After having successfully evaded COVID for the last two years, the virus eventually got the better of me and I contracted COVID earlier this month. Inspite having had all three vaccine doses, the disease has not been an easy one to manage and I was quite ill for the first few days. Thankfully no hospitalization was required and I have now fully recovered. Reflecting back, I think it was just a matter of time before I became infected. For the last few months my compliance with COVID Prevention protocols especially wearing masks had been poor.
When a disease like COVID strikes, it forces you to slow down the pace of your day to day activities. I am reminded of a conversation with my dad's close friend, Ashok uncle, who just like my father is an experienced practicing General Physician. Many years ago, whilst having lunch with us, uncle remarked that fevers generally are body's way of indicating that we should slow down. Viral fevers by nature are self limiting and only require proper rest and hydration to recover. The same is exactly true for COVID as well. Until and unless one completely disconnects with the outside world, it is difficult to make recovery. For the first day or so , I did try to keep my office work ongoing but quickly realized that recovery is unlikely to begin till I learn to respect the body and take full rest. So for the next few days, I did not attend to any office work which also broke my own self created myth that I was indispensable to the organization's functioning & my intervention was necessary for tasks to be completed. The office continued to function well without me and tasks eventually did get done.
Being in isolation also gives one time for self reflection and observation. I can't stop wondering how much life has changed in the last two years. Our entire approach to social interactions has now taken a new form. Personal meetings have now been taken over by virtual connects over MS Teams and Zoom. Social gatherings are now a fraction of what they used to be. Prior to COVID , Sindhu Samaj used to be a packed house during social gatherings especially 40 day Jhuelal Chaliha period. Compare it to this time ( the first post COVID), the hall is only half filled. Many fellow members have succumbed to COVID during the past two years. My dear bhau, Ram, who used to run a Tikki/Bread Pakora stall near our home hasn't returned till now. Regular readers will remember my earlier blog post about him ( https://sindhi-chokro.blogspot.com/2020/03/ada-ram.html ) . How much I miss his Sindhi style tikkis!
August 14 is now celebrated in India has Partition Horrors Remembrance Day, first declared by Prime Minister Modi in 2021 to commemorate the victims and sufferings of people during partition of India. Every time I think about why partition impacted some families more than others, level of literacy/ formal education often seems to emerge as a differentiating factor. I have seen this within my own family as well where my grandfather who was a graduate and was able to secure a steady government job, withstood the difficult times much better than some of our extended family relatives who suddenly had to let go of their businesses in Sindh and start from scratch in India.
I am reminded of the family that used to stay in the opposite lane to ours. As a kid, I was always fascinated by their house as it was one of the last few semi pukka houses. There was Uncle Sunder, his wife and two daughters, his unmarried elder brother Mr. Manga Ram and an unmarried sister. My earliest memories of Uncle Manga who would have been around 70 years old at that time was him smoking bidi sitting on a charpoy in the winter sun and holding me in his arms and saying " Muhinjo pyaaro putr aahin na" in Sindhi ( This would translate into something like " You are my loving son" in English). Uncle Sunder had retired as a peon from the Income Tax department and the family wasn't economically well off. Making ends meet was difficult for them but still Uncle Sunder voluntarily took up the responsibility of sweeping Sindhu Samaj's premises each morning. I vividly remember playing Stapu ( game) in our courtyard with Sunder uncle's younger daughter " Baby Didi" who would have been 15 years or so elder to me at that time. Both the daughters also barely finished their schooling. After the death of Mr. Manga Ram, his sister and Mr. Sunder sometime in late 1990s/early 2000s, their other educated brother who wasn't staying with the family sold off the building to a property dealer. It is rumored that because of lack of education, the girls and their mother did not receive their rightful share in the transaction. To me, this tragic story always reminds of why having formal education is so important. If nothing else, it helps you understand your own rights and to avoid being dependent on someone else. In addition, Uncle Sunder also reminds me that for serving the community one doesn't always have to make financial contribution. Everyone in their own little way can contribute to the community's welfare.
It wasn't without a reason that Bhagat Kanwar wrote "Dadhi Aahe Dinggi Duniya Durangi , Bina Dhareenya Pahinje,Konehko Mayetu Pehinjo" in his famous Naale Alakh Je kalaam.
I end with this link to a contemporary rendition of Naale Alakh Je featuring the famous Sindhi Band Sketches ( Saif Samejo) with talented singers Muskan Kotwani, Jatin Udasi and Akbar Khamiso Khan. I hope you like it too.
Naale Alakh Je - The Sketches ft. Muskan Kotwani, Jatin Udasi, Akber Khamiso Khan | LahootiMeloDE
Jai Jhulelal!
