Danish Sait, comedian
If you are on social media, you have probably come across Danish Sait’s sketches. They are perhaps among the year’s most-shared Internet content in India. Based in Bengaluru, Danish has over a decade’s experience in creating comedy for the stage, radio, and screens. He was popular in the South, especially in his home State, Karnataka. But his‘lockdown conversation’ video series was loved in many parts of India. It will be among the few things from 2020 that evokes laughter. Danish on 2020:-
It looked like a regular year when it began. I had a show lined up in New Zealand. The IPL was supposed to begin in March (Danish works for the Royal Challengers Bangalore). But for the most part, I was locked up at home and that gave me more time. And I think time brings out creativity.
The characters in the sketches come from a memory bank. I might have done these characters with friends or family at some point. But it looks good because it has been practised many times. The lockdown was the perfect time to get them out there and do something different for the audience. I have spent a lot of time creating characters and exploring their worlds. I made a film each with Humble Politician Nograj and Asghar, which I came up with during my radio days. I think Gopi, who I created this year, can be in a one-and-a-half-hour film. And one of the lockdown characters is also going to be in my next film.This [success] wasn’t a one-off thing. It’s about 10 years of relentless work. It’s not the first time I’m experiencing ‘being viral’. It had happened with my prank calls during my radio days. So, accolades, awards and recognition are a byproduct of what you do. Eventually, you wake up the next day again and say, ‘alright, it’s another day, let’s get on with our work.’ I am happy where I am in life. If I took pressure due to my expectations, I would be ungrateful for the opportunities I got. I would like to enjoy the years ahead, and keep hustling.
(As told to Praveen Sudevan)
Chandreyi Bandopadhyay, PR Professional
Dreary schedules, smoggy skies, erratic mealtimes... PR professional Chandreyi Bandopadhyay and architect Joydeep Mondal left the hectic city life behind them this year, leaving Mumbai and moving lock, stock and barrel to Goa. While architect Joydeep left a real estate job and now uses his expertise for restoration projects, PR professional Chandreyi continues to work remotely. Life is slower, more colourful and leaves them with more time for The Moonchasers, their travel content platform, says Chandreyi.
I can look out and see the blue sky whenever I want. It is a major mental boost. In Mumbai, even getting into a routine was a problem during lockdown. We would get up late, or skip meals, or miss meetings. All this fell back into place once we moved out.
We came to Goa on September 9; we drove down when there was no lockdown. Most of our things were in a warehouse. We just put up in a bed-and-breakfast and started looking for good places to rent. It took us some time, since there was a big influx of people into Goa once the State borders reopened. But once landlords realised that we want to rent for at least a year — not two or three months like most other newcomers — it became easier. We have moved plenty of times in the past few years — between Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai — but this time was a little difficult. We had assumed that finding packers and movers would be easy in a city like Mumbai. But all the logistics companies were so overwhelmed at the time that we only managed to find one on our last day in the city. It was worth it. I still have my usual work hours but I am more relaxed, and Joydeep’s days have changed completely. He left the real estate firm he used to work for before we moved. He is a very creative person; so besides his restoration work as an architect, he also spends a lot of time with his new camera lenses, taking photographs of birds, the beaches and so many other things. It is nice to see him settled with his laptop in a corner, making up a new song sometimes.
We can have a proper breakfast now, lunch is together and on time, and on many evenings we walk to the beach to watch the sunset. The possibility of doing that [on a non-crowded beach] without the risk of infecting anyone is so new.
(As told to Meghna Majumdar)
Gautam Sivaraman, BPO Professional
Amid the lockdown, Chennai resident Gautam Sivaraman found his path to an important long-term goal: losing weight in a healthy and sustainable manner. The 53-year-old senior BPO professional had seen his weight increase after an accident, and then was diagnosed with the initial stage of diabetes. The lockdown pressures, says Gautam, are what gave him that extra push to fight and reclaim his health.
Christmas 2018 was a terrible day for me. I was returning to Chennai with my two children from Bengaluru when the brakes in my car failed, making me lose control of the vehicle and bang it against a wall on the highway. Though my children had a lucky escape, I suffered some rib fractures and broke my right ankle bone. The doctors doubted whether I would walk again.
Following the accident, my weight ballooned to 82 kg (from an ideal BMI of 67 kg), and I was diagnosed with initial stages of diabetes. I could have made it into a sob story. But I wanted to fight and see what I could do to recover. So I bought myself a pair of walking shoes that give extra protection to the ankle and heel, and started walking in a park near my apartment. Though my initial progress was slow, I was able to balance my gait and relearn how to climb stairs. By December 25, 2019, I had brought down my weight to 80 kg.
Then, the lockdown happened. There was a lot of fear and the stress at work. I decided to take up vigorous physical activities to wipe out all the negative pent-up energy. Since I could no longer go to the park, I exercised on the terrace. I read about how high-cardio workouts can help with weight loss. The metabolic activity increases and you start losing weight when your heart rate is about 120-125 beats per minute consistently for about 40-45 minutes. I took up intense jogging for 45 minutes in the morning and followed it up with walking, often answering work calls while on my feet, all with the aim of covering at least 20 kilometres in a day.
The hard work has paid off: Between April and September, I lost around 13 kilograms and now weigh 67 kg. My blood sugar levels have also stabilised though I continue to take diabetes medication. Most people found the lockdown hard to deal with but I was fortunate enough to be able to improve my health.
(As told to Nahla Nainar)
Poonam Sapra, homemaker
In January, Poonam Sapra’s son Pranav suggested she start an Instagram page to share fun mom-advices she usually gives him. With Pranav’s help, she began motherwithsign with a picture of her holding a placard that read ‘green vegetables are good for you’. For Poonam, this was a fun activity. The messages were simple. Yet a lot of people related to them. Poonam’s page now has over 155,000 followers. She gets heartwarming messages from them on how her one-line advice helped them.
The year was a mixed bag for most people. It taught us a lot of lessons we wouldn’t have learnt otherwise. Many of us made it through the year, didn’t we? So, it taught us to dig into ourselves and find our strength.
I try to live moment to moment. I don’t make big plans… But one usually hopes for good things to come. So, the pandemic was unexpected. Nobody had an idea how this year would pan out. But we also heard stories of people being heroic, helping each other — the frontline workers put themselves at risk to help others. If all these didn’t happen, we would have been in a bigger mess.
The initial few days of the pandemic caused panic. But we slowly reached out to others. We picked each other up. Even if we couldn’t be there for someone in person, we tried to spread hope. And, that got most of us through.
Pranav and I didn’t expect this kind of a reaction for the Instagram page. We just did it for fun. But we started enjoying it. It was awesome to connect with people across the globe. We are getting so much love. Youngsters, especially, say that many things I say reminds them of their mom and, sometimes, they say, it helps them relate to their parents. I, too, learned to look at things from a youngster’s point of view.
With the news of vaccines, 2021 should begin on a hopeful note. We should be strong. I expect this year to be a good one for everyone. Strength and hope are two things we should latch on to this year.
(As told to Praveen Sudevan)
