Kottayam: Long before Corona became a dreaded term across the globe, a bunch of people at Chungam in Kottayam, Kerala, were familiar with the word and often said it with affection. Only they used a different spelling.
Korona, with a K, is the name of a woman in Kottayam. S Korona is the wife of Chunkam native Shine Thomas.
She is the daughter of Kayamkulam native J Babu and Selin. Korona was named thus by Fr James during her baptism at the St Joseph Church in Choolatheruv.
Before the ritual, the priest asked her parents, "Have you thought of any name for the child?"
When they said no, he named her Korona. She was called fondly by her family as ‘Tinu’.
Her official name in school records is also Korona. When her curious friends asked her about the strange name, she told them it was a term from the Bible and that it meant 'crown'.
After the Coronavirus took the world by a storm, several of her old schoolmates were reminded of the ‘Korona’ they knew and called her up.
She got married to Shine, a fisherman, at the Holy Family Church at Karichal around 10 years ago. The couple has two children - Kevin and Naveen.
The world came to know about Korona in Kottayam through a video made by her husband’s friends.
