It has
been a long while since I last posted anything here, and even longer since my
last Corona update on 30 November 2020, but now I return to that subject with
some optimism, because I have broken out of the metaphorical Corona
straitjacket. How come? Well, last Monday, the 11th, I went into
Central London by train for the first time in twenty months. Let me
explain: the London Film Festival 2021 (which ended yesterday) was on
and considering that before the pandemic I always managed to see
about half a dozen films every year, I was determined not to miss this year`s
offerings. So I had booked two, one for Monday and the other for the next
day,Tuesday the 12th, and I am pleased to say I managed to see both of
them; and next I am looking forward to seeing the new Bond film in the coming days. All these will feature in my Annual Review at the end of the year.
The
outings on the two consecutive days – the train travel in both directions,
walking through Waterloo Station to the South Bank, the general ambience at the
National Film Theatre - all that was more or less like what used to be the case
in the pre-pandemic days, but with a major difference in that one didn`t have to
jostle with crowds in the streets or milling around on the
station concourse. To be on the safe side, I had kept a mask on
throughout the journey and in the cinema auditorium, which incidentally was
full, on both days. Of course, having been triple jabbed, with the
booster now, added to one`s confidence. Even otherwise, during
the last few months, ordinary life (shopping, outdoor walks and other
activities, meeting and mixing with people, though not in large gatherings
or overcrowded conditions etc) has been returning to near normal. During and
soon after the first lockdown last year, there was a surge in zoom meetings and
sessions. These have steadily declined; social interactions have
become nuanced and generally we have settled down into new routines. For us, foreign
travel is still not on, and much as I wish to go on a cruise, that will not
happen until spring next year at the earliest. We await better times!
RAMNIK SHAH
© 2021
Surrey, England
