1. The Happy Bad News
It was 6 O’ clock in the morning of March 6 2020, when I read the Prime Minister’s press release. A 76-year American tourist had tested positive for COVID 19. The first in Bhutan. Schools and institutes were ordered close. My son who was squirming to wake up for school went back to his adolescent snores. His mother, who had already shut down the alarm clock twice, had never felt happier.
But the tiding was anything but happy. Since December Wuhan had been re-christened and it had already transformed from an oriental malady into a worldwide menace, hitting even the white world hard.
I reached office at my usual - a little before eight - time. Messages started pouring into my WhatsApp and SMS. ‘Is it a holiday, chief?’, asked many. ‘How I wish, it was’, I said to myself. It was not. Only schools and institutes were closed.
2. Hand Sanitizer
Soon after, the frenzy for face masks and hand sanitizers began. The first day, people walked around like zombies and half-batmen. You didn’t have to greet anyone, for you wouldn’t recognize anyone!
It was crazier with hand sanitizers. Anything that smelled a bit like alcohol sold like the proverbial hot cake. Within the next day, Thimphu ran out of hand sanitizers; even the duplicate ones with less than 60% alcohol were taken.
Our government thought quickly. Hand sanitizers were concocted from spirit, glycerin and lemon grass. With large coloured drums, Bhutan's Guardians of Peace went around town distributing the propitious liquid. People flocked to the Centenary Farmer’s Market and Norzin lam, empty bottles in hand, to receive their 100 ml. Many didn’t know what to do with the liquid. There were rumours that a couple of elderly people at the Market drank it. They thought it was potion for the virus!
‘Hello, Phuntsho’, I called my office colleague. ‘Can you go with a large jerry can and get some for our office?’. He obliged. The volunteers would not issue bulk quantities. Phuntsho posted the empty can on WhatsApp.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Soon people were looking for spirit, glycerin and lemon grass. Word went around that the virus was scared of alcohol – 60% to be precise. That was interesting! Bhutanese in general are not scared of alcohol.
Offices started making their own sanitizer. Whether it actually sanitized or not, did not matter. If it was high on lemon grass, you smelled good. However, when the spirit was more, you smelled like a half-drunk loafer. The Indian spirit appeared to work on the Chinese virus.
3. Baby Not Mother Virus
One of the early days of the virus, I called my eldest sister, a mother figure, at Neoly. ‘Hello Didi, how are you?’, I enquired. She slowly appeared in the corner of her newly bought smartphone and grinned, as we Messengered for ten minutes.
‘Kanchha, people are talking about this corola virus. What is this? If it is a corolee and not a mau, it should be fine’, she tried to reason with me. (In Nepali corolee refers to a young cow and mau means mother).
The villagers thought it was a baby virus, so why all the fuss! It was not a mother.
4. Atithi Devo Bhava (Guests are Godly)
Meanwhile, everyone started talking about the Index American. Even with my fairly good English, I didn’t understand why the septuagenarian should be referred to as the Index. I googled. Index case or zero case refers to the first documented patient in an epidemic. If so, the American was indeed Index - tall, burly and the first COVID 19 case in Bhutan!
People waited for updates on his condition. Some out of unfounded fear that the virus might spread faster if he kicked the bucket. Most out of genuine concerns. After-all, he was our guest and guests are god sent, although this one came infected. Fortunately, he survived; enough for his worldly wealth to come and fly him back.
The Partner remained. Everyone called her Partner (with a capital P). Even the local FM referred to her simply as ‘the Partner’. After-all she was the Partner of the Index COVID 9 case.
She stayed back. Nay, she was kept back and quarantined! She tested negative until after her fortnight of quarantine. The American legacy continued.
‘Where else did she go?’ The touch points and touch point tracing were playing out like treasure hunt. Her footprints began to matter!
One day, I was walking down to my dusty garage when I overheard a neighbourhood teenager negotiating with his mom. He wanted to go for his usual basketball dunks. His mother wasn’t allowing him. Then he asked her cheekily, yet seriously, ‘did the Partner even go to the basketball court?’
Never since Sherlock Homes have human footprints been so carefully traced and documented.
5. Small world
The world has never felt so small. Whether you are a Japanese, American, African or a simple Bhutanese, the fear of survival today is the same. COVID19. Even the calm elderly Prince Charles has not been spared.
While physical distancing and social distancing matter in order to contain the virus, the vastness and distance between the continents do not! It is unfortunately the same everywhere. The little Italian girl losing her muscles to the virus, staring from Facebook or the burly Chinese who has conquered it. Both typify the COVID19 world.
6. Virus Diplomacy
In between, Prime Minister Modi decides to organize a video conference of the SAARC leaders. It was an opportunity for him to demonstrate good leadership. All the countries participated. Even Pakistan came online, although they chose to ‘send’ their junior health minister. Our PM Dr. Lotay participated with his usual grace and eloquence.
Felt even more proud when Bhutan was the first to respond to PM Modi’s call for the SAARC Emergency Fund. The pride was in the giving and not in the amount. The pride was in the quality of our response, not the quantity!
7. All is Well That Ends Well
Last weekend our King appeared on television. He looked a bit worried. His usual concern for the country and people was evident in his slight frown. With his usual grace and poise, he advised us to remain calm and vigilant. He reminded us that in order to be collectively efficient, we need to be individually responsible.
Goose hairs sprung through my thin hands, when HM said, ‘we must not lose a single Bhutanese to the virus’. The royal resolve resonated through my living room into the thin, yet pristine Thimphu air. I said a quick prayer, ‘we hope the virus will spare us; should it not, we are prepared, what with the leaders we have!’
Meanwhile, our Partner continues to do well. She is still asymptomatic! Let me google what that means!
