48: Conquer and Live !

My name is Angelina Rose Verghese and I’ve been living in Dubai, UAE since 1982.  Even though I’m of Indian origin, this is what I call home.  My dad, James, passed away from Pancreatic Cancer when I was in my 12^th grade.  My mom, Vivian, who was a working mother, has been a constant support since then.  I have 2 siblings, a brother, Charles, who’s a Photographer in Dubai and a sister, Kristine, who’s an Actress, Emcee and Lifestyle influencer in Mumbai, India.  I have a partner for life, Amrith, who is the world to me, my guide and pillar of strength.  I am a mother of 5 (rescued cats – Fuzz, Fifi, Fatty, Figo and Furbie) and 2 (rescued birds – Apple (hardly any feathers) and Pear (one foot)).  I used to be a Flight Attendant with Emirates Airlines from 2000 until 2011.  Since then, I took a sabbatical and long break.  I decided to venture into things that I was passionate about like, Art, Baking, Photography and Events.  I finally settled in on Photography (Angelina Verghese Photography) as my line of work.  There have been quite a few ups and downs over the years, and I’ve managed to stay positive through it all.

2020 Started off like any other year.  One of the things to do for 2020 was to open my LinkedIn account, which I finally did.  Somewhere in the background, news about a Virus in China came in bits and pieces, but never did I think that it would affect the whole world.  January was a month of being creative with my Art and decided to gift all my girl friends a piece of artwork with their favourite colours.  I wanted to do something special for them, since they’ve been a huge part of my life.  During the month of February, my mom, wanted to renovate her home as it needed an upgrade.  She wanted to keep a family to share the flat as her savings were depleting.  So, we started making changes as the days went by.  By then, the news of the 1^st case of Covid-19 in Dubai was announced.  By March, it became a reality when we went into an entire Lockdown.  Needless to say, the renovation work was halted.  Dubai seemed like an End of the World movie.  Not a soul on the streets and we needed a permission letter to even step out of the house.  Masks, gloves and sanitizers had become an integral part of our dressing attire.  There was news about people stacking up on Toilet paper and till today, I don’t understand why…  News around the world of so many deaths, fires, floods, earthquakes, all came one after the other.  The Earth was angry.

April came and my rescued parrot with no feathers “Apple” suddenly got sick.  I had to rush her to the Avian Vet to do a check up.  Blood tests were taken.  The vet gave me some formula to feed her, but said that she had only a 5% chance of survival.  I wasn’t ready to give up.  I spent 3 weeks attending to my little sick birdie, keeping her warm, feeding her every 2 hours 24×7 and encouraging her to fight.  She finally regained her strength to stand on her feet again.  She fought to live and she won.  I’m such a proud mama.

During the lockdown, I explored a lot of culinary skills along with my friends, sang a lot songs on Karaoke, caught up on a lot of movies that I missed over the years and enhanced my skills on Photography and Videography.  Zoom calls and Microsoft Teams were a new instrument to meet up virtually and it was fun.  We had Zoom parties !  I even started watching Korean series (K-Dramas) on Netflix, which I absolutely love.  I was suddenly learning a new language at this stage of my life.  Even overseas travel had become a thing of the past.  Some took to meditation and yoga.  Some long friends decided not to stay in touch ever again without reason, which was very surprising.  It’s their loss I guess.

In the meantime, we were having trouble finding a family to stay at my mom’s flat and it started getting very stressful.  By then, the whole of Dubai was at a standstill and there wasn’t any way to earn or pay the bills.  We placed flyers for anyone to move it, but still nothing worked.  The rent and bills were mounting up.  Mom had to sell all her gold and also break into her India savings in order to make ends meet.  This was such a harsh reality we were facing.

I took up any and every freelance job that came my way.  Photography and Events were totally out of the question during this pandemic.  Even my partner didn’t get paid for months.  He eventually made the decision to quit his job.  In the midst of this Covid crisis, he decided to start his own Business.  He was all excited about it and I was there to encourage him to take it forward.  Some people thought that he made a foolish decision, but we all are fighters and it’s not over until we say it’s over.

When Dubai slowly started opening up from the Lockdown, it was like a new City was blooming again.  A few opportunities turned up with freelance work.  It was refreshing to be out again in the World, of course with a lot a precautions.  Things were buzzing again.  I’ve been part of a Theatre group, Orb Theatricals, for the last 7 years and finally performances took place once it was permitted.  It was a different feeling looking at the stage again and the seats with social distancing policy, seemed empty.  News came in from friends and family (relatives – Uncle and Aunt) that they were found Positive for Covid.  Some of my friends lost people close to them due to Covid, and that hit so close to our heart.  We couldn’t do a thing.  So many stories emerged from various sources about job losses and helplessness due to the pandemic.  During the peak of summer, some were stranded in parks without food and shelter and some good Samaritans helped them.  God bless their souls for going out of their way.  On one of these days, my tooth decided to act against me.  I had to get a root canal procedure done.  Even in this painful situation, I found humour.   There was a video recording of me getting the injection and till today, when we watch it, it’s such a riot.  I had people tell me that they would show this video to their child to let them know that it’s fun going to a Dentist.  I’m glad I could help in some way.

Staycations became a get away mode for a lot of people.  Of course, my Birthday (September), was no different.  I was gifted and enjoyed a 2 day stay at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai with pampering from a SPA.  It was divine.  All my girlfriends got on a Zoom call and we had an online celebration.  One of my friends, Jennifer, even surprised me at the hotel.

With the flat, the turmoil continued.  We decided that the only option left, was to vacate.  It was a hard decision to make.  Then came the task of discarding things and packing up.  There isn’t an easy way to vacating a flat.  It was a huge task to get someone to even take away all the old furniture.  Finally, we had to pay someone to remove everything on the day mom moved out.  She had stretched living in that flat until the beginning of October.  Although, it had been a stressful few months, it was more sorrowful to leave the home, where all those beautiful memories were shared over the last 30 years.  We left with tearful goodbyes and thanked the house for giving us so much happiness and keeping us safe over the years.  It was time to move on.  We renewed her visa and she is now happily living with my brother and will soon live with me for a few months.  Mom is stress free now, what more could I ask for.  With her, there’s never a dull moment.  I’m so blessed to have a mother like her in my life.

Things started to get brighten up and get better…. even the weather.  Dubai opened up and we started to meet up with friends in small groups again.  I even went Kayaking for the 1^st time ever.  Towards the end of 2020, desert drives and overnighters were back on.  My partner’s work picked up and I got Photography jobs.  I was back to conquering the world.  I can’t think of any other way I could have made 2020 any different.  I’m just grateful I got the time to do so many things that I had put off all those years and spend time with the people I love.  This will definitely be a year to remember !

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