Unlock 1.0 Day 22

Today is the last day of Unlock phase 1.0. Tomorrow the phase 2 begins. There was an address to the nation from the PM the evening where an extension of the food scheme was announced primarily targeting the poor people. There were some crazy discussions at work- overall a busy day and kind of productive. Today, I also complete my 30 day walking challenge, which I am proud to announce that I have managed to complete without any issues. Tomorrow onwards, I will walk a bit for sure but will primarily focus on other forms of exercises. Today is also the last day of my 30 days of journaling challenge. I am excited about it. It is like another achievement. These challenges are really challenging while working from home all the time. Anyway, I will try these out in a couple of months maybe. 

Unlock 1.0 Day 20, 21

Yesterday was a crazy busy day and if you ask me what kept me busy, I won't be able to point to one thing specifically. It was a million little  things. I really couldn't make time to blog at all. Today, so far is nothing new. It is the same old day. I feel quite unproductive today even though I have cleaned the house today. I have the rest of my to do list to complete and I have not even started! I guess it is natural to have some off-days. The number of virus cases in the city has gone up significantly. I do not see any solid measure put in place to curb the cases. Hope something solid and strictly enforceable measure would be announced soon. 

Unlock 1.0 Day 18,19

I took a break from blogging again for a day. I had a lot on my plate with the walking and journalling challenge, I could not find time to blog. It was an uneventful day anyway.

We learnt today that an area, about 200m from our home, has been sealed off due to positive cases of the virus. It is so scary and feels like the virus is on to us. I hope my family and friends do not get infected. How lives have been changing since March this year. Looks like the rest of the year will also be revolving around the virus. Hope this passes soon. 'til tomorrow.

Unlock 1.0 Day 17

It was a great day at work. I had no meetings or calls and could do some focussed work. I could do almost everything that I planned on doing. It has been raining incessantly in the city in the evenings of late, sometimes extending to all night. It has cooled the temperature of the city quite considerably. We are on tenterhooks to know if there will be another lockdown in the city due to the sharp rise in the number of cases of virus. Apart from this- nothing much to write. 'til tomorrow.

Unlock 1.0 Day 16

Times are scary. The virus seems so much closer to us now than ever before. Our neighbouring building in Hyderabad has one positive case and it is also a person whom we knew well. Also, there is at least one positive case in 500m radius from us. It is quite scary at the moment. Some parts of the city have been locked down too. I hope we are able to survive this crazy time. There are talks of a second lock down in the city. I hope this is controlled soon.

Unlock 1.0 Days 13,14,15

Unfortunately I could not keep up with my promise of publishing a non-lockdown related post as promised but it will be on soon. I had internet problems from Sunday night and could not work on many things I had planned working on. Anyway, I am back from today again unless internet plays the spoilsport again. Anyway, the cases of the virus has suddenly spiked up in Bangalore. There is a possibility of a second lockdown. Already 4-10 areas are locked again. Across our country, the cases are steadily rising. I also hope that the situation with our neighbouring countries improve in the coming days. I just want to live peacefully and also hope that the neighbouring countries also find that peace. That's it for today- My 200th Post!!

Unlock 1.0 Days 10,11,12

I took a break from blogging for the last 2 days. Nothing noteworthy happened in the 2 days. They were very busy at work and also working to complete some modules of the course I am taking. I am also very proud to say that I have been very consistent with my 10k steps and journalling challenge completion. Tomorrow there will be a solar eclipse for a long time- 10:30am to 1:30pm. Though there is no evidence that performing certain activities at that time causes any harm, I am a little superstitious (little stitious :-) being an The Office fan), so I did some prep work for it today. Other than this-nothing new enough- cases are rising, number of deaths have crossed 12k in our country :-(. Tomorrow, I will be publishing another non lockdown-unlock related blog. Hope you will enjoy it.

Unlock 1.0 Day 9

Today our country and one or a couple of our neighbouring countries are had serious clashes. Sometimes when I look at Europe and when I look at US and its neighbours, I see that the secret to their prosperity is mutual peace and harmonious living. What's more, most of them have come together as union. They are busy spending their resources on healthcare and education and emphasizing on the ease of life, while here, in ours and our neighbouring countries, we are spending on defence. It is so important to come together and be prosperous together. I do not think it will happen in my lifetime but I'll dream :). So other than this,  I have created my professional account on Insta. Otherwise, it is just another day!

Unlock 1.0 Day 8

We saw a sharp spike of infections in the city from the virus ever since unlock 1.0 started. The mortality rate in the city has also seen a spike. Overall, the country has raced to the 3rd spot in terms of number of infections around the globe. I fear we might be on the number one spot in no time and when we get there we might stay there for a long time. In other news, the people infected with the virus may develop diabetes- scary! Anyway, today I would like to announce that- since the situation in Italy has improved and I have been reading more books, from this weekend onwards, I will get back to blogging on my other favourite topics too! I am looking forward to write about them- stay tuned :-)

Unlock 1.0 Day 7

It came as a shock that we lost yet another celebrity- Sushant Singh Rajput to suspected suicide. I hope no body has to go through the mental turmoil and depression and stress where the only solution seems to be ending one's own life! Prior to this news, I had other highlights but I think they are really not worthy of mentioning in the light of what has happened. Catch you tomorrow!

Unlock 1.0 Day 6

The highlight of the day for me was having the whole house to myself for a few hours. It is sometimes so important to have alone time. I did some research on a project I have been working for. Other than that, just another day! I know it is really short, but hey, it is what it is!

Unlock 1.0 Day 5

The highlight of the day was learning that the number of cases of the virus have spiked in Bangalore. In a way, it was expected with the easing of lockdown but I just hope it does not worsen more. The number of recoveries are continuing to exceed the number of active cases- that's good news! Other than that, an ordinary day!

Unlock 1.0 Day 4

I have been trying to post since yesterday but was unsuccessful. I am unable to upload pictures and it is annoying. I didn't want to get behind, so thought of posting anyway. The highlight of yesterday was the Q & A session for my entrepreneurship class that I said I have begun taking.  It was wonderful and it gave me clarity on what I wanted to pursue, which, though currently not concrete may become one soon. The other highlight was, I woke up early and cleaned the whole house before others at home woke up. It was a good surprise for them :). We also ordered samosas to be delivered at home yesterday! It was the first time since the lockdown...we were apprehensive about it and gave them a very high heating before consuming- so far, so good..Other than that, busy day at work and just another day in lockdown!

Unlock 1.0 Day 3

Today's highlight was the fact that for the first time, the number of recovered cases exceed the number of active cases of the virus in our country. It gives a glimmer of hope of better days to come. We still need lower number of daily count of new cases. I really hope this is the beginning of better days to come. Again, as usual, it was a crazy busy day at work. There was a bit of rain this afternoon which was great too!

Unlock 1.0 Day 2

Today's highlight was getting rid of our accumulated newspaper from all these days. It was a small pile before and it had grown huge. Along with this- I got rid of some of the Chetan Bhagat and Preeti Shenoy's books as well- I was not particularly fond of them. I think I have more to give away but may be some other time. Other than that, just another day in lockdown!

Unlock 1.0 Day 1

I am writing this on 08JUN but will get posted on 09JUN as I am facing some problem with the graphics.

Today the official unlock began across our country. Now malls, restaurants and places of worship can be opened with some rules to be followed. Cinema halls and most educational institutions are still closed. We are doing this in the midst of rising cases. I hope this unlock will not lead to steep rise in the number of cases.

Lockdown 5.0 Day 7 Unlock Phase 1

The highlight of the day for me was to cook standing for a long time at my mum's place for the closed even I had mentioned for Day 6. I was so tired and slept for hours after lunch. I am happy that I at least completed my exercise goal for the day. Very tired- it is the midnight of June 8th right now. I will crawl back into bed now. 'til tomorrow.

Lockdown 5.0 Day 6 Unlock Phase 1

I am writing this on at midnight of June 8th. I did not have the time to write on 6th and 7th of June. On day 6, I went to stay at my mom's place- don't worry, social distancing, hand sanitisation and masks were put to proper use. I went there to prepare for a closed event of grief which we have every year. Anyway, that was the highlight for me- staying overnight outside of my own home since the lockdown.

Lockdown 5.0 Day 5 Unlock Phase 1

Today was a crazy busy day for me again. The highlight of my day was this- the microphone of the headset that I use for my day to day work suddenly stopped functioning yesterday. I informed IT, they checked the computer and the software but could not find anything wrong with it. The conclusion was, there is a defect in the headset. Now, what was amazing for me was- they organised a courier delivery of a new headset in these complex situations. I should receive it tomorrow or the day after but I thought it was terrific of them to pull this off at a time like this. Sometimes we do not realise how many people are working behind the scenes so that we can do our work without a glitch! Amazing! I then thought, the internet maintenance people, the office IT, admin staff etc are putting in so much effort to ensure smooth day to day functioning of office and now they are pulling it off while working from home. This is outstanding and my salute to all of them.

Lockdown 5.0 Day 4 Unlock Phase 1

Today has been a great day, I woke up early and did a bit of the online course that I enrolled into yesterday. Then, I went for my morning walk (not inside the park but around it) and finished all the other planned work in a timely manner. These 2 things were the highlight of my day today. Otherwise, it has been an enjoyably busy day. The weather has been pretty good off late and it is even kind of cold in the mornings and warms up a bit after 2pm. The days are longer as well. It feels good to be home at the end of the day when there is light outside. Something that I usually missed when I went to work in the office. Hope tomorrow would be as good as today. So long then!

Lockdown 5.0 Day 3 Unlocking Phase 1

The highlight of the day is taking a step closer to my goal about a side hustle by enrolling myself into a program which I hope will nudge me in the right direction. I don't really know what my side hustle is going to be but I have some vague ideas which I am not sure are viable or not. I hope this course will give me that clarity. I had a busy day at work and was in constant meeting with hardly any break but I enjoy being busy. Tomorrow is going to be all the more busy and I look forward to it. Other than that, just another day in lockdown.

Lockdown 5.0 Day 2 Unlocking Phase 1

The highlight of the day for me was going for a proper walk after ages. I did not walk inside the park that I usually go to but it walked outside to eliminate the possibility of walking close to other people. The weather is good these days so I couldn't help myself but go on that walk. In the evening, I baked a small cake. Apart from this, just another day...:-)

Lockdown 5.0 Day 1; Unlocking Phase 1

We are supposedly in a lockdown while the unlocking is going happen/happening already. So, places of worship, malls, restaurants are all set to open next week. The cases are still on the rise and I hope all the efforts that went in during the lockdown to keep the number of cases in check do not get undone. Let us see how things turn out. The highlight of the day for me was to be able to achieve my goal of 10k steps and what's more, I did all of it while walking indoors. It felt good. One of India's popular music directors (Wajid) from a music director duo (Sajid-Wajid) passed away. It was quite shocking again. So many artists have passed away during this lockdown. I hope everyone stays safe and is healthy and hope we can all see these unusual times through together.