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Four Beautiful Towns of France & Germany----a photo essay

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Four Lovely neighbours of Heidelberg Four lovely neighbours of Heidelberg A pictorial journey   Wyssembourg, France Wyssembourg is a small town in France. It is on the border with Germany and not far from Heidelberg, Germany's university town. We had taken a train that touched Mannheim and Landau on the way. When the train pulled up at Wyssembourg station, an almost empty platform soaked by drizzles preceding our arrival greeted us. An absolute beauty! Right from there it was a comfortable saunter through a picturesque, pretty, clean and graceful little town. I was so awed that even this potpourri of adjectives is not enough to describe the photogenic French town. A little river Lauter flows through the town. It is so small and so narrow that on first view it gives an impression of a narrow canal flowing through the town. Not far from its larger counterpart Strasbourg, this cute town is rich in history. Born in the seventh century, the town grew up around ...
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Pandemic Pandemonium

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Rajat Sarkar of Hamburg, Germany briefly expressed his opinion on the WhatsApp page. What impressed me is his satiric style and the crispiness in looking at a dreaded virus that has suddenly taken mankind by storm. Read on :

Pandemic Pandemonium - Tracking the Virus 

by Rajat Sarkar 

Tracking the virus and the actions of the medical institutions have so far come a cropper. Many experts have been giving their ‘invaluable’ opinion since the beginning of the pandemic. People have been arguing which vaccine works better. ‘Research papers’ are floating all around. Without knowing what they are, we have been using jargon like antibodies, mRNA, mutations…. Treatment protocols are being constantly upgraded – serious business! As early as May/June of last year, a vaccine scientist told me there would be vaccines available by the end of the year 2020 and that companies are working round the clock. All would be okay. It has been amusing, to say the least, to listen to the weighted points of view of the ‘experts’. In my typical ‘Paglaa Dasoo’ (Sukumar Ray) style I tried to find humor but not without chagrin The Covid vaccine business started with it being touted as the elixir of life. Soon after the launch of vaccines, there has been a shift to the ‘brands on the ramp’. People discuss which ‘brand’ of vaccine they have got or intend to get. BioNtech/Pfizer seems to be the Giorgio Armani of pokes. It is laughable! For me, the only disturbing thing is I have to once again learn the Greek alphabets which I happily forgot after leaving school. 𝛿 followed by 𝛿+ and now λ scares me. Of all the people I have spoken to only one person has said, ‘Rajat, we know nothing about the virus. This virus proves that medical science knows very little about the human body. We are all living RAM BHAROSE. STAY SAFE!’ I keep wondering if it is nature’s way of teaching humans a lesson. But humans have brains. Sounds snarky – read David McRaney’s You Are Not So Smart! In a world full of wisdom I have understood it makes sense to keep my mouth shut. WEAR THE MASK!

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