India’s gratitude to its foot soldiers in fight against the novel coronavirus on Sunday found expression in a choreographed yet chaotic nationwide chorus of clapping, clanging of utensils and conch shells being blown as the “janata curfew” that had started 10 hours earlier entered its final lap. PM Modi tweeted his approval by tagging a video clip of his mother Heeraben beating a plate in her Gandhinagar house. “With the blessings of crores of mothers like you, doctors, nurses, medical staff, police personnel, security personnel, sanitation workers and members of the media fighting coronavirus are encouraged,” he wrote.
Empty roads & the sound of silence
Pushed into action by the global Covid-19 pandemic, India on Sunday practised social distancing on a never-before scale through a “janata curfew” that kept the country’s 1.3 billion population indoors all day and delivered more than a few fringe benefits - sparrows and pigeons frolicking on otherwise congested streets, national landmarks bereft of surging weekend crowds and air purer than it has been in a long time.
