Riya Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; May 22, 2020)

Swara Bhasker, who has been living in Mumbai throughout the Coronavirus lockdown, recently travelled to Delhi to be with her mother, who has sustained an injury. Swara’s mother, Ira Bhaskar, fell down and fractured her shoulder last week. She took permission from the authorities to make the 1,400km journey by road, over two days.

Swara shares, “My mom fell and fractured her shoulder in our Delhi home last week. Her whole torso is in a brace and she has to keep her right hand and right side of the torso immobilised. I wanted to go back the day I got to know about it as I was feeling very restless. My sister-in-law was taking care of her, but I thought I should go back. I am very grateful that I was able to travel.”

Swara travelled with her five pets — four cats and a dog — and her cook. “It was a long journey — a 14-hour drive from Mumbai to Udaipur, overnight stay in Udaipur and then another 10 hours from Udaipur to Delhi. It was quite a saga, but luckily, my pets are well-behaved and we managed.”

She adds that she had not informed her parents that she was coming back home. “I did not want them to get worried. I knew my mother would get worried, so they did not know, but were very happy and surprised to see me,” she says and confesses that though she is “useless” in the kitchen, she tries to help her mother. “I am completely useless in the kitchen, and my only contribution now is combing my mother’s hair and helping her change,” she shares. Since Swara undertook a long journey, she says that she has followed all the quarantine protocols. She shares, “I’ve gone through the necessary self-isolation and home quarantine protocols.”