A Reader's Story of Lockdown Survival

The dawn of 25th March brought along with it an eerie silence in the streets surrounding my house. On any regular day, morning in my street meant an early call of the fish seller promising a fresh catch of ilish mach, some jogger haggling with the vegetable vendor over the price of onions and a group of senior citizens crowded at a tea stall having their first tea of the day in a matir bhar and scanning the newspaper headlines.

But not today.

Today it echoed the sound of some deserted town straight out of a horror movie. Only hollow bark of dogs and a few caw- caws of crows filled the ears occassionally. As the morning heat began to fill my room I realised it was past my waking time. I have always been a night owl and the early morning bustles in the street had been a source of disturbance for my late sleep in. As my eyes adjusted to the light outside the window I remembered that there was a pandemic raging outside and all the citizens of the country were under complete lockdown. Little did I know then that such a morning would mark the onset of a new normal. 

After being in lockdown for more than five months, I decided to pen down my journey through the lockdown as a reader. The country is already under the stages of unlocking and as I take a look back I am happy to announce that in this lockdown I had some great reading days. 

Being a college student and a science major, most part of my daily hours are devoted either to practicing equations and completing assignments or carrying out practicals for hours in lab. After finishing all my academic work it leaves me with little or no time to pursue my literary interests. And lockdown for me simply meant more time for myself and my reads that too from the comfort of my home. Not everyone had been privileged in the lockdown but I was thankful for my circumstances that had re-ignited my reader's instinct.

I would start my days with a hearty breakfast and a few pages of my read. Initially settling through the day without venturing outside had been bit difficult but soon I got adjusted to travelling through my reads only. Reading from my four walled bedroom, I traversed earth and space. Sometimes even travelling through time to either 20th or 19th century. Being engulfed into the world of fiction, I would sail through my days reading and identifying myself with the protagonists and at other times admiring a sidekick or even cursing a bad character.

Turning the yellowing pages slowly as I took sips of my dalgona coffee and ooccasionally munching on cookies had been the highlight of my evenings. Reading until late nights because I couldn't contain my curiosity is something I did most of the days. Well, I am not aware of a reader who dosen't do that when faced with a mind blowing pageturner. "Breathing one book at a time and living one fictional character at time" was my motto that I followed religiously in those months.

But not everything had been rosy and beautiful as it looked on the surface. Mid way through the lockdown I saw myself drifting in and out of reading slump. I had started missing the street bustles that earlier had seemed an annoyance to me. Sometimes I lost appetite over food and at other times being heartbroken over not being able to travel to a bookstore. To a reader shying away from the dreaded corona virus in the outside world, the smell of books and the author's words were very much comforting. The hunger for reading had kept me going. In these long locked away months books had acted as my best friend as well as a filler for the void that had been created by absence of the old normal. 

As I finish writing this, I pray and hope for the well being of all.

Signing off so I can resume reading my thriller, The Woman in the Window and continue following our agoraphobic heroine.