 for media. This is one of the most special video interactions that we are doing since COVID-19 affected us all. All this while we've been talking about growth, degrowth, economy, worship etc. But today our interaction is much above all of this. It is a story of an industry veteran who has yet again inspired us by giving a very tough fight to Coronavirus and coming back even stronger. Welcome to the show Mr. Lulla. I'm so happy to see you. My privilege and my pleasure. Thank you. Good to see you. I mean I learned it from Instagram and it was really taken aback. And just if you can take us through the journey, how did it happen? What symptoms you got and the first reaction to finding out that you have a virus like Corona? I think it was on June 10th that I first got a mild temperature and then it came back on June 14, it came and it went away. Yeah, it came and it went away. But I came again on the 14th. By then I knew there was a problem because my body was not working the way it normally does. It wasn't as energized. I had to curtail my exercise and curtail everything else. I was anyway we were all work from home and we had opened up the office on the 10th but I decided we would go a week later and I did not go to work in any case. And I was more convinced I had COVID than my doctors. My doctors said no, this can't be true because I don't have the classic symptoms that many other people claim to have. On the 20th of June I went to the Breach Candy Hospital to get a check and from that day onward they had told me I had to be there. 10th June you got your first fever and in between you got fever one more time. I thought fever three times. Three times. And how high was the temperature? Always 9900, radiating. And I didn't have any other symptoms that people have spoken about, you know loss of days, diarrhea, etc. My O2 was lower than what it normally is but it was not at an alarm bell. You were monitoring your O2? Yeah, so and I think that as a long-distance runner I monitor my O2 more often than most average D32. So on the 20th I went for a test. 20 seconds I got a call from the BMC and the thing I want to share about is really the efficiency of the BMC. They called me at 8.14 in the morning. I remember that to tell me that I have tested positive. They verified who I am and they tell me I've tested positive. They verified that I had chosen the option for home quarantine and in about three minutes on there the status on my ROGSA2 app changed to tested positive. They came to the building. They came to the apartment. They put a notice out there. It's the standard procedure. They spoke to the secretary and chairman of the society. They spoke to the other household members. Then they came later and did sanitization. They called two or three times after that to make sure my health was okay. The ROGSA2 helpline called two three times to check if I was exercising, if I was keeping well, I needed any help. So I think on an overall basis that experience of I would say is remote touch through technology and them being very sensitive and highly appreciated. We read many stories and I'm not saying that those stories may not be true but I think having paid taxes for more than 35 years I'm glad I've been paying my taxes. I got the full vasu lo my taxes in this period. They have gone out of their way to look after me. I called them a day before I was to be removed from go out of quarantine and they said yes tomorrow we will come to your house and they came promptly at 11 o'clock as they said. They changed the safeguards and they knew I had called earlier. They told me that we know you have called before and inquired as to what your date is. So they really keep a good track and I think I chose home quarantine because I did not have any severity of illness, no co-mobility. So I did not need to go into a hospital and all it it was I lived in my little room. So after you tested positive you didn't get fever again? I did for one day but after that for like 14 days. And it remained 1900. Yeah and it never went and after that 14 days I was fine. So the thing is I have stayed in one room. I have operated from one room. I have lived, eaten, done everything over here, washed my own dishes, done all of that from one room. So it creates anxiety around everybody because people get nervous and therefore I always believe that you should speak about it and not hide it and you should be open about it. So that you can- That is one of the reasons why we are doing. I have an entire question on mental health in COVID. But I also want to ask you that from June 10 to June 20 when you were not sure whether you have COVID or not you must be interacting with other family members. I did not step out of my house. I stayed in my house. But there are people living in the house with you? My wife, two staff members, they have stayed in the house. They have also been under quarantine. Okay but the stories that we had that it spreads so easily but you know there was a positive member but it didn't- Not necessary. So the second I tested myself I made sure that if anyone came next to me in the household also they were wearing a mask. So I think I did not expect to have COVID because I am not somebody who's gone out there and done things. Even if I went, I only went to two places. I went to the chemist and I went to the provisional store. Those are the only two places I was to go to. And all I did was wear a mask. I just sanitized. Could you recollect how and when you could have got it? I think it is impossible for anyone to know. So when we hear about the cluster spread we know that somebody who's had COVID has gone into a group of people and it's spread to the entire group. Right? Otherwise it's a very hard case for anyone to tell you. It could have been an accidental brush in a store. I think her video has paused. It could be an accidental brush with anybody. It could be passing by in a store. It could be anywhere, anytime. So it could have been an accidental brush in a store. Somebody could have had it. It could be somebody on the road. It could be anything. So, yeah. Okay. What first? I mean, when you were called and you were told that I'm positive, how did it affect you mentally more than physically? I anticipated when I went for the test that I would test positive, frankly. Right? I just said that fine. If I get it, it's okay. I had already made arrangements to self-quarantine myself. So the only thing was I had to plan my day smartly because now I have to do everything myself. Right? I had to wash my clothes, do my dishes, put them in and out, do all of that, clean my room. So, and I continued to work through that period. So whenever I didn't have the energy or I felt tired, I lay down. I continued to work. I continued to do what I needed to do. The only change I made is that I started doing breathing classes for 30 minutes every day because you need your lungs to be strong and I need to recover that. So the last time I ran on the road was 14th of March. I remember that. Right? So it's been a long time. I got out of my house yesterday for the first time to walk on my terrace, which was 30 days after I first got free water. And you've had your second test also, which has come out to be negative. You don't need to do a second test now. You don't need to. No. So see, I think what's happened is through the period of the virus from January to now, there is a lot of learning and relearning and obviously our testing facilities and our hospitals are full up in every city and every town. So they don't need to burden. If you run 10 days without fever, you don't need to do a test. So if it gets into senior people who have comorbidities or happens during a surgery, from what I read and I know and the people I know who passed, that's a risk. But otherwise, I know five other people in my family, three of my cousins got it. We don't live together. We have not met in the last four months. Right? But just as a fact that four of us had it at the same time and all of us are in recovery mode or some of us have recovered and it moves on. What were the kind of conversations you were having with your family? Were you giving them assurance or were they giving you assurance? My wife had been extremely supportive and she never doubted for a moment that I will not recover. The staff were very supportive. They could not leave the house but they were very supportive until you test yourself. So one of the things about testing also, if you test yourself too early, you may not get picked up. It will give you a false assurance, false feeling that you are fine. So which of my doctors like to wait before they test? Right? Yes, I got lots of interesting questions. How can I not know who gave it to me? How can I not know what moment I came? You know, this is not a dog bite that comes and you can see the dog and you can get bitten. Right? This is the virus. It comes and it gets into your system. I think the protocols that the BMC has done in Bombay or the government has done in general are good protocols. They have everybody's safety. Right? And I guess like washing hands which should have been a natural phenomenon now is something you don't forget and wearing a mask is a new order of item that we all need and I have a collection of them. We would like to see some of them maybe in the next video that we do with you. Sir, now that a lot of people are moving out, your office is also open. What kind of suggestions you want to give to people? So see, when even when we were planning to open our office, we ran through many protocols and drills and eventually before we opened, we got the whole place thoroughly cleaned. I got the same done in my house. I got a full sanitation done because I didn't want anyone to have a fear that there was a residue of virus left in my apartment. It's not. It doesn't stay like this. Right? And a lot of it is misinformation. So in our office too, we have followed the same protocol a minimum of 60 top distance. We actually keep more than that. Right? We follow the protocol of only X number of people which is defined by the government. So despite the fact that as a media as a part of essential service, we could do 100% occupancy. We chose not to do so. And we only said people who can come to the office in their own transport or if they are getting a Uber or any other transport to come, otherwise not to take the risk. I think the important thing is so we have to release the currency data every week. Right? And I don't think in all our contingency planning, we would have envisaged that the day will come when we will have to switch out so fast. And when we decided to switch off, the only thing I checked is whether we could manage. And so not everybody may have had a reliable internet connection. In 48 hours, we made sure everybody did. Right? And remotely, we could fix people's laptops. We made sure all our panel homes were safe. We made sure our panel homes are working and we could monitor. So I think there's a lesson out of this is it's not a very healthy lesson from a sociological point of view, but we could operate without a physical structure. Right? That's irrelevant because the social structure actually brings in a lot of the chemistry and a lot of the interaction at a very different level, right? The physicality. Right? And Bombay is a big base for us. Most out of 270 odd employees, 200 sit here. So it's a big base for us. See, you're a man of numbers. You give us so many numbers every week. I am interested in a very different kind of number today. What is your age? 59. 59. So I mean, they've been because a lot of conversations are around, you know, the 60 plus people are actually more vulnerable. When I say plus, I'm going to run the next full marathon, which is next. No, I'm talking about COVID-19. You, we are sure that you're going to run many, many marathons in a lot of years to come. Sir, thank you very much. Anything else you would want to add on Coronavirus? So I think that, you know, there should be no stigma about it. You know, and I think it happens a lot because so, you know, the people who come to take garbage, we had to educate them that nothing is going to happen to you if you visit the floor or you come and pick up the garbage, you just kept down, right? There's a lot of apprehension and you don't, especially within a family. It's really important for the family to continue to express confidence and love and togetherness, right? It best spread within a family. I know quite a few families where all four members or all five members may have got it, right? You can fight this. There is a, you have to be alert that you check your oxygen, you check your parameters. I kept a book. I record everything every day, right? So that I can check my parameters and you need to know Monday is over. Today is Friday of the week, right? It was a Monday that I got taken out of quarantine, but I will continue to be very vigilant and careful for many weeks to come because you need to recover fully, right? The good part is if somebody is in trouble, I intend to donate my blood because it's got the COVID positive plasma as immunity for that person to help that person recover. I just say, live your life normally. Don't get scared. Don't do foolish things and don't break the rules that the government has put out. Thank you so much, sir. It's so inspiring and so much we have learned about it today. I mean, I really need to make notes and I have just recently traveled. I mean, I should also be a little careful. Sir, thank you very much for doing this conversation with us and stay at home for more weeks now and stay safe and take care of yourself. We are genuinely very, very happy to see you back and you look pretty fresh and healthy right now. I mean, from the last interview that I saw was with India today. You look healthier and I mean stronger. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.