A lot of good has come out of this lockdown

Parinda Joshi

I work for a start-up in the Silicon Valley and we’ve been WFH for the over three weeks as a part of shelter-in-place mandated by the state of California. So that commitment still remains and takes up a huge part of the day. What I’ve gained is the time to get ready and commute and the subsequent exhaustion, which amounts to about three hours a day. A lot of good has come out of this lockdown. The family has, at first against their will, and gradually out of interest, learnt to cook. Nothing too fancy; just the good old basics. We’re all cleaning a lot more too, some more than others. That leads to a different kind of exhaustion but with some music and a lot of jokes, we get through it.
I still try to work out for about 45 minutes a day – a combination of yoga, some stretching and walking in my backyard. In fact, my backyard now plays out like Nat Geo with the fish in the pond, the cats chasing the squirrels, who in turn are trying to climb the bird feeders and steal their food. I never really had the time to notice that. It’s sublime. I’ve also discovered the newfound joys of being on virtual parties with friends and colleagues. It’s does its bit to compensate for the sorely missing social life. We’ve also been playing some board games now and then.
The past two weekends, I stole some to finish a book, one that’s been at my bedside table since quite some time. And I’m writing a lot more now. The sleep cycles have changed though. It hasn’t been so much of going to bed early and waking up at ungodly hours. Now that the focus is on simple living, I dug out a couple of old movies I’d never seen before – Rajnigandha and Choti Si Baat and enjoyed them immensely.
Not every day is productive though. On some days, I struggle to keep up with the schedule. Other days are better. I think when this calamity is all behind us, this will have changed us for good – better hygiene, more quality time with family, focus on healthy homemade meals, curbing reckless spending, and a general sense of gratefulness every day.

Joshi is the author of Made in China (HarperCollins India) which recently released as a movie starring Rajkummar Rao