Day 21 of Lockdown #COVID- 19

14th April 2020

Diary of a new mother 

My entire series of these 21 days will be based on my experience of being in this lockdown and staying home as a first time mother of a 5 month old baby, Anvay. 

Dear Diary,

It was a special day for Anvay as it was his first Vishu. We were celebrating the Tamil New Year being homebound and feeling grateful for the fact that we were all healthy and safe. We tasted the first mango of the season to kickstart this new year. In our custom, on this special occasion ‘Vishu Kaineetam’ (money) is given to the younger ones as a gift from the elders. Anvay received his first Kaineetam from his parents and grandparents. He gripped the notes tightly in his hands and before he could take the money close to his mouth and lick it, we took it away from his hands and kept it safely inside to show him when he grew up. It was fun to cover his eyes with our palms when he woke up in the morning and carry him in our hands like carrying the idol of ‘little ganesha’, only to open his eyes in front of the Vishu kani.

20 days back when the lockdown was announced, everyone thought that life would become normal from the 15th of April, post this lockdown but little did we know that situations were going to worsen further and there would be more COVID19 infected clusters identified. We were waiting desperately for this lockdown to end and in some way also did not want it to end because of the advantages it had provided. I am sure every individual would have developed a habit in these 21 days which would become the new normal from the next day. For the lesser privileged extension of this lockdown meant , more financial stress, more domestic burden for the women, increase in domestic violence, increase in the cases of patients seeking psychiatric help. On a positive note people will either start developing a better tolerance in handling each other when locked 24/7 at home or the vice-versa can happen. This pandemic has shook the entire world in a way no one would have imagined. We do not know what more is in store for us. Hoping that post this pandemic the world becomes a better place to live in and only good things that happened during this lockdown remain.

COVID19 pandemic had inculcated the importance of hand hygiene which earlier was only a part of any hospital’s teaching curriculum. Now, a layman was also aware of the importance of PPE, face masks and the use of hand sanitizer. We have all made changes and adjustments in our lives thinking that it is just a phase and it will pass but the extension of the lockdown suggested that there was no deadline for adjustments. Things will happen only when they have to. For me, this lockdown helped in reviving the art of daily journaling and the situations forced me to plan better so that I could manage the baby as well as my work schedule. Let’s see what Lockdown 2.0 has in store for us.