By the time this post is published, India is well into what is dubbed Lockdown 4.0 – with a new set of rules, dos-and-don’ts, all of us are struggling through a new range of emotions. There’s the delight that life is slowly limping back to normal, stores and services are now available (in non-containment areas at least) and businesses will reopen. But there’s also the added stress of ‘what if the number of coronavirus positive cases shoots up again!’

Amid this saga of actions and emotions, my parents remain relatively unmoved. Baba’s murmurs of “need to go to the bank” were shot down by the rest of us. “Stay home” was the diktat from me, the elder sister and her husband. Moreover, senior citizens are still being urged not to venture out if needed. Should this continue for some more time, the parents will have spent a solid 60 days in lockdown.

It’s not been easy for them. Active and used to running around all the time, the parents miss going out to do the essential shopping. They miss going out for strolls and driving to a friends’ place for some chai and chat. I’ve been lucky enough to step out for some ‘essential shopping’. But for the parents, life seems to have slowly lost its charms. They’ve stopped looking forward to watching the sun rise over the neighbouring buildings… they carry on, like so many others, and their answer to all queries about their well-being is the same “We are good, every day seems the same now.”⁠

The Lockdown Era is a photo series that gives a glimpse into the life of this senior citizen couple as they struggled and sailed through the lockdown. Just like every other Bengali couple in every other city in any part of the world. Originally meant to be a set of Instagram photographs only, somewhere I felt it was too honest not to be shared – these are photographs of a simple routine, speaking of lives shared for over 45 years that may speak volumes to you.

The Lockdown Era, the photo series continues on my Instagram account. For regular updates, you can follow me there (click here) and switch on notifications for posts, stories, lives.

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