Thorsten Edu

“It was the best of Times, it was the worst of Times” – Charles Dickens words in “Hard Times” probably apply to these times of Corona.

We had to travel to Delhi to submit our documents to the Austrian Embassy. Given half a chance, we would have stayed put in Bangalore, just going for short walks in our neighbourhood, easily maintaining social distance, as there were hardly a handful of people walking around.

But we had no choice- we had to be in Delhi on January 4^th.  Our children bombarded us with ideas about our travel. Having read about and spoken to those who had travelled in these times, I carried 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, a bag of 80 disposable gloves, and 30 different types of N95 CDC approved disposable masks.

A fully sanitized Uber cab took us at 4am to the airport. As we had completed the web-check-in from home, we quickly dropped our bags and sped through security check, all the while maintaining social distance. We had a small snack and used the restroom so we could remain seated in our premium front seats right through the flight. Waiting to board ,we donned our full protective face gear.

 How disappointing it was to see a young  family move to the empty seats across the aisle, with masks like a garland round their necks, no face shields and jumping up like Jacks in the box soon after take off and walking about. No pleading from the stewardess could persuade them to think of others safety, if not of their own. If this was abroad, on landing they would have been immediately whisked off by the airport marshalls and fined or even arrested!!

Lalit spent hours trying to find the least populated hotel for our 2 days stay. Mihir with his Tourism and Hotel PhD was confident that the Oberoi was the best choice since it would be strictest about cleanliness and Corona prevention. Through his contacts, Lalit arranged that the Oberoi Maidens, being a small yet grand hotel, would take best care of us.

Mihir and Maanika have always avoided my cooking, given half a chance. That too in a 5 star hotel – no way would they even have sniffed my cooked food!! But here they advised me to make as many different kinds of sandwiches, cup o noodles and biscuits and snacks so we could avoid hotel food as much as possible. Nobody was to be allowed in our room – no housekeeping, no waiter, no handyman. The hotel more than obliged. They kept a table outside our suite to keep any food we ordered, loads of towels and toiletries and fully sanitized the room so we needed nothing. We only signed the registration slip and then we were sent off to our suite. The hostess was dying to explain the room facilities to us but we just signalled her to stay away.

There is only so much one can do in a suite room no matter how large with two big TVs. By evening we were restless. We donned our masks and went for a stroll through the beautiful hotel – the regal wooden staircase, the high roofs and the sweeping driveway. Lalit wanted to see the heritage rooms but the children forbade us from roaming in closed spaces.

Next morning, we had the most yummy massive breakfast spread- omelettes dripping with cheese, warm waffles with cream, maple syrup and melted butter and masaledar aloo parathas with raita and pickles. Lalit having grown up in Kolkata with the Anglo –Indians could not resist the Railway mutton curry with rice which we ordered for dinner with caramel custard and carrot halwa – finger licking good!

But imagine the children’s shock when they saw the waiter wheeling in the food trolley while we were skyping. Like 2 errant children we promised to be more careful in future. Early to bed in readiness of our 8am appointment at the Austrian embassy. On the dot of 6.30 am as our alarms rang, the waiter rang the door bell with our hot breakfasts. But we were too tense and just had a bite as we got ready for our 7.30am fully sanitized black limo. Suited and booted yet gloved and masked we were going there in style.

Back to the room, we just relaxed enjoying tub baths and generally lazing after the morning tension. A soft tentative knock and there stood the waiter from Moti Mahal laden down with our lunch-hot naans, most delicious butter chicken, dal makhni, tangdi kebabs and seek kebabs. I barely accepted this when in walked Lalit’s friend, Mr V., the smart Vienna trained owner of Moti Mahal and just plonked himself on the sofa calling to Lalit for a warm hug, Corona or not. Running into the bathroom I had to scream out to Lalit for help. He coolly told me to ask Mr V. to move himself from the comfort of the sofa to the lounge downstairs since we were forbidden from entertaining anyone in the room for our Corona safety.  There was no way I could yank him out, ensconced as he was on the plush sofa. Luckily he obliged, and they greeted each other there, socially distanced.

After our heavy late yummy lunch, we finished packing our bags. Saying goodbye to this relaxed place with the GM and his team lined up in the lobby to bid us adieu, our waiting sanitized limo drove us to Gurgaon. We insisted my sisters meet us, even at 6 feet distance, as I didn’t know when I would be able to visit these parts next. The rain Gods too were sad at our departure as the heavens came down, while we exchanged gifts and Christmas cakes/sweets with gloved hands.

The drive to the airport had us on pins and needles as the jam packed roads and pelting rain blocked our way. Our driver’s dexterity made sure we reached with an hour to spare. Here was the advantage of COVID – the Delhi airport was almost deserted as we sped through checkin and boarding. We collapsed in our seats again shielded, gloved and masked. A co-passenger kept demanding why he couldn’t use the empty Business Class toilet on his economy fare while the pretty airhostess kept apologising. I minced no words while I insisted we be allowed to sleep.

It seemed like only a few minutes when our aircraft prepared to land in Bangalore. It was 2 am when we finally arrived back home, tired but happy. We had not only made it back safely but also had a wonderful Corona holiday despite the fear and restrictions. It was our first holiday since Corona and would probably be the last for many days to come.

We realized that it was possible to change these worst times into best times, if only one were careful and sensible.