#95: What Covid-19 taught me

Your best laid plans are put to test. Nevertheless, you come out alive, you survive, you even thrive.

Things are improving - brick by brick. You can see the roots, the foundation and this time you know you will be stronger.

You pretended to learn some lessons from this experience, but as soon as the good times are back, you forget about all the hard fought battles!

You are after all Human - Arn't you?

This would have probably going on in the minds of many in the retail fraternity as we were moving past Covid in the 2020 rollercoaster.

Enter 2021, with Covid firmly in the rear view mirror, I doubt many expected that it would rear its ugly head back.

I was busy making plans:

Plans to travel, plans to live, plans to spend...

Business was up-ticking and the old familiar numbers started to surface. Started to feel like The Hulk again and then suddenly just as it all started, everything came to a standstill.

For Version1 of the pandemic, I was mostly a spectator and while like everyone there had been some level of material loss, in the real sense of the word LOSS, the meaning had not yet truly resonated.

In Version2 of the pandemic, I thought to myself out of frustration, I don’t care!

If I get it, I get it, if people die, people die

We need to get out, earn money and live. Enough of this isolation. 

Truth be said, I was thinking about myself. I was obsessed with my own goals be it personal, financial, professional and frankly I really not care about all the suffering that was panning around me.  I wanted what I wanted - At any cost!

I sometimes pondered to myself, "How did I become so selfish and materialistic?"

But I was never one to feel self apologetic for my wanting what I was wanting at any cost. I was living the dream and I wanted to continue doing so even if the whole world was burning. I was ready to go on without care. Hell with the world! As long as I am ok, I don’t care! 

Then the first call came when I was on holiday that my aged parents who were based in Mumbai had contracted Covid. I felt a bit of a sock in the pit of my stomach. Now this Newspaper / TV channel led drama was just about to become real!

This was when I was brought down from 35,000 feet to 15,000 feet.

Post my vacation, I got back to work, put in plans for the new FY in India which starts in April and was ready to start execution.

Another lockdown was lockdown looming and I was visibly frustrated having done a lot of ground work to set the stage for further growth in every aspect - personal & professional.

Then as I came home that fateful Friday before the lockdown was announced, I started feeling a little feverish. Swallowed down as couple of Panadol’s and did not think too much of it. Into the heart of the weekend and classic symptoms start to manifest.

Fever, body pain, loss of taste - the usual suspects!

I got tested and came out positive my mind started to play games. 

On some days, I was positive, expecting to he ok soon and come out of this in flying colours. On some days, I was depressive, worried if I would make it, gasping for breath, checking my O2 level fall to 89, then panic and try to see it GO BACK to 95.

This second blow brought me from 15,000 feet to terra firma where I should have been to start with! The past few days have been absolute madness, an emotional roller coaster not knowing from one day to the next if I would make it!

Then what I read today, resonated with me and I wanted to share it with you all:

If we finally survive this, let it be known that we did not fight for premiere movie or concert tickets, fancy designations nor religious ideologies. We did not fight for first class tickets or a house by the beach.

When all this is over, remember we fought for AIR.

What has Covid-19 taught you!