Lockdown Diary Of A Teenager: Our own armours to fight Covid-19

Can you imagine fighting a war without protective armour, or performing surgery without any medical tools? I think not. The prospects of a person being successful at any of the tasks mentioned above are slim without the availability of the required equipment at hand. In fact, no task in the world can be completed if the person assigned to the task is underprepared or lacks the essential items that somewhat guarantee success, or at least assures one that they have a good chance. It is no different in the case of the coronavirus, where Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is our knight in shining armour. The masks, sanitisers, soaps etc. ensure our best chances of survival.

A day without any of these items is unfathomable in today’s scenario where all platforms — whether it be news, leaders or other social media platforms — emphasise the need to use these commodities on a regular basis. Apart from constantly checking updates on the coronavirus cases in our country, personal protection is an enduring part of our day. From dusk till dawn, we have now become oversensitive about our health at all times. Health has become a preoccupation of the human mind to such an extent that dinner-table conversations revolve around how many times we washed our hands today. No numerical value does justice to the utility of any protection equipment against the pandemic.

Forget us, even our groceries, furniture and door handles have been forced to practice personal protection! Whether it be wiping each door handle with Dettol or scrubbing each vegetable until we can literally see the reflection of our faces in it, the coronavirus has resulted in us becoming hypochondriacs and germophobes. Our daily actions have also been forced to change. Gone are those days where we bit into an apple after simply running it under the water. Now, there is a whole process involving precautionary measures behind the consumption of any good. My own mother looks no less like a nurse while stepping out of the house to get groceries! Equipped with gloves, masks and a few bottles of sanitisers in her handbag; these are necessities without which no outing takes place in today’s world.

Recently, I was shocked at the treatment meted out to a package that we received from Amazon. Upon its arrival, I accompanied my mother to help her get the packets from the gate downstairs. Not only did I have to ‘dress up’ for the task but also, while receiving the package, my mother firmly instructed me to discard the cardboard box in which the commodities came in. The boxes were dropped into the dustbin outside! Only then did I realise that humanity had officially become enemies with 'outsiders' and that social distancing applied to things without limbs and brains as well.

Even food packages experience the same. The sight of the signature pizza boxes from Dominos is no longer a source of pleasure but terror for us! It is as if each ‘outsider’ that dares to cross the Lakshman Rekha and enter our homes sets off a fire alarm in our minds — signalling a danger that we need to get rid of.

It is hard to say when delivery boys and packages will be welcomed as friends again but until then, the thing that we are sure of is protecting ourselves from the coronavirus. I’m sure that the Amazon and food delivery boxes will understand our compulsion due to the present circumstances and will learn to forgive our misconduct in time, just like old friends do, but until then, no justification is needed for our actions. They are the invisible weapons that will help us defeat the demon.

Also Read | Lockdown Diary Of A Teenager: Coronavirus helped nature heal. We must learn our lesson too