The First Wave: A Review

About The Book

The book lays out the touching and insightful experiences of the author while he was working as an Associate Professor at AIIMS, Raipur, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Very vividly, he describes his encounter with the pandemic as a frontline COVID warrior. On one hand, he was struggling with loneliness, unable to meet his family, relatives, friends and others due to quarantine protocols; on the other hand, he was working tirelessly for the patients in the hospital. Dr. Prashant Nayak also narrates how he went through this very difficult phase of his life, being affected both emotionally and physically, keeping himself engaged with his work for patients, while rediscovering his old passions—writing and singing. The climax of the book is indeed heart-rending, where he unfolds the series of obstacles he faced while trying to travel to his hometown across the interstate border.

My Thoughts

I lost many loved ones to COVID, so I was a little apprehensive to pick this book up. But I'd like to thank the author about the kindness with which he has treated this book. I can't imagine what it would be like to stay away from my family and face something like this. The way Dr. Prashant Nayak describes the incidents from the hospital and the choices that hospital managements were making sent a chill down my spine. I highly recommend everyone to read this book.

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