Maybe I'm biased because India is my home country

Today, I'm writing just to put down some emotional weight and maybe show you another side of things -- only if you want to see it tho'. If you still want to spew NRI hate -- even after a glimpse at this side of things -- go ahead if it'll give you comfort. Let's just get into the matter and get it over with. You're welcome to share your thoughts in the comments. Whether you agree or disagree let's keep it respectful.

First, let me tell you about the state of affairs where I presently live. 

I live in CA. The sunny state just went from being the state with the most number of Covid19 infections to the state with the least number of infections. This state on the west coast is said to have been the first state to have gone under a stay-at-home order and one that has been under a lot of restrictions over the last year-and-a-half and it all seems to have not come to naught. The latest news about the infections is definitely good news and worth a celebration considering the vaccination program has also been going in the right direction (if not one to be called successful, as yet). 

And the nation that saw the highest number of infections, highest numbers in terms of loss of life over the last year-and-a-half, just announced that every adult in the country is now eligible for Covid19 vaccination. 

But it feels kind of wrong to be able to go get vaccinated. It sure is not illegal. It's from an emotional place that that wrong comes. It's something akin to survivor guilt. My home country is in the throes of a deadly wave of infections and helplessness. It's a phase that's not new to a lot of other places in the world. If you've been trying to stay informed during these dark times, you know. If anything was to be learned from the countries that ended up messing it all up, or from the nations that took time to finally get it right, this WOULDN'T have happened! 

I'm reminded of how I felt when my home state of Kerala was hit by unprecedented floods. While water flowed down the streets and into the homes of people killing some and stranding many, I remember feeling some form of guilt although California was in the thick of its fire season. Yes! A part of the state was up in flames and lots of land had already been charred, by then. We're often pained by what's happening around us and pained by what's happening on the other side of the world, in our home country. And yet we feel some kind of guilt.

I guess, not many people know about that. And I don't blame you if you're one of them. If you didn't know, now you know that that sometimes happens. 

Now let me tell you something else you may not know. 

The media here is not telling us the present administration of the US has placed a ban on the export of raw materials. Well, I guess it's information the general public does not really need to know. The nation is trying to heal from having been the worst affected nation, from mismanagement of the pandemic, and from the loss of the most number of lives.  

Now here's something you may not have read about because the general public in India did not need to know. 

Last year around this time, we were in the middle of the hydroxychloroquine news. Initially, when the Indian Government banned exports because of its need at home, it didn't feel wrong. I personally saw a leadership trying to watch out for its people. 

Some weeks back I read about the export of vaccines made in India. I read that 50 million doses of it were being kept aside for domestic use and over 60 million doses were being exported. And that was followed by news that all exports were being banned because the double mutant variant was playing havoc on the subcontinent. And that ban didn't feel wrong either. I saw an administration that was trying to take care of the people that voted for it. Maybe I'm biased because India is my home country.