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Got my third dose of COVID-19 vaccination
Two days ago, got my booster dose of Covaxin at the Apollo Medical Centre, T.Nagar, Chennai for INR 390. It was easy and thankfully, had no troublesome side effects. Though I had gotten (natural) infected with COVID19 and recovered during the January (third) wave, I wanted to get this done when there is little demand. I booked a slot in the Cowin portal. I was in and out of the clinic in ten minutes, including the five minutes post-injection recommended wait. In India, for those who are above 60 years of age, booster doses are available for free from Government centres. For those in the age bracket of 18 to…
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A cardboard box being used by mom for over half-a-century
I noticed this small cardboard box being used by my mom, an octogenarian, to preserve a valuable memory of hers from a long time ago. The box is of W & R Balston Ltd’s Whatman Filter Paper No.1, Made in England. Searching online I learned that: the design of the box was from the 1950s or earlier; the filter papers were mostly used in chemical processes (maybe we used it when my family #LIFCOBOOKS owned a book printing press in North Arcot District in the 1950s); there are many grades of the filter paper each with a unique number to identify the Particle retention capabilities and the thickness.
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My wall of stamps and collectables
In my den, I have decorated one of the walls into a gallery of the stamps, currencies and collectables I have. This way, instead of these being buried out of sight, friends and family visiting my room can take a look at them and enjoy. This month I had quite a few new additions to the collections which I wanted to share with you. You can read the earlier post on Tamil themed collections here and the first version of the wall in 2017 here. My wall of stamps and collectables is complete, for now. The new additions this month were: Indians in First World War by India Post, Model…
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CBSE Class-12 board exams cancelled for 2021
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by Government of India. According to Wikipedia, there are over twenty-thousand schools in India and two-hundred schools in several countries outside India affiliated to the CBSE. The Class-12, or the senior secondary school leaving examination conducted by CBSE, and various states are the most important event in the life of students. It is the qualification for university education in the country, marks scored in this exam determine the college you get an admission to. There are 1.2 million students across India who are registered to sit…
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European cinemas are smoking a lot
Recently I have been watching a number of European films (Spanish, French & others) like Corniche Kennedy (2016), The Girl with a Bracelet (2019), The Commune (2016) and more. Irrespective of the genre, I noticed that most of the main characters were shown smoking. Needless to say, outside India (and few other Asian countries) smoking is not exclusive to the Male gender. I was wondering whether European films were exaggerating real-world behaviour? In India, thanks to stricter laws and censorship, the number of smoking scenes seems to have reduced in the last decade. Also, awareness campaigns, increasing literacy, have reduced the smoking we see in the streets in India –…
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Got my final dose of COVID-19 vaccination
I got my second dose of #COVAXIN two days ago, on Thursday at Radhatri Nethralaya in T.Nagar, Chennai – a specialised eye hospital. The whole experience of making the appointment, to the visit and getting administered was handled smoothly. Since they are administering only on prior booking, the wait time was less. The chief nurse Ms Sakthi Priya was friendly, and she took safe care of my 80-year-old mom, making her comfortable and then administering the vaccines. God bless Ms Sakthi, Mrs Brinda, and the entire team at Radhatri. Each one of us, owe it to the scientists, the Healthcare workers and the Government(s) who are battling this pandemic and…
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How did I get consistent with my Yoga practice?
The Pandemic and the Lockdown Because of the pandemic lockdown last year and being cooped up inside our houses for weeks, it soon became apparent to me that I need to burn my energy & sweat it out by exercising. I restarted taking my walking seriously. As a result, from April last year, I became regular and consistent (7000-9000 feet every day) in my walking on the terrace of my house. The Problem But, I was missing my Yoga routine (for over an hour) which earlier was happening twice or thrice every week for the last two+ decades. I decided to do something about that too. That was surprising to…
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DALDA, once the poor man’s ghee
The other day, my mom showed me this old plastic container with the familiar yellow colour and the words “DALDA” made on Aug/1982, which she had preserved for decades as her emergency piggybank. For decades whenever we brought to the house any product made outside, she will take a bite and say this tastes like DALDA, it is not good for health, so eat little. Looking back, I think she used the term as a bogeyman to keep our eating in check – as kids we didn’t know to tell the difference between products cooked in Desi Ghee or DALDA and we believed her. In the early 20th century, when…
