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Travelling in the times of Covid19.



I was to travel back to the heart of India during the pandemic. It didn’t help that the district that I come from in Sikkim had zero cases and in UP , numbers were going up every day. I had to cross Delhi and Bengal which made things sound a little dicey.Apart from the much discomfort and worry my decision cost my family and the police personals in the border who gave me a very thoughtful look,
I enjoyed the travel better than any time else because things were a lot more organised and punctual. There were no crowds hovering around the check in point, the flight was much less crowded, waiting time was.naught , the services were not intrusive yet efficient and social distancing suits me.
The crowd I was travelling with were mostly migrants I gathered ,travelling back to their place of work.
I counted three women in both the jets.
The food courts were empty and the food was sound.
Even the clouds from the flight looked like ones over Europe.Thanks to the pollution control.Every other cloud depicted people of all sizes and shapes enjoying the lifting of the lockdown.They were chatting,hugging,lazying around,busybodies at some chores.I had the first seat ,had put away my phone so could not take pictures.You had to see it to believe it.It kept me chuckling in between episodes of dozing .Much to my discomfort each time I woke up I found  the hostesses staring at me.Must have wondered if I had suffocated to coma,due to hypercarbia with all the protective gears or they were entertained,not sure which one it was.
Once I entered UP,I had to sign an undertaking saying I would abide by government regulations.So here I am ,in my home quarantine.I spent the better part of the day cleaning which was a  mammoth task but gratifying once done and the latter part of the day assembling my exercise bike.
I had to make three different car changes before I left home.The last driver who picked me up from Rangpo border to deposit me in the airport had some stories to tell.He apparently has been doing quite a lot of driving daily.During the lockdown the furthest he had been to was Telengana..He had driven a family of military personal home.Besides he had made several trips to Bihar,UP,etc.He earns a salary of thirty thousand rupees per month ,makes at least three trips everyday and when he has to go out of station earns an extra five hundred rupees per day.His owner owns around forty taxis and there are  sixteen drivers on the payroll.Once in UP ,I overheard the general public discussing covid and one ‘Mr know it all’ wholeheartedly recommending the covidcure made by the parallel medicine people ,to the villagers.
In the west the drama of the doles continue with people dramatising their privellage ,in India,or most of it ,life seems to be going on as normal and not so normal ,every day a fight just to live.







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