New Delhi: Kewal Krishan was just five years old during the deadly the Spanish Flu of 1918. He later became part of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly of India. The 107-year-old Kewal Krishan received his first shot of COVID-19 vaccine here, his son Anil said. Krishan, stepped out of his home in south Delhi ‘for the first time since the coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed late March in 2020’. He did so to get his Covieshield jab.
“We had kept him literally in a bubble. Given the nature of the virus, we decided to keep him safe within the confines of home. And, today (Monday), we just took him in a car to the hospital. It was the same place where he had undergone a major operation in 2019. He got the vaccine shot, and came back,” Anil informed.
Anil said that his dad Kewal is feeling fine and has not exhibited any adverse effects post immunization. He added that his father performed his daily ‘puja’ after returning home.
“When the pandemic hit us all last year and we got to learn about the 1918 Spanish Flu too. I used to ask my dad about that time, but he was just a five-year-old boy then. With age and infirmity, his memory has faded, along with reduced eyesight and hearing capacity,” the 72-year-old Anil stated.
Anil stated his father was born in Kartarpur in Jallandhar district August 4, 1913. It was just a year before the outbreak of the World War I.
“In 1930s, he moved to Delhi, and worked in the home and defence ministry. He was later part of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly of India. My father really worked hard, and made his way up the ranks. After Independence, he went on to become a deputy secretary in Rajya Sabha,” the son said.
An old sepia-toned image of a group photograph taken in February 1948 with BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, sitting in front at the centre and Kewal Krishan standing behind him, is part of the well-preserved family archives, Anil said.
“We have got this picture and a few other photos related to the making of the Constitution framed for posterity. In other photos, one can see Jawaharlal Nehru signing on the Constitution, with my father watching him close by. These are pieces of history in our family collections now, and we treasure it,” Anil informed.
So, my dad has seen the World War I era and the Spanish Flu that followed it. Then he has been part of making of the Constitution, the Independence of India in 1947, and making of the Republic in 1950. Now he’s seen the COVID-19 pandemic, and got his vaccine shot. That’s quite a spectrum of experience in a lifetime. My dad will soon turn 108,” added Anil.
Another centenarian, Tulsi Das Chawla, who was born a few months before the outbreak of the Spanish Flu, had received his first shot of COVID-19 vaccine at a private facility here March 5. Chawla, 104, was given a dose of Covieshield at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and he had not exhibited any adverse effects on that day.