Experiences during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Covid-19 takes all of us to an unprecedented and unusual time which is beyond the control of everyone. Personally, I went through so many new experiences during this period so far. I have never lived so alone in my whole life even when I was residing in the hostel back at my home institute in India, I still have my three friends around. At the time when I came to know that University will be closed due to coronavirus, I become very upset and was depressed. It took around 15-20 days to adjust to the lockdown situation. After that I lived a very strange life so far, no timetable to sleep, studying and eating.

However, few things in the lockdown was good such as takeaway food being served in the Reggie’s restaurant with full precautions, also I had enough time to go out running and doing a little bit of exercise with my friend. During the pandemic, I received number of phone calls from my parents, friends and relatives. I feel so good that some people are so concerned about my health. Sometimes I used to avoid these phone calls as it become hectic to tell the same stories to all the people. I used to connect to my friends from US, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia together on Whatsapp video call and have lots of fun by recalling the old stories of our school days.

I manage my stress by watching movies, TV shows and by connecting with my friends on social media i.e. Facebook and Twitter. I’ve got enough time to compile my PhD thesis work as this year would be the last year of my Ph.D and I am also writing a critical review which is under progress. Having group meetings online with my supervisors is a very new experience for me as I have never attended any meetings online before to discuss the progress of research work. Overall, the experience was good but little bit hectic as I feel home sick during this period.