The word “quarantine” would have been new to some of us, now it’s one of the most used words. We’ve all lost track of our quarantine days. Each passing day feels like we are stuck at home but we are ‘safe’ at home. This whole new experience of lockdown was different for everyone. First few days was a much needed break and now we don’t even know what day it is. Remember wishing the weekend would last longer? Was it long enough? Now it’s thisday, thatday, otherday, someday, yesterday, today and nextday.
Started with the trend of commenting on our old brat days’ photos on Facebook, some of which brought back good old memories and others a bit embarrassing. Are they even your friends if they don’t make stickers out of your brat photos? You weren’t quarantining ‘right’ if you didn’t have video calls with your homies and everyone had to know about it, I would call it the ‘video call and post on social media’ trend. Social distancing was made a little less hard thanks to technology.
Getting tagged for different challenges on Instagram, Facebook and tick tok became the ‘thing’. Drawing pineapples, carrots, beetroots, strawberries etc. (basically draw fruits & veggies & anything & everything), women’s beauty appreciation post; of course it had to mention “don’t get offended if I didn’t tag you”, choose between this and that, send me a <3 I’ll post something about you, workout challenge, until tomorrow, bingo, photos of then and now. First few days were exciting thereafter it faded away.
“House party” became the newest hit. One confusing, zero privacy and irritating notifications app is how I would define it. One slide of your screen and you’ve already on a video call and everyone knew who are talking to unless you ‘lock the room’. Trivia, quick draw, heads ups and chips & guac (we didn’t understand how it was played) games kept us entertaining till dawn. It connected us with new friends. A lot of users deleted the app after the incident of hacking which was a big party pooper.
Not forgetting the famous “Dalgona coffee” which is a must try apparently. Whipped coffee and milk is the definition. Are you even quarantining ‘right’ if you haven’t tried it? Oops! Guess I’m not then.
Quarantining was more like quarantine talent show where everyone had discovered a new skill, becoming a chef, makeup artist, singer, designer, painter, etc. I learnt designing, (not an expert but gave it a try), back to drawing after years. Moreover, catching up with old friends, making new friends, replying to old DMs and even reinstalling snapchat. Some of us tried cooking a new dish, polishing their cooking skills, gotten back to their old passions of writing/playing a new song, finishing the book they’ve always wanted to, painting etc. While the others continue or got back to gaming 24/7.
Daily routine changed; sleeping patterns changed to 3am and wake up at 1pm, 3 meals per day turned into 8+ meals with endless snacking (bored hungry) and getting scolded by parents cause you’re running out of food, number of naps increased, complaining 24/7 that you’re bored, never been this active on social media, annoying your parents and siblings out of boredom. Some of us including myself would have put on a few kgs by the time quarantine ends where as others still found the motivation to work out at home.
I personally didn’t get to experience study from home and online lectures. Work from home wasn’t fun as I thought it would turn out be to. When 3am was the new 12am, waking up to office calls at 7am wasn’t fun. Breakfast was always with conference calls with the team. The industry I work for was much needed for the country and people during these tough times. Weekends, poya days, day or night or my job description didn’t matter; risked my life and my loved one’s in order to provide the service which the country required.
How Sri Lankan are you? Forced to drink koththamalli and ginger to boost your immune system, dad keeps the whole family updated on the number of infected cases and death rates, it turned into a must have conversation. Sri Lankan mothers would define this as the best time for the daughters to oil their hair, whereas the boys took a different turn of going bald which I still don’t get why. One of the most annoying things were when parents believed everything they saw on social media or received on whats app and now you have to listen to their advices. We at least got double data and free minutes when you’ve already finished your bandwidth downloading and watching a hundred movies and tv series.
A world we imagined in 2020 was flying cars not essential goods, cash ATM machine lorries moving around. When curfew wasn’t lifted and hearing ‘çhunn pann’ was pure joy. Ordering groceries online was another mission. My favourite Sri Lankan singers Bathiya and Santhush along with our superheroes entertaining the people safe at home was beautiful. Bathiya singing at a supermarket for the hardworking, risk taking employees was one of the humblest gestures.
If you’re a Rotaractor you already rolled your eyes when you heard the word “zoom”. Rotaract from home has becoming frustrating cause you just want to meet your friends. Proud to mention Rotaract Club of Colombo Mid Town initiated the first zoom meeting and project which created the trend of zoom in Rotaract. Quite a number of clubs organized different projects to keep interacting and make staying home less difficult. Rotaract 101 reached 100+ participants for the first time in Rotaract zoom projects. Virtual open mic nights, quaran-tea, quiz competitions, bingo, article/poem/meme/drawings competitions, online avrudhu to mention a few of the lot.
The man who ate the bat soup would have never imagined to cause a world crisis. For the first time in history the Sri Lankan rupee hits Rs. 200 against the US dollar. The death and infected cases around the world is no joke when you got friends and friends living aboard. Words can’t express to thank the service provided by our super heroes around the world. When the most used vocabulary was “bored” the memes, videos of how people are quarantining, Rotaract, friends & family still keep us hanging on another day with the hope of COVID -19 ending soon. Lets not take socializing for granted ever again and hug our loved ones a little longer and tighter next time. Help anyone in need, if you’re feel low talk to your friends or family. Together we can overcome this. Stay home, stay safe and we shall all taste some pilawoos cheese kottu soon.
By Rtr Nilisha Amaratunga | Email: nili_1997@hotmail.com
