The global lockdown for COVID-19

I heard it first when my colleague was just joking about it. I heard it later on the news and then on twitter and then saw several shows regarding this topic. 

I was super busy in my most important day and once I was through it all and watched the next day crumbling down upon us with the global crisis. 

People were scared and stopped at the places, asked not to leave their homes, wash their hands and not to stock up and not to fear and fear and stay home.

Even then people didn't listen and went on hanging out as usual and then one fine day they had to declare it as a national crisis and now everyone is waiting for the day everything will be back to normal. 

A virus which has caused havoc all around the world with its minor cold and cough and fever symptoms and enormous number of people dying because of this seems like an apocalypse. 

I am staying in my in laws town which is closer to a Village and on a weekday when roads seems to be empty it feels as if the zombies have taken over the world. 

My day starts with news about coronavirus and it ends with the news about coronavirus. I read and confirm and keep myself away from the rumours by fact checking everything we see in the news, tweets and what not.

Who knew a common cough , cold would cause entire world to collapse into an abyss.

Cities in lockdown and people not able to meet the communities to avoid spreading this anymore isn't less than any horror movie where we are scared of going out in the open. 

Stock markets keep crashing down every single day, daily wedge workers worried about their next meal, rich and mediocre stocking food and essentials because of the fear of starving in upcoming days. 

My husband said maybe it gave people opportunity to look back on our lives and think how we should be changing ourselves. It gave us a chance to take a break and try to figure out a more better way out there.

In all this shipwreck our environment surely flourished with the less pollution on roads, air and water. 

People could see that not going as per the clock might not be that difficult as thought before and we can still slow down for the greater good. 

Well the economy and the world is still suffering from all of its effects and we certainly will take a lot of time to overcome it, but as they say we have the courage and strength to overcome anything that potentially puts a obstacle in our paths. 

I just wish it will be over soon and we will still be able to recover from its effects as early as we can learning the new lessons this solitude taught us. We can come up with new ways to coexist and reverse the damage done with our actions and live a life of less than more. 

The Future of Genomics and the future

My mother has gray eyes, and so does her two sisters. Her father had gray eyes but my uncles have brown eyes. 

One of my cousin (female) who recently had a baby boy has gray eyes and so did my other cousin (male) had a baby girl who has hazel eyes. 

My obsession with different colored eyes started when I realised my mother has different color eyes but I don't. Neither does my sister. 

And then I came to conclusion that its totally irrelevant but then with some examples it was pretty certain that eye colors may get transferred in cross gender generations. 

So even if today someone gave me choice to choose my offsprings eye color, I would take it. No questions asked. 

But what if someone asked me to make my kid brilliant as Einstein with gene editing, would I do that? 

I am asking all these irrelevant questions because I just finished a 4 part series about genomics and the future of gene technology and it makes me wonder as I lay back and look across the sky , what will be that world when my kids are born. 

The series starts with the mention of CRISPER  a gene editing technology which can alter your genes with simple procedures and create wondrous results. 

I had heard a podcast about this technique just few months back and to be honest it just felt a long gone thing for me. 

But as I watch the benefits and horrors this technology showcased in front of us, I am rather confused about my opinion right now. 

We see a kid struggling to see, we see him crying because his genetic impaired vision creates great difficulties between his dreams of being an astronaut. 

We see another young man who is trying to find a cure to his HIV. 

We see couples who are struggling to have kids and the other who just wish to have blue eyes babies together. 

We see the actual demonstration of procedures to entirely irradiate an entire species such as mosquitos, rats and mice. 

I see a lot of judgement and backlash against the technology which can potentially be threatening to our own species while I feel happy that the kid was genuinely happy that now his dreams were no longer genetically bound . 

If I hear and know in and outs of this technology sitting at one end of the world I no longer doubt myself that soon I will be meeting parents who are okay with this stuff used for the benefit of their kids. Couples who wish to make their babies more stronger, capable and healthy. 

 

I also get a strange feeling whether in a world of genetically modifying people, the babies who were born naturally will be treated differently. How will you then decide who wins and who loose in this world because it's everyone who has the same level of opportunity. 

I feel whether in attempts to eradicate some species we will walk this slippery slope and end up loosing more than we ought to gain. 

In the series there was a line as new Zealand went through a hottest summer in the centuries and that ended up breeding too many rats , which in turn ate the diversed birds such extent that they needed a genetically engineered solution for their problem. 

If we look at the world's weather right now, everything seems to be going haywire and I can see that when the rain in my place just doesn't stop even after the mansoon is over. 

The hurricanes and so many natural calamities wreck in every single part of the world. If this is to happen due to global warming and climate change then the solutions provided are going to be evolutionary and extreme. 

Whenever I would watch any world ending movies or news my father would say he has seen the same thing in his adulthood and it would give me an assurance that I am going to tell the same thing to my kids. But then I wonder does the ending of world ever ends like in movies? Or do we all just push through the worse of it every generation and call it survival...

Scared? Good...

Hola Amigos, 

What a good time to be back in the flow. 

Well I have been busy lately, a lot busy rather.

I will be starting as a new employee of another company now and it's all seems overwhelming. 

Few months ago I was struggling to get through the doors of companies for a better post and then I ended up surviving few interviews.

I knocked down a few while few said thank you for your time at the end of it. 

Me and my friend used to discuss the strategies we need to follow to get another good job and I would say I know that I am going to get better at this eventually and so I don't mind scratching my head until I figure out how to do this. 

I was just wondering whether I should consider sticking to this organisation while on an amazing day I waited 4-5 hours to give one round of interview and ended up clearing it. 

Then prepared myself for the another round and got through with it.

I came home on the top of clouds and I dropped my resignation with a hint of hope in my eyes for a better future. 

I never knew there could be joy in leaving something behind and moving on to something entirely unknown.

We celebrated in the wake of smooth discussions further and I was on it. 

And then I came across another opportunity which I thought was better for myself and then it became my destination finally. 

I would certainly miss the comfort and the familiarity of the place I have spent last 2 and half years committed to the cause but a feeling of something better and more challenging gives me hope to start anew. 

Starting a new journey from today onwards. 

I wish it shall be fruitful and satisfying one.

There's a quote which goes on as,

Scared ? Good.. we don't grow when we stay in comfort zone. 

To the breaking of comfort zones, to the struggles of getting somewhere without destinations... 

Caliphate-An audio series following Rukmini Callimachi as she reports on the Islamic State and the fall of Mosul.

Caliphate, the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (632 CE) of the Prophet Muhammad. 

The reason I starting digging up this word is because of the podcast I am currently into, with the same name. 

Some might find it to be such a ignorant issue but I have always found the stories of refugees , crisis of syria and of course the ISIS very intriguing. 

I can still remember the voice of the pregnant woman speaking about her health issues and how her pregnancy imposed threat to her life and the people calling her and other woman in the group prostitutes for being pregnant in such dire situation where their life has no direction what so ever. 

Rukminu Callimachi whose voice is extremely surreal starts off her journey into this with an ex Jihadist being interviewed by her and her colleague. 

They share his stories of being witness to atrocities of ISIS and the reason he fled them when the glamour was toned down to the killing and violence. 

Rukmini takes us on a ride for the conflicting statements from him and ultimately the decision to track down and cross examine his facts. 

His part shows us a side of the person who are attracted towards this propagandists strategy to recruit people towards their "Nobel" cause of making the whole world as one under Muslims agenda sounds stupid while I sit in my regular commute surrounding thousands of people living in a world where everyone is equal and the concept of slave doesn't exist. 

The second part is strictly about the horror that this Caliphate imposes on people of other religious beliefs where they take the under age girls as sex slaves and sell them over and over again to their fighters in the name of earnings. 

We see the aftermath of the girls who have been through this hell are left to deal with the dilemma of outside world and the lies they told them over and over again that they feel their destiny is to suffer the pain imposed upon them. 

I still remember the moment when Rukmini tries to console a girl who was a survivor that "please don't feel ashamed because you were raped, my mother was too. And it's none of your fault. " It brought chills to my spine as she was giving a strength to a girl who was through all that. 

It gives us new hope when we hear stories of the girls who faced these were accepted in their society as holier rather than pelting them with stones for being dishonored by other people. 

. 

I read news about pregnant teens who ran to be a part of this Caliphate and now wanting to come back to their lands to give their children a new hope of life, and I feel angered towards their selfishness. 

But we are left to wonder how could some people be so senseless to only push forward their own thoughts and beliefs onto others with violence and abuse to create the so called holy Caliphate. 

Their strategic moves and planning for the undefeated position only leaves us shocked with how much more struggle and pain this will cause us, only to make those radicalized individuals understand that free will and good will always prevail again the evil. 

A great piece of work by a reporter whos trying to fight them from extreme front line. 

Caliphate- An audio series following Rukmini Callimachi as she reports on the Islamic State and the fall of Mosul.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Just done with becoming...

I remember reading dreams from my father few years back when I was in college, reading a book about Barack Obama's childhood and his struggle with his dreams.

I remember very little of it now as I was going through Michelles memoir. 

A book penned down by the first lady after they left the office including her journey from her childhood to becoming the first lady and eventually leaving the white House. 

It starts great as she describes her childhood with respect to her well mannered and well wishing parents who want only good things for their kids. 

What I have understood so far by reading biographies that usually people are shaped with their childhood. The more people support them , the more they tend to flourish with their ideas and enthusiasm to do great things in life. Mothers are the moral and behavioural compass for ones life. 

There is a subtle highlighted point in the book that keeps resonating and  that  People who achieve great things in lives, have a partner who keeps them out of the petty arguments. Looking beyond their small world and seeing the unexplored Universe which they wish to conquer. I don't mean to say that single people aren't successful but the more strong support you have the more you tend to be relaxed about being tangled up in small issues while the biggest challenge awaits. 

 Her own struggle while now being shoulder to shoulder with her husband takes us into her complicated journey of how she has came through it. 

I saw a lot of her shows and public appearances but I never knew they were always to support some or another initiative she was working on.

 

The one thing that is especially highlighted in her story that how easy she makes it seem.

Getting A's in all exams, being an Ivy league graduate with two degrees of colleges like Princeton and Harvard. 

Getting a job at a top notch company, working through it to eventually realising need to work towards fulfilment through work. 

Even being the first lady of the United States . She makes it sound as if it was as possible as it could be for anyone willing to take efforts and honestly working towards their goals. 

Barack and her story is indeed a miracle when they became someone to bring hope to thousands of oppressed community to believe that they also are worth being at the front line. 

I loved the part where she has found ways to parent her two kids and still find meaningful work with the use of huge platform like white house. 

I have always admired her as a strong willed and someone one could look up to in matters of being the ideal woman.  I am sure so many women and girls all across globe do so. 

This book has been an amazing journey through her most personal and professional struggles along with insights of her values and virtues.

 

No wonder it's best selling in the mere time of few weeks.

An amazing read after a long time..

Becoming by Michelle Obama. 

#MeToo and the Effects

"And then he asked me to .."
"And I was helpless against..."
"I was shocked to the core to accept reality..."
"No one out there listens to the accused while pretending to be the judges..."

Sounds familiar?
Well that has been the tone of media and news these following days since the #MeToo has taken its roots in India.
I wrote about this issue on Medium but now it seems as if this movement has taken a long way back from the reason why it started.
As I set to write something about the new wave hitting Indian media with the accusations of sexual assaults from people in power, so many thoughts are buzzing in my head.
It involves terms like workplace harassment, false accusations, horizontal violence and  a movement which emerged as an after effect of Trumps presidency after seeing the accepted norms of harassment and disrespect.
It took almost an year to reach its roots in India, a place where I live but seeing it closely now, I am not really sure whether I am up for the effects of aftermath of this movement.
I have been reading lot of allegations and twitter feeds and news media making havoc about this entire issue while spectators not only sitting watching the blame game but choosing to take their own decided side and choosing to blame or hurt the effected and accused person.

A lot of pseudo- feminism  has been seen making it look as if there can be only one side of the issue the one which is portrayed on Media in which victim or the accuser is always right, and all the readers are supposed to hate the person who is accused without considering the benefit of doubt for a second.

Me being a third person and (fortunately) haven't really been through any such scenario find it a bit difficult to form an opinion but again my lack of experience in this matter gives me an edge to consider the both sides.

Obviously when the accused is certainly guilty of their actions then there is no question of asking anyone to consider both side, but only by some accusations which seem gore and heartbreaking how could we say that the accused is actually guilty of the deed?

This movement was bound to happen since this is a result of burying an issue for too long and no body willing to take any action against the voices which decided to break free.

But when the accusations have been put forth for the sake of publicity stunt or false accusations to take revenge of some past anger or frustration then it just seems as if what sort of step we have taken in order to gain justice.

It seems as if in efforts to bring equality the scales have been tipping way too much supporting either side.

Its certainly heartbreaking to read through some of these incidents and also equally frustrating to see the intimate conversations being released to public just to prove one not guilty.

I just wish soon this imbalance will find its way to balance out the difference between and continue to call what is wrong as wrong without the need to go to extremities.

I respect the  genuine victims and wish that soon we will be able to thrive in a work environment where your work is the only parameter you will be judged on which will help to bring the equality and transparency among the workplaces.

I expect to see a positive change where our future generations will not accept any wrong doings as "Chalata hai" or "You signed up for it when you stepped in", and find the spirit to stand up against those who encourage or approves of this kind of behavior. 

After all truth will find its way anyhow, no matter how someone tried hard to bury it or change the facts.
Going forward I only expect to see a better positive outcome of this movement.

Chef's table- An incredible Journey into lives of magicians of food...

As far as I can remember my relationship with food and cooking, I remember waiting for the opportunity I could grab to cook something new every weekend.
My mother would cook spicy fish curries, and chicken curries and my grandmother would invent something new with each of her attempts.
For me cooking has always been an experience of meditation and creating something with the comfort and passion that I enjoy like my any other hobby. I never knew people could embrace this passion into their lives and live for the dream of making something which has never been invented in years and years.
As I started to watch Chef's table I was taken aback with the amount of struggle and passion there is among this very specific field which involves making someone eat your food and find paradise.
I have watched most of the episodes I could get my hands on and till now I was surprised how making something your passion could have a greater impact on your life.
I remember their struggle to create something with a backdrop of an artists life. I can feel their need to do something that has never been done before. I remember the struggle of a chef with no taste buds to taste and his discovery of it again. I remember the beautiful house and restaurant of a chef in the remote country like Slovenia. There's an Indian guy who's story astonishes you with his amazing journey for exploring the fine dining experience with Indian cuisine. There's Korean nun who sees cooking as an important part of human being's life. An American chef who was in love with Japan which eventually led to discovering his passion.
I can relate to this very specific part where they consider food as their driving instinct. They are like the artists waiting to create something out of the existing and make it anew.
To an extent we look at food just as a part of survival. I wish I could explore this artistic side of cooking which has a distinct style of itself.
At first I would think fine dining was actually pretentious because of the extreme small portions of food and high end chef's forcing people to change their perception of tastes.
But after watching this specific series my opinion has been completely transformed as there is some sort of power play in making someone eat your creation and being acclaimed for it.
There isn't just the money minded pretentiousness behind it but also hard work and dedication.
For me this was just a show in beginning but now it has become an obsession and inspirational thing to look at how something can be absolutely fantastic when you give your best to it.

To a best show I have discovered after a long time.

Chef's Table.