China, Iran and then France…

I am in self quarantine in South of Paris, once a happening place with hundreds of eateries and revelers that lighted up not just the streets but life as well. But all that is past. Today, I am locked up in my apartment. It’s been one week now, I haven’t even ventured on to my balcony which is now sporting an inch layer of dust. I am watching the streets from behind the glass window of my bedroom. The street, one of the main throughways of Paris which at all times is full of not just cars and motorcycles but bicycles and pedestrians jostling for space. Where the vehicles used to screech to a halt paving way for the pedestrian and cross traffic to pass as the signals turned red from amber, today is completely deserted. I am trying to see trace of any life form but alas not a single soul on the streets since morning. The shops are all closed. Just across the road is the railway station which was always a hustle bustle of the crowd on the move is now deserted.

There are a few men and women walking by with their faces covered in mask and they too are not acknowledging the existence of the fellow walker, something unthinkable on the streets of Paris. Then there are few vehicles, either ambulance or Police cars probably carrying the very ill to the nearest hospitals. In short the canvas is like a disaster movie from Hollywood. Till last week the guy who was working hard to save his/her job, the love of his/her love and/or planning for the summer vacation, today they are just busy saving their lives.

The French Govt has declared wartime emergency. Only the daily essential time stores and pharmacies are open. Anyone venturing out is required to fill up govt specified forms stating clearly the intended visit to the pharmacy or to the daily needs stores. There are policemen checking the documents and if answers are not satisfactory, the person can be fined Euro 135 or put behind bars for 6 months.

In the morning only two passengers alighted from a taxi, mother and her teenage son; both covered in face mask but their eyes depicted ghostly fear. They must be inhabitants of our building which is now sans the concierge at the entrance. Some of the apartments have been vacated but no one has come forward to lock them up or sanitize.

The neighboring state of Italy is in dire situation, everyday people are dying exponentially. There is extreme pressure on the administration to bury the dead and at the same time provide medical treatment to the critically ill. In Iran, they have dug up mass grave to bury the dead. Till the time, this deadly virus was confined to Wuhan province in China, sitting in the confines of our homes in Europe, India; we have only provided the lip service by expressing our sympathies. Now, in just over a months’ time, the deadly virus has reached at our very own doorsteps. It has infected the people, the air and the surfaces that we touch, all without our reckoning. The Europe today stands devastated.

Well I am not into fear mongering but trying to alert you all. Let us not spread misinformation through Facebook or WhatsApp but the bare facts and ways to combat the virus scientifically. Let us not repeat the mistakes of Italy or Iran or France. We in India still have time to overcome the threat posed by the Corona Virus. We have precisely TWO WEEKS in hand to defeat this monster and banish it forever. Let us resolve to postpone all non essential purchases and activities for next two weeks. Let us not venture out even to the Nukkad ke Dukan to buy errands. Let us not meet friends and relatives for next two weeks, there’s a telephone that can confirm the well beings of our friends and relations. Let us stay put in the confines of home and enjoy this forced holiday. For once, let us enjoy the solitude of our homes, may be we have to let go of three/ five course meals, let us be satisfied with only Dal-Roti for next two weeks. If we sacrifice this two weeks, probably the virus will meet its end or else there’s no guarantee that you won’t get infected sitting at your office or home.

Let’s just follow three things in the next two weeks…

1. Let us stay put in our homes. No going out even for smallest of the reasons. No going out to meet friends or brothers or sisters and also not let anyone come enter your homes. It is total isolation from the outside world. Have simplistic food these days, it will not only be easy on your digestive system but perhaps can help you lose those extra kilos. Biriyanis and Kebabs can wait for another day. And you can always stay connected through electronic media.
2. Let us maintain personal hygiene through a regimen of washing our hands at least once every hour. Sanitize our hands if we touch any suspected surface. Let go of the habit of touching your face, nose or any exposed body part.
3. Get out of the mindset of “What can I do alone?” Yes you can do hell of a lot for your loved ones just by following the above and inspiring others to do too. You may be young, you may be strong and feel that the virus can’t harm you but remember back home there are your parents, your children who are highly vulnerable to this virus. Keep in mind that the older people with chronic history of high BP, Asthma, Heart Condition or Diabetic are likely to be fatally affected by this monstrous Covid19. Let you be not the cause of their discomfort or illness or even death.

Out of the above three points, the most important one is self quarantine. The question is how long? Well, if you can stay indoors in the coming two weeks then that is all it would be otherwise who knows how it will take to get rid of this Covid19.

Therefore, let’s show the world that through strong resolve and willpower India can win over this virus in the coming TWO WEEKS.

JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.

Inspired by Shri Sourav Mukherjee…