pandemic Archives

How choosing not to be a mother brought me closer to my father

Motherhood is so often expected to come as a natural choice to women. Almost a year into the pandemic, I realised it is not for me. Here's how I revealed my choice to my father. It only brought us closer.

Divya Unny July 18, 2016

Pop Culture

“Comfort Watching” Old Shows During the Pandemic is Chicken Soup for the Weary Soul

During this pandemic, I have discovered comfort watching – old shows that bring my soul succour. There’s a looming dread and emotional fatigue that has set in over the last year. Discovering new movies and shows feels cumbersome, when all we crave is to feel like we have a semblance of control over our own lives.

Poulomi Das July 16, 2016

Coronavirus

“I Coughed? Do I Have Covid-19?”: What It Means to Be a Hypochondriac in the Time of Coronavirus

As Covid-19 achieves top-disease status, one that promises to spread as much misinformation online as it does respiratory issues, it’s been getting harder to self-diagnose. So naturally, the first thing any hypochondriac worth their imaginary tingling sensation will do is google “Do I have coronavirus?”

#VALUE! July 16, 2016

POV

Work-from-Home Burnout is Real But I’ll Take That Any Day Over Pandemic Paranoia

I am grateful for the escape provided by work. It is saving me from going bonkers, because at least the chaos of work follows a discipline. Grief, heartbreak, the pandemic – these things aren’t disciplined. I’d take work anxiety any day over the anticipation of a dry cough.

Amal Singh July 14, 2016

Bollywood

Chupke Chupke: Parimal Tripathi & Family Are the Perfect Antidote to Our Lockdown Blues

If there were in fact a template of what feel-good movies should follow, Chupke Chupke, which turns 46 today, has all the cues

Runjhun Noopur July 13, 2016

Features

Spotify’s Ruk Jaana Nahi Tells The Story Of The Common People Who Stepped Up For The Sake Of Others During The Covid Pandemic.

Narrated by Rajkummar Rao, Spotify’s collection of stories #RukJaanaNahi is a radically intimate telling of the exemplary courage and empathy shown by India’s ordinary people in the face of widespread hopelessness and despair.

Arré Bench July 6, 2016

Health

Modiji Did What I Couldn’t! Convinced My Parents to Stay at Home

For some, PM Narendra Modi’s advice to wash hands and self-quarantine is a rehash of what we already know. But Modiji was really having a heart-to-heart with the nation’s boomer parents, who’ve spent the last two weeks scoffing at “karunavirus”. The roles have reversed and millennials are having to parent their parents.

Kahini Iyer July 1, 2016

Coronavirus

Yes there’s a Pandemic still, but have we Lost the Resolve to Care?

The third wave is here. It’s screeching through India’s cities and smaller towns, but the suffering of these two years, has perhaps, inured people to respond with anything but a shrug. It’s still life and death, but we are now struggling to even care.

Jagruti Verma May 24, 2016

Coronavirus

How Can You Prepare to Take Care of Family When COVID-19 Knocks at Your Door? You Can’t

Sickness and death come to everyone, but the undiluted fear that overcame me after my sister got infected was nothing that I had experienced before. I had never felt the helplessness of looking for hospital beds that didn’t exist, of spending hours making calls to procure a life-giving canister of oxygen. I was prepared to beg, borrow, or steal medicines, not even knowing if they would work.

Kahini Iyer May 14, 2016

Coronavirus

See You On the Other Side of the Pandemic.

In the middle of a pandemic, hope is the first thing you lose. But it will pass. And when you come out on the other side, you’ll be a different person. Pubs will be full of people, you’ll enjoy your cramped train commute, you will even like the colleague you botched about for three years. There will be no more surprises.

Vishal Dayama April 1, 2016