03 Mar 2021  |   04:50am IST

A year after: The real positives during COVID

March 2020 is when it all started. A year since the virus spread and the lockdown was imposed a year ago. Everyone was consigned to their home and this game them an opportunity to acquire new skills or go for a radical overhaul of their life. But while there are stories of sadness there were positives too. On how Goans learnt lessons and overhauled their lives in so many ways. We bring to you some of those stories
A year after: The real positives during COVID

Ajit John;

The lockdown forced people to take a hard look at themselves and their choices as many lost their jobs or were forced to adjust to a drastic reduction in remuneration. Many took the opportunity to learn new skills and pivot their life in a completely new direction

So before covid I was into music and was busy due to all the school work. Since Lockdown started, I had a lot of time for myself. I learnt more about music productions, singing voice, various theories, I watched movies which were based on actual famous personalities. Most of the time I spent my day playing music composing different songs, experimenting with myself to develop more skills. Lockdown changed a lot in me 

- Samuel Fernandes, Student

This was a time that I was able to get changes on an old manuscript on Parsi Cyclists and publish the same into a book. That was a great achievement for me and my wife. We are hoping more books will follow. The Covid lockdown has been very beneficial in many ways. For one definite change it brought out a lot of people into cycling in a big way. It spells new hope for the planet 

- Anoop Babani, Writer

I was passionate about baking since 7 years, I also got few opportunities where my friends wanted to buy the cakes from me. During lockdown, in April, it was my sister, Annika’s 18th birthday, where I made a small igtv while decorating the cake and posted on my Instagram feed, that’s when I realised that a lot of people wanted to try my baked products and that lead to me starting my own home bakery setup. It’s named as Chocolamour! This was my passion turned into a business 

- Anuja Joshi, Baker

For me personally it gave me the opportunity to display my cooking skills and then later turn it into a business within the span of 6 months. I started with Sunday home deliveries which then grew into a cloud kitchen and a takeaway on CHOGM road 

- Timothy Lobo,

No one expected the past one year to be the way it was. It took me a while to get used to the lockdown, decided to do something. I have learned a lot. Enrolled for a couple of classes learned new skills. Started a café, learned everything as to how to start a cloud kitchen. I learned and introspected. It has been a time for a new profession and also time to spend with family and to make the most of it. I am definitely making the most of it all. 

- Sneha Bhandare, Entrepreneur

As a teacher I learned that online education was possible. It was a time when I learned new skills like cooking/mask making/ calligraphy. A lot of learning took place through online webinars and sessions. I conducted many knowledgeable online webinars for the students. It’s easy for people to attend it right from home. I practiced a lot on my calligraphy during the lockdown. 

- Anaita D Costa, Asst professor

Surely the lockdown has left a lot of positives As part of a running group we did live workouts on FB and got a good response from runners and athletes from all over, I did the speed ladder workouts, cone drills and agility and balance drills. I also learnt a lot from fellow runners who did yoga, stretches, running drills, all in all an enriching experience and surely come out recharged and stronger. I also did a lot of gardening even made a bird bath so spent hours watching lovely birds come to cool down in my garden. Surely it’s brought our communities together as incase any vegetable or grocery was available we would tell our neighbors or they would tell us. 

So yes loads of positives 

- Capt. Robert Shane Vaz



IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar