Quarantined for a fortnight

By Praveen Karunananda, Nallaperuma Thanthrige Bhagya Indeewari and Dilshan Samitha Chithrananda

Based on a true story.

In March 2020 Dr Prav was in the UK when the Corona pandemic started to hit its peak all around the world. So he decided to return to his home at Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was never an easy task as he was subjected to a mandatory quarantine period of two weeks in a military camp situated in the middle of a tropical rainforest in rural Sri Lanka.

His bizarre camp life was superlative and filled with wild adventures which made it an unforgettable experience and became an excursion in the woods.

However, it did not just end as a vacation. While in captivity he also met a group of wonderful souls who changed his life forever. With the acquaintance made he started to explore life from a different angle and had an opportunity to observe this prevailing corona pandemic in an extraordinary perception. Furthermore, he started to embrace the nature and impact of Coronavirus which led him to a whole hidden world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PraveenKaruna
• Release date: May 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393899389

Book preview

Inspirational guide to Corona Pandemic

Dr Praveen Chamath Karunananda

Dr Bhagya Indeewari Nallaeruma Thanthrige

Dr Dilshan Samitha Chithrananda

For Bhagu

For mentors I found in the quarantine Aru, Riva, Sylvester, Simona, Vidya, and Vibu

Copyright

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Copyright Ⓒ 2020 Praveen Karunananda. All rights reserved.

Although based on a true story, certain events in the books have been fictionalized.

First eBook edition: 2020

FOREWORD

Dr Praveen Krunananda is a medical professional with a talent for writing, teaching, music, and app development. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet him and his wife during this small window in our lives. 

Being an integral part of this story makes it more interesting to understand his thoughts and creative style depicted in this story, portraying the facts of life. The characters in this real-life story brings out the basic human tendencies in a closed environment. 

The short period that we were quarantined together is brought out in his own style and made an interesting read, with his knowledge of the medical field and its limitations. 

Quarantined a word dreaded by people all over, could also be nicer if we accept and change our behaviours. It is how we make it. His story says it all in his own style.

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A Amarasekera

BSc (Colombo Uni), MBA (Monash Uni)

Dip. Online Marketing (UK)

Day -1 Heading towards home

It was a typical, fine sunny afternoon. Yet, London Heathrow airport was not busy as usual. Terminal three appears to be a bit more peculiar as only few people rush through the area to enter the airport. Almost all were covering their faces with a face mask while some had it matched to the dress colour. Meanwhile, some covered their whole body with level B hazard suits.

What is happening? I asked Bhagu, my wife, who was travelling with me.

She was clueless about what to tell me. We all knew it must be due to the Corona pandemic & all people are taking necessary precautions. But it was like a Sci-fi movie to me. I have watched similar phenomena but never thought I would face something like that. Fortunately, I am not alone in this situation.

Ranjack and Bhagu came with me in the taxi. We were expecting our friends to arrive at the airport soon.

Naspi is late. We will be late for the flight. I can't bear this. I think we should move on Ranjack started her complaints as usual.

Come on? Ranjack we can’t move on without Naspi and Mindfast. We are a group. So, we need to go together Bhagu replied in an annoying tone. I nodded my head to agree with her.

Relieving everyone's great stress, Naspi got out of a large cab. We all knew that Naspi was ready to face the pandemic when we got back to Sri Lanka. He went to Asda before coming to the airport and filled his bags with dozens of chocolates and biscuits. He had to buy a big luggage to carry all those items. I knew that Naspi’s luggage weight was more than the standard weight and size so needed a bigger cab to arrive at the airport.

Meanwhile, Mindfast got off from the other side of the cab. He had no idea what was happening. What he knew was he had to go back to Sri Lanka. He never wanted but he had no option when his atrocious wife Ruzz politely asked him to accompany her & children to Sri Lanka. She had a reasonable point. So, he agreed.

Come on Prav we are already behind the schedule shouted Naspi while taking the lead. We followed him like blind folk.

Oh no, wait. I need to wear my mask. I forgot to take one into my hand luggage Ranjack panicked. 

Don’t worry Ranjack, I have more Bhagu handed over her extra mask to Ranjack which was enough to make herself comfortable.

All went inside the airport without much of a hurdle. Me and Bhagu checked in to the flight easily as there were no queues at all.

Meanwhile, Naspi started to repack his items as he was having 20kg of extra luggage. He had no idea what to do with the extra weight. He was out of his mind and started doing funny things. First, he started with spraying a perfume over all of us. He thought of reducing the weight of the perfume by spraying over us. Naspi offered me a can of crispy fries. I was not in a mood to eat it at all. But he argued that it will reduce 165g of his total weight. So, I had no option but to help him to finish it.

Suddenly, I noticed a tall handsome gentleman was walking along the corridor towards us with a beautiful charming girl. There was something unusual with him, but I was unable to pick it up. As he came closer to us, I recognized that it was Malkin with his lovely fiancé.

But what is wrong with Malkin? There is something which is abnormal I asked from myself.

Hey Prav, did you see that Malkin is wearing an eye cover as a face mask? Bhagu replied in joy.

Oh, that is the problem I replied to Bhagu.

Hey Malkin bro, why are you wearing eye cover as a mask? I asked him curiously. It made him angry and frustrated as his fiancé was next to him. He is an astute doctor where he was able to change the topic immediately.

Kanilma these are the friends who came with me for the exam Malkin introduced us to Kanilma. She already knew that we all are doctors from Sri Lanka who came for an exam in England. Unfortunately, this lamentable situation cancelled all the exams. She also knew that we all were heading back to Sri Lanka.

Kanilma are you coming with us? I asked her.

Nope, I have to stay in London. I do need to complete some work. Don’t worry Prav. Enjoy the quarantine Kanilma replied in a funny tone.

Word quarantine added a dark mark to all our faces. We all knew that we needed to undergo mandatory quarantine in Sri Lanka for fourteen days before going back to our homes. From what we heard we knew that it is not going to be a pleasant experience for us. Whenever we thought about returning to Sri Lanka this worry came into our mind making the journey somewhat darker and miserable. But there was one fine looking young doctor who enjoyed going back to her home country a lot. That was Ranjack. She was the one who motivated all of us to return to Sri Lanka in this special flight arranged by Sri Lankan airlines.

After talking to Kanilma we all moved towards the security counter. As we advanced inwards, we noticed a funny couple rushing with us to the security counter. I tried to smile with the gentlemen, but he was too busy with the security process. He looked so confident in what he was doing and appeared to be a well-experienced traveller. His partner (I assumed she was his wife) didn’t second herself in the process. Both seem to be enjoying their time a lot.

Hey guys look at the number of flights which had cancelled Mindfast showed the flight info display. It was true. Almost all the flights were cancelled. Furthermore, our flight was not there on the list. Naspi told us that since this is a special flight, they might not have updated the schedule. That statement was more than enough to make ourselves comfortable.

Hey guys I want to buy some liquor, Malkin told us.

Do you take alcohol? I asked him as he was a very religious guy.

Oh, no this is not for me; I am taking them to sell in Sri Lanka. he was smart enough to give an excuse to me. All in all, he was unable to purchase the liquor with our hesitation.

Again, I noticed that gentlemen, who I noted at the security checkup, was buying liquor like a cavalier. I knew that this guy is going to enjoy the quarantine period a lot.

But for me or Bhagu duty-free was not welcoming at all. It looked so gloomy for us. We noted several brownout areas of the airport which added horrific taste to the environment. A guy behind the sweeper was wearing a black hazardous costume that looked as if he was coming from devil’s mouth.

Our flight is not on the timetable; I am sure there is no flight for us. This is an ambush. I am going to call the relevant authorities. Ranjack took her mobile with unlimited data.

Let her do whatever she wants. I am going to find the gate. Naspi started to frown at Ranjack and kept his pace constant.

With many arguments, we finally managed