Losing friends

"Hi there is a bad news," I could hear the sadness in my friend's voice.

"Who is it?" I asked fully knowing that this will be someone we knew very well.

" Sonali", said my friend in a soft voice.

"Hospitalized or.. " I could not complete the sentence. My voice could not find it's way out.

"No longer with us" said my friend killing the whole suspense. It was difficult but it had to be said.

"Do you know for sure?, " I did not want to believe it. Sonali was our age, 33 years old. Too young to die.

"Yes. My cousin works at the same hospital where she was. She told me herself. She was hospitalized only for 2 days. Critical when she arrived. It's devastating", told by my friend.

"Yes absolutely. Om Shanti," I said and I closed my eyes. I remember our last meeting with Sonali. She was from Pune. She had come to Mumbai for a training. Stayed here for 3 months and returned to Pune after the training got over. Sonali was a happy go lucky girl. Within 3 months she had formed a very strong bond with all of us. We enjoyed her company. We stayed in touch even after she returned to Pune. She went back and within 15 days the covid lockdown started. I spoke to her 15 days ago. I had no clue that it would be our last discussion.

Like Sonali I had lost a lot of friends and relatives during the covid period. Most of them were too young. They had the whole life ahead of them. Some of them recently had got married. Some of them recently had children. One day they caught infection and within next few days they were gone. Everyday during the covid period I was receiving phone calls from various friends, informing that one of our friends had passed away due to covid. The covid restrictions were such that we could not even go and perform their final rites. Each bad news brought tears to eyes. Their memories made their passing even worse.

Whenever I used to get any news of a friend who has died I used to remember the last meeting I had with them. Most were happy memories. Most last meetings were filled with laughter. But then there were few meetings where we had an unfinished business. With one friend I had made a plan to go on shopping. This plan never got fullfilled. Even today whenever I go for a shopping I always remember the promise I made to her. That makes me sad. With another friend I had decided to try a newly opened Cafe. Till date I haven't visited that Cafe because she is no longer in this world. I don't want to visit that Cafe because it was supposed to be with my friend. Without her I have no interest in visiting that Cafe. Then there were few friends who had expressed their desire to come and visit my house. Because my home is surrounded with few gardens and a waterfall. They wanted to take pictures at the surroundings and posted on social media. They never made it out alive. They never visited my house.

Such were my memories of covid. I was overwhelmed with my office work. I was overwhelmed with the work at home. Everyday was spent in horror thinking that what if I or my family could be the next victim of covid. Most days we spend in sorrow because one of my friends had died.

Losing friends was one of the worst part of my life from 2020 to 2023. I had lost over half of my friends due to the infection. Even today when I remember them I get choked up. Too soon to go, too memorable to forget, and too good to be remembered.