India: The Humbling Majesty Whilst Outrunning Covid-19

Sometime in my youth, I recall my parents commenting about their exact whereabouts when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on 22nd November 1963.

- Ian Kirke

This narrative was meaningless to me until I witnessed the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States of America. This chapter of World history unfolded on the TV as I was called in from washing my late wife’s car, a white Rover 200, with a bucket full of warm soapy water, a sponge, and chamois leather on our driveway in Fordwells Drive, Bracknell, Berkshire. Having returned from the Big Apple a week previously, after an incredible family holiday that took in Disney World too, the connection with Manhattan was tangible. My neck hurt as I arched my head back to take in the enormity and wonder of the Trade Towers as we passed below in an open-topped hop on hop off bus. My daughter Lucy also captured this unique perspective on a disposable camera, and I still have the picture proudly on display today. That was my JFK moment. A time in my history when the entire World was transfixed to the same incident. I then realized the importance of my parents recalling their exact location in 1963 and how an affinity with the rest of the human race is so rare that individual positioning is more than just a statement of fact. I guess that in years to come I may be inclined to reflect on COVID-19 in the same manner. It certainly fits the criteria of gripping the entire human race but even whilst we are still in the grasp of it this pandemic doesn’t feel to me as though it was a spontaneous event, more like a situation that had pursued me from South Asia 2,698 miles due west of the epicenter of Wuhan, China before finally catching up and cornering me.