Lucknow residents develop new online routines during lockdown

Living under the coronavirus-induced countrywide lockdown for over a month now, many Lucknow residents have adapted to new routines in the virtual world to have a sense of purpose and keep boredom at bay.

Every morning Archana Srivastava and members of 12 other families sit down around their respective screens for an online recitation of the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas' epic poem.

"We connect with each other through video calling and start recitation of the Ramcharitmanas at around 11.00 am. It continues till 1.30 pm, concluding with an 'aarti'. This infuses new energy among our family members," Srivastava said.

She added that 'prasaad' is distributed among the family members at the end of the recital.

"This has infused excitement among the children and the elderly people in the family," she said.

Kathak teacher Uma Trigunayat said she uses WhatsApp and video conferencing to pass on dancing tips to children.

"This is an interesting phase of life which we are going to remember for the rest of our lives," she said.

Fitness enthusiast Shivam Kumar, who regularly went to the Botanical Garden here to exercise, now uses the internet to learn new workouts to stay fit.

The Navyog Foundation imparts yoga training to many people through the internet.

"Through video conferencing, people from different parts of Lucknow, and other districts such as Kanpur, Ballia, Prayagraj, Jhansi and Banda take yoga lessons together early in the morning," co-founder of the Foundation Deepali Tiwari said.