My Noida neighbours fed my family when we got sick with Covid-19. But people in posh localities in Gurugram behaved inhumanly with my sick brother
If there is anything that people fear the most right now, it is falling prey to the current pandemic that has swept the world and our country, too. The unimaginable nightmare for me and my entire family started on May 28 when I felt high fever gripping my body and sapping me out of every ounce of energy.
Initially treating it as a viral infection and weakness induced by the heatwave gripping Delhi and the National Capital Region (remember Delhi temperatures touched almost 47 degree Celsius around that time) I ignored the symptoms till June 1, until bodyache, fatigue and high grade fever started taking an extreme toll on me. Fighting panic and bouts of weakness, I got myself tested on June 1 for the deadly Covid-19 virus and my worst fears came true. I was confirmed Corona-positive late on the evening of June 2. It was the longest night of my life and we didn’t know where to seek help and what to do next.
Eventually, in the morning I informed the chairman of the society of Sector 21, Jal Vayu Vihar, Noida, a defence sector predominantly comprising people from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. It was a tough decision to take because I did not know how they would react. Though a civilian, I have been living in Jal Vayu Vihar for the last 24 years but very few people know me. However, it was my moral duty to inform the society and on June 3, I was taken in an ambulance to the L1 Facility of Kailash Hospital, Greater Noida.
I have two sons aged 28 years, who, unfortunately, never learnt how to cook. As a result they can barely make Maggi and tea for themselves. So in anticipation I had already stocked my kitchen with bread, butter, cheese, Maggi, biscuits and ready to eat food so that they could manage in my absence. In hospital I lay burning with high fever, hacked by severe cough and extremely fatigued. Doctors, looking after me remotely, took good care and responded to all my calls, messages and intercom queries. However, I was worried about my sons and how they would be managing since they were home quarantined.
To my utter surprise, my sons started calling up saying that they were being sent food by neighbours and friends (who stay nearly 10 km away from my house), all three meals and that too, the food of their choice. The meals ranged from aloo and poorie, chole and rice, rajma and rice, parantha, pulaao, home-made cakes, freshly-baked buns, daal and rice, vegetables, poha, fruits, milk, chicken dishes and so on. There are 46 families in our building, out of which 40 per cent are tenants who don’t interact much with anyone. Yet the neighbours and friends came out willingly and coordinated with each other about who would send lunch, breakfast and dinner. I was amazed and felt gratitude toward each and every member of my society.
On June 7, I was discharged from the hospital after my report came out negative. But the worst was still to come as the same day one of my sons was detected to be Corona positive. Within two hours he was admitted to the same hospital. Once again, my neighbours started sending light food for me and regular food for my son. I was overwhelmed with the efforts, love and dedication shown to me and my family.
It was a very humbling experience and it was hard to imagine that in these 24 years I had hardly ever visited their homes or invited them over. But in my time of need, their support and goodwill was pouring out. It’s been 11 days today and every morning I get the menu for my breakfast, lunch and dinner. I couldn’t have been luckier and couldn’t ask God for anything else.
Our chairman and cluster representative calls us every day to find out about our well-being. They even ensured that the garbage was collected daily from my house, albeit separately. Indian culture, values and traditions have been personified in all their glory to me and made me indebted towards each and every one of my neighbour who treated us with compassion, care and respect in these trying times.
On the flip side, my brother and father who live in posh DLF City in Gurugram, were also diagnosed with Covid-19 between May 30 to June 7. Shockingly, their society people were busy shaming my family members on WhatsApp groups for bringing the virus to their colony. As if they had a choice in the matter or went and got sick deliberately. What a study in contrast!
Thankfully, my brother and son have tested negative now. However, my father is in one of the biggest hospitals of Gurugram, still fighting the virus. I have learnt three lessons from this nerve wracking incident that has altered my life forever. First, never go to a hospital where you don’t know the doctor well, irrespective of how reputed it is, (in this case at Gurugram), because your attending doctor should convey your status to your family members and set your fears at rest. Second, respect and love thy neighbour and third help others as it all comes back in the end. Life just turned a full circle for me.
(The writer is an educationist)
