Covid19 - 21 Day Lockdown
What a week it has been for us. Is there anyone in the world who isn't aware of the Covid19 pandemic and it's impact on EVERYTHING ? I did read about the Big Brother houses, which are currently being recorded, and them having to tell the housemates about the situation 'outside'. Imagine that, what a crazy thing to learn. There is a small part of me that would like to be completely oblivious to this chaos. Sadly, that is not the case.
Our week started with Mike still going to the office but that quickly changed when the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced a 21 day lockdown of the entire country. The logistics of shutting an entire country down within 4 hours is quite unbelievable but from what we can tell, a massive portion of the country have followed the instructions. Of course, there are people who don't and won't do as they are told but from a companies, shops, schools, universities, restaurants - nearly everything seems to have shut down and most people are staying at home.
There are stories and images of people being beaten if they are out of their homes for incorrect reasons - obviously I haven't seen this first hand but I have heard about it from others and am sure it is actually happening. The police have a lot of power here and will enforce what they believe are the rules. Only a week ago, they were being praised for all their work with 'teaching' people how to wash their hands - they were using traffic signal breaks to demonstrate what was best - see below. The police love to wield their strength and power, especially over the young, poor and lower caste members.
What does a 21 day lockdown look like for us ? Well, we are lucky enough that we are allowed to move within our compound because no one is allowed in or really out. Therefore, the community is considered a safe zone and because of the lack of external interactions, we are able to move around within here quite ok. (for now) We have a number of houses in quarantine who are people who have returned from overseas before the lockdown and before all flights were cancelled, and the police/government are physically checking on these people regularly. So we have the police coming in often, and if they feel the community is not acting appropriately with the measures put in place, then we will go to complete lockdown in our houses.
Luckily, we had a fairly good stock of things before this started but as each day goes by we are running out of some things. Deliveries have been cancelled due to the police restrictions on who is allowed to move around but we are hopeful these will lift soon…… or we will be living on rice and tinned chickpeas. On inspection of the pantry, we are long on the following items: cocoa, tomato sauce, frozen bananas, paprika, peppercorns, and a case of Carlsberg Strong beer (it was purchased by mistake!). That could make for some interesting meals. Each day I try and place orders for deliveries but they are constantly cancelled. We are able to go out but we don't have easy access to our driver, but that may have to change soon if we cannot get some food stuff delivered. On a positive note, we received fresh water yesterday and a delivery of eggs - woohoo !! We are only on day 5 of 21, let's hope things improve soon with our deliveries.
Our days are filled with way too much screen time - well for the kids anyway. With all our friends having returned home, the boys are having to spend all day together which inevitably ends in tears - usually mine or Mikes. As we are not allowed to have anyone in/out of the community, we are now the garbologists, gardeners, cleaners and our own delivery agents if things actually do turn up. I am still able to exercise, thank God, and our little mini gym in Max's room is paying off.
I wish I had photos and videos of what life was like before this lockdown. The sheer silence and lack of movement outside our gates is amazing. The road leading into our community is usually heaving and so jammed packed ALL day long, that it can take 10 minutes to go 200 metres. It is now a complete ghost town with not a single vehicle or person in sight. It is so strange to only hear birds, squirrels and the occasionally dog barking. Usually, it is horns, bikes, trucks, kids playing, the call to prayer at the local mosque and construction. Now it is deathly quiet.
Won't it be interesting for our kids to remember where they were in 2020 when the Coronavirus pandemic was at it's peak - India !! Yes, we were in India ……..
Stay safe everyone. x
Our week started with Mike still going to the office but that quickly changed when the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced a 21 day lockdown of the entire country. The logistics of shutting an entire country down within 4 hours is quite unbelievable but from what we can tell, a massive portion of the country have followed the instructions. Of course, there are people who don't and won't do as they are told but from a companies, shops, schools, universities, restaurants - nearly everything seems to have shut down and most people are staying at home.
There are stories and images of people being beaten if they are out of their homes for incorrect reasons - obviously I haven't seen this first hand but I have heard about it from others and am sure it is actually happening. The police have a lot of power here and will enforce what they believe are the rules. Only a week ago, they were being praised for all their work with 'teaching' people how to wash their hands - they were using traffic signal breaks to demonstrate what was best - see below. The police love to wield their strength and power, especially over the young, poor and lower caste members.
What does a 21 day lockdown look like for us ? Well, we are lucky enough that we are allowed to move within our compound because no one is allowed in or really out. Therefore, the community is considered a safe zone and because of the lack of external interactions, we are able to move around within here quite ok. (for now) We have a number of houses in quarantine who are people who have returned from overseas before the lockdown and before all flights were cancelled, and the police/government are physically checking on these people regularly. So we have the police coming in often, and if they feel the community is not acting appropriately with the measures put in place, then we will go to complete lockdown in our houses.
Luckily, we had a fairly good stock of things before this started but as each day goes by we are running out of some things. Deliveries have been cancelled due to the police restrictions on who is allowed to move around but we are hopeful these will lift soon…… or we will be living on rice and tinned chickpeas. On inspection of the pantry, we are long on the following items: cocoa, tomato sauce, frozen bananas, paprika, peppercorns, and a case of Carlsberg Strong beer (it was purchased by mistake!). That could make for some interesting meals. Each day I try and place orders for deliveries but they are constantly cancelled. We are able to go out but we don't have easy access to our driver, but that may have to change soon if we cannot get some food stuff delivered. On a positive note, we received fresh water yesterday and a delivery of eggs - woohoo !! We are only on day 5 of 21, let's hope things improve soon with our deliveries.
Our days are filled with way too much screen time - well for the kids anyway. With all our friends having returned home, the boys are having to spend all day together which inevitably ends in tears - usually mine or Mikes. As we are not allowed to have anyone in/out of the community, we are now the garbologists, gardeners, cleaners and our own delivery agents if things actually do turn up. I am still able to exercise, thank God, and our little mini gym in Max's room is paying off.
I wish I had photos and videos of what life was like before this lockdown. The sheer silence and lack of movement outside our gates is amazing. The road leading into our community is usually heaving and so jammed packed ALL day long, that it can take 10 minutes to go 200 metres. It is now a complete ghost town with not a single vehicle or person in sight. It is so strange to only hear birds, squirrels and the occasionally dog barking. Usually, it is horns, bikes, trucks, kids playing, the call to prayer at the local mosque and construction. Now it is deathly quiet.
Won't it be interesting for our kids to remember where they were in 2020 when the Coronavirus pandemic was at it's peak - India !! Yes, we were in India ……..
Stay safe everyone. x
Bangalore Mirror - 24th March 2020
DW Made for Minds 28th March 2020
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| Streets being 'sanitised' |
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