Dearest jhia,
You are 7 today.
From where we started and with what, 7 seems surreal.. You are a tall girl. And you have now not seen the face of the school for 2 years! It will be something to remember. Back to the 6th birthday. The COVID-19 pandemic was on; even though there was a little reduction in the number of cases, we, your parents, being the extra cautious ones that we are (it is up for judgement whether that is a bad thing or good), decided that we should not have any celebration in a closed space and thus opted to do it -- at the beach. So, we packed food, cake, banners, balloons and headed to the beach. We invited just a few people, your friend Tingia made a surprise visit the previous day from Jaipur, and it ended up being a nice celebration at picturesque location.
Your Mummy then went to Bangalore in February for the annual ritual for nanu; and you stayed back with me. Needless to mention, we lived on pizza and burgers for those two days. In March, after having been at home for one full year, we thought we should take you out and we went to Anejhari, the butterfly camp, which was a good 1-day break. The first quarter of the year passed like that and then the Delta wave (you might learn about that later) gripped India. One of the most devastating scenarios unfolded mid-year, where thousands of people died, hospital beds weren't enough, oxygen wasn't enough in hospitals. There was chaos. It was not a good place to be in; we were scared and for our families staying far away. We tried to help few people as much as possible by either donating some money or calling up people for hospital beds.
All very small effort, but remember, in such times, even a little counts. A little can make a big difference in someone's life. Often we brush away things thinking it's insignificant, miniscule, unimportant, unworthy but you never know which of it would mean something else for a person. Therefore, help, whenever you can, in whichever way you can, in any measure that you can.
A few people we know passed away in that brutal wave. We were largely safe, but then in May (19th to be precise), I was diagnosed positive for Covid-19. Though I had a very very mild disease, the scare, especially in the first two-three days was immense. I was at home in the 'sundar' bedroom for 14 long days and it is truly commendable of your mother and you to manage everything at home, with help from no one else. You were scared, but you held up really well. Am very proud of you.
Lockdowns were upon us and we were at home for weeks. When it got relaxed, we hit the beach once in a while. It rained a lot this year, just a lot. And it rained almost until end of November. In November your aunt had to be taken to Delhi for her visa work and we had to thus make a trip to Bangalore. Which we did, and by road (reason: already covered in the beginning; playing it safe, as air travel has more risk of getting infected). And we did that again, in December, when Nanima and Niti left for Sweden. So, in the first trip we discovered that you have motion sickness, you vomited all over me while we were getting back. But you did really well for a 6 year old to make those long trips. In the second iteration, we stayed for longer at Bangalore, helping in packing, etc.
One of the most remarkable events of the year was your aunt leaving for Sweden to pursue her masters degree. No amount of words can describe her grit. For a quadriplegic, holed up in one room for nearly 10 years, to make a long journey to Sweden, to an ice cold climate, to pursue higher education after such a long gap; and all of it while being limited by the ability to do so many things, is what inspirational books are made of. I am sure you are quietly imbibing many things and we can see that your perspectives of ability/disability are so different and unique. Let no one in future tell you that these are 'woke' things. Those who say such are narrow minded people who have failed to evolve. Basic human decency, the ability to grow and change ones thinking, to be compassionate and to accept diversity are minimum things that we can and should do as a human being.
This year, when the Covid cases were at the minimum we were also visited by Jema, Jepa, Trisha nani and Hitesh Fufa and it was a good family get-together at Manipal, albeit for just 2 days. It was certainly nice to see everyone. Since Jema is the principal of her school and a massive renovation work of the school is taking place, she could not afford more holidays. Trisha nani kept sending you gifts, and your obsession with 'long dress' doesn't seem to abate. And just prior to that Z uncle and R aunty had come over from Jodhpur and all of us went to Moodbidri for a couple of days; which you kids, Yash and you enjoyed immensely.
In 2021, you took to watching Paw Patrol a lot, Ninja Hattori again towards end of the year, sprinkled with Masha & the Bear, etc. You also took to watching stuff on OTT like Prime - Kalari kids, little bit of Malgudi days, etc. We watch the dance and music show on weekends and interestingly you impeccably remember the names of the participants. You took an online class for chess which you did learn a little. We have been having a lot of 'soup' dinners this year, without relenting on Mummy made delicacies which continues unabated. Few of the Saturdays you went to your best friends house, and then you had to skip your ritual afternoon nap. I would have liked you to make more friends, but that was not to be; I would have liked you to play more sports, but that was not to be; I would have liked you to travel to more places, at least Odisha, but that was not to be. But we have to do with what's dished out under trying circumstances.
Your school has been in an online mode this year largely. When it reopened in November, we decided not to send you; for multiple reasons' one that course was near complete, two that you are doing well academically, three that we are not sure. Frankly, it is important to go to school, not only for the learning part (luckily, we can take care of that at home too; not all can, and thus it is important to go to school. Huge number of kids have suffered learning in the pandemic) but for the socializing part.
As I write this letter to you, a new variant of coronavirus, called Omicron, is set to spread in India. The cases are rising after a long lull. Things might get little bad in the next two months and this might make you stay more at home and postpone going to school. It is a difficult time to be a kid. I don't know how all of it is going to affect one later. It is challenging as a parent too to walk that line between allowing a free-range childhood (guess you never got one in ours, though for genuine reasons) and being careful.
The world has been chaotic the last year. Science made tremendous progress. Vaccine science, mutli-site drug trials grew manifold in and due to the pandemic. A large telescope James Webb Space Telescope was launched in December which will go very far and tell us so much more about the origins of human life. Edutech grew, albeit not in equitable fashion, exponentially. The US pulled out of Afghanistan creating a huge crisis, the Chinese are sitting on Indian borders, petrol prices hovered above Rs 100 this year, polarization seems to be increasing massively, getting unsafe for women, India included, and it is scary how the public discourse has been. It is worrying to think. Life is weird, it is sometimes the best of times and worst of times to be in.
However, we shall do the best we can. Isn't it? On 31st December, we went to the beach, the lovely one at Kodi, which you love a lot. This is becoming kind of a ritual (your first beach outing was on 31st Dec in 2015). You are super excited, as you rightly should be, for your birthday, which, yet again is going to be 'Elsa' themed. I hope you have a great one.
I love you the most.
Papa
