Love in the Time of Quarantine

The only other time in my life that I can remember being in a community-wide, house-bound state is during the Calcutta monsoons when after hours of torrential rain, city streets would be waterlogged, houses would be submerged, and life would come to a standstill for several days. Much like our current state, we would be trapped in our houses with limited supplies, with concerns about hygiene and disease, and an uncertainty about when life would return to its normal course. Unlike our current circumstances though, the monsoon-induced state of shelter in place was marked by a sense of community, adventure (at least, for the kids), and a reassurance that things would go back to normal as soon as the rain stopped and the water receded from the streets. As the news around the world becomes grimmer by the day, I find myself returning to the comfort of childhood memories of sheltering in place during the Calcutta monsoons. Due to its geographical location, Calcutta receives copious amo...

"Today at 5:00 PM, Modi has asked everyone to come to their windows, balconies, and rooftops to make some noise -- ring bells, beat thalis (metal plates), blow conch shells, clap our hands," my mother announced during one of our daily phone calls. "Why? To ward off Corona?" I found myself asking, realizing both the incredulity of the question and the probability of this scenario actually playing out in India. India is the land of magical realism, a place where the mundane is never too far removed from the fantastic. It is a place where life is firmly rooted in the ever-present reality of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, and corruption. Yet, the supernatural lurks at every street corner promising escape and oblivion. " Jaani na, kintu hoteo paare." (I don't know, but it is possible.) My mother went on to elaborate that some times loud noises create reverberations that can ward off evil spirits. "Why else do temples and churches ring their bells an...

The food blog universe is suddenly awash with helpful posts about cooking during the quarantine. Most of these posts include suggestions about how to stock your pantry and freezer. The recipes that follow typically include using pantry staples like canned beans, pasta, jarred tomato sauce, and chicken stock. While it is probably a good idea to stock up on dry goods and non-perishables in the event that the shutdown is prolonged, here in California, we are still fortunate enough to get fresh produce. My fridge is filled with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that are claiming priority over the items on my pantry shelves. So, I bookmarked the pantry-centric recipes for another day and set out to recreate a childhood favorite bursting with the vivid tastes and colors of fresh vegetables. Growing up in India, we definitely had a seasonal cycle of availability for fresh produce. The food cooked at home followed this cycle. While the summer meals showcased different kinds of gour...

"We have to meet this moment," California Governor Gavin Newsom urged residents while announcing the unprecedented, statewide shelter-in-place order that has now been in place for two days. So far, the Governor's rhetoric has been reassuring -- striking a balance between facts and figures (like the anticipated number of hospital beds needed) and a realistic estimate of how bad things can get. His turn of phrase "meet this moment" also has a reassuring undertone -- implying that we have the ability to approach the crisis in an informed, proactive way, that we have some degree of control over what is currently unfolding in our lives without giving in to hysteria. In reality, though, it has been difficult to be ready to meet the moment. Especially because the circumstances of the moment keep changing dramatically. We went from reminders to wash our hands to a state-wide lockdown in a span of a week. If you thought you had to stockpile supplies for two weeks, now...

This is day 3 of the county-wide shelter-in-place order to control the spread of Corona virus. With the increasingly grim news from around the state and country, it seems more and more unlikely that things will return to normal any time soon. It seems bizarre how quickly things have changed. Here we all were, even two weeks ago, consumed with our full lives, packed with personal and professional commitments and a never-ending list of To-Do's. The economy booming, unemployment at an all-time low, real-estate prices sky rocketing -- we were invincible. Not even the impeachment of a sitting President could slow down the juggernaut of capitalism. Till a global pandemic came along and we all hit a giant speed bump. I am not one for conspiracy theories, but, I cannot help but think that this is a grand conspiracy of the natural world to slow us down and put things in perspective. Why else would this virus disrupt our daily schedules, often filled with trivial tasks and distractio...

On my children's phones, my contact information is saved under Life-Giver #1. I take comfort in the fact that despite their daily acts of defiance, this gesture is an acknowledgement (grudging, perhaps) that they originated from and continue to draw sustenance from me, their Life-Giver. My husband has the dubious distinction of being Life-Giver # 2. Fortunately, he is a very smart man who readily relinquishes the top spot in parenting to me, knowing well that the honor comes with very few perks. When it comes to food, rice is Life-Giver # 1 in our family. Rice is a staple of Indian food, showing up in various avatars in virtually every course of an Indian meal. It is the holy grain of India that symbolizes prosperity, fertility, and good fortune. Annual festivals herald the rice harvest cycle throughout the country. Rice also plays an integral role in most Hindu religious ceremonies and rituals -- whether it is the baby's first morsel of solid food or the blessing of newly-...

I guess it is ironic that my first post from a period of quarantine is titled "Getting Out." However, one of the things that I do want to commit to during this period of time is getting daily exercise. Nothing crazy...just getting in about 10, 000 steps a day. Sounds simple? Trust me, if your baseline activity level is like mine, 10, 000 steps is a big leap. I would say I have a good start, averaging about 6,500 steps per day. My husband and I have gone on walks every day, getting in about 3,500 steps, with the remainder being made up of indoor steps and an impromptu dance party with the youngest member of the family. Thankfully, she was not completely turned off by her grossly out of shape mother trying to match steps with her. May be social distancing is helping bring the family together :-) Anyway, it may be too soon to count the proverbial chickens before they hatch. After all, these are early days of familial bonding. My goal is to walk twice a day, but that has be...

What does one do when life as you know it comes to a grounding halt? For the past twenty years,  come hell or high water, come national tragedies or natural disasters, come family births or illness, house moves or car breakdowns, life had to go on. My husband and I needed to go to work, the kids needed to go to school, errands needed to be run, drop-offs and pick-ups needed to be coordinated -- all in a frenetic pace that threatened health and sanity. Well, all that changed on March 13th as large portions of the United States took unprecedented steps to contain the spread of Corona virus. Schools are closed for three weeks, employees are directed to work from home, medium to large gatherings are banned and "social distancing" has emerged as the new construct of 2020. While the quarantine is an inevitable outcome of the mounting hysteria and speculation of the past few days, I don't think we fully understand what it means to be house-bound for extended periods of time....