Chapter 6: chapter 6

One day at about 7.00 pm an army of police inspectors marched across my house. The DSP of the town was leading the others. I recognised him as his son was studying at my school taking benefit of online education. They had stationed their jeep at a far-off street. They were on a secret mission it seemed. Everybody in the regiment was liveried in their government uniforms adorning a serious look suspecting a heinous crime committed by someone in our locality. I summoned my husband from inside and we stood on the balcony watching them enter an apartment located just a few distances from our house. They posted one constable outside the gate to guard the house so that nobody could find a means to escape by any chance. Meanwhile, other folks stepped out of their houses enquiring from each other about the matter but none could provide an accurate explanation. There is a grocery shop just in front of my building. A shopkeeper is a lively man in his late seventies and a bosom friend of my father-in-law. He said, "Maybe that family had hidden a corona patient inside, that's why the police are on secret duty. There are many renters too residing in that apartment. I am not sure exactly what might have occurred. One of the inspectors asked me the direction of the so-and-so personnel and I pointed out the house to them sincerely. That's it. " People gossiped leisurely until the police troop dispersed back to their jeep in the same manner they had arrived. There was pin-drop silence on the road when the inspectors were returning to their jeep. A girl selling vegetables in front of that house had picked up her veggies and hid at the back of a tall building as soon as she had caught sight of the police from far off. She must have speculated that the police is here because of her as there was a restriction on selling vegetables privately. Common ground was reserved for the selling of fruits and vegetables within a limited duration. When the police departed, the folks became inquisitive to know what had transpired.My husband climbed down the stairs of our house, wearing a mask and joined the people standing in the middle of the road in a circle discussing the matter seriously. They were talking in whispers. Arshneet's class teacher lived in the rental rooms of the mentioned house. He was also standing there with the people. He informed him in low whispers, "A government compounder had occupied the second floor of our apartment, he had been suspected of smuggling surgical masks and selling them at higher rates." My husband enquired out of curiosity, "Did they accuse him?" The teacher replied, "No they didn't get anything it seemed. A long round of questions and answer session started after which they hastily exited from the main door." My husband exclaimed gloomily, "Oh! These uncertain times". He retraced his steps when he saw more people joining the circle. He feared the police may come again and reprimand them for forming unnecessary gatherings. He slipped from there, came home and shared with me whatever he had heard. There had been a  different scenario everywhere due to the prolonged lockdown in some sectors. The lockdown was being lifted gradually by providing relief on a one-to-one basis. The restaurant got government approval much later. The proprietor of hotels living in my neighbourhood started selling food outside their house stealthily from the police. They exclaimed, "It's becoming difficult to run our house without any income. So I had to resort to the home delivery facilities also. Don't know when will this pandemic end. It's sucking and causing havoc everywhere. Never in our lives, I had witnessed this misery." The salon people gave home facilities to their regular customers. It was only at last that all the sectors got relief with only the exception of schools and colleges. However, the University headquarters remained functional with strict covid restrictions.