Quarantime

QUARANTIME

MY

QUARANTINE

EXPERIENCE

WHAT’S INSTORE?

The coffee table book is about how my sister and I spent our time in quarantine, it talks about our experience, our thoughts and ideas we had in our minds during this time.

TEAM:-

Shruti Chawla Janavi Chawla

CONTRIBUTOR

Aditi Bhatia- Virtual Shoot

Why introverts are thriving during Quarantine?

In the midst of the countrywide lockdown, I have come to realise a couple of things.

One, people are not good at following rules even if the rules have been imposed for their welfare. Two, everyone has a hidden desire to be a chef. Three, I am envious of my sister. Now the third thing might just have been something that could have been there since my childhood but that’s not true. It is only in this lockdown that I am realising how envious I am of my sister.

I am envious of her being an introvert... of her ability to keep herself entertained without caring for another life around her. Introverts, as defined by Carl Jung are those people who tend to be happier in their own company and gravitate towards thoughtful and solitary activities. I have been noticing her for the past couple of days and it’s surprising to see that she only talks to her two close friends apart from everyone at home. And if she does talk to someone else outside of her close social circle of two friends and family members then she keeps the conversations as minimum as she possibly can. It was a little surprising to see how ‘at home’ she felt at home while I was agitated about staying

in for almost a month even though she used to be out late more than me practicing for her stage play when things were normal.

Wasn’t she supposed to feel uncomfortable going from being around so many people and doing so many things to doing absolutely nothing? My sister scoffed at me when I asked her the same and said, “After working on that play for almost 6 months, it feels great to stay home and do nothing.

Not being surrounded by so many people all the time. It feels like I am in finally in my natural habitat again.”

But she didn’t do nothing with her time. She was constantly occupied with something or the other. Most of the time she was either reading a book or watching some movie or series and the rest of her time she spent cooking, catching up on studies and cleaning. Not to forget, she was teaching herself new things like how to edit drunk videos of herself and her friends on iMovie.

There are several memes being circulated about introverts saying that it feels as though they have been preparing for this all their life and finally they feel as if they are not the lesser of the two personalities. And watching my sister thrive in her “natural habitat” as she called it, made me realise how true all these memes are and how all of us can learn a little from introverts in order to survive this “loneliness epidemic.”

In Solitude: A return to the self,

Anthony Storr wrote, “solitude can be as therapeutic as emotional support, and the capacity to be alone is as much a form of emotional maturity as the capacity to form close attachments.”

Introverts who are more often than not seen as the disadvantaged personality type are not actually subordinate to extroverts rather pave way for them to understand the importance of being not just emotionally but mentally available and sufficient for themselves.

This being one of the primary reasons why they don’t have a problem having a party of one with a book written by JD Salinger in their hand who interestingly was an introvert himself.

Take my sister, for example.

She wasn’t organising a zoom party with her friends so she can have fun but was making a nice cocktail for herself and watching Fleabag. She doesn’t feel stuck in the lockdown rather feels “liberated” to just be.

Watermelon Sugar

My sister and I love Harry Styles, especially my sister.

He recently released a new video from his album Fine Line (2019). The song Watermelon Sugar inspired us to create this look. the songs ilicits excitement and summer feeling in Harry’s own words.

We wanted to do a visual series that created a similar vibe. It came out to be more of an editorial shoot at home but we still loved the results and enjoyed the whole process.

Doing nothing is the new something.

Are you one of those people who try to fill every hour of their day by doing something just to have done “something?” You tend to multitask, keep a checklist to be on track and need a routine in order to have a properly structured day and you keep running after things which might not be necessary at that moment just so you can be “productive.” In reality, that isn’t you! You are being fed with the lie that you must keep doing something, whatever that might be.

think that they have to do something to make a good use of that time instead of using it to relax. For instance, I was talking to my old school friend a week ago and she said, “When the lockdown began, I promised myself that I’ll not be lazy and will try out new things every day. I’ll wake up early, have my green tea, do some yoga, help my mom in cleaning, take a bath and after that read at least 40 pages of a book and do things I have always wanted to try out but never had the time to.”

I, myself, have been a victim of falling for this lie. I used to do things that didn’t make me happy just so I could say to myself at the end of the day that I have achieved something. But having seen that a different possibility of working exists, I’d like to invite you to a different world altogether where you won’t have to deem yourself as wrong if you are not doing anything.

Yesterday, I asked her if she had done any of the things she mentioned and she replied that she had done nothing as she had planned. While she was listing all the things that she had planned, my mind kept saying “you need to stop being lazy and do something.

Look at what all she is doing.”

But then I stopped myself for a second and realised that I was having a lot of fun doing nothing. The freedom of waking late, eating and watching movies was a break that I actually wanted to have for a long time. I am trying out new things when I get time but it is completely different in my case because I am not doing anything out of obligation but rather out of motivation after a

Taking the current example of the pandemic situation, the country is going through a lockdown and people are stuck in their respective homes, cribbing and blaming.

With so much time at their disposal, people often

few relaxed days with new zeal and ideas. I asked my friend’s mother who is a therapist about why even though one seeks to be productive, they aren’t able to, and she said, “It’s because you are not doing anything to fill your empty days but because you would like to do something fun. There is a huge difference between the two. You are not trying to chase productivity but instead be productive. And one of the most important things is that you are okay not doing anything and that gives your mind the freedom to just be.”

Pew Das, a student of the University of Delhi, says that she used to feel that she had to constantly make use of every second her day but now has taken a step back and allowed herself to be present with herself rather than running after an image of productivity that is created by the society.

She has started journaling and is working towards bettering her mental health and focusing on what is truly important in her life. She feels as though she is doing nothing most of the times but that has allowed her to create things in the longer run.

Today, I was listening to a Podcast by a YouTuber Sierra Schultzie about trying new things and the first thing she said was “try doing nothing.”

She continued by adding that try to find your version of nothing maybe dancing in the shower is your nothing, maybe staring at the fan is your nothing, we all have

our different nothings. The idea of doing nothing after chasing “doing something” for so long feels like such a refreshing idea. The whole podcast motivated me to find my nothing and continue doing so but the great thing is that the podcast also shared few points on how to do that, my favourite of all was to take a break from everything you do daily. Secondly, try lazy, crazy and foolish stuff and lastly just enjoy.

It’s said that being lazy and sitting around wasting your time is bad for you and your well being, but what if doing nothing helps you gain new and fresh ideas, makes you feel more motivated and gives you back the sense of lost happiness?

Virtual Reality

My friend, Aditi and I have this phase what I call the ‘creative buzz.’ We were supposed to do al ot of shoots together this summer break but then quarantine happened and we were stuck at our respective homes sad, bored and lazy.

I remember watching Niki Damar youtube video, “facetime shoot” and thought why not try this out, it was something new and experimental while being at home. So that’s what we did!

A Virtual Shoot!

Pink Wednesdays

Orange Sunday

Summer Kill

Food as a means to pass time!

Everyone I know is suddenly a chef!? Be it my little sister, the school friend who I don’t talk to anymore but still follow on social media or the celebrities.

I follow on Instagram, everyone seems to have adopted a new hobby i.e, Cooking! It is as though everyone was waiting for the moment to showcase their cooking talent. While I know that many people are cooking out of obligation and not choice but majority of the so called “pseudo-professional chefs” are doing it because they feel like it is a great way to spend the free time that they have been blessed with.

And as for those who are cooking out of obligation of feeding their helpless family members, much like my mother, they also have had an interesting change of perspective or at least my mother has. My mother, a therapist and a corporate trainer, who is stuck cooking for my family of four has suddenly become very enthusiastic about trying out new recipes. For instance, the other day, she made ketchup from fresh tomatoes and it was delicious.

“I just enjoy cooking. I have made chilli paneer, chocolate cake, pad Thai noodles,

cupcakes with colourful frosting and so many more things that I have lost the count! I have always wanted to be one of those who are good

at cooking and finally I am somewhere near those people.

I just made something out of boredom and ever since then, I have not found anything more fun to do with all the time that I have,” says Shivang Shankar,

my friend who has suddenly become an ambitious home cook.

It was my birthday a week ago and my sister made a two layered chocolate Cake for me from scratch and she loved it!

I mean, of course, I loved it as well but she loved spending two hours on making it while I loved hogging on it. And I have never been on of those who liked going to the kitchen unless to get something to eat, but I found myself trying to make a destructed version of a Banoffie Pie. While I get envious of everyone’s restaurant-caliber meals, spending time on that destructed Banoffie Pie and then eating it was probably the highlight of my day!

As a matter of fact, celebrities are not immune to this innate need for becoming an amateur chef in their free time. One of the celebrities that I can’t stop watching is Florence Pugh, who is spending her time in her country kitchen cooking and baking all kinds of dishes.

She revealed in one of her Instagram stories, “cooking not only helps me use my time efficiently but also relieves me from stress. And at the end, I get to eat something nice which a hobby like painting can’t do.” Which is a hundred percent true! Anything that kills the hunger is a good thing, right?

When a woman is around!

This series is inspired by the song “when a woman is around� by unloved. When I heard this song for the very first time, I felt like I was stuck in a hedonistic trance and I have tried and produce an echo of that feeling in these pictures.