Don’t Ease-Up (Too Much) Post Lock-Down

Dear Readers,

The past few months we’ve lived out one of the world’s most severe Pandemic lockdowns. It’s only natural to want to get out and breathe and meet friends and visit places. But even as we get into ‘unlock’ mode, let’s not forget the Covid cases surging daily, as Mumbai’s hot-spot status keeps getting hotter! 

So it might not really feel fair when our supposed freedom from the lockdown still chains us to masks, sanitizers, social distancing, hand-washing… and other such inconveniences… inconveniences that thousands of our fortunate Covid-19 survivors would have passionately embraced, had they known the alternative experience of this deadly contagion. And that is the truth in a nutshell.

The good news is, it’s a fragile virus and you have yourself covered ,as long as you continue to practice the usual, simple protocol of keeping your mask on when you step out, ensuring a minimum of two metres distance from others, washing your hands frequently and thoroughly (using sanitizers when that’s not possible) and avoid touching your face, and steering clear of congested areas. 

The bad news is, it’s a super contagious virus, can survive in the air and on most surfaces for extended periods of time, and it’s not going away any time soon. This leaves little or no room for that ‘chaalse’ or the ‘chalta hai’ attitude, which could pretty much cost you your health, or worse, your life, even as India, and especially Mumbai, outdoes its own ‘Spike Records’ on a pretty much daily basis.

One of the biggest highlights of the lockdown easing, is the return of our most-missed domestic help(s) into our homes. Undoubtedly, the re-entry of our ‘kaam-walis’ has resulted in far greater excitement and relief than the re-entry of NASA’s most memorable space shuttles. But this too, comes with its own set of necessary protocol… umm… inconveniences that we would need to follow to stay safe. (Pg. …..)

As an increasing number of people step out, especially to work, we need to be more guarded and careful than ever. Unfortunately, we still see a large number of people flouting the necessary directives – it’s quite common to see a mockery made of Social Distancing. One wonders why the survival instinct hasn’t kicked in yet, and why so many are seeing keenly practicing ‘Logic-Distancing’ and ‘Reality-Distancing’ instead, forgetting that the novel coronavirus is very much on the loose and we must learn to safely co-exist with it, until a vaccine or drug has been developed to arrest it.

There’s a whole list of do’s and don’ts for different situations – at home, outside, at work, et al. We need to sincerely accept that we are living in extraordinary times. And while it may feel like 2020 will be reckoned as the socially written-off year, we must learn to play the best hand with the cards we’ve been dealt. Thank god for social media and all those platforms that facilitate our audio and visual virtual meets! 

Though right now it seems like there’s no harbour in sight, there will come a time when Covid-19 will be a thing of the past. In the meanwhile, don’t ease up too much post the lockdown. Be smart – stay safe, be responsible – stay sane. And don’t forget – it’s not just others who contract the virus – you could very well be next, should you continue to keep reality and logic at a distance!

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita