The familiar feeling of another Covid Induced Panic Attack
As the news of a wildfire spreads worldwide, reactions of many have been that of mortal fear. A sudden dark cloud seems to have passed over us as silently as the wind and now shrouds us in its folds. And it is accompanied by a dark sense of fear, one that preys the mind of everyone all the time. It is not the fear of crying for oxygen or running after ambulances, it is the fear of hiding in our fortresses and waiting for it to come.
An endless wait that can throw the strongest off their
mental balance. The last experience still sends shudders. But we had the hope
of a vaccine rollout and achieve some sense of protection. And as unknown
numbers fell around us, we were fatigued with relief and having come out
unscathed in the last week of May of this year. We had made it through.
Complacency never set in the way it had after the first
wave. We were always wary, though masks were often forgotten yet there was a
sense of furtiveness as if someone or something was lurking behind us. We
welcomed the festivals, were mellow in bursting fireworks and always ready to
cut off any talk of the virus. Everyone wanted to forget April yet feared its
chances of reviving like kumbha Karana.
Close ones, relatives and sundry experts were unanimous in
their self-declared original thought that the next mild wave would come only
around February or March and though it may be strong yet it would never scare
us like the second wave. And we were pleased with our observations and let life
resume with baby steps. A movie was still out of the question, so was the mall.
And restaurants could cause super spreader events too. So life has pretty much still
been on a covid-induced-stupor. Perhaps December would have been a good time to
let one’s hair down and party before hunkering down for the third wave in
February or March.
This one did not knock. In a matter of hours, it blew up
from a newsflash on the screen to dominating global headlines and financial
markets. Flights were getting banned, quarantine lines were back, airport lines
were even longer and panic shopping had started. As the day passed, the passing
fear took roots and by the evening of 27th November, it was the only
thought in many people’s mind.
Here we are, yet in the dark, waiting for a piece of news
and hoping that our country bucked the trend this time. Fear mixed with more
fear and some anticipation for official news keeps us from falling off the
edges. We are now waiting and observing. And hoping that this does not become
another ordeal of the tired billions.
