2020 started with such high expectations. Arjun my younger son had just announced his engagement in November 2019 so we had a wedding to plan and look forward to. I was turning 60 and we had a lot of trips organised. It was definitely going to be a memorable year!
The first in February was to Germany to visit Arjun now working there, to celebrate both my birthday as well as Hitesh’s, as well as to meet his in-laws.
In March we had a family skiing trip planned with both the boys as well as Arjun’s fiancée Noemi and a couple of friends. A few weeks later Hitesh and I were going to Krakow for a long weekend and in April, Bena had planned a visit to Lisbon for a few days for the 2 of us and our spouses. Hitesh had organised his annual golfing trip for May this time with 32 golfers.
We were also thinking of where to go for a longer break plus I wanted to visit the US to see family there. So many plans! We were fairly certain we could squeeze a long holiday in before the civil ceremony and then afterwards towards the end of year back to India to do some more sightseeing there as well as help out at a school in Kutch that we had helped out at the previous year. So much to look forward to! And of course I would now be eligible to apply for my 60+ Oystercard!
The date of the civil ceremony was set for 6 November; a big Sanji ( a novel cultural experience for the Germans) was planned for the day after. And then there was a wedding in Majorca in May 2021.
January saw a lot of this planning being put in place; the hall for the sanji was booked as well as a venue for the civil and drinks and dining places afterwards. ‘This wedding planning is so easy’ Arjun said, ‘I really don’t know why people get so stressed.’ Did he jinx it by uttering those words?
In late January early February there were murmurs of a new virus in China but it was reassuring to know that they had caught it early as ‘the Chinese had been so upfront about this unlike the previous SARS epidemics’. We were told it originated from a ‘wet market’ in Wuhan where live exotic animals were sold and it had transferred from a bat to a human. It was something happening miles away and we had nothing to worry about! At least that’s what we kept hearing from the media.
So we were going about our daily lives and merrily making plans for a fun filled year full of celebrations and parties, not too concerned with what was happening on the other side of the world. It was a little disconcerting to learn about the city of Wuhan going into lockdown and then all of China, but that’s what happens in a communist state, right. It could never happen in the UK.
We went to Germany in February as planned and had a wonderful time in the black forest celebrating my birthday, then on to Munich and afterwards to meet Arjun’s in laws. The 11 days flew by so fast. During this time the murmurs had turned into rumblings; we were hearing of more cases in Asia as well as cases in Europe, super spreaders coming from ski resorts and infecting others but it was still a handful of cases, hardly anything to get too worked up about.
We came back on 24 February and our skiing trip was planned for the 14 March, a mere 3 weeks away. By this time, Covid 19 had become part of the daily vocabulary. Cases in Italy were rising alarmingly and to curb the spread a local lockdown had been announced a few days earlier and then the lock down areas had increased followed by a national lockdown in early March. Suddenly we got a little worried. Would we still be able to go to France for our family skiing holiday? We started following the news a bit more closely but all indications were it was going to be fine.
Then a couple of days before we were due to depart, all ski holidays to Austria were cancelled. By this time Covid 19 had been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, as it had affected virtually all the countries in the world. But we were relieved to hear that our ski holiday was going ahead as planned. Arjun Noemi and their dog Mogli left from Germany on Friday 13th? Was that another omen?
We left on the 14th in the afternoon from Luton and arrived at the resort around 10pm ; during our transfer we learnt that all shops and bars in the ski resorts were going to be shut with immediate effect. Not a problem as we were self catering and of course I had brought in a suitcase full of food rations to last us the full week, so I was secretly pleased! Arjun Noemi and Mogli met us when we arrived, the apartments were well equipped and spacious and I looked forward to spending a week with my family and celebrating Arjun’s birthday on the 18th March. All was well on the 14th. But then we woke up. Woke up to the news that France had decided to shut all its resorts with immediate effect! Our tour operator advised that they would organise a repatriation and to keep checking our emails.
It was a glorious day. No point sitting in the apartment, we went for a walk. The snow was glistening in the beautiful March sunshine. It was eerily quiet. And so beautiful. No skiers or snow boarders around to watch out for, Mogli, our Alaskan Malamute was in her element running everywhere in the snow and having the time of her life. We were quite happy to stay here for the rest of the week and enjoy the spectacular views and each other’s company. But towards the evening we thought we should check if we had received an email from Sunweb. Nothing. We asked reception if they had heard anything but they hadn’t. So we had dinner and went to bed fairly early as had had a long day the previous day.
Monday morning another glorious day. Then shock horror! Sunweb had sent us an email around 9.30pm the night before for us to be at a certain place at 11pm. We had missed the repatriation coach! But if you were going to be stranded, les Arcs was a pretty decent place to be stranded. Beautiful sunny weather, glorious views and fresh mountain air. And we were all together. What more did you need?
So I fired back a response to sunweb and expected them to contact me at some point. We then asked reception if they had been contacted but nothing. Reception said they were open for the rest of the week and we were welcome to stay so we chilled and waited for Sunweb to contact us. We tried to phone them a few times but no luck. Lunchtime and still no news. Nikhil was getting a little panicky and asked me if we should book our own flights back. No I replied nonchalantly, Sunweb will contact us. Let’s wait. Another hour went by and still nothing. As he was getting a little more worried, we went to reception to find out the latest.
Suddenly everything changed. They had just been informed by their head office to shut by Tuesday, ie the next day. Macron the French president was due to make a speech in the evening at 8 pm and it was expected that he would announce the closing of borders. Panic set in. We needed to get out of France fast. Trying to book flights was a nightmare. Suddenly the prices had shot up. We didn’t want to risk flying out of Geneva as it would involve crossing yet another border and we weren’t sure what the situation in Switzerland was like. So we tried to book a flight out of Lyons at £750 each. The transaction wouldn’t go through. Then he tried Geneva at £250 but that was for Tuesday evening. The transaction went through. Relief. Ecstasy!
Now we had the small problem of organising a lift to Geneva. We met some others who were organising a taxi at reception even though their tour operator was sending a coach at 2 in the morning. So we asked them if we could get on that coach. They said sure. But we were also keen to get out of France before Macron made his speech so asked reception to organise a taxi. Luckily they managed to get us one for 5pm.
We got back to the apartment around 2pm. Arjun Noemi and Mogli had also decided to leave that afternoon so we bid a hasty farewell to them at 3pm. And started our own packing. We also needed to book a hotel near the airport as we weren’t flying till the next day.
Another hasty farewell to reception and into the taxi to Geneva. The taxi would only accept cash so we had to visit a cash machine en route. Luckily Nikhil was with us and handling everything in his usual calm composed manner. Hitesh and I were a bundle of nerves.
We were expecting some queues at the border but it was plain sailing and we arrived at the hotel around 7.30. The sight that greeted us at the hotel was surreal. There were literally hundreds of people queuing up to check in almost all of them with skis or snowboards .Wow! How things can change from day to day from hour to hour! It was an out of body experience almost as if you were watching yourself in a movie, those ones where they are evacuating their nationals at a moment’s notice due to some natural catastrophe or a conflict. In a weird way it was exciting to be a part of this history!
The hotel’s bars and restaurants were shut. Lucky for us we had some khakra and fruit and cereals. Nikhil had moaned at me bringing so much food from London but now it came in handy. No plates, we made do with container lids. No cutlery, but we had spoons from the tea and coffee making equipment in the room. No glasses, we used the ones they provide in the bathrooms! It’s amazing how you can make do with what you have. What about the theplas, I hear you ask, the go to travelling food for all Gujaratis? Yes we had brought theplas but they had been demolished by Sunday evening! So khakras it was.
The next morning we had a call from Sunweb asking us if we had managed to get out of France. No thanks to you I wanted to say but bit my lip, instead informing them that it had cost us over £1300 and I would be sending them invoices upon my return. The flight back was in the evening but we went to the airport early hoping to get some lunch. Alas nothing for vegans so it was khakra again. The flight was delayed and I had visions of now being stranded in Geneva but luckily it did take off eventually. And soon we landed at City airport having left our car at Luton. So we had to lug our luggage including skis on the underground, but home sweet home at last.
We had only been away about 3 days but it felt like a lifetime. The whole world had changed. The UK was days from a lockdown; there were queues for all the shops; the shelves were empty; there was rationing on toilet rolls! All the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables had trebled or quadrupled. Were in a war zone? Certainly felt like it. For the next few weeks I rarely went shopping, preferring to get fruits and vegetables from the local corner shop. When I needed to go to Tesco, I went early morning at around 6am just as it opened thinking there wouldn’t be a queue then. Wrong! There was still a queue to get in. And a lot of the shelves were empty. It reminded of my interrailing trip years ago when we went to a supermarket in Yugoslavia (before it split up) and the shelves were mostly bare. Was this our new normal ? No, it was just people selfishly stockpiling that led to the empty shelves and within a few weeks normality had returned although there were still queues.
Schools and universities were closed; everyone was advised to work from home , even Arjun who as a sales/ trader would never have envisaged such a change. Nikhil had previously worked from home 1 day a week but now it was full time. Luckily they both have their jobs and not been furloughed. Employers were encouraged not to make staff redundant but furlough them and the government, well Rishi Sunak the new chancellor, barely settling into his new role, announced huge rescue measures to assist employers, employees, self employed. Were these measures from a Tory government?
And yet all this adversity brought on a new community spirit, brought out the best in us. Nurses and doctors became our new superheroes, so much so that every Thursday, a ‘clap for carers’ took place. It was amazing, people standing out in their front gardens clapping and banging pots and pans! As they were working throughout the clock, we also organised meals for the NHS through various charities. Captain Tom a 99 year old decided to walk the length of his garden to raise £1,000 for the NHS. By the time of his 100th birthday, he had raised over £30 million! The NHS asked for 250,000 volunteers to help those most vulnerable and within 24 hours over 750,000 people had signed up, myself included. We chatted to those who were shielding, did their shopping and picked up their medications, and took them to hospital appointments. The virus, this invisible enemy, showed us that we’re in this together and we needed to look out for each other.
On a personal level, the first few weeks of lockdown were pretty amazing. I could hear the birds so clearly on my early morning walks due to the lack of traffic. In the garden it was so peaceful as you barely heard any planes. It was nice to slow down. And then we learnt about zoom. I had never heard of zoom before but we started chatting, playing games and quizzes, singing bhajans, doing yoga , having sadadri and funerals and weddings, zoom drinks and zoom dinners as well as schooling on zoom, all without leaving the comfort of your own house! Who knew technology could be so versatile. What happened to skype? This was your moment skype and you blew it!
Since those early few weeks some things have changed whereas others have remained the same. We now have to wear masks in public places – it just felt so odd at first. No shaking of hands, Namaste became the de facto greeting! No hugging, social distancing has become a word even a 4 year old knows.
Sporting events worldwide were cancelled including the Olympics and Wimbledon! Other sporting events took place behind closed doors without any spectators. It was unimaginable. The world as we knew it, had changed forever.
All our other holidays were of course cancelled as well as Hitesh’s golfing trip. We managed to get a refund or credit note however fighting to get my money back for the skiing holiday plus the extra expenses incurred took the best part of nine months, a lot of emails, phone calls and perseverance. After taking it up with ABTA and not getting anywhere I almost gave up but actually I learnt that where all else fails, challenge it with the credit card company as your contract is with them and in the end perseverance paid off and I finally managed to get the refunds in December.
During the lockdown we were allowed out for exercise and shopping so actually it didn’t feel too different. All non essential shops were closed as well as hairdressers and beauty salons gyms etc. It was a time to chill at home. The weather was pretty amazing so I got into the routine of waking up early for our Zoom yoga and going for a walk afterwards shopping for groceries. We barely used the car. Hitesh got on with some long outstanding DIY projects at home, since the badminton was closed as well as his curtain business. Nikhil had decided to replace the carpets at his flat with wooden flooring and Hitesh volunteered to do it for him. Initially reluctant, Nikhil relented and it was a great bonding session for the 2 of them along with a new found appreciation of physical labour for Nikhil. The floor looks great so well done Hitesh.
For many the lockdown provided the perfect opportunity for the whole family to bond, especially grandparents with their grandchildren, obviously easier if they were living under the same roof but otherwise through zoom. We’re hoping to capitalise on this bonding via video and audio interviews through a project I’m involved in looking at the cultural and religious impact of migration for twice migrated Jains from India to East Africa to the UK. A lady (Tine)from Belgium is the catalyst for the project having obtained a grant to study this further and Atul (Young Jains, Jain Spirit, Diverse Ethics) has been the main driving force behind the project recognising the importance of capturing this history of our elders before it’s too late.
Once the first lockdown ended in July, Arjun and Noemi made plans to come over and visit and also apply for the marriage licence for the wedding in November. Since very few people had met Noemi, we organised a large picnic in the park for the extended family which was a great success. The weather was brilliant, we had a small gazebo and some tables for the food and everyone was encouraged to bring their own mats to sit on as well as their own crockery and cutlery to minimise contact. As people hadn’t met up for so long, everyone made the effort and it was a great way to catch up with everyone in a safe socially distanced manner. Mogli was the star of the show, behaving impeccably and endearing herself to even the most hardened canine sceptics. Over the 10 days she also stole my heart with her beautiful brown eyes waiting patiently for me to give her a piece or 2 of her favourite fruit, watermelon, or waiting till I served her rice and sweet potatoes in her bowl and only wolfing it down once I gave her the signal.
To help the hospitality sector which had been badly hit by the lockdown, the government introduced an ‘eat out to help out’ scheme whereby diners got a half price meal up to £10 per person. The scheme ended up being so successful unfortunately that it led to long queues without any social distancing and resulting in a fresh wave of infections.
Shortly after Arjun and Noemi went back to Germany, they had a week’s holiday with Noemi’s parents in the Northern coast of Germany to celebrate her mum’s 70th birthday. Apparently it is a beautiful part of Germany so we shall be adding it to our list of places to visit. The list is getting longer and unfortunately nothing got ticked off this year!
After this, Arjun and Noemi planned to visit Spain (Majorca) where they are due to have the wedding next year. Unfortunately by this time, Spain was experiencing a resurgence in infections and was off other countries travel free corridors, meaning they would have to quarantine upon their return. However, given that they had booked the venue and catering etc without actually meeting them, they felt it was important to see it all first hand and meet the people. They were very happy with all the arrangements which was a huge relief. It was very sad for them to hear how all the businesses related to the wedding industry had suffered during this pandemic and they were even more determined to make the wedding in May 2021 happen. They came back to Germany took a test at the airport and only had to quarantine for a few days until they got their negative result.
As a thank you for the flooring Nikhil had booked us a spa hotel weekend in Hampshire. He joined us for the day and we had great fun chilling and playing tennis with him. It was a perfect place to unwind with beautiful grounds and we had a wonderful time and felt reenergised.
The weather was glorious and on the way back we stopped off at Henley which is always a wonderful place to visit. This time we ended up meeting friends we hadn’t seen for years so had a good catch up.
Nikhil was itching to go on holiday and in September he and a friend went to Paxos in Greece for about 5 days. The place looks stunning and they had an amazing time. Another one to add to the ever growing list! Upon his return, they had a works event in Copenhagen and so Nikhil was there for a few days, luckily coming back the night before Denmark was taken off the travel corridor list.
As part of my birthday present in February the boys had promised us a long weekend and in early October Arjun came back for this. They had booked a cottage in Devon and it was great to spend 4 days with both Nikhil and Arjun. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great, so we did a few walks and played tennis but mostly spent the time indoors playing games. Great bonding time before Arjun’s wedding.
With schools and Universities finally open from September and October, in the UK cases were starting to rise so additional restrictions were being introduced on an ad hoc basis. With regards to the wedding, the sanji was obviously cancelled. The civil was going to take place with 30 guests but with new restrictions limiting guests to 15 and further restrictions anticipated, wedding planning in the UK was becoming a nightmare. So with barely a month to go, the couple decided to shift the venue to Germany since Germany had been coping much better with the virus. But no sooner had they made that decision, then Germany started experiencing an increase in cases. They introduced Covid tests at the airport so we decided to go there early and isolate until we got a negative result. But then our flight was cancelled! And then Germany announced no overnight stays in hotels unless for business or exceptional reasons. Nikhil decided to go a week early and stay with the couple. Unfortunately their 1 bedroom flat couldn’t accommodate all of us but we thought we could still go using the exceptional reason. But no hotel was prepared to accept us in case we tested positive. And then the UK announced a 2nd lockdown which meant we couldn’t fly out. It was like everything was stacking up against us. We felt we were in this hurdle race where every time you successfully overcame one hurdle, a bigger hurdle sprang up and you had to jump even higher. In the end we had to accept defeat! Some things are just not meant to be and it was heart wrenching not to be there for Arjun’s wedding but with zoom (yes zoom again) we managed to watch the wedding and give him a couple of surprises, in the way of a video messages from friends and relations around the world and a video sanji! Luckily Nikhil had left before the 2nd lockdown and by Monday he’d tested negative so he was there.
Arjun had hired a Porsche for the wedding as a surprise for Noemi but taking her to the venue, the car died so they had to be rescued by the maid of honour. Nikhil was Arjun’s best man and witness to the wedding but had not been informed that he needed his passport for ID verification so there were more moments of panic until they accepted his driving license . And suddenly this boy who had caused me a lot of angst and panic when he was little, who had challenged me and tested my patience, who had made me laugh and cry and made my life colourful, unpredictable, fun and challenging was now married. How had that precocious little boy turned into a such a warm sweet caring mature amazing young man? It was a bittersweet moment and I longed to give him a hug, but that hug was going to have to wait.
Nikhil came back the day after the wedding but had to quarantine for 2 weeks as a few days earlier Germany had been added to the list of countries that you had to quarantine from. So we had to celebrate Diwali on zoom too!
Just before Diwali there was a stabbing in Northwick park just by the station at around 3.30pm in broad daylight and just like that a 17 year old’s life ended prematurely. What a tragedy and how devasting for the family. Such knife crimes of teenagers are unfortunately becoming commonplace in London but it’s still spine chilling to have it happen by your doorstep virtually. This is my usual walking route and the flowers are still there some 6 weeks later.
Unfortunately then last week, 3 people were stabbed in Harrow town centre, one of them fatally. Not in broad daylight but around 7pm in a busy area. It’s frightening how brazen these killers are. I always thought my neighbourhood was so safe and I never thought twice about walking home alone at night. Now it’s put some fear in me.
After the wedding Arjun and Noemi moved to a larger 3 bedroom apartment just outside the city. Working from home along with a big dog in a one bedroom apartment had been taking its toll and they were very happy to move. It’s also a 10 minute walk to the forest where Mogli loves exploring. We’re keen to visit once restrictions are over.
With regards to Covid it’s a roller coaster. There was great news on the vaccine with 3 in the pipeline with great success rates on the trials. Christmas was considered sacrosanct and all 4 home nations agreed to relax rules and allow the mixing of households for a 5 day period over Christmas. The UK government has already approved one of the vaccines and has started to vaccinate the most vulnerable but the whole programme is expected to take the best part of the year. So restrictions are still going to have to be in place. No sooner had the 2nd lockdown ended, then the government issued a Tier system, with London in Tier 2 meaning shops and restaurants could open but no mixing of households. However, the cases were rising fast and then a new variant of the virus has been detected in the South east which is spreading around a lot faster than the original virus. So with cases rising again, London was put in Tier 3 last week and then a few days later in Tier 4, not much different to the lockdown. And then Christmas was all but cancelled! Well not exactly a U turn and no mixing of households. Here’s hoping this will curb the spread of the virus and ease the burden on the NHS. So as it was for Diwali it will likely just be me and Hitesh for Xmas. Nikhil is self isolating as he’s got a few symptoms.
But we are the lucky ones. So many have died as a result of Covid 19; it has affected people from all walks of life, including our own Boris Johnson. Even people who have recovered still say they’re not back to full health yet. Priya my niece was ill with it during the summer. One minute she was laughing and joking and a day or so later having difficulty breathing. After a couple of days isolation, she was taken to hospital where she was put on oxygen and had no energy. 3 tests all came back negative but the doctors were convinced it was Covid 19. She was eventually discharged but it was a worrying time. She says it was a horrendous experience and she wouldn’t wish it on anybody. And yet there are still people who keep saying this is all a conspiracy to limit our freedoms, it’s a hoax. They flagrantly flout the social distancing rules, refuse to wear masks and endanger not just their own lives but others too.
In a world where there so much available information at your fingertips, it is hard to know what is true and what is ‘fake news’. The jury is still out on how this virus came about. Was it a man made virus created in the Wuhan labs? It seems incredible that just in the short space of a few months, the whole world has ground to a halt, the whole world has been brought to its knees. And it’s not over yet. The damage done to the economy as a result is unprecedented and our children and grandchildren will bear the cost of the economic fall out for years to come.
Talking about grandchildren we now have so many new additions to our extended family and it’s been such a shame that we’ve not been able to meet more frequently and watch them growing up. Photos and videos of their antics on what’s app provide light relief from the sombre times we are living in. Ishaan , my niece Aasha’s boy who turned 1 year old last month is one I see a little more frequently on his trips to the park and it’s such a joy to watch them enjoy the moment without a care in the world.
But then we watch the news and sobering reality returns. The virus is truly pandemic and other parts of the world are also suffering terribly. The USA where the President continues to flout rules regarding masks and social distancing is the worst hit and cases and deaths are rising rapidly. Let’s hope the new president is able to rein in the virus when he takes up office next year. In India the level of infections and death toll contained at first have steadily risen to make it one of the worst hit countries. In South America rates also continue to rise. And now Europe is in the throngs of a deadly 2nd wave worse than the first wave. It doesn’t look like this problem is going away any time soon.
As if the pandemic wasn’t bad enough the UK has the added headache of Brexit to deal with next year. 4 years after the UK voted to leave the EU, and almost 12 months after we left the EU, we are still no nearer to agreeing a trade deal with our largest trading partner. Deadlines have come and gone and it looks like we will be welcoming in the new year without a deal. With such headwinds on the horizon, it’s going to be a tough few years. But I’m optimistic. We are made of sterner stuff and adversity brings out the best in us. During the pandemic so many have taken up exercise, yoga, meditation. So many have taken up volunteering and there are so many projects helping to feed the homeless and needy, so I’m hoping the long terms effects of the pandemic will be that we create a fairer just society and environment for both humans and other species.
But whatever happens, 2020 will be forever consigned to history as an extra ordinary year, an unforgettable year. For me personally it has definitely been a memorable year, not memorable in the way I envisaged, but a memorable year nevertheless.
Here’s hoping that we all fare a lot better in 2021
Wishing you and your families a peaceful healthy Christmas and all the best for 2021
Stay safe
Hasmita Shah 