Chennai attacked?

I am not sure if I should take pride in my 'immunity' mechanism, but I have been able to stave off rampant illnesses many a time. When chikungunya made a massive strike in Chennai, I was fortunately 'missed' while some of my friends spent weeks in bed to recuperate. Even if it is not fatal, it basically puts the brakes and it is very difficult on companies or people who depend on those affected. Couple of weeks ago, I heard of my chithi's daughter being hit by a mysterious illness and the body temperature apparently rose alarmingly. My Chithi reasoned that it was because of her visit to Bengaluru. Closer home, my father was attacked by some mysterious illness as well (doctor call it 'விஷக்காய்ச்சல்') and even after 3/4 visits to the doctor, we still are seeing temporary surges. Of course, given the age factor, low body immunity is also something that we have to take care of.

Unlike in case of chikungunya attacks, the current trend is spurious because the source remains unknown! In case of chikungunya, water and mosquito joined to create the problem and so some level of disinfectant spraying mitigated the problem. Now, the healthcare dept may have no clue. There is quite a bit of talk and discussion in different fora/media on neglected tropical diseases “killing India”. At the risk of sounding xenophobic, I remember the Thackerays raising an alarm connecting migrants to the raise in Malaria cases in Mumbai. The problem with the personalities involved probably resulted in denying any serious look on the allegation.

Chennai has been mentioned in the list of fastest growing cities by Forbes, especially about an addition of 100,000 jobs this year. Even the new secretariat in Chennai could only be built by thousands of workers from North. Of course, I do personally see lots of non-Tamils in the buses and even in my office. I have to say that I am scared of the prospect of changing demography in Chennai, if not entire TN. Atleast many of my thoughts are put into words by my fellow passengers in buses or trains, who too probably feel the same. Rather than the 'invasion' of people, I am worried about the 'invasion' of diseases. My guesstimate is that old-aged people are forming the bulk of population in Tamil Nadu, if not India. With their immunity being low - my father known for his robust health/body being kept low is a good indicator, influx is not about/just people but also of diseases. It is imposible to control contagion through air, after all of us need to breathe! All have the right to live.

Update 1 (17 Oct 2010): It looks like xenophobia (or is it?) has caught on in Germany as well. Merkel has said that 'multicultural' society has failed - 'integrate or emigrate' policy is finding another voice.

Update 1 (18 Oct 2010): It was indeed shocking for me to wake up in train before it reached Perambur to find 20 odd people sleeping in the floor! As usual, I wanted to get down in Perambur to go to the first compartment after engine. At the other end of the compartment, one lady was shouting at these guys, who dont know Tamil, for entering into 'reserved' compartments. I asked three guys who were sleeping in front of the door to get up so that I can get down in Perambur. They had the audacity to ask me to go to next compartment and get down from there! I guess the pent-up frustration is so much in people that to my surprise (infact delight) 10 other passengers came to my 'rescue' automatically, shouted the hell at these non-Tamils and drove them out even before the train halted at Perambur! What is happening to Chennai? :o