The Lockdown was to be a haven and not a way to heaven

The lockdown phase has again started. Every week we keep hearing a particular city or a state in lockdown. However, before the lockdown came into our lives, we had heard about it in the phrase “Lock Kiya Jai”. It was a phrase made famous by none other than Amitabh Bachchan in the Kaun Banega Crorepati television show. People answering the question correctly would win handsome cash prizes. But the current situation of “Lock Kiya Jai” by state governments every week is not a happy one. It not only upsets our schedules but also makes life go upside down.

From kid’s school to dad’s office and from mom’s grocery list to the maid’s routine every activity goes for a toss. On the other hand, the helpless governments and authorities enforce lockdowns to ensure that the virus spread is controlled.

What started in April 2021 now seems to carry forward in May. The way it is going it seems we will be losing another couple of months till July in lockdowns. Nobody wants lockdowns but has to bear it for the safety of family, friends, and society at large.

But despite the lockdowns, we couldn’t stop a few of our loved ones from leaving us.

The lockdown that could have locked the soul from leaving the family behind

The second wave of Covid-19 has been pretty harsh on every family. We have seen people losing so many close ones. A son has lost his old father and on the other hand, a young daughter has just lost her mother. The famous journalist Rohit Sardana left his wife and two young daughters behind. He was just 41.

Sometimes I feel as if we could have just lockdown their soul from leaving us. They could have spent a lot many more years with us making the young daughters happy and the old mother smile. The young daughters could have played with their father while the old mother could have made her son’s favourite rajma-chawal.

Why did their soul leave us so early for heaven? They had to see many more trees flowering in the spring and shedding leaves in Autumn. There were too many responsibilities on their shoulders. From taking mother to the hospital to educating daughters for a bright future. If only we could have locked their soul they would have been smiling between us.

The unexpected journey

The son was in pain seeing his father gasping for oxygen that had dipped to 70. He immediately rushed his dad to a nearby hospital and managed to get a bed using all his resources. The dad was admitted to the ICU of the covid ward. Accessibility to outsiders was restricted.

Sitting in the waiting area the son was wondering how come he has reached such a situation. Just a week back his dad was asking him to take him to Haridwar for Kumbh. But he had refused saying it’s too risky at this time and once this covid wave is settled he will take him for a Char-Dham yatra. And today instead of making him walk through the lanes of Badrinath, dad was walking in the corridors of the ICU ward.  How can God change the situation so fast?

The Intensive care unit or the Isolated care unit

After a lot of requests, the doctors allowed him to see his dad. A glass window was what stood between him and dad. Lying on an ICU bed surrounded by all the beeping machines and with an inhaler placed on his mouth, dad’s body lay motionless. Somebody who would go out for morning walks without fail to breathe fresh air today was now lying on a bed gasping for oxygen. Dad was a fighter and the son was very confident that he would come out of this crisis unharmed.

It was a shocker of life for the son when the doctors informed him the next morning that his dad is no more. Just last evening his dad had waived him from the bed. Was it a final goodbye to him or was he saying that all is well? It was difficult to control the tears but there was another challenge that lay ahead. Being a Covid +ve patient the mortuary would only release his body once he gets a slot at the crematorium meant only for covid patients.

Locked in a PPE kit

This was not what he had bargained for in life. How can God be so cruel? Locked in a PPE kit how will he kiss his dad on his forehead to say a final goodbye. How can his dad leave without hugging him? In the past whenever dad used to leave for a tour or come home the first thing, he did was to hug him tightly. And today when his dad was leaving him forever, a warm hug was his only expectation. Enclosed in a PPE kit it was impossible to see dad’s face. The only thing visible was his closed eyes.

The ambulance finally took dad’s body to the cremation ground for his final journey. Seeing so many bodies all around on wooden pyres, it seemed that dad was not going to be alone on his journey to heaven. He will be in the company of both young and old as well as men and women.

The lockdown that couldn’t save dad

The lockdown that the son thought would be a haven for his dad ultimately ended up in a journey to heaven. There were many rituals to be performed for his peaceful journey to heaven but in a lockdown, it was proving to be difficult to execute.

He just kept wondering that what went wrong? He had taken all the precautions to save his dad and family from Covid-19 by following the guidelines of lockdown like staying indoors and double masking while stepping out. Was it fate that took his dad away or was it the callousness of the government that snatched his dad away from him?

Hearing frightening stories from his close friends and family members he just took solace in the fact that his dad got better treatment both at the hospital and at the crematorium.

Click on the following link to read more such stories:

The Journey of Life with parents by your side

The Cuckoo’s Nest: Getting the young ones ready to fly in the sky