In 2018 when started with the medication for drug resistant tuberculosis since then I had not been outside other than taking hospital visits for the injections n monitoring of the sideffects frm the meds. And I am certain that there are many like me, isolated for years or months. Disoriented and confused by all the detachment frm everything. So these quarantine tips, writeups on how to kill time in isolation, or how sad physical distancing is, all this brimming on my timeline angers me. Coz, there had been infectious illnesses and ppl suffering frm it, chronic illnesses and it's survivors talking abt this, all this dancing over ur head and only now when there's a deadly virus around ,and it's spread is quite alot visible, so all are like,awww I am sad and lonely I need to stay inside my home, doing nothing. But killer diseases like tuberculosis, drug resistant tuberculosis are swept under the carpet. Lives in isolation for years, deaths, none bats an eye.
Out of many stories I heard frm TB centre , there was this one where a man was diagnosed with drug resistant TB and then the staff at the TB centre wer in a dilemma to accomadate this person somewhere, in some room, anywhere, as he had no place to stay. When I was in the audiometry room for the checkup, there was another patient lean and tired waiting for his turn, he was coughing, he was shoo ed away frm there, his auto driver said he won't be accompanying the man any longer since now he knows the man has TB.
In the isolation ward there was another person whose feet looked like the bark of a tree, he who is also taking a regimen as mine. I knew his body is in terrible pain, his face was all sunken into his mask, even his eyes, his face fitted into the mask. He was the only breadwinner taking care of his family, a daily wage labourer, his mom said he fulfilled everyone's needs at home, his sisters are married, settled, he made everyones life possible and wanting to start his own family, this illness came as a shock. I didn't utter a word about dropping my pg course or nt been abled to have a normal life to the doctor since all of that sounded silly in the isolation ward. We all spent our time staring at the ceiling for hours and cursing our lives for having to take the meds for many more months.
Now that many of my ex friends who is self isolating is messaging and enquiring , now that isolation of a week or so is bothering them, in isolation wen u r bored do not charity message me, instead educate yourself with all the content on why this is not new for many of us and wen all this mess is over, be a little more concerned abt people who is, who has always been in masks, isolated and anxious to get back to life. Why we call out governments for inaction, this is why.
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