Just a few days back, during the ongoing Onam celebrations in my college, I tried my best to look the part, to dress up the traditional way. But the basic problem confronting me was that I didn't have a dhoti. And none of my friends had a dhoti, not even my female friends (can u believe it!). :P
My love for the Indian festivities forced me to think hard and find a way out. Finally, I took out a white handkerchief, and tried to wear it like a dhoti. But repeated attempts to wear it made me realised that, at best, my handkerchief could be used as a half-dhoti. Because no matter how hard I tried to cover myself using it, the alternate half of my lower body was inadvertently left exposed, and vulnerable to external threats. Eventually, I got tired and decided to wear the same handkerchief like a mask, instead of like a dhoti. A look at myself in the mirror reminded me of a "famous" love story (of which no one is aware).
This love story was of a man and a swine. They fell in love in unusual circumstances, tried to make unusual babies, and had to part in an unusual way. The reason for their parting was a disease. A dreadful disease known as the "swine flu".
Swine Flu has made everyone, absolutely everyone, wear surgical masks and roam the streets. Children, women, men, dogs, everyone! The fear was, and still is, rampant. The mask became a part of our lives. But there were some people who had to suffer a lot because of masks.
Emraan Haashmi had to suffer the most, as most of his signed movie projects were reportedly taken away from him. The reason producers gave was that "Emraan won't be able to do what he does the best with his mouth covered in a surgical mask". It has also been heard that Emraan roams around in his house wearing "only" his mask, in order to save costs.
Also, as a precaution, some of my friends in Mumbai have not been eating food or brushing their teeth, only because they want to stay safe by not removing the masks, even for a second.
More weirdly, some street lafangaas were recently seen throwing paper chits at female passersby, because they were unable to whistle loudly and pass comments, with those masks on. One of those lafangaashas decided to join school, to learn how to write (on bits of papers).
I realised that Swine Flu is a very dangerous disease. Almost one hundred lives in the "past few months" have been lost in India because of this disease! whereas only hundreds of children die "every day" because of hunger and starvation. But obviously, hunger and starvation is not something to fear, and not something to talk about, isn't it?
In fact, testing positive for AIDS seems to be an attractive prospect, rather than testing postive for Swine Flu.
Eventually, I removed the hankie from my face, washed it (my face, not the hankie sillies :P), and left for the auditorium.
P. S. It is a fact that more than hundred lives have been lost due to Swine Flu. Every life taken because of this stupid disease simply didn't deserve to be taken away. This is not the way to die, there is no justification to such kind of a death.
This article might bring smiles to some faces, but it will never be funny to those who have lost their close ones in the recent past, and this is what I will always regret.
