MADURAI: This year would be etched deeply in the mind of 35-year-old *Dr Ilamaran, for it stole from him his beloved father, but what would keep gnawing at his heart for the rest of his life is the fact that he could not give his father the farewell he deserved.
A psychiatrist at a private hospital and a resident of Sellur, Ilamaran lost his 73-year-old father to COVID-19 on June 11.
"He retired as the Government Analyst in the Department of Health and Family Welfare. He was a simple and a soft-spoken man, who always put the family first," Ilamaran managed to say even as grief chocked his throat.
The septuagenarian was a diabetic and had hypertension. He also had chronic kidney disease.
"On June 1 morning, my father suffered a stroke and was rushed to a private hospital on Melur Main Road. As the hospital tests its patients for COVID-19, swab samples were drawn from him. Around midnight, we were informed that he tested positive. The next day, he was referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH)," Ilamaran said.
He was unconscious for six days.
"After asking our septuagenarian mother to stay at home to avoid infection, my elder brother and I stayed by his bed. Our hopes were rekindled when he regained consciousness on the seventh day, but the happiness was short-lived as he breathed his last around 3pm on June 11."
It was decided to cremate him at Thathaneri crematorium the same evening. While my brother and I reached the crematorium with the mortal remains, my mother, wife, and sister-in-law were on their way to have a last look at him, Ilamaran said.
"The corporation staff who accompanied us to the crematorium urged us to complete the last rites fast and as inconspicuously as possible to avoid any agitation or opposition from residents nearby. It was then that I broke down. More than the loss of my father, the compulsion to cremate him in a hurry, despite his having a large circle of friends and family, was a harrowing experience.
"Our mother could not see that countenance for one last time as we asked her to return home mid-way," Dr Ilamaran. Five persons -- the two brothers and three friends -- stood in silence as flames engulfed the body.
"The stigma brought about by the virus seemed to have overtaken humanity. Nevertheless, I wonder if I too would have been scared and less humane if I were in the shoes of others," the psychiatrist said.
*Name changed