As the number of novel Corona Virus cases is on the rise in India, it has become another reason after the anti-CAA protests to be scared for the parents whose children study and work in different parts of the country.
“We were deeply perturbed when the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests began in December 2019 and quickly spread to the cities where our children live. And now this virus scare has got us worried for their well being,” says Seema Gupta, a resident of Channi Himmat. Her daughter is pursuing BTech in Delhi.
“We don’t know if she’s eating healthy food, if she’s living in a clean and hygienic place or if her college is monitoring students for the potentially dangerous virus and quarantining them. Had she been here, we wouldn’t be so tensed,” she adds.
Sukhpreet Kour, Seema’s neighbour, says, “My son works for a private telecom company in Delhi. The day the entire chain reaction of upheaval started, I wanted to go and be with him. But he assured me that the violence hasn’t reached his place and that he’ll be fine. However, with the spotlight shifting to the deadly virus, I can’t help but fear.”
She states that she has been calling him twice every day to check on him and also to suggest all possible precautions.
“Living away from families is not easy, but we manage somehow. We do not tell our parents every difficult situation we face, because we think that parents would fret sitting miles away. The same applies to parents too. We only tell things for which, according to us, parents have some solution,” mentions Rahil Verma of Janipur, studying Animation in Pune.
He couldn’t come to Jammu to celebrate Holi with his childhood friends, because his parents have ordered him to not travel especially by air.
He adds, “Situations like these (protests and corona virus), where you don’t know what can happen next, make it difficult – not only for us but our parents as well. Our studies have suffered. Our work has suffered. Our health has suffered. We are trying to survive the uncertainty.”
Rajesh Kaul of Talab Tillo says, “As soon as we heard of the virus outbreak in China, we tried to convince our son and daughter-in-law living in London about the gravity of the situation. London is visited by people from different countries, making it vulnerable to virus attack. We advised them to ensure hygiene, avoid social gatherings, and adhere to government advisories.”
Seema Gupta remarks that the parents are in a dilemma. “We don’t know should we go to our children, who are too young to be left on their own amidst all this or ask them to come back to Jammu, where a case of a woman has been confirmed positive for COVID-19 today only.”
“Thankfully J&K government has restored our access to social media, though at 2G network. We can atleast video chat and exchange pictures with our children living far from us,” points out Sukhpreet.
Kaul says that his family is constantly glued to media platforms to get the latest information on the COVID-19 cases and praying for their children’s safety.
Also: Read my article at THE NEWS NOW
After anti-CAA protests, Corona scares parents
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