Schoolchildren are ecstatic as their school will remain closed for another 15 days because of avian influenza.
“Virus” is a new word for residents of Byatha village in Hesaraghatta hobli, which houses the Central Poultry Development Organisation and Training Institute (CPDOTI), the epicentre of the avian influenza that threatens to rock Bangalore with a full-blown outbreak.
But the residents of this sleepy village are actually excited about something that should have instead wrought panic among them.
The only school in Byatha village, Jyothi Vidyalaya, which is located within the CPDOTI premises, has been asked to extend the Dasara vacation by 15 days. This means that the children will enjoy a vacation that could well run into Deepavali holidays. So the children are elated.
The school is located next to the turkey and poultry (chicken) units at of the institute, which explains why the authorities have directed the school to reopen on November 12 (Monday).
“Our school is set to reopen on Tuesday, but we don’t know whether the holidays would be extended or not,” says a 8th standard student of Jyothi Vidyalaya, S Chaitra, who stays right opposite the poultry unit.
“I hope the holidays are extended,” she said when DNA met her at the village on Sunday morning. The direction to extend the holidays came late night.
The adults are at loss to explain why they have to wear masks or take Tamiflu tablets every day. “They’ve asked us to, so we take it,” says Lalithamma, an elderly housewife whose grandchildren attend Jyothi Vidyalaya.
They are not the only ones happy as an off-shoot of the outbreak. With chicken out of the menu for some time to come, DNA found that a new fad is round the corner — mushrooms.
The employees at ‘Oyster hotel’, a small eatery located on the district road that connects Byatha village with Tumkur Road, are overjoyed because people are coming in droves to enjoy soups, curries and biriyani that mainly feature mushrooms.
The eatery receives mushrooms of different edible varieties from a nearby farm where they are grown; and the eatery is more like an outlet to market mushrooms.
Oblivious
People in Byatha village and surrounding areas are oblivious to the fact that since 2003, at least 600 people around the world have been infected by avian influenza and that about 60% of them have died due to the illness.
Ignorance is really bliss. You will see people in Byatha wearing face masks, but their eyes seem to say, “We love this virus”
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