Early mornings are perfect for walks or yoga. They mark a good start for the day. But for Sushmita, it started with her calling out to her daughter Lara. “Get up, we are getting late for school”, would be her constant reminder to Lara, almost like an early morning mediational mantra. But for about two years, when the world was grappling with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sushmita was badly missing these very words. With a scary and steady onslaught of miseries brought on by a deadly virus, it was hard for Sushmita to pull herself up and find her inner strength to keep Lara safe.
News of families getting separated even if one person was getting diagnosed with Covid was haunting her mind. Having to quarantine for 15-21 days in an isolated ward was frightening; not because of the pain, suffering or even the gasping due to the ill-effects of Covid. It was the separation from her precious daughter that she feared.
One day as Lara looked out of her balcony, staring at the horizon in the front, she thought of something morose. With her mother’s approval, she dared to ask. “What will you do if something happens to me, Ma?”
Instead of answering straightaway, Sushmita asked Lara a remarkably simple question. “Do you remember the days before the pandemic? When I used to wake you up for school?”
Lara seemed confused but after a pause, she said, “Yes, I do.”
“Even in the horrid times of the pandemic, what kept me motivated was the single thought that those days when you and I got ready for school would be back again in our life,” Sushmita elaborated.
Lara was still trying to understand what her mom meant. Sushmita then added, “All these years of the lockdown and staying at home were really hard. So every single morning, I remembered the beautiful smile you gave to me when I saw you off to school. I felt strong when I saw you wave your hands and walk confidently walk towards your school. I felt great knowing that you were sure you’d see me waiting to pick you up in the afternoon.”
Indeed, that little thought had helped Sushmita find inner strength and embrace the uncertainty of suffering, isolation and disease. She was adamant to see the return of the moments when she’d be able to see off Lara at the school again. Sushmita had cultivated inner strength by deciding to go through the hardships of Covid-19 by hanging on to the hope of seeing Lara live a healthy life again. The scene where her child went to school taking little strides with confidence, was the hope that kept her going.
Lara was smiling by now. “I know nothing will happen to me as long as you are there with me, Ma,” she said.
Sushmita hugged her child and said, “Okay, we are getting late for …” to which Lara interrupted her and said, “I will never be late for school ever again, Ma.”