Bollywood quizzes, group bhajans help ease coronavirus lockdown anxiety
Several residential societies have implemented strict rules to ensure a complete lockdown, with many societies attempting to infuse some fun into the period with games and trivia for residents.
Instead of the daily dose of ‘Good Morning’ messages sent out on the WhatsApp groups, some societies are encouraging their members to participate in quizzes to keep themselves entertained.
At Prathamesh Residency in Andheri (West), members have shared Bollywood quizzes as well as riddles. “We also played housie from our respective houses and winners shared photos of their housie tickets on the WhatsApp group. The prize money, of course, will go to them only once the lockdown is over,” said Ruiee Kapoor, one of the members of the society. She added that along with the Bollywood quiz, some society members also organised a quiz on Covid-19 to increase awareness.
In another case, a group of residents of a society in Four Bungalows, Andheri (West), decided to continue their routine session of singing bhajans and kirtans, but from their own respective houses and balconies. Thursday onwards, members have decided to show up on their balconies at 5pm and join in the singing.
Devinder Kaur, a resident of Metropolis society at Four Bungalows said the idea behind this exercise is not just to keep people engaged and but also to keep faith in God alive during the ongoing chaos. “Normally, during this period (Chaitra Navratri) our building members would gather at the community centre and participate in bhajans. Now we’ve decided to sit in our balconies to perform bhajans along with others who wish to participate from their own houses and balconies,” said Kaur.
With children unable to engage in outdoor activities, some societies are also engaging kids with puzzles and drawing competitions on WhatsApp groups. “Children are anyway glued to computers and mobile phones so we decided to make this time useful for them. We give them a time slot to solve basic puzzles or work on a painting and then share the same on the groups. Society elders are the judges for such sessions and we plan to keep a prize distribution function once the lockdown is lifted,” said a member of Shri Yogesh Tower in Chikuwadi, Borivali (West).