*{This literature work contains mostly fiction induced with some of my own experiences. I wrote this just for fun. The characters are fictional, if any character or incidents are similar to anyone. It is pure coincidental. It’s just a piece of literature. Hope you like it.}
Nippier than usual, Aamir looked lively like a bunny as he recounted the past nine days he spent here. Reminding that tomorrow he would bid us adieu for being the eleventh day he would leave us to unite with his family. I thought it was a fourteen days quarantine but here they have letting healthy people out on the eleventh day. Mathematically speaking a day is accounted to be a 24 hour period but he was counting the day he stepped in this room in his eleven days isolation period.
My hands was still busy holding on to my phone to decipher the cryptic biblical message send by my aunt. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Ps 90:12) If I’m right the verse means to utilize the given time of our life in most productive way to gain wisdom. Why would my aunt send this to me? I, who was spending my time in an isolation center and not feeling so well, how should I make my situation progressive? That was a puzzle yet which I needed to solve. I straight away fired the question to my aunt to which she said I will come home after three days and should change into something new. I was furious, not for asserting that there was something wrong in old me which I need to change but she too was calculating the first day I stepped in here in the eleven days quarantine. I never argued with my aunt as she worked in the medical field for past fifteen years and I always politely accepted her word of comfort or advice. As she is few of the dearest and closest people to my heart among my other relatives. Although, It was my mother to whom I openly argued with and she countered my theory with an explanation,” the day you start your HCQ and other meds is counted as day one in medical terms of your isolation time. Also we want you here not there.”
As the doctors knocked on the door for their morning routine rounds to check on us. Aamir pushed us aside and ran for the door from his room to meet the doctors. It was little awkward for me but Nagesh bhaiya didn’t make a deal out of it as he understood that Aamir was excited to meet his family by tomorrow. As we all noticed there was different medical staff attending to us today all because of variation in their height. People wearing the fully equipped PPE kit could be differentiated by their height and sound of their voice. If someone had a sharp eye as a hawk they might pick on their mannerism, the dominant hand used for holding medicine tray or the pen and pad which had a sheet containing our details.
Doctors called out our names and inquired our health respectively, “Room 1204. Peter George! How are you feeling now?
I answered with a head movement approving my statement, “I’m good.” Just as my thoughts running into my head, even though I just vomited this morning I ain’t going to report it as their solution to every problem is just to drink boiled water and I’m afraid they would note my comments into some government records to elongate the days of stay here.
“Nagesh Yadav! How are you feeling?”
Nagesh bhai learning from his mistake replied with a smile, “I am good as well.”
“Aamir Sheikh! How are you feeling?”
Aamir replied, “I am fine… Excuse me doctor, I will complete my eleven days tomorrow. I can leave by tomorrow afternoon, right?”
Doctors quickly responded to it like there was no time to spare , “Oh! You can’t leave tomorrow as we have to check on your status as the virus shows symptoms on eleventh day. You can leave when you complete eleven days in here”
“But the guy next room left on eleventh day.”
“I can’t let you off before completing the eleven days as you are here under observation till tomorrow. “
Doctors took the stairs and left Aamir alone to his misery. His face reflected his disheartened heart. To ease the tension in the room Nagesh bhaiya joked, “you shouldn’t have sought permission the day before your leave. You should have left for tomorrow without discussing with them.” Like a child being denied his promised candy Aamir sulkily nodded to it. He went to his room silently and the humour wasn’t enough to lift his spirit.
Nagesh bhai and I were discussing about the dinner we would order for today. Nagesh bhai has a sweet tooth and this whole time it was him paying for the meal. Aamir too shared his food with us, as his house was just three blocks away from the centre. Nagesh bhai was adamant to cheer him up so he took upon himself to buy something for us three. I looked into my bank account to buy something just to avoid the guilt of being a free loader. I had bank balance less than minimum amount. Thinking about it made my eyes lift towards the heavens.
We were browsing through food filtering through price, ratings and the menu. I got call from my cousin, Abin, one of the few cousins I loved to chat with. I have a older cousin whom I look upto, a younger cousin who looks upto me and Abin, who is somewhat the same age as me so we shared a different special brotherly bond. If I’m a wannabe detective, he was a wannabe comedian. He is like a fish out of water, silent and awkwardly goofy. Although we share a common birth year, there was six months age difference, he being older to me but still we behave like we are some kind of twin. He had called me to tell that he too was in an Isolation center in Sanpada not so far away from me. One thing I learned that God gave us trials and tribulation in our life so that when others are facing similar adversary we could have empathy for them and help them. Hearing that he was in an isolation center which was worse than here made me pray for him.
He said that he felt he was in some prison like place with no proper privacy. Thirty people shared a room with a common toilet. He also said that there a long queue to charge a phone as there was only one plug point. Even though his conditions were worse than mine, he was optimistic and seemed to find fun in such miserable situation. Unlike me he was prepared to go to an isolation center. He was sharing his experience with me that someone had called him inquiring about his current situation. He said that while he was in the call delineating the matter which he was asked about. He coughed while he was on call. I his narration he said he was talking to that person while he was sipping water but the water he drank accidentally went in his wind pipe. Technically he was chocking for a second or two, the caller on the other side of the phone upon hearing him cough hurriedly ended the call. Abin joked that the concerned caller must have mistaken a biological virus with a digital virus. We both shared our laughs and giggles. I was happy to know that though things are bitter at his end he was managing and was doing fine, he had the knack to keep his spirits high even when the going gets tough, he just gets going by the grace of God almighty.
It was our lunch time. Aamir seemed gloomy. We three during lunch were discussing about doctors. Nagesh bhaiya and I had went to the same hospital, we both witnessed the ruthlessness of the doctor in charge. Surprisingly so Aamir had a different experience the doctors he visited was just wearing mask, face shield and a pair of medical gloves. His doctors behaved as humanely as possible and was down to earth. His doctors counseled him with patience and had a heart to hear him too. There were two doctors who were in charge and both were young. Aamir’s situation was analytically explained to him in detail and now to us. He opened up a little, telling us how he got married. He got married to his childhood friend. They never thought they would end up together. He was boasting how his love was some kind of mythical true love. They were in same junior college but later he did some course IT while she completed her Masters in Business Management with rank.
He also completed some course in art and banner making. He said the marriage was arranged by both their family. He said she had a choice and she willing accepted him and didn’t object the proposal. She, although being more academically successful was happy to marry him. He also said that he had assets in city as well as village, mostly everything he owned was ancestral assets. His great great grandfather was a school headmaster and according to him in those era, being a headmaster was treated with prestige and was given high social status. He should be working in field of artwork and paint but now he is working in a comb manufacturing company as some clerical staff where his wife was working. It was she who recommended his name in stocks department, handling data entry. Before marrying he even worked offshore to paint but now he works in an office because of his wife. It was indeed some kind of a fairy tale love story of two Maharashtrian Muslims.
Lending my ear to him and his tales, gave me temptation to check upon Priyanka. Well guess who unblocked me, she might have finally regretted avoiding me and wished to apologize for her action, was my thought. Oh boy! So wrong I was about her. She unblocked me to share a Will Smith quote status and dumped me via message.
I was upset and pinged Abin to help me cope with the pain I was dealing with. It’s funnier he cracked up some jokes which weren’t that funny but his thoughts behind those words, his way to counsel me made me feel good. He helped me see that every cloud has a silver lining that is she deserved better. It took me awhile to understand his comedy for cheering me up and with his optimism he found humor in the quote that was shared. Will Smith is a reputed and a talented actor, no doubt about it but when he was married to his first wife, he fell in love with an another woman. His then wife divorced and then he tied knot to the woman whom he secretly loved during his first wedding. His second wife and him were claimed as dynamic couple by the media until recently it was unraveled that his second wife committed adultery and sugar coated it as -“entanglement.” Using his quote whose married life was in shambles itself, wasn’t quite the ideal one was a mistake to be used in her breakup status. Also she used a quote saying “Don’t chase people…” and after using the quote she messaged. She contradicted herself as she chased after me to ditch me and it was hilarious. He shared his experience about how he was a part of a rumor. The rumor was that there was something between him and a girl. The rumor had been circulating for years but had recently it reached to his ear. He thought the girl in the rumor liked him so he asked her out one day hoping to get a positive response. She bro-zoned him which pretty much stung him bitterly. He felt at least before asking her out he was in her friend zone. We both laughed meanwhile he cussed, as humorous way possible, to all those who fueled in to spread the rumor which even involved some aunties too. He went off to charge his phone. This was enough to uplift my soul and I moved on accepting my situation rationally that she deserves better.
It was evening, we were having our tea, the pinkish fluid substance which will never be qualified as a tea. The senior vicar of my parish offered to arrange a meal by the same Varghese family, residing in Govandi. The one time homely cooked meal would reach to me by tomorrow. As for cheering Aamir program organised by Nagesh Bhaiya, he ordered panner thikka curry, Aamir preferred spicy food. I was sad that I couldn’t get anything online. Later that night carrying on with the guilt of being a freeloader, I got message on my phone that the online item which I had ordered was cancelled as it was out of stock and they had reimbursed my money back. I raised my head to heaven and thanked my Lord Jesus Christ. Inside my head, I could really see a warm beautiful figure smiling back at me. Now I could buy something rather than being in debt to Nagesh bhaiya. We ordered for dinner and it really helped Aamir to get his smile back.
Aamir opened a bit more about himself that he wrote blogs, preaching about his religion in Urdu, Marathi and English. He used some basic computer coding for his blogs. His wife helped him with coding and he did all the literature work. It was for the first time I got to know that muslim are categorized mainly into two- Shia and Sunni. Lately, Abin had been talking about blogging too. So, I had paired with him to write blogs but sadly we didn’t quite make any progress. Now knowing Aamir has lot of readers for his blog than ours, this was making me feel a little jealous. I was impressed to read the google translated blogs as they were interesting and enjoyable to read. After having our dinner, we three slept off peacefully.
The eleventh day of Aamir’s quarantine period. He was watchful and prepping up to leave with or without permission. I have never seen him kneel and pray before. He was reciting verses of Quran from his memory. Nagesh bhai and I wondered and asked him what’s with this sudden pious approach. He said that he feels the doctors were trying to keep him in here for some more days. Also he believes some black magic, the evil look or stare believed to cause injury or misfortune to others is afflicted upon him. The presumed power to cause injury or misfortune to others by magic or supernatural means.
I asked Aamir, “You believe in such superstition?”
“I didn’t used to believe in these things but one day, I was sitting on my balcony without covering my torso, unintentionally exposing my muscle to the residents of my place as I thought I was in my house chilling and it’s okay as I’m a decent looking guy.”
“So…So what?”
“Later that night out of nowhere my body started to ache and I had severe fever. Upon telling it to my parents they concluded it was someone’s strong desire to inflict damage in a supernatural way.”
Nagesh bhaiya agreeing with Aamir said that he too believes it.
I asked, “Anyways, Why do you feel doctors are devoted not to let you go?”
“It’s simple! Think about this, the State government decides to spend lakhs on a covid patient. If they make me stay longer before getting two more patients they won’t get the lakhs per head. There is a scam in this and these medical officers are in it too. They might be getting their commission for each patient they send here or make them stay.”
“That’s heavy accusation without circumstantial evidence. Don’t keep on yapping this to everyone about what you just think on the top of your head. Someone can really harm you physically or financially by filling a lawsuit for destroying their esteem reputation than harming you in a supernatural way.”
Nagesh bhaiya interrupted saying , “It’s ok! I too believe in this and we won’t be telling this to anyone. Did you notice the doctor had shift after three day? Today a totally different doctor approached us.”
“Yes, I noticed it too. Our regular doctors checks us on consecutive three days and the fourth day it is someone else and again followed by three continuous days of rounds by our regular doctors. This cycle goes on. ” I turned to Aamir and continued, “You just spoke to the wrong set of doctors. That’s why their tone was little rigid towards you.”
Aamir nodded with a sigh.
It was a usual day as we were having heart to heart guy talk. Discussing about religion, politics, guns, liquor and every state of our country. Nagesh bhaiya was in Security Force and always gets deputed to different states after the interval of every three months and because of him we were discussing about these topics. Eagerly wanting to know his experience and his story. He did justice and had a pretty good story telling skills which we appreciated.
The weather was very beautiful today, the sun was shining bright yet it wasn’t too hot or too cold, ideal weather for a perfect picnic. Birds chirping and air as clear as a sky blue due to lock down the mother nature did indeed replenish itself. Everyone was happy and we helped each other. Aamir didn’t repeat the same mistake of reproaching the doctor to spoil his mood.
He was determined to leave by tomorrow on his twelfth day in hook or in a crook way possible. Nobody discouraged him and hoped he would leave on the twelfth day. If he leaves on twelfth day so could we. That night it was like a feast either a send off party or the last supper only time can really tell us what feast were we commemorating. Food arrived from Aamir’s house, Nagesh bhiaya had ordered food online and I received my one time homely cooked meal.
We took no chances of getting infected again of viruses so we three used the sanitizer, the concentrated blue alcohol liquid, sent by my uncle to sanitize the parcel. I usually resisted using alcohol as heavy usage of Methanol alcohol can result in loss of eye sight, headaches, muscle problem and can even temper your memory. To disinfect corona virus 90 % above concentrated alcohols are used. To be honest the alcohol solvent used for disinfectant are mostly Ethanol but I didn’t want to put my trust on any market product. I took risk of using the sanitizer. Hey! Better blind than getting infected to dead. We sat on the floor, like always with our crossed legs and with the plastic containers used for our parcels in front of us, we created some sort of a nonuniform circle. We shared our food together. Having meal with a good company makes the food tastes even more delicious. Nagesh bhai had become pure vegetarian as he had some religious offering, he sacrificed or stopped intake of meat for himself to have a child and after he got child he has to visit a particular temple to complete the religious ritual. So, he was once a guy who ate meat but now is a purely vegetarian guys. He was okay to have food us and didn’t create a ruckus for us being a non-vegetarian. After finishing our supper, Nagesh bhai and Aamir strode off for their walk but I stayed inside the room reporting to my folks especially to Abin. I didn’t tell out the whole thing as Abin wasn’t really getting much of this liberty and food. I didn’t want to rub into his face that how lucky I was than him.
The next day, Aamir was ready to face the consequence and was prepared to fight for his freedom. I don’t know why but my head played a war hero trumpet for him today. Doctors knocked onto our door and he remained focused and composed.
“I have completed the eleven days in here and I am completely fine. I want to go home.”
Our regular doctor on the round said, “We need to get the report from higher ups whether to send you off. Call us in this afternoon and hope we get your report with instruction provided to leave you.”
The sleepy war hero had just won the battle but would he win the war? We just had to wait and see about that till this afternoon. He called in the afternoon and they tried to tie him down to this place but he was adamant to leave. He fought his way and finally won the war too.
We wished him luck and shared our number promising we three would stay in touch. Now when Aamir left his room I took his room as it was settled between me and Nagesh bhaiya that I take the elevated bed. Now we had certain hope that we could leave after two days.
Two more people from our 12th floor left us. Now as our neighboring occupant too left us, there was a silence like we were in a desert. The events afterwards felt gloomy. Everyone felt the urge to leave the place. The water supply was cut for a day and on the next day they added something to water which gave the water some translucent white color to it. We were really praying to almighty, expecting those higher ups knew what they were doing with water and hoped that those water won’t give rashes to our rear end. That same evening three doctors came in that unusual hour to do some exercise and they took snap of it. It was fun as we had been not moving our muscles lately, our muscles were stressed out and after doing the exercise we felt refreshed. Though it was very conspicuous that those medical staff are trying to get their report done with some evidence.
Nagesh bhai bravely asked permission on the previous day of our departure. Doctor pushed it for one more day with an explanation we need you to take rest here for one day. Gautam bhai was becoming hyper and didn’t want to stay here any longer. Nagesh bhaiya’s courage didn’t reap any fruit but he said that he didn’t want to ruffle some feathers with those authorities as they can make us suffer. I told my mother that I may be able to come home by tomorrow and she said it is good news. She would pray and ask others to pray for me too. I hastily inquired that does she thinks that they would genuinely spare their time for me. She said that she knows, like a mother they won’t be praying about me for an hour or so but if they just remember you and pray for one second. That is enough. As it is written in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” I was satisfied with her answer and I was in complete delight in her belief.
Now Gautam bhaiya, Nagesh Bhaiya were having our dinner tonight. We were discussing about tomorrow’s strategic way to deal with the doctors. Later the discussion side tracked to barracks they lived and they were bitching about their seniors in command.
The next day, the doctors left us in a loop as they kept on postponing for another day but Gautam bhai couldn’t take it any longer I thought he was the unselfish vocal leader type guy who will lead his companions and fight for their rights. BOY! Was I wrong again, Gautam bhai was little bit addicted to chewing tobacco especially to betel quid. I should have known his spoiled rotten teeth gave the tell sign. This whole time he was being vocal so as to get some tobacco. If he was provided tobacco here, he might have stayed here for the rest of his life.
His raging temper was advantages for our purpose, he called onto the number literally threatened them saying he has various proof that they allowed people to leave on eleventh day and also he is working under central government as security force member. The doctors or medical worker surrendered before him. We were allowed to go and within a snap of fingers we packed up our belongings. We were ready to go because we knew if we wasted more time, they might get more chances of making us put in here. Finally the freedom to go to our own place, the sweet freedom that we got. All this time I spend with them, knowing them I felt blessed as I felt safe and secured here. During this pandemic everyone was affected so was I but I survived and soon I will reach home. In Bihar, HIV aids and tuberculosis patients shared a common room in an isolation center with other covid patients. No wonder my aunt was worried sick when she heard for the first time that I was sent to an isolation center. Along with thanking the mighty God, I also thanked those doctors and everyone that they were kind too. At the gates of the isolation center I took selfie with three of us in it, the digital way to preserve the memorable moments spent together. In these time of deadly disease few have even lost their life but we three were healthy enough to go back to our homes. Once again I thanked God for His kindness and remembered all those who helped as well as prayed for me. I hoped best for Abin too. Now, I was really understanding the meaning of Psalm 91:7 which I recited under my breath, “A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.”
~ J George Thomas (aka Aebin Thomas)
THE END
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