Life and travel in the time of Corona
Please note that this write-up takes no inspiration from the novel, “Love in the time of Cholera”.
I am a big fan of Corona. Though, there are many other of its kind, and I have tried many pale ales, lagers, none can beat the popularity of Corona. I used to gulp it down straight from the bottle, and then a subject matter expert advised me to insert a lime wedge before having it. Ever since, I have become its aficionado. To learn that the same word “Corona” exudes such dreadful reaction nowadays, pains me lot. As per Meriam-Webster dictionary, the word has multiple meanings. I am fuming with disgust and contempt for this newfound Corona. I want to beat it to a pulp, make mincemeat of it and, dispatch it to outer space. But this small monster is really very small. So small that even if I transform myself into a lifeform that is thousand times its size, I lack the biochemistry or virology knowledge to know what I would make of it. It is another matter that I may still inflict self-damage in the process.
This little monster has affected my life in a way that no international event has done in the recent past. The effect has been materialistic and emotional. I am now living a life that I would have grabbed smiling, if offered to me few months back. I am staying at home all day; working from home, watching movies, listening to music, reading, eating, drinking and sleeping. But I don’t like it all. It is not a choice offered to me; I do not have the freedom to choose. I am forced to do it, not due to dictums by the government, but due to common sense. I am glad all the people I know are doing the same. This write-up is the result of this new lease of life gifted by Corona. The fact that you are reading this, tells me we are living similar lives now. You may stop right here exclaiming, “what rubbish!” and move on to something else. Irrespective of that, our lives are still intertwined now.
Just amazing to think how life can change so drastically in such a short span of time. I am glad that I made the snap decision to travel back to my workplace after my flights to KL got cancelled. My other friend, whom I met in India, was not so lucky. He is still stuck there and is unsure about his immediate future. There are many more like him stranded around the world hoping to go back home. For me, it was Tuesday the 17th of March 4:00 PM when I got the cancellation email for my Air Asia flights. Malaysian government had banned all the incoming flights to its country. India was expected to follow suit soon. I checked all other options. Thailand came to my rescue. There was a flight on Friday, but I just could not take any chance. I wanted to leave asap. At 6 PM, I was on my way to Kolkata to take my 01:55 am flight to Bangkok. Dad gave me a surgical mask to wear. It gave me limited chance against the virus, but I wore it nevertheless; to assure him and also to not scare other travellers. On my way to the Bhubaneswar airport, I was told the government was planning to cancel all outgoing and incoming flights. I prayed they spare that night’s flight to Bangkok at least. At that moment, lives of others did not matter to me. Man is a rational being after all. The Kolkata airport I knew was not present there to welcome me. I was glad people were following the social distancing norms. But I felt like I am on a different planet. I don’t like crowd normally, but seeing fewer of my kind worried me a lot. As I moved to the international terminal, it was even drearier. No check-in counter was opened yet. All the flights except for Bangkok and middle east were cancelled.
For a moment, I felt like I am playing a character from one of those dystopian Hollywood movies. The fewer people I saw, were hiding their faces behind the masks. There was an eerie silence all around. I waited for check-in to commence hoping more people will come. During check-in, I asked for a window seat and thanked for getting one. Once inside the flight, I realised I could sit anywhere I wanted. The entire Airbus aircraft hardly had more than 30–40 passengers on board. On the 3-hour flight, we were offered sanitizer twice. I was offered food without having to show my boarding pass. It was a happy respite from my frequent budget airlines travel. I was relieved to board my next flight from Bangkok to Australia. Thank God, it was not cancelled. Once I reached my destination, I was given a handout explaining to me about my two weeks of self-isolation. In my entire journey, I hardly spoke to anyone, no greetings, and did not put on a smile either, which would have been veiled by the mask anyways. I tried to stick to the 1.5 meters distance from other people as much as possible. By the end of two days of self-isolation, a different realisation dawned upon me. My discomfort is inconsequential compared to the lost lives and livelihoods across the globe.
My heart goes out to all the people who have lost their loved ones or livelihood. Especially, people in developing countries who do not have a social security system to look up to. There are millions who continue to struggle. They even must traverse long distances on foot because the government lockdown did not consider these poor folks. When there were terror attacks, the men in uniform came to the forefront, demonetization made bankers log long working hours and now health care workers are working overtime. In developing countries like India, they are deprived of basic PPEs and resorting to the Indian way of jugaad and making makeshift PPEs. My head bows in respect for those health care workers who have put their lives at stake for serving those affected. As I am writing this, there are thousand scientists, research students, and others working day and night to find a solution to this global menace. A renowned magazine claimed that with existing advancement in science, a vaccine will only be available 6–12 months. Detecting a virus, sequencing its genome, developing diagnostic kits and rolling out of vaccines through international bodies is a time taking process. Hope this happens sooner.
Compared to these people, my discomfort is immaterial. I have lost some money and a decent lifestyle. The February edition of The Economist claimed that the global share prices have so far been relatively immune to the spread of coronavirus. The same magazine also claimed coronavirus is likely to become a pandemic that need not be as “catastrophic” it sounds. I was relaxed in February but by the end of March this would change. If the pundits have got it wrong, how do you expect commoners like me to be prepared. I, like many others have lost too much of investment in the share market. I may not get the refund of my cancelled flights. Someone told me there is a pandemic clause in the fine print of Insurances. I won’t get a dime back. I don’t care anymore. I just want to put an end to this lifestyle. I will be dead soon, figuratively.
‘Punish China, how can they mess with nature?”, they say. Yes, punish them, but only if you could. Not the right time for it though. By the way, how to punish US for its crime against humanity that it committed under the garb of democratization? Never mind, the country has been punished enough by its current president. The fact is, we are so interconnected today that difficult times like this require collective effort. If you enjoyed the dim sums, pork buns and noodles all this while, have patience. I am sure China will correct its ways. All the state heads are busy claiming they have made all the arrangements and taking drastic measures to contain this pandemic. Then there is the Australian Prime minister, who is just proud to be in this great country in such difficult times ; The country that boasts of a good standard of life and a great social security system. But also, the country which unlike other countries (including third world countries), only decided to shut down its schools couple of days back. Bangladesh a developing country, comparatively, its land size and per capita income is much lesser, its population and population density is much higher than that of Australia, has far lesser number of cases compared to Australia. Don’t argue Bangladeshis don’t travel. They do, may be not so much for leisure. The social security system the PM is so proud of has also conceded defeat under the burden of overwhelming requests. The last I knew, the UK prime minister has tested positive for coronavirus. Generalization and national pride can take a back seat at this time. Indians, don’t put a “pride” tag on namaste. Many other cultures use folded hands for greetings. The small monster has shown that no country is greatest. The fact is, all nations irrespective of their economic status have kowtowed to this.
I am sure there will be a lot of positive lessons from this. Developing states will increase their spending on health care infrastructure and research. I hope they set their priorities right. Take this for example, India is planning to build and own multiple aircraft carriers to strengthen its influence in the Indian ocean as a rising superpower. Even though, military thinktanks have opined that carriers have lost their utility in 2020. The refurbished Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier cost India $2.35 billion. A ventilator costs under 10 lakhs per unit (in rupees). Do the maths and figure out how many ventilators can be made with $2.35 billion. Make them in India for trickledown effect. I am afraid, when it comes to climate change, economic necessity will have the last laugh. I wish I am proven wrong.
These are uncertain times. Hope scientists and experts fix this problem sooner than later. What can millennials and others who have been advised to work from home do in such times? I am no expert to tell you that. It has been said multiple times by so many experts. The only point I would want to add is: if your salary payment has not stopped don’t cut the pay of your driver, milkman, maid and all other casual workers who do not have a work contract. Personally, I have decided on giving up my limited consumption of red meat for the rest of the year 2020. If I manage to uphold this pledge, I will rethink to give it up for forever.
I look forward to the day, when I can go for my jogs, play cricket with my mates again, travel back home, buy groceries without a mask on my face, hug my friends and cut down spending on soaps/sanitizers. I hope very soon I will catch up with you guys over a Corona beer and bitch about this Covid-19 menace at our usual hangout bar. Because, as a kid I was told, man by nature is a social animal.
Time for my Netflix binge watch. To wrap up:
# More data and bandwidth to all social media peeps. Do whatever but stay at home.
# More alcohol to you wretched Coronavirus. Rot in Ethanol.
