Saili Dixit Gadkari

My COVID-19 story – A novel way of existence I remember the day, when and how it all began. Eight and a half months down my pregnancy, I was working in my then office, a reputed FMCG company in Mumbai. Few speculations about a viral disease outbreak, were doing the rounds of newspapers and worldwide news. Being a microbiologist myself, I thought that this could be another epidemic of sorts. Little did I know, the implications, that this nightmare would cause. The ‘Novel Coronavirus’, as it has been named, has wreaked havoc all over the world. Moving towards a deadly pandemic, we were officially told to discontinue our existing work and head to our homes, to be in a safe situation, and efforts began to facilitate office work amidst the health-related chaos. Being heavily pregnant, I was the first from my team, to be relieved from my ongoing duties, and sent home. It was very considerate of my boss and teammates, my company, in general, to take this step. On reaching home, I found that the news of a life-taking, horrendous, viral outbreak flooded all the news channels. With an unknown microbial entity, causing devastation to human life and resources, least could be done by the concerned authorities, to control it’s effects. And then an unexpected event happened; the declaration of a national and an international lockdown throughout the world, leaving many people, desolated at their current locations, away from their loved ones. The going started getting tougher here onwards. Over a period of time, we all got acclimatized with living under these circumstances like having to do all our house chores simultaneously with our office duties, working remotely for most of the year and so on. My experience of this pandemic has been no different. My routine hospital visits to my gynaecologist, for the check-ups were somewhat new in a way that, all the medical staff was draped in protective suits, like those seen in movies, entry to the hospital was permitted only post a thermal screening, and by using a sanitizer to name a few. Soon my D-day approached and after almost 19 hours of intermittent labour, I delivered a baby girl. The hospital stay was not easy with fewer hospital staff to attend, and with the precautionary impositions that were exercised to ensure safety. But, I am grateful to my doctor and the entire hospital staff to have managed all the deliveries, baby and mom care, of all the patients with utmost zeal and zest. After welcoming my little angel in our home, it became a bit difficult to manage an infant with no household help, and to do majority of the chores myself. Still these testing times were sailed by me easily, thanks to the unconditional love and support of my parents and husband. Somewhere, this pandemic distanced us socially from each other with no physical human interactions, social outings, get-togethers. With so many people stuck at various locations, the country revenue was also affected due to many businesses and production houses to be forced to shut down. In a normal scenario, there would have been relatives, friends and visitors pouring to catch a glimpse of the newest family member. However, unfortunately, due to the gruesome situation outside, my baby had no visitors at all. Even, my own twin sister, who was on cloud 9 after becoming an aunt, could not come to see me and my baby as she herself was stuck at her in-laws place in Pune city. To be honest, this triumph of life is one of its kind, teaching us to be more independent, self-reliant but, at the same time, depriving us, of our natural thriving characteristic, that is of, socializing and bonding. We in India, are extremely religious people and visit various sacred places for offering our prayers and love to God. Sadly, these too have been shut since long to curb the consequences of the pandemic. I personally started feeling a bit lonely and grim owing to this since, I wanted to introduce my daughter, first and foremost, to my creator. Soon, I got used to this nature of the lockdown. As months passed and my baby started achieving her milestones of life, the time for me to resume office neared. Still in an uncertain situation with me and my family sceptical to hire any house help, I was willing to extend my maternity leave which is more or less extended by most women after childbirth. Many companies are generous to value this phase in a woman’s life and permit for more leave. Here too, my luck seemed to suffer. Two of my colleagues had resigned just a month before I was to get back to work so, my manager and my company was not willing to grant me more than a month’s leave extension. There were negotiations going on but since, they too were in need of people, they had limited choices. Nonetheless, I was bound by my maternal instincts, and had to let go of a promising corporate job in October this year. Somewhere, I felt hurt and disturbed but, the mother in me was happy for appropriately deciding the best for her child. Till this day, I am striving in whatever best ways, to look after my girl and also do something to get back in the job race maybe sometime later. As a greater number of people are recovering, it gives a sense of satisfaction. But the time period that passed in between was scary, with rise in the number of positive cases, limited availability of hospital beds, fewer medical staff and supplies. Quite a number of families in our immediate vicinity and our residential complex were caught in this deadly disease cycle. Few were lucky to have recovered and return home safely, but most of them succumbed to this breath seizing virus. It makes me reflect as to why did the world have to see this day? Well, there have been similar epidemics or events of misery and human loss in the history, yet this pandemic has proven to set new trends and modify ways of living. As we progress ahead in this tough situation, we are bound to achieve newer heights of success, in terms of evolution, from being too dependent to becoming, independent and showing empathy to our brothers and sisters. In my experience of this pandemic, I have seen more and more humble encounters where, people who were not even aware of any kind of social work, have started donating generously, be it money, clothes, food and water or offering any of their services free of cost or at very meagre rates. This shows how this disease has changed our perspectives towards anything and everything that we do, see, listen and feel. The cosmopolitan disease has opened new doors to those seeking opportunities in various fields of work. From remote working, to part-time jobs to freelancing, almost any kind of work is finding it’s true value in today’s world. I, too am trying to be a part of this new economy. With the novel virus still affecting huge numbers of the worldwide population, it does not feel right for me to step out, for a full-time role, leaving behind my 7-month old munchkin. In the pursuit of making an identity, and becoming financially less dependent, I too am striving to find a path on which, I may follow my passion or subjects of interests, not neglecting my baby and family responsibilities. The freelancers in general, have been profited to a great extent in this pandemic. Since, similar work of high standards is made available, and at a pocket-friendly budget, many companies and individuals are preferring freelancers over full-time hires. For the freelancer, one who is a budding explorer like me, it allows you to work whenever you are free, at your own pace, that too within the comfort of your home. What else could a person ask for? Well, it does seem all glittery and shiny but, each field has it’s own sets of pros and cons. Individuals need to evaluate what works best for them before jumping into something that’s trending and, later blaming for failing at those attempts. With more and more restrictions being lifted from majority of the businesses and other transactions in the world, what people are eagerly awaiting is, a full proof, safe and secure vaccine. Giants like Pfizer, AstraZeneca, University of Oxford are all competing to manufacture and get their potential vaccines approved. Many of the vaccine candidates are undergoing phase III clinical trials, a step closer to being finalized for human use. In these grave times, such news is quite motivating. But even though the vaccine against this virus may look promising, reports state, that to completely eradicate the COVID-19 prevalence is not going to be easy due to the ever-changing nature of the culprit. Precautions will need to be continuously taken, hygiene and sanitation will also need to be revisited, time and again. Small negligence may also hamper the health of one and all. We must not let anything dissuade us from following all the safety practices that we have used so far to control this viral outbreak. On a summarizing note, this journey of living in a pandemic has been gruesome but also rewarding. As all of us have shifted our focus from cribbing and worrying about petty things in life, to cherishing the lively existence, this lesson has been one of its kind. I, personally am grateful in a way to this pandemic for making me realize where my dedication and services are required truly and what best can I possibly do to keep myself and my family, my very own life support system happy.