Quarantine is defined as a state, period, or place of isolation, a restriction placed on people or animals who have been exposed to some infectious or contagious disease. This part deals with my quarantine experience. I don’t intend to criticize this practice since it is one of the necessary measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic crippled the world economy. The hospitality, service and tourism sector is the worst hit. Thousands of people lost jobs across the globe. Hence, it was a difficult decision to give up my well-established career and life in India and move to Canada. Often, I would question myself as to why would anyone give up a job in this difficult period when so many people are losing their jobs.
And honestly, I am still unable to find a fair explanation for this million-dollar question. I hope after some period I might be able to give an affirmative reply.
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Added for the second edition – It’s been three years between the first and the second edition, and now I can confidently answer this question.
But before I talk about what I have achieved so far since I wrote the first edition, I wanted to acknowledge the loss first. I lost a dear friend and brother, Chetan Singh, to COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant, the most dangerous variant of the virus, led to Chetan’s untimely death (May god bless his soul) and I had to shut down ‘The Cog Publication’, a literary venture that Chetan and I started. Chetan and I had big plans for The Cog Publication but due to his death I felt it pointless to continue solo and almost gave up entrepreneurship.
It is very difficult to quantify what I have achieved so far in Canada in the past three years, but I wholeheartedly know that the decision wasn’t wrong. Not that I have amassed a fortune or built assets but I am happy with my decision to move to Canada. The obvious struggles of starting afresh in a different country, hit by market slowdown and recession, are still there and every day brings about uncertainty when it comes to job safety. I guess this uncertainty is the new normal after COVID-19 crippled the world economy but I don’t regret my decision for sure. The economy will bounce back sooner or later and things will improve. Along with a full-time job in the training and development domain, I am also putting an effort on the sidelines to once again fulfil my dream of becoming an entrepreneur. After Chetan’s loss, it was hard for me to do this but I felt that I owed him a lot and continuing my endeavours would be the best way to carry on his legacy. I have registered a company and hope to make it profitable soon. HSD Ascent Services, Canada, offers literary solutions to aspiring and established authors.
So, was it a good decision to give up everything in India and move to Canada?
Hell no!
Are things shaping up the way I wanted?
No for sure.
But, I live by the belief that things will definitely look good in due time. So, here’s hoping for the best for the life in Canada++
*This is just my point of view, others might feel differently about life in Canada.
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When my wife and I went into quarantine after arriving in Canada, there was a piece of emotional baggage of uncertainty accompanying us into our hotel room at the Holiday Inn located on Dufferin Street, Toronto. The stress of being confined to a room for fourteen days was bound to elevate the effects of this emotional baggage along with the thought of an uncertain future in a new country. Thankfully, the emotional upheaval didn’t happen and I will explain it shortly.
Being quarantined in a room for fourteen days can be difficult and stressful. Anybody who has gone through it will second it. The limited space in the room and the loneliness involving no socialisation can be perturbing. In this chapter, I want to unravel a ray of hope I discovered while confining myself to four walls.
My wife and I tried everything to kill time during quarantine. It involved chatting with family and friends (Thanks to Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn for inventing the internet), binge-watching web series, playing games, writing (me), painting (my wife), imagining strolling in a park while walking around the room and exercising. However, now and then boredom used to creep in, especially in the evenings. We would sit next to the window and stare at literally nothing. But, a little together-time in a room for fourteen days can also give you a perspective. As I began writing this piece sitting next to the window, looking at the plant dressed in green and yellow apparel, I realised my perspective was changing.
The ray of hope, my beacon of light, may sound small. But, it was this small thing that gave me optimism during quarantine. And it was none other than a little plant, a sapling, which was growing on the gravel-covered roof next to my room. It was isolated and growing on a surface that possibly didn’t support plant growth. Yet it had found a way to stand tall and shine whenever sun rays hit the rooftop. And I decided to name it Hope.
Away from my family in India, life was confined in one of the rooms of a hotel in Toronto, for the past ten days. Now and then I used to stare out of the window, looking at the view that was as dead as the life on Mars, craving to discover some life. As I peeked out of the window of my room, located on the seventh floor of the hotel, for any signs of life, all I could see was traffic moving up and down the highway, a couple of flights landing and taking off at the airport, a parking area next to an under-construction building where cars seemed to be in a virtual trance, and not moving at all. I could hardly spot any bird flying around. There was nothing visible from my window. The view was monotonous. But, it was amongst this ‘nothing’ that I found something to cheer for. The only thing that stood out amongst this nothingness was the plant, a tiny sapling, a hope, growing in the middle of the rooftop next to our floor. It seemed incredible how life found a way to grow in the most unlikely situations or places.
Every morning I would wake up, unfold the curtains and make it a point to check on Hope. I wished I could reach it. Serve it with some water and nourish it. I wanted to take Hope away from that place and plant it in a flowerpot. But I was unable to do that. All I could do was pray that Hope bloom and live a fulfilling life befitting all the other plants. Sometimes, I used to think I was going crazy in the quarantine, thinking about a tiny plant emotionally. But, life has the most unpredictable ways of teaching us and I consider Hope as my teacher. Everything around us has something to teach. All we need to do is look around keenly and carefully.
- Hope for me is the lighthouse that stands tall defying all odds.
- Hope for me is the oasis in the middle of a desert.
- Hope for me is like the confidence of a winner.
- Hope for me is Mohammad Ali (boxer) standing tall right in front of his competitors, who are far bigger and stronger than him.
- Hope for me is the sign.
Often people say that they have lost hope in life and they don’t see a way forward. They find themselves lost. Hope taught me that we never lose hope, we simply stop looking for it. If you observe, hope exists in everything around us whether living or nonliving. So, when we say that we have lost hope, we have somehow stopped seeking it. Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes concerning events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large. Just like life finds a way to grow in the most unlikely places, similarly, hope can also be found in those unpredictable places. We only need to seek it. So, those claiming to have lost hope must open their mind, look around and find something or someone that gives them hope. Since hope is just a state of mind, you can change it anytime, but only if you want to. All we need to do is to look within ourselves or find someone or something that gives us hope.
As my Hope stood tall on the gravel-covered rooftop, it showed me the way to cope with the stress of the quarantine. Here are some of the practical things you can do to cope with such stress:
- Keep yourself hydrated.
- Eat well.
- Keep some stuff available for munching such as chips and biscuits.
- Find your passion and concentrate on it (For me it was writing and for my wife it was painting).
- Connect with people more often (use technology).
- Get an adequate amount of sleep.
- Don’t sit in one place for too long. Keep your body moving regularly (I had made it a point to talk over the phone while walking around the room).
- Don’t overreact if you have a mild fever, cough, cold, body ache etc. (It could be the weather change).
- If somehow you do contract the virus, don’t panic. Take care of your health and others by keeping yourself isolated (More in the chapter titled ‘Feardom’ in this book)
- Exercise or practice yoga.
- Find someone or something that sends you positive vibes. It was my hope. You could find something else in your surroundings.
Lastly, if anyone in your family or friend circle is quarantined, be there to support them emotionally.
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