The Month That Was October-2020

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Eight months of COVID passed and Life in Time of Corona continues. Both hubby and I had fallen sick in the beginning of the month for 2 to 3 days with fever and headache. Hubby claims it to be COVID with lack of smell and taste. I on the other hand had none of those symptoms. And sickness was not unbearable. We were able to continue normal routine without much glitch. I have been having these paranoid episodes of COVID every time I sneeze or have post nasal drip. Maybe we will get an antibody test in the coming days to check whether what we had was really Corona.

This month we had our father's Shraddha (death anniversary), a ritual to be performed. Mother, siblings, and I all did it separately due to the obvious. We were brought up in a very progressive household and these customs were not followed. My father would have been very disappointed to see this charade. Still we do it for mom's peace of mind. We know for sure she insists this only because of societal pressure. For her generation "What People Say?' is difficult to overcome. When it comes to dad it was different, he was total badass and never had the patience to give a F***.  

Hubby was away for four days to attend a wedding in Mangaluru. Usually we are two peas in a pod. Since there was restriction on attendees we thought I will give a miss this time so is MIL. The truth is I dislike attending these gatherings, be it weddings, receptions, engagements, religious ceremonies all and sundry. Social distancing is nothing new to the introverts. We have been doing this for decades. I've kept myself busy with work, reading, writing, gardening. Still missed him senselessly. It was like I was having withdrawal symptoms. And we were both anxious on the day he had to travel. I digress.

Dasara was a quiet affair. Since we both don't believe in religious observance festivities for us is good food, music, drink, books, films, and conversation. As I write this I realize we do that every day and for us every day is a celebration. Maybe that is why we don't go gaga over festivals. Only one good thing about them is the holidays. In another era we used to travel in such times. Sigh!!!

The books I have read are four in numbers. I See You-Clare Mackintosh, The Night Circus-Erin Morgenstern, After The End-Clare Makintosh, Pieces of Her-Karin Slaughter. In fact Clare Mackintosh impressed me so much with 'I See You' that I had to pick her another book. She is going to be my another go to writer. A book which liked by all but failed to leave an impact was 'The Night Circus'. The writing was very prose and poetic with beautiful imagination. Yet it lacked gripping story and characters. I had thought of DNFing it many times but persisted. It definitely failed me, or rather I had very high expectation. Another equally disappointing was Karin Slaughter's Pieces of Her. Having immensely liked her 'The Good Daughter, Pretty Girls and Cop Town it was an easy pick. Though not boring it had nothing new to offer. I'm even surprised to learn this is going to be a web series airing in Netflix. I'm going to watch it anyway just to see how it is made. Sometimes visual adaptations are better than the fictions.

The moves are quite good in number too. They are Black Friday (Hindi), Ka Pae Ranasingam (Tamil), V (Telugu), Maniyarayile Ashokan (Malayalam), Serious Men (Hindi), Jallikattu (Malayalam), All President's Men (English), Nishabdham (Telugu), June (Malayalam), Ginny Weds Sunny (Hindi), Nanna Prakara (Kannada), 22 Female Kottayam (Malayalam), Chaman Bahar (Hindi), Android Kunjappan Version 5.25, and Virus (Malayalam).  Our obsession with Malayalam cinema continues. You will understand if you see the number of films of that language.

 The web series are Scam 1992 and Mirzapur 2. I've done a detailed review on mirroringart.blogspot.com of Scam 1992. What a gem of show it was. Pratik Gandhi has a new stalker on insta. Mirzapur 2 was much awaited Indian show and Vikranth Massey's absence was very much palpable. The show was breezy and crisp, and I could see the end coming. The subsequent seasons of any series are tough to make as audience always have the originals to compare with. Comparatively it is meek and slow. Still we binge watched over an weekend. That explains what an oxymoron I'm.

I long to go and see my mother and Ammamma. I hope I will be able to do that in the coming months. Cousin M1 is the only visitor we had. There is a lot of gossip doing the rounds in the family about her not agreeing for marriage yet. It was the same a decade earlier about me. And it shall continue with generations to come. Because that is what they enjoy and that is what their life about. I'm not proud of them. If I could I would have disown them.

October had been kind. Hoping to say the same about November.

Life in the Time of Corona

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This title was inspired by the novel "Love in the Time of Cholera". For an introvert like me home isolation is a blessing in disguise. Working from home is not the same as working from office. In office you have a disciplined routine to finish the workload within the stipulated time. I never in my entire work career extended a single minute than what was necessary. Its my firm belief that those who cannot complete their task within the time are incompetent. I digress.

Hubby and I get a lot of couple time during this period. Both of us are very professional when it comes to work. We set up work station in two different rooms from getting distracted. We take a lot of breaks in between to cook, organize things, water the plants, listen to music, read, write, paint, talk, and snuggle. This is the time we get to have three meals together, otherwise, its only dinner on weekdays. 

In the evenings we workout, whip some new dish, binge watch TV shows or movies. Well-stocked minibar helps us to take the edge off now and then. We're well equipped to sail through this confinement without glitch. However, it is difficult for hubby to contain his exuberance as he is a total outdoorsy and extrovert.

I'm heartbroken because of the cancelled holidays. We've earmarked and booked our calendar for Holi, Good Friday and Labour day weekends. All three were planned for three days each. The biggest blow is our rescinded anniversary vacation to Mauritius. If going by the statistics it is impossible to travel overseas for another whole year. As a traveler our situation is down in dumps.

As people with various interests and hobbies, these quashed holidays; scraped theater, movies, concerts; nipped adventures is taking a toll on us. The situation is grim and scary. Now it has become a part of my routine to check COVID-19 casualties as soon as I get up and once again before going to bed. It is totally a callous behavior on my part, but I'm not the only one here. This is the privileged me ranting about the inconveniences caused by the quarantine plonking on my ass while millions of fellow countrymen are struggling to make ends meet.

Earlier like all the entitled I used to urge everyone to stay-at-home and be safe. But having seen the visuals of millions of people on road without food and shelter being exposed to the pandemic because of the unplanned lock down, I stopped being that moron. And I will never be the person to cheer on for police brutality. We don't believe in donating to charity or Government organizations because of lack of transparency. So, already in the process of how to give a helping hand to the known less privileged.

The present condition is hopeless and frightful. I'm sad and depressed, but willing to give up my personal freedom for the welfare of fellow homo sapiens in the hope one day 'this too shall pass. My rose-tinted self is eager to write a post on "Life after Corona" soon, very soon.