Coronavirus aka COVID-19, a biological threat which has shaken nations right to their core, is a virus which has affected about 2,016,803[1] people worldwide. World economy has come crashing down on the ground and nations such as Italy have been hit with the worst consequences.

India’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on 30 January,2020. The country was already screening international arrivals, and hence extended this security to all places where gatherings took place such as malls. When the number of cases reached 550, the prime minister, on 22nd March, announced a “Janta curfew” i.e. he requested the nation to stay at home for 1 day. It was not a mandatory curfew but the citizens all stayed in. I have never the seen the roads of Mumbai express highway as empty as they were that day and I have lived here for the past 13 years. Turns out it was a trial for the real lockdown which was then announced by Prime Minister on 24th March. A 21-day lockdown- The biggest lockdown in the history of the world. No getting out, no gym, no meetings, no evening walks. A complete inexcusable lockdown.

Just thinking about a 21-day long quarantine is a nightmare in itself, but the citizens understand the gravity of the situation and have taken to the internet to produce and share means of coping and spending time during this quarantine. Celebrities, youtubers, influencers and fitness trainers have all taken to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to endorse in social distancing and to request people to stay in and maintain the lockdown. Bloggers are writing about hundreds of different activities to do during this lockdown, citizens, who initially laughed at TikTok, are now learning multiple dances each day, celebrities and trainers are posting more workout videos than ever and people are getting more and more creative each day. Right from learning how to cook, to learning a new language to focusing on skin care, this quarantine has been a roller coaster of boredom, communication, creativity and workouts. This quarantine has also brought people together. Everyday there is a video call conference with someone new, someone you haven’t spoken to in probably years.

Here is what a typical day in my life looks like right now: I wake up by 8.30-9, help my parents do house chores such as cleaning, dusting, doing the dishes, brush my teeth and then have breakfast. Before the breakfast, my dad and I go climbing stairs. We climb about 35 floors. By the time we have breakfast its about 11. At that time, I either study, read or stream shows. My parents during this time rest and then play Ludo. Post lunch (where I help my mom just a tiny bit) we would climb 35 more floors and then stream some more and then sleep for some hours. In the evening, I study sometimes (very few times), paint, read or stream. I have been working on my applications a bit too. My brother is always studying/streaming and since he still has to study for his entrance test we don’t disturb him much. By 6.30-7 my mom and I start cooking dinner. She’s been teaching me how to cook different dishes as I plan on shifting to some other place for undergraduation. Before cooking my dad and I go staircase climbing for the last time. After which we all go to sleep while my mom streams. I believe quarantine became a lot easier for me as my dad was there and I love it when we are all together.

I, personally have spent the quarantine, doing some activities here and there, but mostly nothing. Luckily a day before the quarantine had started my dad had come home( he lives in Jaipur), so he got to spend the 21-days with us. In the beginning I used to have online classes on Zoom, but then a few days later we found out that my IB exams had been cancelled. Cancelled. Not postponed. I was glad for sometime as I was actually lagging behind in my syllabus a lot, but then I realized they’d look at our past marks and assessments which I did not really score well in, but I realized there is nothing I can do about it and there I lay in acceptance. Although, I still continued studying because I would need that knowledge in university, but mostly because my dad asked me to. Slowly I decreased how much I studied and started spending more time reading. I then started learning how to cook. I cooked Bhindi (ladyfinger), Dum aloo (a potato recipe), rajma chawal (kidney beans and rice) and a lot of other dishes. I even started painting a bit. My parents spent the lockdown playing a 100 ludo games per day. My extended family and my parents, brother and I played housie on our phones too.

You see, I did not even realize how the 21 days passed. The days just passed by and somehow I made it out sane, however, yesterday the PM extended the lockdown by 20 more days. I- uh- the frick. The cases have only been increasing. However, recently the rate of increase of cases has decreased just a little bit. I understand that this lockdown is necessary and hence need help to find different coping methods to survive this lockdown. Comment below and help me out!

[1] “Coronavirus Cases:” Worldometer, http://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.