Month: March 2020

Day 6 of Lock-down

grocery cart with item
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Yet another day went by, busy with work.

I did step out for a bit of grocery shopping in the morning. Roads were pleasantly empty, as was to be expected. The grocery store (part of a national chain) had rules in place for entry (not more than 5 people inside at a time, no entry without masks). The security at the entrance was doing a reasonably good job of enforcing these regulations. Shoppers were patiently queuing outside while trying to maintain a reasonable distance from each other.

Inside, things looked pretty normal. The supply of fruits, vegetables and essential groceries did not look disrupted. There were some items that could be classified as non-essential that were out of stock. But I was able to find almost all of what I required and was in and out reasonably quickly.

I was a very late adopter of Netflix, only starting my subscription earlier this year. But I have been enjoying watching a few of the documentaries on there lately. I am presently watching a docu-series called ‘The Chef’s Table‘. It is fascinating to see and hear more about the philosophies of famous chefs, their journeys and experiences that led them ti where they are today and, of course, to view some of their beautiful masterpieces.

Give it a watch, if you have not already done so!

Monday Reads – 30/03

adult books business coffee
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So India announced a 21-day lock-down last Tuesday. Covid-19 is still pretty much the only topic that is being discussed these days. A few articles that try to explain why we are reacting the way we are, and what the future might look like.

Coronavirus is spreading panic. Here’s the science behind why.  – Why do people hoard toilet paper is a question that’s been puzzling me ever since we started reading news of people hoarding and fighting toilet paper rolls. This article explains why.

Economic life after coronavirus: Lessons from the Black Death – This article looks at The Plague that devastated Europe in the second half of the 14th Century and how markets reacted afterwards to ask the question of what the impact on economic life might be after we come out of this crisis.

Today we’re fighting COVID-19. Where will our world be in 2070? – How will humans be interacting with Nature 50 years from now? This is the topic that National Geographic explores in this article, looking at both an optimistic scenario and a more pessimistic one. We have big decisions to make if

Is It Time to Break up with Travel? – There’s no doubt that one of the biggest impacts has been felt by the Travel Industry. And surprisingly, I am yet to find much analysis on what the impact of this could be on the Travel and Hospitality sectors. This is one rare exception.

Day 5 of Lock-down

man cooking breakfast holding fork
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Day 5 – Sunday. It did feel like any other Sunday. But as my wife remarked the other day, it felt nice to spend the day knowing that there are absolutely no plans of going anywhere!

I did a bit of yoga in the morning, prepared a breakfast of banana pancakes for the kids and did a round of house cleaning. I had my kids to help me with the cleaning – I did the sweeping and they did the mopping. They seemed to enjoy it, but let’s see how long the enthusiasm will last!

We ordered home delivery of food from a popular local restaurant. I had to go down to the main entrance of our apartment complex to pick up the delivery – the only time I stepped out over the weekend.

Evenings were spent connecting with family and friends over Zoom. We played a game of cards over Zoom. My kids and I played the role of facilitator with 6 other family members playing the game virtually. It was great fun!

Finally, spent over an hour catching up with old school friends, most of whom are settled in the United States of America. I was ‘seeing’ one of my friends after a period of over 25 years! Again, it felt very nice to catch up. It was worth reflecting, though, that it took a pandemic for us to reconnect…

Day 4 of Lock-down

blur board game business challenge
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Yesterday was the first Saturday of Lock-down. I realise that my choice of the word ‘Quarantine’ in previous posts was incorrect. The reason we are at home is because of the lock-down put in place by the government.

The first half of the day was similar to any other weekday – I had some work that kept me busy till lunch time. My wife stepped out for essential grocery shopping. She reported that shops were functioning as normal, with shoppers trying to practise physical distancing. This came as a bit of a relief, hope this situation will continue in the subsequent weeks as well.

Afternoon was a time of relaxation. Evening was spent following an online game of cricket organised by my enthusiastic cricket-crazy uncle. Happy to report that my team won and I was declared joint Man of the Match 🙂

There are also numerous puzzles and quizzes floating around online to keep the gray cells occupied! A bit of streaming music at night brought the day to a close.

Day 3 of Quarantine

variety of vegetables
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The working days seem to be getting into a routine, not very dissimilar to days when children are home for holidays. Day starts with getting breakfast ready, getting the kids ready for breakfast and getting ready myself for work.

The internet connection at home was acting up during the evening, making some of the work calls voice only. But it’s amazing that I was still able to connect with colleagues around the world easily enough.

The highlight of the day was that our regular direct from farm vegetable seller was able to make it to our apartment complex yesterday. I went downstairs to stock up one some veggies.

Also managed to watch a movie on Amazon Prime after work – Contagion. It must be one of the, if not the most, streamed movie of the past few days. Good watch.