The virus and the ensuing lockdown has ensured one very important thing; apart from making all of us paranoid about getting infected, it has in one clean sweep erased what was the normal routine for all of us. What the world was used to as the normal done thing, no longer holds true. Going to the market, shifting through veggies, haggling with the vendor, hanging out with friends, having a coffee, travelling… the list is practically endless.
When the normal goes out of the window, before a new normal can set in, there’s chaos, there’s despair, frustration and along with that tempers fly and verbal skirmishes happen. When social distancing prevents you from face-to-face interaction and WhatsApp group becomes the way of communication, there’s more chaos. Wars break out on WA groups. Is it ok to go out for a solo walk? Why are people crowding at the condo store? Is it ok to take a walk around the complex with your dog? Issues like these become topics for hot debate.
And then in condos where senior executives (read CEOs of companies) live and lockdown happens and these bossy successful executives have to interact with each other and arrive at a consensus… what happens? It’s pure golden humour to stand aside and watch… huh… I mean read.
But it’s not just name-calling and angry texts; the lockdown has another beautiful side to it too. In my condo, every Saturday we have the balcony concert. Fortunately for us, there’s a singer in my building and he brings out his entire set-up in the balcony and for one hour, he entertains all of us. Song requests are taken from families; parents to their kids, husband to their wife, one friend to another. We wave to each other, smile. The music and the strains of guitar float throughout the condo, the empty lanes where once merry kids sped on their skate boards, committed walker hurried to finish their daily quota.
People come out to their balcony, make themselves comfortable, hold a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, hum along, some sing out loud. On every face there’s a smile. There’s hope and a prayer that this ends soon. That all of us come out of this healthy and safe.Today many of us had a baking class on zoom with a person in the building who bakes amazing goodies. Sharing pics how much the loaf has risen, is it golden enough…we could almost smell the rising loaf.The silly WA skirmishes notwithstanding, we are all in it together. Living apart but together in spirit and heart.
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