Bangalore, 11/12 August 2009
The “Indian Silicon Valley” is now in ‘panic’. The pandemic of swine flu hasepts got the better of the outwardly modern Bangaloreans. You see boys and girls promenading through the air-conditioned malls in their trademark tight jeans, with inane slogans blazed across their t-shirts. Now, after the swine-flu, they have an extra-fitting added - a mask. It looks like they have taken a fancy for this stuff. With the mask, they now look exactly like pigs!
The morning newspapers scream that the swine flu toll has risen to seven. According to one newspaper the total number of positive cases of the viral disease detected in the country as on 10 August 2009 stood at 864 and the number of confirmed cases in Karnataka stood at 92. (Deccan Chronicle, Bangalore, 11 August 2009). Schools in the city are reported to have been closed.
After having had a light-hearted discussion in the morning with a colleague about the irrational behavior of those who are affected by the fear of swine-flu, I was jolted in the afternoon by a cell-phone SMS that reads: “Pass this message to everyone. Use ‘Nilgiri Oil’ drops on handkerchiefs and masks as one of the preventive measures against swine flu (NIV) - National Institute of Virology.”
The National Institute of Virology in Pune is a pre-eminent institution in India, doing solid research in viral infections and other related fields. And here is a message straight from the horse-mouth advising me to panic and make others panic! As a common man with scanty knowledge of viral infections and the possible medical properties of Eucalyptus Oil (commonly known as Nilgiri Oil in this part of the world, though the tree is not indigenous to Nilgiri Hills, or even India), what should I do? Should I forward the message to my colleagues, friends, and relatives to save them from an imminent attack of the deadly swine-flu? Here is a simple remedy available even in provision stores and with street peddlers! These were the thoughts that flashed across my mind in an instant. Read the full story
