Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
On March 15th 2020, we booked our flights to visit our hometown before another relocating stint. The vacation was booked for 15 days, schools re-started on April 1st or the closest Sunday to the first week of April and we needed to be back by then, and I would rush to pick up the uniforms, books, and paraphernalia for their schools. We had booked economy seats and spent the day coordinating with the packers and movers. Then we headed to our hotel for the evening and roamed the mall. The spouse even opted to apply for an upgrade as our final goodbye to this part of our life. The upgrade came through the following day, just before we reached the airport. The kids were excited, first, we got to visit Mum, and then we flew Business class, and this helped them overcome the fact that their dad wasn’t on this journey with them. The boy was excited that he would have access to his screen and that they would not disturb him until the flight landed. Or that was the assumption he was working with. Mum was unwell, and the point of this brief interlude was to spend some time with her.
The flight was a full one, rather the economy section of the flight was full, we were the only three in the Business class. For the duration of this flight, we had a dedicated hostess helping us out and when we landed, we were the first ones to disembark. We walked fast, right into immigration and security. There seemed to be some chaos at the airport, but it did not raise any suspicions. A volunteer asked us if any of us had any symptoms of flu or influenza or fever, checked us with the thermometer, and then waved us through to immigration. The officers there were looking at all the chaos unfolding in front of them with a tiny smile. He enquired about where we planned to stay and the duration of the visit and satisfied with our response, let us through. The biggest advantage of flying business class is being the quickest to disembark and complete the immigration formalities and not getting caught up with the crowd. Of course, the suitcases landing first on the carousel just enhances this experience. Collecting our bags, we headed out, our first stop was the ATM to withdraw some cash and then call the driver we had hired over a WhatsApp message. It took us roughly an hour to reach home and I usually spent this time placing orders on Amazon and big basket for groceries, water, and the basics that would be required for our stay. The typical timeline for these deliveries was 24 hours, but this time there seemed to be higher demand and hence a delay of a couple of days. Not giving it too much thought, I placed the order and made our usual ‘on the road’ calls to family and friends. We landed at home, switched on the mains, and started dusting and airing the apartment. This is when I headed out to the store to pick up some water and snacks to get us through the evening.
The first attack, gentle coaxing, bullying and final warning:
I did not expect to run into anyone familiar at the store, so I was surprised when I was interrupted while making my purchases.
But here they were, the Maintenance manager, the president, and a committee member from our building maintenance team. We always paid our maintenance on time and left no arrears. All our dealings as far as the building was concerned were polite and formal. So, I was quite surprised to see them come to welcome me. Or so I thought. I was informed that because of the Coronavirus, the building had decided to enforce quarantine for all international travelers landing at the apartment. I landed on 15th March, at which point in time, India had not yet taken any decisions on the virus or its severity or how it should be handled. So, this request for quarantine was quite a surprise and completely unexpected. I was unaware that these people even knew where I lived. I had only informed the maintenance office of our movement as they had to keep track of allowing deliveries to our apartments, no one else had any clue of our whereabouts, or so I thought.
“Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules.”
Douglas Adams
The welcoming committee called me aside and informed me that I had the choice to either go into quarantine, and they would ensure groceries and necessities would be delivered or I would have to visit the government-appointed healthcare center to procure a Covid “negative” certificate. As bizarre as that request was, I opted to stay quarantined. I headed home and the store owner promised to maintain an account that I could settle once I was out of quarantine in person, and he delivered the items I had purchased.
On March 13th, while fixing details with the packers and movers, we had no idea of the coronavirus or what it meant. I had made plans with Mum and the sibling in the hometown to meet and catch up over our 15-day stay. The younger sibling had also planned to fly in a couple of days after we landed, giving me time to clean and settle the house before she came with her tiny tornadoes. And that was all I was sure about, my plans for the 15-day vacation I had just made. I had no idea about the havoc Coronavirus was going to wreak on our lives. I was living in this bubble of ecstasy hoping that I could maximize what I did in the time I had before we set off on our next adventure in a new city.
I’m a stay-at-home mom, aka SAHM. I am a doctor, nurse, teacher, preacher, chef, cook, supervisor, dictator, democrat, mother, wife, and friend rolled into one. I am in the middle of everything that happens at home. I’m not clairvoyant, but I can predict the future. Especially the consequences of some nonsense that the kids have done. Ask them, they will vouch for my abilities. But, even with this amazing ability, I was unable to see 15 days into the future from March 15th. So, asking me to visualize something 3650 days later is a time travel kind of situation. I am a lot of things, a time traveler, I am not! But if I were to hazard a wild guess on what may happen 3650 days into the future, I would say, I will be right here, standing next to the people I love lending a hand of support if they so require it.
Just a little more 