Locked Down

As Covid-19 tightened its grip around us, the initial few days felt surreal, as though we were living a sci-fi Hollywood movie. Anxiety and gloom took over as we were forced into a lockdown situation. Days passed and we started getting used to this new normal. A month into the lockdown in India now, the number of positive cases have risen but we have started talking about flattening the curve. We may see a gradual easing out of the lockdown soon.

While I desperately want the lockdown to end, a part of me sadistically wants this to continue – my love for Mother Nature makes me blind.

As I had written before, the lockdown hasn’t changed my life drastically. Certain changes did happen, which is but natural. However, some people have been drastically affected by the lockdown. I will not go into the stories of the migrant workers, the daily wage earners, and others like them. Their sufferings are beyond my comprehension. I have never experienced their fears and apprehensions. I can only imagine. The images and stories that I have seen and read have given me sleepless nights. I feel ill-equipped to write about them. Hence, let me stick to the impact of lockdown on people like me – the privileged lot, for whom the lockdown has been a rather luxurious one.

Many are struggling with issues like insomnia, binge eating, binge Netflix, etc. Many are struggling with being unable to maintain a routine. Many are struggling with serious issues of isolation, loneliness, depression, panic attacks and anxiety disorders. Again, contrary to this, many are jostling for some personal space in the confinement of the four walls of their small flats. I had read somewhere about the importance of having a balcony during the pandemic and I had thought to myself – well, how true that is!

Psychological disorders are a serious issue in metro cities, like Bangalore. Many of us live alone and are far away from family and home. Added to that is the stress of living in unplanned and chaotic cities. There are many people affected in some way or the other, the number is much more than we think. Some are open, most are not. If you have ever tried to get an appointment with a psychologist, you would know what I am talking about. The pandemic is only making it worse for this vulnerable group of people. I personally know people who would deliberately go for regular workouts to the gym or would regularly run/jog. Their only intention would be to keep stress and anxiety at bay. While some of them are finding alternatives in their homes by resorting to things like weightlifting, skipping, etc. others are struggling to find an outlet.

Several others are silently suffering – people stuck up with their abusive partners, abusive in-laws; caregivers of the sick and the elderly who aren’t able to take a break; people caught up in sexual abuse within the four walls of their homes; people facing mental and emotional tortures from their family members; and innumerable other situations.

Well, this is not what I was planning to write today. I had intended to write about some things that I have personally enjoyed during this month-long lockdown, but this post just took off in another direction.

Shall continue in the next post….

Author: neelstoria

Traveling, Gardening, Trekking, Hiking, Storytelling, Writing, Nature, Outdoors, Yoga, DIY

31 thoughts on “Locked Down”

  1. I believe if our daily routine is correct and if we follow discipline, there will be no effect of lockdown or any other circumstance. Previously also, I used to wake up at 7 and now also.😜 It is just about how we take it. Very well written. Awaiting your next post! 😊🙌

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  2. Stress is so revealing about both our strengths and weaknesses.
    For better or worse, I find I hide my head in the sand against the daily tales of woe in the news media – literally “hiding” anything political or negative on Facebook – and relish the many positive stories and humorous thing that come out daily.

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    1. That’s the best thing to do…I’ve been doing the same, even stopped watching news on television altogether. Negativity, in any form is absolutely terrible and does impact you whether you want it or not. But when people come to you with their lockdown woes, all you can do is give a patient hearing. (Though sometime you just want to say – please go practice some gratitude :D).

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  3. Well, a psychologist is easy to reach for via mail. Most of the NHS Panel & WHO recognize psychologists have their work email active to attend their cases via video call/via texts in worst-case scenarios. Do cross-check with your Doc. Well, the mountains are not quite far away. You can travel soon. Keep your spirits high. All the best 🙂

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    1. Kalyan, I was just saying in general to indicate that there are a lot of people suffering from psychological disorders, which you realise if/when you go to seek an appointment and the slots with the doctors/counsellors are full. This isn’t Covid specific but generic 🙂
      However, thank you for the information. I can sure pass on the message to people who need them.

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  4. Beautiful, very honest expression of personal experiences during this pandemic. The very mention of the plight of those poor and helpless migrants certainly shows your empathy towards them. You have the feelings and sensitivity to be a true writer.

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  5. Ma’am! You have written exquisitely the life of people who are thinking this lockdown as too much problematic than it actually it is for them. It’s very good the way you confessed honestly about the life of people for whom lockdown is a lot more painful, beyond imagination. Waiting to read your next post😊

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    1. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this post. The lockdown is definitely not the end of the world. We all know it’s for a finite time and it will end sooner or later. take care and be safe!

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  6. One of my nieces is a counselor, and she complains of overwork now. She’s also feeling quite cooped up at home, and having to give therapy to a lot of others seems to be stressful. She talks to her mentor once a week, and to her dogs (who are stuck with another niece) fairly often to de-stress. These are not normal times at all, and life will not be instantly back to what it was after the lock-down ends. Social distancing and safety norms at work will be strict.

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    1. I can understand your niece’s situation. Reminds me of a newspaper article I read this morning, written by a friend, about the need of empathy, love, and leave for caregivers. As a counselor one would be absorbing so much and in times like there there would be very little scope to de-stress. It’ll be a long while before life gets back to normal again. Officially, lockdown may not be as it is now but life will continue in pretty much the same way for a long time ahead, till maybe we have a vaccine or we have proper and specific medications.

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    1. The challenges faced by us seem like first world problems when compared to what the majority of the people in our country or even elsewhere in the world are going through.

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      1. Absolutely. I agree, Neel. For some, choosing what food to prepare is a problem, when you have everything. For others, how to manage food is a problem because you have nothing.

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  8. I absolutely love this post! Yes the pandemic is affecting us ways we never imagined it would. I have strained relationships with my friends and acquaintances who have cloaked themselves in a shroud of pessimism while I am trying to be hopeful. I tell them about Nature reclaiming her space and they send me news snippets of about 2.7 lakh trees that will be chopped off in Arunachal Pradesh for a hydro electric project, as though I am responsible! It is a strange world. There are people happy to be at home and some subject to domestic violence! Crazy.

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    1. While the lockdown continues and some of us remain hopeful especially with the thought of Mother Nature having some much needed me-time, there are still so many things for us to learn. Today i was reading an article about bats being demonised in both rural and urban India because of the virus. People by and large do not understand the ecological significance of bats. I hope bats aren’t rampantly killed now.
      By the way, have you seen videos of a deer jumping around in an empty street at Mawkadok?

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      1. I did see the video! I was so very surprised for all this while I had only seen deers at Lady Hydari Park when walking on the Pine Mount road 🙂
        You are right, the nesting period, I am calling the lock-down such, is teaching is so many things and we still have to learn, a long way to go. Also, I read about bats being killed! That’s crazy.

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  9. Yeah I understand that lock-down may create mental stress for many. It is my observation that we Indians are more resilient than people of western countries, particularly USA, where almost all the states facing protests by the citizens for easing out the lock-down norms without bothering about the consequences. Let God save us from the pandemic soon.

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    1. Yes, I have seen the protests on TV and wondered what was going on, especially with the death rate being so high in the US. But again there’s been such a high rate of joblessness too. Though the latter is quite the same here too.
      Take care and be safe, Ramasamy Sir.

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