Time stops with family time, books & skygazing

Lucknow: Spending quality time with loved ones doesn’t leave room for complaints, said businesswoman Sneha Charan, one among the several lakh city residents who stayed home on Sunday as part of a nationwide social distancing exercise amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“As a working mother, I am always guilt-tripping because I don’t get enough time with my children. The ‘janata curfew’ helped me overcome a bit of that guilt. I spent the whole day with my two kids. We read books together and played games,” the 30-year-old Mahanagar resident said.

RK Shukla of Aashiana said he counted his blessings because his wife and son were with him and safe. “When children leave home and city for further studies, parents can’t stop worrying or missing them. My son Madhumesh is back home for now and we all played a game of carom. Guess what? I won!” Shukla said.

If family time topped the to-do list of citizens confined indoors, some cosied up to nature and recorded bird videos, some rustled up happy meals, some pored over books and many took up spring cleaning to fight off the virus.

Hindnagar resident Devendar Kaur cooked the favourite dishes of her two grandchildren before the whole gang sat down for a movie marathon. “We have got together after two years. To me, March 22 is not a curfew day, but one that brought my family closer,” said the 65-year-old woman.

Vasvi Verma of LDA Colony kept herself busy by making handmade cushions while Aashiana resident Urvi Singh painted a canvas for her Instagram handle. Doting father Sandeep Ahuja shared a video clip of his daughter reading a book with him. “My isolation looks like this,” he wrote in his post.

Designer Shraddha Singh uploaded a video of her verdant neighbourhood on Instagram with the caption: “Clear sky with birds chirping, twittering. Let’s all try our best to not to harm nature.”

Twitter user @PragatiSrivastava felt closer to nature. “Enjoying #JanataCurfew. Got chance to listen chirping of birds, rustling of leaves,” she wrote. Another user, @RaghavMishra, tweeted: “How I am beating boredom in the time of Janata Curfew? Gaming.”