Namitha Eliza Raju
I still remember the day when the regular classes were suspended due to corona outbreak. At noon we were at the nearby internet café to pay the university fee. We kind of living each moment making comments about the passers-by, creating a hullabaloo in the café. By the time we reached college, the announcement to suspend regular classes for an undefinable period came from the department. …scary moments…. till that moment I was unaware and ignorant of the havoc that a single virus had afflicted upon the entire world…. Undiscriminatory… irrespective of boundaries… infecting the mighty and the poor…. Embarrassment scattering everywhere.
Initial days of lockdown…. Overjoyed of having holidays… but the following days was hard to adjust… the entire routine got tackled… the most devastating was the rise of death toll across the world starting from Wuhan to Italy, Spain, Britain, India and even the so- called “super powers” of America and Russia. The daily statistical data of death toll was disturbing and scaring. The unpredictability of an end to this catastrophe, the coming economic instability in the post- lockdown days, resuming of classes and exams, the gradual stepping of world into its normalcy, the unemployment scenario added fuel to the flame.
Though the days passed were days of bewilderment, many found solace in artistic creations. I too made an attempt to create things from the used materials as part of an online programme conducted by the diocese. Ventured more things… made flowers, a hand bag from worn out jeans, bottle art…some habits I lost at half-way due to laziness, on the long run of exams, assignments hopefully came to find me…. The habit of reading… not only books and novels, but also newspapers… feels that I have fallen in love with The Hindu… I still remember those days when I started reading this newspaper… I counted the number of yawns I did and soon fell asleep… such was the effect… situation changed… I can now understand the usages, phrases, and it connects me to the outer world slowly enriching my vocabulary.
Nature has now become more bountiful. Good news about the sealing of the holes in the Ozone layers… rate of pollution, accidents, and even robbery have been dropped… and hopefully nature can recuperate herself from the peril…gardening also got a boost these days. Every morning has now become fresh and lovely and I closely watch little humming birds and colorful butterflies sucking nectar, especially my Mittoo (which I calls), a small humming bird. Everything has now become an event to appreciate and enjoy.
Seldom washed hands and face whenever went out and came back. Now it is mandatory to wash hands in 20 seconds, use sanitizer, and wear masks to Break the Chain and battle the virus. ..thus once in a blue moon activity became a routine…special care to health, proper exercise and eating has also became a priority.
What I truly miss in these lock down days are the companionship of my friends, teachers, intimacy of fellow travelers in the ‘royal’ KSRTC bus—kindhearted drivers and conductors, friends whom I befriended during the college days, and some lovely aunties who with great effort preserved a seat for me whenever they got chance driven by empathy and the daily sights of beautiful Venice of the East… it may seem quite exaggerating that the names of the places, the daily route to college mostly lost from my memory…
The suspension of Eucharistic ceremonies was also disheartening… badly missed holy mass and services during holy week and adhered to online live streaming as a last resort… the pressure from the internship programme sometimes worries me… failed to submit the articles on time due to lack of interest… still that anticipation of getting back to normalcy is there when I am writing this and remembering and applauding all our medical servants internationally, who works day and night for driving away this virus. As Tennyson said…”to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield…”
