From cautious optimism in January to a slide towards worry and despair.
Jan 15
Person A: Hi. What's up, man. How is work? And how is the Covid-19 situation in your area?
Person B: Yeah work is going on. Now it is nearly 10 months after we got down to working from home and I heard we may be called to attend office by April. I haven't heard of any cases in our building lately. There may be some in the area, but you never get to know these days, as buildings no longer get sealed.
Person A: Yes, nowadays it is much more discreet. Earlier the street used to get blocked and sometimes we also used to have ambulances coming with blaring sirens.
Person B: The number of people wearing masks is also coming down.
Person A: And many of them wear wrongly with their nostrils exposed. Some even wear it on their chin!
Person B: It is as ridiculous as bikers placing helmets on their elbows while riding.
Person A: A friend was telling me he went on a road trip last weekend. And people in villages were not wearing masks - at the most, some had covered mouths with handkerchiefs. In fact, when they stopped at a wayside tea stall, he and his companions were looked at rather suspiciously. They probably see every masked city dweller as a corona carrier.
Person B: Overall it looks like despite many lapses we got off the hook rather lightly. The number of deaths is much lower than say Brazil or USA.
Person A: Maybe because we get a battery of vaccines after birth. Hardly anyone goes through chickenpox-free adolescence and diseases like malaria and dengue are permanent fixtures.
Person B: Let us hope the worst is over.
Person A: In many countries, the second wave is going on, but I guess we may be spared since during the first wave itself we had so many cases and our population might have acquired herd immunity.
Person B: Don't know how reliable is this premise about herd immunity. Scientists seem to be divided about it.
February 15
Person A: Malls and bazaars near my house are open with crowds close to pre-Covid levels, and even some hotels and restaurants are reopening. Some others I guess have closed for good with promoters running out of money.
Person B: But cases in states like Maharashtra and Kerala seem to be on the rise. I feel it is too early to let your guard down.
Person A: They have even announced dates for assembly elections. I hope we are not sleepwalking into a new disaster.
Person B: Our company has sent a mail saying that offices may reopen in a limited way from June onwards. We may be called up in batches and have to attend the office three days a week. Will have to wear masks, maintain social distancing and other protocols.
Person A: This may come as some relief to those cafeteria guzzlers. I remember some of my colleagues tucking in enormous amounts of food during lunchtime, and guzzle soft drinks from the pantry all through the day. I wonder how they may be managing, holed up at home.
Person B: This pandemic has taught companies that en masse remote working is possible and they can save a whole lot of money. In the pre-coronavirus days, our manager had a very dim view towards work from home and rarely used to give his approval.
Person A: WFH is at best a privilege and possible only for white-collar professionals like us. Not for those working in the healthcare sector, police department, armed forces, power station, oil refineries, and others. Even the much sought-after e-commerce services need personnel for door delivery. So a whole lot of people are still out there braving the virus.
March 15
Person A: Last week I got my parents vaccinated. I took them to a hospital nearby. It was quite hassle-free, not much waiting to get the jab. After the vaccination, they were told to wait for 30 minutes. The next dose is after four weeks.
Person B: After taking the vaccine did your parents experience and fever or discomfort?
Person A: My father experienced chills after dinner and took a fever tablet. Mother did not experience any fever. But both complained of arm pain, which lasted for a few days.
Person B: I too plan to take mine. Somewhat wary of going to hospitals these days.
Person A: Yeah man, you are right. The sight is quite unnerving, doctors, nurses moving around in PPE kits. The dangers posed by the virus and the general fear psychosis is very palpable in hospitals and nursing homes.
Person B: Healthcare workers are just a sneeze away from this deadly virus. Every day must be like going to battle against an invisible enemy. It's not just doctors and nurses; the cleaning staff, security, and the admin guys, they all are equally vulnerable.
Person A: In newspapers, we often come across some famous well-known doctors falling prey to the virus and even dying.
April 15
Person A: If we thought 2020 was bad, 2021 is turning out to be catastrophic. The dreaded second wave is spreading at an alarming speed. Almost everyone I know has some horror story to narrate. Either their family member or a close relative has been infected.
Person B: If you need hospitalization, you really had it. There are no beds or oxygen cylinders available and caregivers have to run from pillar to post to get one.
Person A: If you log on to Twitter or any other social media site, most of the entries are SOS calls for hospital beds and oxygen cylinders. People are putting up videos of mile-long queues of ambulances outside hospital gates waiting to admit the patients.
Person B: This time even well-known people like former diplomats, police officers, and TV anchors are unable to find a bed or a cylinder either for their relatives or themselves. A couple of them even breathed their last while awaiting hospital admission. If this is the condition of the privileged class, I shudder to think about the plight of ordinary people.
Person A: Cleary neither the government nor people saw it coming. Only a few states had bulked up their oxygen capacity after the first wave. Some had even wound up makeshift Covid care centres set up at stadiums and other places during the first wave.
Person B: While the Corona situation is going out of hand, there is no let-up in electioneering. Look at the crowds at election rallies and various religious events and processions.
Person A: A fatigue seems to have set in. People are tired of following Covid safety protocols.
May 15
Person A: Our neighbour died yesterday. He was in his early forties. The guy used to wear a mask and observe all safety precautions. He has two small kids.
Person B: This is really sad. The disease is decimating families across the country. In case of infection, you can recover, but death leaves long-lasting scars. I hear even getting last rites done is now a huge challenge.
Person A: Yes. The body was taken for funeral around 10 am and they had to wait well into the evening. Only the guy's younger brother went to cremation ground wearing a PPE kit. Rest all viewed the funeral through video recording.
Person B: It's really tragic. You can't even bid a proper farewell to your near and dear ones.
Person A: Vaccines have also become scarce. Booking on CoWin site is a major challenge. I was looking for my first jab and my parents' second.
Person B: People spend hours before CoWin site and don't go beyond OTP stage. Getting a slot is akin to winning a lottery.
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