The Lockdown!!
While occupying a window seat in a very early morning flight I did not realize when I fell asleep, so deep. "Ma'am, could you please fasten your seat-belt?" I woke up to a firm, polished female voice. The destination being 20/25 mins away, all the passengers were getting ready for landing. I just looked down through the window. The long stretch of greenery bordering the winding river, pea-sized buildings made the signature in the panorama. Soon the downward trajectory followed, coconut trees along with blue-eyed discrete water tanks surfaced through, a very familiar view for me, a nostalgic feeling flew within, Kolkata - here I come 😊😊
It was supposed to be a hurried trip of a few days. I was eager to meet my brother after a gap of around two years who came down from the US. This was at the epicenter of my emotion driving this crisp home-bound journey with a little more passion. It's a matter of five or six days and I was traveling light. With only one cabin baggage, I would directly move towards Exit Gate III B, I breathed a sigh of relief.
A sunny Friday morning, as usual, business day yet weekend is around. Next two days, I would simply indulge in eating and sleeping, no laptop, no calls, nothing. This was the motivation triggered when I recalled I had to login sharp by 9:30 am for an office meeting. This short call and even a few more at later part of the day seemed to be insignificant when I was privileged enough to soak in the warm welcome at home.
"Katodin porey eley" - was a
typical opening conversation in Bengali, with all my near and dear ones,
flashing a bright smile on their faces. This was, obviously contradictory, as I
had left the city just a month back. During the winter break, I was very much
here with my son. This is the unconditional love and affection I have been
embraced with every time I visit the city. I miss this terribly in the course
of my coarse mundane daily life to oblige other commitments and
responsibilities. Needless to say, this is the reality most of us need to cling
to, why should I be an exception?!
They say, man proposes, God disposes. Events took an unexpected turn. I fell completely sick, high fever, sneezing, coughing and whatnot. By the next few days, my voice was totally choked to the extent of being unrecognized by my colleagues in some of the office calls. The clock was ticking with no sign of major improvement, health-wise. Finally had to follow the door-step of my family doctor with the diagnosis of severe throat and chest infection. I was supposed to fly back. But my fate traced a different path extending my stay for a few more weeks just to ensure my complete recovery as strictly warned by the doctor.
My earnest desire to be without work, calls and etc. had come true. But this home confinement was, definitely , not aligned with my latent idea of simple relaxation at the cozy corner of the bed-room I spent earlier days of my life. Being disconnected from my regular, rather planned work and network do not give a positive vibe at all. No matter what, health is the priority. Keeping this in mind, I was getting mentally prepared for this unplanned extended stay. The only solace was it to be a matter of a few more days and should be manageable. Thankfully, my return ticket was not booked by then.
Little did I know what the future had in store for me.
Meanwhile, Corona became a buzzword
everywhere, be it news channels or social media streaming flux of information
on nature, number and other nitty-gritty of its spread. The whole world was
coming to a standstill with no exception for my current location. The national
lockdown was inevitable. A feeling of being connected again with the outside
world engulfed my thoughts. The irony was, this sheer feeling of being
connected was based on a common factor I recognized instantly, 'I am at home,
so is the entire world'. But this was transitory, futile. I had been away from
my family since long, no certainty on my probable return date, how would my
six-year-old manage everything without me - gnawing distress grasped me inside
with a sense of intense guilt.
Life there, definitely, had not been easy.
Managing house-hold work, along with managing a kid, cooking, cleaning and last
but not the least ,coping up with office workload was no easy task. It was not
for a day but for months together. As per psychological findings,
home-confinement and no social networking might fuel the fire of depression.
But the situation at my home, thousand miles away, had been more challenging.
No school, no friends to play with, all the time at home made life irritating
at times for my little one. My regular video calls, sharing ideas and
conversations could not fill the void created because of my absence.
I was wrong! Yes, emotional distancing from
parents does make a serious impact on the kids but not the physical one. Except
for the initial few days of lockdown, my little munchkin seems to be happy and
content now. He has started trying things out helping Baba (my husband) in
different domestic chores. Folding clothes and keeping it in place, making
dough with the little hands, peeling boiled eggs, watering small home-plants
has been a treat to my eyes. It makes his life a little easy, getting rid of monotony.
Could see the sparks in his eyes and the giggles boost my confidence too. My
little boy learns how to take a bath alone which he had never done till the
time I was there. I used to dictate him the words, just for a quick spell-check
practice session. Now when he tells me over the phone the new words he recently
learned checking by himself, from a picture dictionary for kids, and asks me if
I know them correctly, I burst into laughter. Jokes apart, it is co-learning
with my kid, learning/growing
altogether from little things around, towards more consistent and mature role
life has defined for both of us, as a son and as a mother. At times, I used to
be more protective or demanding towards my kid which might not be appropriate
for his overall growth. They need their
time & space!
Today, it completes around three months
since I have been away from my family, my kid. I missed his Birthday for the
first time. Even then 'Lockdown' is not all about logging complaints in a log
book and raging war against destiny. It has a different perspective too shaping
up 'New Normal' in our daily activities.
The End *******************
Picture Courtesy : Pixabay and my Mobile Camera !
Dear Readers, thank you for taking time out to read my blog. If you have any thoughts or feedback , pls. feel free to share with me.
