A week ago, life was different. As I am almost getting done with my PhD, I had planned each day to the utmost perfection. Sundays: Going to bazar, journaling, and recently I was planning on making my Sundays “spiritual.” Yoga for three days a week. Teaching for Tuesdays and Thursdays. A date for Wednesdays and Fridays. And, rest of the time writing my dissertation, which I am defending soon to get Doctorate Degree. Everything was perfectly planned and there was a plan B too. But I didn’t plan to live through yet another disaster—the pandemic, the Covid-19 crisis that has crippled lives of hundreds and thousands of us around the world.

KATHMANDU, March 18: Amid coronavirus outbreak fears, Nepal Army said on Wednesday that it has made preparations to fight the COVID-19.

POKHARA, March 17: The Pokhara Sub-metropolitan City has established a health desk at Lakeside, Pokhara, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

AUSTIN – When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States was surprised and unprepared, but it was quickly freed of its illusions. The same does not hold true for the COVID-19 epidemic. The attack is underway and our defenses are down—but so far our illusions remain intact.