Comical moments during Covid-19
Though the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to its knees, it has thrown up the lighter moments. In Raipur, newly born twins, a girl and a boy, got christened as Corona and Covid. Corona became the name of another newborn girl from Sohgaura village in Uttar Pradesh. A baby boy born on Fools' Day, the 1st of April, was named 'Lockdown' by his proud parents in Khukhundu, Deoria district, to remind people of the "Janata Curfew".
Soon there could be a spike in baby names to the effect of "Corona", "Covid" and "Virus". We derive the Latin corona from the Greek corone, meaning crown or wreath of flowers. Don't get puzzled if people name their newborns, "Quarantine", "Pandemic" "SARS" or even "Hydroxychloroquine", an anti-malarial drug used for treating coronavirus and other autoimmune disorders!
A famous Bengali confectionary in Kolkata stole a march over its competitors by coming up with its unique offerings - Corona Sandesh and Corona Cake. The sweets not only tempted patrons but spread awareness about the dreaded disease. Many other quintessential Indian sweets - the boondi laddoo, halwa and burfi - could take on the form of the virus soon.
When wine shops downed their shutters because of Covid-19 lockdown, people found novel ways to smuggle liquor and hoodwink police personnel on patrol and at pickets. The cops found the 'precious bottles' hidden in milk containers, suitcases and hollow gas cylinders. The liquor even arrived gift wrapped through a curfew pass holder. Habitual drinkers devised innovative ways to make their brew. From varnish to aftershave lotion, alcoholics laid their hands on everything that came their way as an alternative to liquor and mixed them with icy drinks.
People came up with bizarre reasons to get curfew passes. The amusing requests ranged from permission to go for morning walks to calling a barber home. VIPs sought passes for their gunmen and cooks. In Bengaluru, animal lovers called on a police station, pleading for passes to feed pigeons and stray dogs. A couple sought to distance themselves from each other for a few weeks following a tiff at home. The pair approached the cops for a travel pass to enable the husband to drop off his wife at her parent's house.
The lockdown saw nature's dance with peacocks strutting their stuff on the empty streets of Mumbai and in various localities of Bengaluru. Tuskers ambled on the Karnataka-Kerala highway, civets walked along the deserted road at Meppayur, deers frolicked on the Tirumala ghat roads, and the great hornbills, hummingbirds and other winged beauties returned to Faridabad. Closer home, it delighted me to spot the coppersmith barbet, the wood pigeon and other feathered beauties - knowledge gap makes it hard for me to name them.
On April 5, the people of India, in a show of solidarity, responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plea to switch off their lights at home and light candles, diyas or display their mobile torches. While fireworks and conch blowing marked the nine minutes, a BJP Mahila Wing leader from MP got carried away by the "mini-Deepavali" and courted controversy by firing her revolver in the air to "fight" the coronavirus.