Back again after a long time

Hi friends,

                 I left this space which was lying as a draft waiting for me for 6 months!! At that time, I would have thought to write about something which I obviously don't remember. When I checked the list of posts I published last year, I found that it was 12!! This is only the 3rd one and that too at the fag end of 2020. There was so much diversion for the past few months. For properly typing  an article in my blog, I prefer the desktop. I could not sit in front of desktop for the past few months! This year solely belonged to COVID 19 and it may still be so for some part of the coming year until the COVID vaccine reaches the common people all over the world. During the initial days of total lockdown, our country had negligible cases and there was no community transmission, but lot of fear around! But as the lockdown rules were relaxed slowly to get back the economy and life back to normal, the cases spread but the fear reduced. It was like there was no point sitting inside 4 walls being forever afraid of that unknown virus. As many of the activities resumed, the educational institutions still remain closed for this year and software companies all over the world encouraged employees to work from home cutting the major cost required for the maintenance of the company offices. It is a challenge for homemakers to 'adjust' to their homes becoming office and school during the daytime. Of course, this is there only with the urban population and for rural population, it is a different story!

                                           Well, this COVID is only for others until it hits us hard!! It did hit our family when my father-in-law, who would have turned 90 next year, was infected with it. He had to be hospitalized because of difficulty in breathing. After a couple of weeks, he was declared Covid negative but the damage was already done to his lungs. He had to be on support of Oxygen machines and constant medications and steroids in a desperate attempt to bring him back to normal. It was tough and tense days for all of us when every day swung from despair to hope. We were hopeful that he would recover, but God decided otherwise on October 18th. By that time, some of our family members including me had contracted Covid and got cured with home quarantine and some precautions. I had the mildest version of covid and did not experience any symptoms. Anyway, those days were game changer for us. We had very few visitors and most of them enquired over phone. It is still hurting and upsetting when people say "oh! he turned 89, then it is God's wish." During that time, the famous and most loved singer SP Balasubramaniam passed away due to post covid complications. 

                                             We went back to our normal routine after the initial days of rituals, but it drove us home as to the older members of family should be protected with more care until the vaccine makes its appearance and the vaccine in India to reach the common man is going to take some more months! We witnessed how American elections took place this time. The new president-elect Joe Biden advised his followers to cast postal votes for limited exposure. And those postal votes gave him the edge over Mr Donald Trump. Of course, India has much larger population and less technological advancement. But one good thing is that India looks to have crossed the peak of Covid cases as for now. But that still does not guarantee safety for the senior citizens. When the local body elections happened in some parts of Kerala this week, I had to painfully forbid my parents, who had crossed 70, not to go the center and cast votes. They agreed with great difficulty. If it is the right of the citizens to cast votes during an election, it is the duty of the Government to provide utmost safety to the vulnerable population in our Country. Even if the Covid protocols are followed, if the senior population get affected, the State had failed its duty to some extent. When exercising this fundamental right comes with a big invisible risk, is it not better to stay away from it? What do you say, folks?

Thanks,

Deepa.