Your Little Dose of Joy: Start the Week With These Happy, Inspiring Stories From Across India

A happy Monday to all you wonderful people!

After an extremely challenging month, the second wave finally seems to be plateauing in many places. While this news definitely bring us much needed relief, let's not forget that the battle hasn't been won yet. There are several corners of the country where COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc. Moreover, mental and emotional scars remain even after the medical symptoms have receded. This is when we look around for stories of inspiration, stories of people who have and are continuing to fight against the virus and stories that will reinstate our faith in human spirit.

So I am excited to bring to you the second edition of my weekly column, 'A Little Dose of Joy', a roundup of good news from across the country! I hope that reading these stories helps you start you Monday on a hopeful note. Get ready to smile :)

The youth of the country have come together to create a platform that gives real time update on the availability of hospital beds.

At a time when the biggest challenge for COVID-19 patients is the scarcity of hospital beds, the world’s largest youth run organisation, IIMUN, has created a platform www.findabed.in, a national repository of all the available COVID centres in the country. 

The youth of the country coming together in the 11th hour is surely the respire we needed!

20 kgs of unused COVID-19 meds, collected from Mumbai will help patients in tribal areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

A doctor couple for Mumbai, through their initiative “Meds For More”, has collected 20kgs of unused, unexpired COVID-19 medication— Fabiflu, antibiotics, steroids, paracetamol, multivitamins etc, from recovered patients. These medicines will be sent to underprivileged COVID-19 patients in tribal areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The platform is also collecting devices like thermometers and pulse oximeters.

Initiatives like these are the doses that we all need to rebuild our faith in humanity!

Having just celebrated Nurse’s Day, this story of a nurse who went beyond her call of duty is bound to fill your hearts with admiration.

Swati Bhimagaj, a nurse posted in Chhattisgarh, has taken the meaning of 'care-giver' to another level. Hospitalised COVID-19 patients find it difficult to communicate owing to the oxygen mask etc. For speech and hearing impaired patients it is another level of challenge to communicate what they need. To serve one such patient admitted to her hospital, Swati learned sign language especially to ease the patient’s communication stress.

As she speaks to the patient through sign language, the joy on the patient's face is precious.

After defeating COVID-19, this doctor from Ahmedabad is out to conquer the tallest mountain in the world.

Dr. Hemant Leuva, an Ahmedabad based surgeon and an avid mountaineer, started his ascent to Mount Everest from the base camp on the 8th of May. What makes this a story of sheer passion and grit is that Dr. Leuva had tested positive for COVID-19, and recovered in December 2020. His wife, also a doctor and a mountaineer also recovered from the virus less than 6 months ago. This little showdown with the virus is what made them determined to scale the mountain, after having conquered the most dreaded disease of our times.

Such doses of grit, determination and passion are what we need to keep us going in these times

India’s homegrown vaccine, Covaxin has got permission for undertaking the Stage II / III.

Covaxin gets a green signal for clinical trials in the age group of 2 to 18. How long will the trials last is not known yet. With the second wave affecting several children, and a likely third wave in the future, this development sure gives us hope. And while we’re talking about vaccines, you should know that the second batch of Sputnik vaccines from Russia, has arrived in Hyderabad! The first dose of the vaccine was administered in the country last week.

These developments are a “jab of joy” to the country, at a time when the vaccination program is facing several teething issues.

The railways are proving yet again to be the lifeline of the country yet again! Here's how.

Most states are battling with insufficient supplies of the life gas, oxygen, for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Indian Railways’ Oxygen Express trains have delivered over 8,700 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in more than 540 tankers to various states since April 19. The first Oxygen Express meant for Kerala, carrying six 20ft Cryogenic containers with 118MT Liquid Medical Oxygen from the Tata Steel plant in Odisha and reached Kochi port.

This is a joy ride that our medical system really needs in these times!

On another note...

A retired banker is transforming his village from barren land to lush fertile farms.

After retiring from SBI, Hyderabad based S Venkateswara Reddy has helped farmers from his ancestral village. The village that has been suffering drought for the last decade. Reddy has helped 30 farmers grow brinjal, onion, guava, okra, cotton, groundnut and more.⁠ Venkateswara's efforts have ensured that farmers can take 2-3 assured crops every year, and cotton farmers can earn a profit of as much as Rs 35,000 per acre!⁠

People like Reddy are the harbingers of joys in such places where all hope seems to have been lost!

Funny and downright bizarre incidents that we loved last week!

Farmer moves 200-year-old French border with Belgium by mistake

A man in the Belgian village of Erquelinnes moved a 150kg border stone by about 2.29m, to extend his land. This caused a modification to the 200-year-old international border defined by the 1820 Treaty of Kortrijk, following Napolean’s defeat at the battle of Waterloo. This reduction in the French international boundary in the village of Bousignies-sur-Roc was later modified by the mayor of Erquelinnes. Thankfully the farmer’s act did not lead to World War III!

A traveller carried cow dung cakes from India to the US!

Trying to sneak in contraband products, narcotics, precious metals through airport security have often been heard of. However, the US Customs department recently found the most shocking in the luggage of an Indian passenger at the Washington Dulles International airport— cow dung! The cow dung cakes were found in the luggage left behind after passengers from an Air India flight had cleared CBP’s inspection station.

We feel horrible for the security person who had to make this discovery! But, we're too curious to know what led the traveller to carry these cow dung cakes! What do you think?

Hope this curation made you smile just a little, just enough to offer some respite during these times. See you next Monday with more such doses of Joy!

Did you like these stories? Did they bring a smile to your face? Let us know in the comments below. If you have any such positive, inspiring pandemic stories to share, you could tell us in the comments or send a DM on the Tripoto chat.