I was in self-quarantine since returning from the All England Open (in March). Though the two-week period has just ended, things haven’t changed much as we are now under a lockdown.
Three months ago, everybody was expecting the Tokyo Olympics to take place as per schedule. We were playing tournaments and preparing ourselves.
I was fine and prepared when I got to know about the Olympics being postponed. I was anyway not sure if the Olympics would happen this year because every other day a new country was getting affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In these circumstances, you couldn’t have done anything else. Life comes first.
If the situation was normal, we would have been in a different zone, with all of us busy preparing for the Olympics and the qualification tournaments. We would have even played the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan.
When we were in the UK, the (reported positive Covid-19) cases were not so high but we were still taking precautions by not shaking hands, wearing masks and sanitising our hands. There, people were covering their faces with masks but the situation was normal as, like I said, the numbers weren’t too many at that point of time. But it all changed once we came back. The numbers increased, the situation became worse and now I can’t remember the last time I took such a long break—maybe never!
Since returning, I have only been at home and in my room, watching TV and Netflix and just chilling.
I get up late, work out a bit, watch TV, rest for a while, talk to my nephew and then go back to watching the TV again.
I have been watching so many movies during this period that I don’t even remember all their names. I randomly select Telugu, Hindi and English movies. Currently, I am watching the Prison Break series.
I recently watched Contagion (released in 2011) and just like in the movie, all of a sudden, one by one, everyone around the world is getting affected by a virus now.
My elder sister stays just three buildings away but I have not seen her or my nephew—who is a year and eight months old—for more than two weeks now. I have only been seeing him on the phone.
Of course, I have not been playing badminton. I just do some exercises whenever I can. I have some equipment at home so I train for an hour-and-a-half; maybe do some jumps, some shadow movements or things like that.
Being confined to home is fine, except that you cannot do anything, which can get a bit boring. I don’t do much household chores but I make sure I help my mom in the kitchen.
As of now, I think the lockdown period will be extended because the numbers have been rising. We will have to wait and see. Hopefully, the numbers will come down.
As told to Sandip Sikdar
Source: HindustanTimes