I ended my last Post with a hope that next time, I will have only pleasant things to speak about.

I am glad to say that with the good care that Manju has given me, my health is better and until the latest developments that have taken place, I have resumed my normal activities.  I was playing both Croquet and Golf, but all that has been put on hold once again due to the Coronavirus.

Some of our children visited us in February.  Akhil, our older son came with his younger son while Sarat, our younger son came alone.  We were expecting Akhil to return with his younger son and Sarat with his younger daughter in March, but they had to cancel.  Sarat had also planned to bring his older daughter in April, but all that has gone by the board.

Sarat started visiting us every month since December.  He has clients in Florida and hence, makes it a point to add an extra day or two to his business visits.

Devonshire now has another Indian couple residing in the Community.  Ravi and Neera Seth have moved here and will be the third couple of Indian origin; the other two being Ed & June Macedo and Manju & myself.  Both the Seth’s are retired doctors who lived in Syracuse and also had a place in West Palm.  Manju and I are working to help them settle down.  Ravi has joined my golf group while Neera is now in Manju’s golf group.

There have been few interesting mix-ups since their surname very closely resembles ours.  Their laundry & dry cleaning has been erroneously delivered to us, while our dining slips have got mixed up a few times.

Our “esteemed” President went to India for two days and was invited by the Indian P.M. to speak at a large gathering at the new cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.  He put his foot in his mouth by mis-pronouncing some names and didn’t have the courtesy to apologize.  He made it very clear a long time ago that he has never apologized and never will.  I wonder why he was asked to mention Swami Vivekanand.  It is not an easy name to pronounce by a foreigner.

In any event, the visit seems to have achieved to Indian P.M.’s main purpose.

Air-India continues to be in the forefront of aviation news in India.  I was surprised by the overnight change in the post of CMD but have learnt from more that one source that Mr. Lohani was apparently working behind the scenes to upset the Government’s decision to sell the airline.

With the onset of the Coronavirus, the sale of the airline is likely to be delayed.

A short while ago, I learnt about the passing away of another former Air-India stalwart, Choubi Chellaram, nee Mazumdar.  Choubi was the Counter Supervisor at the New India Assurance Building when I joined Air-India in January 1957.  I spent a full month at the  Ticket Counter before being posted to the Tariffs Division.  She was a very gentle and pleasant person and the mention of her name brought back very pleasant memories.  May God bless her soul.

We now have a major crises with the onset of Coronavirus.  Here in Devonshire, the Management has taken many steps to guard against it, but with the average age of the residents being in the 80 to 100+ range, the relatively lower level of built-in immunity presents a major problem. I recommended that we substitute the handshake by folding hands and say Namaste.  I am glad to state that many members of the staff and also residents have adopted it.

If I may digress, Devonshire has a Stay at Home order and the only time we can leave our apartments is to go for a short walk or an emergency visit to a Doctor.  We must leave by the door leading to our building (Devonshire has 3 buildings in addition to the Clubhouse - all are interconnected) and also return by the same door.

This morning on my return from my walk, I pressed the call button and was greeted by “Good morning, Front Desk, Conchshena speaking”.  I responded “Hey Sheena, you are again on duty after last night” and I was pleasant surprised by her response “Namaste, Mr. Sethi welcome back from your walk and yes, I slept here last night - let me buzz you in”.  I replied “Thanks, little one”.

We have run into a major problem by the lack of hand sanitizers and wipes which have disappeared from the shelves of all supermarkets and even Amazon has no supplies.  The Supermarkets and big box stores such as Costco have run out of all paper products such as Paper towels, toilet paper, Kleenex and paper napkins.  

The Florida Governor issued a “Stay at Home” order which allows people to leave homes for visits to grocery stores, banks, gas stations and other similar purposes.  However, Devonshire has forbidden all residents from going out except in an emergency, such as a visit to a doctor.

Fortunately, we were able to find some supplies by remembering the old adage - the early bird gets the worm.

I got up earlier than usual for many days, opened the website of both Costco and Amazon and managed to find some essential items.

At the same time and completely out of the blue, the daughter of my very old golfing friend Amar Singh from Bombay days (he passed away some years back) sent a text message to Manju indicating that she is sending us a box of wipes and two small bottles of sanitizer.  She works at a major hospital and was able to get some supplies.

Devonshire is providing us with dinner every day.  Obviously, the menu is limited (unlike the regular menus in the 5 different restaurants, when our lives were normal), but the quantities and quality is great.  With our dinner, we get an item for breakfast as well.  Unfortunately, Devonshire’s efforts to help us with our grocery shopping has not been successful, and they are looking for alternatives.

Manju had some frozen Indian food and she supplements that with a little cooking once a week.  She is also planning to cook a whole batch of a daal today. Unfortunately, we may soon run out of essential spices if things don’t get back to normal soon.

I am sure the lives of all our friends and acquaintances have also been upset by the various restrictions and hope that many, if not all, have found some things to keep oneself busy and occupied.  On our part, Manju and I have been watching television shows.  We have just finished Episode 47 of Ramayana - we see one episode each day.  After this, we intend to start with Buddha.  I also work on jigsaw puzzles.

All public libraries are closed and Devonshire even closed its own small library after it was discovered that some residents were not abiding by the social distancing and wearing of masks directives.  It is indeed sad that some residents have flouted all the rules designed to keep us safe and secure.  Some of them were playing cards in the public areas and having drinks and snacks.  Some even invited other residents to bring their dinner and have pot luck in individual apartments.

I am now reading books on my iPad but it just doesn’t feel the same.  I like to hold a book in my hands.

Time to close and say goodbye for now.  With every good wish to all to stay well, safe  and secure.