Mixed Shots

In The Bedroom, Deer?

everything is possible in Mumbai, they say. You finish your supper, wash your dishes and retire for the night…only to find your roof crashing down and a deer next to you! That’s what happened to Savita Singh and her family, who live in a slum adjacent to IIT Bombay. But the herbivore was not parkouring on rooftops before it landed in their single-room house—it was fleeing a hungry leopard. The deer, presumably relieved to have escaped the cat’s clutches, remained calm and was easily rescued.

Mera Indian-American Mahan

If Indian-Americans can set high standards of achievement, they can also plumb the depths of chicanery. Rajvinder Singh, who runs Apna Bazar in California, has been charged for price gouging during the pandemic after the governor’s emergency declaration. But he is not a patch on Amardeep Singh, the first man to be charged under USA’s Defense Production Act during the pandemic. He had hoarded and was reselling 5.5 tonnes of PPE at a mark-up of 1,328 per cent! Now only if they had stayed back in India—they could have easily caught a flight out of the country before the law caught up with them.

Snake Sushi?

Perhaps he took inspiration from a Bear Grylls show or maybe he mistook it for a meaty noodle. When an inebriated man returning from a liquor shop spotted a rat snake in Mustur village in Karnataka, he wrapped it around his neck and bit it to death. Some claim he was angry at the non-venomous reptile for crossing his path. The man is now under arrest. Hopefully, nobody is crossing his path in jail.

Under The Weather

After the Indian Meteorological Department began announcing weather forecasts for the Pakistan-occupied territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, its Pakistani counterpart tried to get back by announcing the weather for Ladakh. Only, it botched up by declaring a maximum of -4C and minimum of -1C. The land of Aryabhata immediately pounced upon this mathematical blooper (among negative integers, the number closest to zero is the largest) and made jokes about Pakistan’s “minimum” IQ on Twitter. If only they had paid as much attention in maths class as to plotting revenge.

The WHO and the UN’s postal agency have released a commemorative postage stamp on the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, with the head of the global health body expressing gratitude to top Indian-origin UN official Atul Khare. In May 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly issued its official declaration that “the world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox.” It happened on the back of a 10-year WHO-spearheaded global effort that involved thousands of health workers around the world administering half a billion vaccinations. The stamp recognises the global solidarity in fighting smallpox and honours millions of people working together. Until it was wiped out, smallpox had plagued humanity for 3,000 years, killing 300 million people in the 20th century alone.

“Only 20 people are allowed to gather for a funeral because the spirit has already left the body. Thousands are allowed to gather near an alcohol shop because the shops have spirits in them.”

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on the government easing restrictions on the sale of alcohol

Brevis

Illustrations: Saahil, Text by Saad Ahmed and Alka Gupta