Parshu Shrestha
“Let’s go to Kamala’s house today,” Pabitra said when I arrived home after school one day.
It was already 5 o’clock, and the next day I would have to attend the college class at 6.10 AM. Therefore, it would be hectic schedule for me.
“Not today,” I said, “Some other day when time will be favorable.”
“I have had Kamala order for fifty kilos of basmati rice.” She said further, “She has already had it brought to her house, and I have already paid for it.”
“OK, then,” I gave her my decision, “Let’s go to hers on the coming Thursday after my school. I will come from the school as early as possible.”
Pabitra agreed. It was a Monday evening.
The rumour of the second wave of Covid-19 was everywhere, and people were growing more and more anxious and confused. Some were very much afraid. They were obviously terrified about the lives of their near and dear ones. Many others were acting dauntless, and expressed their opinion that the new variant would also be easily defeated with hot turmeric water and strong will-power, as the Prime Minister K.P. Oli had publicly advised his citizens. However, people were increasingly gossiping around that the local government was about to impose lockdown in the town again.
The gossip came true two days after. The local government of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City announced for one-week lockdown and the shutters were down once again. We had to sell the clothes in our shop hiding from the police who were much more vigilant than during the first phase of the lockdown months ago. Three or four policemen started continuously patrolling the square and the roads around our shop.
Thursday arrived, and we were ready to go to Kamala’s. It was the second day of the lockdown. Though the shops were closed, the police had not restricted the vehicles on the roads. So, we two, Pabitra and I, set out on the scooter at around three o’clock.
Jhumka is just eight kilometers away to the west from Itahari. It does not take more than ten minutes along the highway on a scooter, or a bike unless there is occasional traffic jam.
Pabitra had already phoned Kamala to inform about our arrival so that she could make necessary preparations for hosting us. She had long been inviting us for dinner at her house. For us, it was like killing two birds with one stone.
When we reached her house, Kamala was ready with pilau, chicken curry, and cucumber salad. She welcomed us with a glass of chilled Sprite for each. Cold drinks have been an indispensable item in every Nepali house nowadays, for welcoming guests or for visiting somebody’s house as guests.
After a brief chit-chat, Kamala served us dinner. It was so tasty. We remained there for almost an hour after dinner. We also managed to socialize ourselves with her two sons, seven and two, both very pretty boys.
It was already about half past seven when we finally started home from Kamala’s. The sack of fifty kilos of basmati rice was quite unaccommodated on the footrest of my scooter. I had to hold the sack with my left leg, and lean towards right for the support. The journey along the way was not easy for me as my attention was to the sack so that it would not fall down on the road. Moreover, the gusts of wind were pushing me backward frequently throughout the journey back home.
There were a lot of vehicles on the way; especially the lorries, trucks, and trippers. They are all too dangerous along the highway for small vehicles like scooters and motorcycles. On the other hand, the wind was quite cold and strong. The thunder and lightning had started in the sky. It looked as if it was about to rain, so we were in a hurry.
It started raining when we arrived at the traffic chowk, almost five hundred meters away from home. The rain drops kept pitter-pattering throughout the way until we finally managed to arrive home. A brief drizzle started after a while.
I felt uneasy suddenly as if I had caught cold. My throat had been a bit sore, and I felt a little blockage in my lungs. This happens to me time and again because of allergy.
I boiled some water on a saucepan and took its vapor as a home remedy of cold. I repeated it the next morning. If not, I think I would have fallen ill that day.
Pabitra just complained that she also felt very cold along the way, but she did not show any interest in inhaling hot water vapor. In the morning, I asked her again, but she was unwilling for that. Then, she went to the shop.
It was around eleven o’clock when Pabitra phoned me, and told me to bring her lunch to the shop. I had just finished one online class for my school students. The next was after one and a half hours. It was drizzling outside, so I wore my rain suit and took the lunchbox to the shop on my geared bicycle.
Pabitra’s face was not as bright as it was in the morning.
“Are you alright?” I asked her.
“My whole body is aching,” she complained, “I feel I am going to have fever.”
I felt her forehead with my right palm. It was not hot.
I had planned to take the next online class from the shop, but as soon as I reached there the power went. Even after a half-an-hour’s wait the electricity did not come. Therefore, I had to return home with the hot-case after Pabitra had finished eating.
She arrived home just after a half-an-hour as I was conducting online class.
“I don’t feel well,” she said in a soft voice, “I feel exhausted.”
Pabitra slept in bed whole afternoon and evening. I thought, at first, that she would be refreshed after a while’s sleep, but there was no sign of her immediate recovery. When I felt her forehead with my palm, I found that she had a mild fever. Then, I suspected that there was something wrong.
Two days ago, she had complained that her whole body was itching. She had also showed me some rashes on her back and calves. I thought it could be an allergy, and applied some anti-fungal powder to the rashes. It was unprecedented and unusual in her case. Perhaps it was the first symptom of Covid-19 in her body.
I brought a file of paracetamol and gave Pabitra one tablet. She swallowed it with some water after taking a little food unwillingly. After a while her fever was subdued, but it came back the following morning. She took another tablet again; the fever decreased for a while, but increased again. The whole day this decreasing-increasing-decreasing pattern continued. I gave Pabitra the paracetamol tablet four times during the day, but the fever would repeat after a while each time.
Then, I went to a medical shop in the evening and brought a digital thermometer. Pabitra had 102 degrees fever. Then, I gave her two tablets of the paracetamol to swallow together. At around midnight, the fever subsided and she looked a little fresh in the morning. However, that did not last long. At around eleven o’clock the fever returned and remained the whole day. Finally, I had a doubt that she might have been infected with Covid-19. It was a moment of terror for all of us in the family.
The next morning, I phoned Dr Gunjan Trital, a Medical Officer at the Itahari Hospital. I know him personally as he is the husband of my school colleague Sirjana. When I told him about Pabitra’s fever, he assured me not to be afraid and prescribed some vitamins and medicines for her. I went to the medical shop immediately and brought all of them.
Pabitra started her isolation in our bedroom since she did not like to move to another room. She had now coughed too. I slept in the same room, on the floor, because otherwise Pabitra would be worried about her condition. I was much worried because Pabitra’s fever was only a little suppressed, not gone, and her cough was increasing. When she started taking the cough syrup, she said her whole body started shaking as if her body sugar was very low. I messaged to Dr Trital about it. He said it was a side-effect of the cough syrup, so my worry was lessened.
Now, I was worried about my mom, 64, and two daughters, Prakriti and Prashika, both 16, and my pet Peku. I wondered how I could save them from getting infected. I, too, was not out of risk. I told them about the seriousness of the situation and kept serving Pabitra with hot water and hot quanti soup (soup made from mixed lentils and grains) time to time. However, the girls had already come into contact with her when they slept with her the other day.
It had already been a week when I took Pabitra for PCR test. First, we went to Itahari Hospital where Dr Trital worked, and then we went to the Itahari Stadium with the slip provided by the hospital clerk. It was a Thursday.
When we reached the stadium, there were only a few boys waiting for PCR test. The office clerks informed us that the test would start only after one o’clock. It had been just half past eleven. They told us to drop the form into a bucket treated with sanitizer. Pabitra dropped it into the bucket, and we decided to wait. Slowly and gradually, the number of people for the PCR test increased, and there were people everywhere in the big field. Almost after two hours, Pabitra got her turn, and we returned home. No one in the neighborhood knew about it.
Pabitra and I were sure that her report would come positive. Therefore, I told everybody to be careful. I did not allow even Peku to enter the room where Pabitra was in isolation. Slowly, her fever disappeared with the regular doze of Codopar three times a day. Her cough also had been less frequent. At first, she had a kind of dislike for food, and I had to persuade her for taking it regularly. Slowly, she developed her appetite.
Pabitra’s PCR report came only on Sunday. A man from Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City office phoned her and informed that she had been tested positive. It was almost ten o’clock in the morning.
At around three in the afternoon, both the girls, Prakriti and Prashika, started crying with their body pain. I thought they might have had fear psychosis, but they had already had fever. Then, I told them to remain in isolation in their own room.
My mom and I started using one toilet, and the three started using the other. I told everybody to wear mask whenever they came out of their room. My mom was a chef, and I became waiter for the days afterwards.
I brought more doses of the medicines from the medical shop, this time enough for Prakriti, Prashika, mom, and myself. I was sure by now that mom and I had both also been infected though we did not have any symptoms.
I took both the girls to Itahari Stadium for PCR check the next day. Dr Trital had already had their names listed for the test. We three went on my scooter and came back almost after three hours. The neighbors did not get any clue about it.
The next day, mom complained that she felt her whole body heavy and aching. She also got fever and stuffy nose. I, too, started feeling heaviness and severe pain on the left-back of my head. However, we both did not have cough. We two had already started the prescribed medicines. We continued them.
Mom could not get up the next morning. She remained in her bed for long. I got up, washed the utensils used for dinner the previous evening, and boiled water. I told her to inhale the vapor through her mouth and nose, and gave her medicines. After a while, she got up and started cooking. I felt a little relieved because cooking is the most difficult thing for me to do.
For two days more, mom complained of pains in her body, but she kept on cooking for the family. She also took medicines and chyawanprash. I prayed to God for her well-being. Meanwhile, I also got mild fever and sore throat. One morning when I woke up in my bed, I found my throat parched and body aching all over. I could not get up easily as usual; I just felt like lying on my bed.
Fortunately, mom stopped complaining about the symptoms after two days, and I too felt a little refreshed. However, we all kept taking all medicines for almost two weeks.
The result of the PCR test of the girls came positive. I was certain that their test result would be positive. Then, on Thursday, when the girls’ report came, my mom and I went to the stadium for PCR test. I knew it was sure to come positive. As expected, our reports also came positive. This way our whole family tested positive. It was a scary situation. However, we were fully determined to defeat corona. I kept on encouraging my family members with positive thoughts.
Pabitra had already stopped showing any symptoms. She had only occasional bouts of cough. However, I did not allow her to come out of her isolation until she completed two weeks. Then, one morning she got up from her bed and started sweeping and cleaning things. The next day she started cooking. I was so happy at her speedy recovery.
Prakriti got affected the most. She had fever for a long time, more than a week. Dr Trital prescribed two antibiotics, each for five days, before she was finally restored. Cough was the problem she had for the longest.
Finally, we all were in good health.
During and after our infection with Covid-19, we did not let anybody in the neighbourhood know about our situation. Keeping secret would be impossible for us if we had been serious, but thank God we all remained well. Though I went out for necessary purchases, I wore double masks, gloves, and carried sanitizer with me. I now think we acted very wisely by not letting others know about our condition, otherwise they would start segregating us and that would be a mental torture for us. At many places, I saw the neighbors barricading the infected people’s houses with bamboos and using abusive language as if they had committed unpardonable sin.
In my experience, the three things played very important role our speedy recovery from Covid-19: nutritious food, medicines, and self-confidence. However, if complications appear there is no alternative to hospital and the medical professionals. We must also save ourselves from negative thoughts and gossips.
(Parshu Shrestha (1981) lives in Itahari, teaches English, and writes stories.)