Lockdown: Bliss, Not Bane

By Ojas Rawal, Actor and Humorist

The lockdown for me, like everybody else, has been a challenging time primarily because it’s a first for all of us. We are rather used to power cuts, water shortages, train delays, flight cancellations or even limited curfews. But lockdowns were a whole different ball game altogether.

My key to steer clear of anxiety, boredom and panic was a simple change in perspective. Previously, I was busy out of the house; now, I must get busy inside the house. The hobbies, that usually don’t get much attention during the normal hectic routines, are the first ones to the rescue. I revisited gardening, reading and playing video games!

Despite being an avid gardener, I didn’t know how many plants I had as I never had the time to count. But I do now – a total of 52! Gardening is therapeutic for me. I propagated some of my favourite roses, bougainvillaeas and jasmines.

I also took up reading to keep my mind occupied. I completed all the three parts of “Kasumbi No Rang” by the legendary Jhaverchand Meghani. Now, I’m reading “Wings of Fire”, autobiography of our former President and visionary scientist Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam.

It was also a lot of fun dusting off and playing old video games. My afternoons were filled with Mario, Contra, Bomberman, Tanks, etc. which brought great nostalgia and the same excitement I had when I was a school kid.

Another noteworthy activity that punctuated my lockdown phases was Live sessions on various social media portals. Normally, I would rarely ever go Live. However, I decided to reach out to people in order to communicate, share ideas, exchange opinions, get to know people and vice versa through one Live daily. I did interviews with RJs, VJs, journalists, media houses, youth groups, writers, poets, spiritual healers, dieticians, fitness instructors, musicians, activists... the list goes on. Topics ranged from “role of youth in nation building” to “home gardening for children”. The diversity I experienced and amassed was unparalleled!

‘Work from home’ for actors and comedians is next to impossible for creative as well as technical reasons. But I did get a chance to work on something that was a pioneering initiative by GlassHour Productions – “popkon?” the first ever online Gujarati game show.

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I was the quizmaster and the contestants were chosen celebrities from the Gujarati cinema fraternity – Aarohi Patel, Jigardan Gadhvi, Kinjal Rajpriya, Bhavya Gandhi, Aishwarya Majmudar, Pratik Gandhi, Malhar Thakar and Abhishek Jain. Thanks to digital media, all people involved could participate from their respective homes! Even the recording, editing and post-production were done in compliance to lockdown rules. With its innovative and exciting rounds, the show was very well received by audiences who were craving alternative entertainment and all the matches are available on YouTube for those who missed it.

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