On May 13th, 2021, during the peak of the second COVID-19 wave in India, the world as I knew it had suddenly turned upside down. For the next 38 days, I got to experience the treatment given by both government and private hospitals, with 20 of these days spent in a war-room-like COVID ICU. With people dying around me every few hours, I had two options: Go by the famous Sholay line, "jo darr gaya samjho mar gaya" (the one who is afraid is dead), or come up with my own strategy to survive!