Game Over For The Donald Trump?

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

                                                                                Abraham Lincoln

Is Mr. Donald Trump the dumbest business man president the USA has ever seen with blonde hair? A political rally now? Amidst this Covid19 pandemic, where America tops it, from the back. 

The City - Kolkata

Traveling does not mean exploring a new place. Traveling can be way more interesting visiting own city. Taking this forward, taking the pleasure of revisiting my homeland Kolkata. 

City of Joy is warm and forthcoming. 

Apt, the tales of Calcutta folklore is equally riveting.

Kolkata, accepts everyone,

Right, from the times of partition.

Kolkata is an epitome of unity in diversity.

Once an emerald of the east of thy majesty...

 

Kolkata, it means politics, food and sports.

And oh, have to add the art and culture, of course.

A democratic Bengali, vehemently opinionates with force and fervour.

Oh Kolkata, et Tu? 

The blue blooded lover of nostalgia? 

Kolkata, you mean, the tramlines,

In Kolkata, the chaos is controlled, 

With an epicenter  at Burrabazar. 

The history of the city can take you to olden times.

It's life...

They say, cholche cholbe...

Kolkata is about gully cricket and para football. 

Kolkata is Kolkata, it’s unique.

That’s where Kolkata stands for.

Kolkata also means coffee house and endless conversations one can die for. 

Kolkata is a paradise for book lovers. 

But Kolkata survives. 

Without its covers...

The city loves it’s own version, 

To keep revising Kolkata. 

The old town of the garrisons..

Saheb...

With time...

The city changed...

Oh Kolkata

Kolkata, the breathing space of  the global thinkers...

A place for the mindless banters...

Kolkata means strike, 

It means political debates.

The arguments

Yet the enthu hardly Rebates...

I ❤️ Kolkata

Lopamudra Ganguly

The author lives and works in Kolkata and was born in this city. 

Is the Cure for Corona, cheap Drug Dexamethasone ?

Perhaps the most important tweet of the year was made a little while ago by the Oxford Scientists. Reported on their website 

Michelle Roberts from the BBC reported that 

"A cheap and widely available drug called dexamethasone can help save the lives of patients who are seriously ill with coronavirus."

Oxford reports," SCIENCEHEALTHCORONAVIRUS

In March 2020, the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY) trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, including low-dose dexamethasone (a steroid treatment). Over 11,500 patients have been enrolled from over 175 NHS hospitals in the UK."

This is the part of the world s largest trials on Covid19. The website recoverytrial reads "This national clinical trial aims to identify treatments that may be beneficial for people hospitalised with suspected or confirmed COVID-19."

On 8 June, recruitment to the dexamethasone arm was halted since, in the view of the trial Steering Committee, sufficient patients had been enrolled to establish whether or not the drug had a meaningful benefit.

A total of 2104 patients were randomised to receive dexamethasone 6 mg once per day (either by mouth or by intravenous injection) for ten days and were compared with 4321 patients randomised to usual care alone. Among the patients who received usual care alone, 28-day mortality was highest in those who required ventilation (41%), intermediate in those patients who required oxygen only (25%), and lowest among those who did not require any respiratory intervention (13%).

Dexamethasone reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patients (rate ratio 0.65 [95% confidence interval 0.48 to 0.88]; p=0.0003) and by one fifth in other patients receiving oxygen only (0.80 [0.67 to 0.96]; p=0.0021). There was no benefit among those patients who did not require respiratory support (1.22 [0.86 to 1.75; p=0.14).

Based on these results, 1 death would be prevented by treatment of around 8 ventilated patients or around 25 patients requiring oxygen alone.

Given the public health importance of these results, the researchers are now working to publish the full details as soon as possible.

Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and one of the Chief Investigators for the trial, said, ‘Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19. This is an extremely welcome result. The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.’

Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, one of the Chief Investigators, said, ‘Since the appearance of COVID-19 six months ago, the search has been on for treatments that can improve survival, particularly in the sickest patients. These preliminary results from the RECOVERY trial are very clear – dexamethasone reduces the risk of death among patients with severe respiratory complications. COVID-19 is a global disease – it is fantastic that the first treatment demonstrated to reduce mortality is one that is instantly available and affordable worldwide.’

The UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said, 'This is tremendous news today from the Recovery trial showing that dexamethasone is the first drug to reduce mortality from COVID-19. It is particularly exciting as this is an inexpensive widely available medicine. This is a ground-breaking development in our fight against the disease, and the speed at which researchers have progressed finding an effective treatment is truly remarkable. It shows the importance of doing high quality clinical trials and basing decisions on the results of those trials.'

Three Years in Suva - Fiji

I feel we are all islands - in a common sea.     

Anne Morrow Lundbergh

Yes. For three years I called this small port town in deep South Pacific my home, it's #Suva. The new home. Came to this city three years ago for a project and thanking the VPCL management and directors for inviting me in your house.

Vinaka (thank you).

The metropolis is what I can describe. Very urbane. Almost people from most countries have some connection to this historic town. 

The new capital. I'd say, it's a magical place. The starry nights and poignant evenings, the wetty Suva rains and might be a strong contender of the 'windy city' from Chicago.

Suva has a bit of everything in bits and pieces of the world, and people who have come here to rather add. 'I was here'. 

More coming.

In times of Corona - from FIJI

Hello All,

                 Got a notification that Blogger is going to 'change' it's features permanently (whether you accept them or not), hence decided to hit back in what I love doing. Experimenting, with ideas and bringing them back into meaningful actions. 

What happened almost 90 days ago (#covid19) has made all of us looking at the world differently. It was all normal (when the picture below was taken in Hong Kong last year (2019 aka pre-covid days and things like, aeroplanes are flying used to be normal. Meaning, restrictionary movement was not in place. They call it the new normal. 

This restarting of my 10 year old blog was pending.. you'll get more of it. Please bear.. just sharing my experiences with you all. 

Cheers from Fiji - one of the first #coronafree nation. 

Independence Day - Your idea of Freedom (From Fiji)

Happy 73rd Independence day to all of you. This morning, 15th August messages started flowing in, hugs from fellow Indians, mubarak ho.

Outside the residence in Suva

Patriotism flows high, but why just for a day and what exactly Independence day means to us anyway? I like the idea of freedom and believe every single person in the world should be and must be free to do, say anything. In reality, it may or may not happen.

For me, driving a bike and cruising around gives me the ultimate kick. This picture taken this morning of 15th August- 2019 in Suva, the capital city of Fiji.

An India in Fiji

The 70s hangs high in this port town of Fiji, West.
https://youtu.be/d5yy56RnyYI

The song being played from a roadside shop in the background is from the 70's movie Muqaddar ka Sikandar, (1978)
"Salaam E Ishq Meri Jaan, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha.

The building in this video was built in 1974, four ago, in the 70s, the classic Bollywood age.

Fiji in many ways is stuck in the 70s, like the Cuba. It's my first video to celebrate this unique island country with several traits, the world must turn back, and see. Vinaka
https://youtu.be/d5yy56RnyYI

Ever Lust Stories by evergreen Directors

Five years ago, we saw ‘Bombay Talkies’ and the gang of four hit back again exclusively for the ‘Netflix’ generation.  This time, we see the movie real time in the Fiji Islands after work. We see how they see people and places. There are four untitled stories done by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar weaving Kiara Advani, Vicky Kaushal, Neha Dhupia, Radhika Apte and Bhumi Pednekar around a common motif.

The idea of launching the films on Netflix – a LIVE streaming platform is liberating for the filmmakers, I wish this existed when Kashyap made yet-to-be-released ‘Paanch’ I think, it would be a good idea to launch it legally now.  Coming back to where we began, there are clueless men and strong women fore-playing. The film is apt in a sexually liberated environment and very urban. All the films apart from the common theme ‘lust’ also portrayed how strong willed these women are and all of them exactly knew what they wanted in/from life.

Anurag Kashp’s opens the film with his muse Radhika Apte as Kalindi maam as a carefree, spirited women citing Amrita Pritam and Mahabharata giving a monologue in and out of the screen with the audience, was justifying her ‘acts’ at the same time susceptible by morality and legal arguments of rights and wrongs. Wont get into a spoiler mode as the film was released in June 15 and this is September, been three months already. 

The remaining Lusty stories can be seen at Netflix

Fiji and the Hindostan Via Calcutta

It's over one year for me in this beautiful island country tucked in the South Pacific Islands. After leaving Delhi, had zero idea what Fiji is about. Have lifted information etc. Now, will begin a series where i'll pick up words heavily influenced by Bengal. The place where most Indo -Fijians (forefathers) came from. Hope you will like it.

It’s literally a journey across oceans, mixing diplomacy and friendship with history, culture and civilizational memories. Located thousands of miles away in the South Pacific Ocean, but kindred in spirit, Fiji, a string of 800-plus stunningly picturesque coral islands, is intimately linked with India by over 300,000 persons of Indian origin who have made this Pacific nation their home for over a century.


Early ancestors of Indo-Fijians- Indians had been employed for a long time on the European ships trading in India and the East Indies. Many of the early voyages to the Pacific either started or terminated in India, and many of these ships were wrecked in the uncharted waters of the South Pacific. The first recorded presence of an Indian in Fiji was by Peter Dillon, a sandalwood trader in Fiji, of a lascar (Indian seaman) who survived a ship wreck and lived amongst the natives of Fiji.


First attempt to procure Indian labourers- Before Fiji was colonized by Great Britain, some planters had tried to obtain Indian labour and had approached the British Consul in Levuka, Fiji but were met with a negative response. In 1870 a direct request by a planter to the Government of India was also turned down and in 1872, an official request by the Cakobau Government was informed that British rule in Fiji was a pre-condition for Indian emigration to Fiji. The early ancestors of Fiji Indians came from different regions and backgrounds from India and other neighboring countries. However, most came from rural villages in northern and western India.

In January 1879, thirty-one Indians, who had originally been indentured labourers in Réunion, were brought from New Caledonia to Fiji under contract to work on a plantation in Taveuni. These labourers demonstrated knowledge of the terms of the indenture agreement and were aware of their rights and refused to do the heavy work assigned to them. Their contract was terminated by mutual agreement between the labourers and their employers. In 1881, thirty-eight more Indians arrived from New Caledonia and again most of them left but some stayed taking Indian wives or island women.

Arrival under the indentured system- The colonial authorities promoted the sugar cane industry, recognising the need to establish a stable economic base for the colony, but were unwilling to exploit indigenous labour and threaten the Fijian way of life. The use of imported labour from the Solomon Islands and what is now Vanuatu generated protests in the United Kingdom, and the Governor Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon decided to implement the indentured labour scheme, which had existed in the British Empire since 1837. A recruiting office was set up especially around Calcutta and the South, West and North later, especially a lot in rural village areas in different farming regions, land and areas.

The Leonidas, a labour transport vessel, disembarked at Levuka from Calcutta on 14 May 1879. The 463 indentured workers who disembarked were the first of over 61,000 to arrive from South and East Asia in the following 37 years. The majority were from the districts of eastern and southern provinces, followed by labourers from northern and western regions, then later south eastern countries, they originated from different regions, villages, backgrounds and castes that later mingled or intermarried hence the "Fijian Indian" identity was created. The indentured workers originated mostly from rural village backgrounds.

Indira Gandhi visited the Pacific nation 36 years ago in 1981.

The visit will have a special emotive resonance for the vibrant Indo-Fijian community, who act as bridge-builders between the two countries. India’s tryst with Fiji started when Indians were brought in as indentured labourers in 1879 to work in sugarcane plantations by the British in the island nation. Between 1879 and 1916 around 60,000 Indians were brought to Fiji. Called girmitiyas, after the name of the indenture agreement entitled girmit, the persons of Indian origin now comprise 37% of the 849,000 population (2009 estimates). The Indo-Fijians now permeate every sphere of life in Fiji and have enriched their adopted homeland with their multi-faceted talents. Be it business, politics, culture or entertainment, Indo-Fijians have left their indelible stamp. Mahendra Pal Chaudhry has the unique distinction of becoming Fiji's first Indo-Fijian prime minister after he won the elections in 1999. The community has integrated well with the Fijian way of life, but has retained vital cultural and spiritual bonds with the land their ancestors left behind decades ago.

Do let me know, what do you think of this blog post. Vinaka Vakalevu.

My second year IN FIJI

With a kiss let set out for an unknown world. FIJI

Seems like reborn, time to learn and unlearn things in life. Came here with a blank slate nine months ago.

I am definitely more Indian than ever and shall come back to my motherland with one more layer of patriotism. Feel more Indian here than I ever felt back in Bharat.

With less than 6 Indians in the new company I joined in August 2017, I was the 3rd recruit. Get surprised, amazed, shocked and awed all together at the same time everyday. Seems like life has definitely something else stored for me, which I don't know yet. This is a paveway and that's mysterious. 

Need to share (express) more through this platform in days to come. Rekindle the passion and start living for the heart and not just the stomach (paapi pet).

Vinaka

Women's Day in a life of a Millennial

Pic Source: PWC-18

20's are a great time to spread those legs out on your sofa and munch a packet of Cheetos while thinking of what to wear to that party that awaits you on Friday night, and if you are edging out over the last few years of your 20s and find yourself living and working in a country like India, bless you because you won't run out of issues you "feel for" any time soon. I don't mean it in a bad way, but this is the best time to be a millennial in India. Every day comes wrapped with newer issues to fight for, and guess what, you have an audience for all your thought streams. Now writing a personal blog is fun for me, because this is only time I don't search the web for parallel narratives and sub-texts. No Huffington Post or Newyorker quotations will bore you. 

As I make my way through the crowded metro in New Delhi, I can't help but notice the growing number of women now working in my city, and women of all types, the saree connoisseurs, the fresh out of college girls, some with their headphones carefully plugged in to miss the chatter.

Pic Source- Quora

Back in 2007 things were different, we didn't have ladies compartment because there were lesser women working in the city, today we have pink autorickshaws and WiFi enabled cabs because of the growing working women population. In the wake of this not so subtle movement what does a 28-year-old woman think of Women's day and its relevance?

To begin with, I have conflicting thoughts about this "day" which I am sure most of my girlfriends also have primarily because I find the concept of celebrating a gender a little too amateur, I cannot undermine the dialogue that it's creating for sure, I am aware that these dialogues would mean a great deal to the women living in a small town in Udaipur who are now slowly foraying into the outside world in pursuit of sustainable livelihood opportunities . I have had the luck of knowing some of their stories and trust me you, women's day is for them first before you claim it for yourself. Fast forward 2018, now I am an urban woman of color from India living in a country that is not mine and far more progressive than the country of my birth, I can't stop feeling the daunting impression of patriarchy around my neighborhood. Sure the women here wear skirts for veils or traditional attire and have boisterous laughs but the men still drive the cars, so now I am back to my personal conflict zone that is my brain while i try to process all that information in my head.

If you ask me what women's day truly means to me i would tell you it should be a day where women must finally support women, not because she is your friend or you like her better than that other girl who couldn't find to meet you because she was running errands all day and you never bothered to open your heart to her issues, or because she is your mother. You must support other women because she is you. she braves that metro line because she chooses to not look at herself with empathy and it truly is about time that "women's day" becomes about women and not just the society's field day of posting lovely captions and content. 

Pic Source- Pinterest

I will confess, I have judged freely most of my 20s on how other women dressed and talked, and sometimes I still do , as guilty as I feel but when I step back and see the same women living a dignified(interpretations are free) life on her own terms my heart bleeds for I know I have sinned. This year I have decided to do away with flashy, sometimes untrue captions and write a blog instead because just four lines cannot do justice to what I truly think about this day. I feel a great deal about this day and so should you. So now that I am done writing, I wish you a great day ahead ladies and don't forget to catch up with each other this evening because at the end of the day all we truly have is each other.

The writer is Ronisha Bhattacharyya

Communications Expert