COVID Times

3 May 2021. I am writing this while quarantined in a room at home. This was a tragic weekend and I’m still spinning from its repercussions. A childhood friend of mine passed away due to COVID. I had not been in touch with him since 2011 and did not even know we were living in the same city for the last 2 years. My friend was single and lived with his parents. He contracted COVID and passed away at home on Friday, with his aged parents also contracting this dreaded virus. His funeral was on Saturday, at a city crematorium not far from his home. His close friends and relatives who were based in another city were frantically trying to find out at least one local person who could attend his funeral, apart from the ambulance driver and the crematorium staff. Finally through some serendipity they got in touch with me 1 hour before the funeral. It broke my heart that a friend of mine whom I was close with through 14 years of school was going to have a lonely farewell. It should break our hearts, that millions have gone through this fate. I was the only known person at his funeral. There is no dignity in death, even though the crematorium was not as crowded as what we have seen in Delhi and managed his cremation quickly. Now my friend is dead. His parents need support. He hadn’t included them in the insurance plan provided by his company. My friend was not irresponsible and I am pretty sure he might have got them another insurance policy but we do not know the details of any policy. His parents do not even know how much money was in their bank account. My friend was a good son and he managed everything for his parents. Right here, right now that is their biggest problem. They lost their son, they are in shock and they don’t know what he has done for them. But the purpose of this note is to tell you of 2 things. (1) Make sure all your loved ones have all the details they might need in their direst situation at their finger tip. (2) Keep in touch with your friends. Its bad form to meet your friend after 10 years at his funeral.