Pre-pandemic moments: Remembering ‘normal life’ just before coronavirus changed everything

Gulf News

Gulf News readers and staff recall the final moments of normalcy in their everyday life before the COVID-19 attack  Read the full story: https://bit.ly/2EeApBn  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #Dubai #coronavirus #covid19

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00:00My best memory of before Covid and Corona started so or essentially the lockdown that we went under

00:07was when I flew home to India for my dad's 75th birthday and it was a real surprise because I

00:14had taken a night flight and it was an A380 Emirates and it was absolutely fabulous. I've

00:19never flown an A380 so it was a great experience, a flying experience but looking back and I enjoyed

00:27it and I was so happy to go home for that short break but looking back I realized how much we

00:33took our freedom for granted especially the ability to travel as and when we wanted

00:39based on our circumstances so I think that's my favorite memory. The last memorable moment was

00:45the moment with my only son that was back in February so I missed him a lot since I have

00:55waited for him to come for more than 18 years. I have three daughters and this is my only son.

01:02Being apart from almost half a year now is really very sad for me because he just turned two years

01:11when last March and I was not even there to celebrate with him on his second birthday so

01:17it really makes me sad. I just wish that this Covid will soon be over so that I can

01:23go home or they can come back here to Dubai where we can all be together and

01:27share some happy memories. My last movie that we actually went to a movie theater and watched

01:34was on January 5th. I checked my online theater account to see when was the last time I

01:41purchased a ticket and it is kind of sad seeing that date on there because it kind of proves how

01:48not normal all of this is. Actually my husband and I we go for movies every other week at least

01:56we used to go for movies every other week at least even if it was a movie that wasn't rated

02:02so great we would go because we like the movie theater experience you know going there getting

02:07snacks sitting in the theater etc. I think that's one thing that I miss the most and I don't think

02:13I'm comfortable yet even if cinemas opened up and we had movies running we have old movies

02:20running but if we had new ones coming up I don't think I'm yet comfortable to kind of go to a

02:26theater. I remember seeing my colleagues full faces and now everywhere you go all you see is

02:35eyes people's eyes and it's it's weird because you can't completely judge you know people's

02:41expressions and stuff you can see a lot with eyes. I remember being in gym that was full and that was

02:46normal and that was an abrupt change but the biggest thing that I remember is more traffic

02:51there was more traffic before lockdown and for me it's been pretty good job wise hasn't really

02:56affected me much there wasn't a definitive like line or time when it just changed it was just

03:02this gradual expectation of lockdown happening and trying to get information about what you need to

03:07do or not do but there was no there was no moment. It's been 171 days since my son and I have stepped

03:15out of the house together we went out it was February 28th I remember and we had gone out

03:21in around 10 30 or so we went to the mall we hung around a bit we bought him some new summer clothes

03:27because it was still the onset of summer and after that we went to the park by late afternoon or so

03:35and we had some sandwiches we played around I watched him play till evening over there making

03:40new friends and stuff and I even remember before coming like always he protested mommy 10 minutes

03:47more can I play and I was like no let's go but if I knew that that was the last time we were coming

03:52out for the next few months I would have let him play that day. So my last is actually the last

03:57party I've been to. Normally I wouldn't be a person who like parties like crazy but I was

04:04so lucky that the last weekend before they sort of closed everything down my friends had flown

04:11in from Amsterdam and we did three days of non-stop partying like I was hardly sleeping

04:17I was so tired and I was this close to not going out because it was like late you know like when

04:21you party in Dubai specifically you leave the house at 11 p.m. and like that was just so exhausting

04:27for me but we went to like party at a club on Thursday night and then we had a party brunch

04:33on Friday morning and a party again on Friday night and then a pool party on Saturday all day

04:39so I was exhausted but you know what it was so much fun and I will scroll through my phone and

04:44look at those videos of that weekend and it was just the funnest weekend and that was the last

04:50time I partied and I have no idea when it's gonna happen again like we can't really be in clubs

04:55anymore we can't how are you gonna party social distancing so I have a feeling like clubs are

05:01gonna be closed for a while or there'll be like sit down situations but that was my last weekend

05:06where I like just like let loose and I was like having fun with my friends and it may not be as

05:14you know meaningful as like my last hug with my parents it was a party and it was worth it

05:22the lack of sleep was worth it it was a good one so I think it was around the first week of March

05:27maybe the seventh or eighth of March when I went to Lamer the beach in Dubai and I was surprised

05:34like there were so many people there were people bathing in the sea there were people singing I saw

05:41a group huddled around a table and a guy had a guitar he was playing something strumming something

05:47and his friends were all over him like they were enjoying it and all those cafeterias which line

05:53the Lamer beach they were full of people full of people who were dining out on a it was a Friday

05:58afternoon so there were loads of people out there and just the day before I had come back from India

06:04and I could feel the kind of tension that was building up because of coronavirus but when I

06:09landed in Dubai I found things were just normal nobody really seemed to be that bothered about

06:14what was happening in the rest of the world and Lamer was a reflection of that like when I went

06:18there it was like a tourist hot spot and as long as I was there I honestly speaking I wasn't really

06:26bothered about what was going on you know maybe we were not that much aware at that point of time

06:31that what was lying ahead but honestly speaking when I was there I just I just shut my mind out

06:37and I just enjoyed what was there so that was the last time I really went out and I enjoyed

06:44being outdoors I never knew that in the next few weeks things would change so much that the new

06:51normal would really take such a toll on our lives but I'm glad that I actually went out and I soaked

06:57up the sun and the fun getting together with a bunch of friends for a shisha it was a weekly

07:02affair we used to do it over the weekends and every weekend actually the four of us would get

07:08together we'll just talk politics or sports or you know one of those things and I remember it was

07:14early March and we got together planning to meet again the next week but we couldn't I mean at that

07:22time there was some apprehension that the virus was getting hold of some you know gripping some

07:29countries in Europe but we didn't know that it's going to sort of put the entire world in a

07:34lockdown of sorts and also I mean it changed things in a sense because I think there's this

07:41human need to get together to socialize and people do it people have been doing it over the centuries

07:47in this part of the world there's a great oral culture where people would sit together discuss

07:51talk poetry stories etc right up to now where people would get together or a cup of coffee

07:58or a smoke and talk and you know meet friends and extended family but this was completely sort of

08:05unthinkable off we never knew that there was going to be a lockdown where and the social distancing

08:10and face covering and and these sort of protocols in place where you couldn't get together with your

08:15loved ones so yeah that is one thing I remember which I now in hindsight it feels like as if it

08:22was another world you know it feels like a light year ago you know I never thought that

08:28something as simple as a gentle wave from a school bus would leave such a lasting impression on me

08:35I've put my son onto the school bus right from the time he was in play school and

08:43I've seen him transition from a wave like that to a very gentle casual glance and a wave and

08:51I love that transition but when I look at that last wave of his I just have so many memories

09:00in my mind of course we've been sitting together in the same room on the at the same table

09:05me doing my work and he doing his studies but that wave will always be special.

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