The shape eke lockdown edition.

Do you ever wake up, stare at the same four walls, pick up your phone, scroll through Instagram, see a pop up which says “you’re covered”, groan in frustration, close the damn app, just to mindlessly open it again? Because same!!!

One of my really good friends is stuck in India due to the pandemic and I asked her how she was managing grocery shopping etc during the lockdown. I know it was a dumb question to ask, but my wonderful friends made me seem even dumber by saying, ‘it’s lockdown, don’t you have the experience by now?’, Yes, I have pro lockdown ninjas for friends, ladies and gentlemen!

Anyway, I’m done with my lame jokes, but can you just imagine how aathal-less life would have been, stuck at home? But not in here, because remember, wherever I go the aathal usually follows.

Even though my humor has pretty much downgraded to a point where my only aathal was randomly video calling my friends and saying knock knock, who’s there they would graciously reply with five eye rolls and literally end the call when I say No-bell cus you know No bell, that’s why I knocked

P. S – if you laughed at that joke, we are already best friends  

And when I got tired of it all I opened my cave of ruination, also known as Google photos and surfed through pictures that had been backed up from 2013 onwards and trust me when I tell you this, I will never forgive my mum for letting me step out of the house when I looked like that! After hours of cringing, I came to the conclusion that it’s okay to have looked like a bola gediya cus you know, my friends kind of looked the same and also if I post a glow up video I’ll become famous in minutes * flips hair *

Anyway, that’s pretty much all the aathal until the real aathal began! Work from home converted to organizing a whole online event from home and trust me I’ve never received more calls and messages in one week than I have in my whole entire life. What a way to feel popular.
Your Dehiwela lokka turned her house into a makeshift call center for a week, with multiple people asking “is the competition interschool” after publicizing it loud and clearrrr.
Rant – I really wonder why common sense is called common when it really is not common amongst common people.

So yeah, after all that, and like three consecutive sleepless nights where I’d jump out of my skin every time I get a call at 3 because let’s face the reality we all become scaredy cats during the witching hour (yes I believe in that, and if you do too, gammac thamai ithin) we managed to pull it off. In case you’re wondering what it was, it was a General knowledge quiz competition and we had to find so many questions that Kavindi once said “if you cut open my blood stream right now you’ll find general knowledge oozing out” and when I tell you I felt that, well I did.

So all’s well that ends well and that’s basically how my work from home journey was. It was difficult at the start but we adapted and we conquered, and now we’re back to office and living happily ever after 🙂

Note – Covid 19 is rapidly spreading. Its a fact. We all know it and we have to not be oblivious to it. When stepping out please be mindful of following health regulations because too many people are losing their lives and it needs to stop.

A lil gansta note – if I see you without a mask, I will punch you.

Until next time folks, remember, aathal eke hitapang!

By Aarefa Shiraz