BENGALURU : Good morning Bangalore.
The moment my fingers touch the keyboard, I am filled with a feeling of doom. I read the Cardi-V statistics and go into another whirlpool of despair. This ‘thing’ is now too close for comfort and I actually end up feeling sorry for the people who are running helter-skelter and trying to protect themselves from its maleficent presence. I, for one, dodged a bullet because my viral load was very low. (See! I too have become proficient in Covlanguage). With the line of treatment in hospitals that involve the use of steroids, any minor co-morbidity can transform into a major one.
And one has not yet reached the part of what long-standing repercussions this mutated virus has on ones’ body after one has been infected. Scary, isn’t it? But to mutilate the answer given to Satan; men cannot live by fear alone. After some time one isn’t very sure what one is petrified about. Are you afraid for you elderly parents/relatives or are you afraid for the well-being of your children (most who cannot be vaccinated) and friends? The list is endless and mind-numbing!
My son has just left for Goa for a ‘change of scene’. He can work from anywhere so he has chosen to be in his friend’s very safe home, equipped with a pool, domestic help and a stone’s throw away from the beach. I won’t lie; I did have a huge argument with him before he left because I was petrified for his safety. But as he calmly pointed out, was he less safe than a month ago when both his parents contracted the virus and he was taking care of us in the same house? He was right of course and slowly my fear turned to envy! Our fears and safety measures are very subjective and self-serving. But, we are safe from nothing because we have to ultimately work and play in the same world. It has to be a personal responsibility at the end of the day.
All said and done, I feel a certain amount of freedom from anxiety now that I am a Covi-survivor. Though my second dose of vaccine is pending, as my doctor simply puts it: ‘You have a truck load of antibodies. Don’t waste it.’ I still maintain all safety protocols, (masks, sanitisers, distancing etc.) and have found a core group of fully vaccinated or Cardi-V recovered friends to hang out with. If the world doesn’t close up on me, I have booked myself on a Maldives getaway just to be able to lie on the beach and blank out! I have also warned my amused and shocked friends that I just might take a sky-diving trip in my ‘birthday-suit’ just because I can. There is a certain freedom in being a survivor n’est-ce pas?
Closer to home, I was invited to Shiro UB City, to partake in their Sangria and sushi afternoon. Armed with my two (fully vaccinated) besties on each arm, we spent an afternoon after nearly a year drinking some excellent sangrias and wolfing down delectable sushi amidst peals of laughter.
By the time the main course came around our laughter was causing quite a cynosure! It was exhilarating! In fact as we were setting up another lunch date (we have to be optimistic in these morbid times), we were ticking off places where we could dance! (That’s if our children don’t disown us) Sigh! Just to feel quasi-safe again.
I pushed the envelope and decided to check out a new spa that specialises in deep-tissue massages on Lavelle road. Urban-Unwind was a lovely place with rooms dedicated to different massage techniques. I loved the one that promised a ‘lazy person’s yoga’! That will surely be the one I will try on my next visit.Till then, take a deep breath and practice what you preach!