Amanat Chauhan, Class 11, LCTH; Category Classes 9-12; Topic: Pandemic Stories; Winner: Consolation
‘Wow, what a beautiful day!’
I exclaimed while I was talking a stroll outside my house smiling, feeling relaxed as I had come back home after spending about two months alone during the lockdown in Mumbai and then in an institutional quarantine.
It was so horrifying to fly back home in such circumstances with mask, gloves and a face shield on my face. I was so terror-stricken that I didn’t even sip water throughout my journey.
It was such a relief to be back home with my family.
Just then I saw my old school friend, Gaurav, heading towards somewhere.
‘Hello , Gaurav ! How are you?’, I excitedly shouted, picking up my mask and proceeding towards the main door.
Suddenly my mother came in my way and pushed me back inside the house.
“Mom, why are you pushing me? I will maintain a distance but at least let me talk to him”.
“Shhh!he visit home of people suffering from the coronavirus. God knows he might be a carrier of the virus. You stay away from him.”
“But mama, why is he even doing so? Is he nuts !”
Since that day I started avoiding him. I felt it was extremely foolish of him to put his family and neighbours at risk.
But God does have his own ways to bring realization. One fine day my mother receives a call from father. Tears rolling down her cheeks, hands shivering and with a quiver in her voice, she said, “Mr. Sharma has tested positive for the corona virus.”
“Mr. Sharma, father’s colleague?”
“Yes….G-g- go and clean your fathers room. He needs to be isolated”I could feel the terror in her voice.
By the evening we had the plate of ‘house under quarantine ’pasted on our main door. There was an atmosphere of distress in the house. Around 8 pm, I received a call.
I picked it up and said “hello ’’in a very grim voice .
“Hi , I am Gaurav. Please do not worry. Uncle will be completely fine. I am leaving medicines, fruits, vegetables and a list of all the instructions to be followed outside your main door. Please collect these items and save my number. In case of any trouble, remember I am just a call away. Stay strong.”
My conscience was filled with guilt for the person I looked down upon had come to my rescue.
The next day my father also tested positive for corona virus whereas my mom and I were negative because of the precautions we have taken.
We could see a change in our neighbour’s behavior. We had become the object of scorn.
Slowly my father recovered and tested negative on the 15th day.
Frequency of Gaurav’s calls kept decreasing and the remorse inside me kept increasing. I desperately wanted to not only thank him but also apologies to him.
Finally, one day I saw him passing by our house and I quickly wore my mask and ran to talk to him.
“Gaurav! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for being our pillar of support. I am so sorry that I was never supportive of what you were doing. I am sorry that I misjudged you.”
“Tarana, there is no need to either thank me or feel sorry,” he said sweetly.
“ Please have a cup of tea with us, it will be a pleasure.” I requested.
With some reluctance, he entered the house and we all sat in the open verandah. My parents expressed gratitude towards him and after a while, he saw the curiosity in my eyes and said,” Actually, I lost my brother to this virus.”
“ What? Saurabh? Oh my god!” I exclaimed with shock.
“He had gone to Italy to pursue higher education. He was young and could have survived the virus but not the hatred. After he came out to be COVID-19 positive, his landlord did not allow him to enter the premises. Medical facilities were not provided to him and he could not even fly back to India.
He was left with no money, no food and no house. His phones battery drained in a day and we lost contact with him. We tried contacting the embassies but all went in vain.
Finally, one day, we received a call from an embassy only to know that he was no more.
From that day my family decided that we will not let this happen to anyone else. Every day my mother makes nutritious food, my father brings essentials from the market and I visit the homes of corona patients, delivering them the supplies.”
Every word he said moved me.
“Gaurav, you truly are a warrior. Please include us in your mission too.” I said with teary eyes and a gratified heart.
Since then my mother cooks, father arranges medicines and other supplies and I deliver them.
I realized that the virus was our enemy and not the people suffering from it. If we all wish to fight the virus, we cannot attach a stigma with it. Respect, care and unity can go a long away.
