Two Years in the Land of the Peacock

22nd March, 2020- Delhi, India

On the 26th of March, 2018 I landed in Bombay. Two years later I am sitting in Smritika’s parents house in Delhi. Quarantined.

Two years ago the streets of Mumbai looked like this:

One year ago in Delhi: Celebrating Holi. 

Nearly a year later the world has changed. The prime minister has declared a national Kurfew.

What the streets of Mumbai look like today:

The amount of cases have risen to 320 in counting. Unfortunately low numbers in India appear to be due to under testing & underreporting although no one knows for sure. Most cities have declared a self-imposed house stay until at least the 31st of March. The bright side of things is the cases are still relatively low. The death toll is only at 5. People seem to be taking this seriously. Let’s all cross our fingers that the social isolation pays off. Won’t say much more than that. We all know how serious this is and we have been on Corona news overdose at this point.

Grateful to Smritika’s parents. They have been generous and kind and had the most delicious food during our stay that is going on 7 days.

Birds, Flora & Fauna

You often hear about Delhi’s reputation for pollution. But Spring in Delhi is full of colourful blooming flowers and trees. There are over 300 species of birds. Unlike Mumbai, Delhi has many beautiful parks across the city. Smritika and I have been making a point in taking a socially isolated walk 1-2 times in a day to a couple nearby green spaces.

Two days ago, on one our walks, we saw the male peacock do its mating dance. The peacock is India’s national bird. The male is one with the big beautiful feathers. Apparently its the male showing the female that in spite of all the predators being able to see the birds colourful feathers making it a target they are still brave and macho enough to do a dance for them. This leads to the male attracting the female and getting laid. No one was in the park so we got a full show. I didn’t have my phone. So no pics. Thankfully we have google images to show what it looks like. I swear it really looks like this.

Less than one month ago we were in Sri Lanka.  Blissful and ignorant of what was to come. Corona seemed so far away.  

Things have changed.  To everyone back home stay sane.  I really miss you.  Be grateful & nice to each other.