Late March 2020, life stopped for many around the world. A virus was on the loose, a pandemic was forming, and no one knew what would happen. India too locked down – first for a few days, and then weeks which became months. Masks became the norm as every stranger seemed a potential transmitter. With many publications carrying articles discussing five years of the pandemic and what changed (and what did not), I decided to do my own assessment on how those lockdowns changed me.
When the lockdown was announced late night on March 24, I was wholly unprepared for working from home. I had an old laptop gathering dust, having relied primarily on my office desktop. Suddenly, I had no idea when I would access a proper computer again! My home lacked any dedicated workspace—just a table in the library that I occasionally used. This makeshift arrangement became my office overnight. Until then, Zoom had barely registered in my consciousness—suddenly it became my lifeline to the outside world.
I mention these details because they’ve endured beyond the crisis. That temporary arrangement evolved into a proper home office, and Zoom calls have become my default for conversations—a surprisingly effective alternative to in-person meetings that has persisted long after restrictions lifted.
My eating patterns underwent a permanent shift as well. Pre-pandemic, I followed the conventional three-meal structure, with lunch packed each morning to eat around noon in office. Post-pandemic, I’ve settled into a two-meal rhythm—a heavy breakfast before heading to the office, followed by a combined lunch-dinner around 4:30/5 pm at home. This adjustment, born of necessity (so as to reduce the dishes I had to clean!), has become my preferred routine.
The pandemic also ushered streaming services into my life. With Abhishek (who was 15 when the first lockdown began), I explored countless shows during that first isolated year. “The Expanse” became a particular favourite—a shared escape into space when our physical world had contracted so dramatically.
But the most significant pandemic gift was the revival of this blog. I had abandoned blogging in 2012, always finding reasons to postpone a restart. My frustration about the lockdown demanded an outlet, and I decided to resurrect my blog (with a new domain) as that creative space. My inaugural series, “Unlock India,” marked the beginning of what has now become a five-year daily writing practice—perhaps the most meaningful pandemic transformation in my life.
Bad memories tend to fade with time. Most lockdown days blurred together in their sameness—the endless cycle of waking, working, walking with masks for some exercise, and sleeping within the same walls, with nowhere else to go. Yet certain changes have become permanent fixtures in our lives. These enduring adaptations are what we ultimately remember from that extraordinary time.
Five years later, the world has largely moved beyond Covid’s shadow, but its imprint remains visible in countless subtle ways—in how we work, connect, and structure our days. Just as well that from chaos and uncertainty, we managed to salvage some lasting positive change.
