“My life seems unimportant to my own family members during this pandemic just because I am old??” said Patel uncle, an 82-year-old man from Ahmedabad. He mentioned his increasing concerns with the lockdown and its easing rules and expressed his anger about people’s carelessness. 

He started mentioning all his complaints about the people at large saying, “Everyone is just becoming careless by the day. It seems like the increasing number of patients and deaths due to COVID19 doesn’t even bother anyone anymore. Like, imagine if you were being forced to stay home for 2+ months and all this while you’ve been watching the news and how the conditions are dangerous for the people of your age; and suddenly, everyone just starts moving on as if they haven’t seen you, thought about you, or care about you. I am all confused at people’s attitude; I don’t like how people are just moving about--shopping, going out, ordering in food, ordering stuff online etc.--without thinking about the high risk we as seniors have to go through.

My son says I am just getting angrier by the day. But how am I even supposed to stay calm? While everyone was trying to save ours, ‘the older generations’ life for so long, now the wheels have suddenly turned where the news also says that we are possibly aiming at herd immunity and deaths are collateral damage just the way they are in any war. We, senior people, are collateral damages? Is that our importance? 

My son and his wife have been going out almost every day to get groceries; yesterday the neighbours opposite to my flat had guests over at their home. Is this a time to organize get togethers? And why do people have to order food in. I stay in an apartment building and ever since the lockdown rules have been relaxed, there is a continuous flow of delivery boys in and out of our corridors; they are moving up and down the stairs and all social distancing and not touching surfaces gyaan has gone out of the window. Would they die if they don’t have outside food for a little longer? Would they start facing loneliness issues if they don’t meet their friends? Is ordering clothes online such an urgent thing? Do they not realise that there are susceptible senior citizens staying in the same vicinity and all this can bring infection to the society. That day, a delivery boy rang our doorbell by mistake...he was carrying pizzas for some other house. I spent half an hour sanitizing the door handles, bell switch and everything that he may have touched. Our lives--aging people’s--don’t seem to matter to anyone. For everyone, we are just collateral damage; whether we die seven years later or seven months later, it doesn’t matter to anyone, it seems.

My friends are scared of the very same thing.  The young generation thinks that wearing masks and applying sanitizers is going to keep them safe, but what about us? We are vulnerable to getting infected because of our lowered immunity issues. I am not able to understand how people are living with such careless attitudes. 

Yesterday I saw my daughter-in-law walk in society with her friends. They barely even maintained any distance while walking even though they were all wearing masks. But, still how safe is it? Have these women and men lost their minds? How can they just assume that masks are going to protect them? Everyone just wants to get out of the house, eat from out, order dozens of items online. 

I scold them every day, but everyone just listens and then continue doing the same things again. No one bothers about me. I’ve started to wonder whether my life is even important enough for them--afterall I am just a collateral damage in this war against corona. It hurts me.???”