SCHOOL'S MISSION

I once saw a website of a School. The School was located at a beautiful place near the hills. It was run by a religious organisation.

I checked out the vacancies. They wanted teachers who are dedicated to their profession and committed to their religion. The teachers should be willing to lead a simple life since the School provides only a low salary with basic accommodation.

I then checked the student fee. I was surprised to see that it was really exorbitant. They charge such a high fee from the students but they are not willing to pay their teachers a reasonable wage. It looked like they were only interested in making a good profit.

GANDHI STATUE

Gandhi Statue, Beach, Kollam

TV NEWS

Long ago there were no news channels on TV. In India, the TV channels were run by the government in those days. There was a time allotted for the news each day. We got the news that the government decided that we should get. We got the government version of the news. Nothing was said against the government.

Later with the arrival of private satellite telecast and cable TV, the government lost control over the news. Now there are so many news channels on TV. Each channel gives their version of the news. If we watch several news channels we will see them offering a different view of the same news. Some support the government and some oppose the government. Some channels give priority to news that others may not.

Today we also get their opinion along with the news. Most of them are biased and twist the news to suit their narrative. Only a few news channels try to be impartial.

ERAM BOUTIQUE

Eram Boutique, Kollam

ONE DOG NIGHT

I was about eighteen when I had to go to Delhi on the way to Kurukshetra. It was my first train journey to the north of the country. I left Kollam in the afternoon and arrived at Madras the next morning. I booked my ticket to Delhi and boarded the next train. I was travelling in a first class cabin. There was only one other passenger in the cabin. She was a middle aged white woman. She had a small dog with her. I asked her where she was from and she told me she was from Australia. I thought she was a tourist but she said she worked in India. Later on, I would come to know that she was a doctor working in a missionary hospital in Nagpur.

The train started moving. At one stop, she asked me to keep an eye on the dog and left the cabin. The dog ran out of the cabin and was near the door by the time I got hold of it. I brought it back to the cabin and put it on the leash which was attached to her bag. When she returned she released the dog from the leash. I think she preferred it to be free.

After dinner that night we went to sleep. In the middle of the night I woke up to find the dog sleeping next to me. It was her dog. It should be sleeping next to her. I looked at her and realized that there was no place for the dog to sleep next to her. She was a large person. I was thin and there was a lot of space next to me. There was nothing I could do. I went back to sleep.

JUMA MASJID

Juma Masjid, Kadapakkada, Kollam

WHO and COVID 19

I have been watching the news regularly on TV. It is surprising that the WHO can make misleading statements one after the other. They are funded by the Nations all over the world and are expected to provide guidance and solutions on health issues.

First they said there is no evidence that the virus is transmitted from human to human. It started in China and was spreading. The fact that it was spreading indicates that there was human to human transmission. Like most people at that time, I did not think much about it because it was happening far away in China. There is no free press in China and we cannot expect to get reliable information from there.

The second misleading statement from WHO was that there should be no travel restrictions. If every country had imposed travel restrictions early on, the situation would be much better today.

The WHO also said that the common people should not be wearing masks. They said masks are for health workers.

Now, the WHO insists that testing for the virus is the most important step in controlling its spread. They want mass testing. For a country like India with a population of more than 1.3 billion people it is impossible. We do not have the resources to do that. At present only those with symptoms are tested. Those that test positive have to be tested again and again. When they are cured, they are discharged only after two negative test results. So a person who tests positive will require about four more tests.

The WHO also seems to think that those who test negative are in the clear. There is no guarantee that a person who tests negative today will not turn positive tomorrow.