By S S Sundar

Rome, March 15, 2020: I was shocked when the Italian government on March 14 announced a total of 1,441 deaths from COVID-19 in the country where I have spent the past eight years. The country has reported 21,157 cases.

I took off for a month from my job at a restaurant in Rome after the Italian government imposed series of controls on Feb. 21 when the coronavirus emerged in northern Italy. The government has banned public gatherings and all travels, except the essential. It has told people to stay at home.

We cannot go outside and life in Italy has become tense and pathetic.

I am not able to go out even for groceries or other necessities. Before the administration started locking down the country, I bought some food items and other materials to survive for a month. But they will run out soon, I am afraid.

This must be the case with most people who live in Italy where the health crisis has reached new levels.

Police check in the most stringent manner wherever one goes. I have to explain to the police the reason for being out, the time I left home and when I would return home. It looks scary for me.

I started wearing mask and gloves to protect myself as preventive measures, as soon the government announced the outbreak.

We now struggle to survive on our own, so we pray for each other and for all those who are affected by COVID-19 around the globe.

My family members back in Kandhamal district, Odisha, eastern India, are worried and communicate with us over the phone many times daily.

They watch the news and they tell us, “The government of India has announced bringing back all Indians from Italy.” This adds to our anxiety and worry.

This crisis has made realize how different and difficult it is be outside my country.

Here I had to learn Italian, in the beginning, to survive. The language is complicated but I have learned it with much effort.

Nothing can be done In Italy without knowing the language. It is all more necessary if one were to enroll for studies in a university.

In the beginning, I had stayed in a hostel. After I moved out a few years back I struggle a lot to survive. I have to manage everything. Thanks to God my sister is here, so I get a little help from her.

I was going through depression when I came here. Many friends and acquaintances encouraged me to take up a job. To relax, I sent to stay with friends or spent time in the park.

For a few months, I kept a distance from all my family members. I did not even phone back home in India.

Anyhow, I have been adjusting and never lost my hope and faith to build up my future. I was thinking to take the priesthood earlier. Later it was not possible.

One day, a priest from Rome fioceses gave me a phone call and asked me to meet him. I went to meet him and talked for a long time. One thing he told me, I cannot forget, “Time will never wait for anyone but we have to adjust with time.”

Gradually, I understood if a person can face several problems then he might achieve his ambition. Many problems will come and go but I have to be strong in my faith what I do and what my intentions to achieve are to build a new life.

This is what I learned after going through the struggles in Rome.

As time passed everything has changed. I would like to give thanks to all who helped me to come over Italy in 2012, especially two priests and others.

(S.S. Sundar, a native of Kandhamal district in Odisha had gone to Rome to join a religious congregation. He left it after seven years and started working in a restaurant).