Social Distancing- a misnomer

In these times of Lock-down, while we are all practising self isolation, a word that can be heard most is Social Distancing. Government and Health workers are asking us to practice social distancing and remain aloof from large gatherings or public areas by staying quarantined at home.

Now, what is social distancing: While according to the government agencies it is avoiding crowed areas and maintaing a distance between humans. But is the term really appropriate or should it be physical distancing instead.

While the word physical distancing is clear from its name alone, authorities have to strive to educate the masses about the meaning of social distancing. Let's see what does the word Social mean: it means the need to find companionship and thereby the motive of living in communities.

Social life has its origins in evolution, when humans saw the need to be together to ward off danger and be projected as a group to enhance both efficiency and power of subsistence. Thus, it can be said that living in societies is deeply rooted inside us. Living together has its benefits like providing emotional support in times of distress and acting as a composite whole when faced with challenging situations.

In times like these, when humanity is coming together to fight the invisible enemy, we should be cautious of the words and messages we share and post, as one mistake shall lead to unwarranted results. Its no mystery that old people are the most vulnerable at this time. They are both, facing the danger of getting contaminated from the disease as well as they, are feeling emotionally left out, as they have been cut from being in contact with their loved ones.

At such a time, Social Media comes to the rescue of these elderly as it is through this medium they can easily connect and still remain aloof with the people they love. Thus, the word Social Distancing here would be rather misleading and also act as a form of mis-information.

Now, if we are to go back in history, we come across the practice of social discrimination in almost all the areas of the world. Like in India, in the past, the society was divided into social strata and while, the higher class people were allowed to maintain social contact with one another the lowest class faced discrimination. They, were not allowed to enter certain areas and also the people from higher class maintained a distance from them claiming them to be untouchables owing to the work they did, which involved cleaning and washing the human excreta of the higher strata people. In United States of America, while, the Whites deemed themselves to be superior they also dubbed the Blacks as their Slaves and bonded labourers. Thus, they too maintained a distance from these folks and were critical of being associated with them. Similarly, in France, the society was divided into three classes at the time of French Revolution and while, the highest class which comprised of the ruling lot were economically strong the lowest class or the masses suffered hardships.

Thus, we see that in history there is ample example of society being divided into several classes and strata and they in turn, maintaining a certain amount of disassociation with the other classes.

Therefore, I personally feel the usage of a term that was used in history to segregate the people according to their classes returning in modern day and that too at a time when all should stand united is uncalled for. Thus, I urge all my readers to use the term Physical Distancing instead of Social distancing.

Love
Pankhuri

Hail Corona Warriors- a poem

Doctors, Nurses and Policemen,
They are acting like Mother Hen,
protecting their chicks; from any harm,
and in turn, protecting the entire farm.

We are fighting against an enemy that is invisible,
but, that does not mean that it is invincible.
We just have to remain strong,
follow the given norms,
or, else the fight shall be prolonged.

Stay Safe and Work from home,
cause it is your safe haven, your own dome.
Practice Physical Distancing and Wash your Hands,
and COVID-19 is bound to leave our lands.

Love
Pankhuri

The Kingdom of Messages- an animated account

There was a Kingdom of Messages and it was ruled by the system of Oligarchy- a process in which power resides amongst a small group of people. In the kingdom, the power of governance or transferring messages from one place to another thus, was placed amongst Humans and Horses on an equivalent basis. Whenever, a message needed to be delivered a rider would ride the horse-back and deliver and receive messages. Messages were delivered without any hindrance and people prospered. Things were going on in a calm manner.

Things began to change when one son of a noble showed signs of rebellion. His name was Telegram. He wanted to overtake the kingdom and rule it like a dictator. He was successful in transferring power under his name and became an autocrat. Under his regime, he modified the kingdom and was successful in sending symbolic codes rather than the actual message which could be read by any person to whom it was not intended and thus the whole purpose of communication would be compromised. The common people were elated with his new ways of governance and supported the benevolent monarch. Although, he was an autocrat, he renounced his throne to his younger brother.

He was thus, succeeded by his younger brother, Telephone. As, Telephone was a minor a regency was set up to help him rule the kingdom. The chief adviser position was given to Alexander Gram Bell who regarded Telephone as his own son. Telephone made prominent improvements in the ruling of the kingdom. His chief contribution being the removal of middlemen from the messaging track. Now, people could send and receive messages without giving commission to middlemen. 

When Telephone became old, a plot was hatched to snatch the throne from him. Radio was the chief conspirator. While Radio had a huge mass following he was not able to dethrone Telephone, as the methods employed by Radio were one sided and people though fascinated by its charm could not deny the importance of the rule of Telephone.

Several years later, a discontent cousin of Radio, Television, tried to renew the rebellion but he too failed to dethrone Telephone, as, the masses supported Telephone wholeheartedly. Although, a disgruntled Television was able to build his own empire elsewhere, where he ruled and was very popular among the common people of his kingdom. 

As old age began to show its effects on Telephone, the question of who was to succeed him came to the forefront. Since, Telephone did not have an issue, he asked all the people of the kingdom to enter into a competition to choose his successor. Cell Phone, a promising though naive boy emerged victorious and Telephone gave away his throne to him. Cell phone brought about several cord breaking improvements in the governance of the kingdom. 

Cell phone was succeeded by his children who ruled after him like Fold-able Phone, Multimedia Phone and Touch Screen, but the rule of Smart phone needs to be mentioned in detail. It was Smartphone, who with his prime minister Internet, brought about a revolutionary change in the mindset of people. He was able to remove illiteracy and was the chief force in connecting people who had lost touch with one another.

Now, Smart Phone decided that it was the opportune time to reconsider the mode of government in The Kingdom of Messages and thus he declared the kingdom to be a Constitutional Monarchy. Where, he was to act as the figurative head of the State, however, the actual functioning of the State was looked after by several provincial state heads. Thus, emerged local yet, popular leaders like Whats-app, Gmail, Skype, Face-time, Tik-Tok, Instagram and Twitter among others. 

Now, with the help of these generals Smart Phone is able to rule The Kingdom of Messages very efficiently and the masses too, are very content with the government.  

Love

Pankhuri

Evolution of Theatre

When you hear the word Theatre, you usually associate it with modern day drama and actors both male and female wearing several costumes to stage the play in-front of the audience. Have, you ever given a thought, to the origins of Theatre, how it all started and why did it start and when did it start. Well, all these questions shall be answered in this blog so read on.

In ancient times, theatre was used as a means, to educate the masses about the various religious practices. The religious leaders dramatised the religious activities during various festivities. This was done so that the common masses through, entertainment gained the tenets of religion and subconsciously incorporated these very attributes in their lives. The religious leaders thus, either performed scenes from the lives of saints or acted out portions from religious texts.This was the very crude beginning of theatre as we know now. 

As, people became educated and they began to develop scientific temperament, they became critical of the association of theatre (which they dubbed to be a means of entertainment and relaxation) with religion. Thus, a rift between the two was inevitable. 

During these times, the rich and influential commissioned the writers to write scripts that were either entertaining or plays that eulogised them as great warriors or leaders or saviour of the people. Thereby, a paradigm shift in the content of plays can be seen from being religious didactic and sermonising to that of being boastful and panegyric. 

However, this trend did not last for long as more and more people wanted playwrights to write about their lifestyles and the audiences were not finding this trend to be as entertaining as they did earlier. Thus, now plays were written with plots that had a lot of bloodshed and terror in it. This catered to the masses need, for entertainment and was an instant hit amongst the audiences. 

A note here also needs to made that while the audiences comprised of people from all the social strata and sexes the actors performing on stages were only males. Whenever, a role of a lady was to be enacted a young boy who was rather effeminate was to act as the woman.

As all trends wither, so did the trend of drama being filled with barbaric activities. Now, the stage was to be taken by plays that had the theme of incest in it. Playwrights now wrote plays that had extra marital affairs or cuckold as their theme. 

After this the playwrights instead of blindly following a trend wrote as per their talent. While some aced in comedy, other were writers of great tragic plays. Audiences too, were happy as they were able to choose from the wide array of plays to watch. But, as all good things come to and end, so, did the golden era of theatre, with the invention of Radio and Television. Now, masses had the choice of choosing their mode of entertainment. 

In today's times, people would rather opt to go for a movie which has a successful and famous movie star in it than, going to watch a play which they dub as outmoded. Though, movies are a great source of entertainment but, they cannot be said to be a replacement of Theatre. The onus now lies on us, whether we want to save theatre from the gloomy cage it is in or we want this art form to become history.

Love 

Pankhuri

How to fall asleep as soon as you go to bed- with a twist

In the World, there are two types of people; one- who dose off as soon as their body touches the mattress of the bed and two- who well just can't sleep. Well if you fall under the second category, all your worries are about to come to an end as I shall help you through this blog to fall asleep instantly.

Well when, one enters the bedroom and is unable to sleep, the most common thing one does is switch off the lights of the room- Well as much as people say this helps in sleeping, as the hormone Melatonin is produced in the dark. I beg to differ, you see, when you switch off the lights you are subconsciously thinking about all the monsters that were to come and scare your pants off. Thus, you are unable to fall asleep.

Now, if you are the believer that drinking a glass of water shall help in falling asleep, alas you have bad news, when, you drink water it might help to fall asleep initially but, later on your kidneys are heard to be screaming Tsunami and you have to take a bathroom break. Thereby, all your hard-work goes down the drains and you are back to square one.

Some people like to read before going to bed, well its their call, but, I would not recommend it. You see, if you start reading a good book you just cannot put it down until you have read all through so, where is your sleep and if the book is not so enticing well, why are you reading it in the first case. I mean come on, Grow up.

You could listen to Music, it's said, music helps induce sleep. However, there are certain things you need to keep in mind before doing so. If you love to hear loud music, you are bound to wake up in the middle of the night because of the constant knocking of your neighbours to turn down the volume. You could easily avoid this situation, if you were to plug in the earphones and listen to music, but, that too has it's own problems. Before you even think of doing it, I would recommend you to book an appointment with an ENT (ear, nose, throat) specialist as, you are bound to turn deaf over-time.

Also, the type of music you hear affects your sleep, if you are a fan of pop/rock music, I don't know about sleep but you are sure to get your neck fractured with the constant nodding you would be doing while listening to the music. If you are a classical lover, you could suffer from premature balding since, the music has this kind of effect on most of the recent generation.

Now come people, who think that sleeping with loved ones brings you calmness of mind and helps initiate good sleep. Two minute silence for these mis-believers. Agreed, sleeping with someone you love has its perks like cuddling but, once your beloved falls asleep and starts to snore you have no choice but to bid adieu to to your own sleep. Unless, of-course if you can fall asleep while the railway engine is blasting beside you.

You could watch some show either online or on television, but, will that bring you sleep or frustration is based on the type of show you watch. Also, if you are binge watching YouTube videos you could have a serious case of existential crisis, when you see that  people half your age are earning double through, making non nonsensical videos and are famous while you are in your pyjamas praying to Gods to fall asleep.

In the end, you could use the universal technique of counting sheep , dogs, pigeons or whatever suits you. I have personally tried this on many occasions, and I would love to hear from you if it works for you because well, for me I just could not count further than infinity you see, and thus, I guess I could not really benefit from this step.

Hope, this blog has helped you in how to fall asleep and if you still cannot fall asleep you can always try to read my other blogs, maybe, they could help you somehow.

Love
Pankhuri


Please note- This blog was written for people, who are suffering from sleeping disorders and want some real guidance from a professional, like me.

Work from Home- A funny intake

As the world is battling against the Novel Corona-virus, almost all the countries have instructed their citizens to Work from Home. This comes in the light that the said virus, spreads through contact and thus, if people were to remain quarantined or isolated inside their homes, there would be less chances of the spread of the pandemic.

While working from home can be not much of an issue for some people, there are others, whose working from home rather is dangerous and funny at the same time. In this blog I shall try to showcase the different scenarios that would be faced by people if they were to literally work from home.

When an Archaeologist is asked to work from from home he/she can be seen digging his/her entire house to find artefacts and something of historical importance.  

Salesman- he/she was found forcefully selling his/her old junk, clothes and other items to his/her parents and was seen to be persistently trying to convince them about its relevance and importance.

Loan recovery agent- he/she was seen beating his/her children for stealing candies from the jar and being unable to repay for the same.

Traffic policeman- While he/she was resting at home he/she came across an army of ants and was seen giving directions and guiding them to their desired location.

Media-person- When she was at home her husband was having a shower, where accidentally soap entered in his eyes, and she instead of helping him to wash his face was seen interviewing him and quizzing him if he had ever experienced such a situation before and how he was feeling at the moment.

Reality Show Judge- When he/she saw his/her children crying he/she was seen to be giving a standing ovation and commenting that these very difficult situations would help the child to win the show as people apparently like melodrama.

Teacher- she/he was found to be schooling the lizards, spiders and rats of the house.

Dentist- he was seen uprooting his own tooth.

Politician- he/she was seen delivering speeches in-front of his/her pets.

While the work culture in the west allows the workers to work from home easily, as most of their work is based on the internet, they could easily modify the work and do so from their homes. The work culture in India is very different, the office staff are unable to bring home the termite eaten files, either because they are not allowed owing to the privacy policy of the company they work for, or, because well, they just don't want to take these file homes.

In such a case these workers while working from home set up a small office space for themselves in their houses and call (audio call or video call- depending on their data packs) their colleagues. They then, start to work from home, which involves either gossiping or plotting and planning against their superior. They can also, be seen consistently pestering their wives for tea every half an hour.

No matter how you do it, its best you stay at home at these times and yes Work from Home.

Love

Pankhuri

Please Note- This blog was written for entertainment purposes and I had no intention of either disrespecting any person or profession. I personally salute all the Corona Warriors who are working relentlessly on the front-line to help us stay safe and I am thankful for them. 

PS- These were the funny situations I could come up with, if you have any other such incident to share please feel free to comment down below.

COVID 19- opening of the Pandora's box

 It would be no exaggeration if one were to say that the Novel Corona virus which has recently engulfed the world in its clutches is a monster. Dubbing the virus as the opening of the Pandora's box would not be an understatement. According to the Greek mythology The Pandora's box was a vessel that contained all sorts of evils and curses, both known and unknown to humanity.

With the beginning of the year 2020 the world witnessed the greatest pandemic it was to ever to see and posed as a threat to the very existence of mankind. While several theories of the virus being a biological terror weapon to it being the God's curse sent on us are doing rounds, I personally attribute the virus to a very different source.

In the Hindu mythology, when the world entered the fourth Yug or the last phase of evolution, God's and their incarnations went back to their abodes. The demons and the monsters too were asked to do the same but instead they transformed themselves and continued to live on the Earth to spread evil.

While some demons became mosquitoes, some changed themselves into cockroaches and so on. They thus, continued to spread immoralities and influence the nature and behaviour of Humans. It was with the beginning of the new decade they decided to modify their ways and hamper the progress of humans both economically and socially and thus they adapted themselves into this wicked virus.

When a high level meeting of these demons took place they decided to spread their wings and also influence not just a nation but Humanity as a whole and thereby cause the greatest harm they could to God's lovely creation. They came up with an idea to transform themselves into an unknown virus that was not only difficult to detect but also novel as none had heard or read or seen it. They thus, spread around the world in the form of a disease hereto unknown to the human race.

With a heavy heart it would not be wrong to say that they are successfully devouring the human populace and we are as of now unable to cope up with it. The only means through which we can fight back is to take two steps back as the tiger does while attacking its prey. In these difficult times we need to stay strong. We need to stay at home, practice social distancing, washing hands and hope that this dark phase passes away.

No matter how dark the night is, it always ends and the Sun rises strong and bright. Lets fight this together and be there for one another.

Love
Pankhuri