After experiencing 4 versions of
lockdown with lot restriction and hardships, government has finally introduced
unlock 1.0 version to bring the economy back to tracks. Starting June 1st
2020, strategies of unlock has been implemented to ease major chuck of
restrictions barring few to get people‘s life back to normal. Can we lead the
same life, we led before lockdown 1.0? I doubt we can
Lockdown 1.0 was announced in the
nick of time and people had no time to either understand or embrace lockdown, I
was no exception either as it was my first experience of lockdown like many
others. I was under the assumption that life will be back to normal after
lockdown 1.0 but I was totally wrong.
Lockdown 1.0 was the scariest for
me as I was all alone in my flat and I didn’t know how to deal with it? First, it
was announced all of a sudden and I didn’t know what’s in store for me, as
there was lot of confusion due to lack of clarity on the entire situation. What
I feared the most that I may not be able to get veggies and my drinking water
can, clubbed with the feeling of being under house arrest.
First week was very difficult for
me especially during evening time till I started to sit in the balcony for an
hour to ease off anxiety. Fortunately I had milk and a vegetable shop, just
next to my building so I didn’t had to worry about them but was really
skeptical to step out of my building to buy them. By second week I had no
option but to come out of my building to buy milk and vegetables.
Towards of end of lockdown 1.0, I
had adjusted with the current situation and made changes in my life style too. So
when lockdown 2.0 was announced I was least effected, as I knew it would happen
and the learning’s of lockdown 1.0 came handy to me. I ordered grocery from Flipkart as I was about
run out of few of them and visit to any supermarket to buy them was a distant
dream then.
Then lockdown 3.0 came with some
relaxations and few shops opened in my locality, major attraction of 3.0 was
the opening up of liquor shop. Huge queues were seen in front of liquor shops
for almost a week and stocks were replenished quickly to meet the growing
demand. Life started to get normal in this lockdown as nearby vegetable market
opened again, with more vendors and options for vegetables this time.
Finally lockdown 4.0 was
announced which gave more respite to people and shops. All shops were thrown
open for people along with considerable ease in movement of people within the city.
It was in this version of lockdown that I visited supermarket to buy some house
hold stuff. I still remember how terrified I was, to step out of house to buy
things but I had no option, as I was not
convinced, with the offering of online stores so visit was mandatory. This trip eased my fear to a great extent but
also forced me to believe that, I have to live with corona now.
During these four versions of
lockdown, countries economy was badly hit and the way forward was grim too, due
the virus situation and steep rise in cases. Government had also run out of money
to meet the growing demand of treatment of corona positive patient’s in hospitals.
More versions of lockdown will only add to the misery of the people and nothing
else, so government decided to initiate the process to revive the economy.
Unlock 1.0 was the first step
towards revival of Indian economy and to reinstate normalcy back to people’s
life. There are still few restrictions which people have to abide by like masks
in public places, use of sanitizers and physical distancing ruling the chart.
I waited all this while for
unlock 1.0 but today when it has become a reality and I am still scared to step
out of my house except for necessities. I don’t think life will ever be normal
unless vaccine is found and people are injected with it. Corona induced fear
and stigma is hard to leave the minds of people anytime soon is what I think.
