City Series – Vaibhav Dwivedi in Ghaziabad, We the Isolationists (253rd Corona Diary)
Our corona diary.
[Text and photo by Vaibhav Dwivedi]
I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona… and I see absolutely nothing. It’s known to be a little improbable to see with closed eyes. So, I open them again and the flickering lights reveal my home built TMM-3 time-machine (also known as The Fr@nk-e-nstein in common parlance). The carcasses of the previous two unused models, mutilated and ransacked to create their better sibling, lie collecting dust in the shadowy periphery of my room. With a limited time to waste, I eventually enter the TMM-3. I rotate the time dial and set it to year 2015, unscrew the booster lever, fix the rear-view mirror, and press the bright red ‘START RIDE’ button. ETA is approximately 73 memories. I arrive. The same room, but the lights don’t flicker, not yet anyway. Outside the room, a television ignorant of my arrival blares on, announcing the deadly scourge of the H1N1 Swine Flu virus. I smirk. With less than a limited time to waste, I get to work immediately. In perfect co-ordination, my right hand takes out a carefully folded blank page from the inside pocket of my jacket, while the left grapples for a black-inked pen nestled in the left side pocket of my jeans. I unfold the paper on the freshly painted wooden table and write the following: “It’s about to get worse in the coming time. Beware of Corona. Start building a time machine. Definitely call it something cool. Also, stop hoarding books you will never read.” With absolutely zero limited time to waste, I rush back to the TMM-3, all the while cursing myself for not writing, CORONA THE DISEASE, NOT THE BEER!
“We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my self-isolation from Corona… and I see…” Not more than 100 words. With a horizontal-sized selfie, along with your city name… please mail to me at mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com.
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