Lockdown 4.0

Yet another lockdown...

Lockdown 4.0: 18th May 2020 to 31st May 2020!!

I always wonder whether I should stop the newspaper for the time being. Whether it could be a source for infection? But I hadn't been able to decide and am still continuing... But for now, as soon as the boy leaves the paper at the door, we keep it inside for a hour or so before reading! And today I happen to catch a glimpse of the front page as I pick it up from the floor!!

"Watchful Bengaluru back in business, but buzz is missing" 

Thats the headlines today and the first thing that came to my mind on seeing this was the image of the road that i take every morning for my office! 

A few days back it used to be so empty apart from a few two wheelers (it was like heaven to ride)! But since two days, 18th May to be exact, its heavily jammed! Kind of making me cringe as I enter the main road from my street! 

I guess, by now every one's life has kick started again except may be those doing wfh and those returned from hometowns and those stranded! Well, thats what the crowded roads tells me and makes me wonder what is the buzz that is missing? 

Another headline that caught my eyes and made me almost reach out for my Bible...

"Under fire, Karnataka govt decide to relax the testing of returnees."

Clearly that seems like not so a good thing to do considering how many of the returnees have been found infected! (And also how many of them don't follow quarantine!!) We - some of us - had been in a safe zone. Now, with relaxations and getting back to life the world becomes a dangerous place to live in. But, ofcourse, we need to learn to live with corona till may be when some cure would be found! But we need to still live with caution abiding by the guidelines specified by MHA. Making it the norms of our life! 

I would like to know how many are really sticking to it. Lets take the basic one - masks! I see so many wearing masks and I also see so many not wearing! Why i think... is it so hard to tie a cloth around covering your mouth and nose? 

And, spitting... Its a finable offence... Last day while i was on my way to office... A man riding pillion on a 2 wheeler before me turns his head... Lowers his mask... Spits and places his mask back on! Seriously!

And then there are people... The educated people... Mask... Sanitizer...all checked and good! But then you are having a conversation with them... You talk... they reply... And then, may be they don't feel they are audible or clear (i have no idea what!), for, next moment I see them lower their mask and speak! Thats a total and absolute violation of the basic intention behind wearing a mask!!

All this and more... Lockdown 4.0 is for preparing us... making us ready to live with covid19! But I hope people would be more responsible... Not just to themselves but to the society as well.

Hope we fight through this period and come out victorious! 

Be Safe.

Any comments and thoughts are welcome. I am scared and worried. I am sure there are many like me. Share your views.

Thank you.

Career In the Time of Corona...??

Has it ever happened... That you have to choose between "something"and your career. Thats not a question to wives or husbands. Its a question for people with status 'single'. In this time of covid, so many have lost their jobs and many are scared about their future. I am ok. I have a job but then i have elderly parents also at home. As the lockdown comes to an end i wonder, is it worth... This job. Of course there are deadlines and commitments and its a question of the companies growth... Yeah yeah. But as a person, as an individual I can't help but think.

There was a time when i was irreplaceable. I didn't have had to work hard to be it. I just had to do my job, thats all. But now i am not. I still work but as people come and go... As managements change...so does favorites emerge and if you need to survive then you need to fight... Put that extra something or put a lot of extras. But somehow i dont feel like. When i actually think about it, i feel its not worth it. I could be faar faar better not being there but... I suddenly realise I don't have any savings. My savings is my salary and if it stops... May be a year and a half... Beyond that... 

I am scared of even thinking about another job...i feel so useless like every thing in me has been drained. 

i know i sound so vague. But that's how I feel! Has anyone felt the same? I would like some guidance.. of any kind. Because i am done hearing from myself!!

Thank you.

Lockdown 3.0

Let me start with a small prayer for all the people fighting corona... The people in quarantine, admitted in hospital, all the people in the frontlines... The health workers, the social workers, the police and the volunteers... May God give them strength and take care of them... And, all the people who had lost their lives including our beloved actors... May God bless their Souls. RIP. And, lastly all my fellow beings staying home and supporting this fight (including me!). Stay home, Stay safe!!

Day... 1st May 2020. Just a few hours back we all got the news of extension of lockdown! 

Lockdown 3.0 : 4th May to 17th May (2 weeks)!

This extension, in my opinion, is very much required especially in regions classified as RED zone! I happen to reside in Bangalore, one of the district in red zone. 

There are a total of 3 red zones in Karnataka, as of today (according to data from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India (GoI)) and 13 districts are declared orange zones and rest 14 districts are green zones (where there haven't been any cases in last 21 days!). Zone classification is based on factors such as the number of novel coronavirus (covid19) cases, doubling rate of the cases and the extent of testing and surveillance.

I am basically from Kerala and settled in Bangalore for now, because of my job, with my parents! I just hope that with relaxations in Green zones new cases don't pop up there! And, with lockdown extension the cases would come down in the rest!

It's been over a month since we had been in lockdown. Many of us are doing work from home and since my job involves testing not much can be done from home! So, I had been free to do whatever I wanted (and, trust me, there's been a lot of things that I wanted to do) but time just flew. Before I knew one month was over... Just like that! Probably I would have to start office from next week (too much delay in projects, management decides!).

As the day nears I suddenly realise that there was so much that I could have done - so much that I could do - so much that I don't want to stop doing like reading. I used to read a lot. There's still a huge collection of books in my shelf here as well as in my home in hometown. And now my phone's taken up half the memory with epubs that I had downloaded in the hope that I would read but I had never gotten time! Some how in the busy life of mine, they just got pushed back in the priority queue! I dread going back to that busy life... Home-Office-Home... The Routine Life!!

I guess it's HIGH time to make some resolutions... Resolutions for a healthy life... Physical and Mental well-being! One of them being finding time every day to do something for myself... anything at all - a solely myself time! 

Other resolutions, well, thanks to my amma (She's a neat freak... There's always a sanitizer and handwash and a pack of tissues in her bag... Even in those pre-Covid days!), hygiene had always been of high priority in our household. That needs to be maintained and shared... Not just personal but we need to keep our environment clean too!

Such a big lesson this dreadful time has taught us! Hope the teachings stay with us always and we never forget. Let's support this fight. Stay Home, Stay Safe and Save lives!

And, lastly I would like to add, we are safe and secure at home but there are many who are stranded, who has lost their jobs, whose future is a big question mark, lets get together and do whatever we can in our capability!! Like there are so many NGOs working towards providing food to them. Kindly contribute. Thank you.

I believe I am not the only one who feels the same. I would like to hear a few thoughts and know how all of you are coping. Please feel free to jot down your views in the comments section. Thank you.