Math lessons in the afternoon, cricket in the hallway: Social distancing in Mumbai

Siddharth, 8, has been home from school for two weeks; two days ago, he stopped leaving the house to play tennis and cricket with friends from his high-rise in Parel. “I’m now playing cricket inside the house with dada, and badminton with Anita,” he says. His screentime allowance has been raised too.

His parents, Masuma, 40, and Sachin, 42, start working from home on Monday, so they’re using the weekend to try and figure out what the next two weeks will look like.

“We haven’t been able to set into a routine yet,” says Masuma, who is regional head at a TV station. The cook won’t be coming to work for two weeks, so there’s something to fill in the time. “Hopefully, I’ll improve my cooking skills,” Masuma says, laughing.

The family has also cracked open the Monopoly board game. Board games have become part of the new daily routine.

The studies can’t stop altogether, so the parents are working on lesson plans for Siddharth.

“On Saturday, we did a lot of math in the morning, then he and his dadi spent some time on the PlayStation; he’s also been talking about creating a comic about cricket, so we worked on that in the evening,” Masuma says.

Sachin’s logistics business is now running at 50% capacity, so he’s spending time practising his moves on the guitar. “It’s something Siddharth and I have both been getting lessons in, but now the tutor won’t be coming in so we’ll practice on our own. I also started doing yoga about a year ago, so now I want to practice waking up at 5.30 am to do it as it’s meant to be done.”

Sachin’s 85-year-old dad, who started the family logistics company, used to go into work for half the day, and his 72-year-old mom would go out and meet her friends. “They’re restless, being housebound,” Masuma says. “I don’t think any of us has been housebound like this since the 1993 Bombay riots. Back then, we would have prayer meets in the building. Even then, we were meeting other people.”

Interestingly, Siddharth has been the quickest to adjust. His parents say it’s probably because the drill is familiar from when he had swine flu, two years ago. “He understands why things have to be like this,” Masuma says.

Still, it’s the early days and the Parekhs worry that Siddharth is already having trouble sleeping because of all the restless energy. They’re taking it one day at time, they say.

“Everyone’s soon going to have to start doing their share of chores,” laughs Masuma. “So a week from now, it might be a different narrative altogether.”