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Will coronavirus make Indians rediscover the joys of being at home or is it a kill-joy?

In India, authorities have shut schools, malls and cinemas and advised people against attending unnecessary gatherings to prevent the virus spread.

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In India, authorities have shut schools, malls and cinemas and advised people against attending unnecessary gatherings to prevent the virus spread. Some private firms have even asked employees to exercise the option of working from home.

ThePrint asks: Will coronavirus make Indians rediscover the joys of being at home or is it a kill-joy?


Indians would learn to appreciate the silence and space that isolation brings

Samira Sood
Associate Editor, ThePrint

Most Indians might see it as a kill-joy, but a little self-isolation is good for everyone, not just in times of a pandemic. To be clear, I don’t mean to make light of a massive global problem here.

Indians are generally community-oriented people, and most people don’t even live alone, continuing to stay with their parents until they’re married, and then either moving to their spouse’s place or moving out together. This also means that to a large extent (of course I’m generalising), Indians don’t really understand the concept of respect for someone else’s space — be that in a civic sense, like in a train, or in a private sense of not knocking on someone’s bedroom door before entering.

For someone who lives alone, though, self-isolation is second nature, and this is something many Indians could stand to learn. As someone who enjoys taking myself out to dinner or a movie, no company needed, I have often been the subject of stares, some curious, some rude, and although it doesn’t bother me, I do wonder why people find it so odd that someone might enjoy their own company, even in public. Perhaps, if Indians spent some time in active self-isolation, they would get used to hanging out by themselves and would learn to appreciate the silence and space that it brings. It’s not going to be easy, but it is necessary, both healthwise and otherwise.


I discovered JOMO — joy of missing out — long before coronavirus. Others should too

Neera Majumdar
Senior copy editor, ThePrint

Many Indians, like me, discovered the joys of staying home long ago — it is called JOMO or the joy of missing out. Now, with coronavirus or COVID-19 becoming a pandemic, it’s just easier to tell people why you don’t move on weekends or run back home to Netflix and dinner. I can nap guiltlessly and co-opt the life of a cat, without having to give justifications.

At the same time, when you are told to or forced to do something, that you usually enjoy doing, it is human nature to rebel. I haven’t gone to see a movie at the theatre for the last two months, but with cinema halls shutting down till the end of March, the urge is stronger than ever. Same with going out to eat or munching a chicken roll in a crowded and popular street-corner shop. But as my friend wrote, better to be solo than sorry.

At least there is a logical reason behind shutting down a city now — a fast-spreading virus with no known cure. Imagine if you were in a lockdown for more than six months, without the internet and with only concertina wires to look at.


Spending time wisely and creatively can multiply the joys of staying at home

Debalina Dey
Assistant Editor, ThePrint

While coronavirus has taken the world by storm, there is one good thing that it has done — allowed Indians to rediscover the joy of staying at home.

In this era of aggressive socialisation, people seem to have stopped spending time with themselves.

But now, with health experts advising self-isolation at home to slow the spread of the virus, people can have some solitude.

Although staying at home in the middle of a pandemic may not be fun for many, there are several things that can be done from the comfort of one’s home.

You can finish reading the book you’ve been hankering to read since the last few days, catch up on good TV shows/movies, engage in physical activities or just simply unwind.

This is also the time to let your mind be absolutely free from social distractions and just relax.

For some, self-isolation can be daunting and intimidating, but spending time wisely and creatively can multiply the joys of staying at home.

Being the introvert, I am, I love staying at home and coronavirus is just another excuse to coop myself up at home and not worry about socialising at all for at least a few weeks.


For those living away from their families, staying indoors isn’t very enticing

Tarun Krishna
Correspondent, ThePrint

It would be a kill-joy. With almost everything being shut down, postponed or cancelled, the situation that has emerged from the coronavirus appears similar to the ones shown in apocalyptic Hollywood movies. You can feel good and bad at the same time about the fact that the virus is not turning people into zombies. But yes, like in the movies, it has forced people into a convenient space — inside their homes. But for those living in the metros and away from family, being indoors is rather torturous than fun because the houses in big cities are unlike the ones in small towns. Away from your home, locked down in a house in a metro, without family and friends, you are left with very limited options.

I am not a workaholic, but there are reasons why someone like me, who is a migrant, would prefer to be in office than being in my rented accommodation. Doing a corporate job in a city like Delhi leaves you pressed for time. Your days pass shuttling between office and home. You are so consumed into it that you have no time to get your share of fun or be with friends. It’s only the weekends that bring cheer. Now, with cinema halls shut and cricket matches being cancelled, there is little to look forward to — being home.


Also read: On NPR, should states trust Home Minister Amit Shah’s repeated assurances?


By Unnati Sharma, journalist at ThePrint

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Those who have opposed Modi on CAA should now oppose the Corona preventive measures taken by the government. They should once again fool Muslims by saying that washing hands is against the Islam and they will not stop shaking hands because Modi is trying to bring Hindu Rashtra by back door through saying NAMASTE which is anti Islamic. In the name of Conona Virus Modi is imposing Hindu way of living on Muslims and Dalits. The liberandus world world over should write OPEDs in leading media spaces and a thousand Shaheen Bagh should be created to oppose the preventive measures taken in Modi’s Hindu government.

  2. Home is heaven, so long as my beloved iPads and cell phone are next to me. However, not if the outside world is in shutdown mode, local travel forbidden, a malevolent virus hovering in the air. The Chinese have used a sledgehammer to crush the spread, I think it is our turn now. May the onset of our summer incinerate the bug.

    • I am not surprised by your statement “I think it is our turn now. “. If a former CEC can wish Modi to be infected by Corona virus, people like you would surely wish thousands Indians be infected by Corona virus so that you can blame Modi and defame India world over.

      • Well said Dev. Shri ashok JI needs to be shipped to Wuhan to experience the ‘benevolent sledgehammer’ of his favourite country. It will be a good riddance from this intellectually twisted reader.

      • You have completely misunderstood the import of my statement, sir. Our turn refers to an effective campaign to ensure that the spread of the virus is contained. Aap ke zehen mein jo virus hai, uske liye toh koi ilaaj ho hi nahin sakta.

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