If you have read my previous post — Day 1 of the lockdown – you know that the last I wrote about the lockdown was in the morning.

People in my city were not at all taking it as seriously as they should have. All the corner shops that are open in the morning, like tea stalls, temporary fruit and vegetable stalls, flower sellers outside temples, etc. were not only open but doing business in full swing.

I know this because I saw a tea stall vendor, who stays opposite my house, going as usual at 7 in the morning. I received the rest of the information from my husband who had to go out to get some milk. The milkman had not delivered the previous day.
Thankfully, around 10 o’clock, the police swung into action and made all the non-essential shops close. I spent the whole day holed up with the whole family. Only my husband went to the office to get his papers and the laptop.

Being positive helps

As the day progressed, I calmed down and tried to think of the positives of not having to go out. For starters, no one was complaining about favourite food items like chocolates, biscuits or fruits not being available. I was not under continuous pressure to meet the deadlines of the usual routine like going to pick up my daughter.
Surprisingly, I got more time to work!!

Lockdown updates from Bihar

I am not going to bore you with what all we did during the day.

Instead I want to tell you about my 90-year-old grandmother-in-law, who is under lockdown at Gopalganj, Bihar, with her youngest son’s family.

Now, even at 90 years of age, she is a very active lady who prefers to stay alone at our ancestral village, surrounded by people she can boss around!!

When we talked with her in the morning, she was raging about this ridiculous “thing” that was keeping her inside four walls without any rhyme or reason!! She said that it had not happened ever in her life (considering her age, that’s some statement) that she was not allowed to go out so strictly.

The story of the strictness was described by her grandson — my 10 year old brother-in-law — more vividly. When he pestered his father too much, his father took him to get a packet of milk. Hardly had they reached the end of the street when they witnessed the police beating the pulp out of some people who refused to stay indoors.

I don’t know if the intensity was as much as he recounted but that was the end of his adventure as he promptly ran back to the house!!

I must say that I am happy the police is being both sincere and strict about implementing this lockdown.

All of us know that with the crumbling and near non-existent health system, complete lockdown is India’s only way out of the dreaded stage 3 of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Over to you

How are you coping with this lockdown? Did you talk to a loved one? Did you cook a de-stressing meal for yourself and your family? Did you play a board game together?

Share your story and stay safe.