Uruli Puja Edition

ííARTICLE

Covidnomics and a
“Neo” Normal World!

Diganta Saikia

...The monthly
indicators for many

countries show
rebounds to the
extent of 10-15%
projected growth in
real (inflation-
adjusted) GDP in the

third...

íí

In 2003, I had the privilege of catching up with Dr Raghuram Rajan over an hour-

long chat on the state of global economy and the loopholes of the financial system.
He was the newly-appointed Chief Economist of IMF at that time (the first one to
earn the coveted position before attaining 40 in IMF history), and was on deputation
from his academic position at the University of Chicago. We touched upon various
aspects related to the world economy, including the ailments plaguing the Indian
economy. On hindsight, some of Raghu’s words sound prophetic even today and
could not have more apt in the current Pandemic the world is going through. He
was not only vocal about the tricks of effective use of monetary policy and the
mess countries make while trying to propel their respective economies out of a
morass while applying monetary and fiscal policies in isolation!

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The mighty virus and its nightmarish impact is still keeping the scientists all over
the globe busy and perplexed 24X7!

Hope Corona loses its luster by the time you get to run your eyes through this piece,
taking a good bet on the advent of an effective vaccine to take care of it soon!

Covid is still very much an active organism, keeping the students of dismal science
(that’s how Economics is described in popular parlance) like me occupied till today.

Doomsayers have many things to say…as you would discover soon!

Let us do some number crunching to begin with.

A record unemployment rate (way beyond the Great Depression of 1929) for the
globe, a realistic growth rate of 5-6% for global economy in the coming decade, and
the shrinkage of India’s GDP during the second quarter of the year by a whopping
23.9% in year-on-year terms, and a recovery which seems distant at this stage as
revealed by most of the surveys and the list seems simply endless! To quote an
interesting survey, “Most of the C-suite occupiers see it not before mid-2022!”

We have already surpassed the level of intensity of the global financial crisis (GFC)
of 2008 if you go by any economic indicator till date!

GDP of the countries started falling by 20-30% year-on-year, massive unemployment
rate (likely to be 25% in US soon) all over, and the unemployed with a little likelihood
of being rehired in near future, growing public and the private debt (exacerbated
by declining GDP) across geographies due to rising healthcare expenses apart from
other ancillary expenses related to lockdowns and the accompanying subsidies…it
seems like a never-ending story of gloom and doom! Needless to say, the aging
population in advanced as well as emerging economies is adding fuel to fire to the
already debt-ridden economies!

On the top of it, negative growth rate for all the countries, including China will be
a soon-to-be experienced reality this year!

Still we have some rays of hope…with prevailing low interest rates, level of
debts that for countries now could possibly be more sustainable compared to
level of debts for countries in the post GFC era in a deflationary environment
in the short term!

Monetization of fiscal deficit may arrest the deflation in the short term, but may
lead to stagflation in long term! A combination of stagnation and inflation due to
negative supply shock in the global economy could be a reality.

Some inflationary overheating due to monetization could not be ruled out when
things return to a somewhat normal state since the private sector would have
added several trillion dollars to its wealth via more or less forced saving (due to
the viral effect)!

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The fiscal response could hit a wall if the monetization of massive deficits starts to
produce high inflation (which is somewhat unlikely in the present environment of
low cost of borrowing), particularly if a series of virus-related negative supply
shocks reduces potential growth. And many countries (including India) simply cannot
undertake such borrowing in their own currency. Who will bail out governments,
corporations, banks, and households in emerging markets?

A debt-overhang for some of the surviving firms could be another showstopper on
the road to recovery!

Rehiring would most likely take the form of contractual employment, and not
formal jobs as experienced post GFC of 2008.

Club, entertainment venues and restaurants would be less in supply due to social
distancing norms unlikely to go away in near future!

That brings us to the question fellow economists have been debating for a
while…how about the shape of recovery… a V, U, W, K or L?

U rather than an overoptimistic V-shaped recovery seems more plausible to
most of us.

People would prefer to work out of their home towns, mostly suburbs rather than
from expensive metropolitan cities! The household sector has also been spending
less (resulting in a favorable saving rate for the economy)! However, it also means
less spend on residential and commercial real estate making the recovery look
more like a U!

The much-talked about ‘V’ seems unlikely since people getting into baseball
courts, restaurants and pubs en masse in immediate future does not sound
realistic at this stage, particularly when the much-awaited vaccine is yet to see
the light of the day!

The under-consumption and underinvestment (and more saving) may lead to
deflation in the short run, which may last till early next year.

However, the wave of deglobalisation and technological disruption coupled with
the tug of war between US and China with accompanying negative supply shock
will keep disturbing the global economy for some time to come in the form of an
inflationary wave.

Disruption caused by AI/Robotics is all-pervading: from retail to education to
Govt service!

Unfortunately, the benefits of new economy could be leveraged by the 10-20%
owning capital!

The job of the white collar worker with low or medium incomeis going to be
affected by disruption at a large scale!

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Will we return to the pre-crisis normal with this kind of negative productivity
shock?

Doubtful as the uncertainty associated with Pandemic is not likely to go away soon.

However, there is a silver lining amidst all the gloom and doom stories surrounding
us, and the optimist in me won’t write the obituary of the economy so easily!

The monthly indicators for many countries show rebounds to the extent of 10-15%
projected growth in real (inflation-adjusted) GDP in the third quarter. The US shows
an increasing promise of a summer rebound. Europe emits mixed signal of another
wave of Covid-19 with more incidents posing major threat to countries like Spain.
If policymakers get it right in India in terms of the right mix of fiscal and monetary
policy, and not sitting idle by just doling out some fiscal packages, we could as well
be on faster road to recovery. Yes, we are a country with a still growing middle
class with most of the young populace still at job.

Can we channelize the high saving ratio to the right usage?

Some trace of it could well be found when we saw retail investors’ fund finding its
way to the capital market in India recently, with subsequent rally of the Sensex,
much to the delight of the analysts!

Yes, the growing middle class of India is still a strength for us, which could rotate
the recovery engine a tad faster!

For the community at large, a colleague from North Carolina informed the other
day that the young people have been looking after the elderlyreally well during
the entire duration of the crisis. In fact, people have been buying groceries from
super markets not only for themselves but for the elderly couplesliving in the
neighborhood as well!

In India, we have seen a very active Civil society taking good care of the migrant
work-force, particularly during the severe lock down a couple of months back.

Many of my friends from the fraternity agree to the fact that massive government
stimulus packages need to be well-directed, taking a leaf out of the experiences of
the past. For instance, extra caution needs to be exercised while bailing out the
unviable businesses! It needs to be targeted to the right segments of the economy
on grounds of fiscal prudence routinely.

In an increasingly integrated world we inhabit today, unless we wipe out the virus
everywhere, we haven’t wiped it out anywhere! Let us say the virus is out of the
window from Germany, however, it is still present in Italy. That still leaves it with
a scope to reappear in the neighboring countries of Italy, and eventually elsewhere!

That underlines the importance of not only the advent of an effective vaccine, but
its distribution across the globe immediately as well.

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Let us look through the socio-economic prism now.

My son has been constantly glued to his monitor over the last 6 months. That’s not
for some cartoon movies though. His online classes including live exams are keeping
him not so interestingly occupied to the gadget with increasing cacophony from his
classmates at regular intervals!

We soon realized that new technology like Teams, Zoom etc…could not be a
replacement for the time-tested classroom coaching. The kids were missing all the
fun of sitting and playing together in a classroom environment. Further, they were
missing the fun of displaying and sharing their tiffin boxes to the classmates too!

I painfully realized that Zoom meeting can’t be a salvation on a sustainable fashion
as I started missing the coffee table conversations. I tried to console myself by
taking strolls at my campus at least 2 times a day, particularly post lunch in order
to avoid dozing off after a fresh, home-cooked sumptuous meal.

How about the students from the under-privileged strata?

A majority of students in rural areas in India don’t own any gadget including desktop,
laptop or a smart phone today.

For them, going back to school seems to be the only solution at the cost of their
health, no wonder many state governments are talking about reopening the
schools soon!

Fortunately, some state governments and a section of the Civil society have come
out with innovative solutions like imparting education through TV channels and
donating smart phones to the village schools much to the benefit of the under-
privileged strata of the society at large.

However, let us place our bets on an effective, well-directed government
intervention, an ever-active non-government sector and at the same time, a more
closely knit family, and may be more virtual coffee chats over Zoom calls. Not to
mention less traffic on road and even lesser SPMs on our air in the days ahead.
However, hope I don’t have to miss the Puja gatherings and the mouth-watering
Muglai Paraathas from the food stalls for long!

In the Neo normal world,onus is on us to keep the wheel of the economic
engine moving by displaying resilience and being more sensible to our
surrounding. We can’t afford to sit idle throwing the economy off track delaying
the recovery even further!

Hope springs eternal…

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
(The author leads the Analytics Practice at Wells Fargo in India.
He is responsible for regulatory capital modeling globally)

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ARTICLE

THE SHARP RISE IN
SINGLE USE PLASTIC DURING PANDEMIC

SUBASANA BARUAH

WORLD : A garbage bag

Environmental degradation has become a matter of great concern. Entire world has
turned into a garbage bag. Approximately over 300 million tons of plastic is produced
world wide every year, with more than eight million metric tons of plastic are dumped
in the water bodies every year. India alone generates 9.46 million tons of plastic
waste every year, around 43% of which comprises single-use plastic. According to
Un-Plastic Collective Report, an estimated 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been
produced since the early 1950s, about 60% of which has ended up either in a landfill
or the natural environment. It poses a mammoth problem for India since 40% of
plastic waste remains uncollected.
A march towards reduction of single use plastic
Single use plastic has been in the spotlight in recent years. Countries around the
world joined the plastic free movement. So far as more than 112 countries, regions
and cities have imposed bans on single use plastic and this number is expected to
grow as many countries and cities are on the go. Infact business like Hyatt Hotels and
McDonalds in the UK and Ireland, the Starbucks had planned to go plastic straw free
by this year to saving one billion straws per year. Even ITC Hotels were to ban single
use plastic by the end of this year.

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Corona Virus and the world wrapped with plastic

The Corona Virus Pandemic has given a new foothold to the previously criticized
single use plastic. The countries that have imposed ban on plastic has now rolled up
those restrictions. The entire world is wrapped with plastic right now. Tons of medical
waste are being disposed.According to research, the rise in single use of plastic is
forecast to jump by 10% this year in US compared to 3% last year. In Europe, the rise
is estimated to be 5% compared to 1.5% last year.But the advent of Corona virus
knocked outall the long planned measures.

The transition from reusable bags to disposable bags

Springing up from Hong Kong to Germany, more and more plastic free food stores
have opened their doors in the last few years.People have opted for reusable bags in
many parts of India too. But, the Covid-19 pandemic inverted life across the globe,
wrecking economies and bringing entire world to its knees, everyone is being forced
to compromise.The only industry that is making progress in this pandemic is the plastic
industry. People are feared of carrying reusable bags for shopping, due to the risk of
transmission of the virus.Moreover, some stores have restricted consumers to bring
reusable bags while some others have stopped chargingcustomers for disposable
plastic bags, as such customers take more bags than they need which they would
have refused otherwise. Even the tiniest of thing is wrapped with a plastic cover.In
this time of pandemic grocery packaging is equivalent to a disposable plastic covering.
Thus, along with the steep rise of the disease the rise in these of single use plastic is
at it’s peak.

Food delivery services and it’s dependency on disposable plastic

Millions of people are stuck in their homeswith plastic containers and packets piling
up all around and are completely relied on online shopping and food deliverywhich
results in the rise of use of disposable plastic even more.Moreover what’s sad is the
fact that people are getting used to the ease of getting everything delivered to their
doorstep and it could have lasting impact as it would encourage more people to be
reliant on online delivery. Again, more restaurants may expand their online services
to avoid the risk of future loss. More online delivery will lead to more disposable
plastic waste.

Upswing in the use of disposable plastic in restaurants

The problem of the upswing in the use of disposable plastic is apparent in the
restaurant industry too. With the advent of this pandemic, restaurants are now pivoted
to takeaways and food delivery services which means the use of disposable plastic
only. For instance, popular chains like “Just Salad” , “Starbucks”, “Dunkin” etc. which
curbed thousands of pounds of plastic waste a year by using reusable cups and bowls
have now shifted to disposable packaging.

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Public protection over environmental protection

With thousands of people dying everyday, reaching a total of 634 thousands deaths
worldwideand more than thirty thousand deaths alone in India, public protection
has become utmost prior. From protective face masks and hand gloves to that extra
plastic coverings added to everything from door knobs to elevator buttons to hand
sanitizer bottles; disposable plastic is acting as a shield of protection. In this scenario,
the concern for protecting the environment from further degradation is completely
swept away. Infact the world has moved 10 years backwardsin the progress they had
made towards environmental protection in recent years. John Hocevar, the ocean
campaign director at Greenpeace, said, “The plastic industry seized on the pandemic
as an opportunity to try to convince people that single use plastic is necessary to
keep us safe, and that reusables are dirty and dangerous”.

Post pandemic environmental degradation : A bigger threat than Corona

The worldwide disruption due to Corona virus hasfar reaching impacts on the
environment. At present the decline in travels has caused a huge drop in air pollution.
But the bigger challenge awaits post pandemic. The sharp rise in the use of disposable
plastic has hazards for the environment as well as humans.In the fight against Corona,
to stem the transmission of the disease we are using plastic excessively and discharging
it without any care it whichwill eventually get dumped in waterways or will fill the
land and end up contaminating the environment for millions of years. The life span
of plastic is approximately 450 years and never fully degrades, rather it breaks into
small pieces called micro plastics.It takes over thousands of years for plastic bags to
decompose. It pollutes our soil and water. Moreover the toxic chemicals used in
producing plastic gets transferred to animals which in turn enters the human food
chain leading to damaged nervous system, lungs and reproductive organs. The real
battle will start after the pandemic to fight against the up surging pollution problems
which would last for centuries. Furthermore, there are high end probability that this
temporary rollbacks to plastic bans become permanent.

How to reduce disposable plastic waste during this pandemic?

The coming environmental disaster is terrifying. But we can all do our part and prevent
further vandalism. We can buy items in bulk quantities to avoid plastic waste.
Moreover, it is not proven that reusable bags can transmit the virus, it could be used
if handled properly, all we have to do is make a little effort of washing it after every
use.Recycle plastic as much as possible and make efforts to avoid single use plastic as
far as possible.

(C/o. Arup Barua, Rupai Chariali, Doomdooma, Assam)

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Covid-19, Economic
Slowdown and Bangalore

Debajyoti Kalita

It was only in the starting of this year that we started to hear about a mystery virus

that had originated in China. Although it was first detected in December 2019 in
Hubei province , after an outbreak of pneumonia without any identifiable cause.
Now the virus has spread to every nook and corner of this world and was declared as
pandemic by World Health Organization(WHO) in the month of March. This mystery
virus is basically a novel strain of coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2 and it causes the disease
Covid-19 in humans.

As SARS-CoV-2 is highly communicable and spreads rapidly from one person
to another, various countries across the world resorted to lockdowns to stop the

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virus from spreading in their population. Apparently, the lockdown was imposed to
slowdown the spread of the virus andto utilize the time to strengthen the health
infrastructure. India also underwent a stringent lockdown from 25th March till about
end of May. Imposition of lockdown and itseffectiveness on controlling the spread of
the virus is always a debatable one – there are shining example like Thailand, Vietnam
etc. where timely lockdown in the initial days and subsequent measures have
successfully contained the virus. Many would be surprised to know that despite
Thailand being a tourist inbound country(20% of Thailand’s GDP was from tourism in
2019) where 27% of the foreign tourists were from China, yet the total number of
infections are around 3500 only and deaths are less than 60 as on 30th September. In
Vietnam it is even lesser – only around 1000 infections and 35 deaths. On the other
hand,countries like U.S, India,Brazil etc. though had lockdowns for a long period still
the number of infections and deaths are very high. May be this is something to do
with the high population or population density which makes it a bit difficult to practice
social distancing. We will leave this debate about lockdowns and its effectiveness in
controlling the virus for another day and would like to concentrate on the impact of
the virus on economy in general in the country and Bangalore in particular.

As the lockdown begun in India, everything came to agrinding halt. Right from
schools & colleges to offices & Industries, from shopping malls to Cinema halls/
multiplexes and entertainment parks, from train/metro services to flights, from MSME
to big industries – everything was shut down. Obviously, it had an enormous effect
on the economy. It had massively hit the poorest section of the society – who depends
on their daily wages to survive.Though the Central and the governments across states
tried to help this section of the society- yet it was hardly enough and resulted in
migration of laborers/daily wagers from their adopted cities to their native places. It
had also affected the self-employed professionals and private sector employees- a
sector in which salary cuts and lays off became rampant. To mobilize resources to
tide over the covid-19 crisis,even for government employees also there were salary
cuts or deferred salaries in some of the states and there was freezing of increments
for Central government employees. All these resulted in dip in income for everyone
and consequently in consumption. No wonder that the combined effect of decreased
consumption and the shutdown of the manufacturing & service sectorsled to huge
shortfall in Goods And Services (GST)collection and contraction of Gross Domestic
Product(GDP)in the first quarter of the fiscal year 20-21. As per the data released by
union finance ministry, GST collections for the April to June quarter stood at ¹ 1.86
lakh crore, a 41% drop in comparison to the ¹ 3.14 lakh crore collected in the same
period last year. And as per provisional estimates released by Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation (MoSPI),India’s GDP for the quarter(Q1) slipped by
a sharp 23.9%.

If this is what the economic situation in the country is, the situation in the
state of Karnataka is no different. Even before the Covid-19 crisis, Karnataka’s gross
state domestic product (GSDP) was projected to grow at 6.8% during 2019-20, a dip

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of 1%, as compared to 7.8% during 2018-19, according to the Economic Survey for
2019-20 which was tabled in the state legislature during this year’s budget session.
With Covid-19 induced slowdown, the dip in State GDP will be even more during FY
20-21.It is worth mentioning here that with 40% ofIndia’s IT industry located in
Bangalore, the city contributes about 55% of Karnataka’s SGDP. It was possible because
apart from software export, an entire business eco system revolving around IT & IT-
enabled services(ITES) in Bangalore has contributed to employment generation which
in turn has boosted income levels across the society in the city. Before getting into
the impact Covid-19 on the economy of Bangalore, let us go into how the economic
landscape changed in last three decades or so.

Before the advent of IT &IT-enabled services sectorstarting in 1980s in
Bangalore, It was known as the pensioners’ paradise because it was relatively a small
town with quaint cottages and pretty bungalows surrounded by lovely gardens. The
population of Bangalore was 29,55,750 only as per 1981 sensus. With setting up IT
&IT-enabled services companies, hordes of skilled professionals along with their
families migrated into the city from different parts of the country. Along with them
came the requirements for housing, education, coaching for entrance exams,
transportation,recreational avenues, world class shopping experience etc.

As the IT&IT-enabled services sector kept on growing in the city ,real estate
business flourished in Bangalore catering mostly to the needs of the IT professionals
who settled in the city.As per a report published in 2017, 1.5 million employees were
employed in the IT and IT-enabled services sectors in Bangalorewhich was projected
to go up to 1.9 million by 2020. So, the demand created by this section of the society
was huge to say the least.As residential projects came up across the city in high
numbers, it attracted large numbers of skilled & unskilled laborers from different
parts of the country. It provided employment to large number of those people who
otherwise still would have been under BPL and most probably would have lived
without two square meals a day. The boom in construction also created job market
for architects/civil construction professionals which is still growing today. Those who
could afford and wanted to settle down in the city moved to their own apartments/
houses. And for the floating population and those who could not afford or did not
want to buy an apartment/house of their own, they instead settled for rental housing
properties.Thus,Bangalore saw a huge demand for rental properties mostly in IT
corridors where the rental value shoot through the roof. It gave a big opportunity to
the locals to boost their incomes.

Bangalore was always known as one of the prime destinationsin south India
for students to do higher studies. It has reputed institutes like Indian Institute of
Science,National Law School of India University(NLSU),Visvesvaraya Technological
University(VTU) and scores of private educational institutes. But along with migration
of educated sections to the city, there was a need for enhancing the infrastructure
for pre-primary, primary and secondary education as well which was inadequate for

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growing number of students. So, schools(both primary/secondary and play schools)
started mushrooming around the whole city belonging to reputed national and
international education groups.It gave employment to thousands of teachers and
others needed for imparting quality education in schools and education institutes.
Revolving around schools/educational institutes some other ancillary activities also
came up giving business and employment opportunities. One such example is
transportation for schools and education institutes. It gave employment to hundreds
from the underprivileged section of the society and business opportunity to some
who had the ability to invest. With burgeoning student population, came the
requirement for coaching for medical/engineering entrance examinations. All reputed
coaching institutes opened their centers in almost all prominent localities. Hundreds
of well qualified instructors with salaries comparable to corporate jobs joined these
institutes. All these mentioned above gave a boost to the economy of the city in the
recent years.

With high disposable income, working professionals in the fast-growing city of
Bangalore wanted a shopping experience which is comparable to the best in the
world. To cater to this, high-end shopping malls and show rooms came up across the
city. And most of the shopping malls not only had showrooms of reputed brands but
also had recreational/fun activities and multiplexes where family or group of friends
could go for an outing and relax along with shopping .And like icing on the top that
can enhance the overall fun of the shopping experience in malls,all shopping malls
have a comfortable and cosy food court offering delicious meals. All these –
showrooms in the mall, multiplexes, food courts, recreational & fun centers, security
arrangement etc. have given employment to thousands and contributed in a large
way in boosting local economy and beyond. It is no brainer that large number of
those employed are from Assam who came to Bangalore in search of a job.

As the IT and IT enabled services grew manifold in the last couple of decades,
there came the requirement for transporting the employees who were doing shift
duties. It gave a huge thumbs up to transport sector. Be it buses or cabs – engaged by
IT sector gave a living to thousands and business opportunities to those who are in
this sector. This is another area which contributed immensely to economy of the city.

These are some of the many areas in addition to software export which
contributed handsomely to the GDP of Bangalore in recent years/decades. In fact,
according to Oxford Economic’s annual Global Cities report published in late 2019,by
the year 2035, Bangalore will have a “year on year” GDP growth of 8.5% - highest in
terms of GDP growth in the world. Everything was looking great until covid19
happened.

As mentioned earlier, to slow down the spread of the virus & to strengthen the
health infrastructure , lockdown was imposed in the country. It led to complete
shutdown of all manufacturing & service sectors.People in unorganized sectors and
those who depends on daily wages lost their earnings and livelihood for months

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together. As work from home(WFH) became a norm rather than exception, many
preferred to leave the city and work from respective native places. It resulted in slowing
of demand for rental housing properties. Consequently, housing rental has come down
and in fact many rental properties are vacant now in societies for want of tenants.
Same applies to commercial rental as well. As shopping malls and complexes were
ordered to close till as late as August, most of the tenants renegotiated the rental
agreement with the owners and managed to bring down rental cost which resulted
in loss of income for owners. Another casualty of closure of shopping malls for a long
time were the persons employed with retail/branded stores, food courts,
multiplexes,recreational/fun centers etc. which were inside the complex. Most of
them either lost their jobs or their income was reduced substantially. Although in
most of private schools online classes are going on and teachers are getting paid, yet
it did affect some. One report says that 40,000 private school teachers lost their jobs
across Karnataka and around half of the from Bangalore only. They mostly belong to
pre-nursery and primary schools where no new admission has taken place. Even the
ubiquitous Day Care centers across the city are closed till date and apparently everyone
associated with it have lost job. Another sector that took a big hit is transport sector.
As most of the employees are on WFH mode, so even now there is no or very less
requirement for transportation of employees. Same with the school transport – with
all school closed for on campus classes, no school buses are running. Both these
combined resulted in job losses for employees in transport sector and reduced income
for those engaged in transport business. These are just some of the examples that
comes to our mind quickly. In a nutshell economic slowdown induced by Covid-19
has resulted in job losses &reduced incomes and consequently it will reflect in the
reduced GDP for the city of Bangalore.

Though worst is not yet over, already green shoots in the economy are visible.
As the business activity picking up so is the job market. The migrant workers have
also started to come back boosting the sagging economy in the city. Though not at
pre Covid-19 level,consumption has also picked up off late. Latest GST figures
released by ministry of Finance for the month of September shows that in Karnataka
GST collection contracted just 5% to Rs 6,050 crore compared to September 2019.
These are all healthy sign and points to a quick recovery in coming months. But
make no mistake,Covid-19 is going to stay here for months(if not years) to come
and we will have to learn to live with it. As the Prime Minister Mr. Modi said earlier
“Jaan Bhi Jahan Bhi”.

([email protected], Whitefield, Bangalore)

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COVID-19
SETBACK TO COMEBACK

Dr. Anup Kumar Das

Dr. Anup Kumar Das, MD., FICP., is presently Professor, Dept of Medicine, Assam
Medical College Hospital, Dibrugarh. He is undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph. D
examiner with more than 45 national and international publications to his credit. He
has done 5 projects in Hepatic Virology under ICMR and Dept of Biotechnology, Govt. of
India and is currently involved in 4 projects in Covid Research under ICMR.

The present pandemic of COVID-19 has put entire humanity in an unprecedented

situation with far reaching consequences. Like many other countries, India is facing a
daunting challenge too, which is certainly testing our scientific and medical
communities to the fullest while the policymakers are having to deal with repairing
the collateral damages to our country as a whole.

The peculiarity of the virus itself is the reason for the massive setback caused to us;
because this virus does not seem to follow any known scientific laws in Virology.
Hence, almost one year after the outbreak the virus remains unpredictable. For
instance :
a) We do not know why some infected people recover fully, while others do not, nor
can we predict who will succumb to the infection.

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b) We do not know the exact disease process but we know that it can give rise to any
symptom by damaging any organ of the body.
c) We do not have any medicine to ‘cure’ this infection till date.
d) We are unsure about post-Covid complications and do not know what will happen
after recovery in the long run, say three years from now.
e) We do not know whether a vaccine, if and when available, will fully and definitely
protect us or not. COVID-19 is an RNA virus and very few anti RNA viral vaccines have
been developed till date and none have shown good results; primarily because it is
difficult to develop compared to anti DNA vaccine. Moreover, because of intricate
guidelines, it takes on an average, approximately 5 years to develop, test and market
a vaccine by bio-medical technology.

Amidst these backdrops, all will agree that this virus is more than a dangerously
notorious pandemic. It is more threatening a pandemic than any other that the world
has seen in the past.
Considering its extremely rapid spread, the global medical fraternity recommends that
prevention of the spread plays the most important role; it not only contains the disease
transmission, but also hospitalisation, and mortality.
This can be achieved by simply remembering SMS ( Social distancing,
face Masks, Sanitazation or frequent washing with soap).

We know this virus will not go away easily. Despite that, it is not possible nor easy to
live every moment wearing a mask or following distancing in the society, Therefore
the disease is difficult to contain and we are seeing so many so called “Second Waves”
of outbreaks in many areas. The way we conduct ourselves will basically determine
whether we will be able to win over COVID-19.
Economic, Social and Human cultural considerations play a major part while planning
for tackling the collateral damage in terms of living an as normal life as possible and
still not getting infected. There must be a logical, scientifically planned balance
between the two. If we stay home and don’t earn, we will go hungry. If we go out and
get infected because of carelessness, we might lose earnings, spend on hospitalisation
and consequently go hungry. Our country is already going through an economically
bad phase and the impact is there for everyone to see (loss of productivity coupled
with medical expenses).

Here comes the role of proper planning that must include specialists (not simply
designated officials) in their respective fields such as scientists, epidemiologists,
medical fraternity, administrators and economists who should be consulted regularly
by the Government with an open mind, while formulating multipronged COVID related
policies for a resource poor country like ours. In order to tackle disasters such as

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COVID-19, a very calm, realistic and receptive mindset is important rather than an
overenthusiastic and unrealistically feasible planning.
India had a leeway of around 2-3 months to prepare (when we had very few cases)
while many countries like Italy were battling against huge odds in COVID cases. But
we failed to take a cue from them. The truth is that we seem to posses an ‘emotional’
National Character, rather than a scientific one. Mention must also be made about
the role of Indian electronic media here. It is extremely unfortunate that they have
failed miserably in conveying the true constructive informations to the general public
in the midst of the pandemic, which resulted in a negative effect while preparing
us to face the actual problem. In short, all stake holders need to be taken into
confidence shelving individual differences at different levels towards working for
the country’s benefit.

This pandemic has taught us that an educated mind and well managed health
infrastructure are most important in any national disaster.
In order to move ahead as a nation towards a comeback, it is important that the
concerned authorities take up future planning to ensure a good health care system
and awareness among people, . We owe it to our children and their children. Any so-
called progress in other fields is irrelevant as COVID-19 has proved globally.

On an individual level, what comes across as an alarming issue, is the attitude of the
people. As it is coming close to a year, the people are either showing evidences of
pandemic denial or pandemic fatigue. While in the first case, people are still of the
view that COVID-19 is just a flu and an exaggeration of it; in the second case, people
are tired of being careful and are therefore lowering their defences. Both are
dangerous scenarios considering the fact that we have a long way to go before life
actually returns to ‘normal’.

In conclusion, there is no denying that we need to move on and the way forward is to
not be pessimistic but to be realistic; practical rather than emotional. It means we
have to be prepared for a long drawn covid situation. It is not likely to go away, a
vaccine is still a dream, a drug is still not available. Moreover many will go into so-
called LONG COVID, which is a post covid syndrome of chronic ill-health and permanent
lung damage. At the other end of the spectrum, there is no magic cure for bad
economic recovery; sure and steady steps must be taken in that direction.

The bottom line is that we should be responsible and responsive, as individuals
and as a nation.

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The Princess, The Queen, SHORT
Krishna and History STORY

Annie Bora Dutta

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

The pretty doe-eyed Tirtha, who was all of twelve years. came running to her father,

king Vishruth and sat on his lap. She was the only one who could do things without
seekingthe king’s permission as she was his only doting daughter. The kinggazed at
her with a big smile and asked “Now, what is that my little princess demands?”. “Father,
when I grow older you will need to plan a grand Swayamvarof the most brave and
handsome princes for me”, replied Tirtha with firm words. “My mother and aunts
tell me that I will have to marry to a prince of your choice, but I do not accept that. I
want to marry a man of my choice and not yours. Will you promise me that?”, stating
these she put forth her palm to him seeking his acceptance. The king smilingly accepted
her words, because he knew very well her obstinacy and that he doted on her too
much to do anything against her wish.

Tirtha was a born beauty, and unlike the other girls in her palace she was not meek
and coward, but famous for her skills in archery and chariot riding. She was a great
devotee of Lord Shiva and as a custom would perform special puja on Shivratri for a

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groom of her choice. Now that she had made her choice clear to her father, she
happily went around trotting the palace telling everyone about her Swayamvar.
In that period, it was a custom for all young girls to marry to the man of their
parent’s choice, but only a few royal princessesget the privilege to choose their
own man.She knew in a couple of years she will attain puberty and then she will
be of marriageable age.

King Vishruth discussed the matter with his queen and they agreed to the Swayamvar.
The queen suggested the king to invite ruler of Magadha kingdom, Brihad’s
son,princeJaras.KingBrihad had two queens and tales of his love and devotion to
both his queens were renowned, while prince Jaras was a valiant warrior and tales of
his valour had spread wide across all kingdoms. When Tirtha heard the stories of
princeJaras, she started to weave dreams of princeJaras winning the Swayamvar and
making her the famous princess of Magadha. She thought that “like father like son”
she will be loved dearly by the prince and tales of their love would be famous. With
every passing day she was offering prayers to Lord Shiva to fulfil her dream. Lord
Shiva was very satisfied with her devotion and granted her desire.

When Tirtha was fourteen years the grand Swayamvar was organised with
representation of kings and princes across the nation. But it was princeJaras who
stood out amongst allof them and won the heart of everyone in the palace with his
valour. There was a grand wedding organized as king Vishruth bade farewell to his
beloved daughter.In Magadha there was a grand welcome given to princeJaras for
winning his first Swayamvar and bringing his first princess.

In theirfirst wedding night Jaras lifted the veil of his bride and said “You are the most
beautiful face I have set my eyes on. I have been hearing stories of your beauty since
my adolescence and had all sight on your Swayamvar day. I was very sure of winning
with valour but not sure if I could win the heart. So, tell me why did you chose me?”.
Tirtha with eyes still closed replied “My Lord I am not only beautiful but very brave
and how could I have settled for someone less valiant than you. And the reason you
are in my life is only due to the blessings of Lord Shiva”.”Is it really true that due to
Lord Shiva’s blessing I have won you, then dear one please make me also a Shiva
devotee. From today as I commit my love to you, I also commit my devotion to Lord
Shiva”. With these words Jaras and Tirtha devoted their lifetime of love for each
other and devotion to Lord Shiva who united them.

As days passed Jaras become a great devotee of Lord Shiva and he would pray together
with Tirtha to the Lord before he sets off for any war. Based on Tirtha’s request he
made her the charioteer of his chariot when he went on war. Together they made a
great team and would win any war.Jaras and Tirtha were not only becoming famous
for their love but also their invincibility in the wars. She was leading her dream life in
the love of her princeJaras.

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After five years of marriage she became pregnant and gave birth to a son who was
named Sahad. With the birth of his son,Jaras’s happiness was boundless and the
royal family was very happy with the birth of their heir. At this juncture king Brihad
decided to crown Jaras as the new ruler of Magadha and he with his wives set out to
Vanaprastha. There were grand celebrations in Magadha for the birth of Tirtha’s son
and coronation of Jaras and Tirtha as King and Queen. Tirtha was all tears at the end
of celebration day and thanked Lord Shiva for his grace. But little did she know the
turn of events which were to unfold.

Ayear after the coronation Jaras had to go on war and this time he was overjoyed to
lead his soldiers as their king. When he went to seek Tirtha’s help in performing
prayer to Lord Shiva, she was unable to join as she was feeding her new-born and
suggested he do it alone. Jaras performed the prayer all by himself and left for the
war. The war did not go as planned and Jaras had to meet with his first defeat. He
became devasted with this loss and kept himself locked in his room for one month
denying even to meet Tirtha. Every day she would wait at his door to speak to him
but to no avail and finally when he came out, he looked worn out and pale. Tirtha
immediately started taking care for the revival of his health, while she had to ignore
her child. It took six months to revive his health and mental state, but he was no
more the same loving person towards Tirtha. He started to listen to people with vice
and went on losing his virtues slowly.

One evening while Tirtha was playing with her little one in her room, Jaras came and
said “Dear one, I need to speak to you. In Kantilla, which is one of our powerful
neighbourhood kingdom there is a Swayamvar happening. I want to take part in the
Swayamvar and if I win….”. “What did you ever think what you are speaking? “shrieked
Tirtha.” Please listen if I win there, I will be able to create alliance with them and this
way extend my kingdom without any war”, replied Jaras.”So now are you scared of
going into war? Also, what happened to your promise of undying love to me? “,
retorted Tirtha.” I am the greatest warrior and remain open to war any day. For now,
to expand my kingdom without any bloodshed this is a very good method which has
been advised to me and I will heed it. You will always be my first love and queen. And
it is time even you look at yourself in the mirror”, saying these words Jaras left the
room without looking back.

Tirtha almost forgot what Jaras said and only remembering the last line slowly went
in front of the mirror. She did not remember when she last stood in front of the
mirror and was scared to look at it first time in her life. The image in the mirror was
of a bloated woman with a bulky tummy and bust with no shine in the face or hair.
She stood there with tears rolling down her face as she recollected her slender and
shining beauty which she had lost while she was devoted in taking care of her son
and husband in the last few years.

Jaras returned to his palace with two princesses whom he won in the Swayamvar and
ordered all his maid servant to treat them as his queen. He took them to Tirtha’s

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room for introduction, but he was unsure of her acceptance. Tirtha was a woman of
value and received both the new princess with a brave smile and welcome into the
kingdom. Jaras promptly left the room as he knew he was no more in the same level
of virtue as his first queen.Gradually over time Jaras started spending more time
with his new queens than Tirtha. She was spending more time in taking care of the
palace and her son, whom she was imparting all the right education and knowledge.

Jaras started making plans on conquest of other territories. With his daily physical
training, he also started enhancing his prayers and devotion to Lord Shiva. But there
was a sense of void in his prayers because he would miss Tirtha, who was a greater
devotee of the Lord. Five years later Jaras set out on his plan of conquest but he had
to request Tirtha to join in his puja to Lord Shiva, before setting forth. Tirtha agreed
to perform the puja for Jaras as she was still his first queen and a devout wife.

Jaras was in his winning spree again as he started winning battle after battle. He was
becoming very famous now as valiant warrior and basking in the glory. When he was
going into war with Tirtha, he had to share the glory of his victory with her. Now he
had all the glory to himself and with every victory he will swell up with pride and
arrogance. Due to his arrogance he was getting more and more distant from Tirtha
and her virtues and was indulging in vice.

One day he met a sage who suggested him that if he does the sacrifice of hundred
kings to Lord Shiva on a certain Amavasya day, he will attain super power and become
immortal. Jaras decided to set out on his plan to make this sacrifice. When he asked
Tirtha’s help for the puja of Lord Shiva before the war, she vehemently denied it.She
also said that her son Sahad will not be part of the conquest. She had brought up her
son as an honest and wise prince unlike his father. Jaras was very angry at her decision
but did not care much about her betrayal as he was already very valiant and had
many strong alliances.

He went on capturing kingdom after kingdom and made all the kings prisoners for his
sacrifice. News about this spread like wild and every kingdom was reeling under the
fear of king Jaras attack and torture. At that point Lord Krishna decided to go with
Arjuna and Bhim, to Jaras’spalace disguised as Brahmins. When Jaras got to know the
true identity of them he challenged Bhim into a wrestling duel till death.

Before going into the duel Jaras came to Tirtha’s room and said “From tomorrow I
am having a wrestling duel till death with Bhim. This duel will go on for several days.
This is a matter of life or death for me. If I win then I will be able to sacrifice all the
kings to Lord Shiva on Amavasya night to become superhuman. If I lose the Pandavas
will take over our kingdom and you with the other queens& children will be enslaved
by them.” “So, what do I have to do?” asked Tirtha in a loss of words. “I need this
help from you to perform puja to Lord Shiva daily with your deep devotion to make
me win”. Tirtha obligingly said yes to him but was lost in grave thought.

She stood by the palace window, tall and still, gazing absently at the blurred distance.
She had two choices: both unattractive, out of which, she would have to take a decision.

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The next day dawn, she lit the lamp and prayed to her Lord with all the devotion in
her heart. In the evening Jaras come to her room to talk about the duel with Bhim
and thanked her for the puja, which he believed was keeping him alive. He would be
so tired that he would doze off in her room. Every evening the same story was
happening and after decades she had Jaras in her room every night throughout the
night. She would caress his wounds with tears rolling down her face, in the same way
she had taken care of him after his first defeat in war.

It was the day before Amavasya and that day before leaving Jaras lovingly touched
her face and said “Today is the last day of puja for you and then you will no more
need to weep for me or due to me”. With these words Jaras valiantly left for the duel.
Time was not passing that day for her and she was neither able to eat nor drink.

Finally, in the evening her son Sahad came running to her telling “Mother father was
killed in the duel. He was overpowered by Bhim and ripped into two parts. But.”. She
just looked patiently into his face while he said “But Bhim and Krishna released all
the other kings who were made captive by father. When I surrendered before them,
they said that I am an honest Tirtha putra and will be made the crowned king”.

Upon hearing everything from her son there were no tears in her eyes and she asked
herself “Where are youKrishna?”. “Hey great queen I am right behind you”, came the
reply from Krishna who was alreadythere in Tirtha’s room. “Lord I need the answer
from you what have I done?” she was wailing as she bent before Krishna. “I had two
choice,one to pray for the life of my husband who was Lord Shiva’s gift in my life or
pray for the deathof my husband, who became a cruel king. And I chose to pray for
his death, while he was right next to me for the twenty-six days of the duel and
believing I have been praying for him. Now how do I face this world and tell I am the
wife who prayed for the death of my husband. History will always remember me as a
curse of a wife who prayed to Lord Shiva for her husband’s death for twenty-six days”.

Krishna with his ever-smiling face said “Our lives are dependent on the actions based
on the decisions we make. So, we must take our decision in the greater goodness of
everyone and in turn our Creator. It was your prayer more than Bhim’s valour which
brought the death of valiant king Jaras. Nobody apart from you and me will know the
truth of your true bravery. History will have stories to tell about the valour and vice
of king Jaras and his final death in the hands of Bhim. History will not remember the
true, wise and brave queen Tirtha and let her live in bliss for now and forever.”

N__ot_e_:_T_h_is_i_s _a_fi_ct_io_n_a_l_st_o_ry__w_it_h_n_o_r_es_e_m_b_la_n_c_e_to__a_ny_o_n_e_li_v_in_g_o_r_d_ea_d_._________________

Annie Bora Dutta, is an engineer from Assam Engineering College and working in IT Industry, Bangalore
for more than twenty years. Being an avid reader from childhood, had a natural desire for writing,
which was fulfilled with the first write-up in Uruli in 2019.

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BLACK MAGIC AND THE THIEF SHORT
STORY

Munatri Baruah

Illustration by Amrita Das

Twin brothers Romen and Tapan packed their bags with all

the essentials required for a camping retreat. On the other
hand, Anil, a true foodie at heart was stuffing his sack with
foodstuff for their journey. Their friend Bikram stayed a little
far from the others. Romen and Tapan will be driving their
car and pick up Anil and Bikram on the way. They work
together in a Software Company in Bangalore and have gone
home to Assam for a vacation. Romen, Tapan and Bikram
knew each other since childhood. They met Anil when they
joined the company in Bangalore.

“Where is Bikram?” Romen said after they reached the meet
up location. Anil muttered “This guy is always late. Let me
try calling him.” Just as Anil was about to call Bikram, he

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came running down the stairs with the backpack in his hand. “Sorry Guys. I woke up
late” Bikram said with a sheepish smile on his face. Anil rolled his eyes and hit him on
the back of his head “Come on now. Get in lazy guy”. They started at 8.00 a.m in the
morning and reached the campsite by around1.00 p.m.

The campsite was amid some tall and beautiful trees. There were numerous small
camp houses and tents nearby. It was managed by a tourism service called Deka and
Sons.They often come here when they visit Assam. They dropped their luggages inside
the rooms, had their lunch and took rest for some time. At around 5.00 p.m they
decided to go out for a stroll. Romen and Tapan shared one room while Anil and
Bikram shared another. The camp houses and the open dining space were enclosed
in a circle. They decided to go out and explore a bit. After moving off about two
hundred metres from the fenced area they heard a low growl. Anil said “I think we
should go back. It will get dark soon.” Bikram smiled and replied to him “What
happened? Are you scared?” They all laughed, and Anil added, “No. I am just being
careful.” Romen chuckled and said “olelele!! Don’t cry now kesua(meaning - baby) .
We will leave after some time”. Tapan joked about it “Oy. We will protect you”. Anil
didn’t dare say anything after that. They trekked about till dinner time taking pictures
of different birds and trees. Finally, they returned to the camp at around 8.00 pm.
They headed towards the dining area. A bonfire was lit, and a feast awaited them.
Around 25 people were present in different groups at the dining area. All four of
them were very hungry after the walk and the mouth-watering dishes on the menu
increased their appetite. Mutton fry and Pork Roast were served as a starter. A
delightful spread of Chicken curry, Masortenga (Sour curry of fish) and the traditional
haahkumura (duck curry with ash gourd) was deliciously laid down as main course
on the dining space. They had a hearty dinner. Some of the guys of the younger
group started singing and playing instruments after food. Few of the young girls and
boys from other groups joined them and started dancing. The older folks looked with
a disapproving glare towards them. Finally, Romen and Tapan decided to call it a
night. Anil and Bikram decided to join the other group for singing and dancing.

Suddenly someone knocked on Romen and Tapan’s door. Romen woke up with a
start. Tapan is still sleeping. He is a heavy sleeper. Romen walked upto the door and
waited. “Open the door Romen” - Bikram hammered on the door. Romen immediately
opened the door and asked- “What happened? Why did you wake me up at the middle
of the night? It is just 1.00 a.m now”. Then Anil came running to their room “Sur hol.
Sur hol (meaning - theft happened)”

Bikram added “A thief stole money and valuables from Mr Baruah’s camp hut. And
Ratul da (the manager of the camp) have asked for our help.” Romen was shocked to
hear this news and tried to wake up Tapan “Oi Tapu. Wake up.” But Tapan won’t
even budge. So, they left him inside and went towards the place of the incident.

Everyone was asleep except some youngsters who were still in the dining area
partying. The older couple whose valuables were stolen were standing in the middle

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of the room staring at all the helper guys with suspicious gaze. Mrs Baruah was crying
and looking at everyone specially the cleaning guys in a spiteful way. The camp
manager tried to make peace with her but she was threatening to call the police if
she doesn’t get her things. It was full chaos everywhere. The manager was scared
that if police get involved, his job will be in jeopardy.

Bikram called the manager near him. The manager frantically ran towards him. He
was sweating even in the cold January weather. He looked so sad that all of them felt
pity towards him. Bikram asked him “What happened Ratul da (meaning - big
brother)?” The manager cleaned his sweating face with a gamusa (assamese towel)
and said “This is Baruah Sir’s room. Sir and Madam went out for a walk and when
they were back, they found their stuff stolen. Around 10000 rupees, Sir’s laptop and
some branded watches were missing. I am not sure what to do. If I call the police
Deka Sir will fire me for not managing these things properly. Please help me Bikram.
If anyone of you can help me with some solution.” They all thought about it for a
while. Suddenly Anil started smiling. Romen looked towards him and said “Oi Boliya
(meaning- Hey you madman) !! Why are you smiling like this?”. Anil just smiled and
went towards the old couple and talked to them. The lady started nodding her head
with conviction. Romen, Bikram and even the manger Ratul was confused. Anil made
an announcement “Everyone please look at me. I have a request to make. This lovely
couple here have lost their valuable belongings and are in need of help. And it so
happened that my friend Bikram here is an expert in tantrikvidya(Black magic). He
will help them to find the culprit. But we just need your help and cooperation”. Almost
everyone agreed to help. But Bikram was plain shocked. He started swearing and
muttering bad words to Anil. ‘What the hell is this Anil doing? ‘ Bikram thought.
Romenand the manager were looking at Bikram in a funny way. “Why didn’t you tell
me before? We could have taken your help long back.” Ratul said to Bikram. “Even I
came to know about this only today” Bikram added. Anil came back to them. As soon
as he was back Bikram went and hit Anil on his head and said “Oi burbok (meaning –
Hey you fool)!! what the hell have you done?”. Anil said “Come with me. I will explain
everything.” With this Anil explained his plan to Bikram and Romen. Tapan was surely
missing all the fun. After about 20 mins they both went to the room and Bikram said
“Everyone please stand in a queue. I will distribute a handful of uncooked rice to
everyone. Just take it in your mouth, chew and throw it out. Rice will come out of the
thief’s mouth in the form of a round ball.” All the staff – the cooks, cleaning guy and
helpers stood in a queue. Ratulplaceda small bag of rice near Bikram. Bikram chanted
something inside his mouth and blew over the rice. Romen was trying very hard to
suppress his laughter. Ratul took the rice and distributed it among them. They all
took it in their mouth as instructed. Then Bikram went near each person and asked
them to spit it out. First came the cook Bimal. He spat out the rice properly. Next
came the assistant of the cook Suren. His performance was also fine. In the third of
the queue was the cleaner Babu, a guy from Bihar. He also threw out the rice properly.
Then next came the laundry guy Dhiren. As Bikram asked him to spit out the rice,

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Dhiren hesitated. He moved his head side to side saying no. Dhiren joined the camp
site recently. Ratul went and gave him a tight slap on his face. The rice came rolling
out from his mouth in a clump. Immediately Bikram said “Dhiren is the thief. Catch
him”. Dhiren started crying and said “Please forgive me Sir. I was tempted when I
came to deliver the laundry for Baruah Sir and Baidew (Madam).” He promised to
return the things and the Baruah’s decided not to call the police. But he was fired
immediately. Romen looked at his watch and realized it was almost 5.00 a.m.
Meanwhile Tapan came searching for them. He was surprised to see all of them
together near the manager’s hut. He asked them about it. Anil narrated the whole
story and everyone had a good laugh. They all decided to get some rest. Just as they
were about to go Ratul asked Bikram “Bikram. Tell me how did you know that rice
will come out in a clump from the thief’s mouth? Did you actually do Black magic?”
Bikram smiled and said “A type of scientific black magic Ratul da. When I announced
that I know how to catch the thief, Dhiren was very concerned, and his throat went
dry. His nervousness almost gave him away. So now we just had to scare him more so
that he believes in the black magic story. His throat went dry. When he was made to
chew something, he was so sure that the black magic would work that he avoided
chewing the rice and instead kept it clumped inside a corner of his mouth. That clump
of rice was successfully delivered outside his mouth by your slap Ratul da” They all
had a good laugh about it and went to their respective rooms to have some rest.

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

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SPECIAL
FEATURE

MILIJULI GODHULI
A Curtain Raiser

‘I s this Mukesh Sharma from Assam Association Bangalore’?
The voice on the other end was friendly but I could feel there was a sense of
seriousness to the voice.

‘My friend’s daughter died by suicide last night. Can you please help us in sending the
body to Guwahati’?

This was right in the beginning of the unprecedented lockdown imposed on all the
people due to the emergence of the deadly corona virus. Suddenly, there were people
who were stuck in their homes with no access to human touch. The luckier ones had
family to give company. There were many who were absolutely alone. Even the ones
with family around, were facing new truths daily. Managing the new work culture of
‘work from home’, ‘online classes’, ‘no maid’, ‘no cook’ ‘no friends’ ‘no parties’ started
taking its toll on the mindsets of the people.

There was also this constant worry about the virus. One needed to be constantly on
the vigil to ensure that the virus does not come home. For some, there were young
ones at home, for some elderly parents & for some
both. Some were finding it extremely difficult to come
to terms that they could not go out of the house, or
travel, or have parties with friends. Some had close
friends who were infected with the virus. Horror
stories of people not finding a hospital bed for
treatment, someone close or known dying of the virus
were doing the rounds all the time.

We at Assam Association Bangalore (AAB) discussed
the situation among some of us. First, we thought of
connecting with a known Doctor/Hospital to ensure
that if any of our members needed hospital care, we
will have some place to refer. Ranjan (Goswami) spoke
with one of his Doctor friends and made such

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arrangement with a hospital. It is a different matter that
we have been extremely lucky not to have the need to use
this facility for any of our members so far.

We were used to regular get-togethers thru various activities
that we organized every now and then, be it some Puja or a
picnic or a food-festival or just simple get-together over saah
(tea) and singra (samosa). We knew our members relished
these opportunities to meet one another amidst an
enjoyable atmosphere of excessive laughter and
unrestrained leg pulling.

This is when we thought what if we don’t discontinue our
activities and instead move it online, just like the rest of the
world have done in some form or the other. We started
first by publishing our bi-annual bi-lingual magazine ‘Uruli’
online for the first time since we started publishing it in
2015. Our online launch program was a huge success with
people not just from Bangalore, but from across India and
a few from abroad attending the program. This gave us the confidence that it was
possible to conduct sessions online and engage with people.

This is when ‘Milijuli Godhuli’ was born. We said we would have a weekly session
every Sunday in the evening, where we would invite all our members to join us for a
chat. This would be a platform that would be available to our members where one
could a) meet one another albeit virtually b) share what was happening in their lives
c) get the opportunity to laugh and enjoy together.

We were obviously not sure how the response would be. Still, we started tentatively
in the month of July, specifically on 12th July. We were pleasantly surprised by the
response of our members. People were extremely happy to join and chit-chat with
one another. There were kids who came
forward to recite a poem or sing a song.
Someone came forward to enthral us with her
melodious voice. There were lots of laughter
around and soon we realised that instead of
the planned 60 minutes, we spent somewhere
close to 2 hours. This would soon be the
feature of our get togethers, that no meeting
lasts only for an hour. They usually go for 2
hours and at least once, it stretched till 3 hours.

Inspired and motivated by our first week
success, we had the 2nd one next Sunday,
almost with the same theme. Just to know one

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another and share any song/poem/dance
that any one wanted to share. We also
decided during this meeting to see if we could
dedicate each Sunday to a specific theme.
Accordingly, next Sunday was earmarked for
programs by the kids of our members.

26th July, Sunday evening was eagerly awaited
by us. We knew our kids had put up a sterling
show. The program that evening was
anchored by Abirata, one of our members.
Abirata engaged the kids skilfully and we were
all regaled by the colorful programs put up
by the children.

And we knew Milijuli Godhuli was there to
stay for long. Since that first day in July, we
have been conducting this session every Sunday evening from 6 PM over Zoom. Let
me share a few programs which we conducted over these weeks.

Remembering the Assamese Xathor (riddles) –‘Haturi Botali Bais khon, sure nile tini
khon, thakil keikhon’? Ok, sorry, you will understand this riddle only if you are an
Assamese. But are they not interesting? Now, just imagine, more than an hour of
such a session with all the participants coming out with their own ‘xathors’. Highly
entertaining and equally informative.

‘Hey, how about conducting a quiz?’ Ranjan opined. Why not, was the retort by the
others. And ‘Ukuli Mukuli’ our online quiz program was born. Mridusmita took the
onus on herself not only to take care of the technical side of the program (how to
conduct it online) but also to formulate the questions. It was decided that no one
other than Mridusmita will have access to the questions to keep its sanctity. Abirata
volunteered to help Mridusmita with any help she wanted including keeping the
scores. We knew the program would be good but we did not know it would be that
good. Mridusmita floored everyone with the way she conducted the program and
the quality of her questions. There was a huge participation and for more than 2
hours all of were glued to the screen. Did I also tell you that the winners walked away
with some exciting authentic prizes sponsored by Axomhaat?

How do you manage your finances? There is a saying ‘it does not matter how much
you earn, it is how much you keep’. With this philosophy in mind, Sushanta, AAB General
Secretary, invited an external financial expert supported by our own internal money
expert Dipendra (Gogoi), on how to manage your money better. I personally think one
session was not enough for this subject, perhaps we will have an excusive session with
Dipendra in the coming weeks where his goal would be to help make each attendee a
millionaire within a specific time. =ØÞ Keep an eye out for our announcement.

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We celebrated our Independence Day on 15th August
virtually with a lot of fanfare. It was Monjita, who came
out with the suggestion in July that why not celebrate
the day online? It was an excellent idea and a team was
soon formed to give a shape to the program. Can we
unfurl our tri-color virtually? Should we have live
performance or recorded one? How do we handle the
lag in the videos? How much time should we allot to
the participants? A few weeks of careful planning and
time-consuming hard work ended in a colorful
celebration of the big day with Mr Prakash Barua da
gracing the occasion as the Chief Guest and Mr D C
Borkotoky, AAB President welcoming all the guests. We
were amazed by the response of our members to
participate in the program as performers and as
attendees. The tri color was hosted followed by the
singing of the national anthem by all present. The chief
guest shared his thoughts followed by an extravaganza
of cultural programs put forth by our esteemed
members. Overall, a celebration well presented, well appreciated& superbly hosted
by Monjita.

Have you heard of Tarot cards? Do you know where they originated? Do you know
how they are used and how they can help you? These and many more information
were shared by our Tarot card expert Urvashi in one of the Sunday sessions. We are
extremely proud to have our own Tarot Card expert. Many of our members have
already used Urvashi’s knowledge of these cards to peek into their past, present and
the future. If you are interested, do reach out to Urvashi.

‘Ki khobor? Bhale Ase?’ – does this ring any bell? If you are from Assam, it is unlikely
that you have not seen a video of ‘Mrs Baruah’ or gazette baidew. Do you know who
is this amazing lady behind all these videos? This is what we explored in another of
our Milijuli Godhuli evening. A lot of our members were pleasantly surprised to know
that Mrs Pinaki Mathur aka Gazette Baidew lives in Bangalore and is a member of
our group. Pinaki shared how she came up with the ideas of these characters, how
she prepares, how her family supports her work with lots of love and affection. We
were absolutely floored by Pinaki’s simplicity and humility. The icing on the cake was
an impromptu performance by Pinaki of these characters, owing to the huge demand
from the audience. Pinaki, you rock! Keep shining, keep performing.

Whenever you talk about food, you think about taste, right? What if I show you food
and allow you not to touch it, forget about tasting it? You will cringe, you will say it is
not fair. This is what came to our mind when we thought about moving our favourite
food festival ‘Bhogjara’ to the e-platform and aptly renamed E-Bhogjara. It is not

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possible to hold food festivals online – was the popular opinion. But such reactions
don’t bother Ranjan, our go-to man for anything related with food. Ranjan has been
instrumental in holding our first Bhogjara food festival way back in 2015. Since then
we have been organizing this festival regularly. Ranjan was determined that we must
have this festival. He found strong support from Rajdeep and Luit. E-bhogjara details
were worked out and we were absolutely stunned by the receipt of some 48
nominations, some as far away as from USA. Our team roped in two great names
from the culinary world of Assam – Chef Atul Lahkar and Chef Sanjukta Dutta. We
celebrated the award function of E-Bhogjara in one of the Sundays in September.
Both the judges spent enormous amount of their time in judging multiple giga bytes
of videos of the participants, without the luxury of taste, to declare the winners.
They also shared tons of tips freely to all the participants which I am sure will help
them become better chefs. We remain forever grateful to the judges for their selfless
service to this program and to all the participants for taking the time and effort to
create all those videos about their cooking and about their dishes.

In between all these programs, we keep every now and then one Sunday where we
just talk, plain adda. People get to share whatever is there on their mind. In one of
the Sundays, we came to know how lucky we are to have so many singers in our
midst. Many of our lady members delighted us with their singing. We also celebrated
the Sunday on 6th September as Teacher’s day. Many of our teacher members joined
us and shared their stories with us.

There is something else I would like to share. Our organizing team for Milijuli Godhuli
is growing gradually. Why would you think this team of people spends their personal
time, money and energy in these activities? Many might believe this is to help others.
I would like to believe we do these for purely selfish
reasons. We do these because it gives us enormous
sense of pleasure. The satisfaction, happiness that we
get after completing a session successfully is very
difficult to explain, one can only experience it. We also
learn a lot in the process. These occasions give
opportunity to our members to learn various skills –
learning to interact confidently with others including
strangers, develop team spirit, manage
disappointments, learn problem solving, manage
conflicts, celebrate together, celebrate one another’s
success, motivate others, get motivated yourself.

Monjita Sharma, one of our members have this to share.

‘If someone asks me, what is the best thing that has
happened to me during Covid 19 lockdown, I will always
have one answer to this.

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That is to virtually meet the enthusiastic AAB members
and interact with them through the Milijuli Gadhuli
program. With some uncertainty in mind, I attended
Milijuli Gadhuli from the second edition. The uncertainty
was due to the fact that I didn’t know most of the people
personally and unsure about how to contribute. But I was
surprised and really elated to see how warmly I was
welcomed by the entire team. Also the honor of getting
to host the Independence Day celebration is something I
will cherish for a long time. The support and
encouragement provided would spur any newbie like me.
Thank you to the entire organizing team for welcoming
me and taking me along with you. Milijuli Gadhuli has also
helped me to revive my earlier days where I used to be
part of cultural programs in college. Thank you Mukesh
Da for such an awesome session/event that you have been organizing every Sunday.
For me it has been like a dream come true where I can sing, interact and learn about
the Assamese culture far away from Assam and help my children imbibe the richness
of our culture. Thank you once again to the entire AAB family.’

This is what Indranee Goswami shared:

‘We are well connected through Milijuli Godhuli, getting the opportunity to learn
new things. Sunday has become exciting because of MG’.

As you can see, Milijuli Godhuli is no longer just a get-together. We use these sessions
to celebrate different occasions. We also use these to celebrate our people. We believe
we are onto something good and hope to continue with your blessings and support.
We express our deep gratitude to you for your support so far, both as participants
and as attendees. If you have an idea or a suggestion on something that can be
showcased in Milijuli Godhuli, please reach out to us.

Just in case you want to know what happened to the case I started this article with.
The girl, all of 19 years age, was living alone and apparently could not handle the
situation and died by suicide. Pranab Jyoti Borah, a core member of Assam Association
Bangalore, worked with the hospital, police and BBMP to arrange an ambulance to
take the body to Guwahati, arrange for the required passes and was personally present
at St John’s hospital till 3 AM to see off the ambulance.

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller

PS : You can view the recordings of some of the Milijuli Godhuli programs in the you
tube channel of Assam Association Bangalore. Pls check this link https://
www.youtube.com/channel/UC7eF5JjV1eFSOjvq0JlsP4g

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KID'S
SECTION

A Teenage Gamer’s Diary

Atharv Goswami

I’m a gamer...a teenage gamer. My most loved gift is my gaming console, which is

Xbox One S gifted by my aunt (mahi) 2 years back. It was one the happiest moments
in my life when I held the controller, chasing, crossed different levels, started going
online. Many of you might have thought by now that video games are not good for
kids as several researchers found out the adverse effects of video games on children’s
development. But… it’s a gamer’s diary, so please stay with me.

Video games and gameplay are two things that occupy a significance spaces in the
lives of most of us, especially if you are a boy. Video games serve as a major venue
for the creation and maintenance of friendships among boys. Most of my friends
play video games on computers or portable devices like a cellphone, and some of my
friends have access to a game console.

Over the past two decades, video game and internet technology have shifted,
eliminating the need to be in the same room as a requirement for playing games
with friends and others. Innovations in game design and platforms have increased
the opportunities to interact and socialize while playing. These changes have enabled
gamers like us to play games both with others in person and online. I believe, these
capabilities have enhanced our opportunities to interact and spend time with friends
and others in meaningful ways while gaming.

I’ve started my gaming journey with Hawken, Roblox, Forza horizon 4, Call of Duty
Warzone, and my most favorite from then and ever Fortnite.

So, here I am sharing my experience about the games I played –

Hawken, is a free-to-play multiplayer mech first-person shooter video game that
focuses on creating an intense battle
experience that captures the feel of piloting
a mech, while keeping the action fast-paced
and strategic. The game features three
game modes: Team Deathmatch,
Deathmatch, Co-op Bot Team Deathmatch.
It’s a fun and casual yet intense mech
fighting game. It is not that impressive
technically, but quite enjoyable gameplay-
wise. Its free-to-play model is balanced and

fair.

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Then comes Roblox which is an online game platform
and game creation system that allows users to program
games and play games created by other users. Founded
by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in
2006, the platform hosts user-created games of multiple

genres coded in the programming language Lua.
Roblox has an ESRB rating of E10+ for Everyone 10
and up for Fantasy Violence, which means that
typical gameplay should be suitable for most kids.It’s
really fun and I made friends too on Roblox!

But you have to look out of odergames, bullies,
and scams while playing this. If a parent is reading
this, please keep an eye on your child when he/
she pays watch your child play on Roblox.

Here about Forza Horizon 4 which is a 2018 racing video game developed by Playground
Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on 2 October 2018 on Xbox One
and Microsoft Windows after being announced at Xbox’s E3 2018 conference. The game is set
in a fictionalizedarea of Great Britain.

I love cars, design, technology - just anything and everything about cars.So here it is, where
I can actually not only drive, I can race.The racing is a perfect blend of forgiving arcade handling
with an obsessive attention to detail that ensures each car feels just different enough.As
with its predecessors, this is a gloriously silly game.I’ll always have a massive soft spot for
the open-world racing, it has never looked as good as it does in Forza Horizon 4. It combines
a beautiful world that’s really four hugely distinct maps in one with a constantly rewarding
and self-renewing racing experience.

Here comes Warzone, Call of Duty Warzone. It is a free-to-play battleroyale video game released
on March 10, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The game is a part of
the 2019 title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It does not require any purchase. The Cluster
Strike and Precision Airstrike killstreaks can completely wipe an enemy squad.You die quicker,
but also heal faster.There’s a lot to love about Warzone.Warzone wants victory to be decided
by smart positioning and twitch shooting skill, not your armor tier.

Now, let me talk about my all-time favorite game Fortnite. Fortnite is an online video game
developed by Epic Games and released in 2017.It is a survival game where 100 players fight
against each other in player versus player combat to be the last one standing. It is a fast-paced,
action-packed game, not unlike The Hunger Games where strategic thinking is a must in order
to survive. There are an estimated 125 million players on Fortnite.

Fortnite Battle Royale is a game of survival, which means in order to win, you must defeat the
other 99 online players in the game. This competitive element adds a touch of urgency to the
game.Gamers also need to avoid being caught in the eye of the storm to remain in the game,
and there are regular countdowns to when the storm is approaching.There is also a degree of

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fun to the game with Christmas and dinosaur costumes available for purchase. Avatars can
also do dance moves, using the ‘Emote’ feature. These can be activated during the game which
can be quite amusing. Many of these dances are inspired by popular culture, enabling gamers
to enjoy them both in the game and in the schoolyard.

There is a social elementwhen it comes to play Fortnite. You can play in groups or two or more
and chat to each other on headsets or text chat during the game. The game has becomethe most
viewed game inon YouTube history. Besides, the social media influencers or YouTube personalities
like Ninja, Bugha have also played the game and provided tutorials on how to play it better.

Now, these days the biggest concern for parents of children accessing this game is screen time,
and mine too not so different. I know parents want the best for their kids. But believe me, I’m
making a progress. I’m getting a chance to play only three days a week, where mandate to
share my gaming console with my baby sister (never thought she will get interested in gaming
too) for another three days. Of course,it’s sevendays a week and with one day overlapping.
Yes, I too have exceeded, many a times, my committed time for play. But, gaming is
likethat…sometimes it makes me forget about time! Just kidding…I know that’s the virtual
world, and so I go play with my friends outdoors too.

Apart from video gaming, I love to play football too.
My favorite footballers are Neymar Junior and Messi.I’m
getting trained in football. I love to play chess with my
Dad and occasionally help my Mom in kitchen. I really
do know a few dishes to cook and serve. I’m not saying
that I’m not a rebel gamer asking for few more minutes,
but end of every battle I do say to my Mom that “I’m a good Boy”. Yes, I’m always one!

I really do admire Ninja and Burgha. Ninja or Richard Tyler Blevins is an American streamer,
YouTuber, professional gamer, and Internet personality who has broken records for concurrent
viewers when he streamed Fortnite with Drake. Blevins laid down a simple explanation for why
Fortnite has become so popular, so quickly. He said, “I think it’s a combination of a lot of things”.

Now who’s Bugha? Kyle Giersdorf, popularly known as “Bugha” is ayoung American who wrote
his name in the history as the best eSports player of the year 2019 at The Game Awards.

Bugha became the first Fortnite World Cup solo champion, winning $3 million at the age of 16,
by now he is a multi-millionaire.

Now coming to direct point that all parents might want to know at this moment - I’m
AtharvGoswami, better known by my friends as “Venomous Jake”, a 12 year old (almost
teen)studying in class 7, DPS E-City and I haven’t decided what I want to be when I grow up.
But, I’m pretty sure that I am making moves towards how to turn my Dream into my Career.

[* Object too big for pasting as inline graphic. | In-line.PNG *]

I don’t need to get a life, I’m a Gamer, and I have Lots of Lives!

Happy Gaming!

(Atharv Goswami is a student of Class VII, DPS Electronics City, Bangalore)

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KID'S The year 2020
SECTION
Aryaman Sharma

India is the land of diversity.

But on March 16th, started COVID-19.

With the lockdown, all the faces have a frown.
We can’t go to malls,
Nor can we go to waterfalls.
We are in war, and we must stand strong and tall.

If you have to go out, please think twice.
Wear your mask and please be wise.
After coming home, always sanitise.
Always try and spread the positive vibes.

Some of the symptoms makes you feel weak. Illustration by Urvisha Goswami
Doctors help, we need to seek.
The virus is spreading quick.
The cases still haven’t reached its peak.

With the lockdown, the trees are blooming.
Polluted air has now become soothing.
I know it is boring, but we must keep waiting.
Slowly everything is opening,
The cases are increasing.

Don’t go to crowded places,
Because of the number of cases.
Masks are meant to be worn on your face,
not on any other place.

(Aryaman Sharma is a student of Class 8P, Delhi Public School)

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KID'S
SECTION

...through my eyes

Kara Nofil

Hi! Today I’m going to tell you about my trip to Kaziranga. Well, first I flew to my

grandmother’shouse and I had lots of fun. I had lots of fun because I went to both of
my grandmothers’ houses. After I stayed with them for about two weeks or so, my
family and one of my grandmoms—we rented a car and drove all the way to Kaziranga.

Finally! When we reached the hotel, it was I think 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. and I was so
cold! It was freezing! It was December. Just as I was going to bed my grandaunt (my
mom’s aunt) paid us a visit at the hotel. I was quite surprised to see them but anyway
I was happy. We chatted for a while and after that when they left, my family and I sat
next to a pit of fire. It was really warm. Then we went to bed with good thoughts.

The next day we ate breakfast and left for the safari! We were driving through lots of
Nature. It was beautiful. We finally arrived at the Parkentrance and already saw some
animals! We bought something to eat and once we were done, we got on our jeep. I

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

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was soexcited! Then we started! First we
went through some plain land but after
some time we really went deep into the
jungle. I saw quite some animals. I wrote
the names of all the animals I saw in my
field notebook (will be at the end of the
article). In the middle, we made a quick
stop to eat biscuits and look out for some
fish in the lake. The lake was pretty big
and guess what I saw —jumping fish!
My father told me that those were
featherbacks.
Near the lake house, my father
showed me a wall that showed us the
levels of how much the water can
come up to when there’s a flood.
And it can go really high! When our
break was over, we went back into the jeep
and drove on. On the way, I saw some really, really pretty
birds and even better, we saw Rhinos! From a distance though, but still had
lots of fun. At the end of the safari drive, we stopped at a nice place where
I had to climb a staircase leading to a big balcony up high so we can see the
whole of Kaziranga. It was absolutely beautiful. We took some pictures and
then left to go back to where we started. After that first experience in
Kaziranga, I am in love with Nature and animals forever.

(Kara Nofilis a student of grade 5, Buddhi School)

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KID'S POLLUTION
SECTION

Vikrant Saikia

The shaking trees
The flying bees
Flying over their hives,
The shaking plants
The flying butterflies
Flying over the garden,
The moving cars
The fire smoke
Polluting our whole Mother Earth,
So, please save our Mother Earth
Or else,she will cry!

(Vikrant Saikia is a student of Class II, Whitefield Global School, Bangalore)

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

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She is a Queen KID'S
SECTION

Mahashree Gautom

There is elegance in her every stride
May it be like that of a doe may it be like that of a lioness leading her pride
She is a Queen

She can rock your world like no other
As a wife, a daughter, a sister or a mother
She is a Queen

You lean on her at times of need
And sometimes her beautiful smile makes your heart pick up its beat
She is a Queen

Do not belittle her
For she is the one who will aid you in every adventure
She is a Queen

Even when belittled she doesn’t say a word
But takes revenge by achieving success which till eternity shall be heard
She is a Queen

She is as scintillating as a flower
But don’t be fooled as she is the embodiment of power
She is a Queen

When angered, she is the deadliest
When loved, the dearest
When challenged, the fiercest
She never comes down on her knees

It’s her, I am talking about
She is THE QUEEN

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

(Mahashree Gautom is a student of class - VIII)

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A Marvel call Nature KID'S
SECTION

Dhriti Das

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

I do not know where I am
In my home or fairy land
Wherever I may be!
It just like heaven for me!!

As the trees are dancing in the breeze
As the birds are tweeting around the trees
Where everything is so green o'green
Where no pollution only o'clean clean

Where streams look like flowing diamond,
Where all the animals share their fund,
O' what a marvelous place this is
Surely a place that you will very much miss

Come come it is a place that is hard topind
It shall make you more than just blind
For, this is what the old, wise ones call nature
It is so much more than gold, silver or any other treasure.

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KID'S
SECTION

Exploring The Arctic

Aryahi Goswami

The name ‘Arctic’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘near the bear’. The coldest recorded
temperature in the Arctic is around “68 °C (“90 °F).

Why is the Arctic Treeless?
z The Arctic, the area around the North Pole, is mostly water covered by ice. So only a few
very small plants can grow there. The land that is in the Arctic is called Tundra (Tundra is
the name for cold land where there are no trees and where only a few kinds of low
growing, hardy plants can survive). Trees have little time to grow in the short summer
season. Also, their roots cannot take hold in the layers of frozen ground.
The Arctic is very cold for most of the year. There is little rain and there are often strong
winds. People and animals have found ways to live there, but trees cannot survive.

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z Besides the harsh climate, another factor that affects the growth of tress in the Arctic
is that there are long periods of winter when the Sun does not shine at all. Trees need
lots of light to make food.

z During winter, tiny plants bend close to the ground to escape the cold. But, the tall
trees cannot protect themselves from the freezing wind.

How do Arctic Animals Survive in Winter?
z When winter comes, many animals leave the Arctic. Those that stay may make warm
nests and tunnels in the snow. Large animals have thick fur and a layer of fat under
their skin that keep them warm.
z The polar bear has a thick fur coat that traps air. This air is heated by its body and
keeps the bear warm. Beneath the bear’s skin is a layer of fat that provide added
warmth. In Autumn, the female polar bear digs a den in the snow. In the winter, she
gives birth inside the den. There, she feeds her young and keeps them warm until
spring.
z When winter comes and their grazing grounds are covered with snow, reindeer and
other animals migrate to the South to find food.
z Walruses and seals can survive the harsh Arctic winters because they have a thick
layer of fat called blubber under their skin.

How do Arctic animals protect themselves?
z The ice covered Arctic can be a dangerous place for animals. There are no trees or
other big plants to hide behind if enemies are near. Many animals use their white color
to hide. Other animals use clever tricks to help them survive.
z Unlike adult Harbour seals, the Harbour seal pups cannot escape predators on land by
quickly diving into the sea. But their pure white fur makes it hard for their enemies to
see them against the background of snow and ice.
z Musk oxen are hunted by wolves. When the oxen sense danger, the herd stands in a
circle. Their horns point out in every direction. The little one stay in the center of the
circle where they are safe.
z Seals and walruses can live on land and in the sea. If they are on the ice and attacked
by polar bears, they dive into the water to escape. If they are in the sea and are attacked
by killer whales, they escape by climbing onto the ice.

(Aryahi Goswami is a student of Class III, DPS Electronics City, Bangalore)

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Illustration by Illustration by Jairaj Kaushik
Rushank Nil Borgohain Illustration by Shreyosi Roy

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

Illustration by Drisana Borah Illustration by Ruhan Sarma

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Illustration by Meghna Baruwa Illustration by Amrita Das

Illustration by Urvisha Goswami

¬Û‘ᬱ 138





BHOGJORA

Dr. Monideepa Das

BHOGJORA, literally means a ‘Taukin’, a vessel with a spout in which water is offered to a deity,
but for all of us at Assam Association Bangalore, BHOGJORA is an emotion.
The basic idea of BHOGJORA originated from the concept of potluck which has been a common
practice among the members of our AAB Family. Expert cook cum big-time foodie, Ranjan
Goswami along with a few other core members of AAB came up with the plan of providing a
platform wherein the members would not only be able to showcase their culinary skills
but also earn accolades for their craft.
The first BHOGJORA was hosted in the year 2015. The event was not an elaborate one and
more on the lines of a food fiesta, but it was a proud privilege that we could have two
connoisseur chefs as the judges of the contest. The sweet and savoury categories were judged
by none other than Chef Surjan Singh Jolly, Executive Chef at JW Marriott and Chef Vijay
Bhaskaran, Executive Chef at Le Méridien.
I would not miss the opportunity of adding that I was one of the participants and the proud
winner of the first prize in the sweet category for my dessert “Abu’rPaayoxh”(the traditional
Assamese rice pudding as prepared by Abu, my maternal grandmother). I have been passionate
about cooking right from when I had barely entered my teens, but not in my wildest dreams
did I ever think that I would win a prize at a competition judged by chefs of such magnitude.
Needless to say that it was an experience of a lifetime for all the participants and being inspired
and motivated by the encouraging words of Chef Jolly and Chef Bhaskaran was like a dream
come true for each and every participant.

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BHOGJORA has been an annual event ever since and has grown bigger and better over the
years. It has remained on point in pushing the ‘chefs’ within us to go that extra mile while
putting the best dish forward. The expert judges have continued being a source of
encouragement and inspiration.

Such is the emotion and enthusiasm for BHOGJORA, that even the COVID-19 pandemic could
not dampen the spirit. Since the need of Year 2020 has been to ‘stay safe, stay home’, we
decided to conduct BHOGJORA in the form of a virtual cooking competition. It did seem a little
far-fetched, but our dynamic duo Rajdeep Kar and LuitjyotiSarma under the able guidance of
Ranjan Goswami, Mukesh Sharma and Sushanta Jyoti Sarmah converted the brilliant plan into
a humongous success. Being virtual, we had wide and worldwide participation from a good
number of enthusiastic home chefs. The focus was on authentic dishes of Assam and North-
East. We had two categories to that effect : the ‘Forgotten Recipes of North-East’ and ‘North-
East Fusion Recipes’; the third and wider category being ‘Recipe of your Choice’.
We were fortunate to have acclaimed and celebrity Chef Atul Lahkar and immensely talented
Chef Sanjukta Das as our esteemed judges, both of who are intensely impassioned about our
indigenous, regional cuisine. Judged on the basis of the elaborate and interactive videos, each
participant was no less than a winner, so said the judges. The winning recipes were so well
prepared and presented that they conformed to gourmet cuisine. The insightful ideas and
advice shared by the judges at the Virtual Prize Declaration Ceremony held on Zoom Meet
augmented by encouraging words from Chief Guest Maini Mahanta and Guest of Honour Pankaj
Dutta made the event one to be reckoned with.

With the standard of BHOGJORA soaring, we are already gearing up and raring to go for the
next one.
Looking forward to more fun and more feasting.

Recipe Name : BHOKUWA MAAS, KASKOLAARU BHEDAILOTAKOFTA’rXOITENARIKOL’orGRAVY
(CATLA FISH WITH SKUNK VINE LEAVES AND GREEN BANANA IN COCONUT GRAVY)
Recipe by : Sukanya Buzar Baruah
Category : Fusion NE Recipe

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