My First Pandemic
by Yuvraj Khanna from Brooklyn, NY
With the onset of the pandemic, my immediate concern was the shutting down of the borders of both my current resident country U.S.A and my home country India.
Separated from my family and living alone, I started to explore the human condition of how a pandemic and self isolation can alter the relationships and our dependency between the objects we use and the spaces we inhabit.
Our rooms become sanctuaries in the truest sense of the word and objects around us, big or small, can be the only tangible link to our homes or our simple lives outside the confines of our four walls.
As the pandemic began, the first thing to change were my eating habits.
A plastic wrapper of food. With dwindling funds, I started becoming conscious of the scarcity of the objects I use in daily life.
As the borders of India & USA closed down, this shawl, a gift from my mother, became the only material connection to her.
Slowing down my heartbeat became a way to breathe easier. Drinking became an evening highlight.
Spending unusually long periods indoors, I started to notice the small subtler details of still life around me.
Enjoying nuances of light in my immediate surroundings was now a daily feature.
Sunlight coming indoors became my window to the outside world.
Self-portrait by my window where you'll usually find me on a sunny day.
Looking at the outside world through my window trying to make time glide-by.
A diary journal about memories of a warm winter spent together. I read it often whilst alone in quarantine.
My attempt at a safe, "socially- distanced" walk didn't take me past me past my own block. Having no health insurance during this pandemic has made me an indoors creature.
Dialogues & words took on a different meaning. My dreams remain healthy and alive.
