COVID had grounded us for the entire 2020! The world had stalled to a halt and we were forced to shut ourselves to the confines of our houses. It was late in March last year that India went into a complete lockdown.
My initial reaction was an utter denial of the grim situation. The first few days flitted past like an over-extended Sunday! Participating in events, displaying patriotic solidarity through, “Thali Bajao,” “Diya Jalao,” chilling out by staying up late, waking up late, watching endless TV shows, chivalrously doing chores around the house without a complaint!
After the first two weeks into the lockdown, it was no longer a happy holiday scenario! The sordid reality of the Pandemic was glaring back through the news channels. Physical and mental fatigue had settled in as there seemed no respite in the near future. Strategies, planning, work allocation became the only solution to deal with the dire situation.
And then there was Food!
As the world went topsy-turvy, the only silver-lining for me, was the food on the table.
In the months of lockdown, I thought I was going to go completely nuts, coping with the absurd scenario of being, endlessly under house arrest with the other three members of the family! I missed the long drives, meeting people, hanging out with friends, my precious, me-time, food from my favourite joints and that got the Party Started!
I don’t think my food cravings were that compelling even during the time of my pregnancy! I craved for every food that I had ever tasted in my life, made a list of things to eat once the lockdown was over, places to travel to eat those foods and definitely start writing a food blog; the only thing I have succeeded in doing so far!
It started with a ‘Paanipuri’ lunch; a welcome distraction from the monotony of the lockdown. That set the trend for the entire week! The theme for lunch was Indian street food! ‘Pav-bhaaji,’ ‘Dahi vade,’ ‘tikki chaat,’ ‘paapri chaat,’ time-saving food, satisfying the taste buds and the soul, bringing back the charm in life.
The theme menus got more complex with each passing day. It varied from authentic regional cuisines to fusion food around the world, topped with healthy twists and additions to keep the immune system functioning at the optimum level. There were brain-cracking innovations in the kitchen, that too with limited resources. I surprised myself, excelling way beyond the general accolade of a ‘good cook’ and got a promotion to the prestigious title of ‘master chef’ at home!
Social Media proved to be one of the greatest hotspots, to hang out with family and friends scattered around the globe. We diligently posted our culinary outputs as part of an undeclared ‘Lockdown food contest,’ to raise the benchmark of homemade food delicacies on Insta, FB and WhatsApp Status throughout the day! We enticed and inspired each other to bring out the best on the table and successfully outgrew our wardrobe in the process.
Survival of the Fittest
As the lockdown eased out we took hesitant, baby steps to bring back normalcy into our lives. The takeaways were back on the dining table. The social media got bombarded this time, with masked-up selfies of dining-out around the town. Getting back in shape became the priority as the wardrobe seemed to have shrunk with extremely limited options to adjust to the lockdown-waistline.
We made it to 2021 with renewed hopes and prayers; burying the onslaught of the worldwide pandemic and looking forward to a year of stability health and abundance.
Sadly, the COVID Pandemic has made another come-back. Restrictions, lockdowns, curfews have been imposed once again. It feels like a déjà vu. This year the situation seems to be a bit more alarming, way more intense and widespread. However, together we can once again flatten the curve, and win over the Pandemic. Take the jab, stay indoors. It’s time to flaunt the Home-Chef inside us once again! Let the party begin on the Social Media and on video chats! Let us take the pledge to be individually responsible and abide by the COVID Protocols now, so that we can let our hair down and party hard with our friends and loved ones before the year ends!
