Monday, April 20, 2020

Carona - Lockdown Writeup


During the last two months, my life has turned topsy turvy.  Whatever
was acceptable and appreciated has become unacceptable and deplorable. 
Look at my morning walk. What was a virtue once - “Rain or shine, he
never misses his morning walk, very health conscious and disciplined !!” -
is now turning into - “Look at him, seems like an educated fellow and he is
out for a morning walk. Let his health go to hell, why put others at risk ?
Stupid fellow”. 

What was innocuous is now dangerous. This ‘pav’ which I purchased this
morning in front of my house from the pav wala is suddenly looking like a
bomb ready to explode ! 

The ‘pav’wala came in front of my house at 5.30 am as usual. He is very
punctual. I can set my watch based on his appearance. I had orders to
buy pav for breakfast. I bought them.  But look at the implications of this
simple act. 

What if the pav wala is a carrier of the virus ? He did not wash his hands
before lifting a few loaves out of his basket. 
He was riding a scooter. Holding the handle. How many other hands had
held the same handle? Could any of them be a carrier ?  
They bake the pav in the bakery and load them onto a large basket. How
many people had touched the ‘pav’? And the basket ?  What if one of them
was a carrier for the virus?  
When I asked for ‘pav’, the pavwala first tore a piece of newspaper to wrap
the ‘pav’ with. From where did he get the paper? How many hands had
touched the newspaper earlier? I read somewhere that the virus can remain
on paper for days! 
I hastily told him not to use the paper and hand over the ‘pav’ to me uncovered. 
I paid him cash. He gave me change. How many hands had those currency
notes passed through ? What if ???

This simple act of buying a few loaves of pav felt like the task of defusing a
time bomb !  I would have worn a PPE (Personal protection equipment) had
I one with me at that moment ! I held the pav in one hand, currency notes in
the other, pushed open my front door with my foot, entered the house, put the
currency notes in a dedicated box (Which is always kept open in the sun),
opened the oven door with my elbow, placed pav in the oven and washed my
hands. I will roast it in the oven for 10 minutes and eat. 

For those who have some idea about contamination and the routes, what I
have written is nothing new.  For those who had not thought of these things
before, I am making life even more difficult. But, in the present scenario, it is
needed. We have kept hundreds of routes open for the virus to enter our lives
and have only covered our face with a mask. I don’t say that it is useless. The
people who are in charge of handling the situation have to act based on the
inputs they get and hence have insisted on the mask. Wearing the mask does
make some sense. But people need to be told why they are wearing the mask
and  also what other precautions to be taken. 
But how many are able to listen and understand the enormity of the situation ?

Few patients end up in front of my door in spite of the lockdown. You can't
lockdown toothache.  I ask them to remain at a distance and tell me what the
trouble is. The first thing they do is to pull down the mask, put the finger in the
mouth and point to the offending tooth. Now, that is the knowledge of the
common man about infection.  

The lockdown is likely to be relaxed in the coming days. But we need to remain
vigilant. I am yet to sort out the complexities of restarting my dental practice.
I intend to take as much precaution as possible but rely on my fate to keep me
out of the way of the virus !

You must have heard the story of King Parikshit. He was cursed to die of
snakebite. He constructed another fort within his existing fort, kept a burning
fire between the two forts, dug a large lake in the middle and built a palace
in the centre - like the golden temple. He tightened the security so that even
an ant couldn’t enter and  thought that he was safe from snakes. He was,
for sometime.

Takshaka, the snake king, entered a lemon in his miniature form and waited
for his chance. The lemon was allowed to be carried into the fort by some
sages who wanted to meet the king, lemon being an acceptable offering
when you go to meet a higher up. (Old british notifications about what a
government officer can accept as a gift from the public, mention lemon. One !)
The sages offered the lemon to the king. King accepted the lemon and
took it near his nose to smell and Takshaka came out and bit him !! 

Goa has fared better than other states and they say that it is the result of
timely action. I will not counter the claim but say that luck has also had a
large part to play. 
We may see some relaxation in the lockdown but need to keep a watch
and be prepared to expect and confront the snake in the lemon !