While a few news outbreaks push everyone indoors, the other news breaks break open the doors. The announcement of respective states cancelling the board exams for the second time in the row was one such news. What was the scene before the announcement is just the opposite now? While this was happy news welcomed by both the parents and the children alike, it is very interesting to know what the sluggish brain hammering scenes have turned into. Here are what the teenagers of Vizag have been up to in the ongoing curfew.
#1. Friends Reunion
There has never been a better time to get together and reminisce about those good old yesterdays. While a sit together seems a saturated and unproductive time spent together, indoor and gully sports have come to the rescue. The streets have turned a nomad’s land giving space for one pitch one hand cricket. And the carrom sessions a day-long battle for a never rewarded winner. If you haven’t yet googled the +2 rules of UNO, you must be missing out on something.
#2. Recognizing the latent talent of photography
Everyone with a handset has turned into a photographer. With unprecedented showers that Vizag has been receiving, selfies have turned outward off late. It only takes a slight thunder to recognize this latent talent, and the phone shutters till the device reads ‘you are running out of storage. Were you on the other side when you got bombarded with pictures and videos of the rain, along with a soothing quote from google? While few have turned occasional photographers, few have developed a passion for initiating an Instagram channel purely dedicated to photography.
#3. Social media scrolling and sharing
The pandemic has got an Instagram channel for anything, and more importantly everything. OTTs yes, Vizag news yes, Vizag memes yes, and the list goes on and on, name it, and you have an Instagram handle for it. While chewing the algorithm has been another ball game, scrolling has almost turned into an addiction with the creativity and thought-provoking content that is out. Do you want to break the ice with a long time no say friend? share a reel or a meme you have the same grounds on, the impact is instant and the gratification is long-lasting. The curfew has glued many teenagers in Vizag to their phones.
#4. Planning future trips
With travelling and moving around being the most missed things now, family pilgrimage trips have taken the top slots on the cards. While the elderly explore means and ways to reach there, rest look for amusement parks and entertainment spots near the pilgrimage area. While the families plan an out of station destination, loyal Vizagites look for places in and around Vizag to make the most of the city of Vizag.
#5. Trying their hands-on cooking
YouTube has given scope for cooking to even an amateur. New recipes have been the go-to for evening snacks and side munches. While the elderly want to maintain a consistent menu at home, the younger ones have been frontiers in adding to the dishes. With the 24\7 nonavailability of pizzas and french fries, these cooking endeavours most of the time end up a taste-me-not amongst the family members.
#6. Plantation of trees
If the pandemic has a lesson to take home it would be ‘do unto nature as you would have nature do unto you’. With the awareness and positivity that is being spread around, parents have been encouraged to adopt a forsaken plant on the road or to grow plants in and around the habitat. This has also developed a socially responsible attitude amongst everyone.
#7. Catching up on OTT releases
With a lot of time in hand, OTT releases have been attended to just like the first-day first show of any movie release. The sleeping schedule has taken amiss, but the 12-o’clock Netflix party has been a constant throughout the lockdown. The screen time on OTT’s have gone up to a large extent with everyone revisiting their favourite genre for the nth time. Did you also encounter an embarrassing experience of speaking to a friend after a long time only to ask him for his Netflix or Prime credentials? The curfew, in a way, has given freedom to the teenagers of Vizag to sit in front of their PCs the whole day, catching up on their long to-watch list.
Discussion about this post