Last year, when the first lockdown was announced, my family and I viewed it as a temporary but necessary measure that also had the unexpected silver lining of giving us more time to focus on the quality of our life. We enjoyed spending more time as a family unit, taking up DIY activities focused on recycling, and on honing our cooking skills. However, as time wore on, the realities of Covid-19 became more real for all of us. In fact, my husband tested positive while he was in Mumbai and my daughter and I were in Kolkata, and he had to nurse himself back single-handedly. My daughter also had some symptoms, and it was a very trying time for us,” recalls teacher and parenting coach, Paromita Saha. The 41-year-old adds that with the passage of time, the novelty of this isolated way of life began to wear thin — being completely self-sufficient, which seemed like an exciting challenge at first, became physically and mentally exhausting. “Even my daughter, who looked forward to our weekend cookouts, has stopped requesting special dishes. On most days, I snooze the alarm on my clock in the morning because I am too exhausted to get myself out of bed and prepped for my morning walk. Sometimes, I don’t even have the energy to glance through my phone. I find myself staring listlessly out of the window for hours at an end,” she adds.

Dr Payal Sharma and Arti Shroff