Saturday 28 November 2020

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - XXII

What I see, I saw

The weekend affords the luxury of a lie-in that I do not feel compelled to get up early for my walking exercise, though, if I can get it done by noon, I will be the happier for it. Getting out with a limp as I seemed to have a trapped nerve down the back of my right thigh with the result of a somewhat weakened leg and funny stride, I walked through the pain.

Taking a left turn there was a crowd ahead of me, gathered around what noticed was a hearse in front of a gurdwara, I cross the road from them and in our pandemic times, I saw no masks, no safe-distancing and arrivals who had come to pay their last respects to whoever was in the coffin. A few hushed sounds and someone presiding over a ceremony for the dead, I limped on my way.

Like a stalk, I walk

The person being seen off, of whom many had come to revere, one could not say if the end was the natural course of life or exacerbated by the Coronavirus. Though, it did not leave any less worried about other consequences that might result from this early morning gathering.

In life and in death, things go on. I, on my walks, others completely oblivious of what I had just witnessed. I was into my 5th kilometre when the discomfort subsided, but I was averaging 10 minutes to the kilometre transitioning from a hobble to a little less than a wobble. The light of day allowing me to vary my course a bit and with a detour by the large supermarket, I got home with 12 kilometres in the bag.

Funerals indeed can take place during the national lockdown period and there is consideration and sensitivity for dealing with bereavement and the bereaved, but there should be no more than 30 people attending apart from the funerary staff. I did not do a count, may the soul of the departed rest in peace and to their survivors much strength, comfort and wellbeing after the ceremonies.

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