MY LITTLE TERROR- LUTTAAPPI

Who would have thought that something as simple as buying groceries would become such an important and heroic feat? But that is the reality now with the novel coronavirus or COVID 19 spreading like wildfire. Twice a week my father sets out with his weapons, his sanitizer and masks to the market. After coming back he displays his trophies in the balcony. My brother and I examine them(of course after washing them in soap water and drying them in the sun) in a hope that there might be at least one packet of biscuit or chocolate in it. Oreos and chocolates have become a precious commodity. Whenever we do manage to get some, we carefully ration it and have only one piece per person every day.

Earlier, I always used to dream about an unending vacation, where I could sit at home all day, but now that I am in the middle of one,I am willing to give anything to step out of the house and get some fresh air. It feels terrible to be stuck in the house with my constantly bored and annoyed brother and my parents when I should have been enjoying in Kerala with my cousins. Even watching television has become boring as the same films are played over and over. Nevertheless, I rarely have the time to watch television.

The problem is that this vacation is turning out to be worse than going to school. In school, talking to friends was a ready solution for boring periods. Studying at home, all alone, under my parent's watch makes me hate coronavirus even more. Online classes have become my most dreaded nightmares. There is an unending amount of notes to copy down and write and I am constantly reminded of a futuristic story in my English textbook where a young girl in the future reads about schools and books while everyone in her times studies from a computer.

One major plus point during this time is that many books can be found for free on the internet and other sources during this time. Another enjoyable activity is chatting with my 2 besties‐Hiya and Sakshi on WhatsApp. Sakshi has an elder brother and Hiya is an only child. So that makes Hiya the odd one amongst the three of us as both Sakshi and I have brothers.

My brother is a whole different problem. As he is seven years younger than me, he has basically nothing to study. His favorite activity is sitting in my room whenever I am studying and asking me about my schedule for the day so as to plan when I will be playing with him. His other main task is to memorize the day's television chart and informing my mother which movies he is planning to watch. I don't know why he finds playing with me very interesting. I, on the other hand, play with him as my mother spares me from studying during this time interval.

I used to be jealous of Hiya as she doesn't have anyone to pester her all day and follow her everywhere until recently. A few days ago we were having an animated conversation on WhatsApp when I remembered something my mother said earlier. I asked Hiya whether she felt bored because of not having a sibling. Surprisingly she said yes which got me thinking.

I realized that but for my brother, this lockdown would have been much more boring. I had gradually come to like playing ludo and snake'n' ladder with him even though I constantly had to lose on purpose and he was the only person on whom I vented out all my anger. He was one of the few people who listened to me quietly without talking.

I started seeing my brother in a new light after that conversation, my sweet little terror- Luttaappi.