എസ്.എൻ.എം.ഗവ.ബോയ്സ് എച്ച്.എസ്.എസ് , ചേർത്തല/അക്ഷരവൃക്ഷം/How a Virus met its Match
How a Virus met its Match
The virus was small, but deadly. It had a crown around its head, and so it thought it was the emperor of the world. It had a burr around its body. So it clung to whatever object that appeared in its way. Till last December, nobody knew that it existed. Then one day it peeped out of a crate full of live animals in the wet market at Wuhan in China. What heady smell of blood was there! It saw a hand approaching the crate and jumped on it. The owner of the hand was a man who kept on rubbing his tired eyes and picking his nose. The virus was happy. It went into the nasal tract and very soon established its colony there. This man was a good host. The man sniffed and coughed and went home. Very soon, it sent its army of children out into Wuhan. And from Wuhan, into the whole wide world. Time for a world tour! That’s how the virus reached India. It had perched on the shoulder of an Italian tourist and reached the God’s own country. It had heard of the beauty and greenery of the land. It was happy. Yes, here’s a big spread. It was taken to the resort in a taxi. The taxi driver was happy to get his fare. The virus decided to join the taxi driver. “I am going to see places,” it jumped in joy. The driver was the friend of Varun’s father. When the health minister of Kerala knew that Italian tourists had come, she ordered them to be isolated in the hospital. The route map of their travel was drawn and the driver was identified and quarantined. The health minister gave instructions to all the people of the land to wash their hands for 20 seconds and to keep themselves safe at home. Varun’s father was a wise man. He knew that this was the time to take precautions. So, Arun and his parents washed their hands and sat in their tiny house, not stirring out. When his father went out to buy groceries and milk once a week he covered his face with mask and used sanitizer whenever he touched any object. The virus which was lurking among the crates was ashamed. It hung its head down and said, “Wuhan was better. I should never have gone out. These people are wise. I will die without any food here.” It broke into loud sobs and withered in the heat. That’s how the virus got defeated in Kerala.
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