Navigating the Coronavirus

Chennai, India:

The virus restrictions in Chennai began on March 26th 2020. It has been a complete lockdown since then with essential services available and food delivery services functioning after a month. I believe we’re allowed to take a walk but I haven’t left my house in 2 months, 1 week and 2 days. My mother goes out once every week or so to get groceries from the stores closest to us and her experience has been mostly positive with a few incidents of people ignoring social distancing rules or rules about the number of people per vehicle.

The lockdown has been extended quite a few times so it’s really difficult to say when they might be removed. I’m hoping by the beginning of July we’ll be able to return to our regular activities. I’ve been home-schooled my whole life and currently attend an online school which means staying at home has been fairly similar to my regular routine, so I’m not particularly concerned by it. We’ve continued classes as usual, and homework and projects have kept me busy. The spread of the virus caused a lot of confusion concerning exams and while they’ve been cancelled now, much of the time was spent preparing for them so I had the usual hectic exam season! However, I play tennis 3.5 hours every morning and obviously I haven’t been able to train which has probably been the most difficult part for me. It was my friends 16th birthday and we weren’t able to spend it together which was quite sad too.

Covid-19 has been a new experience for all of us and I think we’re just trying to navigate its effects on school, exams, sports, social lives, and the future so the uncertainty and the need to be patient is tough. I haven’t been bored at all: the extra time has given me a chance to catch up with lots of friends and family over calls, Netflix, and online games. I’ve also had school and fitness (at home) to keep me occupied. Baking has also become a huge pastime in my house and we play cards and listen to music almost every evening.

Personally, keeping a schedule, e.g getting to bed at a certain time, has really helped keep my life fairly structured during these chaotic times. So I’d probably encourage others to be slightly productive, even if it isn’t studying/work, something like baking is super fun and you get some great treats out of it.