Three Hundred Thirty

The mobile phone chimed straight into my ear. In the wee hours of the morning, it did not calm the sleepy mind. It annoyed to infinity. Even jolted me out of my deep slumber. It had to be definitely two things. 

Either some awful news awaited or one's house-help had called to inform about the absence from the duty. Both incoming messages delivered had to be devastating in one way or the other. A similar incident had occurred, on the early morning of Mar 22nd 2020. My 7 year's maid had called to tell me that she would not be coming to work that day. How cool was it at that time?

The unexpected leave was due to the Janata Curfew declared by our honorable PM. I had explicitly given all my household helpers indefinite paid leave. The call literally did an excellent job as it knocked me back to reality. Yes, the day had arrived.

The test match named "life without the helpers" started on Mar 22nd from 6 am onwards with a lot of the hustle and bustle. Our Prime Minister had started the fight for Corona's eradication on that crucial Sunday. Today is Feb 15th of next year, guess what? It's three hundred and thirty days from last year's fight against the unexpected opponent.

The first thought that had popped into my mind, "Am I going to survive this ordeal?" It had seemed so uncertain during those days. On second thought, I was ready to challenge myself. Look, it was not a big deal to crack. Yes, I could comfortably pull through the coming days without my maids and cook. 

The first innings of the Covid-19 test match in my life started without helpers on an unfamiliar pitch. It had not struck in my mind to ask myself one simple question. How had the pitch been sans helpers in the deadly coronavirus match? Could it be dead, dusty, bouncy, damp, hard, flat, green, fast, or slow? 

I was thrilled in the beginning as there was pin-drop silence in our colony. There was a lot of silence in my locality that I was on cloud nine for many days. It was serene in every corner of our block. No loud chattering of maids or booming laughter from drivers. The countless ding dong of doorbells, and throwing of newspapers on the ground with a thud, nothing? Oh! What a relief? No Courier men or Laundry boys to disturb you at odd hours.

I had to face a lot of difficulty in the beginning. Hot and humid weather had made me sick. I had to gulp down tons of ORS as I was dehydrated after some months. My hands were bruised from cutting vegetables, band-aids were brought like candies & soaps. Every day, mopping and sweeping had got my whole body to ache. 

Unending dishes dumped for washing had made my fingers swollen. I was left wondering about the nature of life's ball thrown at me from different angles. I faced many googly balls. But it was not a golden duck for me.

When ninety-nine days had flown by with a wink of an eye, I was still alive without outside help. I was also exhausted by that time. How many more days, I had started to wonder that day? It was almost the end of June.

 A little ounce of energy was left within after one hundred and ninety-nine days. It was early October and festivals of the year had not commenced, yet. Could I survive the remaining days without throwing my bat? We had outlasted another unexpected attack during celebrations.

My days had turned grey. I had even become cranky. Every morning sunshine whispered lightly to add more runs to my career and innings. The orange rays of sunset had told me to retire, without hurting self. 

The year-2021 then brought a lot of splendid energy with it. We are already hoping for striking positive changes. Great results are being shown at last after the Covid Vaccination drive that started on Jan 16th. 

It was three hundred days after lockdown from the previous year. I am still battling and with a bat in hand. I am moving with reluctant steps. But for how long? I will call my maids back from tomorrow. Enough of my batting, I am taking rest for unlimited days. Hurray! I had fought with a fearless spirit. Behold, I have outlived the battle with Covid-19 still after 3-3-0 days.

"I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me."

~Annonymous

We are well equipped both in mind and body at present. We are ready to fight with a zealous spirit from this moment onwards. We had bowed down after the pandemic had overtaken our everyday life out of the blue. 

'But, not anymore from now on. We are sole fighters on this earth.'  3-3-0, we still continue to breathe.