“From witnessing some take their last breaths, to seeing others flash their first smiles post-recovery, the pandemic had indeed put us folks from the medical community through a whirlwind of emotions. What started out just as a theoretical concept in one of our books, boomed into an unexpected reality, forcing many of us to also adapt to the scenario and improvise. And in all honesty, we were only winging it throughout, with the intention of not letting down any patient who came our way.
But regardless of the speed of our trials, the unfortunate truth was that we were also cornered from all ends. In my own situation as an intern, I was put through the grind immediately and had to juggle between work, not catching the infection myself, or worse, spreading it to my family. Now, of course, all hell broke loose in the end, when my entire family contracted the virus one after the other but it was the way we had managed to come out of, that really displayed our grit.
I mean in a sudden turn of events, I saw my grandmother of 70 years getting self-admitted, a younger sister tackling the virus alone at home, while I stayed in Theni with my parents who were also exposed for the entire duration of my internship. Plus now that we have crossed two major waves of the pandemic, it all suddenly seems like a quick rollercoaster ride, that only the ones buckled were able to handle.
I mean, in 2020 April, just the thought of taking a COVID test, seemed like a nuisance to many others, who felt it was all a gimmick. From that, to now, as a country we have realized to a fair extent the importance of hygiene and sanitization. There are, of course, a few others deeming the pandemic to be over and imagining things to have fully restored to normalcy. Nevertheless, as someone witnessing the wrath of the virus even now on a day-to-day basis, I do hope, with time they realize the possibility of a third wave suddenly mounting back up and therefore take all precautions to cease any spread!
Now, besides a plethora of such life realizations, another small thing that made me happy was being able to help a little girl I met at my consultations at the face of a crisis. She was the single daughter of an ailing mother admitted to our Theni hospital, looking after her parent, even under extremely testing conditions. I saw her spending hours in a ward that had a heavy stench that even doctors couldn’t withstand for long. She rang me up, post her mother’s demise, seeking guidance now that her family was looking to pause her education and get her married at once. It was heart-breaking and I did everything I could at that moment to guide her the right way. And that incident, though little is etched on my memory on how situations could completely change one’s world. Hopefully, others too take the time to reflect on the year that has been, and take steps towards choices that matter!”