Life is for living

Getting back to normal – one baby step at a time 

 

So, finally, after many months of breathless anticipation, one of my fantasies came true. I finally managed to meet my girlfriends – in person, no less! – for coffee. (What did you think I was on about? Honestly, get your mind out of the…well, never mind!)

 

All three of us had been double jabbed, the requisite waiting period for immunity to kick in was over (during which one of us had even had a mild case of Covid), and we had been adhering to social distancing norms like our lives depended on it (spoiler alert: they did). So, as the case load in Delhi fell to under 200 daily cases and the positivity rate went below 1 per cent, we decided that it was time we threw caution – and our masks – to the wind and finally met up for a cup of coffee. 

 

That said, we were still wary enough not to risk congregating in a public place full of unmasked strangers. So, we opted to meet at the home of one of us, sitting in an airy, well-ventilated room, which looked out on a verdant lawn, exchanging elbow bumps rather than hugs as a concession to the virus. In the event, it was too hot a morning for coffee, so all three of us chose to have nimbu pani instead, loaded with lots of ice and a divine hint of kala namak. 

 

And as we quaffed our drinks and exchanged gossip, often talking over one another in our excitement to finally be together, it finally felt that life was returning to normal – or, at least, to a semblance of normalcy.

 

Don’t get me wrong. We had been Zooming one another regularly all through the pandemic so it wasn’t as if we had lost touch. But there was something truly special to finally see each other in the flesh, to comment on how good someone’s hair was looking, how perfect the other’s outfit was, and how much I loved the new nail polish they had experimented with during the lockdown. 

 

So, there we sat, goofy smiles on all our faces, feeling giddy with pleasure at being able to properly connect with one another at last. And when we said goodbye a couple of hours later, it was with tight hugs, the elbow bumps having been retired in an unspoken consensus.

 

I felt so good after this close encounter, that I was emboldened to plan another: this time a dinner at the home of one of our closest friends. It would be just the four of us – all of us double jabbed – and we would catch up over a few bottles of wine and maybe the odd glass of champagne. And so, for the first time ever since Covid struck, we sat down to dinner at a table with another couple, to feast on roast lamb, salad, quiche, and some delicious conversation.

 

It really felt as if a dam had burst, as all the stuff that had been festering deep within us came bubbling to the surface. We discussed everything under the sun: the state of the economy; the travels we had undertaken over the last few months; how their daughter was missing out on the teenage experience having been stuck at home for more than a year; the books we had read and written; and so much more. 

 

It felt so amazing to just sit down and talk. And talk to people that we could actually see, whose expressions we could react to in real time, instead of images on a screen whose visual cues were often impossible to pick up on. So novel was this feeling after a year and a half of isolation that we stayed up way later than we should have, exchanging gossip, reminiscing about past times, and storing up memories for the future.

 

As my husband and I drove back home that night, we promised ourselves that this would not be a one-off. We would be rejoining the world of the living, Coronavirus be damned. And, if you ask me, it’s not a moment too soon.

Take a shot!

Now that the Covid vaccine is here, it’s time to plan for a post-pandemic reality

Finally, after a year of heartache and heartbreak, there is something to cheer about. The Covid 19 vaccine is ready and about to hit the market all across the world. Actually, make that vaccines – in the plural – because there are at least three to four candidates that have given good outcomes in clinical trials. In India, we are pinning our hopes on the Oxford Astro-Zeneca vaccine though there is an indigenous vaccine in the works as well.

So, in another month or so, we can expect the vaccination process to begin for earnest in India. There will be two jabs administered in an interval of a couple of weeks, and it will then take a few weeks for immunity to be established – and with a bit of luck that should last for at least a year.

As someone with quite a few co-morbidities (don’t ask!) I am hoping that I will manage to get vaccinated sooner rather than later. And in anticipation of that, I am already making plans for a post-immunisation life. Here’s just a taste of what I am so looking forward to.

•       It’s now been nine months and counting since I last saw my sister, even though we both live in the same city. But given that she is in a high-risk category, I desisted from visiting her for fear that she might get infected. Once we are both vaccinated though, it will be time for all the jhappis and pappis that we have been storing up to deploy during better days.

•       Going for a walk without a mask. Yes, I know it will be months before we get to a place where enough people have been immunized that it is safe to take off your mask in public. But that day will surely dawn, and I can wait to celebrate with a stroll down Lodi Gardens or my current new favourite, Sunder Nursery.

•       Getting my hair coloured and highlighted at a salon is next on my to-do list. Many of my braver friends have already ventured forth to visit their hairdressers. But, coward that I am, I have been colouring my hair myself with a home dye kit. And though I have got better at it over the past few months, I still get a pang when I see pictures of mine from the pre-Covid era and see how much better my hair looked when professionals were in charge. And I simply can’t wait to look like that again.

•       I’ve never been a great one for manicures and pedicures – all that waiting around for paint to dry bores me senseless – but I am an absolute sucker for massages. In my view, there is nothing more luxurious that lying in a darkened room, with soft music playing, while your aches and pains are magicked away by the soft but firm touch of a stranger. As indulgences go, there is no beating this one. And when spas finally cease to be no-go areas, I will be first in line for some serious pampering.

•       Never in a million years did I think it was possible that I would actually miss airports, but guess what, Covid has done the impossible. These days I actually find myself dreaming of checking in for a flight, roaming aimlessly through the duty-free area, picking up the odd perfume or lipstick, and then meandering on to the plane.

•       Such is my nostalgia for air travel that even the thought of those disgusting airline meals can’t quite put me off. Instead I fantasize about quaffing endless glasses of champagne as I watch rubbishy movies on the inflight entertainment system, dozing off in front of the screen only to land in an entirely new destination, which is just crying out to be explored within an inch of its life.

•       And last, but certainly not the least, there is the street food that I have missed so insanely over the past few months. The moment my vaccine kicks in, I am off to my neighbourhood chaat place, standing in line with strangers to eat golgappas and gorge on some aloo tikkis or even a piping hot plate of channa bhaturas. I will probably end up catching something other than Covid, but it will be totally worth it.