Who will tell the mother?

An expat life is an interesting one. There is a sense of adventure to venture out into the unknown and experience the newness of a country and learn more about it at the same time to make a living.

There are moments of nostalgia for the homeland and love for the nation one is currently living in. One holds onto the memories until they visit their land and be with their loved ones again.

Travel to explore and earn is not something that has been in practice for a century, instead it is a trait the man has carried with him ever since he learnt the basic naval skills and began to cross seas to trade and thrive.

We may never know all the details of the emotions and experiences of those days, but we know people continue to cross oceans till today and now they are known as expatriates and in some cases migrants. If it were oceans before it is the sky now and as the flight takes off looking down to land the minds gently utter, “Until we meet again.”

The latest challenge for the expatriates has been travelling as it is well understood minimal travel is hassle free from quarantine to lack of continuity in flights due to the pandemic Covid-19. Sometimes an expat keeps worries from their family members back home. And this young 35-year-old environmentalist and volunteer who cared for the land he was living in as his own, did the same when he began to develop Covid-19 symptoms. Until I heard the question, “Do you think that hospital would have a vacant bed?”

A person unknown to me but felt comforting to know he has found a safe person to heal. He too did not want to worry his mother unnecessarily and probably thought he would tell her once he recovers and leave the whole episode behind.

Little did we know that Covid would win this battle. He who had the courage and could rescue unknown dogs with ease suddenly went silent. His friends who were planning out meals for him during the hospital stay looked suddenly aimless. Words failed them. For we were not reading a figure as part of the total number affected by Covid stated in the media but a person who had been working, volunteering to go for beach cleaning and rescuing animals. The heaviness of the situation was that his mother was unaware of everything – the infection, hospitalisation and the demise.

Who would tell her?

The world must have shaken when she heard the fact and who would ever be able to console her? The unspoken words are louder at times.

She should know that he left a mark in this world and made his life meaningful and he lived with hope.

Covid has changed so many factors of lives across the globe. It continues to evolve with the latest variant being detected in Vietnam, which is considered to be a highly transmissible coronavirus variant.

The more we want to look away from Covid-19 the more it tends to seek everyone’s attention. The debate continues the only difference is the focus is now on the new variant – is it a hybrid between two variants?

Amidst all this life must go on and June 1 is the Global Day of Parents designated by the United Nations’ General Assembly in 2012 to appreciate all parents throughout the world. The Global Day of Parents recognises that the family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of children. “For the full and harmonious development of their personality, children should grow up in a family environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding,” states the UN.

Last year and this year must have been painful and sad for both parents and children as many family units have lost parents or sons and daughters. This year the day is observed with the message greater support is needed for working parents as Covid-19 takes hold.

Maybe more than ever before parents need emotional support.