My mother-in-law was flying in from Varanasi last night. The only non-stop flight between VNS and HYD lands at 10 PM, and Telangana's night-curfew begins at 9. I drove to the airport by starting early, parked in a desolate part of the parking (there was hardly 5% of the normal crowd at RGIA). By the time the airport digested her and she reached the arrival ramp, it was already 10:45. On the drive back to central Hyderabad, where we live, we were stopped in four places--first was before we climbed PVNR Expressway, then after we got down at Mehdipatnam, and then at Lakdi-ka-Pul (where btw, all the sulli-run restaurants were open and bustling); then near Secretariat, and finally near Indira Park. At each stop, the cops demanded to see the boarding pass. My MIL and I were dressed like astronauts. She had her IndiGo face shield in addition to masks, but since I had just taken my first shot, I have to be extra careful, and so I wore 3 masks, latex gloves, full-body clothes, swimming goggles since I had no face shield (no kidding), and earplugs. Then at home, disposal of mask, gloves, and dumping everything that needs washing into a bucket of Dettol water. A hot-water shower to end things.
....and then I turn on the TV to see visuals of lakhs of sullis barely-masked, swarming Charminar area well into the night (like 11 PM), with no cops in sight.
