From Wuhan to Velachery...

I do travelling a lot and its been 4 years since i wrote my last travelog, my last one was on Euro Trip. After relocating back to India from Singapore i didn't do much of international travel. Srilanka, Mauritius, Thailand & Cambodia were the ones i did in the last four years. Srilanka with friends, Mauritius was my honeymoon trip, Thailand & Cambodia was a family trip with 21 of my family members. If anyone ask me to give example of remarkable things i did in my life, i would for sure quote these two things, first one is my trek of mount kinabalu (4096 metres high) and the second one is the family trip of Thailand and Cambodia with 21 of my family members entirely planned, organized and executed by me, everything from A to Z and by far that trip took humongous amount of work than any other travel I organized so far.

So after four years why this blog, whilst half of the world is under lockdown and travel is restricted, from/to india its prohibited. And why the title from wuhan to velachery, as you read along the blog you will understand and get a feel of my life.

25th April, i had a A/C service person to fix my bedroom A/C as the drain water outlet pipe was clogged and water started to drip inside the room, the issue was fixed by the person and he did full service as well, removing all the dust from vents, filter panels. The next day i got sore throat, i guess it might be due to the minute left over dust from aircon circulating inside the room.

17th May 2020 (sunday) i started to clean my room as i was elated to welcome my 5.5 months old son & my wife the next day from my in-laws house, though i am heavily allergic to dust i made sure there is no stone left unturned. I completed cleaning activities in the evening and by the time i took bath and got freshen up i started to develop runny nose, because of the dust that may have entered my nostrils evading through all my protective gear. I am ecstatic by the thought in just few hours i am gonna bring my son home. Around 6pm i get a call from my father in law just to know that my son is sick, down with fever. Well that's a bad start, the entire 2020 has been a bad year for me right from January. I decided to sleep over at my in laws house for the night and get my son home the next morning, i reached my in laws house and saw my son so dull and my wife was a bit relieved seeing me. The night went by and next day early morning at 6.30 am we left my in-laws home and reached my home around 7am. 

My Son is so dull because of the fever and cried a lot but fortunately the temperature is at 99ºF and didn’t go much higher, after talking to our pediatrician we gave him all the medication that he needed. For the whole of this week i took paternity leave so i can turn my house to a home for my son. Monday passed and his temperature didn’t drop much, it fluctuated between 98 and 99ºF. Tuesday also he was sick but improved slightly, come Wednesday he got cured and got smiles on his face and ours too. So, for the last 3 days I was going to medical shop often to get his medication and organizing my room to cater for his needs. In a small room that is already packed to the brim for two person, i need to find space for one more and I did a pretty good job to accommodate my son’s stuff.

Come Thursday, 21^st May; the day has passed playing with my son and my sister kids who came for summer holidays, this morning I went to medical shop and later to buy sleeveless attire for my son. At 6 pm, I went to rooftop with my sis kids and cousin kids to play football and that’s my usual 6 pm schedule be like in the lockdown days, not even a single day has passed without playing rooftop football in the eve. I got very mild headache and sore throat, after football session me and the kids played Mario till about 8 pm. 

I have never seen my son giggle, though he did a couple of times while he was at in-laws house which I have watched through video but not in person. This night, he giggled for me and it’s so vibrant to see it in person. At around 8.30 pm out of nowhere suddenly i got chills followed by fever and headache has increased with body pain and I have got sore throat too. I decided to stay away from my wife and son and went on to sleep in the living area for the night. My parents said its hot outside and I better sleep in the room which has got Aircon but I refrained and decided to sleep on the floor for the night and you won’t believe I needed blanket to cover me from the chills I had, May month is when the temperature is at its peak in Chennai, the day’s high was at 41ºC and at the night it was at 32ºC and my body temperate is at 100ºF and I still needed blanket.

As I was lying at one corner of my living area atop a mat, I started to think, I have got fever, head ache, body pain, sore throat and that’s pretty much the symptoms of COVID only thing missing is I don’t have cough. Now all the weird thoughts started to flow through my mind. I used to watch a lot of movies where the lead character gets cancer and how they live the rest of their life before the end arrives and I used to think, if I ever get cancer and know that my days are numbered that I would liquidate some of my asset and go on a world tour like the Jackie chan movie around the world in 80 days. So, now I am thinking is this an indication of the arrival of my end, my son’s giggle was it some kind of message, am I contracted with COVID, there is very minimal chance that I am contracted with COVID as I didn’t go out much and even if I did, it was only for essential and that too with caution but a chance is still a chance.

Statistically, at the world level the death rate is at 13% and recovery at 87% and my city statistics stands at 1.8% death rate and 98.2% recovery rate. Well, even if 1.8% is at lower side but it’s still a probability of chance occurring and I don’t know if I have any issues with my body that is unknown to me yet. From the outside I may look I am a person who is very fit but only I know that I have a damaged body, from head to toe I got some faulty parts. My wife came down to visit me, I smiled and winked at her so that she won’t feel bad that I am down, I said bye to my wife and continued to lie on the mat. A couple of my friends flash through my mind, I started to think should I call them and speak. I had a friend, when that friend hoped something for me and things would always happen in my favor, should I call that friend and ask to hope for me or should I wait and ask for a bigger hope in case if I am COVID positive. Should I show the text file to my wife, which has all the details of my bank accounts and my investment portfolio with passwords stored. As all the funny thoughts start to pour in, the one thought that frighten me the most is that, if am COVID positive then there is a 100% chance that my wife would be positive too and my son would be too, well that’s horrifying. I slept through the night, took a paracetamol tablet.

22^nd May(Friday); At 7 am I woke up, body temperature is still at 101ºF and I searched for the Chennai COVID helpline and spoke with the support person and he advised me to visit prime health center and speak with the doctor. At 9.30am, I went to the prime health center accompanied by my father on a different bike, I spoke with the doctor and she told me that direct COVID testing is not advisable and gave medication for 3 days (5 diff tablets) and asked me to take a viral test if the temperature doesn’t go down and only after the viral test, the COVID test if at all required will be advised by the doctor. First time in my life I went to a government center for medical assistance and got the tablets at the facility itself FOC. 

I came back to my home and told my parents what the doctor told me, I confined to one corner of my living area basically quarantine myself from my family. I got a 5.5 months young baby at home and my sister kids 6yrs and 9yrs young at home and I cannot afford to put them at risk. I stopped to touch the door handle, used my feet to open or close the doors, I used only the common toilet next to my living area, I avoided to touch anything with my palm or fingers unless if something is specifically used only by me. I got a single floor bed and a plastic chair and i didn’t move much, I was feeling tired that I almost slept the whole day just woke up for food and tablets, the temperature fluctuated between 100 and 102. This day is the first day since the lock down I didn’t play football, my sis kids were at my parents room and didn’t come out much and my son at my room didn’t come out at all. At night I saw my baby from a long distance and waved to my wife, kind of silhouette image. I spoke to my wife over phone and went back to bed, my mom noticed water dripping from my eyes due to fever. That night my body temperate raised to 103ºF, I lied to my family that it’s at 102 so as not to frighten them. I can feel I am literally burning up, it felt like I am standing near a small sized hot furnace and would need winter clothing (because of body chills) to stand near it. I dont remember being this sick before, bedridden for the entire day. I was in constant touch with my family doctor who helped me a lot over the phone.

23^rd May(Saturday); My mom woke me at 7.30 am and my body temperature has reduced to 100. I started to sweat a lot, the body chills are no more. As I brushed my teeth I had vomit sensation but didn’t vomit, I still feel the head is heavy and the fever is way less than the last night, every one seems relaxed that my temperature got reduced. I had coffee followed by breakfast then tablets then sleep. When I woke up for lunch my temperature dropped to 99ºF, huff that’s a good sign, I still felt my head is heavy and I am tried. My wife every now and then comes and checks up on me. My sis kids talk to me from distance, I get to see my son in light at a distance. 

It’s interesting, how a fever can turn you into an untouchable in your own home, the steel food plate changed to paper plate and no one is allowed near you. One of my sis kids was playing with a plastic ball at a distance and the ball missed him and started to roll towards me, he started running towards the ball as he know that he cannot come near me, hoping he could stop the ball before it comes closer to me. But as the ball came closer to me he stopped a meter away from me and turned back. Its kind off weird feeling, the kids who love to spend time with you are now frighten of you. After lunch I slept again and woke up at 5 pm and now my body temperature fluctuates between 97.5 and 98.5. My fever is gone, tiredness also got reduced but my head still feels heavy though. 

I didn't take bath for the past 2 days and badly need a bath but my mom didn't approve it, its always better to stick to your mom's advice at times like these, so i just cleaned myself with a warm towel. The kids call me for football, i told them not today, they plead me to atleast come and be refree but i said may be tomorrow. 

I can feel I am recovering and family could feel it too, the kids also see that I am recovering and started to come close to me but I tell them to stay away, the kid who was playing with the ball wants to have a WWF with me. I told him not today, that I will be recovered fully tomorrow and the fight can happen tomorrow, to intimidate him I took 20 push ups (my average is at 80 to 100). He intimidates me back by few push ups and some AB crunches and tells me that he is ready right now and wants settles scores right away. I feel relieved that I am getting back to normal, finished dinner and my wife walks to me and asks so tomorrow I will be back to the bedroom and I replied, for sure with a smile. 

24^th  May(Sunday); As usual i woke up at 7.30 am and all the symptoms vanished just my head felt slightly heavy. The WWF kid woke up as well and came right to me and asked if i am cured and as i said yes he started hitting me, in a short duel i put him down and told him i am back. My wife walks straight to me and asks if my quarantine days are over, i replied yes with a smile and started to clean my quarantine things.

I officially ended my quarantine days, if the corona is not around it would have been just another needle in a haystack but the corona scare made a viral fever turn to a nightmare one for me. By now everyone knows we will have to learn to live with corona around but having baby in your home its really tough and you got to be super cautious.

I don't believe in god but i believe in the following quote;
Though some bad may happen, eventually Good things will happen to Good people.