Unmasked: foolishly and rashly inviting infection

Cassandra rose from her TV seeing couch at around 10.30 p m on Saturday 19 September completely dazed. How come, you may well ask? She was dazzled and dizzied by watching the Dream Star Grand Finale as they termed Saturday’s show, which went on from 7.30 to midnight. Goodness, parts of it seemed like a gyrating enlarged kaleidoscope of twirling colour when the dancers were on stage. One was amazed at the mix and mash of styles of dancing and the absolute energy of the young ‘uns. One dance had a display of female thighs, all million dollars, fully displayed below abbreviated to the utmost black shorts. The best (should it be said – the worst) was what the dress designers had done to the Kandyan sari which one of the singers wore. The frill and osariya (of sorts) were distinguishable but the bottom was a full gathered, long divided skirt or a punjabi baggy trouser.

Cassandra is not faulting the costumes or the dances. However, to her the only really well dressed was the compere Raveen Kanishka – Anuhas in the very popular teledrama ‘Deveni Inimaya’ And while he was master of ceremonies at the Grand Finale, he was being acclaimed the most popular actor on television and was awarded the prize in the Raigam Tele awards ceremony; the two awards ceremonies unfortunately coinciding. It was good to see his modest acclamation of the clip displayed on screens and have him going down on his knees in gratitude.

Precautions downed; thus surely inviting infection

OK. What exactly is Cassandra belly aching about? She was completely shocked at the laissez faire taken for granted by the audience. They were in their many hundreds, seated very close with rows also separated by small spaces and ALL MINUS FACE MASKS. Not done, not done at all! This seems to be the Newer Normal and it is synonymous with danger of infection by Covid 19. Unthinkable but very possible due to people behaving as they are, after all the immense trouble taken by the Presidential Task Force to tackle and keep the pandemic at bay.

Cass hopes you remember how much sleepless time and exhausting effort the Army Commander and Dr Anil Jasinghe, particularly, spent at the beginning in March and later. Navy personnel apprehended those infected and suffered the consequence of coming face to face with infected truants. Army officers and police scoured the country tracking and tracing contacts of those diagnosed with the flu. Is that all going to be in vain, Cass asks very seriously, due to the freedom given people to lead near normal lives. Maybe the temperatures of the multitude who gathered to cheer the Dream Stars were checked and they may have approached the entrances all face masked. But inside the hall they whipped off their masks, the better to scream cheers.

Is there an element of Trumpism taking root in Sri Lanka; of people being allowed to enjoy themselves and the economy set going, obviously pushing aside the fear of grave risks? We are letting our guard down far too prematurely. The danger, to Cass’s way of thinking, is even greater now than it was in March at the beginning of the murderous onslaught of Covid 19. India is teeming with infection and people dying on the streets, with hospitals overflowing. A second wave overtook Australia and some European countries. In the US, with Trump ignoring the severity of the situation and Republican governors clashing with Democrat mayors over mandatory use of masks, severe infection has been accommodated. Are we opening the doors to a sure catastrophe by allowing mass gatherings? Cass heard that a high powered meeting on the environment had all comers screened and addresses etc taken down. But inside the hall all unmasked themselves except the tale-teller. “I was not going to breathe that air-conditioned, possibly polluted air with my bare nose though I stuck out like a sore thumb and looked a clown!”

Cass hopes against hope the authorities will be much stricter about large public gatherings in closed halls. Celebration and entertainment are OK but not at the risk of Covid 19 turning pandemic in this land of ours which very fortuitously contained it. Social infection will see the end of the land – the decimation of the less able and poorer folk. Leaders will be protected. Our country simply cannot cope with mass infection. The Dream Star event and even Raigam Tele Awards ceremonies could have been virtual, to be enjoyed in people’ sitting rooms, minus the razzle dazzle and shouting and cheering. But ‘what to do’ in dangerous times? (The usual excuse of us lazy Sinhalayas) Sports events are worked out minus all spectators; the Edinburgh Arts Festival recently held was virtual with only those really necessary gathering in the Scots city.

Some criticism has been leveled at the Book Fair, that it exposed people, especially children to maybe floating Covid 19. Schools had to re-open since there is a limit in time and possible access to online learning. But the book fair could have been postponed. True, there are financial pluses in the book fair and also the awards grand shows. How many backstage earn through choreography, music, costume designing and make up in the latter case All possible with no live audience present.

Cassandra thus makes not her legendary warning of “I see blood” but substitutes it with “I see danger of Covid 19 taking over our island”. The Trojan Cassandra’s cry was a warning to one individual – Agamemnon – and blood was spilled as he was assassinated. This Cassandra’s warning cry is to save hundreds who will surely perish if Covid 19, which was kept at bay, unleashes itself and socially transmits itself. So we hope the high ups, particularly the Presidential Task Force, tasked with the horrendously difficult containment of the Covid 19 infection to only returnees to the island, will take note and not only advise but insist on a policy of behaviour so familiar to us Sri Lankans – hemin hemin. Go about letting down guard slowly and only where absolutely necessary.

See you next week healthy and yet masked and avoiding crowds. We have much to watch and conjecture on – the reading of the 20th A, unchanged, in Parliament. Just watched the Opposition’s antics at the sitting on Tuesday 22. I jeered along with them!!