AFVOA Newsletter May 2020

Section 3 - Memoirs Newsletter No. 1 / 2020 P a g e 60 | 101 As is well known, India was one of the first countries in the world, to impose a complete lockdown throughout the country. Initially it was for three weeks and then extended by another 19 days. The aim of the Lockdown was to minimise community transmission – in other words – human-to-human contact was to be discouraged. The Prime Minister is known for not following the course followed by previous precedence. And in this case, it was for the very first time that we were experiencing a pandemic! He thus appointed an individual to oversee that minimum distances were always maintained by the people. In due course, the gentleman came to be known as Sushil Dushyant Singh. If anyone just mentioned this name, immediately, people started drifting apart to maintain distances. Nobody had seen Mr Singh, but the name worked like magic. People used to wonder whether the gent was a Sardar from Punjab or a Rajput from Haryana of Rajasthan. When I was in school, I do remember that Indian converts to Christianity, used to add Singh as their surname. Thanks to the Lockdown; as one was confined indoors, one hardly got to breathe free fresh air. One of the ways of being occupied was to rig up quizzes and puzzles. This was one of popular puzzles – to guess the native state of Mr Singh. This was another case of Teriyale Sir . Just last week, it was mentioned that Mr SD Singh would be visiting our state. None was sure what the programme of the mysterious gentleman would be. Everyone was in high alert and their best behaviour. Suddenly we learnt that the mysterious Mr Singh was coming over to our locality and would possibly be visiting the Mall nearby. A few obtained special passes to visit the mall, hoping that they would catch a glimpse of the mysterious Mr Singh. One of our neighbours had obtained a special pass to visit the Mall. He landed up there and was hope against hope that he will be able to see the elusive man. As he was strolling along, a voice boomed from the Public address (PA) system cautioning everyone to strictly adhere to the Social Distancing norms. Then a person close by to our neighbour said: “koncham sushil dushyant singh parum go saar. PA system katharathu saar.” My neighbour hurried back and excitedly told me that the mystery of Mr SD Singh was solved!!!!