Lockdown Diary by Raghav Pandey

All of these illustrations come from a diary entry I made in the early days of the lockdown.

This illustration is a reference to the time when we first realized that we would have to vacate our college campus on very short notice, and to me it represents a kind of innocence towards what was to come, not realizing the true weight of what had occurred, and the inability to appreciate the time we had left before everything changed.

This illustration is a reference to how difficult online classes were and, in general, adaptation. Underlying the angst about online classes were the continuous daily negotiations we had to make with reality and accepting the fact that we were not going to return to normal.

This illustration is slightly subjective. It is a reference to mainstream news media in India and the consistent and deliberate attempt to misdirect attention and accountability. Whether ignoring the Migrant exodus or baselessly vilifying a community, mainstream Indian media consistently disappointed. This image is placed together with my angst about not being able to communicate with family and adjust indefinitely to the new surroundings because we had so abruptly been removed from home.

This illustration is perhaps the most subjective of the four, and wilfully so. To me, it is a very specific reference to drinking milk on the day that I wrote the diary entry and some of the things I felt, but I wanted this illustration to be able to reflect ideas of homeliness, mixed feelings, acceptance, and reluctance.

Raghav Pandey is 20 years old. He is a graduate in Physics from Azim Premji University, India, and likes to make short films and draw. He is interested in science communication, environmental and social justice. Of late, he has been looking at birds around his house and has already spotted 23 different species.