‘I wielded pen to share my encounter with virus’

‘I wielded pen to share my encounter with virus’

Prof Ajay Sharma (60) is a renowned Hindi novelist. A BAMS by qualification, he is also a playwright. He contracted Covid-19 in mid-September. Sharing his experience, he said, “I got fever, which lasted for 10 days. I undertook a typhoid test, which came out to be negative. It was on September 26 that I felt some trouble in my chest and I got admitted to a private hospital. They immediately tested me for Covid-19 and positive report came out the next day. I informed everybody and told them to get tested.

Four of my six family members came out to be positive. My two sons and their wives also tested positive while my wife and my grandson tested negative. My sons and their wives only got mild fever, which got over soon, but they remained isolated at home for 16 days in their respective rooms.

I was taken care of quite well in the hospital and returned after seven days. My medical care cost me around Rs 1.75 lakh. Even after I came back, I was told to stay quarantined at home for 10-12 days in my room and did not step out of the house for more than 40 days.

Ever since March, I was a little conscious of not contracting the disease. So, I confined myself to my home and went out rarely, may be just four-five times. It was my wife who being a pharmacist at the ESI Hospital was going out everyday and was at the risk of contracting the disease. But ironically, she remained safe and I contracted the virus. It was perhaps because of the fact that she was very particular about following the health guidelines, removing shoes outside and taking bath immediately after reaching home.

During all this while, it was my wife who came under a lot of work pressure, but she handled it very boldly. Since all our helpers were gone for a good time, it was she who was keeping the house clean, doing all the dishes, cooking food and even washing clothes. While doing all this, she also had to take care of our grandson.

Having written three plays during the lockdown, I have started working on a Hindi novel, the title of which will be ‘Covid-19 positive, kamra number 909’. I am still in the process of conceiving the complete plot of the story to give it the most interesting narration.

(As told to Deepkamal Kaur)