SOAKING IN THE SOUNDS, SIGHTS OF NATURE
Celebrities are making the most of me-time during the lockdown
The rustling of leaves; crows cawing; waves lapping the shore; the star-lit sky — humans, caught in the fast-paced life of the urban milieu, have, as poet WH Davies puts it, “no time to stand and stare”. But the countrywide lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 has allowed them to soak in these joys.
Actor-producer Dia Mirza is happy to see urban dwellers enjoying the sounds and sights of Nature. “Be it the birds singing in our neighbourhoods or the cleaner air giving us spectacular visuals of sunrise and sunsets, there’s a silver lining in this dark cloud that the world is experiencing now,” she says, adding that this “sensory therapy” is a reminder that we are all connected to Nature.
While filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker is talking about waking up to the melody of nightingales, golden orioles, parrots, bulbuls, and more, celebs such as designer Manish Malhotra, actors Shraddha
Kapoor, Shruti Seth, Parineeti Chopra, Arjun Bijlani, Manav Kaul, Elli AvrRam, Juhi Chawla, and filmmaker Zoya Akhtar are posting pictures and videos of plants, birds and the sea.
Filmmaker Anurag Basu says his mornings now begin with chirping of parrots in his balcony. “I bought my current house because it has a great sunset view. But I could never enjoy it. Thanks to the lockdown, my evening coffee has never been better,” he says.
Mesmerised by the number
of sparrows she is spotting, actor Rakul Preet Singh is also experiencing the “beauty of silence” at night. “The sound of crickets and the calmness... We’ve to realise that we need to co-exist. We’re not a superior race, and we shouldn’t behave like one,” she says. And actor Richa Chadha was overjoyed to have spotted a butterfly outside her 14th floor apartment. “I love being home and observing everything. While we’re taking precautions, let’s look at other species and observe how free they feel now as they don’t hear engines and machines. The sky is clearer, the air is cleaner. What if the human race is the virus?” she asks.
Actor Pankaj Tripathi finds a positive impact of this lockdown on pollution levels. “Raat mein taare bahut achhe dikh rahe hain. The more we get disconnected from nature, the more problems we’ll have. Ye thoda sa jhatka mila hai to value Nature more,” he says.
Radhika Bhirani