Pandemic

One early morning in Gangtok, out on the breakfast terrace doubling up as a sun-bathing spot in a hotel, I was privy to a strangely uplifting sight. High up in the sea-blue sky, there’s something like a long, curved steel blade of a sword luminous like a brilliant cut diamond. It disappeared after a few minutes. On enquiry I came to know it’s the cone of the Kachenjunga.

After the imposition of the lockdown following the second wave of COVID-19, the streets of the towns now swarm with vendors selling all sorts of daily needs, particularly in the morning, as people have mostly gone indoors, stepping out only when it’s absolutely necessary.