The start

It has almost been a month we are home quarantined. India is under lockdown, Pune city is sealed. So much has happened in past 30 days yet so little is known. All thanks to corona virus!  

I have tried a lot to write on this, however, did not publish it in a blog. What to write, how much to cover, which aspects to reflect upon? Seems beyond my reach! So finally I have decided, instead of keeping it in my drafts, I will put it on my blog - everything and anything that comes to my mind including the drafts.

To begin with, this is a first of a kind calamity that we have faced of late. I asked my granny if she had experienced anything like this during her lifespan of 88 years. She said, “We did face drought/ famine like conditions, we survived poverty, we survived floods, earthquakes but this is our first time too.” She is yet to come to the terms that a virus is the main cause that has halted the whole world.

I remember it was mid-March, somewhere during 14-15^th March. Mom came home tensed. I thought it was her usual hectic meetings and reporting. She said it was corona. By then I had already read about and discussed at length with a friend about how WHO was late in declaring it pandemic, how India may or may face threat and all that novice, superficial discussion. 

Mom told that corona is going to wreak havoc given the size of our country & population and wafer thin health system. She told us not to venture out unnecessarily and when we do, we should carry our masks and sanitizers (she stressed upon this particularly). This was unusual since she never bothered us about going out or never gave such instructions about hygiene habits.

The next week saw Maharashtra closing down all the schools, colleges, asking offices to give work from home and ask people to return to their homes. This was something unprecedented since by then Maharashtra had Covid-19 patients in 2-digits. In fact that was when I got the gravity of the situation. Mom and Dad told me not to go to office. Panic had already kicked in.

We all continued to work till 23^rd March till Government of India announced official lockdown of 21 days. A day before we all religiously observed “Janta-Curfew” thanking all the personnel who had stepped in at the forefront to put a strong fight against corona.

I remember on 22^nd March at 5 pm sharp we all went on terrace and clapped as token of appreciation for all the doctors, nurses, health workers, lab-technicians, police, cleanliness & sanitation workers and all know-unknown people who were risking their lives. Some of the enthusiatic kids on the other terrace were shouting there heart out “Go corona, corana go”! 

Little did they know, that it was a mark about what lied ahead of us - as an individual, as a citizen and as a human being.

I’ll be covering the rest in my coming blogs. It may not be in the exact manner of how things unfolded. “Quarantine diaries” is my simple attempt to document all that is happening around and happening within.