100. My learnings from the Lockdown
COVID-19 came into our life unannounced like a destructive force which changed our mundane routine, future plans and defined a new normal. 1st March feels like a lifetime ago, when everything was normal; there were bikes and cars on the roads, regular visits to the favourite resultant around the corner and crowd everywhere. Crowd! What does that feel like?
The reality is different today. The pandemic has forced us all inside our houses. Evening walks became necessary grocery runs, Office at nine became work from home and food from favourite restaurants became ‘Ghar ka khana.’
This felt like a long tedious journey from Lockdown 1, 2.0, 3.0 and now the inevitable chapter four. While this felt impossible in the beginning, I am slowly coming around to the idea. If nothing else, I am thankful for the things I learned from this once in a lifetime experience. In this blog I am listing down some of those.
1. Health, always the priority:
I know this seems very basic and something we knew from the beginning, but the lockdown made me realise that I was actually taking my health for granted. While the act was unconscious, it was recurring. Eating junk, unhealthy sleep schedule and the lack of discipline was impacting my health negatively. The lockdown gave me the opportunity to rejuvenate my lifestyle.
2. Save for the future:
This is a learning that I gained from other people’s experience. The pandemic made me realise that crisis can come unannounced and one has to always be prepared financially. This just means to think twice before spending on unnecessary stuff and build a habit of saving.
3. Appreciate the silence:
I have always been around people all the time. With a very big family and an even bigger social circle I never appreciated the occasional silence around me. The silence according to me caused boredom. Now because of the lockdown I have learned to appreciate the silence. It gives me the power to let my thoughts free.
4. Mental health is important:
This is one aspect of our wellbeing that has always been infamous. While there is an increasing dialogue around it now, it is doing more bad than good I feel. The issue with stress, anxiety and emotional breakdowns is that it is seen as the problems of the privileged. We need to stop comparing the degree of each other’s problem and start accepting the difference. Having mental health issues in India is a first world problem in a third world country. The society may not give it enough importance but we need to start looking out for ourselves.
5. Fake news is like wildfire: During lockdown, I have spent hours explaining to my parents about how drinking “Neem juice with turmeric and black pepper” won’t protect me from coronavirus. This is just fake news that causes no harm but not all are harmless and innocent. Fake news spreads like wildfire and is something that people need to be educated about.
6. Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation: We have been advised to practice social distancing but it is not the same as social isolation. On the contrary, this lockdown gave me the opportunity to reconnect with friends and relatives even more. I spent two hours last night watching one of my favourite movies with a friend through Zoom call. The same
friend I had not had a conversation with since almost a year.
The lockdown made me aware of some many things I was taking for granted. It sensitised me towards various things, highlighted my shortcomings and made me appreciate everything that I have.
The reality is different today. The pandemic has forced us all inside our houses. Evening walks became necessary grocery runs, Office at nine became work from home and food from favourite restaurants became ‘Ghar ka khana.’
This felt like a long tedious journey from Lockdown 1, 2.0, 3.0 and now the inevitable chapter four. While this felt impossible in the beginning, I am slowly coming around to the idea. If nothing else, I am thankful for the things I learned from this once in a lifetime experience. In this blog I am listing down some of those.
1. Health, always the priority:
I know this seems very basic and something we knew from the beginning, but the lockdown made me realise that I was actually taking my health for granted. While the act was unconscious, it was recurring. Eating junk, unhealthy sleep schedule and the lack of discipline was impacting my health negatively. The lockdown gave me the opportunity to rejuvenate my lifestyle.
2. Save for the future:
This is a learning that I gained from other people’s experience. The pandemic made me realise that crisis can come unannounced and one has to always be prepared financially. This just means to think twice before spending on unnecessary stuff and build a habit of saving.
3. Appreciate the silence:
I have always been around people all the time. With a very big family and an even bigger social circle I never appreciated the occasional silence around me. The silence according to me caused boredom. Now because of the lockdown I have learned to appreciate the silence. It gives me the power to let my thoughts free.
4. Mental health is important:
This is one aspect of our wellbeing that has always been infamous. While there is an increasing dialogue around it now, it is doing more bad than good I feel. The issue with stress, anxiety and emotional breakdowns is that it is seen as the problems of the privileged. We need to stop comparing the degree of each other’s problem and start accepting the difference. Having mental health issues in India is a first world problem in a third world country. The society may not give it enough importance but we need to start looking out for ourselves.
5. Fake news is like wildfire: During lockdown, I have spent hours explaining to my parents about how drinking “Neem juice with turmeric and black pepper” won’t protect me from coronavirus. This is just fake news that causes no harm but not all are harmless and innocent. Fake news spreads like wildfire and is something that people need to be educated about.
6. Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation: We have been advised to practice social distancing but it is not the same as social isolation. On the contrary, this lockdown gave me the opportunity to reconnect with friends and relatives even more. I spent two hours last night watching one of my favourite movies with a friend through Zoom call. The same
friend I had not had a conversation with since almost a year.
The lockdown made me aware of some many things I was taking for granted. It sensitised me towards various things, highlighted my shortcomings and made me appreciate everything that I have.
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