'Corona' cakes, sit-ups on the street and how to bypass barricades: Snaps from a tumultuous 2020

A 'locked-down' India was 2020's most noticeable feature this year. Here's a look at how life as we know it changed forever, leaving all of us scrambling to adapt to the new 'COVID normal'.

In March this year, India woke up to a ‘locked-down’ morning, one that would go on to last for several months. Here, we chronicle the spirit of India’s non-stop battle against the virus, with her unique strategies on full display and an essence that only

Updated on:

30 Dec 2020, 12:19 pm

2 min read

The pandemic ushered in unique limitations on the way businesses operate including the tea shop round the corner. But who can stop one from sipping a ‘garam chai ki pyaali’, even if the cup has to first pass through an extra layer of safety. (Photo |P Jawahar, EPS)

Lives came to a halt for most people across varied professions. But to make the most of a bad situation is a life hack, one that can be seen here as these employees turned leisure into treasured family time and a session of carrom at a petrol pump station on Chennai’s Poonamallee highway. (Photo | Martin Louis, EPS)

But despite some form of respite for a select few, the lockdown spelled misery for millions of migrant labourers across the country. In the blink of an eye, it rendered them homeless, jobless and desperate to head home. In this file photo, migrants from Nepal and northern India can be seen resting at Chennai Central station ahead of boarding their train. (Photo | Shiba Prasad Sahu, EPS)

Scarcity of resources was also a natural side effect of the lockdown restrictions. That, however, did not stop this homeless mother-son duo from sharing their food with hungry crows near Marina beach, Chennai. (Photo | R Satish Babu, EPS)

All the accolades in the world fall short in front of respect and dignity of labour. An honour sanitary workers deserve and were rightly bestowed by residents of Kotturpuram’s Chitra Nagar through a special ‘aarti’ to thank them for their services. (Photo | Ashwin Prasath, EPS)

Can’t miss the train: The excitement and anxiousness to board the first Shramik special train when all of the country’s transport services had come to a screeching halt for a good two months was a sight like no other. (Photo | Shriram B N, EPS)

Motherly affection trumps any pandemic. In frame: A woman fanning her child to beat the heat while waiting to board the train back to Uttar Pradesh. (Photo | Meghana Sastry, EPS)

Of the many trends COVID-19 inspired this year, one couldn’t have possibly seen this coming. A cake in the shape of the virus is an image that is hard to shake off and would have perhaps been an equally difficult one to bake. Full marks for creativity, we’d say. (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal, EPS)

The importance of sanitation and hygiene has always been one for the textbooks but this year, more than ever, we practised what was preached and how. A clean space is no longer one that’s just been dusted but also one that has been ‘disinfected’ as seen in this picture. (Photo | Ashishkrishna HP, EPS)

When you really crave a hot piping cup of filter coffee, no barricade can stop you from acquiring the requisite ingredients, read - milk. Here’s visual proof preserved for our 2020 memories. (Photo | A Raja Chidambaram, EPS)

Some say that rules are meant to be broken. But no one warned us about monkey-style sit-ups as punishments. Two motorists and lockdown violators in Coimbatore learnt this the hard way, earlier this year. (Photo | U Rakesh Kumar, EPS)

For the underprivileged, multi-tasking has never been a quality but rather a necessity, never mind COVID-19. In picture: A ragpicker riding a cart in Kochi, along with her baby, as she went about the city collecting trash and waste materials. (Photo | A Sanesh, EPS)

If duty before self and ‘carpe diem’ could be presented as a picture, it would probably be this one. 2020 belongs to frontline workers and their valour. Salomi Mathew’s (in photo) 34 years of service as a lady health inspector amid an escalating health crisis is a testament to that. Her walk home on her retirement day due to lack of transport resembles that of a warrior after winning a crucial battle. (Photo |Manu R Mavelil, EPS)

Did 2020 turn us all into hardcore realists, with little to no patience to try our ‘luck’? Perhaps, as resumption of business proved futile for this Kozhikode vendor trying to sell lottery tickets. (Photo | T P Sooraj, EPS)

When discussing the psychological impact of the lockdown, we often exclude the narrative from the children's point of view and their ordeal. The joy of riding good old swings in a playground or playing a thrilling match of football at your community park cannot be trumped by the fanciest of online games. (Photo | Udayshankar S, EPS)

Compassion is a priceless yet inexpensive virtue to possess and one whose market value and demand will always remain high. Some conservancy workers on night duty in Puducherry during lockdown days found themselves at the receiving end of it when a therapist Bhasker offered his services to them. (Photo | G Pattabiraman, EPS)

Mask? Check. Sanitiser? Check. Plastic cover ‘protection’ against coronavirus? Double check. (File Photo | B P Deepu, EPS)

Safety comes first: A man who had to transport sacks of rice took the time to wash his hands at a makeshift washbasin to steer clear of the virus scare. (Photo |Vincent Pulickal, EPS)

Start young: The practice of sanitisation has now started to be inculcated in children early on, for life, as we know it, will never be the same. (Photo | V Karthikalagu, EPS)

When localities turned into ‘containment zones’, some stayed indoors, while others were compelled to step out for work, which sometimes resulted in good cardio exercises when bypassing barricades. (Photo | G Satyanarayana, EPS)

Au revoir! When the final horn blew giving the train a green signal for departure, 1,425 shramiks in their special trains leaving from Tiruchy let go of their troubles for a quick second to pose merrily for a photo and bid the city goodbye. (Photo | M K Ashok Kumar, EPS)

Religious activities this year took a beating too. This was very evident during Puri’s famous annual Jagannath Rath Yatra that drew a significantly smaller crowd due to the then restrictions in place. (Photo | Biswanath Swain, EPS)

One of the most unfortunate tragedies of 2020 occurred in Vijayawada’s Swarna Palace Hotel, which had doubled up as a quarantine centre. It was gutted in a fire in August that claimed 10 lives. (Photo | Prasant Madugula, EPS)

'Corona' cakes, sit-ups on the street and how to bypass barricades: Snaps from a tumultuous 2020

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