Is Corona Serious?

I was discussing with a friend how little control I have now over things compared to say a year back - all because of Corona. 

She strongly disagreed with me. She said my belief that I had control earlier over my life was just an illusion. That I could just as well had met with an accident last year and lost my life. 

That all the data of probability of losing one's life last year being negligible would make no sense to the person who did lose their life last year. 

This was, hmm, quite a different way of looking at things. And I wasn't comfortable with her way of putting things. 

I couldn't exactly tell her that she was talking through her hat because she is well educated, has a sweet voice, a very pleasant accent, very touchy and anyways doesn't wear a hat. 

That didn't stop me from brooding on what she said. So I consulted the death statistics in India from 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India

The death rate is 7.3 per thousand population which is less than 1% of the population. 

And assuming India's population to be 130 crores (1300 million), the deaths in India in 4 months would be 1300*(4/12)*(7.3/1000) = 3 million  approx.

As of today, Corona deaths have amounted to 16,000 which is half a percent of the usual number of deaths in 4 months (Mar, Apr, May, Jun 29, 2020) in India. [3 million above]]

Less than half a percent. So, what are we really afraid of? Yeah, sure we may lose many 3 times that or 5 times that in the next 4 months. That's still 2 to 3% of the usual number of deaths. 

Was my friend right, after all? She can't be. She can barely count beyond single digits. Damn..

The Lizard Of Oz

A friend of mine works in a call center. One night she was doing the graveyard shift (8PM to 8AM next morning). And it so happened that she was alone in her wing, not another soul in sight. 

When she wasn't attending to a customer she was in the habit of studying for her exam. Midway through the night she needed a cup of tea. She had all the ingredients, she just needed to microwave. 

And THERE was the problem. The room where the microwave was kept was also home to a huge, wild, plump, almost bordering on obese, juicy lizard weighing an obscene 120gm and almost 6inches long.

My friend, let no man ever accuse her of cowardice, was not at her best confronting even a tiny starving lizard. 

The lizard that was domiciled in that room came from a family of healthy eaters that wasn't used to dieting or any form of exercise. 

My friend had to have that cup of tea. And in order to have it she had to get to the microwave and she had to risk getting near the monster. 

In tears at 12:05 AM she rang me up long distance. And between her whimpers she explained her predicament. 

She has known of my heroics. https://vbala99.blogspot.com/2017/10/me-and-trains.html

She told me she didn't want me to do anything but just be with her while she dealt with her nemesis.

I said fine. 

She got the tea, sugar, cup etc out and had the sugar washed, then she realized that it was the cup, not sugar, that needed washing. 

With trembing hands she washed the cup and poured 200ml milk, water and sugar into the cup and then mopped 100ml of the mixture on the floor that had spilled because she couldn't hold the cup steady. Her teeth were chattering so loudly she couldn't hear herself talk. 

With my encouraging words, she tiptoed to the door gently opened the door an inch and said softly "HELLO, ARE YOU THERE? I AM COMING OUT. I PROMISE NOT TO HARM YOU IF YOU PROMISE TO DO LIKEWISE. PLEASE GO AWAY FOR 5  MINUTES" 

It took me a few seconds to realize that she was negotiating with the lizard which she thought would hear what she was saying and rightly interpret it as a white flag and be gentleman enough to treat my friend as an esteemed guest.

And so it did. In 2 minutes, my friend was back with a hot cup while i watched in amazement. 

If any of you is in any doubt as to why Kashmir is not yet Azad, I think you would have understood by now.

It's Character, Stupid

A friend of mine has a very cute 2 year old son. She would tell me gleefully a little too often that the boy has taken after her. 

Recently I got to know her schedule and how she spends most of her time at her mom's place and very little time at her own (in-laws') place with her husband. Further discreet inquiries revealed that her husband is a normal sort of guy - meaning he would rarely be found at her mom's place.

With this information, I went on the attack. I asked her point blank who the father of her child was since she rarely stays with her husband.

She said it was her husband of course. I countered by saying that she hardly spent anytime with her husband. So how could he...

She then played her ace and told me that her son bore a strong resemblance to her husband.

Well I had to accept that. As males we hardly understand resemblance the way females do. So I had to concede that point to my friend. I was feeling sick. 

Then I trumped her ace. She had always been saying that her son was cute just like SHE was cute. So, I told her, if the boy actually resembled his father, which my friend conceded to me in order to escape from the question of doubtful paternity, then where is the proof that SHE is cute?

She conceded defeat. She would much rather have good character than good looks.