A Child’s Diary: Idhika Diwan’s Corona Lockdown Days

August 17, 2020

Back to School – everybody with masks

From this week, all the students come to school. I have to go to school every day. I don’t need to go to school on Saturday and Sunday. But we still have to wear mask to stop getting the second wave. When there were two groups, the assembly was peaceful and quiet. On the first day of school together, I felt that the assembly was very noisy. But after a week, I have got used to it. There is less social distancing in the lineup. I am very happy as now the small canteen is open again.

Normally, in the subject PE, we play games like throw-catch ball. But now, we are learning aerobics dance. The dance practice is on an imaginary nine squared future board. We stand very far from each other so that nobody can bump into each other. Our teacher taught us different poses in aerobics dance. We have to do each pose 8 times. I love doing dance aerobics.

On Friday, it rained in the evening. I and my younger brother sat on the swing, outside in our yard. It was very cold. Brr!!! So I and my younger brother wore our jackets. I heard some sounds of the rain. I listened to the pitter-patters of the rain drops falling on metal roof. I could not hear my brother’s voice. I saw lots of slurry snails coming out of their houses to find food.

On Sunday, I had a haircut. After the haircut, my hair looks like a doll.  I didn’t cry in the haircut. My school friends asked me “did you have a haircut?”  They commented that my front hair looked like a hair on horse’s face. I loved their comment as I wanted a hair style like this. I have my midterm exams in starting of September. I want to get good marks in the exams. I am practicing my homework and puzzle worksheets for preparation of exams. I am never afraid of exams.

I saw a Ted-Ed Earth School video about “What is inside a Smart Phone?” I got to know that our smart phones have precious metals and rare earth elements. I was surprised to know that smart phones also have gold inside them, which are also used for beautiful earrings. All the elements need mining from earth’s crust. The video told me that the problem in mining is that we need to cut down trees and kill animals from their habitat. If mining goes on, there will be more global warming and lot of pollution. I felt sad as I love to study animals and their natural habitats. I also felt sad because one day all things used in smartphones will be finished as there are no replacement items for them. These problems will increase in our generation. So we need to use the 3 R’s- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

My school segregates waste according to the 3Rs. We have a separate PET bin for plastic bottles. This bin is very high for me. But I try to put my plastic bottles in that bin by throwing it like a ball.

At home, we are trying to do the 2^nd R which is “Reuse”. We are reusing empty pistachio shells for beautiful flower decorations. After playing with my friends in the evening, I paint pistachio shells in different colours. My younger brother also painted the shells but in different colours. We are preparing these shells to welcome Ganpati Bappa in our home. He is coming to our house on Saturday. Let me tell you that he is not real but this is a festival. I love this festival because we make modaks for him as prasad. Every year, my grandparents are in Thailand with us. But I will miss them this year.

In the next blog, I will share with you about my celebrations of Ganpati festival.