I am in India. I have always thought that when chaos hit India, I would be the first one to leave. Alas, no flights are leaving. I am stuck, so I will at least report.
When I arrived in Delhi, they were checking the temperature of the passengers. Then I flew through a few other airports. All had booths for medical staff to check on incoming passengers, except that the staff was missing. With no one checking on their attendance, why should they not be missing when they could be home, have fun, and be safe?
Passengers on planes were wearing masks but were unable to shake off the habit of grinding their crotches into the buttocks of those ahead of them in a line. Even women shamelessly do this to men.
The airports all had booths for medical staff to check on incoming passengers, except that the staff was missing.
So-called educated Indians are scared of the virus, which is a good first step. But they are dealing with it by drinking cow urine, passing WhatsApp memes to please the god, spreading outlandish rumors, etc. Then, fatalistically, they go out and mix around. Not to be left behind, the media are running superstitious stories and outlandish claims about the superiority of Indian doctors.
A government-run hospital pumped a concoction of medicine into patients and claimed to have treated them. The media ran stories about how the world was all praise for India and looking up to it, although the world knew nothing about it. A few days later, one of the “treated” patients died of a heart attack. No wonder, a British national tried to escape from quarantine, as many others did.
If I was afraid of coronavirus, I would rather stay put, even in Wuhan, than flee to Delhi.
Indians who were studying medicine in Wuhan were brought back to India. They were kept in a dormitory, where they mixed around and partied. More were brought in from Italy, some of whom immediately absconded when they experienced the abysmal conditions of the quarantine centers. There is a manhunt around the country for the absconders, who are no doubt happily spreading the virus. Some of the top people and celebrities have been culprits. Were I one of them, I am not sure what I would have done.
Indians “stranded” in Singapore are begging the Indian government to let them land in India. In all honesty, if I was afraid of coronavirus, I would rather stay put, even in Wuhan, than flee to Delhi.
More than 85% of Indians work in the informal sector. They live from hand to mouth. Add to this the feral and superstitious way of life in India. These grotesquely poor Indians haven’t been told what is wrong. They are afraid but aren’t sure why. Some think there is a curfew and if they violate it the police will come and beat them up — which the police happily do.
If coronavirus — or any communicable disease — strikes India, Malthus and Darwin will work hand-in-hand to take down hundreds of millions. Given extreme poverty, dysfunctionality, and unpreparedness, “lockdown” won’t work. Even if the virus does nothing, because of the stagnant and fear-fueled economy there will be a massive increase in crime over the next few weeks.
Those who think I am too impressed with China might want to consider the perspective I come from. The only hope for India — and other Third World countries — is that coronavirus is not potent in hot weather.
You can be absolutely assured that no one knows or will ever know the real number of those afflicted with the virus.
The politically correct World Health Organization is all praise for India. Officially, only 170 people have been afflicted by the virus, but in reality, India is hardly testing anyone, because it doesn’t have the kits or the laboratories to do the job. On even a normal day, Indian hospitals are packed with people, with no beds available. Even the floor space is littered with patients. You can be absolutely assured that no one knows or will ever know the real number of those afflicted with the virus. Incompetent doctors won’t know what killed the patients, who will then be cremated. None of this changes the fact that India is in an extremely precarious situation today.
The macro factors always keep India in entropy — lack of commitment, lack of social responsibility, lack of professionalism. India’s organizations are utterly dysfunctional and getting worse by the day, and you can do nothing about it, for the British have now been gone for 70 years. The concept of active, objective reason never got any traction in India — and you cannot maintain a civilization without it.
