On 18th of this month completed 6 months of working from home which coincided with 6 month anniversary of this Pandemic starting to spread in the United States and many other countries in the world. Never in my wildest of dreams I thought of working from home for more than 6 months. But now here I am, still working from home and won't be surprised if I complete one year doing the same.
It was this time in March earlier this year when the Pandemic was its nascent stage. Stopping the spread of a virus is akin to keeping a secret. If you know a secret and don't want it to spread, just don't tell it to anybody. When you are telling it to some one, the probability of keeping it secret gets reduced by 50%. If that person tells to another person it get reduced to 25% and so on.
If some one tells me a secret, there are chances I may not disclose it to others. But if I am told with the tag "don't tell to any one else", it will raise my curiosity and I will make sure I tell it to somebody. It's basically human nature, the usual disclaimers apply.
One fine afternoon a classmate in REC told the secret about him having an affair with a girl in his neighborhood (a big deal those days when having a girlfriend or boyfriend was considered a taboo). He disclosed it to a few boys at a corner room on the back row of the hostel, trusting the listeners. In less than 30 minutes no sooner he was on his way to the dining table downstairs to grab his afternoon snacks, he was mobbed by others asking him details about his affairs.
On the dining table as he was about to grab his bite, when someone confronted him "TU BAHUT KHUS NASEEB HAI YAAR, TERA KOI GIRL FRIEND HAI" - you are fortunate to have a girlfriend. Feeling irritated he got up and wanted to go to the Backpost - a cluster of snack shops and kiosks where students gather during the evening hours. It was a few blocks of walk from the hostel, so he headed there thinking that he will finally be safe from inquisitive folks. He had taken barely a few steps, some one asked him - "Can you let us show any of your love letters" ? The poor guy turned and went back to the safety of his room. REC (NIT) hostel is a dangerous place to share a secret, especially related to love affairs.
Coming back to COVID, 6 months down the road the cat is already out of bag. Like a gossip or rumor, diligent imposition of social distancing or quarantine could have stopped it. Now it has passed that stage,already spreading its tentacles and not likely to stop anytime soon.
Once 80% of folks in a hostel or a neighborhood had already heard about it, the story gets its herd immunity as people start to lose their interest in the rumor or gossip and move on to something else. Similarly, this Corona virus will continue until a vaccine is released for the commoners or the community gets a herd immunity at the cost of numerous deaths. Till then, tighen your belts and bear it folks. Like a secret, the Coronavirus has already gone out of the bag.
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