The second wave.

 When the news channels beamed the news that CM of Mahrashtra rang up the PM for supply of Oxygen and that latter was unavailable owing to his poling campaign in Benagal i thought that the CM was playing politics .The pandemic was over ,he and his alliance didnot want BJP to win Bengal hence it was a gimmic  

 fora week or so I had this view.but when I saw line of ambulances and people gasping for air and their relatives queuing for oxygen cylinders in Mumbai and Delhi I sat up.

The Govt assured that the PM though on tour was also handling the country.I accepted it.

Even here the election campaign was in full swing with huge crowds .They even gathered in large numbers maskless ,under my window shoving each other in their eagerness to greet the present CM who drove down slowly amongst them in a open van, late at night.They also gathered in large numbers to greet other candidates from other political parties.and listen to their promises .Election campaigns were  going on merrily as ever .Every thing seemed normal.TV beamed the large crowds attending the election rallies here and in various parts of India.A usual phenomenon.

I thought that it was short lived wave.Spurt and splutter down in few days time.But TV 's kept showing the desperation of families searching for oxygen, medicines beds etc.That was real .Something serious was taking place.

High courts after high courts passed strictures on the various state govts.policies and suggested and ordered remedial measures. .It was unusual since policy making is not Courts domain .Were they unnecessarily intruding into executive powers.My husband was livid at their interference.

The channels also showed PM addressing large crowds in lakhs in Bengal whilst experts were asking people to maintain social distance and wear masks.The relatives of afflicted patients were running hither and thither in absolute panic and anxiety.

That was when the image I had of PM being a man for Crisis broke.Yes it is the responsibility of state govts to handle the situation in thier states but it was very uncharecteristic of the PM who is known to tackle calamities quickly , and was always at the helm , to be engrossed in the game of power.

Was winning Bengal more important than tackling the virus re-stalking the country in a deadly manner?

At one point i even thought that the Chinese were spraying the new deadly variant from settelites or their representatives  the naxals were doing it on the ground to stop PM's winning streak.

What ever his adress to the nation  at that juncture was also not inspiring.He reffered to Bala mitras .Who are they/Instead of assuring the nation that arrangements about the supply of oxygen that was being done through special trains and about the import of the much needed concentrators [which was also being done] he was talking off tangent.I was very disappointed .

I felt that his image 'India First' was dented.Even my hub his sworn loyalist agreed for a split second with my view but quickly amended that his leader was like Valli who would turn any bad attacks on him to good and would emerge stronger.Just wait and see.

Then the centre allowed states and private companies to procure vaccine as the clamour for vaccine grew ,spear headed by opposition parties.Strange .The main opposition party  had earlier derided the Indian made vaccines as unscientific contributing to vaccine hesitancy  and now they were clamouring for more and for all !

I wanted privitasion of procurement of vaccines from the very begginning.but after i got both my doses in March itself  i lost interest in vaccination.But papers kept it alive warning or recurrence of the virus which could also attack the vaccinated unless 70 % of population is vaccinated and India gets herd immunity.

Then the tamasha rolled on that was to blacken all the faces clamouring for it including mine.No company  honoured the tenders floated world wide by State govts.The multi national companies were only willing to negotiate with the Indian govt.Meanwhile the Serum Institute head escaped to England fearing for his life .Vaccine had become dearer than gold.

That was the time that is when Foreign companies refused to strike deals with the states or private companies that the majesty and power and respect the Govt of India as against that of state Govts came to fore.

Earlier on the Covid head tried to explain that there was great demand for vaccines all over the world and there fore they were going step by step .No one paid heed to that soft spoken man Some .people weven thought that  bueracrats  known for their slow pace of work and some even known for corruption had thrown the hammer and brought about this scarcity and slow pace of vaccination.

Why was there such a clamour for vaccine in May whilst there was so much hesitancy to take it when it was first introduced in January ?The horrible pictures of asphixiation terrorised even the calm , cool and this will also pass hesitant group to rush to get vaccinated.  .To gasp for air which we take for granted is horrible .                                                                                                                                          The national TVshowed only Mumbai and Delhi and skipped showing Tamilnadu and other cities.The local TV's showed long line of ambulances waiting outside hospitals and people waiting in q for hours to get medicines for their relatives . 

One of the local Tamil TV channel showed a boy of 8-10 yrs of age ,shirtless and in knickers returning from a errand and on hearing the wail of ambulance to move his body flexibly synchronising with the ups and down notes of the ambulance siren .It was funny because he did it so well .He must have heard several such sirens to perfect that dance.

PM's next address to the nation in June was good  .He conveyed the message that he was taking control of things viz vaccination programme and that he was back at the helm.

My husband whistled and clapped his hands .and said 'You lutyens and [ i at times appear as  lutyyens and Congress  (though i am not a member of that party or any party )he dislikes] don't know my leader '.

.He works 24 hours a day silently.He never gets provoked by your toxic barbs.He is a Rishi He is a Swamy.If people reject him he will tie his clothes into a small bundle and retreat to Himalayas quietly without any fanfare  and spend the rest of his life in meditation.

.On yoga day-June 21  when it was launched the record 90 lakhs jabs took my breath away.It could be a flash in the fan , BJp states working hard to lift  their image.But following days the average was 50 lakhs per day .This is no mean job.

With the hope of this rate of vaccination continuing we may soon get herd immunity that will check  and banish this asura , devil ,demon and creep from China, from India forever.