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Share"Mom, do you think we should wear masks?" Gaurav asked me when he returned from his class last evening. "Two kids in my class wore them...." Almost all of us are haunted by the spectre of the new bug and are not sure of how its symptoms differentiate from those of the common cold or flu.
Just last fortnight - before the H1N1 flu had raised its hackles in our country - my 14-year-old had spent three days at home, downed by viral flu. Grumbling at being tethered to home, he had listened to his paediatrician uncle's instructions though, and when, during that time I had met my editor colleagues for lunch he had begged me to get a slice Mia Cuccini's pizza back for him. But my good sense prevailed over his pleadings...and on the fourth day, he was back at school.
This was then. Now, as individuals are succumbing to the new disease, the word flu has got fatal connotations. Even before schools and colleges shut down a few days ago to help contain the spread of the virus, we had been on the phone with my daughter urging her to take care. Her institution was one of the first to declare a 'no attendance' week which prompted most children to return to home base.
I remember talking to the warden who was all comfort and reassurance - in the midst of the growing storm.
The night before my daughter returned, I had chatted at the witching hour with her. Next day, early in the morning when news channels reported that a couple of institutes (hers included) were letting students leave, I promptly called her up - but there was no response. Then having made umpteen calls in the space of half an hour, I got a message, "Am coming home, wanted to surprise you!"
A couple of days later, I heard my six-year-old niece pipe up and ask my son, "What's a swine?" As I was walking by, he explained, "It's another word for a pig..." Her rejoinder was: "I know a story about them. Do you remember The Three Little Pigs?" There, the pigs were threatened by a wolf. Here, they are the source of a menace to life and limb!
It is tough not to feel a frisson of fear. So, when I developed a slight cold, out came the huge hanky that was swiftly tied around my nose as I spent quality time with the kids at home. "Mom, do you really need that at home?" was their reaction. "Don't over-react!" was their response.
But believing 'It's better to be safe than sorry,' on the huge soft board up went a list of simple instructions - wash hands well, be careful while you go out, drink lots of liquids, suck lemons twice a day, and no unnecessary outings, especially in crowded places.... The last created an argument or two.
And since friendships are stronger than a fear of illness, some outings were deemed necessary, especially as they were to bid adieu to US bound student friends.
My heart goes out to those who have succumbed to the disease and their families. It leads me to think what most of us would feel, in the words of Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird), "There but for the grace of God, goes I!"
The swine flu is perhaps here to stay like the common cold, flu, malaria and so many other ailments we take in our stride. If only pigs could fly...they would take the swine flu away, it's giving them such a bad name!
