Hemali AdhiyaWe’re experiencing a whole new world around us. Everything has changed, and how! While the lockdown brought in a wave of adjustments, living at the quarantine center is a third-world experience. When you live at one where you are locked inside, to stay in love is a task. You are out of your comfort zones, living with strangers, and are gripped with the fear of testing positive for COVID. This happened with me and my husband, and nothing can take away from the fact that it was hard. But you know what helped us get through? Staying in Love!
Like I said, when at a quarantine center when the pandemic is catching up to get everyone, thinking about love is the last thing possible. In fact, there’s more bickering than anything else. My mind was in a state of utter panic when my husband informed me that he came in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. And then he went on to tell me the horror story that he would have to move to the quarantine center for seven days, WITH his family. You know that feeling when you know you have no choice and yet don’t want to do it? This is exactly how it felt!
And then we left from home…
The anxiety that enveloped me from the time I packed our bags till the time I reached the place that read “Boys Hostel” sent me into a silent mode. My husband is a banker, and throughout these months of lockdown, he had to work. My mind was prepared with him getting exposed to people every day, and somewhere I knew this could happen to us. Yet I felt angry at the fact that despite working from home, I had set off to live at the center since we felt responsible for not coming in contact with more people.
While the first day was confusing and the first night was sleepless, ultimately, we found ways to stay in love and ACCEPT the situation. We counted our blessings for at least putting the both of us in one room, and not separating us with strangers.
6 things we did to “Stay in Love”
Life at the Quarantine Center
Let me begin by establishing that our room did not have a sound network. Our phones would work only in one particular corner of the room by the door. So, everything that we do in our routine lives wasn’t possible there! It was a good time for a digital detox, and we mostly left our phones in the no-network corners!
1. Caught up on the Dating Days
As time passes on, the things that brought happiness to you become memories we cherish for a lifetime. It is not often that we get time to revisit those moments together. Somehow, going back to the days we met, the things we did then, the innocent fights sent us into deep nostalgia. These aren’t things we find time to do with full-time jobs. It helped us reconnect on so many levels, forget where we are, and stay in love! Of course, it is a good time to revisit common issues and work on them together.
2. Nature within no Nature
Our room did not have much of a view, but for its campus. But thankfully, a couple of showers of rain and the windy trees outside the window were great conversation starters for all the knowledge we had about science. The rooms, although, weren’t very clean, and for the reason why we were there, we couldn’t complain much. There were cobwebs on the corners, with spiders setting their trap for mosquitos. Watching it catch its prey was so intriguing, and surely something we hadn’t seen before. Must say, we spent about two hours a day doing that. Lying side by side, it sure helped us stay in love than lashing out at one another.
3. Hogged on Junk Food
The food we got from the center wasn’t much of our liking, and that is one thing we just cannot deal with. We asked a friend to leave us a box of stuff that we could eat and left the choice to his judgment just out of curiosity. The humble man that he is, got two of everything the store could make available in the morning hours. We let our diets get consumed in the sanitizing air, and hogged on the food we hadn’t eaten in long. After all, it was the only thing that kept us cheerful and happy.
4. Visited each other’s Childhood
Trust me, when you spend too much time in your routine, working around, you do not have much time to catch each other up with your childhood. With nothing to do, and nowhere to go, we could visit each other’s childhood in a full-on fiction mode. Our first crushes, the exam stories, the friends that were & and the friends that are, parents, illnesses… almost every chapter of that happy book! The deeper we know people, the easier it is to stay in love with them and also to find a way to deal with them during tough times.
5. Social Distancing Gossip & Party
There was another couple, already our friends, who also joined us at the quarantine center since they came in contact with the same person. They stayed in the adjoining room, and we hung at ur doors to gossip and chatter. In fact, we did not want the situation to upset us. So we played music, and danced on our doors enough to help us not just stay in love with each other, but also our friends! They truly proved that they’re as crazy as us, and wanted to stay as strong as us.
6. Prayers
If there is one thing that we cannot do without in any situation whatsoever is praying. Reading the scriptures (Bible for us) was a great way to catch up on all the reading and study we couldn’t do in a long time. And then we made sure to pray each night, because we wanted to stay in faith that our tests would be negative, and they would send us home.
Problems were many: Common bathrooms, people from different background, dirty washrooms, spicey food, lack of entertainment, away from home… plus, the fear that held it all. But, our only alternative was to dwell in each other’s company and make the best of the time we had with each other. All of the above helped us stay positive and hopeful. You’ll find most of it has to do ith conversing, but then, don’t we miss talking about just anything at home? Topics that including shopping, food, work, money?
With God’s grace, we and our friends tested negative, and they sent us home. The moment was no less than awaiting our board results with our hearts beating loud. So, the idea behind this article is that, when you make love your primary emotion, you will find a way to stay with it at the lowest of your time. We managed to do it, and we believe everyone else can.
Before I end this, let me share some basic stuff that I suggest you carry with you if you are in India:- Pee Safe(or any other such brands) for women (because washrooms are common), sanitizer, handwash, bedsheet and pillow cover, phone charger, power bank, books (to spend good time), maybe some downloaded series on your phone just in case you get super bored, lots of food, mineral water, and comfortable clothes.
While I wanted to share our experience, I also hope that it helps you guys if you (God forbid) land in such a situation. And if not, at least it shared with you the idea of staying in love, whether at the quarantine center at not. There’s no excuse to spend quality time with your loved one.
Is Love a decision or an emotion? Read more about this in our newest category- Love Therapy.
