QUARANTINE.....

The word Quarantine has the dubious distinction of being the most used word in recent history, I think!  It is not that I hadn’t heard this word before, it was mentioned in our textbooks during high school, that the patients suffering from communicable diseases causing pandemic situations (like tuberculosis, plague, Spanish Flu) need to be quarantined if my memory serves me right.

However, when my left wrist was stamped with the phrase “quarantined for 14 days” on arrival at Kempegowda International Airport at Bengaluru, a mild tremor of trepidation went through me!   I must admit, it wasn’t as though it was unexpected. On the contrary, it was very much expected, (thanks to Air India and the prevalent Government SOPs)…...but still!

We were taken by bus to Hotel Leela Palace.  It was almost 2 a.m. in the night after a long 25 hours of flight,  and almost 3.30 a.m., by the time all the formalities were over.  I could go to bed only around 4 a.m. IST!.  

The room was very beautiful and spacious.  The Hotel crew was extremely helpful and courteous.  They ensured all the safety and sanitary measures were adhered to very strictly.  The butlers, who served all the food (morning and evening tea, breakfast, lunch, and dinner), were adequately dressed in the PPE suits.  Later on, I came to know that they were also confined to specific floors, rather, it appeared that they also had to undergo informal quarantine, along with the guests on the floor.  The food was good, the quantities were sumptuous, so much so that I couldn’t even finish half of the served food, and it was very painful to waste the food.  If I needed anything from the outside world, I only needed to ask for it, and it was provided promptly.

I am a senior citizen, traveling all alone.  I had come from Los Angeles, where I was with my son, daughter-in-law, and my brand new bundle of joy, my grandson.  I had gone there for welcoming him along with his parents to this world and was on my way back to my home, my husband, and daughter, in Vapi. So this period of “14 days quarantine” seemed like a long interminable tunnel to me.

At one end of the tunnel was the hectic period of five months, which were filled with joyful activity, watching my grandson grow up into a beautiful baby, who was learning to recognize his family, his surroundings, and becoming aware of himself.   Each day would bring new surprises, happenings, and pleasures.  And, at the other end of the tunnel was my home, my husband, daughter, and the life, which I was used to. I felt like I was in limbo in this period of quarantine.  But, I also learned to be with myself, AND my thoughts; in short, it was time for reflections and new resolutions!  In the meantime, I was confined to my beautiful room.

My savior was the “Balcony” attached to my room.  It was not very large but it had a couple of cane chairs, and a coffee table, overlooking the backside of The Leela Palace property

 I could see a swimming pool (which was empty and dry at present, ensconced with some nice trees.    Most important of all, I could see and hear some birds, definitely music to a birdwatcher’s ears! The Balcony was my haven.  I used to have my tea there in the mornings and evenings.  I could hear the melodious Asian Koel, the Tailorbirds, and Purple-rumped Sunbirds, who visited the trees quite often.  They had the company of Spotted Doves, Rose-ringed Parakeets, Black kites, Rock pigeons, and three different species of Mynas.  

The most interesting one to me was the White-cheeked barbet, which I was seeing for the first time, in other words, it was a "lifer for me".   It has beautiful emerald-green wings and tail, a dark brown head, and a bold white cheek-patch, below the eye.  

White-cheeked Barbet

There were quite a few of them, flitting from one tree to another and gorging on berries.  They were beautifully camouflaged, I could see them only if I saw them in flight.  The air was filled with their typical rolling calls…”Pucock…Pucock…Pucock”.  

The evening skies used to be filled with black kites gliding on their “thermals” and parakeets returning to their roosting places.  

  Black Kite

Rose-ringed Parakeet  

Common Myna

Spotted  Dove

Come nightfall, there was of course the television and my books.  So all in all, my quarantine was not as bad as I feared, thanks to the balcony and the birds.  On day 15, I took a flight to Mumbai, amid all the safety measures, and traveled by a sanitized taxi, to my Home, Sweet Home.  

But the story doesn’t end there - my left wrist was stamped once again at Mumbai Airport......

“Home quarantined for 7 days”!