How It Feels To Have To Live Through a Lockdown, All Alone

Now unless you have been living under a rock, you do know that we are all being held hostage by coronavirus. Countries are in lockdown - which pretty much means except when it is absolutely necessary, you cannot leave your home. For those of us in India, reality hit hard when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a 21-day lockdown from March 25 to April 14. The aim is to stop the spreading of the disease through social distancing.

Now for those of us (like me) who live completely alone, this has a bigger impact. For instance, I do not even own a pet for company, pathetic I know, but why judge? For me, going out with friends is pretty much the highlight of the day. Since I do not live with roomies or family, I was already sort of isolated and now with the lockdown, it almost feels as if I am completely cut off. Just FYI, I have been living away from home for nearly 9 years, 8 of which have been without a flatmate. In other words, living alone is nothing new for me.

Shutterstock

Now I am fortunate to work in a digital media company, which allows me to work from home, should the situation arise. Our office like any responsible company has put the safety of the employees first and asked us to work from home until further notice. While I realise that I am actually quite privileged to be able to do that, it's still a challenge to have to go through this all alone.

I have come to realise that it's the weekends that are really tough to get through, because on weekdays at least for 8-10 hours of the day, I have the work to distract me. Time flies, and once in the zone, the day is over quickly. But on weekends? The hours seem to drag because the distraction of work is no longer there. Plus the time I usually went out to have fun is eating me up inside, as it's not possible to budge from the house. I tend to flip between being an introvert and extrovert, so I do like to catch up with friends as much as I love my own time to myself. However, now that one of those options doesn't exist at all, it seems as though there's nothing to recharge myself for. The commute to and from work no longer exists, so there's no fatigue. In other words, for once, weekends are the days I am not looking forward to.

Shutterstock

So what's the solution then?

On the weekdays, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm I am caught up in office work. So I usually have a nice playlist helps to keep me company - it helps me stay relaxed as well as productive. Music helps me focus and write better, which is pretty much what I do for a living. Once I am done for the day, I walk around a little. In fact, I do this within the confines of the house even while working, because sitting in a chair or on the bed for long periods of time is not going to do wonders for my fitness. And since am not that big on working out, walking is my mantra to staying fit. In the late evening I tend catch up with friends via video chat and other social media platforms. Thanks to technology, I am less isolated than I thought I would be.

Shutterstock

Weekends can be trickier. I used to look forward to them with enthusiasm, now I dread them. Well, I choose to innovate. Thanks to digital advancement, I have a bunch of shows to watch on Netflix and Amazon. Being a movie buff, catching up on some films I want to see or have not seen for some time is a good way to pass the time. Reading is something I really do recommend and follow religiously. I am basically a bookworm who got bit by the Internet bug, and now I am sort of recuperating from that. So my advice to those who are avid readers, dig in to those pages of intrigue. Last, but not the least, comes writing. I like to read, and almost by default I love to write too. Be it prose or poetry, stories or just penning my thoughts, it helps. And just for the record, I am not talking of writing on a laptop like this article was written. I am talking about the traditional pen and paper. Maybe even a typewriter, but I am not quite there yet. Believe me, this helps me kill time and that is the objective after all.

Of course, there are other options like sleeping, watering plants, dancing, yoga etc. To each his or her own. That's not my cup of tea and cooking is something I know for a fact, I am not good at, Despite that, I have managed to survive alone till now, so it's all about making it work.

The reason I chose to live alone is I love my privacy, but this lockdown does put things in perspective as to how that is not always a good thing. While it does get lonely at times, I would not trade my own space for the world. For socialising, there is the internet right now and it's the best way to keep in touch. When the lockdown is lifted and we are able to go out, I shall resume my social life. Right now safety is priority.