The January Agony: Grief, Loss & COVID-19

I saw the time fleeing,

And tried to tie its wings,

With ropes of hope, that were destined to break,

Enfeebled by time’s might.

The Time then grinned,

For it warned of wrecking havoc,

But alert to my ordeal, it promised

to heal!

I never liked January! Being a summer person, this month of intense cold has always been the most despicable for me. I always believed that the only beauty this month imparted was the speckless white snow – the snow, falling in a tumultuous multitude from the sky and landing on the ground with utmost fragility and grace.

I could always sense the tumult within the peaceful flakes invoking the buzz within me while I would move about in a frenzy at the mere sight of the gentle fall of flakes. But in spite of this, I could never figure out the reason for my intense detest towards this month.

Hardly did I know that January would one day bring me an everlasting pain and perhaps the detest stemmed from an impending doom that awaited.

While the two waves of COVID-19 from the past two years were seen emerging in the months of March and April, beginning with the fiscal year and perhaps indicating how it has played down with the economy of the world.

But this time around, the third wave pre-poned its arrival, registering its presence on the new year’s eve with a predicted peak in the month of February. The pandemic took off by instilling a fear in each one of us across the globe for this was a novel experience for the 21st century denizens.

We began by witnessing horrendous scenes of COVID-19 in Europe while silently dreading the time all of it would occur to us. And one fine day, all of our fears actualized! With one wave after the other, the COVID-19 left no stone unturned to shake us to the core and we as a collective people of the world, unable to find its cure, plunged in despair with each passing day, unwittingly awaiting our turn.

From strangers to people we were acquainted with, and eventually to people we were close to, sometimes within the kin and sometimes within the immediate family, the coronavirus had chosen its path and was traversing it well.

Though quite mindful of its magnitude of contagion and intensity of infection, even a reasonable person would never expect a loved one to have a date with COVID-19, not even if it brings about a mild infection, not even if it brings about zero symptoms, not even if it is entirely harmless.

Only the mention of the word COVID-19 summons a great deal of emotion one can hardly make peace with. Falling in line of all other people, I too had my ears closed for every news that would relate my loved ones to COVID-19 but the shrill of the news of my ailing brother was enough to penetrate my ears so much as to awaken me from a slumber of solitude that my dear ones are safe.

He was a dentist by profession, a human par excellence with an angelic disposition, but perhaps just another milestone in the path of coronavirus. All the little ones were taught to call him ‘baeigaash’ the vernacular for someone who is the light of the family and the apple of their eyes. And so he was, a sincere soul having a greater concern for his patients than doctors generally have.

Tested by times in a deceptive manner, he never knew when he had been hit by an asymptomatic COVID-19 until the virus got its hooks in him so deep as to snatch away his life with a post-covid respiratory failure, after months of hospital vigilance. High dosage of medicines, a constant supply of oxygen and a final endotracheal intubation, all the attempts of saving his life were to no avail.

Nothing could bring him back to life! His departure made January all the more iniquitous to me and its one beauty, the snow suddenly turned vicious rather than graceful as he breathed his last in the quietude of the falling snow.

Man is mortal and thus we all acquiesce to the fact that all of us shall have our fair share of death but there’s a difference between death coming to us and we inviting it. Since the onset of the pandemic, a significant chunk of population has remained heedless of the covid-19 behaviour claiming their faith in God as the greatest shield.

Whoa! Unfortunate as it is but this e-generation is mostly comprised of egg-heads who abound in academic qualifications but disastrously lack common sense. It’s our lousy covid-19 behaviours that has given the virus wings. Therefore, while stepping into the third straight year of a pandemic, our reason must jolt us to adopt the right covid-19 protocol instead of preposterous new year resolutions.

The elusive nature of coronavirus demands us to be all the more vigilant than ever, now that the third wave is heading towards us fast. Our priorities must include more followers of the covid-19 appropriate behaviour rather than more followers on social media.

The pandemic is indubitably bound to end but the onus lies on us as to whether we want it to take a toll on our lives and leave us mentally drained and incompetent or we want to singe it with our belligerence.

I never liked January and so shall continue to be for the rest of my life. But here I am holding this pen so as to tickle the sagaciousness of some of the people out there and save them from a lifetime of contrite sighs and a wringing agony, only if they are heedful enough! Period.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.

The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.