Interview by Cheyenne Boone

Photos and video by Bhuvish Mehta

Bhuvish Mehta is a Senior majoring in computer engineering and political science from Nagpur, India who returned home after the pandemic shutdown.

When did you first learn about COVID-19?

I had no idea there was this anxiety every day about what to do and there were parents and family calling from 14,000 miles away, who are like worried about the exponential growth that was happening in the U.S. at that time… so I did not expect that I would have to fly back to my country. That happened because my country issued an order that they are closing all the borders and that order had a specific date. If I wouldn’t have reached India before that they wouldn’t have allowed me to enter the country. So, I booked my ticket four hours before my flight, and I just left.

The Indian government released the order on 17th of March that the borders will be closing on the 20th. I took a flight on 18th of March. So, there was a three-day gap for me. But as soon as that order went out, all of the flight tickets were sold off. The flight was completely full which was even scary to travel in a situation where a flight is completely full.

If I contract anything in the airport or during the 14-hour flight, there is a chance of me transmitting the disease to my parents and my family members if you see anyone coughing on the flight it scares the shit out of you… So that was one of the main concerns why I wanted to stay in the U.S. irrespective of how the U.S. was handling it so that I didn’t transmit it to my family. They’re above the age of 50.

How did you feel about leaving? Was that decision difficult, if so how did you make it?

I was receiving calls from my family every day, and they were worried about what’s going to happen so there was this anxiety created because of that conversation with them, the constant fear of my parents in my parents’ mind, that was something which was bothering me. I couldn’t work back then. 

So, there was still this anxiety what to do, should we fly out or should we not. I lived under that anxiety for one week, which was really bad. And like everyone was going through that.

What was it like returning home? Did you have to quarantine? If so, what was that experience like?

As soon as I landed, the whole flight was checked for temperatures…. They did not have any testing facilities. They were just looking for symptoms by keeping us quarantined in a government guesthouse for two days… So, I was alone in the ambulance and like with my luggage and stuff, and they took me to the guest house, so they gave me an ambulance ride. They didn’t allow me to sit in my car.

So, I lived in the government quarantine for two days. So, they’re taking good steps in India, I would say, as compared to what I’ve been following in the U.S. Staying in the government housing, the thing is that I did not have internet access, so I couldn’t work a lot. But the guest houses were clean and the food that they were providing was also decent. I was still jet-lagged so my sleeping cycle was different. There were doctor checkups every day. A doctor coming up and checking for temperature symptoms and stuff like that.

What was it like being reunited with your family?

So, I left the government quarantine house and I was advised to stay locked in one room for 14 days away from my family. I mean, the police showed up at my house to check if I was at home and not spreading it to anyone. There were doctor visits and doctors were trying to reach out over cell as well to ask for symptoms. So, it was like I came back to India, but I did not meet my family for 21 days. So, they were all six feet away from me. But I couldn’t really, you know, I mean, I couldn’t give my mom a hug.

What was it like being confined in your room for 21 days? Can you reflect on how you felt or coped?

The thing is that I had some work deadlines because everything turned online, and I had internet access finally after coming home. I interacted with my friends on Instagram and Snapchat a lot more than I used to interact when I was in the US. I started reading books and I liked taking photos, so it was fine. I mean, there were moments that I got frustrated, but then I had to realize that for the safety of parents and my family members I had to stay in

Tell me about your role as president of the Indian Student Community at RIT

I’m the president of the Indian student community for this last semester. So, I was doing a lot of coordination work of helping students who were not fortunate enough to leave the U.S. in time. So, I was connecting them to the appropriate resources on campus, trying to help them more financially or give them a support system in the U.S. and stuff.

Students graduating this semester are losing their full-time status because you need a visa status to stay in America. That status is only when you are working full time, so if you’re losing the full-time status, your visa gets canceled. But you also can’t fly back to India because there are no flights going back. Yeah, it’s quite a mess for international students.

Do you plan to return to the U.S. and RIT in the foreseeable future?

So, as soon as the borders open again, I think I’ll be taking the first flight back because I have some projects to work on. And I mean, I think this is the only time I have in my life to do the stuff that I can do being carefree. Once I graduate, I don’t think I’ll have this opportunity again.

Back in the U.S., I was incubated by the Simone Center at Rochester Institute of Technology. It was a full-time Co-Op, where they were paying me to work on my own startup. I don’t know where the future of that startup is now.