It feels weird writing this. I had never imagined being one of those recording their time in isolation. Let me be honest. The idea of writing this stems from boredom, more than anything else. I had always wondered how people in captivity bid their time, not knowing when there would be an end to it, wondering how the world would be on the outside. Saying that I feel similar to them would be depressing. Since it is just the beginning of recording my time in forced isolation, trying to prevent the spread of the global pandemic, in hopes of maintaining high spirits, lets compare it with something fun, like space travel. How would people traveling in space feel, confined to a small space for long durations of time. There is very little one can do and yet they try and maintain a routine to keep themselves occupied. Routine like going to sleep at a certain time, waking up at a certain time, doing chores which they would have otherwise procrastinated even if they were free. I have realized that in such situations, time stops making sense. There is no absolute sense of time left for the body. Everything is relative. Concepts of yesterday, today and tomorrow are no longer relevant. All of it is a while ago, now and a while later. Breakfast? A while ago. Lunch? A while later. Writing? Now. All of the forced routine is to ensure that there is some semblance of time.
I am a 26 year old male, from a land far far away, stuck, like everyone else, in the middle of this unforeseen pandemic, which threatens to destroy the world as we know - physically and financially. The 21st century modern world prided on being a non stop, connected world. Nothing had the power to slow the development of the world. Alas! Coronavirus bought the whole world to a stand still. Lockdowns which couldn't be imagined during the deadliest of the attacks are now real. Tech capital of the world is on three weeks shutdown. Financial capital of the world is on lockdown. It is impossible for people like me to return to their home land. The world is going crazy.
I don't feel any of it directly. Maybe, I am privileged. But I believe in the experiences of the people around the world. I believe in the collective judgement of the government around the world. If things unimaginable before are real today, in a matter of days, then maybe it is worth locking us up and hiding under our beds.
Anyways, before I digress too much, I plan to record my days in isolation. For what? I am not exactly clear on that right now. Why? Well, I am in isolation. World is on shutdown! What is more interesting than writing your experience during that? Maybe a ton of different things in normal circumstances. But given the current situation, I cannot think of a better way to keep myself sane. If you find it interesting, stay tuned for more.