My mother has a toothache. Her dentist had given her medication before India went under lockdown, telling her she will probably need more aggressive measures if it didn't get better in a few days.

It's been a couple of weeks now, and she has run out of medication and she's over 70 years old so she's not going to the dentist even as her pain is keeping her awake at night.

Last night, she spoke to her dentist who suggested a special toothpaste that might help relieve the pain slightly. It's not available in regular stores and needs to be ordered from special distributors who have access to limited quantities.

In desperation, she asked her neighbors for help on a WhatsApp group. The group was recently created to coordinate access to essential services for everyone living in the co-op during the #coronavirus lockdown.

Within minutes, her phone started beeping. First, it was a neighbor who had spoken to his daughter, a dentist, and she had suggested another medicine that would help her symptoms.

Next, it was another neighbor who had that specific medicine and could leave it by my mother's door if she wanted it immediately.

A third neighbor sent a number of another person, also a neighbor, who wasn't on the WhatsApp group but used to be a distributor for the company that makes the special toothpaste.

When my mom called that neighbor, she told her that she no longer worked for the company but could find a way to source the toothpaste for her, despite the lockdown slowing everything down.

"I slept really well last night, just after this experience. People are really nice," my mom told me today, during our daily video chat. She has new medication now, and will get the toothpaste in a few days.