Seema called me and told me I could go outside from 7 am to 11 am to do shopping. She and all the ladies are doing well and send their love!
It was like coming up from the netherworld after the zombie apocalypse siege. My eyes unaccustomed to the sun pull their shades down viewing the world through squinted slats and safety googles. It was hotter outside than I thought it would be.
Chalk circles were drawn, but nobody was standing in them.
Sign outside said, in Hindi and English; “Only two people in at a time,” but I was beckoned to come into a store with 4 or 5 other people.
“Mataji!” They were happy to see me – perhaps they thought I had died.
It felt weird to be outside.
Apparently, carbonated drinks are not a necessity. Thankfully, instant Nescafe coffee is and lucky for me, very few people in Vrindavan (or India for that matter) drink coffee. I claimed the largest jar behind the counter as I came in.
There simply isn’t any option for hoarding. Not that our human nature is so superior rather our flesh is weak; loading up with excess goodies only means you have to schlep them all home, walking with heavy shopping bags. So I only buy what I need and can reasonably carry home a mile or so.
People are out shopping, about 50% have some kind of rudimentary face mask on, or partially on, strapped but dangling from one ear.
Underneath my appearance of a hastily wrapped face mask scarf is a state-of-the-art, highly-sought-after-but-not-to-be-found genuine 3M N95 mask, slightly used, but still highly functional.
This past fall, as India was moving into high air pollution time, I was just leaving the States after moving my daughter to Utah. The last thing I did (Providence intervenes once again!) was walk across the street to a CVS Pharmacy in Layton and load up on the best face masks I could find because the air quality in India was outrageously bad, worst in the world with Delhi hitting upwards of 500 AQI and Vrindavan hovering around 200 AQI.
So we wore these masks all through the winter, anytime the AirVisual app advised we should. Come spring and pandemic time, my mask, while filled with dust particles, turns out to be the Air Jordon/Apple Phone of the face mask fashion world – haute couture.
And that was my first foray outside after being inside my house for over 14 days straight. Locked down in India Day 14.
How was your day?
Ron has urged me to not go grocery shopping anymore because we are ‘of that age’ so fortunately a nice young man from our congregation went for us. We are hunkering down ok. Schools here in PA are closed for the rest of the year. We have already missed a college graduation and a wedding and heard about 2 babies that were born but do not have the luxury of adoring family around them. This is beginning to wear on me. Zoom and Marco Polo are my friends… we have ‘happy hour’ on Friday evenings which has been fun. Two friends ‘sent’ me chocolate since I grumbled… apparently the two masks I bought for us for last year in Delhi turned out to be N99 masks. We are grieving the loss of lives and the strain on the medical professionals, but the son of a good friend is making bars, cookies and brownies to send to hospitals for them,. I’m glad you got a chance to get out after 14 days and that you scored a large jar of coffee!! you and the women, take good care of yourselves!!
Judi! So nice to hear from you and your trials and tribulations during this turbulent time. The ladies and I send blessings to you and your family, always and especially today, Easter Sunday! He is risen!! Happy Easter! Please, you are welcome to come visit us anytime you are in India, which looks like at least once a year. I am thankful for my new jar of instant coffee – it really makes me jump out of bed in the morning just to savor that cuppa! I’m back in lockdown for the next few days at least and I think PM Modi is getting ready to extend the lockdown time. Be well, God bless!