Musician Ramesh Vinayakam is a known name across the industry. He last worked in the movie ‘Mosakutty’, which starred Veera and Mahima Nambiar in lead roles. He was recently tested positive for COVID19 and the good news is that he has completely recovered. In a recent Facebook Live session, he opened about the tense days - How he contracted the virus and how he recovered.
Ramesh Vinayakam said “I never thought I would contract the virus. I was in Delhi just before the lockdown and took the last flight to Chennai on March 22. Since then, I never stepped out of the house, except for the one time, when I went out in a car. I was staying with my mother. The only way I could have gotten it was through a relative, who was going out to get things for us. He didn’t know it. He was probabl asymptomatic.”
“I realised that something was unusual. I had this slight feverish feeling with mild headache and an irritation in my throat. Another thing I felt was this cable-burning smell. I tried paracetamol, but it didn’t work. So, I called our family doctor and took the test. I tested positive on June 1. I immediately moved out of my mother’s place and quarantined myself in a different flat.”
He also added saying “I kept taking medication for fever and did steam inhalation. I was extremely tired, but I hung on till June 10. Then, I developed chest constriction and my oxygen saturation level started dropping. That was when I got admitted. Everybody was scared — my wife, kids. I had told only a few very close friends from the industry about it. They all thought they would lose me. And that fear caught up with me as well. I felt I had so much left to do in life.”
Post his recovery, Ramesh revealed that he is feeling better. He said “I can now say that there is no point being scared about it. Anybody can get it. All you have to do is be observant of your body, be cautious of where you are touching and what you are doing. And if you’re the one who goes out for emergencies, you have to be extra careful because you could be the one carrying the virus back home. People have to keep their personal hygiene at the highest level. You have to do a lot of breathing exercises, hot water gargling, steam inhalation and keep your lungs clean. And be positive.”
Adding on how he spent his quarantine days alone, Ramesh said “I kept thinking that I should do something creative and I wrote a poem after I got completely cured. I feel much better now. All you have to do is to keep yourself in a good mental state. This could have gone in any direction. But I am here now, talking to you. Today, it’s my birthday. I think this is my new life. There are so many things in my life that I kept pushing for later. But there is no later. You have to do it immediately. I have understood the value of time. I wanted to use this difficult time as an inspiration.”
Check out his full interaction here: