What does it mean to live in a pandemic-hit world?
March in Kerala is hot. That’s when the summer kicks in like an uninvited guest. The time when the scorching sun reigns everything. But the summer also comes with its own share of happiness.
Hoping to enjoy the summer in a new house, I was planning to relocate to Calicut, a coastal town in northern Kerala. I had everything sorted.
Then came the covid-19 pandemic, followed by the nationwide lockdown in India. I had no option but to discard all the plans.
What does it feel like to co-exist with an invisible enemy that brought the world to a standstill?
Here, I try to share my experience and how the following things changed ever since the outbreak.
The Kitchen
The kitchen was the most lively place.
With my sweaty pajamas on, I worked from home. Whenever I felt a dip in energy, I replenished it with a cup of tea, coffee, juice, and lemonade from the kitchen.
Yes, we had made a separate menu during the pandemic. Obviously, eating out was impossible. The idea was to make most of what we had.
The experiments in the kitchen were strictly under the supervision of mom, the executive chef. One day it would be mango juice. Another day, we would relish a cup of papaya shake. Evenings were reserved for freshly squeezed lemonade.
The Internet & The Social Media
Since most of us were home, we had nothing to do and nowhere to go. The smartphones had to work harder to keep us “alive”.
Cashing in on the pandemic situation many YouTube creators sprouted like mushrooms out of nowhere.
I remember almost everyone in my friend circle was contemplating a YouTube channel, but only a handful of them really went ahead and created a channel.
Want to know the interesting part of YouTube channels?
90% of them were about food and different recipes.
“How to make black forest at home?”
“Now you easily make eggless cakes”
“Try these tricks to bake cakes better”
Read the thumbnails.
At home, I often witnessed pastry events as my mom and sister made different cakes every week.
The result?
I became obese. The number of potbellies in the family increased.
What happened with social media?
Yes, TikTok soared high with people churning out massive amounts of content every day. It was just crazy. We couldn’t stop scrolling.
Some videos were worth it, and some, annoying. Everyone was on TikTok, dancing to the tunes, lip-synching to popular film dialogues, and creating different content they thought was binge-worthy.
Films
Oh boy! Only during pandemic did I realize the pathetic stories of our popular films. None of them had recall value.
Watching the Bollywood stars dance on a 5.5-inch screen was terrible.
I revisited a few old Malayalam movies. They were my stress-busters.
The old movies are gold. I believe they stand the test of time because of their content.
Wedding
Weddings in Kerala are special. They are a celebration of colours, people and of course food.
You cannot afford to miss the delicious vegetarian Kerala sadya, served in a banana leaf. But I skipped five weddings during the pandemic.
When some of my friends decided to get married in a minimal way in line with the protocol laid down by the health officials, others waited for the restrictions to be lifted.
To be honest, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise for the middle-class.
You know in India, a wedding is like a carnival where hundreds of people feast on your life savings!
However, with the covid-19 pandemic, weddings finally became what they should be — a humble ceremony in the presence of very close people.
The way we invite people to weddings has also evolved during the pandemic. Instead of meeting the invitees, we started sending a voice message on WhatsApp, clubbed with an elegantly designed invitation. No complaints!
The Work
For the corporate world, the pandemic was like The Blip (Yes, I am a Marvel fan). Everything changed since the outbreak of covid — from the way we work to the way we communicate.
Work from home or WFH became the new normal. I worked my ass off from the couch, on the chair, in the kitchen, and even in the toilet.
On the outside, businesses fell apart. They were feeling the heat.
It meant you have to be ready for a pay cut.
Want to the funniest part?
Work from home had no fixed time.
You don’t have to go home after work.
You don’t have to sprint to catch the bus or train.
So you got to work as if time never existed. Still, a lot of my friends bear the brunt of overworking.
2021 & Covid-19
I am glad I survived a year in this pandemic era with no serious health issues. Things have changed a lot.
At the beginning of the outbreak, people were scared like shit. Now they shrugged off their fears to the point that masks just became a trendy accessory.
I think we have come to terms with the pandemic.
Now I can see people throng the streets even when the daily covid cases are soaring. No restrictions. We are going by the “survival of the fittest” rule.
The fear of infection seems to have disappeared. I hope all fears disappear when you face them every day.