The road looked frighteningly desolated in that morning.I glanced around while driving. The surrounding area had received moderate rainfall this week, amidst a hot summer. The plants seemed freshened, the birds were singing and the stray dogs wandered confidently. Everything appeared natural except humans. The human presence seemed minimal.
Barring a few, the people stayed back in their homes, experiencing the national lock down. The state police were strictly enforcing the ban on free movement. There had been videos in social media, in which police beat with cane those venture out onto roads without a valid reason. In his daily press meets, the Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan emphasized on the importance of staying at home. Social distancing remained to be the only way, by which the country could stop a social spread of Covid 19. The police were on every street. I could spot them far away on the road. They waved me to a halt when I neared. Opening the windscreen, I extended my ID card. An officer walked up to the car.
'Doordarshan' I told him. He raised his eyebrows while he examined the card from a safe distance. 'Do you have any other docs to show?' He asked me as if he did not believe me. 'No, but I was told this is sufficient'. The policeman was not in a mood to argue. He let me go, but reluctantly. Being skeptical is part of their job. Anyway, the ID card worked!
This was one of those moments when one would be proud to be a part of AIR and DD. There were no places to get tea or refreshments on the highway during the lock down. Even for a wash room you need to enter into a petrol pump which were compulsorily open I had been with my family for a couple of days to arrange the essential supplies at home.
There were rumors of a forthcoming shortage of provisions as the goods transportation had got affected by the lock down. However, I found the shops with sufficient stocks on display. Stopping the car, I searched for news on my mobile phone. There were many radio and TV stations on internet. I found one national channel, put the mobile on the dash board and accelerated. This way, I could hear the current national news while on the move.
I had still a couple of hours drive to reach at DD Trivandrum. DD Trivandrum ran on skeleton staff. We worked in teams to reduce interactions. In these pandemic times, the station had taken some counter measures against the crowding of staff. Still, we aired a couple of live programs and in special programs in additions to news bulletins and regular shows.
Suddenly, something drew my attention to the news cast on mobile phone. The newscaster was telling about the doctors and health workers around the globe who fought the pandemic and finally contracted the disease. How sad, I thought, these health workers did not even get enough recognition. I felt a kind of uneasiness grip over me I was stopped at every small town on the way by the police. The same routine procedure.
The police stayed on the road throughout the day and, if needed, night as well. They were ensuring social distancing, part of fighting against the Covid 19. Not just a fight. A war was going on. I passed many such checking points on the way. There were people from health department too, doing checking and giving advice to stay in. The system worked fine, I thought. We would win, ultimately. Things were beginning to brighten up.
And then, I heard an unusual sound. Guessing something went wrong with the car, I slowed down, parked the car by the footpath and got out. Oh God! I had a flat tyre. The tyre needed to be changed. I sighed. I had to do it myself on that empty road. You couldn't expect helping hands on in lock down periods. Tough work, you know. Getting the spare tyre out, raising the car on a screw jack and so it went. But somehow, I managed it. Though it wasn't that difficult, I felt exhausted with the effort and the news I listened to in the background. The news of health workers who caught the disease was very depressive. They got hurt in their fight and they did it for the rest of us. A selfless service.
When moved ahead, far ahead on a tall hilltop, there appeared the Jatayu Rock, shining in sunlight. I was reaching Chadayamangalam, where the Jatayu Nature Park was situated. Jatayu is the mythical divine bird which tried to stop Ravava and rescue Sita while Ravana was forcefully taking her to Lanka. It is believed that Jatayu fell on these rocks after his wings were clipped off by Ravana.
I thought about those health workers eventually died while fighting against Covid -19. In England, in Italy or elsewhere. Hadn't these warriors got their wings clipped off in this fight?
But, eventually Rama will kill Ravana and rescue Sita, I was sure.