Major Anuj Sood, scholar and daredevil soldier, had finished his Kashmir tenure and would have been home had COVID-19 not come in the way. He did not live to be old enough, but he lived the soldier's life to the fullest, reveals Archana Masih/Rediff.com.
'After days of waiting in uncertainty and anguish, I was finally going home.'
'Different people resonated with different films of his, but beneath all of that was his unique ability to capture the human spirit in an intimate and honest way.'
'We got so many calls after the attack.' 'Loved ones told us forget all this, nothing was more valuable than our lives.' 'But we said, 'No, this wasn't the way forward -- the people, society, the country needs us at this time.'
'Everybody should be given rations. Nobody should be excluded.' 'Without an income, the present ration quota is not enough.' They should increase it so that one person can eat adequately for a month.'
'I don't think I can go back home before the lockdown is lifted because Nitishji has said he will not allow students from Kota to return.'
'The government and railways are looking after us, but I just want to get home.'
'We know there will be an end to this epidemic temporarily.' 'We probably should get a couple of years break before it comes again.'
'Villages are much better prepared than towns as far as COVID-19 is concerned.'
'I set out really early because it gets very hot.' 'The soles of my feet burn by the time I have finished going house to house on foot.'
'Safest' looks like a phone booth, but is a state-of-the-art mobile COVID-19 testing lab.
'Around April 1-2, both states had similar number of cases, around 300.' 'The number of deaths in Kerala were 2 and in Maharashtra around 10. But the two graphs have diverged after that.'
'... so that the hospitals do not get overwhelmed. We have to avoid it at all costs.'
'Scientists around the world are focused on very quickly doing work to help us better understand what we are facing.' 'I am inspired by what scientists have found in such a short amount of time since the virus emerged.'
'Unless the State is a welfare State, unless the State has more welfare measures, it will not be able to deal with these kind of sudden situations.'
Far from the metros and big cities, the coronavirus crisis in the country's districts, towns and villages is being led by district magistrates.
The responsibility of keeping the pandemic under control lies with the DM or collector.
Subrat Kumar Sen, the young district magistrate of Saran, north Bihar, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how he and his staff are combating a crisis that no one has confronted before.
'This week will be crucial and we are prepared.'
'Times will be tough, but we will get by and by the grace of Lord Balaji.'
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