Caught between lock & unlock; the misty road ahead, writes Moumita Gupta

August 24: For the inhabitants of Cachar district, the declaration of ‘Stricter Restrictions’ (technically & legally) on Sunday night from 27 August to 4 September was a new version of ‘Lockdown’ (term used by common people). The announcement made by the District Administration was as if the ‘sound of a bugle’ augmenting an alarm to stock essential commodities within next 2 days. But for those down the economic ladder, it was fruitless search for some extra pennies which would empower them to buy food for 9 days ahead (may be 11 days if Saturday & Sunday continue to enjoy the status of weekend lockdown).

Throwing a big challenge to the scorching heat on Monday, the streets of Silchar witnessed a swarm of people, men and women, young and old, busy in panic buying. I too got ready to mingle with the multitude on the streets and purchase the essentials. I was then busy finalising a long list along with my husband. Suddenly my 9-year-old son out of curiosity joined us. His eyes showed sign of extreme joy. Unable to fathom his source of ecstasy, I asked him out of curiosity, “What is the matter? Why are you so glad?” He replied instantly, “Ma I am sure some guests are coming to stay with us and so both of you are busy in preparing a long list of commodities!”

I could not hold my laughter. Infact, staying confined within the four walls since the month of March, my kid thought some guests would be visiting us after so many months and so he can enjoy with them. But the next moment, when I explained to him about the forthcoming lockdown, his face became pale once again. I told him that the Deputy Commissioner has put in place stricter restrictions from from 5 am of August 27 to 12 am (midnight) of September 4 to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ma, will people stop dying from coronavirus, if lockdown is imposed?” asked my kid. “Baba told me that 134 persons were found COVID-19 positive yesterday. Will there be no coronavirus after 9 days of lockdown?” he added and started screaming in joy! I was dumbstruck…. I really was in crisis of words to explain my kid the meaning of ‘breaking the chain’ by imposing lockdown. Though I tried to explain him, but I couldn’t be too much successful in my attempt. Probably, I too was not much convinced about the rationale behind declaration of lockdown at this juncture. For a few seconds, I too became a bit pensive and thoughtful and wondered, when will the procession of deaths come to an end!

Soon I was amidst a huge crowd, a fleet of vehicles, a sea of people was all that I could witness so far as my eyesight went. Putting on my face mask, I started to walk still thinking the “silly” questions asked by my child. Suddenly I heard a voice announcing from a vehicle on behalf of district administration. The voice tried to explain that as because the number of positive cases were trending high, so there was no way out but to take some stringent measures like lockdown. At once, I became cautious and remembered the safety advisories issued by the government to prevent from getting contaminated by novel coronavirus.

Video Credit: Dr. Debashish Sharma

The 1st thing which came to my mind was to maintain social distancing on the street where I was walking at that moment. But to my utter surprise, the very next moment, I could realise that maintaining social distancing was an impossible proposition at that juncture. The road was overcrowded with vehicles and people. The shops alongside the streets were full of panic buyers like me. The streets were chocked with traffic. All seemed to be in a hurry to accomplish their purchases and essential works before the other.

At this juncture, a thought came across my mind, which made me more restless. The 9-day-long ‘lockdown’ intended to break the chain of the deadly coronavirus would fail in its objective in just a span of 2 days of unclock before that. The crowd on the streets of Silchar on Monday was enough to speculate the amount of rush it would be on Tuesday. The blatant violation of social distancing by the ‘panic buyers’ might further endanger the life of the citizens. The close contact with each other on the streets and in the shops was enough to infect a huge multitude of the populace.

Hurriedly, I finished off my purchase trying to save myself from coming in close contact with others, but in vain. I was unable to fathom whether such a move of ‘Stricter Restrictions’ or ‘Lockdown’ will at all serve the purpose. Being a lay person and a law abiding citizen, my position seemed to be like that of the soldier in the poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” where the poet Alfred Tennyson wrote,

The moment the word ‘die’ came across my mind, I became a bit restless. My child’s face flashed in my mind’s eye. A chill of horror captivated me instantly. What will happen, if I become positive walking amidst the crowd? What will happen to my son, if I too meet the same fate at the Medical College like the 75-year-old Ronendra Kumar Deb from Srikona, whose son when went to enquire about his father’s health came to know that the man died 3 days ago!

Caught between ‘lock’ & ‘unlock’, the road ahead became misty before my eyes. Like the soldier of the Light Brigade, I suddenly realised that ‘I am not to question, but just to follow and follow and follow…..’