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A cloudy, rainy day. My neighbor’s son sits sprawled on a white plastic chair on their balcony, restful and casually observant of the street below. He has been here as long as me today, watching over some men working on the side of the footpath, digging concrete to lay some cables perhaps. Earlier this morning, another neighbor had a loud argument over the sweeping of the leaves on the street with the lady who comes to do the sweeping. It lasted for a good part of an hour. The vegetable vendors came soon after, and as per an arrangement, one of the women rang our doorbell so karthik’s mother who would have missed them otherwise, could come out and make her purchase. We will now be eating drumstick sambar with rice for lunch. This is all so familiar, as though every one of these incidents take place every morning of my life. The worry and the weight of the pandemic remains heavy on all our minds and I have found it so hard to focus on things lately. I want to try and write these observations down so I can pay better attention to the world around me. Maybe at some point I can be a better narrator and not just a jobless neighbor. Oh, I’d be both. We are on day #somethingvague of the social distancing/ quarantine/ lockdown. As each day melds into the other, I am happy to be sending you this letter. Hope this finds you in good health and safety. -Seemal
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