Latte with Phoenix

The Lockdown has completed about 50 days by now. We all faced some problems  in the beginning as it was something new and we were not used to it. Gradually things sorted out and life settled into the new rhythm. Senior Citizens were rigidly told not to venture out in this period. A quick survey has revealed that Senior Citizens can be grouped into three types of living condition in this period. The First group would be those Senior citizens who already had any of their children living with them. This category hardly faced any lockdown problem as their young were with them to handle 'out of house' problems. The Second group would be of people who were living alone but acted fast and called their children from other cities whether studying or in jobs to come back home. Senior citizens living in this group had a jolly good time. There were two or three  generations living together after a long time for such a extended period. Younger children enjoyed the ca

Adjective as product naming is a topic which is being regularly discussed around the world. But it remains more of a academic discussion only.  In this entire race for more business, there is a category of manufacturers who have adopted a different rout. They have simply adopted a tactics which tries to plant in the consumer’s mind that their product is of a special class. They have simply named their product on English adjective words which give a different meaning to that product. Consumer product companies, Marketing Managers and Advertisement companies care two hoots for the discussion which tries to show that such a naming is unethical. The market is flooded with products having adjective as brand names, such as Real, Natural, Orange, Pure, Fresh and Achcha to name only a few. Take the product named “Real”. It is a brand name of a purported fruit drink. The name tries to imply that it has real fruit juice packed in it and nothing else. In reality it has abou

It’s now more than 40 days of the Corona Lockdown. This too shall pass and gradually we would to return to the earlier ‘normal’ times. Of course it would surely take some months for that to happen. With fond remembrance we would go over the Lockdown memories. I believe most people would say “It was not so bad, we enjoyed it.” Why ? All family members were at home. Children studying in other cities had come home. We got upafter a good sleep at convenient times, not at some unearthly hour to rush into the rat race. Yoga & exercise routines were set out and followed mostly by all, as there was no hurry. We had a leisurely breakfast with all family members, followed by discussion on which picture to be seen on TV. Some work was done on laptops and computers. Younger children had fun making craftwork, old cartons were cut and put to use, but soon ran out of Fevicol. Phones to kirana stores revealed that the item was very much in demand from most households

It is now nearing one & a half month of Lockdown in this Corona Times, and a lot has been written and broadcast on TV about the horrors of Corona, safety precautions etc., etc. But there have been some splendid and refreshing advantages too. Let us look at the positive side too. First of all, within a week of the lockdown, nearly all rivers became pollution free ! Waters became clear with people being able to see several feet deep into the waters. Dolphins were sighted all over. Reason – industries closed hence no effluents, no boating etc. Delhi NCR is notorious for its air pollution, but the air quality these days became pollution free. People breathed in balmy air after several years. Himalayas from Jalandhar during lockdown Few more days afterwards with air becoming clearer and clearer, the snow capped peaks and the Himalayan Range were visible from a distance of up to 125 miles. People from as far away as Jalandhar and Saharanpur were able to see the Himalay