It was just a one day curfew on a Sunday. My sister and nephew were already home for his summer holidays. We had planned for joining him for the drums classes and the other camps kids go during this vacation. So, they came with a lot of luggage, 3-4 bags to be exact.
Early in the morning itself, I could hear my frustrated neighbour trying to go to the temple and trying to win the argument with their family restricting him. I mean, it is a huge change for someone who is used to a routine every single day in his life. It was not much different with convincing my father about the mass in our church.
That curfew Sunday was the most productive everyone in my family might have been in our lives. Normally I wake up late. Not that day! I was wide awake even before 5 am, and in some time my nephew was up too. If there were any kind of work in our small space outside the house, which I am trying to make into a garden, we did all of that.
We had cool snacks in between too 😋
We planted the turtle vines into different pots, replanted all the plants I’ve been thinking of for a few days and everything else. Breakfast was ready and my sister asked brother in law to check a few plumbing repairs, which was also done in some time.
By 9 am, we were all jobless. I mean, to be honest that’s the day I realized we never spend this much time with each other. I mean, half of the normal Sundays are spent by everyone else in the church and then scolding me for not attending the church. The rest of the day normally gets occupied with something or the other.
But not that day! Everyone was home. Everyone was there, like right in front of everyone with nothing to do. So, we did the most sensible thing to do. Set up the screen, brought down the speakers and watched a movie.
It had been a long time I watched a Malayalam movie and I was impressed by the first movie “Ayyappanum Koshiyum”. I loved the songs and the overall movie. But, my hyperactive nephew was not impressed by movies.
COVID 19, even before it was named so and it was just the “coronavirus”, we had restrictions in Kerala. A partial lockdown was already taking place where there were positive cases tested for the virus. But then it was a nationwide lockdown from the next day till April 21st. 21 DAYS!
Food and other supplies were not a shortage since we had enough stored when there were announcements already almost a week ago. But, we didn’t really expect it to get extended like that. So, this is a record of how the lockdown days in 2020 went for me.
I have bits and pieces of the days stored in my diary but writing now when my nephew has gone back. He is one of the main characters going to appear in this diaries since most things revolved around him during these days. After all, it was his holidays and the poor kid was stuck with a few adults.
That's him watching the kids play in the next house. Everyone's playground had changed into their terraces and rooftops.
Plus, I am his favourite person, when we were not fighting and not in the “Anju, Cross” zone. That’s what he learned from his KG classes. To put a tick and cross on people according to the mood-status. So, that also meant an emotional torture every time I had to ask to leave to do some work.
I was granted permission with constant supervision. You see, he has his own Tab to watch things and stuff. But no, he want to learn things with me. I did teach him how to write something and search for it on the internet. I think it was enough for a 4 year old. He is only taught the letters in the school.
The problem is everytime I opened my laptop I had to go through the all the 26 letters with their word searched on the internet. In addition, he gets to choose which Bat he liked for the “B for Bat” searches and the dog for the “D for Dog”.
So, I decided to play with him or do something with him that made him feel like a kid. So, the next day I thought of making colours using this hibiscus flower on paper and then turning it into a different colour by putting something acidic. I had this star-like fleshy ones in mind.
Well, it didn’t go as expected. I mean it was all good till the paper was coloured with the flower but then he thought it would be fun to just squeeze the tamarind and just get it done with. He only wanted to play football. I don’t know how, but he is really good at it.
On the other hand, my mother and sister had teamed up to try new recipes. Needless to say, there was something or the other for the snacks every day. All fresh all day! I have to thank all the creators who put videos of food on YouTube and Blogs. You guys made my lockdown days delicious. Thank you.
they're the fake eggs made of rice flour. Innovation!
something steamed
More than the coronavirus and lockdown, they were only concerned about getting meat for Easter. It was something unthinkable for them following the lent.
They even suggested to by chicken since the price went down very low. The estimate was they will be grown to an age of harvest by the time it was Easter. But, it just remained in words and we didn’t buy them at all. But we did buy fish to the small aquarium we have just before the lockdown.
Within a week we were adjusted to having the unsaid rules within the house. Nobody starts a talk on controversial topics. Everyone watches whatever movie we got from the internet. Everyone comes for food at the right time and the such.
Though unexpected, its been a long time we were all together. I mean we normally try to make it to the celebrations and events but all of us have been away for almost 10 years now. So, this was in a way a time together and it was not that bad.
Within a week I also had a scar on my forehead, my phone screen broken from the edge and multiple bruises on my hand for not obeying Kichu’s orders. It was one of those days when he was playing with the sticks of the drums and accidently fell from his hand. The next thing I know is me not knowing where the cut is with all the blood on my face.
When in doubt, apply and see how things work out :p
That’s the day I learned how to social distance for safety, for an entirely different reason the world was following for. I also tried cooking on my own and ended up with a few cuts from there too. So, the rest of the days I decided to go offline and live in the moment.
I mean, what other choice I had anyway! Did I tell you he loves to play drums on my keypad?!! Yeah, those were the moments my heart beat stopped every time he found the desk unattended. Every shops other than the essentials were closed, still are. So, any damage to anything meant you wait indefinitely for the lockdown to end.
I might sound like a mean aunt for picturing him like a brat but he is the sweetest. I don’t think I would love anyone more. His world is very different from ours. He is curious to know everything, every little thing. It’s so cute to see how he picks up new words when we speak and asks for explanations.
That's how all the doubts on the face about how a fan works without electricity.
He is still learning many words in Malayalam. So, it is always fun to listen him speak in the tone of elders whom he hear talking. He calls us by name now and it is so not supposed to be that way as per the society.
But it is all great now. I mean, in a few years he’s going to be a different person altogether than what he is now! I have enough photos and videos to embarrass him then. Lol, I really want to see his reaction to his own “Raw raw raw your boat version”.
Though the first Sunday was a little empty, by the next one everyone was used to the routine and online services. I mean having the holy week without going to the church is like the first time here. Services were streaming online.
The special snacks on those days were prepared as usual. The Kerala style rice dumpling, Kozhukotta, is only prepared on Palm Sunday. There’s this special appam, more like a pancake, made of different ingredients on Maundy thurday was a major missing. They serve that in the church with a concentrated coconut milk mixed with cardmom. I missed that a lot.
There were not much difference in the Easter meal plan either. Chicken, beef, fish, pork were all available. It is just that they had to keep a distance in the shops.
talking about productivity, the first week everyone did what they wanted to do at a much faster pace. I mean, my brother who is into fashion designing made at least 5-6 items out of clothing out of old sarees and pieces of clothes lying around here.
Some of them do need some final touches that can't be done using the simple machine we have at home. But, Kichu was excited about his harem pants. He even wore that to hospital later when he went to see his new born cousins.
I have forced him to make an account of Hive, so maybe once it is all done and we get decent pictures taken out of them, he'll share it. My father, as usual, took care of his plants and trees. I think he loves them more than us sometimes.
To be honest in one week we got used to the lifestyle a little bit. But the lockdown actually came into a realization after that. But, we felt blessed to be in a safer zone and now when I am publishing this, it is already the second month of lockdown. There are a few more interesting stories from the lockdown, which will be coming in the next parts of the Lockdown diaries.
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