, if not right.
A road rage, a road accident leads to two parties blaming each other.

Just because a particular sect worships an animal, it will be considered immoral for the entire country to be consuming that animal as food.

A set of People find a Govt ruling hurting their living in their perceived way, they agitate, cause ruckus and cause greater discomfort to a larger population.

Govt has the audacity to believe they have the moral right to bring any rule, as they are the elected Govt.
We better take the Politics away, as the common belief is everyone in Politics have lost shame, morality and ethics. Yet, each political party points fingers at each other.

Few people taking law in their own hands to punish what they believe as Immoral for a man and women to be together before Marriage.

People find Live-in relation, relation outside marriage, homosexuality as Immoral, whereas people engaging in such relations deny a question of Morality, but a freedom of their way of living.

While we all outrightly reject the idea of Terrorism and Naxalism, It's only a term given to them by us, and none involved with such groups would feel they are wrong but only fighting for an idea or a cause.

Men drinking and smoking has slowly over the years is acceptable and is no more a question of Morality, however women doing the same is still considered immoral.

What's the definition of Morality now? Who is the sitting judge to decide what is Right, what is Wrong? Or Who is Right, who is Wrong?

Morality itself has lost its context.
Morality makes sense when People from same culture, region stay in a community, as it is more likely to have similar mindset and realities.

Their upbringing, culture, assumptions, lifestyle becomes part of localized "common sense", hence forms the foundation of Morality.

In the present day world we live in, it is no more a localized environment. People have exposure to other cultures and societies, people travel places and import other cultures. In such a globalised world, the geographical limitations of a society has blurred causing influx of mixed ideas and lifestyle.

This forms a break in a pattern and understanding of Life in general, causing conflicts and differences in the society.

Yet there are examples of the likes of Zaira Wasim, who quit a very promising career in Bollywood as she thought its immoral to be in such a career.
Some might think it's irrational, and the same act is hailed as peak of Morality by others.

It is completely a different scenario with some of the African, European and Middle East countries, where the Morals are still intact. Whether we like it or not, there is a common understanding and realities among the people.

The question remains: who sits in judgement, if everyone have varied realities, their own definition of Morals and Ethics? Where will such conflicts lead us to, if there is no common ground of basic living principles?

Even if our perceived Morals is against other's beliefs, can We say Sorry to each other to bridge the gap?

The word Sorry is probably worth writing a new article all together.

How many of us genuinely say Sorry? Our Ego stops us doing so, as our perceived Morals makes us strongly believe we are never wrong and there is no need for a Sorry.
The Sorry might not be for the act or for what we said, it could just be for hurting other person's beliefs.

My wife says Sorry to me so many times, and most of the times it is embarrassing to receive a Sorry. She says sorry at the drop of the hat, to ensure I am not hurt with her views.
Ofcourse, she ensures I also say Sorry. Her approach is simple and effective "I will say Sorry, you also say Sorry. This will nullify the conflict or clash

Can we adopt such a simple method to keep the society healthy in large!

Writer's Hat

Writer's Hat

BY

MURALI MURTHY

Jayanth couldn't control his emotions and is elated as he just hung up a call that he received from Nirvana Films who offered him to write the script for their next Project starring Yash.
Jayanth gets busy writing for the movie over the next few weeks.

Jayanth is invited to attend a Literature Fest, where he meets Poornachandra.

"Sir, am a big fan of your works...I am Jayanth, am a writer"
"Who doesn't know you Jayanth...I know your works, have heard the songs you have written in many movies..."
"Thank you sir. It's an honour just to know that you have seen my work"
"You are very talented Jayanth. I am not much into Movie Songs, but I hear few songs because of the great lyrics it had. I wanted to get your contact and congratulate you, but somehow that didn't happen till now"
"I can't express how happy and lucky I am. It means a lot to hear this from such a great writer"
"Your work is worth all the good words you hear from me and others. So, what are you writing these days?"
"I have been busy writing for few movies now, I am also part of a new project from Nirvana Films, with whom I was eager to work for a very long time"
"Glad to know about your success, and best wishes"
"Thank you Sir. If I may ask you, what brings you joy, any particular topic you write about makes you happy?"
"Nothing in particular...infact I do not like or enjoy writing many things. Sometimes for commercials reasons We might have to pen down something. What I love doing as a Writer, is when I write for myself"
"Write for yourself?"
"Yes, I write for myself...I let my thoughts go free in those writings, no rules, no one to tell me the Intent/agenda/objective...it can be Anything, social, political, religious, story. I just write Anything I want, that brings me satisfaction. I usually don't publish them, I keep it for myself or let my close contacts read about it"
"Wow, that's something..I was always waiting for someone to give me work to write"
"Try it, write for yourself. Let yourself loose and start living the characters you write."

After an insightful conversation with his idol and someone whom he looks upon to, Jayanth quickly finishes all his work commitments and sits on to write...Jayanth choses to start presenting certain pearls of wisdoms, in form of short stories.

Jayanth starts with a key principle that he practices and preaches in his life, to put right efforts and right skills to succeed and there are no short cuts.

---

Akash, A young man from a small town finishes his education and migrates to Mumbai to build a successful career. After 5 years of struggles, he finds himself in a mediocre job, rude boss and a salary with which he can't make ends meet in Mumbai, forget sending money back home.

He changed 3 Jobs in 5 years, yet saw failures and dejected in life.
After some coaxing by his parents, Akash returns back to his hometown and takes up another mediocre job with much lesser salary.

Akash is desperate to make it big, visits many temples and prays for change in luck and fortunes.
In one such temple visits, Akash meets a well known spritual Guru - Sri Vasantananda.
Akash falls to the Guru's feet and seeks his blessings.
Akash explains his unsuccessful career and seeks Guru's blessings "Guruji, whats the secret of success. Please do something tell me theagic words that will help me make it big in my Career. I need some miracle, I am tired of trying."
Sri Vasantananda patiently listens to Akash, and asks him to meet him in the Morning by the River.

An excited Akash reaches the river side early in the morning, with a hope that Guruji will perform some ritual or give him some spiritual stuff that could change his life.

Sri Vasantananda arrives and asks Akash to join him and take a dip in the water.
As Akash takes a dip, Guruji pushes him inside the water forcefully. Akash is shocked and in pain, as he is forced inside the water. Akash is choking and is struggling, after 30 seconds Akash doesn't feel the pressure anymore, and pulls himself out of the Water and gasps for air and regains back his senses.

Before Akash could reach and ask questions, Guruji goes "What did you want the most when you were under water?"
"Air"
"That is the secret of Success. When you want success as badly as you needed Air inside the Water, you will fight it out and get it.
That's the secret of success"

---

As Jayanth starts to think of ways to end his short story, he hears a voice "Seriously? Is that how you want to convey a message?"
"Who is it?"
"It's me"
"Who? Where are you? I don't see anyone around"
"It's me, Vasantananda"
"What? Who is it? Is this a joke"
"It's really me Jayanth, your own creation"
"What? I just wrote this story and named a character, how could anyone know"
"That's what I am saying, I am your character"
"Is it me thinking, or is it truly the character I just created in a story talking to me?"
"I leave it to you...I am here to ask you the way you made me do things and rather a rude way to convey a moral"
"You are my creation, and I think this is how I want you to do."
"Is this how you want to encourage someone or help someone seeking your help"
"As a Writer, I just go with the flow of the story or the topic...We writers never come up with a plan or think through the entire work before actually writing."
"You mean to say, your creativity is natural?"
"I think so...I can talk on behalf of all writers, our mind is wired to think on the go. I just start with basic framework, and the topic / story keeps building on It's own"
"Where do you get inspiration or idea to start a new topic/story?"
"Inspiration is derived from what we hear, feel, dreams, movies, web series, instances in life or just life experience. I am confident of writing about anything and everything, take a very small idea or instance and build an entire story around it.
Like how Murali Murthy is writing this story as we speak, where even I am a character in his story, came up with all these conversations you and me is having, just like that without pre-planning"
"Oh, you mean even you are like me..just a character?"
"Yes, I am Murali's imagination. All three of us are just living in his mind, talking in his mind. That's what Mr. Poornachandra meant when he said when you write something passionately, you start living the character...the characters come alive"
"So, what was Murali's idea of this story?"
"Murali was always inspired with the brilliant concept of the movie Inception. He just wanted to write something with multi layered, stories woven inside another. And here he is, in the third layer of the writing.
From a Writer's point of view, he has linked himself with 2 layers inside and that's where it ends. The story is more from creative exploration point of view, to see the limits of how ideas can be given birth in real time and progressed as a readable content".

An experience called 2020

An experience called 2020.

by

MURALI MURTHY

As our grandparents used to say "I was there when We got our Freedom, and I was witness to the struggles of independence", probably we will be telling our next generation one day "I was witness to the struggles of 2020".

2020 will be remembered for long for the dent it has left in our lives, and will go down in the history books as one of the worst years.

As we come to the fag end of 2020 and just a couple of weeks to roll over to 2021, it has left lot of bad memories. As I see, Covid was just a reason and it took the limelight for otherwise a nasty year overall.

The Covid, the lockdowns, incessant rains, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, wild fires, economic meltdowns and protests...we kept hearing bad news one after the other. 2020 indeed has been rude, with many losing near and dear ones. So many lives lost, probably Covid was just a reason for many deaths. So many good people known to me had untimely departures.

While some of the professions / industries remained unaffected, who were confined to their homes and the only discomfort faced was their inability to go out. For many others it was about losing jobs, hefty salary cuts and losing livelihood...the scenes of scores of people migrating back to their native, gave a picture of India-Pakistan partition.

Many businesses shutting shop...many of my favourite joints - La Casa, Eurasia, Egg Factory closing down was indeed heartbreaking.

For many others, it was traumatic.
I saw my own businesses falling flat, a landslide fall right in front of me, I stood helpless and in pain. The agony of having to go through tough times dealing with payroll and payments when the bank accounts are dry, and personal finances at the rock bottom just adding to the wounds.

These depressing and agonising times highlighted the importance of mental health, with many getting into depression, losing composure.

Many of us experienced Anxiety attacks, extreme stress damaging general health.
The idle mind and joblessness made many act wierd and absurd.

And the war like buildup along the border with our neighbors; imagine if that had turned into a full blown war, it would have made things miserable.

Why did all these happen? Was it the Nature's way to heal itself or did Nature wanted to teach us humans a lesson? Or was it a balancing act?

Amidst all these struggles and sufferings, I believe many life lessons were learnt.
- We evolved and started to adapt new way of life.
- It made us be resilient.
- We learnt the value of money, importance of savings.
- We realized the importance of life.
- We taught ourselves to maintain hygiene, eat healthy, stay fit and boost immunity.
- We started to enjoy time at home, time spent with family, the joy of having lunch and dinner together.
- We learnt the significance of meeting relatives and close friends regularly.
- We learnt to spend only for absolute necessity.

Empty roads, less crowded spaces, birds chirping in the cities, avoiding unnecessary travel were blissful times indeed.

Life had become so mechanical and artificial. 2020 made us realize being conventional, conservative and orthodox are the best ways to lead a quality life.
Afterall, our forefathers who created basic principles of life and lifestyle are proved not to be fools.

The way shopping experience had dramatically changed with supermarkets and Malls Vs the present day shopping experience of hand picked vegetables, fruits and grocery in the corner shops. Imagine the amount of unnecessary things we would buy in those supermarkets, which spoilt us with options, choices and so called "offers".

And the Weekends then...blame it on hectic work through out the week and partying hard over the weekends. Now, weekends are peaceful time at home, sipping on a cup of coffee on the couch watching TV, or go for grocery shopping or just a stroll in the nearby park.

Life was indeed hectic and extremely stressful, no doubt, We all used to slog.

Covid has given us all a glimpse of our retired life. How we conduct ourselves, how prepared are we, what would we do when we retire, it's a trailer of our lifestyle 10-20 years from now.

2020 certainly changed our perspective towards life, it has made us introspective.

With all these life lessons and learnings, we will soon walk cautiously into 2021. Will we?
Or will we forget 2020 as a bad year and move on with our usual old ways?

We might just laugh it out and remember 2020 seeing each other in Pajamas and Shorts most of the time, úmpteen no.of movies, web series we have watched, masked faces, family get-togethers and friends meets on video calls, online meetings and online classes.

IPL was indeed an ice-breaker and a welcome change, it reignited many of us to start living life again.

We don't know what 2021 holds for us, I don't know what to expect in 2021...will the markets revive, will the industry get back to normalcy, will my businesses flourish, will Nature stop testing us and blesses the humanity with good fortunes?

I am optimistic and hopeful that 2021 will be better. I will welcome 2021 with hope, positivity and great energy.

I believe we are all the lucky lot to have survived 2020 and hopefully whatever last bit is remaining.

Hoping and Praying for change of fortune and luck for the Humanity!

Happy 2021!

We Care

An appeal to the sexa/septua/octo/nona..genarians.

by

MURALI MURTHY

As We get older, We become wiser and the elderly do realize soon that happiness is not how much money you make, how big is your home or how luxurious your car is, it's all about finding peace, joy and calmness. Family is what that matters to one; the time, memories and the nostalgic moments that one lives with. Our worth is measured by the number of people we have earned in our lifetime, who can stand by you, and be there to take care of you whenever needed.

The elderly become quite, humbled with life, at the same time unimpressed with many things around.

Life, lifestyle has indeed changed from their days, we can never be as disciplined and principled as our parents/elders.

Though the generation gap is obvious and the primary cause of discontent between the generation, it's how both of us understand each other's thought process and comfort each other.

It is said that parents become a child and act like one as they get old, with rigidity in the way they have to be taken care of, or the way things will have to be around.

Well, if they become child, shouldn't the role reverse and we also care for them and behave like parents?

Graceful ageing is when the elders show maturity and understand the modern day problems, and responsible parenting (role reversed) is when we understand their mindset, their inability to accept our ways.

Without getting into specifics, without finding excuses, a healthy elderly care is seen when both meet mid way.

We can never match their patience, dedication and duty bound when it comes to taking care of someone. We probably can never show such love, care  and pure affection they showed while raising us.

But we do genuinely feel for them, care for them, compassionate towards them and with all humility we want to take care of them, be by their side when they need to be taken care of.

We will never be able to repay them for their sacrifices, compromises they made in raising us, but least we can do is taking care of them when their body ages and they become weak.

We all have genuine intention in fulfilling our duty to take care of them; each of us might have different ways and means to take care of them, either directly or indirectly. They have to just let us take care of them, whichever way we think and feel is in their best interest.

The way the parents/elders raised us, loved us and were dutiful, it is now their duty to let us carry out our duty to take care of them.

It is not a humiliation, helplessness, embarrassing, miserable to be taken care by someone...but they will be embarrassing us by denying us our right, duty to take care of them.

It is a humble appeal to all sexa/septua/octo/nona..genarians to allow us to take care of you. Not necessarily only by your son; depending on the situation / scenario, it can be your daughter, brother, sister, wife, daughter-in-law, son-in-law or whoever considers it a duty to care for you and take care of your needs when you need it the most.

It is the nature's way that one gets old, one becomes weak. You need not feel bad for it, sad to be dependant. We have been dependent on you for atleast 25 of our lives, it is absolutely fine to be dependent on us atleast when you need care. Taking care of elders can never be a burden, it is just that some of us might have limitations and commitments, yet We find ways to provide you care.

I Inspire

I INSPIRE

To be inspired is great...to inspire is incredible

by

MURALI MURTHY

 As We go through life, It's easy to get caught in the melee, with the boring routine yet wearing an artificial smile on the face. We probably might not realize how much that artificial smile is inspiring others seeing you slog.

Be it your mother, your wife multi tasking and efficiently managing home and raising children...be it your father, your husband running from pillar to post to keep the family safe, prosper and provide as much luxury as possible.

We all get inspired seeing someone, seeing something or just by a life incident. I get inspired, motivated and get an Adrenaline rush as I see some handpicked movies - Behind enemy lines, Lakshya, Rock On, Gully Boy, Sultan, Creed II, Pursuit of Happiness...these movies never fail to inspire me to get back to the ring and fight life.

I do believe I am doing a very mediocre job at work, I do not consider the work I do very intelligent or creative, and by no measurable parameter I rate myself successful...yet it surprises me how many people claim they are inspired by my life story. My biggest fans are surely my near and dear ones, my good friends and few others, though it could be just the affection and care.

Come to think of it, the reasons why I get inspired by the movies I mentioned, people around us that inspire us, is not really the success or what they achieved. It's the struggle is what that inspires us to adapt.

Not sure if you could achieve what you aspire for, with your relentless struggle/efforts, but trust me, the struggles never go unnoticed. You will be surprised with the no.of people watching you struggle and get the inspiration to run behind their purposes.

An inspiration need not necessarily be to follow your passion, one can be inspired just by the way one leads a life, how well a life is led.

I just heard a Rap Song today "Thanks to God" by Emiway Bantai. In the song, the singer describes a health setback of his father, his stay in ICU and the constant prayers he and his family made.

His father's eventual recovery and the sufferings he saw inspired him not only to write this song but realization on how uncertain life is and better could he lead his life, being thankful and cheerful.

We all seek inspirations, many a times without you knowing it, you get inspired. We are inspired to achieve, chase our dream, succeed, lead a happier life, to travel, to take up a hobby or just to pursue our struggles.

Life, People keep inspiring us all the time. Writers, Painters get inspired by everything they see, hear and experience.

My father's wrestle with life by juggling between 2 jobs to fulfil his commitments;
My father in law's positive and optimistic approach towards life;
My uncle's untiring efforts in taking care of his bed ridden wife for over a decade;
My friend's unshakeable dedication in taking care of his ailing mother during her last days;
My uncle's appetite to learn more, hunger to amass degrees even after retirement;
My sister who earned more degrees and started a successful career after her kids entered teen years;
A friend's unconditional love and respect towards his wife
....all these and more are inspirational enough and takeaways for us to keeping pushing ourselves and lead a quality life.

My wife, who herself has a dexterous hands and is very organized, gets inspired by her friends and aunts for their creativity, the way they keep homes tidy, tastefully decorated homes, the confidence in which they manage things.

How much ever ordinary you may think you are, You never know how many get inspired by you.

So, go ahead and start inspiring people. Many a times simple words of encouragement can do wonders and lift spirits and those encouraging words can inspire someone to strive more.

Covid - The Killer

COVID - THE KILLER!

by

MURALI MURTHY

It's hard to believe we've been living in rather weird, scary, coronavirus-ridden world for six months now.
I am no medical expert, nor have any knowledge or understanding of how Covid virus can be handled, managed, controlled or cured.

When assessing coronavirus' potential for it's deadliness, narratives on its progression may be just as important to observe than the information available itself. As with anything that may have the potential for disruption, media (FB, Whatsapp, News Channels) are quick to cause a furore to stir public opinion, and perhaps exaggerate or over-emphasise certain aspects. And this may have been done in case of the coronavirus as well.

But as a common man, who is not (yet) infected by Covid, all I am seeing around me is the scare, fear surrounding the Virus than the actual health impact.

As I go around the streets these days, I see more and more To Let, For Rent, For Sale boards stuck on many commercial buildings. And these boards are increasing in the same ratio as the Cases are going up.

I surely see Covid Virus impacting the humanity, more on the economic front than the health.
Many businesses going down, many industries shutting down, hospitality industry down on it's knees, Service industry flushed out from it's existence.

Labour class losing livelihood, many losing jobs, salary cuts making millions of people poorer.

The fear psychosis is so much so, that people are happy holed up at home, stopped leading a normal life. Thanks to the news channels whose creative team is busy creating horrific graphics, animated and overexcited anchors using choicest of words to make us believe that we all will be dead tomorrow. Many people strongly believe they would get infected if they step out of home, and yet they have all justifications and forwarded "facts" to prove their belief.

There are examples and all kinds of cases, if one gives an example of how a person was careless, went out ate and got infected, I also have examples of people staying indoors, literally locked themselves at home, not letting anyone else enter their home, ordering vegetables and groceries online and getting it home delivered, quarantining those items for more than 24 hours, cleaning....yet being infected with the virus!

Aged people, employees who are working from home (yet getting usual Salaries) have all become extra cautious and are discovering and inventing new ways to do crazy things to make them believe they are safe.

I have nothing against those who are extra cautious and are scared to even step out of home, forget eating out or buying things. Is it really worth? What are people scared of? Getting fever? Because that's what Covid is all about, a lung infection.

Most of us have misplaced anxieties and fears about is most likely to kill us, but those who fear death due to Covid have got it wrong. Risk factors, such as bad diets, tobacco use and high blood pressure, Unhealthy diets are anyway the known risk factor that causes one in five global deaths, raising the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, among others. So, if those risk factors can anyway kill us in one way or the other, how different is Covid!

The anxiety, fear of Covid has resulted in much more health hazards than the Virus itself. People suffering from BP variation, Sugar level changes, depression, strokes and heart attacks are way more in numbers than the number of infected people in India.
I myself am a victim of indirect impact of Covid, than the Covid itself.

By now, many of you might think how irresponsible, immature, careless and disconnected I am. I have already heard these from my friends whenever I put across my view on the situation. I also have many friends questioning me "If educated people start thinking like this, what to expect from illiterates". Before getting into what illiterates and poor labours think, please be aware poor and labour class will anyway die, out of poverty and hunger, as majority of them have lost livelihood and source to earn to eat on a daily basis and they don't have luxury to sit at home and have opinions.

While I am fully aware of health complications, deaths caused due to Covid, let us also be aware a more common B.P. or just stress at work, leads to health complication and deaths, and why would Covid be any different, though the death rate is very low compared to all other possibilities of us meeting our end.

Now let's try to look at the numbers to be more objective, reasonable and scientific before we judge varied views.

For a country with 130 Cr population, 0.02% are infected with Covid. Recovery rate being 75%, mortality rate is under 2%.

And for people who argue "Why to take even 1% chance", here are more numbers just in India:

Daily deaths due to Heart attacks: 4000
Daily deaths due to Cancer: 2100
Daily deaths due to Stroke: 2000
Daily deaths due to Respiratory diseases: 1300
Daily deaths due to T.B: 1200
Daily deaths due to road accidents: 500
Daily deaths due to other reasons: 9000

The reality that there are several diseases causing a larger number of deaths in the world and India, might be of little comfort to those terrorised by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While We all are unanimous not only on the need to take every possible precaution against corona virus, both as individuals and as communities, but also on the need to avoid panic, being overly protective and stop being scared to lead even a "cautious" normal life.

What is that we are scared about? Covid killing us? And you are taking all precautions and even locked up at home just to not get infected, knowing there is only 0.02% chance of getting infected and 2% out of 0.02% chance of being killed by Covid.

And how long will we take these "precautions" and stay indoors? What if an effective vaccine reaches us all only by 2023?

What precautions are we taking to avoid road accidents, getting heart attack or stroke due to stress we get from work, life? Do we stop living, stepping out, working, knowing that there is a 10% chance of meeting with an accident or getting a heart attack?

Just an alternate viewpoint, as it's my personal opinion that Covid has harmed more on the livelihood and economy, than the health.
There are few medical experts who also claim nothing case save us from Corona, except our own Immunity system and the antibodies generated once we are exposed to the virus.
There is also an opinion that mortality rate is much lower in India, because of our strong Immunity system, which we Indians have acquired due to the harsh, unhygienic and Unhealthy conditions and environment we live in. So, why doubt the same Immunity system against Covid?

To conclude, although coronavirus certainly seems deadly in some cases, as most cases tend to be mild in nature, it perhaps doesn’t yet deserve the deadly reputation many people have. Definitely not worth the hype and importance given, to stop life!

Stay safe, stay indoors, avoid going out unless it is unavoidable, wash hands regularly, use Sanitizers, wear mask whenever you step out of home, do not stay at closed rooms for more than 10 minutes. Let's beat the virus together!

The Renaissance during Covid times

The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. The Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.

This could be our Renaissance, a period/phase of life where we re-build our life from the thumping setback Covid has caused.

Travel freaks that we are, were confined to home since 5 months now.
As we celebrated our 12th year wedding anniversary, it was our first time that we stayed home for an anniversary. We have etched memories of each anniversary that we celebrate at a new destination, this time was indeed a sober and dull one.

Unable to see our dejection and sad faces, our friends helped me plan a quick trip to Jog, as we always wanted to see the majesty and glory of Jog in these rainy seasons. All other times we have visited Jog so far has been at loss of vigor.

So, it was our first time that we were planning an outing, though only after a gap of 8 months (last one being Angriya Cruise and Goa in Jan 20), felt like 8 yrs!

We gave it a long thought, before finally deciding to go ahead with the plan, with the threat of Corona dangling on our heads and careful considerations.

It felt like our college days where we used to be so scared telling parents about a trip.

Fully aware of the Covid situation and the risks involved, I dialed Neena (Mini and Jone Hospitality) and she was at her usual best, suggesting comparatively safer place to stay near Sagar, and gave us a 2 day itinerary.
Apart from the risk of Covid, heavy rains lashing across Karnataka made it a concern.

Taking all precautions, We packed everything that made us feel safe, Masks, Sanitizers, Disinfectant sprays, bed spreads, umbrellas, jackets.

Excitement of stepping out, back to travelling days, we started our journey towards Chitradurga. We drove on Nidhi's Innova and Ranga's BRV, as we were 8 of us.

Remembered the days when parents used to plan trips eating out was never a choice for them. They used to pack food from home for the journey, thanks to Covid era, many such old healthy practices are back!

Shwetha had prepared Idly, Tea for all, Preeti had prepared Avalakki/Poha and Jyotsna had got us Sandwiches and Bakery stuff.


The happiness of being back on the highways made us take way too many stops.
The pleasant weather through out the drive made the journey happier that put smiles on everyone's faces.
It was cloudy all along, and once We entered the Bhadra & Sharavathi River Basins, the rich paddy fields and the green pastures were a treat to the eyes. We traveled along the path of the Bhadra river path and were amazed and thrilled to see the rich irrigation belt all along.

Daniel (Mini and Jones) ensured he was there to guide us with the route on the phone, he was in touch with me to ensure we reached safe. Even at end of the trip, he promptly took our feedback on the place and noted our concerns we had on the property.

We reached Hakkalalli Heritage Home by lunch time and checked in.
Mr. Gangadhar, the owner of the property was a very friendly host and made is comfortable.

The property was amidst thick forest. The nature, the rawness and humble environment was rustic in nature and had a good vibe about the place.

Sunil who is the co-owner and caretaker over there, took care of our needs extremely well.
Our initial inhibitions and concerns on the safety, fear of the virus quickly faded away as there were no other guests and we were the only group.

After a good homely meal, Sunil took us to the nearby Linganamakki Reservoir Backwaters.

The Backwaters and the natural landscapes around was a spectacular sight.
We were provided with Life Jackets and were taken inside the water...as we walked into the water, the depth kept rising and very soon our feet was struggling to find ground and we found ourselves in 20 Ft deep water, floating with the help of Life Jackets.

Srinidhi, Preeti and Sukruthi panicked and were scared, as Sunil kept dragging us deep in the water.
Preeti and Sukruthi didn't last long and went back to the edge of the water to join Shweta and Jyotsna as they preferred to sit in admiration of the nature's beauty and watch the rest of us have fun in the waters.

While Srinidhi still struggled to stay afloat, Sunil helped Srinidhi learn the tricks to keep swimming and stay afloat.
Ranga and Shravya were at ease and enjoying themselves. I had done this couple of times before in Goa, so I was quite comfortable.

It was a very good time spent swimming in the Backwaters, appreciating the beauty of the nature.

We drove back to the Homestay, as Srinidhi couldn't stop expressing how happy he was, as it was his first deep water swimming experience.

We had a good time back in the Homestay as we sat together, chit-chatting and receiving some good hospitality from the hosts Mr Gangadhar and Sunil, as they kept serving is Coffee, Tea, Snacks followed by dinner.

Though Hakkalalli Home is a Homestay and is not a Resort, few things including Room maintenance, Toilets could be improved and better maintained.
The innocence, hospitality, genuineness, simplicity of the smiling hosts and the nature compensated for some of the irritants with Room and Toilets for the ladies and kids. Though the quality and quantity of the Food served were good, bit of variety could be added.

Shravya and Sukruthi kept themselves busy, listening to music and happy in their own world.

Next day Morning, We woke up to incessant rains. It kept pouring down, as We had our breakfast at leisure, witnessing the enhanced charm of the place.

As it kept raining continuously without a break, we took our own sweet time to get ready, and checked out from the Homestay.

We headed towards Jog, our main agenda of the trip. As suggested by Neena and Sunil as well, we stopped at Charaka Angadi, which had a good collection of Khadi clothes. The women folks had their eyes wide open and ecstatic doing shopping together.

As we were nearing Jog Falls View point, we found at least 2 KMs long queue of Cars lined up in a huge traffic jam.
There was a huge inflow of Visitors probably due to Independence Day, weekend to witness Jog in its full glory as it's raining heavily in the catchment areas.

If long pile up of vehicles trying to get in, was not frustrating enough, many indisciplined drivers getting into wrong lanes making it a complete choke.

Unruly crowds, young men shouting and making irritating noise further discouraged us to try any further to get in.
While some of us thought it was not worth all the pain, as it will get very late to reach Bangalore, few others opined it's not safe to be amidst such huge crowd in these Covid times.
And we decided to return back, we were disappointed but we thought we were better off without the messy crowd.

We started driving back towards Bangalore, and stopped at The Fern Hotel Shivamogga. It was a great relief for the ladies and the kids as they were happy to use good, clean and sparkling floored Toilet.
We had a relaxing and leisurely Lunch and continued our journey. I explored a new route via Bhadravathi, Hosadurga, Hiriyur route (We usually take Chitradurga Route or Channarayapatna Route). It was raining constantly from Sagar till Bangalore and I loved driving Srinidhi's Innova on this lovely Hosadurga two-lane stretch, freshly laid road, less traffic.

We concluded yet another memorable trip.
It was rejuvenating, reviving of life back during these extremely disturbing, unprecedented low times. Much needed energy that we had to refuel our lost balance of life, health, finances and break from the scare and threat from Corona Virus!

We forgot that we were in Covid times, as the scare is only seen on TV News Channels, FB, Whatsapp and in Bangalore. Things looked so normal everywhere else, life seemed to be normal outside Bangalore.

It is good to be careful, cautious and be aware, but surely not psyched and scared with the Covid Virus.
We probably have realized this is the new normal - to use Sanitizers, wear masks and live your life. Covid could only lock me up at home for 5 months, I couldn't stay away from Travelling, touring beyond this point.

Travelling, visiting places could be risky in these Pandemic times, anyone could be a carrier, we also know not all are infected with Virus nor carriers. So striking a balance between being cautious, taking precautions and yet trying to live your life.