IF brings us together in a time of adversity.

IF brings us together in a time of adversity.

Like a sculptor, if necessary,

Carve a friend out of stone.

See a companion in your own shadow 

And try to see a treasure in everyone! 

Quarantine and social distancing are necessary measures to prevent the Coronavirus from spreading but also lead to elevated levels of loneliness and social isolation, which in turn produce physical- and mental-health related repercussions. ---

During this pandemic time, love towards humanity played a vital role, that reflects the extraordinary work done by front-line workers, civil servants, those who provide humanitarian assistance and comfort to the sick and dying.

Without denying all the grief, suffering and sorrow that the pandemic has brought humanity, let us ponder on the reinstated family bonding, spending 'me' time for ourselves, refocus on what is really important in this life, connect more deeply with the people in your life. 

 A friend of mine, who was in quarantine, sent a frantic message at midnight ---  I've never been alone, I've been caged in a room -- I've felt suicidal, I've been depressed, I've felt horrible --  Beyond all, I never felt that another person could enter this room and heal what was bothering me. --  This is nothing but a repercussion of prolonged isolation, a consequence of loneliness.

Nothing is more devastating than the loss of people who have been an integral part of our lives – the parent who raised us, the partner who shared our joys and sorrows, the treasured child or grandchild, the close friend or neighbour.

In the face of an unprecedented global pandemic, so many people are experiencing a similar sense of loss today.

The widespread chaos brought about by this pandemic has forced many people to shoulder the burden of their suffering alone. Without the support of a social safety net or close personal connections, their world will remain bleak.

The pandemic has gravely impacted our world, and finding our way out of this labyrinth will be far from easy.

As a country, we have been overwhelmed by the devastation caused by the second Covid wave turning itself into a monstrous tsunami.

Social connection is crucial to our well-being, as prolonged isolation can increase the risk of depression and anxiety. 

Social distancing recommendations will remain in place for months to come, and until there's a vaccine, limits on big gatherings will likely continue.

Lately, ‘being positive’ has become some kind of spiritual cliché. One’s effort to be positive is akin to taking painkillers which help one forget the pain but don’t heal the wound, which needs compassionate self-care in the light of clarity.

Begin with being positive and reflect deeply on the enormity and enigma called life. In our material-oriented living, we have perhaps forgotten to appreciate life. Blind to all-caring existence and its abundance, we have even become forgetful of the fact that we breathe. Let the recent struggle for oxygen be our teacher, telling us to be grateful for every breath that we will take, for the rest of our lives. Let us be driven by the love of life rather than be crippled by the fear of death.

While pain is inherent to life, grief is psychological. Let's overcome that, let's be in touch with each other, let's draw strength from each other. 

 Loneliness has become widespread in modern life. And, social distancing has just exacerbated the problem. Keep friendships alive, with small acts of kindness. Sometimes, a small gesture can help you reconnect. It is heartening to see that many IF members are in touch with each other, even though they are alone in isolation. 

During these strange and difficult times, you can feel like you're really depleted, and you have nothing to give. Look for creative ways to nourish your friendships, Friendship is critical in times of stress — that's what friendship is for! 

To facilitate this friendship, India Forums play a vital role, keeping us informed, raising our depressive mood to a positive attitude.  and a stage for us to share our grief and loneliness and life-changing survival experiences. 

Come, our precious corona survivors...  share your experiences with IF members and enlighten us, encourage us, endorse the instincts of survival in us. 

Imagine there are no countries 

One love, one heart . . .

Let’s get together and heal 🤗

 Feel all right, that's humanity's right! 

Loneliness at the time of isolation is a  melancholic and mournful topic now, which reveals the human misery in detail. Being lonely has several adverse impacts on mental health. Time will take it's own time to solve all these problems with time! 

One of my IF friends shared  with me about this report a few days back--- 

" I read recently, a man in some rural area, isolated himself on a tree top as he could not afford hospital fees and was living in a one room home with parents. He is not a cold cough patient but covid patient with serious symptoms and out in the open on a tree! Wonder who treated him and how he is now." 

Then I've searched for that report --- 

Shiva sits in his makeshift 'Covid isolation ward' — a mattress on a tree, ...... in May 2021

The challenges of Covid-19 come with not just the issues of access to healthcare centers, medication and vaccines, but a more basic problem — a lack of space to home isolate.

With many families sharing a single room that includes the kitchen, Covid positive patients often find they have nowhere to go to isolate. This is why 18-year-old Shiva decided to build himself a Covid ‘ward’ — a bed made of bamboo sticks fastened to the branches of a tree in the compound of his home.

He has a family of four and “cannot let anyone get affected because of me”,  Shiva said he decided to isolate on the tree. 

I was in disbelief that I contracted the virus .

When I showed symptoms .. I tried to hide them and pass it off as nothing but then soon it became too evident .

The family put me into a separate room and it was very very strange being isolated in a room .. in my own house . .. already restricted because of lockdown . 

It’s very depressing being cooped up in a room with your own family members refusing to talk to you lest they contract the deadly virus . Even more scary was they could pass it on to the octogenarians in the family, for them it would mean much more dire consequences . My family members had no choice but to keep in touch by phone only . 

I think it’s the affects of the first dose of vaccine I suffered nothing majorly serious to require hospitalisation. The second dose vaccine has been delayed to 12 weeks after the Covid report comes negative .

Thank God I have innumerable online friends and online activity that kept me fully occupied …. Those days n nights passed … but will remember this all my life . Hope this remains once in a lifetime experience .

Am still waiting for the negative report . 🤔

LOL, have you ever visited bollywood forum?😆

It's heart-wrenching to read and hear about how the virus has affected lives throughout the world.

You're right, Madhu. As human beings we thrive on social connections and this pandemic has robbed us of that one vital link to survival. I feel sad especially for kids whose development depends on this crucial component of social interaction. I already see children being affected, not knowing how to interact with others, and babies born in this period being afraid of human contact! 😭

Luckily (or not depending on which way you see it) I've been at work all through the pandemic being a frontline worker. So I've not had to deal with the social isolation aspect of it. But it has been hard in other ways - like keeping myself safe so that I don't affect my family and other contacts, and the panic that ensues the moment you develop even minor symptoms! Having a common cold has never been so terrifying!

Truly, this pandemic has changed our lives irrevocably and I don't know if mankind will ever return to normalcy.😭

I do feel grateful for platforms like IF that allow you interact online with like-minded people, share your interests, and your pain. I'm sure it has helped many who've had to isolate.

The thing I miss most is giving out (and receiving) actual hugs 😭 and making do with fist bumps or elbow bumps or even a no contact hello. It's not the same somehow.

Anyways, here's a virtual hug for you all! 🤗

In this pandemic time , such posts are necessary Madhu. 👍🏼

We are all craving for freedom of movement and interacting with family and friends. No functions, no travel, no social visits, life in complete standstill . Very depressing. 

We are all grateful to India forums, here is a platform for us to interact with our virtual friends and sharing our feelings and fear with our friends. 👍🏼

The Covid pandemic has disrupted millions of lives across the globe. While some have been lucky to win the battle against the virus, several others have faced devastating consequences.

About my experience, I have seen it, felt it & experienced it.. how it is to be COVID positive. It is scary & dreadful. Specially if your entire family goes through it, more than yourself, u get worried for your family. But as a person one has to learn to deal with it. I went silent, I meditated,I Prayed and it might sound crazy but I laughed through my fears.. It strengthens me, created positivity around me. So that I can empower myself to deal with it..

My dad in India was recently in the ICU for 8 days, with a severe case of Covid and Dengue. He is 57 years old and also has diabetes. He’s now recovering and is out of ICU, but is still hospitalized.

Sharing what I learnt through the process in case it’s useful for someone else.

He had an extremely high fever (104+°F) when he first started presenting symptoms, and his platelets were falling rapidly. My mom got him tested for both Dengue and Covid, where he tested negative for Dengue and positive for Covid. 

Somehow, my mother got recovered from both Covid and Dengue. But my father didn't, being a diabetes patient, it was getting hard for him. 

I didn't know what to do. Cos i myself was tested positive for Covid! Actually, our entire family was tested +ve. Me, my dad, my mom, my brother, my sis-in-law, and my brother's 5 yr old kid. Thankfully, my sister stays in Australia so she didn't got affected till now!

It was dreadful. People simply think that if they get affected they just have to go to hospital pay cash, take medicines and we are out of the situation. If someones thinks it's like this then NO . It isn't! It's really scary! Pls don't take this lightly guys. It's a shame to see that still people go out without masks and show their "HEROPANTI" . For them, I would like to say- Take a life, and take care of your family, wear mask..instead of keeping a "MUJHE KUCH NAHI HOGA" wala behavior. Take care! 

Thanks Madhu Di, for creating a thread for this. It's really helpful!

In this pandemic era , such posts are vital for all of us.

We are all craving for a bit of freedom of interacting with family and friends.

We are all thankful to India forums, here is a platform for all of us to interact with our virtual buddies and sharing our feelings and emotions with our near and dear ones.

I live in USA far away from my family. My family lives on the outskirts of a town. Last month my brother got covid and from him my parents though they were fully vaccinated in March. My brother had fever for one day and after that there were no symptoms though he was still taking medicines. The nearby hospital was 'closed' for new covid patients so one of my relatives who is a doctor in that same town prescribed medicines on whatsapp and my parents and brother used to take whatever medicines were available for them. My mom used to say there used to be a long queue (without social distancing) and even after paying double the amount they still couldn't get all the medicines. 

Suddenly one day my brother's oxygen level came down. Being on the outskirts of the town and having no car, my father tried his best to call a taxi or an ambulance but nobody was ready to come. No neighbor helped him for obvious reasons (I am not blaming them, just wanted to share how helpless they were). I kept on telling my parents to make him sit in the balcony and inhale the fresh air. Finally the next day morning one taxi driver arrived and my brother was hospitalized in the same hospital where my relative is working as a doctor. 

For the first few days after hospitalization he was fine. Then on the day he was going to be discharged his oxygen level went down below 20. The doctor told my dad his 74% of lungs are affected and they're trying their best. 

On May 25th, my brother passed away. He was only 37 and was a healthy person with no high blood pressure or other diseases.  My parents are there alone, crying and depressed and devastated and I can't travel to India now though I am dying to be with my parents. I call them 4-5 times a day and console them. 

I visit IF since more than 10 years but during these devastating times this website diverts my mind from the pain atleast for few minutes. I take part in the contests here to make myself feel better. 

A very apt post Madhuri it is awful even without covid if you have a tragedy in the family during these times my father-in -law and my mother passed away in 2020 and though not because of covid still being in the city and well connected we had a tough time getting the last ceremonies done.

For us to travel to another state get the epass and reach on time for the last rituals to be done last year the covid situation was not bad in the villages so somehow got through the ceremonies and the 11th day ceremonies done for my FIL and reached back to city My father who was 86+ fell down and hurt his head was confused for a long time and again getting him to a hospital and then discharged after he was bit Ok that is a week. He refused to stay in there . My brother was living out of station with his family. And after couple of months my mother passed away because of heart attack. I had to do everything for her till my brother and family came the next day by flight.She had a long list of friends many relatives and friends none could come because of covid and state boundaries being locked. Now again let me see whether we can do something for her for the 1st anniversary.

My only sanity point was IF as for some years I was not so active but now again I came back here though I am working and have a busy job but still this consoles me all the posts which de- stresses me reading and laughing.

Lovely post Madhuri