Friday, April 3, 2020 | Vol. 39, No. 14
Indo American News
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April 3, 2020
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Published weekly from Houston, TX
www.indoamerican-news.com
Special Reports Community Briefs Local Politics South Asians in the News
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Prayers to Ease Pandemic
Covid-19 Appeal
P3 Census 2020 Mural
P7 “Maska” Online
BAPS held a virtual special prayer. Over 12,000 families across North America participated in a show of community and togetherness, praying for the well-being of all.
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Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
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April 3, 2020
Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
COMMUNITY
April 3, 2020
Local Indo-American Family Seeks Healed Covid-19 Transfusion Donor to Treat Father Tom Abrahams
H ouston (KTRK): Rohan Bavadekar is a 42-year-old father of three and is among the more than 2,800 Texans who’ve contracted COVID-19. He is in St. Luke’s Hospital on a ventilator. At home, his wife Manasi Gokhale and their three young children are also positive. They are isolated and improving and getting help from the Hindu faith-based charity Sewa. The group is providing the family with food and medicine and supplies while they’re in isolation. “They are a beautiful family,” said Kavita Tewary, the Sewa Houston chapter Executive Director. “They have been pushed into this very difficult situation. How does a mom cope with the kids at home and also keep up with their sanity? It’s really hard for the family right now.” They are also putting out a community wide call for help. They’re hoping someone who has tested positive, but is now healthy can help Rohan beat the virus. “We are trying to see if we can get some plasma donors for him and that would match with his blood groups,” said SEWA Volunteer Madan Luthra. The treatment Luthra hopes might help Rohan is an FDA experimental investigation new drug protocol at Methodist Hospital. For the first time ever, two patients were treated with
Rohan Bavadekar (left) with wife Manasi Gokhale and their three children.
what’s called convalescent plasma this past weekend. Dr. Jim Musser is part of the consortium of researchers across the country working on the treatment which introduces the plasma of healed COVID-19 patients into those still fighting it. One person’s antibodies is doing the work for another. “Because it’s a small number of patients, we’re in a watchful waiting period. And I stress that this is very much an experimental investigative protocol that we’re using here,” Dr. Musser told ABC13. “Our donors were proven to be COVID-19 cases.
They have recovered. And now they are at least two weeks down the road healthy, feeling fine, asymptomatic. They are free of infection.” Manasi is a former editor and graphic designer with Indo-American News. Manasi and Rohan’s friends are reaching out on social media looking for potential donors who they will then connect with hospitals. They are hoping for a miracle that not only helps Rohan but all those hospitalized with the illness. If you want to help, you can call SEWA’s non-medical helpline at 281909-SEWA.-- Additional informations from Pramod Kulkarni.
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Houston-area Covid-19 Cases Climb to 1,540 with 16 Deaths Austin County: 4 cases The total number of reported coronavirus cases in Austin County is four. Brazoria County: 109 total cases, 1 death, 15 recoveries Brazos County: 63 total cases, 3 deaths Colorado County: 2 total cases Fort Bend County: 194 total cases, 2 deaths, 9 recoveries The total number of reported COVID-19 cases in Fort Bend County is at 194. Two deaths have been reported so far and nine people have recovered. Official information about the cases in Fort Bend County can be found at fbchealth.org. Galveston County: 118 total cases, 26 recoveries The number of coronavirus cases that have been reported in Galveston County is at 118. A total of 26 recoveries have been reported. For more information about the cases in Galveston County, go to gchd.org. Grimes County: 3 total cases Harris County: 389 total cases, 2 death, 74 recoveries Harris County’s total number of reported coronavirus cases is 389. Two deaths and 74 recoveries have been reported. This number does not include cases reported in the city
Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
of Houston. Those numbers are broken down in a separate entry below. Official information about all of the cases in Harris County can be found at publichealth.harriscountytx.gov. Houston: 458 total cases, 4 deaths, 3 recoveries The total number of reported coronavirus cases in the city of Houston is at 458. Four deaths and three recoveries have been reported. Officials information about all of the cases in Houston can be found at houstonemergency.org. Liberty County: 4 total cases Matagorda County: 32 total cases, 2 deaths Montgomery County: 110 total cases, 2 deaths, 17 recoveries The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Montgomery County is 110. The county also confirmed that two people have died and 17 patients had recovered. Official information about the cases in Montgomery County is being provided at mcphd-tx.org. Polk County: 5 total cases San Jacinto County: 1 total case Walker County: 7 total cases Waller County: 5 cases Washington County is at 19. Wharton County: 8 total cases -- Click2Houston
4 April 3, 2020 COMMUNITY Indo-American Firm’s Fever Readings Reveals Covid-19 Decline movements from the Facebook apps on their cellphones. -- New York Times
tion of its restrictions, based on data from deaths, coronavirus tests and information about people’s
For an interactive version of this map, visit https://healthweather. us/.
appear. “The cases being counted now had fevers five to 10 days ago,” she said. Shown the Kinsa data, Dr. Howard Zucker, New York State’s health commissioner, called it “a great example of technology being able to show what we think we’re experiencing — and it’s consistent with our data.” On Sunday, Washington State also reported a downward trend following the imposi-
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four shades of blue on the map. Fevers were dropping especially rapidly in the West, from Utah to California and from Washington down to Arizona; in many Western counties, the numbers of people reporting high fevers fell by almost 20 percent. The numbers were also declining rapidly in Maine. The parts of New Mexico and Colorado that had been slightly “warm” on Wednesday were in light blue, indicating that they were cooling. So were the Louisiana counties. “I’m very impressed by this,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a preventive medicine expert at Vanderbilt University. “It looks like a way to prove that social distancing works.” For some hard-hit cities, Kinsa also sent The New York Times fever data plotted on a timeline of restrictions enacted by mayors or governors. By aggregating data on fevers, the company has tracked the flu in the United States. Smart thermometers made by Kinsa. By aggregating data on fevers, the company has tracked the flu in the United States.Credit... Tony Cenicola/The New York Times But closing restaurants and bars and asking people to stay in their homes produced dramatic results in all three cities. For example, in Manhattan, reports of fevers steadily rose during early March, despite a declaration of emergency on March 7 and an order on March 12 that public gatherings be restricted to less than 500 people. The turning point began on March 16, the day schools were closed. Bars and restaurants were closed the next day, and a stay-athome order took effect on March 20. By March 23, new fevers in Manhattan were below their March 1 levels. Last Friday, New York State’s own data showed the same trend that Kinsa’s fever readings had spotted five days earlier. By Tuesday, the hospitalization rate took four days to double. This is roughly what the fever readings predicted, said Nita Nehru, a company spokeswoman. Hospitalizations occur several days after symptoms like fever
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New York: Harsh measures, including stay-at-home orders and restaurant closures, are contributing to rapid drops in the numbers of fevers — a signal symptom of most coronavirus infections — recorded in states across the country, according to intriguing new data produced by a medical tech firm. The new data offer evidence, in real time, that tight social-distancing restrictions may be working, potentially reducing hospital overcrowding and lowering death rates, experts said. The company, Kinsa Health, which produces internet-connected thermometers, first created a national map of fever levels on March 22, and was able to spot the trend within a day. Since then, data from the health departments of New York State and Washington State have buttressed the finding, making it clear that social distancing is saving lives. Kinsa’s thermometers upload the user’s temperature readings to a centralized database; the data enable the company to track fevers across the United States. Owners of Kinsa’s thermometers can type other symptoms into a cellphone app after taking their temperature. The app offers basic advice on whether they should seek medical attention. Kinsa has more than one million thermometers in circulation and has been getting up to 162,000 daily temperature readings since Covid-19 began spreading in the country. The company normally uses that data to track the spread of influenza. Since 2018, when it had more than 500,000 thermometers distributed, its predictions have routinely been two to three weeks ahead of those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gathers flu data on patient symptoms from doctors’ offices and hospitals. To identify clusters of coronavirus infections, Kinsa recently adapted its software to detect spikes of “atypical fever” that do not correlate with historical flu patterns and are likely attributable to the coronavirus. As of noon Wednesday, the company’s live map showed fevers holding steady or dropping almost universally across the country, with two prominent exceptions. One was in a broad swath of New Mexico, where the governor had issued stay-at-home orders only the day before, and in adjacent counties in Southern Colorado. The second was in a ring of Louisiana parishes surrounding New Orleans, but 100 to 150 miles away from it. That presumably was caused by the outward local spread of the explosion of infections in New Orleans, which officials believe was set off by crowding during Mardi Gras. By Friday morning, fevers in every county in the country were on a downward trend, depicted in
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Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
TECHNOLOGY
April 3, 2020
5
Ventilators, Sanitizers: How IITs are Helping India Fight Coronavirus
New Delhi: With the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, the government of India is making all efforts to contain the spread. The government has also reached out to IITs to develop tech-enabled solutions to fight coronavirus. The premier engineering institutes have already been working on many things. Here we list out what all IITs are doing to help government and people deal with the pandemic: IIT Guwahati: A machine that can analyse samples quickly Researchers at IIT Guwahati have developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine, which can analyse 1,000 samples in 12 hours. Two units of the machine have already been supplied to Gauhati Medical College and two such units have already been supplied to the Gauhati Medical College. IIT Bombay: A mobile app to track potential or suspected carriers Called Corontine, the idea behind the app is to help authorities track asymptomatic carriers, which should help in preventing the spread. The app is installed on the mobile of asymptomatic carriers and can send GPS coordinates of the mobiles periodically. IIT Guwahati: A drone to sanitise public spaces Students from IIT, Guwahati have made a drone equipped with an automated sprayer. This drone can be used to sanitise public areas like roads, parks, which could help in preventing spread of coronavirus. IIT Delhi: A cheaper Covid-19
IIT Roorkee Startup Develops Herbal Hand Sanitizer To Tackle COVID-19
testing kit. At IIT Delhi, researchers have made a test kit that could help in reducing the cost of diagnosing Covid-19. The test kit is reportedly at the clinical trial stage at National Institute of Virology, Pune. IIT Kanpur: A ventilator prototype IIT Kanpur has an incubator company called Nocca Robotics. A team of innovators there have come up with a ventilator prototype, which is in the testing phase at the moment. The ventilator is supposed to cost much less than those already in the market.. IIT Guwahati: Face shield prototype
A prototype of a face shield has been developed by IIT Guwahati. The face shield was made as per the guidelines of WHO and can be used as personal protective equipment (PPE) by healthcare professionals. IIT Kharagpur: Hand sanitizers At IIT Kharagpur, researchers developed a formula based on the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on preparing hand sanitisers locally in homes. IIT Hyderabad: Bag valve mask As per a report by The Economic Times, IIT Hyderabad has an alternative to ventilators. Researchers
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have proposed a bag valve mask, which could be used on patients in emergency cases. IT Guwahati: Working on Covid-19 vaccine n an official statement released
by IIT Guwahati, the institute authorities said, “As there are no approved drugs presently available for the disease, the faculty members are in the process of developing small molecules inhibitors for the treatment of COVID-19 using modern biotechnological tools.” No other details were revealed about the proposed drug in the making. IIT Delhi: An infection-proof fabric Researchers at IIT have developed an infection-proof fabric, which can be used at hospitals to prevent infections. It has been developed by Fabiosys Innovations, a start-up incubated at IIT-Delhi. IIT Hyderabad: Hand sanitizers Even students at IIT Hyderabad have made their own hand sanitiser based on the guidelines provided by WHO. IIT Delhi: Hand sanitizers IIT Delhi too has made its own hand sanitisers whose formulation contains three chemicals along with Aloe Vera and the major component is isopropyl alcohol (around 75%). -- Indian Express
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6 April 3, 2020 SOUTH ASIA Coronavirus India: Death Toll Rises to 53 as Cases Cross 2,000 New Delhi: The number of coronavirus cases in the country surpassed the 2,000-mark on Thursday and the death toll mounted to 53, as per the data provided by the Health Ministry. Of the 2,069 Covid-19 cases, 1,860 are active cases and 155 persons have been cured of the virus. As several states scramble to trace and quarantine Tablighi Jamaat members who attended an event at Markaz in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area last month, the national capital and Tamil Nadu witnessed a sharp spike in the number of cases on Thursday, recording 227 and 240 cases respectively. Persons linked to the event have tested positive in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Telangana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu among other places in the country. Meanwhile, Maharashtra remains the worst affected with 335 Covid-19 cases, followed by Kerala with 265. On Thursday morning, Arunachal Pradesh reported its first case, when a 31-year-old man from Lohit District tested positive. The patient, who recently attended the event at Nizamuddin Markaz, is non-Arunachalee, Chief Minister Pema Khandu confirmed on a video statement on Twitter. In Manipur, one out of the ten people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi tested positive, while in Assam, a massive contact-tracing operation is on to find around 500 people linked to the religious congregation. While
seven people from Meghalaya attended the Tablighi Jamaat event, none have returned to Meghalaya. “It is confirmed that 5 are in Delhi and 2 are in Lucknow,” said a release from Meghalaya. As a safeguard for medical and paramedical personnel from the coronvirus, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a bio suit for them. The suit has been prepared with the help of the industry and subjected to rigorous testing for textile parameters as well as protection against synthetic blood. The industry is geared up for production of the suit in large quantities. M/s Kusumgarh Industries is
producing the raw material, coating material, with the complete suit being manufactured with the help of another vendor. The current production capacity is 7,000 suits per day. Another vendor is being brought in with the experience in garment technology and efforts are on to ramp up the capacity to 15,000 suits per day. The suit has been prepared with the help of the industry and subjected to rigorous testing for textile parameters as well as protection against synthetic blood. Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that visa of 960 Tablighi Jamaat foreigners stand cancelled for violating the visa
rules, adding that they have also been blacklisted. Shah has also directed Delhi Police, DGPs of other states to take legal action against 960 foreigners for violating laws. Joint Secretary in MHA Punya Salila Srivastava, earlier in the day, said around 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have been quarantined. She further said of the 2,000 members in Delhi, 1,804 have been shifted to quarantine centres while 334 symptomatic persons admitted to hospitals. “The home ministry along with states and union territories launched a massive effort and about 9,000 Tablighi Jammat workers and their primary contacts
were identified and quarantined. Among these, 1,306 people are foreigners,” Srivastava said during the briefing,” Srivastava said. The number of Covid-19 cases in Karnataka rose to 121 as 11 fresh cases were reported from from Bidar district, linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi’s Markaz Nizamuddin. “Till now, 91 have been tested in Bidar, out of which 11 have tested positive. In Bengaluru, more than 30 have been tested and all are tested negative. A three-day-old boy tested positive for COVID-19, suspected to have caught the virus from the bed occupied by an infected patient before it was allotted to his mother at Sai hospital in Mumbai. While the mother has also tested positive, the boy is the state’s youngest COVID-19 patient. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Chief Ministers via video conferencing and told them that in the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the focus, adding that it is necessary to ensure availability of separate, dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients. “It is imperative to work on war footing, identify COVID-19 hotspots, encircle them, ensure virus doesn’t spread,” Modi said. “It is important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of population once lockdown ends,” he added. -- Indian Express
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Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
COMMUNITY
April 3, 2020
7
“Yes! to Census 2020” Presents Second of Five Murals in Montrose Houston: Houston and Harris County’s local census drive “Yes! to Census 2020” will unleash its second of five murals in undercounted neighborhoods to build awareness of the upcoming Census 2020 and the importance of being counted The dynamic, public-facing grassroots initiative comprises diverse artists to create colorful, lifeaffirming murals to creatively and holistically convey the local census message: completing the census is important, urgent, safe and easy. The newly painted Montrose mural is located at 1203 Westheimer Road and created by artist Sebastien Mr. D1987 Boileau. The artwork includes a Houston rainbow skyline inside a hipster camera roll with the local Census 2020 campaign hashtag #YEStotheCensus. Local Montrose residents informed the creation via engagement surveys. Houston-based UP Art Studio, a design house owned by EIia and Noah Quiles that facilitates art and design projects for urban and contemporary artists, communi-
ties, corporations and municipalities, is commissioned to identify locations, secure artists and incorporate community engagement to inform the works of art. The first “Yes! to Census 2020” mural was completed in early March in Gulfton by Anat Ronen and is located at 6227 Southwest Freeway. In pre-identified undercounted communities, local artists have been and will continue working with community residents to create vibrant murals that reflect each area’s unique character, ethnicities, needs and dreams to deliver the Yes! to Census 2020 message. The remaining areas where murals will be painted include Alief, Al-
dine and South Central Houston. Local artists secured to create the remaining art installations include Lee Washington, Colors Oner, and Israel McCloud. The Yes! to Census 2020 campaign aims to educate Houston and Harris County residents that the census is important, urgent, safe and easy to complete. Local trusted voices and hyperlocal influencers will amplify and encourage participation among multicultural and potentially undercounted populations. A website with Census 2020 resources, information and events can be found at www.HarrisHoustonCounts.com.
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ENTERTAINMENT
April 3, 2020
‘Maska’ Movie Review: Saccharine Sweet and Cloyingly Safe
With Bollywood in hiatus due to the Coronavirus, Indo-American News will publish reviews of movies on streaming sites such as Netflix, Sling and Hotstar.
row and plays too safe. Why does preserving history have to be a burden for the future? Why can’t your heritage and individual identity co-exist? Why can’t dreams be realigned better with reality? In these home-bound times, the film does leave you feeling nostalgic for old Mumbai houses you used to encounter on walks. Most of all, it ignites a craving for those soft buns slathered with mounds of butter and the extra sweet tea at Irani cafés. And also those small cups of Bournvita, tea and coffee sold on cycle-carts late into the night and the wee hours of the morning in a city that never sleeps. Rather never used to sleep. Hope it soon wakes up again. -- The Hindu Maska is currently streaming on Netflix
By Namrata Josh Director: Neeraj Udhwani Cast: Manisha Koirala, Prit Kamani, Javed Jaffrey, Nikita Dutta, Shirley Setia Storyline: Young Rumi wants to let go of his family legacy to pursue his dream of becoming an actor Run time: 1 hour 51 minutes The Netflix film opts for the convenience and comfort of the conventional than the uncertainty, trials and tribulations of the radical There’s a scene in Maska where the lead Rumi (Prit Kamani) is ticked off by a judge, Boman Irani (playing himself) in an acting competition. All for trying too hard to act — zyada hi mehnat (don’t overdo it), as he puts it. The film — about Rumi wanting to let go of his family legacy in order to become an actor — is also something like that. The well-meaning tribute to Mumbai’s iconic Irani cafés, is sweet but cloyingly so. The homage to the Parsi community gets too affected and contrived than spontaneous, and prefers to remain on the surface instead of taking a deep dive. No wonder for a long stretch at
“Maska” stars the veteran Manisha Koirala as the Parsee mother and newcomer Prit Kamani as the errant son.
the start there is a sense of disconnect, whether it is with individuals or their relationships with each other. Manisha Koirala plays Diana, Rumi’s mother, with daintily over-the-top eccentricity (can any Parsi not be done that way?) Or, for that matter Javed Jaffrey as the late father Rustom. When will portraying Parsis go beyond accents and catch phrases? The Punjabiyat of Rumi’s girlfriend Mallika Chopra (Nikita Dutta) feels just as practiced. Kamani comes up with a sincere turn but its Abhishek Ba-
nerjee in a walk-on role as a casting director who livens things up. Things take a heartwarming turn somewhere in the middle as Rumi battles between café and career but soon keels over to far-out sentimentality. Eventually, my big grouse with the film is that it opts for the convenience and comfort of the conventional than the uncertainty, trials and tribulations of the radical. Be it home, family and legacy, dreams and calling or even when it comes to matters of heart. It opts for the straight and the nar-
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The 2020 Census will shape your future. Every 10 years, the United States counts everyone living in the country on April 1, no matter where they are from, what language they speak, or why they are in the country. The count includes children and newborn babies, citizens and noncitizens, and temporary residents. What will the 2020 Census ask me?
The number of people living or staying at your address on April 1 • Do you own or rent your home? •Telephone number • Name • Age • Date of birth • Sex • Relationship to the person filling out the form • Race • Hispanic origin
What won’t the 2020 Census ask?
Your Social Security number • Money or donations • Anything on behalf of a political party •Your bank or credit card account numbers • No citizenship question or immigration status
Responding is important for your family and community. The information collected in the census will inform the distribution of more than $1.5 trillion in federal funds each year. These funds impact critical services, including education, health care, senior centers, and public transportation.
Communities rely on census statistics to plan for a variety of needs, including new roads, schools, and emergency services. Businesses use census data to decide where to build factories, offices, and stores. For more information, visit:
Responding is easy.
www.2020census.gov
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Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Throwback Lockdown
April 3, 2020
9
Delhi Exodus: A Failure to Learn By Abhimanyu Tewari
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting seems to have discovered something known to social media users for a while now. Nostalgia sells. Buzzfeed and its many imitators have made a tidy sum with lists of memes about “10 things only ‘90s kids will get”, and Throwback Thursday keeps returning to Instagram like a bad rash, week upon week. Now, India’s middle and upper classes have all the time in the world. And the government has decided to service this captive audience by airing on Doordarshan, “by popular demand”, according to Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. Also on offer in the menu of state-sponsored memories are Mahabharat, Shaktimaan, Circus, Chanakya, Byomkesh Bakshi and Upanishad Ganga. Many of the shows that are being re-telecast are classics. In the 1980s and 1990s, some of the best film-makers, writers and technicians had turned to television and DD gave them space and freedom to make relevant, relatable programmes. But the moment it began to face competition after the airwaves were liberalised, it could not match up in terms of viewership. Unlike in England, or even the US, where the BBC and NPR still provide quality programming that more market-driven studios will not, DD became the state’s broadcaster, instead of a public good. That all it has to offer in 2020 is a highlight reel of its past glory is hardly something to celebrate. The government must know that every show being re-telecast is available online. Or, perhaps, the point is not nostalgia, but to actually go back. During pre-liberalisation scarcity, neighbourhoods would gather around a single TV-set to watch the only entertainment available — DD. Appointment viewing, though, has given way to binge-watching — armed with a smartphone, people have gotten used to a bounty of content. As another crisis looms, and state capacity is put to the test, the Ramayan, Mahabharat and Upanishad Ganga may be just the coping mechanism Indians need, as they wait for Shaktimaan to deliver..-- Indian Express
Here in the United States, those of us who are sheltering in place and now specifically dealing with a Coronavirus infection of themselves or their loved one, have a tremendour variety of entertainment channels to watch. Many of the news and talk shows are being broadcast live. While the studios are not recording new shows, there is a wealth of original and rerun content, especially for those of us who are comfortable in both the American and Indian cultural spheres. Some of the streaming channels include Amazon Prime, Hulu, Hotstar and Sling. At our home, we’re binge watching shows such as Ozark, documentaries on philosphy (Wisdom of the Ancients -- Socrates, Confucious and Buddha or art (Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Manet, Whistler) with one eye on the Corona news -- Pramod Kulkarni
In early 1900, the city of Kanpur saw a case of plague, which triggered the evocation of the newly legislated ‘Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897’. This authorised specific committees to segregate contacts in special camps. In their bid to break the cycle of transmission, the aforementioned committees, apart from segregation, also ordered a 48-hour quarantine before entering the town and mandatory house inspection for suspected plague cases. The European demigraph was exempted from the said provisions, which were enforced with vigour and a degree of ruthlessness on the Indian subjects. The Kanpur plague riot started on April 11, 1900 and resulted in large-scale violence and caused discontent amongst other regions of the state. It also resulted in the redrafting of the plague resolutions in a manner and spirit that was best encaptured in the official statement of the UP Government of the time: “No system of plague administration can be successful which does not carry the people with it. From this point of view, any rigid system of plague measures is to be depreciated, and he is the most successful plague administrator who is able to gauge the temper of the particular class of people he is dealing with”. The Kanpur incident echoed a similar unfortunate situation and concluded with the same universal lesson that had been learnt in the then state of Mysore by the prevailing government. In November 1889, riots erupted in the village of Ganjam near Bangalore over the cremation of the body of a plague victim. It is in this context that the recent and unprecedented shutdown in India over the novel coronavirus must be seen. The nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister on March 24 suffers from the same vices that haunted its predecessors in 1898 and 1900. In all three cases, ie.1898, 1900 and 2020, the intention of the authority imposing the restrictions/
regulations have indeed been noble and based on the evidence at the time held to be scientifically accurate. In 1898, in the Ganjam incident, the issue was with regards to proper disposal of a plague victim’s remains; in 1900 the issue was that of social segregation and quarantine similar to the goals sought to be achieved vide the 2020 regulations. Unfortunately, the similarity between these various regulations is their abject mismanagement in implementation and total oversight and oblivion to acceptance by the local demographic. The regulations both past and present have overlooked the basic fact that actions and prohibitions made with the noblest of intentions and based on solid scientific backings will amount to nothing, if those who are to abide by them end up refusing them en masse. The 2020 regulations have resulted in a mass exodus of tens of thousands of migrant workers from metropolitan cities to their home. In Goa, for reasons best known to the administration, even essential staples like milk, flour and medicine shops have been prohibited from opening, and stray incidents of violence have been reported in the Bongaigaon district of Assam resulting in police firing to control local populations. The common thread as mentioned before in all these incidents separated by over a century is the
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inability of those in power to connect with those on whom the regulations are to be imposed. In the case of the stranded migrant workers, the apathy and incompetence of the state is starkly visible. The potent mix of prevention rules have created a situation where thousands upon thousands of individuals have gathered together defeating the very purpose of social distancing and checking the spread of the virus. More worryingly it has also created a situation where the virus can now be transported right into rural India, where our healthcare apparatus is the weakest. The government has on prior occasions airlifted a vast number of citizens belonging to different class structures from all across the globe in the early days of the pandemic. It should have been simple mathematics for policy makers to gauge that once all economic activity is stalled in the country, the millions of daily workers would want to go home, especially since they have no social security safeguards in the big cities. The lockdown and the subsequent humanitarian crisis it has created can’t help but make one wonder: are the elected rulers of today as disconnected from the common man as the colonial masters of yesteryears? -- IE The author is a Supreme Court lawyer
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Mama’s Punjabi Recipes
Sabat Moong te Palak di Daal
(SPINACH & WHOLE MOONG LENTILS) Daals are the mainstay of the Indian diet, whether you are in the north or south, east or west - providing much needed protein, especially for the multitude of vegetarians in the country - and each region has its own way of making them. So central are they to Indian life, there is even a phrase to express daily life: “daalroti toh khani hai” (we have to eat our daily bread). But nowhere will you find the heartiness and flavorful taste of daals as you would in the Punjab. Punjabi daals are known for their smooth, thick texture and the perfect blend of spices. They are not supposed to be runny or thin and the hot tardka or blending in of spices, onions, garlic and sometimes hing (asafoetida) is a sizzling experience that fills the air with the aroma of the dish. To this day, in the majority of rural communities and in many traditional recipes, daal is cooked in a large patila (pot) simmered over a slow to medium flame. Daal should be cooked so that you can spot the grain and have a little turri (curry). Too thick or too thin a daal and you can’t scoop it with roti (flat bread). The dish is made with leafy, dark green spinach, which is rich in vitamins A, B2, B6, C, E, K, magnesium, folate, manganese, iron, calcium and potassium. It’s a very good source of protein, phosphorus, zinc, dietary fiber, and copper as well as selenium, niacin, and omega-3 fatty acids. Spinach and methi (fenugreek) are sometimes added selectively to some daals to enhance their flavor and appeal. Sabat (whole) moong daal is leaf green in color and the dark spinach and soya leaves give the dish a nice dual look and added flavor. This dish cooks fairly fast and goes especially well with hot rotis. Ingredients: • 1 cup sabat moong daal (whole moong lentils) • 500 gm palak (spinach) • 2 cups pani (water) • 2 tbsp olive oil • 4 cloves of lasan (garlic) – peeled and chopped • 1 medium adrak (ginger) – peeled and chopped • 2 hari mirch (green chillies) – medium and chopped • 1/2 cup soya patta (soya leaves) (optional)
• 5 stalktops fresh dhania (coriander) – pinch off the leaves and cut into pieces • 1 tsp garam masala • Spices (to taste): lal mirch (red pepper); namak (salt); haldi (turmeric) Directions:
1. Carefully wash the spinach leaves thoroughly to remove any dirt, drip to dry then cut the leaves into half inch pieces. 2. Place the moong daal in a bowl and wash it thoroughly in cold water, then rinse it out. 3. Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Pour in the moong daal into the pot, cover, and add the cut spinach, soya patta, haldi, ginger, green chilies and salt and let it come to a second boil then reduce the heat to medium. 4. If the water boils off before the daal becomes tender, then add some more and let it continue to boil for about 30 minutes till the daal is tender but not soft. Keep a frequent eye on the daal to make sure it does not become soupy.
5. Heat the oil in a small karai or wok and add the garlic and brown it a little. When roasted and the smell of the pieces starts to come through, take off the heat and drop the masala into the pot of cooked daal and stir to mix well. 6. Sprinkle the top of the daal with garam masala and the cut coriander leaves above. Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India (since renamed Faisalabad) before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her early-nineties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi recipes for future generations.
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COMMUNITY/REVIEW
Free Covid-19 Drive-Thru Testing Sugar Land Smart Financial Centre
The Covid-19 testing facility is set up at the Smart Financial Center parking lot in Sugar Land.
Sugar Land: United Memorial Medical Center announced the opening of a free COVID-19 drive-thru testing beginning at the Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land during a news conference Tuesday. “It’s each one of our responsibilities to make sure we don’t pass this on,” said Sugar Land Mayor Joe Zimmerman. The Financial Centre parking lot was transformed to accommodate hundreds of expected visitors every weekday. The site will be open to the public: Tuesday, March 31 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., then the rest of the week and Monday through Friday after that, from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Officials are expecting to test around 250 people a day. Medical professionals will ask those who want to be tested a series of questions to determine if a test is needed before other medical professionals like Varon administer the test. “We remind people the elders,
senior citizens, need to be tested,” Lee said. “We would ask that you bring your senior citizen, ... if [they] can’t come on their own.” Varon said relatively few seniors have stopped by the other UMMC drive-thru testing site, in Houston off Tidwell Rd., which concerns him. However, he said UMMC is working on mobile testing sites that can go test people who may not be able to leave their home. He said they have already tested a few people using the mobile site, and many have been positive so it is important to get people tested at home if they cannot leave. Varon also urged people to heed warnings and stay home. “Stay at home. I cannot say it enough times. Stay at home,” Varon said. “If we do this right, we will control this pandemic. We will survive this. (But) if we don’t stay at home, this will be prolonged more and more and we will have more casualties.” -- Click 2 Houston
April 3, 2020
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“Pitchers ...”: Poetry Full of Meanings By Vidula Joshi
Varsha Halabe’s “ Pitchers full of Suns on the Shoulder” is a translation of the original Marathi poems by Dr. Anuja Joshi. “ Pitchers ..” beckons readers to probe for meaning and then a different meaning as good poetry should. You read and read again. You return to a previous line or a word and find new insight. Our favorite poetry arises out of a certain environment, experience, a moment in History, socio-cultural sensitivity or our humanism, in short. “Pitchers...” speaks to these. “An Endless Dry Sea” presents an unusual depiction of deep love as the cause for the drying up of an ocean. Shocking and ironic? Perhaps! The ocean moves if only to be absorbed by the “intense” receptive sand. It gives and the shore takes. Is that a fair arrangement? Or is that a perfect union? The dry ocean is captivating, no matter what, when it “ percolates deeper and deeper into the waves of the sand...” The first few poems reveal a calling to nature and an invocation of the union of all life. Take , “ The Rock stands strong” Here, a stationary mountain, the rock, forms, responds and is moved by (figurative) the smallest creatures
surrounding it. Life is happening in small, quiet ways and life changes life. No wonder the rock that stands tall “ glances at the wings of the bird” and “acquires a halo.” Poetry forges connections between time, place, and ideas. This one touched me. I know from experience that a rock can come alive to the one who pays attention to the silent stories imprinted within its crevices. Last but the not the least are the poems titled, “ Mother” which put the Woman front and center. These few poems reflect on the passage of womanhood from the home to the fields to a career to a club, on and on, but through all this progress she remains a Mother first. She is stuck in the same role as before. “ Seeds of Sowing” and “ The Treaded Path”, in a rather dry voice, question the rudiments of patriarchy and gender rooted deep in the way we relate to everything, including natural phenomenon. In all, “ Pitchers..” engages with life, the earth, with love and hardship and cruelty and injustice. It
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speaks directly. There’s sarcasm at times as in “ the same mud idol- your brain child” in “ O Mother Parvati” to make a point. Other poems end rather poignantly like “ I see my sky with eyes full of tears”: Rain, maybe? Bitterness? Loss, even? A book of clear words and lucid thought, spend an afternoon with “ Pitchers full of Suns on the Shoulder”, as I did. It deserves a place in modern poetry. Varsha Halabe
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Indo-American News • Friday, APRIL 3, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com