My Covid Katha

This photo is of significance. This father and son photo was taken after me adhering to 14 days of room quarantine (not home quarantine), after I had to travel from Mumbai to Chennai.

I had to travel to Mumbai in the month of March for a short duration engagement. I was supposed to be back home well before my son’s 1^st birthday, but supreme power had different ideas. Towards end of March, with covid cases increasing the government decided to impose lockdown across the country, forcing us all to be confined to our homes. I had an opportunity to travel back to Chennai, but I decided to stay put in Mumbai considering the risk of carrying the virus back. I didn’t expect the situation to worsen further and looking back the decision to not travel was a poor one.

As days passed, the count of people getting affected by the virus was exponentially increasing and Mumbai was leading the pack. This brought in lot of tension at home. I would be asked on a daily basis on the plan to come back, for which I didn’t have any answer. The frustration level at both side grew to an extent, I decided not to speak to my family members.

Government went about with its lockdown measures which along with the increasing cases had telling effect on the people of this country. People were desperate and tried whatever possible ways to go back to home and seeing those on TV was painful, least to say.I too tried few safe options like applying e-pass to travel by private car but couldn’t get the approval. Desperation from my family members were passed on to my relatives, who started contacting me , their opinion were also tried by me, but there was no improvement in my situation and I continued to be struck in Mumbai. I was in peace with myself and knew that I would have to wait for the lockdown to be lifted to join my family back.

As expected, government came up with measures to ease lockdown as we all started to accept the fact that, we have to live with the virus. Train services were announced but to my dismay, the trains were operated from Capital to selected cities. I had to continue staying in Mumbai and continue with the work, wait for further relaxation of travel. After a wait of 2 more weeks, government decision to allow flight travel brought much needed relief.

Covid cases were continuing to raise with newer highs being reached across the country. My managers cautioned and advised me to stay put in Mumbai and avoid travelling, but I was stern in my decision to travel back as I didn’t see Mumbai curbing the rise in the spread of infection. I through my office admin team, booked for an 11 am flight, as this allowed me time to be prepared for the new procedure to be followed at airport. 2 other roommates in my PG had also booked to travel their home town. There was a sense of relief and elation amongst us. Mine and another roommate’s elation though were short lived, as our flights got cancelled. I was not going to sit dejected, without wasting much time I booked for late evening flight for the same day. I slept a nervous sleep not knowing if this flight will also be cancelled. My fears, came true as this flight also got cancelled. Through my admin person, I understood that there was lack of patronage for Mumbai-Chennai route and airline operators were forced to cancel these flights.  What more could I do, I didn’t know. I informed my family about the flights being cancelled and went back to my work, I again went into radio silence , only person I communicated was my admin guy, whom I kept bothering to book the travel back to Chennai. Travelling from Mumbai to Chennai was now like travelling to any European state, with travel time being 17-18 hours and it was an overnight journey. I had to ensure that I don’t get infected during these travel and avoided such itineraries. Opening up of Hyderabad sector proved to be the turning point, as this route allowed me to Chennai with shorter time period. A nervous me, undertook the travel not knowing what more hurdles I would need to face. I took this travel by not informing my family, as I didn’t want to make them more desperate. All sign favoured me, and thanks to   Indigo airlines, the travel was safe and smooth.

There are plenty of stories filled with agony and in comparison, you may not see my katha to be no way closer to those stories, but let me remind you that I and my family had to undergo anxiety for no reason of ours. My intention with this blog is to re-iterate the commitment each one of us have towards the safety of our family and our society. Government is in unlock down phase, wherein they are allowing opening up of required workplaces with necessary safety measures.  They are also allowing religious institution to open. Like the decision taken by government to enforce lock down, these decisions are also being heavily criticised. Friends, there are people who violated the lock down decision and there are people who are staying in home and only venturing out when the need is of utmost importance when the government has relaxed the conditions. I have decided to adhere to the safety measures and request you, who is reading this to post to adhere also. This will help the government and medical people to protect us from this pandemic situation.

Better me, Better us  and together let us build a better living world.