Covid Diary Day 3: Lighting a Candle for Pearl Harbor

It is Week 4 of "shelter-in-place (SIP)" order in the Bay Area.  The surgeon general has asked the country to brace for the "Coronavirus Pearl Harbor moment" this week and next. The White House has reluctantly asked people to wear home-made, cloth face-masks while venturing out - leaving the surgical grade masks for healthcare workers. Most of the US has finally caught up with the importance of social distancing by now but still some states are in complete denial calling the coronvirus pandemic a democratic plot to win the upcoming elections. May their God bless them or their economy save them! Ignorance indeed is bliss.

Although some countries have managed to slow down the infection rates i.e. flatten the curve i.e. move towards blue curve rather than red (pic below) to avoid healthcare system to become overwhelmed, we don't know what will happen in next few months - we are still collecting data. It is Week 2 of India's 21-day nationwide lock-down.

So,
.......we are in deep water.
...............and most of us are no scuba divers.
................................ and don't want to be - ever.

I really wanted to keep this entry light since there is some silver lining to it like getting multiple handmade gifts and "I love you, mom" notes with occasional nasty letter about my meanness in one day. Multiple conversations with family and friends who I never I get time to connect with otherwise....but the net negative is so high that I gave up.

When I see a garbage man, mail man or a grocery store worker, I cannot help but wonder - why is my life more precious than his/hers? Here I am cleaning and disinfecting every grocery item/mail before bringing it in the house while these people are going about their jobs business as usual - most of them without any protective gear. I don't know how else will we survive otherwise but definitely it is a privilege to be able to shelter-in-place. I don't know how many people fall under "essential business" and need to go to work - 100,00s, millions? The answer depends on the city:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/coronavirus-esssential-businesses/       
San Francisco cannot survive without bike stores and marijuana, Chicago needs marijuana, liquor and guns and Hartford needs its dentists, Smile! :-)

Even worse, I don't know how else we can do it - have millions stay indoors for weeks at a stretch without having 100,000s go to work.  Prime Minister of India openly acknowledged this and apologized, especially to poor people in India who are impacted the most.

It was interesting to observe the cultural contrasts this week where both India and US warned the people to prepare for the dark period.  US remained politically divided and failed to bring the nation together even for basic social distancing. The PM of India, on the other hand, with his reality TV-like appeal to turn off the lights at 9pm for 9mins and light a candle to show nation's collective resolve and solidarity against coronavirus managed to unite the deeply politically divided nation for this cause.  UK was not too far behind. I really liked Queen Elizabeth's speech on coronvirus. In addition to the set purpose of rallying around the spirits of British people, it had a fairly universal appeal. Sort of like the Queen's version of "Keep Calm and Carry On".


Although it seems absurd and at times impossible to do office work at 100%, house work at 100% and child care at100% in a given day- it is important to remember that we are still the "privileged SIP"  who can sip a cup of tea or glass of wine while doing it when many others cannot.

• Sure,  I can listen to Gangnam Style or Who Let the Dogs Out on repeat at all meal times i.e roughly 60 times a day. Who says these songs can't be inked deep into my psyche forever? 
• Sure, I can see a classroom worth of art supplies dwindle in a day - I have a budding artist at home!
• Sure, you need me to complete the report by Friday - I can do it. Wait, what project are we talking about again?
• Sure, I can make homemade masks for the whole family following CDC guidelines. Google - sewing for Dummies!
• Sure, I can find time to workout every day. Zoom into my body fat, please! 
• Sure, I can stay sane without going out of the house for days at a stretch. Would be a good test to see if I have lost my immunity completely to those usual environmental triggers! 

The visceral mess remains. Deep sadness for the loss of beloved world and some beloved people recently. Loss of meaning in daily activities as the collective dream of humanity is on a pause. How it unfolds depends on what we do in the next few days and how we un-pause it.

My situation is probably still better than celebrities who are desperately trying to hold on to their identities on Instagram and trying to entertain people from their living rooms or backyards by digging out old photos or posting their food pics - just like ordinary people! :)


I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.  
       ....And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths and of none are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect in prayer or meditation.   
 - Queen Elizabeth II



THE END

p.s. “You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy