Tikamgad was a small town set on a river bank. There were small houses or dwelling units along with a tiny marketplace. The only connectivity to this town was by buses. The nearest railway station was at least twenty kilometers away. People here would travel riding bicycles. Cars or two wheelers were almost absent on the streets, except once in a while when a small mini truck was driven on the dusty roads by a driver hired by the businessmen in the town to fetch raw materials or things that were made in factories elsewhere.

With time things had gradually changed in Tikamgad. The once fertile banks of the river had turned into barren lands. The residents of the town who were once farmers, left cultivation and travelled to distant cities in search for jobs and a livelihood.

The mud-caked roads were first replaced with tar and then concrete. The connectivity to this small town was improvised.

Now, fresh fruits and vegetables weren't cultivated but purchased from various markets outside the town by the traders and sold at much higher prices. It was easier now to get to the only hospital in the town as automobiles weren't that uncommon but a usual part of the day to day life.

Although, it still was a peaceful little town, unlike a metrocity with loud horns honking and streets bustling with people, some people argued that Tikamgad had become vulnerable, it wasn't self sufficient anymore.

It's true that everything was available in the town, but there were hardly any job opportunities. There were no industries or factories, no good college for higher education, no hotels as the town seldom had any visitors, no shopping malls, and no movie theaters.

The only means of recreation for the people of Tikamgad was a public library, a small park,and a tiny restaurant with no bar as drinking was considered bad. The elderly people in the village would discuss the news about various issues early in the morning in the park when the youngsters would take up to various exercises.

A newly married couple in the small town seemed to have been blessed with a little baby boy. He was named Ishaan by his grandfather Mr. Ratnakar Khandelwal.

Everyone in their family was filled with happiness and joy. They had relatives making video calls every now and then, congratulating the family and peeking on the newborn, trying to guess if he looked more like his father or mother.

A pandemic had hit the town recently and it was a tough situation. Covid-19 was spreading fast and people had stopped visiting each other's house. Though Ishaan's grandparents expected more people would visit them soon,they have brightly shinning eyes and a new enthusiasm to live a little longer.

Ishaan's father,Mr. Maniratnam Khandelwal who would earlier take a long walk to the bus stop and then travel to his office by bus had now purchased a new bike and rode it everyday to his office and back as the public transport was unavailable, the buses weren't plying.

On a sudden day, it so happened that Mr. Maniratnam met with an accident while driving. He had been rushing, already running late. His bike had been crushed as it landed almost inside the tires of a big loaded truck. He had been hospitalized and the doctors decided to remove one of his legs - the left one below the knee.

It was very unfortunate for the family, but they had to agree to it, as this was the best way to save his life, the doctors had said. After long hours of surgery which was successful, the family finally felt relieved.

However, this relief didn't last long for the family, when the doctors again told them to sign papers to operate on Ishaan's father once again.

This time they told that they'd have to chop his leg from the thigh. Unable to understand the jargons the doctors shooted, all the family knew was a surgery at the right time could save his life. After a lot of discussion with the other relatives and friends, they decided to let the doctors operate.

This surgery took a lot more time than expected and all they could do was wait outside the operating room and pray.

They were bombarded with bad news. The surgery wasn't successful. It was very stressful for Ishaan's grandparents but they had to stay strong for Ishaan and his mother Mrs. Rakhi Khandelwal.They had invested almost all of their savings to pay the hospital bills.

Mrs. Rakhi was frozen like a piece of ice when after two days she was informed that her husband had passed away. She had no tears rolling down her cheeks. She was numb and unresponsive to even her own child.

Ishaan had now turned to be six months old. His grandmother, though being an elderly woman having poor eyesight and extreme difficulty in walking had started to looking after him and after a week's time his mother left him at the mercy of his grandparents.

She packed up all her belongings and left, already having made up her mind never to return.

Though Ishaan's grandparents begged her to stay back or at least take the child with her, she paid no heed to what they said. All of a sudden, she was almost void of any emotions. She didn't bother to shoulder the responsibility of the little child...her son or his old grandparents.

This was even more shocking to the elderly couple and they couldn't imagine that life could throw such curve balls at them. Mr. Ratnakar decided to do his best to nourish and bring up the little one. Having no clues to how he would again start earning money, he started selling flowers on the street that he himself grew on the terrace, as gardening had been his hobby since childhood. But this wouldn't be enough, so he started to ask for help from his relatives and in return only got his feelings dissected and began to believe that humanity didn't exist anymore.

The only thing that helped them sustain was the support from neighbours, who readily took turns to look after Ishaan or sometimes took cooked meals for them.

Financial troubles grew more and more with every passing day.  The expenses on their own medicines had increased tremendously and their were no major sources of income. However, the elderly couple refused to give up. They couldn't let the little child starve or not get a proper education.

Mr. Ratnakar, started educating himself once again. He spent hours in the public library. Besides that, he started coaching kids for soccer. He started to take tuitions for little kids while his wife had started to make some small home decor items that was sold in the market by a teenage girl who loved to play with Ishaan. As a result of this, Mr. Ratnakar's health improvised and he started feeling much younger. He had started jogging everyday in the morning. Having never been a tech savvy person, all he  had done throughout his life was work as a physical training (PT) teacher in a school, where he taught soccer and volleyball to kids.

Mrs. Khandelwal felt unusually happy being able to do something creative everyday. Instead of sitting and crying observing her life falling apart, she started investing her time in learning new cooking recipes when  one of her neighbor's brought in a cooked meal for them. Her bonding with her neighbor's grew even stronger because of her humble and cheerful nature, who would happily help her do the daily household chores.

Author's Note:

I had some insects in my mind that wouldn't let me live in peace till I wrote something about Covid-19.

Hopefully, you enjoyed reading this little short story.

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