Sri Lanka - an episode of gigantic proportions

This is a post just to explain the lack of posts. Sri Lanka is having a turbulent time and its not due to Covid. We are in the midst of political upheaval and right now we have hundreds of thousands of people - young and old, middle class and poorer sections of the people in a peaceful protest series right across the country The main objection is of course the present government, which due to mismanagement of resources and blatant corruption has managed to bring the country to bankruptcy. We have severe shortages of diesel and petrol and long, long queues for both. Fisticufss galore, high tension at all these petrol stations right across the country. People staying for twelve hours in a queue does not create an ambience of patience. We have a severe shortage of cooking gas. One has to register with an agent, get on a waiting list and wait. For those who live in houses - they have resorted to reverting to cooking on wood fires. For those of us like me, who live in apartments this is a no no. It was a nailbiting time for me last week when we finished one gas cylinder and could not get a replacement. On the foodstuffs line, apart from shortages of milk (and butter which is anyway not a necessity) prices have doubled and tripled due to the lack of transportation amongst other reasons. A severe scarcity of foreign exchange means imports are very restricted and since we import almost everything from sugar to flour to medicines, I need not explain! Insulin which I need for my husband is in short supply and my job is trying to find a vial here and a vial there. There is a severe scarcity of medical supplies in hospitals but the government denies this! anything to keep a good face on things rather than appealing to the Sri Lankan diaspora scattered across the world who will step in and help. With power cuts running upto eight hours a day (went up to 10) then came down and now just 4.5 hours per day computer time is also restricted. I will be back with my usual reviews asap.