I was cocooned in my bio bubble since the outbreak of pandemic. In a vile weather, on Ist Aug 2021, I flagged and struggled hard to gasp a nip of fresh air. I was out of whack. I didn’t procrastinate and went to GMC Srinagar, for doing my RAT.
My positive report was too much for me to stay positive – that’s how the cookie crumbles. Instantly, I felt disoriented and distressed. I played hide and seek for more than 17 months but finally was caught off guard. It was deeply unsettling for me to know that I was also afflicted by the insidious Covid scourge.
When the Covid 2nd wave was waning, it certainly came as a bolt from the blue. Meanwhile the positive RT-PCR report of my spouse stultified me further. We were reeling under the worrying state of affairs. We were mulling over the situation. We knew that it could portend a traumatic time ahead – kinda tattling by our well wishers. We could never imagine to find ourselves entangled in such an invidious situation. We always follow Covid appropriate behavior. We had taken the jabs on time but that didn’t spare us from the trouble.
The inexorable viral variants are wrecking havoc but I must admit, we had our share of sufferings but still vaccination made a redeeming difference in our recovery. It was a hard fought battle between virus and a vaccine.
Circumspectly, we quarantined ourselves in an inviolable sanctuary. We didn’t lollygag and strictly followed the CAB protocol. We made sagacious assessment of things and maintained a veneer of normalcy/self discipline. We were hemmed in. It was a tight rope walk. We informed and implored others not to visit us. People who had come in touch with us prior to our testing, likely predisposed to get affected, least bothered to get themselves tested.They showed tepid interest.It was patently sloppy on their part and made no odds to them.
Surprisingly, the Covid -19 mystery was unfolding in front of my eyes. Within one day I lost my smelling sense and even couldn’t get a whiff of Gucci Flora. I love to nibble tasty food but during my recovery period, I had to be on an eating binge. I felt the piquant chutneys and Barbacues of Khayam and delectable wazwan from Mama’s resturant too bland for my taste buds. Everthing felt like distasteful and distressful. My friend Sarfaraz Nawaz Khan had been gracious to bring us Kababs from Lal Bazar. My mother and mother-in-law had been a convivial host, serving us scrumptious meals. They had been a mainstay through out this tiring journey.I always found my cousins around to bring us medicines and food. We really felt at ease because of their omnipresent presence. Not just Covid-19 but I was also caught up with loads of office work. I am highly thankful to my colleagues who facilitated me in accomplishing my work. Without the support of all the lovely people during three weeks rough time, it could not have been possible to be on the mend and turn the corner.
It is note worthy to mention here the way government has been concerting measures to ramp up the testing and vaccination facilities to confront and control Covid crises is highly praiseworthy. Right from the day one, we were surprised to receive calls from DC office srinagar and Directorate of Health services asking about our well-being and ensuring us to provide medicines, oxyimeter and food in case we needed them. On a daily basis we apprised them about our progress. They were persistent in their follow ups. Their level of concern and conversations were such that only within few days we felt like falling back on them for seeking any information without trawling it on internet. We eagerly looked forward to their valuable suggestions to end our extreme agonies.
It was not easy to get into a grove. Sometimes the excruciating pain was totally unbearable. By going through this harrowing ordeal, I could vouch for what one of my colleagues had told me about the severities of Covid. He was also tested covid positive last year. It sent me shivers down the spine and slayed me when I remember his words. He is a blood cancer survivor who said to me that he could endure the fever and pain during his cancer treatment but the complications of Covid -19 are more lethal. Without any modicum of doubt, it was like getting caught in an inextricable knot. I could understand and feel what he might have gone through.
I had heard many mendacious tales of Covid-19 and seen arrogance of people on pretty preposterous scale but let me tell you one thing, it’s very much real and vile. It’s dangerous and deadly to have it dwelling inside you. We endured tremendous difficulties and squirmed in agonies. Then the lingering symptoms; we had body aches from stem to stern which ripped us apart. Our oxygen saturation levels were optimum but sometimes we felt heaviness and out of breath which kept us on tenterhooks.
Thrice, I was tested RT-PCR postive. I was reeling under pressure but the only silver lining that kept me going was the early recovery of my spouse. My parents didn’t catch the infection. My children remained glued to me but to my surprise they were not infected despite my heavy viral load. At the fag end of my recovery period, my deranged D-Dimer test put me in dire straits but in spite of busy schedule of Dr. Naveed Nazir Shah responded promptly and advised me way forward. It was a big relief for me to sail through the hardest part of my Covid-fight. I really feel short of words to express my gratitude to Dr.Naveed for his concern and consultation.
Bottomline:
As of now there has been no significant breakthrough in Covid-Cure, however, here is hoping that by comporting ourselves with stark discipline in terms of observing SoPs and by getting vaccinated we can curb its spread to a great extent. There has been around half a million Covid deaths alone in India. We are going through severe economic strangulation and emotional distress. So far in Jammu and Kashmir, we have been successful to reign in the pandemic but now we have to mull over the facts that due to our casual and careless approach which can be seen everywhere, can increase the infection rates which portends another health care disaster. It’s contingent upon us to minimise its impact by behaving responsibly and rationally otherwise be ready to bear the brunt of Covid-19 which is real and ruthless.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.