Dry days taking a toll as army canteens run out of stock

Four years ago, I shifted from my ancient, heritage haveli in the old, walled Pink City to amore modern, spacious dwelling that I had built in the busy, commercial Raja Park area. Shifting to a distance of a mere three kms with all my valuables turned out to be an arduous task.

So,I packed my old books and documents in various cartons carefully, so that they do not get lost while shifting.I did not get the time to unpack many of them. They just lay in one corner of my storeroom, waiting to show-up in my sleek, new cupboards.

Four years went by before the lockdown gave me a chance to open the cartons and browse through var-ious documents, books and notes and relive my journey as a journalist. I discovered a report by Dr T. H. Hendley, the then British MedicalOfficer of Jaipur State, who record-ed that between 1875 and 1922, over three lakh people lost their lives because of various diseases.

The report also mentioned that in the year 1900, over 13,000 persons died in Jaipur due to the plague that reduced the city’s population by 15per cent.The Plague was caused by rats of-course but while all other measures were taken to check the epidemic, killing of rats was not allowed in Jaipur.

This was because people revered rats as the Vahan (medium of transportation) of Lord Ganesh.Mercifully, there is no such prejudice about the Coronavirus as it is not the Vahan of any god or goddess, but ironically its carriers are now human beings themselves!Besides COVID-19, Jaipur is also afflicted by what can be described as ‘Tippler Trauma’.

With Rajasthan among the first states to clamp a lockdown and ordering closure of all outlets except pharmacies and grocery shops, tipplers are having a tough time.Liquor has become difficult to get by.And friends now call me to arrange a few bottles of liquor.Ironically, even former Army officers and some serving ones have also been calling me. Their stock has been exhausted.

And despite Jaipur being the headquarters of the SouthWestern Command, even Army can-teens are displaying “No liquor”notices as new stocks are likely to arrive in April. Army officers used to receive requests for liquor from civilians and some would joke that civilian stook the Army to be ‘Bootleggers to the Nation’!

The lockdown has been a great leveler.Many journalist friends are now distraught. With their stock depleted, they confess they are finding it difficult to sleep without the daily ‘medicinal’ dose. But their spouse sare happy as they hope that a long period without liquor might turn their husbands into teetotalers.

For me, the lockdown has been rewarding as I could reset my small study with the help of my10-year-old grandson, Cheerayu. I have arranged the books in the shelves properly. It also gave me ample time to read and write. In the process, however, I have finished the last few bottles of myRoyal Stag. Now I too am going through uneasy, sleepless nights!In the late evenings, I talk to my daughter Peeyu and her husband Ankur, who live in New York and hear their own worrying experiences under lockdown. Their two children Nirvan and Sana had to celebrate their birthdays with home-made cupcakes and no friends, festoons or frills.

Yet the days are not without their lighter moments.When my eldest sister called up to speak to my wife Chandra, I said she would have to wait as my wife was washing her hands. At which my 83-year-old sister quipped,“Oh, Lady Macbeth is busy washing the blood of guilt from her hands.How many times in a day does she do it?”We went off into peals of laughter. Bless her for her sense of humour.(The author is a journalist based in Jaipur)