Lets Talk Corona..

A month and a half ago I had never heard the word Corona in any context at all, maybe I was poorly informed in world events but yes, had never heard of it. My sister got married in February and the only thing I knew till then that a relative of ours could not come as there was some health scare in Singapore. I come back from enjoying the festivities, we are in the third week of February, China is reeling under a disease and lots of people have been infected, bottom line things are bad in China. Still I carry on life because something is happening to some people in China and they are taking care of it. Talking to my sister everyday honeymooning in Europe, Italy to be specific, I know…still life is going on with its everyday issues of work, baby, husband nothing out of the ordinary.

Italy is under lockdown, newly weds decide to go straight to Switzerland and return home safely as March begins. They are asked by their respective companies to self isolate for two weeks, still am not able to comprehend the brouhaha. Something is happening to some people in Italy and I have to make sure my daughter is on a proper meal plan and that’s way more important. March second week, switching on the news the death toll in Italy is in big numbers due to the Corona Virus, okay maybe I should read about it a little more, turns out it’s a flu, its super contagious and there is no cure for it. This is not good, not good at all, cases in India are increasing, Its not someone’s problem, somewhere, its our problem rather my problem also here and now.

Getting bouts of anxiety, I have a small baby she is vulnerable and there is no vaccine or cure therefore no reaction is an over reaction. Working from home, pestering my husband to work from home buying disinfectant products and how can I forget, learning to wash my hands. Never have I paid so much attention to personal hygiene and I am 30 years old, realising germs are and have been everywhere and getting wary of every other human being as their carrier. Another week passes by with panic trickling into everyone’s life, everyone is advised to work from home and just like that all mundane issues are in the background, life is at standstill, confined in our houses, we are all now part of history.

Seeing my daughter crawl while the news carries on like a live cricket match with the run rate of number of cases increasing sometimes, while steady sometimes and us -the armchair critics. Life is so different now, doing house chores something I managed to avoid till now in all of my life. Spending a lot of guilt free time with my husband and daughter who is our spot of sunshine in these corona filled clouds. Going out to buy a loaf of bread is a mission with a matrix like vibe and planning, deeply suspicious of strangers and bathing in sanitiser afterwards. This is our new normal, staying at home with my family, keeping myself entertained for my mental health and of those around me. I do not know what sort of future awaits us or when will this end and how we will be but I do think we will come out of this mindful of hygiene, mindful of privilege, grateful for company of others and above all joyful in our own company.