Mid Feb, 2020 onwards, the powers that like to be seen to be protective, started building up the
pressures for precautions, isolation, social distancing and information rained thru all modes of media
to educate us on the grave risks, health hazards and highly contagious COVID-19 with alarming data
becoming available on the number of infected and number of deaths. Risks taken by me in travelling
by Delhi Metro during the last few days of active working in Feb,2020 started haunting as I knew
that Chinese ladies/ tourists had also sat next to me during brief journeys. TV News, Graphs and Bar
Charts on the build up and angry as well as unreasonable reactions of many on social media, TV, etc.,
created too much of pressure and I was told to be highly cautious for next 14 days. My whole family
was anxious and looked at me as the culprit who might have brought Novel Corona home.
So much of good advice, on boosting personal immunity and on senior citizens, specially males being
in very high-risk category (more so the oldies with stent/ history of heart attack, diabetes, obesity,
smoking, asthma, etc.) was no less than a band of active demons finding chinks to invite Novel
Corona. My family had relieved maid servants and my wife and daughter, both were under work
stress while I was busy, caught in the web of interesting information and developments of Pandemic.
On April 1st, not that I was fooled but I had voluntarily undertook cleaning the windows, doors and
high places of the dust and dirt and by the afternoon, I was like a batsman who had scored a century
without hitting boundaries and remaining not out. Worries started when I suddenly developed back
pain, cough and thick mucus. So, I started with gargles and steam for quick relief but the flash backs
of laces of clotted blood from my throat, a few days back, started haunting me. That fateful day, the
car was driven by an experienced driver with three of us travelling, had the balloon acid trick applied
to our car and I was lucky to have come out of car to avoid acidic fumes, from front taking my laptop
bag with me while my two associates had come out from back seat to check the front of car when
driver was opening the bonnet, only to realize that their bag was stolen in less than a minute on a
busy two way road with traffic police men some twenty metres away. My muscles in both, arms and
shoulders, were stiff and slight movement caused high pain sensation as if I had a slip disc.
The day next, again I observed that in two to two and a half hours after dinner, there was
interesting sensation in my arteries in the legs and I self-checked temperature …slightly above
normal. Same sensation started two hours after B.F., Lunch and Dinner, the body temperature shall
move up and then come down. The situation was getting worse and on the third day, I was assessing
on what to do as it seemed that my spinal cord itself was disturbed at first and the next few vertebra
around shoulders that I could neither breathe in or out or turn and had to freeze my chest and then
go for any action in a very slow motion to make the level of pain bearable. I shared my typical
situation in very brief with a post on our batch’s WhatsApp group and quick came a phone call from a
batch-mate with an experienced advice to go for a Muscle Relaxant Pill as ointment and pain killers
shall not help. I told my wife that I will face the problem and going to hospital shall be the last
option. That night, a resolve in mind and the Muscle Relaxant Pill and Ointment made me sleep well
and I took bed-rest and on the next day, did not even move to the room with TV and it was the first
day that I ducked the news on TV. The third day, I was back to normal wondering what had
happened. I am not too sure but it seems I had broken free from the vice like grip of COVID-19. It
also struck me that too much of bad news, helplessness in not being in a position to make much
difference the way Pandemic was being tackled and slow build up of pressure on mind had alerted
the immune system that responded. If there was slight infection, it overkilled it or it was just a
muscular pain that got cured by rest and relaxation or was it my correct self-analysis that it is one’s
own mind that is the first mask or shield of one’s body to keep it protected and in the working order
and responsive condition.
If mind is occupied for too much time and for too much of its attention remains on any issue
such as COVID-19,it can get overloaded with stress and get chinks that invite
the attack of negativity on the body, kicking up the immune system. Good outcome is that I almost
stopped listening to the news, looking at the bar charts and exponential curves and smiled only at
useful information on how to keep the body’s immune system in top form besides letting my mind,
mind its own business! Another twin positive advantage I forced upon my body is that not only I
stopped smoking since that night onwards but also had realized that a lot of repair and maintenance
requirements of the body were ignored and I have slowly restarted the yoga that I had given a miss
after my school days ! Last of all, it is also an acknowledged fact that unsolicited friendly advice
coming from a selfless batch-mate build trust and confidence to strengthen mind. So, be reminded to
rewind the mind in proximity of your friendly batch-mates. You get your mind re-energized to take
control and it acts as your first mask against any adversity in life.