Its been more than one year and we have been struggling every day because of the covid pandemic. I still remember that I started hearing about covid-19 through social media and news channels in Feb month and by the mid of march we have few hundred cases in India. Earlier govt was not ready to accept that India is going to have a massive attack however in late March they announced lockdown from the last week of March.
It was the first time when I had experienced something like this when the entire country was in lockdown. No one was allowed to go outside and all the markets, shops, and places were closed. The only exception was for medical and essential services and they were allowed to serve the people. Every corner of the city was covered by police and front-line workers to ensure that people follow it strictly and initially there was good control on the numbers. It was a difficult situation for many people because they suddenly lost their job and their earnings got stopped. It had affected badly to the people who work in factories and daily pay basis. It was difficult for them to serve and that they started going back to their hometown in any possible way.
I lost my job immediately after lockdown since the company was closed and they stopped getting orders. I work as a freelancer in one of the fashion houses. The earlier lockdown was announced for few weeks so I was expecting that hopefully in mid things will be back to normal and I will be able to work but unfortunately, that never happened. Lockdown kept on extending and until July things are under so much restriction. My company stopped their work and even they had stopped paying to everyone just after the lockdown.
Its very difficult to digest when we lose our job all of sudden. I had no income and no work. Until April things were very bad because I was not able to convince myself that I lost my job and there is no sure that when I will get another. It was the situation when I realized that we should never depend on a single earning and then I started working for Hive. Earlier I was not spending much time on this platform but thereafter I started working on this platform and it helped me to overcome the sad situation of losing the job.
I was able to keep myself and my family safe because we stopped going outside and until July we did not go outside and the entire time we were at home. It was a tough time but you know what, there is something good in bad also and in this situation, I got so much family time. The earlier time was always a concern since I was busy in my work, my husband busy in office life and my kid was busy with his school things. Suddenly, they got their things at home like my son was attending online classes and my husband started working from home and its still on. During this period we got so much time to spend together that definitely a great thing out of everything bad happening with people. I started enjoying working more on Hive and it was a great experience. I thought that I should have done it earlier but life gives us things the right and even with sudden surprise.
Covid cases started going down from July month onwards and then unlock process was started by the govt in many states and cities. Since things were looking to be in a better situation, people started moving out from Aug month onwards, but I did not start until September. I spent 6 months at home and after September I started going out and that too just once a month.
I got my work back in Nov month and the same company approached me to restart and I felt like things are really coming back to normal position. During this time new covid cases were very minimum there was hardly any lockdown in the country.
From Oct to Feb, things were good but all of sudden from March onwards things again started getting bad and it was called the second wave of covid. Earlier it was told that it is affecting the people who are aged and have low immunity but in this wave, it affected young people badly. In April'21 month situation was so scary and getting a call meant something wrong happened and I did not want to answer any call. Many of my known people and neighbors had a bad time. April and May was the worst period because it made life so bad and health services were insufficient.
Even my son was infected and found positive in mid-April '21. He used to play in parks alone but don't know how it happened. We had done RTPCR for the entire family but we all were negative and only my son was positive. I was so scared and it was so tough time. Doctors told me that it mind and should not be creating an issue if the proper medication is followed. The good thing was he did not have any symptoms and we got the test done on time. I informed my society office about it and we all got isolated in the home for 2 weeks. Society people used to provide the necessary stuff to my door and this is how we manage for 14 days.
My son never slept alone and it was a tough time to make him understand. He was isolated in the room and we were sleeping on the gallery so that he doesn't feel alone. Its very important to keep the infected person engaged so that he dont think negatively. I tried my level best to keep my son engaged and also dont feel like something is wrong and it helped him to stay strong. I got his test done again after 14 days and he was negative so finally, this period of trauma was over.
Now in the last week of May, things are slightly better but in April and until mid-May it was worst and I have seen people dying and crying for medical help and oxygen.
Now govt has started vaccination for everyone above 18 years but supply is limited and demand is high so getting a slot is not easy. I have been trying to book the schedule for the first dose but no luck until now. Seems like again things are coming to a better place but please please dont take it lightly because this is a very serious problem.
Initially, I was able to keep myself and my family safe but later, and in the end, my son was infected. I am affected financially because of the pandemic and still, things are not back to normal. This is a kind of struggle that has been ongoing and I dont know how long it will continue.
We have masks and sanitizer added in our life and social distancing is another normal that we need to follow strictly. Please use all safety protocols because its very much needed for us to stay safe.
This is my submission for Covid story initiative by @theycallmedan
Thank you so much
Stay Safe