A traumatic end to a dreamy celebration—that’s how 26-year-old Nikhil Chanwani and his bride Alisha Darara will remember their roka ceremony from December 12 last year. Just two days before the function, Chanwani had planned a romantic proposal for his fashion designer girlfriend. The roka, which saw a slim guest list of hundred-odd members from their otherwise, large Sindhi families, was clubbed with a cocktail celebration at a fancy venue. Everything had been perfect, except that five days later, after returning from work, when Chanwani had his first bite of food, he couldn’t taste it. “I immediately locked myself in a room,” he recalls. A day earlier, his father had already begun showing symptoms, coughing incessantly.

The next day, Chanwani tested positive. Soon after, his parents, sister, and her in-laws took the COVID-19 test. Nobody had been spared. “Our worst nightmare had come true.” In the days that followed, Chanwani reached out to all the guests who’d shown up for the celebration, asking them to quarantine. “Every few days, we’d get a call saying someone had started showing symptoms. Even those who didn’t attend the roka had contracted it from another relative.” In a matter of two weeks, nearly 40 per cent of the guests had picked up the infection. At Lilavati Hospital in Bandra, seven of Chanwani’s relatives were admitted, including his father, whose condition was getting worse. Life had become a blur. Quarantined in his room, thoughts raced through his mind, especially the fear of someone succumbing to the disease. “I wouldn’t have ever forgiven myself if that had happened.”