The year was 2020, Josh was still in Delhi. On the first week of May, his mom called and told him to come home as the corona virus was spreading all over the world.
Mom : There is going to be a lock down soon so please come home before it gets worse.
Josh : yes mommy, I'm planning to go home. I have even spoken with my friends too. The only problem is that the flight fares are way too high. so I'm looking for some other options.
Mom : so how much is the flight fares?
Josh : the last time I checked in the morning it was around RS 13,000, I don't know about now. it might have increased or might be around 13k to 15k. ( 13-15k may seem like a small amount for many but for Josh's family it is a lot of money)
Mom : Dear Lord, why is it so expensive?
Josh : Flight fares & train fares have all gone up as the rumours of lockdown is going around everywhere.
Mom : I will send you the money by evening.
Josh : Do you even have 15k with you?
Mom : I'll somehow managed it. You try to come home as soon as possible.
Josh : ok mom.
That evening his mom borrowed money from his relatives and sent 18k. Josh straightaway book the flight ticket. The flight Fares had reached 15k by evening. He hurriedly packed up his stuffs, called his friends and said goodbyes.
The next morning, Josh went to the airport. It was overcrowded. People were trying to board the flights in frenzy, the security guards were having a tough time trying to control the mobs. There were many Manipuris who were trying to go home too. Oh by the way, Josh is from a very small remote village of Manipur. Manipur lies in the North East of India. The one thing that Josh missed about village life is the clean fresh air. The whole village is surrounded by trees and trees. Since Manipur is made up of hilly regions everywhere except the main valley regions, the hilly regions are where you can expect to have very fresh air. Just below his village is where the most bountiful river Nungshang ran. By bountiful, it means that many surrounding nearby villages secondary occupation happens there i.e. fishing. And every season, every year there will be plenty of fish. Besides fishing the main occupation was farming. There are lots and lots of fields on the river banks and in the hilly regions. You will get to know more about his village later on. For now let's get back to the main story 😊.
The day he had to leave for his hometown, Josh had no idea that they all ( every passenger) had to take up 14 days self quarantine once they reach home. As the corona cases were increasing day by day, the state government had announced that anyone travelling by flight, bus or train and entering Manipur state will have to undergo 14 days self quarantine. Once he reached imphal airport, he was taken away by some medical workers in a car. Everyone was wearing mask. They asked for his address. He told them that his village name is Chingripam ( peaceful land) .It is nearby Nungshang river. The medical workers just told him to put his seatbelts on and they drove till his village and dropped him off there. Once they reached his village, he wasn't allowed to meet anyone. He was directly taken to the Chingripam village women society guest house by the village elders along with the medical workers where he was told that he'll have to stay there for 14 days.
So, here was the deal, Josh was lucky enough to have come home early just before lockdown. One week after he had reached home, the atmosphere was totally different all over Manipur. Anyone who enters Manipur from other states will have to undergo 14 days quarantine at the government selected quarantine places where they will be strictly monitored by the government medical workers.
After settling down at the Village women society guest house, his parents came to visit him. They weren't allowed to come near him. There was a line drawn 2 meters from where he was standing. Anyone who wishes to meet him would just have to stand on the roadside and they would converse by keeping the 2 meters distance. His parents had already stocked up his daily necessities before he reach village so everything went well.
One village elder jokingly said " Josh, you are going to stay here alone and if you ever feel scared at night just look at the cross and pray " . (The village church was just opposite to where he was staying. )
" And if that doesn't help then keep singing the whole night and sleep in the afternoon ".
Josh replied " C'mon I'm an adult now and there are lots of girls out here too. You don't need to say it like that. All my macho image will be gone " . They all joked around and had fun teasing each other. For the next few hours almost every villagers came and greeted him. It was starting to get dark. The time was around 6:30pm. One by one his family and the villagers left. Josh was staying inside the room , the front window which was facing towards the main road was open. That was when he saw her after a long time.
( Josh had left the village 6 years back to pursue his studies outside his home state. And he hasn't came home for the past 6 years). Silvia and her mom were trying to buy some stuffs from the shop so they had to cross where Josh was staying. Their eyes met and it was almost like Josh's life until now had no meaning at all.
Josh called out " hi aunty, hi Silvia... where are you going? "
Silvia's mom replied " to buy eggs and oil from dukan ( local shop) ", " I had heard that you will be coming home today but I had no idea you will be left alone like that, are you going to be okay? "
Josh " yeah of course, my mom n dad had already stocked up all the necessary stuffs for me" .
In the meantime, Silvia was just standing beside her mom and not saying anything. Josh's eyes were on her all the time even though he was speaking with Silvia's mom. After few minutes of conversation they left for dukan. In Josh's eyes, Silvia look so beautiful that he had taken a stand right at that moment that he was going to marry her. But fate had different story arranged for him.