This is the last image I have on any of my proper (read: non-iPhone) cameras. It was taken from our hotel room, right before packing and leaving on Jan 1, 2020 for the long foggy ride on the Yamuna Expressway towards Delhi airport. After 3 frustrating days of incredibly thick fog, where one couldn’t see beyond that bare tree in the foreground, we were greeted by a glimpse of the Taj just as we were about to leave. I must have snapped 20 images of this scene, but this one came out really well because of that scattering of birds above the laundry-lined rooftops.
On Jan 3rd, we were on our way back from Calcutta airport to San Francisco, with a stop over in Hong Kong.
As we wandered around the airport in a half-asleep drowsy state, there were constant announcements being made around the panic that was already taking place in central China. “If you have pneumonia like symptoms or a fever, and have visited the Wuhan region in Central China, please alert the authorities immediately.” As if anyone complied.
Now we know that the region must have seen an outbreak as early as mid November. And by the time we were walking, touching every surface, sleeping in the lounge, eating, brushing elbows with everyone, at the Hong Kong International Airport, there might possibly be tens of thousands of cases (or more) floating around these central travel hubs.
We, luckily of course, got back without any infections. And within 90 days, a virus that humankind had never see before, has brought the entire race to its knees.
