Feeling Corona so near
How from so far it came so near. Around us. Amidst us.
Those were winters of 2019. I remember how on reading newspaper I was telling mom about Coronavirus. That it's a new disease that is spreading like a fire in China. For the first few days, I kept on ignoring the news articles about it. Only after it kept on reappearing in news constantly that I read it properly.
Corona accessories have become so much a part of our lives that mask is unmissable. One day I went out and I was feeling that I'm forgetting something. I checked - the phone was there, keys were there, the purse was hung on. Then I realised oh it's the mask.
I am not very fond of wearing masks, by the way, courtesy the breathing problem if worn for a longer spell of time. But, it certainly has helped me in covering the uncontrollable smiles in not so favourable situations. "The crinkles of the eyes do reflect your expressions," someone alerted me. *Silly me*
All the people with the tact of lip-reading are unable to put their skill to some use. You have to actually hear out for the words to know what the other person is saying.
This Covid has left a deep impression on my mind now that sometimes it feels weird to think of those times when we used to roam around as freely and fearlessly as a bird; sifting within crowds of people. And now we are all caged into our personal territories, that too like a bird.
In the initial days of curfew, going out into public space even to buy groceries gave a strange sense of fear. City streets were eerily quiet much like good old days of villages. But, this phase has extended so long that it is beyond expectations.
So, the fear started to vanish and it couldn't restrain people any longer.
We all move fearlessly now, but I realised it only after a visit to the local hospital for treatment of mild fever. I wasn't getting any good even after taking the prescribed medicine. On the second visit to the doctor, I was asked to show the Covid test report which was written to me the last time.
Forcefully, I had to go to the testing centre. Then it really sunk in that Coronavirus is really there. Things read, heard and seen only in media do not have as much impact as reality. Doctors walking down in PPE kits, some people revisiting after being quarantined whilst some talking about having symptoms such as loss of smell and taste. And suddenly I see the person standing in the queue just so close to me, instead of taking a step back he was asking me to take a step ahead to get closer to the person ahead of me, it was all so scary that I didn't actually go in on the test day. I fished out seeing the arrangements. Every patient - with possible symptoms or the actual disease - would be sitting on the same chair. No wonder the cases are rising rapidly.
We live in such a country where healthcare staff has to tell you to take care about yourself, to take precautions despite it being the most widespread disease of our age about which no stone is unturned to make people aware of.
Don't worry. I have written and posted this blog only after successful completion of quarantine period, so that I may save you. If only somehow Covid spread through digital modes. Oops! Did I accidentally give a really dangerous idea to furious mother nature?
I seriously hope no such pandemic spreads like that ever in future. How boring and backward it would become.
PS Yesterday, I was trying to recall the public message which is played whenever you make a call to someone. To my surprise, I remembered it almost verbatim.
Those were winters of 2019. I remember how on reading newspaper I was telling mom about Coronavirus. That it's a new disease that is spreading like a fire in China. For the first few days, I kept on ignoring the news articles about it. Only after it kept on reappearing in news constantly that I read it properly.
Corona accessories have become so much a part of our lives that mask is unmissable. One day I went out and I was feeling that I'm forgetting something. I checked - the phone was there, keys were there, the purse was hung on. Then I realised oh it's the mask.
I am not very fond of wearing masks, by the way, courtesy the breathing problem if worn for a longer spell of time. But, it certainly has helped me in covering the uncontrollable smiles in not so favourable situations. "The crinkles of the eyes do reflect your expressions," someone alerted me. *Silly me*
All the people with the tact of lip-reading are unable to put their skill to some use. You have to actually hear out for the words to know what the other person is saying.
This Covid has left a deep impression on my mind now that sometimes it feels weird to think of those times when we used to roam around as freely and fearlessly as a bird; sifting within crowds of people. And now we are all caged into our personal territories, that too like a bird.
In the initial days of curfew, going out into public space even to buy groceries gave a strange sense of fear. City streets were eerily quiet much like good old days of villages. But, this phase has extended so long that it is beyond expectations.
So, the fear started to vanish and it couldn't restrain people any longer.
We all move fearlessly now, but I realised it only after a visit to the local hospital for treatment of mild fever. I wasn't getting any good even after taking the prescribed medicine. On the second visit to the doctor, I was asked to show the Covid test report which was written to me the last time.
Forcefully, I had to go to the testing centre. Then it really sunk in that Coronavirus is really there. Things read, heard and seen only in media do not have as much impact as reality. Doctors walking down in PPE kits, some people revisiting after being quarantined whilst some talking about having symptoms such as loss of smell and taste. And suddenly I see the person standing in the queue just so close to me, instead of taking a step back he was asking me to take a step ahead to get closer to the person ahead of me, it was all so scary that I didn't actually go in on the test day. I fished out seeing the arrangements. Every patient - with possible symptoms or the actual disease - would be sitting on the same chair. No wonder the cases are rising rapidly.
We live in such a country where healthcare staff has to tell you to take care about yourself, to take precautions despite it being the most widespread disease of our age about which no stone is unturned to make people aware of.
Don't worry. I have written and posted this blog only after successful completion of quarantine period, so that I may save you. If only somehow Covid spread through digital modes. Oops! Did I accidentally give a really dangerous idea to furious mother nature?
I seriously hope no such pandemic spreads like that ever in future. How boring and backward it would become.
PS Yesterday, I was trying to recall the public message which is played whenever you make a call to someone. To my surprise, I remembered it almost verbatim.
Writer's note: No matter how much I tried to avert writing on Covid but it somehow slided in.
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