Life during lockdown

On March 24, 2020, the Government of India under the Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
ordered a nation wide lockdown for twenty-one days, limiting movement of the entire 1.3 billion
population of the country. This was a preventive measure against the dreaded COVID 19 pandemic. The
pandemic, caused due to a virus has now spread world-wide. It had killed people across countries and
nationalities and the only prevention against such a dreaded enemy was ‘social-distancing,’ or
‘lockdown.’ There were no known drugs against it. This fact upset me. But, I thought that things would
get better somehow as media and news channels were reporting about scientists busy finding a cure.

Now, I have been locked down in my apartment with my parents. I live on the third floor, with my sister
and parents. So, I can see around from my balcony. On the first Sunday after the lockdown, i.e. on 29 th
May, I woke up at sunrise and sneaked for a quick run. I love running. The urge of moving and watching
the city still half asleep was so big that I really didn’t think about any restrictions. I guess that I just
wanted to fool myself into believing everything was normal. But, going out is not the answer. It is crystal
clear that now we have to stay at home. It doesn’t matter that I am healthy and young. At first I thought
Oh no! What had happened? Everything is closed. I can’t go to school or play outside. I cannot visit any
place with my friends and families.

When I reached home, my teachers informed my parents that there would be online classes from then
on. Now, I am studying in Google Classroom and my teachers are informing me about some online
competitions so that we can put some interest in these things. If I may say, it is very interesting to
participate in any competition. In this lockdown, I am spending more time with my family and realizing
their importance. The initial fear of disease continues to haunt me. There is a sense of discomfort at my
stagnation. Yet, there at nicer things at home and I am on a process of discovery, much like the explorer
Columbus who went on to discover America! My mother has begun to show her culinary expertise even
more. She cooks delicious food like rasgullas, gulab jamun etc. Only the other day, she prepared a sweet
dish. But, the best part is that I have learnt new things. There are a few books of interest at home
because my father is also a teacher. Now, I have begun to explore his bookshelf and though many of the
books are of a higher standard than I can understand, some are really closer to my ability. For example,
books on Yoga and meditation have helped me shape my mind better. Few books on mental
mathematics has made me realize that the world could be thought of in terms of numbers and shaper
even more. Suddenly, the world of the textbooks lay before me in the real world I see around. For
example, while I was getting bored in the initial days of the lockdown, I could relate my unhappiness to
‘exponential numbers.’

I have also realized that there is a irony after all. The first day of the lockdown, I also woke to a new
environment. It was greener outside. The sky was clear. Bird were calling each other more. Was this
lockdown a plan of nature to heal itself, who knows? But the Ozone layer over the Arctic Circle has
healed. The monsoon is regular and the rains are coming, when it should be coming say scientists. This is
good news. But, as I look around, I see some other people also have no money to feed their children. As
I watch the television, I get reports of laborers moving from one city to another. Reports of trains hitting
such people have made me sad. While the governments say that it is doing everything possible to help
these men and women in need, I also hear that food is not reaching them. This upsets me. I have told
my parents to give these people some money so that they can buy food. I and my sister gave milk and
biscuits to the poor hungry cats. Nonetheless, some humanitarian organizations, NGO’s film stars etc
helping these people. It seems that we need each other more than ever before. This is a real irony.

Now, I realize that when I paid money for tickets to see the animals in the zoo, I believed that they were
happy. But, when the pandemic spread itself and the lockdown was declared, I thought I was caged,
while the animals were looking around for fun. I also realize now that the world does not belong to
humans alone. Because people are more intelligent than any known animals, we have a greater
responsibility in making the world a safer place for each other and for creatures that we look around
with curiosity. We have no right to kill them for food or use them for fun. Probably our forefathers were
correct when in the Vedas they honored the trees, birds, animals and rivers. We need a safer
environment to live. But, we also need to cut short our ambitions of mastering nature or saying that a
technology driven society is the best achievement of human civilization.