Life in the time of Covid-19: When distancing draws you closer

Travel and food writer Ayandrali Dutta had been checking in on her elderly neighbours even before the lockdown, and has realised that the concern and care work both ways.

For years now, you may have just smiled and said a quick hello, while jogging or walking the dog. Suddenly, neighbours are all we have, and it’s rekindled old ways of being.

“I’ve lived in Mumbai for 15 years and have met neighbours during the lockdown that I didn’t know I had,” says Shameek Ray, a lawyer. They’re all bartering via their WhatsApp group too. “Say I need paneer. I post on the group, and someone who might have extra agrees to trade for, say, onions,” he says. “This ensures that we have what we need without having to go looking for it during the lockdown.”

Travel and food writer Ayandrali Dutta had been checking in on her elderly neighbours even before the lockdown, and has realised that the concern and care work both ways. “My refrigerator and grinder both broke down,” she says. “I put out a message on the residents’ WhatsApp group asking if anyone knew a technician who could help. Two of my neighbours got in touch — one loaned me her spare grinder, another actually gave me her extra fridge.”

For newcomers to an area, the bonding and support are especially helpful. Dipti Saksena, 70, had recently moved house and barely knew anyone in her new building. “Still, when my water purification system stopped working, my neighbours were so concerned. A young man tried to fix it; when he couldn’t, his parents started bringing me bottles of water. I am so touched.”

Small talk

It’s not just the help and practicalities, the socialising too is vital. Conversations across balconies, news being discussed and sometimes neighbours humming along to music being played next door.

Saksena enjoys a walk on the shared open terrace of her flat in the evenings. “My neighbours also come out. We greet each other and exchange a few words, from a safe distance,” she says.

In Mumbai, singer Varun Bharti was covered by HT after he started performing live every evening to entertain his neighbours. Last heard, he was being flooded by song requests, and being invited by residents of other colonies in the neighbourhood, to perform from an empty flat or terrace.

Conversations have become longer, says Dutta, even when conducted between a balcony and a garden. “It’s more than just hi and hello now. We are really talking. Then there are people I might have seen around the colony before, but now I am noticing where they live. I’ve got to know them, their families and lives. We’re bonding more than we ever did before,” she says.

In Ray’s building, the residents plan to keep the camaraderie alive, proactively, after the lockdown ends. They plan to have a party so they can all get together and the bonds formed during this crisis survive the demands of normal life.

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