Privilège

"I'm so bored ya!", announced as she sipped her coffee in the balcony, dew still settling in on the tree in the front and the water from the swimming pool felt stiller than usual. She sighed for the tenth time thinking about all the work that she has to get done that day, all those deadlines to meet, some real but most in her head. She hadn't spoken to the guy she liked for three days now and cursed under her breath why did he have to get so serious all of a sudden. But then thought to herself, well who wouldn't, "I'm awesome!". As these thoughts were about to cheer her up a more reflective thought came to her and she wondered at least she isn't dead.

Her life is perfect. She can work from home, her family is doing okay, infected but okay, not needing a hospital or the injections that were in short supply. She regretted that she wasn't there with them at this hour as ten of them including her mother battled with the disease alone in their homes. News came that a friends' mother died last night. "How could this happen?" She screamed. "She was fine two days ago!". "I could do nothing. There was a ventilator but no-one in the staff knew how to operate it." Her son replied. She had never seen a man so defeated. The staff who knew were on their way but couldn't reach on time. The medicine that would have saved her life could not be brought to her on time. This happened in a remote village in Jharkhand as she knew it and it was her first tyrst with reality. But it was happeneing everywhere. Every minute.

Was she living in a bubble so far? She pondered. Her coffee was almost over, the sun had risen, she had to get on with her work - the cooking, cleaning and office. But it never left her mind how unbearable his pain was. She trembled as she washed her cup. Had she spoken to anyone, she wouldn't be able to talk without choaking herself. But she was fine. Somebody whom the government had not forced to work in the elections just because they were givernemtn school teachers, somebody who wouldn't lose her sales job if she didnt go to work a week after being diagonosed with covid. She was fine. Priviledged. Unlike those others who were losing their lives at work, at home and on the streets as India bled.