FEATURES | SEEMA
When
Tragedy Spawned
COURAGE Death visited their home, but that only spurred two sisters to greater heights of community service ABHIJIT MASIH
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heir father died within 12 days from after being infected by the Delta variant of the coronavirus. This, during the worst months of the pandemic in India, during a complete lockdown, which restricted the family from performing the last rites, or even to say goodbye to their father, one last time. This is the story of two sisters, Shilpa Dulani and Sonia Chhabra, both born in India, and who work for a real estate company A&E out of their respective offices in New York City and in New Delhi. For the 12 days their father was ill, the sisters were constantly on calls on Facetime, trying to arrange medical assistance, oxygen cylinders and medication for him. Like many, Dulani and Chhabra, keep
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a separate clock in their homes set to the other’s time zone. That was a small inconsequential way to erase out the distance of miles between them. Dulani, living in New York City, relied on Chhabra to take care of her parents in India. Then, in the spring of 2021, the Delta variant ran through India like wildfire. All of a sudden there was a scarcity of the medical facilities, of doctors, and of beds in hospitals. India was in lockdown. Chhabra had taken every possible precaution to safeguard her parents from the virus. No one stepped out of the house, no one was allowed in. They even bought the groceries remotely, not a common practice in India. The precautions were necessary for the aged parents. Their father had not stepped out of the house since
