TRAVELLING IN INDIA DURING THE PANDEMIC



Getting sanitized on reaching home with a sanitizer gun
Getting sanitized on reaching home with a sanitizer gun
Wearing a face shield and mask from Air India
Wearing a face shield and mask from Air India

Before I took the trip from Bengaluru to Imphal, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to travel by flight during COVID-19 with all its protocols. An N95 mask of the dimension 15.5x10.5x1.0 cm weighing just 10 grams and covering the nose and mouth when coupled with a face shield while promising optimum protection against infection also makes you feel extremely sick during travel. My motion sickness got aggravated, it triggered excessive sweating which in turn made me feel exhausted from dehydration and lack of oxygen. It is one thing to wear a mask for few minutes or even an hour or so and another to be wearing it for eleven hours at a stretch, in closed spaces, high altitude and during a flight. The headache and sweaty body could still be tackled but the clumsiness, blurred vision and a sense of disorientation made up most of my travel experience during the pandemic.



The process of check- in has been simplified to minimise the interaction between passengers and airlines staff for example web check- in and carrying a print out of your boarding pass have become mandatory. If you don’t know how to web check-in then may God come to your rescue. Even then the entire process in the airport takes longer due to social distancing. It must have become difficult to verify passenger identity with everyone wearing mask(s). I have never seen Kempegowda International Airport this vacant before nor have I suffered so much on a flight. The air traffic in the north east has dropped significantly and flight cancellations are high. After three take-offs and three landings with Kolkata and Agartala as lay over, I finally reached my hometown, Imphal. My dad and nephew were waiting for me at the arrival and I cried half from the relief I felt at the end of my journey as much as from joy on seeing them.



Even though there are very few people travelling nowadays, funnily excess baggage is still charged. The airlines give a face shield, few sachets of hand sanitizer, a surgical mask to every passenger and PPEs to passengers sitting in the middle seat after security check- in and before boarding the aircraft which I believe is way too late in the process and should be given as soon as passengers step in the airport. I was also taken aback to see that many people were travelling without a COVID-19 negative test report. There was no social distancing in the way passengers were seated inside the flight and if the seats were vacant, it was because they weren’t booked. This was perhaps the only time in my life where the stewards/stewardess weren’t as friendly and helpful all due to social distancing. Dressed in PPE from head to toe, they almost looked apologetic for not being there amidst us in close proximity.



Once I reached home, along with the tradition of crossing a small fire that had been lighted as a mark of welcome there was an additional tradition this time, of getting sanitized from head to toe by a sanitizer gun which sprays volumes of sanitizer on you. Someone told me to stay near the fire longer so that the germs get killed, some pointed out to spray my face too so the virus is killed. Gone are the days of hugs, kisses and merry chatting on reunions. 

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