Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Megha Gandotra] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona… and I see myself kneeling at the altar of hoarded books trying to read each one of them, tenderly unfolding their moth-eaten pages, breathing in their sodden fragrances and reminiscing all their metaphors that are so demurely buried in my subconscious. Swimming back in the ocean of notions I anchor back to my school days when I wrote imaginary conversations on the back of school library books leaving cues to the next book like a puzzle that needs to be solved hoping someday that those half-written verbose shall be perfected somewhere in the reverberations of the snow-clad mountains. I stroll on moonlit nights humming Ali

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Abhishek Chaswal] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see myself watching my facial hair grow like the plants in my balcony. Everything has slowed down so much I can almost feel them growing in slow motion. Don't want to start hating the indoors too much because eventually an urbanite's life is all about moving from one box to another. Reading quite a bit about the Hikikomoris of Japan as dystopian fiction unfolds the day in front of my eyes. What else can a man do but hope to grow as wise as one's beard. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Ria Gupta] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see a road untravelled. I see the contours of faith broadening as I tread languidly, taking it all in. There's pink Bougainvillea striking the imagery, but I'm trying to fixate on the dull green behind it. I see possibilities--of serendipitous destinations and newfound friends; of novel shades colouring reason and imagination; of space, both mental and physical. I can feel the open air on my skin as I pass nothing in particular and all that ever existed. The Sun is bright, the destination dark, the journey a burst of vibrant experiences. The world might come crashing down any moment, but my mind's eye has

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Aditi Chandola] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see myself back in the Himalayan monastery I visited earlier this year. Prayer chants reverberate through my ears and several prayer flags wave to me in the wind. I see fresh flowers blooming in spite of the winter gloom of these mountains and I see myself becoming one with the mystic air, but when I open my eyes I see an empty wall in a lonely house. The prayer flags don’t flutter and the monks don’t sing any more. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Rahul Jha] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see the cursor blink for roughly about half an hour before I decide to write something. As the autumn breeze blows through the seemingly impenetrable fence of eucalyptus trees, blowing with itself the shreds of old newspapers and leaves burnt under the April sun; I sit cross legged frantically trying to get hold of the matchsticks spilled out of a red and black matchbox. I look over my shoulder as a frail, malnutritioned silhouette continues to walk over its own shadow that refuses to let go. The blue of the sky struggles to keep itself in high spirits as the gyre of smoke rising

Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Nidhi Sinha Grelaud] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona... and I see us walking hand in hand, through the cobbled streets on a sultry summer evening. I can hear the church bells ringing as we stride briskly past strangers into an illuminated boulevard. Rather on impulse, we enter a noisy bar and order our drinks. Sitting outside, sipping our drinks, we gaze over the lined lampposts running across the far riverbank. At midnight we leave, you and me, hand in hand. And then I open my eyes… I see your eyes staring into mine, both silently reminiscing the milieus of the time gone by. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world