Filling in, end March

These days, I am watching more documentaries than movies and TV series on Netflix. Those of you who are serious people and regular readers, I’d urge you to watch two such shows: Saving Capitalism and Inside Job. The latter narrates how shameless and rapacious neo-capitalism rampant since the 1980s is bringing about crisis after crisis in all major economies (in the course of which the poorest, weakest and most gullible suffer most every time, while the guilty super-rich manage to get away virtually scot free, and the former points out why it is becoming increasingly important to save capitalism from its own worst excesses, for the sake of the survival, safety and moderate comfort of the mass of humanity. If you have read my seven-part series of blogposts clubbed under the tag ‘socialism’, you will marvel at how much the narrators sound like me! (by the way, Netflix as an organization is very much a part of the liberal-capitalistic mainstream. That, I shall always maintain, is the greatest strength of the system, this ability to introspect, self-criticize and self-correct over and over again: all socialist systems devised so far have been far more fragile, insecure, and therefore unable to deal with timely and constructive criticism; that is why they always failed and collapsed sooner or later. If a better, more durable socialism is to be designed – and I believe it must, if mankind is to have any long term future – then the new generation of ideologues will have to do something about this enduring weakness.)

This time my daughter was not around, the first time since as a child fourteen years ago she started helping me (hugely) at the time of new admissions. She was away on a work trip. God be thanked, a large number of young and much older ex students willingly and most efficiently helped me out, so that over the last three days most of the hassle has been dealt with. I am hoping that I shall be able to embark on a ‘normal’ new academic year, regardless of the so-called second wave of coronavirus infections.

Pupu visited Ladakh for a week, and has just phoned in to say she is back home in Delhi. I am eagerly waiting for her to fill me in with the details. Meanwhile, my long-time suspicion has been adequately confirmed: Ladakh is too cold even in end-March, the air for some reason causes problems of discomfort including breathlessness even for those who are used to mountain travelling, and the so-called beauty appeals only to those who like barren deserts or moonscapes. I think as a tourist I shall give Ladakh a permanent miss. Give me Kashmir, Himachal or Uttarakhand any time.

Early summer is already making things unpleasant in this town. A day after I put up the last post here there was the first (and so far only-) nor’wester rains, first time in six months, and it made things comfortable by lowering the temperature and cutting down the dust in the air, but that pleasure lasted barely two days. I am praying the next storm comes very soon, otherwise we’ll start baking or boiling in early April!

Is there any hope of the swimming pool opening this year? I wonder…