New Delhi: The ‘janata curfew’ being observed between 7am and 9pm Sunday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has received wide acceptance from the public, judging by the photos and videos of deserted streets that have flooded social media.
Ministers and celebrities are also spending the day at their homes, and are thinking up innovative ways to pass the time — from composing songs to playing games.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, began a game of ‘Twitter antakshari’ with her followers, urging them to tweet a line of a song to get the game going. She started with the song ‘Zindagi milke bitayenge’ from the 1982 movie Satte Pe Satta.
Namaste @indiantweeter ji tech check 1,2,3 for #TwitterAntakshari ?join in one and join in all .. at 11 am we set the ball rolling ?
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 22, 2020
मेरा पहला गाना .. ज़िंदगी मिलके बिताएँगे, हाले दिल गाके सुनायेंगे , हम तो सात रंग है , ये जहाँ रंगी बनाएँगे ?.. next #TwitterAntakshari #JantaCurfew
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 22, 2020
Singer- composer Shankar Mahadevan, meanwhile, has pledged to compose more music with his children during the day to spread awareness about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
@PrakashJavdekar #My14ForIndia is a great initiative by @PIB_India !! During 14 hrs of Janta Curfew I will create some new melodies with my children @sid_mahadevan & shivam,spend quality time with my family will wait for 5 pm to applaud the people who do selfless service !
— Shankar Mahadevan (@Shankar_Live) March 21, 2020
Singer Dhruv Vishwanath also announced, via Instagram, that he would share a livestream of the making of one of his unheard songs.
“Since we’re all stuck in this little quarantine, I wanted to celebrate #jantacurfew with you all by trying out something called #Making…Where I livestream the making of one of my unheard songs!” he wrote.
Also read: T20 to coronavirus to RSS — 6 books you need to read in self-quarantine
Encouraging people to stay at home
Other public figures and companies have also chipped in by offering free services to encourage people to stay at home.
Juggernaut Books has offered to keep its paid app free during the curfew, “because nothing can help you to learn and grow, stay calm and stress free like reading”.
As we go on curfew tomorrow, Juggernaut is going to make their app free for you. Because nothing can help you learn and grow, stay calm and stress-free like reading. #ReadInstead https://t.co/Klivx7o7Iu pic.twitter.com/SLph75iLqH
— juggernautbooks (@juggernautbooks) March 21, 2020
Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics have made their online catalogues free for one month. Audible, an audiobook streaming service, has also made hundreds of titles free.
Butterfly Fields — an education website offering STEM solutions to schools — has put up a pool of free resources that families can use to spend the time during the Janata curfew. This includes educational games like a ‘snakes and ladders’ version of “good and bad habits related to coronavirus”, as well as another called “immunity war”.
Also read: Punjab orders complete lockdown to fight coronavirus, Karnataka seals its borders
The arc of governance has been an unceasing marketing and PR campaign, buttressed by an immense social media blitzkrieg.