The Will and the Grit

Almost 200 Kilometres everyday, making the best of the coolness of the early morning hours till noon, eating from the Dhabas on the way which were still open during the lock down, Mahesh Jena cycled all the way from Maharastra, where he was working in a workshop, to his home 1700 kilometres away in the village of Bichitrapur in Odissha. There, interestingly, his Covid -19 informed villagers put him under quarentine before accepting him back into the community. Really wish the boy would test negative.

Source:

The Hindu

In the time of Novel Corona Virus...

Here in India, soon after the WHO declared the Novel Corona virus as pandemic in the second week of March, the government with in days introduced the "all India lock down". A very bold and timely decision which arrested the communal spread of the virus which so far was detected mostly on those who came back from overseas travel.  All the educational institutions, both air and land transport, interstate movements, non-essential services, offices, shops etc., were all asked to close. 

Since it was done all of a sudden, the poorest of the poor who work as migrant laborers soon found themselves without job and money. Anxious and worried, in the following days, they tried walking home 400 - 900 kilometers across states to their villages. Soon the country realized the danger, and arranged buses for their travel and each state was asked to look after their well being with proper relief measures such as ensuring food supply, place to stay, medical facilities etc. which was indeed the need of the hour. 

Public Distribution system for the food is the back bone of our country when it comes to essential food commodities for sustenance. India was lucky to have attained food-self reliability decades earlier, we had in stock double the buffer level of food grains. So the government immediately announced free food grains and essential pulses above the normal subsidized rations through the PDS. 

As we know, just having something to eat while asked to stay home is not enough as people have money requirements also. Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act covers 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population. They increased the rate from Rs. 182 per day to Rs.200 there by ensuring atleast Rs.2000 more in the accounts of the beneficiaries of this Act. 

Government also took measure to pay the elders who were getting Old age pension an additional Rs.1000 and gave the women account holders of the Jan Dhan scheme Rs.1000 each in two installments. More over they gave free cooking gas to all the families below poverty line for the next two months. 

The front line health workers, the Doctors, the nurses, care-workers, janitors etc. were covered under a personal insurance of Rs. 50 lakhs (US$71,500) which they rightly deserve as they work under severe pressure arising out of the lack of training on the virus treatment, no Personal Protective Equipment, long hours, social stigma, anxiety etc. All the medical facilities are provided through the government run medical facilities and totally free for those infected, which is indeed a blessing. 

All the educational institutions were closed down, postponing exams, promoting classes in junior levels, encouraging web classes etc. Interstate transportation was stopped along with airports which operate only emergency cargo and medical stores movements, a move that was successful in holding the rise of fresh infections and communal spread. 

When we were not complying strictly with the regulations police became very very tough and that kept the folks inside. Luckily in our state of Kerala, the strict measures by a vigilant local government and officials, helped to keep the new infected cases well with in two digits for over a couple weeks now giving us hope that life would return to normal with in the announced lock down period which ends by April 15th, after 21 days. 

Financial relief, community kitchens, relief for migrant workers are the top items in agenda for the social welfare apart from other front line medical activities. 

Tourism and its workers are relatively wiped out without any hope for the coming year. Infected tourists were given adequate medical care and most of them have recovered. The countries like Germany, France, Russia, UK made arrangements with our government departments and have evacuated their citizens who were stuck in many tourist destinations around the country. 

God bless India and the world in their efforts to win over the Corona Virus, wishing everyone health and peace during these very tiring and testing time. 

Heat wave

For a week or so our day temperature was around 38 degrees till it fell to 30 degrees today, following last night's rain. Will the heat  have a remedial effect on the pandemic.

   

Lazarus Saturday

In the eastern tradition of Christianity, the Saturday before Palm Sunday is celebrated as the Lazarus Saturday. It is believed that, Jesus rose to life, the dead Lazarus, on this day before his jubilant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. 

In our Kerala, traditionally, the Christians make dumblings out of Rice, stuffed with grated coconut mixed with Jaggery (local sweetner) and share with the entire family. 

The invitation to guest lecture at the tourism colleges is something BTGS enjoys very much and consider it as a duty to share the tourism working experience with the Tourism Students. After the closing of the semester in November in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh,  BTGS is now available at Kochi for consultation and tours. All our Historical & Cultural tourists and enthusiasts are welcome.

While BTGS is thankful for the enquiries that have come our way in the past few months, we apologize for the inconvenience caused to our tourists by not being available. BTGS extends a special note of gratitude to Mr. Adrian Whittle, from England and Mr. Amir Broshi from Israel, for taking our freshly designed 'Weaving Trail' (Chennai-Tirupati-Venkatgiri-Srikalahasti-Nellore) which was still in experimental stage while they chose to visit . Thank you Sirs for your patience and unbound cooperation.  

Meydad Eliyahu & Tom Landau, we missed taking you around while you were here in Kochi. 

Indian E-Visa

The citizens from the following countries are eligible for applying e-visa to visit India.

Conditions & the list of countries.

Please click the above link. 

Water Lilys of Kottayam

Immediately after the end of our South West Monsoon on September 30th, the water Lilys  of the backwater bloomed turning the calm waters into a beautiful pink floral dream.

It was heartening to see the local tourism groups used the natural show to attract tourists who are already on the world famous backwater circuit. Selfies among the flowers while house-boating or walking the village of "Malarikal" is the most trending social media pictures of Kerala Tourism this week.