Who’s afraid of coronavirus?

As India scarily shuns the coronavirus with a namaste, I remember another virus from another time. The influenza virus wasn’t as dangerous as this one, but nevertheless had wreaked havoc in our kindergarteners’ little lives. It would all start with someone’s cough. The next day, the bench mate would cough, and then the next neighbour, and then the next. Soon, the epicentre was forgotten and the whole class would be coughing in chorus.

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Handkerchiefs were pinned on our frocks and we were asked to cover our mouths with them, when we felt like coughing. But we were too small to remember such a tedious ritual. One cough led to another and the coughing continued. Masks were brought in. Whoever coughed was made to wear one. Coughs were suppressed because of the fear of having to wear the uncomfortable mask. And the virus continued to spread silently.

One day, the teacher announced, ‘Anyone coughing will be quarantined to the sickroom.’ We were still learning three-letter words. We didn’t understand what this 10-letter word called ‘quarantine’ meant. Rumours spread about it. Someone said the one who would be quarantined would die soon. We didn’t want to die, so we suppressed our coughs fervently. Still, one of us was quarantined.

We waved our goodbyes to her, as if we would never see her again. With teary eyes, she waved back at us, silently knowing that she was destined to die soon. But she came back after three days with a smile on her face, without any trace of the coughing virus, and with chocolates in her hand.

After that, everyone in the class wanted to be quarantined, but unfortunately, the sickroom had beds for just three lucky students. Those who went in quarantine went as if they were going to a beautiful exiled land. When they smilingly returned, we looked at them as if they were NRIs.

The smiles vanished when another virus that wasn’t as innocent as the influenza virus came knocking at our classroom door. Five of us were inflicted with chickenpox and had to be quarantined at home for a week. I was one of them. Compulsory isolation made me cry. I felt weak. Mom said, ‘Once you defeat this virus, you’ll emerge stronger.’

After defeating it, when I entered my classroom, my teacher said, ‘By being in quarantine, you’ve saved all of them from having chickenpox.’ My classmates applauded. After that incident, throughout our school life, virus was never a thing to be scared of. The viruses came and went away. What stayed with us were our tales of resilience. I still have a chickenpox mark that reminds me that I had once defeated a virus.

Everything is the same again: a virus, the coughs, the masks, the scare, the rumours, and our resilience. The class of kindergarten is now the whole of our country and the world. And I’m sure that once we defeat it, we’ll emerge stronger.