Almost a decade ago, my father and I were at a hospital lab, waiting for the results of a blood test. The platelet count of my sister was dangerously low and if it had stayed low, it was time to press the panic buttons. Thankfully, the report showed the count was moving upwards and within the next couple of days my sister’s health was on the mend.

Since that day, I knew how dangerous a dengue fever could get but that awareness became more acute every time I read or heard about a life succumbing to dengue.

A couple of days ago, film maker Yash Chopra passed away. He was in hospital being treated for dengue.

Few years ago, a young blogger named Tejaswee Rao left me impressed with a post. It was terrible to know the kid had passed away because of dengue.

The municipal corporation in Mumbai (pretty sure most Indian metros have large budgets) has a budget of over Rs 22,000 crores. That is a lot of money and dengue deaths are not just shameful but is incompetency of the highest kind.

Mosquitoes are not human beings. They do not know who they are biting. Considering local politicians and their families travel and live in our cities, it might be a good idea to actually fight dengue and malaria with some seriousness.