So Close, yet So Far

COVID-19, Covid, Corona... The virus, with its many variants, has snatched and is continuing to snatch something dear from everyone... It could be a loved one, the freedom to roam anywhere or a few cherished experiences... 

Office goers may always look forward to the chats they have with their officemates, and for students like me, it's meeting up with friends and teachers after seeing (or not seeing) each other. We did get that chance, but it slipped from our hands really soon... 

Our batch came back from IITM in March 2020 because of the Covid scare. We never foresaw the scare spiralling into a pandemic and the two-week "midsem break" turning into a two-year stay-at-home-and-do-everything exercise. At first, online learning was exciting... Can learn at our own pace and most importantly for a student like me, no proctored exams and a three-hour clock hanging above us within which we had to give our best answers, online assignments with choices and week or sometimes month-long deadlines... Things were beautiful in online learning... Until..

It no longer felt interesting. We get up in the morning, brush our teeth, have our breakfast and sit in front of the laptop, listening to the professor's lecture while keeping our camera's off. The professor will then give us assignments, guidelines and deadlines, and we submit them. Sem over. Repeat.... Meanwhile, our junior batch also joined college but couldn't come to insti due to the COVID scare. There were online campaigns and other activities, but nothing really took off.

This went on for three and a half semesters until a ray of hope shone in our lives. Towards the end of November, we received a message from the Institute administration asking for our vaccination details, like whether you take a single or double dose and what was the vaccine. Our joy knew no bounds because the logical step after collecting the vaccination details was to tell us the dates when we could come back. 

 

You don't know how excited I was!!!

And that message did come on Christmas day, and the Institute admin became our Santa Claus. Jan 17-19 are the dates allotted for the 2019 batch to return to the Institute and stay under mandatory hostel quarantine for seven days and then get tested to see if we could leave the hostel. The 2020 batch, our immediate juniors, came back to campus in the third week of December, and the 2018 batch, our immediate seniors, were to come to campus in the first week of January. 7 days quarantine or 14 days quarantine, I don't care... All I want is to get back to Institute ASAP!!!

I then started the preparations for my 'return trip'. I started pestering my dad to get all the stuff needed for the trip: an extra luggage bag, clothes, footwear and other miscellaneous items. However, my dad kept saying, " I am not buying anything right now. Let the day when you are returning arrive near. Then I'll buy you all the stuff. I thought he was making a big mistake of buying all the stuff at the last minute, but I later realised there was something I didn't know of.

Anyways, back to the return trip planning. I booked the air ticket and the e-pass required to enter Tamil Nadu and patiently waited for 17th January, the departure date from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai, to arrive. However, COVID had other plans and threatened to ruin our return plans. 

Towards the end of November, when I was chilling during the winter break, a news headline appeared on the screen: New COVID Variant found in South Africa.

You have got to be kidding me!!! 

I knew if something terrible happens regarding COVID anywhere in the world, it is only a matter of time before it reaches India. A few days after the Omicron strain was first detected, India reported its first Omicron case. I knew by then that my travel plans were in jeopardy but still hoped that I would go back... 

But December was not really a good month. There were early signs of a spike in COVID cases around the country. By the time our seniors, the 2018 batch, returned to campus, COVID cases started climbing in Chennai. But I still held out hope and prayed that the "dreaded message" didn't come. 

But it did come. On 6th January, the Institute sent an email telling the 2019 batch to postpone their return plans due to the rising COVID cases. Our juniors returned to Insti, our seniors returned to Insti, but we were stuck at home once again! 

A few days back, the Institute once again asked for the vaccination details of the 2019 batch. There might be a good chance that we might go back to campus. Fingers crossed!!!