#MyThursdayThing
The cases
of Covid-19 in the country are on the rise. As the lockdown begins to lift,
everyone’s probability of getting infected has also dramatically risen. Some
people who have no other option carry their sanitizers and their masks and
venture out with the hope of coming back home safe. Those who have an option
are staying put at home because it is better and safer that way. Covid-19 may
not be that fatal but it definitely is a very depressing disease.
I stayed in
my home (Kanpur) till I was 18 and then left for higher studies. In the period
that followed I stayed with my aunt, then as a paying guest, then all by myself,
etc, at different places in different situations. I missed home, my parents and
grandparents often, but most of all I missed them when I was unwell. In the discomfort
of the illness, the kind words, the care and concern, the company, someone
sitting by your side was all I needed and it never came close to what I had experienced
at home. My grandmother had been my Florence Nightingale.
My
grandmother, though a very stern person, was known to convert into this soft-hearted
empathetic caregiver, should anyone at home be unwell. She would sit by the bedside through the day,
checking your pulse or fever and keep checking in at night too. If the
temperatures rose high, she would place cold towels on the head, would feed you
good, nutritious food, tell stories and even play cards. An otherwise curt, no-nonsense
lady had this nurturing side to her that we all adored. As a child I would
remember how I secretly loved falling sick. I was never upset that I would not
be allowed to play or go to school, because the pampering and attention one
would get when unwell was great fun too. To make a confession here, there were
times when I thanked God when I got fever because then not only was I saved
from homework woes but for a few days no one at home would scold me for
anything.
Everyone,
when ill wants that extra care. The body is weak, the mind plays games, it is
always a good idea then to have company.
Someone who can keep a watch on the illness and its parameters and also
chit-chat with the sick when needed.
That’s what caregivers do.
However,
Covid-19, is a sadistic and lonesome disease. If a person is suspected to have
contracted it or been in areas where infected people may have been, he/she has
to isolate himself/herself till the results of the test come out. Isolation or
self-quarantine means at home but not in contact with anyone. My friend
recently quarantined herself for 14 days when she returned home after doing
relief work in a Covid hot-spot. Her daily experience of being all by herself
in her room for 2 weeks was something I witnessed closely. Definitely not
something I was envious of.
A
journalist recently tweeted her experience when she tested positive and had to
go into an isolation ward at a Covid centre. There was no AC in the room, only
a table fan, no TV and her phone was her only companion. She was given
food and hot water from time to time.
There would be a bang on the door, a person in PPE would come, keep the food
and water at a distance and leave. Her temperature and other symptoms were
regularly monitored. The only time she was allowed out of the ward was for a
Covid test. She safely made it to the other side and was discharged when her
tests finally came negative. All the time that she was unwell, her phone and
video calls with her family were the only love and care she received.
However, if
a person with co-morbidities and/or weak immune system gets Covid-19, the
option most likely would be hospitalisation, ICU, maybe ventilator and who
knows whether he/she would survive. What happens in this scenario? The family
members drop the patient at the hospital and then don’t know when they can meet
him/her again or whether they will meet again. For the patient everything
happens in a click, no one gets time to say goodbyes and they don’t even know
if they will come out of the place. Since the fatality rate is low, most make
it to the other side but with an experience that is likely to change them
forever.
If you get
hunted down by Covid-19, you fight it out all alone! No physical support, love,
presence of any of your loved ones… a very, very scary situation to be in. Therefore I call Covid-19 more of a
desolate/lonely disease then a dreaded disease.
In my mind
I would definitely not like to be in this situation nor want to see any of my
loved ones there. So my mantra, have haldi
and adrak (turmeric and ginger) water, exercise, paint,
listen to music and stay at home. No point, stepping out and risking, if not
for anything for the sake of the love and nurturing that I missed so much when
I was unwell and away from home. My grandmother’s love and nurturing was at
another level but anything close to that kind of attention will also not be
available at all, at home or at hospital to anyone whatsoever.
If you get
Covid-19, the recovery there on will be a desolate journey. Something that I am
prepared for in my head but do not wish it on myself or anyone… Staying home
and staying safe maybe the best option we all have.
©shubhra
#4 June 18, 2020
#MyThursdayThing
will be published every Thursday, on my blog https://shubhrathoughts.blogspot.com/ and shared on my social media handles.
