I was thinking about our early days in Bangalore. How, once again, life had settled into a quiet rhythm. My daughter would go to school, hubby would go to office, leaving the two of us \u2014 Adi and me \u2014 to have lots and lots of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of Adi\u2019s time was spent in the kitchen with me. While I cooked and went about other chores, he would play with the drawers, potatoes, onions, tomatoes \u2014 and what not. Once I was done, we used to do so many activities together. He would follow Shilpa (my help) around as she cleaned the house. My days were filled to the brim with Adi- and I loved every bit of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had found a good doctor nearby. Though he had to take medication daily, I felt grateful that the meds were working and his seizures were fewer. By then, we had started being thankful for even the tiniest positives. Every \u201cnormal\u201d day felt like a win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then my husband decided to go to Singapore for a startup program. I was apprehensive \u2014 scared, honestly \u2014 about being alone here with the two kids. What if something happened to Adi while he was away? How would I manage alone with two kids in a new city?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then just a month after he left, Covid happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was new to Bangalore, alone with both kids and no family nearby. It was an extremely scary time. There was so much misinformation in the beginning, and my thoughts often spiraled into dark places. What scared me most wasn\u2019t just the virus\u2014it was the fear that something might happen to me. That haunting thought: If something happens to me, what will happen to my kids? <\/em>It kept me awake on too many nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone in the apartment was confined to their own homes. Movement was restricted to buying essentials. No walks, no help, no visitors. I had to single-handedly cook, clean, care for the kids, and do everything else. By the end of the day, I would be completely drained \u2014 physically and mentally. It was a time unlike anything we had ever known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stopped watching the news\u2014it was just fueling my anxiety. I told myself: All I can do is look after us\u2014keep the kids safe, happy, healthy\u2014until this storm passes<\/em>. I focused on what we did have: a home, food on the table, safety. Gratitude became my anchor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that shift helped. I began to feel grateful for what we had \u2014 a safe home, food on the table, clothes to wear. It grounded me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even now, thinking about that time gives me goosebumps, I still feel that fear.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, we survived, and this time reminded me of what truly matters\u2014love, resilience, and the quiet strength that carries us through the hardest days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw how deeply I loved, how fiercely I protected, and how much strength I carried \u2014 without even knowing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alone in a new city. Two kids. A world locked down. And yet, somewhere between the chaos and the quiet, I found strength I didn\u2019t know I had. This is a story of surviving \u2014 and learning to live fully, even when the world outside felt like it was falling apart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"tags":[11,9,7,20],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-memories","category-my-journey","tag-emotional-reflections","tag-grief-journaling","tag-memories","tag-memories-with-adi","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326,"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dearadi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}