Chennai slips into quarantine mode – Times of India

The ever-bustling city on Sunday resembled a chapter straight out of an eerie, dystopian novel. Nobody on the streets, empty roads and a full stop on all public activity. By 5.45am on Sunday morning, 32-year-old Kilpauk resident Manjari K was atop the water tank on her terrace with a flask of freshly brewed ginger tea and a playlist, ready to watch the dawn break. The freelance teacher started planning this little reverie from the moment she heard the Prime Minister announce a ‘janata curfew’ on March 22. “I’ll probably never witness deserted roads outside my house again under normal circumstances. It’s a strange, once-in-a-lifetime event I wanted to freeze in time,” she says, flashing photographs on her cellphone.
Sunday’s curfew was indeed a first-of-its-kind experience for many Chennai residents.
For Iniyan, an engineer at a telecom company, a halfopened shop in Saidapet became the sole source of nourishment on Sunday, as he and his friend sustained on bananas and cups of chai available at the store. While popular food ordering apps like Swiggy showed zero results for most of the day, in Nandanam, another group of bachelor boys found luck with one of the ‘meal-in-bowl’ places that remained open.
On the IT corridor of OMR, families in apartment complexes shared meals with their bachelor neighbours. At Central Park Apartment in Sholinganallur, which comprises 12 blocks and is home to nearly 200 bachelors, food was also provided to security guards and maintenance technicians. “We plan to continue cooking for them if curfew is extended,” said Y Sujatha, secretary, Central Park Owners Association.
In Madipakkam, a few elderly braved the curfew to go for their morning walk around a secluded but scenic Lake View Road around 8.30am, even as policemen drove past passively persuading them to stay safe by staying indoors. “This stretch is empty. It’s good for my immune system to step out and get fresh air,” said Sathya, a senior citizen.
T Nagar’s newly opened Pedestrian Plaza and the Marina Beach remained closed. (with inputs from Yogesh Kabirdoss and Ram Sundaram)

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