Dear Tulia

Been hurled up indoors for 20 days straight,

been working from home and

taking life’s meetings on miniature screens.

And nursing several bouts of Zoom fatigue.

And ordering food and groceries for home delivery.

Kate, my housemate,

got locked down with her parents in Naguru.

I am home alone.

We laughed recently about my dislike for living by myself.

Joke’s on me!

I am enjoying the space and silence.

Sitting with my thoughts and

the routine of running up and down the stairs of my block –

my attempt at keeping active.

I’m fighting for work-life boundaries

and losing dismally.

It all started on that March Day of 2020,

we came home one evening, turned on the TV

to get the latest on the pandemic

that was making rounds in all channels

10:59 it was, when the government decreed –

‘No one leaves their houses!’

And there we were, locked down

except for work who doesn’t know lock down.

He moved into my room

and got a shelf.

He sat down with me at lunch

and many times at dinner too.

He woke me up early

and kept me up at night.

And now Again…

six months into 2021

after a brief hiatus, we are back.

To how it was that first time, that first lockdown,

only that this time,

we’ve been completely barred in our houses,

inter-district travel banned,

private cars cannot access the streets,

boda bodas can only carry cargo,

shopping centres and the malls are brought to the gadgets

the theatres are dark,

and the concert halls and cinema seats have gathered dust.

While others’ work stalled or halted,

mine has yet again staged a coup d’état.

I moved house but he found my address

and moved back in,

claimed a room this time.

He sits down with me at lunch

and many times at dinner too.

He wakes me up early

and keeps me up till late at night –

same cycle, only differently this time.