The Lockdown Story

    "Grandma, it's storytime now. Tell us a new story today. We are bored of the same tiger monkey story every weekend." Riya told her Grandma as she lay down on her lap. Reyaansh also hurried to sit beside Riya and Grandma to listen to the story. Just then Grandpa entered and said, "Come on kids, today I will tell you a story. A real-life true story!" The kid's faces got lightened up. They cheered their Grandpa with hugs and kisses.

Grandpa started, "It was the year 2020. A fresh new year, a fresh start. Everything was running smoothly. Our work life, our daily life, everything was just perfect. But then..." "But then what Grandpa? Why did you stop?" asked Riya. Grandpa explained, "There was an outbreak of a deadly virus in the whole world. Earlier, it was in other countries, but gradually it made its spread in our country too." Riya and Reyaansh raised their eyebrows looking at each other astonished.

Grandpa said, "It was a deadly virus that would make the infected person suffer from dry cough, tiredness, fever, and difficulty in breathing. It was a highly contagious disease. If a person got detected with its symptoms and tested positive, then the person would be put in isolation rooms in the hospital. And no one was allowed to meet him/her."

Reyaansh interrupted, "Grandpa, what was the name of this deadly virus then?" Grandpa explained, "It was known by the name novel Corona COVID-19. We all were asked to sit at our homes quarantined as there was no vaccine to prevent and cure the virus. As a security measure, a lockdown was declared everywhere, in our country too. We did not have access to many facilities except the emergency services. Schools, colleges, offices, shops, airports, temples, hotels, industries, everything was shutdown. Gradually the transport systems were stopped. We were not allowed to go outside. We were told to wear masks and practice social distancing if we had to move out in case of any emergency. Roads were empty and houses were full. Everything was at a break. It was as if the Earth was rebooting itself, healing itself, taking a pause from all the atrocities mankind had made to it." 

Riya exclaimed, "Oh, that was so intriguing Grandpa! Did you all really sit at your homes with no study, no work?" Grandpa replied, "Yes, we had to. Still, there were some people who weren't serious about the situation and wandered outside. The policemen had to literally beat them up to send them back to their homes. People made fun of it. There were funny videos, jokes on this virus that was killing people. But still, people kept on doing that." 

"The policemen, doctors, nurses were at high risk, still they were doing their job well. There was a scarcity of ventilators and masks. The people who earned their daily bread without having any savings did not have food to eat. Some people traveled in groups in trucks to reach their hometowns in spite of warnings of social distancing. Some even went walking to reach their hometowns and died on the roads. The count of the infected patients was increasing across the whole world. The situation was getting worse."

"Amidst all this havoc, we were asked to clap, ring bells and clang utensils on one of these days at a particular time for five minutes, to thank and laud the work of doctors and nurses in our country, from our home doorsteps or balconies. Soon after that, again after a few days, we were asked to light candles, lamps, mobile torches, to show our unity and togetherness against the fight of coronavirus."

Riya interrupted, "Oh really Grandpa, did this help? Did this alleviate the spread of the virus?" Grandpa said, "No my dear, this didn't help. But the doctors, nurses, policemen, they were all in distress. They did not have sufficient equipment and masks. Some of the medical servants were harassed to leave their homes by their neighbors because they feared that the medical servants could be infected with COVID 19 Coronavirus. The whole world had stopped. There was a huge fall in our economy. People were dying out of starvation."

Reyaansh asked, "And what else happened Grandpa?" Grandpa replied, "Now, it's your Grandma's turn to continue further." Grandpa waved his hand to Grandma to continue the remaining story. Grandma said, "So kids, I would tell you about the good things that happened due to this virus outbreak. As we were all quarantined at our homes, families got united and spent a lot of time together. We played a lot of indoor games, our communication improved. It was just like a vacation for all of us, an indoor vacation. There was no hurry to go anywhere. There was no rat race, no competition to prove ourselves. There was a huge plunge in crime rates. Men realized the importance of household work done by women. They even started helping as the maid and cooks were not there to do the work. All the roads were empty. The animals, birds were astonished as to why the humans had suddenly disappeared along with their cacophony of honking horns and traffic. They had even started to wander freely on roads. There was a tremendous downfall in air, water, and noise pollution. Some organizations and volunteers offered food to starving people and beggars. It was a good free time for all of us yet some of us had to work from home. We learned a lot of new things, also tried our hands on some online courses, yet there was an increase in our screen times. It was just like a resemblance to the reality show Big Boss wherein participants were not allowed to go out of the house and perform tasks to keep the entertainment going on!"

Riya exclaimed, "Oh really Grandma and Grandpa! Just imagine, how the whole world was shutdown, how it was at a break." Grandpa explained further, "And you know what dear, we realized the importance of life and relationships. We realized that nothing is permanent in this world. So live life to the fullest kids, live in the moment."

Reyaansh said, "Yes, we will. And now tell us, what happened next?" Grandpa declared, "That my dear kids, I will tell you in the next weekend story!"