She feels world is undergoing renovation, will be a better one

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, May 4

Varinderjit Kaur’s face is buried in anonymity as she walks down the street. She is a commoner and has no qualms in admitting that “because it is not a crime to be one.”

She holds the important post of ‘clerk of the court’ in the office of the Pathankot Judicial Complex. The title, carrying the word ‘clerk’, was coined during the British era. However in the present times it is a misnomer. She is actually the cog around which the entire administrative work of the judiciary revolves. The entire district has only one such post. So much so for this woman’s importance!

Among her many duties, one is to liaise with the High Court and subordinate courts. At times, she is also given the responsibility of ensuring all positive things about the judiciary get goody-goody coverage in newspapers.

With the courts going ‘virtual’ post the lockdown, she has been forced to go into quarantine as she has to follow the work from home norm.

How serious does she think the virus is? “Casinos and churches are closed. When heaven and hell agree on the same thing, it is probably serious,” she says. While in school, she grew up on a staple diet of Doordarshan and AIR and secretly nurtured an ambition of becoming a TV newsreader.

Newsreader she did not become, but nevertheless she keeps herself busy reading news these days.

“Hawkers have refused to deliver newspapers ever since one of them tested positive in the city. Hence I read the news online,” she says.

She quips, “Planet earth is undergoing a massive renovation. It will be a brand new world out there once the virus blows away.”

Before the lockdown, it used to be a hectic 9am to 5am day schedule. “The only positive that has emerged in the present times, if one can call it that, is that life has become a much easier. Earlier, it was all about court files and papers. Now it is reading books, playing with the kids and keeping an eye on the latest corona updates,” she says with a wry smile.

If she had a chance to give the world a message, what would it be?

“Seek information only from trusted officials and healthcare experts, not from random politicians, celebrities, news channels and religious fanatics. Contracting the virus is not a death sentence. So, maintain social distancing and wash your hands frequently.”

And she wants the world to do one more thing. That is to stop sharing conspiracy theories on social media sites “because that sets in despondency among health workers and the police.”