Sunday, May 03, 2020

It's hard... :(

Well it is not so hard for me as I am used to being in different places. Perhaps I did not comprehend how hard it is for others to move home for an indeterminate amount of time.

The decision to fly from Goa to London was not easy especially as the infection rate is low in Goa and the lifestyle is.... well it is a lot nicer than in London.

The issues that helped me make the choice were clear.
Should we have stayed in Goa and potentially risked the following :

1) Food and miscellaneous supplies were non existant at the beginning of he lock down. They were starting to get a lot better but there is nothing to say that they would not suffer again in the future especially as the food factories were all closed and the current supply was from inventory that was already in the warehouses.

2) We were potentially not being told the actual numbers on infected in Goa. Although having said that the situation does look good for Goa.

3) Not knowing when I could leave India to get to work. News is what I do and it was passing me by.

4) To be closer to Nikhil. He probably does not really care where we are but that is not the point... I care where we are. He is going to be 21 years old on the 14th of May and most likely will be on his own but if there is even a slight chance that the lock down lifts a little and we are allowed to go and see him, it is worth it.

5) Most of my friends also thought that it was a good idea to come to the UK as it is more orderly and organised here. Granted the infection rate is high but as with most countries that is mainly in the big cities.

Now the problem is when can we get back... As it stands there is no sign of flights starting up and no information from the Indian government as to when they will start to allow OCI card holders back into India. Right now all OCI cards have been suspended. I hope they will re-instate them soon.

Today was also the first day of being able to get out and about after 14 days of quarantine. It was good to get out. There were a lot of people on the street. Interestingly not many people are wearing masks... not like they do in India. Most people we came across in Goa were wearing their masks even though there was a low infection rate.

I am really looking forward to the drive to work tomorrow. I have been told that the roads are not busy at all. Another positive is that the congestion charge and the ULEZ charge have been suspended. Free parking too very close to the Shard where Aljazeera is. Win Win.!

Peace and Love