Lockdown – day 1

The novel Corona Virus has taken over the entire world and put many regions under lockdown. India is also one of the affected countries – how bad – that is anyone’s guess. I am an assistant professor at an Agricultural University in India, and for the last year, my life was busy with hundreds of daily tasks. But then this Covid-19 hit us. First, they sent all the students home and cancelled all our leaves – we were required to report every day at work. Then, after a few days, the situation became serious. In the state of Bihar, where my University is, there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19 until the morning of 22 March, and then all of a sudden, we receive media reports of one confirmed case and another death from Covid. This was serious. How is it possible that there were no reports of Covid-19 in the state, and then all of a sudden, there is a death? This creates an atmosphere of uncertainty, which leads to panic and fear. It was also on 21st that my University decided to lock down its campuses. I live on the campus where the headquarter of the University is situated, and one can find almost all the items of daily use within the premises. Thus a lockdown is expected to be less painful – at least that is what I thought on the 1st day of the lockdown. Moreover, I have forced myself indoors for days while writing my Ph.D. thesis.
In fact, the 1st day was relaxing, except for an incident where a cat got into my kitchen and drank the milk that was on the kitchen shelf. Since that was our entire stock of milk for the next two days and we were under lockdown, I had to figure out a safe way to get milk. I called a friend who purchased milk for me from the milkman who delivers milk at this home. The milk was boiled and safely delivered to me at night when the authorities relaxed the lockdown. Earlier, in the morning, I finished a pending review of a research article for a journal. My wife and I made some noise at 5 p.m. as called by the Prime Minister of India to appreciate the workers on-field fighting Covid-19. I don’t think any field or hospital worker heard our bells, but it was a fun exercise. We felt refreshed and a bit happier under such a sad situation. I also purchased the Kindle book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and read a few pages.
Today was the second day of the lockdown, and it seemed a bit drag. I am not used to holidays, especially when I have nothing to look forward to. I woke up at my usual 6:30 a.m., tended to my plants (they have started to catch spider mites), washed some dishes from last night, prepared some green tea for myself. By this time, I would have bathed and been at work, but this day seemed uninspiring. This is what else I did today:
1) Did some pranayam to keep my respiratory tract healthy
2) Did laundry by hand
3) Browsed web to get some sense of the situation – failed at it.
4) Continued reading my book.