Face-off with pandemic – a memoir

Kerala reported India's first case of Covid-19 when I scheduled a vacation to my home state. I wore an N95 mask during the trip in view of my friends' advice and noticed an unusual level of caution at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. The exit gate opened only after the officials certified that I had no connection to China, the epicentre of the pandemic. I came out and booked an Ola taxi. As I stood there, I looked around and couldn't see another person wearing a mask. The taxi arrived within 10 minutes. Seeing the driver looking at me suspiciously, I took off my mask and put it in the handbag. In my hometown, people were leading a routine life, and no one was wearing a mask. However, I wore a mask on the return trip to Delhi as well. Even then, I had no idea that the mask would become my companion for the next 2-3 years.

After a week or two, the coronavirus arrived in Delhi. I started wearing a mask regularly, and colleagues in the office even teased me. Even when the Centre announced ‘Janata Curfew’ on March 22, 2020, I didn't expect that things would get out of hand. I was thinking about escaping to my hometown, but the airport was closed before I could pack my bags. During the first phase of the Covid-induced lockdown, I relied on takeaways from the nearby Anees Kerala Kitchen. But after a few days, I witnessed a drastic change in my daily life with the restaurant closed and bread and bananas making an unusual entry on the menu. I heard the news that 'Swiggy' would be partially operational by next week and immediately took a membership in the food delivery platform.

Restaurants having ‘Best Safety Standards’ were highlighted on the ‘Swiggy’ app. I searched for Idli and Dosa and found eateries like Saravana Bhavan, Sagar Ratna, and Naivedyam. It was during those days that I became an admirer of ‘Nestle Everyday’, which provided a perfect cup of tea every day. Working from home using a mobile phone was challenging. But I had no other option without a laptop or desktop. Although I managed to do WFH, prolonged use of the mobile phone caused neck pain. In the meantime, I tried to find a variety of South Indian dishes on ‘Swiggy’ and had various types of ‘Payasam’ from Naivedyam during the evenings.

Restaurants in the vicinity had stopped serving ‘Thali’ due to the shortage of customers, and I was forced to have biryani during lunchtime. Regular intake of biryani resulted in losing my love for it. I went out only to buy essentials. The locals appeared to be least bothered about coronavirus roaming around without any social distancing. They even stopped and abused the Swiggy delivery agents wearing masks and gloves. Even though Swiggy assured no-contact delivery, I often had to go out on the road to pick up the parcel. One day, I received a WhatsApp message from Reliance supermarket in Taimoor Nagar informing me that I could get doorstep delivery of essentials as I was a Reliance Spice member. Getting essentials at the doorstep was of great help.

When the lockdown entered the fourth phase, relaxations were announced. I even considered escaping to my hometown on a ‘Shramik’ train ferrying stranded migrant labourers to their native states. Much to my delight, domestic flights resumed operations within a fortnight. On June 1, 2020, I fled to Kerala on an Air India flight from Delhi. Despite landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport multiple times, the overwhelming joy I felt when the flight touched down on the runway remains unfathomable.