Sunday, April 5, 2020

Life in Lockdown - Day 11 of 21, April 4, 2020

Saturday. Quiet on all fronts.

As I do every day these days, got my cup of warm water and lemon and headed out to the forecourt to sit amidst these trees that have grown so tall and offer me a green canopy, leaving me a patch of blur right above my head. Little birds, mid-sized birds chirp away as I check my messages, do my journal and even make a few calls. It's a blissful hour that I spend by myself.
Heaven Almighty - Pic courtesy Satish Nargundkar
Again, it was one of those many calls day - Pooja,  Naveen from Malaysia, Joel, Ranjan, Chanti, Ram, Murli, Riasat, Seema, Joseph - and I was rather tired by the time they ended. Some more progress on the Bruce Lee bio which is quite fascinating. Lunch and then back to some table tennis with Anjali and Shobhs.

Shobhs did an online class and I attended that just to get a hang of how Zoom works because I have a class on Monday. Seemed pretty simple today but I didn't have much to do today.
TT afternoons with Anjali!
No newspapers and infrequent checking of the news gave me only the briefest information about the happenings outside. It looks like the numbers are increasing which is to be expected. I only hope we have a better plan than lighting diyas in place. My WhatsApp groups which specialise in scaring us with their predictions and unverified news have been quiet the last couple of days after someone said they will be arrested for spreading false news. That's a good fallout.

Naveen called from Singapore and he said they have a month-long lockdown. Now Singapore seemed to have had their hand on the button from day one but they missed a trick it looks like. Naveen was saying that the asymptomatic cases carried infection and caused clusters which they realised can only be contained through a lockdown. Hmm, if that's the case with Singapore, I am wondering how it will pan out in India. Anyway, another eleven days to go before we see the way the curve will behave. All indications are that it will go the expected way.

Played some music in the evening - good old Elton John and several other golden oldies. It's great to do that on these still days. Checked out movies 'Blue Jay' (nice mature romance) and 'All the boys that I loved (a nice teenager romance).

'When the lockdown ends,' said Anjali. 'I want to get some pizza. It's been so long.' I do feel for her and all the kids and youngsters for having to be cooped up like this for a month. She hasn't stepped out since perhaps the 15th of March. Yesterday she was telling me how much she looked forward to visit her grandmother and cousins in Pune and we talked about how the situation might pan out and how when it's safe and possible, we should definitely do a trip. Her online classes are a boon because they keep her busy, now this table tennis and some other activities that we are doing to keep us sane.

Today she hit the washing machine and did the whole nine yards - washing, drying, folding and even putting clothes in our respective shelves. Impressive. of course she was surprised to see me sweeping out the house which is her chosen chore!

What Would I Like to Do After the Lockdown/ When This is Over?
I realised I did not really need to go out much at all. I am quite happy being home. I'll probably just continue to do that. Stay within.

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