The Lockdown had announced on the third day of my resignation from my previous job. I was trying to get into another job, and the lockdown happened. It took more than a week to realize the concept of lockdown. After realizing this, I felt the joy of a child who does not have to go to school because of heavy rain. The first lockdown was for 6 months and the first month was so exciting. After a month things changed, nobody wanted to be at home idle. So, I started to explore a few things to get rid of my boredom. Have a look at my lockdown days.

• My Cooking Experiments

Everybody was trying to be a chef then. I tried cooking by watching YouTube videos. Cooking is an interesting art because it involves multi-tasking. I tried a few vegetarian dishes, fish varieties, and desserts. Surprisingly, my dishes turned out delicious. I got good reviews from people. So the lesson is, if you have to survive, you tend to do anything.

• Challenges

Mental health was a huge discussion then. I came across so many mental health stories, depression state of people. My friend called me and told me that he could not be at home for so long. Those incidents made me feel that' Am I lucky? or an emotionless creature? My only concern was the financial crisis. I was the only earning member then, the income stopped all of a sudden. Yet, luckily my hometown is a village. We did manage the Covid days in our own way.

• Covid-Positivity

I am aware that many people have struggled a lot. But for me, it was a self-realization period. In my case, I got to know the value of a job and permanent income. As a bonus, I understood some close people's true sides. In short, Lockdown days taught good life lessons which are crucial for the long term. And I am happy with the idea of working from home and which got popularity among senior people and I see it as a huge one. It is relaxing. Now anyone can say that I am in WFH mode.

Sometimes we have to check on ourselves. The mind, the body, and our behaviors. Stress is a cliché in today's world. Handling stress and coping mechanism is underrated in our society. Visiting a psychiatrist is considered a problem in our society. It is normal and anybody could get counseling. You know what, self- love is more significant than random criticism.

• Self-realization

During the lockdown days, I evaluated my strength in problem-solving skills, and tackling methods in difficult times. I never had a problem sitting in my home and doing household chores. And I did not need anybody's therapeutic phone calls. I understood that I only need myself. Of course, it does not mean I do not need anyone in life. But the learning is, I am strong enough to handle my hurdles.

Feeling grateful for the lessons. I could connect with my roots. Indulged in different hobbies, and physical activities, and explored unknown places within my hometown itself. I hope these lessons will help me in the future. After Covid, people and their perceptions also changed in a good way. Many people had lost their loved ones and so many deaths in general, it was inevitable then. That was a phase and I am sure people started to move on and get back on track.

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