Blossom by blossom the spring begins..

It all started with a tiny spark in china and now the world is on fire. Nobody knew that our lives would change this way. We no longer trust any place or person. We are on high alert and conscious all the time. I cannot imagine what horrors the doctors and medical staff are seeing right now as I am writing this. 

I know what it is like to be in direct contact with the patients who tested positive. It is something I will never forget. It was when dad tested positive and had to get admitted and how I travelled to him every day to make sure he is fine. They generally do not allow people into the isolation ward but through recommendation I somehow managed to visit him everyday, give him the mental support he needed. .I didn't touch anything or anybody and changed into new clothes once I reached home. I used to bathe around 5 to 6 times a day because of my frequents visits to the hospital. I wasn't in my right mind then. When I heard stories of people dying and taken away from their families to contain the spread, The only thing that I thought all day and everyday is to bring dad home as quickly as possible ,There was a time when I even sat beside him and fed him food because he was weak, The nurses in the ward warned me not to visit but I couldnt leave him alone and our doctor really helped me by allowing me to the ward so i can give my dad the support he needed.There were no thoughts of infection or virus except the fact that Dad should get better and has to come back home and he did .Finally after one and half week, the doctor gave me the good news that I can take him back home but I have to be careful with his diet.  It was then it occurred to me that may be all we need to do is , fight our fears more than we fight this virus and be there for our people.

It was then that I have learnt that this fight is not just between the patient and the virus but between the persons who love that patient and the virus.

Things changed after that, out of thin air the virus disappeared suddenly and the world remained calm but just not as before.It was around that time , I wrote these words in my diary to remember the time I went through.

"2020 is not a year I want to forget about. People ask me not to talk about it but I must tell you, it is the year I will keep on remembering, for it taught me to pray for those around me. Taught me to be strong alone and that there is a certain beauty in this Solitude and I admit That the world has changed, and that difficult times have come to us. I know that with new changes knocking at our doors each day; living and breathing has become more difficult. Who said one needs a sword to become a hero, Aren't we all the heroes of our times; From the gentle colours of the day to the tedious darkness of the night, we overcame things in silence and became a better person by the next morning. So do not tell me you are not worth it. Achilles would be proud of you today seeing how you fought every Achilles heel that came your way. So do not tell me to hate 2020, of course I am sad about all the bad that has happened but it is only the adversity that often teaches us the true meaning of life."

But the world started to whisper again and the whispers reached every nook and corner. Somewhere a leader has sworn and became the president and in some other place, a pity I cannot name it, Farmers struggled and protested.

Somewhere it was about a war that raged on and a nation that decided to fight, It took many innocent lives still the countries did not come to their help, but their voice rose against the oppression  and is hunting and inspiring and a thing to be appreciated with reverent awe . I can never forget the bravery of those people Yes I cannot forget the heroes of  Myanmar. Sometimes its hard to say what haunts me more The humans or the virus. . Today we may think that their  resilience is something we can ignore and move on but history shall remember what a true cowards we all are.Still we carried on with our lives. 

And then spring arrived, The flowers blossomed again. My stomach was filled with this rare happiness like finally there is something better in the world. But now with the recent second wave and the rising numbers, The world is burning again and it is time for us to learn from our mistakes and fight the virus responsibly and be there for our family and be patient with our doctors

I must say and I know that COVID has given us the pain of many lifetimes but there is hope and like I said the spring is here to make us forget our pain with its colours that one day when all this is over we shall tell our children 

"Yes I can vividly remember that there was a Virus, ONCE UPON A TIME."

Footnotes:

On the day of inauguration ceremony of President Joe Biden, an unlikely young woman named Amanda Gorman attracted the world with her poem that really hit me hard. Here is that poem for you. May you read it , May you understand it and May you live it. 

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

a sea we must wade.

We've braved the belly of the beast,

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace,

and the norms and notions

of what just is

isn't always just-ice.

And yet the dawn is ours

before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn't broken,

but simply unfinished.

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,

but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,

that even as we grieved, we grew,

that even as we hurt, we hoped,

that even as we tired, we tried,

that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.