Page 17 - Resurrection Magazine

LEARNING

It’s the LOCKDOWN PERIOD

n Col. Robby George
ever in the wildest of my dreams had I ever dreamt of the possibility of the entire country coming to
Na standstill. But the pandemic which swept the world with its shrill call of death, made us witness a
complete and total lockdown in our life time. This write-up is a tale of my apprehensions facing reality, the
challenges, tough decisions taken, lifestyle changes, spending quality time with family, some adventure and
empathy.
It was mid-March when the media started playing up on the COVID 19 issue and the virus took root in
the country. A number of things were being discussed about the impact of this pandemic in our country.
The state government was quite proactive and had already put in place various mechanisms to minimise the
spread. Educational institutions were the first to be barred from normal functioning. I was affected by this,
as certain exams were postponed and classes suspended. The uncertainty in rescheduling of exams was of
primary concern. For me the concerns were on a larger front as two of my kids had also had their exams
rescheduled. Now their worries were making them impatient and it took a good amount of my persuasive
powers to calm them down. Then came the announcement of National Lockdown wherein everything was
shut and it was punishable to move out. Now this was unheard of by me in my lifetime. It was a challenge
to run the family in a new city and staying in a rented accommodation, with almost no friends or relatives to
bank upon and above that an aged mother to take care of.

Hard times are sometimes blessings in disguise. We do have to suffer but, in the end, it makes us stronger,
better and wiser. It indeed was a blessing in disguise as we learned to live an austere life as the reserve stock
diminished and nothing was available outside. We got happiness in being together and sharing whatever we
had. Children stopped asking for fast food and my better half never even mentioned once about going out
for shopping or dinner. It is unimaginable that my family has not ventured out of the house for more than
three months. As regards spending time within the four walls of the house, everyone developed a knack for
learning and doing new things. I learned cooking, my wife started reading books, daughter also fine-tuned
her hands on her culinary skills and my son learned to read and write in his mother tongue. My family also
joined together for board and card games.

As for the ‘adventure’ part, I thought of bringing my father-in-law, who was staying alone in Adoor, to
me during the heat of the initial lockdown. Permission to travel on flimsy grounds was hard to come by, so
I took upon the adventurous trip to pick him up and get him to me. I was fortunate enough not to brush the
wrong side of the law enforcing agencies during my trip.
This lockdown showed me the difficulties the poor and the lesser privileged people suffered. In mid-
March I asked our maid not to make the bus trip every day to my home as it was a risky proposition. What
it actually meant to her was that she was going to be without work and it was unimaginable for her large
family with she being sole bread earner. She brought out her situation at home and I immediately told her
that her not coming won’t affect her pay. It’s more than three months and she is being paid her salary. In
addition, I also drop some ration to her door step in between. Similarly, three old men and an old mentally
challenged lady, all homeless, used to beg and eat from restaurants, had nothing to bank upon after the
lockdown. I ensured regular supply of food to all of them since the lockdown started.
The lockdown has been a good teacher for me which taught me not to take life and nature for granted.
Other than teaching me culinary skills it has taught me how to be patient, humane and be in harmony with
the nature. I now feel that in future all countries should plan to have small lockdown periods in between to
balance out the manmade complexities.

RESURRECTION 17