What I see, I saw
The weekend affords
the luxury of a lie-in that I do not feel compelled to get up early for my
walking exercise, though, if I can get it done by noon, I will be the happier
for it. Getting out with a limp as I seemed to have a trapped nerve down the
back of my right thigh with the result of a somewhat weakened leg and funny
stride, I walked through the pain.
Taking a left turn
there was a crowd ahead of me, gathered around what noticed was a hearse in front
of a gurdwara, I cross the road from them and in our pandemic times, I saw no
masks, no safe-distancing and arrivals who had come to pay their last respects
to whoever was in the coffin. A few hushed sounds and someone presiding over a
ceremony for the dead, I limped on my way.
Like a stalk, I walk
The person being seen
off, of whom many had come to revere, one could not say if the end was the
natural course of life or exacerbated by the Coronavirus. Though, it did not
leave any less worried about other consequences that might result from this early
morning gathering.
In life and in death,
things go on. I, on my walks, others completely oblivious of what I had just
witnessed. I was into my 5th kilometre when the discomfort subsided,
but I was averaging 10 minutes to the kilometre transitioning from a hobble to a
little less than a wobble. The light of day allowing me to vary my course a bit
and with a detour by the large supermarket, I got home with 12 kilometres in
the bag.
Funerals indeed can
take place during the national lockdown period and there is consideration and
sensitivity for dealing with bereavement and the bereaved, but there should be
no more than 30 people attending apart from the funerary staff. I did not do a
count, may the soul of the departed rest in peace and to their survivors much
strength, comfort and wellbeing after the ceremonies.
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