Lockdown

Coronavirus has completely changed our lives – from the children to the elderly.

In India, the mass curfew began 3 weeks ago. We have been inside our houses for these three weeks going out only for essentials. We have had to find new, innovative ways to perform our daily activities. As humans, we find it necessary to have some sort of physical interaction with others which we have not had for quite some time. Trying to restore order in our lives needs imagination and creativity.

I would like to understand the effect that this lockdown has on people. We can always analyze the scientific aspects of the virus, but I find it better to focus on what is directly affecting you.

For instance, my 17th birthday will be spent in lockdown. Many people might say that there is a bigger issue going on so sacrificing a birthday celebration is the least you can do. I agree but it still feels different. Everybody is having to sacrifice things that are important to them. Down to our parents and grandparents, no one has seen such a worldwide pandemic before, but we are coping.

I’m sure that we have seen all these memes regarding the virus, but they are not joking, they are telling the truth. Humans like to make light of a situation; its in our nature. But it is almost illegal to go outside and the only exercise we do is cleaning the house. These are facts. We can complain about the lockdown or take it as a given and deal with it.

Being stuck at home has put a giant damper on my plans for the summer- hanging out with friends, going to the movies and restaurants- or so I thought. I now have a lot of time on my hands that I’m using on my phone calling or video chatting with my friends. I’m trying my best to use this time productively because while everything may be on hold, but time isn’t.

When you think about it, we are actually cultivating some great habits: destressing ourselves, allocating more time for family, picking up new interests and hobbies, reducing pollution, reducing global warming, improving health and self-care, paying more attention to the cleanliness of our surroundings, etc. (I could go on, but I think you get the idea.)

Yet we find that we do a lot more work during this time of lockdown, be it schoolwork, college assignments, office work or housework. There is only so much Netflix one can watch before your head starts to hurt. In my opinion, if nothing can change our current predicament other than following the rules, then just do it. Me complaining is not going to take me anywhere (other than inside my house).

I avoid looking at the news nowadays. It doesn’t help me and is likely to make my day worse. As the days blur into weeks and weeks may soon blur into months, I like to be aware of the situation but maintain my distance from it as well. At the risk of sounding selfish, I try not to let what is happening all over the world to others affect me. If I’m fine and everyone I care about is fine, I like to pretend that my house is a bubble shielding me from the storm raging outside.

That said, I respect every single person who is dealing with the situation by maintaining the guidelines given to us, every single doctor, nurse or health care official who is working to help us out of this situation and everybody who understands that the need of the hour is to keep your distance, maintain cleanliness and safety measures and hope for the best.

Hats’ off to you and thank you for everything you have done for us!