Here is how Chennai’s college students are dealing with lockdown

TNN | Mar 27, 2020, 12.00 AM IST

As the world fights an uphill battle from their homes during this tumultuous time of the Coronavirus pandemic, daily routines have gone out the window. With the country currently under lockdown for the next 19 days, educational institutions, including colleges, have been shut indefinitely. While classes have moved online, calls for social distancing has upended college life and camaraderie. The students, however, who have a half-glass-full philosophy, march on. We caught up with a few, who gave us a rundown on their days.

Finishing things which I never had the time for

I’ve been home for over a week now and to be honest, I’ve lost my mind. But because I’m in my final year, and we have our final submissions going on, I’ve gotten time to sit down and finish my work properly. The quarantine has made me finish things I never had time for. I’m finally ticking off the movie and book list that I’ve been putting off for a while. Films like Contagion and Pandemic keep things relatable and real. My friends and I have started playing a lot of online games together, like Psych and Quiz Up. We video call each other every day through this app called House party, where we play games and even snack together. Since my dance classes and my cross fit spaces are shut, I am trying to work out at home a little bit.

— Varsha Sriram, final-year journalism student

Looking up ideas to beat boredom

I have never been this idle for the longest time. So, this lockdown period has been really hard. I have been looking up useful ideas to beat this boredom and ended up finding a couple of chores to keep myself busy. I began allocating a lot of time for music and art. Since I am not much of a reader, I binge watch shows including Grey’s Anatomy and Rizzoli and Isles. Apart from learning to paint on canvas, I’m also trying my hand at photography along with my brother.

— Sahana Swaminathan, CA student

It took a global pandemic to get us some time off

Apart from final-year assignments and submissions, I rely on Instagram and streaming platforms to keep myself busy. Shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Fleabag are keeping me hooked. I’ve also been trying to be more social these days. Whenever someone posts something about the quarantine period, and I reckon they have an interesting take on something, I make sure to hit them up and ask them about the same — something I usually don’t do. While this does come at a bad time given that submissions and exams are right around the corner (especially for final-year students), I think this does reflect a lot upon the education system. This is the first time in many months we’ve had a breather. Basically, it took a global pandemic to get us some time off.

— Yagna Saravanan, final-year media student

I am editing hundreds of photos that I have clicked

Since I am a photographer, I am using this time to edit and collate hundreds of photos that I have clicked. While it is a bit unfortunate that I cannot venture out and click pictures, something that is almost second nature to me, I am trying to look at the positives. Usually, when we look at YouTube videos to learn new things, we hardly pay attention, thanks to hundred distractions. But due to the lockdown, I have come to understand the value of my privilege. So, I am using this time to learn new techniques. My current read is Agni Siragugal. I would normally read around five pages a day. But now I am finishing more than 35 pages a day. This lockdown is really putting things into perspective.

— Sri Loganathan, second-year media student

I have picked up gardening to kill time

This lockdown has had no effect on my classes. It has just shifted from physical classrooms to online classrooms. That is the only difference. On the positive side, I am able to pay even more attention from the comfort of my house. As an architecture student, we have site sheets and plans to submit as part of our assignments. While it is quite tiresome to depict complex site plans digitally, we are slowly trying to get the hang of it. As far as my hobbies go, I have picked up gardening to kill time. I have also dug into Kalki’s five-volume series Ponniyin Selvan. That should keep me busy for quite some time.

— Girish Athreya, first-year architecture student