Sudden spike in HIV cases.

Health authorities in West Bengal's East Bardhaman district have reported a recent increase in HIV infections. Officials noted that individuals from diverse professional and educational backgrounds have been hit, underscoring that HIV transmission can occur across all sections of society.

Alarm over recent cases

* 90 HIV cases reported in East Bardhaman, including 30 in in Bardhaman town

* Most affected are educated and professionally established people

* Spread linked to homosexuality, unprotected sex and social media contacts

* Cases include doctors, professors, teachers, corporate officials

Key reasons 

* Lack of awareness. Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS persist among the educated sections of society

* Social media misuse. Unsafe contacts formed through digital platforms

* Avoiding medical check-ups due to stigma and fear of embarrassment

My take

A very dire situation!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, lit up the puja room lamp, opened up the house and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Walked within the house; recited my prayers.

Bath followed by breakfast.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch. Watched "snehakkoottu" followed by siesta.

The evening chores.

Back at The Quarterdeck.

Reached home by a quarter past 1. Quickly sent back our sa'arthi so that he could board the earliest bus back to Kottarakkara. Gave his daughter a gift for her birthday the day after. 

Did the unpacking partially and by the time we hit the sack it was a quarter to 2.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, lit up the puja room lamp, opened up the house for the day and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Walked in the house; recited my prayers.

Bath followed by breakfast.

Lekha and I had gone to town. She bought grocery, vegetables and fruits. I'd gone across to the ICICI and SBI banks to correct the settings. Returned about an hour later, Lekha was already back in by then.

Lunch; watched our serial followed by siesta. 

Went across to Jimmy and got his medical advice.

A quiet evening thereafter.

Return to Guruvayur.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages and turned off to sleep yet again. Got up at 7, went through our chores and were ready by 9. Had breakfast at the Coffee Shop, inquired about the feasibility of going for a good Malayalam movie in one of the nearby cinemas but nothing wasn’t forthcoming.

We’d resigned to waiting for our Chevy to reach us by 1500 hrs, as promised by Monish, our sa’arthi for the journey. In the meanwhile, the hotel allowed us to use the room till 2.

Had a lovely lunch on payment and we began our long wait as the Chevy and Monish reached us by 5 and we began our return soon after.

Tea and snack were at Karunagappalli and we resumed our journey. Dinner was at Aaryaas near Mallan’s kitchen, around a half past 8.

We were on the road to Guruvayur as the clock struck midnight.

At Kollam (2).

Got up at 5, sent all the messages and turned off to sleep all over again. Got up at 7, went through the chores, recited my prayers.

Went down to the restaurant to have the complimentary breakfast. 

Helped Lekha with her saree and we were taken by Lekshmy's relatives, Girish and Sudha, to the Sarada Auditorium. Mukund and Devika tied the knot sometime between a half past 12 and 1. We wished the couple a long and happy married life, clicked a couple of photographs with them. Had the sadya, felt bad that I wasted some side dishes!

Aby dropped us back at the hotel and siesta followed.

Got up at 4, went through our chores and we reached Youhan's Auditorium for the wedding reception at a half past 6. Helped Lekha with her evening saree, too!

It was a beautiful setting. Wished and blessed Mukund and Devika, yet again; they've agreed to call on us at Guruvayur before Mukund returns to his workplace, abroad on 15 Mar.

The dinner was nice.

We left for our hotel by a quarter to 9. It was Aby, who was our sa'arthi, yet again.

A quiet evening, thereafter!

 

At Kollam.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, lit up the puja room lamp, didn't open up the house as the house was shut down last evening.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Walked within the house: recited my prayers.

Bath followed by breakfast. 

Kicked off from home at 10, returned to pick up our Aadhaar Cards and resumed our journey.

Took the NH 544 route via Ernakulam: it was a grave mistake. There was a series of traffic blocks all through. Took eight hours to reach Lekshmi's house at Kollam.

Had lunch at Salkara at the airport turn junction. The food was nice.

Met up with Aniyan's and Lekshmi's relations.

Had dinner and were dropped at the Sea Palace Hotel.

Slept at our usual time.

You won't believe.....

What India feeds the world....

   1. Rice                                         largest producer.

   2. Wheat                                      second largest producer.

   3. Sugarcane                                second largest producer.

   4. Millets                                     largest producer.

   5. Pulses                                      largest producer.

   6. Spices                                      largest producer and exporter.

   7. Tea                                           second largest producer.

   8. Bananas                                   largest producer.

   9. Mangoes                                  largest producer.

 10. Coconut                                   second largest producer.

 11. Ginger                                      second largest producer.

 12. Onion                                       second largest producer.

 13. Garlic                                       second largest producer.

 14. Tomatoes                                  second largest producer.

 15. Potatoes                                    second largest producer.

 16. Milk                                          largest in population

 17. Goats and buffaloes                  largest in population.

 18. Cattle                                        largest in population.

 19. Fruits and vegetables                second largest producer.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, lit up the puja room lamp, opened up the house for the day and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Walked within the house; recited my prayers.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch, watched television followed by siesta.

Shut down The Quarterdeck systematically.

A quiet evening.

The annual medical review.

Last year, on this date, I had undergone an open heart surgery and today, I was back at the AIMS, Kochi for the first annual review.

The day had started at 4 for us. We went about our chores and were ready by 6 when Kannan, our chauffeur for the day, was at the gate and we cast off by a quarter past 6. The Kodungalloor route was chosen but the traffic was very heavy indeed and we could reach the AIMS only by a 10' to 9. 

There was a lot of time wasted in the procedural work at the reception and there were a lot of patients waiting to go through the registration formalities. The civilians manning the booths do not apply their minds many-a time and ESMs go through insufferable delays at the reception counter!

Rema and Padmakumar were there an hour before us, as I'd said that we'd fetch up by 8! Their presence was a great help to go through the formalities. We were at the CVTS by a half past 9 and went about the various tests that I was supposed to go through before meeting up with the doctor.

While Rema, Lekha and Kannan went to have their breakfast, within the hospital in one of the many cafes, the lab nursing staff drew my blood samples and then, I went through the ECG. In the meanwhile, I'd a quick bite of breakfast of an egg sandwich, which the girls had picked up for me. I, then, went through the rigmarole of the x-ray of my chest. The Echo was done last and armed with the results of all these tests, met cardiologist Rajesh Jose around a quarter past 1.

The clinical readings classified me as completely fit, said the doctor and my next review was to be a year later. Picked up the medicines from the pharmacy for 3 months, had lunch at the AIMS canteen and commenced our return.

Dropped Rema and Padmakumar at Edappalli as they had plans to do a bit of shopping at the Lulu Mall.

We reached The Quarterdeck by a half past 5. After the evening's wash and change, Lekha had made crisp dosas and coconut chutney for dinner.  

A tiring day, of course but one more 'must do' item in the bucket list has been ticked off as done!

And this was my first @ 70 that didn't need a referral!