Covid. (Not so) Mild.

Quarantine over. Shaken but not stirred.

I began using the #covid19diaries hashtag soon after the pandemic hit India in April 2020. It was meant to be an account of our lives during this period. The ‘period’ stretched on. And on.

Our families and us were spared from its shadows though many of our friends and their families had unfortunately suffered. Last year covid finally breached our gates with my boromashi and mesho (maternal aunt and her husband) getting it in Kolkata. We met them later in November and they had been left quite physically deflated by the virus. In January my mother and my sister in law in Gurgaon got it. My brother and niece were spared and he ran the house with the two ladies quarantined in separate rooms. My friend Abhilasha Jain, of Marwadi Khana, stepped in like a knight in shining armour and fed them back to good health with her ‘Marwadi Healing Meals,’ patiently and maternally taking into account all their dietary needs. Specially my mom’s. Slowly others got it too…uncles, aunts, cousins…in Kolkata and Toronto.

After ducking it for a year and ten months, K and I got Covid last week.

K had gone to Kolkata for a shoot and she suggested I accompany her to visit my granny, which I did. I visited didu on both the days that we were there and that was just amazing. I was feeling a bit dizzy the day we were supposed to fly out and went to the loo a few times in the room before we flew out. We landed in Mumbai at night and I felt feverish, as did K the day after. The doctor monitored us for a couple of days and then we did the test which came as positive (home test showed me as negative earlier). We quarantined ourselves, told our house-help not to come, informed our housing society. The BMC came and put a banner outside our apartment door. We sent my mom in law home and thankfully she and my grandma in Kolkata seemed to be safe.

The moment he heard of our test results my brother from Gurgaon sent us a care package of kara, throat pills and vapouriser, indicative of who we are. When I heard of my mom and sis in law getting Covid earlier, my first thought was to arrange food for them. In his case, it was all the practical things that being a dad trains you to think of.

 

I made mushroom omelettes for breakfast on the first morning after we got the results. There was food for lunch leftover in the fridge. ‘I will make make mushroom pasta, I told K. ‘Chicken curry tomorrow. Let’s look at this as a staycation with just the two of us at home and the boys.’ I’d checked with our vet earlier and she said our cats should be fine.

The bell rang. It was our neighbour G who had got food from Smoke House Deli and left it for us. In a short while I felt deflated with my bravado whizzing out like air from a balloon which has not been tied properly. K was feeling the effects too.

We need not have worried. Our friends knew better and took charge. Khuzaan from Pune sent soup and eggs from Perch. G sent us scrambled eggs from Blue Tokai. Her mom was in Goa so G relied on cafes but the moment Erika was back, she cooked us porridge and chicken soup and what not. Our friends Annu and Manoj quietly sent lovely Punjabi meals cooked at home right up to yesterday. Pixie called me and said, ‘make an excel sheet and tell me what you guys want for every meal every day.” She sent us soulful rajma, bhindi, dal and rice cooked by her cook and disposable biodegradable cutlery which was a big help. The next day her mum Anita sent us lovely Bengali doi murgi and alu. Sherry sent us lip-smacking food her kitchen at Kanak. Our friends from Kolkata, Kaniska and Manishita, sent us a mountain of croissants from Crozzo. Anurita baked and sent us delicious sugar free chocolate tarts. I am diabetic and had to be careful about sugar during Covid. Sneha, while fasting for Shivratri, cooked and sent us delightful home cooked Odia vegetarian food and the next day Shaswati sent us shukto, chichenge, dal, murgi and roti for some Bengali  succour. Manisha sent lovely Cantonese food from home chef Michael. Shital sent us her Gujarati home cooked food. Megha of Zealo and Shruti who handles her PR sent us coastal treats. Tanvi sent us baked healthy treats and beautiful flowers too at the end of it all. Then Soumyasree and Sougato sent my favourite Manzilat’s biryani, chaap and kebab… all the way from Kolkata!!!!

At the beginning I was embarrassed by the largesse of our friends, but as the days went by, I realised how invaluable this support was. I still do not know what I have earned such good fortune. It was reassuring to know that not one, but so many had our backs. No wonder I consider Mumbai my home. The love I have received here is boundless. To me, this is the spirit of Mumbai.

Our househelp have returned with the quarantine over. That has been a relief. They were relieved to see we were fine and tried to assure us that we should not have worried. Even said we should have called them…but that’s not fair. We would not do that.

Our friends are still keen to send food and much as we enjoyed this phase, I am now trying to tell them not to.

 

Last night we removed the sign put outside our apartment by the BMC. It reminded me of the old Hindi and Bengali films where the Union Jack would be lowered and the Tiranga would come up. Independence from quarantine felt good. The first people I went to meet were our furry friends round the corner!

 

I know we have been lucky to have not got covid in the earlier dreadful phases. That we got it in the ‘milder’ phase and that too after being double vaccinated which shielded us I am sure. That we did not have to be hospitalised or even separated from each other. That our ‘boys’ have tails and hence we did not have to worry about them. That we were looked after so wonderfully by our friends. That most of the people I work with have been quite understanding and cooperative.

It also feels as if Covid has been ‘normalised’ to an extent. The response to the news is that, ‘oh, this is the milder version.’ Which is of course true. It did not warrant the sort of concern and fear that the earlier rounds did. However, it was not a walk in the park for us. We had fever, throat issues, stomach issues. weakness, an array of aches and pains, hot flashes in my case. The lethargy and ache continue. They surface without any warning of time and place.

However, as I said on Twitter a couple of days back, it is what it is. You have to look after yourself. And be grateful for those who did so without your even asking and I must add that there were others who wanted to help too, but we reassured them that we were taken care of.

As a mental health counsellor and I were discussing yesterday, the Indian mentality for long has been ‘pop a pill and get on with it. No matter what you are feeling.’ That is the expectation that society has. An expectation that we have internalised. Covid shook us up and made one conscious of the frailties of our bodies. Their vulnerability. The fact that it affected so many and across the entire country…and world…made one sit up and take notice of our health. To not ignore the signs it gives us.

 

Two years on, the world is slowly moving back to its ‘pop pills and chin up,’ dare I say ‘man up,’ ways.

Well, at the end of it is your life, your rules, as the pop song from my college days said.

I believe that we need to slow down. We need to listen to our bodies. That we should respect nature. And the people in our lives.

If there’s anything we should be passionate about, it is compassion.

Take care and stay safe and thanks for all the food and good wishes.

UPDATE 8th March: We went to the doc yesterday and k has low pressure and bodyache. The symptoms in my case turned out be the onset of Herpis Loztet which people might have after Covid. It sucks. Pain, fever, sugar hike.