Diary of an Isolate

14 Days in Quarantine

Day 9

“It’s not events that upset us but rather our opinions about them.”

Marcus Aurelius

Death is life’s ultimate reality. The process of ageing — the irreversible degradation of our bodily functions and the loss of our mental faculties to diseases like dementia is nature’s way to ensure that we slip into a state where we do not experience our own end.

Our journey towards death begins the day we are born. Everyday we are dying a little bit — and we are enjoying it — feeling fulfilled — simply because we think it is life we experienced that day. Life in all its glory, its happiness, its mystery, its magic and its million pleasures and ecstasies and satisfactions.

You may think that a day had been added to life but it could also signify a day subtracted from death. Death and life co-exist and impact us every day every moment and we experience life — not death. How strange?

This is probably the reason why we ignore death. The truth is we are not scared of death — we are scared, instead, of the pain that accompanies death.We are scared of losing our children, our parents our siblings, or friends and our material possessions.

One way to deal with death is to imagine you were never born. In fact, our birth and death are accidents of transition from non-existence to existence and back into non-existence. Essentially we go back to where we came from — which is nowhere. In the cosmic cycle of time, our lives represent fleeting and insignificant moments. There is only so much importance they deserve.

Unfortunately, the constantly refreshed images of Covid patients gasping for breath are so deeply etched in our minds that we would prefer any other form of death over it.

It is this fear that we must confront but seemingly unable to do so. Therefore we are condemned to self isolation, confinement and lockdowns.

If only we could adjust our response to this unnecessary fear and accept to be self disciplined and cautious in our lives during the period of Covid, our lives could be less tedious and perhaps more normal — despite the abnormal situation.

This morning, the eagerly awaited results of our second RT PCR Test were disclosed. Like most others, I was informed to be negative.

For some of us who did their first test in India — on the 21st/22nd of Oct, before departure on 26th Oct and then on the 27th Oct on arrival and the last one on 3rd Nov, there is no chance turning positive henceforth. Three tests are considered sufficient to confirm the infection or lack of it.

It is time we should be released. Unfortunately the protocol demands otherwise — isolation for another 5 days.

The hotel room is now home. The remaining days will soon pass.