11.04.2020, 2.02 pm

Mumbai, India

I woke up with a jolt today because I’ve been trying very hard to wake up early, do yoga, finish home chores and get straight to work. While everyone on my social media is finding new things to do every day to get out of their boredom, I’m praying for more hours to get added to my days. 

I want to read and watch things for research purposes, write, take a film writing course, finish daily ops for my company, stay fit, do home chores and read/watch for leisure purposes. Yes, I am that person who is struggling to say to herself - “Diksha, stop chasing targets and goals during this time.” Now, I’ve reached a point where I google articles about people’s feelings during this lockdown. Tell me, which one are you? And if you’re someone like me, please read this article. 

It’s okay to do ‘nothing’ right now, and it’s also okay to do anything that was always stupid in your head before but you like it now - just do it. My favourite thing to do these days is a live session with my friends, acquaintances or anyone in the world. I try to do one a day to make myself feel good. Fun fact is that before this lockdown, I could count on my fingers how many times I’d gone live from my social media. Mostly because I was pretty sure nobody cared and it helped nobody but today, today I know that if not 100 people at a time, I’d be able to make at least one person feel happy after the live session. 

It’s no news now that the lockdown has been extended till the 30th of this month and it’s also no news that we’ll be hearing from our Prime Minister again very soon on national television. It is news, however, that there are locations in Mumbai that have less than limited access to groceries now for a very good reason. The only time grocery stores will be open around these areas is on Mondays, till 5 pm. The good reason being that some of us have been taking this lockdown casually as if it’s the forbidden fruit that needs to be tasted. Well, thank you for being the class rebels at the worst time. 

I live in Santacruz West so I’m directly affected and when I imagine what the queues online and offline would look like, I retreat from that thought. Why? Because it’s a vicious cycle if I start thinking of the irresponsible entitled rich and middle-class citizens of our country. I have a lot to say about the ones who paid bribes to go from the affected cities to a hill station, the ones who attended work-from-office despite symptoms, also the ones who think it’s okay to go for fun grocery shopping trips every day of the week - during this lockdown. Kudos to their optimism I’d say but they have no rights to put our lives at risk - the people who’re giving an arm and a leg to stay safe and cooperate with the government, including the migrant workers who’ve been made to stay at facilities till things are better and people whose homes were the city streets that now look emptier than ever. People who have made legit sacrifices to get through this time together don’t deserve entitled attitudes at all right now. 

For once, this country is giving you an opportunity to look at life and the world from ground zero - this is probably the first time the rich, the poor, the middle-class are experiencing the same problem. Use it, feel it, earn it, deal with it. 

As the world prepares for Easter, over 1.4 million people around the world have been infected by covid19, 89000 people have lost their lives worldwide and India is being seen as the country with the strictest ways of dealing with the coronavirus. 

With isolation zones and stricter lockdowns in many states, I’d just like to look at you who’s taking this casually - please don’t, not for yourself, but for us, the people who’re trying hard to get this done with. Without your cooperation, the year 2020 will be nothing but a nightmare. 

Next, I want to write about how middle-class families are dealing with this lockdown. If you belong to one, please do leave your comments on how you are feeling and what are your apprehensions about the future. 

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