The Quest Of Extremity

The extremity of this virus during its early stages shook the world. Coronavirus started a quest that never ended. Today is a new day and a new journey for us. Everyone is fighting fit. COVID - 19 was a virus that had spread through the entire world. It was minacious and had a sky-high death toll. Millions of people got affected and, more than a crore died. Today writing about this incident for a museum has reminded me about the olden days. Remembering the sufferings of everyone has made me grateful that my whole family survived this test. On a sunny day, I was coming back from school. Something seemed eccentric. Every shop was closed, and only a few people were walking outside. As soon as I reached home, my grandparents hurried me inside and told me to wash my hands for thirty seconds. After about three hours my parents came home. They informed me that from the coming day, the school was closed. The entire city was in lockdown from that day onwards. I still remember my astonished and stupefied face after this news. Two months after being in confinement and lockdown, my school started but in the online method. We used apps like Zoom, Teams, and Google to interact harmlessly without meeting each other. I was a sixth-grader. Online school commenced by April. The front-line warriors gambled with their lives every day and took responsibility for people who got contaminated by COVID - 19 or faced other concerns. The Police went to all the precarious and public places and warned everyone who was not in their houses. Many people lost their job due to lockdown and were on the streets due to the high expense. It was strange how we used to eat the cake after someone had blown on it. Now we cannot even imagine touching something that someone else has touched or shaking hands to greet each other. That explains the deep meaning behind Indian culture of joining hands and uttering “Namaste” to greet each other. We were all in the first wave of coronavirus, and it lasted from March till October. By October, the first wave started dropping. I have a joint family, and I spent most of my time with them. But soon, I figured that doing the same thing can get monotonous. I must say that before the lockdown, I would never have said I miss school. The cases declined and, all public spaces opened. The only catch I ever felt was that my birthday was on the twenty-first of April, and at that time, I could not even celebrate it properly. That probably does not matter because the most important thing is health.

We all must have heard this quote health is wealth. Sadly, in June, my grandmother was tested positive for coronavirus and had to be admitted to the hospital for two straight weeks. It made me realize that when it comes to your family, you can do anything for them. Fortunately, she recovered just in time and, we got her back with us. Mealtimes were also the most exciting thing since my mother cooked delicious food and new recipes every weekend. I still remember those homemade pizzas we used to eat every weekend. It still makes my mouth water with hunger and the greed for more. The bad thing was that eating all this junk food and doing only half an hour of exercise did not work out together. I gained weight. The cases started to fade. The first time I went out was to do some Christmas shopping. Every shop was full of people in masks and, I felt elated yet scared that I would get infected. I gradually got used to this and let us fast forward to next February. It was a family festival that month, and I was not worried at all. I went to the mall for the first time in months and, I felt like I was a free bird who could fly to any limit. Everything seemed to be back to normal and, the vaccines started to come. But not every story has a happy ending. The second wave came with a new variant and, we were again in lockdown. That is another story and, the end yet is unknown.

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.” ~ Roger Crawford.