THE MONSOON MAYHEM
Most certainly, we in Goa have not witnessed in living memory such a relentless, revengeful and reckless downpour, upending all our lives.
This July Jamboree has not been funny, not funny at all!!
The Met Department, has been planting Red Flags in July, faster than Vishwajeet has planted Red Flags on the Regional Plan.
Frankly, this monsoon deluge takes me back to my good old Don Bosco days (for the younger Gen Z , that's the time when Life was Life and Tech was Tech and never did the twain entwine, as of now).
The sheer joy of getting soaked to the bone.
The exasperating effort to wake our friend Ajoy, who could never ever get up in time, so that we could drag him to school.
The sinister look and immediate admonition by Fr. Peter Ghati, who refused us entry into the class since we were late and, drenched in our Duckbacks, we looked sheepishly at him.
The admiration at the sheer audacity of my brother, Kevin, who could roll in the mud, swim in the roadside waters, catch frogs and still come home with the halo of a Saint!!
Those truly were the days.
And then for decades we never had a monsoon worth its salt—until now!!
The other day, I had this whippersnapper of a 10-year-old, accompanying his mom, who, while playing his Pokémon or whatever, had the temerity to ask me:
"Uncle, before video games, how did you guys spend your time indoors during the rains??"
He had that cocky smirk of someone who had just attended the Ambani circus.
I could wring the little runt's neck.
Calmly I replied,
We used to be outdoors bro, not indoors.
Play in the mud.
Get wet.
Inoculate ourselves with all the viruses and bugs.
And live a healthier life.
Not end up as some zombie Tech kid, half-brain and emotion-dead, ready to have a near brain apoplexy, everytime Microsoft went on a little Outage holiday.
Of course, the guy was so immersed in his Iphone, that my repartee was like water flowing aimlessly in the smartest city on the planet.
Porvorim, of course.
Where all the wizards of our destiny, deliberate, pontificate, justify, crucify and succeed in making our lives spectacularly more miserable.
On a more serious note, we have to seriously revisit the concept of climate change here.
Because our politicians wilfully don a raincoat of denial over this. (How else can converting our green cover into concrete gray be justified)!!
We are whining about this monsoon throwing our lives totally out of whack, but at least it's water.
Wait for September and October where we will bake to a nice shade of golden brown.
The point is simple.
The more of this ridiculous “development” we permit, and even worse applaud, the more will be our loss of life and property.
And the only guys who will come to our rescue are the brave firemen, some of the cops and most of the doctors, predominantly in the Government sector.
The Government will let us hang on a limb.
Also, as a small piece of medical advice that I proffer.
The monsoon brings its usual deluge of the viruses and malaria and dengue and food-borne illnesses.
And of course many people just die of boredom.
But there is this one bug we—patients and doctors—must be alert to.
Burkholderia pseudomallei.
It causes a condition called Melioidosis.
Prolonged fever.
Common in diabetics.
Affects every organ brain, bone, lungs
And the treatment is antibiotics intravenous for 1-3 months
Then orals for at least a year.
And yes, you can just drop dead if this goes undiagnosed and untreated.
It kills, doesn't just graze your ear.
A good robust blood culture is mandatory.
(done to perfection by the ever-obliging Dr Marie Jose in the Dept of Microbiology)
And yes we are seeing a number of such cases in the Government and private sector.
So if diagnosed accurately we can treat you accurately.
Sunburn?? Now that's a disease we can only prevent.
Once it afflicts you as a society, community and environment you are toast.
It's a terminal illness.
Once afflicted, all the victims in the vicinity are given LSD by the agents of Economic Progress, to dull the pain, before you die.
So by all accounts, this has been a remarkable monsoon for Goa, but I can bet my last rupee, that with our futuristic planning and visionary leadership of the day, come the summer months, our taps will run dry.
That is Nkki.
So until we have the privilege of having a modicum of sunshine peeping through the clouds,
Stay safe.
Stay alert.
&
Stay alive!!
DR OSCAR REBELLO
GOA