By Chitra Ahanthem
First of all, testing positive for swine flu hasn't made it any worse for my physical state. The bouts of fever that made me seek the H1N1 test have not made any appearance though in their wake, they have left me with severe weakness. I have kept pretty much to myself right after I had come back from Bangkok and this whole experience of being taken to the isolation ward of JN Hospital and finding the most pathetic state of medical care facilities have only given me some moments of laughter. I have been told that at no point was it important for me to stay at the isolation ward but that's not my point at all. That does not change the fact that the isolation room at JN Hospital is in a pitiable condition. Period. Bathroom water seeped to the room, the walls were dirty, there was one faint bulb, a great many mosquitoes and some cob-webs, no water in the cistern in the bathroom and a European bath pot that had live vermin. It was confusing too: when I was told at one point that I was to stay there, I asked whether staying in isolation meant that I would be cared for by the staff round the clock. No, it still meant that my family members would take care of me, bring me food etc etc. This, when I thought being kept in an isolation room meant fancy stuff: not allowed to meet anyone etc. That is when I made my pitch that I wanted to stay at home.
It's now been one week since I came back to Imphal (last Sunday) and two days since I found I am positive with H1N1. It is tiresome having to take the calls of every journalist who's been asking me the same questions: “When were you in Bangkok?”; “When did you get back?” “How did it start?” and last, “How are you feeling?”. When one of the many colleagues I know in the media called, I put out a mock threat – that I would call a press conference and then they could know everything first hand from me without my mask AND they can probably carry the flu back with them! It's been fun in a sense: on social networking site Facebook, friends have me in good cheer feigning being scared by a photo of me in a H1N1 mask. One person I know sent an SMS saying, “you are getting world famous in Manipur. Don't worry, even Narendra Modi got it from abroad!”. To this I replied saying that I can do with swine flu but without a likeness to Modi! Many have given me tons of information: on what to eat, on getting enough rest and always, it boils down to one thing to trust my own body and be in good cheer.
Sickness is manageable when it gets one down for a few days but falling sick to a strange virus can be scary and a cause of panic for many others. I am just the second positive case in Manipur but one of the many cases in the world. I don't know how I possibly came back with the virus for no one at the meeting I was attending at Bangkok was down with it. I was in the city for three days and it was on the last day (Jan 23), while sightseeing that I felt tired and listless. But at no point was I scared about the possibility of being positive for H1N1. My Uncle knew about my status and would not tell me in so many words what it said but I came to know my status on the media grave-vine. This ‘positive' status means a lot of uncomfortable changes: the fact that the entire family has now to stay in isolation even though they have not come up with any flu like symptoms. This is going to be hardest for my very active four and a half year old son for whom the novelty of staying back at home will wear off soon. The irony of course is that when my results came in (on the media grape vine), I was feeling better than most days and had been feeling well enough to read two books without having to rest for extended spells. When two doctors came from the hospital to check on my health, they left laughing at how I had managed to defer the Union Ministry of Health notification on airports for swine flu with my status. When my results came in, there were many other responses: the conspiracy theorists said with the Government one never knows whether they should be trusted and that I should go for a second test (!) while another said it was rumour, that it was a well oiled collusion between pharma companies to push Tamiflu and that I will be fine. Tamiflu is incidentally banned in the UK for its high toxicity, a strip of 10 tablets comes close to about 900 rupees and panic stricken Governments buying that in bulk must have kept Roche the giant pharma company in good cheer. Yes, people have died from swine flu but that has been because of other health complications that were affected by them having the flu. There are more people dying of malnutrition, pneumonia and diarrhea in the country today than of swine flu, which atleast catches public imagination because it remained under the media spotlight for quite some time.
End-point:
I can only appreciate the positive sidelights of being down with swine flu. If there is one social ceremony that I cannot stand (one of the many, I am afraid) in Manipur it is the practice of “annaba hangba” where people formally go to visit a sick person : one does not see these visitors doing anything for the sick person. They come with Horlicks and biscuits and etiquette demands they be served tea and small polite talk be made. They take away the time and care of the sick person. In other cultures, people take flowers, send hand written notes, read to those unwell, bring music..but here it is all formality, a spectacle that I don't take too well. Thanks to swine flu, visitors have stayed away and I am happily reading and writing.
This article was published on Imphal Free Press