BENGALURU : I have to swim through dark waters and under-ground abysses to be able to come up and take a gulp of oxygen. Even though I have stopped watching news channels (which my ghoul of a husband has on 24/7), I still manage to hear a news anchor here and there, which gives me the heebie-jeebies! There should be a law against frightening people as two things happen: Either they sit at home and quiver with fear, or put on their bravado face and indulge in reckless behavior. Either way, none of the above mentioned modus operandi is good for one’s health or the economy.
Though my doctor has assured me that having a truckload of anti-bodies allows me to tentatively venture out (with all safety protocols in place of course), and that getting infected with the deadly Cardi-V for the next two months is virtually impossible, I still have to quell my rapidly beating heart.
Sigh! With all the gory information (some factual and others a figment of some very sick minds) floating around in cyber space, it’s hard to separate the ‘riff from the raff’! But I never fail to guffaw every time my good friend/doctor rolls her eyes at me and states: “Please don’t confuse my medical degree with your WhatsApp one”. True dat lady!
As Imi and I lunched at The Zen at The Leela Palace on the occasion of Thai Songkran (ever notice how Agrarian communities have similar celebrations the world over?), we rued the fact that literally, we were the only ones there except for another table, or two.
It was a crying shame because their Expat chef, Piched, conjured up some exquisite Thai delicacies for us. The strange thing is that nothing has changed. Except for (in short supply) vaccines and the health workers doing a marvellous job at now ‘curing’ the afflicted, nothing has changed. We are still in the middle of a pandemic and the spike is nobody’s fault but ours. Irresponsible behavior with dismal safety protocols rule the day. We are so desperate to go back to being ‘normal’ that at most times one couldn’t differentiate between the highfalutin and the harebrained!
It’s really fine to do what is combatable for one, but the pontification gets to me! The very same people (aged venerable ones I may add), who threw caution to the winds and attended big launches and events (some with over 900 people) are now cloistered at home and not allowing even a cat to enter their homes, but are still pontificating left right and center!
Has Covid-19 been eradicated that everyone was throwing caution to the winds? I am met with bizarre opinions, the most idiotic one being that I was so careful, but still got infected! I still maintain that if one’s immunity and co-morbidity comes into play, then one can get infected by the very same people who like to live dangerously. Not fair!
I got a taste of the high that one feels while ‘living dangerously’ when I ‘safely’ had a raucous lunch with other co-survivors and co-vaccinated. I was invited by Sonalika Pawar to lunch with friends at the newest hotspot in town, Gawky Goose. I remember not going to the launch party as there would be a gazillion people and there were! Just a few weeks later with the cases spiking, we were the only people in this huge beautiful space with the most amazing food and cocktails. Well not to be the one to let this opportunity pass, plus meeting up with my friends that I hadn’t seen in months, we exchanged stories, laughed, ate and drank till our jaws ached.
I hate to keep saying I told you so, but for the short-sightedness of some people, we are facing a lockdown situation again. This time we are locked and paralyzed with fear. Life as we knew it will have to change for us to survive.